Saturday, August 31, 2019

Discussion of the Great Gatsby Setting

Setting is one of the important elements and crucial parts in any literary pieces. It tells much about the world where the characters exist in. Moreover, it is important because it is the basis for the readers to judge the believability of the novel (Morgan). The author added that the â€Å"the type of world†¦ will determine the reactions and behaviors of your characters. † The setting will also reflect the social mores of a particular culture.The setting is a very important tool in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby because it exposes the characters. Moreover, the setting emphasizes the character traits and themes which give meaning to the critical events. The novel has four settings. These are the West Egg, East Egg, New York City and the valley of ashes. Subsettings also exist within these major settings. East Egg is the more fashionable area of Long Island where the rich live. West Egg, on the other hand, is the less fashionable area of Long Island.The Valley of Ash es is a desolate wasteland while New York City is the place symbolizing America during the 1920s: anything goes in New York City. This is where affairs and parties are held These four major settings give the readers an idea about the values of the people who work or live there. For example, Nick ended up in West Egg because he did not have the money to purchase a house in East Egg. Gatsby is also in West Egg because his present credentials are not acceptable in East Egg.As a result, Nick left and Gatsby was ruined. The novel’s major settings correspond to a particular type of character or theme. For instance, West Egg is like Gatsby. It symbolizes the new rich and the aristocracy during the 1920s. East Egg is like the Buchanans, who enjoy high social status, are wealthy and powerful. The valley of ashes, on the other hand, is like George Wilson, desperate, without hope and reflects the American’s society’s moral decay. New York City is chaos, with its parties an d affairs.

Friday, August 30, 2019

High School and College Essay

Many aspects of both high school and college can be tied together. People learn many of the same things they learned in high school during their first year or two of college. They are basic general education classes. They are similar in such ways that you still have to go to class, do class work, home work, take test, and study hard. Depending on the school, teachers can also give you that one on one help. Class sizes can also be similar to high school if you attend a small college. They are both learning experiences that the individual helps write for themselves by their choices and decisions. There are similarities in the people also. Even in college cliques and groups develop, just like in high school. On the other hand, we all know that high school and college are very different. The work in high school is kind of easy. In college, it’s time to strap down and get to work. There’s really no room for error. Attendance is very important in high school. If you miss a day in class, the teacher would call home. In college, it’s your own responsibility. Students end up having the same friends throughout high school, because they grew up with them in elementary and middle school. Because of this, they earn an image or reputation. College is a new beginning. People are not tagged with a prior social status or image. It is an opportunity to start new and meet new people. Some people meet many of their lifelong friends in college, because they go through so much together. In a way, they are transferring to adulthood, with them by their side. High school and college are what students makes of it. High school prepares people for college. College is a new chapter in life, and also a new beginning. In a way, college is a mature version of high school. To find the true similarities and differences, people must experience both for themselves.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Across the Nightingale Floor

Suitable for students, Australian literature comprises of a variety of thought-provoking concepts that challenge readers’ minds, as opposed to the simple texts that students are confronted with nowadays. A mythic novel, Across the Nightingale Floor is an example of modern literature that most students read these days. A highly praised novel, it has received awards such as the German Youth Literature Prize. Written by the pseudonymous Australian author, Lian Hearn embraces a contemporary writing style, and her novel shows little resemblance to that of Australian literature. Based on high recommendations from my peers and seeing that the novel was intended for teens of both genders, I was compelled to explore this novel. Although a well written quest, I believe that it is an inappropriate book for high school study due to its incomplex storyline and weak moral sense. In the mythic novel, Takeo, a young boy living in the Three Countries, is on a quest to kill Iida, the callous leader of the Tohan clan, after Iida burnt Takeo’s village and killed his family. Takeo is taken in by Lord Shigeru and begins training as a warrior. Having being brought up by the Hidden, a peaceful clan who are against war, Takeo demonstrates reluctance to kill. This creates problems in his training and his teacher is determined to help him overcome this. Across the Nightingale Floor takes on a traditional and contemporary trend, incorporating ideas such as teenage love and arranged marriages. Gender discourses are embedded within the novel and are shown through the domination of males over females. Being a female, Kaede is without freedom and is forced into an arranged marriage with no objection. Lord Iida on the other hand, being a domineering male, overpowers Kaede. The majority of the novel consists of a war discourse which is apparent through the feud between Lord Shigeru and Iida. Family discourses are also seen at the very beginning of the novel with Takeo’s family. Contrasting themes are cleverly entwined, as the novel revolves around strong themes such as love, beauty, honour, vengeance and death. Love is portrayed through many parts of the novel; Takeo and Kaede, Lord Shigeru and Lady Maruyama and all the friendships and alliances that Takeo and Kaede make throughout the novel. Beauty is shown through Kaede’s striking appearance which men die for. Honour is seen in Kaede’s obligation to marry, as well as Takeo’s pledge to avenge Iida. Vengeance and death are portrayed in both Iida and Lord Shigeru’s death, and is also present throughout the entire novel as Takeo seeks to kill Iida. In terms of moral perspectives, Across the Nightingale Floor does not depict conceptions of peace as it holds many unethical ideas. Although mentioned early in the novel, Takeo’s religious upbringing is overlooked as his trainings as a warrior requires him to kill. Iida’s vindictive character is emphasized through his intentions of strengthening his power base by destroying defenceless villages. Innocent village inhabitants are brutally punished by Iida through methods such as suspending them in midair to be further eaten alive by crows. Such immoral concepts would not be suitable for school students to absorb. While the novel contains figurative language, it is also accompanied by plain prose which dissatisfies the story, and the reader’s opportunity to broaden their vocabulary is miniscule. Through the course of the novel, the reader follows three perspectives: The protagonist, Takeo, Kaede, and the narrator. Much confusion is brought about as the story switches from first person to third person, and a considerable level of concentration is required. The reader is needed to position themself in three perceptions, as well as being able to sympathize for both Takeo and Kaede. The novel’s intermittent pace also further complicates things as the author fails to describe the situations in detail. An example of this is the death of Takeo’s family. Although Takeo’s grievance for his dead family is obvious, it is difficult for the reader to sympathize for him due to their lack of understanding of his family bonds, caused by a deficiency in information. It can be easily assumed that the imagery contained in Across the Nightingale Floor is based on feudal Japan. A tell-tale sign of quests, the maps at the very beginning of the book lead to this preconception. Although this is the case, very little references are made to the surroundings within the novel, consequently decreasing the reader’s ability to visualize the exotic Japanese backdrop. Most of the characters’ thoughts are incoherent within the novel. Takeo’s thoughts on his new-found supernatural powers are unheard of, as well as what he thinks of having to use weapons, something which disagrees with his anti-war nature. As the antagonists of the novel, Iida and his men are undeveloped characters and do not seem to make much progress throughout the novel. They are not given a chance to portray their strengths, nor are they seen to fall. Because Takeo’s role as a warrior conflicts his reluctance to kill, his personality is divided thoroughout the whole novel. Takeo takes the centre of the many conflicts between the other characters, and this mainly influences and emphasizes his divided nature. As a result, Takeo’s issues remain at the end of the novel and he is unable to resolve them. It is evident that Australian literature is gradually dominated by simple texts and to my disappointment, Across the Nightingale Floor further highlights this issue. While its intended audience is young adults, I would recommend this novel for primary school students, due to its simple-crafted language and easy to grasp concepts. Although it may not be suitable for teens, as a children’s novel, Across the Nightingale Floor is an enjoyable read.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Role of the American Government in Creating the Conditions for the Term Paper

Role of the American Government in Creating the Conditions for the Emergence of the Financial Crisis - Term Paper Example This paper discusses how the US government’s requirements for the banking system to provide affordable housing led to a global economic crisis. The greatest mortgage crisis scandal is possibly that it directly resulted from intentional loosening of underwriting standards. This was with the objective of ending discrimination, despite warnings that it could culminate into extensive defaults. Loans were at the core of the financial crisis, which were made with practically non-existing underwriting standards. There was no asset or income verification, no down payment and there was little consideration of the applicants’ ability to repay Relaxed underwriting standards implied that there would be a considerable reduction or removal of assets, income, savings and credit history as well as the overall repayment capability from the equation. This is in addition to permitting products that avoided the criteria for basic good lending practices. Banks did not come up with the idea of loosening underwriting standards. The regulators, at ‘progressive’ political forces and community groups’ behest, loosened them. This encouraged lenders to offer products and underwrite loans impartially, irrespective of the borrower’s repayment capability and financial soundness Due to globalization and currency integration such as dollarization, goods and services, stock and financial markets, trade and housing have close inter-connection globally, resulting into greater global interdependence. As one of the world’s largest economies, any slowdown in the economy of the United States will inexorably spread to other countries. This is exactly what happened leading to the rapid spread of a severe financial crisis around the world.

Depression and Cognitive Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Depression and Cognitive Style - Essay Example During depressive periods, ruminating on a problem may assist an individual in understanding why feelings of depression exist and how difficult issues may be solved. This may be because ruminating usually involves mentally analyzing a problem to assist oneself in achieving a resolution. However ruminating may be harmful as well, as "Women ruminate more than men, and rumination is a significant predictor of future depression even after the current level of depression is taken into account (citing Nolen-Hoeksema, Larson, & Grayson, 1999; Crawford & Unger 492). As my short survey supports, women use distractions less than men when depressed, which may result in "less effective problem solving, and fewer attempts to seek help from others (citing Broderick & Korteland, 2002; Crawford & Unger 492). ... This is unfortunate because distraction activities can entail engaging in activities the affected individual may enjoy, therefore, the result may be positively rewarding and assist in relieving a depressive state. Distraction activities to relieve depression may also have a long-term negative impact in some cases, as the depressed individual may substitute drinking, or other destructive behaviors for positive activities that may aid in relieving depression. This may result in the depressive state returning as the negative behavior only acts as a short-term solution for the problem, and not a cure. Possible Connection Between Cognitive Style and the Development of Major Depression As indicated, women ruminate more than men do, and ruminating behavior is a "significant predictor" of major depression in the future (citing Nolen-Hoeksema, Larson, & Grayson, 1999; Crawford & Unger 492). A depressed mood may be extended by rumination and create cognitive biases which may create vulnerability for normal depression that may play a role in the onset of clinical depression. Relationship Between Gender-Role Socialization, Gender Expectations, and Cognitive Style Early socialization creates differences between males and females in dealing with problems, including depression. Girls are taught to consider the feelings of others during conflicts, and rumination about problems was not discouraged. Males have reported that as young boys they were ignored or punished when expressing feelings of sadness, while being told boys should not ruminate about conflicts or issues (citing Broderick & Korteland, 2002; Crawford & Unger 492). Power and status in society has a great

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Malaria Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Malaria - Research Paper Example For the female Anopheles mosquito to live and reproduce it must first consume blood meals, which provides the link between human beings and the mosquito genus’s life cycle. There are several vital factors that support the development of the malaria parasite in the mosquito from the "gametocyte" to the "sporozoite stage† stage. Mosquito’s Life Cycle These factors are humidity and temperature, which are directly proportional to the parasites’ rate of growth into adult mosquito. The female anopheles mosquito undergoes the four life cycle stages of egg, larva, pupa, and adult with the first three stages lasting between 5 and 15 days, varying from one mosquito species to another. It is in its adult stage, which lasts between 1 week and 1 month that the female anopheles mosquito acts a malarial vector (Fairhurst & Wellems, 2009). It lays between 50 and 200 eggs on water surfaces, which hatch after 2-3 days into the larvae stage in which the head, spiracles-for br eathing, larvae thorax, segmented abdomen, and mouth brushes for feeding are developed. At the pupae stage, which could last between 5 and 14 days, the head and the thorax merge to form the cephalothorax as the abdomen curves around underside. The adult stage is characterized by slender bodies composed of head, thorax and abdomen. Epidemiology According to the World Health Organization (WHO), of the 216 million reported cases of malaria in 2010, 655,000 deaths were reported, implying 2000 deaths due to malaria every day. Reportedly, most of the reported cases affected children of five years and below in age (Shah, 2010). The other vulnerable group is pregnant women with about 125 million pregnant women reported to be at risk of infection each year. Regionally, sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected by malaria in general and maternal malaria in particular, the latter resulting in an estimated 200,000 infant deaths every year (Shah, 2010). Although no efforts have been spared in erad icating and treating malaria in the last two decades, little has been achieved in reducing its risks and effects. This situation is made worse by the fact that malaria cases in the remotest parts of the world are not reported or treated as would have been expected. In accessibility and unavailability of health care facilities and information are specifically to blame for the negative effects of malaria and the lack of documentation of many cases of malaria from all over the world (Shah, 2010). Signs, Symptoms, Tests, and Diagnosis of Malaria The well known signs and symptoms of malaria are as caused by the release of merozoites into the bloodstream and the anemia, which results from the destruction of the red blood cells. Besides the female anopheles mosquito, mother-to-baby transmission and blood transfusion are the other mechanisms by which malaria could be transmitted (Fairhurst & Wellems, 2009). As mentioned earlier some of the signs and symptoms of malaria are anemia, bloody st ools, convulsion, muscle pain, nausea, chills, coma, sweating, fever, headache, jaundice, and vomiting. The diagnosis of malaria is a rather crucial step in its treatment hence should be highly regarded by patients and physicians. In medical examinations, enlarged liver and spleen could indicate the presence of malaria. However, confirmation using malaria blood smear at 6-12 hour intervals is highly recommended. To confirm the presence of m

Monday, August 26, 2019

Ancient Intelligence Techniques in Modern Times Essay

Ancient Intelligence Techniques in Modern Times - Essay Example In order to determine the methods of intelligence gathering that used by ancient states, it can be affirmed that gathering valuable information in order to save a nation from the danger of invasion is an important task. The ancient states such as Romans, Greeks and Mesopotamians among others used various unique methods of intelligence gathering in order to save their respective boundaries or geographical area . The oldest form of gathering information was espionage which can be viewed to be mostly used by the ancient states. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that this particular method or principle of intelligence gathering is also relevant in this modern day context having enhanced operational procedure along with innovative technological advancements. It has been argued that though espionage is regarded as one of the oldest methods of gathering valuable information, the Romans were not viewed to use this method rather they possessed private network. This private network possessed business associates, slaves, informers and agents among others . Specially mentioning, the Romans used certain symbols such as toga and dagger for the purpose of performing their respective foreign along with domestic policy objectives. However, this method is not relevant today in this modern day context due to the introduction of pioneering technological advancements . The use of transcribed messages having codes by the ancient states can be apparently observed to play a decisive role within the sphere of intelligence gathering... Specially mentioning, the Romans used certain symbols such as toga and dagger for the purpose of performing their respective foreign along with domestic policy objectives. However, this method is not relevant today in this modern day context due to the introduction of pioneering technological advancements4. The use of transcribed messages having codes by the ancient states can be apparently observed to play a decisive role within the sphere of intelligence gathering. Moreover, the ancient states often used signals such as flashlight as one of the methods of intelligence gathering5. Usage of Past Methods and Experiences in Modern Situations The intelligence techniques that were used earlier have by the ancient states have their relevance in the modern day context by a certain degree. In this regard, one of the methods i.e. human intelligence which had been used by the ancient states has its importance even today that can be used in modern situations. This can be justified with referen ce to the fact that the quality of intelligence techniques has improved due to broader adoption along with execution of advanced electronic signals resulting in gathering valuable information effectively. The technical advancements eventually made the technique to deal with modern situations along with circumstances wherein the conduct of terrorist activities is quite prevalent. The present method of human intelligence incorporates certain fundamental aspects such as pointing, collecting of data, data analysis of data and broadcasting the information to users that raises its standard and thus used in modern situations4. In order to safeguard any country and most vitally to avoid internal spying, the technique concerning human intelligence has to keep a track of its own

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Peer review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Peer review - Essay Example Furthermore, the number of sources referred to is adequate, proof that a good level of research was conducted. The references contain all the necessary elements which means that the information provided can be easily traced to their sources. The paper is well formatted but not without a few lapses. The abstract for example is centered while it should have been left aligned. Yet another point of weakness is the lack of a title after the abstract. In any case, the body of the text should always begin on a new page, different from the abstract. As earlier stated, the language used is widely correct but a few minor errors occur. Grammatical errors mainly occur in cases where the sentences are longer than usual. In this sense, the writer can improve by focusing on breaking the long sentences into shorter ones. Each student in the course will have the opportunity to review another studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research paper. Review partners will be assigned based on students working on the various genocides. The peer review must be submitted through VSpace to me and bring in one copy for the paper writer on the day of the poster

Saturday, August 24, 2019

International Terrorism (FALN) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Terrorism (FALN) - Essay Example The FALN was most active during the 1970s and 1980s, but their activities have drastically declined in the last two decades. In the FALN's Communiquà © #1 of October 26, 1974, their Central Command states that they have been advocating an armed revolution since 1969 for the purpose of eliminating "yanki colonialism" from Puerto Rico, by committing acts of violence in the US and against US interests in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Armed Forces of National Liberation, 1974, p.2). The reference to yanki colonialism refers to the capitalistic dominance of Puerto Rico by the influence of the US economy. At this time they acknowledged the bombing of major US corporations, as well as bombings of department stores and the Newark NJ Police Department in the spring of 1974. By late 1979, the FALN had become Puerto Rico's most significant terrorist group and according to Francis (1979), "About 75 actions and at least five deaths resulted from FAL"s [sic] terrorism, the most significant being the Fraunces Tavern bombing in New York City on January 24, 1975, in which four died. In 1977-78, FALN carried out nineteen bombing actions in the continental U.S." (p.14). The decade of the 1980s would see an increased visibility of the FALN as they continued their violent movement advocating independence for Puerto Rico. The 1980s would see the FALN become the most threatening terrorist organization in this hemisphere, but by the end of the decade they had subsided in their activities. In March of 1980, FALN terrorists seized the Dominican Republic's embassy in Bogot Columbia and issued a statement threatening to attack nuclear power plants within the US (Sater, 1981, p.vi). Through the 1980s, the FALN worked with other Latin American terrorist groups and struck targets throughout the region, in Puerto Rico, and on the US mainland. In the 1980s the FALN "claimed credit for more than 100 bombings at mainland train stations, airports, and multinational corporations" as well as US government installations in Puerto Rico (Morris, 1995, p.57). In 1980-1981, several key members of the FALN were arrested and convicted of multiple serious federal crimes that resulted in their incarceration for as long as 50 years (Kushner, 2003, p.129). During 1982 and 1983, the group conducted sporadic bombings, most notabl y the 1982 New Year's Eve attacks in New York City (Kushner, 2003, p.129). After further arrests in 1982 and 1983, and a 1985 raid on FALN headquarters in Puerto Rico, the activities of the FALN almost completely subsided (Kushner, 2003, p.130). During their period of activity, the FALN was blamed for approximately 400 bombings, 18 deaths, and millions of dollars in property damage (Hewitt, 2000, p.28). The FALN is noted as being one of the most violent organizations to ever operate on the US mainland. Membership An evaluation of the FALN's membership includes the numbers, their motivations, and the outside influences that facilitated their activities. During the FALN's most active period, the membership rose to well over 100 active members, and retained a membership of approximately 120 members after the arrests of the 1980s (Hewitt, 2000, p.33; Kushner, 2003, p.1

Friday, August 23, 2019

I DO NOT HAVE A TOPIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I DO NOT HAVE A TOPIC - Essay Example Pollution could also destroy the ozone layer thus altering the climatic condition of the region. This would significantly affect the residents since in terms of tourism since it is one of the major economic activities in the area (Mullerat & Brennan, 2011). †¢ Mission statement: they aim at being the best-loved boutique hotel and restaurant by the guests, owners, and all stakeholders by provide excellent service and care and delivering financial returns to investors (Clarke & Chen, 2009). The company has been involved in multiple social responsibilities. However, regarding the loyalty of the customers that has enabled the company to be among the best in the world, it is only fair that the company continue giving back to the society. The headquarter of Kimpton is located in one of the largest cities in the area (Sun, Stewart, & Pollard, 2010). This means that the population in the area is high: and densely populated. With the improved economic conditions in the area due to high tourism levels, most of the population here own cars and the remaining part of the population use public transport. Some of these cars could result into air pollution if they happen to emit fumes. In addition, this city houses various companies and industries. Such industries pollute the environment through emission of dangerous fumes and introducing waste material into the water sources. Considering that the organization is aimed at creating a good brand image, reducing the levels of pollution is a good move to ensure that the organization saves money from the residents of the area. The reason is that air or water pollution could result into multiple health defects and reducing or eliminating them saves this medical money for such residents (Hancock, 2009). The program is very cost effective especially considering that the company already campaigns for the use of renewable energy in the

Thursday, August 22, 2019

“Praying with Larry Podder” Allegations Essay Example for Free

â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† Allegations Essay As you are aware of, there are several allegations being brought upon Playing With God’s newest game on the market, â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder.† I would like to address some of these allegations and how they may affect this company’s top selling product. I believe that we some in-depth investigation, and some possible minor changes to our product, this company can minimize and possibly avoid any legal implications. This morning I was served with a lawsuit from Nintendo claiming that â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† violates their exclusive right to market games under the â€Å"Harry Potter† label. Also, Warner Brothers is preparing a lawsuit for copyright infringement. As you may know, the storyline for the game â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† was developed by Larry Bakker, son of corporate board member Jon Bakker. Larry Bakker claims that the storyline is a parody based upon his own life and childhood experiences. I would like to start an in-depth investigation into the possible comparisons between â€Å"Praying With Larry Podder† and â€Å"Harry Potter†. The company lawyers need to sit down with Larry Bakker and question him about his childhood experiences and if the characters and/or storyline in â€Å"Larry Podder† draw any similarities to that of â€Å"Harry Potter†. Also, Larry Bakker needs to be asked if he has received the permission of his Aunt Tammy Faye, a well-known TV Evangelist, to use her likeness as a character in the video game. Finally, it’s very important to talk to the Marketing Department to find out if the â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† logos and market have any parallels with the â€Å"Harry Potter† trademark. In my opinion, if â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† is truly created from the childhood experiences of Larry Bakker, an investigation of the facts of Larry Bakker’s past will disprove any similarities to that of the life of Harry Potter. Jon Bakker, father of Larry Bakker, can authenticate the story of Larry Bakker’s life, and can provide evidence nee ded to backup any of the events of Larry’s life that are depicted in the video game. As long as the characters comparison and video game trademarks are not similar  to â€Å"Harry Potter†, the only concern I have is with the possible misinterpreting of the name â€Å"Larry Podder† and â€Å"Harry Potter†, which may be a marketing strategy by the Marketing Department. The name â€Å"Larry Podder† may be considered a parody of â€Å"Harry Potter†. Since copyright law prohibits the use of a copyrighted material without permission of the copyright owner, the freedom of speech principles incorporated in the First Amendment and the fair-use defense can be used to refute any liability of copyright infringement. Even though Praying with God is a Christian organization, the First Amendment does not offer Christian organizations any special protection. My biggest concern with the â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† is the very close comparison the character of Larry Podder’s aunt to that of Tammy Faye, a well-known TV Evangelist. If permission was not given for the use of Tammy Faye’s likeness in the video game, the company has committed the tort of unauthorized appropriation, which can lead to a future lawsuit from Tammy Faye herself. If permission has not been granted, the video game needs to be redesign such that Larry Podder’s aunt does not look like Tammy Faye. One of the features built into the â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† video game is that online players can share prayers, sheet music for hymns, and Christian music MP3s. Currently, the file sharing aspects of the game are violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA criminalizes the production and dissemination of technology and services that circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted work such as MP3 music peer-to-peer file sharing. It is against the law to share copyright material without the permission of the copyright owner. If the file sharing in the game is limited to sharing of non-copyrighted sheet music and bible verses, then the game will not be violating the DMCA. In order to avoid legal implications, the game needs to disable the ability to file share copyrighted materials. The game can continue to function as a peer-to-peer network as long as it places a disclaimer on game stating that all users are to comply with copyright laws and the previsions of licensing agreements that apply to the software. The disclaimer will place the liability into the hands of the individuals that are performing the act of copyright infringement. All in all, my final recommendation is that the distribution of the video game â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder† may continue once all of the issues addressed above are fully investigated. The company should prepare  all evidence necessary to prove that the game is a parody of the life of Larry Bakker. The company needs to ensure that they have the permission of Tammy Faye to use her likeness as a character in the video game. If the permission is not granted, the character appearance of the aunt needs to be altered to ensure it does not reflect the likeness of Tammy Faye. Finally, the company shall disable the ability for file sharing of copyrighted material, and add a disclaimer to the game stating that only non-copyrighted materials may be shared. Once all of the facts are gathered and the problems are resolved, the company may continue to distribute â€Å"Praying with Larry Podder†.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

An Information Technology System For a School Essay Example for Free

An Information Technology System For a School Essay ANALYSIS: To aid in investigation of the problem, two interviews were carried out. One was with the school principal, and the other with the school administrator. In preparation of the interviews a list of topics for discussion was drawn up, and included these checkpoints: * What the new system hopes to achieve, exactly. * The problems in the current system. * The methods currently employed to input data into the system. * The information that is required per file, i.e., for each student what fields will have to be input. * The format of the required output. * The volume of data expected, e.g., how many students are expected to enroll, or how many new teachers will be required. * Any hardware or software constraints, such as the new system only being able to run with a particular operating system. Interview 1: This interview was with the schools principal, Mrs. Monica Stakich. It took place in her office, on appointment, and was as follows: Q: Mrs. Stakich, your school has built up quite a reputation of excellence over the years as shown by its grades. How do you intend to maintain this? A: Well, the school has always prided itself on its academic achievements, and this is due to our students being dedicated in their studies, which shows itself in the superior grades. We will be fine if we can continue this trend. Q: You are shifting to new custom-built premises and are also expanding your range of activities offered. Why have you made this decision? A: We are changing our status to an authorized A level Center. As such, we will need the appropriate facilities to meet the requirements for this standard. Also, the school expects a significant increase in enrolments at both O and A Levels, so the space is needed to provide for these new students. Q: How many students do you currently have in your institution? And how many do you expect to enroll in the future? A: The school currently caters to a population of around 2500 students, but we expect an influx of around 1000 students next year. Q: How do you access a file of a student or a teacher? Do you find it yourself on your computer or does the secretary do it for you? A: I can access files of both students and customers from my own PC, as well as any other file, such as stationery, electricity bills, etc. But I must also focus more on the task of running the school itself, so I usually let my secretary handle all the files. She herself gets these files from the school system administrator. I only check a file myself if we need to consider carefully the person, or file in question, for example a teacher for an important position. Q: Thank you very much for your time, Mrs. Stakich. A: Youre welcome. Analysis of the Interview: The interview, on analysis, showed the school to be result-driven, as indicated by the Headmistresss comments. But more importantly, it also showed that she did not focus on the file input and retrieval system in particular herself, and on the schools information system in general. The actual file control and handling was carried out by the system administrator, who could provide us with insight of the current systems workings. Interview 2: An interview was arranged with Mr. Mark Glasse, the system administrator, in his office. It proceeded as follows: Q: How long have you been working here, Mr. Glasse? A: Its been around four years since I started wok for the school. Q: How many times has the system been updated since you started work? A: Weve updated thrice so far. Q: What changes had been made during these updates? A: Well, once we had to increase our disk space to around 10 GB to cope with increased student information on Health Cards, as was required by a new Government law. Another time we had to modify our input procedure, it being too manual, with almost unnecessary paperwork involved, so we had to purchase new input devices. And there was also the time when we had to call in a professional security company to install anti-hacking programs when our database was actually hacked into. Q: What input devices do you work with? How is output shown? A: I use a keyboard, a mouse, a web-camera and a scanner as input devices. Output is displayed on a monitor, or on a plotter as is appropriate. And, of course, I often have to print out some files using a laser printer. Q: And your system configuration? A: I use a Pentium 2, 333 MHz Processor, with 32 MB RAM, 4 GB hard disk with Windows 98 as my operating system. I also have other software such as MS Visual Studio and MS Office 2000 installed on my computer. Q: Mr. Glasse, what is the general procedure that you follow if you were asked to, for example, update a file? A: First of all, I would have to get an approved notice from someone in an authoritative position, for example the Headmistress, or the Head Administrator. This note would be attached to a Modification Form showing details of the file that needs to be updated. The authorization slip has to be filed into a drawer in my desk, and I just have to access the file using the code given on the Form and change the required fields. I have the Menu on my Desktop, Mrs. Stakich and I are the only ones who know the Password so Ive never thought about changing it, once in the records I go to the Search Command to call up the file in question, and make the changes required. On exiting the database, I go have to fill out another form, a Proof Form, as it is known as, to acknowledge my action. This form then returns to the top-level to the individual who initially authorized it. Q: How often do errors occur using this procedure? A: As you can see, the system is designed in such a way that carrying out the procedure makes it prone to errors. Were still lucky to have a few students and teachers, basically small files is what I mean to say, which do not have to be updated too often, so they arent too many mistakes. Even if there are, they can easily be located and corrected due to the small size of our database. Q: OK, now what about the plus points of this system? For example, is it easy to use? Is it efficient? Do you feel that you yourself are performing at an optimum level with this system? A: Ill have to think this question over. Yes, for sure it is easy to use. I just have to type in an identifier code for each record, and the particular record is searched for and displayed. Its that simple. I dont think its efficient though. As the number of files increases the system takes longer and longer to search the database to produce the results I was looking for. It only follows that I myself feel I am under-performing at my job, as some time will definitely be wasted in waiting for results. Q: Are you satisfied with the system performing only these functions? A: Yes, I am. I would like it to be faster though, and even up-to-date, technologically speaking. Q: Thank you, Mr. Glasse, for your cooperation. Youve been a great help. A: The pleasure was all mine. Analysis of the Interview: This interview was more enlightening than the one with Mrs. Stakich, for we were able to focus on the technical side of the schools database system. Certain glaring shortcomings of the current system came to light, such as a very limited database size, as indicated by the system being upgraded the first time. This further tells us that the system itself, with all its components, is out-of-date. In such a state, it may also be incompatible with other systems, should it be desired to connect to these for data exchange purposes. Another significant weakness is the fact that the third upgrade was for security reasons, which means that the Password Protection was initially low. Mr. Glasse also said that it takes longer to search for a required field if there are many records this is only fair, but there arent too many records right now, so we can expect the system to have some sort of linear search function in operation, unsuitable for large databases. The program, although performing just a few main functions, is slow, again pointing to its near obsoleteness. Its low productivity has an effect on the human element involved, as Mr. Glasse himself feels as if he has not fully achieved his full potential. Lack of motivation could cause further falls in productivity. The system also has standard input devices (mouse and keyboard), as well as standard output devices (printer, scanner and plotter), needed to process data and produce the desired results. The system also runs on a fairly fast processor, as given by the computers configuration. However it is unlikely that the system uses any of the other software packages (apart from the Windows 98 operating syste m) so these, as powerful as they are, arent being utilized. MAIN WEAKNESSES OF CURRENT SYSTEM: Based on the knowledge gained in these interviews, it is possible to finalize the main shortcomings of the system currently in use: * Small disk space. The disk space used for storage of data is relatively small as it needed to be upgraded beforehand. With all the new enrolments expected, as well as other related increases, such as electricity and water, teachers salaries, etc the available disk space will not be sufficient. * Poor security level. Security forms an important part of any system, and the fact that the database was hacked into shows just how weak security really is. The password used seems to be outdated and it is likely that people other than those authorized know it. Laxed security is especially important here as we are dealing with the personal records of students and teachers, not to mention important transactions such as total fees received, expenses, and so on. So security, despite being of paramount importance, isnt given the priority it should be. * Inconvenience The normal procedure to accomplish a single task is lengthy and time-consuming. It also involves unnecessary paperwork. This would exhibit itself as delays in processing, as a single instruction would have to be passed through many stages before being received by the sender once again as feedback. * Basic obsoleteness. As seen from the interview, Mr. Glasse uses a relatively fast processor. Despite this speed, we still find that the speed of running the system is slow especially when new records are added. This means that the components of the system itself are slow and outdated. This weakness especially comes into focus when we consider the fact that nowadays systems are rarely independent. One system has to be connected to at least one more system, with data exchange taking place between these. However, if their speeds are not compatible they will not be able to function at their optimum level. If the system were to exchange information over the Internet then this incompatibility could become a problem. OBJECTIVES OF THE NEW SYSTEM: 1) To provide quick access to the files in the database. Many files will now be in the system and it is necessary that they be reached quickly. 2) To maintain a higher level of security. This ensures that the database is viewed and controlled only by those who have the proper authority to do so. 3) To minimize red tape involved in making changes to the records. The previous system involved a lot of paperwork and proved to be costly in terms of time (therefore money), so this new system aims to reduce that by quickly and efficiently processing an instruction. 4) To be user-friendly. Step-by-step guidance ensures that the user can easily find his way around the database to perform the desired task. A Flowchart of how data would be passed along the new system is as follows: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Standard input devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a scanner and a web-camera will be needed for this system to operate (the mouse and keyboard are the main ones, the others for inputting photos and such graphics). Output devices will be plotters and printers. Hardware: The CPU requirement for this system include at least 100 MHz Pentium processor and 16 MB RAM. Software: It is necessary to have an operating system such as Windows 98 as well as MS Visual Basic program installed, as this is the front-end program to be used for this system, with Access 7.0 being the back-end program. The user will be Mr. Glasse, and his computer already exceeds the requirements for this system to function efficiently. His IT skills will also be relevant: since he already has MS Office 97 installed he will already know the basics behind Access 7.0 and should find no problem in entering the data. It must be remembered that the system to be developed is intended to replace the outdated system in current use. The current system is slow, inefficient and incompatible. Its replacement will be better than it in all these respects, and should bring the database up to the level of technology today.

African Insurgency Groups: Causes and Responses

African Insurgency Groups: Causes and Responses Daniel Silberstein In response to a spate of violent attacks from the Kenyan capital to the coast President Uhuru Kenyatta has decreed that they â€Å"will not flinch in war against terrorists†, specifically against the Al-Shabaab militant group headquartered in Somalia. His publicly declared position of a robust, aggressive, and continued response against what he refers to as an, â€Å"extremist caliphate† intent on asserting dominance in the region, is certain to be met with both solidarity and criticism amongst Kenyans, Africans, and the global community. Nigeria, home to Africa’s largest economy (according to an April BBC report) also finds itself on the brink of a larger conflict. Flanked by militant insurgency, attributed mostly to the Boko Haram, in the north and the new capital of piracy on its southern shores. The reverberations of these conflicts are uncertain. But, in order to foresee, and perhaps assuage, the consequences of this campaign, and to limit the devastation w e are likely to witness, it is paramount that international interventions adapt and correlations be drawn between this rising contention and contemporary conflicts that define modern warfare. Firstly, this should not be perceived as merely a symptom of the popularized narrative of another African affliction. This is to say that, historically, aggressions were relatively limited in regional scope. This does not downplay the reprehensible past conflicts in Africa: the horrors of genocide – such as Rwanda, Darfur, etc. and entrenched prolonged warfare – such as Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, etc. This is simply, and necessarily, to illustrate that the ramifications of warfare in Africa is quickly becoming a global hazard. The overwhelming contribution to this crises so far? Money, and quite literally tons of it. A 2009 WSJ article by Dambisa Moyo estimated over $1 trillion in fact. So, while the hopes of assisting in curtailing violence and degradation in the region have existed for decades, through foreign aid and, military and political partnerships, it is apparent that the structures in place for facilitation and management have failed to meet expectations. The current system of aid in Africa has become almost farcical. Broad strokes of assistance have missed the mark at best and have been actively harmful at worst. Much of the governmental fixtures that have grown from the influx of poorly distributed aid have actually stifled the genuine progress of their respective constituencies. Political institutions have propagated mostly as middle-men, profiteering from the flow of aid. In 2013, Transparency International placed all but five Sub-Saharan nations on the bottom half of its corruption rankings list. A new course of action is imperative to foster safety and augment economic growth. A discourse about the patronage of wealthy nations in intelligent intervention and investment is becoming more and more vital. That being said, undeterred by turmoil Africa is on the verge of a new day. Racked between geo-political vestiges of imperialism and vulnerable as potential prey to an aloof globalized economy, the region has desperately been seeking for a foothold of stability since the end of WW2. Despite a gridlock of corruption, sectarian violence, and humanitarian disasters, this century is poised to see African nations propelled into an elevated global status, both politically and economically. Countries like Botswana, Angola, and many others are experiencing an enormous growth in their middle-class sectors, which according to â€Å"The Economist† is projected to equal India’s middle-class sometime in 2015. While not the equivalent of the Western standard for middle-class this, consumer base will exponentially increase the marketability and influence of Africa’s economic bids. The consequences of increased economic pertinence is apparent throughout. A budding group of billi onaires speckle the continent, twenty-nine in fact according to Forbes in March. This is up from twenty only one year earlier. Granted, many are South African or hail from Northern Africa, countries not normally framed with Sub-Saharan Africa, but the proximity itself imparts salience. While functional and profitable large businesses develop, along with a stable middle-class, many African nations’ governments are beginning to politically mature. Even pockets of success from more circumspect aid programs exist, especially with micro-grants and loans to ground-level African entrepreneurs, demining initiatives, and the proliferation of educational opportunities. Considering Africa’s historical failures, and a perhaps tenuous grip upon a wave of rapid development, what are the right answers to best facilitate peace and stability? The necessity of foreign aid and intervention still exists. Reevaluating the distribution and access of aid, and developing prudent intervention strategies to comply with measurable outcomes is the only hope for these nations to surmount the magnitude of adversity that haunts the continent. Invariably, it seems to me, certain criteria must be met before a nation can hope to flourish: security and stability, transparency and accountability, and the development of business and infrastructure. While these guidelines are by no means exclusive of one another, nor strictly chronological in implementation. However, some semblance of this order is necessary, especially considering the familiar detachment of government policies to the populations they manage. The regression of the security situation, particularly Nigeria and Kenya the rising stars of self-reliance, threatens to derail these upwardly mobile countries by the very real potential of a conflict whose scope can easily exceed any in African history. The most significant distinction of this rising conflict are the links to a well-funded and ambitious international terrorist culture. Though intelligence is inherently faulty when evaluating extremist groups, links between African insurgency groups and organizations like A l Qaeda and (if not already, certainly soon) ISIS are all but assured. In light of emerging conflicts with borderless extremist organizations, and new found wealth, African defense budgets have soared 65% since 2004, according to The Economist, greater than any other region in that time frame. Almost without fail, since the onset of the Cold War era, ballooning defense budgets are often indicative of impending crises, not only in terms of violence but in the cessation of civil liberties and international instability. To ameliorate this the sale of materiel must follow a strict and discriminatory guideline. This is why the international community must be cohesive and cognizant, even apprehensive, as Kenya and Nigeria embark on their very own â€Å"War on Terror†. Unfortunately, the profit margin for manufacturing in the lucrative arms market is quickly establishing a place in Africa. The same Economist article divulged that â€Å"four major European arms manufacturers have set up African subsidiaries this year†. These will no doubt become e conomic boons but they carry with them the latency of war. One of McNamara’s lessons becomes relevant, â€Å"Proportionality should be a guideline in war†, indeed both in the manner in which it is waged and in the prevention of needless aggression. Problems arise with inflated military spending, the accessibility of war and the justification of expenditures compels nations to treat every problem like a nail with the hammers of automatic rifles. This is the often overlooked criticism of drone warfare. They are often more precise, accurate, and less apt to error than manned machines. A drone pilot in Nevada, overseen by hordes of high-ranking officials and lawyers, is less vulnerable to primal survival instincts and rash decisions. However, accessibility draws us into conflict. When the fear of casualty counts are not smeared on news broadcasts, a sense of invulnerability obfuscates wisdom. In the face of a ravenous enemy it is understandable, though undesirable, that one seeks safety behind the acquisition of arms and muzzle fla shes. Some strides have been made in anticipation of incautious military action. The U.N.’s Forward Intervention Brigade and African Union Peacekeepers have had success in presenting a unified front; the term coalition should be avoided these days to avoid negative connotations. These organizations also lend some transparency to unilateral operations and a more honest assessment of the aftermath of military operations. Obviously these methods of waging war are by no means faultless, it is a step in the right direction. Mutual policing will be fundamental in preventing atrocity. Andrew Muzonzini, the lead for Zimbabwe’s external intelligence agency offers a precocious insight in a Business Insider Article that is in line with the appropriate approach, â€Å"Ahead of time, we should seek to understand (the Islamic State) modus operandi if we are to anticipate and predict challenges ahead†. This conclusion, hopefully shared amongst the milieu of African politics, will (hopefully) be indicative of a circumspect and deliberate course of action to repel extremist behavior. A strong internal defense approach combined with precisely defined and rigidly tailored tactical excursions, targeting only locally substantiated objectives, should be the tenets of this nascent conflict. The global community needs to facilitate such equitable actions. More valuable than financial support, more accurate than high-tech weaponry, we must impart the lessons of an ineffective and prolonged conflict. The manner in which we defend ourselves should not be so broad as to alienate us from the world at large. Africa’s Muslim population’s safety must be assured. Sovereign nations must not be disaffected. And perhaps in the end Africa may edify the global community on how to maintain morality when confronting monsters. What is Online Examination System? What is Online Examination System? Online examinations, sometimes referred as e-examinations, are the examinations conducted through the internet or in an intranet (if within the Organization) for a remote candidate(s). Most of the examinations issue results as the candidate finish the examination, when there is an answer processing module also included with the system. They can be used to efficiently evaluate the candidate thoroughly through a fully automated system that not only saves lot of time but also gives fast results. For students they give papers according to their convenience and time and there is no need of using extra thing like paper, pen etc. These examinations are conducted as open-book type examinations. Candidate is given a limited time to answer the questions and after the time expiry the answer paper is disabled automatically and answers is sent to the examiner. The examiner will evaluate answers, either through automated process or manually and the results will be sent to the candidate through email or made available in the web site. Today many organizations are conducting online examinations worldwide successfully and issue results online. There are advantages and disadvantages in online examinations. The main advantage is that it can be conducted for remote candidates and evaluation of answers can be fully automated for Multiple Choice questions and other essay type questions can be evaluated manually or through automated system, depending on the nature of the questions and the requirements. Also online examinations can be conducted at any time and does not incur higher cost as traditional exam scenario as there is no paper work involved(eg: printing exam papers, prepare paper admissions etc) , there is no invigilators, also no need of arrangement of exam centers. When comparing with traditional exam scenario the cost for an online examination will be almost zero after the online exam system is establishment and if maintenance cost is not considered. The disadvantage of the e-examination is the inability of invigilating. There are methodologies used in these examinations, when registering candidates and presentation of questions, so that to test candidates knowledge and skills. However with a limited time, candidate is not capable of totally depend on the reference materials or a supporting person. AIM OF THE PROJECT The aim of this project is to develop an online examination system by applying software engineering principles and best practices. The system will be built using popular Java/J2EE web technologies and framework available for web development. The system will be designed to be scalable, secure and robust. The online examination system will help in speeding up the process of conducting examination. Teachers will be able to create examinations by composing a set of questions. The questions can be multiple choice questions or single (text) answer question. The system will have the ability to automatically process the results of examination based on the question database. The system will have intelligent capabilities to mark the text based answers not only when there is an exact match, but it will also recognize similar answers by finding the synonyms of the words used in the answer. The system will also provide manual override feature where in the teacher can manually mark or update the result for an exam. The system will also have the capability to resume the examination from last save point, i.e., a student can stop the examination in the middle and can start again at any other time. When the student will start the same examination again, the exam will start from the same point where i t was stopped. The system will present a easy to use interface for Teachers, Students and Administrators. Once logged in, students will be able to see the examinations due and can take the examination. CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS EVALUATION OF EXAMINATION SYSTEM Paper -Based Examination: Paper -based examination are carrried out on fixed days and according to a fixed schedule. Therefore, the absentees rarely have another chance to take up the exam again. Moreover, they involve a lot of paper work (e.g. printing of exam papers, arranging answer sheets, etc ). The evaluation of these exam is also very tedious job,after the students complete their exams, theteacher has to mark each paper manually and then consolidate the result. This process is very cumbersome and takes a lot of time and hard work. Web- Based Examination: With the emergence of online examinations, the World Wide Web opens up the possibility of giving the exams online. The online examination system helps in speeding up the process of conducting examination. Teachers will be able to create examinations by composing a set of questions. The system will have intelligent capabilities to mark the text based answers not only when there is an exact match, but it will also recognize similar answers by finding the synonyms of the words used in the answer. The system will also provide manual override feature where in the teacher can manually mark or update the result for an exam. The system will also have the capability to resume the examination from last save point, i.e., a student can stop the examination in the middle and can start again at any other time. When the student will start the same examination again, the exam will start from the same point where it was stopped. The system will present a easy to use interface for Teachers, Students and Administrators. Once logged in, students will be able to see the examinations due and can take the examination. TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH Web applications are either service oriented or presentation oriented. A presentation oriented web application involves generally mark up languages (e.g. XML and HTML) with dynamic contents responding to requests. On the other hand, a service oriented web applications implements the endpoint of the web service. Below is an analysis on Postgres, Hibernate, Spring and Wicket used to implement my project. POSTGRES PostgreSQL is an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) based on POSTGRES,Version 4.2 (http://s2k-ftp.CS.Berkeley.EDU:8000/postgres/postgres.html), developed at the University of California at Berkeley Computer Science Department. The POSTGRES project, led by Professor Michael Stonebraker, was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),the Army Research Office (ARO), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and ESL, Inc. PostgreSQL is an open-source descendant of this original Berkeley code. It provides SQL92/SQL99language support and other modern features. POSTGRES pioneered many of the object-relational concepts now becoming available in some commercial databases. Traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS) support a data model consisting of a collection of named relations, containing attributes of a specific type. In current commercial systems, possible types include floating point numbers, integers, character strings, money,and dates. It is commonly recognized that this model is inadequate for future data processing applications. The relational model successfully replaced previous models in part because of its simplicity. However, as mentioned, this simplicity often makes the implementation of certainapplications very difficult. Postgres offers substantial additional power by incorporating the following additional concepts in such a way that users can easily extend the system: inheritance data types functions Other features provide additional power and flexibility: constraints triggers rules transaction integrity These features put Postgres into the category of databases referred to as object-relational. SPRING Spring Features Spring is a layered Java/J2EE application platform, based on code published in  Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development  by Rod Johnson (Wrox, 2002). Spring includes: The most complete lightweight container, providing centralized, automated configuration and wiring of your application objects. The container is  non-invasive, capable of assembling a complex system from a set of loosely-coupled components (POJOs) in a consistent and transparent fashion. The container brings agility and leverage, and improves application testability and scalability by allowing software components to be first developed and tested in isolation, then scaled up for deployment in any environment (J2SE or J2EE).    A common abstraction layer for transaction management, allowing for pluggable transaction managers, and making it easy to demarcate transactions without dealing with low-level issues. Generic strategies for JTA and a single JDBC DataSource are included. In contrast to plain JTA or EJB CMT, Springs transaction support is not tied to J2EE environments.    A JDBC abstraction layer  that offers a meaningful exception hierarchy (no more pulling vendor codes out of SQLException), simplifies error handling, and greatly reduces the amount of code youll need to write. Youll never need to write another finally block to use JDBC again. The JDBC-oriented exceptions comply to Springs generic DAO exception hierarchy.    Integration with Toplink, Hibernate, JDO, and iBATIS SQL Maps: in terms of resource holders, DAO implementation support, and transaction strategies. First-class Hibernate support with lots of IoC convenience features, addressing many typical Hibernate integration issues. All of these comply to Springs generic transaction and DAO exception hierarchies.    AOP functionality, fully integrated into Spring configuration management. You can AOP-enable any object managed by Spring, adding aspects such as declarative transaction management. With Spring, you can have declarative transaction management without EJB even without JTA, if youre using a single database in Tomcat or another web container without JTA support.    A flexible MVC web application framework, built on core Spring functionality. This framework is highly configurable via strategy interfaces, and accommodates multiple view technologies like JSP, Velocity, Tiles, iText, and POI. Note that a Spring middle tier can easily be combined with a web tier based on any other web MVC framework, like Struts, WebWork, or Tapestry. HIBERNATE Hibernate is popular open source object relational mapping tool for Java platform. It provides powerful, ultra-high performance object/relational persistence and query service for Java. Hibernate lets you develop persistent classes following common Java idiom including association, inheritance, polymorphism, composition and the Java collections framework. The Hibernate Query Language, designed as a minimal object-oriented extension to SQL, provides an elegant bridge between the object and relational worlds. Hibernate also allows you to express queries using native SQL or Java-based Criteria and Example queries. Hibernate is now the most popular object/relational mapping solution for Java. Hibernate maps the Java classes to the database tables. It also provides the data query and retrieval facilities that significantly reduces the development time. Hibernate is not the best solutions for data centric applications that only uses the stored-procedures to implement the business logic in database. It is most useful with object-oriented domain modes and business logic in the Java-based middle-tier. Hibernate allows transparent persistence that enables the applications to switch any database. Hibernate can be used in Java Swing applications, Java Servlet-based applications, or J2EE applications using EJB session beans. Features of Hibernate Hibernate 3.0 provides three full-featured query facilities: Hibernate Query Language, the newly enhanced Hibernate Criteria Query API, and enhanced support for queries expressed in the native SQL dialect of the database. Filters for working with temporal (historical), regional or permissioned data. Enhanced Criteria query API: with full support for projection/aggregation and subselects. Runtime performance monitoring: via JMX or local Java API, including a second-level cache browser. Eclipse support, including a suite of Eclipse plug-ins for working with Hibernate 3.0, including mapping editor, interactive query prototyping, schema reverse engineering tool. Hibernate is Free under LGPL: Hibernate can be used to develop/package and distribute the applications for free. Hibernate is Scalable: Hibernate is very performant and due to its dual-layer architecture can be used in the clustered environments. Less Development Time: Hibernate reduces the development timings as it supports inheritance, polymorphism, composition and the Java Collection framework. Automatic Key Generation: Hibernate supports the automatic generation of primary key for your. JDK 1.5 Enhancements: The new JDK has been released as a preview earlier this year and we expect a slow migration to the new 1.5 platform throughout 2004. While Hibernate3 still runs perfectly with JDK 1.2, Hibernate3 will make use of some new JDK features. JSR 175 annotations, for example, are a perfect fit for Hibernate metadata and we will embrace them aggressively. We will also support Java generics, which basically boils down to allowing type safe collections. EJB3-style persistence operations: EJB3 defines the create() and merge() operations, which are slightly different to Hibernates saveOrUpdate() and saveOrUpdateCopy() operations. Hibernate3 will support all four operations as methods of the Session interface. Hibernate XML binding enables data to be represented as XML and POJOs interchangeably. The EJB3 draft specification support for POJO persistence and annotations. WICKET Features Swing-like OO Component Model : Pages and Components in Wicket are real Java objects that support encapsulation, inheritance and events. Ease of Development : Because Wicket is Java and HTML, you can leverage what you know about Java or your favorite HTML editor to write Wicket applications. Separation of Concerns : Wicket does not mix markup with Java code and adds no special syntax to your markup files. The worlds of HTML and Java are parallel and associated only by Wicket ids, which are attributes in HTML and Component properties in Java. Since Wicket HTML is just HTML and Wicket Java is just Java, coders and designers can work independently to a large degree and without relying on any special tools. Secure : Wicket is secure by default. URLs do not expose sensitive information and all component paths are session-relative. Explicit steps must be taken to share information between sessions. There are plans for the next version of Wicket to add URL encryption to support highly secure web sites. Transparent, Scalable Clustering Support : All Wicket applications will work on a cluster automatically and without additional work. Once bottlenecks are understood, Wicket enables tuning of page state replication. The next version of Wicket will support client-side models for zero-state scalability. Transparent Back Button Support : Wicket supports configurable page version management. When users submit a form or follow a link from a page they accessed with the back button in their browser, Wicket is able to revert the page object to the state it was in when the page was originally rendered. This means you can write web applications that support the back button with very little work. Multi-tab and multi-window support : Wicket provides an easy way to write application that supports multi-window and multi-tab usage allowing developer to react properly when users open new browser window or tab Reusable Components : Reusable components in Wicket are particularly easy to create. Not only can you extend existing components with the Java extends keyword, but you can also create Panel components which associate a group of components as a reusable unit. Simple, Flexible, Localizable Form Validation : It is trivial to write and use validators in Wicket. It is also quite easy to customize and localize the display and content of validation error messages. Typesafe Sessions : Wicket eliminates the need to manage HttpSession attributes by hand. Page and component objects are transparently stored in the session and your application can create a custom session subclass with typesafe properties as well. All objects stored in the session can automatically participate in clustering replication. Factory Customizable : Wicket is very extensible. Most operations are customizable through factories or factory methods. Detachable Models : Model objects in Wicket can be very lightweight in terms of memory and network use in a cluster. When a model is used, it can attach, populating itself with information from persistent storage. When the model is no longer in use, transient information can be reset, reducing the size of the object. Border Components : Wicket Border components enable the decoration of pages in a reusable fashion. This is especially useful for inheritance of common navigational structures or layout. Support for All Basic HTML Features : Wicket supports image tags, links, forms and everything else that youre used to using in your web application development. Programmatic Manipulation of Attributes : Wicket Components can programmatically change any HTML tag attribute. Automatic Conversions : Once a Form validates, the model can be updated using Wicket converters. Most ordinary conversions are built-in and it is easy to write new converters. Dynamic Images : Wicket makes image use, sharing and generation very easy. Dynamic images can be created by simply implementing a paint method. Pageable ListView : ListViews in Wicket are extremely powerful. You can nest any kind of component in a ListView row, even other ListViews. PageableListView supports navigation links for large lists. Tree Component : Out of the box tree component for navigating and selecting nodes. Localization : HTML pages, images and resource strings can all be localized. CHAPTER-3 REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS The requirement analysis stage consists in collecting and analyzing information about the part of the organization that is supported by the application. This information helps us to identify the users requirements for the new system. This will enable us to define the various functionalities of the new system. The identification of the requirements is important as a system with incomplete functionality can lead to a project failure. 3.1 DATA GATHERING USER IDENTIFICATION Users of the system can be categorized as : Student Teacher Admin(Administrator) FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS The system aims to be an improvement on the existing one, the paper based system by : Fully automated system. Less time and effort consuming. Database should be well maintained with well structured database tables. The system should be scalable. Allow student and teachers to view the available exams. Allow student and teacher to view marks. Allow admin to manage the user system and exam system NON FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Security : Each user is required to log into the system. This is done using a valid username and password. Login and password should be kept secret. Reliability : The system would be used by more than 200 students in the Computer Science Department, which includes academic and administrative staff. The system should ensure minimum downtime and be able to handle multiple requests. Ease of Use : All the user screens should be easy to use and intuitive. Contact details should be provided in order to get in touch with the administrator. Scalability : It is possible to extend the current features for future use of the system. Performance : The system should have a quick response time . DOMAIN REQUIREMENTS Specific functionality provided to the Admin: Manage User System : Admin can create a new user. Activate/deactivate an existing user.Admin can delete and edit a user. Manage Examination : Admin can edit an exam and assign exam to students. Admin can activate/deactivate any exam. Admin can also delete an exam. Specific functionality provided to the Teacher: Manage Examination : Teacher can create a new exam, edit existing exam. Create questions is one of the important functionality. Question can be textual or it can be single/multiple choice. Mark Exam : Teacher can do the marking of the exam either manually or it can be automated. Specific functionality provided to the Student : Answer Exam : Student can answer the exam assigned. View Point : Student can view the point of a question. He can also view his marks in a particular exam. PROJECT PLANNING Task no. Task Name Duration(days) Comments 1 Project Proposal 4 Deadline 30th September 2010 2 Requirements Specifications Ongoing Identify the users needs. 3 Research For technologies required by the system Ongoing Investigate the technologies to be used, the data structure. Identify important features which can be applied to the project implementation. 4 Architectural Design Ongoing Define different layers of the system and apply appropriate technologies to each layer. 5 Database Design 4 Apply Database schema provided by the School IT support team. Add necessary tables and relationships between them to make the application functional. 6 Prototype 3 Design Mock Interfaces of the application. 7 First Inspection 1 Start on 10th October 2010 8 Design Model 7 Class Diagrams Sequence Diagrams 9 Coding Phase 28 It will include connections to the database server. Develop the interfaces. And implement the functionalities of the system. Deadline 10th December 2010 10 Testing 5 Test all the features of the web application. 11 Final Inspection 1 Start on 20th December 2010 12 Dissertation Ongoing Write the dissertation. 13 Dissertation Submission 1 Deadline 7th January 2011 CHAPTER-4 SYSTEM AND DATABASE DESIGN 4.1 DATABASE DESIGN Table Name Description Answer Answer table is used to save all answer of student and right answer of teacher for each question configuration Configuration is used to save configuration information such as: term condition, mark ratio Examination Examination table is used to save exam Examuser ExamUser table is used to save user Question Question table is used to save question Role Role table is used to save role information studentexamination StudentExamination table is used to save the students which are assigned a particular exam. One student can have many examination and one examination can belongs to many students. user_role UserRole table is used for linking many-to-many relationship between user and role. 4.2 SYSTEM FUNCTION DESIGN At the start of the application , a Welcome Page is displayed. On the left side there are three buttons namely Home, Help and Log in. To log into the application , the user has to press the log in button. It displays a login page. The user is prompted to enter a username and a password. Any wrong login using invalid username and password will generate error message requiring the user to try again. During the user authentication check, the system will determine the type of user (admin, student,teacher) and redirect the user to the correct page with appropriate features. ADMINPAGE If the user logged in is admin, then Adminpage shows up. It has the following links Manage Examination : Admin can manage the Examination System. It can view all the examinations created. The Admin can assign students the exams. Manage User : Admin can manage the User System. This is used to manage the user data. Admin can create a new user, edit an existing , delete a user, enable / disable a user. Configuration : This is used to change the configuration of the exam like terms conditions and the marks ratio. ROLE OF ADMIN CREATE USER When the admin opts to create a new user, he inputs the user information like firstname, lastname, e-mail , username, password, course, role in the user management system. There it is checked whether the user exists or not, and the user information entered is valid or not. If it is valid it is saved into the database. Otherwise, an error message is displayed. ACTIVATE/DEACTIVATE A USER Admin can activate/deactivate any user. For this admin chooses a user from the user system, activate/deactivate the user. Then save it into the database. MANAGE EXAMINATION Admin can assign a particular exam to students. Admin can activate or deactivate any exam. TEACHER PAGE If the user logged in is teacher, Teacherpage shows up. It has the following links : Manage Examination : This is used to manage the existing exams in the database. A teacher can edit exam, create questions for a particular exam, view questions of a exam and mark a exam manually. Create Question : This is used to create question. A question can be textual, single choice or multiple choice. A teacher can also edit the existing questions in the database. Create Examination : This is used to create a new exam. Help : This is to help the teacher in creating a question. ROLE OF TEACHER CREATE EXAM When the teacher opts to create an exam, he inputs the exam name, duration of the exam, description of the exam, mark type into the exam system. There it is checked whether exam name exists or not, duration of the exam is valid or not. If all is valid it is saved into the data base otherwise an error message is returned back to the teacher. A teacher can also edit the existing exam in the database. CREATE QUESTION When the teacher opts to create a question for an exam. He chooses the exam from the exam system and creates a question for it. In the question management system it is checked whether the question content is correct or not. If it is correct, it is saved into the database otherwise an error message is returned to the teacher. MARK MANUALLY When the teacher opts to mark an exam manually, he chooses the exam to be marked from the exam system. He iterates each question and marks them. Then he saves the marks into database. STUDENT PAGE If the user logged in is a student, studentpage shows up. It has the following link : View Point : This is used to view the point assigned to a particular student. Answer Exam : This is used to answer the exam assigned to the student. ROLE OF STUDENT VIEW MARKS A student can view his marks in any exam . ANSWER AN EXAM A student can answer any particular exam assigned to him. He can view point assigned to a question also. INTERFACE DESIGN Figure: Welcome Screen This is the Welcome Screen of our application. On the left hand side there are three buttons : Home, Help, Log in. These enable the user to get to Home Page, Help and Log in helps the user to get logged into the system. The same header and footer will be applicable to every page to preserve the consistency and integrity of the application. We use the ApplicationContext.xml file to define some Java beans like dataSource, SessionFactory, etc so that we can retrieve them in the application. In this way we can reimplement the classes and use alternatively different implementations by just changing the configuration in the ApplicationContext.xml file. Once you have a sessionfactory, your application asks the factory for a session. Your application will use Hibernate sessions to manage the persistent objects. An application context configuration file is created for the entire application named applicationcontext.xml destroy-method=close> ${hibernate.dialect} ${hibernate.show-sql} ${hibernate.hbm2ddl-auto} I need to define a web.xml File contextConfigLocation classpath:application-context.xml;classpath:security-context.xml org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener Deploying the application will create a database called exam as shown below in the Figure CHAPTER 5- IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING APPLICATION IMPLEMENTATION Create User By Admin CreateUser.java String firstName = firstNameModel.getObject(); String lastName = lastNameModel.getObject(); String email = emailModel.getObject(); String course = courseModel.getObject(); ExamUser user = new ExamUser(); user.setUsername(username); user.setPassword(passwordEncoder.encodePassword(password, null)); user.setFirstName(firstName); user.setLastName(lastName); user.setEmail(email); user.setCourse(course); String selectedRoleName = roleModel.getObject().trim(); userService.createUser(user); Manage User By Admin ManageUser.java List> columns = new ArrayList>(); columns.add(new PropertyColumn(new Model(ID), id) { @Override public String getCssClass() { return numeric; } }); columns.add(new PropertyColumn(new Model(

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

should scarlet letter be published :: essays research papers

Dear Perma-Bound,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has come to my attention that you are currently debating on whether or not you should publish The Scarlet Letter and introduce it into the literary world. I feel that it would be in your best interest for you to go and publish this novel for all to read.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel is a superb piece of literature and people all over the world could reap benefit from its contents. Throughout the novel we feel, not only the suffering of being publicly humiliated for one’s sins, but also the suffering of the guilty one who has not yet let his sins known to the world. We feel the shame Hester feels as the other villagers scorn and torment her for her sin. We can sense her strength as she goes through the first few years without ever once lashing out at anyone for the way they treated her. Hester just accepts it has the part of her punishment. Reverend Dimmesdale’s guilt is so strong and runs so deep that we, as the readers, cry out with sympathy for him and his inner turmoil. Not only does this novel bring us into the souls of its characters in order to better understand them, but it also shows us just how easily friends can turn their backs on you. These villagers that were tormenting Hester had, at one point, been her friends. As soon as these â€Å"friends† found out about what Hester had done they became her enemies. All of the virtues about Hester that they had known were forgotten and in its place was put the knowledge of her sin.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Essay --

When an individual relates to the Bible and refers as God as an ultimate power and a divine power, it would be identical to Judaism. Learning about Judaism has put a whole different perspective on my outlook of life because it doesn’t mean that Christian’s only believe in God, Jews do also. Their services and rituals are very similar to Christianity but not identical. From the experience of going to Beth El Temple, I noticed differences right away. Walking in, a person of authority, not sure who it was, greeted everyone passing through the doors. I felt very welcomed and I felt like I didn’t stand out at all. One thing that greatly stood out to me was the way every individual dressed up. All the men were dressed up in suits and ties or bowties with the usual yamaka. All women had nice sundresses on that covered their shoulders and if it didn’t they had a shawl on that did cover their shoulders. Up at the bimah, instead of usually one priest in Christianity, there were two Rabbi’s and a musician playing the guitar and singing. The two Rabbi’s start off the ceremony saying â€Å"Shabbot Shalom†, which I’m pretty sure means welcome to all or hello. After the Rabbi’s say it to the audience and the audience, including myself, says it back they sing a song similar to us Christian’s : â€Å"Allel ujah†. As many also see in videos of Jews saying prayer or singing a song, many get into it and move their whole body in a rhythm. After this song ended, this service was special because two boys were going to get bar mitzvahed. After these boys are introduced, everyone greets each other so there are no strangers. Next they sing another song called â€Å"Matto Bu† which is words of blessing given by God. After this song they say that individuals of Judaism c... ...any others have the same views as me and I like that. Me: What is the most challenging aspect of being a member of this religion? Jason: The most difficult part of belonging to this religion is how it is not accepted by most of today’s society. Most individuals make fun of me for being Jewish because the Holocaust. Personally, I think it has nothing to do with the extermination of many Jews. Being Jewish is mostly about faith, and going through the suffering to get to the higher power and achieving the ultimate goal. In conclusion, I did not realize how in-depth another religion could be and how similar it could be to my own religion. Many individuals should be open to this religion because it is very similar in a lot of ways. I feel like if we worship the same God and all have the same destination, there shouldn’t be any social problems in today’s society.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Problem of Evil Essay -- essays research papers

Is there any satisfactory way of reconciling the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God with the existence of natural evil (i.e. evil not due to the misuse of human free will)? One of the central claims of the Judaeo-Christian tradition is the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God. Against this is the observation that people and animals suffer evil. By common sense, we would infer from this observation that God, as conceived in this tradition, does not exist - for, if He did, He would prevent the evil. This inference is called the Problem of Evil by those who profess one of the religions in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and their attempts to 'solve' the problem have given rise to a labyrinth of sophistry. Put briefly, the solution most commonly espoused to the Problem of Evil is * Some suffering is caused by others' misuse of their own free-will (as in murder). * God does not intervene to stop people freely choosing evil because: o people can be virtuous only if they freely choose between good and evil; o having virtuous people in the world is a greater good than eradicating evil; o therefore God must allow people to be free; o therefore evil inflicted by other people is the price that God demands that we pay to enable some people to be virtuous. * Some suffering is caused by natural phenomena (as in earthquakes). Such occurrences enable people to be virtuous through: o heroics, such as rescuing those in danger; o strong faith in God, as it is harder to believe in God in the midst of grief; o humility, as people realise they are powerless against the whim of God. * Again, God does not intervene because he is using the natural disasters to engender virtue. I shall examine a number of such arguments, but first it is useful to clarify the nature of such debate. The nature of theological debate One difficulty that arises in writing about this subject is that the traditional view of God is ridiculous - as Hume's Philo says, it is fixed only "by the utmost licence of fancy and hypothesis", and the arguments put forward for it are transparently fallacious. In order to proceed with the debate at all, one must feign a deficit in the application of one's powers of reason, for if one relied exclusively on reason for deciding what to believe, then one would dismiss religion out of hand. It is well known that people hold their... ...answers here. First, although the discharge of benevolent deeds is a good thing, it is not such a great thing that it is worth inflicting war, pestilence, and old age on mankind. Second, there are ample opportunities for people to do great works that do not involve other people's suffering. For instance, they could build concert halls, or run marathons, or make scientific discoverie, or write novels. The claim that great human achievements can be secured only through other people's misery is an expression of pure evil, and not an argument for a benevolent God. Conclusion The existence of evil (natural or otherwise) in the world cannot possibly be reconciled with the existence of an omnipotent and all-loving God. If such a God existed, He would prevent the occurrence of such evil. This is therefore a definitive proof of atheism, in the sense of denying the existence of God as He is conceived in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. It must be admitted, though, that this conception of God is a sharply-delineated and simplistic one, whereas many people nowadays have a 'soft-focus' God. It is harder work for the atheist to refute the soft-focus God, although it can still be done.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

GameStop POP Displays Essay

I recently went to a retail shop near my house to observe a number of things about point of purchase of a number of items displayed. I visited the store which was one of the most talked about in my area so tempted to try that place I paid a trip to GameStop, being only a quarter mile away from my house. Upon entering the shop I was fascinated by the size and the rush of the people at the store. At that spur of moment I realized that this place will most definitely possess a variety of items at display. As I moved around I noticed there was adequate space for the crowd to view each and every display. But obviously there were certain items that really attracted people for various reasons, either out of curiosity or genuinely being interested in the displayed matter. After a whole walk through of the GameStop store, I counted and checked with the reception that there were 22 displays to ensure I dint miss out any of them for my observation. The object that really caught my attention was the Guitar Hero World Tour as it was the first display I stood and the longest. This is because the minute I entered the shop, the item was right in front so it was unlikely that anyone would have missed it. Also owing to the fact that high definition television with surround sound is one of my interests but the facility to reserve a copy of my own and the date of when it will be released really impressed me. To my disappointment Little Big Planet was really unsuccessful, not just in my view but the general public as well. No release date was mentioned so there was no point pondering over it. Maybe that’s why it was displayed at a dimly lit area, right at the back of the store. Also being stacked being other displays just made it even more difficult to reach out to it. I even went up to the store manager to get a better insight on how they operated the POP display. As a layman I questioned him over POP displays and trade allowances on which he was well informed. He mentioned that POP displays were used as means of sales promotion and getting the customer in the game shop. For example Play Station 3 was prominently situated right at the center of the store so that most of the customer traffic gathered around there, in that way once they were done with having a feel of Play Station 3, they will have to go through other products, in this way maneuvering the customers. But not all items were displayed according to the manager who suggested that 10% were not used to allow other unpopular games to be made accessible for a segmented market. Store size was also not big enough to cater all the products that is why it is critical to determine which items need to be displayed. This determination is also done by the upper management on the basis of the location and size of the store. Though one troubled factor for the manager was that a booklet was the foundation of setting up a display (Source: POP Display) Similarly trade allowance was used as means of offering negotiated price for the customers to feel tempted to purchase the product as such lucrative offers are not available every other time. Another way how trade allowance helped was that sales personnel made good efforts to sell their respective products. Surprisingly the manager hardly knew about the practicality in applying trade allowance theory on GameShop store as upper management simply kept this information to themself. In this way the manager really felt frustrated on the inability to understand how and why certain reasons are considered acceptable to the upper management while he might disagree. (Source: Trade Allowance) As I see lack of ownership has really got the level of performance below, which could really be avoided to enhance sales as more and more products would have been presented in a better manner. Works Cited 1. Principles of Marketing (POP Display). 13 October 2008 . 2. Principles of Marketing (Trade Allowance). 13 October 2008 .

Friday, August 16, 2019

Harper Lee Research Paper

â€Å"†¦ climb into his skin and walk around in it. † Atticus teaches Scout and important life lesson. The novel To Kill and Mockingbird describes Lee’s childhood growing up in a small country town called Maycomb. She grew up in a small family consisting of her dad, Atticus and her older brother, Jem. The novel describes her childhood adventures and journeys as she grows and matures. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird discusses biographical and historical events by using characterization and setting. â€Å"Harper Lee was born in Monroevill, Alabama in 1926† (Hacht). Lee was born to Frances Finch, who died when Lee was young, and was the daughter of a lawyer in Maycomb County, Amasa Coleman†(Moss, Wilson 390), who they referred to as â€Å"Atticus†. Lee was a â€Å"Tom-boy† growing up because she was the only girl in the family. â€Å"Truman Capote, famous writer, was a close childhood friend of Lee and is thought to have served as the model for Dill in the novel† (Hacht). â€Å"After graduating from the public schools of Monroeville, Lee attended a small college in nearby Montgomery before attending the University of Alabama† (Telgan 285), and one year at Oxford University in England (Stabler 663) essay writer premium 3d. She studied law after graduating essay writer program, but withdrew one semester before completing her law degree† (Hacht). She withdrew for her law degree to pursue her writing career (Hacht). â€Å"She helped author Truman Capote research information for the book, In Cold Blood† (Stabler 663). â€Å"She wrote essays and short stories in her spare time. † Her agent called to tell her about the one of her short stories being extended into a novel (Telgan 287). The book was To Kill and Mockingbird which was her only book, was immediately popular and critical success, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 (Hacht).The practice of slavery made whites prejudice agains t blacks, and the whites did not get along well with the blacks, which was a cause for a major change. Even though slavery ended they where still treated unfairly. â€Å"Although Lee sets her novel in the south of the 1930s, conditions were little improved by the early 1960s in America† (Telgan 295). Despite the end of slavery African Americans were still denied many of their basic rights. Blacks were demeaned by society. They segregated the public rest rooms and drinking fountains and forced blacks to the back of buses. Injustice was challenged was challenged by a woman named Rosa Parks.She refused to give up her seat to a white man. Being lead by Martin Luther King Jr. , civil right leaders lead a boycott against the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama on December 5, 1995 (Telgan 295-296). â€Å"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop, grass grew on the sidewalk, and the courthouse sagged in t he square† (Lee 5) Lee describes the setting o Maycomb for the reader to visualize the setting of the story. â€Å"†¦ Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old lady who ever lived† (Lee 35). Harper Lee uses characterization to describe the meanness in Mrs.Dubose, and why Jem and Scout hate to walk by her house. Harper Lee teaches life lessons in To Kill a Mockingbird by describing her childhood. She discusses biographical and historical events by using characterization and setting to help the readers see what she wrote. Hacht, Anne M. â€Å"To Kill an Mockingbird. † Literary Themes for Students: Race and Predjudice. Vol. 2 Detroit: Gale, 2006. 470-483. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Hardin Valley Academy. 23Oct. 2009http://go. galegroup. com/ps/start. do? p=GVRL&u=tel_k_hardinhs Moss, Joyce & Wilson, George â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird. † Literature and Its Times. Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them. Vol. 3: Growth of Empires to the Great Depression (1890-1930s) Detroit: Gale, 1997. 390-396. Gale Virtual Reference Liberary. Gale. HARDIN VALLEY ACADEMY. 26 Oct. 2009 http://go. galegroup. com/ps/start. do? p=GVRL&u=tel _K_hardinhs Stabler, Scott â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird. † St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 4. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 663-664. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale HARDIN VALLEY ACADEMY. 26 Oct. 2009 http://go. galegroup. com/ps/start. do? p=GVRL&u