Saturday, October 5, 2019

Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles Assignment

Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles - Assignment Example The paper "Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles" provide Chave's analysis of the painting. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was rejected at first and was hidden for more than three decades as people saw what it portrayed was simply not in accordance with their beliefs. They believed that the naked women were not a good; it was an indirect attack to the prostitutes. Chaves objective is to view the picture from a different angle which was not allowed. She uses the picture to show various facts of gender and race and how they are brought out clearly in a picture that was painted so many decades ago yet so relevant in the occurrences that have taken place in the world. Mimicry is the act of copying what one is doing, their speech, look or even their actions. Minstrelsy on the other hand is whereby the Americans acted or performed skits and other acts in blackface. Picasso’s art in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is an act of mimicry and minstrelsy whereby; using the two w omen on the right-hand side of the picture, he gives an exaggerated representation using the African masks which are sacred. This mimicry is to show that these women simply are African women being perceived as prostitutes. Mimicry is one of the most effective and an unrecognizable form of power that colonialists used as at a first glance it shows both resemblance and menace. They have the turbans which are usually worn by African women which is a continuous mimicry of African women. In Les Demoiselles, Minstrelsy is also seen where it makes fun of the clients.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Mario Escobar, Matias Ramos, and Stephanie Solis Assignment

Mario Escobar, Matias Ramos, and Stephanie Solis - Assignment Example The paper tells that Matias Ramos, who was not eligible, for in-state tuition and his parents. They were not able to rise for his fees struggled hard until he was able to complete his four-year course in college. Stephanie Solis too had financial difficulties when she enrolled to UCLA. She decided to become a housecleaner; she made cardboard boxes and tutoring which helped her save money that enabled her to get through UCLA. The Langston Hughes poem, â€Å"A Dream Deferred† reflects a dream, which achievement is by hard work. The poem relates to the stories of Matias Ramos, Mario Escobar, and Stephanie Solis since their dreams were achieved through a tough struggle and hardships. In the poem, the dream is a load that is so heavy to bear and can not let one go a milestone to achieving the desired goals in life. The dream in the poem is full of pain, sorrow, and hardships that are not worthy to bear and can only be achieved by one who can only live the hard way out. As in the ca se of Mario Escobar who after surviving the El Salvador's brutal civil war where he lost his parents, he never gave up but struggled the hardest way out to achieve his dreams. The same applies to Stephanie Solis and Matias Ramos whose dreams were like a heavy load that had no signs of exploding, but through struggle, they are at the top of their dreams.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Limitations of Marketing Research Essay Example for Free

Limitations of Marketing Research Essay Explain the limitations of marketing research used to contribute to the development of Nivea. No matter how small or large a market research project may be, any type of research performed poorly will not give relevant results. In fact, all research, no matter how well controlled, carries the potential to be wrong. There are many reasons why research may not give good results but a common problem is deciding whether the research is really measuring what it claims to be measuring. There are 3 types of limitations of market research. These are Cost effectiveness, reliability and validity of data collected. Reliability is chiefly concerned with making sure the method of data gathering leads to consistent results. For example; Nivea need to make sure that in their market research that they were asking the same questions asked of each person, was the sample big enough and reflective of the people who will use/buy the product would the same results be obtained from a different set of people. Reliability estimates the degree to which a product is measures in contrast to validity which involves the degree of accuracy. In research, Nivea will want to use measurement tools that are both reliable and valid. They will want to create questions that offer consistent responses when asked multiple times as this shows reliability. Validity asks whether the research measured what it intended to. Validity implies reliability: a valid measure must be reliable. But reliability does not necessarily imply validity: a reliable measure need not be valid. Validity is usually considered more important than reliability, because if an instrument does not accurately measure what it is supposed to, there is no reason to use it even if it measures reliably. Nivea needs to consider when carrying out their market research for a product is does the product measure what it claims to measure and is it accurate, this reduces the chances of the business making the wrong decision. If they so happen to make the wrong decision this will affect one of its marketing objectives which is to retain customers and gain new ones, if the validity of their data is not correct then they will not reach this marketing objectives as customers opinions of the company will differ. Costs are also an important consideration in market research, Nivea need to consider whether or not the product theyre promoting is cost effective. Their market research has to weigh up the cost of undertaking the research against the potential benefits that may result. You could spend a lot of time and effort in trying to solve a problem through market research, only to find that the solution may not be worth implementing. Also, marketing is one of the few areas of a budget that can be reigned in without hurting Nivea too much as they are a very successful business however, one of their marketing plans is to continue producing successful skin products and boost sales yearly. To do this they have a few cost-effective ways that a company can market its products. Search Engine Optimization- Niveas customers are no longer waiting for direct mail pieces to arrive before ordering–they are finding products when they want them through Internet searches. In fact, almost 90% of new visitors to a web site originate from major search engines. And clearly, a top ranking on Google can translate into hundreds or thousands of visitors– and orders–a month. As web pages proliferate, increasingly more aggressive search engine optimization strategies are needed to remain visible to Niveas customers. Permission-based Email Marketing. Permission is the difference between legitimate email marketing and spam, turning email marketing into a highly cost effective marketing strategy. The idea is simple and time tested: Nivea deliver highly relevant, timely, and personalized email messages to their customers and prospects at a fraction of the cost of direct mail to avoid any cost limitations. 3. Public Relations- News releases, white papers, case studies, awards, and sponsorships of educational events are just a few of the relatively inexpensive ways Nivea keep their brand name in front of other competitors. Although these methods have succeeded so far for them in the near future they will have to alter their methods as well as their approach to the types of market research they decide to carry out, otherwise poor market research will increase the chances of Nivea making a wrong decision. D2) Make and justify three recommendations for improving the validity (the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure) of the marketing research used to contribute to the development of your chosen organisation’s marketing plans. In this assignment I will be explaining how Nivea uses marketing research for its marketing planning by applying a Marketing Planning Process Model, a SWOT analysis on Nivea – giving at least 3 factors for each box) and their SMART objectives (stating what their business objectives are/might be) Marketing planning is concerned with establishing objectives and goals, allocating resources to meet these and setting out a clear plan of action. It also involves setting out ways of evaluating performance against marketing targets. Typically, the marketing planning process involves: a PESTLE audit, a SWOT analysis, setting SMART objectives, determining strategy and tactics, implementing strategy and tactics and evaluating effectiveness of marketing activity. A Marketing planning process model involves a PESTLE and SWOT As part of the marketing planning process, Nivea has to analyse its external environment. One useful way of analysing the external environment is by grouping external forces into six areas using a PESTLE analysis. PESTLE stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental influences. Political factors that affect a business are usually beyond the control of the organisation. However, the business needs to anticipate changes and identify the action it needs to take to either make the most of an opportunity or mitigate a threat. For example, a political factor that Nivea need to consider is that during a recession, any banks or financial services providers would have to consider the likely government scrutiny of any of their business decisions. Economic factors can affect the performance of a business. These relate to he national – or international economy. A economic factor that can affect Nivea are the periods of prosperity that they go through. This can happen in three ways for example when high employment and income drives demand within the organisation. It can also happen in the form of recession when demand falls, leading to lower income and employment within their organisation. Furthermore, in the form of recovery, when demand, income and employment gradually rise within the business. Social factors relate to the values and beliefs of society. This includes the population’s demographics (for example, size, gender, ethnicity, income, education, occupation). These social factors provide useful information for Nivea as it allows them to target their services at broad segments of the population, such as newspapers and magazines. Technological developments can affect businesses in a range of ways. For example, the development of e-commerce benefited business such Amazon. co. uk. Due to the rise in e-commerce Nivea had to produce a e-commerce website which eventually took business away from traditional shops.. Legal developments affect businesses in a range of ways. For example, if there was a change to the Data Protection Act it would affect Nivea and all other businesses that hold customer data. For example If a change in the act occurred then Nivea may not be able to expressly agree to the use of personal data for advertising or marketing purposes any more. Environmental factors can relate to the social, political and legal aspects affecting a business. For example, if Nivea decide to package their cream products in recyclable packaging. This may prove to be popular with consumers if there is a growing level of concern over waste. Similarly, the government may put pressure on businesses to increase the amount of recycling. SWOT analysis A useful approach to examining the relationship between a business and its marketing environment is by conducting a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for: †¢ Strengths †¢ Weaknesses †¢ Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the business and can include issues such as the buildings, quality of the staff, IT systems and so on. The external element looks at the opportunities and threats present in the environment in which the organisation operates. Carrying out a SWOT analysis requires research into an organisation’s current and future position. The idea is to match an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses with the external forces (opportunities and threats). SWOT analysis draws together all the evidence from the various analytical techniques used. It is a way of producing a summary, which then provides the basis for developing marketing objectives or aims and ultimately strategies or plans. Strengths refer to the internal features of Nivea, which provide a competitive advantage. An example could be a highly efficient IT system which they use to design their products. The company also has a sound financial base, so it had the resources to put together a strong marketing campaign. Also, Nivea has staff with relevant skills – researchers with the scientific skills to develop products that men want and marketing staff with the skills to help promote these products effectively. Weaknesses are internal aspects of the organisation, which may not stand comparison with competition or are not performing effectively. An example might be major concerns and questions that Nivea have when launching a product For example; Was the product range still relevant for the target audience? Did it have the right sales and distribution outlets? Was its market research up-to-date? Opportunities focus on events and developments external to an organisation. This might include new territories for a product or service. Opportunities that Nivea will want to undertake is to open a new segment of a market. Also, NIVEA FOR MEN had seen an increase in the sales of male skincare products and it wants a greater share of this market, Nivea might might consider this. Furthermore, the company wants to take advantage of changing social attitudes such as men becoming more open, or certainly less resistant, to facial skincare products. Threats are developments external to the organisations, which could damage overall performance. These threats can originate from governmental policy, such as an increase in corporation tax or new laws. Threats to Nivea are consumers who are becoming more knowledgeable and price conscious. They often expect sales promotions such as discounts and offers. Also, the risk of competitors entering the market.

Arguments For and Against the Vaccine

Arguments For and Against the Vaccine Vaccine Debate Introduction There has always been a debate over the idea that children our newborns don’t need vaccinated. Some people think they give babies deadly diseases that would kill them. Who knows it may or may not be true. In this paper I’m going to go over both sides of this big debate and explain why getting your children vaccinated is VERY important, especially when it comes to your children’s lives. Another thing is how a vaccine even works to show you that vaccines are safe. The Doctor Is out: The anti-vaccination movement in America Since 1998, a growing fear surrounding vaccinations in the United States and England has been spreading. The claim is that vaccinations contain dangerous amounts of Mercury, Formaldehyde, and other toxins and can possibly link to bowel disease and autism. Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, the anti-vaccination (which has gained the dubious moniker, anti-vax) movement continues to grow in The United States and England. This paper looks to outline the history of the movement, both historical vaccination scares and the modern incarnation of anti-vax, and shed light on the dangers of not having children vaccinated, as well as present evidence to the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. The current vaccination scare is nothing new, and is reminiscent of previous historical scares, the worst of which being in 19th Century Europe. In 1853, the British government passed the Vaccination Act of 1853, making vaccinations mandatory for all children in the first three months. The pas sage of the act caused a violent anti-vaccination movement to begin, with riots in Ipswich, Henley, and Mitford. Subsequently, the Anti-Vaccination League in London was formed the same year, giving the movement an appearance of credibility. In 1867, Parliament passed another law, The Compulsory Vaccination Act of 1867, extending the vaccination schedule to fourteen years. This caused more backlash within the anti-vaccination community, and more groups began forming, such as the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League, as well as scientific journals such as The Anti-Vaccinator (1869), The Vaccination Inquirer (1879) and The National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination Reporter (1874) (Wolf, Robert M; Sharp, Lisa K, British Medical Journal). The movement didn’t stop in England, however. By the 1870s it had spread to Sweden, and the vaccination rate in Stockholm dropped from 90% in 1872 to 40% in 1873. The Swedish government did little to react to this until Stockholm was hit by a major Smallpox pandemic in 1874. With so few people vaccinated against the virus, it spread quickly and ravaged the city, leaving 4,063 dead in Sweden, and 1,206 of those deaths in the city of Stockholm (Kotar, S.L., Smallpox: A History p. 177). Other countries weren’t immune to this outbreak, either. Europe was in the middle of the Franco-Prussian war at this time, meaning large forces were moving quickly across Europe, and taking the disease with them. Smallpox spread into Denmark and Norway, which led to 6,620 reported cases and 425 deaths in Denmark, and 2,235 cases with 275 deaths in Norway (Kotar, S.L., Smallpox: A History p. 177). By this point in history, a viable Smallpox vaccine was available and had been for decades. In 1798, Edward Jenner effectively immunized patients against Smallpox by injecting them with a weaker strain of Cowpox. The body’s immune response to fight off the Cowpox virus conferred a permanent immunity to contraction of Smallpox. The uproar over vaccine denial in Europe, however, made the vaccination useless, and while Sweden had laws in place requiring vaccinations, they were not well enforced. 49% of children weren’t immunized in Stockholm, the city that took the brunt of the pandemic. Understanding this direct cause and effect relationship between lack of vaccinations, mobility of people, and deaths from preventable diseases is important in the fight against the modern day anti-vaccination movement. Europe in the 1870‘s lost a portion of its population to a preventable disease, which was spread so quickly by the movement of armies during the Franco-Prussian war as well as the displacement of civilians resulting from the war. Smallpox, as with most diseases, incubates in people for a few days before symptoms are visible, however it is still possible to spread the virus while it’s in its incubatory stages. So, this means that many people who arrived in Sweden and Denmark that were carriers had no outward symptoms. They were interacting with a culture that was largely unvaccinated against Smallpox, allowing the disease to run rampant amongst the population with deadly consequences. Fast forward 130 years to the modern world and this scenario could again become a lethal reality. We live in a world that increasingly connected, where people travel daily from one country or continent to another, and with little effort. While there are vaccination laws in the United States and most of the rest of the developed world, places such as West Africa have no such laws, and very high rates of vaccine preventable illnesses. People can travel quickly and with relatively little effort from these places and back again in less than the amount of time it would take a viral infection to start showing symptoms. This is exactly what happened in Newark, Texas in 2013. The Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark is a church that boasts over 1,500 members. They are also vehement anti-vax proponents. In August of 2013 a member had traveled to Indonesia, where he contracted measles. He showed no outward symptoms upon his return to Texas and attended church, where he then spread the measles to other members of the congregation. Sixteen people contracted the illness, nine children and seven adults, none of whom had been vaccinated against it. One of the adults then spread the measles to nearby Denton, Texas, infecting another five people, again, not vaccinated (Aleccia, Jonel; NBC News). While this case was relatively mild and brought no fatalities, it shows a demonstrable pattern between vaccine denial, migration, and infection. To understand why vaccinations are important, it’s necessary to understand how they work; and to understand the denial movement it’s important to know the stance of the anti-vaccinationists. Without delving too much into the science (entire doctoral and PhD thesis have been written on the subject), vaccines work by injecting weak or paralyzed forms of viruses and other chemicals directly into the bloodstream of a patient. The patient’s (typically an infant) immune system then fights off the infection, and the body builds an immune response to the infection. This response is permanent, and the patient has now developed anti-bodies to various diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How Vaccines Prevent Disease). The anti-vaccination stance is that vaccinations are not tested enough, that pharmaceutical companies cannot be trusted, and that the added chemicals in vaccinations aren’t safe for human consumption. They claim, as well, that parts from aborted fetuses, rabbit brains, dog kidney, and chicken embryos are used in the manufacture of vaccines, and that while you can always get a vaccination, you can’t undo an existing one. The list of chemicals in vaccinations is indeed staggering, according to the anti-vaccination camp. Thimerosol, MSG, anti-freeze, and formaldehyde are just a few of the long list of dangerous chemicals in vaccinations, according to the web site The Healthy Home Economist (http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/six-reasons-to-say-no-to-vaccination/). While it is true that many of these chemicals exist in vaccines, they are frequently in trace amounts not harmful to humans. Many of them are used only during the manufacturing process and are actually removed from the final product. Thimerosol, which contains ethyl mercury, is common in many vaccines, and is used as a disinfectant (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Vaccine Ingredients). Anti-vaxers have claimed for years that the addition of mercury into an infant is incredibly dangerous, however, a study published in The Lancet and conducted at the University Of Rochester proved just the opposite. 40 infants were randomly selected, 19 of them received vaccines with ethyl mercury, and 21 without. Blood, urine, and stool samples were then taken from the infants from three to twenty eight days after the initial vaccination. The infants were exposed to 111.3 micrograms of Thimerosol containing ethyl mercury (higher than is contained in vaccines) or to 82.5 micrograms if the i nfant was under 3 months old (for scale, 1 microgram is equal to 1.0e-9 kilograms). The findings showed that, between 4-10 days, the half-life decay of ethyl mercury was 95%, meaning that 95% of the chemical had dissipated from the infants in just over a week. Further, the trace amounts that were actually injected into the infants were incredibly minute, so much so that, by comparison, you would consume more mercury by eating an apple, almost ten times as much. Only one of the infants was shown to have an increased level of ethyl mercury after 28 days, but the amount still fell within the acceptable tolerance range (Pichichero, The Lancet). Mono Sodium Glutamate, or MSG, is present as well in vaccinations; however this chemical in small amounts is in no way harmful to humans. It’s commonly found in table salt and other food seasonings. While formaldehyde is indeed used in the manufacture of vaccines, it is not in the final product. The formaldehyde is used to paralyze the vir us that is going in the vaccination, and is subsequently removed before the vaccine is complete. The American Journal Of Public Health performed a study in 1954 of the use of formaldehyde in the poliomyelitis vaccine, and found it to be completely safe (American Journal Of Public Health, Salk, Jonas E. M.D., Volume 44 Issue 5). Anti-freeze is another harmful chemical that the anti-vaccinators will frequently tell you are contained within all vaccines. While this isn’t completely untrue, it’s not totally true either. It is more the subject of a poor understanding of chemistry. Anti-freeze is primarily methanol, which is in the chemical family of alcohols. However, methanol is completely harmless to humans in small amounts. Anti-freeze, though, is very poisonous in nearly any dosage. That’s due to the active ingredient, the freezing-point depressor ethylene-glycol. While methanol is certainly found in vaccines due to its sterile properties, ethylene-glycol certainly isn’t (Brown, M.D., Baby 411: Clear Answers Smart Advice about Your Baby’s Shots). The modern evolution of the anti-vaccination movement started in earnest with Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 1998. He published a study in The Lancet Medical Journal in which he claimed to have found a link between the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASD. The initial report sent shock waves through the medical community. However, four years later the results of his research were unable to be reproduced by any other medical team and speculation arose. Finally, in 2004, Brian Deer, an investigative journalist for The Sunday Times in London published his findings. In the course of his research into Dr. Wakefield’s study he found multiple conflicts of interest (Deer, Brian, The Sunday Times). His article prompted a lengthy investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC), England’s medical ethics and licensing board. During the course of their investigation, they found Andrew Wakefield to be guilty of serious professional misconduct and stripped him of his medical license, and had his home stricken from the Medical Register. The GMC found that he had accepted money from a private contingent of lawyers, the Legal Aid Board (LAB), who were engaging in a class action lawsuit against a vaccine production company. Wakefield was paid $84,160.00 (converted from Pounds Sterling) for his research, and it was concluded that over half of the money went directly to Mr. Wakefield instead of into the study. He was also found to be guilty of tampering with 5 of the patients, even though he had a strict no contact rule with all patient test subjects (General Medical Council, Fitness to Practice Council, 1-7). As far as a link between autism and the MMR vaccine, doctors have dismissed it as a classic case of correlation not being equal to causation. Most children are diagnosed with ASD shortly after they are vacc inated, but that’s only because nearly all children are vaccinated, and the age at which vaccinations take place are the same age at which ASD starts to show its symptoms, but there is no direct correlation between the two. Even though the evidence all points to the contrary, and the research and testing have proven vaccinations to be both safe and effective, vaccination denial is still a prevalent health issue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) releases a weekly report, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. Report that shows all cases of infectious and communicable diseases reported in the United States. The data shows a clear spike of vaccine preventable illnesses, such as Measles, Diphtheria, Rubella, and Smallpox in geographical areas that have higher concentration of anti-vaccination advocates (Centers for Disease Control, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, report data for April 2014). The danger isn’t just for those who choose not to get vaccinated or choose not to get their children vaccinated. Vaccinations are so effective because of â€Å"herd immunity†. There are people who are incapable of getting vaccinated, either due to allergies or to rare medical conditions. They rely on the people around them to be properly vaccinated, thus eliminating a host for the virus. As rates of vaccination decline, the herd becomes smaller, and viruses and diseases will be able to find hosts easier, not only contaminating those foolish enough not to get vaccinated, but also those who are just unable to get vaccinated. Conclusion This is a dangerous and very real health concern. The CDC has (unofficially) referred to celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy and Bill Maher, who are staunch opponents of vaccinations, as public health threats. The data is clear, vaccinations are safe, and there is absolutely no link between vaccinations and autism. The media has leaned heavily on scare tactics to boost ratings, reporting that vaccinations are potentially dangerous and encouraging people to seek homeopathic or natural remedies instead of synthesized ones. It is our duty as a people to educate and be educated on such matters that concern our public health with such tremendous force.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Solzhenitsyn and Truth Essays -- essays research papers

â€Å"In the struggle with falsehood art always did win and it always does win!† Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident, espoused this philosophy to the Swedish Academy. He spoke of the power of art in combating the tyranny and lies of a corrupt government, and as a medium for evaluating society. He was at various times, a soldier in the Soviet army, a political prisoner of the Soviet state, a celebrity for his literary works, and an exile from all of Russia. His fiery philippic against Stalin landed him in prison for eight years; his account of prison life made him immensely popular during the de-Stalinization years of the early 1960’s, and he was deported for his most famous work, The Gulag Archipelago. He has become a symbol of the higher power of artists and writers who have the courage to fight the status quo.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born to Cossack intellectuals in 1918, but was raised entirely by his mother, his father having died before he was born. He went on to major in mathematics at the University of Rostov-na-Donuand and he learned literature from correspondence courses at the Moscow State University. He fought in WWII, and became a captain of artillery, but was arrested in 1945 for writing a letter criticizing Josef Stalin’s totalitarian government. He spent eight years in a variety of labour and prison camps and three more years in enforced exile. After his release, he settled in central Russia where he wrote and taught mathemat...

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Shakespeares Soliloquies - Hamlet’s Soliloquy Essay -- The Tragedy of

Hamlet's Soliloquy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚         The purpose of a soliloquy is to outline the thoughts and feelings of a certain character at a point in the play. It reveals the innermost beliefs of the character and offers an unbiased perspective as it is merely the character talking to the audience, albeit not directly, and not to any other characters who may cause the character to withhold their true opinions. Therefore, Hamlet's first soliloquy (act 1, scene 2) is essential to the play as it highlights his inner conflict caused by the events of the play. It reveals his true feelings and as such emphasizes the difference between his public appearance, his attitude towards Claudius in the previous scene is less confrontational than here where he is directly insulted as a "satyr", and his feelings within himself. In this essay, I will outline how Shakespeare communicates the turmoil of Hamlet's psyche.    Hamlet's despair stems from his mother's marriage to his uncle and it is this that is the driving force behind what is communicated. His constant repetition of the time in which it took the two to get married, "But two months dead...yet within a month...A little month...Within a month...most wicked speed", suggests his disgust at the situation and that it is not necessarily the nature of their "incestuous" relationship that troubles Hamlet; more the short time in which it occurred. In fact, this is especially well communicated to the audience as, throughout the soliloquy, the passage of time that Hamlet describes gets less from "two months" to "Within a month". This has the effect of outlining Hamlet's supposed contempt of his mother for only mourning a month whilst also highlighting that it is the time involved that is vexing him a... ...t only through the diction but also through the imagery, language and underlying messages of the text. It successfully highlights the divisions of character of Hamlet whilst aiding the audience in building a connection with him.    Works Cited and Consulted: Boklund, Gunnar. "Hamlet." Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.      

Required Skill-Set and Knowledge of a Successful Policy Analyst in the Ecowas Region Essay

The Policy Process consists of many different and connected parts and is not easily explained theoretically because it involves diverse category of actors; is influenced by experimentation, learning from mistakes, etc; is shaped by discourse and narratives; and is highly political. The policy process focuses on the way that leads to decision making and it has different stages which include, Agenda Setting, Decision Making, Implementation and Monitoring & Evaluation. In short, we can now say that the policy process is the way policy reforms are planned, designed, implemented and evaluated. Explaining the complex policy process requires a policy analyst who is knowledgeable and trained in the field and is able to solve complex policy issues; balance constituents’ need with the political and economic realities of governance; and gather and analyze information to assist in the planning, development, interpretation, and review of government or industrial politics. Gupta, D. K. 2010). A Policy Analyst, also called a researcher or a scholar, is a person who works to raise public awareness of social issues, such as crime prevention, access to health care, and protection of the environment. An analyst in government creates policy and evaluates program effectively and provides decision makers with data and hypotheses about the effects of different policies. Blanchard S. (1997). The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters. The ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, more often called The Fund are its two main institutions designed to implement policies, pursue a number of program and carry out development projects in Member States. Such projects include intra-community road construction; telecommunications; and agricultural, energy and water resources development. With this background, we now take look at the key roles of the analyst in the policy process and the skills-set and knowledge an analyst should have to be successful in the ECOWAS Region. To attain the desired aim or result as an analyst can be very challenging when thinking about the potential applications and repercussions of a policy. To succeed in the policy analysis career, one must be on top of logical reasoning and have an intimate knowledge of the legal and political systems in the nation or institution of work, along with an understanding of social attitudes that can influence policy. To identify and prioritize policy issues; clarify government policy objectives; identify potential conflicts in terms of objectives and interests; identify current policies and their consequences; identify alternative viable policy instruments, their probable direct and indirect consequences and the risk that these may not materialize; develop criteria and indicators to assess progress towards objectives; design viable policy packages, with associated strategies to obtain political support and to ensure organizational effectiveness; advocate viable policy packages in a clear, brief and persuasive way; review government policies and design viable policy packages; and help policy makers take appropriate decisions on sensitive issues. These are the things a policy analyst does. Blanchard S. (2007). Principally, policy analyst in decision making process should be cognizance of administrative rules, procedures and routines which characterizes the public in action. You should posses a superior application of rationality both in decision (policy) and implementing decisions (administration), have a claim and more rigorous methods of investigation, and effective regard for efficient means of operation. Decision making in the policy process as an analyst in the ECOWAS Region is indeed cardinal to sustain socio-political and economic stability. An analyst should understand and draw distinctions between management and policy making, define stages of government activities (decision making), implement those decisions and evaluate the outcome. This analyst must frequently and simplistically offer a solution to what is said to be the â€Å"central problem of bureaucratic inadequacy†, Should be knowledgeable in program budgeting to relate expenditure budgeting to define goals and outputs, again with the intention of controlling the cost of achieving set objectives. Another essential tool a policy analyst should posses in decision making in the ECOWAS Region is necessary and sufficient information in public policy making; information is frequently inadequate and simply not available, yet there is constrained supplied by time and events. Chooses between competing objectives can be rationally determined on the basis of accurate formulation of knowledge. A major problem for rational method is the reliance upon knowledge which is quantifiable. According to Lord William Beveridge (1942) â€Å"reason and special knowledge have the chance only if there is a channel of access to those who have power†. Implementation in the policy process is a crucial business of translating decisions into events: of getting done. The policy analyst can at least agree that getting things done, or implementation, is a crucial aspect of the real world of public policy making, and one which has been neglected in theoretical literature. Implementation relates to specified objectives, the translation into practice of the policy emerge from the complex process of decision making. As a policy analyst, management of state policies might be of universal interest, which makes more essential a proper scrutiny of the claims of managerialism. Policy scientist is likely, skeptical of how much effect management can have on the success of public policies. As a policy analyst, Christopher Hood once said, â€Å"real administration give an account of real organizational life† and thus summarize his model as follows: 1. An administrative system should be unitary, with a single line of authority; 2. Objective must be given, uniform, explicit, and known throughout the system; 3. Clear and authoritative objective must still be implemented, to achieve this, the system must ensure either perfect obedience or perfect control: there must be perfect information and communication, with all task unambiguously specified and precisely coordinated; all these conditions require an adequate time scare for fulfillment. In public organizations, no meaningful distinction between policy and administration is possible, and policies roposed and authorized by former political institutions and participants are in a wide variety of ways influence, mediated, and even altered by formal administrative institutions and participants at both higher and lower levels. (Hood calls this, in the implementation stage, knocking off the corners to get policy through the front door). The problem of policy making might be clearly define of what is involve in good management which was further demonstrated by the reference to the question of information. Hood’s model says that information must be accurate and must be communicated. Clearly, it is essential for governments to estimate results, to measure these results, and learn from them. Evaluation is feedback, and technically such feedback operates as a self adjusting mechanism, alternatively, evaluation might generate more data on which the policy analyst base on to improve population of best future policies. Major problem arise with the nature of political leadership and organizational behavior. Political leaders will not be anxious to have too critical an examination of their failure; this will be particularly so if, as with many economic plans in states, political leaders have never intended implementation but sought only the easier fruits of political rhetoric. We need to understand as analyst operating in a complex environment that evaluation is not merely a technical matter, nor even a question of good practice, it is, or maybe a highly political issue. We are always, therefore, likely to find that an absence of evaluation contributes further to the uncertainties an unsystematic nature of politics, and in its analysis, the uncertainty principle might be given great regard. One significant effect is to widen the gap which exists between theory and practice. This gap is created in a variety of ways. The most obvious problem is the absence of real political or administrative experience in those who teach and theorize about public policy. This the analyst partly explains to remoteness of theory from the real world policy. Some policy analyst would quite deliberately avoid any involvement in the real world of policy on the ground that this might impose upon their unwanted intellectual constrictions, as well as quite practical constrains. As an analyst, it not difficult to understand this tension between academic and practitioners, each threatens to interfere with the activities of other. The theorist wishes to distance itself intellectually from the real policy world to avoid the ideological contamination which inevitably comes from actual participation in an area of policy. The practitioner tends to avoid over exposure to a wide range of ideas. Finally, policy analysis is synonymous with creativity, and with defining problems rather than offering handy solutions, policy analysis the more creative calculations concern finding problems for which solutions might be attempted. To be a successful policy analyst in the ECOWAS Region, you must be able to manage time, be able to think clearly and practically, be able to combine/structure ideas to form theories for research, must be dependable when it comes to creating frameworks for quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and must have good verbal and writing skills. In short, you must be able to work hard, plan, communicate, do critical readings and suggestions, be logical and have research skills. Have a perception and sense of the region, you must know the political geography and national boundaries, have geographic perspectives on democracy and elections, must be knowledgeable on geography and migration analysis, population policies and issues, and must be able to analyze the sustainable urban development and transportation of West Africa to bring sustained economic growth and democracy to the region.