Theatre review Essay Example for Free

Theatre review Essay The lighting for most of the play was moderately bright with foot lights lighting the stage, and several overhead lights as well. The exception was Petruchios house, which was quite dim to show how different it was from what Kate was used to, and showing how miserable she was. Most scenes were broadly lit instead of using spotlights to highlight individual characters, which I was quite surprised about, One exception was outside the tavern where the men were celebrating Biancas engagement, when a spotlight was used to show the merchant pretending to be Lucentios father looking out from a window. Lighting was s also used for several special effects. One example was the storm outside Petruchios house, which was very effective, and also an amazing contrast compared to the scene with Bianca in the garden, which had a completely different mood that was well conveyed by the lighting used in both scenes. Sound effects were also used to convey the emotions in each scene, though not used abundantly, but were key to the scene, for example, wedding bells for the church scene and thunder and lightening, which was very atmospheric. There was music from the orchestra before the play started, which set the mood, and also put the play in context because it was sort of old fashioned instrumentalist music, which showed that the play was going to be the traditional version instead of a more contemporary updated version. There was also background music sometimes, but nothing too obvious, and only a few bars at a time, with no real impact on the scene except to add to the surroundings, rather than narrate them, so they didnt have any particular tone, i. e. hopeful or sad. The lack of songs seemed strange to me because Ive only previously been used to seeing musicals performed but the cast conveyed the emotions adequately anyway. The costumes in the play were also of a very high quality, even though each character only had one outfit. Nevertheless they showed a lot about the personalities of each role. For example, Bianca wore a pretty yellow dress to show how girly she was, and that she cared about her appearance while Kat wore a rough looking one. Gremios clothes were probably the most affluent, with robes that were trimmed of fur and a lot of gold jewellery, which supported the fact that he was the richest of Biancas suitors, Gremio retired to his moneybags Things like this showed aspects of their personalities. I could tell that clothes were important in those times because they showed who a person was. A case that shows this is when Lucentio swaps clothes with his servant. , so that anyone who saw them would know instantly which one was the master. Ive seen things like this in other performances, for example Les Miserables and often other pre 1900 plays.

database design :: essays research papers

Database Design Scenario Currently a school uses a non-computerised database system to store the following information about its students: roll class, surname, first name, guardian's name, address, student's date of birth, gender, sport house, emergency-contact telephone number, mailing name, list of subjects offered, and subjects in which the student is enrolled. The system takes up a large amount of space, has many duplicated entries some of these with mistakes and it is time consuming to search. The school intends to introduce a relational-database management system to overcome these problems. Current school data storage and retrieval system (the pre-computer database system) „h School staff, teachers and office staff are the users of the database. „h Database used to track all details of students in the school. „h Large amounts of data are stored. An individual record is required for each student. „h Lots of duplication exists as details of subjects offered by the school are duplicated on individual student records. „h Data is organised in alphabetical order on student names within years. „h Data is stored in a number of filing cabinets. Advantages „h quick to find details of a student if year and surname are known „h data is stored in a central secure location „h original source material is stored in the student file. Disadvantages „h slow to find details of students when surname and year are not known „h data storage takes up a lot of room „h minimal number of staff can access records at one time „h data is duplicated. Stages of development of the computerised relational database system The new computerised relational database system will be developed in the following stages: „h analysis „h design „h implementation „h maintenance Analysis In this stage the current system is analysed to determine the functions it performs and those that it is unable to perform. Direct and indirect users of the new system are interviewed to determine what they require from the new system. The inputs to the new system, the processes it is to perform and the outputs from the system are clearly defined. A recommendation is made about the type of new system that will be required to meet the identified needs. During the analysis stage, the following is determined: „h current storage space of student records needs to decrease „h an easily update-able backup of student records is required, „h one staff member is to be responsible for the administration of the system, „h unnecessary duplication of data is to be avoided, „h all teaching staff, office staff and the Principal need to have access to the database simultaneously - read access only is required

Millenium Development Goals Essay

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) emerged from the United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration in 2000, and are arguably the most politically important pact ever made for international development. They identify speciï ¬ c development priorities across a very broad range, including poverty, education, gender, health, environment, and international partnerships. These goals have substantially shaped development dialogue and investment; some development agencies judge all their activities on the contribution to achievement of the MDGs. Overall, progress towards the MDGs has been described as â€Å"patchy† and â€Å"uneven†. The broad conclusion is that few goals are entirely on track globally, and those that are show substantial variation, with least progress in Africa and often south Asia. The MDGs comprise a set of eight goals and associated targets and indicators. They represent the latest eï ¬â‚¬ort in a long process of development goal setting which had antecedents in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Development Decade of the 1960s, and the many UN summits of the second half of the 20th century that set speciï ¬ c goals to reduce hunger, improve health, eradicate diseases, and school children. The Millennium Declaration presented six values that were considered to be fundamental to international relations in the 21st century: freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, and shared responsibility. Seven key objectives were identiï ¬ ed to translate these shared values into actions: peace, security, and disarmament; development and poverty eradication; protection of our common environment; human rights, democracy, and good governance; protection of vulnerable people; meeting of the special needs of Africa; and strengthening of the UN. The performance of individual MDGs so far suggests that they have made four important positive contributions: encouraging global political consensus, providing a focus for advocacy, improving the targeting and ï ¬â€š ow of aid, and improving the monitoring of development projects. The MDGs are claimed to be â€Å"the ï ¬ rst global development vision that combines a global political endorsement with a clear focus on, and means to engage directly with, the world’s poor people†. There are many challenges posed by the Millenium Development Goals. Set against these positive contributions are several shortcomings that emerge consistently across the analysis of individual MDGs. Characteristically, most of these weaknesses present themselves as the ï ¬â€šip side of the MDGs’ more positive elements. Thus, the Millenium Development Goals, which has probably facilitated their acceptance and use, makes them at the same time limited in scope, whereas their quantitative targets and precise indicators often fail to capture some crucial elements of goal achievement. We have to accept that all goal setting involves such trade-offs. However, the value of focusing on shortcomings of the MDGs lies in our potential to improve them, or replace them with something better. Ineï ¬â‚¬ective MDGs pose two risks: they might not achieve their intended eï ¬â‚¬ect, and they could lead to negative eï ¬â‚¬ects by ignoring or impeding more eï ¬â‚¬ective development and poverty reduction. There are many problems with the goals set by UN. The MDGs represent a subset of a broader development vision expressed in the Millennium Declaration. Goals were never developed for several key objectives of the Declaration, including peace, security and disarmament, and human rights. The elements taken into the MDGs were in fact the speciï ¬ c targets associated with only one objective of the Declaration, that of development and poverty eradication. Some of these goals, being themselves derived from speciï ¬ c targets, were very narrow in conception: education goals focused mainly on primary education, whereas health goals focused only on three aspects of health associated with maternal mortality, child mortality, and speciï ¬ c diseases.

Kraft’s Acquisition of Cadbury Essay

The Kraft Foods Group Inc. (â€Å"Kraft†) operates in the food and beverage industry. Kraft is the U.S.’s #1 food company and #2 in the world (after Nestlà ©) in sales according to Hoover’s 2009. Their competitive advantages are: global scale [distribution around 150 countries, (LexisNexis, 2012)]; modern technology, equipment and R&D (â€Å"Kraft deploys SAP Tech. platform†, 2008); their partnerships with companies like AOL TWX, Rainforest Alliance, etc. (â€Å"Kraft Foods partners with Rainforest Alliance on sustainable coffee initiative†, 2009); and their supply chain (www.pincsolutions.com/kraft-foods, 2012). These advantages can attribute Kraft’s Net Profit Margin of 10.08%, compared to the industry’s average of 5.37% (Hoover’s, 2012). On the other hand, Cadbury is a confectionery and is the industry’s second-largest globally after Mars (Gray, 2009) and the company operates in approx. 50 countries worldwide. Their capabilities, brand popularity and innovation represent their main competitive advantages (â€Å"Using Open Innovation to Ensure Competitive Advantage†, 2010). With the acquisition, Cadbury will benefit from Kraft’s scale (Birchall & Wiggins, 2009), their distribution in emerging markets (Elms, â€Å"Kraft and Cadbury) and their marketing muscle (English, 2009), which will result in a faster growth for Cadbury. Kraft will benefit by diversifying even more on related business (they already own Toblerone, Nutter Butter, etc,) and also from Cadbury’s capabilities (brand, innovation, know-how, etc.) that will likely represent as an additional source of value creation for Kraft. Together the companies will surely impair the competition: for example the termination of Hershey’s license to make and sell the Cadbury brands in the U.S. (30% of total sales, Hoover’s, 2008). Currently Kraft if facing two major issues, and they are: – The acquisition only makes sense if Kraft can obtain a return on investment capital bigger than the cost of capital within a reasonable timeframe. – The competition with Nestle, Hershey and Mars. The recommendations are the following: Kraft should boost the growth and profitability of Cadbury by exploiting their scale, marketing potential, placing in emerging markets and partnerships, as they did with Post cereals in 2008 (Hoover’s, 2009). Additionally on the functional level, Cadbury’s legal department should terminate Hershey’s license to sell and distribute their products in the U.S. and transfer this licenses to Kraft. Kraft should also take advantage of the Cadbury acquisition (diversifying on related business) and this should result in the creation of additional value for Kraft, resulting in a competitive advantage vs. competitors (Nestlà ©, Mars, etc.). A â€Å"tapered† integration of Cadbury is reasonable: selling the distribution rights to competitors in the markets where Kraft is not present (43 countries); at the same time Kraft should exploit the exclusive distribution and fabrication rights for Cadbury’s products where they are present.

Writing for International Markets

Writing for International Markets Make your freelance writing career go viral. To make more money in 2014, take your marketing outside of North America. Introduce your work to a global audience. The Internet and social media have made this task easy, but its still your responsibility to be pro-active. Like hanging out on Facebook, the epitome of social media? Facebook can lead you to international markets. Using hashtags, you can find a publication with similar content to your post. For example, if youre writing about high school proms, you can write about the increasing cost of prom dresses, underaged sex or alcohol. When working with editors from overseas, keep in mind five types of stories most likely to be accepted: 1. Celebrity profiles. Overseas, the American entertainment industry still creates the most revenue. If youve written profiles of American celebrities and business leaders, and you still own rights, sell them to overseas publications as reprints. Even if you sold all rights to one article, most of the time you can still write and publish articles on similar topics. 2. Travel articles. If youre a native New Yorker, editors from London to Mumbai eagerly want to read your views of Central Park, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg and the Bronx Zoo. Ditto for residents of Orlando or Vail, Colorado. Even if your towns small and relatively nondescript, use your imagination to transform a local event or destination into a beautiful word picture for foreign vacationers or local staycationers. 3. Write about the demographic of your magazine. This is almost impossible for writers not familar with the magazines location. The majority of editors prefer local writers to write about their culture. However, if you know some Indian-Americans, for example, and you want to write about how domestic violence or mental illness affects the Indian-American community in your city, you can pitch to an Indian magazine. 4. Write about American trends. To most of the world, Americas still a leader in finance, culture and science. Many international publications want stories on how trends in the United States affect their particular country. An Australian magazine may want a piece on how their local retail sector reacted to the financial safety breach at Target. A trade magazine from South Africa may want a how-to on encouraging customers to start using credit and debit cards again after similar scandals. If its just a straightforward trend article, editors prefer local writers, so stand out 5. Essays. Another way to crack international markets is through personal essays, especially based on experiences located in the magazines country. Essays can be humorous, political or foster cross-cultural understanding. In this case, always read the magazine before submitting your unsolicited manuscript even if the magazine only comes through snail mail. Stereotypes are not only offensive, theyre a waste of time and cost you money. Here are seven international publications that are looking for material: Writing Magazine www.writers-online.co.uk Country: United Kingdom Contact: Jonathan Telfer Email: jtelfer@writersnews.co.uk BUZZZ Caribbean Lifestyle Magazine www.buzzzmagazine.com Country: Jamaica Contact: Fabian Barracks Email: buzzzeditor@gmail.com female www.femalemag.co.my Country: Malaysia Contact: Terry Saw Email: terrysaw@bluinc.com.my British Airways High Life www.highlife.ba.com Country: United Kingdom Contact: Kerry Smith Email: kerry.smith@cedarcom.co.uk GQ Australia www.gq.com.au Country: Australia Contact: Jake Millar Email: jake.millar@news.com.au WestJets up! Magazine www.upmagazine.com Country: Canada Contact: website for online submission form In Lan Chile Magazine www.in-lan.com Country: Chile Contact: Roberto Schiattino Email: rschiattino@spafax.com

How to Write a Learning Contract and Realize Your Goals

How to Write a Learning Contract and Realize Your Goals We often know what we want, but not how to get it. Writing a learning contract with ourselves can help us create a roadmap that compares our current abilities with desired abilities and determine the best strategy for bridging the gap. In a learning contract, youll identify learning objectives, available resources, obstacles and solutions, deadlines, and measurements. How to Write a Learning Contract Determine the abilities required in your desired position. Consider conducting information interviews with someone in the job you seek  and ask questions about exactly what you need to know. Your local librarian can also help you with this.What are you going back to school to learn?What job do you want?What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you need to have in order to get the job you desire?Determine your current abilities based on prior learning and experience. Make a list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities you already have from prior school and work experience. It can be helpful to ask people who know you or have worked with you. We often overlook talents in ourselves that are easily noticed by others.Compare your two lists and make a third list of the skills you need and dont yet have. This is called gap analysis. What knowledge, skills, and abilities will you need for your dream job that you havent yet developed? This list will help you determine the appropriate school for you and the classes youll need to take. Write objectives for learning the skills you listed in Step 3. Learning objectives are very similar to SMART goals. SMART goals are:Specific (Give a detailed description.)Measurable (How will you know youve achieved it?)Achievable (Is your objective reasonable?)Results-oriented (Phrase with the end result in mind.)Time-phased (Include a deadline.) Example:Learning objective: To speak conversational Italian fluently enough before traveling to Italy on (date) that I can travel without speaking English. Identify available resources for reaching your objectives. How will you go about learning the skills on your list?Is there a local school that teaches your subjects?Are there online courses you can take?What books are available to you?Are there study groups you can join?Who will help you if you get stuck?Is there a library accessible to you?Do you have the computer technology you need?Do you have the finances you need?Create a strategy for using those resources to meet your objectives. Once you know the resources available to you, choose the ones that match the way you learn best. Know your learning style. Some people learn better in a classroom setting, and others prefer the solitary study of learning online. Choose the strategy that will be most likely to help you succeed.Identify potential obstacles. What problems might you encounter as you begin your study? Anticipating problems will help you be ready to overcome them, and you wont be thrown off course by a nasty surprise. Think of everything that might become an obstacle and write it down. Your computer could break. Your daycare arrangements could fall through. You might get sick. What if you dont get along with your teacher? What will you do if you dont understand the lessons? Your spouse or partner complains youre never available. Identify solutions to each obstacle. Decide what you will do if any of the obstacles on your list actually happen. Having a plan for potential problems frees your mind of worry and allows you to focus on your studies.Specify a deadline for meeting your objectives. Each objective may have a different deadline, depending on whats involved. Choose a date that is realistic, write it down, and work your strategy. Objectives that dont have a deadline have a tendency to go on and on forever. Work toward a specific goal with a desired end in mind.Determine how you will measure your success. How will you know if youve succeeded or not?Will you pass a test?Will you be able to perform a specific task in a certain manner?Will a particular person evaluate you and judge your competency?Review your first draft with several friends or teachers. Go back to the people you consulted in Step 2 and ask them to review your contract. You alone are responsible for whether or not you succeed, but there are l ots of people available to help you. Part of being a student is accepting what you dont know and seeking help in learning it. You might ask them if:Your objectives are realistic given your personality and study habitsThey know of other resources available to youThey can think of any other obstacles or solutionsThey have any comments or suggestions regarding your strategy Make the suggested changes and begin. Edit your learning contract based on the feedback you receive, and then begin your journey. Youve got a map drawn specifically for you and designed with your success in mind. You can do this. Tips When youre thinking of the people in your life you might be able to ask for input, consider the ones who will tell you the truth, not the ones who will tell you what you want to hear or say only nice things. Your success is at stake. You need to know the good things  and the bad. Ask the people who will be honest with you.Online forums are great places to talk with other people who share your goals. Participate by posting your questions, responding to other peoples questions, and getting to know people who are interested in the same things you are.

Prison Gangs and Security Threat Groups Research Paper

Prison Gangs and Security Threat Groups - Research Paper Example The research paper "Prison Gangs and Security Threat Groups" establishes the connection between gangs and immigration pointing out how many gangs are non-American in origin and argues that the policy of keeping illegal immigrants in jail has had tremendous social ramifications, one of which is the creation and flourishing of prison gangs. Prison gangs and security threat groups are made up of immigrants – particularly those coming from Latin American countries like Mexico, Puerto Rico and Colombia. A good example from the Florida Bureau of Corrections information website is the Neta, whose membership is made up of Hispanics, primarily those of Puerto Rican descent. They are involved in the drug trade and are often engaged to perform acts of violence, also known as â€Å"hits†. Another example is the Black Guerrilla family, which is made up of blacks and actually is the most political of the gangs, with an anti-racism agenda and a Marxist-Maoist-Leninist ideology. From Mexico, one has the La Nuestra Familia and the Mexican Mafia. The La Nuestra Familia is made up of rural Mexicans, while the Mexican Mafia is made up of urban Mexicans. Both have a deep hatred for each other. In fact, it is said that the Nuestra Familia was formed to protect against the Mexican Mafia. All of these gangs have similar charact eristics: violent methods, a clear hierarchy and structure, and recruitment within the jails. But perhaps the inspiration for these gangs and the most well-known security threat group is none other than the Italian mafia.