Protrayal of Australian Landscape and Character

How has the Australian Landscape been used to portray and show the development of Australian Character? Refer to 2 Texts. As a person that calls Australia home, I have seen and heard many criticisms and descriptions of this land that were observed from foreigners. Although there are aspects that create the image of Australia such as the people and the natural fauna, the main and central idea that represents our home are her deadly and awe-inspiring environments and landscape. Australia’s character is built upon first impressions.As most people rely on their sight, their first impressions are from visual perspectives. The environment of which they arrive in or have experienced from media depend largely on what they see, thus making the Australian landscape of vital importance in creating the â€Å"Australian Character. † Due to the fact that we rely on sight, this also includes our limitless imagination; and the key to imaginations are words. Description, tone and the fe elings portrayed through words are the cause of imaginations and perceptions and because the iconic images of Australia are the landscapes we tend to include them in our portrayals.Written languages have been around for centuries, it is a way of communication and as informed so are images. The comparison for the development of Australia flows easily with words and is therefore usually portrayed in texts, other forms of literature and in songs. It goes into more depth. It is a detailed way to represent the character of Australia. There are many text examples, of which use the Australian landscape to portray the development of Australia such as poems like â€Å"My Country† and â€Å"The Fierce Country† and lyrics in the Advance Australian Fair.The poem â€Å"My Country† by Dorothea Mackellar is a famous Australian poem, well-known for the descriptions based upon Australia’s landscape. The poem contains many words related to landform such as â€Å"sweeping plains†, â€Å"ragged mountain ranges† and â€Å"wilful lavish land,† all in which have an adjective to accompany it. This creates allows us to imagine these depictions in the same perspective as the authors, which gives us a clear view to what she is talking about.The way Dorothea used symbolic words to describe Australia’s landscapes, helps us to grasp the concept of Australia’s character. A sample of this would include the contrasting effects in the verse: â€Å"I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me! † Here the words symbolise and infer many characteristics that may bring out feelings. There are many ways to interpret Australia’s character through this.For example, the â€Å"sunburnt† gives me the idea of being durable and tough as well as the c olour of red, the â€Å"land of sweeping plains† keeps me thinking of being broad/wide and productive as plains contain fertile soil and the â€Å"ragged mountains† produces the personality of being persistent and being able to stand her ground through many years. Additionally, â€Å"her far horizons† perceives calmness, the â€Å"jewel sea† shows that Australia is rich, valuable and holds substance still to be discovered and the contrast in the line â€Å"her beauty and her terror† indicates that she is diverse.By reading through this verse of the landscape, it overall gives Australia the characteristics of being strong, durable, dynamic, tenacious, relaxed and unique and therefore portraying Australia’s characteristics. Another poem is Douglas Stewart’s, â€Å"Fierce Country. † In this case, the uses of landscapes are used constantly through the poem, in a way forcing us to think about only landscapes throughout the whole thi ng. He uses many personifications such as â€Å"the sun glares down on the stones and the stones glare back†, â€Å"red stones leap with fire† and â€Å"where the mirage still watches with glittering eyes. This enables us to think of this country as a living organism, which gives us an easier way to create Australia’s character and personality. The use of landscapes mixed along with personification also assists our interpretation as we are human and have experienced or seen these personified actions before, hence strengthening the concept through the whole poem and is a way in which the Australian landscape has been used.

Solar Heated Grill

Solar Heated Grill ABSTRACT This study aimed to find out if an old shoebox  and a thick tin foil can be converted to amore useful piece of cooking equipment. The feasibility of reflective solar heated grillthat is built from a cardboard box, tin foil, and  posterboard as an alternative cookingequipment  was studied  in this  research project. The cardboard box  was cut  andshaped. the tin foil is settled in the middle making it looks like a slide. we go outside inthe heat of the sun. the  barbeque sticks were placed in the  spot where reflection of thesunlight focuses  on the hotdog . just like a  real skewer  the hotdog were cooked therefor minutes. asted it. and voila. real hotdogs on stick  just like mom used to cook. General Objective: This study thru physics aims to find out if an old shoe carton box can be useful to makean alternative cooking machine. Materials/Equipment: 1. Two pieces of heavy cardboard (like the side  of a cardboard carton). The fi rst piecemust be at least ten inches squareand the second smaller piece must be  at least four inches by five inches. 2. A piece of light posterboard eight inches wide  and sixteen inches long. 3. Twelve-inch wide aluminum foil. (You will use about 32 inches of the  material. ) 4. Some masking tape. You may experiment with other types of tape. ) 5. Nine inch long sticks about 1/16 inch in diameter. You may also use lengths of heavywire. Procedure Select a long narrow box; the longer the  box the more heat  collection is possible. Choose a focal length between 5†³ and 10†³Ã‚  and design a parabolic curve as seenin the picture. One template could be  used for all the cookers. Trace the curve onthe open end of the  box so that it is centered and straight2. Cut out the curve with a utility knife. Stress the importance of being exact. Measure and cut a piece of posterboard that will fix flush against the opening tothe box.Attach this with tape beginning at the cen ter and working toward toedges. Cover the curve with white glue and apply  aluminum foil shiny side out. Start inthe middle and smooth toward the edges. Try not to wrinkle or fold the foil; youwant it as smooth as possible Use two scraps of cardboard taped to each side as supports. Using the sun or aprojector light, test the focal point. There should be a  bright spot where light isconcentrated; mark this spot and punch  a hole for the skewer. Use a section  of acoat hanger from which the paint has  been removed for a skewer

Analysing Homelessness In Australia

Analysing Homelessness In Australia Over the past few decades, mechanisms of social exclusion and social control have made it increasingly hard for Australia’s homeless. Many texts discuss the issue of defining homelessness and it is now widely accepted there are several different kinds. Here, I will be talking primarily about Primary homelessness, which is also known as ‘sleeping rough’, where people sleep in cars, parks or other public spaces (Which Way Home? 2008: 18). On average around 105,000 people are homeless in Australia each night and around 15% of these are rough sleeper (The Road Home 2008: 3). The majority of homeless people list financial difficulty, domestic violence, family breakdown or substance abuse as the main causes of their homeless status (Which Way Home? 2008: 20). Homelessness remains a particular problem among Australia’s Indigenous people, who are over represented in their use of homeless services in all states and territories (Which Way Home? 2008: 20). While home lessness itself is not illegal in Australia, many acts committed by the homeless are, such as public urination, public drunkenness and the possession of illegal drugs. Criminalization of the homeless occurs because these people lack the private space in which to engage in these behaviours. Governments assume that by removing the homeless from public spaces that they are reducing crime and creating safe streets for the law abiding public. However, as illustrated above, the crimes the homeless commit do not generally hurt others or damage property. They are breaking specific laws that have been created by the government which are enforced to exclude certain groups of society from specific public spaces, notably the spaces that the wealthy inhabit. Criminalizing the homeless for behavior that is unavoidable in their situation is not simply poor public policy; it also places unnecessary stress on the criminal justice system. Criminalizing the homeless also leaves the law enforcement off icials to deal with related issues, such as issues such as mental illness and alcoholism (citation). Alcoholism is an issue that is common among the homeless population and it is a condition that often intensifies as a result of being homeless. Criminalizing the homeless for being drunk on the streets does not treat the problem, nor does it assist the police in ‘cleaning up the streets’. It is often found is that homeless alcoholics use rehabilitation centre’s as shelter services, but have little intention of treating their addiction (Wilhite 1992: 190). This indicates that the provision of suitable housing is a prerequisite to treating alcoholism. Once suitably housed, alcoholics have an increased chance of using alcohol rehabilitation services effectively. However, as suitable housing becomes increasingly scarce, the homeless are released from the justice system and back on to the street, where the cycle is then repeated. Homelessness has also increased signifi cantly among the mentally ill in recent decades. This has been attributed to discontinuity in mental health services where individuals are transferred from an institutional to community living (Conover et al. 1997: 256). This burden of care has shifted from mental hospitals to the community; however, development of housing and community services has not kept up with the demand (Greenblatt 1992: 49). The outcome here is that many of Australia’s mentally ill have ended up are end up on the streets and are criminalized for behaviour’s that are symptoms of their illness. Once again, nobody benefits from the existing system. Our mentally ill are left untreated and our criminal justice system gets increasingly clogged with cases of minor offences that have harmed no one.

Efficient Market Theory & Behavioural Finance with regard to Financial Essay

Efficient Market Theory & Behavioural Finance with regard to Financial Crisis 2007-2010 - Essay Example Behavioural Finance is a blend of psychology with finance, a contribution by Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, along with Richard Thaler, a University of Chicago professor and his colleague Nicholas Barberis. Their works have encouraged many scholars to pursue research in this unusual and different-from-classical-approach field. In this paper, there is the analyses of the two theories, the causes of the Financial Crisis and if EMH has direct implications in it. There is an explanation how behavioural finance can explain the anomalies which have persisted too long to lead to this crisis situation. Analysis Efficient Market Hypothesis A market is efficient with respect to the available information set if the market prices fully reflect that information (Fama, 1970, p.383). Therefore, in an efficient market it is impossible for investors and portfolio managers to earn excess returns by holding a portfolio of randomly selected stocks with comparable risks. The efficient mar ket hypothesis is based on the Random Walk Hypothesis, which states that the changes in a stock’s price are a random departure from its previous price. The set of assumptions, which imply an efficient capital market, are: 1. A large number of profit-maximizing investors analyze and value the security independently of each other. 2. New information regarding a security comes in a random manner. 3. The investors adjust security prices quickly to reflect the new information. Efficient Market Hypothesis has three forms- Weak form Efficiency, Semi strong form Efficiency and Strong form Efficiency. In the Weak form efficiency, historical prices are irrelevant in predicting future prices and therefore, cannot earn excess returns from the investment strategies based on historical data. In Semi strong form efficiency, share prices quickly reflect the publicly available information in an unbiased manner; therefore, it is impossible to earn excess returns from fundamental analysis or te chnical analysis. In strong-form efficiency, share prices reflect both public and private information and it is impossible to earn excess return, provided there are no barriers for private information to become public. The idea behind EMH, which is very simple, is that the competition enforces revenues and costs to come into equilibrium, new entry eliminates the excessive profits, if any, and the asset prices are a function of flow of information to the financial markets (Ball, 2009, p.9). Evidence in Support of EMH: Eugene Fama conducted the strong-form tests to know whether the investors had any monopolistic access to the information relevant to the security’s price (Fama, 1970, p.383). In 1991, Fama gave his second review of EMH in which he found that instead of weak-form tests, the first category now covers more areas of tests for return predictability (Sewell, 2011, p.5). In his third review, Fama concluded that market efficiency survives the challenge from the literatur e on the long-term anomalies (Fama, 1998, p.283). In his paper â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and its Critics†, Malkiel examines the criticism of EMH and concludes that the capital markets are efficient and less predictable (Malkiel, 2003, p.77). In Figure 1 Malkiel has calculated the percentage of actively managed funds,

Cooperate Social Responsibility Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cooperate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example Still, on social responsibility in regards to human resource, it is important to highlight that Etisalat Company has created a department within the company that helps in the provision of solutions to various persons in the company either internally or externally. In this, it can solve external problems that could possibly involve the company with the customers, another company or organization at the same time the department can help in the giving of solutions to the employee's problems themselves and with the management for example on the salaries and wages. This is a very crucial department in the Company as the relationship between Etisalat Company, government, customers and other organizations are very key to the success of the company and like it is always said that the customer is always the king, good relationship with the customers is the key to success and this is because the customers feel that their problems and concerns are catered for by the company (Mark, 2011). Â  Environmental conservation is a very delicate matter in every nation and even to the whole world due to the fact that there are several environment conservation and protection bodies that push for the protection of the environment. Etisalat Company is not left out in the protection of the environment as well. The company employs the reusing of substances especially plastic.

Starbucks Marketing Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Starbucks Marketing Report - Essay Example As the discussion declares Starbucks has successfully entered in several potential international market places with proper realization and understanding of the impact of external environment factors on the business practices. In order to reveal the impact of several external environment factors on the business operation of Starbucks in global market, a PESTLE analysis has been undertaken. This paper stresses that the political stability of a country is very much important for a global business organization in order to run the business successfully. It has evidenced that; the organization has chosen every single international market place after understanding and examining the political stability of each and every specific country. Moreover, the organization has effectively followed specific industry regulations and rules in every foreign country apart from USA in order to avoid the international political business threat. It has evidenced that, Strabucks has maintained high-level relationship with the government of every business operation and coffee beans producing country. The European financial crisis in 2008-09 and global recession in 2007-08 has affected the global economy drastically. The condition of global economy has suffered from several reasons, such as high taxation level, reduced consumer buying power, low exchange rate of currency in global market place, economic slowdown of several developed and developing country and low disposable income of middle class people. However, several developing countries, such as BRICK Countries has not affected much from the affects of Recession and Financial crisis due to sufficient natural resources and highly controlled administration. Presently, the global economy is recovering from the effect of these economic downturns. The local economic situation and environment within each operation country is shifting towards growth. Therefore, the business output of strabucks is gradually increasing. Social It is becoming global trend to have the taste of coffee in a coffee chain. Moreover, the changing of family patterns in UK, USA and Asian countries have influenced the buyers to consume high quality coffee. Due to high customer preference, the organization is effectively doing their business practices.

Management 4330 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management 4330 - Essay Example My management at Heritage appliances has been marred by some hardships after the management team that I selected decides to neglect their duties and instead if implementing the mandate of the organization allows the employees to be deviant such as allowing absenteeism and therefore lowering the production in the organization. According Whetten and Cameron (2011) to be a good manager should have the following qualities; - First he should lead by example, he should also believe in sharing, he should embrace vulnerability, understand technology and lead from the front (p. 7). I have use these qualities to address the problem and stream line things in the organization. I will use the knowledge in management and the information in the book to address the questions from the course. Being in a new environment I did not take my time to understand the working environment as I was chosen abruptly for the position. This means that I did not know the strategies that were being used to ensure that the employees were working hard and production was at its peak. This needs to be addressed and it would mean that I have to interact with employees more bypassing the management team that I have chosen that is lenient and not supporting my mandate as we seek to ensure that the organization is achieving its mandate. The management team also needs to be cautioned and warned for being lenient and advocating for such tricks which are lowering production. If need arises it would be important to lose some of them who are not ready to change and work for the organization to achieve its goals. Whetten and Cameron discusses the sources of personal power and positional power and how to maneuver in any workplace no matter how tricky it may prove to be (p. 288-298). I know how to lead by example and being hardworking will ensure that I can show the employees how to follow in my footsteps. I am also authoritative and this will help me in issuing my command and making sure that the

Child Abuse Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Child Abuse - Term Paper Example In addition, the warning signs of child abuse and neglect would be assessed. A transcript of a child previously abused was examined and briefly presented. Finally, ways of preventing child abuse would be identified to address this dangerous dilemma. Child abuse is defined by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC 2009) as â€Å"the term used when an adult harms a child or a young person under the age of 18† (par. 1). Medline Plus (2010) includes the phrase â€Å"failing to do something that results in harm to a child or puts a child at risk of harm† (par. 1) in the definition. Child abuse endangers the welfare of children as adults who are expected to give them their much needed protection either deliberately inflicts harm or neglects taking them under their holistic care. Conflicts arise when the interests and rights of people, particularly of children, do not coincide. More importantly, the study of issues on child abuse aims to ensure that their welfare is properly safeguarded against adults who apply power as a way to impose their actions and selfish interest on them. There are several forms of child abuse, to wit: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Physical abuse entails injuring the child or inflicting physical harm through punishment. Adults may or may not deliberately harm the child but the force of their actions hurt them physically. Most common of the physical abuse uses the belt to punish a child’s wrong doing. Emotional abuse, on the other hand, is not immediately discerned by leaves psychological damage affecting both the child’s mental development and health status. Emotional abuses could take any of the following forms: (1) â€Å"constant belittling, shaming, and humiliating a child; (2) calling names and making negative comparisons to others; (3) telling a child he or she is â€Å"no good," "worthless,"

Healthcare Financing in Italy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Healthcare Financing in Italy - Term Paper Example At present, Italy’s healthcare system is financed through different measures, although it is primarily financed through general tax revenues (Maio & Manzoli, 2002, p.304). The National Health Fund (NHF) provides the major financing for public health care. The NHF is yearly apportioned to Italy’s twenty regions, which, in turn, distribute resources to the Local Health Agencies (LHAs). Donatini et al. (2001) cited several public and private revenue sources of Italy’s healthcare system: a regional tax on economic activities, general taxation, other regional taxes, users’ co-payments and private financing (p.35). By 1999, private financing sources already made up 33% of the total health care expenditure (Donatini et al., 2001, p.35). This created a more privatized form of healthcare financing, with increasing dependence on private providers and more out-of-pocket payments. Healthcare Administration For Italy, the primary healthcare institution is the Ministry of Health, which oversees the National Health Fund (Donatini et al., 2001, p.21). The National Health Fund provides financing for the national healthcare system. The Ministry of Health, via its departments and services, accomplishes five various roles: health care planning; health care financing; framework regulation; monitoring; and general governance of the National Institutes for Scientific Research (IRCCS – Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) (Donatini et al., 2001, p.21). Furthermore, regional governments, through their related health departments, aim to follow the national objectives set by the National Health Plan at the regional level (Donatini et al., 2001, p.23). ... Regional health departments are mandated to deliver the healthcare benefit package to the population through a system of local health units and public and private accredited hospitals and clinics (Donatini et al., 2001, p.23). Local health units are geographically-oriented organizations that assess healthcare needs and provide comprehensive care to local target populations (Donatini et al., 2001, p.25). Access and Inequality Issues It is hard to determine access and inequality issues in Italy, because its law states comprehensive healthcare coverage for all their citizens. Mostly likely then, the uninsured ones in both countries are the illegal immigrants, who have to pay for their healthcare expenses through their pockets. Italy aims for a comprehensive public healthcare insurance system but recent deregulation efforts increase private funding and out-of-pocket expenses. Italy has comparable healthcare indicators with Iceland (World Health Organization, 2011). Italy’s regiona l division of average immunization rates shows that total coverage is â€Å"higher in the north than the south† (Donatini et al., 2001, p.61). Furthermore, coverage rates percentage for compulsory vaccinations are better than the recommended ones (Donatini et al., 2001, p.61). For instance, the immunization for measles is 75% for Italy and 100% for Iceland (Donatini et al., 2001, p.62). Conclusion In terms of financing, Italy has a government-financing-dominated healthcare system. Increasing deregulation and privatization, however, increases private financing of the healthcare system. Access problems are based on location and socio-economic status. References Donatini, A.,

The Environmental and Personal Factors for Emily’s Tragedy Essay Example for Free

The Environmental and Personal Factors for Emily’s Tragedy Essay Emily’s tragedy results from not only her personality and psychology, but also the environmental and other external factors, which can be the last to ignore. This paper will make an analysis of the external and internal factors for Emily’s Tragedy. Key Words: environment, personality, tragedy, a rose for Emily. The environmental factors: the background and alien strangers First of all, after the civil war in the United States, Grison family still remained an aloof concept of elevate social status. Family s shaikh also as Emilys father was a seriously patriarchal tendency person. He was fastidious about his daughter’s marriage and drove away all the men showing love to Emily to preserve the status and dignity. â€Å"When she got thirty and was still single†. Obviously, both her body and mind were enslaved by her father’s traditional concept. Therefore, she felt released when her father was dead, and there was no â€Å"trace of grief on her face†. Raised up under the paternalism and strict education, Emily developed a strong dependence on her father and a hidden pent-up brutality inside her, which explains that Emily tried to hide her father’s corpse. And that’s why after her fathers death, owning nothing, Emily ignored the concept of common customs and soon fell in love with a young man called Homer who came to town to build the rail way from north. This gave Emilys dull and stuffy life a little warm color. After Emily’s father’s death, the meddlesome neighbors and some state agents became the leading external influence on Emily’s tragedy. After the Civil War common mind of the south people to the traditional south culture had changed as generations shifted. Miss Emily Grierson who kept haunting in the past phantom image became a topic in the neighborhood naturally. The old generation regarded Emily as the tradition, obligation, even a monument, revealing a nostalgic emotion to the traditional culture that was gradually fading away. But this condition changed when it came to the next generation of residents. The old colonel’s preventing Emilys tax revealed the old generations attention to vulnerable group, while the new alcalde and senators were dissatisfied with this. The neighbors became indifferent and sympathetic about Emily’s refusing to accept the era’s transmutation, and they tried all means to interrupt her love story and looked at her strangely. To some degree, they led to thoroughly closing down between Emily and outside world. The personal factors: excessive self-esteem and sense of controlling The strong self-esteem and arrogance as a noble lady existed in Emily’s whole life until her death. She was an embodiment of the south, the old and the tradition. At the very beginning of the story, the author recounted the decoration of her house which was always kept in 1870s style and never changed any more. Besides, she was so obstinate that even when the new government compelled taxes on her she just refused it and ridiculously mentioned the colonel who had been dead for almost ten years. She kept the traditional view all the way, and resisted to follow the inevitable times, which in fact she was protecting her poor dignity and glory by indulging herself in the past. At the same time, Emily was determined woman. Regardless of others’ criticism, she insisted on marrying a northerner whose social position was apparently lower than hers. It seemed that she was challenging traditions, but as a matter of fact, she didn’t mean to disobey the convention. When the man felt tired of her and was about to say farewell, Emily made love â€Å"eternity† in her own way. She captured her lover and the love was treated with â€Å"honor†. Emily’s personal creatures were particularly magnified in her love affair with the northerner. A southern lady married a Yankee laborer. Nothing could be better than that to rebel against the forceful external society and identify her self-being. She had a strong desire to control something important to her so that she could prove her nobility. whether there was true love or not. She locked Homer’s dead body in a well-decorated rosy room and lived through the rest of her life with Homer’s corpse. It seemed that it was better to rule in hell than serve in heaven. Conclusion:Family background, social environment, and her own â€Å"glorious isolation†, all of which resulted in Emily’s tragedy. However, the tragedy is not contemptible at all; on the contrary, it reflects the author’s deep sympathy for the poor lady who held the old-fashioned principle but still felt honored. William Faulkner once said, â€Å"A Rose for Emily was an allegoric title; the meaning was, here was a woman who had had a tragedy, an irrevocable tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute to a woman you would hand a rose†. Tragedy as it is, Emily stands for an old but glorious era.

Reading Comprehension Strategies and Reading Skills

Reading Comprehension Strategies and Reading Skills GEPT: General English Profiency Test HP: Higher proficiency LP: Lower proficiency HETC: Harvard Education Training Center Rationale Hammadon (1991) says: â€Å"Reading comprehension is not just understanding words, sentences, or even texts, but involves a complex interartion of the readers prior knowledge, language profiency and their learning strategies† (p.30). So reading strategies are very important to achieve the comprehension. Many types of reading strategies are introduced to guide students of all different levels. However, there were few researchers who investigate the relationship of reading comprehension strategies and reading comprehension of students. At HETC, reading has a key place in any English courses when students study English not only as the interest but also the demand for improving their study and promoting in their careers to achieve the long-term goals, especially some of them were assigned to live and work abroad. In their learning process, almost the students meet great challenges when dealing with the reading texts. They usually do not understand texts and cannot complete the tas ks so they feel tired in reading lessons. Therefore, what are the main causes of this current situation? In order to find out the answer, the researcher started a survey on the reading comprehension strategy use. For teachers at HETC, it is hoped that this study may offer them the ways on how to identify strategies used by the students and then they can decide what they should do to promote their students reading comprehension and in their learning as well. Literature review 2.1. Reading comprehension strategies and reading skills Oxford (1990) gives a detailed definition of language learning strategies: â€Å" Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations† (p.8) and described concretely how learning strategies are applied to the four language skills: listening, speaking, writing and reading. According to her, four strategies: listening strategies, †¦, or reading strategies are those learning strategies themselves that applied to each of the four skills. Of course, skills and strategies are two big words and common terms of the reading activities, as well. Nutall (1982) pointed out that reading was certainly a process of the readers, who used strategies to work with the meaning of the texts actively and then made sense from them. By the interesting interactions from the readers and texts, more and more researchers keep working to research the relationship between the use of reading strategies and reading comprehension. However, strategy and skill, are they different? Yes, it was actually apparent that they were different. Strategy meant people used the planned methods and implements to achieve their goals, but skill was known as a routine. Moreover, strategy was the result of conciously work towards goals. It helped readers to understand the meaning of contents in order to find out the answer or obtain a certain performance level in reading that they want for themselves (Gagnà ©, 1985). However, it is not always easy to make such a clear differnces between these two terms. Grabe and Stoller (2002) said that â€Å"many abilities that are commonly identified as strategies are relatively automatic in their use by fluent readers (e.g. skipping an unknown word while reading, rereading to reestabilsh text meaning† (p.15) Paris et al (1991) supposed â€Å" an emerging skill can become more efficient and developmentally advanced when they become generated and applied automatically as skills† (p.61). Sometimes this difference is not clear at all because that is part of the nature of reading. In this study, reading strategies are used to show specific actions, steps and plans that students conciously apply in their reading process to improve their comprehension. 2.2. The relationship between reading strategies and reading comprehension Reading comprehension must occur rapid in almost any purposeful context, and the more rapidly a text is read, the better reading processes are to effect. Those specific processes must be implemented effectively in combination to ensure the reading comprhension. Reading comprehension requires the reader be strategic. The reader needs to identify processing difficulties, address balances between text information and background knowledge, decide for monitoring comprhension, and shifing goals for reading. When a good reader use strategies, they can read fluently, flexible in line with changing purpose and then continue monitoring the comprehension. Similarly, reading is an process that evaluating the reader, who must decide if the reading information is coherent and finds out the purpose for reading.Alderson (2003) said reading as the interaction of four things. He claimed that the reader and the text together must be fluent reading or â€Å" the ability to reach at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension†, or â€Å" the ability of the reader to use a wide variety of reading strategies to accomplish a purpose for reading† (p.149). So discovering the best methods and strategies are the way that a good learner apply during a reading process. 2.3. Previous research on reading comprhension strategies Grellet, F. (1981) wrote a book â€Å"Developing Reading Skills†. This book showed the important role of reading and provided some techniques which help learners improve their reading skill. Nutal, C. (1989) proved reading is â€Å" to enable students to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts at appropriate speed, silently with adequate understanding†. Ozek, O. (2006) researched â€Å" A study on the Use of Cognitive Reading Strategies by ELT Students†. This study carried out to find out which reading strategies are commonly employed by ELT students while reading a text, and which reading strategies are needed to be developed to understand the text better, and to continue academic studies successfully. San San Kung (2007) did an investigation into the relationship between reading comprehension and the use of reading strategies among EFL students in colleges in Taiwan. Through the study, the researcher knew what the reading strategies the EFL students use more or less and what the differences between different grade students. Methodology This chapter will describe research methods used to collect data to answer the research questions and then explain how and why the methods are used. 3.1. Research questions This study aims to find out reading strategy use of HETCs students. This also has objectives to discover if there are any differences in strategy use between lower and higher proficiency readers, as well. Then to suggest some recommendations to raise students awareness of using reading comprehension strategies in the classroom. It aims at answering the following questions: 1. What reading strategies are used by students at HETC? 2. What are the differences in the use of reading strategies between lower and higher proficiency readers? 3.2. Descriptions of variables 3.2.1. Independent variables In this study, the independence variables were the students at HETC. 51 students were chosen as representatives of this particular group sudents to collect needed data. These 51 students were divided into four groups in which students are the members of higher and lower proficiency groups. These 2 groups were chosen to get information to answer the second research question ( More details about these groups and about higher and lower proficiency readers will be found in 3.3.1 and 3.4.2) 3.2.2. Dependent variable: The dependent variable in this research were the strategies applied in reading comprehension, i.e. reading comprehension strategies. 3.3. The data collection instruments: This study employs a combibation of 3 data collection instruments: * General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) * Questionaire * Think-aloud interviews As one of the objectives of this study is to find out if there are any dfferences in the strategy use between higher proficiency (HP) and lower proficiency (LP) readers. The test was used to divide the subjects into difference groups in which groups of higher and lower proficiency were chosen to collect the data. Think-aloud interviews aimed at getting qualitative data and quesionaire was used to get quantiative data. The author can collect a large information of all mentioned strategies and the information from students who share their thought of strategy use in the think-aloud interviews. Of course, the think a loud interviews in this study can be one of the best ways to reaffirm the result got from the questionaire. For example, in the questionaire, the subjects report that they use life experiences to understand the meaning of texts or read the first and last paragraphs and then go back to read the paragraphs; the author will know they use these strategies or not in the interview. 3.3.1. Test A General English proficiency test is a procedure taken to collect data on students ability or the knowledge of disciplines as â€Å" Information about peoples language ability is often very useful and necessary† (Nunan, 1992). The GEPT was taken form the book â€Å"IELTS for Academic Purpose: A short insentive course† (see the appendix 3). Based on the result of the test, the subjects were classified into 4 groups. Group 1 consists students who just got from mark 1 to 2.5; group 2 has those who got mark from 3 to 5. The students in these 2 groups are LP learners. Meanwhile, the students who are in group 3 got mark from 5.5 to 6.5 – they are at medium levels. And the last group – group 4 consists of HP ones who got mark from 7 and over. After having the result of the test, the author decided to chose group 2 and 4 to collect the data to answer the second research question. So there are 51 subjects in these 2 groups. The author did not choose group 1 becaus e their proficiency were too low and they were only 1% of the subjects. Details of the test can be found in Appendix 1. 3.3.2. Questionaire: Questionaire is the second data collection instrument in this study. This is also a pretty popular means of data collection. Many researchers suppose that using questionaire in language research has many advantages. First, questionaire can be given to a great amount of students at the same time and it is self-administered. Second, to protect the privacy and keep the fairness, the subjects names might not be appeared on the questionaire. So subjects tend to share the information more naturally, even some sensitive information. Third, the data collected are more accurate because questionaire is usually given to all the subjects at the same time. This study used one survey questionaire to gather the information about reading strategies as well as the differences in strategy use between these two kinds of readers. According to the result of the questionaire (and interviews), the athor can make some recommendation to help students improve their reading abilities. The quesionaire was designed based on the questionaire of Shan Shan Kung (2007). This part consists 3 parts. Of couse, in this study, the author modified the first part personal information part. The next part – concept of reading had 3 questions to explore the perceptions of English reading. The last part had thirty – eight questions of strategy use. In the beginning of third section, thirty – four questions utilized a Liker – Scale point systems. The subjects were asked to respond to each statement by choosing among four answers: 1) usually; 2) sometimes; 3) rarely; 4) never. Each section has four to six questions (except section 1 has 10 questions because of discovering the reading process). Through the survey, the author found out which strategies actually actracted HP readers more than LP readers. 3.3.3. Think aloud interviews In addition to the quetionaire, interviews are used to obtain information by actually talking to the subject. The interviewer asks questions and the subject responds. Interviews are the good way for collecting data as Seliger, H.W. (1989) claimed â€Å" Interviews are personalized and therefore permit a level of in-depth information – gathering, free response and flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures† (p.166). However, it can be costly and time consuming. In this study, think – aloud interviews were used to collect the data about the students reading strategy. The Interviewer Guide for Reading Strategies developed by Honsenfeld et al. (1981). In oder to make the Guide appropriate for objectives of thi study, the researcher has made some changes in the strategies they posed ( see Appendix 3). 3.4. Participants in the study: At the time the study was carried out, the subjects had just finished an English course. Their textbook was †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Therefore, their commonly assumed proficiency was intermidiate. They were members of three classes. One class included 25 students , 24 in the other class and 21 in the last one and they stuied the same textbook. Their ages ranged from 19 to 24. Almost all of students had at least 3 years of learning English before this class. They were delivered a reading proficiency test to be divided into higher and lower proficiency readers. In this study, gender has minimal effect on the results because the number of male students is quite small in the total of the subjects. 3.5. Procedure The data were collected by the researcher during a week in autum 2009. After contacting the English teachers of the subjects in person to get approval for asking their students to participate in the study, the researcher pre-arranged the time. The researcher went to English classes to administer the tests. The students were asked to complete the test in 60 minutes. The English teachers and the researcher supervised and marked the test papers later. The 2 days after, subjects were distributed the questionanires. The researcher gave some directions to the subjects and of then encouraged students to ask for any clarifications they might need and any other extra time when they filled out the questionaire. And of couse, the researcher wanted to protect the privacy and the students fairness, so the students names would not fill in the questionaires. In order to advoid misunderstanding the questions, the questionaire were translated into Vietnamese which were enclosed with the English version. The questionaire administration took about 30 minutes in each class. For days later, six chosen students were interviewed individually at the researcher s office in HETC. The reseacher pre-arranged the time and contacted to the students by the phone. Before the interview, the reseacher gave the instructions and explained the purpose of the study to students so they could understand what they had to do clearly. Each interview took from 10 to 15 minutes. Data analysis and findings 4.1. The result of the questionaire 4.1.1. Demographic Data Table 4.1 Demographic Information of Students (N=51) Subject Frequency Percentage Total N % Gender Male 9 17.6 51 100 Female 42 82.4 Level Lower proficiency 32 63.7 Higher proficiency 19 36.3 Years of English learning experience 2 3 5.9 51 100 4 9 17.6 5 15 29.4 6 11 21.6 7 6 11.8 8 2 3.9 9 4 7.8 10 1 2.0 Look at the table 4.1, of the 51 students participating in the study, 9 (17.6%) were males and 43 (82.4%) were females. Of the 19 HP students (36.3%) and 32 (63.7%) were LP students. When asking about years of English learning experience, just 1 students (2.0%) has been studying English for ten years. 9 students (17.6%) have been studying English for four years, 15 students (29.4%) have been studying English for five years, 11 students (21.6%) have been studying English for six years, 6 students (11.8%) have been studying English for seven years, 2 students (3.9%) have been studying English for eight years, 4 students (7.8%) have been studying English for nine years. Because foreign language in general and English in particular were given into school from sixth grade in secondary school, and from tenth grade in high school ( in some remote areas), the most students years of English learning experience were between four and seven years. To answer the second section of the questionnaire about concepts of reading, the results were presented in Table 4.2. Table 4.2 The Relationship between the Important of Reading for Language Learning and Reading Hours per Week by higher and lower proficiency students Reading hours per week 2 3 4 Over 4 N % N % N % N % Higher proficiency students (N =19) Very important 2 10.5 5 26.3 6 31.6 3 15.8 important 1 5.3 2 10.5 Not important Lower proficiency students (N =32) Very important 6 18.8 7 21.9 5 15.6 important 4 12.5 5 15.6 4 12.5 Not important 1 3.1 According to the illustration of Table 4.2, HP students who thought reading was very important for language learning were 2 (10.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5(26.3%) for three hours per week, 6 (31.6%), for four hours per week and 3 (15.8%) for over four hours per week. HP students who thought reading was important for language learning were 1 (5.3%) spent two hours per week on reading, 2 (10.5%) for four hours per week. There were not any students who thought reading was not important for language learning. In the LP group, 6 (18.8%) students thought reading was very important for language learning and spent two hours per week for it, 7 (21.9%) spent three hours for reading, 5 (15.6%) spent four hours for reading. These LP students supposed reading was important for language learning were 4 (12.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5 (15.6%) for three hours per week. There was 1 (3.1%) students said reading was not important for language learning but still spent two hours per week on it. 4.1.2. Findings for Research Question One The research question one was â€Å"What reading comprehension strategies are used by students at HETC ?† After collecting data, it showed what the same or different strategies were used more or less by HP or LP students for helping them understand the contents of the reading materials in different reading situations and were ranked from low to high to represent which strategy would be used more or less by the students during their reading process in different situations. The results were listed in the following by all of students reading ability levels when they used reading strategies in different reading situations. The total results came from the 51 students in Table 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6. Table 4.3 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I read English materials, Mean Mean SD Rank 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 1.82 1 .90 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.51 7 .12 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.03 4 .97 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 1.86 2 .90 5 I skim over the full text, and then read details 1.88 3 .92 6 I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.86 2 .90 7 I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.57 8 1.03 8 I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 1.88 3 1.08 9 After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphrase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.25 5 1.09 10 I discuss what I read with classmates 2.45 6 1.05 In Table 4.3, the result indicated which strategies the 51 students used more or less when they read English materials. The table showed the data with mean, mean rank, and standard deviation. As illustration of Table 4.3, the mean was from 1.82 to 2.51 and the rank was S1 (1.82) Table 4.4 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Mean Mean SD Rank 11 I check the dictionary immediately 2.37 3 1.1 12 I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.33 2 1.08 13 I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.09 1 .87 14 I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 3.00 4 1.21 Through Table 4.4, strategy 13 â€Å"I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary† was most used by the students when they did not understand a vocabulary during the reading process. On contrary, strategy 14 â€Å"I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning† was the strategy which most students used least in this reading situation. Table 4.5 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a sentence, Mean Mean SD Rank 15 I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 1.86 1 .91 16 I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 2.35 4 1.12 17 I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 2.33 3 1.02 18 I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 2.37 5 .97 19 I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding 2.27 2 .95 In Table 4.5, those strategies had close mean scores between each other, but it also pointed out the differences from 2.27 to 2.37, except the strategy 15 had the mean score less 1.86. It described that strategy 15 â€Å"I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence† were the most used by the students when they did not understand a sentence during reading process. Vice versa, the means of the strategy 16 and strategy 18 to derive the meaning of sentence† meant that they were used least than other strategies in this section. Table 4.6 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students When I dont understand (including vocabulary and sentences,) except above reading strategies, Mean Mean SD Rank 20 I check books (ex: grammar books or encyclopedia) for references 2.16 2 1.14 21 I go on the Internet to find related information 1.98 1 .92 22 I ask teachers or classmates for clarification 2.27 3 1.03 23 I read the difficult parts several times 2.63 5 1.12 24 I read the contents orally several times 2.47 4 .94 25 I will memorize the vocabulary pertaining to the contents before reading 2.16 2 .99 According to the data, it presented that strategy 21 â€Å" I go on Internet to find related information† was used by almost students. The information technology nowaday becomes quite popular to students so they would like to search information on the Internet. The S20 = S25 (2.16) both stood the second position. The strategy that students used least was strategy 23 â€Å" I read difficult parts several times†. 4.1.3. Findings for Research Question Two Research question two was â€Å"What are the differences in the use of reading strategies of the higher and lower proficiency students at HETC?† Through mean, standard deviation, t-tests and p value, the data analysis depicted detailed information about the differences of reading strategy performance between these two groups of students. The comparative groups focused on higher and lower proficiency student. Table 4.7 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC when I read English materials, Lower proficiency students Higher proficiency students T p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 2.00 1.054 1.72 .813 .999 .322 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.16 1.118 1.78 .792 1.288 .20 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.00 1.105 2.06 .914 -.208 .84 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 2.79 1.084 2.78 1.069 .026 .98 5. I skim over the full text, and then read details 2.05 1.026 1.78 .870 .965 .34 6. I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.89 .937 1.84 .917 .189 .85 7. I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.05 1.129 2.86 .871 -2.729 .00** 8. I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 2.37 1.261 1.59 .911 2.412 .02* 9. After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.00 1.202 2.53 .983 -1.630 .11 10. I discuss what I read with classmates 2.53 1.264 2.41 .946 .359 .72 p As indicated in Table 4.7, strategy 7 and strategy 8 attended to the significant difference level (p Table 4.8 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 11. I check the dictionary immediately 3.32 .749 1.81 .896 6.432 .00** 12. I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.89 1.1 2.06 .878 2.809 .00** 13. I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.05 .911 2.13 .871 -.279 .78 14. I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 2.84 1.344 3.13 1.07 -.782 .44 p In table 4.8, strategy 11 and strategy 12 attended to the significant different level (p Table 4.9 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students When I do not understand a sentence, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 15. I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 1.89 1.1 1.84 .808 .176 .86 16. I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 3.21 0.976 1.84 0.884 5.005 .00** 17. I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 2.16 1.167 2.44 .948 -.885 .38 18. I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 1.84 .898 2.69 .896 -3.253 .00* 19. I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding 1.84 .898

Miltons Satan in Paradise Lost Essay -- John Milton Satan Paradise Lo

Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost After researching Satan and his kingdom, Hell, through the Bible and Paradise Lost to compare and contrast the two characterizations, I realized that Milton must have been a true Bible scholar. Milton’s Satan is described so closely to the Biblical view of Satan that it is often times hard to distinguish the two. Milton changed and elaborated on a few characteristics of his Satan and his Hell in order to create Paradise Lost, but based his characterization and his descriptions on his interpretation of the Bible, using his imagination to form a more vivid picture of how horrible Satan and Hell are in reality. The action of Book One in Paradise Lost begins immediately after God has thrown Satan and his other fallen angels down to Hell from Heaven. The reader then comes to know that Satan was cast into Hell because he became too proud and believed that his power was equal to God’s own power. He wanted to set himself up on a pedestal in Heaven. Milton writes, â€Å"What time his pride had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring to set himself in glory above his peers, he trusted to have equaled the Most High† (Norton 1819). In the book of Isaiah, the story is relayed very similarly to Milton’s version of how and why Satan fought against God and that he was thrown down into Hell. Milton speaks of Satan as â€Å"O how fallen!† (Isaiah 14:12-15). This phrase comes directly from Isaiah 14:12. Isaiah wrote, â€Å"How you are fallen fro m Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!† (Isaiah 14:12). Isaiah continues in the same fashion as Milton in verse... .... Abrams, M.H. (editor). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th Edition. Volume 1. New York City, NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 2000. pp. 1815-1825. 2. Abrams, M.H. (editor). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume 2. New York City, NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 1968. pp. 704-707. 3. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Statesman’s Manual; or the Bible the best Guide To Political Skill and Foresight: A Lay Sermon, Addressed to the Higher Classes of Society. London: Gale & Fenner, J. M. Richardson, and J. Hatchard, 1816. 4. Extreme Teen Bible: New King James Version. Ed. Bruce Barton, Christopher Hudson, and David Veerman: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999 5. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. A Defense of Poetry. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1904 6. The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Ed. Earl Radmacher,Th.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997

John Locke On Property Essay example -- Empiricists, Empiricism

In the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, he writes about the right to private property. In the chapter which is titled â€Å"Of Property† he tells how the right to private property originated, the role it plays in the state of nature, the limitations that are set on the rights of private property, the role the invention of money played in property rights and the role property rights play after the establishment of government.. In this chapter Locke makes significant points about private property. In this paper I will summarize his analysis of the right to private property, and I will give my opinion on some of the points Locke makes in his book. According to Locke, the right to private property originated when God gave the world to men. Locke makes the argument that when God created the world for man, he gave man reason to make use of the world to the best advantage of life, and convenience. What he means by that is, that God made this world for man, and when he made it he gave man the right to use what is in this world to his benefit. Locke explains that every man has property in his own person, and that nobody has any right to that property but that person. The author states that â€Å"whatsoever then he removes out of the state of nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property (Locke pg. 19)†. What Locke means by that statement is that once a person removes something o...

Richard Leakey :: essays research papers fc

Introduction to Anthropology Linda Samland Homo habilis, Richard Erskine Leakey, was born December 19, 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya. His parents were the esteemed anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey. Leakey decided at an early age that he wanted nothing to do with paleoanthropology and dropped out of high school. Over the next few years Leakey trapped wild animals, supplied skeletons to institutions, started a safari business and taught himself to fly. In 1964, he led an expedition to a fossil site he had seen from the air and discovered that he enjoyed looking for fossils. He also discovered that although he technically led the expedition all the fame went to the scientists who studied the specimens. In 1965 Leakey went to England to study for a degree. Richard successfully schooled himself by completing a two-year secondary education program in six months. In 1966, Leakey married Margaret Cropper an archeologist who had worked with the Leakey family (World Book). After working on a French/ Kenyan/ American joint expedition in Ethiopia, Leakey realized that his lack of scientific qualifications hindered his progress. Leakey asked the National Geographic Society for funds to run his own excavation at Lake Turkana in Kenya. From 1967-1977, Leakey and his co-workers dug up approximately 400 fossils that accounted for 230 individuals. Leakey's most important discovery was an almost complete skull found in 1977, which Richard believed to be a new species called Homo habilis. Richard Leakey’s accomplishments are discovering the crania of Australopithecus boisei in 1969 with archeologist Glynn Isaac on the East shores of Lake Turkana. He also discovered a Homo habilis skull in 1972 and a Homo erectus skull in 1975(Human Evolution). In 1969, Leakey was diagnosed, with terminal kidney disease, with a prognosis of less than ten years to live. Leakey received a kidney transplant from his younger brother Philip. That same year Leakey and his wife divorced. In 1970, he married Meave Epps a zoologist who specializes in primates. They have two daughters Louise born in 1972 and Samira born in 1974(Encyclopedia Americana). Leakey was appointed, administrative director in 1968 of the National Museum of Kenya and was promoted to director in 1974. Fossil hunting expeditions continued, but on a much smaller scale as Leakey devoted more of his time to running the museum. In 1984, Leakey and his team found the most impressive fossil of his career. It was the nearly complete skeleton of a Homo erectus boy (Origins).

Comparison between Frankenstein and “The Birthmark” Essay

The Industrial Revolution that was happening in the early twilight of the 19th centuries changed the world forever. The introduction of science as a possible cure for all became apparent. Many fascination inventions such as steamboat, cars and electricity were created and the outlook for the future was bright. However, because of this, many scientists turned a blind eye to the dangers of knowledge and unwittingly caused many sorrows in their process to become â€Å"god†. Such examples are introduced in the following two stories: Frankenstein and â€Å"The birthmark†. In both stories, the author created a character that was to symbolize the scientists of the early 19th centuries who believed that anything was possible with science. In â€Å"The Birthmark†, Hawthorne’s character Aylmer tries to remove his wife’s birthmark with his use of science but ends up killing her. While in Frankenstein, the protagonist Victor attempts to use science to create li fe but ends up destroying those there were closest to him. There are many similarities between the two stories, especially between the characteristics of Victor Frankenstein and Aylmer. Both men have a deep passion and love for science that borders on obsession. One of the prevalent themes in both stories is the danger of playing god. In Frankenstein, Victor attempts to go beyond accepted human limits and access the knowledge of life and therefore becoming godlike. The story begins with Walton’s letter to his sister. From the letter, we are introduced to the danger of science. Victor tells Walton, â€Å"You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.† (pg 31) The theme of destructive knowledge is then developed further throughout the story as the tragic events and consequences of Victor’s obsession for life is unfold. He cuts himself off from the world and eventually commits himself entirely to his task, â€Å"while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour, my cheek has grown pale with study and my person has become emaciated with confinement.† (pg 55) This is similar to what Aylmer went through, â€Å"He was pale as death, anxious and absorbed, and hung over the furnace as if it depended upon his utmost watchfulness†¦ or misery. (pg 70) He was so obsessed about perfection that he forsakes the consequences of his action. Throughout Frankenstein, Victor repeatedly convinced himself that what he is doing is absolutely right and because of this, his fall from grace mirrors those of Aylmer. Both of them have unrealistic goals to achieve and both unintentionally destroy those that are precious to them. For all their similarities, Dr. Frankenstein and Aylmer are still significantly different characters. Victor wants to be god but does not know what to do with the power, â€Å"When I found so astonishing a power placed within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it.† (pg 54) Victor views science as the path to new knowledge: â€Å"in other studies you go as far as others have gone before you†¦ but in scientific pursuit, there is continual food for discovery and wonder.†(pg 52) While Aylmer views science as the path to greater power, â€Å"We know Aylmer possessed this degree of faith in man’s ultimate control over nature.†(pg 59) He tries to play god in order to bend the laws of nature and make imperfection to perfection, â€Å"I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek as faultless†¦ and then, most beloved, what will be my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work!† (pg 63) In the end however, it was nature that got the last laugh when the potion that Aylmer gave Georgiana resulted in her death. Both Frankenstein and Aylmer are victims of the destructive fascination for science and nature. Both men try to transcend to godhood and, ultimately, both fail. Perhaps, that is why both Shelley and Hawthorne wrote similar stories in an attempt to illustrate the danger of ambition, science and godhood.

Locating Topics of Interest

Locating Topics of Interests Sam Johnson Northeastern university Are Female College Athletes pressured Into dysfunctional eating disorder to malting thin physical features? Female student athletes have a dual roll in trying to maintain academic and athletic excellence while in college. These athletes are expected to perform at the highest athletic level possible, and then asked to sustain their physical appearance. â€Å"For some female college athletes, such concerns and pressures may contribute to eating disorders or disordered eating behaviors† (Greengage et al. 009, IPPP).I believe female student athletes shouldn't feel pressured into complying with society needs, by totally ignoring their own. Greengage, C. , Petrel, T. A. , Carter, J. , & Reel, J. J. (2009). Female collegiate athletes: prevalence of eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors. Journal of American college Health, 57(5), 489-495. Athletes, and how weight issues may play a contributing part to this dis order. The authors will also observe the female student athletes surroundings, which may play a major role in how these students identify themselves as being over weight which loud lead to unhealthy dieting.Furthermore, the authors will monitor the mental capacity of these female students' athletes while trying desperately to lose pounds for their team or individual sport. The authors have decided to use the â€Å"Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnosis† (Greengage, Petri, Carter, and Reel, 2009, IPPP) feeling it gives more precise results than other questionnaires. The survey will use approximately two hundred female student athletes who participate in collegiate team or individual sports, from the southern region of America.Several questions pertaining to weight management, and certain types of eating miscues female student athletes may or may not practice daily, due to self dissatisfaction with their physical appearance. The questionnaires revealed over fifty percent o f the female student athletes were disappointed with their current fitness status. In addition almost ninety percent thought they need to lose a significant amount of mass in order for them to feel good about themselves.Approximately twenty percent of the female student athletes disclose they overindulge in eating more than four to six months, and over twenty- eve percent revealed that workout at least two hours daily to maintain a fit physique. Almost one fourth of the female student athletes admit to having a serious eating disorder and would like to receive help to resolve their negative weight control issues, but due to the negative pressures around them to stay fit, most of the female athletes fall prey to some type of eating disorder.Do college student athletes have the ability to truly succeed in an academic environment? College student athletes must Juggle practice and classroom assignments daily, and do the best they can to study for test without any rest. Student athletes have always carried a label of being â€Å"single-minded, narcissistic individuals who concentrate only on their athletic career† (Chem.., Mason, Middleton, and Salary, 2013). Student athletes must be given the opportunity to prove with the proper study time, they can achieve the same success as any other student.Chem.., S. , Mason, N. , Middleton, S. , & Salary, W. (2013). An examination of behavioral data and testing scores as indicators of student-athletes' academic success. KEEPERS journal, 51(1), 34-42. The author examines the attitudes and statistics of student athletes and their academic performance and motives while in college. Chem.. Et al. Study the reports on how often do student athlete's research class materials, go to class, and participate in class lectures.The author explores the stability between student athletes performing at the high athletic levels and achieving academic success. Middleton, and Salary, 2013, pep), which covered the basic inquires desired b y the authors. Roughly one hundred ninety student athlete applicants were surveyed, which approximately sixty-eight percent of them were male and thirty-two percent were female. The survey also covered a student athlete's grade level, nationality, team sport participation and what academic year was it for them.The authors revealed as long as student athletes didn't exceed more than twenty hours a week in athletic activities, each athlete had the ability to balance both athletic and academics. Furthermore, student athletes fell short academically when overworked in their team sport, and not given enough time to study. These findings defend the idea that student athletes only go to college to participate in team or individual sports. It shows when given the proper time to study student athletes can accomplish the same success as regular education students.University coaches must encourage student athletes to achieve academic success first without consequence for deciding to become a s cholar first. Do College Student Athletes have gambling problem which can lead to gambling addiction? Gambling is a habit most individuals can't handle, especially when discussing regular university students or student athletes. â€Å"Gambling among student athletes represents a multifaceted problem† (Elongated et al. 08, IPPP), it is not a racial or certain gender addiction, this is a problem that could have young adults with thousands of dollars in debt. Elongated, S. , Jacobs, D. , Deterrents, J. , Guppy, R. , & Passes, T. (2008). Gambling behavior among college student-athletes. Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, 20(3), 349-362. The authors investigate the possible serious gambling problems among male and female college student athletes. Elongated et al. Explores the competitive nature of student athletes, and how gambling could lead to more dishonest practices by student athletes.In addition the authors examines the reasoning behind student athletes gambling, could th is be a result from student athletes not having enough resources in college which directs them to take a chance on gambling. Elongated et al. Determined to receive accurate results decided to use the â€Å"2003 NCAA National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering and Associated Health-Risk Behaviors† (Elongated, Jacobs, Deterrents, Guppy, and Passes, 2008). The survey received over twenty thousand participants, with roughly sixty percent male student athletes and forty percent female student athletes.The study asked over 100 questions about gambling habits, the amount wagered, who were you betting on and what type of gambling games do you like to participate in. The authors revealed that over fifty percent of the participants admitted to gambling the year before, over eight percent admitted to gambling every week, and over three percent admitted they had real gambling issue. There were various of the male and female student athletes disclosed, it really didn't matter what game t hey played, Just as long as it was a gambling game for revenue.

Compare and contrast the poems ‘part one’ by Adrian Henri and the excerpts from William Wordsworth’s poem ‘the prelude’

Both William Wordsworth and Adrian Henri base their poems on childhood experiences, which were inspirational for their poems. Each has a nostalgic view of their childhood and idealise the past which were carefree and when they had no responsibilities. Liverpool was a formative influence for Adrian Henri's poem ‘part one' which is an account of his early life. Whereas William Wordsworth's inspiration for his poem came from where he grew up, The Lake District in Cumbria. He has become Britain's most famous poet of nature. For each poet childhood experiences were a happy time; however there were also traumatic and more disturbing memories, especially for Henri, which they had suppressed. The settings of both Adrian Henri and William Wordworth's poems are the exact antithesis of each other. Adrian Henri grew up in industrial city which is on the north-west coast of England. The reference to ‘the ferryboat' and ‘the seven bridges' indicates that Adrian Henri grew up in Liverpool, the river being the river Mersey. The mention of ‘the boats on the bright river' and ‘the cranes from the dockyard' evokes the sense that Liverpool is a city where shipbuilding is a major source of employment. The description of the ‘nasty smell from the tannery' emphasises the view that Liverpool is an industrial area which creates pollution and causes damage to the environment. The allusion to the ‘big shops at Christmas' reminds us that Liverpool is a sizeable city and very busy at Christmas time. Although Liverpool reached its prime during the heady 1960's and indeed the city did suffer economically during the 1980's. Liverpool is possibly most renowned as the home of the most successful pop band of all time-the Beatles, heralding the beginning of an era in which Liverpool was the capital of popular culture. William Wordsworth's poem ‘the Prelude' has a famous extract in which the poet is ice-skating on a frozen lake, Esthwaite water near Hawkshead. The setting of Wordsworth's poem is a pastural scene where there is mention of ‘cottage windows' and ‘the striking of the village clock' which gives the impression that he came from a rural background and he was bought up in the countryside. The reference to ‘precipes and crags' indicate that there are mountains nearby where he grew up. The extract from the poem is set in the winter season around January or February. There is reference to the ‘frosty season' and there is characterisation of the ‘leafless trees' and the ‘fires blazing through the twilight gloom' the poet also mentions that it is nearly dark at 6 o'clock. Adrian Henri lived in area where there were a wide range of back to back terraced houses. He grew up very much in a traditional working class background, but a proud one which looked after their home, the step was ‘cleaned twice a week' and a ‘polished lobby' they were a devoutly religious family. We get the impression that Adrian Henri was an only child, who was cared by his grandfather as his mum had to work. The poet seemed to have been closer to his grandfather rather than his mother. On returning home from shopping he would shout to his grandfather to show him what he had ‘just been bought' he also recalls his grandfather's moustache tickling him whilst his grandfather was kissing. To a young child the grandfather could have been intimidating with his ‘load voice'. However, this was not the case because of the ‘laughter in his country mans eyes' his bark was more harmful than his bite. He was fastidious over his appearance he wore ‘gleaming black boots' he was a man of habit ‘he never wore a collar but always a stud. ‘ He was a countryman at heart. He grew up in a rural and the agricultural environment. His experiences seem to reflect one of the key movements in the nineteenth century called rural depopulation. Once arriving to Liverpool Adrian's grandfather would try re-create the countryside by building on allotment, he had a connexion with nature Adrian Henri compares his grandfather to a ‘tall fir tree inn the park. ‘ Adrian Henri's uncle Bill was a burden and an embarrassment to the family in front of neighbours and other visitors. He smelt of ‘bear and horses' from this we can conjecture he used to spend most of his time in the pub and betting offices. He was a veteran of the First World War, because of the war he became disabled he was incapacitated and unemployed. Unfortunately William Wordsworth's parents had past away ‘cares not for his home' he does not have to worry about going home on time. The poet uses a simile to compare himself to an ‘un tired horse' to evoke his energy and enthusiasm to be out of doors. In the line ‘we hissed along the polished ice in games' the poet uses onomatopoeia to suggest the sounds the skates would make while moving over the ice. In the middle of the poem Wordsworth deliberately chooses to convey an impression of great sound or movement ‘rhythm', ‘tumult', not a voice was idle'. It is maniphastly clear that Wordsworth preferred spending time alone rather than being around people. We get the impression Adrian Henri had a reasonable happy childhood he has fond memories of relatives ad images of home characterized by bright colours. However when Henri returns to his hometown it was a dillusioning experience. He had hoped to find familiar landmarks but everything had changed. ‘The allotment at the foot of the hill had gone now', ‘great gaunt terraces scarred with graffiti. ‘ By revisiting Liverpool it had bought back unhappy memories which had been forgotten. Wordsworth preferred to be on his own and isolated from other people. At the time of the boat incident it was early evening Wordsworth was independent he was in an adventures spirit. Stealing the boat indicates his willingness to do forbid things. it was an act of stealth and ‘troubled pleasure' at first he enjoyed the experience and deliberately rowed for the ‘horizons utmost boundary'- to escape from where he started willingness to be alone ‘prode of skill' the simile ‘the boat moved through the lake like a graceful swan'. There is a change of mood and atmosphere when the huge mountain comes into view. Wordsworth had a childish imagination that the mountains were alive and like a giant striding after him. Wordsworth uses personification to suggest the mountain is not inamate object but has come alive. Wordsworth had the impression that the mountain was in pursuit of him. Wordsworth hastly returned the boat which indicates how frightened he was at the time. After this incident Wordsworth's mood changed significantly. ‘part one' by Adrian Henri was not actually thought out, the poem is written in an unstructured way with no logical sequence, there is no punctuation, virtually no capital letters apart fro m the names. It is written in a stream of consciousness with a series of disconnected thoughts, whereas Wordsworth's poem. ‘The prelude' is a long autobiographical poem. It is written on a specific childhood experience. Both poems are about childhood memories but clearly there are differences, the settings of both poems, the way the poems are written and the mood and atmosphere of both poems differ. The way that Liverpool had all changed, the place Henri grew changed entirely, everything he had remembered had changed or gone. Houses had been knocked down ‘ugly flats' the people who had lived there had also gone. Henri's Liverpool had dramatically changed into an environment he did not remember. The Lake District is a renowned area of England for its natural scenery beauty, thousands of people visit from England and all over the world. Wordsworth was the one who ‘made it popular. ‘ In my opinion I prefer ‘part one' by Adrian Henri because it does not focus on a specific memory. It is easier to understand as it is not as long as ‘the prelude' which is on specific memories.

Big Sky Resort Project

Big RESORT PROPERTY Ownership Big sky resort is currently owned and operated by Boyne Resorts Company, but its background is a bit more interesting than that. In 1970, after his retirement and return to his home state on Montana, NBC newscaster Chet Huntley began building the resort. In December of 1973 the resort opened for the first time. Unfortunately Mr. Huntley was not able to enjoy his resort very long as he died a few short months later on March 20th, 1974 at the age of 62.In 1976, Boyne Resorts purchased the property and has managed it since then. Boyne Resort Company (BRC) owns and operates 11 resorts in the continental United States, with the highest number of resorts, 3, in the state of Michigan and one resort in British Columbia, Canada. They are self reportedly the third largest resort network in America and boast some of the â€Å"best  snow sports destinations, championship golf courses, luxurious spas and a full menu of active lifestyle amenities. The company has b een family owned and operated since it was started by Everett Kircher in 1947, employees of 7,000 people and has a goal to become the â€Å"best four-season resort company in the world by 2015,† a goal they believe they are well on the way towards. They are also partners with the Cool Earth program to help protect the world’s rainforests. Types of Lodging Big sky offers three different property types: hotels & condo hotels, cabins & homes, and condominiums with a stunning 11 out of 14 lodging buildings, equating to over 800 rooms, allowing access for ski in/ski out lodging right on the slope side.Big Sky’s White Water inn is a former Comfort Inn sitting a little further away from the slopes, about 10 miles off property, on highway 191 that Big Sky purchased and converted into their own. This hotel boasts it’s own Spa and indoor water slide. It is also located only 47 miles from the west entrance to Wyoming’s Yellow stone national park, the closest of Big Sky’s properties to Yellowstone. The Huntley Lodge is the original hotel on Big Sky’s property envisioned and named after, you guessed it, Chet Huntley.Although it’s a simple room with only two beds, a desk, bathroom and a wet bar, it is as Huntley imagined it, a slope side hotel. It also houses a spa, Chet’s bar and grill restaurant, shops, ski storage, and the Huntley dining room which is the dining room where any guests to Big Sky go for the complimentary breakfast buffet daily. Prices / packages As you may expect from a resort that offers 14 different lodging properties, there are many different prices for each hotel. Interestingly enough, however, only one package/special centers on one hotel property. /5 of the packages offered by big sky encompass all hotels, or a selection of multiple in one area. (See appendix). Normal prices on a nightly basis range from as little as $169. 00 for a one bedroom, two queen bed room in the Huntley Lodge to $ 2958. 00 for a four bedroom penthouse at the Summit at Big Sky. Most hotel rates are less than $300. 00 a night for the lower end, one bedroom or studio room. Services During the winter months big sky offers a breakfast buffet to all guests staying in any hotel on the property. Many of the lodging properties have slope-side access for to the mountain.All hotels either have a gym in them or a pool and properties that don’t allow access to adjoining properties that do. There are over 20 ski lifts bringing skiers and riders all the way to the top of lone peak. Big sky offers ski school for children as young as 4 and adults of all ages. Facilities Big sky resort is a mountain based resort and, during the winter, their primary activity is skiing and snowboarding. The mountain offers 15 ski lifts ranger from sitting doubles to a fully enclosed tram that takes you to the top of lone peak.These lifts give skiers and riders access to well over 50 individual trails and three terrain pa rks. In the summer, lifts still operate to bring you to extensive hiking trails. At the base of the mountain lies Mountain Village, the focal point of the resort. The hotel and lodging properties are located either in the village or around it. Mountain village contains Solace Spa & salon. The village center area contains the Yellowstone Conference Center. The conference center is comprised of the Missouri ballroom on the ground floor which can be divided into up to six individual rooms for meetings.On the upper floor there are four stand-alone rooms for meetings or small conferences. In the remainder of the village there are seven other meeting spaces. Snow crest lodge has a ski and snowboard rental shop in the ground floor. Big sky has 21 different dining options on property ranging from burgers and brats to a bar and grill that brew’s its own beer to upscale Italian restaurant priding itself on Tuscan cuisine. Business cycle Big Sky is a mountain based resort that caters gr eatly to the skier and snowboarder crowd as well as snow tubers in the winter, making it it’s ‘on’ season.However, Big Sky doesn’t have an ‘off’ season, just an abbreviated on season. Obviously during the summer months there isn’t much skiing to be had but there are plenty of other activities. An extensive network of hiking trails is the most obvious of the resorts summer activities on property. Among the multitude of other activities that big sky offers are some you might think of immediately, like Zip lining and a scenic lift ride. Others still might take you by surprise such a skeet shooting and a rock wall. They also offer several Paintball courses throughout the mountain.Nearby Lake Levinski and the Gallatin River offer canoeing, paddle boarding, whitewater rafting and kayaking. Furthermore, Big sky advertises itself as being the perfect basecamp from which to visit nearby Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, with the west e ntrance to the park being a mere 47 miles away. The combination of Yellowstone national park and the summertime mountain based activities have the potential to attract a plethora of summer guests to Big sky resort. Seasonality Big Sky experiences cold winters with temperatures getting as low as 8 degrees on average but rarely higher than freezing, with a high of 34 degrees on average.Visitors can expect between 3 and 7 inches of snow monthly starting as early as late October in some cases. Summer weather is quite drastically different. Temperatures can rise to the mid 80s on average with lows in the 50’s during the day and colder at night even as low as upper 40’s. The cold and snowy winters will be attractive to skiers and rider’s alike, seeking fresh snow or temperatures sufficient to make artificial snow. The warmer summers will be attractive for visitors looking to partake in outdoor activities or visit Yellowstone.The cool nights could be a welcome refreshe r or an unattractive nuisance depending on how low they get; However, I do not believe cooler nights will have a large impact on guest’s opinions of the resort. MARKETING Target Markets 1. Experienced skiers and riders is who big sky markets to the most. With slogans like â€Å"The BIGGEST skiing in America† and multiple double diamond runs, as well as back country access with no cleaned runs. In all likelihood, this segment does not produce the highest revenue, since they may travel alone or in small groups (2-3), but big sky markets themselves to appeal to those advanced level groups.This segment could be drawn to Big Sky from around the world because of their intricate and advanced slope structure. 2. Big sky’s second largest market segment is medium sized families (3-5 guests) or extended families for a reunion type vacation (7+guests) in the middle or higher class. Families with children aged 4 and older can sign their kids up for mini ski camp. This group will fill a majority of the rooms on property and many of the people in this market segment have taken up skiing or riding in recent years. This market segment might be drawn to Big Sky from around the country.Especially since the airport in the city of Bozeman has flights that come in directly from major metropolitan areas such as New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle 25 times daily. During the off peak summer season, this group might make up an even larger majority of Big Sky’s Guests due to 3. Group Travel is another large market at Big Sky. They have rooms available to accommodate large groups. More specifically, groups will be comprised of older teenagers and college students(17-21) and young working professionals(22-30). Having everything you might want to do on a vacation to a mountain based resort, ncluding pools, shopping, of course skiing and riding on property Big sky is trying to get these groups and keep them on property. Not to mention Yellow stone National pa rk being less than an hour away, Big Sky really has everything any member of your group would want to do in the North West. This segment will most likely be drawn from a region. It is not very likely groups New England, for instance, will travel to big sky when there are closer skiing options and if they do their return business is even less likely due to expensive travel costs. 4. Empty nesters (45+) may come to Big Sky to enjoy skiing and summer recreation.This segment can potentially be drawn from an international market. The spa at Big Sky would be icing on the cake for this group. It may offer a relaxing, slower paced day of fun and relaxation. The resort can appeal particularly to those individuals interested in the nation’s first national park, Yellowstone. The offer a cross country ski or snowmobile tours into the park to and from Big Sky. 5. Young couples (24-30) or even couple trips who are two or more years into their working lives and have enough vacation time to come for an extended weekend in the begging or end of the ski season or potentially even during the summer.Even couples where one or both individuals are not experienced skiers or riders, Big Sky’s adult lesson programs can bring them up to speed. Furthermore, these couples who have skied or need refresher courses, or wish to take on more challenging runs can enlist in the advanced programs, like Master the Moguls; a course for skiers â€Å"level 7 and higher’ who want to learn to â€Å"negotiate the bumps with style†. How Big Sky Markets Big Sky markets itself as a year round resort although their primary season is the ski season.Their favorite slogan and possibly even motto is â€Å"The biggest skiing in America. † Much of their marketing uses the word ‘Big’, for example â€Å"BIG Happiness† is sprawled across an advertisement on their website’s home screen with the ‘big’ being shown in their own calligraphy (See appendix). During off season summer month’s Big Sky markets it’s ‘Basecamp’ as â€Å"The perfect headquarters for mountain adventures. † Their brochure for summer activities explains over 10 of the summer attractions they have.Big Sky offers an eighteen hole golf course designed by Arnold Palmer in the 1970’s and updated multiple times. Surprisingly, Big sky does not advertise their golf course almost at all. There is only one, small picture in their brochure of the course and a very limited page online. It’s safe to say golf isn’t a big attraction to Big Sky in the summer and it definitely is â€Å"nice to have’ not â€Å"need to have†. You can tell winter is bigger at Big Sky just from the brochure. The winter activity brochure is twice the size of the summer one and it focuses on the mountain.Although Lone Peak and Flat Iron and Andesite mountains around it host almost all of the summer activities, they are th e primary attraction in the winter. They advertise over 5500 acres of skiable runs, over 4000 vertical feet, 26 lifts, 230 plus trails, ad over 400 inches of snowfall. They market themselves as â€Å"Head and Shoulders above the rest† siting more skiable acres than Vail, Colorado and more Vertical feet than Vail and Squaw Valley, California. The only time Big Sky stops’ talking about their ski slopes is to mention the resorts close proximity to Yellowstone and the trips they run there.Yellowstone is definitely integral in bringing them business, even in the winter and should have more emphasis placed on it, as well as other programs such as the spa. The spa has its own stand-alone brochure but is seldom mentioned elsewhere. RECREATION / ACTIVITIES Activities Spring, Summer, and Fall 1. Zip line 2. High ropes course 3. Downhill mountain biking 4. Skeet shooting 5. Paintball 6. Laser Tag 7. Scenic lift 8. Hiking 9. Climbing wall 10. Giant Swing 11. Bungee trampoline 12. Disc golf 13. Mountain scooter or watercraft rentals 14. Golf 15. Yoga 16. Spa 17.Swimming pools 18. Fly Fishing 19. Whitewater Rafting 20. Horseback riding 21. Rock climbing 22. Wildlife viewing 23. Children’s program including: a. Dodge ball b. Face painting c. Making terracotta pots d. Adventure race e. Nature hikes and crafts f. Supervised disc gold g. Teepee camp out Winter 1. Skiing and Snowboarding 2. Zip line 3. High ropes course 4. Laser Tag 5. Bungee trampoline 6. Climbing Wall 7. Giant Swing 8. Tube Park 9. Snow cat Rides (To yellow stone) 10. Cross country Skiing (Yellowstone) 11. Sleigh Rides 12. Backcountry skiing 13. Yoga 14. Spa 15.Swimming pools 16. Wild life viewing 17. Children’s program including: a. Dodge ball b. Face painting c. Making terracotta pots Activity and Market Segments Experienced skiers will primarily be attracted to Big Sky for their advanced ski runs and slope side lodging. However, many other aspects of the resort will aim attract t his group to Big Sky over other resorts. The close proximity to Yellowstone national park is an out of the ordinary aspect that can entice those skiers and riders who want to visit the park but don’t want to make it the main focus of their trip.This group which obviously likes to ski may want to try a cross country ski trip to the park. The plethora of additional activities, such as zip lining, can encourage these guests to book longer trips and offer breaks in between days of skiing. The back country skiing can bring in travelers from greater distances who want to break away from the rigid ski slopes offered at mountains local to them. Even the options at the spa can bring in these guests that want to have the opportunity to be rejuvenated in a relaxing environment and then get right back on the slopes.During summer months, Experienced skiers wouldn’t be attracted to Big Sky for the ski runs, but they might want to return for other outdoor activities like hiking on th e runs they enjoy to ski. The other outdoor activities such as horseback riding and white water rafting will without a doubt attract this group, assuming that they are avid out door travelers wishing to spend more time in the beautiful wilderness around Big Sky. Middle Class Families might be attracted to the resort for skiing because of the multiple day lift ticket discounts or the wide range of attractive lodging styles, from economical to the lush ad luxurious.Not to mention, when booking through Big Sky’s central reservation system or enrolling a child under ten years old young children (under 10) get to ski for free The Tube Park is also another great aspect for children. The other attractions like zip lining, the giant swing, and bungee trampoline can entice families in both the winter and summer months, as well as the children programs. Furthermore during the summer families may want to go hiking or white water rafting together. A warm Montana day might be the perfect setting for a father and son golf trip, or skeet shooting.Big sky could attract group travelers because of the plethora of activities. It really does have something for everyone in your group. Trips to yellow stone, yoga, rock climbing, and the spa are all enticing to different members of these groups. No single event or attraction can be attributed to this group, however low rates for condo style living at Alpenglow can entice this crowd. Empty Nesters who have reached a later age in life, and accumulated more time off with their companies now have a little extra cash flow since they are no longer supporting children.The slower paced activities at Big Sky, like Golf or the spa can appeal to this group; Even going on a relaxing hike or fly fishing trip. The more adventurous in this group might want to try white water rafting, skiing or cross country skiing to Yellowstone. Of course†¦. there is always just the pool! Although Big Sky doesn’t really â€Å"do weddings†, and the closest thing to anything seeming romantic is a free bottle of champagne when you book two nights it’s apparent that young couples are coming for the romance.Virtually all the activities could appeal to this group, skiing, downhill biking, horseback riding, high ropes, zip line, white water rafting. Why not enjoy all this while your young? RELATION TO TEXT Similarities 1. Big Sky is a type one resort (PG 25). Type one resorts, by definition are international destinations with excellent mountains and wide variety of lodging and real-estate accommodations. With 14 hotels ranging from simple ‘double-double’ hotel rooms to more advanced condominiums, Big Sky lives up to the plethora of lodging options. Lone mountain and lone peak are offer upreme runs with much variety, all the way from a bunny hill with green circle runs to double diamonds near the peak, and even back country skiing. Big Sky definitely meets the criteria for a type one mountain based reso rt. 2. Located just 50 miles south of Bozeman, MT and Bozeman/Big Sky airport there is airline access direct from 13 major cities in the US, including New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Portland. The book states that the more attractive the site, the farther people will be willing to travel to ski there (PG 33). The size and scope of Big Sky resort can attract people, not just on a national basis, but also internationally.The resort seeks to target not just local or regional guests, willing to travel up to half a day, but also those seeking to travel farther, and stay longer. 3. Big Sky offers 4,350 vertical feet to ski on Lone Mountain. For an area this size the book recommends one to two thousand vertical feet of lift (PG 42). The Southern Comfort high speed quad alone can carry 4 skiers 1,250 vertical feet. Big Sky has 15 lifts, one gondola, and 5 surface lifts throughout the mountain and is consistently known for little to no lift lines. 4. The way the way the lodging at Big Sky is laid out is nearly verbatim to the book (PGS 46-47).The resort offers a good mix of Hotel style lodging and condominiums. Mountain Village, at the base of the mountain, squeezes in a high density of lodging accommodations, many of the slope side. These include Summit Hotel, Snowcrest Lodge, and Huntley Lodge. Farther away from the base, but still offering slope-side access are the Lone Moose and Saddle Ridge properties, offering Condo and Townhouse style lodging, respectively. They are more spacious and offer a higher quality of room / amenity, but also are more expensive. 5. Mountain Village is a key feature to Big Sky resort.The book suggests that a base village is integral to a new kind of four season resort, like big sky (PG 88). Not only does Big Sky’s Mountain Village offer restaurants, lodging, and retail outlets near chairlifts, but also other activities, like ice skating, and a place to sign up for them at the concierge and basecamp facility. In the lobby of the H untley / Shoshone lodge is the Spa and Yellowstone Conference center. This complex which offers both hotel and condo style lodging options is the focal point of the base village area. Big Sky has certainly created a miniature town just for their guests.Differences 1. The book discusses the use and necessity of permits when dealing with land owned by the United States Forest Service, or USFS (PG 27). Although Big Sky operates on about 100 square miles of USFS land it seems apparent that some principles outlined in the book are being overlooked. Although the resort is a cool earth partner and does a lot to help the environment other aspects USFS and the National Ski Area’s Association try to meet are suffering. The establishment of local economies f and sustainable communities is suffering. Big Sky uses all of the land it has for ski runs and Local lodging.The work force needs to either travel from far away or get temporary housing and be bussed in from two properties operated by Big Sky for employees. Only one is open during the summer. 2. General design guidelines outlined by the book highlight the necessity of linking what is special about the local area and creating a strong emotional link between the local populace and natural environment (PG 34). By not putting a good foot forward to build a more permanent and affordable living area for general population they are greatly constricting the possibility of forming this strong bond between locals and themselves.Local people may grow discontent with the resort if they cause the area to belong to the tourists. 3. Adding illumination to Big Sky could potentially increase capacity by up to 60% (PG 40). Big sky does not have any options for night skiing and, while the potential risk and possible insurance costs are understandable, they are limiting themselves to the short hours of daylight during the winter months. Half of US ski areas offer night skiing and by not the resort is missing out on potential gues ts that may want sleep in and ski later in the day and into the evening.These groups will simply spend money and ski elsewhere. 4. North northeast facing mountains retain snowfall better by having less sun exposure (PG 40). Big Sky has set their runs up to be facing directly east, right in the face of the rising morning sun. This could potentially create a hazard for skiers coming down the slopes early and cause snow blindness. This sun exposure also causes snow to melt faster and potentially harm the integrity of runs. Because of this, more tree’s may be needed on the runs for shade, which could in turn limit the use of the mountain for runs. 5.Parking, everyone’s worst nightmare (PG 45). Big Sky wasn’t really built around the idea that many skiers would drive in and out, and it shows in their parking. Big sky has 4 parking lots and only 1, and a small one at that, is remotely close to the lifts. Big sky clearly sacrificed close parking for slope side lodging. Since they have already built up the prime parking area’s with Mountain Village, an idea as suggested in the book would be to make underground parking. Putting even one level underneath the base camp could make for an extremely efficient parking system and use of space.COMPETITION Local Heading south from Bozeman, MT will take you right to Big Sky’s doorstep, but going east will bring you to a local competitor, Red Lodge Mountain Resort. Red Mountain Lodge, or RML, has a close proximity to Big Sky, but they are miles apart in many other similarities. The most obvious is the mountain. By comparison, RML has a much smaller mountain with less lifts. Also apparent, is the mountain base. Where Big Sky has a lively mountain town with shopping, activities, hotels, RML has, well, nothing.Their lodging properties are located sporadically around the area. There is the actual town of Red lodge off the base of the mountain, but not far. This active host community is something that Big Sky doesn’t have. Because of their limitations in a base village, RML offer far fewer (almost no) other venues of entertainment besides the town and the mountain. The only exception to this is their golf course. They offer an 18 hole golf course run by the resort and located near the town of Red Lodge. National Alyeska Resort, in Girdwood, Alaska is a national competitor to Big Sky.Also making the top 40 list of ski resorts in North America by Outsideonline. com, Alyeska is no small time resort. Alyeska only has a couple of hotels and limited runs on the mountain, 73. However their system of 8 total lifts compliments the mountain well. Alyeska Also offers night skiing, which Big Sky does not. The resort and mountain is also well known, having hosted the US Alpine champion ships 5 times, the latest in 2009. Alyeska chargers comparable prices for comparable rooms to Big Sky, so guests willing to travel won’t choose one over the other because of price.Alyeska also ha s a spa complete with yoga classes. The average snowfall is 512 inches, which is over a hundred inches more that Big Sky can boast adding the grandeur of the runs. International Located in Savoie, France Les Trois Vallee, or The three Valley’s ski resort is the largest ski resort in the world. It is actually comprised of three separate ski resorts linked together since 1963 so it’s possible to ski between all of them. The Resort is actually 8 different resorts all operating together between the 3 valley’s and 4 ridges that create the mountain.The mountain has 183 different lifts, 37 of which are gondolas, servicing 600km (375 miles) of skiable areas spread out between 335 runs. Trois Vallee offers an even more extended list of accommodations between their 8 resorts than Big Sky. The range from ‘self-catered apartments’ and chalets, small ski side houses, to hotels and holiday clubs. This collection of resorts is a competitor to Big sky because the o ffer a similar experience with the mountain base village. The intertwining of multiple resorts compounds this and gives guests multiple venues to enjoy time off the mountain.