Personal statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal statement - Essay Example I am emotionally stable, responsible, and mature in looking at various perspectives of human behavior. I have developed the skill to deal effectively with people from all walks of life. By recognizing that listening skills are critical, I became more sensitive and compassionate to others, especially those who need understanding and emotional strength. I developed good communication and writing skills. The courses I took during my years pursuing a degree in commerce developed my leadership skills and analytical skills enabling me to critically analyze problems and opt to choose the most appropriate solution. I am extremely patient and persevering recognizing the fact that most psychological treatments of patients take considerably long periods of time. The skills I have developed in giving attention to details, being analytical, having leadership skills, being patient and persevering, and being theoretically equipped to understand patterns of behavior and mental processes would assist me in future

Mcbride Financial Service Essay Example for Free

Mcbride Financial Service Essay The purpose of this paper is to develop a marketing plan for McBride Financial Service. The paper will include what type of market research McBride should undertake. The various types of media Mcbride should use in the marketing plan. This paper will cover McBride’s target markets and explain why they are targets for McBride Financial Service. This paper will also cover what the considerations are for McBride to conduct a portion of their marketing on the Internet. Market research is a technique used to determine the acceptance of a product or service within different demographics. In the book Marketing: An Introduction market research is defined as [a systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization](Armstrong, 2011). A company can use market research to develop a target audience to help them pinpoint a specific demographic to market in. There are several forms of market research that McBride can use to help develop their marketing plan. The first would be online market research that will consist of Internet surveys and online focus groups. Online market research is easy for people in every demographic to participate in from home eliminating the need to travel to participate in focus groups. Internet surveys are taken online and the person filling out the surveys avoid the hassle of mailing the surveys back by simply clicking submit. Telephone interviewing is one of the fastest ways for a company to gather information for market research. Telephone interviewing is more personable than mail or Internet surveys and would be recommended for McBride Financial Services. An effective marketing plan should include using various types of media to advertise the goods or services a company offers. Types of media include radio, television, outdoor media, Internet, magazines, and newspapers. McBride Financial Service has many options to choose from concerning marketing media to advertise their organization. Television ads are seen by the most people, but they are also cost the most money to obtain a prime spot. Radio can target specific audiences at a lower cost but a company needs to buy time on several stations to obtain good reach. It is recommended that McBride incorporate a mixture of media in their marketing plan. These following types of media will be included television, radio, Internet and, magazines. Television as mentioned earlier in this paper is the best form of advertising so McBribe cannot hope to have a good marketing plan without it. Television ads will not be the main form of media because of the high cost. Because one of McBride’s target markets is retirees they will be buying ad space in retirement magazines like AARP. This will allow McBride to focus in on retired people or are getting close to retirement. Newspapers are a dying form of media so McBride will avoid buying ad space in any of them. This section of the paper will focus in on why Mcbride should consider conducting a major portion of their marketing via the Internet. The Internet is a major influence in society today with millions of people surfing the web every hour. This is an opportunity that McBride needs to take advantage of to capture the attention of an ever-growing population on the Internet. Buying ad space on a website is inexpensive compared to television and radio that is a major advantage for McBride. Ad space on major Internet sites is a â€Å"double edge sword† for McBride’s marketing plan. The first is that people will see the ads every time a person opens his or hers favorite website. The second would be a direct link to McBride’s website allowing even more exsposer for the company’s services. This section of the paper will cover McBride’s target market. Entrepreneur. com defines a target market as a specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services (Target Market, 2011). The site continues to write that target customers are those most likely to buy from a company. McBride has a target market shown on the home page of their website and it consists of professionals purchasing primary or secondary properties, retirees purchasing primary or secondary properties and families or individuals purchasing recreational properties. It seems like every adult in the world would fit into McBride’s target market that is not a bad target market, but it may be a wise move to narrow it down. Sticking with retired and professionals purchasing property would allow McBride to maintain a manageable target market. If the target market is too big McBride would have to cater their marketing media budget to too broad a campaign. McBride’s target market is anybody who is looking to buy property whether it be primary or secondary. In conclusion this paper has described a marketing plan that can be implemented by McBride Financial Service. The marketing plan will include market research strategies such as Internet surveys and telephone interviews aimed at collecting information. The media will play a part in McBride’s market in the form of television, radio, and Internet ads. The considerations for McBride to conduct a portion of their marketing online were covered in this paper. Finally the target markets for McBride Financial Service were discussed at the end of this paper.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Teaching and Learning Strategies Introduction to the Students and Teaching Environment. I am currently a Lecturer in the Communications Electronics Technical Block (CETB) at Royal Air Force (RAF) Cosford, The No1 School of Technical Training. I am teaching new entry students AC (Air Crafts man),course number 1932 and SAC (Senior Air Crafts man) course numbers 1946 and 1951. The students age range is 17 30 years. I am responsible for delivering training in the subject areas Micro Electronics, Digital Electronics and Information Technology. The courses range from 90 to 130 hours. SACs 194616 hours Information technology and 115 hours Computer technology for the. ACs 1932.16 hours Information technology and 74 hours Micro Electronics for the The students who come to RAF Cosford are not typical of those who would go to a college of further education. They are sent by the RAF for either initial or further training in their specialisation. The learning environment The room layouts do vary however the majority of rooms are set out in a traditional manor. (see plan) The labs are arranged differently with the students desks arranged around the walls. E.g.(Room F008) The class rooms have a roller White board, P.C. and T.V. monitor, some class rooms have windows to the outside but not all. Lighting is via fluorescent tubes and heating is via radiators. The learning environment cont. The laboratorys have a White board, P.C. and LCD projector. Most have opening windows. Lighting is via fluorescent tubes and heating is via radiators. The desk is set out with a PC and Digiac workstation, a 6502 and 80286i microprocessor boards, in addition there are a collection of supporting boards. Teaching Styles and Learning Strategies. Teacher Talk A large part of the course is via teacher talk, this allows for large chunks of information to be covered in a much shorter space of time. The reason this method is chosen is due to the shear pace at which the course has to be delivered. The course is equivalent to a BTec Electronics course, taking approximately two years at a college of further education, however the RAF students have to cover nearly the same amount of material in just six months. Teacher talk is not the best method of imparting information to students as they can very quickly lose interest and it is difficult to assess how much information the students have taken in. To alleviate this situation the teacher talk is broken up with questioning secessions. The questioning secessions help the teacher to assess if the students have understood if learning has taken place, this also gives the students an opportunity to play an active role in the learning process. These methods promote individual involvement, encouragement, reward and a sense of achievement to students of all abilities The questions are directed by the teacher, nominating a student to answer, this is known as; â€Å"Pose Pause Pounce† this technique is used throughout RAFs training and is one of the main tools used to promote learning. The teacher talk is also begun with a recap of the previous session, sometimes the recap will be at the end of the lesson. This re affirms the students understood. The level of knowledge can be assessed, allowing the teacher to continue knowing that the students understand. Reading The students are given course notes in a printed form showing both pictures and diagrams as well as explanations. These notes form the back bone of the course material. They contain the Aims and Objectives for that section of the course, Information relevant to the course and a summary of the books main points. The book can be used as a reference to during the teacher talk. It can be used to illustrate a point, show other examples and reduce the amount of complex diagrams that need to be drawn on the white board. In addition the book has a separate set of questions which the students are encourage to read. When they have read the book they can answer the questions, this promotes further reading. If they do not understand or cannot answer the questions then this should promote them to ask the teacher for further explanation. The questions are designed to reinforce the theory taught in class and promote greater understanding of the subject. Practice by Doing. The first thirty hours or so of the course are mainly teacher talk, reading and working though examples on the white board, however once the under lying terminology and theories have been taught the emphasis of the learning style changes dramatically. The location of the teaching now moves to the laboratory where the students are given a brief introduction to an exercise, they then work through the exercise at their own pace and in their own way using their knowledge. The students follow the exercise answering questions as they go. The questions are designed to point the students in the write direction, if however they are unable to proceed, the teacher is close at hand to guided them, this is achieved by question the student and trying to get them to identify the solution for themselves. If the teacher identifies that the class as a whole do not understand then they can bring the class back together to solve the problem. The teacher may need to give further guidance to the students to allow them to complete the exercise. This process is learning by doing and in completing the exercise the student will hopefully be able to relate this experience to the theory section of the course thus underpinning their theoretical knowledge with practical experience. Demonstration This method of teaching can be used during the theory stage. The teacher could show real components to allow the students to become more familiar with them, seeing what they look like or by working through examples of how to perform a specific task. Demonstration can also be effectively used during the exercise phase of the course. This is very useful when trying to impart complex information to the students. An example might be when an exercise requires additional circuit boards to be used or components that have not yet been used. In these situations a demonstration of the exercise can be given by the teacher. This will allow the teacher to identify any areas of special interest and point out any areas that the students might otherwise miss or perhaps not think about. In addition it is by far the best way for the teacher to show how things are to be accomplished. i.e. showing how to connect up a system, what parts are required etc. The demonstration also allows the students to question the teacher about parts of the exercise they do not understand. The student can say â€Å"so you mean this >>>>> † ; the teacher can then be sure that the students fully understand what is required. Visual Visual methods of teaching are available, though the preferred method is power point which the students despise and therefore is not used frequently by myself. However it can be a very useful tool for explaining difficult subject material, particularly when the diagram requires motion i.e. information been transferred around a computer system. This would be very difficult to illustrate on the white board as the teacher would need to continually re draw the diagram to show the movement, however using power point allows animation of the drawing which the students can see, thus reinforcing the idea. It can also be re run to allow the students to follow the process until they are confident that they understand. Questioning can be used to check the understanding. The teacher can run the PowerPoint and ask the students to tell him what is happening and why. Alternative Methods of Teaching and Learning Strategies. Discussion This method is not very appropriate as the subject is technical and requires some under pinning knowledge. Opinions are not normally expressed as the material is factual. However this method could be used at the end of an exercise or at the end of the course. Infact the course does use this method is used to evaluate the feelings of the students and considers any recommendations that they may make as a class. However the course must run in a clearly define way as laid down by the sponsor he Ministry of Defence.(MOD RAF) Teaching others Teaching others is not generally used as the students would be required to fully understand the subject before they could teach someone else. As it is most likely the first time they have seen this subject material it would be difficult for them the explain it to a colleague. Although a similar technique is used by the teacher when they ask the student to explain how something works, this method of telling the teacher shows that the student understands fully, also any omissions or errors can be corrected by the teacher. Choice of methods Teacher talk The main reason for using this technique is to cover a large amount of theory over a very short time, a lot of information must be imparted very quickly. This method does not have a good retention rate approximately 5% however when coupled with questioning technique, and a recap of the subject at the end or prior to the starting the next section, it improves the retention as well as checking the students understanding. Reading As with Teacher Talk the students are expected to cover a large quantity of information very quickly. However this method has a poor retention rate approximately 10%, but when coupled with questions for each book it reinforces the knowledge, this can then be checked during a class session. This method is used due to the short time available, students are expected to read the material they cover in class as part of their learning process. This is done during there own time i.e. out of class hours. The questions should identify to the student whether or not they understand, thus prompting them to request addition information or clarification from the teacher at the beginning of the next lesson. Practice by doing This method is much better with approximately 75% retention rate. It is used due to the practical nature of the job (hands on). However it can only be used after the under pinning knowledge has been taught and understood. The students can apply the knowledge they have learnt to the practical exercise. The other reason for using this method is due to the nature of the subject. Example It is impossible to show the students the internal workings of a micro processor , therefore the operation is illustrated by performing tasks with the micro processor to prove that it functions in a particular way. The students have to relate this to the theorectial phase of the course, in doing so they should fully understand the operation of the Micro Processor. Demonstration This method has a reasonable retention rate around 30%. It is used to show the more complex aspects of the course, â€Å"a picture paints a thousand words†. The teacher can use this method to impart complex instructions to the students, the students can ask the teacher questions confirming their understanding, checking and correcting as they go. Visual This method has a retention rate of around 20%. This method is tied up with demonstration as the students will be watching the teacher perform a task. Learning how to perform the task requires knowledge, understanding and the skills to complete that task. The visual method is instant feed back to the student, they can see how a task is accomplished. This is an important method of teaching as their job will involve watching someone perform a task and them doing the task for themselves to the required standard. Summary The various methods of teaching are effective, the reason for this assumption is that the majority of students go on to the next phase of their training, and eventually into a post within the RAF. In addition I have spoken to students that I have taught who have remarked on the course and its content, most all of them say it was a very good grounding for their trade training.

Jack Welch and the GE Way Essay -- Managing Case study business Essays

Jack Welch and the GE Way   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Jack Welch was named CEO of General Electric, Welch saw a company in trouble even though the business world saw GE as an intrinsically healthy corporation, secure in its position as a world industrial leader. Welch knew that the company was too large to fail yet GE was too unwieldy to adapt for further growth. The changes he instituted restructured and revolutionized GE and made Welch the most respected CEO in business today. After reading the book there were three parts that really stood out for me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chapter 3: Cultivate managers who share your vision was the most important chapter to me. It talks about putting the right managers in the right positions. Welch says, â€Å"What we are looking for†¦are leaders†¦ who can energize, excite, and control rather than enervate, depress, and control† (p. 35). Managers in a company should bursting with energy and are able to develop and implement a vision and not just talk about those visions. They must also know how to spread enthusiasm throughout the entire company. One of the keys to being a great business leader is getting employees excited about their work. One of the ways to get employees excited about their work is to allow employees more freedom and responsibility then they have now. In order to make this happen, middle managers have to be team members and coaches. They need to facilitate more than control. Managers should be energizers and not enervators. Welch suggests that the only way to last at GE is to get on board, to become a team player, and to adapt oneself to the company’s values and culture when describing the different types of managers that will or will not succeed. The first type of manager delivers on commitments and shares the company’s values. The second type does not meet commitments and does not share the company’s values. The third type misses commitments but does share the company’s values. Welch himself cares more that a manager sticks to the company’s values than meets the numbers. The fourth type delivers on the commitments but does not subscribe to the company’s values. Welch broke these managers into three categories, type A, type B, and type C managers. Type A managers were defined as team players that subscribe to the company’s values. People trust them; they make impacts on decisions, and are leaders who seek to develop high value in other... ...h targets† (p. 170). Welch emphasizes that one should not settle for second best when you are able to achieve more. When you reach for the stars, you may fail but stretching yourself and stretching your business you are going to bring better performance results to your business. He also says to be creative, more imaginative, and more thoughtful about your business. The more you think about how to get more out of your business, the higher your stretch targets and the better off your are going to be. I think that all employers and manager should encourage their employees to reach for the stars. This will help employees realize what they are capable of doing. Managers need to help employees realize and make goals along with making sure that they meet their goals. I believe that Jack Welch and the GE Way is a great tool for any manager. He Welch helped turn a great company into an even greater company. Many of his ideas can be used in the workplace and in everyday life. His ideas are not complex or complicated to understand. It will just take time to incorporate them into your life or business. When you do, you will realize that even you life or business can be better.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Historical Evolution of Shopping Places

Introduction In the beginning of the history of shopping topographic points, the shopping activity took topographic point in the unfastened infinites with other urban and public maps and activities and activities of the metropolis, like ancient Grecian Agora or Roman Forum. After centuries, the enclosed shopping promenades separated urbanity and shopping activity from each other. These to the full enclosed and environmentally controlled ingestion infinites reinterpreted the urban cloth to imitate a metropolis image and a street like atmosphere indoors. Inside the walls a new metropolis was created, where people shop, eat, entertain, and even kip, acquire married or have a college instruction. Today, urban cloth and shopping promenade integrating is going more of import. Open infinite and sustainable design for shopping promenades are the lifting tendencies in the universe. So, the bing shopping promenades are opening, incorporating with and fabric and continually updating themselves to vie with the emerging shopping topographic points. This recent regeneration tendency is called ‘De-malling’ in the universe. Scope OF STUDY As it is non possible to grok and plan shopping promenades without cognizing their beginning and their development as a type, this thesis explores the history of shopping topographic points through recent tendencies in shopping promenade design. Shopping promenades are accepted as urban public infinites. So, the range of survey is originated harmonizing to urban public infinite quality of shopping promenades. The survey comprises a research on definitions and theories of public kingdom, public infinite, and urbanity and their interaction with shopping promenade design constructs. The shopping infinites in history and the modern-day shopping promenade, from the beginning through the emerging types, are exemplified and examined from literature and Internet, in order to understand their development, their transmutation, and their regeneration grounds, schemes and solutions. In the terminal, the recent schemes besides verify the clients preferring of shopping promenades with improved urb an infinite quality. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF SHOPPING PLACES Today, ingestion has become a lifestyle and shopping promenades are the temples of ingestion. Shopping promenades are renewing urban environing with their multiple functionality, different architectural constructs, and advanced architectural solutions they provide. How do they go that powerful? HISTORY & A ; TYPES The metropolis is an involved being under changeless alteration. In its life mesh, public constructions are bonded to the topographic points where people live, and these, in bend, are bonded to each other, in a rich ruse of adjacency. The metropolis presents us with a new set of environmental thoughts, such as the street, the public square, the defensive wall and its Gatess. It crowds our treatment with a mark of edifice innovations – for illustration, the canal and the garner, the castle and the bath, the market, the bakeshop, stores, eating houses, and libraries. ( A history of Architecture: Settings and Rituals by Spiro Kostof, page: 43 ) ANCIENT TIMES: When Prehistoric people started to pass on they besides started to merchandise. They bartered goods and services from each other. The history of long-distance commercialism began about 150.000 old ages ago. The earliest trading activities took topographic point in meeting and assemblage infinites. ( Shoping Environments: Development, Planning and Design By Peter Coleman ) During the Stone Age, the exchange of obsidian and flint was started. In Catalhoyuk, a Neolithic period colony in southern Anatolia 7500-5000 BC, there is grounds that obsidian tools were traded for points such as Mediterranean Sea shells and flint from Syria. In 1969 Jane Jacobs ( journalist, writer, and activist best known for her influence on urban surveies ) developed a new theory, called New Obsidian Theory, to explicate the advancement of urbanisation in Neolithic ages. In this theory she created an fanciful metropolis and named as New Obsidian, Catalhoyuk was her theoretical account metropolis. Harmonizing to Jacobs, the obsidian trade exposed the New Obsidian metropolis and the whole metropolis was a market topographic point in map. Besides harmonizing to Kostof ( A history of Architecture: Settings and Rituals by Spiro Kostof, p.43 ) , the urban revolution differs from the Neolithic revolution. The metropolis typified a societal procedure and the revolution it brought about was embodied in the interaction of people with each other. One of the primary intents for the initiation and operation of metropoliss is interchanging goods. So, trade is one of the grounds for interactions of people with each other that developed urbanisation. Although it is assumed that trade was started in Neolithic period ; the earliest nonliteral presentation of market topographic point is seen in Egyptian drawings in 1500 BC. But, there is no certain grounds in what infinite or edifice they carried out their trading activities. Before the innovation of money, trade was state’s sovereignty to be. For illustration, in Ancient Egypt, Pharaoh wielded complete control of the land and its resources as the absolute sovereign of the state. All people were his workers. Then they started to merchandise in small graduated tables. They used a sort of swap system. The ancient Egyptians did non gestate the usage of money until the Late Time period. During the 5Thursdaycentury B.C. , money was introduced from abroad. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.touregypt.net/featurestories/prices.htm ) In the antediluvian E, ironss of retail shops are known to hold operated in China in several centuries B.C. Chinese people traded salt, Fe, fish, cowss, and silk through the celebrated Silk Road, they besides traded externally: goods from China could be traded by Greece ( hypertext transfer protocol: //ancienthistory.about.com/od/china/ss/082208china_5.htm ) Agora The Agora was an unfastened ‘‘place of assembly’’ in ancient Grecian city states. The most of import map of the agora was topographic point for day-to-day communications and formal and informal assembly. In the beginning, the citizens would garner in the agora for military responsibility or to hear statements of the governing male monarch or council, early in the Grecian history in 900s-700s B.C. Later, the Agora defined as an open-air, frequently tented market topographic point of a metropolis where merchandisers had their stores and where craftsmen made and sold their wares. Agora was the generation of modern urban infinite. On market yearss, goods were laid out on mats or on impermanent stables to let other activities – such as vote and argument, public shows, athleticss and parades – to take topographic point outside market yearss. The earliest trading took topographic point at the hub of the colony, and so established the integrated relationship between trading and the bosom of civilised activity in the centre of the towns. ( Shoping Environments: Development, Planning and Design By Peter Coleman ) Agora was located on the crossings of chief roads of the metropolis and surrounded by public edifices. One of the of import parts of the Agora was the Stoa. Stoa comprises covered paseos or porticos for public use. Large porticoes appeared on the chief roads of the large towns during the Greek and Roman periods. In the ancient Grecian merchandisers spread their wares under the colonnades of the Stoa, which was particularly designated for their activity. Still there were no lasting stores as a physically defined infinite for stores in the Grecian Agora. The Grecian metropoliss developed in a self-generated, organic manner, lacked consistent street systems, and contained ‘only the beginnings of arcaded public promenades’ . But subsequently, get downing in the 6th century B.C. , new Grecian metropoliss emerged that were based on a systematic program, called gridiron, with standardised blocks, long broad avenues, and a rectangular agora surrounded by colonnaded streets. The Romans extended this program. ROMAN FORUM Forum is the market topographic point or public topographic point of an ancient Roman metropolis, the centre of judicial and concern personal businesss and a topographic point of assembly for the people ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forum ( 12.12.2009 ) ) . Just like Greek Agora, the major metropoliss of the Roman period formed unfastened infinites as the centre of the civic life, which were surrounded by temples, basilicas, bathing machines and province edifices. Shopping was one of the activities which took topographic point both in the edifices and in the forum infinite.( Shoping Environments: Development, Planning and Design By Peter Coleman ) The Roman Forum, which was a rectangular courtyard surrounded by stores, was located on the axis, between basilica and capitol ( Figure 3.6 ) . This program was repeated throughout the Empire. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio who was born in 80–70 B.C. and died after 15 B.C. has been called as world’s foremost known applied scientist. He outlined the standardisation and usage of readymade theoretical accounts in his treatise. As a consequence, from the first century B.C. new towns and municipalities became miniature Romes. The function of architectural invention had been reduced. The major forum was called the Forum Romanum. The others named as the Forum Caesaris, the Forum Trajani, the forum boarium ( the cowss market ) , the forum piscarium ( the fish market ) , the forum holitorium ( the veggie market ) , and the forum suarium ( the pig market ) ; like today’s supermarkets. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_pennellhistoryofrome47.htm ) Trajan Market Trajan’s Market provided a wholly new image for urban design, as a radical composite of domed infinites for commercial and societal intents. Apollodorus of Damascus built the Market in AD 100-110 in the clip of Emperor Trajan. During the in-between Ages the composite was transformed by adding floor degrees. Trajan’s Forum is likely to hold been one of the first aggregations of defined stores and was a brilliant agreement of shared-use edifices. It was the first illustration of the stores mostly under screen and arranged on several degrees. Trajan’s Forum was holding approximately 150 stores on assorted degrees. The upper degrees were used for offices while the lower portion, had shops selling oil, vinos, seafood, food markets, veggies and fruit. MEDIEVAL TO 19ThursdayCentury After the autumn of the Western Roman Empire in 5Thursdaycentury, Western Europe drifted into 500 old ages or so of dark ages, shopping included. The large-scale retail environment of the Roman forum was non re-attained until many centuries subsequently. However, merchandising ne'er ceased and swap became the footing for exchange of goods instead than money. Following the dark ages, the in-between Ages witnessed the first sustained urbanisation of northern and western Europe. As a consequence, towns began to proper once more, alongside the palaces and abbeys, finally broadening and developing into trading centres. ( Shoping Environments: Development, Planning and Design By Peter Coleman ) Medieval MARKET HALL AND TOWN HALL The market and town halls were the bosom of trading and concern activity of the metropolis. They were located along with the market square, in the centre of the town. The early market and town hall edifices combined the two utilizations: the first floor was disposal, the land floor remained unfastened between the columns and was used as an extension to the market. The wares displayed on removable stables. After a piece, the land floors were arranged into a group of little stores. So, the defined store infinites in Northern Europe started. This format of outward confronting aggregations of stores would come to organize the footing of shop-lined streets throughout Europe in ulterior centuries. By 1300AD lasting constructions had begun to irrupt on to open market topographic points. These islands of edifices originated as impermanent stables arranged in narrow rows devoted to peculiar trades. Subsequently, the stables were replaced by edifices with domestic adjustment or storage above a stall or store, and many were finally reconstructed as complete houses. A really good illustration of a combined market and town hall supplying a aggregation of defined stores can be found at the Ring in Breslau – 1275, today Wroclaw in Poland. The Breslau Market Buildings are one of the earliest illustrations of purpose-made single-use market edifices. Beside the town hall, four analogue linear ways lined with stores on each side provided clandestine stables for different types of trade. The market was founded harmonizing to Magdeburg Law every bit early as the regulation of Henry I the Bearded between 1214 and 1232. Over clip, the patricians ‘ houses appeared and by the center of the fourteenth century they had formed a closed building with the bounds of the secret plans defined. The Magdeburg Law were a set of German town Torahs modulating the grade of internal liberty within metropoliss and small towns granted with it by a local swayer. The jurisprudence was a milepost in urbanisation of the part and prompted the development of 1000s of small towns and metropoliss. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_rights ) By the 16Thursdaycentury, across Europe market edifices were no longer combined with town halls. Alternatively, market halls were built as big additive constructions covering long nave-like infinites, with side aisles lined with stables organizing aggregations of stores.

August, Osage County Essay

The theater darkens, crowd’s light chatter subsides, and stage lights focus our attention on a magnificent structure. It’s a traditional farmhouse, with all your typical nooks and crannies, so big it juts out into the audience as if forcing us into this structure. The farmhouse is big. Three floors of potential activity kind of big. After over 3 hours of incredibly well acted scenes and biting dialogue I found myself contemplating: is the star of this show actually the set itself? August, Osage County is a compelling drama about a family in crisis. They’re dealing with problems from the past and issues from the present. The family has a complex history of intertwining story lines where everyone seems to be unravelling, all in this farmhouse. At the beginning of the story, the characters are reunited for the first time in years due to the death of the family patriarch, Beverly Weston. From the moment everyone is together in the same house (and on the same stage) you get a feel for how divided and disconnected this family actually is. This division is expertly paralleled in the different rooms of the house. Each room seemed to represent a different character or couple of characters. For example, the office den the story’s first scene opens in is representative of the character Beverly Weston: cluttered, old, and now dead. When any of the characters were in that room they seemed to reminisce about good times and old memories, much like Beverly did, who was tormented by a certain significant memory, which becomes the main plot revelation in the third act. The energy of the set could be measured by the house aesthetics. When the lights were on and up, the characters were lively and the dialogue was colorful. Once the lights would dim and characters would scurry off to their sleeping quarters they were confined to their own emotions, setting the mood for their surroundings, or was it the surroundings setting the mood for them? The way the set was â€Å"dressed† also revealed quite a bit about the family. The farmhouse was clustered with rich, atmospheric trinkets and furniture that subconsciously gave us (the audience) more depth into the lives of these people. The storage closet on the top floor, packed to the maximum with items never explored or mentioned in the story, is symbolic of the old, dusty secrets the family is hiding from one another. I found myself  thinking about that storage closet after the play was over. It wasn’t necessary to have for the purpose of acting out the play, but was most definitely included to add a visual aid in telling the story and providing some subtle metaphor. This family was full of secrets, packed to the brim and unexplored. Issues locked tightly behind closed doors. Johnna, the only character outside the family to live in the house, has her personal space where she sleeps up in the attic on the third floor, right next to that previously mentioned storage closet†¦ the one full of secrets. A heavy metaphor for her window into the lives of this family presented itself to me as I thought more about the proximity of her space to that closet. Here she was, a complete outsider with no personal history with this family, yet throughout the story various members of the Weston house would confide in her, even more than they did their own kin. Johnna is front and center in the pivotal final scene. The tormented mother Violet Weston, now all alone in her house after all the family secrets had been revealed and left out in the open to ferment, searches her home for anyone to talk to. Between floors in the farmhouse, which in itself speaks of where the characters might be in life, Johnna recites the haunting words from a T.S. Elliot poem: â€Å"This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends†. Lights out. The exit lights turn from dim to bright, the audience begins to clap as the cast makes their way to the front of the stage to take their bow, and I take one more look at all the colorful, twisted, complex characters, including the enormously complex and layered—literally—character of the farmhouse, who could unfortunately not bow.

Alas, Poor Heroine

Alas, Poor Heroine Alas, Poor Heroine Alas, Poor Heroine By Maeve Maddox Anyone who has ever taught knows The Look. It is the eye-rolling look students throw at one another when the behind-the-times teacher uses what she thinks is a perfectly ordinary word, unaware that the word has taken on a new meaning. I can remember the first time I got The Look. Id read a poem which contained the word gay in the sense of full of joy or mirth. Again, I was rewarded with The Look when explaining to seventh graders that Madonna is a term for the Blessed Virgin Mary. That was in the early 80s and I was unaware of the latest singing sensation. Related to the adolescent Look is the reluctance among speakers of any age to use words that sound like something else. One such word is the feminine form of hero. Admittedly, theres a tendency for nouns with feminine endings to be abandoned in the face of modern feminism. Actress, for example, has mostly fallen out of use with members of the acting profession, except as an Academy Award category. Likewise poetess and authoress are felt to be abominations by women who write. The word heroine presents a different problem. It is too common in the discussion of literature to be abandoned. In ordinary conversation, and on television, however, people seem to prefer to use the word hero for both male and female persons of prowess. The word heroine is being driven out of ordinary speech because of its pronunciation. Ive seen a cousin to The Look on the faces of people who hesitate before calling a woman a heroine. Often they opt instead for female hero rather than say a word that sounds the same as an evil drug. Personally, I see nothing wrong with using the word hero as a unisex word. A word of caution is in order, however, when the writing context calls for the word heroine. The following appears in a brochure distributed by the Malco theatre chain: She [Dakota Blue Richards] saw the National Theatre production and announced that she wanted to be Lyra, the high-spirited heroin of The Golden Compass. TIP: Joan of Arc is a heroine. Nelson Algrens The Man with the Golden Arm is about a heroin addict. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowHow to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors48 Writing Prompts for Middle School Kids