Use of Skeleton Steel Frame Structure On New Factory Essay

Use of Skeleton Steel Frame Structure On New Factory - Essay Example The instance offers the advantage of treating wooden materials instead of the steel materials. As result, it avoids heavy expenses involved in building and construction process (Ward, 2008). Assemblage of steel materials is very efficient and faster since manufacturers of the materials design them in a manner that they just fix and join with each other. As result, it saves time of redesigning the joints for the materials. Unlike wooden materials used in building, steel materials have a high degree of accuracy. For instance, their edges once measured and cut according to the specifications wanted, do not always peel off unlike wood or plastic materials (Ward, 2008). Steel structures have their versatility feature that gives the architectures the choice to attain most of their objectives during building and construction process. For instance, steel forms an important building material in stadia, shopping structures, commercial buildings, steel cladding systems, landmark structures, and other possible areas that steel can provide the best option in constructing it (Ward, 2008). Since steel is strong and durable, it, in this case, emerges as one of the sustainable construction materials. It isalso possible to recycle steel materials and as a result making it enhances sustainability in building and construction (Ward, 2008). Steel structures also offer to the manufactures its choice of flexibility. In this case, steel becomes advantageous to manufacturers due its lightweight, open and the airy spaces. As a result, it makes possible for the steel to withstand disturbances with little costs incurred in its maintenance. Protection of steel against fire involves using the passive fire protection method. The method facilitates the insulation of the structures from the effects of high temperatures from the fire. However, passive method involves two types; on

Starbucks Coffee Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Coffee Essay Starbucks coffee has pursued rapid expansion both at home and abroad. In mid- 2004, Starbucks could boast more than 7,800 outlets around the world, and chairman Howard Schultz and CEO Orin Smith have no plans to slow the growth, ? The company planned at least 1, 300 more stores in 2004 and has a long term goal of reaching 10, 000 outlets in the United States alone. The presidents vision is that the company ? Starbucks? could have as many as 15,000 international stores. Today Starbucks has nearly 1, 500 store outlets in the United States including Europe , Pacific Rim ,Middle East and Mexico. ? Most of Starbucks international stores are now operated as joint ventures with local companies. Starbucks has to go fast or lose the opportunity ? and a local partner can facilitate rapid development of a new market. Executives are learning to adapt the companys operating methods and product offerings to better suit local conditions and tastes. 1) ? How could you classify Starbucks grand strategy and global strategy? Which of Porters competitive strategies is the company using? Explain each answer? ? ? We classified the grand strategy of starbucks pertaining to its Growth. In order for starbucks to sell and market its products is by: ? A. ?Allocating new funds to invest namely like prime locations and lots. Basically any establishment will earn more if the store is located in a highly busy route or place. Potential clients can be marketed. ? B. Investing in hiring the best and qualified personnel. In order for a store to run smoothly , the company should have competent and high breed of people who can manage the store and the same time enjoy the work itself. ? C. ?Purchasing of new set of equipments , glassware , lighting , tables and chairs can be a plus factor for a good ambiance. For the Global Strategy , Starbuck is implementing Transitional process where in they seek to achieve both global integration and national responsiveness. A true transitional strategy is difficult to achieve , because one goal requires close global coordination while the other goal requires local flexibility. However a lot of increased competition means they must achieve global efficiency , going pressure to meet local demands and national responsiveness. Starbucks designs quality stores to sell and market its products to use components in a few larger scale, basically , the company goes global to introduce it to other countries and to increase its market. 2. Discuss how top executives are using leadership structure , information and control systems and or human resource to implement international strategy? What steps would you recommend for implementing drive-through stores or Hear Music coffee houses? ? Top executives uses its leadership qualities by bringing Starbucks on a the right path and showing a vision for the company and its employees. Top executives have several ideas percolating to the companys growth. ? a. Establish rapport and solid partnership or joint venture with other countries makes things cohesive. b. ?Adapting the companys operating methods and product offerings to better suit local conditions and taste. Not all countries have same taste with regards to starbucks products. They sell what is needed and wanted. c. Acquiring highly skilled people barista? who can prepare , serve and enjoy the tasks. 3 Starbucks has typically maintained a uniform look and feel to its outlets and product offerings. What do you think this change might mean for starbucks in terms of further international expansion? ? ?Starbucks is known for there quality of coffee, excellent service and appealing ambiance. We believe Starbucks coffee is a brand and neighborhood name. You can see a starbucks store in a 2 km radius. Basically there everywhere. Making some changes the way they look and maintained a uniform type of set-up can only mean one thing. The Company is growing. Changes are normal. Most of the food and coffee establishments try to change and create ideas to in order to sell new products. As for starbucks , they should do the same to be more competitive and to increase sales and revenues. ?

Economic Business Strategies of Ryanair

Economic Business Strategies of Ryanair Ryanair Introduction The economics of business vary, both depending upon the industry where they operate and the style and strategy adopted by the management. Within this paper it is intended to assess those economic factors as they relate to the â€Å"low-cost† airlines. To assist with this assessment Ryanair, one of the leading â€Å"low-cost† airline operators in Europe, will be used as an example. Existing Corporate Strategy Following the liberalisation of the airline industry, the consumer demand for air travel began to increase. However, when operators such as Ryanair, an Irish based company, was one of the â€Å"first-movers† (Faulkner and Campbell 2006). in adopting a â€Å"low-cost† strategy for Europe, similar to the model successfully introduced by Southwest Airlines (2007) in the US, the levels of demand increased dramatically. As can be seen from the numbers of passengers using UK airports (see table 1). Table 1 Airline passengers Year Passengers (m) 1980 50 1990 90 2000 180 The demand for airline seats is also forecast to more than treble by 2030 to around five hundred million UK passengers. Ryanair is an Irish airline operator that commenced business in the mid 1980’s with one 15-seater aircraft, has grown to a business that now has a fleet of over 150 aircraft and carrying over two million passengers (About Us 2007). Since the beginning of the century, the company’s growth rate has improved substantially, to a position where it is now supplying air travel to around forty million passengers (see figure 1), with an expectation of this rising to seventy million within the next few years (Ryanair 2007). The company has achieved this growth by supplying consumers with consistently low prices. It maintained these low fares by creating a â€Å"no frills† price advantage (Pettigrew et al 2002), which differentiated its service from the established airline competitors (Porter 2004, p.207 and Kotler et al 2004, p.407). In other words Ryanair offered cheap fares with lower levels of service. For example, free in-flight meals were eliminated. At one stage the no-frills policy included not providing ice for in-flight drinks (Creaton 2004, p.169), although this was reintroduced following complaints. However, to sustain this position, as Lynch (2006) and Faulkner and Campbell (2005), who submitted that to achieve and maintain low price in the market place, the business itself had to be structured in a way that provided a limited cost base. Ryanair has achieved this situation by taking a number of measures, which include: Maximising use of resources by using one aricraft type, increasing employee roles and reducing airpot turnaround times. Ticketless and direct selling via the Internet or phone, which served to reduce administrative costs. Use of secondary rather than main airports. This move enabled the business to negotiate lower airport fees. Single class travel, elimatiion of free inflight services and seat reservation helped reduce business costs. All of these measure have given Ryanair the flexibility to be able to maintain a flexibility of price, from 99p owards, and service and helped it to react effectively to industry changes. In terms of profit and the financial contribution that Ryanair’s strategy has achieved, as can be seen from the following financial data taken from the relevant company’s website, shows how successful Ryanairs appraach was in 2003, when compared with its main competitors (See table 2 below). Table 2Net profit percentages Company Percentage Ryanair 17.81% Easyjet 7.98% British Airways 7.28% Challenges There are significant future challenges facing the low-cost airline industry in general, and Ryanair in particular, which will need to be addressed. Amongst these are the following: Competition It increased regional and global harmonisation and development of air travel; Ryanair is bound to face increasing competition within the next five years. This could materialise from developing nations within Europe, where there is significant scope for new entrants (see figure 2) It could also result from the recently signed â€Å"open skies† agreement between the EU and US (Milmo and Gow 2007). Both of these actions could result in loss of market share to new entrants, which would impact adversely upon Ryanair’s current level of success and financial results. Similarly, Ryanair’s own growth predictions could reduce its profitability levels. Whilst growth brings economies of scale, it can increase management costs, which is counter-productive to efficiency (Creaton 2004, p.250). Taxation At present the airline industry is heavily subsidised. As identified with the Bized (2004) report, this benefits the industry players by around  £6 billion annually. These benefits include zero VAT, capped landing charges and fuel tax exemption. It is anticipated the removal of these benefits, by introducing the relevant takes could reduce passenger levels by over 22% as a result of the increase in prices. Whilst it is not expected that all these subsidies will be eliminated at once, there is little doubt that for political, treasury and environmental reasons some adjustments will be seen in these areas will be seen within the next five years. Environment The major challenge facing Ryanair relates to its impact on climate change. Following recent IPCC, the EU are becoming increasingly concerned with the airline industries contribution to this global issue. As a result, these organisations have developed industry targets that are expected to be met within the next 5 years and beyond (see table 3). Unless Ryanair adapts its corporate strategy to take into account these targets, the result addition costs, or reduction in service will impact severely upon its ability to remain cost efficient and to maintain its present levels of profitability. Future Strategy As has been advised by a number of researchers (Lynch (2006) and Faulkner and Campbell (2006)) every business needs to review its corporate strategy to address future challenges. There are two ways that Ryanair can address the challenges that have been outlined in the previous section of this paper In terms of reducing the impact of competition, and making it more difficult for new entrants, the business needs to continue to seek ways to sustain its cost reduction programme. This not only means that it has to ensure that the internal management structure efficiency of the business needs to be as efficient as it has been in the past, but also that the business needs to seek new measures of cost reductions. For example, expanding its automatic check-in processes through all its locations would greatly reduce the business human resource cost. It can also sustain its lower price policy by transferring the cost of flying from ticket cost to other aspects of the travel, for example luggage. This specific action could also offset any potential airport cost increases. However, the most effective strategy to adopt in order to address all of the challenges is to develop a plan that increases the supply to meet anticipated demand, whilst at the same time reducing the cost of that supply and the effects of increased taxations and meeting its environmental commitment. The most effective plan for this achievement is the conversion of the current fleet to higher passenger capacity aircraft. For example, the introduction of a significant number of Airbus models would double capacity on those flights. From an economic viewpoint it would also reduce costs. For example the maintenance and servicing costs would remain the same because aircraft numbers have not been increased, but will reduce as a percentage of the ticket cost. Similarly, airport costs and other taxes, such as fuel tax would also be reduced per passenger capita. Finally, because of the increased load, and higher efficiency of these aircraft, the emissions level per passenger km would also see a reduction, thus helping the business to meet its environmental targets. Conclusion As has been seen from this research, over the past two decades the business economic strategies that Ryanair has employed have been successful in helping it maintain competitive advantage, achieve passenger growth and fulfil its objective of increasing business value. However, with the future challenges facing the business from increased competition, rising taxation and environmental concerns, the business will need to adopt a that is flexible to change, whilst at the same time enabling it to continue to sustain and achieve the successes of the past. This will mean combining cost reduction with a production and supply system that reduces the impact of potential tax increases, whilst at the same time enabling Ryanair to meet the increasing demands of reducing its environmental impact. Bibliography Bized (2004). Low Flying Fares: An End to Cheap, No Frills? Retrieved 27 July 2007 from http://www.bized.co.uk/current/leisure/2003_4/010304.htm Brassington Frances and Pettitt, Stephen (2006). Principles of Marketing, 4th edition, Pearson Education Ltd. London, UK Channel 4 News (2007). If you care about the environment, you should fly Easyjet. Really? Retrieved 16 May 2007 from http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/environment/factcheck+how+green+is+easyjet/509642 Creaton, Siobhan (2004). Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe. Aurum Press Ltd. London, UK. Faulkner, David and Campbell, Andrew (2006). The Oxford Book of Strategy: A Strategy Overview and Competitive Strategy. New ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. De Groote, P.D (2005). The Success Story of European Low-Cost Carriers in a Changing Airworld. GaWC Research Bulletin 174. Retrieved 27 July 2007 from http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb174.html Kotler, Philip. Wong, Veronica., Saunders John A and Armstrong, Gary (2004). Principles of Marketing, 4th European edition, Pearson Education Ltd. London, UK. Lynch Richard (2006). Corporate Strategy. 4th edition. Financial Times Prentice Hall. Harlow, UK. Milmo Dan and Gow David (2007). EU Open skies deal. The Guardian. London, UK. Pettigrew, Andrew M. Thomas, Howard and Whittington, Richard (2002). The Handbook of Strategy and Management. Sage Publications Ltd. London, UK. Porter, Michael E (2004). Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors. The Free Press. New ed. The Free Press. New York, US. Report (2007). The Environmental Effects of Civil Aircraft in Flight. Royal Commission of Environmental Pollution. Retrieved 29 July 2007 from http://www.rcep.org.uk/avreport.htm Ryanair (2007). About us. Retrieved 14 May 2007 from http://www.ryanair.com Southwest Airlines (2007). About SWA. Retrieved 28 July 2007 from http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/airborne.html

Essay --

INTRODUCTION In California, 2013 marked the direst year on record. Rainfall precipitation statewide was 7 inches, while the previously recorded driest year dates back to 1898, with 11.6 inches. So it was no surprise that on January 27th 2014, Governor Brown declared California in a drought state of emergency and directed state officials to take action (DWR). The Department of Water Resources has reduced water allocations from the State Water Project to zero percent, affecting 29 public water agencies. Not only has the current drought impacted California on a political level, it has evoked panic in the public, especially farmers, who rely on a steady water supply to make their living. There is an urgent need for a solution, but little agreement on an action. Conservation approaches have always been in play, however another proposed solution involves the production of potable water through the process of desalination. Desalination involves the removal of salt and other minerals from saline water to produce pure water. Specialized facilities, referred to as desalination plants, utilize this process to generate fresh water from seawater and brackish ground water. The water produced by these plants can then be used for human consumption and agricultural purposes. Therefore, the construction of desalination plants is being considered as an answer to the state’s current water crisis. Although desalination offers the significant benefit of an increased water supply, there are negative environmental impacts. The problem is its extreme energy demands resulting in high emission of greenhouse gases. Background Desalination is a not a new idea; President Kennedy opened the first desalination plant in 1961. Although interest began in 1952 ... ...lifornia’s water future. Desalination offers a benefit like no other, especially during situations of drought such as the one California is currently experiencing. With a constant supply of fresh water through desalination, farmers will not be subjected to water cuts and thus a reduction in agricultural production. The output of 3 to 4 desalination plants will be large enough to provide water to both the agriculture and the people of California. Conclusions Like any political policy, limiting the number desalination plants in California has its benefits and its costs. The potential water supply produced by these plants will be cut in half. However this is an acceptable cost when you consider the lowered potential of environmental harm. Both sides of the debate will never be in harmony, although the proposed policy offers a compromise that should be considered.

Plastic Bottles, Skin Pack

Plastic Bottles, Skin Pack, Tin Can, Boxes, Shrink Wrap, Barrel, Crate, Aseptic, Container, Active, Flexible, Rigid Plastic, Metal, Flexible, Glass, Paper Board, Food, Beverage Packaging is among the high growth industries in India.A high degree of potential exists for almost all user segments which are expanding appreciably-Processessed foods, hard and soft drinks, fruit and marine products, cosmetics and personalcare, office stationary and accessories, fabrics and garments, white goods and other durables, electrical appliances and equipments, entertainment and other electronics, shoes and leather ware, gems and jewellery, toys and sports goods, chemicals and fertilizers. Due to lower manufacturing costs, India is fast becoming a preferred hub for packaging production.The Indian packaging industry has made a mark with its exports that comprise flattened cans, printed sheets and components, crown cork, lug caps, plastic film laminates, craft paper, paper board and packaging machinery , while the imports include tinplate, coating and lining compounds and others. In India, the fastest growing packaging segments are laminates and flexible packaging, especially PET and woven sacks. The market size for packaging materials & systems for food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, Ind. products, textiles, handicrafts, etc. accounts for 4%, while rigid & semi-rigid plastic containers is about 9%.The metal and tin containers accounts for 10%, glass containers 10% , corrugated board & boxes 23%, paper & paper board 36% and other ancillary materials like tapes straps, labels, adhesives, etc. – 8%. Upgradation, both of functionality and aesthetics, characterizes the recent trends in the industry. Elaborate and more expensive packaging is penetrating deeper into marketing of industrial products and even agro-based products, like food and personalcare products, drugs and pharmaceuticals, consumer durables and electronic products, especially entertainment products.Pac kaging market size in India is about Rs 65,000 crore is growing at the rate of 15 per cent per annum. Currently rigid packaging enjoys more than 65% market share but the traditional rigid packaging users are migrating to flexible packaging in a big way. Market size of PET/BOPP and other flexible film-based manufacturing segment is estimated at around Rs 25 billion. The cost impact of PET film and BOPP film on the overall packaging cost ranges from 35-85% depending on the product to be packaged.The main players are Paper Products, Akar Group, Orient Press, India Foils, RT Packaging and Mukund Flex Pack. Akar Group consists of Akar Laminations, Sharp Industries and Vishnu Vijay Packagers. The overall growth rate of the industry has tapered off to around 9%. The flexible packaging industry is expected to grow at about 10-15% per annum in the coming years. The laminated products are growing at around 30% p. a. There are about 600-700 packaging machinery manufacturers, 95% of which are i n the small and medium sector located all over India.

How to Improve Low ACT Math Scores 9 Tips From a Perfect Scorer

How to Improve Low ACT Math Scores 9 Tips From a Perfect Scorer SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you struggling with ACT Mathscores between 14-24? You're not alone - hundreds of thousands of other students are scoring in this range. But many don't know the best ways to break out of this score range and get 26+on the ACT. Here we'll discuss how to improve ACT Mathscore effectively, and why it's so important to do so. Put these principles to work and I'm confident you'll be able to improve your score. Brief note: This article is tailored for lower-scoring students, currently scoring below a 26 on ACT Math. If you're already above this range, my perfect 36 ACT Mathscore articlewill be better for you as it contains advanced strategies. In this article, I'm going to discuss why scoring high is a good idea, what it takes to score a 26, and then go into ACT Math tips. Stick with me - this is like constructing a building. First you need to lay a good foundation before putting up the walls and windows. Similarly, we need to first understand why you're doing what you're doing, before diving into tips and strategies. In this guide, I talk mainly about getting to a 26. But if your goal is to get to a 24 or lower, these tips still equally apply. Understand the Stakes At this ACT score range, improving your low ACT Mathscore to a 26 range will dramatically boost your chances of getting into better colleges. The reason? A 26 puts you well above the national average of all ACT test takers, at about 83%ile. This is roughly equivalent to a 1200 out of 1600 on the SAT. Let's take a popular school, Pennsylvania State University,as an example. Its average ACT score is a 27. Its 25th percentile score is a 24, and 75th percentile is a 29. Furthermore, its acceptance rate is 55%. In other words, a little more than half of all applicants are admitted. Good odds, but the lower your scores, the worse your chances. In our analysis, if you apply with an ACT score of 22, your chance of admission drops to 22.4%, or around a 1 in 4chance. But if you raise your score to a 26, your chance of admission goes up to 46.7% -double the chances of admission, for just 4 points of improvement. And because your ACT Math score factors into your ACT composite score, raising your Math score will really help raise the average of your total score. It's really worth your time to improve your ACT score. Hour for hour,it's the best thing you can do to raise your chance of getting into college. Curious what chances you have with a 26 ACT score? Check out ourexpert college admissions guide for a 26 ACT score. Know that You Can Do It This isn't just some lame inspirational message you see on the back of a milk carton. I mean, literally, you and every other student can do this. In my work with PrepScholar, I've worked with thousands of students scoring in the lower ranges of 15-21. Time after time, I see students who beat themselves up over their low score and think improving it is impossible. "I know I'm not smart." "I just don't get algebra and I can't see myself scoring high." "I don't know what to study to improve my score." It breaks my heart. Because I know that more than anything else, your ACT score is a reflection ofhow hard you work and how smartly you study. Not your IQ and not your school grades. Not how Ms. Huffington in 9th grade said you'd never get geometry. Here's why: the ACT is a weird test. When you take it, don't you get the sense that the questions are often different from straightforward math questions you've seen in school? It's purposely designed this way. The ACT can't test difficult concepts, because this would be unfair for students who aren't yet at Calculus level. It can't ask you to analyze quantum physics. The ACT is a national test, which means it needs a level playing field for all students around the country. So it HAS to test concepts that all high school students will cover.Numbers (integers, fractions), algebra(solve for x), coordinategeometry(lines and slopes), plane geometry (triangles, circles, lines), and other topics like trigonometry. You've learned all of this before in high school. But the ACT still has to make the test difficult, so it needs to test these concepts in strange ways. This trips up students who don't prepare, but it rewards students who understand the test well. Here's an example: This is a classic ACT type question. It tests really simple concepts in a complicated way. The first time you see this, it might be confusing. How do I find the area of the entire area? How do I find the area of A? Why does this look like a brick wall? But you've learned all the concepts you need to solve this. This is a simple question about areas and fractions. As the first sentence tells us, there are three rows of equal area. Each of these rows are split up into two, three or four equal areas. Each region is labeled A, B or C. The question is asking us for the fraction of the square's area in the region labeled A. Notice that there are three regions labeled A -one in each row. Let's use a strategy to solve this - let's plug in a number. We'll use 12 for the area of a row. Because there are 3 rows, the total area is 36. In the first row, there are 2 equal regions - A and B. To divide 12 into 2 regions, each would have area 6. So A in the first row has 6 area. In the next row, there are 3 equal regions - A, B, and C. Once again, to divide 12 into 3 regions, each would have area 4. So A in the second row has 4 area. Finally, in the last row there are 4 equal regions - A, B, C, and D. To divide 12 into 4 regions, each would have area 3. So A in the third row has 3 area. So what's the total area covered by A? 6 + 4 + 3 = 13. What's the total area of the square? We said it above - 36. So the "fraction of the square's area..in a region labeled A" is 13/36. This might have been confusing the first time, but the next time you see a question like this, you'll know what to do. The ACT math section is full of examples like this. To improve your score, you just need to: Learn the types of questions that the ACT tests, like the one above Put together the concepts you already know to solve the questions Practice on a lot of questions so you learn from your mistakes I'll go into more detail about exactly how to do this. First, let's see how many questions you need to get right. What It Takes to Get a 26in ACT Math If we have a target ACT score in mind, it helps to understand how many questions you need to get right on the actual test. The ACT Math section has 60 questions on it. Depending on how many questions you get right, you'll get a Scaled score out of 36. Here's the raw score to ACT Math Score conversion table. (If you could use a refresher on how the ACT is scored and how raw scores are calculated, read this.) Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw 36 60 27 43-44 18 24-26 9 - 35 58-59 26 40-42 17 21-23 8 3 34 57 25 38-39 16 17-20 7 - 33 55-56 24 36-37 15 13-16 6 2 32 54 23 34-35 14 -12 5 - 31 52-53 22 32-33 13 8-10 4 1 30 50-51 21 30-31 12 7 3 - 29 48-49 20 29 5-6 2 - 28 45-47 19 27-28 10 4 1 0 So if you're aiming for a 26, on this test you need to get just 40 questions correct. This is just a 66% on the test! Also, keep in mind that you'll be able to GUESS on a lot of questions. Because there are five answer choices, you get a lot of questions right with a 20% chance! So here's an example. Let's say you know how to solve just 35 questions for sure. You guess on the remaining 25 and get five of them right by chance. This gives you a raw score of 40, or a scaled score of 26! This has serious implications for your testing strategy. In essence, you only need to answer 2/3 of all questions right. We'll go into more detail below about what this means for your testing strategy below. Whatever you're scoring now, take note of the difference you need to get to a 26. For example, if you're scoring a 22, you need to answer 8-10 more questions right to get to a 26. Once again, if your goal is a score below 26, like a 24, the same analysis applies. Just look up what your Raw Score demands above. 9 Strategies to Improve Your Low ACT Math Score OK - so we've covered why scoring a higher ACT Mathscore is important, why you specifically are capable of improving your score, and the raw score you need to get to your target. Now we'll actually get into actionable ACT Math tipsthat you should use in your own studying to maximize your score improvement. Strategy 1: Skip the Most Difficult Math Questions Here's the strategy I'm starting with, because I believe it can earn you immediate points the very next time you take a practice test. It's also an easy strategy most students don't do enough. Remember what I said above about raw score? To score a 26, you only need a 40 out of 60 raw score. Put in another way - you can completely miss 20 questions (33% of the test) and still score a 26. Wow - you can completely skip the hardest 30% of all questions and still hit your goal. Skip questions carefree - like this woman. Why is this such a powerful strategy? It gives you WAYmore time on easy and medium difficulty questions - the questions you have a good chance of getting right. If you're usually pressed for time on ACT Math, this will be a huge help. And this is pretty much everyone - even I (a perfect ACT scorer) feel time pressure on this section. Here's an example. On ACT Math, you get 60 minutes to answer 60 math questions. This is usually pretty hard for most students to get through - it's just 60 seconds to answer each question, and some of these questions take a lot of time. The average student will try to push through ALLthe questions. "I've got to get through them all, since I've got a shot at getting each question right," they think. Along the way, they'll probably rush and make careless mistakes on easy questions they SHOULD have gotten right. And then they spend five minutes on the very last, hardest question, making no progress and wasting time. Wrong approach. Here's what I suggest instead.Completely skip the last 20% of questions in the math section. This is the last 12 questions.Don't even look at them, don't even read them. Instead, focus all your energy on getting the first 80% of questions correct. This works because, unlike Reading and Writing, Math questions are ordered by difficulty.The hardest questions are always the questions at the end of the subsection. Let's use an example from real practice tests. This is Question #60, the very last question of the section: Pretty tough, right? It'll take you quite some time just to even READ the question. But here's question 39, a question you should spend more time on: This is just finding the slope, given two points. A lot easier for you to get right. By skipping questions like this, you raise your time per question from 60 to 75 seconds per question. This is huge! It's a 25% boost to the time you get per question. This raises your chances of getting easy/medium questions right a lot. And the 12 questions you skipped? Like the example above, they're so hard you're honestly better off not even trying them. These questions are meant for 27-36 scorers who have mastered all the ACT math skills on the test. If you get to a 26, then you have the right to try these questions. Not before you to get to 26. Next strategy: find your weak links and fix them. Strategy 2: Find Your Math Weaknesses and Drill Them If you're like most students, you're better at some math subjects than others. You might have done better in algebra than geometry. Or maybe you really like trig,but hate probability. If you're like most students, you also don't have an unlimited amount of time to study. You have a lot of homework, you might be an athlete or have band practice, and you want to send Snaps toyour friends. This means for every hour you study for the ACT, it needs to be the most effective hour possible. In concrete terms,you need to find your greatest areas of improvement and work on those. Too many students study the 'dumb' way. They just buy a book and read it cover to cover. When they don't improve, they're shocked. I'm not. Studying effectively for the ACT isn't like painting a house. You're not trying to paint thin layers across a huge span of material. What these students did wrong was they wasted time on subjects they already knew, and they didn't spend enough time fixing their weaknesses. Instead, studying effectively for the ACT is like plugging up the holes of a leaky boat. You need to find the biggest hole, and fill it. Then you find the next biggest hole, and you fix that. Soon you'll find that your boat isn't sinking at all. How does this relate to ACT math? You need to find the skills that you're weakest in, and then drill those until you're no longer weak in them. Fixing up the biggest holes. If you had to study 10 hours for ACT Math, wouldn't you rather improve four points than one point? This is how you do it - focusing your attention on what will make the biggest difference for you. Here's our complete mapping of all 24 skills tested on ACT Math: Numbers Integers Rational numbers Statistics Probability Sequences Algebra Operations Single Variable Equations Functions Word Problems Inequalities Matrices Complex Numbers Systems of equations Coordinate Geometry Points Lines Polynomials Conic Sections Reflections Plane Geometry Lines and Slopes Triangles Polygons Circles Misc Topics Solid Geometry Trigonometry I know this is overwhelming. ACT Math covers most of basic high school math, which is a LOT of stuff. Looking at this list, do you know where your weaknesses are? Do you know what you need to train on to get the most out of your study time? If not, I'm not surprised. This is hard for even the best students to do. It takes a lot of test knowledge to be able to categorize questions, and it takes a lot of discipline to analyze your mistakes. For every question that you miss, you need to identify the type of question it is. When you notice patterns to the questions you miss, you then need to find extra practice for this subskill. Say you miss a lot of coordinate geometry questions (the ones involving an x-y grid and lines). You need to find a way to get lesson material to teach yourself the main concepts that you're forgetting. Then you need to find more practice questions for this skill so you can drill your mistakes. Quick Plug: If all of this is making sense to you, you'd love our ACT prep program, PrepScholar. We designed our program around the concepts in this article, because they actually work.When you start with PrepScholar, you’ll take a diagnostic that will determine your weaknesses in over forty ACT skills. PrepScholar then creates a study program specifically customized for you. To improve each skill, you’ll take focused lessons dedicated to each skill, with over 20 practice questions per skill. This will train you for your specific area weaknesses, so your time is always spent most effectively to raise your score. There’s no other prep system out there that does it this way, which is why we get better score results than any other program on the market. Check it out today with a 5-day free trial: Strategy 3: Focus On the Most Important Skills, and Ignore the Rest But wait, there's more. Remember the 24 skills listed above? Not all of them are made equal. Some are represented FAR more often than others. In fact, the most common skill (numbers-rational numbers) is 56TIMES more likely to appear than the least common skill (complex numbers). As you can see, it's not enough just to divide into rough subjects like algebra, geometry, and data analysis. Even within algebra, some concepts appear FAR more often than others. If you ignore this distinction, you'll waste a lot of time studying things you don't even have to know! So I'm about to make your day. I'm going to tell you the most important skills you HAVE to practice hard, and all the skills you DON'T need to study. If you've been nervous about how much ACT Math material you need to know, you'll feel a lot better soon. First, hereare the most common ACT Math skills. I'll explain the % of questions for that skill, and the # of questions you can expect to see: Skill Frequency # of Q's Numbers - Rational Numbers .97% 7 Algebra - Functions 8.76% 5 Algebra - Operations 8.55% 5 Numbers - Integers 7.26% 4 Algebra - Single Variable 6.84% 4 Plane Geometry - Triangles 6.41% 4 Plane Geometry - Polygons 6.41% 4 Coord. Geometry - Lines 5.56% 3 Plane Geometry - Circles 5.34% 3 Algebra - Word Problems 4.91% 3 Trigonometry 4.91% 3 This is great news - with just skills (46% of all 24 skills), you actually cover 77% of the test! This is huge! For example, if you mastered just these skills and got all 45 questions right, that would already bring you up to a 28. In reality, this is unrealistic because some of these 45 questions are going to be pretty tough, and questions I recommend you skip as mentioned in Strategy 1. But you can see how important the most important skills are to getting a great score. Focus on what really makes up most of the pie. Now, what skills do you NOT have to know? Here are the LEAST common skills on ACT Math: Skill Frequency # of Q's Coord. Geometry - Points 4.06% 2 Numbers - Statistics 3.85% 2 Numbers - Probability 3.21% 1 Algebra - Inequalities 2.35% 1 Plane Geometry - Lines and Angles 2.35% 1 Geometry - Solid Geometry 2.14% 1 Numbers - Sequences 1.92% 1 Algebra - Systems of Equations 0.85% 1 Coord. Geometry - Polynomials 0.85% 1 Coord. Geometry - Conic Sections 0.64% 1 Coord. Geometry - Reflections, Translations 0.43% 1 Algebra - Matrices 0.21% 1 Algebra - Complex Numbers 0.21% 1 Look at these 13skills. Altogether, they add up to a measly 23% of the entire test. Remember what % of the test you need to get right to get a 26? It's 66%. If you completely ignored these 13 skills, you'd still be able to get a maximum score of 28. So good news! You don't need to study complex numbers, matrices, conic sections,and other subjects above. Good riddance, because these are some of the more complicated subjects. When you study, make sure you focus your time on what's really impactful. Once again, I believe in this strategy so much that I designed our PrepScholar ACT program around this idea. Your PrepScholar programdoes all the hard work for you by automatically customizing your prep program to exactly what you need to do to improve your score most. You'll work on the most important skills first so that you get the most out of every hour you study. You just need to focus on learning and doing questions. Strategy 4: Practice UsingOnly Realistic, High Quality Sources After reading the three strategies above, you might be hyped up to go out and practice. The question is - what are you actually going to use to study? Books? A prep program? Be really careful about which sources you choose to use. Honestly, most of them are pretty bad. A lot of prep programs and books don't have very realistic ACT Math questions. They're either too hard, too easy, or structured incorrectly. The root of this problem is lack of true understanding of the ACT Math section. Without going through a full question by question analysis of the test, you really can't understand the test deeply. This means your materials will be terrible. OK - so what do you use? The very, very best source for ACT Math questions is the Official ACT Tests.This is why as part of PrepScholar, we include these official practice tests to gauge your progress and train you on the real thing. Unfortunately, you often need supplemental questions focused on your weaknesses above. For instance, if you're weak in rational numbers, you want to drill those questions over and over again to master your weaknesses. If you're interested in a prep program that can provide all the test content you need to excel, I'd suggest you consider PrepScholar. Obviously as creator of the program I can be biased, but I honestly believe we have the highest quality Math questions available anywhere. This is because of the level of scrutiny and understanding of the test that I think no other company has achieved: We've deconstructed every available official ACT Practice Test, question by question, answer choice by answer choice. We've statistically studied every question type on the test (like you saw above). We understand exactly how questions are phrased and how wrong answer choices are constructed. As head of product, I'm responsible for content quality. I hire only the most qualified content writers to craft our test content. This means people who have scored perfect scores on the ACT, have hundreds of hours of ACT teaching experience, and have graduated from Ivy League schools like Harvard. This results in the most realistic, highest quality ACT Math questions possible. Even if you don't use PrepScholar, you should be confident that whatever resource you DO use undergoes the same scrutiny as we do. If you're not sure, or you see reviews saying otherwise, then avoid it. Make sure you avoid duds. Strategy 5: Understand All Your ACT Math Mistakes Every mistake you make on a test happens for a reason.If you don't understand exactly why you missed that question, you will make that mistake over and over again. Too many students scoring at the 14-24level refuse to study their mistakes. It's harsh. I get it. It sucks to stare your mistakes in the face. It's draining to learn difficult concepts you don't already understand. So the average student will breeze past their mistakes and instead focus on areas they're already comfortable with. It's like a warm blanket. Their thinking goes like this: "So I'm good at geometry? I should do more geometry problems! They make me feel good about myself." The result? NO SCORE IMPROVEMENT. You don't want to be like these students. So here'swhat you need to do: On every practice test or question set that you take, mark every question that you're even 20% unsure about. When you grade your test or quiz, review every single question that you marked, and every incorrect question. This way even if you guessed a question correctly, you'll make sure to review it. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid that mistake in the future. Have separate sections by subject and sub-topic (number theory - fractions, algebra - solving equations, etc.). It's not enough to just think about it and move on. It's not enough to just read the answer explanation. You have to think hard about why you specifically failed on this question. By taking this structured approach to your mistakes,you'll now have a running log of every question you missed, and your reflection on why. No excuses when it comes to your mistakes. Go Deeper - WHY Did You Miss a Math Question? Now, what are some common reasons that you missed a question? Don't just say, "I didn't know this material." That's a cop out. Always take it one step further - what specifically did you miss, and what do you have to improve in the future? Here are some examples of common reasons you miss a question, and how you take the analysis one step further: Content:I didn't learn the skill or knowledge needed to answer this question. One step further:What specific skill do I need to learn, and how will I learn this skill? Incorrect Approach:I knew the content, but I didn't know how to approach this question. One step further:How do I solve the question? How will I solve questions like this in the future? Careless Error:I misread what the question was asking for or solved for the wrong thing One step further:Why did I misread the question? What should I do in the future to avoid this? Get the idea? You're really digging into understanding why you're missing questions. Yes, this is hard, and it's draining, and it takes work. That's why most students who study ineffectively don't improve. But you're different. Just by reading this guide, you're already proving that you care more than other students. And if you apply these principles and analyze your mistakes, you'll improve more than other students too. Strategy 6: Experiment With Different Strategies to Solve Math Problems Sometimes, you get really stuck on a question. You just have no idea how to solve it, and the first step doesn't seem obvious. When this happens, a really useful skill to learn is having a toolkit of alternative strategies to solve a question. Broadly speaking, there are two that will come up most often: Plugging in Numbers, and Plugging in Answers. Let's see an example in action: Let's you don't know exactly where to start and how to solve this the algebraic way. In this case, you can plug in sample numbers to see how the surface area changes. Plug in Numbers Let's do something simple: length, width, and height are all equal to 1. Thus, A = 2*1*1 + 2*1*1 + 2*1*1 = 6. Then, we double each of the dimensions, so length, width, and height are all equal to 2. Now, A = 2*2*2 + 2*2*2 + 2*2*2 = 24. 24 is 4 times greater than 6. So the surface area is multiplied by a factor of 4. That was pretty straightforward! Bonus: Algebraicway You can also solve this question by directly plugging in 2l, 2w, and 2h into the equation. The original area = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh The new area = 2*2l*2w + 2*2l*2h + 2*2w*2h You might see that you can factor out a 4 in front: = 4 (2lw + 2lh + 2wh) And thus the area increases by a factor of 4. In both your practice and your real test, try to get unstuck by approaching the question differently. Check out our strategy guides on Plugging in Answers and Plugging in Numbers to see more details on how these work. Strategy 7: Monitor Your Time During the ACT Math Section Once again, time pressure is a big problem for 14-24scorers. Because many questions are difficult, it's easy to get sucked into a hard problem and spend minutes trying to solve it. This takes away time from other questions that you can solve and get points for. There are two ways to ease time pressure for yourself. The first way is by getting better at the test.By doing more practice, you'll automatically get faster at solving each question. By learning patterns to what the ACT asks, more questions will just 'click' for you. The other way is to monitor the time you're spending on each question. What you want to avoid is spending too much time on a single question, since this gives you less time for other math problems. Remember: all points on the ACT are worth the same as each other. An easy question is worth one point, as is the most difficult question on the entire test. So here's what I recommend: if you spend 30 seconds on a problem and aren't clear how you can get to the answer, skip and go to the next question. If you finish the section early, you'll have time to get back to the questions you skipped. You'll especially have extra time if you follow my first skipping strategy (skip the most difficult questions). Even if you don't have time to get back to the questions you skipped, you just bought yourself time to try a lot of other questions. Strategy 8: Bubble In Your Answers All at Once Here's a bubbling tip that will save you at least three minutes per section. When I first started test taking in high school, I did what many students do: after I finished one question, I went to the bubble sheet and filled it in. Then I went back to the booklet and solved the next question. Finish question 1, bubble in answer 1. Finish question 2, bubble in answer 2. And so forth. This actually wastes a lot of time. You're distracting yourself doing two things at once - solving questions, and bubbling in answers. This is like rubbing your belly and patting your head. This costs you time in both mental distraction and in physically moving your hand and eyes to different areas of the test. Here's a better method: solve all your questions first in the book, then bubble all of them in at once. This has several huge advantages: you focus on each task one at a time, rather than switching between two different tasks. You also eliminate careless entry errors, like if you skip question 7 and bubble in question 8's answer into question 7's slot. By saving just three seconds per question, you get back 360seconds on a section that has 60 questions. This is huge! It's six extra minutes, which you can use to solve a lot more questions! Note: Be careful as you watch your time that you fill in all your current answers with at least five minutes remaining!Otherwise, you might run out of time before you have the chance to bubble in the answer choices all at once. Make sure you practice this on a full-length practice test so you're confident with it. Strategy 9: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know You might already know this one, but if you don't, you're about to earn some serious points. The ACT has no guessing penalty for getting a wrong answer. That means there's no reason to leave any question blank. Now, before you finish the section,make sure every blank question has an answer filled in. You do not want to look at your answer sheet and see any blank questions. For every question you're unsure about, make sure you guess as best you can.If you can eliminate just one answer choice, that gives you a much better shot at getting it right. If you have no idea, just guess! You have a 20% chance of getting it right. Most people know this strategy already, so if you don't do this, you're at a SERIOUS disadvantage. This is really important when you use Strategy #1 of skipping questions - if you don't guess on the questions, you'll miss out on free points! In Overview Those are the main strategies I have for you to improve your ACT math score. If you're scoring an 18, you can improve it to a 23. If you're scoring a 22, you can boost it to a 26. I guarantee it, if you put in the right amount of work, and study like I'm suggesting above. Notice that I didn't actually teach you any math content. I didn't point to any formulas that you need to know, or specific math solutions that will instantly raise your score. That's because these one-size-fits-all, guaranteed strategies don't really exist. (And anyone who tells you this is deceiving you). Every student is different. Instead, you need to understand where you're falling short, and drill those weaknesses continuously. You also need to be thoughtful about your mistakes and leave no mistake ignored. This is really important to your future. Make sure you give ACT prep the attention it deserves, before it's too late, and you get a rejection letter you didn't want. If you want to review any of the strategies, here's a list of all of them: Strategy 1: Skip the Most Difficult Math QuestionsStrategy 2: Find Your Math Weaknesses and Drill ThemStrategy 3: Focus On the Most Important Skills. Ignore the RestStrategy 4: Use Only Realistic, High Quality SourcesStrategy 5: Understand All Your Math MistakesStrategy 6: Experiment with Different Strategies to Solve Math ProblemsStrategy 7: Monitor Your Time During the Math SectionStrategy 8:Bubble In Your Answers All At OnceStrategy 9: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know What's Next? We have a lot more useful guides to raise your ACT score. Read my corresponding guides for other ACT Math sections: Get a 26 in ACT English, ACT Reading, and ACT Science. What's a good ACT score for you? Read our detailed guide on figuring out your ACT target score. Want a bunch of free ACT practice tests to practice with? Here's our comprehensive list of every free ACT practice test. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Allen Cheng About the Author As co-founder and head of product design at PrepScholar, Allen has guided thousands of students to success in SAT/ACT prep and college admissions. He's committed to providing the highest quality resources to help you succeed. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and earned two perfect scores on the SAT (1600 in 2004, and 2400 in 2014) and a perfect score on the ACT. You can also find Allen on his personal website, Shortform, or the Shortform blog. 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Representation of Masculinity in Billy Elliot Essays

Representation of Masculinity in Billy Elliot Essays Representation of Masculinity in Billy Elliot Paper Representation of Masculinity in Billy Elliot Paper Essay Topic: The Piano Lesson Jacky is doing his best as a lone parent, but is pre-occupied with the ongoing strike, so Billy is left tending to himself and his Grandma (Jean Haywood). At all times Jacky rules his house with a stern hand and has the same prejudices towards ballet as every other typical man in the country. So, when he finds out that Billy has been skipping his Boxing lessons and going to Ballet instead he is furious. Jacky reasons that Ballet is for poofs and that boys should be doing boys stuff like football and wrestling. One critic wrote that the movie is a catalyst for shifting attitudes and prejudices in the western world where male dancers are considered effeminate or queer. Ballet is a threat and blow to ones masculinity in peoples minds. Billy Elliot breaks through that prejudice and claims ballet to be an art that transcends gender. Jacky is under immense pressure, he can no longer support his family and his masculinity is compromised and he cannot fulfil the role of breadwinner. This is further emphasised when he breaks down in tears in the scene on Christmas day, which shows Jacky, Billy and His Grandmother in the picture. The mantelpiece is centre screen and this highlights the family feel, it is lightly decorated with tinsel this indicates there financial dire straits. On the whole, the audience gets the impression that Billys father has been overwhelmed by life in general. Jacky has had to cope with the loss of his wife and deal with the burden of the financial consequences as a result of the strike. Times are so bad that in order to stay warm, Jacky is forced to chop up his wifes piano for firewood. On the night of Christmas, Billy and his friend Michael sneak into the Gym. Billys friend Michael is close to adolescence and is becoming aware of his sexuality, this is implied by his secret pastime of wearing his sisters clothes and his mild attraction to Billy. Billy Elliot plays on the stereotype of homosexual men being very feminine; this is further accentuated by his need to wear a tutu in the Gym. It seems that his main purpose in the film is to establish Billys heterosexuality. In the centre of the boxing ring, a confined area usually reserved for two combatants to do battle becomes an arena for ballet. Billy begins to dance and show what he is really capable of by dancing to the music in freestyle. Whilst Billy is dancing he is stopped for a brief moment by his father Jacky whose face expresses a deep disapproval. However, in defiance, Billy carries on dancing is further fuelled by his frustration at his father for his tyrannical attitudes towards ballet. The camera is always on Billy who is cast in the spotlight whilst the background is faded away in black. This scene shows Billy to be the true star and protagonist. Jacky is emotionally moved after witnessing Billys performance and runs away with a silent pride and incentive to support his son and his new found love. In the context of the film, there is a great hatred towards the scabs. The mineworkers, who have decided not to strike and carry on working down in the mines, are regarded as the lowest of the low. So, it is one of the key moments of the film when Jack decides to go back down the pits in order to fund Billys ticket to London. Just as he is about to sign on, his son Tony (Jamie Draven) and his own sense of disgrace stop Jacky from committing this unforgivable act of duplicity. Billys brother, who is older by some number of years, also works in the mines. The first impression that the viewer gets of Tony is that of a stereotypical big brother, who would give his younger sibling a slap round the head just for listening to his record collection. However, there is a lot more to Tony then just the big brother slant. Tony, who like his father, is on strike against the closure of the mines. He is young and hot headed, and prepared to go to the extremes in order to achieve his purposes. This is evident when he tries to arm himself against the riot police who are an imposing and faceless opposition, were deployed to stifle the protests made by the striking workers. Tony who is somewhat of a working class rebel, he has been hardened from working in the mines and can be very aggressive, this is evident in the scene where Tony and his father meet a non-striking mineworker in the supermarket. An action totally justified by the cause of the striking miners. Tony, like his father, has found himself in a position where he has had to cope with the possibility of losing his entire future. He is emotionally unequipped with the ability to express himself properly so he does so by using the strike and picket lines as a medium to release his locked away emotions. Tony shares the same attitudes towards ballet that everyone else in the community has and he is deeply displeased to find that his younger brother has taken it up as his main pastime. I think that Tony sees this as just another problem, and this affects the relationship between he and Billy. Only when Billy gains acceptance and support from his family does Tony finally rebuild his bond with Billy. After Billy gains support from his family, it seems that the entire community is feels the repercussions and all of their anti-artistic, anti-intellectual not to mention anti-gay prejudices disappear with Billys elation. However unrealistic this seems, I feel it is a dramatic device to emphasise the acceptance and the broadening horizons of the Billys family. Some of the characterisations tend to be overly simple and stereotypical. For example, Billy friend Michael who is coming to terms with his homosexuality leans far to much towards the old stereotype of gay men wearing womens clothes and being a right sissy. Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry has woven into the cloth that is his debut piece a recurring Swan Lake theme. In one scene, where Billy is visiting Mrs Wilkinsons house he is upstairs with her daughter Debbie. The walls of her room are adorned with wallpaper that is covered with swans. Later Billy and Debbies talk is followed with a pillow fight, which results in several of the pillows ripping and feathers filling the room like some sort of mystical snow storm. The Middlesborough transporter bridge is featured symbolising the industrial might of the North, which is falling into rapid decline, this is juxtaposed with the musical score of Tchaikovsky written for Swan Lake. All of these references give the audience ammunition to make the connection with the old allegory of the ugly duckling that turned into the beautiful swan. The director also added various other images that denote the situation that mining communities were faced with. For example, Daldry pictures a large billboard advertising a state-of-the-art washing machine. The mise-en-scene shows a very satisfied handsome young man on the advert. The caption on the board reads, Your every faithful washday slave. In the poor and gritty community of Billys town, a luxury of a washing machine is almost unheard of and the idea of a man doing it is even more rare. The advert is not at all representational of the people in Billys town. The price of the machine alone is enough to make it an unattainable item, but also the new man pictured within it is pure fantasy to the people of Everington. When Billy and his family find out the good news that he has gotten into the Royal School of Ballet, Jacky rushes down to the local Workingmans club, only to find that the Union had finally given up. Jacky and Tony later follow this scene in their overalls and safety gear going back down into the pits via an elevator. This is perhaps symbolic of their situation, no secure job and literally going down the lift toward social depression and financial hardship. In the context of the film, the plight of the miners strike is just a background detail that aids the narrative. However, it is worth reading into as it gives the audience a means to understand their situation. In 1979 the Thatcher government was elected into power. This was on the basis of an anti-collectivist program of economic reform and social discipline that was to bring devastation to the north of England over the whole of the 1980s. In England, the North became seen as an enemy within, a phrase actually used to describe the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers). Billy Elliot has a very one sided point-of-view of the miners strike of 1984-1985. Thatcherism had an adverse effect on the north of England, the policy by which the free market approach to politics and economics rewarded the individual over the wider community, basically increasing the gap in between the rich and the poor. However, if Thatcher had given in to the Unions, England might not be in the state of prosperity that it currently is. The economic rebirth that England now enjoys is owed to Thatchers long-term strategy and ruthlessness she showed in carrying out her job. This waning industrial background that Billy Elliot is set against could be compared with that of The Full Monty. In The Full Monty, an example of postmodern bricolege combing Ealing humour with social realism is a story about male unemployment in a depressed industrial city. The men in the film are struggling to come to terms there ever-changing masculinity or for some it seems lack of it. The two main characters are Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy). In the film, after finding out about the Chippendales are performing in the Mens working bar Gaz is greeted with a poster depicting several muscular semi-naked men covered in oil. Obviously threatened by this show of physical masculinity he immediately attacks the most important aspect of any mans manhood, his penis. Gaz makes a comment on what sort of women would attend such a spectacle only to find that his best mates wife is in the club watching the strippers. Gaz immediately remarks that Dave should put his foot down a forbid his wife from going to such a thing, he adds I saw you hovering and I let it go, implying that Daves masculinity is undermined by carrying out conventional house-wife pursuits. The Full Monty in terms of masculinity addresses a slightly different aspect in comparison to Billy Elliot. Both of the films share a specific style of communities; the stories of each revolve around communities and proceedings that are of direct consequence of the socio-economic realities of the places they are set. The communities represented have both experienced redundancy on a large scale as a result of Thatcherite reform. In The Full Monty the characters are striving to re-establish their own masculinity, this is achieved by being able to overcome the bigotries from within the community and to fulfil the role of the provider. An intrinsic principle of manhood and masculinity in the film is to have your dignity and respect of your family and peers. Billy Elliot on the other hand, copes with a very different part of the masculine make-up. It deals with establishing your own identity and treading your own path through life. Billy Elliot is structured around the motif of escape; this involves rejecting the aggressive attributes of masculinity as portrayed by Tony, and replacing it with the desire to escape the constrictions of what is seen as violent, masculine culture of the working class. It is Billys escape into dance which he describes as a feeling of fire, of electricity in the body, everything else is forgotten that allows him to define his masculinity in a way that you would hardly ever find in a male dominant community such as Everington. This masculinity seems more manly than ever at the end of the film, in which Jacky and Tony go to the opening night of Billys rendition of Swan Lake. The audience watches in anticipation as the entire screen is taken up by a huge and muscular back of a ballet dancer, the areas that surround the adult Billy (played by professional ballet dancer Adam Cooper) are mainly dark, stressing the importance of his role. Then finally as the opening of the performance has just begun, Billy makes a climatic leap into the air. This is juxtaposed with his fathers tears of pride. The end of the film ultimately underlines that masculinity has many forms and features, and is thus defined by the persons attributes and actions rather then the environment they inhabit.

U.S. Force in Iraq essays

U.S. Force in Iraq essays The U.S. involvement in Iraq may go down as one of the most controversial wars in history even more so than the Vietnam War. Why? Because the basic premise for invading Iraq was false. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and so, there was no reason to invade the country, other than they were under the iron rule of a brutal and power-hungry dictator, of course. However, the question remains, is this a compelling reason to use force? Some might say yes, that it is the United States' duty to ensure democracy and civil rights across the globe. Others vehemently disagree. What most people around the world do agree on is that the U.S. use of force in Iraq has had enduring consequences on the way the U.S. is perceived around the world. Many consequences arise from the use of force in Iraq. One important consequence is the people's safety here at home. Military recruiting is down. Young people do not want to join the Armed Forces when it is quite clear they could die in Iraq or Afghanistan (or any number of places, for that matter). This shortage results in fewer qualified members of the armed forces, and leaves fewer in America to protect against terrorism and attack. Thus, the American military is spread thin, and will be spread even thinner when National Guard troops are deployed to the U.S. Mexican border to guard against illegal entrance next month. This leaves the country more vulnerable to terrorism and natural disaster. Witness the results of Hurricane Katrina, where it took days for emergency crews, including National Guard troops, to enter the city and begin a rescue effort. This indicates just how thinly the military is spread, and this is a direct result of U.S. force in Iraq. Another important consequence of U.S. involvement is the deaths of over 2,600 coalition force members. That includes 2,463 Americans, as of May 25, 2006. Almost 18,000 military personnel have been wounded during the war, ...

200 Villagers Houses Burnt Down Again Near Barrick Gold Mine in Papua Essay - 1

200 Villagers Houses Burnt Down Again Near Barrick Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea - Essay Example Moreover, there have been reported injuries and deaths of small-scale miners close to the mine. Finally, it has also been alleged that the Porgera Joint Venture Mine’s security and associated state police have meted extreme violence on the locals (MiningWatch Canada, 2014). It is expected that such concerns will lead to a drop in share value, especially due to obvious lack of transparency on the part of Porgera Company (MiningWatch Canada, 2014). In such a case, investors would be at risk of losing their money because of misrepresentation and failure by Porgera to disclose critical information, such as their environmental compliance and agreements with local communities. On top of making them an unattractive investment opportunity, it will also harm their reputation, especially in light of conflicts and death in the local community (MiningWatch Canada, 2014). In addition, they could also be liable to huge fines if they are found guilty of environmental permit violations. These issues have raised various ethical concerns about the company, despite creating social and economic benefits for the community via resource revenues and job creation. The company has obviously failed to sufficiently consult and engage the local community, while they have not given accurate information about the impact of their mining. In addition, there are environmental concerns about the safety of the mines, as well as lack of transparency about economic compensation and use of the local’s land. As a result, Porgera has failed to consider the social, environmental, and economic impacts of their activities, which are all important aspects of ethical mining practices. As a competitor, such issues have been avoided, especially as the company is aware that the local community expects to generate substantial improvements in their living standards (Ali, 2013). The company has sought to

Management seminar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Management seminar - Essay Example Where, if the firm uses employees from its country all through, the company will not impress the rest of the world. However, with outsourcing, the world feels appreciated because it provides opportunities for all people and this increases the market share globally (Sparrow, 2009). On the other hand, outsourcing is a disadvantage to the home people of the company who lose the opportunities occupied by the foreigners. In other words, the local people of the country the company is located lose their jobs and this leads to creating a recession in the domestic economy. Another problem related to outsourcing is that the overseas employees have experienced a problem of not being able to communicate effectively with the U.S customers due to difficult accents and problems of miscommunication. Finally, the emerging economies where outsourcing is done face tremendous energy shortages with the power outages done frequently (Blackman, Freedman & Levy, 2004). Sweatshops refer to the overseas manufacturing facilities of a company where the conditions of labor are not up to the satisfactory level as per the international labor standards. Long working hours, unsafe working condition, and abuse of the employees and lack of labor rights characterize the practices against the standards. The employees working in the facilities are tremendously exploited. In fact, most of the products manufactured in the facilities require repetitive kind of labor. Sweatshops exist for they provide a number of economic advantages to the multinational firms and to the host employees. Creating of the domestic employment and establishment of local infrastructures in the host countries helps to enhance the local economies of the countries. The employees working in the sweatshops are desperate because most of them do not have education or the required skills to get any form of

Cultural Identity on American Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Identity on American Society - Essay Example â€Å"Like many Americans whose families came to this country from somewhere else, many children of Mexican immigrants struggle with their identity† (Casares). There are definitions of different races and ethnicities in terms of characteristics and features. This classification has resulted to differences amongst people, especially in the United States. Due to the fact that the identity of some people has been influenced by ethnicity and race, it has gone to the extent of influencing the way individuals perceive the environment and what they put as a priority in their lives. Sometimes, the identity of people is imposed to them due to the way other people look at and know them. Ethnic and racial identities are crucial areas of a person’s life or a group’s identity. In the United States, there are people who are legally defined as minorities due to their race and ethnic background. This is depicted in a highly critical way since it is prompted by the incompatible c ultural and social practices. As a result, it makes people be deeply immersed in their cultural traditions and beliefs encouraging a positive feeling of ethnic individuality. In addition, people filter ethnic identity by handling other people of dissimilar races and ethnicity negatively. Diversity of culture in the United States is on the rise. This has posed a greater concern of the future of the American Identity. Due to the influx of migrants, emergence of multi-ethnical generations that are rapidly increasing the threat on cultural practices determines the identity of America. The identity of the United States is truly significant in that it consolidates people having contradictory issues, opinions and ideologies to form one harmonized community. The harmony creates opportunities for the implementation of policies and other activities that are beneficial to the community. Oneness and preserved American Identity will make the citizens have a place which they belong to. They will feel accepted and accommodated by other people and the general culture at large. Relationships among the American citizens will be warm, their culture is adopted and the contradictory issues minimized. If this is achieved, then in the workplace people will work with energy and robustness while executing their roles and responsibilities in their areas of jurisdiction. This is what cultural identity can bring to the American society. The way the American people think and interpret democracy is greatly influenced by their cultural identity. This means that if the culture of American people is going to change, their identity will be changed too. As a result, democracy will be interfered with, and this might result to crime activities. For instance, people will misuse democracy at the expense of protecting their cultural beliefs, racial or ethnical people. For continuity and preservation of the present political institutions, cultural identity is the key factor.(Kaplan) If this is not th e case, then politically the American community will be destabilized due to disagreement emanating from ethnical and racial backgrounds. Consequently, development and progress of the economy of the American society will deteriorate. The schedule drawn for work and the spirit of work can be motivated by the cultural practices of the society. From history, America is industrious. This shows how their culture prompts them to be hard working people. Despite the fact that race is used wrongly, it does matter when used

Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Budgeting - Essay Example Not planning earlier can bring up capacity issues; cash flow issues etc. for the organization. An estimation of costs and revenues is required to know the estimated profit. The profit is not attained in a single day. All days need to be planned to achieve those profits, daily operations are therefore need to be managed; budgeting prepares the managers for the whole day decisions, which he cannot act to on a single day basis. A clear thinking and understanding is developed. Budgeting in advance also helps determine the borrowing requirements, early relationship building with the lender, communicating earlier the borrowing needs. And reasonable budgets and forecasts to repay can build up credibility in the eyes of the lender. Once the borrowing needs are determined and committed in the pipeline, the spending timing and needs are allocated as and where required. The budgeting exercise can become hectic and set accountability for the managers. This leads to driving their focus away from the day to operations but not really. It builds up coordination and integration among the cross functional areas and within everyone in different functions of the organization. Everyone is considered accountable for his or her actions; a sense of ownership develops amongst the employees and hence a company would want its employees to be motivated enough to achieve their and company's goals. This only happens when objectives of both are aligned and employees are motivated enough to achieve the same. These overall benefits in day to day affairs. Major inputs to the master budget and usefulness of each The major inputs to the master budget are operating and the financial budget. Master budget also helps create a linkage between the two afore mentioned budgets. Each of these budgets has their own importance and none can succeed without the other. The operating budget comprises the sales budget, production budget, the direct materials budget, the direct labor budget, the factory overhead budget, the inventory budget, cost of goods sold budget, selling and administrative expense budget, and the budgeted income statement, which is the snapshot of the operations of the organization for a period. Whereas, the financial budget comprises the cash budget, the capital budget, and the budgeted balance sheet. All these inputs on a standalone basis do not have any meaning until seen within the full picture. Sales budget will determine the top line for the company and production budget support sales because it has to be determined how many units are to be produced to support that level of sales. Materials, labor and overhead determine the costs, similarly the selling and administrative expenses. The inventory budget helps in knowing how many units are carried from the earlier period and how many will fulfill the demand for the period. Financial budget takes care of the funding aspect. Why would a company want to create a master budget There are many purposes that a company can serve by developing master

Applied Microbiology Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applied Microbiology - Article Example The barrier prevents the antimicrobial from acting on the intended cells. The cells within the biofilms differ from planktonic cells metabolically and biochemically due to their increased expression of beneficial genes, phenotypic changes in the colony morphology and the in the production of extracellular polymers (Khan, p45). Examples include the streptococcus spp. in dental caries, the Fusobacterium in chronic wounds and the PAH are products of incomplete combustion of materials like fossil fuels that are highly hydrophobic in nature and resistant to environmental degradation posing health risks. It is possible to breakdown PAH using the ability of microorganisms and to remediate contaminated soils. Degradation can be either biological or chemical. Biological process involves degradation by microorganisms, biodegradation and metabolism and factors like PH, moisture, temperature, oxygen and molecular weight get considered. Chemical degradation involves altering the PAH nomenclature through chemical processes by the use of UV rays and reactions aimed at oxidation-reduction with factors such as sunlight exposure, PH level, and PAH structure in consideration. BTEX have highly soluble characteristics and are made up of contaminants that make up petroleum products. The solubility of the petroleum components makes it the predominant agent in ground water contamination. Bioremediation relies on biodegradation a ctivity of soil microorganisms that involves the indigenous bacteria and fungi. Microorganisms break down organic components to water and carbon dioxide to help in the remediation. For the process to be successful, it is important to ensure that the contaminated materials get detoxified to prevent recontamination and to establish the effectiveness of the remediation. Several tests including the daphnia-based, algae and bacteria based

Political Environment Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Environment Case - Essay Example The following concerns are hereby addressed: Response to the Letter One would first acknowledge support and congratulatory greetings to the new governor to indicate that one is not a detractor, nor a political enemy. It would be emphasized that any current policies and procedures would be appropriately justified to ensure that these are aligned with his administration’s thrust on addressing security and enhanced inmate programs. One would simply note that the currently implemented policies conform with the 1984 Justice Assistance Act which apparently removed previous restrictions and were inmates are enjoined to do productive work (Peak, 2007). Likewise, there were apparent recommendations enforced by the American Jail Association that encourages training programs, which are consistent with the educational and vocational programs currently implemented in the state prisons. ... One could present current statistics of improvements and therefore justify and rationalize that tighter and tougher policies and programs are not effective means to improve the current situation and condition of state prisons. As emphasized in the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, state prisons are encouraged â€Å"to provide for appropriate remedies for prison condition lawsuits, to discourage frivolous and abusive prison lawsuits, and for other purposes† (Peak, 2007, p. 255). As such, imposing tighter and tougher inmate policies would expose the state prisons to potential lawsuits that would be detrimental to the image of the state and of the new governor, who openly suggested these measures. Thus, aside from instituting tougher inmate programs, the current education and vocational programs which would capitalize on making the inmates productive would be more beneficial in the long run. Internal and External Support Therefore, rather than outrightly dismantling current p olicies and programs that have been effective and deemed successful, one would seek support from both internal and external stakeholders. From internal sources, one would solicit support from prison staff and personnel through a formal letter or correspondence and enjoining them to openly validate the progress and effectiveness of these current programs to the newly elected governor. They could send formal letters and copy furnish these correspondences to the local publications to make the new governor aware the all current programs and policies are transparent and effective. Likewise, external support could be solicited from the local community members who benefit from reduced recidivism of prisoners and for teaching them vocational and

Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Budgeting - Essay Example Not planning earlier can bring up capacity issues; cash flow issues etc. for the organization. An estimation of costs and revenues is required to know the estimated profit. The profit is not attained in a single day. All days need to be planned to achieve those profits, daily operations are therefore need to be managed; budgeting prepares the managers for the whole day decisions, which he cannot act to on a single day basis. A clear thinking and understanding is developed. Budgeting in advance also helps determine the borrowing requirements, early relationship building with the lender, communicating earlier the borrowing needs. And reasonable budgets and forecasts to repay can build up credibility in the eyes of the lender. Once the borrowing needs are determined and committed in the pipeline, the spending timing and needs are allocated as and where required. The budgeting exercise can become hectic and set accountability for the managers. This leads to driving their focus away from the day to operations but not really. It builds up coordination and integration among the cross functional areas and within everyone in different functions of the organization. Everyone is considered accountable for his or her actions; a sense of ownership develops amongst the employees and hence a company would want its employees to be motivated enough to achieve their and company's goals. This only happens when objectives of both are aligned and employees are motivated enough to achieve the same. These overall benefits in day to day affairs. Major inputs to the master budget and usefulness of each The major inputs to the master budget are operating and the financial budget. Master budget also helps create a linkage between the two afore mentioned budgets. Each of these budgets has their own importance and none can succeed without the other. The operating budget comprises the sales budget, production budget, the direct materials budget, the direct labor budget, the factory overhead budget, the inventory budget, cost of goods sold budget, selling and administrative expense budget, and the budgeted income statement, which is the snapshot of the operations of the organization for a period. Whereas, the financial budget comprises the cash budget, the capital budget, and the budgeted balance sheet. All these inputs on a standalone basis do not have any meaning until seen within the full picture. Sales budget will determine the top line for the company and production budget support sales because it has to be determined how many units are to be produced to support that level of sales. Materials, labor and overhead determine the costs, similarly the selling and administrative expenses. The inventory budget helps in knowing how many units are carried from the earlier period and how many will fulfill the demand for the period. Financial budget takes care of the funding aspect. Why would a company want to create a master budget There are many purposes that a company can serve by developing master

Political Environment Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Environment Case - Essay Example The following concerns are hereby addressed: Response to the Letter One would first acknowledge support and congratulatory greetings to the new governor to indicate that one is not a detractor, nor a political enemy. It would be emphasized that any current policies and procedures would be appropriately justified to ensure that these are aligned with his administration’s thrust on addressing security and enhanced inmate programs. One would simply note that the currently implemented policies conform with the 1984 Justice Assistance Act which apparently removed previous restrictions and were inmates are enjoined to do productive work (Peak, 2007). Likewise, there were apparent recommendations enforced by the American Jail Association that encourages training programs, which are consistent with the educational and vocational programs currently implemented in the state prisons. ... One could present current statistics of improvements and therefore justify and rationalize that tighter and tougher policies and programs are not effective means to improve the current situation and condition of state prisons. As emphasized in the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, state prisons are encouraged â€Å"to provide for appropriate remedies for prison condition lawsuits, to discourage frivolous and abusive prison lawsuits, and for other purposes† (Peak, 2007, p. 255). As such, imposing tighter and tougher inmate policies would expose the state prisons to potential lawsuits that would be detrimental to the image of the state and of the new governor, who openly suggested these measures. Thus, aside from instituting tougher inmate programs, the current education and vocational programs which would capitalize on making the inmates productive would be more beneficial in the long run. Internal and External Support Therefore, rather than outrightly dismantling current p olicies and programs that have been effective and deemed successful, one would seek support from both internal and external stakeholders. From internal sources, one would solicit support from prison staff and personnel through a formal letter or correspondence and enjoining them to openly validate the progress and effectiveness of these current programs to the newly elected governor. They could send formal letters and copy furnish these correspondences to the local publications to make the new governor aware the all current programs and policies are transparent and effective. Likewise, external support could be solicited from the local community members who benefit from reduced recidivism of prisoners and for teaching them vocational and

Lennie is mourning the death of his puppy Essay Example for Free

Lennie is mourning the death of his puppy Essay At the beginning of the extract, Lennie is mourning the death of his puppy by his own hand when Curleys wife enters the barn and attempts to comfort him and she allows Lennie to stroke her hair. When Lennies big fingers fell to stroking her hair we see that something is going to happen as the mood changes and the tension is heightened. We have an inclination to what is about to happen as we have seen the inevitability of the scenario with Lennies strength and Curleys wifes desire for affection and attention. When Curleys wife tells Lennie not to muss it up, Lennie strokes harder, as he is overcome with the pleasure of the experience, this shows that Lennie doesnt listen to anyone except from George, thus reinforcing what we already know. Curleys wife says you stop it now and jerks her head sideways and Lennie then panics and automatically his fingers close on her hair and hung on, this is because it is the only thing he can think to do, this emphasises his child-like mentality as his reaction is physical as opposed to psychological. Lennie was in a panic and his face was contorted, these two short simple sentences portray the innocence and naivety of Lennies actions as well as reflecting the way Lennies mind works, short and simple. He begs Curleys wife to stop screaming because Georgell be mad and aint gonna let him tend no rabbits showing that he has a one-track mind, much like a child. Lennie then gets angry and tells Curleys wife I dont want you to yell, this again shows his child-like mindset and his anger leads him to shake her. So hes shaking her, not in an aggressive manner, but to protect his part in the dream, her body flopped like a fish and she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck. At this point we see Lennie, not just kill Curleys wife, but kill the dream too. Lennie does not realise he has killed her as he continues to speak to her, he lifts her arm and lets it drop and is, for a moment, bewildered. His mind cant capacitate why she is not responding, all he thinks he did was shake her, showing just how unaware he is of his own strength. Animal imagery is used to describe how Lennie pawed up the hay until it party covered her, this connotes Lennies clumsiness and density. In the concluding paragraph of the extract we see Lennie become conscious of the outside for the first time, he recalls what George told him to do if he gets into trouble and goes to hide in the brush, taking the dead puppy with him to throw it away because its bad enough like it is. Here we see Lennie make a decision himself, be it the right one or not, he seems to have matured slightly because of the situation at hand and this event could be something that changes Lennies childish behaviour. Throughout the death of Curleys wife, we still feel more sympathy for Lennie, because he is so unaware of the danger his actions can cause and he is still a naive and innocent character, despite the unintentional harm he has brought to many things. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.