The Greatest Literary Emblem of the Middle Ages Essay

In order to study the troubadours, it is of high importance to understand the context in which they flourished and developed, which was the Medieval Era. The Middle Ages is the period of European history that goes from the collapse of the Roman civilization to the beginning of the Renaissance, and it extends from about 500 to 1500 ca. (â€Å"Middle Ages†). This period is called the â€Å"Dark Ages† since it is regarded by the Renaissance scholars as a long interval of superstition, ignorance, barbarism, and social oppression due to the fact that the Medieval era was a fight to establish a new society independent from the Roman standards and philosophy. However, it is now acknowledged that it was a dynamic period, in which Europe built a new†¦show more content†¦Moreover, troubadours were medieval poet-musicians from southern France that flourished approximately from the late eleventh century to the early thirteenth century according to Jelena O. Krstovic, auth or of the Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (â€Å"Troubadours†). Additionally, according to Saul Maloff, former literature professor of the University of Michigan and recipient of the George Polk Memorial Award for Literary Criticism of Long Island University (1967), troubadours were medieval knights and poets who dedicated their life to the unconditional service and caring of a lady, who most of the times represented an unattainable love. In addition, troubadours were believed to be stubborn and sometimes even errant knights who were always on a quest (â€Å"Troubadour of Free Enterprise†). The first important aspects of the troubadours are their unique poetry and lyrics. 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How is a feeling of suspense created in the station scene, from the film ‘The Untouchables’ Free Essays

string(124) " of Ness making it more real for them as if they were there, therefore raising the suspense as they feel part of the scene\." In this essay I will analyze the railway scene in the film ‘The Untouchables’. I will mainly concentrate on the creation of suspense; I will be looking at the three things that directors use to create different types of atmosphere. These three things are camera angles and movement, the use of sound and lighting and to what extent they contribute. We will write a custom essay sample on How is a feeling of suspense created in the station scene, from the film ‘The Untouchables’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now This scene is supposed to be a tense ending to the violence, the final shoot out to try and get Al Capone put in prison. The audience would probably be quite confused and wondering who is who and why each thing is happening. This confusion adds to the tension. The scene (and film) is set in Chicago during the 1930’s. In the 1930’s America was under prohibition, prohibition meant that it was illegal to sell, make or transport alcohol. Although this rule was made there was still a lot of money to be made with alcohol through bootlegging. Bootlegging was illegally selling alcohol, almost everyone knew about bootlegging and where to buy alcohol. Obviously the alcohol was sold at a higher price then it would be usually, much much higher, this meant that the consumer still had to spend a lot of money for it, which detracted from the original point of prohibition which was to stop people spending money on alcohol as the countries economy was collapsing as shares were worth nothing. In Chicago during this time, not unlike other cities around America there were many rival gangs, which ran Chicago, the most important gang leader was Al Capone. He was the richest man for miles and reportedly earned i170,000,000 a year! Which in those days especially was astronomical. He is the gangster that Elliot Ness a federal agent, George Stone a trainee policeman, James Malone a veteran policeman, and Oscar Wallace an accountant, are out to stop. By the time of this scene, only Ness And Stone are left living and have vowed to catch Al Capone. But they cannot prove anything about him that would send him to jail although he is a known gangster, there is nothing concrete until they found out that he hadn’t been paying his income taxes and his bookkeeper could prove it. His bookkeeper was about to be taken away by train maybe incase he was bribed or threatened and put Capone in trouble. Ness And Stone’s last chance to catch Capone is to get the bookkeeper, alive. First I am going to go through the main narrative points of the scene: Ness and Stone enter the station; Ness takes his place on the upper floor, where he can see the entrance at eye level, and the stairs and some of the platform below him. Stone goes round the corner to cover a place where Ness instructs him. A lot of people enter the station; there are a few suspicious looking people that could be a gangster who is part of Al Capone’s gang or the bookkeeper himself. Ness keeps an eye on all of them. A woman is coming up from the platform but is struggling with her cases and the pram. She cant get them up the stairs easily, Ness keeps looking between her and the possible suspects, eventually he leaves his vantage point and goes down the stairs to help the woman. All the suspects by now have been cleared off suspicion by (for example) going off with their wives or not staying on the platform. Ness pulls the pram up the stairs, the woman thanks him continuously, while he pulls the pram up Ness looks out for gangsters. Ness has had his eye on some people who may be gangsters, as he reaches the top of the stairs he looks behind him and sees a man he recognizes, the man has a broken nose that is strapped up. Ness pulls a shotgun out of his jacket and shoots the man – killing him. The pram gets knocked by Ness and starts to roll down the stairs. Other men who are standing on the stairs reach into their jackets and pull out guns, Ness shoots another in the shoulder, and kills another, one gangster shoots up at him from the bottom of stairs and takes cover behind a pillar. The pram continues to fall down the stairs; the man who got shot in the shoulder shoots wildly and hits the pram. Two Sailors run up the stairs form the platform and get shot as they run in front of the pram. Stone comes running across the bottom of the stairs, throws Ness a new gun as Ness’s had run out of bullets, kills the man behind the pillar slides across the floor, stops the pram falling and aims his gun at the last remaining gangster (the one who got shot in the shoulder) who is holding his gun against the bookkeeper’s head. Ness demands that the gangster lets the bookkeeper go and no one gets hurt. The gangster who is very agitated shouts that him and the bookkeeper are leaving and if anyone moves he will shoot the bookkeeper and then they have nothing against Capone. The bookkeeper nervously says he will tell them all they want to know. There is more arguing until Ness signals to Stone and Stone shoots the gangster in the head, the gangster slumps to the floor and the bookkeeper scared witless remains unharmed. I am now going to talk about the use of different camera angles and camera movement and how they are used and why. The most commonly used camera angle was a high angle shot. The majority of these would have been Ness’s view from the overhang looking down on the stairs and the platform. This angle would have been by the director, Brian De Palma used to draw the audience into the position of Ness making it more real for them as if they were there, therefore raising the suspense as they feel part of the scene. You read "How is a feeling of suspense created in the station scene, from the film ‘The Untouchables’" in category "Papers" However a lot of low angle shots are also used, many of these are looking up at Ness, this may the audience think there is someone possibly a gangster looking up at Ness from below this would also raise suspense. The angle would also have been used to show Ness’s facial expressions and where he is looking. Occasionally there were close ups of Ness to really show his facial expressions and bring the audience as close as possible to him and how he is feeling, this would add the suspense as again they feel attached to the scene like they are there. These camera angles from Ness’s perspective and looking at him happen while he is standing on the overhang when he moves down the stairs to help the baby and then gets involved in the shootout, there are different camera angles focusing on him although there are more close ups after he leaves the overhang. While Ness helps the woman with the pram most of the camera angles are low ones looking up at him as he climbs the stairs and some down at him and past him to show what he is doing and what is going on below him on the platform. The high angle shots that look down at him and past him are most effective at creating suspense because they show Ness’s nervousness and at any moment a gangster could appear below him while he is unaware. While the shootout is happening there are various Close up shots. This is to show the expressions of the combatants and how they are being affected by the shootout. This is very tense as there is a lot of anxiousness and fear on the faces of everyone as they are fighting for their lives. This is particularly the case when there is a close up of the woman diving to save her baby from falling down the stairs as you can see all of her face close up and you can se the fear written on it even though there is no sound at that point. There are also a lot of long shots and two shots to display the action and what is going on at eye level so it is straight in front of you, this makes you as the audience feel very involved in the action as your eye level is with the action you are not looking down on or up at it, as it is in front of your face, and as the action is very dangerous it adds greatly to the suspense in the scene. At the start of the scene the clock was repeatedly shown, this repetitive image added to the suspense greatly as it showed clearly that time is running out for Ness as months of work depend on the next few moments. As the clock is repeatedly shown this fact is driven into us, raising suspense as we wait to see if Ness will get his man in time. Next I will look at lighting and what areas are lit and why. The scene is set quite late at night at 10 O Clock, so the lighting would be artificial from the lights in the station which the director would have strategically shone them in different areas for different reasons, which I will talk about now. Very light areas of the scene were the stairs and the entryway, this is because the majority of the action happened there and it was the focus of where Ness was looking at. The platform area is also quite well lit, as it is another area Ness was constantly looking for gangsters in. Dark areas of the scene were Stone was as not much happened there and he was meant to be hidden from sight. The prams was very well lit during the scene as it is meant to signify innocence and the pram protecting the baby, giving it safety, and in the dark things are generally more uneasy and unsafe especially for young children so the light is to signify it is protected. Sometimes the camera swung/panned around the scene for example in the shootout, this gave us as the audience a chance to survey what is going on from and move as if we are moving in the scene to look what is going on, like if we cant quite see something we would move to see it, the camera moving us gives us that feeling. As we feel like we are there yet again this creates more suspense for us as an audience. Next I am going to talk about sound, and how dialogue. Sound effects, ambient sound and non-digetic sounds are used and why they are used. First I will explain what each sound is: Dialogue – Words spoken on screen by characters. Dialogue is used to develop characters, the plot and display natural communication. Sound effects – Non-verbal sounds from an action. Sound effects are used to reinforce an action and too add realism. For example if someone closed a door and you couldn’t hear it close, it would sound fake, and ruin the effect. Ambient sounds – realistic background sound, which may not be on screen. Ambient sounds are also used to reinforce realism for example if the scene is in a field and no wind is heard, or birds calling it would seem fake, similar to sound effects but the effect may not be on screen, e. g. a bird calling, the bird may not be on screen. Non-digetic sounds – Not part of the scene. Non digetic sounds are things like music or voice overs, they are used to create or reinforce a mood or can intensify a situation, for example eerie music could be used in a haunted house, getting eerier as things get tenser. This reinforces the atmosphere being created off screen. All the different four sound types are used in the scene. The most commonly used sound was non-digetic. Almost throughout the scene there was music playing. It changed as the scene changed, for example at the end of the scene just after the final gangster was killed there were piano and violins playing together, they played in such a way that a mysterious feeling was given. Then when we realized the gangster was dead and the bookkeeper survived the tense music ended with a long note, which eased the tension. This is a prime example of music (non digetic sound) enforcing the atmosphere that is created on stage. Another widely used ambient sound was the tannoy announcer; altogether he spoke 4 times in the space of a few minutes. He was announcing that the train would be leaving in a few minutes, all board and last call, this also drummed into us as the audience that time was running out therefore creating suspense – similarly to the clock. Sound effects were not used to much important in my view they were just used to reinforce actions like the footsteps on the stairs. However when the pram was going up the steps it made a very loud crashing sound, louder then it would naturally, this created suspense. Ambient sounds similarly to sound effects only were occasionally used to reinforce the fact the scene is in a train station, with the odd sound adding to the realism, like the train steaming out of the train off camera occasionally, this added to the suspense as it made the scene more realistic and made us as the audience feel as if we were there. There wasn’t much dialogue in the scene; most of it was just basic the only important dialogue was at the very end between ness, the gangster and the bookkeeper when they were arguing over the fate of the bookkeeper. This was very important as the gangster and Ness were trying to play mind games with each other through words. Words are the clearest form of communication and in this instance, you could obviously see through the expression in the voices that Ness was in control and the gangster was wavering and unsure what to do, and in the end was killed. This added to the suspense as the camera angles were close to them and the speech was loud as if we as the audience were there and witnessing it. In conclusion I would say that the factor that contributed most to the suspense was the sound as it was the clearest factor of all, and is the most blatant. For example if there is music playing that is of a tense nature it is obvious something tense is going on and it adds to the tension. When the pram like music was playing it added to the realism, as there was a pram there. It also gave the audience a false sense of security, as it is nice happy carefree music in a sinister important ten minutes in Chicago. It also it spookily scary, as when the pram is stopped from crashing by stone the music starts up and there are lots of dead bodies and blood everywhere and a fierce confrontation between Ness and the gangster is about to start and the music starts to play. Camera angles added to the tension and suspense more then the lighting, though it was more subtle then the sound as only when you reflect on the scene in depth like I have done you realize it has done anything, during the scene you don’t even realize what the camera angles are doing. There is only a certain amount of suspense that you can create with a camera angle as just because you are looking at something in a certain way it doesn’t mean something will happen. Lighting was the least important factor as the entire scene had to be quite lit as it is a well it area in a train station, and just because something is in shadow doesn’t mean it is hidden and secretive. Again it is a more subtle use of suspense and one that I think doesn’t add to the suspense much if at all. Generally I would say that suspense was created very well using lighting, sound and camera angles. It could perhaps been improved by a greater use of lighting to display shadows and hidden areas, though it would have been hard to do so in a station. How to cite How is a feeling of suspense created in the station scene, from the film ‘The Untouchables’, Papers

Challenges In Cyber Security For Business Managing Security

Question: Discuss about theChallenges In Cyber Security For Businessfor Managing Security. Answer: Establishes Research Territory The territory that has been chosen for the research is Australia. This is mainly because the digital age has been recognized as central to the Australias national security and economic prosperity. Starting from terrorism to the organized crime to espionage, the malicious cyber activity has been observed to be a growing and ever changing threat to national security in Australia (Mailguard, 2017). Moreover, with the passage of time the organizations in Australia experiencing cyber crime are continuously rising. This is evident from the report published by PWC that puts forward the fact that the total number of cyber security incidents has risen to 42.8 million in the year 2014 i.e. there has been increase by 48% since the year 2013 (PwC, 2015). Moreover, it has also been estimated by PWC that there are around 71% of incidents of cyber crime in Australia that goes undetected where large organizations have been observed to be reporting for increased detection of cyber crime incidents. As per the report published by PWC in the year 2015, it can be said that the number of detected cyber security incidents that have taken place in Australia has been the highest in comparison to the cyber security incidents across the globe in the last 12 months (PwC, 2015). Where there has been an increase of 38.5% increase in the cyber incidents globally, there has been an increase of 109% in the cyber crimeincidents in Australia.So, these figures motivated the researcher in conduct the research in context to challenges in cyber security for businesses in Australia. Establishes Significance of Territory Cyber crime in the recent times has emerged as a major issue for the business organizations in Australia. Moreover, even though the total cost of the cyber crime incidents on the business organizations in Australia is difficult to estimate, the annual cost average across the benchmark organizations was observed to be roughly around $A4.9 billion every year (ABC News, 2015). Business disruption is considered as the most expensive consequence of the cyber crime incidents and it is also followed by the loss of information and loss of revenue. Thus, the rise in the cyber crimeincidents across Australian business organizations has emerged as a major area of concern for both the private sector organizations and Australian government. Moreover, it has been observed that the Australian industry is being persistently targeted by a wide range of malicious cyber activities that risks not only the profitability of the business organizations but also risks their reputation and competitiveness. The spectrum of the malicious cyber activities tend to range from online vandalism and cybercrime to the theft of commercially sensitive intellectual property and negotiation strategies (ASCC, 2016). Thus, it can be said that with increasing and continuing theft of the intellectual property from the business organizations in Australia tends to pose challenges to the future competitiveness of the economy of Australia. So, in particular it can be said that the cyber espionage tends to impede the competitive advantage of Australia in profitable and exclusive areas of the research and development that includes the intellectual property that is generated within the Australian universities, private and public research firms and the gove rnment sectors that proves to be beneficial and advantageous for the foreign competitors (AIIA, 2015). On the other hand it has also been observed that the ability and the willingness on the part of the private sector organizations in Australia for recognizing the extent of the threat of the cyber crimeand thereby implementing the strategies to mitigate the risks tend to vary across and within the sectors(defence, 2015). Thus, taking into consideration the above aspects in context to the increasing cyber crime incidents, selection of Australia for the research would provide scope to the researcher to collect the facts and issues that are faced by the business organizations in Australia due to these cyber crime incidents. Establishes Research Niche In context to the research conducted on the Australian territory regarding the cyber incidents, the research has been narrowed down to Australian Universities. This is because; Australian Universities tend to rely heavilyupon Information systemsfor theiroperations and business that includeteaching, their administration, research and learning (the Guardian, 2015). The Universities are characterized with a combination of financial and personal details together with confidential data like the medical records of the students and commercially desirable research that makes these universities obvious targets for the cyber attacks(Hemphillet al.,2012). The virtual assailants tend to range from information thieves to identity thieves to the disgruntled students and theuniversity IT system is once hacked; it can lead to vulnerability of financial losses.It may damage reputationof the universities. Moreover,it has been observed that even though the vice chancellors of the universities are very much aware of the value of the intellectual property they hold, they do not take the issue of cyber security seriously always and this is the major concern where the incidents of cyber crimehas been increasing at a rapid pace. The relevance of the research can be considered to be of significant value to the university sector since fewer researches have been conducted in this area about how the cyber crime incidents tend to make a significant impact on the business operations of the universities. Much of the studies conducted in context to the challenges of cyber security have been conducted in context to the business organizations that include sectors like energy sector, defence sector and others and the university sector has remained an untouched area of research. So, the attempt towards conducting the research in context to the challenges in cyber security in the university sector would prove to be beneficial in gaining an enhanced understanding of the knowledge on security managementsystems in Australian Universities. This would also prove to be beneficial in moving aheadtowardsplacing security at a level where the Australian Universities would be analysed and made aware of the security as an increasing ly prominent theme in their business. The research studies focusing mainly upon the information security management in Australian universities have been observed to have gained little academic focus despite the increasing reliance of the sector on information and effectiveness of the information protection through the security practices. So, this motivated the researcher to undertake the study. Motivates Next Part of Literature Review The studies conducted by May Lane, (2006) put forward the fact that the increasing importance of information in the modern societies aim at defining the feature of the present day world. Thus, on the basis of the prominence of information in the present day society, it can be said individuals live in a new information society i.e. a society where information tends to dominate the needs of the social organizations. Moreover,it has been proposed by Whitman Mattord, (2011) that social order in the contemporary society is dependent upon the accurate and predictable information structures and boundaries in cyber space demandan integral relationship between the structure of the organization and their information foundations. Thus, it is observed that there exist a connection between the increased reliance on the electronic systems and the associated information and so this necessitates enhanced information security management for the protection of the information systems against increasin g threats and risks in form of cyber crime. On the basis of the above aspects, it can be said that universities at present are highly dependent upon the information for providing support to its core activities and business operations. It can be said that there is dependency of the activities which are associated with using, creating and sharing information for the basic core activities of the universities that include teaching, learning and research functions.Thus, it becomes important for the universities to secure their information and in this context; the universities like the other organizations have adopted information systems and technologies to sustain their competitiveness within the industry. It has been pointed out by Dhillon Torkzadeh, (2006) that effective operational control and strategic direction in the present day business environment are directly linked to the effective management of the information of high quality. So, the Universities like the other business organizations in the information age have observe d the importance of acknowledging the information security for protecting their business as well as their research information. This acknowledgement on the part of the Universities can be considered to be underpinned by the recognition of the strategic information resource and as a valuable asset. So, since the information is treated as a valuable asset, it requires appropriate protection and this can be achieved by adopting appropriate and effective information security control mechanisms for ensuring the availability, confidentiality and integrity of information. Again, even though the concept of adopting and appropriate and effective information security control mechanism is easy to state, the practical implementation ofthe activities that are associated with the security of the information processes in the Universities is not easy and straightforward(Wood, 2006). So, with increased awareness among the management about the necessity of information security, it can be said that it is important for the universities to appoint Information Security Officers, Coordinators or Program Managers. Moreover,it has been observed that even though there has been high recognition for the need for information security, the funding level is not proportionate to meet the acknowledged need for security. So responsibility of information security should be the responsibility of the entire organization as a whole that leads to the emergence of number of difficulties. The difficulties include lack of commitment on the part of the senior management, lack of authori tative source of guidance and understanding problems and thus lack of knowing exactly the extent of security that is required (Luker And Petersen, 2008). Again, it might also happen that the risk analysis might not be sufficient enough for uncovering all the required necessary information and demonstrating the security compliance with the external as well as internal auditors can also prove to be difficult without any adequate and proper representation of the information security. Thus, emphasizing upon the challenges faced by the universities, it can be said that the challenges tend to extend well beyond the technical diversity. The need for high effective information security tend to coexist as well as the balance with the more traditional university cultural values that include the academic freedom and efficient work practice merge with the modern goals of the Universities. Kotulic and Clark, (2006) has observed to have been advocating these type of challenges by identifying the need to not only attend to the complexities of the different components of the IT systems but also successfully integrating the components within the strategies of the business organizations. The essential goals of the information security therefore extend towards enabling the functions of business in the Universities. If the universities are characterized with effective information security systems than it proves to be beneficial in ensuring proper high quality information infrastructure service and technologies that not only supports but also complements the organizational goals.The increase in the demand of information security demands from its practitioners to integrate enhanced understanding the issues ofbusiness, make an effective use of the interpersonal skills and adapt a solid understanding of the role of the information technology in the process of enhancing the information security as stated by Lane and May, (2006). Effective management of information security demands the universities to adopt an approach that is mostly best suited to the organization and also it demands enhanced understanding of security of information fits on the basis of the culture and the structure of the organization. So, this is the aspect that differentiates the need for information security among the business or ganizations and among the universities. As per the studies conducted by May, (2007), it can be said that information security has been progressively viewed upon as an important business functions that requires effective management from the perspective of the business. Moreover, technology in itself is a major control that is applied by the business organizations for mitigating the security risks posed towards the valuable information and so the most important aspect that can lead to business success is the effective management of the security and incorporating the process as a business function. Lane And May, (2006) in this context proposed the fact that the application of technology is considered to be most effective when it is applied in perfect alignment with the business goals and so it can be said that for effective security, there needs to be effective management. Thus, it can be said that the need for effective information security management is based upon an effective combination of factors like the fact that there has been an increased dependency of the universities upon the electronic information and increasing events and incidents that pose threat and risk to the information that is considered as a value asset at present among the business organizations and especially the universities. Moreover, the need is also stimulated by the need to mitigate the risks posed towards information security. Further Justifies the Need to Investigate the Impact of Social Influence on Memory As per the studies conducted by Abraham Chengalur-Smith, (2010), it has been observed that cyber criminals strive towards taking full advantage of the secrecy, anonymity and interconnectedness that is facilitated by the internet and attacking the foundations of the modern information society. Cyber crimes involve cyber bullying, computer viruses, botnets, cyber stalking, cyber terrorism, denial of service attacks, hacktivism, malware, identity theft and spam. The increased incidents of cyber crime have kept the law enforcement officials struggling to maintain pace with the cyber criminals who cost billions annual to the global economy. Various attempts have been made by the police for making an effective use of the same tools that are used by the cyber criminals to perpetrate the crimes for preventing the crimes and bringing the guilty parties to the justice. Moreover, the dichotomy of the social reliance on information is very much evident from the fact that there are some components of the society that inadvertently fail in stabilising of deliberately increase the efforts of destabilising the information on which the society is dependentWall, (2007). These incidents can occur through malicious actions that are taken by the hackers and cyber criminals and system user errors. So, these results in the compromise of the factors likeavailability, confidentiality and integrity of the information. So, it can be said that the in order to maintain continuity in the present day organizations, it is important on the part of the business organizations to preserve the information that is treated as a valuable asset and this can be achieved through adopting the process of implementing effective information security management systems. References ABC News. (2015).Cyber attacks on Australian businesses rose 20pc last year. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/cyber-attacks-on-australian-businesses-rise-20-per-cent/6415026 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. Abraham, S., Chengalur-Smith, I. (2010). An overview of social engineering malware: Trends, tactics, and implications.Technology in Society,32(3), 183-196. AIIA. (2015).Review of Australian Government Cyber Security Strategy: AIIA Response. [online] Available at: https://www.aiia.com.au/documents/policy-submissions/policies-and-submissions/2015/150417_AA_Cyber_Security_Submission_Final.pdf [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. ASCC.(2016).Australian Cyber Security Centre. [online] Available at: https://www.acsc.gov.au/publications/ACSC_Threat_Report_2016.pdf [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. defence. (2015).Cyber Security: Time for an integrated whole-of-nation approach in Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.defence.gov.au/ADC/Publications/IndoPac/150327%20Brookes%20IPS%20paper%20-%20cyber%20(PDF%20final).pdf [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. Dhillon, G., Torkzadeh, G. (2006).Value?focused assessment of information system security in organizations.Information Systems Journal,16(3), 293-314. Hemphill, S. A., Kotevski, A., Tollit, M., Smith, R., Herrenkohl, T. I., Toumbourou, J. W., Catalano, R. F. (2012).Longitudinal predictors of cyber and traditional bullying perpetration in Australian secondary school students.Journal of Adolescent Health,51(1), 59-65. Kotulic, A. and Clark, J., (2006), Why There Arent More Information Security Research Studies, Information and Management, No. 41, pp. 597-607 Lane T. And May L., (2006) Information Security Management in Australian Universities, 5th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference (APIEMS 2004), pp. 36.7.1-36.7.17 Luker, M. And Petersen, R., (2008), Computer Network Security in Higher Education, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Mailguard. (2017).Study: Only 1% of Aus companies very confident about cyber resilience. [online] Available at: https://www.mailguard.com.au/blog/study-only-1-of-aus-companies-very-confident [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. May, C., (2007), Dynamic Corporate Culture Lies at the Heart of Effective Security Strategy, Computer Fraud and Security, Issues 5, pp. 10-13 May, L., Lane, T. (2006).A model for improving e-security in Australian universities.JTAER,1(2), 90-96. ponemon. (2012).The Impact of Cybercrime on Business. [online] Available at: https://www.ponemon.org/local/upload/file/Impact_of_Cybercrime_on_Business_FINAL.pdf [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. PwC. (2015).Australia Tops Asian Region for Cyber Security Risks: Report. [online] Available at: https://www.pwc.com.au/press-room/2015/cyber-security-risks-oct15.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. the Guardian. (2015).Universities need to plug into threat of cyber-attacks. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/31/universities-cyber-attacks-research-criminals [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. Wall, D. (2007).Cybercrime: The transformation of crime in the information age(Vol. 4). Polity. Whitman, M. E., Mattord, H. J. (2011).Principles of information security.Cengage Learning. Wood, C. (2006) An Unappreciated Reason Why Information Security Policies Fail.Computer Fraud and Security.Vol: 200, Issue: 10, pp. 13-14.

Iron Element Essays - Hematology, Mineral Deficiencies,

Iron Element Iron Element ron is the fourth most abundant element in the earth's crust; but it is only a trace element in biologic systems, making up only 0.004% of the body's mass. Yet it is an essential component or cofactor of numerous metabolic reactions. Every living cell in both plants and animals contains iron. The adult body contains about 50 mg of iron per 100 ml of blood. Total body iron ranges between two and six grams, depending on the size of the individual and the amount of hemoglobin the person's cells contain. Approximately two-thirds of this iron (70%) is contained in the hemoglobin; the other third is stored in the bone marrow, spleen, liver, and muscles. Myoglobin and enzymes use about 15% of the iron, while ferritin uses almost as much (14%). Only about 1% is in transit in serum. Most of the iron in the body is a component of the proteins hemoglobin in red blood cells and myoglobin in muscle cells. Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body. Myoglobin holds oxygen for the muscles to use when they contract. If an individual has an iron deficiency, the iron stores are depleted first, followed by a reduction in hemoglobin. As a result, red blood cells (RBCs) are small in size and diminished in number. As part of many enzymes, iron is vital to the processes by which cells generate energy. Iron is also needed to make new cells, amino acids, hormones, and neurotransmitters. When a red blood cell dies, the liver saves the iron and returns it to the bone marrow, which uses it to build new red blood cells. Thus, only tiny amounts of iron are lost, mainly in urine, sweat, shed skin, and blood (if bleeding occurs). Iron is present in greatest concentration in meat and dark green vegetables. The USRDA for adults is 10 mg for males and 18 mg for menstruating females every day. The average daily American diet contains about 10 mg iron, of which only about 1 mg is absorbed, and that 1 mg is almost exclusively lost in the stool. For reproductive-aged females, an additional route is the menstrual flux, which accounts for a wildly variable loss. While the average monthly menstrual blood loss is 40 mL (equivalent to 16 mg iron), some women who consider themselves healthy may lose up to 495 mL blood (about 200 mg iron) per menstrual period, or an average of about 7 mg iron per day (200 mg iron

Friday essays

Friday essays The movie Friday is a comedy, but it also depicts many important social issues. The story is set in the city of Los Angeles, California, in what could be called a high-class ghetto. This movie is about a young black man who loses his job and is influenced by his best friend to smoke marijuana. The movie also shows the relationships of his family and other members of his neighborhood. With a zany cast of characters and a hilarious script, this movie touches on everything from gang violence to the use of drugs, crime, guns, relationships, sex, and life in the ghetto. In the movie Friday, rap star Ice Cube plays the character Craig. Craig has never smoked marijuana. However, his best friend "Smokey" smokes marijuana everyday. Craig loses his job, leaving him home all day with nothing to do to occupy his time. He just hangs out in the neighborhood with his friends. Smokey tries to convince Craig to try some marijuana. At first Craig doesn't want to. Smokey is persistent. He points out to Craig that he doesn't have to work and doesn't have anything better to do. Craig finally agrees, so him and Smokey eventually sit on the front porch and smoke some marijuana. Peer pressure is obviously the only reason Craig gives in. Actually he had other options, but he chose not to use them. Common sense and a simple explanation would have worked for Craig just fine (How to Say No and Keep Your Friends 23). Everyday we are faced with choices. It is up to us to decide what's right and wrong. Craig decides to try it and things start to happen that he really doesn't like. Craig and Smokey get into some trouble with the neighborhood dealer, Big Worm. Smokey sells marijuana for him, but can't pay him the money he owes because he and Craig smoked all the marijuana. Big Worm threatens them and sends a gang of "hoods" after them with machine guns. They just barely escape and are scared out o...

The 10 New SAT Changes and What They Mean for You

The 10 New SAT Changes and What They Mean for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Times, they are a-changin’. Bob Dylan’s 1964 anthem of change may not have originally referred to a college admissions test, but it certainly applies to the SAT overhaul of 2016. The redesigned test features huge changes from its previous version, in terms of its structure, scoring, and content. Read on to learn about the major updates and what you can do to prepare for them. To start, let’s take a look at the test’s structure and exactly how it’s a-changin'. Changes in SAT Structure: Four Long Sections and Optional Essay Anyone familiar with the old SAT will immediately notice huge structural changes in the new test. While the old SAT had ten shorter sections, the new SAT has just four (or five with the optional essay). The old SAT’s subject order was largely random, but the new SAT’s order is predictable: first, Reading; second, Writing and Language; third, Math No Calculator; and fourth, Math with Calculator. Its Essay section is now optional, and you can choose to add it as a fifth section at the end. You can compare the structure of the old and new tests and see just how different they are in the charts below. Old SAT Structure The old SAT had ten sections. The first was always the essay, and the last was always a short Writing section. In between, though, you couldn't predict the order of Critical Reading, Writing, and Math. Students had different tests, so the person beside you might have been working on Math while you were skimming throughCritical Reading passages. Two of the Math sections were 25 minutes, and one was 20 minutes. Similarly, two of the Critical Reading sections were 25 minutes, and one was 20 minutes. As for Writing, you had a 25-minute essay, a 25-minute multiple choice, and a 10-minute multiple choice. Compared to the redesigned SAT, this old format seems prettyrandom! Order Section Time in Minutes 1 Essay 25 minutes 2 - 9 3 Critical Reading, 3 Math, 1 Writing, and 1 Experimental Section in any order six 25-minute sections and two20-minute sections 10 Writing 10 minutes Total: 3 hours, 45 minutes New SAT Structure By looking at the chart above, you can tell thatstudents who took the old SAT went into the test with a lot of unanswered questions about its exact format. They couldn't know exactly what order the majority of the test, sections 2 through 9, would come in. On the new SAT, you can know the order and length of each section. You also get more insight into passage and question types, which we'll explore below. First, take a look at the predictable structure of the new SAT. Order Section Time in Minutes 1 Reading 65 2 Writing and Language 35 3 Math No Calculator 25 4 Math Calculator 55 5 Essay (optional) 50 Total: 3 hours, 50 minutes (3 hours without essay) Notice that some of the section names have been changed. Critical Reading has been shortened to Reading, while Writing has been lengthened to Writing and Language (but we'll probably still call it Writing anyway). Another difference you might notice between the two tests is that the new SAT features two Math sections, one where a calculator is permitted and the other where one is prohibited. This is a new feature, as you could always use a calculator on the old SAT. Since the two tests are so different, they require somewhat different approaches to prep. Whether you’ve already studied for the old SAT or not, how can you shape your studying now to approachthis new SAT structure? Since you'll get fewer sections for longer, you'll have even more responsibility for managing your time onthe SAT. Tips for Your Prep The new SAT is all about focus. With just four sections (or five with the essay), you’ll work on one subject for a big chunk oftime. While students taking the old SAT had to get used to quickly shifting their mindset from Reading to Math to Writing and back again, students taking the new SAT will need to concentrate on one subject for an extended period of time. Since you’ll encounter longer sections, you should also practice managing your time across a large amount of material. On the Reading section, for instance, you’ve got to divide your time among five passages over 65 minutes. On the old SAT, you might struggle with one Reading section but have two(or three if your experimental section was Reading)more sections to try again. On the new SAT, you only get one Reading section and can’t return to it. You'llneed to manage your time well and make sure you don’t let one tricky passage or word problem trip you up for the rest of a section. In addition to test-taking and time management strategies, you’ll also need to do some research before you register for the SAT. Besides figuring out your best test date for the SAT, you also need to decide whether or not to take the Essay section. For the most part, this decision relies on your colleges’ requirements. Before you register, check whether your colleges require essay scores on your SAT score report. As a result of its restructuring, the SAT now has a new scoring system too. Read on to learn how the new SAT is scored and tips for adjusting your test-taking strategies. The SAT has shed its scales and embraced a whole new look. Changes in SAT Scoring: Return to 400 to 1600 Scale Any students who took the SAT in 2005 or earlier will recognize the new SAT scoring scale. It now has a maximum score of 1600, rather than 2400. Your score will be half math and half verbal. The math sections will be scored together from 200 to 800, and the Reading and Writing sections will be combined into one Evidence-based Reading and Writing (EBRW) score between 200 and 800. If you choose to take the Essay section, your essay score won’t be factored into your total scores. Instead, you’ll get three separate essay scores between 2 and 8 for Reading, Writing, and Analysis. As with the old SAT essay, two readers will read and score your essay. Just as your essay score is broken down by skill area, your test scores will also get a variety of subscores. You’ll get test scores between 10 and 40 so you can see how you did on Reading, Writing, and Math separately. You’ll also get cross-test scores and subscores that reveal how well you did on specific skill areas and question types. Finally, another big change is the adoption of rights-only scoring. While the old SAT deducted points for wrong answers, the new SAT has no penalties. You’ll get one point per correct answer, but no points added or taken away for wrong or skipped answers. The SAT has undergone big changes in its scoring system. Is there anything you can do to prepare for the new scale? Don't underestimatethe Math section, asit's now worth half of your total score! Tips for Your Prep The changes in SAT scoring affect your test prep in a few ways. First, your Reading and Writing scores no longer count for two-thirds of your total score, as they did on the old SAT. Now Reading and Writing arehalf the score, while math is the other half. This change may shift the amount of time you devote to prepping for each section. Make sure to spend sufficient time on Math, especially if it’s not your strong subject, as it now counts for a greater proportionof your overall score. If you’re writing the essay, you’d be well served to familiarize yourself with the rubric on which graders base their scores. Since you’ll get scores for Reading, Writing, and Analysis, you should learn exactly what you need to accomplish to score an 8 in each of these three categories. While your section and total scores matter most for college, the more specific cross-test scores and subscores can be useful feedback. If you’re retaking the SAT, then these scores can help you identify exactly which question types are your strong point and which ones are weak points. Even if you haven’t taken the SAT yet, you can take the time to calculate these scores from your own practice tests. These scores will give you insight into your strengths and weaknesses, insight you can then use to shape your study plan. Finally, the switch to rights-only scoring means that you no longer have to worry about which questions to answer and which to leave blank. In fact, you shouldn’t leave any questions blank, as there’s no penalty for wrong answers. If you’re not sure on a question, you should still give it your best try. With only four answer choices on the new SAT (as opposed to the previous five), you have an even stronger chance of making a lucky guess! Now that we’ve reviewed the big picture 2016 SAT changes, let’s take a closer look at specific changes to content and question types in each subject area, Reading, Writing and Language, and Math. After you read through these changes, you’ll get an extra one that appears in all three subjects - data interpretation questions. First, though, let’s take a look at the new SAT Reading section. On the new SAT Reading, you'll know the general topics of each of the five passages. Changes in SAT Reading: New Question Types One change to SAT Reading is its greater predictability. You know exactly how many passages you’ll get - five - and the subject matter that each with will deal with - one with US and World Literature, two with History and Social Studies, and two with Science. All of the questions will be passage-based and will test four main skill areas: Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Analysis in History/Social Studies, and Analysis in Science.Many Reading questions resemble those on the old SAT; they ask you to interpret the meaning of a passage, supporting detail, or individual word. There are two big 2016 SAT changes to Reading that you should know, though, the first being the elimination of sentence completion questions. #1: No More Sentence Completions As you just read, the SAT Reading questions are all passage-based. This means that the sentence completions on the old SAT have been completely done away with. These were stand-alone questions that asked you to fill in one or two blanks with often obscure, high-level vocabulary words. On the new SAT, these question types have disappeared. Vocabulary still plays a role, though, as sentence completions have beenreincarnated as Words in Context questions. Words in Contextquestions will ask you the meaning of a word in the context of its passage. These words won’t be especially obscure; instead, they’ll feature more commonly used words that may be being used in an unusual way. While the new SAT has gotten rid of sentence completions, it’s introduced an entirely new question type: the evidence-based question. #2: Evidence-Based Questions For the first time, SAT Reading features questions that relate to one another. One question may ask you to interpret the meaning of a sentence or paragraph. Then the next question may ask for the reason behind your answer to the previous question. This official sample question features one of these new evidence-based questions: Most evidence-based questions will feature this same wording: â€Å"Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?† In the past year, a few students noticed these new question types on the experimental sections of their SAT tests; if you’re in this group, then you may already have some experience with this question type on test day! In addition to learning about these changes in question types, what else can you do to prepare for them? Make sure to incorporate historical and scientific texts into your prep for SAT Reading. Tips for Your Reading Prep There are many concepts and strategies you can use to prep for Reading, but, for now, let’s focus on what you can do to prepare specifically for the changes described above. First, you learned that the texts are no longer predominantly prose, but instead are sourced from history, social studies, and science. To get ready, you should seek out a variety of texts - readings from history and science class may be helpful here - to develop your reading comprehension skills across genres. Science passages can be especially technical, so you want to practice reading scientific texts. College Board’s first official SAT practice test, for example, features a passage by â€Å"Fathers of DNA† Watson and Crick. This type of writing, produced by scientists in 1953, is quite different than a passage from, say, Jane Austen’s Emma. Since sentence completions are gone, you don’t have to worry about studying long lists of obscure vocabulary anymore (as a taker of the â€Å"old SAT,† I still can’t believe students won’t need to memorize the definitions of words like obstreperous and perspicacity!). Instead, you should focus on more commonly used, multiple-meaning words and gain a sense of how meaning shifts depending on context. The final new SAT change for which you should prepare is the introduction of evidence-based questions. While these questions are new, the mindset of backing up your answer with evidence from the text shouldn’t be. Reading questions have always required that you base your answers completely on information presented in apassage. In many ways, these new questions serve as helpful reminders to refer back to the text and to double check that you have specific proof from the text to back up your answers. Now let’s take a look at the new SAT changes in Writing, many of which resemble the changes in Reading. SAT Writing and Language still tests grammar, but in a somewhatdifferent way. Changes in SAT Writing and Language: Passage-Based Questions One new SAT change involves naming: the Writing section is now technically called Writing and Language. Since most long words and titles inevitably get abbreviated, though, the majority of people will probably still refer to it as the Writing section. Just like in the Reading section, the Writing section’s questions are now 100% passage-based. They still ask about English grammar and usage, but they’ll also ask you to do big-picture editing, like reorganizing ideas or adding a sentence to improve meaning. Additionally, you’ll now get some questions that ask about punctuation, like comma and apostrophe usage. As with the Reading section, the subject matter of the Writing passages is predetermined. You’ll get four passages, one each dealing with Careers, Social Studies, Humanities, and Science. Unlike the Reading, you won’t get any prose; instead, the passages will be texts that are argument-based, explanatory, or nonfiction narrative. You’ll get many questions that ask you whether adding a detail or reorganizing sentences would strengthen a passage. Some words and sentences will be best just as they are, so one of your answer choices will be, â€Å"No Change.† Given this switch to passage-based questions, many of which focus on big-picture editing, what can you do to prepare for the new SAT changes in Writing? Tips for Your Writing prep Your prep for the new Writing section remains similar to what it was for the old. You should focus on rules of grammar and usagewhile also adding punctuation rules to your review. The redesigned section also calls for a strong understanding of structure, organization, and transitions betweenideas. Developing your writing and editing skills in school will help you do well in this section. As with the Reading passages, you should also work to sharpen your reading comprehension of texts from various nonfiction genres, especially from the fields of social studies and science. As you read, pay attention to how an author introduces, concludes, and movesbetween ideas, as well as how she uses supporting details to reinforce an argument or central thesis. Again, both verbal sections now place a heavy emphasis on vocabulary, details, and ideas in context with their entirely passage-based questions. As you read, write, and edit in your SAT prep, in school, and in your own time, make sure to pay attention to the context around a word or detail that helps shape its meaning and purpose. Get ready to write out math problems by hand. There are 20 questions that you'll have to solve without a calculator. Changes in SAT Math: New Skills and Calculator Rules The new SAT Math is divided into a 25-minute section and a 55-minute section with a short break in-between. Let’s take a look at the 2016 SAT changes in skill areas, as well as explore the new calculator rules. #1: DifferentSkill Areas The new SAT Math focuses largely on algebra. For the first time, it also features problems that ask about trigonometry and complex numbers. The number of geometry problems has been largely reduced, now making up only about 3 to 5% of the total questions. These trig, complex numbers, and geometry questions fall into the skill area called Additional Topics. The other skill areas are Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, and Problem Solving and Data Analysis. Another 2016 SAT change is the emphasis on word problems featuring â€Å"real world scenarios.† College Board says that it wants to test the math you’ll use in real-life situations, like in college courses, jobs, and even your personal life. You’ll see questions, for instance, that ask you to calculate gas mileage of a car or to convert one country’s currency into another. Before discussing how you can prep for the changes in math content, let’s review the secondbig change: the division into a â€Å"calculator prohibited† and a â€Å"calculator permitted† section. #2: No Calculator and Calculator Section You’ll start in on SAT Math with a 25-minute section during which you’re not allowed to use a calculator. The 20 questions in this section don’t necessarily require a calculator; instead, they’re meant to test your understanding of a mathematical concept, rather than your ability to perform complex calculations out by hand. You’ll probably get some basic arithmetic on the No Calculator section, but it won’t go beyond multiplication or division of numbers with decimals. In fact, many of the questions on both sections are easier to solve without the use of a calculator. So even when you’re allowed to use it on your second section, you might be better off solving many of the problems by hand. Taking these changes together, how can you sharpen your math skills and do well in these two sections? Tips for Your Math Prep To begin, you should familiarize yourself with exactly what concepts will be tested on SAT Math. Make sure your practice materials break down each of the major skill areas - Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Additional Topics - into their component subtopics. Then you can pair your review of each concept with relevant practice questions. Your main focus will be algebra, but you’ll need to be able to do some trigonometry and geometry as well. You should also practice reading comprehension when it comes to word problems. Some of these word problems will contain extraneous information, so you’ll need to discern which details are important for working toward a solution. In order to prepare fully for the No Calculator section, you should sharpen your skills of solving multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction problems by hand. You won’t have to do a lot of calculating, as this section aims to test your conceptual understanding rather than your ability to mimic a calculator. Still, though, you’ll get a few questions that will require calculations, so you want to make sure you can still write out these problems long-hand. Finally, you read above that you might not always need a calculator, even on the problems when you’re permitted to do so. College Board says it wants to test your calculator fluency, or ability to determine when a calculator’s a useful tool and when it’s unnecessary. Keep a critical eye on your calculator use as you answer practice questions and take note of which question types call for a calculator and which ones don’t. Now that you’ve seen the main changes in SAT Reading, Writing, and Math, let’s look at the optional fifth section, the SAT essay. Your essay prompt may saysomething like, Explain how the dog presents his argument that sweaters should notbe shared with parrots. Your essay should not explain whether you agree with the dog, but rather explain how he builds an argument to persuade his avine audience. Changes in SAT Essay: Analyzing an Argument The fact that the essay’s now optional is one major change; in the past, it was your first section on the SAT and factored into your overall Writing score. Now, the essay will come last if you choose to take it. The old SAT essay was only 25 minutes. It presented you with a quote and asked you to â€Å"take a stand,† supporting your opinion with examples from just about anywhere. You could talk about experiences in your own life, observations of others, characters in books, or historical events, to name a few. Your examples had to support your opinion, and you were welcome to use the first person â€Å"I† throughout. The new SAT essay is twice as long at 50 minutes. Unlike the old essay, the new essay doesn’t ask for a personal opinion. Instead, it asks you to write a third-person analysis of the argument presented in a given passage. (If you’ve made it this far in the guide, you’ve probably noticed that lots of content on the new SAT is passage-based.) You’ll get a passage, followed by a prompt that asks you to analyze the passage’s central argument. In particular, you’ll describe the devices the author uses to present his/her point of view. In order to analyze the argument, you’ll need to understand how supporting evidence and rhetorical devices function in the passage. While the old essay was often abstract, personal, and philosophical, the new essay is more concrete and analytical. Because this section has changed so much and uses a distinct scoring system from the other sections, you’ll want to prep specifically for this section if you decide to take it. Tips for Essay Prep First and foremost, you need to figure out whether taking the essay is beneficial to you. For most students, this means researching your prospective colleges’ policies on the SAT and whether or not they want to see this section. If you’re a younger student unsure where you want to apply or if your colleges still haven’t set a policy, then you may choose to take this section just in case. More selective colleges are likely to require that you take the SAT with Essay. Your prep for this section should be largely different than it was on the old SAT. For instance, you don’t need to show up prepared with flexible examples that you could apply to many prompts. Instead, you should practice your skills of analysis, particularly analysis of how an author uses rhetorical devices and presents evidence to persuade readers of her point of view. As with the old SAT, you should get a firm grasp ofstructure and practice writing this kind of essay under time limits. You might pair up with a friend and grade each other’s using the essay scoring rubric. Through practice, you’ll improve your skills at analyzing an argument and writing a thesis-driven five paragraph essay under time limits. Before reviewing the key new SAT changes you’ll see on the redesigned test, let’s look at one more addition that pops up across the test: data interpretation questions. Prepare yourself. We're heading into charted territory. One More Change: Data Interpretation Questions If you flip through a sample SAT, you’ll see graphics popping up in every section of the SAT. While you may be used to seeing graphs in the Math section, now you’ll get graphs, tables, and charts in Reading and Writing too. A graphic will accompany one or more passages in both the Reading and Writing sections. You’ll get a few data interpretation questions that may ask whether the passage and graph are in sync with each other. A Writing question could ask if adding or deleting a data point from the graph would clarify a passage’s main argument. Below are a few official examples of data interpretation questions, one each from Reading, Writing, and Math. We'll be posting a guide to answering data interpretation soon, so check back for more strategies on attackingthese new questions! Example of a Data Interpretation Question in Reading Example of a Data Interpretation Question in Writing Example of a Data Interpretation Question in Math The latteris also an example of an Extended Thinking question in Math, in which more than one question refers to the same graphic or word problem. You should only get one Extended Thinking question, and it will likely show up in the calculator permitted section. Since data interpretation questions show up all over the test, you’ll want to sharpen your skills of reading graphs, tables, and charts. This shift, along with the others mentioned above, will help you prepare for the 2016 SAT changes. Let’s quickly review the main updates in each section and the test as a whole. Students, the SAT of the future is here. Final Thoughts: Key New SAT Changes In many ways, the new SAT looks likea whole new test. Its structure is radically different, with just four sections, Reading, Writing and Language, Math No Calculator, and Math with Calculator, as opposed to its previous ten. While the old SAT had students write a 25-minute opinion-based essay at the beginning of the test, the new SAT gives students the option of writing a 50-minute evidence-based essay at its end. While the old scores fell between 800 and 2400, the new SAT is scored between 400 and 1600. No longer do all three sections haveequal weight. Now, Math counts for half of your total score and Reading and Writing together make up the other half. As you read above, the Reading section has largelyeliminated high-level vocabulary words and features new evidence-based questions. Writing questions are also all passage-based and ask you to edit grammar, punctuation, and structure. For the first time, the SAT contains a Math section for which you can’t use a calculator. The math questions primarily focus on algebra, but you’ll also get a few geometry, trigonometry, and complex numbers questions. As you just read, data interpretation isn’t consigned to just the Math sections; you’ll find and interpret graphics on all three sections of the test. If you’ve made it this far, then you’ve already completed an important first step of your SAT prep: familiarizing yourself with the changes on the redesigned test. By first understanding the structure, scoring, and content of the new test, you can then move onto studying concepts and taking practice tests. Once you’ve learned all about the test, you’re ready to jump into studying and master the SAT. What’s Next? You’ve learned all about the changes, so now it’s time to delve into SAT content and strategies. Check out ourultimate study guides to learn all about concepts,question types, and strategies forthe SAT Math, SAT Reading, and SAT Writing. Are you taking the SAT with Essay? This comprehensive guide walks you through how to write an SAT essay, step by step. Are you deciding between the SAT and ACT? This guide compares the two tests so you can see all of their similarities and differences. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Fascism discussion of this form of government Essay - 1

Fascism discussion of this form of government - Essay Example In the United States, all the political power rest on the people of the country. The people happen to be the only source for the power. The principle of the popular sovereignty is declared in the introduction of the declaration of independence where the people establish the constitution for the United States of America. Government draws the power from the people as the people are sovereign. As a matter of fact, the government can only govern under the consent of the people.Limited GovernmentThe principle of the limited government is to explain that the government is not powerful at all. However the limited government means a lot more to mention that the government can govern what the people would allow to govern. Limited government makes absolutely perfect sense because if the people are sovereign then the government cannot be powerful. The concept of the limited government can be expressed in terms of law also. The government should obey the law. Sometimes it is also referred to as constitutionalism. This refers to the fact that the law is above the government and not around it. Sometimes this is also referred to as the rule of the law (Spulber 305). Separation of powersIn a government that is presidential in nature like the US government, all the power is distributed among the branches which include the executive, judicial and the legislative.   This is also referred to as the separation of the power. The US government is divided into three branches.... Nazi Political theorist Cal Schmitt said that a strong state would always guarantee the totality of the political unity (Griffin 225). However there have been a lot of criticisms of Fascism. One of the most common criticisms happens to be fact that Fascism is actually form of tyranny. Fascism has been always regarded as non democratic. The original version of fascism i.e. the Italian Fascism has often been regarded as the unprincipled opportunism. Fascism has also been criticized for the ideological dishonesty. The American government – Its Principles The constitution is built upon six basic ideologies. Popular Sovereignty In the United States, all the political power rest on the people of the country. The people happen to be the only source for the power. The principle of the popular sovereignty is declared in the introduction of the declaration of independence where the people establish the constitution for the United States of America. Government draws the power from the pe ople as the people are sovereign. As a matter of fact, the government can only govern under the consent of the people. Limited Government The principle of the limited government is to explain that the government is not powerful at all. However the limited government means a lot more to mention that the government can govern what the people would allow to govern. Limited government makes absolutely perfect sense because if the people are sovereign then the government cannot be powerful. The concept of the limited government can be expressed in terms of law also. The government should obey the law. Sometimes it is also referred to as constitutionalism. This refers to the fact that the law is above the government and not around it.

Public Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Public Administration - Essay Example This change in the public administration in the British government has created various criticisms and incited other nations to study this strategy and modify the delivery of public service in their own government. Public administration has changed along with the growing needs of the public. On the other hand, as the number of studies in public administration increases over the years, there has been no exact definition of the term as a subject. Debates on privatization, corruption, and government values have been raised over the years but the boundaries between what is public and what is private are never identified. These two opposite sections are said to fade imperceptibly into one another because both sectors are closely entangled in the complex network of relationships that form a social system. Furthermore, the ideas of administration cannot be separated from management since it is interrelated with policy making that which is a part of studying public administration (Chandler, 2000) Public administration, defined academically, is the study of the development and maintenance of policy by members of governments, public agencies and public sector employees and the practice of implementing the authoritative decisions they have made. Patterned after the recognized definition of the word public, the study of public administration has involved the establishment and sustenance of the constitution or authoritative governments of a nation or nations. And even as it is a part of political analysis, its theories involve economics and management disciplines that are significant aspects in politics (Chandler, 2000). Chandler (2000) laid several arguments concerning public administration and its role in promoting government services. The areas that which public administration focus more were political sociology or philosophy wherein it studies the manner in which politicians perceive and react to varying social economic

European Union as an international organization Essay Example for Free

European Union as an international organization Essay The European Union cannot be an international organization and it is not a domestic political system. It is a new and unique trend in governance, which transcends the nation – state structure. In the EU the nation – state governments are drifting away from both sub national and supranational systems. This in turn raises questions about the EU’s capacity to govern and its democratic legitimacy. The European Union is composed of democratic nations that aim to achieve peace and prosperity. It is not a nation – state but an international organization with unique features (Europeans united in diversity). However, the events that took place in the period from 1960 to 1970 changed the thinking of federalism by the people. The then French president, Charles de Gaulle was very much interested in nation – state structure in the Europe. However, he rejected the federalist system. Subsequently, the European Council was created in order to take up the matters of the Union with administrative powers. Thus there is no centralized power in the European Union and it was distributed between the primary entities, which do not fall within parliamentary control (Europeans united in diversity). The significant characteristic of the EU is that the decisions taken at the European level are ratified by its Member States in order to establish EU level common institutions, by surrendering their sovereignty on certain specific issues. There is unity in diversity in Europe where there persists a multitude of different traditions and languages. Respecting these shared values, the EU promotes cooperation among the people of Europe and it protects the interests of the individual citizens of Europe. While respecting the sentiments of European citizens, the EU promotes cooperation with external nations without comprising its solidarity and in a spirit of tolerance (Europeans united in diversity). The European Union is a distinct entity. It is not a federation like the United States. Moreover, it is not a simple form of structure as it entails inter – governmental coordination and cooperation. The European Union is composed of a number of Member States. These Member States have combined their individual sovereignty and adopted a system of shared governance, in order to achieve unity and international importance. Nevertheless, as it is noteworthy to mention, these Member States did not relinquish their national sovereignty (McCormick). Further, there is a delegation of powers by the agencies of the European Union, in areas of joint interests, upon which the EU can impose its democratic authority for the benefit of Member States. Thus the European Union is to some extent an intergovernmental organization and to some extent it is a supranational organization. The supranational aspects of the EU include economic policy, social policy, immigration policy and education. The intergovernmental aspects comprises of mutual cooperation between the member states in order to formulate a common foreign policy and security policy (McCormick). The intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations are in general constituted by several states in order to promote voluntary cooperation and coordination amongst them (McCormick). The Member States of such an organization retain their independence and the decisions and agreements taken are not enforceable. The Member States of the European Union do not surrender their sovereignty to it. However, in the supranational organization, Member States are required to surrender their sovereignty in certain key areas to the governing body of the supranational organization (McCormick). Moreover, the Member States are also required to comply with the decisions taken at the supranational level. The Courts would initiate penal actions for violations by the member states. The European Union has both the characteristics of an intergovernmental organization and supranational government. An international organization is an entity which develops voluntary cooperation and coordination among its members (McCormick). Hence the European Union cannot be a truly typical international organization. The normal features and definition of an international organization is narrow in its scope. Therefore, the European Union cannot be compared to an ordinary international organization. The European Union is founded by an international treaty like any other international organization. However, it cannot be construed to be a proper international organization and a very close description is that it is not a state, nor a nation – state; but a characterization of sui generis (Vuorinen). The fundamental characteristic that differentiates the European Union from other international organizations is that it attempts to change the Member States. Integration is the process that brings about the coalescing of state structures. The European Union has several structures combined together some of these structures represent the characteristics of a federal state while other structures resemble an international organization. In the process of evolution, the EU had gone beyond an association of states and became an economic and political union. However, the EU is not a federal state (Vuorinen). The emergence of the European Community was the result of federalist views. Its drafters were of the opinion that federalism would be the solution to the persistent problem of war in Europe. Thus their main objective was to establish a federal state. These efforts resulted in the formulation of the European Coal and Steel Community in the year 1951, which created a common market for the coal and steel industries of that period. The objective of this institution was to combine the important and strategic resources of Europe. Subsequently in 1957 The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community or EEC and the European Atomic Energy Commission or Euratom (Vuorinen). The federalist creation of the Union was based upon the three important pillars of the EU, namely, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice. These branches of the EU, which do not pertain to any single member state of the Union, aim to promote the common European policy. The federal structure could have operated with a sufficient degree of democracy (Vuorinen). The European Union has been described as an international organization and with the adoption of a constitution it can become a supranational organization in addition to an intergovernmental organization. The Maastricht Treaty of the year 1993 established two types of institutionalized cooperation in the European Community, the Common Foreign and Security Policy or CFSP and cooperation on justice and international issues. Since, the extant system in respect of functioning of the EU involves the surrender of sovereignty by states to the EU in certain areas and the dependence of the member states on intergovernmental cooperation in other areas, it can be describes as a hybrid system (European Union). Issues of international interests of the EU are regulated by the Integration Ministry; some of these issues encompass the cooperation of EU, Nordic legislation and cooperation with the United Nation’s agencies. Extension of such cooperation is frequent to the United Nations Refugee Agency or the UNHCR, the Council of Europe, Intergovernmental Consultations or IGC and the International Organization for Migration or the IOM (The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs). Furthermore, the Ministry negotiates with many foreign nations on issues relating to repatriation agreements, other forms of practical cooperation as well as mutual exchange of information. The International Division of the Integration Ministry governs international cooperation and participates in meeting and makes the necessary preparations for meetings and discussions that involve other nations. This Division also prepares meetings in Denmark with regard to issues relating to asylum and immigration. It also makes the necessary preparations for EU casework in national procedure (The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs). The destruction and loss of a large number of human lives in the Second World War resulted in European integration, which was expected to put a stop to such killing and destruction. In the year 1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister proposed the idea of European integration. The present European Union consists of five institutions with specific goals. These are the European Parliament, which is elected by the citizens of the Member States; the Council of the European Union, which represents the governments of the Member States; the European Commission, which is the executive branch of the EU; the European Court of Justice, which ensures compliance with the EU law by the Member States and the Court of Auditors, which controls and ensures efficient and legal management of the EU budget (The European Union). There are other important agencies, which support these five driving forces of the European Union. They are, the European Economic and Social Committee, which reflects the opinions of the civil society on issues pertaining to economic and social interests; the Committee of the Regions, which is responsible for monetary policies and regulates the euro; the European Ombudsman, which deals with the complaints of individuals in case of breach of law or failure of proper administration by any EU institution or agency and the European Investment Bank, which promotes the objectives of the EU by providing financial support to investment projects. In addition, there are several other institutions to facilitate the smooth functioning of the EU (The European Union). The functionality of the EU is based on the Treaties, which were ratified by the Member States. In the beginning there were only six nations in the EU and these were Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 1973 Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom became members of the European Union and subsequently, in 1981 Greece became a member. In the year 1986 Spain and Portugal and in the year 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union. In the year 2004 the largest expansion of the European Union took place with ten new countries being permitted to become members of the European Union (The European Union). In the beginning, much attention was bestowed on providing cooperation in the areas of trade and economy. Subsequently, the EU became the guardian of the Member States and commenced to deal with a wide range of issues pertaining to all aspects of society and humans. The EU protects the rights of individuals, ensures freedom, security and justice, employment, regional development and environmental protection. For more than fifty years the EU has been catering to the needs of its member states in respect of stability, peace and prosperity. It strived hard to enhance the standard of living of its citizens. It created a single European market, launched the euro or the single European currency and fortified the European Union’s stance on the international platform (The European Union). The European Union plays an important role in the field of international trade. It provides advantageous norms for trade to a large number of developing countries. The EU withdraws the preferential business terms from a country that violates these norms, while dealing with any member state of the EU. Moreover, the EU is the largest single donor of humanitarian and development aid in the world. The financial aid supplied by the EU and its member states comprises sixty percent of the total aid to the world. The EU also provides assistance for reconstructing nations ravaged by war and its aid projects are significant in promoting peace among warring nations and in settling disputes. The foreign assistance programs of the EU are remarkable in respect of the benefits offered to refugees of war and famine. Economic integration in the EU has become a role model for many upcoming trade blocs, which have consequently, sought the support of the EU in their financial reforms. Thus, the EU is an economic giant and a superpower. As a matter of fact, the EU influences the economic activities and policies of most nations of the world and plays a key role in the global economy and occupies the first rank in this area (The Rationale for Studying the Outcomes of European Foreign Policy Activity). In the international arena the EU had evolved as a superpower from its very inception. It underwent considerable modifications and later on it expanded itself by establishing common institutions and foreign policy requirements. In 1958, the Rome Treaty founded the European Community and established a legal pedestal on which the EU forged ahead to influence international trade activities, foreign aid programs and diplomatic terms with countries that were not its members. In 1970, the European Political Cooperation was established to facilitate governments to initiate dialogue and promote mutual cooperation with respect to foreign policy matters. In 1987, the Single European Act was developed. In 1993, the EU was institutionalized by the Treaty. The EU is supported by three pillars, the first is the European Community, the second is the New Common Foreign and Security Policy and the third pillar is comprised of by the policies with regard to anticrime and police cooperation (The Rationale for Studying the Outcomes of European Foreign Policy Activity). In 1998, the Treaty of Amsterdam had modified the Treaty of European Union. It brought about High Representation for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The European Security and Defense Identity was supplanted by the European Security and Defense Policy in 1999. This change facilitated the EU to establish a rapid deployment force to maintain peace in the region. The Common Foreign and Security Policy is a set of objectives, procedures and devices formulated to encourage sophisticated joint actions and positions in foreign policy. The CFSP also formed the link between joint actions and civilian foreign policy of the EC. These developments transformed the EU into an international organization in the areas of commerce, trade, aid and diplomatic relations. Moreover, the European Foreign Policy addresses civilian actions, policies, relations, commitments and choices of the EU in international politics (The Rationale for Studying the Outcomes of European Foreign Policy Activity). The nature of the EFP controls the competence of the organs of the EU, so as to influence matters pertaining to international politics. As an international actor the EU enjoys a special status in international politics. However, there is still some doubt regarding the nature of the EU because it has no polity and because it is not a state or a territory with fixed borders. There are an array of tests that measure the end results of the foreign policy and decision – making power of the EU. However the scope of the CFSP was not utilized to the fullest extent by the EU. The end results achieved through this instrument clearly establish the prominence and effective role of the EU as an international actor in international politics (The Rationale for Studying the Outcomes of European Foreign Policy Activity).

Romeo is More to Blame in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Essay

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is about two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, forbidden to be together because of feuding families. Countless people contribute to Romeo and Juliet’s predestined fate and misadventures. This ultimately leads to Romeo and Juliet’s suicide. Who is more to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death? Although Juliet acts rashly, Romeo is more to blame. Furthermore, Romeo starts the whole tragedy. True, Juliet acts naà ¯ve, nonetheless Romeo acts hastily by encouraging the relationship. Prior to Romeo and Juliet’s encounter, Romeo is in an infatuation with Rosaline. In Act 1.1, Romeo depicts Rosaline's beauty and says, "She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair." Romeo’s love for Rosaline is only skin deep and faces heart break when she chooses to be celibate. Yet when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, he forgets all about Rosaline and instantly falls for Juliet. In Act 1.5, Romeo is the first to spot Juliet and immediately feels an attraction to her. In addition, Romeo thinks Juliet is very beautiful and convinces her to kiss him without knowing each other. Then in Act 2.1, Romeo pursues Juliet and goes to her balcony and begins to profess his love for her. When Romeo is swearing that he is in love with Juliet, she stops him and says everything is happening so quickly. However, Romeo reassures Juliet and they pl an for their marriage. Moreover after knowing Juliet for less than twenty-four hours, Romeo goes to his companion Friar Lawrence and asks him to marry them. True, Juliet is the one who sets up the marriage. However, Romeo is the one who pushed the relationship too far and too soon. In Act 2.3, Friar Lawrence is in shock with the sudden change from Rosaline to Juliet and comments on the ind... ...nd grieving for Juliet. Thinking Romeo’s is defiling Juliet’s grave, Paris and Romeo begin sword fighting. Romeo is extreme with anguish and kills Paris. Consequently, Romeo poisons himself and Juliet wakes up in confusion and heartbreak. Juliet alone and in shock feels her only alternative left is to kill herself and commits suicide. In the end Romeo is responsible for five deaths, Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Juliet and himself. Juliet kills herself because she is under different circumstances and does what she feels is the only option left. Juliet is courageous and strong for seeking advice and not being overly sensitive. Romeo is not only weak and foolish but is responsible for the tragic death of his own and Juliet’s. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet.† Literature and Language. Illinois: McDougal, Littell and Company, 1992. 722-842

Epistemology †empiricism Essay

Principles like those Parmenides assumed are said in contemporary jargon to be a priori principles, or principles of reason, which just means that they are known prior to experience. It is not that we learn these principles first chronologically but rather that our knowledge of them does not depend on our senses. For example, consider the principle â€Å"You can’t make something out of nothing. † If you wished to defend this principle, would you proceed by conducting an experiment in which you tried to make something out of nothing? In fact, you would not. You would base your defense on our inability to conceive of ever making  something out of nothing Everything we know originates from four sources. The first, our senses, can be thought of as our primary source of information. Two other sources, reason and intuition, are derivative in the sense that they produce new facts from data already supplied to our minds. The fourth source, authority (or â€Å"hearsay,† or â€Å"testimony† of others), is by nature secondary, and secondhand fact-claims are always more wiggly and difficult to validate. Other sources of knowledge are commonly claimed, and it is not inconceivable that there might exist other sources; but if they do exist,  knowledge derived from them is problematic, and careful analysis usually finds that they can be subsumed under one or more of the four known sources and must be seriously questioned as legitimate, separate sources of reliable information. In summary, what is the nature of our knowledge about the real world of objects/events? Our knowledge of reality is composed of ideas our minds have created on the basis of our sensory experience. It is a fabric of knowledge woven by the mind. Knowledge is not given to the mind; nothing is â€Å"poured† into it. Rather, the mind manufactures perceptions, concepts, ideas, beliefs, and so forth and holds  them as working hypotheses about external reality. Every idea is a (subjective) working model that enables us to handle real objects/events with some degree of pragmatic efficiency. However persuasive our thoughts and images may be, they are only remote representations of reality; they are tools that enable us to deal with reality. It is as though we draw nondimensional maps to help us understand four-dimensional territory. The semanticists have long reminded us to beware of confusing any sort of map with the real landscape. â€Å"The map,† they say, â€Å"is not the territory. † An abstraction, by definition, is an idea created by the mind to refer to all objects which, possessing certain characteristics in common, are thought of in the same class. The number of objects in the class can range from two to infinity. We can refer to all men, all hurricanes, all books, all energy-forms—all everything. While abstraction-building is an inescapable mental process—in fact it is the first step in the organization of our knowledge of objects/events—a serious problem is inherent in the process. At high levels of abstraction we tend to group together objects that have but a few qualities in common, and our abstractions  may be almost meaningless, without our knowing it. We fall into the habit of using familiar abstractions and fail to realize how empty they are. For example, what do the objects in the following abstractions have in common? All atheists, all Western imperialists, all blacks or all whites (and if you think it’s skin color, think twice), all conservatives, all trees, all French people, all Christians. When we think in such high-level abstractions, it is often the case that we are communicating nothing meaningful at all. â€Å"The individual object or event we are naming, of course, has no name and belongs  to no class until we put it in one. † Going as far back as Plato, philosophers have traditionally defined knowledge as true justified belief. A priori knowledge is knowledge that is justified independently of (or prior to) experience. What kinds of knowledge could be justified without any appeal to experience? Certainly, we can know the truth of definitions and logical truths apart from experience. Hence, definitions and logically necessary truths are examples of a priori knowledge. For example, â€Å"All unicorns are one-horned creatures† is true by definition. Similarly, the following  statement is a sure bet: â€Å"Either my university’s football team will win their next game or they won’t. † Even if they tie or the game is canceled, this would fulfill the â€Å"they won’t win† part of the prediction. Hence, this statement expresses a logically necessary truth about the football team. These two statements are cases of a priori knowledge. Notice that in the particular examples of a priori knowledge I have chosen, they do not give us any real, factual information about the world. Even though the statement about unicorns is true, it does not tell us whether there are any unicorns in the world. Similarly, the football prediction does not tell us the actual outcome of the game. Experience of the world is required to know these things. The second kind of knowledge is a posteriori knowledge, or knowledge that is based on (or posterior to) experience. Similarly, the adjective empirical refers to anything that is based on experience. Any claims based on experience purport to add new information to the subject. Hence, â€Å"Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit† and â€Å"Tadpoles become frogs† would be examples of a posteriori knowledge. We know the freezing point of water and the life cycle of tadpoles through experience. Thus far, most philosophers would agree on these points. The difficult question now arises: Is there any a priori knowledge that does give us knowledge about the real world? What would that be like? It would be knowledge expressible in a statement such that (a) its truth is not determined solely by the meaning of its terms and (b) it does provide information about the way the world is. Furthermore, since it is a priori, it would be knowledge that we could justify through reason, independently of experience. The question, then, is whether or not reason alone can tell us about the ultimate nature of reality. 1. Is it possible to have knowledge at all? 2. Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? 3. Does our knowledge represent reality as it really is? Rationalism claims that reason or the intellect is the primary source of our fundamental knowledge about reality. Nonrationalists agree that we can use reason to draw conclusions from the information provided by sense experience. However, what distinguishes the rationalists is that they claim that reason can give us knowledge apart from experience. For example, the rationalists point out that we can arrive at mathematical truths about circles  or triangles without having to measure, experiment with, or experience circular or triangular objects. We do so by constructing rational, deductive proofs that lead to absolutely indubitable conclusions that are always universally true of the world outside our minds (a priori knowledge about the world). Obviously, the rationalists think the second question should be answered affirmatively. Empiricism is the claim that sense experience is the sole source of our knowledge about the world. Empiricists insist that when we start life, the original equipment of our intellect is a tabula rasa, or blank tablet. Only through experience does that empty mind become filled with content. Various empiricists give different explanations of the nature of logical and mathematical truths. They are all agreed, however, that these truths are not already latent in the mind before we discover them and that there is no genuine a priori knowledge about the nature of reality. The empiricists would respond â€Å"No! † to the second epistemological question. With respect to question 3, both the rationalists and the empiricists think that our knowledge does represent reality as it really is. Constructivism is used in this discussion to refer to the claim that knowledge is neither already in the mind nor passively received from experience, but that the mind constructs knowledge out of the materials of experience. Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher, introduced this view. He was influenced by both the rationalists and the empiricists and attempted to reach a compromise between them. While Kant did not agree with the rationalists on everything, he did believe we can have a priori knowledge of the world as we experience it. Although Kant did not use this label, I call his position constructivism  to capture his distinctive account of knowledge. One troubling consequence of his view was that because the mind imposes its own order on experience, we can never know reality as it is in itself. We can only know reality as it appears to us after it has been filtered and processed by our minds. Hence, Kant answers question 3 negatively. Nevertheless, because Kant thought our minds all have the same cognitive structure, he thought we are able to arrive at universal and objective knowledge within the boundaries of the human situation. Before reading further, look at the highway picture for an example of a classic  experiment in perception. Did you get the right answer, or were your eyes fooled? One way that skeptics attack knowledge claims is to point to all the ways in which we have been deceived by illusions. Our experience with perceptual illusions shows that in the past we have been mistaken about what we thought we knew. These mistakes lead, the skeptic claims, to the conclusion that we can never be certain about our beliefs, from which it follows that our beliefs are not justified. Another, similar strategy of the skeptic is to point to the possibility that our apprehension of reality could be systematically flawed in some way. The story of Ludwig, the brain in the vat who experienced a false virtual reality, would be an example of this strategy. Another strategy is to suppose that there is an inherent flaw in human psychology such that our beliefs never correspond to reality. I call these possible scenarios universal belief falsifiers. The characteristics of a universal belief falsifier are (1) it is a theoretically possible state of affairs, (2) we have no way of knowing if this state of affairs is actual or not, and (3) if this state of affairs is actual, we would never be able to distinguish beliefs that are true  from beliefs that seem to be true but are actually false. Note that the skeptic does not need to prove that these possibilities are actual. For example, the skeptic does not have to establish that we really are brains in a vat, but merely that this condition is possible. Furthermore, the skeptic need not claim that all our beliefs are false. The skeptic’s point is simply that we have no fail-safe method for determining when our beliefs are true or false. Given this circumstance, the skeptic will argue that we cannot distinguish the situation of having evidence that leads to true beliefs from the situation of having the same sort of evidence  plus a universal belief falsifier, which leads to false beliefs. Obviously, the skeptic believes that nothing is beyond doubt. For any one of our beliefs, we can imagine a set of circumstances in which it would be false. For example, I believe I was born in Rahway, New Jersey. However, my birth certificate could be inaccurate. Furthermore, for whatever reasons, my parents may have wished to keep the truth from me. I will never know for sure. I also believe that there is overwhelming evidence that Adolf Hitler committed suicide at the close of World War II. However, it could be true (as conspiracy  theorists maintain) that his death was faked and that he lived a long life in South America after the war. The theme of the skeptic is that certainty is necessary for there to be knowledge, and if doubt is possible, then we do not have certainty. We now have the considerations in place that the skeptic uses to make his or her case. There are many varieties of skeptical arguments, each one exploiting some possible flaw in either human cognition or the alleged evidence we use to justify our beliefs. Instead of presenting various specific arguments, we can consider a â€Å"generic skeptical argument. † Generic Skeptical Argument 1. We can find reasons for doubting any one of our beliefs. 2. It follows that we can doubt all our beliefs. 3. If we can doubt all our beliefs, then we cannot be certain of any of them. 4. If we do not have certainty about any of our beliefs, then we do not have knowledge. 5. Therefore, we do not have knowledge. Pyrrho of Elis (360–270 B. C. ), a philosopher in ancient Greece, inspired a skeptical movement that bore his name (Pyrrhonian skepticism). Pyrrho was skeptical concerning sense experience. He argued that for experience to be a source of knowledge, our sense data  must agree with reality. But it is impossible to jump outside our experience to see how it compares with the external world. So, we can never know whether our experience is giving us accurate information about reality. Furthermore, rational argument cannot give us knowledge either, Pyrrho said, because for every argument supporting one side of an issue, another argument can be constructed to prove the opposing case. Hence, the two arguments cancel each other out and they are equally ineffective in leading us to the truth. The followers of Pyrrho stressed that we can make claims only about how things appear to us. You can say, â€Å"The honey appears to me to be sweet† but not, â€Å"The honey is sweet. † The best approach, according to these skeptics, was to suspend judgment whenever possible and make no assumptions at all. They believed that skeptical detachment would lead to serenity. â€Å"Don’t worry about what you cannot know,† they advised. Some skeptics distilled these arguments down into two simple theses. First, nothing is self-evident, for any axiom we start with can be doubted. Second, nothing can be proven, for either we will have an infinite regress of reasons that support our previous  reasons or we will end up assuming what we are trying to prove. Descartes began his quest for knowledge with the assumption that if he had rational certainty concerning his beliefs, he necessarily had knowledge, and if he did not have certainty, he did not have knowledge. The skeptics who came after Descartes agreed with this assumption. However, as we will see in the next section, Descartes argues that there are a number of things of which we can be certain and, hence, we do have knowledge. On the other hand, the skeptics doubt whether Descartes or anyone can achieve such certainty. Lacking any grounds for certainty, the skeptics claim we cannot have knowledge about the real world. Thus, the skeptics think that Descartes’s arguments for skepticism are stronger than his proposed answers. Such a philosopher was David Hume, whom we will encounter later when we examine empir EXAMINING THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF SKEPTICISM Positive Evaluation 1. Weeding a garden is not sufficient to make flowers grow, but it does do something valuable. In what way could the skeptics be viewed as providing a â€Å"philosophical weeding service† by undercutting beliefs that are naively taken for granted? 2. The skeptics are unsettling because they force us to reexamine our most fundamental beliefs. Is it better to live in naive innocence, never questioning anything, or is it sometimes worthwhile to have your beliefs challenged? Negative Evaluation 1. The skeptics make the following claim: â€Å"Knowledge is impossible. † But isn’t this claim itself a knowledge claim that they declare is true? Is the skeptic being inconsistent? 2. The skeptics use the argument from illusion to show that we cannot trust our senses. But could we ever know that there are illusions or that sometimes our senses are deceived  unless there were occasions when our senses weren’t deceived? 3. Some skeptics would have us believe that it is possible that all our beliefs are false. But would the human race have survived if there was never a correspondence between some of our beliefs and the way reality is constituted? We believe that fire burns, water quenches thirst, vegetables nourish us, and eating sand doesn’t. If we didn’t have some sort of built-in mechanism orienting us toward true beliefs, how could we be as successful as we are in dealing with reality? 4. Is skepticism liveable? Try yelling to someone who claims to be a skeptic, â€Å"Watch out  for that falling tree limb! † Why is it that a skeptic will always look up? Think of other ways in which skeptics might demonstrate that they do believe they can find out what is true or false about the world. 5. Is Descartes’s demand for absolute certainty unreasonable? Can’t we have justified beliefs based on inferences to the best explanation, probability, or practical certainty? Does certainty have to be either 100 percent or 0 percent? The answer is that our reason tells us that â€Å"something cannot come from nothing† and â€Å"material objects do not vanish into thin air. † We will distrust our senses before  we will abandon these beliefs. Hence, our reason seems to have veto power over our sense experience. We often trust our reason even in the face of apparently solid, experiential evidence. The rationalists raise this trust in reason into a full-fledged theory of knowledge. Rationalism is a very influential theory about the source and nature of knowledge. This position may be summarized in terms of the three anchor points of rationalism. These three points are responses to the second question of epistemology, Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? Reason Is the Primary or Most Superior Source of Knowledge about Reality According to the rationalist, it is through reason that we truly understand the fundamental truths about reality. For example, most rationalists would say the truths in the following lists are some very basic truths about the world that will never change. Although our experience certainly does illustrate most of these beliefs, our experiences always consist of par-ticular, concrete events. Hence, no experiences of seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, or touching specific objects can tell us that these statements will always be true for every  future event we encounter. The rationalist claims that the following statements represent a priori truths about the world. They are a priori because they can be known apart from experience, yet they tell us what the world is like. LOGICAL TRUTHS A and not-A cannot both be true at the same time (where A represents some proposition or claim). This truth is called the law of noncontradiction. (For example, the statement â€Å"John is married and John is not married† is necessarily false. ) If the statement X is true and the statement â€Å"If X, then Y† is true, then it necessarily follows that the statement Y is true. MATHEMATICAL TRUTHS. The area of a triangle will always be one-half the length of the base times its height. If X is larger than Y and Y is larger than Z, then X is larger than Z. METAPHYSICAL TRUTHS Every event has a cause. An object with contradictory properties cannot exist. (No matter how long we search, we will never find a round square. ) ETHICAL PRINCIPLES Some basic moral obligations are not optional. It is morally wrong to maliciously torture someone for the fun of it. Sense Experience Is an Unreliable and Inadequate Route to Knowledge Rationalists typically emphasize the fact that sense experience is relative, changing, and often illusory. An object will look one way in artificial light and will look different in sunlight. Our eyes seem to see water on the road on a hot day, but the image is merely an optical illusion. The rationalist claims that we need our reason to sort out what is appearance from what is reality. Although it is obvious that a rationalist could not get through life without some reliance on sense experience, the rationalist denies that sense experience is the only source of knowledge about reality. Furthermore, experience can tell us only about particular things in the world. However, it cannot give us universal, foundational truths  about reality. Sensory experience can tell me about the properties of this ball, but it cannot tell me about the properties of spheres in general. Experience can tell me that when I combine these two oranges with those two oranges, they add up to four oranges. However, only reason can tell me that two plus two will always equal four and that this result will be true not only for these oranges, or all oranges, but for anything whatsoever. The Fundamental Truths about the World Can Be Known A Priori: They Are Either Innate or Self-Evident to Our Minds Innate ideas are ideas that are inborn. They are ideas or principles that the mind already contains prior to experience. The notion of innate ideas is commonly found in rationalistic philosophies, but it is rejected by the empiricists. The theory of innate ideas views the mind like a computer that comes from the factory with numerous programs already loaded on its disk, waiting to be activated. Hence, rationalists say that such ideas as the laws of logic, the concept of justice, or the idea of God are already contained deep within the mind and only need to be brought to the level of conscious awareness. Innate ideas should not be confused with instinct. Instinct is a noncognitive set of mechanical behaviors, such as blinking the eyes when an object approaches them. The theory of innate ideas is one account of how we can have a priori knowledge. Other rationalists believe that if the mind does not already contain these ideas, they are, at least, either self-evident or natural to the mind and the mind has a natural predisposition to recognize them. For example, Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716), a German rationalist, compared the mind to a block of marble that contains veins or natural splitting points that allow only one sort of shape to be formed within it. Thus, the mind, like the marble, has an innate structure that results in â€Å"inclinations, dispositions, habits, or natural capacities† to think in certain ways. In contrast to this view, John Locke (a British empiricist) said: â€Å"There is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses. † In response, Leibniz tagged the following rationalistic qualification at the end of Locke’s formula, â€Å"except for the intellect itself. † Obviously, in saying that the mind contains rational ideas or dispositions, the rationalists do not believe a baby is thinking about the theorems of geometry. Instead, they claim  that when a person achieves a certain level of cognitive development, he or she will be capable of realizing the self-evident truth of certain ideas. Leibniz pointed out that there is a difference between the mind containing rational principles and being aware of them. Rationalists give different accounts of how the mind acquired innate ideas in the first place. Socrates and Plato believed that our souls preexisted our current life and received knowledge from a previous form of existence. Theistic rationalists, such as Descartes, tend to believe that God implanted these ideas within us. Others simply claim that these principles or ideas naturally accompany rational minds such as ours. THE RATIONALISTS’ ANSWERS TO THE THREE EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS Section 2. 0 contained three questions concerning knowledge: (1) Is knowledge possible? (2) Does reason provide us with knowledge of the world independently of experience? and (3) Does our knowledge represent reality as it really is? While differing on the details, all the rationalists give the same answers to these three questions. First, they all believe that knowledge is possible. Generally, we are able to discern that some opinions are better than others. For example, in the discipline of mathematics some answers are true and some are false. We could not know this fact if obtaining knowledge was impossible. Second, the rationalists agree that only through reason can we find an adequate basis for knowledge. For example, in mathematics and logic we are able through reason alone to arrive at truths that are absolutely certain and necessarily true. Third, rationalists agree that beliefs that are based on reason do represent reality as it truly is. In the following sections, I examine three classical rationalists to see how they illustrate the three anchor points of rationalism and  answer the three epistemological questions. Socrates’ answers to the three epistemological questions should be clear. (1) We are able to distinguish true opinions from false ones, so we must know the standards for making this distinction. (2) These standards could not be derived from experience so they must be unpacked through a rational investigation of the reservoir of all truth—the soul. (3) Since our rational knowledge provides us with information that enables us to deal successfully with the world and our own lives, it must be giving us an accurate picture of reality. However, according to Plato, since the  physical world is constantly changing, sense perception gives us only relative and temporary information about changing, particular things. Being a typical rationalist, Plato thought that ultimate knowledge must be objective, unchanging, and universal. Furthermore, he argued that there is a difference between true opinions and knowledge, for our beliefs must be rationally justified to qualify as knowledge. Finally, Plato believed that the object of knowledge must be something that really exists. Plato and the Role of Reason Do mathematical truths, such as those in the multiplication tables, exist within the mind or do they exist outside the mind? Plato would say both. If mathematical truths exist only in the mind, then why does physical reality conform to these truths? If mathematical truths are only mind-dependent ideas, then why can’t we make the truths about triangles be anything we decide them to be? The world of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was created in the mind of Lewis Carroll. He could have made the world’s properties be anything he decided. But obviously, we can’t make up such rules for the properties of numbers. We don’t create these truths; we discover them. Thus, Plato would argue, these truths are objective and independent of our minds. But if they are independent of our minds, then they must refer to something that exists in reality. Although the number seven, for example, has objective properties that we discover, these properties are not physical. We do not learn the truths about numbers by seeing, tasting, hearing, smelling, or touching them. From this concept, Plato concludes that the world of mathematics consists of a set of objective, mindindependent truths and a domain of nonphysical reality that we know only through reason. What about justice? What color is it? How tall is it? How much does it weigh? Clearly, these questions can apply to physical things, but it is meaningless to describe justice in terms of observable properties. Furthermore, no society is perfectly just. Hence, we have never seen an example of perfect justice in human history, only frail, human attempts to approximate it. Because reason can contemplate Justice Itself,* we can evaluate the deficient, limited degrees of justice found in particular societies. Particular nations come and go and the degree of justice they manifest can rise or fall. But the objects of genuine knowledge  such as true Justice or true Circularity are eternal and unchanging standards and objects of knowledge. Plato on Universals and the Knowledge of Reality Thus far, Plato has argued that there are some things that we could not know about (Justice, Goodness, Equality) if experience was our only source of knowledge. The soul must have somehow acquired knowledge independently of the senses. But what, exactly, are the objects of this special sort of knowledge? In answering this question, Plato builds on the distinction he has made between the here-and-now realm of sense experience and the unchanging realm of rational knowledge. He says that in the world of sense experience we find that particulars fall into a number of stable, universal categories. Without these categories, we could not identify anything or talk about particulars at all. For example, Tom, Andre, Maria, and Lakatria are all distinct individuals, yet we can use the universal term human being to refer to each of them. In spite of their differences, something about them is the same. Corresponding to each common name (such as â€Å"human,† â€Å"dog,† â€Å"justice†) is a Universal that consists of the essential, common properties of anything within that category. Circular objects (coins, rings, wreathes, planetary orbits) all have the Universal of Circularity in common. Particular objects that are beautiful (roses, seashells, persons, sunsets, paintings) all share the Universal of Beauty. Particulars come into being, change, and pass away but Universals reside in an eternal, unchanging world. The rose grows from a bud, becomes a beautiful flower, and then turns brown and ugly and fades away. Yet the Universal of Beauty (or Beauty Itself ) remains eternally the same. Plato believes that Universals are more than concepts, they are actually the constituents  of reality. Hence, in answer to the third epistemological question, Plato believes that knowledge of Universals provides us with knowledge of the fundamental features of reality, which are nonphysical, eternal, and unchanging. Plato also refers to these Universals as â€Å"Forms. † The following thought experiment will help you appreciate Plato’s emphasis on Universals and universal truth. Descartes on the Possibility of Knowledge Although Descartes was certain he could not be deceived about his own existence, the possibility of a Great Deceiver cast a shadow over all his other beliefs. Unless he could find something external to his mind that would guarantee that the contents of his mind represented reality, there was little hope for having any knowledge other than that of his own existence. Descartes sought this guarantee in an all-powerful, good God. Hence, Descartes says, â€Å"As soon as the opportunity arises I must examine whether there is a God, and, if there is, whether he can be a deceiver. For if I do not know this, it seems that I can never be quite certain about anything else. †12 If Descartes could prove that such a God exists, then he could know that knowledge is possible. But notice how limited are the materials Descartes has at his disposal for proving God’s existence. He cannot employ an empirical argument based on the nature of the external world, for that is an issue that is still in doubt. So, he must construct a rationalistic argument that reasons only from the contents of his own mind. STOP AND THINK Descartes on the Role of Reason In the following passage from Meditation III, Descartes says the â€Å"natural light of reason† shows him that (1) something cannot arise from nothing and (2) there must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect. †¢ What examples does he use to illustrate each of these principles? †¢ How does he apply these two principles to the existence of his own ideas? The argument that Descartes has given us in the previous passages can be summarized in this way: 1. Something cannot be derived from nothing. (In other words, all effects, including ideas, are caused by something. ) 2. There must be at least as much reality in the cause as there is in the effect. 3. I have an idea of God (as an infinite and perfect being). 4. The idea of God in my mind is an effect that was caused by something. 5.  I am finite and imperfect, and thus I could not be the cause of the idea of an infinite and perfect God. 6. Only an infinite and perfect being could be the cause of such an idea. 7. Therefore, God (an infinite and perfect being) exists. THE THREE ANCHOR POINTS OF EMPIRICISM The Only Source of Genuine Knowledge Is Sense Experience The empiricists compare the mind to a blank tablet upon which experience makes its marks. Without experience, they claim, we would lack not only knowledge of the specific features of the world, but also the ability even to conceive of qualities such.