Gertrude of Shakespeare’s Hamlet Essay -- Character of Gertrude

The Gertrude of Shakespeare’s Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   Is Gertrude, in the Shakespearean drama Hamlet, a bore? A killer’s accomplice? The perfect queen? A dummy? This paper will answer many questions concerning Claudius’ partner on the Danish throne.    In her essay, â€Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging,† Ruth Nevo explains how the hero’s negative outlook toward Gertrude influences his attitude toward Ophelia:    Whereas it is precisely his total inability to know her [Ophelia], or for that matter himself, that the scene, in this theatrically simpler view, would allow us to perceive as the center of his anguish. He is tormented precisely by doubts, not by confirmations. And how indeed should he know what Ophelia is? Is she loving and faithful to him despite parental authority? Or compliant to the latter and therefore false to him? What has she been told about him? Is he not testing her with his hyperbolic declaration:    I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious; with more offenses at my back than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in?    His mother has predisposed him to believe in women’s perfidy, has produced in him a revulsion from sex and the stratagems of sex; he was unable to draw Ophelia’s face by his perusal; she has refused his letters and denied him access; now returns his gifts. What form of devious double-dealing shall he expect? (49-50)    At the outset of the tragedy Hamlet appears dressed in solemn black. His mother, Gertrude, is apparently disturbed by this and requests of him:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Do not for ever with thy vailed... ...loom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Form in Shakespeare. N.p.: Princeton University Press, 1972.    Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Excerpted from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html    Smith, Rebecca. â€Å"Gertrude: Scheming Adulteress or Loving Mother?† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of â€Å"Hamlet†: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.   

Recrystallization and Melting Point Determination

Consider what happens when a solid material is placed in a solvent in which it has a low solubility. Not much! A small fraction of the solid will dissolve, but the rest will just sit there. (Actually, it doesn't just ‘sit there' since an equilibrium is in effect, with solid molecules going into solution, and an equivalent number of dissolved molecules reforming solid, but we see the same amount of undissolved material). How can we get the entire solid to dissolve? One way is to heat the solution — most materials are more soluble in hot solvent than in cold. Suppose we heat to the boiling temperature of the solvent (the highest temperature which is practical), and the entire solid goes into solution. If we now let the solution cool, what will happen? Obviously, at some temperature, the concentration of solute will exceed its solubility, and the solid will start to come back out of solution – it will crystallize. By the time we return to the initial temperature, nearly all of the original material has formed crystals, which can be removed from the solvent by filtration. Now, suppose that the original solid contained small amounts of impurities. These would go into solution as well, but since the impurities are present only in small amounts, they remain soluble when the temperature is lowered again. Thus, the crystals, which come out of solution, are more pure than the original sample. This is the essence of purification by recrystallization (Fig. 1). [pic] Figure 1: An impure solid in: (A) cold solvent in which it has low solubility, (B) solvent that has been warmed up to dissolve all of the solid, and (C) solvent that has cooled down to the original temperature. The crystallized solid is now pure, while the impurities remain in solution. Recrystallization Recrystallization is the preferred method for purification of organic solids. The technique can be used for large or small quantities of materials, and is usually very effective and efficient. The most important aspect of the recrystallization technique is the selection of the solvent. A large number of solvents are commonly used for recrystallization of organic compounds. Among these are water, ethanol, ethyl ether, and hexane to name just a few. A solvent, which works beautifully for one recrystallization, may be totally unsuitable for purification of a different compound – the choice for recrystallization solvent is made on a case-by-case basis. This is because of the variation of solubility of different organic compounds in these solvents. We can identify a set of characteristics which are desirable for a recrystallization solvent: 1. The substance to be purified must have a high solubility in the solvent at its boiling point, and a significantly diminished solubility at lower temperatures (limited only by the freezing temperature of the solvent). Obviously, the first part is necessary so that you can get the material into solution, and the second part is required so that the purified compound will come back out of solution. 2. The solvent should dissolve the impurities at all temperatures. Actually, its OK if the impurity dissolves readily or doesn't dissolve at all, as we'll see. The important point here is that purification will be accomplished only if the impurities remain in solution as the mixture is cooled. This isn't too hard to accomplish if the amount of impurity is small. Obviously, it's a bit more difficult if a large amount of an impurity is present, but if the solubility characteristics of the desired substance are sufficiently different from the impurity, as is often the case, a suitable solvent can usually be found. 3. The solvent must not react with the substance to be purified. It's hard to get your compound to come back out of solution when it is consumed by a reaction. 4. A reasonably volatile solvent is preferred. This consideration is dictated by the need to ultimately remove traces of solvent from the crystals, and this is most easily accomplished by evaporation, either at room temperature or in an oven. Even with an oven to aid in the drying, only moderate temperatures can be used, since you should stay below the melting temperature of the solid, and definitely below temperatures where the material will decompose. Generally speaking, solvents with boiling temperatures below ~150 °C are OK. 5. Ideally, the solvent should be inexpensive, non-toxic, and non-flammable. These are not absolutely required, but desirable characteristics, which can help to determine the choice of a solvent. Obviously, water is an ideal choice based on these criteria, and is the preferred solvent if it satisfies conditions 1-4. How does one go about choosing the proper solvent? If you are dealing with a known compound, it makes sense to use solvents that have been used before. You can go to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (printed or online), and frequently a solvent suitable for recrystallization will be indicated. This may show up in two places: First, in the column headed â€Å"color, crystalline form† is often listed the solvent used to obtain the crystals in question. Otherwise, you can move to the columns near the right-hand side of the page, which deal with solubility. The CRC has changed its presentation of solubility data over the years. For this purpose, the older editions (before 1980) are significantly better than the recent ones. Whereas the new editions simply list solvents in which the compound is soluble, the older ones provide more information, which can be useful in selecting a crystallization solvent. Qualitative indicators for solubility in various solvents range from i (insoluble), d (slightly), s (soluble), to v (very). Especially useful is the fact that some solvents are given two listings, one for hot solvent, the other for cold. What if you are working with a brand-new compound, which is often the case? Here, the only thing to do is try different solvents. The choice of solvents is often more art than science – everybody has their personal favorites based on their own experience, but those mentioned above are typical solvents to try. A small amount of the solid is placed in a test-tube and a few drops of cold solvent are added. If the solid dissolves, you can forget this solvent – you need low solubility at low temperature. If the solid remains, so far, so good, but this is only the beginning. Now the sample is warmed to the boiling point. If the solid dissolves, things look good. The next test is to let this solution cool, and to see if nice crystals actually form. If they do, you're in luck. Further tests with this solvent on larger samples of material can then determine whether the desired degree if purification is achieved, and if the loss of material is acceptable. Sometimes, though, no crystals form. This may be a problem with the rate of crystal nucleation – that event where the first few molecules get together to form the growing crystal. A trick which often works in this case is to take a glass rod and rub vigorously the wall of the test-tube just below the solvent surface. Often, this will stimulate crystal formation, presumably because some of the microscopic scratches serve as nucleation sites. Alternatively, the solution can be ‘seeded' with a few tiny crystals of the substance (if these are available), and then to allow the solution to stand undisturbed until crystal formation is complete. If no crystals form, you must consider the possibility that the substance is too soluble in this solvent, and the fact that it did not dissolve at first may simply be because it dissolves very slowly. If this is the case, it's back to the drawing board with a new solvent. A not-uncommon result is for the solute to separate from solution as an oil which will not crystallize. This annoying situation arises particularly for low-melting solids and frequently results when the solution becomes saturated at a temperature higher than the melting point of the solute. A remedy which is often effective is to ensure that separation does not occur until the solution has cooled below this melting temperature, either by using more solvent or by switching to a different solvent. Once this is settled, scratching and/or seeding are often helpful for obtaining crystalline product. Quite often, a single solvent which gives suitable results cannot be identified. In such cases, the use of mixed solvents (solvent pair) is often successful. Two solvents are chosen, one which dissolves the substance readily, and another in which the solute is only sparingly soluble. Note that the two solvents must be completely miscible. The usual procedure is to dissolve the crude solid in the better solvent at its boiling point, and to add the weaker solvent dropwise until a faint cloudiness persists, indicating that the solute is starting to come out of solution. A few drops more of the better solvent are then added to put the solute back into solution, and the mixture is allowed to cool to effect crystallization. Typical solvent pairs are water and ethanol, or hexane and benzene, where the ‘weaker' solvent is listed first. These mixed solvent systems are interesting — it seems that the solubility characteristics of the better solvent dominate at higher temperatures, while the mixture behaves more like the weaker solvent at lower temperatures. Once the crystallization solvent is chosen, consideration can be given to other features of the crystallization process. The idea is to maximize the recovery of purified compound. Enough solvent must be used to keep the impurities in solution, but if an excessive amount of solvent is used, a large part of the desired compound will remain in solution, and the recovery will be low. For this reason, the minimum amount of hot solvent which will dissolve the desired compound should be used. It is possible to further improve the recovery of material by harvesting a ‘second crop' of crystals. After the purified crystals have been separated by filtration, the filtrate (called the ‘mother liquor') is concentrated by evaporation of ~1/2 – 2/3 of the solvent. On cooling, more of the compound will crystallize, and this can be isolated by filtration. The purity of these crystals is generally not as good as the original crop, since the concentration of the contaminants in the mother liquor is always increasing. The proper apparatus for recrystallization is the Erlenmeyer flask. A beaker is not appropriate. The shape of the Erlenmeyer flask allows swirling of the mixture without sloshing, and the conical walls tend to condense and return refluxing solvent. The flask should not be overfilled – about 60% of the listed capacity is the maximum, and so the flask volume should be chosen accordingly. Decolorizing a Solution and Hot Filtration Special problems are posed by insoluble impurities and highly colored, resinous contaminants. The best way to remove insoluble material is to filter the hot mixture, while the desired material is dissolved. Insoluble debris will be trapped on the filter paper. The colored, resinous impurities are usually large, relatively polar organic molecules which have a strong tendency to be adsorbed on surfaces. Crystals grown from solutions containing such resins are often discolored by surface contamination by these materials, and it is therefore desirable to also remove them from the solution before recrystallization. They can be taken care of by addition of a small amount of powdered, activated charcoal (Norit ® or Darco ®, also decolorizing carbon) to the hot solution before filtering. Decolorizing carbon has a huge surface area, and readily absorbs the colored impurities. The hot filtration then removes the charcoal; the filtrate, now free of this contamination, is allowed to cool and deposit crystals. The decolorizing/hot filtration procedure requires some care. First, the addition of the powdered charcoal to hot solvent can cause a vigorous foaming which may result in loss of some of the solution. This can be avoided if the hot solution is allowed to cool for 15-20 seconds, and the charcoal is added cautiously. Only a small amount of charcoal is required — add too much and significant amounts of the desired compound will also be absorbed, and low recovery will result. After addition of the charcoal, the mixture should be heated to a gentle boil for a few minutes, to ensure that any compound which might have precipitated during cooling is brought back into solution. Filtration of the hot mixture must be done rapidly to avoid crystallization of material on the filter paper or in the funnel. The setup depicted in Figure 2 shows how the filter can be kept hot during filtration. The speed of filtration is enhanced by the use of a ‘fluted' filter paper and a stemless funnel. ‘Fluting' a filter paper is organic chemistry origami and the process is best demonstrated in person. A fluted paper uses the entire surface area of the filter paper, and therefore filters more rapidly than the conventional conical fold. The stem of a funnel is susceptible to clogging by formation of crystals, so a stemless funnel is used. To minimize crystallization in the filter paper it is common to place a small amount of solvent in the receiving flask, and to heat this to boiling during the filtration. The hot vapors help to keep the filter warm. In addition, it is prudent to use about 10% more than the minimum amount of solvent, to account for evaporation during the heating, and to allow for the small amount of cooling which will occur. Finally, the mixture should be poured onto the filter in small portions which will filter within about 30 s, so that excessive cooling does not occur. The [pic] remainder of the mixture is kept heated until it can be poured on the filter. When all of the solvent has been filtered, it is a good idea to rinse the flask and filter with a small portion of fresh, hot solvent (~5 – 10% of the volume already used). This will help to dissolve and pass through the filter any material which has crystallized. The filtrate should be collected in an appropriately sized Erlenmeyer flask. Some crystals may have formed in the flask by the end of the filtration, but these are often very small and not well formed. They should be dissolved by warming the filtrate. The best crystals are obtained by slow cooling without agitation of the solution. Therefore, the filtrate should be placed in a spot where it can remain undisturbed as it cools. The mouth of the flask may be loosely stoppered, but this is normally not necessary. Crystal growth is normally well along by the time the mixture reaches room temperature. Further cooling in an ice-water bath will cause additional crystallization. Crystals come in a variety of shapes and sizes: long needles, blocky prisms, and flat plates are common. Slow crystal growth not only gives the most pleasing display; the product is generally purer. Too-rapid crystallization generally leads to smaller, more poorly formed (and less pure) crystals. pic] Vacuum Filtration Once crystal formation is complete, the product is isolated by vacuum filtration. This technique permits fast and efficient removal of the mother liquor. A special flat-bottomed funnel (a Buchner funnel) is used in conjunction with a heavy-walled Erlenmeyer flask with a sidearm called a filtering flask. The apparatus is illustrated below (Figure 3). A circle of filter paper, small enough to lie completely flat on the perforated base of the Buchner funnel, but large enough to cover all of the holes, is placed in the funnel, and moistened with a small amount of solvent to hold it in place. With the vacuum on, the cold crystallization mixture is poured as rapidly as possible onto the filter paper. It helps to swirl the flask a few times to loosen the crystals, and with a little bit of skill the entire mixture can be deposited on the filter, with only a few stray crystals adhering to the walls of the flask. The mother liquors are rapidly drawn into the filter flask by suction, and the crystals are squeezed dry of solvent by pressing with a clean cork while drawing air through them. Now, this procedure does not remove all of the mother liquor. Invariably, there is a film of solvent coating the surface of the crystals. Since the mother liquor contains impurities, this must be washed away with fresh solvent. The crystals are washed as follows: the suction is stopped and enough fresh, cold (why? ) solvent is added to just cover the crystals in the funnel (this solvent can be used to rinse the last few crystals out of the crystallization flask). The crystals should be stirred gently with a glass rod or a spatula so that all come in contact with the wash liquid, then the vacuum is restarted and the crystals sucked and pressed dry as before. In some cases, it may be necessary to repeat the wash a 2nd time. Air is drawn through the crystals until they are as dry as possible, at which time they are spread on a watch glass for further drying in the air or in an oven. The steps in recrystallization can be summarized: 1. Dissolve the crude material in a minimum amount of hot solvent. 2. Treat with decolorizing charcoal. 3. Filter hot solution to remove charcoal and other insoluble impurities. 4. Cool to effect crystallization 5. Filter crystals, wash to remove adhering mother liquor. 6. Dry crystals to remove last traces of solvent. Melting Point Determination Once we have purified a solid, how do we establish that the product is, in fact, pure? Undoubtedly, the simplest criterion for purity is determination of the melting point, or more accurately, the melting range. Strictly speaking, the melting point is defined as the single temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid phase of a compound is equal to the vapor pressure of the solid phase, and so the liquid and solid are in equilibrium. These values are actually rather difficult to measure. Much simpler is the determination of the capillary melting range, which, as the name implies, is the temperature interval over which the compound is found to melt. Since, during the melting process, the system is not at equilibrium, this is not identical to the true melting point, but the values are normally very similar. In fact, most of the ‘melting points' in the literature are actually capillary melting point ranges. An important distinction is that the latter is always presented as a range of two temperature readings, from the temperature where melting is first observable to that where melting is complete. For pure compounds, complete melting normally occurs over a very narrow range, often

Two Ways of Losing Weight

Eating healthy and nutritious benefits your body when losing weight. While developing an eating disorder causes more harm than good. I am writing about this subject because I have an insight into the subject. I was struggling my whole childhood and I experienced being overweight and I have tried everything in the book to lose weight. In the process I even had an eating disorder for a while and I started to get really un-healthy because of it. So I finally got a grasp on what to do to eat healthy and how to maintain my weight the right way. By doing it the correct way I have kept the weight off, and I feel much healthier inside as well as out.By eating healthy and nutritious you can lose weight, and do it correctly. A balanced diet involves the intake of appropriate foods and drinks that supply nutrition and energy for the maintenance of body cells, tissues, and organs, also to support normal growth and development. Based on the USDA’s food pyramid it will include bread, cereal , rice, and pasta ( six -11 servings a day), vegetables (Three-five), fruit (two-four), dairy (two-three), meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts (two-three), and fats, oils and sweets (you use sparingly).Portion control is a very important part you need to pay attention to. The best way to judge the right size of a portion that is correct for your body. Is not by the instructions on the side of all food products, but what I have found to be true is to judge a portion by the size of your fist. On top of that what I have found to work is not to eat three meals a day but to have five of these portions throughout the day. By doing this you will make your metabolism work even harder all day toward the loss of weight.The second main step to losing weight the correct way is to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. The best way to get the ball rolling on this is to stay active with common chores. For instance you can wash and wax a car if you have one for (45-60 min ), wash windows or floors for (45-60 min), Do some gardening for (35-40 min), If you have a baby you can push the stroller (one and a half miles in 30 min), or you can rake the leaves if there are any for (30 min). These are a few examples for beginners to get started without wearing out your body.If you want to get a little more serious right away you can use sports for your daily activity. For instance you can play basketball or shoot hoops for (30-45 min), swimming in the pool or doing laps for (30-45 min), ride a bicycle (four miles in 25-30 min), and then there is jumping a rope for (25 min). These routines are a little more strenuous so I would start off small to see what your body can handle, then build up a routine once you see what you are capable of. Now I will compare how developing an eating disorder to lose weight will affect your body. Also show how the side effects are not worth it.By developing an anorexic disorder to lose weight is not the right path to take. Being anorexic means that you don’t eat food, or have no desire to eat. It is a relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal healthy weight. The bad affects that this has on the body is not worth the amount of weight that is lost. Some of the less severe effects on the body are thinning of your bones (Osteoporosis), brittle hair and nails, dry and yellowish skin, growth of fine hair all over the body (Lanugo), mild anemia and muscle wasting and weakness, and severe constipation.Now there are even more severe effects on the body, they are as follows, damage to the structure and function of the heart, brain damage, and multi organ failure. To lose weight this way is definitely not worth all of these damaging side effects, especially with the severity of some of them. By utilizing this weight loss method to lose weight, you lower your total health and lose vital nutrients the body needs to be healthy. When trying to lose weight correctly, there are many ways t o do it wrong.The eating disorder Bulimia Nervosa is probably the worst option when you are trying to lose weight in a healthy manner. Bulimia affects approximately twelve individuals in a hundred thousand populations, and some reports estimate that one percent of females are affected and point one percent of males. Many people try to lose weight this way, and the side effects can range from minimal to severe. One third of people with bulimia take laxatives and diuretics, these have the most severe effects on your body.They are chronic intestinal inflammation, irregular bowel function, systemic toxicity, kidney damage, body fluid stagnation, and blood pressure complications. So for trying to lose weight in this manner is un-healthy, un-nutritious, and not the correct or successful way to lose weight in a healthy manner. It is far worse for your body and mind than taking the time to do it in a healthy and correct manner, so that the results are far more beneficial to you for a longer period of time.So in conclusion the point that I am trying to really get across to you is how to lose weight in a healthy and correct manner instead of doing it quickly and incorrectly. The correct way of losing weight is by combining eating correctly, portion control, and incorporating physical activity into your daily routine. You can use the USDA’s food pyramid to see what you should eat on a daily routine. Then you use portion control which is eating the right amount of food in a day just like taking in the right nutrients, vitamins, and all the right supplements.By incorporating these things into your daily routine with devotion and a solid routine, you can lose weight while being extremely healthy. Instead of taking the un-healthy route of losing weight which is by doing it quickly and incorrectly. When losing weight using either Bulimia or Anorexia, the bad side effects out way the benefits by far. What I mean is the results of weight loss doesn’t last and real ly doesn’t make you any healthier, it comes back as soon as you stop. Also the damage it does on your body long term is way too far of a risk in my book, and is not worth all the bad effects it has on the body.Really you are making yourself even worse when using an eating disorder to lose weight. So take the time to do it correctly you will be pleased with the results, and you will feel healthy on the inside just as much as the outside. References Http://www. bulimiasideeffects. com/ Http [Do not leave spaces around a slash mark] ://www. powerflexweb. com/contentListDetail. php? idDivision=04&nameDivision Http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/docview/225013542 Http://search. proquest. comezproxy. apollolibrary. com/docview/196547053

Education as a Social Institution Essay

At some point in time everyone is a recipient of some type of education. This can take the form of traditional schooling, home schooling, or mentoring by an individual. Formal schooling, within industrialized nations, typically encompasses one third of an individual’s life. This is one of the reasons sociologists have examined education as it relates to various social perspectives. This paper will explore education in regards to the Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist perspectives/views. (Perspective and views will be used interchangeably throughout this paper). â€Å"Two theories are considered in accounting for the increased schooling required for employment in advanced industrial society: (a) a technical-function theory, stating that educational requirements reflect the demands for greater skills on the job due to technological change; and (b) a conflict theory, stating that employment requirements reflect the efforts of competing status groups to monopolise or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural standards on the selection process† (Collins, 1971). Applying the Functionalist Theory Functionalist theory is explained by asserting that â€Å"societies function like biological systems in that they have differentiated parts that function together to ensure the smooth operation and survival of the organism as a whole† (Morrow, Torres, 1995). It is important to note that within the functionalist theory there are three different functions. â€Å"Manifest functions of institutions are open, stated, conscious functions. They involve the intended, recognized consequences of an aspect of society, such as the university’s role in certifying academic competence and excellence† (Schaefer, 2009). An example of this would be the core classes that are available to students in elementary school. Such as math, history, English, etc. While some schools, dependent on them being private or public institutions, offer various additional classes, they all predominately educate their students in core capabilities. Latent functions are those functions that â€Å"are unconscious or unintended functions that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution. One latent function of universities is to hold down unemployment. Another is to serve as a meeting ground for people seeking marital partners† (Schaefer, 2009). The third sub-function is dysfunction. In the military, dysfunction is referred to as the ten-percent. This means that for every group, unit, etc there will be ten percent of the population that does not conform to the military way of life. More simply, this can be expressed as â€Å"an element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability† (Schaefer, 2009). Today’s educational system teaches students to become integral parts of society. Through public education, teachers are able to influence tomorrow’s workforce in societal norms, ensuring they understand how to become contributors to their society’s stability. An example of the contribution to society the education system provides is: parents that take on extra jobs to fund their child’s education. This provides revenue for the immediate family, while funding and teaching the child the importance of hard work, devotion, and self sacrifice (societal norms). This can be compared to the example in the text about Hindu’s and their devotion to cows. Just as the Hindu understand the benefit the benefits that they receive by ensuring their cows remain available to cultivate and fertilize their agricultural crops, most parents apply the same concept to educating their children. Understanding the benefits an education will provide not only their immediate family, but also their children and the community as a whole. Applying the Conflict Theory The basis of this theory is that conflict theorists assume â€Å"that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power of the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation† (Schaefer, 2009). As with the functionalist perspective, conflict theory embraces various viewpoints. These include: the Marxist view, an African American view, and the feminist view. These views while differing slightly, each embrace the concern with inequality in society, while focusing on social change and the redistribution of resources. â€Å"The main dynamic of rising educational requirements in the United States has been primarily the expansion of mobility opportunities through the school system, rather than autonomous changes in the structure of employment. It is argued that the effort to build a comprehensive theory of stratification is best advanced by viewing those effects of technological change on educational requirements that are substantiated within the basic context of a conflict theory of stratification† (Collins, 1971). An example of this theory put to use is the April, 2001 strike conducted by Hawaii’s educators. Due to an inability of the state government and the union representatives to come to an understanding approximately 15,000 school teachers, from kindergarten to university, participated in the strike, effectively bringing Hawaii’s education system to a halt. This example while relating to the conflict theory is directly related to the Marxist view. â€Å"Conflict theorists are interested in how society’s institutions―including the family, government, religion, education, and the media―may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in a subservient position† (Schaefer, 2009). The individual view from this perspective identifies how people are shaped by power, coercion and authority. Specifically, those universities that are considered to be elite provide their students with enhanced career opportunities. â€Å"While there are various criteria by which particular colleges and universities can be placed in this academic hierarchy, the most significant one sociologically is their relationship to the class structure of society. This relationship is understood in terms of the social and economic attainments of their graduates. Elite colleges and universities, therefore, are those whose alumni enjoy disproportionate access to high-status occupations, as well as to other forms of economic and cultural privilege; they are gateways to elite membership in society† (Farnum, 1997). Applying the Interactionist Theory The first two perspectives have dealt with macrosociology or society as a whole. The interactionist perspective looks at portions of society in a microsociological way. This theory can be explained as â€Å"theorists who take the interactionist perspective generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole† (Schaefer, 2009). Some of the data compiled by interactionist sociologists studying the educational field include: student views/goals in relation to their grade point averages, effectiveness of school programs, and effectiveness of educator abilities. As with functionalist and conflict perspectives, the interactionist perspective incorporates additional concepts. These include symbols, nonverbal communication and face-to-face interaction. â€Å"Symbolic interactionism focuses on the role of language and symbols in the (interpretive) processes of meaning making. Young people are highly social beings deeply engaged in the processes of learning how to act within the culture of which they are a part. This cultural learning is both shaped and reflected by their use of language, dress, music and clothing, for example† (Domine, 2007). Within the education system, interactionists poll students and teachers alike, in order to determine what effect objects, actions, etc have on the subjects. This evaluation enables the sociologists to better understand everyday behaviors and relate them into quantitative or qualitative data to track social patterns. Society’s Views Regardless of your favored perspective, each of these views offers pros and cons, dependent on your topic of study. In the educational realm, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views provide the sociologist a means to determining their ends. â€Å"Whatever the purpose of sociologists’ work, their research will always be guided by their theoretical viewpoints. For example, sociologist Elijah Anderson embraces both the interactionist perspective and the groundbreaking work of W.E.B. DuBois† (Schaefer, 2009). The works of these individuals and countless others have helped to define and more importantly to understand the how and why educational systems operate the way they do and how they can be improved. Conclusion Three distinct theoretical perspectives have been discussed throughout this paper. The overall tone to take away from the research conducted here is that regardless of the favored view, practitioners must maintain an open mind and be able to incorporate portions or be able to integrate separate perspectives into their work. When considering or examining the education field, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views all lend themselves to providing quality feedback on the â€Å"snapshot in time† taken by the researcher, regardless of topic. This can come in the form of determining the effects of school lunches on the productivity of students to the quality of programs in relation to independent funding received by an institution. â€Å"A sociologist’s theoretical orientation influences his or her approach to a research problem in important ways―including the choice of what to study, how to study it, and what questions to pose† (Schaefer, 2009).

Company Analysis - Methanol Chemicals Company PLC Research Paper

Company Analysis - Methanol Chemicals Company PLC - Research Paper Example In general, the company is engaged mainly in the manufacture of methanol of premium grade like formaldehyde. The company has earned a reputation of being a world class company. It has also earned a reputation as dependable and a quality manufacturer that possess very sophisticated logistical support and marketing system. The company is committed to advance in its leading position in the manufacture of chemicals by the way it undertakes its investments and this will be achieved by intensified research and development and with the production of tailor made products which will be made to meet the specific needs of the customers. To remain competitive in the market, the company also plans to increase its methanol capacity to the production capacity of231,000 tons a year. Industry overview and competitive positioning Methanol Chemicals Company PLC operates in a manufacturing industry where it manufactures agricultural fertilizers, solvents, pharmaceuticals, laminates for the wood industry and various types of concrete admixtures. The company offers diversified products with 26 different products in more than 50 countries across the globe, which provides profitability and flexibility for the company. The company has performed well financially in the past years and this is provided by the sustained economic growth and profitable operations which have been experienced in the company. The company operates in a very competitive environment but it has been able to gain competitive advantage over all its competitors, making it a global leader in the industry. The existing economic environment had a huge impact on the performance of the industry. That is, the existing economic growth in Saudi Arabia has led to an increase in the company performance with high profits resulting from increased economies of scale. Investment summary The performance of the company has been increasing in terms of investment for the last five years. This is given by the increase in the amount of s hareholder value in the five year period. The company seems to have acquired investor confidence and this has made the company to be in a position of trading 2,116,530 shares in the last three months which were trading at a price of 2.43 per share. The company has also recorded an increase in shareholders’ equity, the share capital, share premium, statutory reserve and retained earnings for the last five years – a clear indication that the company has had high investor confidence which has made the investors heavily invest in the company (Brown and Reilly, 2012). Valuation The company uses market value as its valuation technique. This method is applicable for quoted companies only and is determined by multiplying the quoted share prices and the number of issued shares. This valuation method takes into consideration the perception of the investors on the performance of the company and the capabilities of the management in delivering a return on their investments. For ex ample, the market value of the company by the end of the first quarter of 2012 was 66,380,450 with a market capitalization of 2,116,530 – a clear indication that the company was performing better in the market (Pendlebury and Roger, 2004). Financial analysis There have been fluctuations of the performance of the company during the last five years. This is indicated by the fluctuations in the company’s current ratio, profit margin, solvency ratio, price earning ratio, return on assets and

Will China revalue its currencyCauses of devaluation Mechanisms Essay

Will China revalue its currencyCauses of devaluation Mechanisms Implications - Essay Example It follows the laws of the fixed exchange regime where the currency is devalued and revalued at will. For years, China maintained a fixed exchange rate; allowing to appreciate at its will. It has, now and again, manipulated its currency to gain a competitive advantage in the global trade market; and it has allowed China to maintain supreme dominance over the world markets. Nonetheless, the country has been facing immense pressure since a decade to float the currency in the open market and allow the currency to appreciate to a free rate. China did allow appreciation for a while, but at a gradual pace with interruptions. (Murphy 2009) The world continues to ask: will China revalue its currency? The essay will provide justifications for both sides; it will provide the reasons behind the devaluation, the mechanisms used as well as implications on an undervalued Yuan. The essay will end with a strong conclusion followed by recommendations. At present, economists believe that the Chinese c urrency is still undervalued by 15 to 20 percent. They opine that the revaluation will benefit the global economies and help reduce the increasing trade deficits. However, the Chinese politicians believe that the revaluation will hurt their economy and growth; as well as their political control. (Johnson 2013) Causes of Devaluation In the domestic sphere, analysts, in the Chinese circle, believe that revaluation will make their exports expensive compared to today. This consequential drop in Chinese exports will lead to several immediate factory shutdowns; while many others will shift to the low wage economies such as Vietnam and Sri Lanka. (Johnson 2010) This will upset the economy as a whole especially the working class. The resulting unemployed from the layoffs and shutdowns in the remote areas will not easily be absorbed into the economy. This will create anti government sentiments and result in isolated mass incidents around China. (Johnson 2010) â€Å"Any significant appreciat ion of the renminbi will erode China’s export competitiveness overnight and impact the livelihood of tens of millions of workers1,† states an editor at China Daily media agency. Likewise, Chinese politicians strongly believe that the currency reforms, pushed by the US and other global powers, are only means to slowdown its economy and contain growing Chinese power. These politicians refer to similar US policies towards Japan in 1980s. Japan stills reels from the effects of the real estate bubble burst caused by the forced US policies. Therefore, the Chinese are eager not to repeat the same episode. (Lee 2010) (Murphy 2009) Similarly, China thinks alike all the economic powers of the world. It first thinks about the domestic affairs especially employment figures before working towards rebalancing of the macroeconomic indicators around the world. In the aftermath of the financial crisis 2008, the Chinese lost 20 to 40 million jobs related to the export oriented industries . This forced Chinese to put an to the revaluation thoughts for some time. (Lee 2010) A research conducted by the Chinese authorities on the streets showed that a percent appreciation in the value of Yuan will lead to a percent decline in the tiny profit margins of the small export oriented companies. Economists opine that an undervalue Yuan is critical for sustaining the Chinese growth; therefore, all the intimidating by the world leaders will not change the Chinese policy. Revaluation will benefit China in the Long Run Other economists believe that the revaluation of Yuan will benefit China in the long run. It will do more good than harm. Economists know that, at present, the Chinese economy is heavily depending on exports and fixed investment; and not on the local consumption. It must revalue its

Managing stress among employees in an outpatient setting Research Paper

Managing stress among employees in an outpatient setting - Research Paper Example At the same time, the effectiveness of the changes being implemented need to be determined at regular intervals. It is identified that the negligence of evaluation phases causes the breakdown of implemented changes. This paper will discuss various strategies and techniques that can be effectively employed in evaluating the impacts of the introduced changes among employees in out-patient settings. There are three evaluation phases that are scientifically designed for program evaluation; formative evaluation, summative evaluation, and impact evaluation. The formative evaluation phase continuously acquires information regarding the introduced program in order to amplify the performance. According to Lytras, Carroll, Damiani, Tennyson, Avison, Vossen, and Pablos (2008), in summative evaluation phase, the outcomes of the project are assessed; and from those results, the project managers analyze the impact of the outcome on its actual beneficiaries; the shareholders (p.672). On the other h and, impact evaluation phase focuses on the larger group of beneficiaries over a long period of time. Here we can use formative evaluation and summative evaluation techniques for the determination of the effectiveness of the introduced organizational change in an out-patient setting. ... Similarly, it is suggestible for the project management team to assess the effectiveness of the change by considering its impacts on those employees who were affected by stress. It can be achieved by comparing the individuals’ level of performance prior to and after the implementation of the program. Their new ways of working behavior both as individuals and as team need to be evaluated for knowing whether the change takes a positive effect on them or not. This process of change management is termed as change curve which can be used for assessing the impacts of the implemented measures (Change management: Making organization change happen effectively, n.d.). It is important to evaluate the extent to which the measures being implemented are accepted by the workers and whether the measures are effective in helping employees to bring out their potential completely toward the work undertaken. It would be better to assess the rate of absenteeism before and after the execution of th e strategies. The record of employees’ medical leave would reflect the effectiveness of stress management measures, because stress- free life offers physical as well as mental stability. At the same time, the finest way is to judge how effectively employees involve in work and how well this is being reflected in their performance. It is better to evaluate the workers’ contribution towards the development of the organization as a whole. An efficient supervisor would assist the management to evaluate the individual performance frequently. The status of the organization also reflects the impacts of organizational change. To illustrate, it is essential to analyze the impact of the program on the economic interests of the shareholders. In addition, the progress of the organization and its stature