Technology of Information Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technology of Information Security - Essay Example at the present are a mixture of these two solutions, where some data are stored on a centralized server and accessed by client computers, as well as some data is stored only on local computers which is never shared with other client computers (Microsoft, 2003; Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat, 2005). In addition, all of the above discussed situations come with a variety of security problems to consider. In fact, for the majority of business organizations, at the very least some of this data must be kept secure. Moreover, in order to help present effective data security in the above discussed situations, there exist a wide variety of IT security technologies that can be used by the business organizations to keep their sensitive data and information secure during storage and network communication. Additionally, there is not a single IT security technology that has the capability to protect all data against all kinds of attack. However, there are many security technologies that can be combined to implement a wide-ranging security infrastructure that protects against a wide variety of security attacks (Microsoft, 2003; Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat, 2005). I have presented below three information security technologies: It is an admitted fact that the majority of business organizations are exposing their personal networks to Internet traffic; as a result, the deployment of firewalls has become a basic need. Basically, â€Å"a firewall stops illegal communication inside and outside of the network, facilitating the company to implement a security strategy on traffic running between its network and the Internet† (Turban, Leidner, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2005; Laudon & Laudon, 1999). Additionally, firewalls can be either software or hardware. However, an effective firewall arrangement will be based on both (Beal, 2004). In this scenario, a firewall divides a network into different domains. A wide-ranging implementation of the firewall has the Internet as un-trusted domain; a semi

Workmens Compensation Law Ghana Essay Example for Free

Workmens Compensation Law Ghana Essay Section 1-Application to employees employed by the Republic This Act applies to employees employed by the Republic as well as private persons, except in the case of persons in the Armed Forces. Section 2-Employers liability for compensation (1) Where an employee sustains personal injury by accident arising out of, and in the course of employment, the employer is liable, subject to this Act, to pay compensation in accordance with this Act. (2) An injured employee shall not suffer a diminution in earnings while the employee undergoes treatment for injuries sustained through an accident arising out of, and in the course employment. (3) Where an attending medical officer assesses an incapacity in respect of an injured employee, the employer shall pay the injured employee compensation commensurate with the incapacity so assessed. (4) Subject to sections 3 and 4, where the injury results in death or serious and permanent incapacity, the Court on consideration of the circumstances, may award the appropriate compensation under this Act. (5) The employer is not liable to pay compensation in respect of an injury to an employee resulting from an accident which is attributable to the employee ha ving been under the influence of drink or drugs at the time of the accident (6) For the purposes of this Act, an accident resulting in the death or serious and permanent incapacity of an employee arises out of and in the course of employment, (a) although the employee was at the time when the accident happened acting in contravention of a statutory or any other regulation applicable to the employment, or was acting without instructions from the employer; (b) if the act was done by the employee for the purposes of and in connection with the employers trade or business. (7) Compensation is not payable under this Act in respect of incapacity or a death resulting from a deliberate self-injury. (8) Compensation is not payable under this Act in respect of an inc apacity or a death resulting from personal injury, if the employee has at any time represented to the employer that the employee was not suffering or had not previously suffered from that or similar injury, knowing that the representation was false. Section 3-Compensation in fatal cases (1) Where death results from the injury, (a) if the employee leaves dependants, the amount of compensation shall be a sum of money equal to sixty months earnings: but where in respect of the same accident compensation has been paid under section 5, 6 or 7, there shall be deducted from the sum payable under this paragraph the sums so paid as compensation; (b) whether the employee had dependants or not, the employer shall pay the medical expenses; (c) if the employee did not leave dependants, the employer shall bear the expenses of the burial as required by custom; (d) if the employee left dependants, the employer shall bear the expenses of the burial to the sum of five million cedis or as stipulated in the relevant Collect ive Agreement, whichever is the higher. (2) Where an employee survives an injury, whether the employee has dependants or not, the employer shall pay the medical expenses in respect of the injury. Section 4-Employer to pay medical expenses In an injury under this Act, the employer shall pay the medical expenses in respect of the injury. Section 5-Compensation for permanent total incapacity Where permanent total incapacity results from the injury the amount of compensation shall be a sum of money equal to ninety-six months earnings. Section 6-Compensation for permanent partial incapacity (1) Where permanent partial incapacity results from the injury the amount of compensation shall be, (a) in the case of an injury specified in the Third Schedule, a percentage of the compensation which would have been payable in the case of permanent total incapacity specified in the Third Schedule as being the percentage of the loss of earning capacity caused by that injury; and (b) in the case of injury not specified in the Third Schedule, a percentage of the compensation which would have been payable in the case of permanent total incapacity and proportionate to the loss of earning capacity permanently caused by the injury. (2) Where more injuries than one are caused by the same accident, the amount of compensation payable under this section shall be aggregated, but shall not exceed the amount which would have been payable if permanent total incapacity had resulted from the injuries. Section 7-Compensation for temporary incapacity (1) Where a temporary incapacity, whether total or partial, results from the injury, the compensation shall be the periodical payments or a lump sum of money calculated accordingly, having regard to the probable duration, and probable chan ges in the degrees, of the incapacity. (2) The periodical payment shall be the difference between the monthly earnings the employee was earning at the time of the accident and the monthly earnings which the employee is earning or is capable of earning in any other suitable employment or business after the accident; but (a) the aggregate of the periodical payments or the lump sum of money payable under this subsection shall not exceed the lump sum of money which would be payable in respect of the same degree of incapacity under section 5 or section 6, if the incapacity were permanent; (b) a period of absence from duty certified necessary by a medical practitioner shall be regarded as a period of temporary total incapacity irrespective of the outcome of the injury and a period subsequent to the first period but preceding the final assessment of disability shall be regarded as a period of temporary incapacity; (c) the maximum duration of periodical payments under this section shall not exceed twenty-four months except where the chief labour officer directs the continuance of periodical payments during the continuance of a disability for a further period not exceeding six months; (d) a lump sum of money payable under section 5 or 6 shall not be disturbed by r eason of periodical payments having been made under this section in the event of permanent incapacity following or after temporary total incapacity or temporary partial incapacity. (3) In fixing the amount of the periodical payment the Court may consider a payment, an allowance or a benefit which the employee may receive from the employer during the incapacity. (4) On the ceasing of the incapacity before the date on which a periodical payment falls due, a sum of money proportionate to the duration of the incapacity in that period is payable in respect of that period. (5) Where an employee in receipt of periodical payments under this section intends to leave the neighbourhood in which the employee was employed, for the purpose of residing elsewhere, the employee shall give notice of that intention to the employer who may agree with the employee for the redemption of the periodical payments by a lump sum of money or for the continuance of such periodical payments. (6) Where the employer and the employee are unable to agree, either party may apply to the Court which may order a redemption and may determine the amount to be paid or may order the continuance of the periodical payments. (7) A lump sum of money so ordered to be paid together with the periodical payments already made to the employee shall not exceed the lump sum which would be payable in respect of the same degree of incapacity under the section 4 or 5, if the incapacity were permanent. (8) Where an employee in receipt of periodical payments unde r this section leaves the neighbourhood in which the employee was employed, for the purpose of residing elsewhere, (a) without giving notice as provided in subsection (5), or (b) having given the notice leaves the neighbourhood without having come to a n agreement with the employer for the redemption or continuance of the periodical payments, or (c) without having made an application to the Court under subsection (6), the employee is not entitled to the benefits under this Act during or in respect of the period of absence. (9) Where the employees absence from the neighbourhood exceeds six months without justifiable cause, the employee shall cease to be entitled to the benefits under this Act. Section 8-Compensation for desfiguring injuries (1) Where in an employment personal injury of the description specified in an entry in the first column of the First Schedule by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment, is caused to an employee, the employer shall pay as compensation an amount of money for the injury determined by a medical practitioner recognised by the Government, not exceeding the percentage of the compensation payable in the case of permanent total incapacity that is specified in the corresponding entry in the second column of that Schedule. (2) The compensation payable under subsection (1) is irrespective of whether or not a compensation is payable under any other provision of this Act; but a mutilation in respect of which compensation is provided under the Third Schedule shall not rank as disfigurement under the First Schedule. (3) Where more injuries than one are caused by the same accident, the amount of compensation payable under this section shall be aggregated, but shall not exceed the amount which would have been payable if permanent total incapacity has resulted from the injuries. Section 9-Method of calculating earnings (1) For the purposes of this Act, the monthly earnings of an employee shall be computed in the manner that is best calculated to give the rate per m onth at which the employee was being remunerated during the previous twelve months if the employee has been so long employed by the same employer, but, if not, then for a shorter period during which the employee has been in the employment of the same emplo yer. (2) Where by reason of the shortness of the time during which the employee has been in the employment of the employer, or the casual nature of the employment, or the terms of the employment, it is impracticable at the date of the accident to compute the rate of remuneration, consideration may be given to the average monthly amount which, during the twelve months previous to the accident, was being earned by a person of similar earning capacity in the same grade employed at the same work by the same em ployer, or, if there is a person who is not so employed, by a person of similar earning capacity in the same grade employed in the same class of employment and in the same district. (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), employment by the same employer m eans employment by the same employer in the grade in which the employee was employed at the time of the accident, uninterrupted by absence from work due to illness or any other unavoidable cause. (4) Where the employee had entered into concurrent contract s of service with two or more employers under which the employee worked at one time for one employer and at another time for another employer, the monthly earnings shall be computed as if the earnings under those contracts were earnings in the employment o f the employer for whom the employee was working at the time of the accident. (5) The earnings of the employee under the concurrent contract shall be disclosed to any other employee at the time of engagement with the latter and shall be taken into account only so far as the employee is incapacitated from performing the concurrent contract. (6) On the request of the employee to the employer liable to pay compensation, that employer shall furnish in writing a list of the earnings which have been earned by t hat employee on which the amount of the monthly earnings may be calculated for the purposes of this section. Section 10-Persons entitled to compensation (1) Compensation is payable to or for the benefit of the employee, or where death results from the injury, to or for the benefit of the employees dependant as provided by this Act. (2) Where a dependant dies before a claim in respect of death is made under this Act, or, if a claim has been made, before an order for the payment of compensation is made, the legal personal representative of the dependants do not have a right to payment of compensation, and the claim for compensation shall be dealt with as if that dependant had died before the employee. Section 11-Distribution of compensation (1) Compensation payable where the death of an employee resulted from an injury shall be paid to the Court, and the Court may order the sum of money so paid (a) to be apportioned among the dependants of the deceased employee or any of them in the proportion determined by the Court, or (b) in the discretion of the Court, to be allotted to any one dependant, and the sum of money so allotted to a dependant shall be paid to the dependant or be invested, applied or otherwise dealt with for the dependants benefit in the manner determined by the Court. (2) Where, on an application made in accordance with the Rules, it appears to the Court that, on account of the differences of the circumstances of the various dependants, or for any other sufficient course, an order made under subsection (1) ought to be varied, the Court may make an order for the variation of the former order appropriate in the circumstances of the case.

National Debt :: Argumentative Economics Economy Papers

National Debt Who is to blame for amassing such debt in times of peace and relative prosperity, a debt that would have shamed our nation's founders? ALL OF US! First there was the Republican presidents of Ronald Reagan and George Bush who lacked simple economic sense, calculated their budgets more for political gain than for economic effect. While the Democrats controling Congress who resisted the spending cuts and tax increases needed to balance the budget. Last and most important the voters who supported the candidates of both parties who kept telling us what we wanted to hear instead of what we needed to hear. Every year, the federal government spends more than it collects in taxes. To make up the differences, the government borrows hundreds of billions of dollars annually, competing in the marketplace against private enterprise for the use of the money saved by American citizens. The deficit amounts to $1,150 for every single American. That is the sum your government borrowed on your behalf last year, whether you wanted them to or not. We will continue our viscious cycle of having to raise taxes, cut spending, and borrow more and more money to pay interest upon interest. Yes, I feel the Republican Plan should be vetoed just because they are planning to make those draconian cuts into our social fabric. And of those social fabrics is education for our future children. They want to cut spending in education, raise taxes, and give tax breaks for the rich. It helps only the rich voters who support the Republicans and gives more money to the Republicans for government spending. And does nothing for the

Accounting for Employee Benefits (Pas 19)

REACTION PAPER The Seminar about â€Å"Accounting for Employee Benefits (PAS 19)† was held at Multi-Purpose Hall of Engineering Building last July 20, 2012. The speaker for this event was Mr. Ysmael Acosta. At first I was really curious about that seminar of what topic does the speaker would discuss. When the seminar goes on, there are some topic that are really interesting and some are not quite clear for me.Sometimes it makes me feel bored when listening to him because he really speak very fast, that’s why I can’t understand him very well. For now, I would like to discuss those topics that makes me interested. Employee Benefits outlines the accounting requirements for employee benefits, including short-term benefits (like wages and salaries, annual leave), post-employment benefits such as retirement benefits, other long-term benefits (like long service leave) and termination benefits.The standard establishes the principle that the cost of providing employee ben efits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable, and outlines how each category of employee benefits are measured, providing detailed guidance in particular about post-employment benefits. The basic principle of PAS 19 is the cost of providing employee benefits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable.The objective of â€Å"PAS 19† as I remembered correctly, is to prescribe the accounting and disclosure for employee benefits (that is, all forms of consideration given by an entity in exchange for service rendered by employees). The principle underlying all of the detailed requirements of the Standard is that the cost of providing employee benefits should be recognised in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable. The scope of PAS 19 applies to wages and salaries; compensated absences (paid vacation and sick leave); profit sharing plans; bonuses; medical and ife insurance benefits during employment; housing benefits; free or subsidised goods or services given to employees; pension benefits; post-employment medical and life insurance benefits; long-service or sabbatical leave; ‘jubilee' benefits; deferred compensation programmes; and termination benefits. As time goes by, there are changes and ammendments on the PAS 19. From the simple Exposure Draft E16 Accounting for Retirement Benefits in Financial Statements of Employers (April 1980) to The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset, Minimum Funding Requirements and their Interaction last June 16, 2011.This issue tells that the accounting for employee benefits, particularly pensions and other post-retirement benefits, has long been a complex and difficult area and initial plans for a full review of pension accounting had to be deferred in light of competing priorities, ultimately leaving the I ASB to proceed alone on improving specific aspects of the existing requirements of IAS 19. Prior to the amendment, IAS 19 permitted choices on how to account for actuarial gains and losses on pensions and similar items, including the so-called ‘corridor approach' which resulted the deferral of gains and losses.The Exposure Draft proposed eliminating the use of the ‘corridor' approach and instead mandating all remeasurement impacts be recognised in OCI (with the remainder in profit or loss) – and in fact had proposed extending these requirements to all long-term employee benefits (e. g. certain long service leave schemes). The final amendments make the OCI presentation changes in respect of pensions (and similar items) only, but all other long term benefits are required to be measured in the same way even though changes in the recognised amount are fully reflected in profit or loss.Also changed in PAS 19 is the treatment for termination benefits, specifically the p oint in time when an entity would recognise a liability for termination benefits. The final amendments do not adopt the equivalent US-GAAP requirements verbatim (which requires individual employees to be notified), but the recognition timeframe may be extended in some cases. Finally, various other amendments to IAS 19 may have impacts in particular areas.For instance, employee benefits not settled wholly before twelve months after the end of the annual reporting period would be captured as an ‘other long term benefit' rather than a ‘short term benefit', and whilst presented as a current item in the statement of financial position, would be measured differently under the amendments. PAS 19 requires an entity to determine the rate used to discount employee benefits with reference to market yields on high quality corporate bonds. However, when there is no deep market in corporate bonds, an entity is required to use market yields on government bonds instead.The global financ ial crisis has led to a widening of the spread between yields on corporate bonds and yields on government bonds. As a result, entities with similar employee benefit obligations may report them at very different amounts. If adopted, the amendments would ensure that the comparability of financial statements is maintained across jurisdictions, regardless of whether there is a deep market for high quality corporate bonds. Time flew very fast. This seminar taught us so many things that we can use in the near future. Though there is not enough time to discuss everything, we still accomplished a lot.

Success of BMW Campaign

The BMW campaign consisted of many major and small events which helped to market the new BMW Z3 roadster to the public. However, the question now is whether the campaign is successful in accomplishing that goal. Success of the BMW campaign can be measured in several ways. For example, it can be measured by its objectives (whether the objectives of the campaign have been met) or by the number of pre-orders made. In this case, due to the lack of knowledge about the number of pre-orders made after each event, we will be measuring by its objectives. We have identified 5 major objectives to the campaign as shown in the case. They are: (1) to motivate and stimulate dealer network, (2) develop an Order Bank, (3) reposition BMW as stylish and fun, (4) positioning Z3 in American culture and most importantly, (5) improve BMW’s brand awareness. To see whether the objectives have been met, we shall examine each individual event carefully. Dealer Advertising and Promotions Dealers’ support for BMW Z3 is important in launching this new car to the public. With 345 dealers and only 150 display cars during the promotional period, it proved to be a challenge for this partnership to occur. However, the dealers upgraded to meet the challenge and an order bank was developed. In addition, the dealer promotional package which showcased the private screening of the Golden Eye film and car before the box office film opening proved to be very effective in raising BMW’s brand awareness. As quoted, â€Å"these events attracted great local publicity, appearing in local newspapers, and often reported on metropolitan television and radio†. Their innovative package has also help to reposition BMW as being stylish and fun, which was also a way to help improve the Z3’s standing in the American market. As such, all the objectives have been met for this event, thus proving the success and effectiveness of this event. Product Placement in Golden Eye This non-traditional method of branded entertainment, or more commonly known as product placement, in a movie was very risky, as mentioned in @@@ (benefits and risks). However, Golden Eye turned out to be a hit in the box office in America, selling $26. 2 million in ticket sales. As consumers tend to switch off their resistance mechanism to advertisements during films (O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik, 2009), consumers are being more exposed and susceptible to these subtle advertisements in Golden Eye. As the main idea of tying Z3 with James Bond was to show the fun and ‘cool’ side to the car, it was successful in achieving the objective, together with the success of the movie. As a result, there were positive reviews made by New York Times, Motor Trend Magazine and even Forbes. A more tangible result was that over 9000 Z3 was pre-booked by December 1995 compared to the projected 5000. Needless to say, product placement was the key in the success of the campaign. Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog Neiman Marcus Catalog was a unique point-of-contact to the consumers because the products it features are usually deemed as very desirable, similar to being a wish list. As proven, 100 orders were made within two days instead of the estimated 20 units sales goal, which came as a pleasant surprise to BMW and Neiman Marcus. In fact, there were 6000 customers’ orders or waiting list applications fighting for the 100 cars. This showed that this promotion idea was effective in selling Z3 to customers. Also, BMW can reach out to more customers via the catalog distribution too. BMW Internet Site The growing usage of Internet caused the popularity of company websites to increase in 1996. With the ‘Build Your Own Roadster’ module added to the site, visitors could visualise their own car from a variety of perspectives. One main benefit was that it could communicate product features or benefits effectively since consumers can examine the virtual car closely. Also, the personalisation effect can cause the consumers to feel a certain emotional bond to the product. Consumers who had spent a lot of effort during the shopping experience would evaluate the product as more favourable and important (Cardozo, 1965). Thus, this could greatly aid in the sales of Z3, assuming that Z3 can be personalised in terms of exterior, interior and top colours too. However, since the website did not have online purchase options at that time, the website could only prove to be useful in raising brand awareness and possibly instil a ‘fun’ factor. Press Launch in Central Park. This event was a major factor in helping not only to promote Z3 as a stylish, fun car but also greatly improving brand awareness. There were extensive coverage in both broadcast and print by major network news programs which improved Z3’s brand awareness drastically. Radio DJ Program This was important in the word-of-mouth effect which had three times the effect of other programs. This buzz marketing, which is a concept of peer-to-peer program, gave rise to conversations about BMW Z3. As the DJs were chosen with care, they were ideal in helping to spread the word about BMW (Khermouch, Green, 2001). This has also helped generate awareness about Z3 as well as positioning it to be fun and stylish. Summary Certainly, these events, whether small or big, have contributed one way or another to the success of the campaign as they reinforced and built upon one another to create a better effect. However, some of the promotional activities were only effective to a certain extent due to the constraint of technology knowledge and tools in that era. Nevertheless, the campaign achieved its goal to introduce and market Z3 into the American market.

Bretton Woods and the World Debt Crisis essays

Bretton Woods and the World Debt Crisis essays 1. The Bretton Woods institutions were developed near the end of W.W. II to help countries that were greatly affected by the war. The three institutions that were created in New Hampshire by the economic leaders of various countries were: The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank, and The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which later developed into the World Trade Organization. The I.M.F was created so that countries could exchange their currency for other currencies with little restriction on the trade. This organization also helps countries that are facing high debts by giving them loans. The World Bank was established to help European countries destroyed by the war. The only country to receive any money for the war however was Holland. After that, The World Bank focused mainly on giving out loans similar to the I.M.F. The GATT was created with the idea that countries could negotiate their policy on trade. They wanted to create an institution that would regulate free tr ade between countries. Some countries did not like the idea that an organization could control what they do with other countries. Consequently in 1995 the World Trade Organization was established. The organization can judge if member countries are not getting fair trade policies by other Countries. 2. The three major factors that created the debt crisis were; the change in what we call money, the amount of money given to poor countries by the organizations like the I.M.F and World Bank, and the oil boom of the 1970s which pressured financial organizations to invest the money created from that boom. The Bretton Woods meeting established the idea that countries would exchange their currency for U.S dollars at a fixed rate. In return, the Americans would exchange money for gold that they at Fort Knox again at a fixed rate. For various reasons however, in the 1960s the United States was creating an amount of money that they did not have in gold. C...

Introduction to Political Science Essays

Introduction to Political Science Essays Introduction to Political Science Essay Introduction to Political Science Essay Name: Instructor: Class: Date: Introduction to Political Science Immigration has been a very sensitive issue since history. However, immigration has faced a lot of criticism over the years due to the different stances that countries or governments hold on certain people or religions because they associate them with terrorism. Based on such assumptions countries have been forced to adopt measures that vary from one country to another in efforts of securing the countries and the populace. However, such actions have not been devoid of any criticism because they are considered to be retrogressive and infringe on rights of people by racially profiling them and forcing them to undergo cumbersome security systems to prove that they are no harm. Illegal immigrants are currently identified by their race to determine their origin. In the current modern world, the Middle East has been under alienating the races in such countries based on the beliefs that the Middle Eastern people or Muslims are solely responsible for terror activities, which have led to the adoption of stringent rules for traveling .The Middle East citizens travel with fear because they are usually suspected of terror activity. John Rawls developed a theory of the view that we should have equal liberties and social and economic inequalities should be in way that they provide the best benefits to those who are least disadvantaged in society. Justice is the heart of social institutions and they must be subjected to reform and be abolished so that they do not become biased .in addition different people have varying definitions of justice and thus they should know the ways of assigning equal justice and the distribution of the benefits and burdens of cooperation in the society. Natural justices seems o have a different concept based on the different meanings to different people even thought the sole aim is the provision of justice. An institution is considered just if it does not make distinctions between people and exercises balance among people of all lifestyles. Hence, no one should be at a disadvantage or advantage due to their social or natural fortune in the course of justice. In addition, some principles of justice are justified because they are at times agreed upon during situations of equality. Publius is the false name given to the amending and authorization of the constitution of the United States of America. This gives rise to the opinion that amending the constitution for the greater good of the American population. The fight for popularity is greater than the fight for public good. Moreover the vitality of the government is important to the security of liberty of the people and the state itself .The ambition or zeal with which the government fights for the right of the people is dangerous because of its firmness and efficiency. The constitution should prevent the rule by a group of individuals after their won selfish interests and focus on the large public domain .The ratification process of the constitution is plagued by the power hungry who seek to keep the status quo for their benefits. Augustine calls for association with one another irrespective of our differences based on formation by God. Puts forth the opinion that we are all equal in God’s eyes as he made us all from the same origin thus we should not have difference amongst ourselves. The human race is deterred from doing bad things by laws. Considers punishment is because of going against the laws. Aquinas classifies the man into two societies, one that wishes to live after the flesh and the other that wishes to live after the spirit. Those who live after the flesh do so because the put man’s bodily pleasure are defined as epicurean philosophers whereas those who wish to live after the spirit put the good of men in the soul such that the goodness lives after the spirit. He considers that a man who loves God should love doing good and hate doing evil. States that there is no man who is born evil, we become evil by vice and it should not be hated as people themselves, but the vices should be hate d. No one hates peace, but those who fight want peace that suits them. In addition, if a man fails to follow God’s ways his soul cannot control neither the body nor the vices that are within him, thus it becomes difficult to prescribe any justice to such a man. Immigrants should be judged on their individual deeds and not communal. Those who do wrong should be punished adequately according to their mistakes. The Middle East is made up of evil and good people thus a blanket condemnation would not be sufficient to reprimand those that are responsible for the evil deeds. However, we are all considered equal before the eyes of God. This is very true because the only differences that arise are our races nothing more. Hence laws should be general and not be based on communities or religions. Aquinas tries to provide reasoning between faith and politics in a world plagued by injustices in every level. Considers that politics should have positive role in the world and thus both faith and reason should work mutually for the benefit of the individuals who the law affects directly. Law should not be just a means to an end but it should be inclusive of sufficient reason to reach the result. Law should also provide the utmost happiness to the persons or community whom it affects, thus it should not be oppressive to the community but should be inclusive of the community to result in the greatest good. In relation to illegal immigration, the law should sufficiently bring the utmost peace and joy to that class or group of people whom the law affects directly. The law of controlling immigration should be reasonable such that it considers the individual as part of a community. The immigrants have aided in the growth of countries’ economies and the society’s diversity. Thus, the law should consider their contributions towards these countries. The effect of the law on the community should be for the common good. However, the question arises as to whom common good should affect. Is it the immigrant populace or is it the native population .These questions should formulate a response pattern for immigration issues with sufficient reasoning. What governs us all is the internal dictate based on what is right and wrong, the basis for this internal dictate is eternal law that governs the makers of the laws are beliefs on a superior being in the world. The formulation of the laws on immigration and the Middle East should be based on three dictates, which are human law, natural law and eternal law. Martin Luther explains that law has existed in the world since he beginning of the world through God’s will and ordinance. Luther is of the opinion that if the world were made up of only Christians there would be no need for law, as all would abide by the Christian values and the laws provided by God in the scriptures. Insists that there is no need for law for righteous people because they abide by the laws but for a society with unjust and unrighteous people, they need laws to govern their behavior and to force them to act in the right. If people who are not righteous were not bound by laws, the world would be in total chaos because people would act as they pleased, like savages or beasts as he describes them. Thus, the illegality or legality of immigration is of no consequences to real Christians because they are governed by the laws. True Christian immigrants should not be restricted because they pose no real threat as they are like sheep that follow their leader without question. However, he states that for the common world there should be stringent laws that should govern immigrants who are not Christians. The reason for this is that non-Christians do not follow the laws of God and thus they act as they please as if they were savages. For this reason, the Middle East, which is not a Christian region he states that they should be bound by, laws of the earth like an animal in chains to prevent them from devouring anything and everything around them. According to him adequate laws should be instituted to govern those that are not of the Christian faith to prevent them from going berserk in their ways, thus immigrants who are not Christians should be strictly be governed by stringent laws that would enforce rule and order. As for the Middle East profiling, it should exist to control the non-Christians from becoming wicked in their ways. The laws for Middle East profiling would act as deterrence from evil acts such as terrorism. I disagree with such sentiments because basing law would be tantamount to judging people, which is even against the Christian values that Luther has based his thinking on. Both righteous and non righteous are not pure and are bound to make mistakes or sin thus they should all be bound by the same laws as they are all equal before the laws. Aristotle is of the opinion that man is a political animal who is finds satisfaction in a political community. Considers both man and woman as two different entities .in addition a city must aim at the highest good and the people can only achieve the good things of life if they live as citizens of the state. Moreover, he recognizes the citizenship of a person as being the holder of an office of administering power and justice and lays claim that the identification of a city lies with the Aristotle considers that all the associations in society are formed for the greater good. He defines that a constitution exists in six forms, three, which are unjust, and three, which are just. He later explains that a constitution is just if it benefits those around the society and it is unjust when it aids only the ruling class. He states that when a small class of people rules, the constitution becomes aristocratic when the ruling class is good, but if the ruling class is bad the constitution becomes oligarchy. He acknowledged that there might be abuse of power if the ruling elite is granted full power to rule over the country. However, when the masses rule it becomes harder for occurrence of corruption and other abuses of power if the governing laws are given superior powers than the governing bodies. He puts forth a proposal that there should be distributive justice to enable different people to experience different levels of justice with regard to their contributions to the state. All the philosophers seem to agree on one point that the common good for a community begins with an individual .the individual contributes with his good deeds to the ov3erall goodness of the community and the state at large. Rawl seems to very relevant to the modern day whereby all the immigration and prejudice against the middle east is based on experiences with Muslims due to their activities which are associated with terror. He provides a strong basis for turning away from prejudices against people who are perceived to be different from the natives. He explicitly state that when God made all of us he did not consider and he will never consider us as different from one another but he views as the same in his image. All men are born of good hearts and none is bad, as we happen to pick up vices that corrupt our minds resulting in actions that are deemed as evil. The citizens in the Middle East have picked up vices, which have corrupted their minds to execute actions, which are not good for the human race. The world is an unjust place filled with all the vices that man cannot escape but an individual is tasked with choosing what he or she ought to do

AP English Literature Multiple Choice Complete Expert Guide

AP English Literature Multiple Choice Complete Expert Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Does the thought of spending an hour answering multiple-choice questions on complex prose and poetry passages strike fear into your heart? The challenge of the AP Literature multiple-choice is enough togive even the most adept reader hives, but don't stress! This guide will serve as your complete roadmap to success on the AP English Literature and Composition multiple-choice section. First, we’ll go over what the multiple-choice section looks like- the nuts and bolts. Then, I’ll reveal the eight types of multiple-choice questions you can expect to encounter, and how to succeed on them. Next will come study tips, multiple-choice practice resources, and finally things to remember for test-day success! AP Literature Multiple-Choice Section Overview AP English Literature and Composition section one is the multiple-choice section. You’ll have 60 minutes to answer 55 questions about four-five literary prose and poetry passages. The date of composition of the passages could range from the 16th to the 21th century, however, you generally won’t be provided with the author, date, or title for any passages (poetry being an occasional exception with respect to title). Most passages come from works originally written in English, although there might occasionally be a translated passage from a notable literary work in a foreign language. The multiple-choice section is worth 45% of your total exam score. You receive a point for each correctly answered question. Since there’s no penalty for guessing on this exam, you should answer every multiple-choice question, even if you have to guess. However, you should only guess after you eliminate any answers you know are wrong.That’s the general overview. But what kinds of questions can you expect to see? The 8 Types of Multiple-Choice AP Lit Questions There are eight question types you may encounter on the AP Lit exam. In this section, I’ll go over each question type and how to answer it. All questions are taken from the sample questions in the â€Å"AP Course and Exam Description.† Passages for these questions are available there as well. 1. Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension questions test whether you understood what the passage was saying on a literal, concrete level. You don’t need to flex your interpretation or analysis muscles here- just report what the passage is saying. You can spot these questions because they usually use words and phrases like â€Å"according to,† â€Å"asserting,† and â€Å"mentioned.† The best strategy for these questions is to go back and re-read the portion of the text associated with the question to make absolutely sure that you are reading it correctly. You may need to read a little before and/or after the moment mentioned to orient yourself and find the most correct answer. Example: Explanation: The lines the passage is referring to say, â€Å"Spare us all word of the weapons, their force and range / The long numbers that rocket the mind / Our slow, unreckoning hearts will be left behind, / unable to fear what is too strange.† This question is asking why people won’t listen to the prophet when he talks about the dangers of weapons. Which of the answers makes the most sense? Choice (A), â€Å"human beings are interested in weapons,† might be a tempting choice simply because that’s a common theme and message of many works. But nowhere in the passage does it say that humans are interested in weapons! Eliminate it. Choices (B) and (C) can also both be eliminated because this part of the passage says nothing about nature or love, even indirectly. Choice (D) may also be tempting simply because it’s another common theme in literature- that people don’t listen to repeated warnings. But again, there’s not really anything in the passage to support that. This leaves (E), â€Å"people cannot comprehend abstract decisions of power.† This lines up nicely with the passage, which says that the â€Å"hearts† of the people are â€Å"unable to fear what is too strange.† (E) is the correct answer. The people in this poem have hearts of stone. 2. Inference These questions take you one step beyond simple reading comprehension and ask you to make an inference based on the evidence in the passage- you may be asked about a character or narrator’s implied opinion, the author’s attitude, etc. This will be something that isn’t stated directly in the passage, but that you can assume based on what is actually said in the passage. These questions generally use words like â€Å"infer† and â€Å"imply.† There are two keys to answering these questions: first, as always, go back and read the part of the passage the question is concerned with. Second, don’t be tripped up by the fact that you are making an inference- the best answer will be most supported by what is actually written in the passage. Inference questions are like second-level reading comprehension questions- you need to know not just what a passage says, but what it means. Example: Explanation: The first sentence of the passage reads, â€Å"Certainly the religious and moral ideas of the Dodson and Tullivers were of too specific a kind to be arrived at deductively from the statement that they were part of the Protest population of Great Britain.† Which choice is the most reasonable inference about the Dodson and Tulliver religious ideas based on the first sentence? Choice (A) says â€Å"the narrator is unable to describe them with complete accuracy.† This might be true, but there’s nothing in the first sentence to support this inference- the narrator says that their ideas are â€Å"too specific,† not they the narrator can’t describe them accurately. Eliminate Choice (A). Choice (B), â€Å"they have no real logical foundation† may also be true, but can’t be inferred from the sentence, which gives no indication of whether their beliefs are logical or not. Choice (C) may be tempting- the idea that they cannot be appreciated by anyone who doesn’t share them might seem to dovetail nicely with the fact that they are â€Å"too specific† for the mainstream Protestant population. But is this the best choice that’s most supported by the passage? Let’s keep it in mind but consider the remaining answers. Choice (D) posits that the beliefs of the Dodsons and Tullivers â€Å"spring from a fundamental lack of tolerance.† This is a leap that is not supported by what the first sentence actually says; eliminate it. Choice (E) says that their beliefs â€Å"are not typical of British Protestants in general.† The sentence says that their beliefs are â€Å"too specific† for one to know them simply because the Dodsons and Tullivers identify as British Protestants, which implies that their beliefs in fact do not â€Å"match up† with mainstream British Protestant beliefs. Choice (E) is the inference most supported by the passage, then- even more supported than Choice (C). So, (E) is the answer. Remember, multiple answers may seem like they could be correct, but only the best answer is the correct one. Do you think appropriately ornate churches are also important to the Dodsons and Tullivers? 3. Identifying and Interpreting Figurative Language These questions ask you to either identify figurative language within the passage or to interpret what figurative language means in the context of the passage. These questions are identifiable because they will either outright mention figurative language or a figurative device, or there will be a figurative language phrase in the question itself. Once again, the most important thing you can do to be successful on these questions is to go back and re-read! For figurative language, the meaning is very much dependent on the phrase’s context in the passage. Consider what is said around the figurative phrase and what the phrase is referring to. Example 1: Identifying Figurative Language Explanation: We need to look at each of these phrases in context to tell which is being used figuratively. Choice (A) comes from the sentence, â€Å"It was necessary to be baptized, else on could not be buried in the churchyard, and to take the sacrament before death as a security against more dimly understood perils; but if was of equal necessity to have the proper pall-bearers and well-cured hams at one’s funeral, and to leave an unimpeachable will.† The phrase â€Å"well-cured hams at one’s funeral,† is clearly literally referring to funeral arrangements; (A) can be eliminated. Moving on, choice (B) comes from the sentence, â€Å"A Dodson would not be taxed with the omission of anything that was becoming...such as obedience to parents, faithfulness to kindred, industry, rigid honesty, thrift, the thorough scouring of wooden and copper utensils, the hoarding of coins likely to disappear from the currency, the production of first-rate commodities for the market, and the general preference for whatever was home-made.† In this case â€Å"the hoarding of coins† refers directly to a behavior the Dodsons considered â€Å"becoming,† and is not figurative. (B) can be eliminated. Choice (C) comes from the clause, â€Å"society owes some worthy qualities in many of her members to mothers of the Dodson class, who made their butter and their fromenty well, and would have felt disgraced to make it otherwise.† Again, this refers literally to making butter and fromenty; (C) can be eliminated. Choice (D) is from the sentence, â€Å"To live respected, and have the proper bearers at your funeral, was an achievement of the ends of existence.† Once more, this refers on a concrete level to actual funeral-bearers (echoing the discussion of proper funerals earlier in the passage) and is not figurative. This leaves only (E), from the sentence, â€Å"A conspicuous quality in the Dodson character was its genuineness: its vices and virtues alike were phases of a proud, honest egoism, which had a hearty dislike to whatever made against its own credit and interest, and would be frankly hard of inconvenient ‘kin,’ but would never forsake or ignore them- would not let them want bread, but only require them to eat it with bitter herbs.† It’s pretty easy to identify â€Å"eat it with bitter herbs† as figurative if you are familiar with the allusion to â€Å"bitter herbs† which symbolize the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt in the Jewish tradition. If you don’t know that, you can still identify this as the figurative phrase because it seems more likely that this phrase is referring to feeding your ‘kin’ but shaming them for needing your help as opposed to actually feeding the hungry with bread and â€Å"bitter herbs.† (E) i s the correct answer. Example 2: Interpreting Figurative Language Explanation: This questions asks you to interpret what the figurative phrase â€Å"that live tongue† means. To orient you in the poem, these stanzas are advising the prophet to â€Å"speak of the world’s own change† (13). The poem states, â€Å"What should we be without / The dolphin’s arc, the dove’s return, / these things in which we have seen ourselves and spoken? Ask us, prophet, how we shall call / our natures forth when that live tongue is all / Dispelled, that glass obscured or broken.† In the context of the poem, right the narrator asks what we are without â€Å"that live tongue,† the poem speaks of how we â€Å"see ourselves† in â€Å"the dolphin’s arc† and â€Å"the dove’s return.† These are images of nature. The best interpretation of â€Å"that live tongue,† then, is answer (A), as a metaphor for nature. In essence, the stanza means, â€Å"Ask us, prophet, how we shall know ourselves when nature is destroyed.† The dolphin's arc. 4. Literary Technique These questions ask why the author uses particular words, phrases, or structures. Essentially, what purpose do such choices serve in a literary sense? What effect is created? These questions often include words like â€Å"serves chiefly to,† â€Å"effect,† â€Å"evoke,† and â€Å"in order to.† Of course to approach these questions, re-read the part of the passage referred to. But also ask yourself, why did the author use these particular words or this particular structure? What is being accomplished by this specific literary â€Å"move†? Example: Explanation: This stanza containing the repetition of â€Å"ask us† reads: â€Å"Ask us, ask us whether with the worldless rose / Our hearts shall fail us; come demanding / Whether there shall be lofty or long-standing / When the bronze annals of the oak-tree close.† So what is the effect of repeating â€Å"ask us, ask us†? Choice (A) says it suggests the prophet is causing much of the world’s misery. There’s nothing in the stanza- or even the entire poem- to suggest this, so we can eliminate it. Choice (B) says it represents a sarcastic challenge. This stanza doesn’t read as sarcastic, though, but very serious- eliminate (B). Choice (C) says it suggests the speaker is certain of the answer the prophet will give. This doesn’t really make sense because the speaker isn’t actually asking the prophet questions, but telling the prophet what questions to ask. Eliminate (C). Choice (D) says it makes the line into perfect iambic pentameter. You can eliminate this one without even worrying about what syllables are emphasized because a perfect line of iambic pentameter has 10 syllables and this line has . This leaves (E)- the effect is to provide a â€Å"tone of imploring earnestness.† Given that the speaker seems to be begging the prophet to ask particular questions, this fits. (E) is the correct answer. 5. Character Analysis Character analysis questions will ask you to identify something about a character- their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, relationships with other characters, and so on. In many ways this is a special type of inference questions, because you are inferring broader traits of the character based on the evidence presented in the passage. As you might expect, character questions are asked much more frequently for prose passages than poetry ones. The key here is to pay attention to everything that is directly stated about the character(s) in the relevant parts of the passage. Like in an inference question, there will be an answer that best fits with the evidence in the passage. Example: Explanation: These lines read, â€Å"Their religion was of a simple, semi-pagan kind, but there was no heresy in it- if heresy properly means choice- for they didn’t know there was any other religion except that of chapel-goers, which appeared to run in families, like asthma.† Choice (A) purports that this part of the passage draws attention to the Dodson sisters’ devotion to certain rituals. No rituals are mentioned here; (A) can be eliminated. Choice (B) says these lines point to their â€Å"untroubled complacency.† The passage states that they didn’t know of any other religion. If they don’t know, we can reasonably infer that they are not troubled by their own religion. Keep (B) in the running. Choice (C) purports they have â€Å"deep religious conviction.† This seems like a bit of a leap; all the passage really states is that their religions if â€Å"semi-pagan,† but not heretical because they simply don’t know any other religion other than â€Å"chapel-goers† which seems to be tied to family lineage. We can’t reasonably infer that they have strong religious conviction from this. Eliminate (C). Choice (D) states that they have â€Å"disturbed consciences.† Again, nothing in the passage makes this a reasonable conclusion; if they don’t know there could be other religious traditions, why would they be disturbed by their own? Choice (E) says they have a â€Å"sense of history and tradition.† This might be a tempting choice because they point to the fact that the religion of â€Å"chapel-goers...appeared to run in families.† But that’s not their religion, so this isn’t a well-supported inference. Thus, Choice (B) provides the most reasonable inference about the Dodson sisters and is the correct answer. Quite a character. 6. Overall Passage Questions These questions will require you to take a â€Å"bird’s-eye view† of the passage and identify or describe a characteristic of the passage as a whole: its purpose, tone, genre, and so on. These can be difficult because you can’t simply go back to a specific place in the passage to find the best answer; you need to consider the passage overall. Consider the overall picture created by the tiny details. I strongly recommend marking up texts for main themes, purpose, tone, etc on the first read-through so that you can consult your margin notations for these kinds of questions. Example: Explanation: It is clear through even a quick scan of this passage that the narrator goes on at length about the Dodsons, so we can surmise that the narrator is most concerned with something about the Dodsons. We can eliminate (B) and (C), then, as they don’t say anything about the Dodsons. So what about the Dodsons is the narrator most concerned with? The first sentence mentions their â€Å"religious and moral ideas,† but then describes their â€Å"semi-pagan† but not heretical religion. We then see â€Å"the religion of the Dodsons consisted in revering whatever was customary and respectable† (22-23), followed by a long list of what that is. The rest of the passage similarly describes what the Dodsons believe is important, from being â€Å"richer than was supposed† to doing right thing â€Å"towards kindred.† It is clear, then, that the narrator is most concerned with describing the values of the Dodsons, which aligns with choice (A). 7. Structure These questions ask about specific structural elements of the passage. Often you’ll be asked about shifts in tone, digressions, or the specific form of a poem.Sometimes these questions will point to a specific part of the passage/poem and ask you to identify what that part of the passage is accomplishing within in the larger excerpt. This is another question type where marking the passage on your first read-through will be very helpful- be sure to mark any shifts in structure, tone, genre, etc as you read, and any structural elements that seem unusual or significant. Example: Explanation: Lines 1-34 describe an image of the narrator playing his lute for his love. Lines 34-43 establish that the narrator is about to introduce an idle thought (yes, this is a loquacious poem). Lines 44-48 read: â€Å"And what if all of animated nature / Be but organic Harps diversely fram’d, / That tremble into thought, as o’er them sweeps / Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze, / At once the Soul of each, and God of all?† So what’s the narrator saying here? He is wondering if â€Å"all of animated nature† (so all living things) are just harps, and thought is the strings being played. This is clearly metaphorical, and the third footnote for the passage tells us that â€Å"lute† is a synonym for â€Å"harp.† So the answer is (D)- this part of the passage functions as a â€Å"metaphorical application of the image of the lute.† It's a harp! No, it's a lute! No, it's both! 8. Grammar/Nuts Bolts Very rarely, you will be asked a question on the grammar of a part of a passage- like identifying what word an adjective is modifying. Very specific questions about the meter of a poem (i.e. iambic pentameter) would also fall into this category. These questions are not so much about literary artistry and more about the dry technique requisite for a fluent command of the English language. Example: Explanation: The section of the poem concerned reads, â€Å"Of yonder hill I stretch my limbs at noon, / Whilst through my half-clos’d eye-lids I behold / The sunbeams dance, like diamond, on the main, / And tranquil muse upon tranquility.† What a mouthful! If we can untangle this sentence, figuring out what â€Å"tranquil† is modifying will be fairly easy. First, though, we can eliminate all answers that call â€Å"tranquil† an adverb, because the adverb form of â€Å"tranquil† is â€Å"tranquilly.† Eliminate (B) and (E). In the sentence, we have that the speaker (â€Å"I†) is beholding the sunbeams dancing. Then we have â€Å"and† followed by another verb in â€Å"muse.† How do we know â€Å"muse† is a verb here? Because otherwise the clause â€Å"and tranquil muse upon tranquility† has no verb and makes no sense. Since â€Å"muse† is a verb, it can’t be modified by an adjective, so eliminate choice (D). This leaves (A) and (C). Does it make sense for â€Å"sunbeams† to muse upon tranquility? Not particularly; it makes much more sense for the speaker (I) to muse upon tranquility. Choice (A) is the correct answer. So are these sunbeams dancing? How to Prepare for AP Literature Multiple Choice I have several tips on how you can best position yourself for success on the AP Lit multiple-choice section. Read a Variety of Literary Works and Poems Because the passages on the AP Literature multiple-choice section come from a variety of eras, genres, authors, and styles, it’s important to familiarize yourself with a wide variety of English literary styles so that you will feel comfortable with the passages and able to parse what they are saying without becoming overwhelmed. So read a lot of everything: prose of course, but poetry in particular, as many students are less familiar with poetry already and poetry can be fairly opaque and hard to analyze. As a starting place for things you could read, see my ARTICLE ON BOOKS. When you start to feel comfortable with the language of many eras and styles, it’s time to work on honing your close-reading skills. Hone Your Close Reading Skills Your ability to read closely- to read passages not just for comprehension but with an eye for how the author uses literary technique- is paramount on the multiple-choice section. You will practice on close-reading prose and poetry in class, but extra practice can only help you. So when you’re doing all of your reading from different eras and genres, think about what the author is doing and why he or she is doing it. What techniques are being deployed? What motifs and themes are there? How are characters portrayed? If you’re stumped as to how to go about this, here are some prose close-reading resources: You can get close-reading guides online from The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s writing center and the Harvard College Writing Center. The Purdue OWL also has an article on steering clear of close-reading â€Å"pitfalls.† Here are some close-reading resources for poetry: Here’s a poetry reading guide from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. You should definitely check out this truly excellent guide to reading poetry from Poets.org, which comes complete with two poetry close-readings. Learn Literary and Poetic Devices You’ll want to be familiar with a literary terms so that any questions that ask about them will make sense to you. Again, you’ll probably learn most of these in class, but it doesn’t hurt to brush up on them. Here are some comprehensive lists of literary terms with definitions: About.com Literary Glossary Literary-Devices.Com list, which even has examples! Complete Practice Questions and Take Practice Multiple-Choice Sections To succeed on the multiple-choice section, practice taking multiple-choice questions! This may seem like a no-brainer but it’s still very important nonetheless. Set aside time to take a sizeable number of practice questions every week. Keep track of what kinds of questions are easy for you- do you identify the theme every time?- and which ones are hard- stumped by similes? This will help you figure out if there are any skills or concepts you need to brush up on. You should also take a complete multiple-choice practice section at least once, twice if you are able. You could do this as part of a complete practice test (which I recommend) or do it separately. But taking a multiple-choice section under AP-like conditions will help you feel prepared, calm and collected on test day. As prepared as a Regency belle who has snagged an officer! AP Literature Multiple-Choice Practice Resources There are a variety of practice resources available that you can use to hone your multiple-choice skills for the AP English Literature and Composition exam. The gold standard for the best multiple-choice practice questions is the College Board. This is because they write the AP exam, so their practice questions are the most like the real AP multiple-choice questions you’ll see on test day. They offer both complete released exams and sample questions. Even once you run out of official College Board practice questions, there are still unofficial resources you can use to hone your multiple-choice skills. In this section I’ll go over both. Official Resources See below for three potential sources of official College Board questions. Released College Board Exams There are two official released College Board Exams. Each have a complete multiple-choice section of 55 questions. Here are the links! 1987 AP English Literature and Composition Exam 1999 AP English Literature and Composition Exam Sample Questions from the Course and Exam Description The AP English Literature Course and Exam Description has 46 practice multiple-choice questions! Your Teacher Your AP teacher may also have copies of old AP exams that you can use for practice. Ask him and see! In my mind, all English teachers look like they came from the 19th century. Unofficial Resources In addition to the multiple-choice practice questions provided by the College Board, there are also several places online where you can get unofficial multiple-choice practice questions. However, they aren’t all worth your time in terms of quality. I’ll go over the best ones here. For an even more robust list, check out our complete list. Barron’s Books Free Practice Test Barron’s offers a complete free practice test with multiple-choice and free response. So, that’s 55 questions at your disposal! There’s a timed mode and an untimed â€Å"practice† mode. The author and name of the work is provided for each passage, but not the date. You won’t have the author/title on the actual exam; I suspect that many free resources give this information to you for copyright reasons.Overall, the questions are high-quality and this is a good option when your well of official multiple-choice practice questions has run dry. McGraw-Hill AP Diagnostic Quiz McGraw-Hill has a 25-question multiple-choice â€Å"diagnostic quiz† for the AP English Literature exam. The questions are difficult and are pretty good imitations of AP questions. You may even be able to get more than 25 questions out of this site because every time you open a new test window, you’ll receive 25 randomly selected questions from their question pool.One slightly annoying thing to note if you use this resource is that the passages open in another window.As with the Barron’s test, you will receive the author and the title for each passage. You will not, however, recieve an atmospheric picture of the setting. Another solid option for getting more practice multiple-choice questions is a good review book. You want to make sure it’s high quality- I recommend Barron’s for the AP Literature exam in particular, as their questions do resemble real AP questions in difficulty and writing style. Test Day Tips for AP Lit Multiple-Choice Success Don’t rely on your memory of the passage when answering questions. Always look back at the passage, even if you think the answer is obvious! Interact with the passages- circle, mark, underline, make notes, whatever floats your boat. This will help you retain information and actively engage with the passage. Especially mark areas where there seems to be some kind of transition or change, as it’s highly likely that you will be asked questions about these transitions! It may also be helpful for you to jot some quick notes on the overall theme or motif of the passage/poem once you reach the end. This will help you on questions about the passage overall. If you’re having trouble making sense of a passage, skip it and move on to the next one. Odds are when you come back to it later, you’ll find it much easier to understand. And if you don’t, at least you didn’t waste too much time puzzling it out before you answered the questions about other, easier passages. Acing the AP Lit Multiple Choice: Key Takeaways The first section of the AP English Literature and Composition Exam is an hour-long, 55-question multiple-choice test about four-five literary and prose passages. This section is worth 45% of your total exam score. There are eight kinds of questions you can expect to see on the multiple-choice section: Reading Comprehension Inference Identifying and Interpreting Figurative Language Literary Technique Character Analysis Overall Passage Questions Structure Grammar/Nuts and Bolts Here’s how to best prepare to crush the multiple-choice sections: Read a variety of literary works and poems, from all of the eras and genres covered by the test! Hone your close-reading skills so you can identify what writers are doing and why they are doing those things. Learn literary techniques and terms and how to identify and apply them! Practice for the exam by taking practice sections and practice questions. There are a variety of official and unofficial resources available to practice. The best are College-Board official, but once you run out of those, there are also high-quality unofficial resources available. Here are some test-day tips to help you hit an English Lit home run: Always look back at the passage when answering questions- don’t rely on memory! Interact with the passages as you read through them, including marking significant moments and structural or tonal shifts in the text. You may also wish to write a couple of quick notes about the overall theme(s) and motifs of the passage at the end, to refer to when answering overall passage questions. If the language of a passage is hard to parse, skip it and come back later. Odds are it will make much more sense the second time around, and if it doesn’t, at least you didn’t waste time that you could have spent answering easier questions. And then you lived happily ever after. What's Next? Need more resources for AP English Literature? See our complete guide to the AP Literature Exam, our complete list of AP English Literature practice tests, and our AP English Literature Reading List. Also taking AP Language and Composition? We have an expert guide to AP Lang and Comp, a comprehensive list of AP Language and Composition practice tests, and a list of 55 AP English Language terms you must know. If you're taking other AP exams, check out our five-step AP study plan, when to start studying for AP exams, and how to find the best AP practice tests. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Career Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Career - Research Paper Example US department of labour gives a mean hourly rate of $ 45.14 and a mean annual wage of $ 93,900 (US department of labour web). Louisiana is the second paying state for civil engineers with an annual average of $ 111,980 with an hourly average of $ 53, 84. The trend of construction engineers is that this occupation will grow at an average rate to all occupations in California. This is the case nationally because of road repairs, road construction, bridge construction and other structures are expected to rise. Construction engineers work in different environments. When designing projects entrusted to them, they work in a quite office environment. However, if a project is in a remote area, construction engineers have to bear with the cold or hot environment in such areas. Physically they are supposed to be fit to lift up some construction items here and there. In addition, they should have good eyesight to see details at a close range, Knowledge of tools, methods, and materials used in construction. Most construction engineers work full time and in most cases on overtime to complete contractual

Summary What Leaders Really Do) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary What Leaders Really Do) - Assignment Example An organization cannot run in the expected manner if those working under the leader do not receive direction to follow. This direction is very essential in bringing about the desired changes, which is why leaders ought to be on their toes so that these goals can be attained; to help an organization be able to cope as they struggle through it. Leaders do not have to produce a detailed plan on what is to be done, setting direction is the main aspect they are supposed to deal with and leave the rest to the management. There is nothing fascinating about leadership, but the fact that they develop visions that make way for changes, and work towards achieving them. For these changes to get realized, it is necessary that leaders with outstanding competence are selected and exposed so that they can come out with strong leadership. It is however useless having strong leaders with management that is weak, as performance will still be low. An example of visionary leadership that is set to bring about changes in an organization is that American Express at the time it was receiving a lot of competition from other companies that came up with cards to compete with them. Competition is known to hinder growth of a company and being the visionary leader he was, he decided to come up with a scheme that would put the company at its feet again; which was through asking of fundamental questions on economics, market and competition so that he could develop a perfect understanding of the business. It is the above that a leader should do as his dedication made him save the company. In aligning of people, communication is very important, and it is best that leaders be good at it. These challenges are in trying to get people understand a new or alternative vision to be implemented as well as having the people one is dealing with believe the message being put across. Alignment leads to empowerment, which ends up reducing on

Are International institutions effective in solving collective Research Paper

Are International institutions effective in solving collective Problems Case study of Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and North Korea's Nuclear crisis - Research Paper Example A plan offered by the United States in 1946 also proposed that all nuclear arms and technology come under international control and ownership. However, the post World War efforts did not seem to work out too well and it was later on that countries started to pledge allegiance to the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty) which kicked off in 1968 and became effective in 1970. A list of around 190 countries are signatory to the treaty. The NPT rests on the premise that the non-nuclear nations would agree to never pursue any sort of acquisition of nuclear arsenal whereas the nuclear weapon state would share the benefits of it with the non-nuclear states. The treaty is reviewed for changes every 5 years and as of now, stands as being extended till an indefinite period. North Korea had the USSR as its strongest communist ally at the time of the cold war. When the cold war came to a close, Soviet Russia had weakened substantially. North Korea, that looked upon it as a security guarantee began to think that now it should itself do something to curb the situation. Therefore, in 1989 the United States, through its intelligence network, found that North Korea which had signed the NPT is in the early stages of building an atomic bomb. In 1992 North Korea allowed a team from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Commission) to undertake visitors to its nuclear facilities. The inspections seemed to not go as expected and North Korea had blocked the commission from visiting some of its facilities. In 1994 an â€Å"Agreed Framework† was reached between America and North Korea that stated that N. Korea would abandon its nuclear program and the U.S. would provide oil for electricity and better economic ties would be maintained .Also, the atomic plants w ould be replaced with light water nuclear power plants .However, the routine inspections would continue by the IAEA, However in late 2002, George Bush

Critical Review of a paper by Lindsay G and Muijs D (2006) Challenging Lab Report

Critical Review of a paper by Lindsay G and Muijs D (2006) Challenging Underachievement in boys - Lab Report Example In this study, schools influenced ethos by educating teachers perceptions of underachieving groups and educating pupils views of school and learning. In other words, they looked at the leadership of the school and worked downward to the pupils to learn the culture of the school. To be effective, this involved an emphasis on the school connecting to the community and making a high level of expectations known. The school also needs to take on the culture values of the community. The school must be re-socialized to reflect community values. Parental involvement and community outreach have been found to be important to establish a pride in the school system. Part of ethos is the philosophy of the teachers toward addressing learning concerns which involves changing the curriculum and teaching techniques for different pupil groups. It also involves whether or not a vocational or basic skills orientation is chooses for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. It appears that the approach used in the schools in the studies leaned toward the vocational orientation. There were two general approaches used in the schools studied. The effective school mode is where the focus is optimizing achievement for all students so it is ethnicity free and gender free. Specific groups are not targeted but rather they are integrated completely within the greater student body. There is some evidence that Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani students attain more in this type of school if intermixed with mainly a white student population. The second approach does target specific sub-groups. The important issue seems to be why this targeting is used and how the target groups are chosen. It is best to use a general profile of the student rather than ethnicity as the grouping criteria, according to this study.This study provides evidence that schools can find success in underachievement in specific groups of boys. This is democratic action research and to incorporated both quantitative methods using multi-level modeling to identify schools and qualitative methods to collect opinions of those involved in the educational process. Study Methods It is important to look at how this study was done. It is democratic action research. This is a form of research that uses non researchers to conduct the study. This form of research has been criticized because these individuals do not know how to do research. This particular study used researchers to supervise the work as well as consult on the design, to maintain its integrity.The first staged of the study searched for the schools to be used in the study. They were looking for schools that showed that they were having some success in improving the achievement of the target groups of boys, black Caribbean, African and UK-born boys. Standardized test uses by the British school system were used as a measure to determine which schools showed success. The second stage was to interview head teachers and a sample of other teachers and a sample of students. The interviews were semi-structured, recorded and written up immediately following the interview. A thematic analysis was then done to identify key themes and sub-themes.Multi-level modeling

Capital punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Capital punishment - Essay Example They presented the argument that capital punishment was the cruel form of punishing the criminals which is most often applied on innocent people. However, there are many counter-arguments against it supporting the death penalty. This paper intends to support the statement that capital punishment is cruel and should be abolished, and discusses the application of this unjust punishment on Hispanic community and minorities living in Texas. Ethics do not allow a government to take lives of its nationals. There is good number of chances that innocent lives will be put to death under this punishment and there can be no compensation for this. It is possible that capital punishment converts to manslaughter by killing someone convicted of murder, when the murderer says that it was not murder but an inadvertent killing like killing in self-defense. An example is the open and shut case of James McNicol who was put to death in December 1945. Although James did not oppose the conviction of murder , but after his death, Elaine Merrilees, his niece discovered that he was only guilty of manslaughter and not murder. Also, in Texas, death penalty has deepened its roots strongly and the victims are often Hispanics and the minorities who are killed due to racial discrimination. Marquart et al. (1998) affirm that: Rather than systematically sentencing younger minorities to death, murderers of all racial categories who received death tended to be younger than the larger pool of imprisoned convicted murderers- although the difference in age between Hispanics sentenced to death or those imprisoned was not statistically significant (p.86). The family of the one being put to capital punishment suffers very badly. Negative impacts are inflicted on their innocent minds because they have to come to terms not only with the sentence of their loved one but also with his death, and that too so cruelly. Therefore, the agony of the murderer’s family and relations should not be ignored. The lawyer, John B.S. Edwards (1959), writes in the Rotarian magazine that many countries have now abolished the capital punishment because â€Å"society in those countries is more shocked by the death penalty than impressed with the need for it† (p.10). Also, the criminals are also human beings and it is necessary that their feelings toward their family should not be ignored when the crime is not that violent. This can be better understood by the example that China shot an 18-year-old girl in 1998 who was convicted of drug trafficking. There is not a single humane method of killing the murderer in law. Kronenwetter (2001, p.3) calls it deliberate, cold-blooded, brutal and uncivilized killing. And when it is about minorities like the Hispanics in Texas, it is the responsibility of the government to consider that they should not be left feeling that they are being treated violently just because they are minorities. Marquart et al. (1998, p.24) give statistics that minorities whic h included blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be put to capital punishment as compared to whites. Many researchers argue that the capital punishment is proved in Bible because there are statements in Bible which say that whoever shed man’s blood should be done the same. Researchers talk about the biblical aspects of it and come to the conclusion that it is supported by God. However, the scripture can be interpreted in several different ways. The statement may also mean banishment of the murderer from

Critical Review of a paper by Lindsay G and Muijs D (2006) Challenging Lab Report

Critical Review of a paper by Lindsay G and Muijs D (2006) Challenging Underachievement in boys - Lab Report Example In this study, schools influenced ethos by educating teachers perceptions of underachieving groups and educating pupils views of school and learning. In other words, they looked at the leadership of the school and worked downward to the pupils to learn the culture of the school. To be effective, this involved an emphasis on the school connecting to the community and making a high level of expectations known. The school also needs to take on the culture values of the community. The school must be re-socialized to reflect community values. Parental involvement and community outreach have been found to be important to establish a pride in the school system. Part of ethos is the philosophy of the teachers toward addressing learning concerns which involves changing the curriculum and teaching techniques for different pupil groups. It also involves whether or not a vocational or basic skills orientation is chooses for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. It appears that the approach used in the schools in the studies leaned toward the vocational orientation. There were two general approaches used in the schools studied. The effective school mode is where the focus is optimizing achievement for all students so it is ethnicity free and gender free. Specific groups are not targeted but rather they are integrated completely within the greater student body. There is some evidence that Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani students attain more in this type of school if intermixed with mainly a white student population. The second approach does target specific sub-groups. The important issue seems to be why this targeting is used and how the target groups are chosen. It is best to use a general profile of the student rather than ethnicity as the grouping criteria, according to this study.This study provides evidence that schools can find success in underachievement in specific groups of boys. This is democratic action research and to incorporated both quantitative methods using multi-level modeling to identify schools and qualitative methods to collect opinions of those involved in the educational process. Study Methods It is important to look at how this study was done. It is democratic action research. This is a form of research that uses non researchers to conduct the study. This form of research has been criticized because these individuals do not know how to do research. This particular study used researchers to supervise the work as well as consult on the design, to maintain its integrity.The first staged of the study searched for the schools to be used in the study. They were looking for schools that showed that they were having some success in improving the achievement of the target groups of boys, black Caribbean, African and UK-born boys. Standardized test uses by the British school system were used as a measure to determine which schools showed success. The second stage was to interview head teachers and a sample of other teachers and a sample of students. The interviews were semi-structured, recorded and written up immediately following the interview. A thematic analysis was then done to identify key themes and sub-themes.Multi-level modeling

Leader in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Leader in business - Essay Example The couple decided to send him to the New York Military Academy at the age of thirteen. The plan was to channel the teenage boy's unlimited energy into an avenue to achieve positive results. Before we get started with describing Donald Trump's personality, lets explore a major facet when identifying the various personalities of individuals. I believe that Donald's birthday has a lot to due with the shape and formation of his personality. There is an evidence of truth in the 12 astrological signs when it comes to the personalities and auras of people. Mr. Trump's birthday is June 14, 1964. According to the astrological calendar this means that he is born under Mythology, the planet Mercury rules Gemini. As you may know, Mercury, the messenger of the gods and always moved swiftly to and fro throughout the heavens and on earth delivering messages. It is this fact, along with this sign's desire to explore new things that keep people like this always on the move looking for new and interesting things. Also according to Athena Starwoman, the writer describing signs' traits and characteristics, people born under this sign also have, "The secret desire to be ahead." For now, lets take a look at the positive effects that sending him to the military academy had on developing his personality in the most influential years of his life. According to www.biography.com "Trump did well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to be a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964." Donald later went on to enter Fordham University. Eventually he finished his bachelor's degree in economics at the Wharton School of Finance, located in the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. His mentors, which were mentioned in the book entitled The Art of the Deal (Theodore Dobias and Major General John Brugmann) were obviously strong influences in the development of his personality and drive to win. It was his mother, in my opinion who gave the one single piece of advice, which was forever etched on the tablet of his heart. Written on an unnumbered page in the beginning of his book entitled How to Get Rich: Big deals from the star of The Apprentice, are the words of his dear mother. He terms it, 'The mother of All Advice.' These words are, "Trust in God, and be true to yourself." Underneath the quote, Donald reflects on his thoughts about the quote. In so many words he said that when he looked back on these words, it was some great advice, possibly some of the best advice in his life. He said at first, he really didn't get it but stuck to it because it sounded good. He concludes that, "It is good advice no matter what your business or lifestyle." Goodlow 3 These eight words are so powerful. One of the traits of successful people is that they always have a belief in a higher power that is at work in the universe operating through them. Take a look at people throughout various eras of history, from the most evil of men to the most benevolent of souls. Men as dark and sinister as Adolf Hitler and Ayatollah

Biography of Fernando Botero Essay Example for Free

Biography of Fernando Botero Essay Fernando Botero, also named the most Colombian of Colombian artists, has developed a style the world notices as his own. Fernando was born in 1932 in Medellin, Colombia. Fernando came across heavy schooling as a child, which isolated him from traditional art in museums and such cultural institutions. It was his strict school however that brought art to be an interest for Fernando, the school Botero attended was run by Jesuits who were strict and brought little enjoyment into Botero’s life. To find enjoyment Botero began to draw at a young age. At that young age his inspiration was anything that interest him such as bullfighting. Fernando was a great fan of bullfights so he would paint scenes of this then sold them in front of the arena for 5 pesos. He spent nearly two years painting this subject. He had a growing interest in art his entire life; he shared his thoughts, and studied. When Botero was seventeen he worked for the Medellin newspaper, El Colombiano, titled Picasso and the Nonconformity of Art, which showed Botero’s mind and how it is linked with art. Botero is so well known because of his signature style, robust and round objects and characters. Botero tells critics that he is simply attracted to his form without knowing why. He claims that artists never know why artists use a form, he claims the style is intuitive and that the explanation for their style can be rationalized after it’s adopted. Botero is difficult to understand, as he doesn’t share his opinion with his art or even explaining his art. â€Å"He shares his vision with us but not telling us how to feel about it. Navas- Nieves says. We know his works are personal as some of his famous works depict his youth, â€Å"The Bishop†, â€Å"The Nun†, â€Å"The Bullfighter†, and â€Å"The Widow†. It is unknown to all except Botero however if these drawings reflect the beauty with these no proportional, bright colored, exaggerated sized or the turmoil. Botero eliminated brushwork and texture in his paintings as he favored a smoother look. Botero’s works are abstract and are educated by a Columbian upbringing and social commentary. When Colombian children go to church they see all these Madonnas, so clean and perfect. In South America china-like perfection is very much a part of the ideal toilet of beauty. More so even than the polychrome wood sculptures in Spain, Latin American sculptures look like porcelain. So, in contrast to Europe or North America, you connect the notions of art and beauty at a very early age. I grew up with the idea that art is beauty. All my life Ive been trying to produce art that is beautiful to discover all the elements that go to make up visual perfection. When you come from my background you can’t be spoilt by beauty, because youve never really seen it. If youre born in Paris, say, you can see art everywhere, so by the time you come to create art yourself you’re spoilt – youre tired of beauty as such and want to do something else. With me it was quite different. I wasnt tired of beauty; I was hungering for it. † Botero said this knowing he was not raised with art, which is his beauty. The lack of art in his life made him develop such an original style. The church influences Botero, his baroque style was adopted from the church. Botero is the most Colombian of Colombian artists because of his insulation from international trends. Botero once remarked â€Å"A painter can do things a photographer can’t do, because a painter can make the invisible visible. † This thinking lead Botero to create a series of serious paintings about prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. Botero, through his paintings in this series allowed us to feel the prisoners suffering. The paintings brought us to the agony of the victims, the humiliation they felt and all the pain was transferred from the painting to us, making us the victim. This series proved moreover Botero’s skill of art. Many critics thought the series was out of Botero’s league claiming that Botero’s style cannot do justice to the seriousness of the subject. Botero proved the critics wrong when he captures the emotion of the victims. The difference between photographs and paintings are that photographs come with a story. Just something that happened. They can be beautiful but paintings show affects and emotion and thoughts and different depictions. Much more thought goes into a painting, which sets the two apart.

Theories of Evolution and Intelligent Design

Theories of Evolution and Intelligent Design Humans have a profound longing to know their roots. In the broadest context, this longing expresses itself as a desire to understand how the universe itself came to exist, in a more particular framework, the origin of living things. Various models attempt to explain how life comes to be. These controversial issues settle on by two views. The evolutionists argue life evolved, while the proponents of intelligent design argue that life is a product of an intelligent cause. Then there are creationists who consider life to be created by a deity or deities. Nevertheless, creationism is not of importance because creationism focuses on defending the sacred texts, having no scientific evidence to how life comes to be. The contentious matter is whether intelligent design is science or not. As Charles Darwin wrote in the On the Origin of Species, â€Å"A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.† Now, there seems to be a great deal of confusion among the society on what exactly evolution and intelligent design is. According to the online dictionary, evolution is the â€Å"change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation.† Therefore, evolution is mainly a process occurring from one generation to the next, which results in heritable changes in a population. More accurately, evolution is any change in the â€Å"frequency of alleles within a gene pool† over succeeding generations. Like evolution, intelligent design is on the online dictionary too. The online dictionary states, intelligent design is, â€Å"the assertion or belief that physical and biological systems observed in the universe result from purposeful design by an intelligent being rather than from chance or undirected natural processes.† Thus, intelligent design argues that an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process best explain certain features of the universe. If an intelligent cause best explain certain features of the universe, then intelligent design supporters must agree that certain features are best explained by the evolution theory. Intelligent design supporters like Stephen Meyer say that intelligent design supporters are not against evolution per say. Evolution can mean change over time or common ancestry, which are not meanings of the term they dispute. They do challenge the â€Å"specific Darwinian ideal, that life is the result of a purely undirected process that merely mimics the powers of designing intelligence.† Charles Darwin’s theory is that all living things evolved from a simple organism over immeasurable generations. In addition to the countless generations, random mutations or changes in the traits and natural selection took place, with only the fittest of species surv iving and reproducing. As pointed out before, intelligent design supporters do not reject evolution, nor do they believe that the universe was created in six days. However, proponents of intelligent design do say an intelligent designer created life. Even though they are silent about the identity of the designer, most assume it the God of Christianity. Intelligent design proponents tend to stay away from defining design. Stephen Meyer, an intelligent design proponent says there are two features to what this intelligence is. Meyer quotes, â€Å"you can’t tell from the science alone the identity of the designer. It is like having a painting that was not signed. You can tell from the characteristic signature of intelligence, namely the presence of information, that some mind played a role, but we cannot tell from the science the identity.† Dr. Micheal Ruse, an evolutionist states â€Å"if a painting isn’t signed, a good art historian could look at the painting and say I think it’s a 13 century painting or this painting is an impressionist.† Proponents of intelligent design argue that even the simplest of living things have numerous complex and sophisticated structures that not even natural selection can produce. For that reason, how do you explain the complexity of design? The question that appears to be asked often is, â€Å"is the design of biology an illusion produced by a natural mechanism, namely natural selection that can mimic the power of designing intelligence or is the appearance of design, which all biologists recognize the product of actual intelligence, a mind not a material process.† Hence, proponents of intelligent design, in particular Michael Behe argue the challenge of irreducible complexity, suggesting the existence of an intelligent designer behind the purposeful structures of each living cell. Irreducible complexity implies a â€Å"single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, were in the removal of any one of the part causes the sys tem to effectively cease functioning.† Michael Behe’s famous everyday example of an irreducibly complex system is a mousetrap. If one of the pieces of a mousetrap is unavailable, no longer will the mousetrap be effective. An irreducibly complex system is similar to this example. All the components have to be in place before you can catch a mouse or have a functioning system. Michael Behe considers an irreducibly complex system to be very difficult or highly unlikely to form by not only by numerous, successive modifications, but because any essential part could cease to function if a piece from the preceding generations was missing. Michael Behe supports his point how natural selection cannot clarify the complexity that is within a cell by acknowledging a quote Darwin said. â€Å"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.† The nature of an irreducible complexity poses as a threat to the Darwinian theory because systems which are entirely working can then only natural selection be present. An example in a living cell is the scheme of how proteins are able to navigate to the precise destination where proteins carry out their â€Å"specialized tasks, such as digestion of nutrients and excretion of wastes. This constant, regulated traffic flow in the cell comprises another remarkably complex, irreducible system.† In order for a system to function fittingly, a system should no break down and the system’s parts should not break down. Kenneth R. Miller counters the argument of irreducible complexity; an intricate system cannot be produced by evolution. Kenneth Miller proves his disagreement by explaining the fault he sees in Michael Behe’s own example, the mousetrap. Michael Behe states how removing a part of the mousetrap causes it to stop functioning, but Kenneth Miller states that you may not have a mousetrap taking away certain pats, but you can have another fully functional machine. A mousetrap is composed of a base, a metal hammer, a spring, a catch and a metal bar. â€Å"Take away the catch and the metal bar, [there is] a functional paper clip. Take away the spring, and you have a two-part key chain. The point is that bits and pieces of supposedly irreducibly complex machines may have different, but still useful functions.† Kenneth R. Miller argues that Darwinian mechanisms could have arranged the numerous complex system that exists within living things. â€Å"Evolution produces complex bioch emical machines by copying, modifying, and combining proteins previously used for other functions.† Kenneth Miller uses again one of Michael Behe’s own example. As mentioned before, Michael Behe argues how an intelligent design is behind the complexity of how the proteins move from one â€Å"subcellular compartment† to another. The journal called Cell has an article where working researchers noted â€Å"these mechanisms suggest in a natural way how the many and diverse compartments in eukaryotic cells could have evolved in the first place.† Overall, intelligent design does not succeed with present any biochemical evidence. William A. Dembski makes another interesting intelligent design statement. Dembski draws attention to how neither chance nor necessity can explain the creation of the universe. The origin of all living things must have had help from a designing intelligence. Researchers receive a sufficient amount of random signal from space for plenty of years. Dembski states, â€Å"If a sequence lacks complexity, it could easily happen by chance.† In other word, if it is complex, it must have not occurred by chance or randomness. Therefore, researchers must infer an extraterrestrial intelligence is the source for such â€Å"complex, sequenced patterns† (random signals). â€Å"Intelligence leaves behind a characteristic trademark or signature [called] specified complexity.† Specified complexity is not similar to the term irreducible complexity. The both have different definitions. Specified complexity indicates that it is an event â€Å"if it is contingent and therefore not nec essary, if it is complex and therefore not easily repeatable by chance, and if it is specified in the sense of exhibiting an independently given pattern.† Slim chances of unlikely events to happen do not reduce chance. For instance, if you roll a dice for an adequate amount of time, you will be able to notice a â€Å"highly complex or improbably event.† Another appealing argument is that â€Å"specifications be objectively given and not just imposed on events after the fact.† For example, if a soccer player kicks a soccer ball onto the field and then we place the soccer net, â€Å"we impose a patter after the fact.† Alternatively, if the soccer net is â€Å"set up in advance (specified)† and then the soccer player shoots the ball into the net, â€Å"we know it was by design.† Robert T. Pennock presents his counterargument to Dembski argument. Pennock claims that proponents of intelligent design like Dembski do not provide the society with â€Å"positive evidence† and instead present us with â€Å"negative evidence.† Basically, â€Å"negative evidence† is evidence that an individual has not experienced by their five external senses, mainly if the whole thing is a phony. On the other hand, â€Å"positive evidence† is the opposite, where there is truth and evidence for the event that took place or for any science matter. Dembski did not present any examples from humans and therefore Pennock states â€Å"Dembski has no way to show that the genetic patterns are set up in advance or independently given.† A common argument creationists attack on is how the second law of thermodynamics doesn’t support evolution. Proponents of intelligent design make use of this argument by means of different approaches to the matter, but it all comes down to how â€Å"can evolutionary processes produce more complex life-forms from more primitive ones [if] evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics.† Pennock states that biological complexities are open systems and since the law applies to closed systems, which is why the second law does not pass the test of evolution. This is simply a misunderstanding of how intelligent design supporters are not able to apply the law to biological systems. Again, the entire hypothesis made by proponents of intelligent design does not provide any scientific evidence. Also, if the origin of the universe was created by a designing intelligence, is this hypothesis testable? Proponents of intelligent design make assumptions on what evolutionists have not yet to discover information or fully understand the cause and reason behind a finding. â€Å"There is no way to dust for [the designer’s] fingerprints.† Jonathan Wells, a proponent of intelligent design claims in fact Darwin’s theory in hard to believe considering that certain features of living things appear to be designed. Natural selection and random variation cannot explain Darwin’s theory of evolution. Wells uses Darwin’s own two examples, the finches and the four-winged fruit fly, to back up his statement. Darwin’s finches and the four-winged fruit fly prove his theory of evolution, but Wells uncovers that Darwin’s theory can only account for certain feature and not all features of living things. Generally, finches vary among the shape of their beaks and Darwin concluded that the shape of their beaks differed due to the assorted food the finches ate. In other words, the finches adapted through a variety of food, but evolved from a common ancestor and the undirected process, natural selection is the cause of such diverse collection of finches. Wells argue that natural selection can only account for the fact that it works within its species and not modify the anatomical structure. Wells agrees that DNA mutations allow certain advantageous variations like antibiotic resistance. Now evolutionists provide evidence of anatomical changes through the four-winged fruit fly, but the fly does not indeed provide proof. The wings that the fly seemed to acquire through mutation show that these wings are not only useless but also worse. Eugenie C. Scott, a well-known evolutionist responds to Jonathan Wells claim by stating that natural selection alone does not explain the features of living things. Besides natural selection, there is genetic drift, symbiosis, genetic recombination and gene flow and chromosomal rearrangement. Scott assures that Wells is sticking to the religious belief rather than the scientific explanation. Today, â€Å"modern genetic analysis† provides scientists with plenty of evidence that all species descended from a common ancestor. The Ultrabithorax (Ubx) complex is â€Å"found in animals as different as sponges, fruit flies, and mammals. They turn on or off the genes involved in body segmentation and the production of appendages such as antennae, legs, and wings.† This Ubx complex is the key to the evolution of body parts and counterargument to Wells claim of how Darwin’s theory does not explain anatomical change. â€Å"The loss of legs in snakes, the change from lobe fi ns to hands, and the origin of jaws in vertebrates† are just some of the examples that the Ubx complex is involved in. For over a decade there has been a controversial issue among school boards whether it is appropriate to teach scientific creation, recently intelligent design, in public school science classes. In 1996, Michael Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box helped emphasize that intelligent design as scientific rather than a religious viewpoint. Although Behe does not mention the name of the designer, the scientific community refuse to believe his arguments and claim it to be from personal incredulity. This book presented points on why the teaching of intelligent design should be included and attacked the teaching of evolution in public schools. â€Å"The 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover case put the calim that intelligent design was religion masquerading as science to the test.† Evolutionists know that Darwin’s theory has gaps and it is not perfect, but proponents of intelligent design. In conclusion, proponents of evolution and intelligent design dispute over whether life on earth evolved through natural mechanisms or produced by an intelligent cause. Each side brings up interesting arguments where neither side admits defeat. While evolutionists assert the community that intelligent design are more religious and philosophical, not scientific. They believe intelligent design has a link to creationism. Proponents of intelligent design claim evolutionists refuse to admit that life appears to look designed because in fact it really is designed. Even though evolutionists argue how intelligent design has no scientific evidence, proponents of intelligent design argue how there are peer-reviewed articles on intelligent design. The controversial issue in the Unites States of America is whether intelligent design should be taught in schools. Evolutionists say it’s acceptable to for students to learn about intelligent design, but not as a branch of biology. Proponents of intelligent design insist on teaching intelligent design in biology classes. There have been court cases due to this issue and the judge ruled out that intelligent design cannot be taught in schools. â€Å"It is pretty hard to find the right result to a controversial issue.†