Compare and Contrast: A&P and Everyday Use Essay

A&P is a short story written by American writer John Updike. The story takes place during the summer in a small New England town where everything seems ordinary and gray. The story stars Sammy a nineteen-year-old boy working the checkout line of grocery store by the name of A&P. Sammy is working one day when in walks three teenage girls, wearing only their bathing suits. He is quickly infatuated by the scene for it is not one he comes across to often and begins to watch the girls closely. Sammy pays close attention to the appearance of the girls naming each one according to how he views them, there is â€Å"Plaid† the chunky one who got her name due to her swimsuit, â€Å"Big Tall Goony Goony† who he describes as attractive but falling short to â€Å"Queenie†, the girl who Sammy seems to be most infatuated with, she is the most striking out of the bunch getting her name due to being the leader of the group. Sammy pays close attention to the three girls all the way to the point where they finally come to his register where they are confronted by his manager Lengel a very conservative man who ask the girls to come with their shoulders covered the next time they wish to enter his store. This sparks Sammy to quit and to chase the girls outside where to his surprise are gone. Everyday Use is a short story written by American author Alice Walker. The story takes place in the late 1900’s in the south in a house that was rebuilt after it was burned down by a ferocious fire. The story stars Mama a big-boned woman with hands that are rough from years of physical labor that is poor and uneducated due to never being given the opportunity to break out of her rural life, she is also the story’s narrator. Mama and her daughter Maggie who is shy and self conscience due to her being burned and scarred by the fire that took down their house wait outside their home for the arrival of her older daughter  Dee who is the exact opposite of Maggie being that she is educated and quite confident. Dee arrives at the home of her mother with not only a new man, but a new look, she is very colorful and into her â€Å"heritage†. Mama, Maggie, Dee, and Dee’s male friend have dinner in which Dee tells Mama what she’s been doing with herself and ends with Dee wanting to leave with the butter churn. The butter churn isn’t the only item which Dee would like to leave with, she also wants two quilts made by her ancestors, but Mama says no for they are promised to her sister Maggie. Dee leaves the house outraged telling her mother she doesn’t understand her heritage. Two scenes that I feel share a common message is Sammy’s decision to quit A&P and Mama’s decision to not let Dee have her way and give Maggie the quilt. Both characters decided this would be their time to take a stand against something they felt was not right. For Sammy it was a decision driven by his lust for Queenie, for Mama it was finally saying no to the daughter who she feels unappreciated by. Sammy’s decision ends with him having no job and no women, but a better sense of what he wants in life which is a desire to get away from the norm that is his job and town and go out and experience opportunities beyond his limit. Mama’s decision had the opposite effect of what Sammy’s had, she not only grew closer to her daughter Maggie, but she  realized that she’s happy being the woman she is, she doesn’t have to change herself . Mama is proud of her life and of being a practical hardworking woman. Both A&P and Everyday Use are similar in the fact that we have characters struggling to find out what it is they want from their lives, but are different in the sense of what the characters actually realize they want.

Advertising Essay

Every day, whether watching tv, listening to the radio, or driving in the car, people encounter all sorts of advertisements. For as long as most can remember, advertising has been all over the place, and over time it has weaved its way into the day to day lives of society. The use of advertising is to grab one’s attention and to persuade them of something, usually to buy a service or a product. And whether we realize it or not, negatively or positively, advertisements affect people psychologically. Some of them use bright colors, others use statistics, and some use humor to grab one’s attention. One such advertisements comes from the gym, Planet Fitness. Planet Fitness attracts members by use of humor and by appealing to the physical and financial needs of the ‘average joe’ in their advertisements. In this commercial, there are young, fit women walking around the locker room talking about how hot they are and how hot they think each other are, all the while a normal woman of a little older age sits in her towel and witnesses their conversation. You can tell that she’s clearly uncomfortable with being in the situation. She then goes on to tell the fitness instructor â€Å"†¦ And that’s why I don’t like gyms† and the instructor responds with â€Å"Well, we’re not a gym. We’re Planet Fitness†. So they understand that not everybody that goes to the gym is a big muscled hunk, and that sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable being around people that are like that. The way that Planet Fitness is built and the way in which they carry themselves, is that they make the customer feel that they are what’s most important to the company. They care about making you feel comfortable while being able to exercise in a public gym. Planet Fitness also understands that not everybody is made up of extra money. This is taken from the Planet Fitness website, â€Å"We don’t have any salespeople, and we don’t bother with all the extras like juice bars and childcare that drive up costs and can make a gym membership seem more like a car payment. Instead, we’ve boiled our business down to the things that you really want in a health club – clean, stylish, hassle-free facilities that are filled with tons of brand-name cardio and strength equipment, and a lot of happy people. If you’re looking for a comfortable, friendly place to exercise, and like a great deal, then you’ll love Planet Fitness. † (http://www. planetfitness. com/About-Planet-Fitness-Gym). They offer memberships for just ten dollars a month, which is an amazing bargain compared to other big name gyms such as the YMCA or 24 Hour Fitness. By offering cheap rates, it creates a great incentive for somebody to exercise at Planet Fitness. Lastly, Planet Fitness seems to appeal to women in this advertisement. It’s socially acceptable to say that women are looked at as being more sensitive than men when it comes to their appearance and body image. So in this particular ad, they show that the â€Å"normal† woman is very very uncomfortable in the locker room and it’s actually a deal breaker for her when it comes to going to the gym. So by showing this advertisement, Planet Fitness can attract more female customers just by letting them know that they won’t be judged at the gym and they can exercise with a peace of mind. With all this being said, it can be concluded that the advertisement by Planet Fitness is a successful one. By appealing to people’s wallets and through their understanding of the â€Å"comfort zone†, and having humorous commercials, they’ve established credibility with the public as being a welcoming, friendly gym all at a low cost.

Precision Worldwide, Inc Havard Case Study

SUBJECT: Precision Worldwide, Inc. RECOMMENDATION: My recommendation for Precision Worldwide, Inc. (PWI) is to immediately stop the production of steel rings. PWI then needs to sell the remaining steel rings to at least recoup some of their initial investment. In the meantime they should start producing, selling, and distributing plastic rings to their entire market of customers while attracting new customers who may prefer this new option. CONCLUSION: By changing their production offering to the plastic rings, PWI will create more profit which in turn will keep them ahead of competitors in the industry. The remaining 15,100 steel rings will have to be calculated as a sunk cost. With this new product offering, PWI will be able to acquire new clientele across the globe and still be able to maintain the loyalty of their existing patrons. RESULTS: When PWI sells 100 plastic rings, they are expected to make $838. 25 more in profit than the sale of 100 steel rings. It costs $1107. 90 to produce one hundred steel rings. When that is compared to creating a hundred plastic rings, which only costs $279. 65, it becomes more evident why PWI should switch their product line. Plastic rings are also more durable than their steel counterparts and ultimately a better product overall. APPENDIX: The choice that Precision Worldwide, Inc. must make can essentially â€Å"make or break† them. Hans Thorborg, the General Manager, faces a predicament with how to deal with their existing and the in process inventory. He also has to come to a decision regarding the materials that have been obtained for inventory but PWI did not have the chance to actually process them before the change was made. Before Thorborg can make a decision, there are three main factors that need to be taken into consideration: the opportunity costs, the product substitution, and sunken costs. I would recommend that Precision Worldwide, Inc. immediately start producing the plastic rings that were created by Bodo Eisenbach and halt the production of the steel rings. The sale and distribution of the plastic rings should begin immediately after to all of their branches so that way PWI can start earning profits as quickly as possible. PWI currently has a specialized inventory because the steel rings that they produced were made from a unique type of steel. There would be sunk costs that would ultimately come from the failure of PWI to sell back the specialized steel because of the same features that make the steel unique would in the end be the reason that they are difficult to resell. There is over $390,000 in estimated costs of the specialized unprocessed steel and the already completed rings, as well as steel rings that were a work in process. By immediately stopping production of the steel rings PWI will lose quite a bit of money, but in the long run they will be able to bring in a larger profit and more clientele with the production of the plastic rings. To minimize the amount of that Precision Worldwide, Inc. stands to lose (close to $400,000); they can raise its opportunity cost by bringing to an end the work in process of the specialized steel rings. During the production phase of the new plastic rings, PWI can try to sell all of the remaining steel rings that they have in stock. By doing so, they will be able to decrease the amount of money that they stand to lose when switching product lines. The new profit margin is $828. 25 per hundred rings (Cost of the steel rings $1,107. 90 minus cost of the plastic rings $279. 65). PWI has the potential to earn $1070. 35 per one hundred plastic rings because they are going to be sold at the same price as the steel rings $1350. By completing a product substitution, PWI will help reduce the debt and hopefully increase the amount of sales by generating new customers and maintaining the trust and loyalty of their current clientele. Due to the profit margin being over $1000/100 rings sold, PWI will be able to completely wipe out their debt in a matter of a few months. Although there will be competitors selling other plastic rings, they will be few and far between. PWI will be one of the first companies to sell it therefore obtaining more of the market share and becoming a leader in this field. The fact that PWI is worldwide will prove to be an advantage in generating new clientele in new areas by being the first to have the merchandise in their regions. By creating new clientele, PWI will produce larger profits and hopefully due to the quality of their product offerings, trust and loyalty in the new clientele. Company shareholders will also have more trust in PWI for making a wise decision and eventually increasing the value of their shares. Fortunately for PWI that the profit margin is high enough to offset the quantities of plastic rings that are sold. Since they are stronger and more durable than the steel rings, less plastic rings will be purchased. One of the reasons that Precision Worldwide, Inc. eeds to take the risk in producing the plastic rings is because they can afford to halt production of the steel rings. After taking into consideration their opportunity costs it would be the wisest decision for GM Thorborg to proceed with the production of plastic rings and immediately halt the production of the steel ones. PWI not only stands to bring in larger profits in the long term, they will also open the eyes of consumers who w ill soon become their clientele due to a better product offering APPENDIX: Fixed Overhead: Item Plastic Rings Steel Rings Material$17. 65$321. 90 Direct labor$65. 50$196. 50 Direct o/h $52. 40$157. 20 Total$135. 55$675. 60 Item Plastic RingsSteel Rings Profit Made (per 100 sold) $1,070. 35$232. 10 Life of Ring 8 Months 2 Months Steel profit x4 (plastic lifespan) $928. 40 Profit Difference $141. 95($141. 95) Total Revenue: Item Plastic Rings:Steel Rings: Profit per 100$1,350. 00 $1,350. 00 Cost per 100 $279. 65 $1,107. 90 Total $1070. 35$232. 10

Pagkalulong Sa Bawal Na Gamot

Critical thinking is an important quality to cultivate and for many educators, it is the goal of education. Here are a few examples of critical thinking from my own life. First, one of the things I try to do for work is to make good financial investments. For this to take place, you need to analyze everything or think critically. You need to know what is going on in the world (economically speaking), see what things are going to be in demand in the future, and act before others do.So, I drew up a picture of the world and what I thought would happen and I invested based on my convictions. All of this was borne out of critical thinking. Second, when I think back to my university days, I had to decide on a major. There were so many choices and I decided to go with a major that I not only loved, but also a major that would make me more marketable in the long run. I realized that I could study practically all the things I loved in various departments. Based on this, I chose the department that was most marketable.Critical thinking entails careful analysis of all the variables (or as many as you can cover) in a situation, using data and logic to process the information and shape the decisions. Other factors may also enter into the mix†¦ As I considered the timing of my retirement from classroom teaching, I reviewed the financial considerations regarding investments, pension and Social Security payments, options for other means of obtaining income, and tried to predict anticipated current and future expenses.All of this took time and research, but was â€Å"easy† in terms of recording figures that could be examined objectively. Harder to quantify but still vital to the analysis were my reflections on how I was approaching the challenges inherent in classroom positions. I evaluated my energy level, commitment to spending the time and effort outside of the classroom, and my enthusiasm for continuing my personal education in the field. I also felt that emotio ns did play a role in the process and did allow my feelings about continuing to work with middle schoolers enter the process. Bless them, but they are enough to wear anyone out after so long! ) The final piece in my decision-making process was the awareness that my father's health was declining and that I needed to make myself much more available to assist with transportation, supervision of medical concerns, and general involvement in trying to maintain a quality of life for him that is as good as possible for as long as possible. Is critical thinking fast and easy? NO! Is it important in many real life situations? YES!

Electron Microscopy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Electron Microscopy - Coursework Example A selected area aperture is inserted into the back focal plane of the objective lens to select the required beam. When the direct beam is selected, a bright field image is formed, and when the diffracted beam is selected, a dark field image is formed. Bright field image The given micrograph shows a bright field image of a MgO crystal. The crystal specimen appears dark with a bright background. The background appears bright because only the direct beam of transmitted electrons is selected and let to pass through the aperture. The surface topology and the raised texture on top of the crystal are clearly observable. This kind of image is obtained by placing the objective diaphragm or the selected area aperture in the back focal plane of the objective lens. The aperture allows only direct beam to pass through while blocking the diffracted beam. The direct beam appears as a bright central spot. The aperture also maintains the collection angle. As seen in the ray diagram below, the objecti ve aperture blocks the diffracted beam, allowing only the transmitted beam to reach the image plane. Darkfield image The given micrograph shows a dark field image of a MgO crystal. The crystal specimen appears lighter than the background. The background is dark. The edges of the crystal are highly pronounced.   In case of the dark field imaging, also called as the central dark field operation, the selected area aperture is not shifted, but the incident beam is tilted to allow the scattered electrons in the diffracted beam to pass through the objective aperture. A collective ray diagram for both bright field and dark field imaging is given below: Selected Area Diffraction Pattern The given micrograph shows the selected area diffraction pattern of a MgO crystal. The lattice structure of the crystal is easily decipherable from the given SAED pattern. Diffraction from a single crystal in a polycrystalline sample can be captured if the aperture is small enough and the crystal is large enough. To obtain such a pattern, the selected area aperture is placed in the image plane of the objective lens and used to select only one part of the image. Using projector lenses to focus on electron beams to obtain small spots on the object surface, the diffraction patterns can be obtained. Using this pattern, the lattice of crystals can be easily studied and it is also possible to determine the orientation relationships between grains or even different phases. 2. (a) From a lattice image obtained from a single crystal of BaZrO3 (Fig. 4) determine the magnification. Compare this with the magnification obtained using the scale bar. Calculate the length the scale bar should be. To calculate the magnification from the lattice image given, the following formula for magnification is used: Magnification (M) = A stepwise solution for the given problem is presented below: Step 1 Calculation of pixel to cm ratio: The size of the image is measured in pixels and centimeters and found to be: Height in pixels= 556 pixels= 14.7cm

Most important events in the history of Los Angeles Essay

Most important events in the history of Los Angeles - Essay Example The main objective of the report is to be able to present certain events in the history of the city of Los Angeles to achieve the present condition of economy and social status that it has now. One of the important events in the history of Los Angeles is the discovery of oil credited to Edward L. Doheny in 1892. Although prior to the said event there are indications of the knowledge of the people and settlers regarding the said deposit, Doheny is responsible for making the deposit known. The said event initialized the economic growth of the city when a large number of oil companies decided to invest and settle in the city limits if Los Angeles (La Botz 41). The importance of the said even lies on the significance of oil in the economy of the city. From the onset of the oil industry in Los Angeles, a number of other industries started to develop and helped the state of economy of the city. Another even that can be considered important in the history of the city of Los Angeles is the establishment of the Pacific Electric Railway. Through the said mode of transportation, the economic transactions and works of people are accomplished in a shorter period of time. In addition, being one of the basic necessities for traveling, the said form of public transportation aid the socio-economic state to improve. The Pacific Electric Railway covers the Southern California area in the 1920’s, connecting Los Angeles and Orange Counties (Henstell 13). Another event that can be considered to improve the economy of the city of Los Angeles is the establishment of the harbor in 1907-1909. The said even ushered the rise of related industries such as fishing, canneries, oil drilling and shipbuilding. These industries resulted in the improvement of commerce in the city specifically due to the fact that harbors are major sites of trading activities. The increasing number of related industries can also be considered in the increase in the

Analyzing and contrasting data mining based network intrusion Essay

Analyzing and contrasting data mining based network intrusion detection system - Essay Example The objective of this research is to acquire a better insight about Data Mining-Based Network Intrusion Detection Systems. In this present era the computers are sophistically connected to each other in a form of network. In such networks there is every possibility of intrusion to important data. In order to maintain the integrity, network data has to be secured. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has made Internet usage most important part in everyone’s life and has become a major source of sending and receiving information. However, providing protection to the computers connected in a network is still a main issue to be tackled. In general, every organization wants their data to be safe and secure from the attackers. Information systems are easily accessible and can be intruded by the hackers over the internet if the networks are insecure. In this thesis, there are some procedures mentions for detecting network intrusions using data mining. This thesis also covers the different types of intrusions and justify how they can be best detected using available data mining tools. Data mining can be proved as a very useful method towards identifying any intrusion that might have taken place. The amount of extraction or hacking of data and intrusions are growing day by day. As a result, new intelligent Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) are put in place to mitigate the intrusion and safeguard the data. Intrusion needs to be detected as we cannot stop intrusions but we can minimize them and stop hackers from threats. Declaration I certify that this thesis is carried out in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Computer Science, and has no contents copied from any external sources except for those whose references are made with in the text. ---------------------------------- ------------- Mohammed Altaf Ahmed khan Date Table of Contents List of Figures Figure 2.1: Transition from Data to Knowledge (Fayyad, Piatetsky and Smyth, 1996) 10 Figure 3.1 Snort High-Level Processing Stages (Wheeler, 2003)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦20 Figure 3.2 Bayesian Model Diagram Panda & Patra (2007)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.25 Chapter 1 Introduction In this age of the Information Revolution, there are obvious advantages that can be reaped from the vast and ever growing Internet Community in the web: 24/7 connectivity; robust e-commerce that simplified business transactions and operations; erasure of geographical separation and distance; and access to a multitude of modern means of communications. Yet, as benefits derived from being part of the Internet community are many to mention, one resounding concern that pervades this virtual world is security. Most, if not all, entities participating and part of the Internet world are on their toes, keeping their eyes over their own virtual place in the Internet. It can be said that SECURITY is one big important word in the Internet today. As of this press time, there are many unscrupulous entities that crowd the Internet and are ready to attack anyone and any site that has vulnerability in its network security setup. Since many e-commerce companies and enterprises depend on the Internet for its survival, it is not a surprise that there is a creation and formulation of different way to protect one’s network. Over the past couple of decades, techniques to secure network through latest technology have gained an importance and have proven to be a necessity to any entity maintaining and securing a network. The need for security has spawned in the creation and design of firewalls, cryptography, authentication and most of all intrusion detection systems. Among these security tools, network intrusion detection system holds a potential as a tool against computer crime. An intrusion detection system can simply be called the process of monitoring and an alyzing the events (ie. the traffic of packets going in and out of the network stream) that occurs in a computer system to enable to detect signs of security problems. Yet, as a network security technology tool, intrusion detecti