English Commentary The following is a commentary o Essays

English Commentary The following is a commentary o Essays English Commentary The following is a commentary on paragraph in P.G 211 a 212 in the Sorrow of War.. The paragraph from page 211 to 212 has a very important significance to the story as a whole. It has a lot of metaphors and similes that add to the sorrowful mood of the story. In the beginning, the paragraph is very poetic, juxtaposing past images of life to future and present images of death and destruction. In specific it juxtaposes the "eternal" beauty of his girlfriend Phuong to the tragic finality of war. The paragraph is written in the simple past tense, the perfect past tense which means the past before the past and the hypothetical "would" in order to emphasize Kien's deep longings to relive the past. It also shows us how Kien lost his spirit of fighting, and gave up hope. This is spiritual loss, and it is what most soldiers were experiencing. There is basically no more hope, no more life, just death. Overall, the paragraph reflects images of the sorrows of war. The sorrows and effects of war are clearly shown when the narrator reverses traditional symbols. The first very evident example of reversing traditional symbols is the narrator's use of the concept of "miracle" and "dream" not to talk about a future goal but about the past. Thus returning to the past and finding it "unchanged" becomes a "miracle" and a "dream". We usually dream of the future and hope for a miracle that would "change" our lives. However the miracle that Kien awaits is to find that the past still exists "untouched" and "untainted". Of course that miracle is impossible and consequently the paragraph has a deep nostalgic sadness. Like Kien, we can feel the painful irony of the impossibility of this miracle to happen. Other images function in the same way to show Kien's despair and loss of hope. He saw "a river stretching before him. He saw himself floating towards his death". Here the narrator compares the river to a path that ends life. However, we usually associate rivers with freedom and ongoing life. The narrator also says "fate waited to take him from the terrible present to the happy days of the past". The narrator is showing us how much he longs to relive the past and how he dreads the present, and views his future as a horrible period of time. In the beginning of the paragraph, the narrator creates a beautiful world untouched by war through many poetic images. The narrator says "she would have been untainted by war". This shows us how war has ruined the girl Kien loved. The narrator creates images in our minds; about how his girlfriend would be if it wasnt for war. "She would be forever beautiful.", "Phong would remain young forever," and "No one would ever come close to her beauty". The narrator uses "forever" and "ever" and this evokes the image of a wonderful eternal life, that would have existed if it hadnt been for war. The narrator uses several similes that give a poetic feeling to the paragraph. The narrator says "As a green meadow" and "as fragrant flowers". These similes show us how much the narrator feels happy when he remembers or talks about the past, or about the pre-war period. In our minds this beautiful world of eternal and unchanged love is juxtaposed with the ugly reality of Kien alone in his room. The passage moves from describing Kien's longing for a miracle to a dream he has. This shift reflects a change in his outlook from an impossible hope to deep despair. "Would be a miracle", "would be untainted" and "would be untouched, unchanged". The repetition of the word "would" gives us an image of a hypothetical possibility. In contrast, Kien's dream is an experience he relives at night when he says "spreading before him were the past forty years". It is clear that Kien has changed from dreaming about a beautiful unchanged past to reliving it at night. The narrator clearly shows to us the sorrows of war through the images he creates in our minds. He uses the words "death", "destruction" and "war" while talking about

How Economists Define the Revelation Principle

How Economists Define the Revelation Principle The revelation principle  of economics is that truth-telling, direct revelation mechanisms can generally be designed to achieve the Bayesian Nash equilibrium outcome of other mechanisms; this can be proven in a large category of mechanism design cases. Put into other words, the revelation principle holds that there is a payoff-equivalent revelation mechanism that possesses an equilibrium in which players truthfully report their types to any Bayesian game. Game Theory: Bayesian Games and Nash Equilibrium A Bayesian game has the most relevance in the study of economic game theory, which is essentially the study of strategic decision-making. A Bayesian game in one in which the information about the characteristics of the players, otherwise known as the players payoffs, is incomplete. This incompleteness of information means that in a Bayesian game, at least one of the players is uncertain of the type of another player or players. In a non-Bayesian game, a strategic model is considered an if every strategy in that profile is the best response or the strategy that produces the most favorable outcome, to every other strategy in the profile. Or in other words, a strategic model is considered a Nash equilibrium if there exists no other strategy that a player could employ that would produce a better payoff given all the strategies are chosen by the other players. A Bayesian Nash equilibrium, then, extends the principles of the Nash equilibrium to the context of a Bayesian game which has incomplete information. In a Bayesian game, Bayesian Nash equilibrium is found when each type of player employs a strategy that maximizes the expected payoff given the actions of all the types of other players and that players beliefs about the types of the other players. Lets see how the revelation principle plays into these concepts. Revelation Principle in Bayesian Modelling The revelation principle is relevant to a modeling (that is, theoretical) context when there exists: two players (usually firms)a third party (usually the government) managing a mechanism to achieve a desirable social outcomeincomplete information (in particular, the players have types that are hidden from the other player and from the government) Generally, a direct revelation mechanism (in which telling the truth is a Nash equilibrium outcome) can be proven to exist and be equivalent to any other mechanism available to the government. In this context, a direct revelation mechanism is one in which the strategies are just the types a player can reveal about himself. And is it the fact that this outcome can exist and be equivalent to other mechanisms that comprise  the revelation principle. The revelation principle is used most often to prove something about the whole class of mechanism equilibria, by selecting the simple direct revelation mechanism, proving a result about that, and applying the revelation principle to assert that the result is true for all mechanisms in that context.

Offshoring (Offshore Outsourcing) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Offshoring (Offshore Outsourcing) - Essay Example Offshoring is gaining popularity because it allows organization to reduce their costs, develop an extended market reach, and improve efficiency and productivity of work at the same time (Masciarelli, 2011). Successfully implementing offshoring is a challenging task. It requires careful planning and monitoring. The first step is to plan which functions to outsource. This includes planning of critical functions, skill transfer and scalability. The next step is to evaluate a cost-benefit analysis. This is done to evaluate whether the benefits of the operation will outweigh the costs. Only is the benefits outweigh the costs, the next step should be taken. The next step is developing a project management team which would be responsible for the offshoring process. This includes the planning process, setting the timetable and hiring the necessary personnel for the job (Neelankavil and Rai, 2009). According to Ilan (2011) successful offshoring is dependent on finding the right model for opening up business operations in a different country. The most likely destination for offshoring activities today is China which offers a variety of incentives to businesses around the world including cheap labor and good

The rights and obligations of parties involved in marine salvage under Essay

The rights and obligations of parties involved in marine salvage under the admiralty law - Essay Example The oil ship Rusty Floater was moored alongside Old Bucket in the process of feeding oil to the latter when a gale blew and,though moderate,was enough to break the forward quay moorings of Old Bucket.It came so sudden that there was no time to disconnect the oil supply pipeline. Old Bucket broke free from the oil feeder ship and proceeded to drift into port, threatening to collide with other vessels anchored at the marina. At this, the crew of a tugboat in the area sprung into action. The tugboat master, who is experienced in oil spill control at sea, concentrated on Rusty Floater and helped disconnect its oil pipeline properly, while his crew cast tow ropes at Old Bucket to hold her steady. The operation succeeded such that Old Bucket did not harm other vessels and the oil feeder ship Rusty Floater was prevented from spilling bunker oil into the sea. When the danger was over, the tug towed Old Bucket to another berth, while the master of Rusty Floater signed an LOF 2000 agreement wi th a SCOPIC clause with the tugboat owner.In signing the LOF (Lloyd's Open Forum) 2000 contract with a SCOPIC clause, the owners of Rusty Floater basically signified their agreement to provide an award to the tug for the salvage of their vessel. As a form of salvage contract, LOF 2000 defines the services rendered by the rescuer and the rights and obligations of the parties, such as what proportion of the salved values of the vessel would be awarded. In the instant case, the LOF 2000 contract probably specified the parties' agreement that the salvage operation was a low-value case that nonetheless became critical because of the threat to the environment (Bishop, 2000). The addition of the SCOPIC clause in the contract indicates the parties' agreement to an amount of award appropriate to this "low-value" threat. The SCOPIC clause in the LOF 2000 contract also means that the parties agreed to a two-tier remuneration system: full tariff rates if all the tug's salvage equipment were rea sonably engaged or used at some stage of the operation, but only 50 percent if these equipment were mobilised but not used. In effect, the signing of LOF 2000 with a SCOPIC clause between the masters of Rusty Floater and the tug guarantees a successful salvage claim against the oil feeder ship. There was no mention if the owners of Old Bucket signed the same agreement but if they did, the tug owner is due for two potentially successful salvage claims against both Rusty Floater and Old Bucket. The salvage claim against Old Bucket derives its strength from admiralty law provisions dictating that there is such a claim if a vessel requires assistance as result of an incident to try to minimize the extent of its losses and, in this case, prevent a possible collision with other moored vessels. From the oil carrier Rusty Floater, the tug owner deserves an even higher salvage award because his action served to prevent pollution and damage to the

East of Eden Essay Example for Free

East of Eden Essay In John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, the deprivation of a sound conscience is a theme that is associated with Cathy Ames, and afflicts the people around her. The author uses foreshadowing to portray the future of Cathy and her multiple victims. By doing so, the author builds onto the characterization of Cathy, revealing how truly malevolent she is. From birth, Cathy is foreshadowed to develop into something monstrous. The author claims that he â€Å"believe(s) there are monsters born in the world to human parents† (72). Even though she has not been physically presented to the reader yet, Cathy is about to be portrayed as the main evil in this novel. This prelude to Cathy’s characterization foreshadows the evil that will come with her presence. Cathy’s reign of terror begins when she burns her own house down, and â€Å"the frightened talk ran through the town that the whole Ames family had burned† (87). This action corresponds to the foreshadowing presented by the author’s description of monsters being born to human parents. By committing such an inhumane act, the reader gains the knowledge that Cathy has no conscience. Cathy’s tirade did not end there, and after giving birth to Adam, and possibly Charles’, babies and trying to leave him, â€Å"she shot at him. The heavy slug struck him in the shoulder and flattened and tore out a piece of his shoulder blade† (202). Cathy’s ability to kill the father of her children without even considering the severity of her actions shows how much of a monster Cathy truly is. The actions performed by Cathy at such an early stage in the story only foreshadows to the reader that she has not yet ended her path of destruction. Cathy’s inner evil is revealed at birth, and, at a young age, she discovers that she holds powers that can be used to manipulate others. From birth Cathy is foreshadowed to be pure evil, and she â€Å"learned when she was very young that sexuality with all its attendant yearnings and pains, jealousies and taboos, is the most disturbing impulse humans have† (75). It is disturbing that Cathy realizes her sexual capabilities at such a young age. The way Cathy’s thought process is presented, it can be seen that Cathy plans to abuse her powers, foreshadowing conflicts to arise in the future. It did not take long for Cathy to utilize her powers, and â€Å"at ten Cathy knew something of the power of the sex impulse and began coldly to experiment with it† (75). Cathy’s ‘experimentation’ with sexual power at such a young age helps further depict her as a malevolent being with no conscience. The fact that she begins abbling in sexual activities, at an age where most don’t even know what sex is, foreshadows that there can only be trouble to come from involvement with Cathy. Years pass and, as foreshadowed, Cathy becomes a major contributor to her local brothel. When speaking of her regular customers with the brothel’s owner, Faye, Cathy tells her to â€Å"look at the heel marks on their groins†¦ I’ve got the sweetest set of razors all in a case† (236). Cathy has been secretly sodomizing and extorting extra money from her regulars, showing she is not content with the amount of control she already possesses. Her actions foreshadow that Cathy’s search for power is never ending, foreshadowing she will continue her malicious acts until someone is capable of stopping her. At birth Cathy is depicted to be monstrous, which is proven true by the actions she displays while growing as a child. The realization of the many powers she possesses are developed and abused by Cathy, showing she disregards all others well being in her search for total control. Such actions can only be performed by those who have no sound conscience, and have no fear of the consequences posed by society.

Mediocrity of Teacher Recruitment Essay -- Teachers Education Employme

Mediocrity of Teacher Recruitment Some teachers are better than others. This is a simple and, I hope, obvious fact. But the culture of American schools is not friendly to it. Particularly in our hiring of public school teachers, we tend to avoid notions of serious discernment, of picking the very best in our society to become our teachers, and we accept that the most talented of our young people will gravitate to other fields. Overcoming this acceptance of mediocrity in teacher recruitment and retention represents the greatest opportunity to bring a quantum improvement to our schools. To focus on the elite among new teaching recruits as a matter of method is, in fact, the radically democratic way to give our society's most valuable resources to our poorest and neediest children. That simple fact should trump any concerns about the ill effects of meritocracy on job applicants. The work of educators is to educate young people. So long as we have the courage to make the very best possible experience for those young people our highest goal, we must attend to fairness for teachers only after we have attended to excellence for our students. And we have yet to do that right. Today, the best teachers in many schools are in a way the dissidents, the people who stand out, who attract criticism as well as praise for being remarkable educators, and they resist a strong pull toward mediocrity in the professional culture of too many schools. We must recognize that this is a problem, and we must fix it. The solution is not difficult to imagine. New teachers must come to know that there is an early-career, merit-based threshold to cross, similar to what doctors, lawyers, and many business professionals face in their first few years of professional work. If we can make this a reality, the most talented and most effective among them will be able to earn their place in a truly elite, dedicated corps of teachers. We will keep the very best of the new teacher recruits, and we'll attract large numbers of people in other professions who today don't sign on to become teachers because they believe that American schools haven't fostered a culture of achievement and haven't been able to make the profession of teacher as respected or respectable as many other professions. In many school systems today, new teachers are, officially, on some kind of probation for a period... ...s job security. A district that wants to fire a tenured teacher must typically undergo a lengthy process of hearings and appeals. One purpose of tenure laws is to protect teachers from being dismissed because of political or personal views. Opponents, however, argue that tenure makes it difficult for districts to fire unqualified teachers. On a similar front, several studies are also now being conducted to examine ways to dramatically overhaul the entire teacher-compensation system--not just change a bit of it here or there. Undeniably, much remains to be done. A major report issued in September by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future offered a scathing indictment of current practices, including inadequate teacher education, bureaucratic hiring procedures, and the placement of unqualified teachers in classrooms. The report set the price tag for remedying these problems within a decade at nearly $5 billion a year in new federal, state, and local money which should be spent on upgrading teacher education, subsidizing people to teach in high-need fields and locations, reforming the licensing and induction process, and better professional development.

College Essay (Soccer)

As a senior, my team and I take our first step onto the turf field; we go on as a family that is striving to bring home the cup. This is my first, yet last chance to do this. The heat from the turf moves through my cleats and onto my feet. The intensity of the sun is shining straight down on me and the sweat is just beginning to start. Then my mind rewinds back to those few words that crushed me terribly last year coming from the varsity soccer coach, â€Å"I think it’d be best if you played on junior varsity this season. I spent countless nights being angry that I did not make varsity and I felt somewhat like a loser because I was a junior playing on the JV team. After a few weeks, I figured it was pointless to feel pity for myself and decided that I was going to show everyone how great I could be. Soccer has been my addiction since I was five and nothing could ever replace the desire for it. My father taught me the rules and coached me; I was set on making sure I knew every aspect of the game, attempting to perfect every skill. I was in complete disbelief when I was not put on the varsity squad, I thought I was good.I knew I had to get better because there is always room for progress. My first step was to improve my physical condition by running and lifting. Running was something that I dreaded to do every day, but knew it was so vital to do. I absolutely despised running, every time I wanted to stop I would just think, â€Å"A starter wouldn’t stop running until they’ve reached the end†. Lifting weights was an activity that I found enjoyable and did not mind doing. Besides exercising, I spent numerous hours working on my ball skills; juggling, controlling, and passing everything a starting player should be precise at.Finally, after many long months, my hard work had paid off. During tryouts I showed everyone that I was a zealous and determined player, taking practice serious and hustling for every drill. The varsity coach awarded me with a starting position for the team my senior year. My determined work ethic, initiative and discipline helped me to get where I am now. To this day I continue to work hard at every practice, even though I am starter. Slacking off is not an option for me. I have applied this lesson to many areas in my life including school work, sports and volunteer work. I am not a quitter and am never satisfied until I achieve my goals.