ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.#2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.#2 - Essay Example ngual toddlers with proficiency in native language are capable of learning words outside the conventional system and are sensitive to boundaries that exist between languages. I felt interested in this article since it offered a comprehensive and controlled research that provided insights on mechanisms of learning foreign language. I believe the article will be useful in understanding whether children who stay closer to their mothers develop better vocabulary. However, the article suffers a limitation since it does not identify the gender and age is a factor in vocabulary learning. Szagun, G., Stumper, B., Sondag, N & Franik, M. (2007). â€Å"The acquisition of gender marking by young German-speaking children: evidence from learning guided by phonological regularities†, Journal of child language, 34 (2007), pp 445-471. This comprehensive research article examined the acquisition of nouns by a sample of 21 young German-speaking children. The research investigated whether gender and age are factors that determine development of first language vocabulary. The authors attempted to investigate whether young children use phonological regularities of noun structure after acquiring noun gender. The article clarifies that phonological patterns guide in noun gender acquisition and errors are systematic. The data analysis was based on 22 two hourly speech samples per child from 6 children aged between 1;4 and 3; 8 and on 5 two-hourly speech samples per child from the remaining 15 children aged between 1 ; 4 and 2 ; 10. Everything spoken by the child was transcribed using Childes and Cohen’s kappa indicated good agreement between coders. The findings indicated that masculine errors were more frequent than feminine errors. The error rate dropped by 10 percent around 3 years thus indicating age may be a factor in vocabulary development amongst different gender in the society. I felt interested in the article since the research methodology, design and data collection

Home Page Essay Example for Free

Home Page Essay At Popcorn Supplies, we cordially invite you to sit back and enjoy the rich taste of entertainment as well as the essence of relaxation with our large kernelled, succulent popcorn as well as the delectable toppings that we offer. Our company’s product may already be known to you through our sister supplier Home Theatre Express. com. We provide the same mouth-watering buttery, caramel and other delicious popcorn flavors, but we offer them in wholesale quantities to those who want to invite large groups to enjoy the luscious experience. This offer is also meant to cater to those who own small or medium-sized businesses where such an appealing snack might be provided as a supplement to the entertainment or other activities provided. We offer a variety of services and products that enhance the popcorn production and consumption experience. Our store supplies carnival-style popcorn poppers such as Paragon Theater Pop and Gold Medal Funpop. We also stock large 4-oz bags of Orville Redenbacher’s high quality popcorn and cases of 35-oz Flavacol salt (12/case) that will equip your event to handle the high demand that is sure to materialize once guests or clients taste the scrumptious delight that comes in the popcorn bag. Plus, we also stock movie-theater popcorn buckets that create a much more authentic atmosphere for the occasion. Get these by the bulk too and legitimize your event as well-appointed and adequately catered. To this end, our toppings add the final touch of mouth-watering tastiness to the affair. This will make it not only a big hit with butter lovers, but also with caramel, cheese, nacho, frosting lover. And we offer even more toppings! Our prices are regularly unbeatable, and at wholesale prices it’s a full-scale, blow-out sale every day. Get your supplies now and save!

Distinctiveness of the Prologue: Gospel of John

Distinctiveness of the Prologue: Gospel of John Introduction This paper is going to address the uniqueness of the prologue, and will further explore how it connects with the rest of the Gospel of John. The prologue previews most of the themes that the author will explain throughout the Gospel. There are 8 listed themes; the pre-existence of the word, light of world, light and darkness, witness or testimony, glory, life, world, father and son relationship.[1] However, for the purpose of this essay, only three themes will be covered. Namely; the theme of the pre-existence, father and son relationship and glory. Scholars believes that the Gospel of John was written between 70AD and 90AD.[2] The author is identified as John the son of Zebedee, who was one of Jesus twelve apostles and the beloved one.[3] However, the authorship is debatable among scholars, some suggest that Prologue was originally a poem from some other religious traditions perhaps gnostic.[4] According to the gospel, it is maintained that the author was a Palestinian Jew, familiar with the religion, land and rituals of his people. All throughout the gospel, the author suggests that he was an eyewitness to the scenes that he was unravelling. The Gospel of John however is a unique book among the four Gospels. The true representation of Jesus lies at the heart of all that is unique in this Gospel. The Gospels are recognised as the Synoptics because of their close resemblances to each other. Jesus is revealed in different ways in these four Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew reveals Jesus as the king of the Jews. Mark presents Him as the suffering servant. In Lukes version, Jesus is seen as a perfect man. Whereas in Lukes Gospel, Jesus is humanity whereas Johns emphasizes his deity. The Fourth Gospel, also known as the spiritual gospel,[5] begins by immediately presenting Christ not as the Son of David, nor the Son of man, but begins with a prologue in which Jesus deity is openly declared.[6] Maurice Casey propounds that the Christology of the fourth Gospel is one of its most remarkable features, and one which distinguishes it sharply from the other three Synoptic.[7] Its authenticity is sometimes questionable among scholars because many of the major themes and events of the first three Gospels are missing in the fourth Gospel.[8] While on the one hand it includes many significant episodes not mentioned by Matthew, Mark and Luke.[9] It is further argued that if the Synoptics present a clear picture of Jesus, then Johns portrayal can hardly be accepted.[10] D.A. Carson identifies differences between the fourth Gospel and the Synoptics. He observes that there are no narratives parables, no account of the transfiguration, no record of the institution of the Lords s upper, no report of Jesus casting out a demon and no mention of Jesus temptations.[11] The first eighteen verses from the first chapter one of the Gospel of John are referred to as the prologue.[12] This can be seen as an ancient Christian hymn.[13] The prologue has an important bearing upon a focused interpretation of the rest of the Johannine Gospel. It also prepares the reader for what follows. The Gospel and Prologue work hand in hand, as Richard Bauckham states that the Gospel needs the prologue, the prologue also needs the Gospel, either without the other is incomplete.[14] The relation of the prologue to the rest of the gospel is questionable among scholars. Their critical arguments are mainly based on the source analysis which focuses on identifying the original independent hymn, Christian and non-Christians.[15] They have argued that several theological concepts and terms in the prologue, for example, the incarnation of the word, the tent dwelling of the so, in the contrast with the dwelling in the temple the concepts of, and the unique literary style are scar cely reflected in the rest of the Gospel.[16] They also suggests that prologue it is a wisdom hymn stitched by the author to the front of the Gospel to make it more acceptable to Hellenistic readers and was judged to have little relationship to the rest of the gospel.[17] While those in support of the prologue argues that it was written as an introduction to the body of the Gospel, just like the writing of the Johannine Epistle with similar symbolic terms appearing in 1 John 1:1-2 with the list of the themes which are shared in the prologue and the rest of the gospel.[18] Themes: divinity of the Son The divinity of the Son Jesus is established in the Prologue and developed in the rest of the Gospel. The author begins this Gospel with a splendid declaration to his audience by say, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God (1:1). The writer is expressing that Word logos pre-existent, He was not after or from or created, but He was in the beginning. The fourth Evangelist John reminds his readers of the Old Testament verse, the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:1) that Jesus is a timeless figure who existed in the past before creation.[19] The Book of Genesis begins with creation so is the Gospel of John refers to creation. The same words are also found in chapter 17, and now, Father glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed (17:5). The concept of Logos is said to have an extensive background in the Greek religious and philosophical cognition. The Greeks regarded logos as the principle of reason or orde r in the world.[20] Heraclitus logos was understood to be unifying principle of all things.[21] It is suggested that the Heraclitus had no concept of a transcendent God, but saw the logos as a law or reason that underlies the universe because they believed that the logos was common to all men, that it was a universal law which regulated all the events that took place within mankind, and that it had its own independent existence.[22] In Plato writing holds the words of Heraclitus that a person could not step into the same river twice.[23] The Father and Son relationship The Fourth Gospel presents a unique relationship between God the Father and His son Jesus. This unique relationship between the father and son can be seen also in the Synoptic Gospels. Daniel J. Scholz suggested that, the voice from heaven (Mk 1:11) and the clouds at the baptism (Mk 9:7) and the transfiguration speak of Jesus as my beloved Son Lk 9:35, signifies the unity between the father and son[24] Johns Gospel comprehensively develops the Father and Son relationship. It is said that Johns gospel uses the term Father in the mouth of Jesus as the son, 120 times more often than all the other Gospels combined.[25] The author records the close, loving and unified relationship between the Father and the Son. The logos was in face to face relationship with God. No one has seen God; the word has been sent by the father to reveal God the world. The word took on flesh to reveal the glory of God. The unique relationship was described by the author in various ways. For example, firstly, as the father worked, so is the Son worked (5:17-18).[26] Secondly, as the father raises the dead and gives life, so the son gives life (5:21-23,26).[27] The words that the father gives, the son gives to others (7:17-17).[28] The son speaks the things He sees the Father doing (8:28, 38, 12:49-50).[29] As the father knows the Son, so the Son knows the father (10:15).[30] If you have seen the Son you have seen the father (14:9). To not honour the Son is to not honour the Father (15:18-19, 23).[31] All that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son (16:15, 17:10).[32] Jesus farewell prayer for his disciples said I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one as you are in me Father and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me (Jn 17:21).[33] Johannine sees Jesus forthcoming suffering and death (the cross) on how the father and Son both glorified. Theme of Glory The theme of glory is also reviewed in the prologue and it runs throughout the rest of the gospel. The most obvious way the glory is revealed in Jesuss ministry is in the signs. According to Maurice Casey, the fourth evangelist uses the term signs used to reveals Christ glory.[34] The first sign is recorded in chapter 2:11. Another indication appeared when the evangelist explained that Jesus was speaking about the spirit that had yet been given because Jesus was not yet glorified (7:39).[35] From the resurrection of Lazarus forward the Johannine understanding of glory becomes increasingly clear. In chapter 11 points ahead to the resurrection of Jesus as a revelation of Gods glory. Jesus announces, that the hour has come for the son of Man to be glorified (12:3). Father glorify your name (12:28). John 13:31 says now the Son of man has been glorified and God has glorified in him echoes Jesus prayer father glorify your name in (12:28). However, Herman Ridderbos critical scholars states that in Gospel of John Jesus glory received so much stress, including in the passion story, that the Gospel can hardly be said to be free of a kind of Docetism, that is, that Jesus suffering is not real suffering in John, that the cross is not Jesus humiliation but only his exaltation, and that therefore his going out of this world consisted merely in a triumphal departure to where he was before.[36] As Colver summaries that John also shows in his gospel that the way to the cross is the greatest expression of glory of God.[37] Conclusion In conclusion one could say that it is how the author introduces the divinity of Christ in the prologue to his readers that makes it unique and distinct than Synoptic Gospels writers. It could be observed that the Synoptic Gospel writers traced Christ from a human point of view, while John give the account of Christ from his pre-existence that is before creation. John presented his work in a way that all the themes mentioned in prologue visible throughout the rest of his writing. On the hand one can also state that failing to understand the prologue may result in failing to understand the rest of the Gospel of John. In a nutshell, it evident that the prologue is not a wisdom hymn but deep divine revelation given to the John for a purpose. that is to give a clear explanation and understanding of Word and been Jesus Christ. Bibliography Bauckham, Richard, The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History and Theology in Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Published by Academic, 2007) Carson, D. A., The Gospel According to John, (Michigan: Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991) Casey, Maurice, Is Johns Gospel True, (New York: Thompson Company, 1996) Colver, Randy, Themes in the Gospel of John, (Michigan: Zondervan, 2016) Edwards, Ruth B., Discovering John, Content, Interpretation, Reception, (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003) Gagne Jr, Armand J., The Testimony of the Fourth Evangelist to the Johannine Community: WE Know His Witness is True, (Victoria: Trafford Publishing, 2004) Hale, Thomas, The Applied New Testament Commentary, (Eastbourne: Kingway Publications, 1996) Longman III, Tremper, The Expositors Bible Commentary Revised Edition 10, (Michigan: Zondervan, 2010) Ridderbos, Herman, The Gospel of John, A Theological Commentary, (Cambridge: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991) Scholz, Daniel J., Jesus in the Gospels and Acts, Introducing the New Testament, (Winona: Saint Marys Press, 2009) Thompson, Marianne Meye, The God of The Gospel of John, (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001) Maurice F. Wiles, Spiritual Gospel, Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel in Early Church, (Cambridge: University Press, 2006) [1] D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, (Michigan: Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991) p.111 [2] Thomas Hale, The Applied New Testament Commentary, (Eastbourne: Kingway Publications, 1996) p. 355 [3] Richard Bauckham, The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History and Theology in Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Published by Academic, 2007) p.14 [4] Carson, The Gospel According to John, p.112 [5] Maurice F. Wiles, Spiritual Gospel, Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel in Early Church, (Cambridge: University Press, 2006) [6] Maurice Casey, Is Johns Gospel True, (New York: Thompson Company, 1996) p.31 [7] Casey, Is Johns Gospel True, p.30 [8] Tremper Longman III, The Expositors Bible Commentary Revised Edition 10, (Michigan: Zondervan, 2010) p.360 [9] Longman, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p.360 [10] Longman, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p.360 [11] Carson, The gospel According to John, p.21 [12] Longman, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p.367 [13] Gary M, Burge, John The NIV Application Commentary to Contemporary Life, (Michigan: Zondervan, 200) p.52 [14] Bauckham, The gospel of John and Christian Theology, p. 329 [15] Robert H. Gundry, Jesus the word According to John the Sectarian, (Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001) p. 230 [16] Gundry, Jesus the Word to John The Sectarian, p. 230 [17] Jerome H. Neyrey, The Gospel of John, The New Cambridge Bible Commentary, (New York: Cambridge University Pres, 2007) p.41 [18] Gundry, Jesus the Word to John The Sectarian, p. 230 [19] Neyrey, The New Cambridge Bible Commentary, p.60 [20] Longman, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p. 367 [21] Longman, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p. 367 [22] Armand J. Gagne Jr, The Testimony of the Fourth Evangelist to the Johannine Community: We Know His Witness is True, (Victoria: Trafford Publishing, 2004) p. 57 [23] Gagne, The Testimony of the Evangelist to the Johannine Community, p. 57 [24] Daniel J, Scholz, Jesus in the Gospels and Acts, Introducing the New Testament, (Winona: Saint Marys Press, 2009) p. 176 [25] Marianne Meye Thompson, The God of The Gospel of John, (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001) p.57 [26] Randy Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, (Michigan: Zondervan,2016) p. 21 [27] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.21 [28] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.21 [29] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.21 [30] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.21 [31] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.21 [32] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.22 [33] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p.22 [34] Casey, Is Johns Gospel True, p.57 [35] Ruth B. Edwards, Discovering John, Content, Interpretation, Reception, (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003) p. 90 [36] Herman Ridderbos, The Gospel of John, A Theological Commentary, (Cambridge: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991) p. 453 [37] Colver, Themes in the Gospel of John, p. 115

The Rate of Reaction Of Metals with Acids :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

The Rate of Reaction Of Metals with Acids Introduction In this investigation I will be looking at the rate of reaction between a metal, which will be magnesium ribbon, and an acid. The acids will either be hydrochloric, ethanoic, sulphuric or phosphoric acid. I will be finding out if the activation energy changes depending on whether a strong or weak acid is used. I will also be investigating whether or not there is a change in the order of reaction if a dibasic acid is used instead of a monobasic acid. Planning This investigation is therefore split up into separate experiments. Experiment 1 is to find the activation energy for the reactions between hydrochloric acid and magnesium ribbon, then ethanoic acid and magnesium ribbon. The only way to find the activation energy is to time how long it takes for the reaction to complete at different temperatures. Experiment 2 is to find the order of reaction between magnesium ribbon and hydrochloric acid, then sulphuric acid. There are several methods that can be used to find the order of reaction:  · I could use an excess of magnesium ribbon and note down how much gas has evolved every 10 seconds until the reaction has finished.  · I could repeat the same procedure as above, but with an excess of acid instead of magnesium ribbon.  · I could use an excess of acid and change the concentration, this would not require the reaction to be completed so I would have to time how long it takes for a set amount of hydrogen gas to form. There are several chemical equations that are relevant to this investigation:- Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) MgCl2(aq) + H2(g) Mg(s) + H2SO4(aq) MgSO4 + H2(g) Mg(s) + 2CH3CO2H(aq) Mg(CH3CO2)2(aq) + H2(g) 3Mg(s) + 2H3PO4(aq) Mg3(PO4)2(aq) + 3H2(g) In my experiments I will not be using phosphoric acid due to time restrictions and it is not relevant to the problems I am discussing, because it is a tribasic acid and I am comparing monobasic and dibasic acids. The equation needed to find the activation energy in a reaction is called the Arrhenius equation. In k = constant – EA/R (1/T) Where k = rate constant EA = activation energy (J mol ¹) R = gas constant, 8.31 J K ¹ mol ¹ T = temperature in Kelvin Initial Problems - The time restriction makes it extremely hard to find the order of reaction by timing how long it takes for all the magnesium to disappear. - I do not want to directly heat acid as this is dangerous when only

The Impact of Downsizing on Manufacturing Industries

The amount of information on the effects of down sizing on manufacturing was not plentiful, however one main point that flows through all of the articles is that even though down sizing may be done to help a company it can end up hurting them in the long run. In the paragraphs to follow we look at the effects that downsizing has on people and companies as well as look at whether or not downsizing is truly the answer. Parker (2003)Reports that in 2003 the expected job losses among the manufacturing industries in Great Britain would create the effects of rising input costs and oil price increase on the job cuts; Downturn of the purchasing managers' index for manufacturing; Decrease in the rate of manufacturer's orders. So even though these cuts may be necessary he pointed out that it would have an overall negative effect. The Midwest may be the focus of manufacturing layoffs and financial woes(Link, 2005), but according to this survey, people who live in the area of the country that includes Cleveland and Detroit in the low- to moderate-income lax bracket are using less of their income to pay for housing than other areas of the country. The study, dubbed the Housing Landscape for America's working Families 2005, revealed that from 1997 to 2003 the number of America's working class who spend more than half of their income on housing leaped from 2. million to 4. 2 million. The study also revealed that immigrant families are 75% more likely to use more of their income to pay for housing than American-born citizens. Across the country there are 14 million people that spend too much of their income 10 pay for housing. About 35% of that group is low- to moderate-income families. In 2003, the critical housing need for the Midwest totaled 8. 7% of residents while the West Coast had a need among I6. 89 (of its residents. The South followed the Midwest for a lower critical housing need with 9. % while the Northeast trailed California with a need among 14. 2% of its residents (Link, 2005). (Palley, 1999) Reported that given the dismal economic performance that marked the period from 1990 to 1995, when downsizing was widespread, inequality widened, and real wages fell, the subsequent U-turn in performance has been completely unexpected. Moreover, it has been cause for further surprise that the economy has continued to prosper despite the East Asian financial crisis, which destabilized global financial markets, undermined U. S. exports, and unleashed a surge in U. S. imports. A second source of uncertainty (Palley, 1999) concerns the sustainability of the growth of personal consumption spending, which had been the principal engine of economic expansion in the past two years. In 1997, personal consumption expenditure contributed 59 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and in 1998 it contributed 85 percent. Meanwhile, in 1997 and 1998 nominal personal consumption expenditures grew 5. 3 percent and 5. 7 percent, respectively, while nominal disposable income grew only 4. 7 percent and 4. 0 percent. From the Federal Reserve's perspective, this pattern is not sustainable since consumption is growing faster than potential output, which implies that the economy will eventually hit an inflationary wall. An alternative interpretation is that such growth is not sustainable because households must inevitably run short of financial wherewithal, and when this happens, an economic decline will ensue. According to this view, recession rather than inflation is the danger. A last scenario concerns the possibility of a full-scale crash or economic depression. Such an outcome is the least likely of the three scenarios, but it is still more likely than it used to be. In the 1960s and 1970s, the possibility of an economic depression was truly far removed. However, in the 1990s such a notion has surfaced as plausible, even if unlikely. Recent events in the global economy have added further credibility to this possibility. One reason a crash has become more likely is that many of the factors precipitating a hard landing are already in place, which means that many of them could be realized simultaneously. Indeed, many of these factors are linked in trip-wire fashion so that if one occurs, it triggers another. Thus a Federal Reserve-induced increase in interest rates could trigger a stock market crash, and this could then trigger an end to the spending boom. It could also trigger renewal of global financial instability. Similarly, a renewal of global financial instability could become the event that bursts the stock market bubble. Alternatively, a realization that the existing U. S. urrent-account trajectory is unsustainable could trigger a foreign exchange crisis that would renew global financial market instability, trigger a stock market crash, or evoke a Federal Reserve rate hike to protect the exchange rate and guard against imported inflation. Finally, if the economic expansion begins to flag of old age, overoptimistic projections of corporate profitability could pop, triggering a stock market crash. Also, a flagging economy could renew global financial turmoil by ending the U. S. conomy's role as buyer of last resort, thereby undermining the rest of the world's economic recovery, which rests significantly on export-led growth. However, it is not just this interconnectedness of negative factors that lies behind the increased plausibility of a crash. A second and more important factor concerns changes in the structure of the domestic and global economy that have diminished the presence of â€Å"automatic stabilizers† and replaced them with â€Å"automatic destabilizers. â€Å"These destabilizers work in a pro-cyclical fashion. On the cyclical upswing they make for stronger and longer expansions, but on the downswing they make for deeper and more sustained contractions. One important change concerns patterns of employment and remuneration. In earlier business cycles, labor hoarding was a common practice–firms held on to workers through downturns in order to retain their skills and avoid future hiring costs. However, the changed pattern of the employment relationship means that firms now hire and fire much more freely, making labor incomes more pro-cyclical. It is also the case, especially in manufacturing, that overtime has become more important as firms have sought to save on employment costs by extending hours rather than hiring new personnel. Wage income is therefore more vulnerable to downturns since hours can quickly be cut back in a downturn. Finally, casual evidence suggests that there may have been an increase in the use of incentive pay, with greater reliance on stock options and profit-related bonuses. In a downturn these forms of pay are likely to fall off rapidly, contributing to a larger decline in household income and spending. In sum, the above labor market developments all make wage income more procyclical, thereby increasing the pro-cyclicality of demand (Palley, 1999). Another development concerns the general flexibility of wages. In the period from 1950 to 1980, recessions were characterized by a decline in the rate of increase in nominal wages. However, the important point is that wages still rose in recession. The recessions of 1981-1982 and 1990-1991 suggest that a new pattern may have emerged. Now not only does the rate of wage inflation slow, but nominal wages can fall. This is a very important development when it is considered in conjunction with the new debt-driven business cycle. The ability to repay consumer debt depends on the nominal value of income. In a recession the value of debts remains unchanged, but now wage incomes may show a tendency to fall. This will tend to increase debt burdens and raise the prevalence of bankruptcy, thereby deepening recessions. Just as developments in labor markets have contributed to the emergence of automatic destabilizers, so have developments in financial markets. Households now have significantly increased access to credit. In particular, households are able to borrow more heavily against their assets, thereby increasing their ratio of debt to income. Home equity loans are the most prominent example. Another is the ability to borrow on margin against stock holdings. These innovations and their spread give the economy a strong pro-cyclical impulse, but they also generate greater financial fragility. Thus, in upswings when asset prices and wages are rising, households borrow more and spend more, thereby lengthening the cycle. However, when the downswing occurs, households are now saddled with greater indebtedness and may also be subject to margin calls. This worsens the downturn and may contribute to even greater stock market corrections (Palley, 1999). The shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans is another automatic destabilize. First, households are able to borrow against these contributions. Second, these plans may change household consumption and saving behavior since each month they receive statements showing how the value of their pension holdings has increased. Thus, as stock market prices rise, households cut back on saving and increase consumption, while some households borrow against their appreciated 401(k) accounts. However, stock prices are likely to fall in a recession, while the incurred debts will remain unchanged. At that time, households will have larger debts and reduced holdings of liquid assets. Finally, it is worth noting that prices in the stock market may have been at bubble levels for more than three years; recall that Chairman Greenspan gave his â€Å"irrational exuberance† warning back in 1996. This means that a considerable amount of borrowing and spending has taken place on the basis of these bubble prices, so the bubble may be deeply embedded in the balance sheets of agents. This means that a market correction is likely to be all the more severe. In effect, the size of the negative impact of an asset price bubble is positively related to the duration of the price bubble. Accompanying these changes in the domestic economy have been changes in the global economy that have contributed to the emergence of international automatic destabilizes. One change is the increased degree of international financial capital mobility. When a country's financial markets begin to fall, it is easier for asset holders to exit, thereby creating a larger stampede for the exit. Foreign holders have an incentive to exit to protect the domestic-currency value of their holdings, and they now have a larger impact because of their increased holdings. Domestic holders are also more likely to exit because of reduced transaction costs and the increased sophistication of financial markets. They recognize that exit is the way to maximize the dollar value of portfolios when the dollar is under pressure. A second development is the increased international integration of goods markets. In theoretical terms, the foreign trade expenditure multiplier has become larger, which means that economic activity across countries has become more connected, making for greater amplitude in the world business cycle. In the 1950s and 1960s it was said that when the U. S. economy sneezes, the world economy catches a cold. Globalization of goods markets may have created a situation in which the U. S. economy sneezes and the world economy catches pneumonia. In this study (Wertheim, 2004), has developed a hypothesis which combines the effects of both economic impact and pre-disclosure information with the financial distress and potential benefit hypotheses developed in prior research in corporate downsizing. Instead of offering that these two hypotheses as competing and mutually exclusive, evidence are provided that supports the conclusion that these hypotheses simultaneously explain concurrent and additive effects on the stock price reaction to announcements of company layoffs. Finally, results indicate that the relationship between economic impact, pre-disclosure information and stock price reaction to layoff announcements depends on the relative dominance of the signals provided by the layoff about both financial distress and potential benefit. (Palley, 1999)stated that for policymakers at the Federal Reserve, the goal is a soft landing, though some (those who continue to believe in the natural rate of unemployment) think a bumpy landing is desirable since they believe that the unemployment rate is now below the natural rate. Thus not only is the economy expanding more rapidly than potential output, but the level of output already exceeds the level of potential output. Consequently, not only must the rate of output growth decrease, but the rate of unemployment must also rise back to the natural rate in order to avoid accelerating inflation. Since around 1980, there has been a determined drive to downsize American organizations (Budros, 1999) and there currently is no end in sight to this movement, even though studies underscore its technical-economic and human dysfunctions. This situation indicates a need to consider why organizations downsize in the first place, yet the shortcomings of the scholarly literature on this issue are conspicuous (Budros 1997). Therefore, in that paper he offered some systematic thoughts on the causes of downsizing. He developed a conceptual framework for exploring organizational innovation that features two under explored dimensions associated with this phenomenon, the basis of organizational action (rational versus irrational) and social context (organizational versus extra-organizational). He then portrayed downsizing as an organizational innovation and identified factors that lead organizations to downsize. (Palley, 1999) suggests that there are three possible future paths–a soft landing, a hard landing, and a crash. A soft or hard landing is by far the more likely outcome, but, that said, it is possible to imagine conditions in which a crash will occur. Japan's prolonged hard landing, East Asia's economic crisis, and the October 1998 near-meltdown of global financial markets have all added plausibility to such an outcome. A soft landing has the rate of output growth gradually slow to a level consistent with potential output growth. According to current consensus thinking, this potential rate of growth is somewhere between 2 and 2. 5 percent, though New Economy optimists claim it to be as high as 3 percent. A bumpier version of the soft landing (a. k. a. growth recession) has the rate of output growth slowing below potential but growth still remaining positive. Under this scenario, unemployment rises but the economy avoids a formal recession since output continues to grow. A hard landing has the decline in output growth such that it turns negative so that the economy is pushed into recession and unemployment rises even more. Finally, a crash involves a collapse in the rate of output growth, so that the economy enters a deep recession that may even border on a depression (Palley, 1999). The use of an organizational innovation framework to examine downsizing clearly has shed light on this phenomenon (Budros, 1999), revealing that organizations may make people cuts in response to rational organizational, rational extra organizational, irrational organizational, and irrational extra organizational processes. Of particular interest is the realization that scholars have focused almost exclusively on rational (organizational and extra-organizational) causes of downsizing, neglecting the role irrational forces may play in work force reductions. Perhaps this situation prevails because of the longstanding inclination among scholars to view organizations as efficiency-minded social actors. But if we are to develop a complete understanding of downsizing, then we must evaluate the impact of rational and irrational factors on this practice. This research investigates organizational practices in downsizing after a restructure and the effects of these practices on an organization and its employees (Labib, 1993), in particular, and on other stakeholders in general. Findings indicated that it is not downsizing that causes negative effects on both terminated and surviving employees, but rather the human resources practices used to implement downsizing; such as advance notification, method of termination, and amount and type of post-termination assistance given. This research further found that organizations often do not achieve their strategic goals after downsizing because they do not adjust their work processes and their human resource management practices to the new size and structure of the organization. Based on the literature review, a process model for the development and implementation of downsizing plans is proposed. The model is designed to provide a guide to be used by organizations when downsizing to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account. The proposed model is tested through a field research in the form of case studies of five major organizations in Canada. The actual practices of these organizations are outlined and compared to the proposed process model, both collectively and individually. The differences are then analyzed and a new revised model is proposed that emphasizes, not only the downsizing process itself, but also what organizations must do during and after downsizing to ensure that employees' needs are met and that the new strategic goals that prompted the downsizing are achieved. Two conclusions are drawn from this research. The first is that downsizing, if it is necessary, must be undertaken in a way that would cause the least amount of pain to those affected which is the ethical responsibility of good corporate citizenship. The second conclusion is that downsizing, in itself, is not enough to ensure increased profitability and goal attainment, but rather, it is how the organization functions afterward that will indicate whether or not the downsizing was a good or bad thing(Labib). The topic of off shoring generates extreme differences of opinion among policy makers, business executives, and thought leaders. Some have argued that nearly all service jobs will eventually move from developed economies to low-wage ones. Others say that rising wages in cities such as Bangalore and Prague indicate that the supply of offshore talent is already running thin. To a large extent, these disagreements reflect the confusion surrounding the newly integrating and still inefficient global labor market. Much as technology change is making it possible to integrate global capital markets into a single market for savings and investment, so digital communications are giving rise to what is, in effect, a single global market for those jobs that can now, thanks to IT, be performed remotely from customers and colleagues. The newly integrating nature of this global labor market has strategic and tactical implications for companies and countries alike. Information and insight about it are sparse, however, and executives and policy makers have little of either for making the decisions they face. To provide help for governments and companies in both high- and low-wage economies, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) analyzed the potential availability of offshore talent in 2. 8 low-wage nations and the likely demand for it in service jobs across eight of the developed world's sectors (chosen as a representative cross-section of the global economy): automotive (service jobs only), financial services, health care, insurance, IT services, packaged software, pharmaceuticals (service jobs only), and retailing. These sectors provide about 23 percent of the nonagricultural jobs in developed countries. The study, which projects trends to 2008, aims to assess the dynamics of supply and demand for offshore service talent at the occupational, sectoral, and global level and thus the likely impact on both employment and wages in the years ahead. MGI's analysis provides a panoramic view of the off shoring of services, as well as a number of useful conclusions, including: Off shoring will probably continue to create a relatively small global labor market – one that threatens no sudden discontinuities in overall levels of employment and wages in developed countries. Demand for offshore labor by companies in the developed world will increasingly push up wage rates for some occupations in low-wage countries, but not as high as current wage levels for those occupations in developed ones. Potential global supply and likely demand for offshore talent are matched inefficiently, with demand outstripping supply in some locations and supply outstripping demand in others. The more efficiently the emerging global labor market functions, of course, the more value it will create for its participants by allocating resources more economically. Both companies and countries can take specific measures to raise its efficiency in clearing demand and supply. Broadly speaking, a suitably qualified person anywhere in the world could undertake any task that requires neither substantial local knowledge nor physical or complex interaction between an employee and customers or colleagues. Using these criteria, we estimate that 11 percent of service jobs around the world could be carried out remotely. Of course, some sectors provide an unusually large number of such jobs. As a rule, industries with more customer-facing functions have less potential in this respect. Consequently, the retailing sector, in which the vast majority of employees work in stores, could offshore only 3 percent of its jobs by 2008. Yet because retailing is such a huge employer around the world, this would be equivalent to 4,900,000 positions. In contrast, by 2008 it will be possible to undertake remotely almost half of all jobs in the packaged-software industry, but in this far less labor-intensive business, that represents only 340,000 positions. Some occupations also are more amenable than others to remote employment. The most amenable to it are engineering, on the one hand, and finance and accounting, on the other (52 percent and 31 percent, respectively). The work of generalist and support staff is much less amenable (9 percent and 3 percent, respectively), because those workers interact with their customers or colleagues extensively. But generalists and support workers permeate every industry and therefore provide the highest absolute number of jobs that remote talent could fill: a total of 26,000,000. In practice, just a small fraction of the jobs that could go offshore actually will. Today, around 565,000 service jobs in the eight sectors we evaluated have been off shored to low-wage countries. By 2008, that number will grow to 1,200,000. Extrapolating these numbers to the entire global economy, we estimate that total offshore employment will grow from 1,500,000 jobs in 2003 to 4,100,000 in 2008 – just 1 percent of the total number of service jobs in developed countries. To put this number in perspective (in what is, to be sure, not a direct comparison), consider the fact that an average of 4,600,000 people in the United States started work with new employers every month in the year ending March 2005. Why is the gap between the potential and actual number of jobs moving offshore so large? Many observers think that regulatory barriers stand in the way, but MGI interviews indicate that company-specific considerations (such as management attitudes, organizational structure, and scale) are generally more powerful deterrents. Companies cite cost pressures as the main incentive to hire offshore labor, for example, but the strength of cost pressures varies by sector. Many companies lack sufficient scale to justify the costs of off shoring. Others find that the functions they could offshore in theory must actually stay where they are because their internal processes are so complex. Often, managers are wary of overseeing units on the other side of the world or unwilling to take on the burden of extra travel. On the supply side, developing countries produce far fewer graduates suitable for employment by multinational companies than the raw numbers might suggest. Nonetheless, the potential supply of appropriate workers is large and growing fast, and some small countries boast surprisingly large numbers of them.

How Research Material Was Gathered and Used Within the Drama Process Essay

When we first began discussing the possible content of our play we were provided with stimulus materials to help us develop our ideas. This included newspaper articles, pictures and extracts from several poems. This selection allowed us to work with a number of influences that we otherwise would not have had. As we further developed our ideas we no longer needed this original stimuli as our concepts had progressed, however, after working with this literature, we were aware of what kinds of research would be useful in developing the play. And so, these stimuli not only helped us to develop our content, they also showed us how we should be conducting our research. Throughout the process, both stimulus and research materials were worked with in the same way; on finding a useful piece of literature or music, we presented it to the group, discussed it, and then either intergraded it into the play, or deciding that it was not useful, it was discarded. This method kept an open dialogue within the group allowing opinions to be constructively voiced, and so, even if the actual material was not used, new ideas were always being developed. When we began to write the play the majority of our ideas had been developed from original war based stimulus, and this left with a very small spectrum of influences. Because of this, we began collecting research on a very wide subject, the subject of war. As this is such an unspecific area of research, we were left with a very large amount of literature to process and discuss. Trying to put all of this research to good use took a large amount of time, and so we produced a very small quantity of practical work for the first couple of weeks. In some ways this work ethic may have been counter-productive, however, while were processing the research we were planning scenes, seeing how new ideas fitted into our concept and generally working on the ‘bigger picture’ of our play. This meant that when we did come to devise and write scenes we had a very clear idea of their purpose and how we wanted them to turn out. There were a number of different sources that were researched; one of the first areas of interest was on the First World War. As we would be focussing on the ‘human aspects’ of war, we did not research facts and figures, but instead found a number of sources that were created by people actually affected by the conflict. In this case war poetry and art proved to be most helpful. The poetry, mainly taken from the Internet, allowed us an insight into the emotional mindset of a soldier. While these poems were not used in the piece, they allowed us to add depth and motivation to the characters that were to be placed in these situations. The art, on the other hand, provided us with some very strong visual images of the Front Line, and with this we took inspiration for our set and lighting designs. Events in the Middle East, which were then being widely depicted in the media, took up a large proportion of our research. From this came the ‘Suicide Bomber’, ‘Child Soldier’, and ‘Bar’ scenes, all of which were set in a non-specific Middle Eastern country. This aspect of our research was by far the most productive; at the time there were great quantities of news reports, both on television, and in the newspapers, and so there was much material to work with. This research was used in two ways; some of it was used directly in the play, for example, Kayleigh’s news report was an unchanged news report taken from the Internet. Other research in this area was used to influence the story line of a scene, for example, with the reporters’ scene we tried to recreate the lives of the people actually making the reports. These different methods allowed us to look at the subject from a number of perspectives and so helped us to build a fuller picture of this aspect of our story. While we were looking into this subject, it became apparent that all of our research was being collected from the Western media, and so we became concerned with the reliability of our sources. It would have been easy to decided not to take notice of this bias, as discarding our work on this subject would mean that we had wasted our time. As we did not want to ignore this fact or scrap the scenes, we decided to include this problem in our script. And so we devised the ‘Journalists’ scene, which depicted the struggles of three Western journalists reporting on a conflict in the Middle East. During the writing of this scene we included a section about one a the journalists changing an interview so to meet his own purposes. Although the audience would not have seen the relevance of this addition, we felt that it was important to highlight the cultural bias of our play. When researching for the ‘Suicide Bomber’ and ‘Child Soldier’ scenes I encountered quite a serious problem. Due to the nature of these scenes there is little literature on the subject, and appropriate websites were very difficult to find, (either they were written from a ‘Western’ perspective, and so carried a serious bias, or were from ‘Eastern’ sites, and so the content was very graphic and unsuitable for the stage). Being that this is such a modern phenomena, there have been very few books written on the subject, and those that have proved unsuitable. Eventually it became obvious that research on this subject was going to be very limited and that we were going to have to create a large amount of the script from fiction. This is almost the only time that we were unable to find research on a subject. As the writing of the play continued, our need for new research material became greatly reduced, and we got to a point that we no longer needed outside information on the subject, and were able to finish the final scenes from scratch, building upon the ideas first provoked by the early research.