Monday, December 30, 2019

Opec And The Price Of Oil - 873 Words

OPEC and the price of oil The organization of the petroleum exporting countries or OPEC was created at Baghdad Conference in Iraq in September 1960. The founding members of organization were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. These five states were later joined by nine other countries: Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), and Angola (2007). Ecuador and Gabon withdrew from the organization in 1992 and 1994 as Indonesia in 2007 respectively. OPEC relocated its headquarters from Geneva to Vienna in 1960. The purpose of OPEC, as with any cartel, is to limit supplies in the hope of keeping the price high. The oil industry has been plagued by production booms and falling prices ever since Colonel Drakes’ discovery of oil at Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. Just as major oil companies colluded from the 1920’s to the 1960’s to present prices and profits from falling, members of OPEC meet at a regular basis to set production levels in the hop of maintaining prices. The essential nature of oil (no substitutes) coupled with its limited number of suppliers make it the ideal product monopoly. â€Å"When OPEC was formed in 1960, its main goal was to prevent its compromise the world’s largest oil producers, refiners, and marketers—from lowering the price of oil, which they had always specified, or reported. OPEC members sought to gain greater control over oil prices byShow MoreRelatedOpec1276 Words   |  6 PagesDefinition and Introduction to OPEC OPEC, The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a name that has become synonymous with the worldwide petroleum market. But what does it do, who is involved and how important is OPEC to our day-to-day lives? This article aims to answer these basic questions in a clear and concise fashion. OPEC is a permanent organisation of 12 countries which are world-leaders in oil production. The primary aim of OPEC is to unify petroleum policies between itsRead MoreHas OPEC been a Successful Cartel?1497 Words   |  6 Pagescartel in existence today is OPEC, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Its members are some (but not all) of the most important oil producing countries including Saudi Arabia and Mexico. Most cartels try to raise prices at the expense of consumers. The aim of this essay is to determine whether OPEC has been a successful cartel, this will mean I have to examine the strengths and weaknesses of OPEC which have been present throughout their existence of supplying oil. This should allow me toRead MoreOpec And The Oil Field1670 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstanding OPEC and the oil field, it is important to understand how they both began and what is currently occurring in the oil market. The production of oil has been around since the mid 1800’s here in the United States. In the late 1850’s, the first drilling rig made specifically for oil drilling was created by George Bissel and Edwin L. Drake. It was named the Drake well. Keep in mind that although this was the first oil drilling rig made, this is not the first time that someone had hit oil whileRead MoreEssay on Understanding OPEC: An Economic Analysis1353 Words   |  6 PagesUnderstanding OPEC: An Economic Analysis In the last few months, much has been said of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Interestingly enough, one of Iraq’s motivating factors was economics. Kuwait provided Iraq with a pretext for war as it violated the economic policies of the Organization of Oil-Exporting Countries by exporting oil above its quotas. This is but one chapter in the complicated history of OPEC. OPEC is an international assembly of nations which co-ordinates and unifies the petroleumRead MoreOpec Is An International Organization1182 Words   |  5 PagesOPEC is an international organization that formed in September of 1960. OPEC headquarters reside in Vienna, Austria, however they are a collective representation of 13 different oil-exporting nations. Over its lifetime, it has conjured many different interpretations of its effect in the oil world. Some views determine that OPEC does not have a significant effect on oil prices or market dynamics but instead the worldwide competitive market. Another view concludes that OPEC uses their power toRead MorePetroleum As Vital For Human Existence As Water1410 Words   |  6 PagesBuchan a Financial Times correspondent stated, â€Å"A century ago, petroleum - what we call oil - was just an obscure commodity; today it is almost as vital to human existence as water.† The uses petroleum have are relevant from transportation to everyday synthetic materials. It is the sole reasoning behind a unceasing thirst for oil around the world, where the only way to survive in the modern age is with the aid of oil. This brings us to the importance in understanding the petroleum industry because itRead MoreEssay about OPEC Presentation1377 Words   |  6 Pages Overview of OPEC Is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September, 1960. Founder Members: Later joined Members †¢Iran †¢Iraq †¢Kuwait †¢Saudi Arabia †¢Venezuela †¢Qatar (1961) †¢Indonesia (1962) – suspended membership 01/2009 †¢Libya (1962) †¢United Arab Emirates (1967) †¢Algeria (1969) †¢Nigeria (1971) †¢Ecuador (1973) – suspended membership 1992-2007 †¢Angola (2007) †¢Gabon (1975–1994) Objectives of Opec †¢ OPECs objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleumRead MoreThe Organization Of The Petroleum Exporting Countries1029 Words   |  5 PagesIn December 2014, OPEC was ranked third on Lloyd s list of the top 100 most influential people in the shipping industry.† It is important to understand the mission of OPEC is to better understand its influence and impacts on the world. According to the OPEC website, The mission statement of OPEC is as follows: In accordance with its Statute, the mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries andRead MoreOil And Demand For Oil1174 Words   |  5 PagesCrude oil is one of the most economically mature commodity markets in the world. Even though most crude oil is produced by a relatively small number of companies, and often in remote locations that are very far from the point of consumption but it is shipped all over the world. The glo bal supply and demand determines prices for oil. Events around the world can affect the prices at our home for oil-based energy. OPEC, the large oil-producing cartel, does have the ability to influence world prices, butRead MoreEffects Of The Seven Sisters Actions Outlined1289 Words   |  6 Pagesgovernments of the oil producing countires. This lead to the creation of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Baghdad, 1960. Their initial aim was to ensure the security of their tax revenues from the International Oil Companies. This can be seen as the creation of a cartel in order to counter the oligoponistic power of buyers. In the previous time periods discussed its hard to formally prove that structural change has taken place in a quantative way. The oil shocks of 1973

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Global Marketing - Maotai Expand in the UK Research Proposal

Essays on Global Marketing - Maotai Expand in the UK Research Proposal The paper â€Å"Global Marketing - Maotai Expand in the UK† is an intriguing example of a research proposal on marketing. Maotai traces its roots back in Southwest China which is believed to have an exceptional climate other than its vegetation that is the reason why Maotai has a peculiar taste. Being the first Chinese wine to be produced on a large scale, Maotai has gained worldwide fame. According to toTadla (2007), between1644 and 1911, the wine realized a 170 tons output. Expanding business to international levels is majorly meant to reduce competition and taking advantage of other opportunities that have not been explored. In recent years, increasingly fierce competition in the domestic spirits consumption market in China and limited market space has contributed to the diversification of some conditional spirit enterprises which begun eying international markets.Most companies are expanding production to international levels as a way of diversification. Local markets are crowded with more producers joining and therefore increasing competition. International markets provide opportunities for expansion and productivity. The Wines and spirits market in the United Kingdom is among many international markets with high potential for investors. China’s Maotai intends to expand into the UK market and increase productivity while introducing the Chinese culture in the UK (Landsperger, 2009).This paper aims at discovering the opportunity for Maotai to expand and occupy the UK market. This research gives a clear understanding of Maotai, how marketing is done in the UK, highlights consumer behavior, cultural marketing, and other marketing methods to effectively integrate existing resources and solve problems. In order to make Maotai acceptable by consumers in the UK and build the real value of the brand in the UK market, it is important to understand the market and possible consumer behavior towards Maotai. This will give wine producers an upper hand in f orming the core competitiveness of enterprise marketing. The conclusion of the paper provides a recommendation on whether it is wise or not to expand the production of Maotai into the UK market or not.2.0 BackgroundChina has a long history of wine and spirits brewing especially Zunyi in Renhuai province. This has grown to be a Chinese cultural heritage, also is regarded as one of the Chinese nation "epitomai". Maotai became a national liquor in 1915after being named in San Francisco during the Panama-pacific exposition. Other medals won by Maotai include the 1985 and 1986 medals at the International exposition in Paris making international awards fourteen and twenty awards domestically since china became a republic. Initiatives for the Chinese spirits and wines to explore international markets started long ago. In 2011, Wuliangye and Hongloumeng joined hands to improve product appearance in Seoul, South Korea. Wuliangye also held a tasting named ‘World wine Wuliangye-Meet in S eoul’ in Seoul. The opening up of Chinese wines and spirits to foreign markets made a good start. However, the path of the internationalization of Chinese spirits is not optimistic. The expansion of the overseas market is also walking slowly.According to Cao (2004), Cao, a Chinese poet for over one thousand years ago in his poem ‘Three Kingdoms’ sung out a poem that ‘How to dispel melancholy, only has the Duking.’ And the poem is for the world universal appeal. It is evident that the Chinese people's love spirits already penetrated the bone marrow. However, it is absurd that as a major power exporter of spirits, China has not fully penetrated the international market, especially the UK market. According to the latest figures, the Maotai mainstream market almost disappeared in the UK.

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Neil Postman Amusing Ourselves to Death Free Essays

string(89) " and this makes it difficult to control the socialization of the young among themselves\." Neil Postman was a special type of a man and considered that he was not an expert on anything, and yet he was ready to express his opinion on every subject under the sun. The person’s mind was continuously working at jokes, headlines and different ideas. This infected an individual when he met Mr. We will write a custom essay sample on Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death or any similar topic only for you Order Now Postman and that could be responded to only with humor, and even that was likely to bring out more ideas. There were a lot of people who knew him – in excess of a hundred thousand or so – had first met his humor. This was also reflected in the books that he wrote. Each of these is also a source of propaganda for his views and written like an essay. The first was â€Å"The Disappearance of Childhood† in 1982, and this was on the infantile nature of American culture. The next book was in 1985 and a satire on entertainment and was named â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Death†. The last was in 1993 called â€Å"technopoly† and this criticized the fall of culture to technology. He had an excellent intellectual pose along with poise in public meetings and all this rode on the back of his capacity for humor. He always felt that he was the civilized man in a barbaric setting. This setting gradually changed into television and was concerned with the dots, and pursued him all his life. Now let us look at what is this television and how it connects with people. In the United States it first started transmission in New York and the British play, â€Å"The Man with the Flower in His Mouth† was broadcast there in July 1930. Thus one can say that television started off in the heart of United States and the television station was located in South Eastern New York at the mouth of the Hudson River. The station began broadcasting seven days a week on July 21, 1931. This was a television channel or station that broadcast on the terrestrial mode as that was the only mode available then. The bandwidth was then highly confined and this led to a high control by the government. Yet, from the beginning television has been highly used for advertising. Organizing the TV programs that are to be broadcast can be worked out either as a direct production by the manufacturers and then selling to the station that intends to buy it. Sometimes the production itself is paid for by the TV station that will show it. (Television) In other cases the station issues a license to the producers to produce the show for the channel. The show is sometimes carried on in other centers after the show is over on the main channel. In TV terminology this is called secondary programming usage. The secondary shows may be in the original country where the show was produced or in other countries from where the channels are interested in the show. The shows may be controlled by the original producer or not depending on the agreement. Sometimes a group of TV stations run some common programs in their own interest, or through an individual. This is called syndication and the show may be sold by the producers themselves or their agents. Yet with all this it has been seen that doctors recommend that children should only see TV for an hour or two at the maximum in the day. Excess of TV viewing is known to cause various diseases like ADD, excessive weight and heart problems. These may lead to diabetes or excess aggression. Thus it is clear that viewing of Television is not recommended in a high dosage for anybody, and the problem in our country is made worse by the situation of having a number of stations at every town or city due to the possibility of multiple channels being available now. These channels can also be seen on the set through a cable and the customer only has to pay a monthly fee. This is the problem that was envisaged by Postman quite a few years ago, and possibly he foresaw the worsening of the situation due to the advent of cable TV. The problem was also made clear by the decline of the family in the country and as a result the children are being left with only one parent. Most of the time, the single parent is working and is not able to attend to the child when the child comes back from school. These let the child free with the television and see any program of their choice. (Television) Neil Postman is an authority on children and has written many books about different subjects. These are mostly concentrated on education, as he was a teacher himself. He has written on the crisis in the schools, the effect of Television on our public and political life and the nature of modern childhood and education. He has taken the position of conscientiously objecting to whatever he saw being harmful to the society. In certain cases he has pointed out institutionalized mistakes or organizational stupidity and asked for their solution. Throughout the West, there has been the concept of three stages in life – infancy, childhood and adulthood. This had gone undisturbed for 350 years, but is now being questioned by a new element in the communicational facilities – television. This is seriously disturbing as the contents of life that would be normally faced by adults are now being made open to the children through this new medium. The children do not have to go through the portals of adulthood for reaching this information. Earlier this was being protected by the adults through certain secrets that are known to adults, but not revealed to children till they reached the appropriate age. These secrets are the social, political and sexual secrets that an adult must know. At the same time Television reveals all these secrets at once, and this makes it difficult to control the socialization of the young among themselves. You read "Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death" in category "Papers" This is making the young less discernible from adults. Stirring Up Trouble about Technology, Language, and Education) In the past there was a time when alcoholism was seen only among adults, and not at all among children. Today it is common to see child alcoholics. The same situation exists among children for drugs and it is quite common among children. The same situation exists for sex and sexual disease and this is seen from the total crime statistics. There are a number of figures that show the young being involved in crime today while this was not the situation even in 1959 as the figures for crime by people under the age of 18 shows. Thus it is clear that television is making the concept of childhood as being different from adulthood being different extremely difficult to sustain in North America, and childhood is disappearing from that region of the world. At the same time, there some parents who are well off and if they know what is happening to the child may still provide him or her with a childhood. This requires the parents to be very careful on the influences of the media on the child, among other factors. The problem is that not many parents can meet those conditions, and the influence of television among media is still rising. As mentioned earlier, there are many single parent houses in America and their difficulties have already been discussed. Even when there are two parents, both of them are working at the same time and that stops them from being able to give enough time to the children for socializing. This transfers the socializing exercise to the television set, and many of them are unable to control the channels that the children see or what films they see, or even know what records they have. These activities require the parents to have a lot of time for the child, and advise the child. Yet not many parents find the time for that. Thus for the children to have a childhood, the parents must spend a lot of time with the child. On the other hand many parents are too busy and there children get the required education from the advertising of NBC, CBS, Steven Spielberg, Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble. In certain countries television is being controlled – Denmark. They have now limited the extent of commercials that an advertiser supported station can have. These stations are not permitted to have advertisements on cigarettes, liquor, beer, banks, medicine, religious organizations, political organizations, or even advertisements aimed at children. Also, in Denmark, the television operates for the full 24 hours in a day. But, it is not possible for this to happen in the United States as the Americans would feel it is very restrictive, apart from the ideology of the present day administration. The present day administration may even be called the extreme type of free market supporters. This has not started today and even Ronald Reagan was not conservative, and he was probably as oriented to the free market as is the present President Bush. They are all willing to get as much out of technology as possible in terms of gains of dollars. Thus there is no chance of any restriction being put on the hours of operation of the Television through any social policy. This attitude goes on in Americans well beyond the limits of television and is being applied by them even in the case of computer technology. The issue is not of one particular technology, but the general question of using technology for financial gain to extreme limits, or no limits. (Stirring Up Trouble about Technology, Language, and Education) It can be said that in the exploitation of technology, there are no limits in America and they generally do not have any concerns about the psychological and social effects. They are just interested in knowing what the new technology can do. They are not concerned about the effects of the new technology in changing the social or cultural behaviors of the citizens. This is reflected in Sesame Street which makes the children get more attached to television than school. The concerned program is well prepared and makes the maximum possible use of a visual image based medium. When the makers of the program say that the program will make the children like school it is only right in the sense that the children will like school if it is a show like Sesame Street. The show is probably helping the children learn the elements that are taught in school like the letters and the numbers, yet at the same time, it is also giving the children some built in impressions about school. This is teaching the children that school must be entertaining, and that images have to form the basic of learning. It also gives the children that feeling that learning is immediately rewarded by getting of rewards in some form or the other. The impressions which are built into the children turn out to be more important than the learning that they get, and that is the problem. The children learn the numbers and letters in other forms also, and that also happens within the expected time, but the normal learning process does not build in these difficulties. It is often said that these methods of education make the children more intelligent, but that is a moot question to answer as the differences in intelligence are hard to define and their benefits are also hard to judge. The question of intelligence is easy to be used, as nobody probably understands what we are trying to say, but it is much easier to understand when we say that a person is stupid. It is possible that the technology available in the computer will help the technology of printing to a large extent, and that would be a service. It also increases the thinking by the children as to program a computer the child has to think quite a lot. Yet the total effect that this would cause is rather difficult to guess. (Stirring Up Trouble about Technology, Language, and Education) Technological development has had a very big impact and much more so when the development has been on the matters of information and communication. They have great impacts in terms of socialization, ways of thinking and methods of learning. A lot of these changes have taken place in the latter part of the 20th century and this brings up the question of defining the new Child of the Information Age. Some people may be defining all the children of today as Children of the Information Generation with television, computer games and video games. This had also been the thinking of Neil Postman, and he believed that this made the child cross puberty physically but never reach maturity. Thus they loose their childhood but are then are lost to mankind. The phrase â€Å"technology development† normally refers to the development of tools and these are being developed from the time that men have started on the path to development. (Children of the Information Age: A Reversal of Roles) Until the seventeenth century, tools of a more primitive kind were being used by all civilizations. Not that all countries were using the same tools and some had only spears and cooking utensils available to them. On the other side, others had water mills, coal and horse power. At the same time, these tools were not intended to change the civilization which had brought them into existence, and they were not intended to attack. Thus the tools did not stop people from believing in their versions of god, politics, and methods of education or their methods of social organization. (Kaplan, 34) Some cultures and religions believe that television is intruding into their religion and the use of television is banned by some sections of believers in Islam in some parts of the world. In the world of today, children and adults see the same movies thanks to television and highlighted by Postman. They all get into telephone romances; get informed about the same pop music and the same computer games. These come through both the television and the computer. This results in the adults never growing up and becoming more childish as time goes on. The children become more mature as they are exposed to all matters of adulthood, or at least seem so. This adulthood is only superficial and not emotional, as the amount of information to be passed on to the child should be passed on in a controlled manner by the concerned adult, as otherwise, the concept of being a child will end. This gradually stops the clear line of demarcation between adults and children, and the sense of independence and responsibility also becomes unclear. This is highlighted by Postman who describes the present day children as living between illusion and realty. This has also made the adults loose most of their authority, and it is a world without borders. (Children of the Information Age: A Reversal of Roles) In truth these makes them totally dependent for all the time, and never grow up into adults. Yet the children of the present day differ a lot from the children of earlier years and they consist of a larger section of the people who come to the net regularly. This is quite understandable as the net is a part of their life which has never been the case with their parents. In studies it has been seen that as much as 73% of the American population between the ages of 12-17 use the Internet regularly and the study was in June 2001. These children also certainly have a care in the world for the world that they live in. One of their main contributions is through the creation of web sites for helping others. Jason Fernandez from Mumbai had built a site which supported children with learning disabilities along with their parents and teachers. This is a site for common good. The new facility of Internet has made it possible for everybody to publish his or her work. This is irrespective of age, gender, or education. The control is not with groups of people that existed in earlier generations where the work could only go out in the printed format. This change will also bring in other changes in the methods of learning, working and social structure. (Children of the Information Age: A Reversal of Roles) Postman had been concerned that the importance of all items was being reduced by television – be it politics, religion, news, athletic education or commerce. This was how we were amusing ourselves to death. It also showed that image was viewed as more important than content, and television was the master of images. (Neil Postman’s amusing ourselves to Death) If Postman were to now concentrate on the newer developments he would write on the Internet. To be negative, the Internet contains a lot of false information, and this would hurt the beliefs of a normal human being. But this is also something that we learn while growing up into adults from childhood, and is not necessarily negative. (Final Project Paper: Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman) To conclude, one can thus say that while television makes the audience less responsible and childish, the Internet makes the audience more apparently mature. It is up to the audience to carry the work further, and not live for their own life, abandoning the responsibility of the children that they created. How to cite Neil Postman: Amusing Ourselves to Death, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Spanish Explorers Motivation free essay sample

The Spanish explorers were noble men who traveled across the sea’s to explore new land and new areas. In this case, the Spanish explorers were Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortez, both of which are from Spain, and lived in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. The reason Columbus and Cortez are so important in our history is because without them Central and South America would be so different today. Due to their huge impact on the Americas, it is important to understand why they even traveled their to begin with. Although some think they traveled out of curiosity, the Spanish explorers were motivated to leave home and conquer the Americas because of riches and possessions, obtaining new land for Spain, and to spread the religion of Christianity. A huge factor that motivated Spanish explorers to journey to the Americas were riches and possessions. â€Å"I shall make you in a very short time the richest of all men who have crossed the seas,† said Cortez, who was persuading his men to join him on the journey. We will write a custom essay sample on Spanish Explorers Motivation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Apparently, the riches and possessions were too much for Cortez’s men to pass up, considering the fact that his crew did travel to the Americas. Money and riches did play a big role in motivating Cortez and his crew. However, it wasn’t just Cortez. Columbus said, in a letter to the King and Queen of Spain, â€Å"It was my wish to bypass no island without taking possessions. † From this statement, we can infer that the â€Å"possessions,† that Columbus gathered from neighboring islands was a motivating factor on him traveling to the Americas, and the King and Queen of Spain funding his journey. As you can see, the people of Spain were determined to believe that there were great treasures in store for them in the Americas. However, there were only a few men who were brave enough to give up everything and go. Riches and treasures had a large impact on motivating Spanish explorers to travel to the Americas. Another issue that gave Spanish explorers motivation to travel was to obtain new land for Spain. At the time, Europe was very crowded (It still is today). So, why not go out seeking for new land? Now, that’s exactly what they did. â€Å"I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them,† said Columbus. The fact that Columbus took over the islands shows that the idea of doing so was premeditated. If not, why would he bother to take over? He would just return to Spain anyways. Another piece of evidence shows that land was a primary resource for the Spanish explorers in the piece of art titled, â€Å"Landing of Christopher Columbus in America. † In this picture, you see a boat containing Spanish explorers (with a man who appears to be Christopher Columbus standing up with his arms spread to his side clearly showing his power and dominance) approaching a shore full of native Americans. If you look closely, you can see the men on the boat looking at the land with lustful eyes, in other words, they cannot wait to call it their own. To sum this all up, the Spanish really needed and wanted new land, it may have been just Columbus, or maybe Cortez too, but, you can clearly see that land played a big role on their motivation to travel to the Americas. Finally, the Spanish explorers really felt the need to spread their religion of Christianity to anyone and everyone, so that was a big motivating factor also. In a conversation between Spaniards and Indians, the Spaniards said, â€Å"We ask that you acknowledge the Christian church as the ruler and superior of the whole world. This statement shows how important the Christian church is to the Spaniards, and how it isn’t just a coincidence that they’re preaching to the native Americans. The Spaniards believed that they were told by their Christian God to go and spread their religion to the people of the Americas. Another piece of evidence that proves this is a piece of art titled â€Å"The first landing of Columbus in the New World. † In this picture, it shows Spanish ships arriving an shore of an island, and they are all on their knees praying. Their is also a Christian preacher who is standing and organizing the whole thing. This picture shows us that the Spaniards Christian God motivated them to travel to the Americas so much, that soon as they arrived, they instantly dropped to their knees and began to pray. Showing their true devotion to their church and God. Spreading of their religion was also a big factor on motivating the Spanish to travel to the Americas, due to the fact, that they tried to convert the natives, and they prayed when they arrived on the island. In conclusion, the Spanish explorers were clearly motivated to travel to the Americas, whether it be for the riches and possessions, obtaining new land, or to spread the Christian religion. Without motivation, the Spaniards may have never traveled to the Americas, and That would make life today so much different. For example, southern countries wouldn’t be dominated by the Christian faith and probably wouldn’t speak Spanish either. Even though some people thought the explorers traveled out of curiosity, they were all extremely motivated to leave their lives in Spain and travel to the Americas due to riches and treasures, obtaining new Spanish land, and to spread the religion of Christianity.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Chaucer Essays (1698 words) - The Canterbury Tales,

Chaucer And Marie de France In his The Miller's Tale Chaucer presents a side of the courtly love tradition never seen before. His characters are average middle class workers rather than elite nobility. There is an interesting comparison between the Miller's characters and those in two of Marie de France's lais that share very close plot lines. Instead of being idealized Chaucer's characters are gritty. Instead of being involved in "courtly love" there is some evidence that the relationship between Alison and Nicholas is one of lust. Chaucer's use of the lower class makes the absurdity of what they are doing stand out. In the lais of Marie de France, Guigemare and Yonec, are built on the same archetype which is the same as Chaucer's Miller's tale uses. Marie's lais can give provide a set of "ground rules" for this archetype. The two lais share several similar elements. They both contain the same three central characters, who possesses fundamental similarities, the same beginning plot line and several of the same themes. The first character shared by the two lais is the story's villain, the aged husband. He is a powerful lord who is much older than his wife. Because he is conscious of this fact, he worries constantly that his wife will betray him, so he locks her up. He is both the least and most important figure in the story. He's important because without his presence and actions the story could never take place. But he has very little actual interaction with the other two more central characters. The husband in Yonec is never described as meeting either his wife or her lover. In Guigemare the husband, wife and Guigemare are only together when the two lovers are discovered. The figure of the beautiful, imprisoned wife is the second central character. She is the quintessential damsel in distress, beautiful, noble (and with the exception of her one true love) chaste. The third character is the valiant lover who rescues the unhappy and imprisoned damsel. In both Guigemare and Yonec this character is a knight, and like his lover, the damsel in distress, he is the stereotypical "knight in shining armor." He is described as being afflicted by love, and says he will die without it. He will go to any extent for his true love. As with characters both Guigemare and Yonec share a similar plot line. The young wife is locked up by her jealous husband. Then by some magical means her lover is transported to her. After some protestation from the woman, and some wooing from the knight, the two become lovers, until they are discovered and separated. After this point the two plots diverge. Also central to both stories is the idea that these extra-marital affairs are not improper. In Guigemare, the lady's maid says to the knight: "The man who wishes to love my lady must keep her constantly in his thoughts and, if you remain faithful to each other, the love between you will be right and proper." (pg. 49) Obviously fidelity is important, but not forced fidelity. Love is more important than marriage in these lais. It's also important to note the chastity of the lovers. There is no mention of contact between the imprisoned wives and their husbands. In Yonec the Lord of Caerwent takes his wife for the purpose of child bearing, but she is imprisoned for seven years before meeting her lover and no children are evidenced from the text. Guigemare has never been in love before he meets his true love. This gives the love and actions between the pairs seem even more pure, and also makes it seem to be less sinful. Love is a powerful force in both these stories. It is not only the driving force behind the character's actions, but it also causes them physical affliction. Marie de France writes in Guigemare: "But love had now pierced him to the quick and his heart was greatly disturbed. For the lady wounded him so deeply he had completely forgotten his homeland. . .The knight remained alone, mournful and downcast. He did not yet realize the cause, but at least he knew that, if he were not cured by the lady his death would be assured." (pg. 48) To Guigemare at least love is the most important thing there is. This consideration is even more striking by the fact that Guigemare either could not or would not fall in love while in his own land. So those are the basic elements involved in the "imprisoned wife"

Monday, November 25, 2019

Simens Case Study Essay Example

Simens Case Study Essay Example Simens Case Study Essay Simens Case Study Essay Motivation within a creative environment A Siemens case study http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/siemens/motivation-within-a-creative-environment/introduction. html#axzz2OdbuuXae 3 theories: Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory (Satisfiers and dissatisfiers)This case study focuses upon three different theories of motivation which include Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory, Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory (Satisfiers and dissatisfiers) and uses these to illustrate how employees are motivated within an engineering environment at Siemens. Maslows hierarchy of needs was first articulated in 1943 by Abraham Maslow which is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top.With reference to the Siemens’ case study, it can be seem that the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be used for recognition and developing people. One important element for self-esteem is recognition of accomplishments. Whenever you are recognized and praised for any accomplishment by someone whose opinion you hold in high regard, the self-esteem goes up, along with eagerness and enthusiasm to do even better on the job. Therefore, siemens runs schemes in which suggestions and projects for improvements are rewarded.Self-actualization is to develop or achieve employee’s full potential during working so that to make the ideal-self equals to actual-self. Self-actualization leads to better work and peak performance. For example, engineering staff training helps engineers to extend their capabilities which may lead to a progression up the career ladder as well as to meet the changing demands of the business global markets. * Frederick Herzberg proposed Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory in 1950s.It states that there are certain factors in the workplace that causes job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. * The first factor is Motivators that give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself and stimulate better performance such as * recognition of achievements, opportunities for growth and development. * Hygiene factors means the employee would be dissatisfied with the absent of * the factors.These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as * salary, working conditions, company policies and interpersonal relations. It can be concluded from Herzberg’s theory that it is important for managers to achieve the balance of hygiene factors and motivators factors to stimulate higher levels of performance of employees. With reference to the Siemens case, Siemens strengthening motivations by raising awareness of issues with employees and encourage their involvement to reduce dissatisfactions as well as creative environment of the engineering industry creates recognition and growth.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Leadership - Essay Example In order to decide on the most effective approach, the manager must consider the experience and skill levels of employees, the kind of work involved, the organization’s environment and the manager’s natural or preferred style (Schriesheim, 1982). While positive leadership commonly give rewards such as independence and training to employees with an aim of increasing employee morale, negative leadership emphasizes giving penalties. A close analysis of the company’s management has revealed that most supervisors in the company have preferred the application of transformational management over other management styles. The impacts of this management style theoretically include improved employee morale and performance according to Bass (1998). It is however unclear whether its application in the company has and will continue to yield positive fruits. It is in this respect that the organization seeks to carry out a research to make certain whether or not the transformational management style is effective in practice as it is claimed to be in theory with regard to this company. The research will be limited to the company and its employees and will therefore preclude the involvement of other persons or parties. While mention of several management styles will be made, the research will be biased towards the application of transformational leadership vis a vis autocratic leadership. Further, the research will mainly concentrate on determining the effects of supervisors’ application of transformational leadership on employees and their performances at work. In this respect, the research will focus on measuring the impacts of the management style in terms of employee commitment, absenteeism and performance as well as production turnover. In appreciation of the fact that management style of an organization’s leadership has significant and measurable impacts on its (the organization’s) performance, there is a

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

'Suddenly, Last Summer 'Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

'Suddenly, Last Summer 'Film Review - Essay Example The doctor realizes that Sebastian and his mother used to go everywhere together and as trendy jetsetters, they surrounded themselves with the same type of people. When his mother had a stroke, he starts going with Catherine on trips. She realizes that he likes men though it is never discussed and to say so seems like an insult to his character. It turns out that Sebastian had used his own mother and his cousin, Catherine, like bait, to lure in men he thought were attractive and then he used them for sex. While in Spain, Catherine and Sebastian were being harassed by a group of men begging for money. When Sebastian rejects their please, he takes off running and while Catherine tries to catch up to him, she finds that he has been attacked by the boys and eat him so like he was a man eater by finding men and spitting them out when he was through, the men that literally ate him, devoured him. This is common of Classic Hollywood because being homosexual was taboo. Sometimes there were even depictions of violence even though it was sometimes just playful. It is not surprising that a homosexual was basically ‘preyed’

Monday, November 18, 2019

Inroduction to Business law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Inroduction to Business law - Coursework Example Though there are fundamental differences between tort and contract laws, it is argued that they are similar to one another and negligent misstatement and negligent misrepresentation are clear evidence for that. This part of the paper evaluates Doctrine of precedent in relation to Lord Radcliffe’s statement in his work ‘Not in Feather Beds’(1968) and discusses negligent misstatement under the law of tort and negligent misrepresentation under the law of contract to support the argument that they clearly indicate that both tort and contract laws are similar to one another. Judicial Law-Making and independent sources Lord Radcliffe (1968, p. 216) stated that ‘Judges should be cautious (in terms of making law or following precedent) not because the principles adopted by the Parliament are more satisfactory or more enlightened, but because it is unacceptable constitutionally that there should be two independent sources of law-making at work at the same timeâ€℠¢. ... Judges are to be more cautious to discover and declare the law that they want to express in front of the legislator, but not to make it. Whether judges should make new laws or they should simply declare what the law is has been a major topic of academic debate. In today’s legal systems, it is generally recognized that judges do make new laws when resolving certain disputes even though they often disagree about the extent of their law-making power (Mothersole and Ridley, 1999, p. 41). The doctrine of precedent, which states that courts must use decisions concluded in earlier legal-cases, has provoked serious debates about the precise role and rights of judiciary in developing common law. Are Judges just decision-makers who simply discover the law and declare it in the courts or they actually make new law with their power to do so. Some researchers have seriously claimed that judges have no more power than finding and applying existing legal principles. From Lord Radcliffeâ€⠄¢s statement, it seems that he agreed that a Judge can either depend on decisions made in earlier legal-cases or make law, but he needs to be cautious because it is constitutionally unacceptable that there should be two independent sources at the same time. The two complimentary sources of law-making are Judicial and Legislature processes. Though there are disputed regarding whether a Judge creates law or perfectly follow decisions made in earlier cases, it is generally agreed that a Judge has the power of law-making. Both Judge and Legislature have to understand the respective functions and limitations related to judiciary and legislature. Zander (2004, p. 332) stressed that Judges do not reverse principles that are already well established, but they usually modify, extend or restrict them

Friday, November 15, 2019

Factors Affecting Human Comfort In Buildings

Factors Affecting Human Comfort In Buildings Introduction There are many factors that affect human comfort in the internal built environment. Human comfort is affected by thermal factors; physical factors and personal factors. Another factor that can affect human comfort is sound of the environment around them. The final factor that affects the human comfort is the visual of the room and the light intensity. There are ways to measure the physical factors that affect human thermal comfort, the sound comfort and the visual comfort. Thermal Factors The average temperature inside a building is 19-21 degrees and outside is -1 degrees, but there are two different thermal factors that affect the temperature of the room and human comfort; they are physical and personal factors. The physical factors include; air temperature, mean radiation temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. The air temperature inside of a building will change depending on the temperature outside the building and the k-values of the materials used to build the walls and insulation. K-values are the values that all materials have which shows how good insulators the materials are, the lower the k-value the more affective the materials are at retaining heat. The u-value is what overall heat resistance of the materials are. Air temperature is also affected by the people inside the building and they activity they are doing. The mean radiant temperature also affects the human comfort; mean radiant temperature is the radiation that is coming into the building f rom windows and walls, balanced against the radiation given off by the human body. The relative humidity is another factor that affects the air temperature; the relative humidity is the percentage of water vapour saturation that is in the air. The final physical factor that affects human comfort is the air velocity; this is the movement of the air throughout a building or a room. This can be affected by the convection in the room, the warm air enters a room and rises to the ceiling, pushing the cold air downwards and draught also changes the air velocity, the cold air flows into the room and makes the temperature of the draught path colder that the room temperature. Physical and Personal Factors There are also personal factors that can affect the human comfort in a building, they include; age, gender, state of health, clothing and the level of activity. The age of a person greatly affects the temperature of a room; older people give off less heat then younger people. Gender is also a factor that affects the temperature given off by people, females give off less heat than males, and they give off 85% of what the male body gives off. The state of health of the person also affects the heat that they give off and the temperature of the room, a person who is sick or has an illness gives off less heat that a person who is physically healthy. The clothing you are wearing also affects the temperature that you need to be comfortable, depending on the weight of the clothing you will need different temperatures to feel comfortable e.g. swimwear 29 degrees, light clothing 25 degrees, suit, jumper 22 degrees, coat, glove, hat 14 degrees. The level of activity you are doing also affects t he heat that you give off and the temperature needed to feel comfortable. Sleeping 70W, watching TV 115W, office 140W, factory work 265W, lifting 440W. Audio / Sound Factors The sound of the environment that a person is in greatly affects their comfort in the building. Sound is a form of energy that is transmitted in pressure waves and changes depending on the pressure of the air in the room. Sound is the vibration of the particles in a wave that send the particles in all directions and spread out; this creates a pattern of refraction and compaction. Sound has two different sources and types where it can originate from, they are impact/structure-borne sound and air-bourn sound. These are different as they are where the source of the sound comes from. Air-bone sound is sound which travels through the air before reaching a partition, meaning that the vibrations must have travelled through the air before they reach the partition. Main sources of air-borne noise are; voices, radios and musical instruments. Impact sound is vibrations that are generated on the partition and a continuous vibration can be classed as a series of impact noises in succession. Impac t noise does not travel through air like air-borne noise does. The main sources of impact noise are; footsteps, slamming door and vibrating machinery. It is important to know the difference between impact and air-borne noise as the methods that are used to prevent them are very different. However a single source could generate both air-born and impact noise e.g. footsteps, on the floor below the origin the sound would be impacts as it is started on the partition, but in the room of the sound it travels through the it before reaching the partition making it both air-born and impact. Both types of sound have different ways of preventing, so different installations must be put in to insulate from the type of sound. Air-born sound can be prevented by mass of partitions e.g. thick walls as lightweight particles give very little resistance unless they are in layers. The main ways that impact sounds are prevented is by using vibration pads and soft covering on floors and walls. Sound rever berates, so if a sound suddenly stops the sound will not stop instantly. The time taken for the reverberation of a sound decays at different rates depending on the area of the exposed surfaces, sound absorption values of the materials used in the building, the distance between the surfaces and the sound and the frequency of the sound. Visual / Lighting Factors The final factor that affects human comfort is light intensity. If the light levels are too low or too high then it will not be as suitable. Light travels in rays and bounces off objects and into the eye. The rays cannot bend so they must go in straight lines, but light can be refracted through certain materials which can bend the beam slightly. The light needs to be the right intensity so that the eyes dont have to strain too much if it is too dark or if the light is too bright it may blind. Light can be controlled by letting certain amounts of natural light through windows and also by the brightness of the artificial light from the light bulbs. Natural light can be controlled by using darkened windows and the artificial light can be controlled by having dimmers on the lights to change the intensity as the intensity of natural light changes. Glare can affect the human comfort, glare is a light intensity that is too high reflecting off a surface and reflecting into the eyes making it difficult to see detail or may cause visual discomfort. P2- Describe how each factor is measured There are methods that are used to measure the physical factors that affect human thermal comfort. To measure the physical factors, the instruments that are used are; thermometers, globe thermometer, hygrometer and anemometer. A thermometer is a device that is used to measure the temperature of a room, a thermometer includes a liquid that rises as the temperature does and on the side a scale that measures the temperature in  °C and degrees  °F. A globe thermometer is a device that measures radiant heat and consists of a thermometer sensor with a bulb located at the middle of a black copper bulb. The globe thermometers units of measurement are  °C. This can be used to calculate the mean radiant temperature providing that you know the air velocity and temperature. A hygrometer is an instrument that is used to measure that saturation of water vapour in the air of the surrounding environment. This instrument relies on the pressure, temperature, mass and mechanical or electrical cha nge. By calibrating the device and calculating the other factors the humidity can be worked out. It measures its units in percentages. An anemometer is a device used to measure the speed of wind, but there is also an anemometer that measures the pressure of wind, it consists of three or four cups that revolve around a shaft at different speeds depending on the wind temperature and pressure. They are measure in meters per second. Sound is measured using a sound level meter, this instrument analyses the sound that it picks up and uses electronics to convert the sound onto a digital scale. Sound level meter can pick up sound instantly or can be used to pick sound up over time and the average can be calculated. The intensity of light in a room can be measured using a light meter. The light meter woks using an electrical current which is generated by photosensitive electrons that detect the amount of light hitting the surface. This causes the electrons to react depending on the amount hitting the surface and is then converted into an electrical reading. P3- State acceptable values for each factor Each measurement has a range of acceptable values that affect the human comfort is the environment. The suitable range for temperature in a room is from 19 °C- 21 °C. This is also the same value with a globe thermometer. The acceptable value for the humidity of a room ranges from 40%-60%. The units of measurement that sound is calculated in is decibels and the suitable range in a workplace is from 135dB-137dB maximum. Light intensity is measured using Lux, the acceptable values for the intensity of light is 50- 100Lux. M1- Produce clearly worked, accurate answers for different calculations relating to human comfort in the internal environment 1) Calculate the U-value of a cavity wall with a 102.5mm thick brick outer leaf, 45mm of clear cavity, 50mm of fibre insulating board, 115mm of lightweight concrete block inner leaf and 15mm of dense plaster finish. Brickwork – 0.84 Cavity – 0.13 Fibre insulting board – 0.05 Concrete, lightweight – 0.19 Plaster, dense – 0.50 0.1025 + 0.05 + 0.115 + 0.015 + 0.13 =0.13 + 0.05 = 2.06728696742 0.84 0.05 0.19 0.50 1 = 0.483725779 2.06728696742 U-value = 0.48W/m ²K 2) Compare the U-values of a single-glazed window made up of one sheet of 14mm glass with a double-glazed window made up of two sheets of 28mm glass with a 20mm air gap between them. Comment on the difference in U-values and its effects. Glass – 1.022 Cavity – 0.13 Single-glazed = 0.014 + 0.13 + 0.05 = 0.19369863013 1.022 1 = 5.162659127 0.19369863013 U-value = 5.16W/m ²K Double-glazed = 0.028 + 0.028 + 0.13 + 0.13 + 0.05 = 0.36479452054 1.022 1.022 1 = 2.741269249 0.36479452054 U-value = 2.74W/m ²K The single-glazed has a higher U-value compared to the double-glazed. The difference in the U-value is 2.42; this makes a big difference in the insulation or resistance of heat. The higher U-value has less resistance and is a better insulator, so heat can easily escape. However the double-glazed has more resistance and cannot conduct the heat as well. 3) An un-insulated wall has a U-value of 0.92W/m ²K. If insulation board is added to the construction, what minimum thickness of this board is needed to reduce the U-value to 0.34W/m ²K? The conductivity of the insulation board is 0.028W/mK. 0.0565 + 0.92 = 2.93785714286 0.028 1 = 0.34048348655 2.93785714286 U-value = 0.34W/m ²K Insulation board = 56.5mm 4) A dwelling is 6m long by 4.5m wide by 2.4m high. In the walls, there are two windows, each 1m by 0.6m and a large door 2m by 0.8m. The construction has the following U-values: Windows – 4.8 Door – 3 Walls – 2.3 Roof – 0.15 Floor – 3 The inside environmental comfort temperature is 19 °C while the outside air temperature is -1 °C. The volumetric heat specific capacity of the air is 1300J/mK. There are 1.5 air changes per hour. Calculate the total rate of heat loss for the dwelling. Volume of room = 6 Ãâ€" 4.5 Ãâ€" 2.4 = 64.8m ³ Air change rate = 1.5 Volumetric specific heat for air = 1300J/mK Temperature difference = 20 °C 64.8 Ãâ€" 1.5 Ãâ€" 1300 Ãâ€" 20 = 702W 1 Rate of heat loss = 702W 5) Calculate the reverberation time for a hall which has a volume of 2000m ³ and a sound absorbing area of 350m ². 0.16 Ãâ€" 2000 = 0.91428571428 350 Reverberation time = 0.91s 6) A hall has a volume of 4000m ³ and a reverberation time of 1.6 seconds. Calculate the amount of extra absorption (m ²) required to obtain a reverberation time of 1 second. Comment on how the length of the reverberation time has an impact on activities. 4000 Ãâ€" 0.16 = 400 1.6 Extra absorption = 400m ² The length of reverberation time can have an impact on activities. Depending on the reverberation time may have a large effect on it. If the activity is a speech then the reverberation time needs to be lower. The ideal reverberation time for speech is 0.5 – 1 second. However, of the activity involves music then the reverberation time can be higher as the ideal reverberation time for music is 1.5 – 2 seconds. 7) Calculate the wavelength of sound in air at 40Hz. 340 = 8.5 40 Wavelength = 8.5 8) Calculate the illumination in lux (lx) at a desk in a room where there is a requirement for a 5% daylight factor. The external sky has been measure at 7300 lx. 7300 Ãâ€" 5 = 365 100 5% = 365lx D1- Analyse, in both qualitative and quantitative terms, the basic factors that affect human comfort In a building the human comfort can be affected by the temperature in the room, the light intensity and the sound levels in the room. If any of these are higher or lower than the acceptable values then the people might not be able to work to the best of their abilities or concentrate. The use of ventilation, the need and the relation to heat loss. The partitions used and the relation to sound and heat transfer. To make sure that the temperature in a room is constantly within the right values the ventilation and heating up of the new air has to be constant. This is so that the temperature changes cannot affect the workers in the office; if the temperature levels are changing constantly it can affect work rate and ability. Temperature can change quickly by being in a draft or the convection as the hot air rises and the cold air is pushed down. When the room is hot this can also increase the humidity in the room, when the humidity gets high it can make perspiring difficult. This makes the quality of the work that will be done lower and also makes the experience of the worker worse. The temperature can also be too low as well. If the temperature is too low then this will also have a negative effect on the work that will be done. When they are too cold it will cause shivering which will make working harder, if typing or writing. The sound in a room also affects the human comfort. If the noise level in a room is too high then the workers would be uncomfortable. If the sound is increased then this will make hearing much more difficult. This would also make listening to others harder and also following spoken instructions much more difficult to follow out. This could also have a permanent effect of the persons hearing and may partially or completely deafen them. this means that the quality of the work would not be done as well and may also not be done to the standard wanted due to a possible hearing disability. The amount of light in a room is also a factor that also affects human comfort. If the light levels are too high in a room then the worker may be unable to see well or if light is reflecting off surfaces into their eyes this may irritate the workers. This may also cause partial blindness or permanent blindness. The contrast in lights if they are working at a computer may also hurt their eyes due to straining them to see a screen or paper. However, if the light levels are too low this may also have a negative effect as well. If the light levels are too low this will also cause straining on the eyes and difficulty seeing. Also the contrast of lights in certain areas may have a harmful effect on the eyes of the workers. If the light on the screen is too bright compared to the inside and natural lighting then this could also hurt their eyes. Another factor which may affect human comfort would be the altitude that they are working at. If they are at a high altitude then there may be a lack of oxygen or knowing that they are high may make the workers feel nauseated and sick. At high altitudes people may experience increased bladder activity, decreased appetite, insomnia, swelling of hads, feet and knees and breathlessness. Ventilation is also needed in a working environment. If there is no ventilation then the room would have an insufficient supply of oxygen and exchange for fresh air. If the room is also too hot this will cause the room to be stuffy and will have a very bad effect on the workers. The ventilation can be shafts and windows. Windows will also allow light into the office so that the light levels will not be too low and this will also allow a large amount of oxygen into the offices. The partitions that are used in an office may be good and bad. The partitions could be too thin and you may be able to hear through the partitions, this could be distracting for workers and depending on the thickness of the partition, it may trap in too much heat or let too much heat escape making it difficult to work in conditions that arent correct. If an office has a large amount of natural light this can be good for the workers as they will feel like they are in a natural environment, also allowing enough fresh air at a constant temperature, however if it is very dark outside then it might make the workers feel colder and if it is too bright then it may make them feel too hot. This could be avoided by having curtains or blinds, which will also trap heat in if it is a cold day and keep the cold out.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dunny Takes The Fifth Essay -- essays research papers

Dunny Takes The Fifth The roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villian, but which were none-theless essential to bring about the Recognition or the denoument...Fifth Business, as defined in the book. The book Fifth Business is testimony of events in the life of the main character Dunstable (later renamed Dunstan) Ramsay. Dunstan feels that his whole life has been spent as the "fifth business" in the lives of others. There is a lot of truth and relevence to this. Dunstan was the "fifth business" in the lives Paul and Mary Dempster, and Boy Staunton because he altered their lives without it ever being distinctly for the better or worse. Dunstan Ramsay was the "fifth business" in the life of Paul Dempster. Dunstan had a great deal of impact on the life of Paul even before his birth, at the simple toss of a snowball. If Dunstan wouldn't have had the instinct to move out of the path of the "snowball", that caused him so much mental anguish in the future, then Paul would not have been born premature and almost still. Ramsay took it upon himself to educate Paul, though the material he used to do this with was highly unheard of, in order to help reduce some of the guilt Dunstan still had with Pauls birth. This new interest of magic and saints is what later led Paul to chose the path he did when he ran away from home....

Monday, November 11, 2019

Indian Psychology Essay

The term Indian Psychology refers to the Psychologically relevant materials in ancient Indian thought. Usually this term does not cover modern developments in Psychology in India. Modern Psychology at the beginning of the century emphasized sensation, perception and psychologists in India took out Indian theories of sensation and perception from the classics and created an Indian Psychology. For example Indian theories emphasise the notion that in perception the mind goes out through the senses and assumes the shape of the objects. In 1934, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Indian theories of perception. As soon as Western Psychologists started studying cognition, Indian Psychologists started looking for Indian theories of cognition. In 1958, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Cognition. Later on modern Psychology started emphasising emotions, and in 1981, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Emotions and the Will. The major part of ancient Indian scriptures (Hindu, Buddhist and Jain) emphasise self-realization, samadhi or nirvana. After 1960 Humanistic Psychology emerged and Psychologists became interested in paranormal dimensions of growth. Maslow’s theory of self-actualization and transcendental self-actualization established the link to the major part of ancient Indian theories and methods and almost the whole of ancient Indian writings became psychologically relevant. Psychology of Consciousness, Parapsychology, Psychology of Mysticism, Psychology of Religion and Transpersonal Psychology borrow extensively from Indian writings. The terms Oriental Psychology, Buddhist Psychology, Yoga Psychology , Jain Psychology, etc. are frequently found in modern psychological literature now. Many book lists in Psychology now include books on Yoga, Buddhism and Zen. There seems to be a paradigm shift in Western Psychology, a shift from the notion of mental disease and healing to personal growth, the reference point shifting from the statistical average or â€Å"normal† to the ideal or upper limits of man’s potentiality. The rudiments of the theory of consciousness can be traced back to the Indus valley civilization (6000 to 1500 B.C.). Artifacts of a man sitting in Padmasana have been obtained in excavations. The Swasthika symbol was used in Indus valley script. Buddhist thought and methods (6th century B.C.) are in line with the objective spirit of modern science and the law of parsimony of science and Buddhism can be easily incorporated into a scientific framework. The Psychological relevance of the four noble truths and eight-fold path and Sunya vada of Buddhism and Buddhist techniques of meditation are of considerable relevance in modern Psychology. Similarly Jain scriptures also are found to be relevant to Psychology in more than one way. The Vedas date from about 1500 B.C. However, Upanishads (appendices to the Vedas, which date from 600 B.C.) which describe the Vedanta philosophy and provide the theoretical foundation of Jnana Yoga are of more direct relevance to Psychology. The Bhagavat Gita gives a quintessence of Indian way of life and philosophy and it describes the four yogas, Karma, Bhakthi, Raja and Jnana. Several books have come on the psychological relevance of Gita. Maslow’s theory of Meta-motivation is very similar to the concept of Nishkama karma outlined in the Gita. Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga is a very systematic presentation of Raja yoga. Both Bhagavat Gita and Ashtanga Yoga are supposed to have been written around the turn of B.C. to A.D. Sankara’s writings (8th century A.D.) on the different yogas as well as his Advaita philosophy are considered as classics in the area and are of great value to the Psychology of consciousness as well as personal growth. Modern interest in relaxation can be traced to studies on Savasana. Rising popularity of meditation practice links Psychology to Oriental religious practices and philosophy. Indian literature on aspects of consciousness is vast, considering the classics and their commentaries. Mental states have been analyzed, classified and differentiated in detail. Similarly paranormal powers (siddhis) have been classified in detail. The process of personal growth and obstacles to growth have been examined thoroughly. There is a great deal of maturity resulting from long experience in these areas reflected in the writings. Indian theories of linguistics, social behavior, crime, etc. are all based on the holistic approach and the broad-based intuitive understanding of behavior in contradistinction to Western theories which are piece-meal, analytic and situation specific. The increasing importance given to the holistic approach and need for synthesis makes it possible to integrate modern Western Psychology with ancient Indian thoughts as well as methods. The psychosomatic relationship was well known and salient in ancient times. The very first invocatory stanza of Ashtangahridaya (the main text in Ayurveda, written in 4th century A.D.) describes how emotions like desires lead to both physical and mental diseases. Many attempts are being made to integrate ancient Indian Psychology with modern Western Psychology. More than 40 books have appeared in the field of Indian Psychology. There is a journal of Indian Psychology published from Andhra University which has an Institute of Yoga and Consciousness. At least five persons have developed personality inventories based on the Triguna theory (Satwa, Rajas and Tamas) of Kapila (Sankhya philosophy, 6th century B.C.)

Friday, November 8, 2019

The 14 ACT Grammar Rules You Must Know

The 14 ACT Grammar Rules You Must Know SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The ACT English section consists of questions that test your knowledge of grammar and writing style. By learning and understanding the grammar rules tested on the ACT, you'll be well on your way to getting an excellent ACT English score. In this article, I'll explain the most important ACT English grammar rules and provide sample questions from real ACTs. How to Use This Guide to ACT Grammar Rules The ACT English section tests numerous grammatical concepts, with many appearing consistently on every test.In this guide, I’ll give you explanations and examples for the most commonly tested ACT grammar rules.Keep in mind that there are also style and organization questions on ACT English that are unrelated to specific grammar rules. This article is a great study tool if you are trying to get a middle score, just starting your ACT English studying, or reviewing the most importantACT grammar rules.If your target score is above 30, you should also study the grammar rules that are only rarely tested on the ACT. For more examples or explanations of the rules I discuss below, or if you want to learn more about ACT grammar rules,read our other articles onACT English. The 14 Most Commonly Tested ACT Grammar Rules These rules are by far the most important for you to learn and understand in order to conquer the ACT English section. I've linked each rule to the article in which it's explained more thoroughly. You can also find in these articles explanations for related grammar rules that are less important but still tested on the ACT. #1: Surround Non-Restrictive Clauses and Appositives With Commas Comma rules are extremely important to know for the ACT, and these comma rules are repeatedly tested on ACT English. Relative Clauses: Restrictive vs Non-Restrictive Relative clauses are dependent clauses that describe a noun and start with a relative pronoun or adverb such as "who," "that," "which," or "where." The basic rule is that non-restrictive clauses should be surrounded by commas, whereas restrictive clauses should not be. On the ACT, clauses that start with "which" are always non-restrictive, and clauses that start with â€Å"that† are always restrictive.Therefore, clauses that start with â€Å"which† should always be surrounded by commas, whilethose that start with â€Å"that† should never be. What's a Restrictive Clause? Restrictive clauses are essential to the meaning of the sentence. You can’t take a restrictive clause out of a sentence without significantly changing the meaning of the sentence. Here’s an example: People who wear sunglasses indoors aren’t invited to the party. If you remove the clause "who wear sunglasses indoors," you substantially change the meaning of the sentence. You wouldn't know which people aren't invited, and you’d be left with "People aren’t invited to the party."Because you can’t remove this clause without changing the meaning of the sentence, the clause should not be surrounded by commas. This kid can't come to the party. (Court Kizer/Flickr) What's a Non-Restrictive Clause? A non-restrictive clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you got rid of the clause, the sentence would still make sense, and its meaning wouldn’t change.Here’s an example sentence with the non-restrictive clause underlined: My day, which consisted of eating and studying calculus, was incredibly boring. The clause "which consisted of eating and studying calculus" adds more information about my day, but if it were removed, the overall meaning of the sentence would be unchanged. This is what the sentence looks like if we remove the non-restrictive clause: My day was incredibly boring. As you can see, the overall meaning of the sentence is the same. The sentence is still describing my day as boring; we just have less information detailing why it was boring. Actual ACT Example The clause "who had gathered essential material critical to writing his best-selling novel Roots from a griot in Gambia" is a non-restrictive clause which adds more information about Alex Haley. Since a non-restrictive clause must be surrounded by commas, the correct answer is D. What Is an Appositive? An appositive is a descriptive phrase that doesn’t include a verb. Like a non-restrictive clause, an appositive can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence. Here’s an example sentence with the appositive underlined: Lily, my niece, is the most exceptional child in the world. If we get rid of the appositive, the sentence still has the same meaning: Lily is the most exceptional child in the world. This isn't my niece. Actual ACT Example The phrase "known as the Navajo code talkers" is an appositive and thereforemust be surrounded by commas. Because the original sentence is correct,the correct answer is F.Answer choices G and J are both wrong because there is no comma after "group." Also, answer choice H is incorrect because it creates a run-on sentence. #2: Don't Put a Comma Before or After a Preposition On the ACT, it’s always incorrect to put a comma after a preposition and very rarely correct to place one before.Here are some example sentences that include commas incorrectly placed before or after prepositions: Ana enjoys traveling, to Hawaii for fun. Lucy was petrified to look under, the bed. The commas before "to" and after "under" should be removed. Here are the corrected versions of the sentences: Ana enjoys traveling to Hawaii for fun. Lucy was petrified to look under the bed. brownpau/Flickr The one exception to this rule is when a preposition introduces a non-restrictive clause. Here’s an example of this: Cade, with whom I went to college, is an extremely skilled physician. The clause "with whom I went to college" is a non-restrictive clause that provides more information about Cade. Because non-restrictive clauses must be surrounded by commas, the comma before the preposition "with" is correct. Keep in mind that this situation rarely comes up on the ACT. Generally, commas shouldn’t be put before or after a preposition on the test. Actual ACT Example The comma before the preposition "of" is wrong; there also shouldn’t be any comma after "rights." Therefore, the correct answer is C. On the ACT, if you’re unsure whether or not there should be a comma, it's best toerr on the side of leaving the comma out. #3: Don't Separate Two Independent Clauses With a Comma Separating two complete thoughts with a comma is a grammar error known as a comma splice, and it's the most common type of run-on sentence that appears on the ACT. Here's an example of a comma splice: I’m going to my friend’s house, it’s really far away. As you can see, the clauses before and after the comma are complete thoughts that could stand alone as sentences. There are a few ways to correct a comma splice. One is to place a conjunction after the comma: I’m going to my friend’s house, but it’s really far away. Alternatively, you can put a relative pronoun after the comma: I’m going to my friend’s house, which is really far away. Finally, you can use a semicolon to correctly separate two complete thoughts: I’m going to my friend’s house; it’s really far away. I'm not sure what this means. (Laura Olin/Flickr) Actual ACT Example Both clauses before and after the comma are independent and could stand alone as sentences; therefore, this sentence is a comma splice. Since adding a conjunction after the comma corrects the comma splice, the correct answer is B.While answer choice C also adds a conjunction, this choice doesn’t work since the word "so" doesn’t make sense in the context of the sentence. ("So" implies a cause-effect relationship, whereas "and" connects two related thoughts.) #4: Use the Fewest Words Possible When it comes to the ACT, the shortest, grammatically correct answer choice that expresses the same information as the original sentence will be the right answer.Sentences that are more concise are easier to comprehend. Wordiness On ACT English, wordiness is a grammatical error in which words or phrases are added to a sentence unnecessarily. Here's an example of a wordy sentence: Melissa enjoys having fun by way of shooting at the gun range. And here is the corrected version of the sentence: Melissa enjoys shooting at the gun range. Clearly, the second sentence is more concise, and it stillcontains all the relevant information that’s in the first sentence. That looks like a fancy gun- but, then again, I don't know anything about guns. Actual ACT Example The phrase "as time goes by" is unnecessary- it doesn’t add any information that can’t be inferred without it. Answer choices B and C are incorrect because the sentence already implies that her collection grows "gradually" and "with the passing of time." Thus, the correct answer is D. Redundancy Wordiness and redundancy are similar errors. Ifa word or phrase is redundant, this means it can be eliminated without altering the meaning of the sentence. Here is an example of a sentence with a redundancy error (the underlined part): I quickly finished the test in a rapid manner. The phrase "in a rapid manner" is redundant because the word "quickly" already implies that I finished the test rapidly. This sentence can therefore be corrected by simply getting rid of the redundant phrase: I quickly finished the test. Actual ACT Example The word "peril" means danger; therefore, the phrase "dangerous peril" is redundant- that is, the word "dangerous" can be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence. This means thecorrect answer is J. Jumping out of an airplane can put your life in peril. (Morgan Sherwood/Flickr) #5: Modifiers Must Be Next to What They're Modifying The general rule regarding modifiers is that they must be placed next to whatever it is they're modifying. On ACT English, there are two types of modifier errors, which we introduce below. Misplaced Modifiers Generally, adjectives and adverbs go before the word they’re modifying, and prepositional phrases go after the word they’re modifying. Here's an example of a misplaced modifier: George broke the plate inthe kitchen that his mom bought on their vacation. The way the sentence is written makes it seem as though George’s mom bought the kitchen(instead of the plate) on their vacation. Here is a corrected version of the sentence: In the kitchen, George broke the plate that his mom bought on their vacation. Now, it’s evident that George's mom bought the plate- not a kitchen!- on their vacation. Actual ACT Example The phrase "in pink-tinted glasses" should come after the word it’s modifying. From the sentence, we can safely assume that it was the woman who was in pink-tinted glasses. Answer choice G is the most logical, grammatically correct answer. Dangling Modifiers When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase, the introductory phrase must be immediately followed by a comma and the noun being described. Here’s an example of a dangling modifier, with the incorrect part underlined: While walking through the grocery store, Jane’s shopping cart knocked three bags of Doritos onto the floor. The way the sentence is written makes it seem as though Jane’s shopping cart- instead of Jane- was walking through the grocery store. There are a couple of ways to fix the sentence. One is to place the noun that's being modified right after the comma: While walking through the grocery story, Jane knocked three bags of Doritos onto the floor with her shopping cart. Alternatively, you can place the subject in the introductory phrase: While Jane was walking through the grocery story, her shopping cart knocked three bags of Doritos onto the floor. Be careful with the Doritos. (theimpulsivebuy/Flickr) Actual ACT Example The original sentence implies that "she" died down; however, this doesn’t make much sense. From this sentence, we can infer that a fire dies down- not "she."Answer choice J is clear and concise, and it corrects the dangling modifier. #6: Keep Verb Tenses Consistent The basic verb consistency rule is that verbs should remain consistent in both tense and form throughout a sentence.Here’s an example of a consistency error, with the incorrect part underlined: Twenty-five years ago, Josh bought Cross Colours clothing and learns how to rap. The verb "learns" should be in the past tense. Not only should "learns" be consistent with the past tense "bought," but also the phrase "twenty-five years ago" indicates that this was something that happened in the past. Here's the corrected version of the sentence: Twenty-five years ago, Josh bought Cross Colours clothing and learned how to rap. Furthermore, the verb tenses of surrounding sentences can provide context clues for the proper tense to use in a given sentence to maintain consistency. Here's another example of a consistency error: Natalie works in fashion. She liked keeping up with the latest style trends. The shift from the present tense "works" to the past tense "liked" doesn’t make sense in context, and the verb tenses should remain consistent. Here's a corrected version of the sentence: Natalie works in fashion. She likes keeping up with the latest style trends. Actual ACT Example The verbs "continue" in the first sentence and "score" in the second sentence are in the present tense; as a result,the shift to the past tense with the word "were" doesn’t make sense given the context. To fix this error, we must change "were" to the present tense. The correct answer is C. (Answer choice D unnecessarily adds the infinitive "to be.") #7: Choose the Right Word Based on Context Word choice is a common topic on the ACT English section. Word choice refers to knowing which specific word to use in the context of a given sentence. There are two common types of word choice questions that often appear on the ACT. Homophones Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings.Here are some homophones that have appeared on the ACT: its - it's their - they're whose - who's would've - would of All the words with apostrophes are contractions (it's = it is, they're = they are, who's = who is, and would've = would have). By contrast, "its," "their," and "whose" show possession. Finally,"would of" is always wrong and should be corrected to either "would have" or "would've." You might also come across the word "its'," which is not a real word and will thus always be incorrect. Here is an example of a word choice error: The committee chose not to defend it’s decision. In this sentence, the use of the contraction "it's" is incorrect. Instead, we should use the possessive word "its" to indicate thatthe decision belongs tothe committee: The committee chose not to defend its decision. Related Words The second type of word choice error on the ACT involves synonyms or related words. With this type of question, a word will be underlined and the answer choices will be related words. However, only one word will be correct given the context of the sentence. Actual ACT Example The context of this sentence indicates that the underlined word should signify that the celebration is made bigger or more important. Even though "heightened," "raised," and "lifted" can all mean making something higher, only the word "heighten" can mean to deepen or intensify. Therefore, the correctanswer is A.The celebration isn’t literally lifted up but rather made more important. These types of questions can be difficult becausethey require a deep knowledge of vocabulary. They’re hard to prepare for since you don’t know which words will appear on the ACT. However, if you are able to recognize a word choice question, hopefully you’ll be able to select the right word using the context of the sentence. Also, you can keep track of word choice questions from previous ACTs. #8: Use the Correct Idiomatic Expression Idiom questions don’t conform to specific rules. You have to rely on your intuitive grasp of English and your knowledge of specific phrases to choose the right idiomatic expression. On most idiom questions on the ACT, you’ll be asked either to determine which preposition to use in a given sentence, or whether to use a gerund or an infinitive. Prepositional Idioms For prepositional idioms, you need to know which preposition to use based on the context of the sentence. Here’s an example sentence with a prepositional idiom error underlined: Because Alexis was three hours late, I was worried of her. The correct expression is "worried about." There's no specific rule you can learn to identify this error; you just have to be familiar with the phrase. Idiom questions are the only types on ACT English for which it's in your best interest to rely on what sounds right. Idioms With Gerunds or Infinitives Gerunds are verbs that act as nouns and end in "ing."Examples of gerunds include "running," "talking," and "singing."Infinitives are verbs used as nouns; they are constructed by putting the word "to" before a verb.Examples of infinitives are "to run," "to talk," and "to sing." While gerunds and infinitives can be interchangeable in some sentences, other sentences require the use of one or the other.Here’s an example of an idiom error: You decided reading this article. In the sentence, the gerund "reading" should be changed to an infinitive: You decided to read this article. Unfortunately, there is no specific rule you can rely on to know when to use a gerund or infinitive in an expression. Try to use your knowledge of idioms and keep track of idiom questions on previous ACTs. Actual ACT Example The correct expression is "right to wear clothing," sothe correct answer is C. Enokson/Flickr #9: A Pronoun Must Agree With Its Antecedent This rule means that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number. A plural pronoun must refer to a plural noun, and a singular pronoun must refer to a singular noun.Here's an example of a pronoun number agreement error: Marshall forgot their homework. The pronoun "their" is referring to the homework of Marshall. Because Marshall is one person and "their" is a plural pronoun, this sentence has a pronoun agreement error. Here is the corrected version of this sentence: Marshall forgot his homework. Real ACT Example In this sentence, the plural pronoun "them" refers to the Navajo language, which is singular. The pronoun "it" at the end of the sentence also indicates that the underlined pronoun should be in the singular form. The correct answer is C.Answer choice B is wrong because it has a subject-verb agreement error. #10: Use Apostrophes Correctly to Form Possessives There are almost always a couple of apostrophe questions on the ACT. If you know apostrophe rules, these questions should be relatively simple. If a word is singular or plural and does not end in "s," you add an "s" after the apostrophe to make it possessive.Here are a couple of examples: I am the people’s champion. Joe’s career isn’t going very well. To create a possessive for a plural word that ends in "s," just add an apostrophe after the "s." Here is an example of this: The traditionalist thought that all of the basketball players’ shorts were too long. Actual ACT Example This sentence is referring to the age of one person; therefore, the correct version of the possessive pronoun is "person’s."The correct answer is A.Answer choice D is wrong because a comma can’t come between a subject and a verb. #11: Colons Must Come After a Complete Sentence Colons are usually used to introduce lists or explanations.The key rule for colons is that they must come after a complete sentence. So if you were to end the sentence where the colon is placed, the sentence should make sense and be a complete thought.Here is an example: Incorrect: Sabrina needs to purchase a few items for her project like: construction paper, paint, and glitter. Correct: Sabrina needs to purchase a few items for her project: construction paper, paint, and glitter. The first sentence is incorrect because the part of the sentence that comes before the colon isn’t a complete thought. Actual ACT Example In this sentence, the colon is unnecessary and improperly placed. The part before the colon isn’t a complete thought. In answer choices H and J, the commas are unnecessary. The correct answer is therefore answer choice G. #12: Semicolons Separate Two Complete Thoughts Semicolons are like periods; they separate two independent clauses.As a result, you should be able to replace any semicolon with a period. On ACT English, you might find a randomly placed semicolon or need to replace a comma with a semicolon in order to fix a comma splice.Here are two example sentences with semicolons used both correctly and incorrectly: Incorrect: Because Dave wanted an adrenaline rush; he decided to go skydiving. Correct: Dave wanted an adrenaline rush; he decided to go skydiving. The second sentence is correct because the clauses on both sides of the semicolon are independent and could stand alone as sentences. Actual ACT Example Here, the semicolon is just randomly placed after the verb "are"; there is no independent clause on either side of the semicolon. Since no punctuation is necessary after "are," the correct answer is answer choice C. #13: Use the Correct Relative Pronoun The ACT likes to test your knowledge of relative pronouns. There are two specific relative pronoun rules that are important to know for ACT English. Relative Pronouns Must Agree With Their Antecedents Here are what different relative pronouns can be used to refer to: who and whom - people only when - specific times or time periods only where - places only which- any noun other than a person that- any noun whose- possessive that can be used for people or things In many situations, more than one relative pronoun can work. However, in other situations, only one will be acceptable. Here's an example of a relative pronoun error: Incorrect: I love going to restaurants in whichI can get unlimited breadsticks. Correct: I love going to restaurants where I can get unlimited breadsticks. The relative pronoun here is referring to "restaurants"- a location- so "where" is more concise and appropriate. Breadsticks! (apasciuto/Flickr) Here is another example: Incorrect: Johnny enjoys books where he gets to choose his own adventure. Correct: Johnny enjoys books in which he gets to choose his own adventure. A book isn’t a location; therefore, "where" is the incorrect relative pronoun. Media, including books, movies, and articles, should be modified with "in which." Who vs Whom You might have no idea when to use "who" or "whom," but the rule isn’t actually that complicated. Basically, "who" is used as a subject and "whom" is used as an object.A subject does an action or is being described, whereas an object has something done to it. An object can be an object of a verb or preposition. Take a look at our article on pronoun case for more information about subject case vs object case. Now, let's take a look at a couple of examples. First, here is an example sentence using the relative pronoun "who": James, who is my friend, lives in Oklahoma City. In this sentence, "who" is being used correctly. The word "who" is modifying James, and he is my friend. Next, here's an example sentence that uses the relative pronoun "whom": My aunt, from whom I got this jacket, is a very interesting woman. In this sentence, "whom" is also being used correctly. The word "whom" modifies my aunt; I got the jacket from her. You should be able to substitute he/she/they for "who" and him/her/them for "whom." Also, always use "who" before a verb and "whom" after a preposition. Actual ACT Example Remember that "where" can only be used to modify a location. Because storytellers are people, "where" is incorrect.Now, let’s find the right answer. Answer choice D is wrong because the "they" after "that" is unnecessary. Additionally, since the relative pronoun comes before a verb, you can’t use "whom." This means thatthe correct answer is B.The word "who" modifies the storytellers who are doing the action. #14: Subjects and Verbs Must Agree Subjects and verbs must agree, meaning that you must use the singular form of a verb with a singular subject and the plural form of a verb with a plural subject.Take a look at these example sentences: Incorrect: Rock stars likes to entertain adoring fans. Correct: Rock stars like to entertain adoring fans. The King! If the verb is in the present tense and the subject is in the third person (he/she/it/they), the verb usually ends in "s" in the singular form and does not in the plural form.In the example above, the subject is "rock stars," which is plural; therefore, the verb "like" should also be in the plural form ("like" instead of "likes"). On the ACT, subject-verb agreement questions can be even more difficult if there is a phrase that separates the subject from the verb. Here's an example of this: Incorrect: The clothes in my bedroom is in my closet. Correct: The clothes in my bedroom are in my closet. The subject of the sentence is "clothes," which is plural, so the verb should be in the plural form. However, the prepositional phrase "in my bedroom" separates the subject from the verb. If a verb is underlined, make sure you identify the subject that corresponds with the verb to ensure that the subject and verb agree with each other. Also, keep in mind that a subject can never be contained in a prepositional phrase. Actual ACT Example This is a relatively basic subject-verb agreement question. Looking atthe previous sentence, we know that the verb should be in the present tense, so G and H are wrong. The subject of this sentence is "molecules," which is plural. Therefore, we should use the plural form of the verb "bump." The correct answer is J. Other Grammar Rules on ACT English While the rules I explained above are the most often tested on ACT English, there are some other grammar rules that will be tested as well. Here are the links to our other articles that explain the remaining grammatical rules you'll need to know for the ACT: Parallelism Run-on Sentences and Fragments Adjectives vs Adverbs Punctuation Commas The Complete Guide to ACT Grammar Rules What's Next? Now that you're comfortable with the grammar rules on ACT English, make sure you know about style and organization questions. These include questions dealing withadd and delete options, author's main goals, transitions, and macro logic. In addition, we recommend masteringthe five critical concepts you must understand to be able to ace ACT English. Finally, to excel on the ACT English section, you'll need to determine the best approach for reading passages. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. 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