Package Marking RFID 351 wk 8 forum Research Paper

Package Marking RFID 351 wk 8 forum - Research Paper Example For long RFID has been of great influence especially in manufacturing and packaging industries in that, their tags are fixed on any object and used to track as well as manage any inventory, as well as assets. However, RFID can be used in a variety of applications including tracking of goods, access management, contactless payment, toll collections, smart dust, and verification of authenticity, airport tracking logistics, and timing sporting events (Angell, 2006). While RFID is presently utilized within an expansive scope of uses, stress is moving progressively to use in the store network. RFID can have an immense effect on every feature of inventory system administration from the common, for example, moving merchandise through stacking docks, to the overwhelming, for example, overseeing terabytes of information as data about products close by is gathered continuously. The impact of RFID on the supply chain leads to optimization and enhancement of passenger experience especially in airports (Angell, 2006). In conclusion, RFID technology as the Radio frequency identification system that transmits a unique serial number termed as identity on a wireless platform and by help of radio waves eases the total operation in the packaging industry and saves time for any work in progress for any prevailing industry. This in turn leads to profit maximization since supply chain is of great influence and in continuous perception that the consumers receive their preferences just on

Personality psychology Essay Example for Free

Personality psychology Essay Abstract Carl Gustav Jung has influenced many facets of modern psychology and counseling with his unique spiritual approach to personality theory. Herein lies a biographical address of Jungs life, a comprehensive overview of the principle tenets of his personality theories, and a Christian evaluation of his work. Specific attention is given to comparing and contrasting Jungs theory of a collective unconscious with a Christians understanding of the spiritual world. In addition, a guide is provided to Christians looking to mine Jungs work for techniques that might help their clients, while at the same time avoiding others that cannot coincide with orthodox Christian beliefs. EVALUATING JUNG FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE Evaluating Jung From A Christian Perspective Carl Jung lived a very interesting life, and has provided the fields of psychology and counseling with valuable perspective and insight. A modern Christian psychologist or counselor would do well to mine Jungs theories for useful application today. The difficulty is found in moving past Jungs cloud of mysticism and properly applying orthodox Christian beliefs to Jungs work. The Life Story of Jung Boyhood Carl Gustav Jung was born in 1875 in Kessnil, Switzerland (Jung, 1989). It is quite telling that very early in Jungs autobiography he describes how he came to his understanding of Jesus as a boy. Jung (1989) described how the natural dangers around his home led to untimely deaths, how his father presided over these funerals, and how Jung lost trust in Jesus because Jesus allowed or caused these people to die. He admits, â€Å"In later years and until my confirmation, I made every effort to force myself to take the required positive attitude to Christ. But I could never succeed in overcoming my secret distrust† (Jung, 1989, pp. 13-14). Jung wrote his autobiography while he was in his eighties and only a few years before he died. Either Jung was a little boy particularly sensitive to his faith, or as an old man he superimposed some of his mature hostility to Christianity onto his memories of early life. Either way, it seems Jung would admit that he was never a Christian. Another strange phenomenon in Jungs early life was a strange experience he described as occurring while he was around eight or nine years old and playing on a favorite rock he had: Often, when I was along, I saw down on this stone, and then began an imaginary game that went something like this: â€Å"I am sitting on top of this stone and it is underneath. † But the stone also could say â€Å"I† and think: â€Å"I am lying here on this slope and he is sitting on top of me. † The question then arose: â€Å"Am I the one who is sitting on the stone, or am I the stone on which he is sitting? † (Jung, 1989, p. 20) It is possible to dismiss this event as a childs whimsy and miss the significant dissociative quality that affected Jung. As if Jung anticipated this, he follows this memory with another even more emphatic. He carved a two-inch long manikin out of his school ruler, dressed it, made a stone for it, and secretly hid it in his attic (Jung, 1989). His thoughts show how divided and anxious his personality had become. â€Å"No one could discover my secret and destroy it. I felt safe, and the tormenting sense of being at odds with myself was gone† (Jung, 1989, p.21). This introspective dialogue confirms Jung struggled with a personality disorder himself. Young Adulthood and Parents Not surprisingly, these two themes of distrust toward Christianity and an increasingly manifest disorder continued into Jungs formative years. â€Å"As a school boy, Jung began to experience himself and be convinced that he was both the child he objectively seemed to be and also an authoritative wise old man who had lived in the eighteenth century† (Sollod, Wilson, Monte, 2009, p. 157). According to Sollod et al. (2009) while trying to understand himself, Jung also struggled with understanding his parents and his home life. Jungs father was a pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church who struggled with his own faith, and his mother seemed to possess two personalities. Sometimes she was a sweet mother and wife, and at other times she was a â€Å"witch, prophetess, and seeress who communicated with spirits† (Sollod et al. , 2009, p. 157). The two themes most obvious in young Jung are the same two themes that dominated the lives of his parents. EVALUATING JUNG FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE Adulthood. Later, Jung (1989) proved to be a good student and was considering a career as a medical man when he was strongly influenced by paranormal events in his house. Curious, he began to attend seances with his family and included these events in his doctoral thesis. After finishing that, Jung (1989) says, â€Å"On December 10, 1900, I took up my post as assistant at Burgholzi Mental Hospital, Zurich† (p. 111). It was there Jung became interested in the mentally ill and Freuds work. Freud and Jung became close, and Jung learned much from Freud. However, a bitterness developed between them and they began to break apart. Sollod et al. explains: By 1913, the break with Freud and the Freudians had become permanent. As we have seen, this period also signaled Jungs development of the most distinctive aspects of his own theorizing and his own personal voyage into the depths of what he termed the â€Å"collective unconscious. † (2009, p. 159) From this association and then public break with Freud, Jung and his ideas began to gain in popularity. He began to develop many independent theories in addition to the collective unconscious, but the basis of his personality theories remain rooted in Freudian thought. Still, most of Jungs theories were inspired from his own personal, spiritual experiences (Boa, 2004, p. 97). Jungs Theories The Collective Unconscious It is good to begin discussing Jungs theories in relation to his break with Freud. We can draw from our understanding of Freud the concepts of psycho-sexual unconscious drives, repression, and the id, ego, and superego to gain an understanding of where Jung began. Jung looked deeper into the concept of the unconscious and found a collective element there: If we analyze the persona we remove the mask and discover that what appeared to be an individual is at bottom collective. We thus trace â€Å"the Little God of the World† back to his origin, that is, to a personification of the collective psyche. Finally, to our astonishment, we realize that the persona was only the mask of the collective psyche. Whether we follow Freud and reduce the primary impulse to sexuality, or Adler and reduce it to the elementary desire for power, or reduce it to the general principle of the collective psyche which contains the principles of both Freud and Adler, we arrive at the same result: namely, the dissolution of the personal into the collective. (Jung, 2008, p.38) Jung believed this collective unconscious was a natural result of the evolutionary process in humans, and therefore â€Å"is morally and aesthetically neutral and should not be regarded as an enemy to be avoided† (Boa, 2004, p. 97). Christian Response To The Collective Unconscious Jungs collective unconscious might excite the Christian who is thinking of the biblical descriptions of angels, demons, heaven, hell, and the entire spiritual world. Is Jung tapping into a part of all of us that comprehends these spiritual things? Both the Christians understanding of the spiritual world and Jungs collective unconscious are unseen. And both views believe all humanity participates or will participate in their unseen world. However, Jungs view is specifically amoral, whereas Scripture describes Gods revealed morality for humans in the material world and angels and demons in the spirit world (2 Pet 2:410 NASB). For the collective unconscious to encompass all the Christian understands about the spiritual world, it would have to be under Gods authority and therefore moral. A Christian understands God as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, and thus God would have sovereignty over the collective unconscious if it did exist. In addition, a Christians understanding of the spirit world is that it exists as a real space even though it cannot be seen. A Christian believes this spirit world cannot be entered by a human voluntarily. These two beliefs are antithetical to Jungs understanding of the collective unconscious. Not only does Jung claim to have voluntarily entered the collective unconscious, but much of his later work is based on his return from this place including a mysterious little red book. His writings in that red book were very different from most of his professional work: Instead, the book was a kind of phantasmagoric morality play, driven by Jungs own wish not just to chart a course out of the mangrove swamp of his inner world but also to take some of its riches with him. It was this last part – the idea that a person might move beneficially between the poles of the rational and irrational, the light and the dark, the conscious and the unconscious – that provided the germ for his later work and for what analytical psychology would become. (Corbett, 2009,  ¶ 16). The orthodox Christian is forced to conclude that Jungs theory of a collective unconscious has no bearing on the reality of the spiritual world. Archetypes Jung, however, believed in the reality of the collective unconscious and devoted much of his life to its experience and study. From this work came his understanding of archetypes. He defined archetypes loosely as primal images and experiences shared in humanitys unconscious world (Sollod et al. , 2009, pp. 161-162). These archetypes include names such as the Mother, the Trickster, the Shadow, the Hero, the Anima, and the Animus. Freud believed archetypes on the unconscious side and instincts on the conscious side combined to drive a human (Boa, 2004, p. 159). Or, put another way, Daryl Sharp (2001) explains an archetype is â€Å" a universal tendency to form certain ideas and images and to behave in certain ways. Instincts are the physiological counterparts of archetypes† (p. 14). The general and inclusive nature of the collective unconscious and archetypes made Jung popular among secular and religious spiritualists. Here was a theory they could united behind and put its tenets to work in a practical psychology. Christian Response To The Archetypes Jung easily used the idea of archetypes to interact with Christianity. All of the major historical figures and many icons associated with Christianity can all be explained through archetypes. However at its core Jungs creation of archetypes is not compatible with Christianity as Boa (2004) explains: Disagreement exists among theologians as to whether Jungs system repudiates or is compatible with Christianity, some arguing that it undermines biblical authority, and others claiming that it illuminates and enhances the Christian message. However, the psychological interpretation of Christianity in works like Symbols of Transformation and Answer to Job denounces the scriptural portrait of Yahweh and Christ and rejects traditional Christianity as inadequate for modern culture. (p. 101) The orthodox Christian must not reduce God to the status of one archetype among many, and is encouraged to view the historical figures mentioned in the Bible as literal. One may also study Jung further to read of his aversion to orthodox Christianity more clearly. Word Association Test. Whereas Freud relied on hypnosis and forcing a subject to concentrate to draw out unconscious tangles in a person, Jung developed a word association test. Jung would provide the subject with a card with a stimulus word written on it, would ask the subject to respond to the word, and would record reaction times. This method was very successful in identifying unconscious problems. Jung would later improve on this technique to measure more physical responses from the subject (Sollod et al. , 2009, p. 148). Christian Response To The Word Association Test. Jungs word association test would be improved on and expanded to the many different versions of psychological tests we see today. This method, and methods like it, are useful in determining where a client might need to focus or might be hurting and not realize it. This test would be particularly useful with children or with clients who are unaware of the nature of their psychological baggage. Unlike the incompatable differences associated with the collective unconscious and archetypes theories, the word association test is a useful tool that any Christian should consider. The Introvert and the Extrovert. Jung also developed a model for understanding personality types by observing the differences between Freud and Adler. Jung believed there was a continuum between introversion and extroversion and that everyone fell on a different place on that continuum. Jung also broke those two general types into more specific types, and used this model to fit personalities into categories (Sollod et al. , 2009, pp. 166-171). Later Hans Eysenck, influenced by behaviorist and cognitive schools of thought regarding personality theory, expanded on Jungs ideas of introversion and extroversion. He performed tests that partially confirmed the basis of Jungs descriptions, and then described how the ideas Jung postulated had been around since the times of ancient Greece. Nevertheless, Eysencks evaluation and expansion of Jungs work has led to an understanding of personality types that is useful today Sollod et al. , 2009, pp. 501-506). In addition, â€Å"Web sites based on the dimensions Jung outlined have proliferated, and one can find a number of well-researched tests of Jungian types. Foremost among these are the Myers-Briggs test and the Kiersey temperament survey† (Sollod et al. , 2009, p. 170). Christian Response To The Introvert and Extrovert Types Similar to the word association test, Jungs formulation and the subsequent development of personalty type theories based on introversion and extroversion are helpful diagnostic tools. While observing the view that a human does not completely fit into a single personality type, and humans personalities change, these tools should be utilized in a modern psychology or counseling setting in addition to usual methods. A Christian can counsel another Christian with scripture in truth and love while better understanding that client in terms of their general personality bent. Summary There is no doubt that Carl Gustav Jung lived a troubled life and regularly interacted with the occult. Were he alive today, its likely the fields of psychology and counseling would treat him more as a patient than a contributor. Nevertheless, his ideas and views help shape each of those fields and influenced many others who also helped shape those fields. A Christian would do well to mine Jungs life and work through a filer of orthodox belief. Even though Jung was a nonbeliever, a troubled man, and was hostile to orthodox Christianity, his unique insights are still useful in doing Gods will in todays world. After studying Jung, a counselor is better equipped to help people. References Boa, K. (2004). Augustine to Freud: What theologians psychologists tell us about human nature and why it matters. Nashville, TN: BH Publishing Group. Corbett, S. (2009, September 16). The Holy Grail of the Unconscious. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com Jung, C. (2008). The Conception of the Unconscious. In M. W. Schustack H. S. Friedman (Eds. ), The Personality Reader, (2nd ed. , pp. 36-40). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Jung, C. (1989). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Vintage Books. Sharp, D. (2001). Digesting Jung: Food for the journey. Toronto, ON: Inner City Books. Sollod, R. N. , Wilson J. P. , Monte C. F. (2009). Beneath The Mask? : An introduction to theories of personality (8th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.

Freudian Analysis of Marigolds Essay -- Marigolds

Freudian Analysis of Marigolds  Ã‚   Most of the time there is a moment in life where one realizes they have lost all innocence and gained some compassion.   â€Å"Marigolds† shows how one young girl transferred from a child to young adult through her life experiences.   Throughout this story another young, but at the same time old in her prime, lady’s experiences are revealed:   the author’s.   In this short story, â€Å"Marigolds,† Eugenia Collier’s subconscious is unmasked through symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s actions. In the beginning, the author explains how this young girl, Lizabeth, lived in the culturally deprived neighborhood during the depression.   Lizabeth is at the age where she is just beginning to become a young woman and is almost ready to give up her childish ways.   Through this time period she was confused and could not quite understand what was happening to her.   In the end she rips Miss Lottie’s marigolds among the ugly place in which she lived.   The marigolds were the only things that make the place a bit beautiful to the eye.   In this scene the marigolds represent the only hope the people had for themselves in this time of depression.   This could reveal how the author has experienced a loss of hope in times of need.   In her explanation of how Lizabeth had torn up the flowers and destroyed all hope in that time of depression, might explain that she has also destroyed hope in a time of pain and grief.   Later she writes, â€Å"And I too have planted ma rigolds.†Ã‚   This could mean she has learned from her experiences and that she has finally found hope and always tries to seek the good within the bad and the ugly.   On another note, it could mean she just wants to act out on something, but she can’t, so she writes about her... ...her and even her mother because she says â€Å"†¦nor did I notice my mother’s absence, for she always worked until well into the evening.†Ã‚   Since she had Lizabeth go to her brother instead of her parents, it may have described the way she dealt with her problems.   Not wanting to go to her parents for help.   As one can see, the actions of Lizabeth can tell a lot about the author. Finally, the impact of harsh times during the depression affected Eugenia Collier considerably.   Through that experience she did grow up and made a realization that may have taken others a very long time to conceive.   I did learn more about the author just by reading what she had to say through â€Å"Marigolds.†Ã‚   The symbolism, diction, and Lizabeth’s actions and reactions to things helped to reveal her subconscious and could make one aware of the difficulties and hardships during this era.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Evaluating the Historical Capital Budgeting Method Essay

Currently AES employs Project Finance Framework. Project finance tends to be used in projects with tangible assets with predictable cash flows in which construction and operating targets can be easily established through explicit contract. The key to AES projects financing lies with the precise forecasting of cash flows. In effect, the possibility of estimating cash flows with an acceptable level of uncertainty allows for allocation of risks among various interested parties. The ensuing certainty in cash flows allows for high level of leverage and enables project assets to be separated from the parent company. Let us now take a closer look at the pros and cons of the Capital Budgeting System currently in place. Principal Advantages Non-Recourse The separation of the parent company is structured through the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). This SPV is the formal borrower under all loan documents so that in event of default or bankruptcy AES is not directly responsible before financial creditors. Instead, their legal claims are against the SPV assets. Maximize Leverage Currently AES seeks to finance the cost of development and construction of the project on highly leveraged basis. High leveraged in non-recourse project financing permits AES to put less in capital to put at risk permits AES to finance the project without diluting its equity investment in the project. Off-Balance Sheet Treatment AES may not be required to report any of the project debt on its balance sheet because such debt is non-recourse. Off balance sheet treatment can have the added practical benefit of helping the AES comply with covenants and restriction relating to borrowing funds contained in loan agreements to which AES is also a party. Agency Cost The agency costs of free cash flow are reduced. Management incentives are to project performance. Most importantly close monitoring by investors is facilitated. Multilateral Financial Institutions One of the four constituents that have contractual arrangement with the SPV in a typical project are the banks (an integral part group of financiers that include share holders, insurers, equipment manufacturers, export credit agencies and funds). Among these banks there are multilateral financial institutions (like IFC, CAF and etc). Presence of these institutions as financiers helps in raising capital from these institutes at lower cost and secondly it is also read as a positive sign by commercial banks. Drawbacks Projects V/S Division The company is not only expanding its geographical boundaries, but it is also diversifying its business through backward and forward integration. The current financial model does not provide the AES with the big picture, which now constitutes more number of variables that are being influenced by multiple factors due to the increase in depth and breadth of the organization. Complexity Financing of projects requires involvement of a number of parties. They can be quite complex and can be expensive to arrange. Secondly it demands greater amount of management time. Macroeconomic Risk The current methodology employed by AES for capital budgeting does not take into account the exchange rate risk. This risk will be of higher magnitude in the developing countries because of their unstable monetary and fiscal policies[2]. As we have seen that fluctuation in exchange rate has greatly hurt the AES business and they were unable to mitigate this risk as they haven’t anticipated it. This risk becomes important when the exchange rate fluctuation affects balance sheet items unequally. Thus keeping check on the foreign exchange rate requires timely adjustment of both the items of revenue and expenditure, and those of assets and liabilities in different currencies. Political Risk: This is another important factor which the current financial management system does not take into account. This will be of significant importance when it comes to investing in developing countries where frequent changes in government policies occur. Does this system make sense? The financial strategy employed by AES was historically based on project finance. This approach solely took into account those factors that minimized AES exposure to the project and achieved the most beneficial regulatory treatment thus ensuring availability of financial resources to complete the project. The model worked well for the domestic market as well as for the international operations, provided the opportunities undertook by AES were either in the sector of building and running a power plant or simply buying an existing facility and upgrading it and then operating. The underlying assumption over here was that the symmetrical and asymmetrical risks faced by the project were more or less same irrespective of its geographical location (Refer to Exhibit 3). However when AES started diversifying the breadth of its operations by incorporating other offshoots of energy related business and transforming from a cogeneration to a more utility organization with majority of expansion occurring in developing economies. This diversification of business increased the symmetrical risks like business risk, a classic example of which we see in Brazil where AES experience shortfall in demand /sales volume due to Energy Conservation Policy of Brazilian government and this had a chain effect on debt servicing capacity of the SPV as well the stock price of the parent company. Other factor that current model was not able to include was the risk of devaluation of currency in developing economies which resulted in significant losses due to the inability of the company to survive its international debt obligations. Expansion in developing economies also exposed the business to political risk where the policies change erratically with changes in government. Hence we see that the geographical diversification of business causes asymmetrical risk to increase causing bimodal behavior in the result. Project financing becomes less recommendable as a symmetrical risk becomes more manifest. This constitutes a problem for emerging countries where these risks tends to be at the forefront. Lal Pir Project Valuation Scenario 1: Pakistan In order to calculate the value of project for the Lal Pir project in Pakistan, we first need to calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) using the new proposed methodology. For this we have followed the approach given in exhibit 8 of the case. The first step is to calculate the value of levered ? using the formula and information given in the case[3]. The value of the levered ? comes out to be 0. 3852 or 38. 52%, which essentially means that our project is not very highly correlated to the market return. Using this value of ? we now calculate the cost of Equity (refer Exhibit 4A). We have used the return on U. S. Treasury Bond (i. e. 4. 5%) as the risk free return in calculating the cost of equity. The cost of equity comes out to be 0. 072 and similarly, using the risk free return and the default spread (given in exhibit 7a of case) we calculate the cost of debt which comes out to be 0. 0807. It is important to note that the cost of debt and the cost of equity also need to be adjusted for the sovereign spread (0. 0990 for Pakistan). Once we have the adjusted costs of equity and capital we can now calculate the WACC for the project using the formula given in case where we essentially multiply equity and debt ratio with the adjusted costs of equity and debt respectively[4]. The WACC in this scenario comes out to be 0. 1595 or 15. 95%. However, now we need to adjust this WACC for the risks associated with doing the project in Pakistan and we do this by using Table A given in the case. We know that the total Risk Score for Pakistan is 1. 425 and since there is a linear relationship between business specific risk scores and cost of capital[5] we need to adjust our WACC by 7. 125% thus making our final WACC 23. 075%, using which we calculate our NPV (refer to Exhibit 6) from the year 2004 to 2023, and it comes out to be negative $234. 34 million. Scenario 2: USA For USA similar calculations are made to calculate the WACC (Exhibit 4B). However there are two things that are different. First we see the sovereign spread is equal to zero. Secondly, in this case we would need to calculate the business risk using the information given in exhibit 7a of the case (refer to Exhibit 5). This score comes out to be 0. 64 and using this score, our business risk comes out to be 3. 23% and adding it to our calculated value of WACC, we get our final WACC of 9. 64%. Using this we calculate our NPV for USA which comes out to be negative $ 35. 92 million (refer to Exhibit 7). Adjusted Cost of Capital and Probabilities of Real Events in Pakistan In calculating the adjusted cost of capital for Pakistan the WACC is adjusted for six common types of risks: Operational, Counterparty, Regulatory, Construction, Commodity, Currency and Legal. We can clearly see from table A given in the case that besides construction there is a probability of all these risks actually effecting the project in Pakistan. In these, the highest probability is that of currency risk and the legal risk. The adjusted cost that we have calculated is adjusted by the total risk score for Pakistan. There is a linear relationship between the total risk score and adjustment to the cost of capital, i. e. a score of 1 leads to an adjustment of 500 basis points in the WACC. When we calculate the WACC for Pakistan through traditional formula it comes out to be 15. 95%, however in order to incorporate the risk factor associated with Pakistan we need to adjust it for the Total Risk Score, which in this case is 1. 425. So we simply multiply this by 500 and we find out that we need to adjust our WACC 23. 075%. Since this 23. 075% is adjusted using the total risk score we can safely assume that it incorporates for the probability of the afro-mentioned six types of risks in WACC with respect to Pakistan. Discount Rate Adjustment: USA v/s Pakistan As mentioned earlier the discount rate is adjusted based on the total risk score of the country. This total risk score is compiled from 6 main types of risks, the probability of which varies from country to country. If we simply compare the risk scores for USA and Pakistan[6], we can see that there is a major difference between the risk profiles of both the countries. For instance, while currency, regulatory and legal risks are significantly high in Pakistan, they do not exist in the USA at all. Also we see that operational, counterparty and commodity risks are higher in USA as compared to Pakistan. Similarly when the respective WACCs of the two countries are adjusted for their risk we see that the adjusted WACC for Pakistan (23. 075%) is much higher as opposed to that of USA (9. 64%), which essentially implies that Pakistan is inherently a riskier country to invest in as opposed to the USA and any investments made in this region would have to cross a higher hurdle rate than if they were made in the US region.

Mathway

Street, the collection of short stories by Walter Dean Myers. (From Amazon. Com review) â€Å"Walter Dean Emery's book of interconnected short stories is a sweet and sour mix of the comedy and tragedy of the human condition, played out against the backdrop of the Harlem neighborhood that is centered around 45th Street†¦ Myers frankly discusses the consequences of violence, drive-boys and gang war through his articulate characters, but tempers these episodes with such a love of his fictional community that every character shines wrought with the hope and strength off survivor.Changing his point of view from teen to adult and back again through each vignette, Myers successfully builds a bridge of understanding between adolescents and adults that will help each group better understand the problems of the other. [It] beautifully illustrates the good that can come out of a community that stands together. † Summary: An unnamed narrator tells the story of Monkey, one of the narr ator's friends and a resident of 45th Street. Monkey's bookishness sets him apart from many of his peers, as does his illnesses to interfere with the Tigris gang, which is trying to take over the neighborhood.When Monkey prevents one of the Lady Tigris from attacking his friend Peaches with a knife, the Tigris set out to get revenge. Monkey appears to accept the Tigris' challenge to fight, but when he arrives at the scene he shocks everyone, his friends included, by taking a position of non-violence. Monkey Is injured in the fight and its aftermath, but the narrator discovers that Monkey has done this to prove a point, which teaches the narrator some Important lessons about courage and community.

Arab-American essays

Arab-American essays Writing a self-reflective tirade is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks to perform. The part of my life that I am going to make known to you, is a subject that I myself have been wondering about. I have found myself pondering this topic for an unusually long time; I decided to write about my culture the one thing about myself which I understand the least. This question which is so easy for others to answer often leads me into a series of complicated explanations, "I was born in the U.S., to an American mother and an Arabic father. I am now nearly twenty-six, which means I have spent half of my life being Arabic, and the other half trying to be American, or is it the other way around? I do not consider myself Arab-American. I am too "Americanized" to be Arabic, (although by birthright, I am American). So what does all this have to do with my culture, what does a label really matter to cultural identity? It matters much. I believe that this seemingly trivial confusion over labels reveals the even greater confusion that surrounds my cultural identity: Am I a bridge between these two multifaceted cultures, or have I become a mosaic displaying colors from here and there, and elsewhere too? Perhaps both, and I could be a colorful bridge, or perhaps neither. Whatever the case, I cannot seem to separate these absolutely disparate realities within me. Their forces are still clashing, coming together within me, creating an extraordinary mystery out of me. I believe that to truly analyze my culture, the roots of this confusion must be explored. I must try to encompass the widths of two worlds, their unique interactions within me...which I hope constitute what is called cu lture. I am an alien of sorts. I am an alien in my own country... but what is my own country? I am an alien wherever I go. In the Middle East, my lack of Arabic reveals my American leanings. In the U.S., my appearance has marked me as a "minority." Being bi-cultu ...

Conflicts Being a College Student Essay Example

Conflicts Being a College Student Essay Example Conflicts Being a College Student Essay Conflicts Being a College Student Essay Patrice Williams November 12, 2013 Conflicts of A College Student The daily life of a college student is filled with many conflicts. To begin with, students face everyday conflicts such as having transportation, family issues, financial problems, and also lack of focus and responsibility. In college if one is without a car or a reliable source of transportation every day, it can really affect them in school. One might could have a car but it is currently broke down or someone said they were willing to provide the transportation but possibly not showing up. For example, Nicole’s car has broken down over the weekend now she’s wondering how to get to school Monday morning. Nicole calls her friend Monica to give her a ride to school and then she’ll take the metro back home. This could cause Nicole stress and causing her to take focus off of school work. Second, college students also face family issues and crisis. One could have lost a family member that is causing a lot of stress or grief on their head while attending school. A student may have a family member or friend at home that causes them stress everyday also. For instance, Mark lives at home with Mom, brother, and sister. Conflict may be between everyone at home that causes Mark stress everyday he comes to school. Next, many students come across financial problems during their college life. Some students may lose their job or simply just don’t always have the funds to get by every single day. A student may be on a payment plan every month to pay for school or a student loan. Having everyday issues such as these can cause stress on the mind of a student that he or she doesn’t need while attending college. Take Mya for example, she’s currently in college and is on a payment plan at school to pay her tuition every month, for this current semester. Mya just lost her job and is finding it hard to come up with the money for this coming month; with her also struggling the previous months when she did have a job. This situation is very stressful on Mya and causing her to jeopardize school such as being late, missing assignments, and sometimes not showing up at all. Financial issues can play a huge downfall in a life of a college student. Finally, having a lack of responsibility can cause conflict while attending college. Some students start college but aren’t fully prepared. College students would sometimes start off college as if they were in high school and not strongly aware of the transition. Students hang out and party all night with school being in the morning. They slack on their work and put in high school work ethic instead of College work. Having a lack of focus can also affect students. Conflicts such as all of these can pay a huge part daily in a student’s life.