Importance Of Time Management - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1059 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/05/29 Category Management Essay Level High school Tags: Time Management Essay Did you like this example? You are reading the 3rd and last part of our series on professional time management. We are going to expand on our last post about an essential component of time management: List-Making. In this post you will learn five Time Management Best List-Making Practices or successful professionals for effective List-Making. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Importance Of Time Management" essay for you Create order These Best List-Making Practices will streamline your list so it has a kind of punch for effectiveness and ensure you get the maximum benefits from this life hack technique. If you missed the earlier posts in this valuable Time Management series, you can check them out here: Part 1 and Part 2. Ready to become a list building virtuoso? Read on. Time Management Best List-Making Practices Best List-Making Practice #1: Keep It Short Sweet I understand that many of you stress solution seekers have a lot on your plate. Initially, your to-do list will be long and complex. As you continue to refine your skill of prioritizing tasks and delegating work to others, you will discover that your to-do list, and your life itself, can be so much simpler. Bonus: Stress will be less. So, strive to make your main to-do list, day list and future list short and concise. If your to-do lists become too detailed, you may de-motivate yourself from accomplishing each of the items. How many items should be in your to-do lists? As a rule of thumb, I often limit my total to-do items to 20 items. If I have to add one more to this list, I often check off 5 or more to get ahead. Beware: Listing things wont make you a good time manager. The list is the tool that will help you manage your time more efficiently. View it as a virtual companion and be sure you keep it current and active. If you end up procrastinating or abandoning your to-do lists, they wont be any help at all. Best List-Making Practice #2: Dont Add Commonplace Activities A to-do list is actually a way to manage your time when additional activities begin to pile up. With this in mind, dont bother adding routines like have breakfast or drive to work on your to-do lists. You already know for sure that youre going to perform these tasks, so it is actually counterproductive and time â€Å"consuming to crowd your list with them. Instead, focus on upcoming tasks that require more time than your usual tasks. Example: Going to the dentist or getting an appointment somewhere. Best List-Making Practice #3: Hammer the Hard Tasks First There was a time when I focused too much on the easy tasks. The problem: I had little or no time left for the more difficult tasks. It was very challenging to get back on track because the remaining items on the to-do list were all difficult and time-consuming. You can avoid this scenario completely by balancing tough tasks and easy tasks. The first thing that you should try to accomplish in your day, when your energy is high, should a difficult or time-consuming task. Be sure this is a task you are prepared to tackle. Keep working on a difficult task until youve finished it or you finished at least 50% of the work needed to complete it. This will gratify you with achieving your goal for this one difficult task this day. Source? Dont let yourself start on a task, only to leave it a few minutes later because itrs difficult. The difficulty level of a task is a big determinant of how much time to allot to it. As a taskrs difficulty increases, so does the time you need to accomplish it. So, be fair to yourself: Schedule you tasks within reasonable time frames. Best List-Making Practice #4: Be Flexible and Adaptable Flexibility is the most important trait that you can develop when you are managing your time. If you too hard on yourself, inflexible with your own schedule, you may feel frustrated. You could be overwhelmed with at all the important things you have yet to accomplish. Be kind to yourself, make adjustments as necessary, and see steady progress. You know yourself better than anyone else on the planet. Be mindful of how you feel and what youre thinking when youre planning the days ahead. Best List-Making Practice #5: Work with Your Organic Schedule Each personrs organic or natural working schedule is unique. Some individuals feel pumped up to work right after lunch. Night people like me work better in the hours that lead to midnight. And still other individuals are most efficient accomplishing their tasks right after breakfast. Your prime working time, unique to your inner clock, is the time to schedule your challenging work. Schedule your most difficult tasks to coincide with your wave of productivity. Reserve your easier tasks for the times of the day when your energy is a little low and you can only handle smaller tasks. Understandable: Some people might not have the option to move their work around. How to remedy this matter: Schedule rest gaps between the difficult tasks. These recovery periods will help you function better. You wont be overwhelmed with difficult tasks, even if youre not mentally conditioned to do them at a particular time. The Takeaway: Your list is a most important component of Time Management Best Practices. It should be your daily companion. Youre your list short and uncluttered with the commonplace. Schedule the difficult first but be kind to yourself: Set your schedule for what you feel you can accomplish and when you are at your best to accomplish it. This 3-part series on Time Management focused on time as your most important resource. The techniques are customized by you and for you. If you follow the practical steps in these 3 posts, you will are bound to enjoy greater organization in your life, confidence in your capabilities to get things done, and considerable relief from stress. You have learned techniques and tools to personalize your time management. If you have implemented the techniques already, then you have inventoried and adjusted your present use of time (Part 1). You have created a Super Tool a special approach to your to-do list for surefire effectiveness (Part 2). Finally, you fine-tuned your to-do list with professional best practices (Part 3). These Time Management techniques work. Let us know if they have helped you. Wed love to hear of any or your own techniques that work for you.

Importance Of Being A Minister Of Christ Essay - 1648 Words

Why does Richard Baxter emphasis the importance of being a minister of Christ? If there is anything that is to be the characteristic of the reformed pastor it is that his mind and life must bear the image of the servanthood of Christ. Following after Christ’ words, ‘I have come not to be served but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many’.This is why in his book, The Reformed Pastor, Baxter is eagerly encouraging those in ministry to know their called identity as under shepherds of the Great Shepherd; and therefore following the model of Jesus Christ earthly ministry as their personal template for shepherding the Lord’s flock. He does this by first expounding on the meaning behind the title of his work. It is not for those of the reformed or Calvin doctrine, but for all those in ministry to continually be reforming the character of their lives. This does not mean the reforming that is called to take place is solely found in the reshaping of the mind through the doctrines of grace, though important. But it is a wholistic reviving of their life; touching every aspect of it and coating it in the the doctrines of grace; so that, to mirror and live as Christ lived, to be in His likeness. So the reforming of the Pastor is not just for a micro and personal wholistic change but also for the people of God, causing it to become a macro restyling and clothing in the doctrines of God. He is called to do this by modeling the transforming power of the Word of God andShow MoreRelatedThe Three Models Of The Christian Church1381 Words   |  6 Pageseternal God through the Body of Christ. ï‚ · Sacrament – brings God’s grace into the world through the church. ï‚ · Engage/Evangelize – conveys the Word to the world of unbelievers and converts the world. ï‚ · Servant – serves the poor and marginalized of the world asking nothing in return. ï‚ · Disciples of Jesus – rejects the false promise of the world through a contract society.† First of all any model of ministry should be designed to mirror the image of Christ. According to Wesley Carr a modelRead MorePrayer On The Life Of A Minister1267 Words   |  6 Pagesthe life of a minister. It is something that has to be an intentional part of every day, but this is not always an easy task. Even Jesus had to work to incorporate prayer into his daily routine rising early and going away from the others to spend time with God (Mark 1:35-37). If a minister is not careful, finding time to pray can feel like a burden, yet, it is one of the most precious privileges that was bought for mankind through the blood of Jesus Christ. Prayer for a minister goes beyondRead MoreMy Family At The Holy Trinity Baptist Church814 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the course of adolescence, my family regularly attended the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. My parents always emphasized on the importance of raising their children in a complete Christ-centered environment along with ensure a familiarity with the Holy Scriptures. My family lived in a middle class neighborhood called P alma Ceia that was located near downtown Tampa, Florida. My parents have always been inspirational and encouraged me to follow God’s lead through serving in vocational ministryRead MoreThe Importance Of Raising Their Children At The Holy Trinity Baptist Church838 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the course of adolescence, our family regularly attended the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. My parents always emphasized on the importance of raising their children in a complete Christ-centered environment along with ensure a familiarity with the Holy Scriptures. My family lived in a middle class neighborhood called Palma Ceia that was located near downtown Tampa, Florida. My parents were inspirational and encouraged me to follow God’s lead through vocational ministry. In addition, theyRead MoreThe Prayer Service Of Fifty Participants838 Words   |  4 PagesNot too long ago, a Catholic lay minister, â€Å"John,† approached me to discuss a concern he has with his paris h’s lay evangelization ministry. In addition to their parish’s weekly prayer service of fifty participants, this ministry organizes and facilitates a quarterly Catholic Evangelization Congress for their deanery that gathers between three to five hundred people. Consequently, some lay ministers have given greater importance to the major quarterly religious services they organize for their deaneryRead MoreThe Church Of The Brentwood Baptist Church Essay1352 Words   |  6 Pagesthe service where passages from the Bible were read and cite the specific passage at that point in your list. The Brentwood Baptist Church most closely resembles the free church traditions worship style. Minister Luke Roman welcomed the guests of the church then read Philippians 2:6-11. Minister Roman then lead the choir and church in three worship songs. Pastor Mike Glenn discussed the approaching Presidential election day and the discomfort that the people of God may be feeling in our country basedRead MoreJesus Christ From The Old Testament787 Words   |  4 Pagesmysterious and difficult for ministers. In the book Preaching Christ from the Old Testament Sidney Greidanus focuses on uniting the New and the Old Testament through Jesus Christ. He says, â€Å"Jesus Christ is the link between the Old and the New. God’s revelation reaches its climax in the New Testament – and this climax is not a new teaching or a new law, but a person, God’s own Son.† It is fundamental, especially for Christian ministers to understand both Jesus Christ revealed in the New Test amentRead MoreThe Between The And Great Commandment And The Great Commission1687 Words   |  7 Pagessome boundaries but at the same time have a close friendship with them. It includes useful information that minister might want get. To begin with, it categorized six types of students. The purpose of doing this is not because the author wants to judge his students. It is because by doing so, one can clearly have diverse attitudes when students with different spiritual condition come to ministers. The most basic and important thing that the author emphasized is to make a relationship with students andRead MoreEssay on Christian Marriage1487 Words   |  6 Pagespublicly declare their love and fidelity in front of witnesses, a priest or minister and God. The It is seen by all Christian churches as both a physical and spiritual fulfillment. Christianity emphasises that the sacrament of Holy Matrimony is a lifetime commitment. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. —Matthew 19:6. Saint Paul interpreted the word of Christ on divorce and wrote â€Å"To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, thatRead MoreDifferences In William Apesss Son Of The Forest1055 Words   |  5 Pagesof English or Spanish descent. Additionally, Apess is a Christian Indian, his father being of mixed heritage and his mother of the tribe having not a single drop of the white man’s blood (Apess B: 131). Apess was a member of the oppressed Group, even though their numbers (ratio of skins of color to white skins) was 15 to 1 (Apess B: 156). He addressed a white audience and in many ways criticized those people being addressed. Apess asked his audience to look at themselves and reflect upon how they

Kantian Capitalism Free Essays

Kantian capitalism focuses on the corporation as an individual with rights, the exercise of which is limited to the extent that the rights of others are affected. As such, the corporation and its managers are responsible for the consequences of their actions on others. A utilitarian perspective would present the argument that the liability of corporations in the effects of its actions depends largely on whether or not Kantian capitalism focuses on the corporation as an individual with rights, the exercise of which is limited to the extent that the rights of others are affected. We will write a custom essay sample on Kantian Capitalism or any similar topic only for you Order Now As such, the corporation and its managers are responsible for the consequences of their actions on others. The Stakeholder Theory in Kantian capitalism focuses on a rights perspective however as there is no balancing of rights overstepped and benefits made. There is simply a remuneration of the said rights offended by the company’s acts, regardless of the number of people benefited or the extent of the good resulting from such act. A utilitarian perspective would present the argument that the liability of corporations for the effects of its actions depends largely on the extent to which the general public is benefited. The balance struck in this theory is between the rights of the stakeholders of the corporation with the consequences of corporate procedures. There is thus an acknowledgement that the corporation has a responsibility to those of the public disturbed by its actions, thereby placing value in each person and not merely justifying their losses as means to a greater good. The classical look at capitalism would not bother with the outside perspective as it would draw only into itself and its benefactors, in this case the stockholders. Management would then simply protect the claimant privileges of those contributing to the resources of the company, the stockholders and stakeholders. Kantian capitalism however looks beyond these assertive rights and places greater priority on the rights of individuals outside the corporation yet still affected by its workings. The legal justification for the theory presents the corporation as a judicial person endowed with rights and duties of natural persons, yet not possessing the same characteristics. A judicial person in the form of a corporation begins its existence upon action of its component members yet its existence persists even after such members desist from their commitment, so long as one or more still remain or others should take the place of those who leave. However, being judicial persons, their existence is dictated and constrained by law. The laws clearly establish that the rights of stockholders from gathering their share from the company is secondary to the rights of customers, suppliers, local communities and the like to seek redress for grievances they might have incurred in relation to the company. Economic justification would bring in external factors affecting management capitalism. As the nature of the consumers, the effect upon the locality and the competition in the community converge to work upon the reality of running the company, the need to keep within the bounds of their duties surfaces. To state plainly, no matter the ideal management in capitalism prefers the benefiting of only their own management and patrons, the facts would prefer the practical giving back to clientele, distributors, and the like. There is then a greater benefit to the company’s longevity as result regardless to how such acts may translate to profits for the meantime. There is need to remember that there is a balance that must be sought. So far the playing field has been drawn so as to seem biased towards the rights of outsiders. The balance is struck in that Kantian capitalism permits the use of people as mere means to an end, when these people are conscious of the role that they play and give express permission to be used as such. The rights perspective stabilizes this situation by providing these persons must be active parts of decision-making regarding their participation in the company. The prevalent paradigm of respect for others and the preservation of rights will not be defeated then. It is then a joint future that the corporation seeks to address when they formulate plans. This theory, in law and in actual practice in the market substantiates reason. Efficient management would need to answer the company’s liabilities to the community. The externalities should be taken into account to further the progress of the company as ignorance of the same would result in long-term degradation of the quality of service produced. By following the theory of Kantian capitalism, the sting is taken out from the suppressive reign of corporations as costs are not passed onto outsiders but is accounted for by the persons causing them. There is then a redistribution of resources and a striking of market equilibrium. Ideally, markets operate to provide the best product or service to consumers at the cost required by companies to produce such. The idyll of the market place requires the control of externalities not by the community but by the corporation. Thus long-term benefits are taken into account and not short-term profit. Kantian capitalism thus answers for an expanding and growing economy. A more stable economy would thus attract more investors, not just to mean that new corporations and more competitors are encouraged, but that more stockholders are encouraged to contribute to the growth of already existing corporations. The old goal of capitalism, to provide profits to stakeholders, is therefore still addressed. This time, even taking into account the distribution of such profit not just to the oligarchy or to a select few but to a more widely spread out class distribution. The arguments against capitalism and Rightist extremism is, in this way, buffered as the paradigm rotates closer to a central, or a right closer to center perspective. Works Cited Evan, W. and Freeman, R. (). â€Å"A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: Kantian capitalism.† Ethical Theory and Business, 3rd ed. 1988. How to cite Kantian Capitalism, Essay examples

Managerial Skills Communication Power

Question: Discuss about theManagerial Skillsfor Communication Power. Answer: Introduction The considered report has the purpose to evaluate some key theoretical concepts and models of communication skill in terms of management. The present assignment is considerably the counterpart of the first assignment, which have concentrated on to establish an action plan to achieve firm hold on communication. Hence, the present report has been constructed to identify convenient theories related to the individual plans developed in the action plan prepared earlier. Nevertheless, on the later part of the discourse deals with measuring and assessing the possible outcome of the action plans considering the evaluated theoretical aspects. Communication power is an effective and essential aspect of a successful manager through which it becomes easy to assign task, control others and motivate subordinates in terms of gaining quality production (VanPatten, 2015). On the other hand, communication skill is an important attribute that helps in collaborating or fruitfully working with others. In this context, the discourse preferred to analyze theoretical concepts of Tuckman and Fisher keeping in mind about the plan to become better instructor and to work in small groups. On the other hand, the report addressed the theoretical model of Westley and Maclean to monitor the effectiveness of the plan to become a good communicator. Theoretical Perspectives Eegarding the Skill Areas Prior to understand the theoretical prospects in detail, it is important to examine the distinct plans portrayed in the previous action plan again. The initial scheme of the action plan is to improve those particular sections of communication, which are flawed. The plan therefore shifts on to achieve confidence to face issues through convenient communication. The action plan thereafter focuses on the essentiality of communication to work and collaborate with other. Alongside, the action plan attempts to sharpen the communication skills to enable the power of giving instructions. However, the action plan concludes with the scheme to judge the effectiveness or credibility of the entire action plan for communication. Instead of evaluating theories of Tuckman, Fisher, Westley and Maclean, considering the action agendas, interactive and communication model of Lasswell seem significant too to evaluate. Interactive Model of Communication The basic concept of interactive model of communication is to exchange ideas, messages and expression with others. According to the concept of the model, exchange of idea and point of views can be pursued through both verbal and nonverbal way (First Adoni, 2015). Interactive model is distinctively composed with the correlation among an encoder, decoder and the source. In this context, it is important to keep in mind that the communicational relation between an encoder, decoder and the source rely chiefly upon message, feedback and the experience field. Source is the person who originates an idea; the source thereafter turns as an encoder, which sends the message to a particular one (Barak, Braverman, Chen Rao, 2013). In the later part, the encoder turns as the decoder who then responsibly receives the feedbacks. Hence, the rudimentary concept of this model regarding communication starts with a new idea then encode the message or send the message to the receiver and then decodes or receives back the feedback against the encoded message. A prosperous management cannot be achieved if there is lack of involvement of an encoder, a decoder and a specific source. The theory is therefore strongly relevant for the plan to address management attributes like solving problems and giving instructions. The Communication Model of Lasswell The communication model of Lasswell is reckoned as one of the influential model of communication that acts as the action model for management purpose. The model is comprised with certain steps, which include a sender, a message, a medium or channel, a receiver and ultimately a feedback. These five components act like powerful tools in terms of having an in-depth evaluation of the process and elements of a convenient communication. In the words of Sapienza, Iyer Veenstra (2015), an effective communication can be conducted through forming questions with each of the five components. Significant enough to mark that this communication model proves favourable for interpersonal mode of communication. The model can be followed effectively when the five individual steps will be covered through five analytical perspectives. The preliminarily perspective is the control analysis, which provides power to the senders. The following perspective, which is content analysis, is the process of representing various groups in political manner and identifying the particular aim of the message (GREEN COBB, 2012). The next phase is called media analysis that recognizes an individual media for communication for exercising maximum power. The audience analysis phase thereafter moves to identify the target population, which is ultimately concluded with the effect analysis that is responsible for predicting the possible effects of the messages. Content analysis, control analysis are part of a well-constructed management and in management communication always finds a distinct way to be carried away. Therefore, the concept of Lasswell sounds pertinent in terms of developing communication skills for management. Tuckmans Theoretical Aspect of Team Development Communication in terms of management perspective is essentially related with the need to form an efficient group with subordinates. In the words of Seck Helton (2014), Tuckmans team development model points out that a team is developed with maturity and the capability to establish a convenient relationship. Tuckman established that a leader or an administrator of a group possess the responsibilities to give priorities towards different circumstances and therefore to bring change in the leadership style. An effective group development as per Tuckman can be achieved through four distinct stages, which are forming, storming, norming and producing or performing. Based on Hall (2015), the introductory phase or the forming phase is the level when subordinates highly depend on the decisions of the leader. However, the unfortunate part of this period is that individual accountabilities stay less rigid and ambiguous for the members of the team. Alongside, the leaders find enormous pressure to provide answers or clearing the objectives of the team to the team participants. The next stage focuses on the complications, which emerge frequently among the team member in case of establishing individuals opinions with other (Dozier, Grunig Grunig, 2013). In this, certain phase most of the team members encounter challenges, which their leaders as uncertainties still rest inside the team purpose. In the following stage of norming, all the possible challenges come to the point of mitigation as in this period the leaders take the initiative to facilitate team agreement and commitment through effective communication skills. In the performing stage, which is supposed to be the endmost, yet potential phase the particular team becomes aware of the assigned task and share vision with each other. The focus to achieve goal through sharing vision is acquired through strong communication skills, which is supposedly one of the chief responsibility of management (Stacks Salwen, 2014). It is necessary to acknowledge that this particular theory is relevant for the plan to deal with problems and work in a group conveniently as per the action schedule. Model of Minor Group Communication by Fisher According to Wenger (2014), a small group most frequently does through rapid decision changing. Frequent decision change along with accomplishing a particular activity through having a good number of stages. In this context, it is significant to remember that decision making which becomes a responsibility of every group member can be obtained through firm communication skills. Specifically, in the group the decision making process includes agenda setting and reflective thinking. As per Aherne Thornber (2013), the decision-making through strong communication power involves six chief guide steps through which a decision turns to be a standard agenda. The steps start with problem identifying phase in which a particular issue is recognized and the reasons of the problem is diagnosed. This is further followed with the analysis of the problems and recognizing the forces that affect on the entire group. Thereafter, in the words of (Fujishin, 2013), standard agenda is pursued through selecting goals for the final decision and generating solution. The entire process sums up with evaluating or selecting ideas for mitigation as criteria and finally implementing them. B.Aubrey Fisher believed and pointed out that generally mode of interaction changes in terms with the formulation of the group decision. Based on Fisher's words, the decision making process is sometime recurring and inconsistent and hugely dependent upon the communication way through which the decision is being proceed. Hence, as argued by Myers Shimotsu (2013), Fisher's model exists with four key stages to build a correspondence among the group which are stages of orientation, conflict, emergence and reinforcement. The initial stage of orientation when people start to know each other, suffers through lack of the power of communication. On the part of knowing each other, the occurrence of agreement, interpretations take place and most of the time members of the group tend to share problems. On the phase of conflict, an individual issue is diagnosed and each of the group individual tries to get to the solution by expressing their perspectives (Sana, 2015). Communication among groups is here the key through which individual response increases and enforces individual participation. As per (McQuail Windahl, 2015), in stage three, group tasks emerge though uncertainty arises. Instead of having different responses among the group members, individuals attempts to reach to the level of unanimity. However, the final stage mainly focuses upon making a lengthy group communication through which the final decision stands up by the assemblage of individual viewpoints. The theoretical model of Fisher is an apt concept in context to management and specifically to communication as the model prescribes stages to establish decisions through having discussions in a group. Therefore, this particular model guides to polish communication skills as well as management practice (Cobley Schulz, 2013). Most significantly, the model addresses the skill of giving instructions and working together which is a major part of the proposed action plan. Communication Model of Westley and Maclean In the words of Dozier, Grunig Grunig, (2013), the communication model of Westley and Maclean is applied in interpersonal context as well as in mass communication purpose. However, the main difference between the purposes of this model in term of these two aspects is feedback. In other words, whereas the feedback is easy to gain and comes in a direct way in the interpersonal context, in mass communication aspect feedback is slow and comes in an indirect way. Based on Kar, Moura Ramanan (2012), Westley and Maclean believed that communication is the process through which a person responds rather than the process through which people starts talking. Therefore, the communication can be called as the relation between responses and the procedure of communication. The model is hence indicative of the fact that communication starts right after a person receives any information or message and thereafter the process pursues through the receivers initiatives to send response based on the orientation object. The model may sound less applicable for managerial purpose though the basic concept of communication can help forming a managers way of providing response to the subordinates (Manca, 2015). Without firm communication skills, it is hard to receive message from outside as well as to respond back against the sent information. If a manager or leader possesses less communication powers, then the entire process of responding, instructing and conveying information would not work. Reviewing the Results of the Action Plan and Measuring the Achievement The initial agenda of the action plan has been to improve the communication skill, for which I have explored the areas of my weakness and intended to work on them based on the feedback I will get from the quiz I have taken as a measurement of pre-test. In this purpose, I have followed the interactive model of communication that is comprised with an encoder and a decoder to send message and improve based on feedback. On the part of the encoder, I have sent my response to the quiz competition and my improvement process further pursued through the feedback I got from the quiz competition. As per the feedback of quiz, I have less speed in sending response as soon as the questions have been sent. Thereafter I have started practicing on managing time and preparing myself to take less time to understand and receive a particular message or information. To judge my improvement, I have taken help of one of my companions to ask me questions in a particular time limit. Fortunately, I have realized that almost 70% of the answers I have in a quick manner and as per my companion, I have given more importance upon to answer the question and have not concentrated upon my behavior to complement my responding technique. My next plan has been to deal with problems and encounter any difficult situation properly. In that case, Lasswells communication model and Tuckmans theoretical aspect has helped me to reach desired to the desired outcome. The proposed plan has been to communicate with students and face difficult situation. Following these two theoretical aspects, I have chosen the content topic of Olympic for debate to converse with the students and have chosen face to face talking. I encountered problems in time when students started arguing with each other about the performance. With the help of Tuckmans model, I started to norm the students to further engage them in the performing stage with my verbal and non-verbal communication skills. As a result, I find that, my non-verbal communication skill or my expression work favorably to control the students. It is indicative of the fact that my verbal powers have not sharpened to a high level. However, my next two plans, which have been to give instructions and work with the groups, have been influenced hugely by the theoretical concepts of Fisher, Tuckman and specifically of Westley and Maclean. In case of strengthening my communication power for making decisions and working in groups, I have strictly followed the Fishers model as I have assigned to work in a small group of students. For these two tasks, I strongly considered Westley and Macleans concept that communication is the relation between respondent and the communication process. The consequence have been probably the most successful as most of the group members have shown active participation and most of them have even replied that my instructions have been convenient enough. From the outcome I can realize that my skill to respond fast and instruct with my both verbal and non-verbal communication have worked aptly. Moreover, the achievement indicates that I need to work on my non-verbal communication skills to gi ve a more convenient leadership in future. My final plan to revise and evaluate my outcome specifically denotes that my verbal skills need to find a more firm edge and in terms of getting feedback and work on them, all of the evaluated theories have guided me well. It is significant to mark that evaluation of the feedback from the quiz have been pursued again as I have participated again in that same competition. The final one has been much more fruitful as near about 75% of the answers have been sent correct and in a less time limit. Conclusion The above report has analyzed some key theoretical concepts of Tuckman, Fisher, Westley and Maclean, which have assisted to accomplish the action plans and evaluate the feedbacks. The concepts of Tuckman and Fisher have specifically helped to work in a group, making decisions and giving instructions. On the other hand, the interactive model and Lasswells concepts have guided to improve upon pitfalls based on feedback. Nevertheless, the report indicates that in time of giving instruction the non-verbal skills and decision making method have proved most successful, whereas the feedbacks of the quiz remarked that time consumption is a potential flaw. References Aherne, P., Thornber, A. (2013). Communication for All: A Cross Curricular Skill Involving Interaction Between" Speaker and Listener". Routledge. Barak, B., Braverman, M., Chen, X., Rao, A. (2013). How to compress interactive communication. SIAM Journal on Computing, 42(3), 1327-1363. Cobley, P., Schulz, P. J. (Eds.). (2013). Theories and models of communication (Vol. 1). Walter de Gruyter. Craig, R. T. (2013). Constructing theories in communication research. Theories and models of communication, 1, 39-57. Dozier, D. M., Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E. (2013). Manager's guide to excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge. Dozier, D. M., Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E. (2013). Manager's guide to excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge. First, A., Adoni, H. (2015). An Interactive Model for Analyzing the Development of the Communication Discipline: Israel as a Case Study. Journalism, 5(7), 324-340. Fujishin, R. (2013). Creating effective groups: The art of small group communication. Rowman Littlefield. GREEN, M., COBB, L. (2012). Theories of Communication. Functional Communication: Analyzing the Nonlinguistic Skills of Individuals with Severe or Profound Handicaps, 1. Hall, T. B. (2015). Examining the Relationship Between Group Cohesion and Group Performance in Tuckman's (1965) Group Life Cycle Model on an Individual-Level Basis (Doctoral dissertation, REGENT UNIVERSITY). Kar, S., Moura, J. M., Ramanan, K. (2012). Distributed parameter estimation in sensor networks: Nonlinear observation models and imperfect communication. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, 58(6), 3575-3605. Manca, L. (2015). A Hypothesis about the Role of Gateopener in the Westley-MacLean Model.Interdisciplinary Essays on Environment and Culture: One Planet, One Humanity, and the Media, 69. McQuail, D., Windahl, S. (2015). Communication models for the study of mass communications. Routledge. Myers, S. A., Shimotsu, S. (2013). Understanding Work Group Dynamics: Effectively Getting People to Work Cohesively in Small Groups. Workplace Communication for the 21st Century: Tools and Strategies that Impact the Bottom Line [2 volumes]: Tools and Strategies That Impact the Bottom Line, 1, 243. Sana, M. (2015). Critical Analysis of Mass Communication Theories.Scholedge International Journal of Multidisciplinary Allied Studies ISSN 2394-336X,2(4), 19-24. Sapienza, Z. S., Iyer, N., Veenstra, A. S. (2015). Reading Lasswell's Model of Communication Backward: Three Scholarly Misconceptions.Mass Communication and Society,18(5), 599-622. Seck, M. M., Helton, L. (2014). Faculty Development of a Joint MSW Program Utilizing Tuckman's Model of Stages of Group Development. Social Work with Groups, 37(2), 158-168. Stacks, D. W., Salwen, M. B. (Eds.). (2014). An integrated approach to communication theory and research. Routledge. VanPatten, B. (2015). Communication and Skill. Routledge. Wenger, E. (2014). Artificial intelligence and tutoring systems: computational and cognitive approaches to the communication of knowledge. Morgan Kaufmann.

The Internet Essays (508 words) - Digital Technology,

The Internet The Internet The Internet, or ?net, is a vast network of computers that connects many of the world's businesses, institutions, and individuals. The Internet is composed of many parts, including the World Wide Web, FTP, IRC, Newsgroups, Gopher, WAIS, Archie, and of course Electronic Mail (Email). The Internet is mainly used for communication. Email is the most heavily used resource of the Internet- over 40 million email messages are sent through the Internet a day. The second most used resource, called the World Wide Web, or WWW, consists of pages of words, images, sounds, and video. The Internet is continuing to grow at 40% a year, with about 20 million users, mainly in USA, Canada, and Australia, but still many all over the world. You can do many things on the Internet, such as shop for just about anything, bank and manage money, watch and listen to live cable televison and radio broadcasts, talk to other users with voice like a telephone, conduct international meetings, and access all kinds of information on any subject imaginable. As mentioned earlier, the WWW consists of pages and pages of text, images, sounds, and video. Unlike pages in a book, there is no maximum size for a page, and there is HyperText Links. If you click on any one of these links, the computer will automatically go to the page specified by the link. The WWW is programmed in a computer language called Hyper Text Markup Language, or HTML. Searching the Web can be a difficult thing to do, or if you use a search engine, it can be really easy. Since so many new web pages are added to the Web a day, a very good index is hard to keep, and an alphabetical listing of millions of web pages would be almost impossible to navigate through. To help this problem, people developed search engines that search the Web for you. Some search engines, like Yahoo, search in a big web directory they have made of hundreds of thousands of web pages, that is organized like a phonebook. Other search engines, like Alta Vista, or Magellan, search in a list of Web pages it has created as it surfed the web all by it's self. People usually access the Internet through a computer using a device called a modem. Modems connect people to the ?net through telephone lines. Some companies, and the "heart" of the Internet, Use Fiber-Optic cables to connect. Fiber-Optic cabled are made of hair-thin strands of glass that carry information at the speed of light as pulses of light. Fiber-Optics are thousands of times faster than standard copper telephone lines. The Internet began in the 1960's. In 1962, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the United States Department of Defense developed a network of computers called ARPAnet. At first, this network only connected military and government computer systems. The purpose was to make all information safe, so that in disaster or war, if one computer was destroyed, it's information would not be lost. In 1966, the ARPAnet was expanded to include universities and other institutions. One of the first universities to be added was Utah State University. Soon, large companies and corporations were added, too. By 1990, anyone with a computer, a modem, and Internet software could connect to the Internet. There are many things in the future of the ?net, including video conferencing, online virtual reality worlds, and faster Internet connections.

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buy custom The West essay Western Civilization refers to cultures whose origin is in Europe. Therefore, when we refer to the West, we describe European countries and their culture. Some of the major ideas evolving from Western Civilization include: technology, political systems as well as cultural, religious, social beliefs and values. In addition, some of the evolving ideas have highly influenced the world that includes the following: Christianity especially the Roman Catholic, political systems, and cultural values as Europe culture was rich in philosophy, scholasticism as well as mysticism. These ideas have been adopted in other parts of the world. Western Europe has gone through a series of leadership starting from Emperors and kings to the modern day forms of government (Barzun, 2000). Democratic, autocratic and military forms of government among others originated from Europe and spread to other parts of the world. Moreover, most economic ideas also evolved from Europe. When studying Western Civilization, one is likely to ask him or herself the following questions: what are the effects of western culture to other parts of the world?, how did Roman classical and renaissance in Europe affect them?, what impact did biblical Christian have on peoples thinking, cultural values and beliefs? , why did the Western Civilization since 15th century dominate the world? (Barzun, 2000), has the modern civilization in Europe been overtaken by the rest? , how did medieval ages influence civilization across the entire Europe?. With these ideas in mind, one can easily analyze any reading materials regarding western civilization. One can easily fathom the roots of western culture to the modern civilization in Europe as well as the sequence of events (McClellan, 1999). Civilization began in Europe in medieval period before renaissance swept across the entire Europe. Therefore, when analyzing western civilization, it is advisable to trace it since the medieval period. Thus, the west has been able to influence and lead to civilization of other parts of the world. Nevertheless, Western Civilization has also affected some cultures negatively especially in the 21st century. Buy custom The West essay

Pascal's Wager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pascal's Wager - Essay Example Pascal's Penses, then, is totally different from conventional reasoning since it endeavors to provide practical reasons for belief in God. Taking the gambler's parlance, Pascal is saying that one should "wager that God exists because it is our best bet (Hajek). According to Ryan (1994), this line of reasoning has roots in the writings of Plato, Arnobius, Lactantius. Pascal's wager, in a nutshell, is: if you believe in God and he does not exist, you share the same fate as those who do not believe in God - death. However, if He does exist, you stand to gain salvation, while the unbeliever still faces a static destiny - death. So the believer, technically, has nothing to lose and all to gain, while the unbeliever whether right or not about his or her wager will only face death in the end. Therefore it is only logical to wager on the choice that makes the most sense - belief in God. It, in a sense is a philosophical win-win situation. Pascal maintains that we are incapable of knowing whether God exists or not, yet we must "wager" one way or the other. Reason cannot settle which way we should incline, but a consideration of the relevant outcomes supposedly can. Pascal's line of reasoning is intriguing.

Data Mining Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Mining - Assignment Example Raw data that is stored in the business corporate database increase day by day and as time passes. This is from various numerous credit and cash transactions in the company which is measured in gigabytes or terabytes. This data is usually stored in the centralized database; the raw data does not provide much information. Data warehousing Companies have decided to store their data and invest in a tremendous resource. The information and data on their potential and current customers is stored in this data houses as they are becoming part of the technology. These warehouses are used in consolidation of data which is located in the desperate databases. This data houses store stores usually stores large quantities of data on categories for easier and faster retrieval and interpretation by users. They also enable business managers and executives to store and retrieve large amounts of transactions, and the data required in responding to markets and make more informed business ideas and deci sions. Better decision making When the best and available data are collected, data analysis are performed and the most appropriate predictive model is created which results in better understanding on the customers reactions and behaviors towards the marketing programs and reasons for leaving the business. To add on this, various models may results in increased funds success, late payments and reduced bad loans. The good predictive analytics aids businesses in the use of information of previous events to project on new future projects and a good outcome (Olson & Delen, 2008). These are pattern based predictions which are based, on the interrelations between elements of data that cannot be seen on a spreadsheet analysis which leads to a good decision and accurate information. Data mining is a powerful tool which makes it good for business analytics, and the models utilizing procedures to bring about deserving results in customer service. It is also easy to determine which good have be en sold and the resulting reactions from customers with increased abundance of data and information, and the growing interrelationship in departmental functions. The processing of customers response can also be time consuming and demanding, labor intensive and expensive in terms of the company staff and this makes its predictive analytic activity to enhance the discovery of products sold to customers. Web mining This technique involves data mining processes such clustering, prediction and the modeling of the differences that analyzes the results of intermediate action, in addition to this, apart from data mining, web mining is a dependent of a real time system that invokes targeted offers on behalf of a process which can be up selling and customer retention and requirement analysis from the customers. This also supports individual marketing of customers based on horizontally collected data in numerous data sources as various transactions occurs. In web mining, real time data process es are identified across all transactions with customers and hence an instance feedback is obtained and hence is the best tool to prevent anomalies and fraud. Clustering This is the method of which data items are grouped in data mining according to their logical relationships on consumer preferences this data is mined to prove market segments or consumer affinities (Han & Kamber, 2006). The most important

EFT4 science task 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

EFT4 science task 3 - Essay Example re the best shield against sickness since they are effective in 85-99% of cases since they significantly lessen children’s risk of serious disease especially when given to masses thus providing an unsuitable environment and less opportunity for an illness to spread in such a population. According to CDC recommendations, they provide vaccines for seventeen preventable diseases which cater for children, infants, teenagers and adults. Vaccines work best when administered to children because of the high risk factors. Some products necessitate more than two doses to get the right antibody response for instance tetanus and diphtheria toxoids. The function of polysaccharide vaccines is emphasized when conjugated with a protein carrier by inducing the T lymphocyte which is a dependent immunological role. Live and attenuated virus vaccines stimulate the neutralizing of antibodies and cell mediated immunity resulting in prolonged immunity. Routine vaccination for children is scheduled for administration according to recommended ages and spacing between multi dose antigens doses to offer maximum protection. However the vaccination providers have a flexible option for certain situations such as fallback on schedule or international travel which use an accelerated schedule implemented through shorter spacing than the recommended ones though the end result is the same; protection for the child. A child after the first year of life could have gotten nine injections; pediatric diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis [DTaP], varicella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, inactivated poliovirus [IPV], pneumococcal conjugate vaccine [PCV], influenza, Hib and MMR vaccines. The number of injections has no specific limit so the vaccine provider can be flexible to make sure the administration of main doses does not have too many injections per visit. Administration of the hepatitis B and the triple dose of IPV can be given before the first birthday to lessen the number of

Popular Religion And Popular Culture Religion Essay

Popular Religion And Popular Culture Religion Essay Popular religion and popular culture in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries can also be understood by the way in which individuals and groups belonging to the mainstream religion engage their faith. Expressions of popular religion can often be at considerable variance from what is officially supposed to be deemed as sacred. In this respect, popular religion absorbs many attributes of human experience that might be looked down on by purveyors of traditional religion. Amongst various aspects of American life, contemporary popular religion can be best identified in regards of Hollywood films, pop music, popular literature, comic books, and the Internet. The evolution of Hollywood films involving religious themes has been rooted largely in the biblical epic. As a popular genre during the 1950s and 1960s, key examples of these epic religious films include The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), King of Kings(1961), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) among others. These films usually had huge cinematic scale, massive production budgets and box-office celebrities such as Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Max Von Sydow, Charlton Heston, Deborah Kerr, and Yul Brynner. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were numerous horror films with religious themes, most notably Rosemarys Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), and The Omen (1976). In Rosemarys Baby, a young, innocent Manhattan housewife is deceived by a coven of witches into giving birth to the eponymous child who is actually the son of Satan. The Exorcist was a horror film that dealt with a young girls demonic possession and her wealthy mothers desperate attempts to rescue her daughter through an exorcism by two Catholic priests. Serving as the pinnacle of the demon child movies of the era, The Omen is the story of a wealthy diplomats family unknowingly adopting a child who is actually the Antichrist foretold in the Book of Revelation. Representing an interesting blend of story elements from both Rosemarys Baby and The Exorcist, The Omen spawned several sequels as well as a remake. There are a great variety of Jesus movies that have made their way to the silver screen. In 1961, MGMs release of King of Kings (a remake of Cecil B. DeMilles 1927 film of the same title) was the first attempt by a major film studio to produce a religious epic in which the Christ Event was its main focus. That movie was followed years later other cinematic renditions of Jesus such as The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Passion of the Christ (2004), and most recently The Color of the Cross (2006). By illustration, Martin Scorseses The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) portrays the last days of Jesus Christ as he is tempted by Satan by glimpses of what life might have been like had Jesus not been crucified including marrying and making love with Mary Magdalene. Based on Nikos Kazantzakis 1960 novel of the same name, the movies main point is that Jesus, while free from human sin, might have still been v ulnerable to all manners of temptation that humans face, including doubt, fearful reluctance, lustful yearning, and regret. By confronting and ultimately conquering all of humanitys weaknesses, Jesus struggled to do Gods will while never surrendering to earthly temptations. At the films end, Christ finally rejects all temptations and the film concludes with the crucifixion. As can be imagined, this film generated a considerable deal of controversy due to its subject matter. The Passion of the Christ (2004) is a film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. According to Gibson, the films primary source material is derived from the Christs passion narratives found in the four synoptic Gospels despite taking creative liberties of incorporating quotes and images from both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. While deliberately mirroring traditional representations of the Passion in visual art, the film recounts depiction of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, particularly the arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus. In spite of criticism regarding the extreme violence, historical inaccuracy, and perceived anti-Semitic references, the overwhelming success of the studios marketing campaign amongst Catholics and evangelical Christians helped the film set numerous box-office records simultaneously. Having earned roughly $400 million, The Passion of the Christ holds the record for the most pre-release ticket sales and the highe st-grossing R-rated film in U.S. history as well as the highest-grossing religious film worldwide. Furthermore, because the films dialogue is entirely spoken in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew with English subtitles, The Passion of the Christ is also the highest grossing non-English language film to date. While many religious films since the 1950s were typically based on Christian stories, other films have been based in other religious traditions. For instance, The Message (Mohammed: The Messenger of God) (1976) based upon Islamic history and stirred great controversy upon its release. The film depicts the historic moment when the prophet Mohammed receives the Word from Allah during the 7th century A.D. in the Middle East still dominated by polytheism. After this fateful event, Mohammed begins sending his messengers to proclaim the basic teachings and tenets of Islam throughout the Middle East. The films production was complicated by the fact that, according to the teachings of the Quran, neither any likenesses can be shown of the prophet Mohammed and his extended family nor the image and voice of God ever be depicted in any medium. To overcome this challenge, the lead role of Mohammed was as an absent protagonist while the character of Mohammeds uncle served as a replacement for Moha mmed who alternately uttered lines and listened off-screen to a voice the audience never heard to avoid the heresy of depicting images of either Allah or Mohammed. Filmmakers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen have wrestled with issues of Jewish film representations. Two of the Coen brothers films, Barton Fink (1991) and The Big Lebowski (1998), are especially noteworthy for their diverse abundance of overtly albeit offbeat Jewish characters. The Coens brothers have been accused of depicting anti-Jewish ethnic stereotypes in their numerous films such as Bernie the Shmatte, a cravenly duplicitous hustler, in their third feature film, Millers Crossing (1990). However, their film A Serious Man (2009) is a remarkably provocative and poignant portrayal of Jewish American experience during the 1960s culled from their childhood memories of growing up in St. Louis Park, a suburban Jewish community south of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Drawing heavily from the cultural tradition of Ashkenazic Judaism, the film centers on the Job-like professional and private plights of Larry Gopnik, a physics professor undergoing a crisis of faith. Struggling to make sense of his ruin ed life, Gopnik desperately seeking metaphysical advice and spiritual guidance from three rabbis to become a person of substance. Ultimately the film grapples with theological issues pertaining to the human suffering in ways that strive to reconcile the spiritual and the absurd. Popular Religion and Popular Music The emergence of popular music is one of Americas greatest cultural achievements and since the mid-20th century has had several inspired practitioners whose lives and recordings in the music industry that helped energize the American society by defining a new outlook where the sacred and the secular coexisted within the mainstream. For example, Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee as one of five children belonging to Rev. C. L. Franklin, a famous Baptist minister, and Barbara Siggers Franklin, a singer and pianist. Franklins parents had a troubled relationship and separated for the final time when Aretha was six, leaving her and her siblings to be raised by their paternal grandmother, Rachel Franklin. During her childhood, the home was regularly visited by many of her fathers famous friends including Clara Ward, Sam Cooke, and Mahalia Jackson. In the presence of such gospel music legends, Franklins talents both as a self-taught piano prodigy and a gifted singer with an extr aordinary vocal range became apparent by the time she entered her teens. As noted in her autobiography, Franklin stated that her early gospel singing was patterned after Albertina Walker. Although early motherhood nearly derailed Franklins gospel career, once she decided to return to singing professionally as a pop musician rather than a gospel artist. When she signed a contract with Atlantic Records and began working with legendary RB producer Jerry Wexler to incorporate a more gospel element into Franklins evolving musical sound. By the end of the 1960s, Franklins designation as the reining Queen of Soul was clearly established. Although most of her albums were best sellers during this era, the release of Amazing Grace (1972) eventually sold over two million copies in the United States and has been hailed as the best-selling gospel album of all time. Marking a triumphant return to her gospel roots, the songs on Amazing Grace were recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Chur ch in Los Angeles, California alongside her father as well as gospel legend and family friend Rev. James Cleveland with backing vocals by the Southern California Community Choir in January 1972. In the late 1970s, Bob Dylan became a born-again Christian and released two albums of Christian gospel music: Slow Train Coming (1979) and Saved (1980). When working on Slow Train Coming with Jerry Wexler, the veteran RB producer, Dylan had started to evangelize to him during the recording. Wexler replied: Bob, youre dealing with a sixty-two-year old Jewish atheist. Lets just make an album. The album won Dylan a Grammy Award as Best Male Vocalist for the song Gotta Serve Somebody. When touring from the fall of 1979 through the spring of 1980, Dylan would not play any of his older, secular works. Realizing that there was considerably vocal backlash to his embrace of Christianity by some of his fans and fellow musicians, Dylan frequently delivered declarations of his faith from the stage. Another iconic figure in the realm of popular music that underwent deep religious conversion was the country music legend Johnny Cash.  Rediscovering his Christian faith in the early 1970s, Cash recalled taking an altar call at Rev. Jimmy Rodgers Snows Evangel Temple, a small church in Nashville, TN because, unlike many larger churches, he said that the pastor and congregation treated like just a regular parishioner and not a celebrity. His friendship with famed Christian minister Billy Graham led to the production of The Gospel Road, a film about the life of Jesus, that Cash both co-wrote and narrated. The decade saw his religious conviction deepening, and he made many evangelical appearances on Billy Graham Crusades around the world. In 1986, Cash published his only novel, Man in White, a book about Sauls conversion into the Apostle Paul. In 1990, Cash also recorded Johnny Cash Reads The Complete New Testament. Matisyahu is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae musician renowned blending traditional Jewish themes within reggae, alternative rock, electronica, and hip hop sounds. Matisyahu was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania as Matthew Paul Miller on June 30, 1979. His family eventually relocated to White Plains, New York where he was raised as a Reconstructionist Jew. While Matisyahu was an ardent music lover, he attended Hebrew school at Bet Am Shalom, a synagogue located in White Plains. At the age of sixteen, Matisyahu participated in a semester-long immersion program at the Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon, Israel that allowed him deeper exploration of his Jewish heritage. This overall experience affected his feelings towards Judaism so greatly that he eventually adopted Orthodox Jewish lifestyle by becoming a Baal Teshuva by 2001. Initially he found his way to the Carlebach Shul on the West Side of Manhattan. Matisyahu then found his way to Chabad of Washington Square. From 200 1 until 2007, Matisyahu was affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after his embrace of hasidism, Matisyahu began studying Torah at Hadar Hatorah, a yeshiva for returnees to Judaism As one example of his devotion, he will not perform in concert on Friday nights in faithful observance of the Jewish Sabbath. He later recounted such diverse influences as Phish, Bob Marley and the Wailers, God Street Wine and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach among his musical inspirations. There is a proliferation of musical genres that represent a variety of religious backgrounds from Stryper (a Christian heavy metal band) to Creed (a Christian alternative / hard rock band) to the Kominas (a Punjabi taqwacore-Islamic hardcore punk rock-group) to A Tribe Called Quest (an African American hip-hop group predominantly composed of Sunni Muslim converts). In the 1980s,  Stryper was a Christian heavy metal band from Orange County, California, USA. The name Stryper derives from Isaiah 53:5 (KJV):But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. The scriptural reference is also part of Strypers logo on most of their releases. (They also incorporate stripes into most of their outfits and their logo.) Once the band embraced the name of Stryper, drummer Robert Sweet created a acronym which is: Salvation Through Redemption, Yielding Peace, Encouragement, and Righteousness. Not only did Stryper enjoy great mainstream success during the latter half of the 1980s, they are pioneers in the mainstream popularization of Christian metal music and even achieved a Grammy Award nomination. Stryper eventually broke up in 1992, which also marked the waning popularity of heavy metal as a musical genre. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Creed was a popular, multi-platinum selling American alternative / post-grunge rock band from Tallahassee, Florida often identified as a Christian rock band. The band was never signed to a contemporary Christian music label, did not perform in Christian music venues and never got any widespread regular play on Christian radio, Creeds first three albums focused on themes of Christian faith and spirituality. Themes within their song titles such as Higher, My Sacrifice, Whats This Life For, My Own Prison, With Arms Wide Open, and One Last Breath the bands lyrics allude to Christian theology although they frequently refuted the Christian label. Similar to the Christian rock movement, The Kominas (whose name means bastards in Punjabi) are a Taqwacore punk band hailing from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The Muslim punk trio consisting of Basim Usmani, Shahjehan Khan, and Adam Brierly rock out with songs titles of Dishoom, Baby or Sharia Law in the USA. One of the Kominas best known songs, Rumi was a Homo, a protest song against homophobia within the American Muslim community, was featured in Skidmore Colleges Music Against Hatred concert. Written mainly by Usmani, the bands lyrics are clever, sometimes thought-provoking commentaries on racial profiling, foreign policy, and religious faith. The Kominas critically acclaimed debut album, Wild Nights in Guantanamo Bay, was released in March 2008.As a fusion of punk, metal, and Bhangra folk music The band uses the term Bollywood Muslim punk in order to describe their sound. The music and imagery typically draws from anti-colonial movements, Moghul art, American related to Islam, such as Moorish Science Temple, Five Percenters (an offshoot of the Nation of Islam), and Desi culture, Punjabi folklore, Sufi saints from Punjab, Hinduism, and Bollywood cinema. Formed in the late 1980s, A Tribe Called Quest was an African American hip hop group consisting of rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, formerly Jonathan Davis), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad that explored Sunni Islam. They released five albums in ten years, the first three of which were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. By 1996, lead rapper Q-Tip underwent a deepy religious awakening and, upon spiritual guidance from his friend, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, soon converted to Islam. While on tour, Q-Tips friend introduced him to a talented young producer from Detroit named Jay Dee (also known as J Dilla). Immediately taking the newcomer under his wing, Q-tip and the rest of Tribe agreed to form a production unit with Jay Dee. The group named their production company The Ummah (meaning community, nation, or brotherhood in Arabic) because Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad were devout Muslims. In addition to producing A Tribe Called Quests final two studio albums, the Ummah served as a music production collective that provided backing tracks for a wide array of RB and hip hop artists. Although the group officially disbanded in 1998 and Jay Dee death in 2006of a blood disease, their innovative blend of hip hop and jazz has left an indelible imprint upon hip hop music. Popular Religion in Popular Literature In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins novel Left Behind: A Novel of the Earths Last Days officially launched a best-selling fictional series of 18 Christian-themed thrillers. It was narrative form to a specific apocalyptic reading of the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelation. This novel has received largely favorable reactions from the late Jerry Falwell and other leading figures in the Evangelical Christian community who generally approved of how the authors represented the millennial / apocalyptic themes within Christian theology in a worldly language that was also commercially viable within the entertainment industry. The interpretation of Revelation, as presented in the Left Behind series, also encourages a largely individualistic approach to eschatology and salvation that eschews any responsibility for performing good deeds or evangelizing. Regardless of such criticism, the overall sales for Left Behind series has surpassed 65 million copies and has also inspired several movies, graphic novels, CDs, a video game and a Left Behind series for teenagers. Similarly, author Dan Browns best-selling novels also include historical themes and Christianity as recurring motifs, and as a result, have generated controversy. Browns first novel, Angels Demons (2000) is bestselling mystery-thriller novel focused on fictional Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdons quest to uncover the mysteries of the Illuminati and to unravel a plot to destroy Vatican City by detonating antimatter. The book portrays a historical conflict between the Illuminati and the Roman Catholic Church as a contest between science and religion. Browns subsequent novel, The Da Vinci Code (2003) also examines ancient history, conspiracy theories of secret societies, religious symbolism, and classic architecture. Combining the detective, thriller, and conspiracy fiction genres, The Da Vinci Code provoked popular interest in speculation concerning the historic roots of Christianity. Despite being flatly denounced by many Christian denominations as a dishonest attack on t he Roman Catholic Church rife with historical and scientific inaccuracy, The Da Vinci Code is a worldwide bestseller that had sold roughly 80 million copies that has been translated into 44 languages. Popular Religion in Comic Books There are numerous examples of popular religion being utilized in the world of comic books and graphic novels. For instance, the DC Vertigo Comic book series Preacher chronicled the fictional exploits of Jesse Custer, a small town pastor in Annville, Texas who is experiencing an extraordinary crisis of faith. After Genesis, a creature described as the supernatural spawn of the inexplicable coupling between an angel and a demon, accidentally takes possession of him, Custer becomes a hybrid human-divine being that potentially wields enough power to ultimately rival even God. Inhabited by this spiritual force composed of both pure goodness and pure evil, the comic book portrays the title character of the comic book arguably becomes the most powerful being in existence. Tragically, this realization results in a disaster that turns his church to rubble and killed his entire congregation. Spurred by his highly developed sense of morality and a strong sense of purpose, the comic book illust rates Custers paranormal adventures as he treks across the United States in a quest to find God for himself both figuratively and literally. Following a trend within American comic books during the 1960s and 1970s very much akin to the Death of God theological movement, Preacher alludes to a God that has abandoned creation and thus has left humanity to its own devices for better or worse. During its publication from 1995 to 2000, Preacher was a controversial comic book series renowned by some and reviled by others for both its dark and frequently violent humor as well as its unabashed treatment of religious and supernatural themes. Since the 1970s, there have been several characters that accentuate various dimensions of spiritual practices prevalent throughout the African diaspora. A particularly notable example of an African American supernatural superhero named Brother Voodoo who appeared in a variety of comic books published by Marvel Comics during the 1970s. Returning to his native Port-au-Prince, Haiti after more than a decade of education and practice as a psychologist in the United States, Jericho Drumm assumes the alter ego of Brother Voodoo possesses numerous superhuman and mystical powers such as easily entering into a trance-like state in which his skin becomes impervious to burning and other forms of pain as well as being able to control flame and lower life forms; these are all power that the comic book creators attribute to the characters mastery of mystical rituals derived from the loa, the spirit-gods of Haitian vodou. As an attempt to introduce a character with a very unique ethnic, cultural, a nd religious background, Brother Voodoo was later followed by other figures in the Marvel pantheon of characters such as the female Captain Marvel whose alter ego, Monica Rambeau, hailed from the Creole religiosity of contemporary New Orleans or the character of Storm (aka Ororo Monroe) from the X-Men series whose backstory harkens to being an East African hailed as a demi-goddess because of her mutant ability to control the weather. While these are certainly not the first or only comic book characters of African descent to be introduced, these creations were attempts to merge issues of race and religion in interesting ways. Moving in a considerable different vein, the central figure in DC Vertigo Comics series Hellblazer is a character named John Constantine who pursues a mysterious life as a streetwise detective who frequently crosses the supernatural boundaries between heaven and hell in order to confronting various dangers of an occult nature in the ordinary world. As a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, hedonistic cynic arguably working for the greater good, Constantine usually triumphs through guile, deceit and misdirection. At the end of his exploits, he typically makes more enemies in the process of resolving a particular conflict than the opponents he originally intends to defeat. Even though depicted as a duplicitous individual, the narrative shows Constantine to be a well-connected person who is supremely adept at making friends and has a wide array of otherworldly contacts and nefarious allies at his disposal. Consequently, the overarching narrative reveals Constantine to be a compassionate and occ asionally heroic figure struggling to overcome the influence of heaven and hell upon an otherwise unsuspecting humanity. In other words, the protagonist of Hellblazer serves as a fictional incarnation of the humanist anti-hero as a trickster of sorts. As such, this book is highly indicative of a trend in mainstream comic books that has been quite popular amongst comic book creators and fans alike wherein the mortal characters such as Constantine are imbued with an agnostic spiritual worldview over and above a sense of moral ambiguity as they unapologetically grapple with seemingly insurmountable hazards both mundane and arcane. On the whole, while there is no dearth of evidence of popular religion at work in comic books and graphic novels, there is presently a shortage dearth of academic research and discussion on the matter. Popular Religion and the Internet One of the most exceptional transformations in the emergence of popular religion in the latter half of the twentieth century has been the burgeoning presence of religion appearing on the Internet. From the mid-1990s to present, an exponential number of churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples have a firm foothold within cyberspace. Towards this end, there are numerous websites such as Streaming Faith.com and Beliefnet.com connect innumerable Christian communities nationally and internationally via the Internet with the increasing prospect of connecting with other religious groups in a virtual fashion. Since the inception and widespread use of the Internet in the 1990s, online Christian resources have tended to dominate religious themed content to date. This has been of particular importance given the presumption that most Internet users hailed from North America or Western Europe, regions deemed predominantly Christian. This assumed dominance has shifted due to the increasing level of Internet access and literacy by populations in the developing nations of the global South, most notably in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Even though it is highly unlikely that the worlds religions ever will be fully and equally represented in cyberspace, the democratic impulse of the World Wide Web will cause the demographics to begin reflecting the religious diversity among a growing array of internet users worldwide. Moreover, for those members of faith communities that are relatively small and geographically isolated from a traditional house of worship, the World Wide Web provides these practitioners an alternate means of interaction and connection. By virtue of having Internet access, adherents of such faith traditions can receive update information about their religion, obtain latest spiritual resources, and engage in communications with other faithful believers. There are a variety of religious websites such as Torah Net (www.torah.net), Allaahuakbar Net (www.allaahuakb ar.net), Gospel Communications Network (www.gospel.com), Gateways to Buddhism (www.dharmanet.org) and The Witches Voice (www.witchvox.org) are religious oriented news and networking web resources that serve as lively examples of popular religion. See also Celebrity Culture; Electronic Church; Internet; Literature; Contemporary; Lived Religion; Pluralism; Popular Religion and Popular Culture entries; Radio; Spirituality: Contemporary Trends; Television; Visual Culture entries. Juan Floyd-Thomas

Science in Shelleys Frankenstein :: Frankenstein Essays

Science in Shelley's Frankenstein    In Shelley's Frankenstein, it's interesting to use the text to ask the question, whose interest's lie at the heart of science?   Why is Victor Frankenstein motivated to plunge the questions that bringing life to inanimate matter can bring?   Victor Frankenstein's life was destroyed because of an obsession with the power to create life where none had been before.   The monster he created could be seen as a representation of all those who are wronged in the selfish name of science.   We can use Shelley's book to draw parallels in our modern society, and show that there is a danger in the impersonal relationship that science creates between the scientist and his work.   It seems to me that Shelley was saying that when science is done merely on the basis of discovery without thought to the affect that the experimentation can have, we risk endangering everything we hold dear.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When describing the monster he had created, Frankenstein says: No mortal could support the horror of that countenance.   A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch.   I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived. (Shelley, 235)    This was Victor's response to the reaching out of the monster towards Victor on the night of his creation.   Victor, who for months had worked on this creation, was suddenly confronted with the results of his scientific pursuit.   He had labored night and day in an effort to do something that had never been done by man before.   He had figured out the scientific way to bring life to that which was dead, so he blindly went forth and did it.   He never really stopped to think what the consequences of his action might be.   He knows that the creature he is making is ugly, but he never wonders what will happen to the creature after he is brought to life as a result of that ugliness.   The monster is made oversized so it's easier for Victor to work on him, yet no thought is taken about how the creature might feel about such a form.

Early Childhood Development Essay

The work we do as early childhood educators is self-explanatory we work with children. We are expected to work with young children to communicate with them, play with them, care for their physical needs, teach them, and provide them with a sense of psychological comfort and security. In early childhood care and education we regard all areas of development- social, emotional, intellectual and physical- as important and interconnected. Because young children are vulnerable and dependent on adults for responsive care, we will be responsive care, we will expected to nurture and support all aspects of development. Intentional teaching will be an important part of your preparation to be a teacher. Learning to select appropriate teaching strategies and to practice explaining why you choose them. As a part of the current emphasis on standards you will probably be expected to know what standards are used in your state and your program. Design a curriculum that addresses early learning standards assess what children have learned in terms of standards. Identify how you are meeting standards in your work with families. You may find yourself being a consultant, a social worker, an advocate, a teacher, a reporter, a librarian, a mediator, a translator, a social director, and a postal carrier. Your job will be varied, engaging, and challenging. An important feature of the role that early childhood educator is working collaboratively with other adults. You have to figure out what qualities make you a good teacher of young children. Personal characteristics temperament, multiple intelligences are examples of personal values. Teachers need personal values and morality, and good attitude towards diversity. You need the impact of life experiences and the ability to reflect on them. Teachers are those of specialized knowledge and skills. Being a teacher requires have professional commitment and behavior. They have legal responsibilities to adhere to professional values and ethics. My educational requirements include a BA degree and elementary teacher certification, specialized training my include training in early childhood education. Licensure varies by state. A job becomes a calling when the purpose is important.

Lewis and Clark Expedition Timeline

Lewis and Clark Expedition Timeline The expedition to explore the West led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark was an early indication of Americas move toward westward expansion and the concept of Manifest Destiny. Though its widely assumed that Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the land of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson had actually harbored plans to explore the West for years. The reasons for the Lewis and Clark Expedition were more complicated, but planning for the expedition actually began before the great land purchase had even happened. Preparations for the expedition took a year, and the actual journey westward and back took roughly two years. This timeline provides some highlights of the legendary voyage. April 1803 Meriwether Lewis traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to meet with surveyor Andrew Ellicott, who taught him to use astronomical instruments to plot positions. During the planned expedition to the West, Lewis would use the sextant and other tools to chart his position. Ellicott was a noted surveyor, and had earlier surveyed the boundaries for the District of Columbia. Jefferson sending Lewis to study with Ellicott indicates the serious planning Jefferson put into the expedition. May 1803 Lewis stayed in Philadelphia to study with Jeffersons friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush. The physician gave Lewis some instruction in medicine, and other experts taught him what they could about zoology, botany, and the natural sciences. The purpose was to prepare Lewis to make scientific observations while crossing the continent. July 4, 1803 Jefferson officially gave Lewis his orders on the Fourth of July. July 1803 At Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), Lewis visited the US Armory and obtained muskets and other supplies to use on the journey. August 1803 Lewis had designed a 55-foot long keelboat which was constructed in western Pennsylvania. He took possession of the boat, and began a journey down the Ohio River. October - November 1803 Lewis met up with his former U.S. Army colleague William Clark, whom he has recruited to share command of the expedition. They also met with other men who volunteered for the expedition, and began forming what would be known as Corps of Discovery. One man on the expedition was not a volunteer: a slave named York who belonged to William Clark. December 1803 Lewis and Clark decided to stay in the vicinity of St. Louis through the winter. They used the time stocking up on supplies. 1804: In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition got underway, setting out from St. Louis to travel up the Missouri River. The leaders of the expedition began keeping journals recording important events, so its possible to account for their movements. May 14, 1804 The voyage officially began when Clark led the men, in three boats, up the Missouri River to a French village. They waited for Meriwether Lewis, who caught up to them after attending some final business in St. Louis. July 4, 1804 The Corps of Discovery celebrated Independence Day in the vicinity of present-day Atchison, Kansas. The small cannon on the keelboat was fired to mark the occasion, and a ration of whiskey was dispensed to the men. August 2, 1804 Lewis and Clark held a meeting with Indian chiefs in present day Nebraska. They gave the Indians peace medals which had been struck at the direction of President  Thomas Jefferson. August 20, 1804 A member of the expedition, Sergeant Charles Floyd, became ill, probably with appendicitis. He died and was buried on a high bluff over the river in what is now Sioux City, Iowa. Remarkably, Sergeant Floyd would be the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the two-year expedition August 30, 1804 In South Dakota a council was held with the Yankton Sioux. Peace medals were distributed to the Indians, who celebrated the appearance of the expedition. September 24, 1804 Near present-day Pierre, South Dakota, Lewis and Clark met with the Lakota Sioux. The situation became tense but a dangerous confrontation was averted. October 26, 1804 The Corps of Discovery reached a village of the Mandan Indians. The Mandans lived in lodges made of earth, and Lewis and Clark decided to stay near the friendly Indians throughout the oncoming winter. November 1804 Work began on the winter camp. And two vitally important people joined the expedition, a French trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife Sacagawea, an Indian of the Shoshone tribe. December 25, 1804 In the bitter cold of a South Dakota winter, the Corps of Discovery celebrated Christmas day. Alcoholic drinks were allowed, and rations of rum were served. 1805: January 1, 1805 The Corps of Discovery celebrated New Years Day by firing the cannon on the keelboat. The journal of the expedition noted that 16 men danced for the amusement of the Indians, who enjoyed the performance immensely. The Mandans gave the dancers several buffalo robes and quantities of corn to show appreciation. February 11, 1805 Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau. April 1805 Packages were prepared to send back to President  Thomas Jefferson  with a small return party. The packages contained such items as a Mandan robe, a live prairie dog (which survived the trip to the east coast), animal pelts, and plant samples. This was the only time the expedition could send back any communication until its eventual return. April 7, 1805 The small return party set off back down the river toward St. Louis. The remainder resumed the journey westward. April 29, 1805 A member of the Corps of Discovery shot and killed a grizzly bear, which had chased him. The men would develop a respect and fear for grizzlies. May 11, 1805 Meriwether Lewis, in his journal, described another encounter with a grizzly bear. He mentioned how the formidable bears were very difficult to kill. May 26, 1805 Lewis saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time. June 3, 1805 The men came to a fork in the Missouri River, and it was unclear which fork should be followed. A scouting party went out and determined that the south fork was the river and not a tributary. They judged correctly; the north fork is actually the Marias River. June 17, 1805 The Great Falls of the Missouri River were encountered. The men could no longer proceed by boat, but had to portage, carrying a boat across land. The travel at this point was extremely difficult. July 4, 1805 The Corps of Discovery marked Independence Day by drinking the last of their alcohol. The men had been trying to assemble a collapsible boat which theyd brought from St. Louis. But in the following days they could not make it watertight and the boat was abandoned. They planned to construct canoes to continue the journey. August 1805 Lewis intended to find the Shoshone Indians. He believed they had horses and hoped to barter for some. August 12, 1805 Lewis reached the Lemhi Pass, in the Rocky Mountains. From the Continental Divide Lewis could look to the West, and he was greatly disappointed to see mountains stretching as far as he can see. He had been hoping to find a descending slope, and perhaps a river, that the men could take for an easy passage westward. It became clear that reaching the Pacific Ocean would be very difficult. August 13, 1805 Lewis encountered Shosone Indians. The Corps of Discovery was split at this point, with Clark leading a larger group. When Clark did not arrive at a rendezvous point as planned, Lewis was worried, and sent search parties out for him. Finally Clark and the other men arrived, and the Corps of Discovery was united. The Shoshone rounded up horses for the men to use on their way westward. September 1805 The Corps of Discovery encountered very rough terrain in the Rocky Mountains, and their passage was difficult. They finally emerged from the mountains and encountered Nez Perce Indians. The Nez Perce helped them build canoes, and they began to travel again by water. October 1805 The expedition moved fairly quickly by canoe, and the Corps of Discovery entered the Columbia River. November 1805 In his journal, Meriwether Lewis mentioned encountering Indians wearing sailors jackets. The clothing, obviously obtained through trade with whites, meant they were getting close to the Pacific Ocean. November 15, 1805 The expedition reached the Pacific Ocean. On November 16, Lewis mentioned in his journal that their camp is in full view of the ocean. December 1805 The Corps of Discovery settled into winter quarters in a place where they can hunt elk for food. In the journals of the expedition, there was much complaining about the constant rain and poor food. On Christmas Day the men celebrated as best they could, in what must have been miserable conditions. 1806: As spring came, the Corps of Discovery made preparations to begin traveling back toward to the East, to the young nation they had left behind nearly two years earlier. March 23, 1806: Canoes Into the Water In late March the Corps of Discovery put its canoes into the Columbia River and began the journey eastward. April 1806: Moving Eastward Quickly The men traveled along in their canoes, occasionally having to portage, or carry the canoes overland, when they came to difficult rapids. Despite the difficulties, they tended to move quickly, encountering friendly Indians along the way. May 9, 1806: Reunion With the Nez Perce The Corps of Discovery met up again with the Nez Perce Indians, who had kept the expeditions horses healthy and fed throughout the winter. May 1806: Forced to Wait The expedition was forced to stay among the Nez Perce for a few weeks while waiting for the snow to melt in the mountains ahead of them. June 1806: Travel Resumed The Corps of Discovery got underway again, setting off to cross the mountains. When they encountered snow that was 10 to 15 feet deep, they turned back. At the end of June, they once again set off to travel eastward, this time taking three Nez Perce guides along to help them navigate the mountains. July 3, 1806: Splitting the Expedition Having successfully crossed the mountains, Lewis and Clark decided to split the Corps of Discovery so they can accomplish more scouting and perhaps find other mountain passes. Lewis would follow the Missouri River, and Clark would follow the Yellowstone until it met up with the Missouri. The two groups would then reunite. July 1806: Finding Ruined Scientific Samples Lewis found a cache of material he had left previous year, and discovered that some of his scientific samples had been ruined by moisture. July 15, 1806: Fighting a Grizzly While exploring with a small party, Lewis was attacked by a grizzly bear. In a desperate encounter, fought it off by breaking his musket over the bears head and then climbing a tree. July 25, 1806: A Scientific Discovery Clark, exploring separately from Lewiss party, found a dinosaur skeleton. July 26, 1806: Escape From the Blackfeet Lewis and his men met up with some Blackfeet warriors, and they all camped together. The Indians attempted to steal some rifles, and, in a confrontation that turned violent, one Indian was killed and another possibly wounded. Lewis rallied the men and had them travel quickly, covering nearly 100 miles by horseback as they fear retaliation from the Blackfeet. August 12, 1806: The Expedition Reunites Lewis and Clark reunited along the Missouri River, in present-day North Dakota. August 17, 1806: Farewell to Sacagawea At a Hidatsa Indian village, the expedition paid Charbonneau, the French trapper who had accompanied them for nearly two years, his wages of $500. Lewis and Clark said their goodbyes to Charbonneau, his wife Sacagawea, and her son, who had been born on the expedition a year and a half earlier. August 30, 1806: Confrontation With the Sioux The Corps of Discovery was confronted by a band of nearly 100 Sioux warriors. Clark communicated with them and told them the men will kill any Sioux who approaches their camp. September 23, 1806: Celebration in St. Louis The expedition arrived back at St. Louis. The townspeople stood on the riverbank and cheered their return. Legacy of Lewis and Clark The Lewis and Clark Expedition did not directly lead to settlement in the West. In some ways, efforts like the settlement of the trading post at Astoria (in present-day Oregon) were more important. And it wasnt until the Oregon Trail became popular, decades later, that large numbers of settlers began moving into the Pacific Northwest. It would not be until the administration of James K. Polk that much of the territory in the Northwest crossed by Lewis and Clark would officially became part of the United States. And it would take the California Gold Rush to truly popularize the rush to the West Coast. Yet the Lewis and Clark expedition provided valuable information about the vest stretches of prairies and mountain ranges between the Mississippi and the Pacific.

The Great White Shark

Beginning with the simplest one-celled organism, an extraordinary animal rose in the murky waters entitled to a non-comparable killing-eating machine. This organism has become natures most genuine and most successful creature that it has remained unchanged for over 250 million years. Nature finally invented the perfect king of the sea. This animal has given the sea its living adjective; in turn, it was entitled- The Great White Shark derived from a series of evolutionary advancements that took several billion years. It began with the derivation of the vertebrates-the Phylum Chordata. Here, the Class Agnotha came to existence. Some features of Agnotha are the presence of a cartilage skeleton, nine gill slits (turning into five gill slits in sharks, where the first four became the jaw), and fins. Sharks belong to the class Chondrichthyes-a more elaborated organism. Jaws derived from the first four gill slits, spiral valve, and productive fins. The fins are amongst the most important advancements made by the Fixed rigid rods support the fins. The sharks have five different types of fins. They have paired fins that lift the shark, as it is able to swim; paired pelvic fins, which stabilize the shark and letting it steer to reach its prey in a more effective manner; dorsal fins also further aide the shark in stabilization as well as the anal fin. For propelling, the shark uses the caudal fins. The caudal fins allow the shark to charge directly toward its The great white sharks size is inevitably recognizable, but it was actually even bigger, much bigger. It was called Carcharodon megalodon years ago. This creature is still believed by some to live down in the waters, where it would be almost impossible to reach shore because of its monstrous size. It is over forty feet long and believed to be able to eat a school bus whole! Of course, the g...