Composition and Rhetoric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Composition and Rhetoric - Essay Example On the other hand, when I speak from the United States, I am essentially a citizen of UAE. ‘I’, My Multiple Identities and Difference At present, as the democratic revolutions spread cross the Arab world, which is initiated and led by youngsters like me, it is easy to identify myself as an Arab. It is important to think identity as something not given or stable. Identity is closely related to your imagination and the consequent identification with places and social groups. Therefore, when the whole world was concentrated in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, I found myself belonging to Tahrir Square than anywhere else. Although I am a citizen of United Arab Emirates, I imagine myself as a citizen of the increasingly globalizing world. As Benedict Anderson argues, it is your particular imagination defines you as part of certain communities. Still, it does not negate my identity of being an Arab. One’s identity in the modern world is predominantly defined by the national ity. It is not to say that national identity blurs all other identities. On the other hand, the identity of a person could be immensely influenced by his/her country of origin. I do have many commonalities with my fellow people in the United Arab Emirates and in the Arab world. As an Arab, I am proud of the great civilizations emerged from the Arab world. But, I am equally disgusted with the current affairs at my part of the world same as many of my fellow beings do. I believe, as like many other people in my country, that our civilization is decadent and decaying. But, still, we are proud of our glorious past. Having said that ‘we’ are proud of our past, it is necessary for me to emphasize that I am not proud of ‘our past’ in the same way as my fellow country men do. I am least proud of the history of Ottoman Empire or the great crusades. On the other hand, I have a lot be proud of being the successors of a great people who traveled all around the world, e stablished strong trade links with China, India and the Europe from sixteenth century onwards. It makes me delighted to claim that my ancestors spread the wisdom of mathematics and medicine to the rest of the world. If we had not preserved the intellectual and cultural products of the great Greek civilization, humanity would have lost it forever. Moreover, I am happy to be proud of what is really great in our historical past. But, many in my country do not see things related to the past in the same way. They proud of the fact that once we built big empires and took our religion even to the distant corners of the earth. And, they are so detached from the present, they still imagine the Arab world as the center of the world. Still, they imagine through their illusions that the Islamic civilization is far more superior than any other. However, in reality, after the great medieval scientists from the Arab world who contributed immensely to the development of modern mathematics, medicine and astronomy, no great scientist or philosopher of stature has emerged from our part of the world. A civilization triumphs only when it has a lot give and share with other civilization. Unfortunately, we have nothing more at the present to contribute to the humanity than the mystic tales of our glorious past. In brief, in medieval times, if we had lived in and for the future, at present, we die in and for the past. In terms of religion and spirituality, I identify myself as a Muslim like many in my country

What is on the Internet Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is on the Internet - Assignment Example Its questions are open ended, allowing respondents the freedom of choice and expression (Storm Front, 2010). A survey by Quibblo is another example on pop culture and it focuses on possible association between the culture and self-image. Its questions cover significance of the culture among teenagers, possible effects of the on teenagers’ self-image and participants’ perception of pop culture (Quibblo, n.d.). The ‘pop culture’ survey’s design is characterized by closed questions, whose choices stimulate response. It also has few questions, presented in a single page, a property that helps to stimulate response rate because of time convenience. Another design factor in the questionnaire is use of bold for questions and normal print for choices and this makes the questions conspicuous (Pop culture, n.d.). The ‘pop culture’ survey identifies similarities with the SERVQUAL that is a tool for collecting qualitative data. SERVQUAL is based on attitude and expectation, which are the bases of responses to questions in the ‘pop culture’ survey. Like the SERVQUAL, the ‘pop culture’ questionnaire aims at collecting qualitative data such as attitude towards types of music and expected utility from different forms of entertainment (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry,

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict Research Paper

Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict - Research Paper Example The American diplomats were so convinced of their supremacy of war power that they completely failed to look at the other side of the coin. As a result of poor planning and failed execution of the projected estimates, the American Culture received shocks and trauma that still haunt them even after so many years. Post the wars, thousands of families were affected, having lost husbands, sons, and daughters. People were left homeless and struggled to meets ends; the scars left on the society were so deep that not only the physical trauma was evident but the emotional stress was high enough for them to start doubting the bureaucrats’ intentions and integrity. The United States had a firm belief that communism anywhere would be a threat and they had a clear thought that they would do everything to curb and eradicate communism. United States were not involved in the Vietnam conflict directly until they felt it was absolutely necessary to continue their fight against communism. Befor e losing out on the World War II, France ruled Vietnam and Vietnam became independent but French were unwilling to let it go without a battle, which eventually led to the The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. France lost the battle, post which it was decided that France and Vietnam would sign a treaty in the Geneva Convention on 1954 to settle for peace. It was agreed that Vietnam would be divided into North and South states on th 17th parallel with communist Vietminh ruling the North and Bao Dai ruling the South Vietnam for two years. The agreement was that presidential elections would be held in 1956 to decide the future course of action but things did not went as planned. The National Liberation Front started communism in the South Vietnam and started anti Diem practices. United States was in full support of the new ruler of the South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem and decided to intervene to ensure that another communist country does not come up. John F. Kennedy made up his mind to completely ta ke sides and prove the supremacy of America by signing a treaty with South Vietnam to extend economical and military help (Lawrence, 2010). United States even helped the South Vietnam in creating Army Republic of Vietnam in the hope that the unit will fight the communists from North and keep the country free from communism. Despite many efforts from America, Sout continued to face defeats on many levels of the dispute. Despite several efforts of United States, it so happened that the South Vietnam went on to face several defeats from Guerrillas and communism was threatening to prevail in the country. Meanwhile, America’s attention was divided in several other major happenings taking place around the world, especially in the Indochina region. But, it was high time that U.S. played direct and more active role to curb out the communism from Vietnam or so they thought. The Truman Doctrine that was originally designed to be made applicable in Europe and Middle East was then being adopted in Vietnam conflict due to the belief that if Communists were not destroyed; communism would soon engulf the concerned Asian region (Westheider, 2007). John F. Kennedy, who took the office in 1961 was of the opinion that there were other major issues than Vietnam and he only increased the U.S. aid at the insistence of

Goldman Sachs Financial Data Analysis Assignment

Goldman Sachs Financial Data Analysis - Assignment Example The company was founded in the year 1869 and has its headquarter in New York, but maintains subsidiary offices in the major financial centers globally. Over time, the firm has been largely recognized as among the best premier investment banks globally. The corporation linked itself to the New York Stock Exchange in the year 1896 from which it has been able to trade successfully its shares. As a result of this, its capital in 1898 stood at $1.6 milion and has since grown rapidly. Furthermore, the firm started issuing the IPOs in the year 1906 upon taking over Sears, Roebuck and Company. This is a deal mainly attributed to the personal friendship between Henry Goldman and Julius Rosenwald, who was the owner of the frim. Largely, the company reports its business in four main business segments namely, investment banking, investing and lending, institutional services, and investment management. In investment banking, the range of services that are offered targets a diverse group including financial institutions, governments, corporations, and investment funds. In this, it mainly provides services related to the strategic advisory that entails forms of acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, and risk management. With regard to institutional services, the firm facilitates the transactions done by clients in relation to making the markets in equity, fixed income, commodity products and currency attainable for the clients. This is supported by the act of making markets clear for the clients, as well as clearing transactions on major stocks, futures and options for clients through the provision of prime brokerage, financial and securities lending services. In investing and lending, the company invests and originates loans for the provision of financing to its clients that are long term in nature. Subsequently, the firm makes

Students Caught Cheating or Plagiarizing Should Be Dismissed From Essay - 7

Students Caught Cheating or Plagiarizing Should Be Dismissed From College - Essay Example The present research has identified that plagiarism is an academic offense, which occurs when students copy information from materials written by other people and fail to acknowledge by citing and referencing sources of the information. This may be for example lifting texts from the internet and handing it over for marking, or purchasing papers from writers, with the intent of earning higher marks or beating deadlines for handing in their assignments (Harris 2007). Lecturers, who do not take an effort to verify the integrity of the assignments, end up awarding the high marks and believing that their students are bright while in the real sense, the opposite is true. The real essence of writing exams is to establish the capacity of the students and to take stock of the progress made in the course of learning. As such, results based on plagiarized assignments can never offer the right quality of graduates and this may have a negative effect on the kind of workforce a country depends on economic growth. It is therefore imperative to punish students caught cheating or plagiarizing in order to deter others who may be tempted to do the same. Dismissing such students from college is a viable punishment, which should be adopted by all institutions. On the other hand, there are people who feel that dismissing students from college for cheating and plagiarism is an inhumane punishment, especially for first-time offenders. They argue that there are better ways of dealing with such cases, for example failing a student in the affected subject. It is important to understand that not all plagiarism cases are intentional. According to them, students may lack the skills to cite and reference borrowed ideas while conducting research and writing assignments. Such students should not be made to suffer the consequences but should instead be given another chance to do the papers again or revise the mistakes on the marked assignments for a limited number of times after which the decis ion to fail them is reached.  

The Risks That UK Coal, an FTSE Listed Company, Can Potentially Face Case Study

The Risks That UK Coal, an FTSE Listed Company, Can Potentially Face In Undertaking Cross-Border Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Activity - Case Study Example The researcher states that cross-border mergers and acquisitions are complex undertakings packaged with risks and rewards. When two organizations with different internal controls, management styles, corporate cultures and processes attempt to integrate, the business risk increases substantially. Before embarking on M&A journey, it is imperative that all risk factors are considered prior to injecting capital in the host country. UK Coal needs to conduct due diligence so as to ensure that M&A activity fits its long-term strategic objectives. Due diligence identifies, confirms or disputes the business reasons for proposed merger or acquisition transactions. Due diligence demands a thorough data analysis of assets and liabilities, particularly large balance sheet items such as accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable to establish fair market value. It is imperative that a fair value for the business is accurately established so that a reasonable price is paid for the target a ssets. A careful analysis of the target company's financial statements avoids incidents of overpaying and mismanaging shareholders' expectations. Differences in corporate culture, business practices, and institutional layouts can hinder firms from fully realizing their potential. According to a KPMG study, 83 percent of all M&As failed to economically benefit the shareholders and over 50 percent actually destroyed value. A research was conducted involving over 100 senior managers to determine the reason behind this failure which turned out to be the cultural differences. In pursuing a cross-border M&A, it is vital for an organization to assess the political situation prevailing in the target country. This assessment will not only uncover any potential political risks but also prepare the host company to face them and find appropriate solutions for them. Another potential barrier to a successful M&A activity is lack of knowledge about the target company. Knowledge about the company l eads to a successful post-merger integration. Â  Another factor that should be taken into account is the effects of trade impediments on cross-border M&A. Academic studies have found that on an aggregate basis, trade costs affect merger activity negatively, though the effect is less pronounced for horizontal mergers, i.e. mergers between firms within the same industry. UK Coal needs to ensure that its target company is one which will lead not only to economical but also intercultural synergies between the two companies. To identify an appropriate acquisition target, aforementioned due diligence should be adequately employed. Moreover, UK Coal needs cognizance in matters relating to exchange rates, local accounting standards, foreign government potential trade regulations, etc. UK Coal should have information regarding its local competitors in the host country and their respective market positions. This will lead to reasonable projections and estimates for the business. Expectations of UK Coal from this activity should be realistic and in parity with the overall strategy formulated at the design stage. Regulatory aspects also need attention to avoid any legal risks. Competent professionals (lawyers, accountants) must be hired to provide financial and legal opinions regarding the merger or acquisition transaction.

Discuss ideas from the book Understanding Comics Essay

Discuss ideas from the book Understanding Comics - Essay Example Scott McCloud, however, seeks to rectify this in his book â€Å"Understanding Comics†. He presents comics as an unsung hero in the Arts. The book is a portal to getting a good grasp of the nature of comics and the concepts integrated in it. This paper seeks to analyze concepts discussed in Scott McCloud’s book, â€Å"Understanding Comics† and establish how some of those concepts apply to other forms of media. 2.0 Concepts McCloud asserts that there is â€Å"no guarantee that anything exists outside what my five senses report to me† (61). This demonstrates the concept of closure. Closure, as discussed in the third chapter of this book, is where our imagination comes into play -- Much like the tip of the iceberg, one only sees a portion of it, yet one knows that the bulk of it is submerged beneath the surface. McCloud believes that â€Å"To kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths" (69). As readers fill in the gap between those panel s, each of them creates their own versions of how that man died, hence, a thousand deaths. Readers did not actually see how the man died but based on what was presented to them in the panel, they concluded that that man did die and even developed their own account as to how. Another concept tackled is transition. McCloud mentions six: â€Å"moment to moment, action to action, subject to subject, scene to scene, aspect to aspect, and non sequitur† (70-72). The first one constitutes of a single subject within a brief period of time. This one affords little time for closure. Action to action still consists of a single subject but for a considerable length of time. The third one comprises of different subjects but a single scene. Scene to scene, literally, is a shift of scenes. The fourth transition transfers attention to aspects of mood, place, or idea (McCloud 70-72). McCloud notes that art makes visible the visible (123). This is indicative of emotion. Emotions are represented by lines in comics as it is the person’s sense of sight utilized to make up for the non usage of the sense of hearing. McCloud also discussed six steps an artist goes through in reproducing art -- idea, form, idiom, structure, craft, and surface (162-184). First, the artist should brainstorm on the concept of the work based on emotions and ideologies and derive the content from the aforementioned. This is followed by the decision on what form that particular piece of work would take. The genre it is classified under is identified. After which, organization of content is done -- determining what is included or excluded. Thereafter, the artist proceeds to creating the piece of art itself, employing skills, knowledge, and other resources in the process. Finally, focus is placed on the superficial aspects of the work -- those which are clearly seen upon first exposure to it (McCloud 162-184). In line with these six steps, McCloud has classified artists into two according to the emphasis they placed on the first two of these steps. He claims that the artists who focus on form are the innovators (McCloud 179). On the other hand, those who focus on idea are the conceptualists (McCloud 180). This idea is relevant to David Galenson’s theory on Art. Artists can be categorized into two -- those who proceed to innovate experimentally, yet cautiously, using their perceptions and those who innovate conceptually, using both ideas and feelings alike (Galenson 351-362). 2.1 The Concept of Closure in Other Media Forms