Monday, September 30, 2019

Conspicuous Consumption and Veblen

How far is Thorstein Veblen’s theory, that the main function of dress is the display of wealth, still valid? Thorstein Veblen was a sociologist and economist who came up with the term ‘conspicuous consumption. ’ He was the author of the book ‘The Theory of the Leisure Class’ published in 1899 which spoke about the working class in America. During that time the working class was visibly aspiring to the ‘leisure class. ’ The Leisure class was known to be the emerging ruling class of that time, as they would consume and constantly engage in a public display of their status. The following essay is going to explore Veblen’s theory in relation to the display of wealth through dress. I aim to show the relevance of Veblen’s concept today whilst taking into thought the changes in class, consumption and consumerism. Veblen provided a few main ideologies in which he examines the notion of ‘dress’ as an â€Å"expression of pecuniary culture† Veblen (1994:15) He stated that the idea of ‘conspicuous waste’ proved the wearer had the freedom to purchase anything they liked without so much as any economical obstacles. Currently, ‘fast fashion’ feeds the desire to overcome need, and clothes are replaced before they are worn out. The seasonality of today’s fashion is the epitome of conspicuous waste as new trends come out every season which encourages one to throw out items that have gone ‘out of fashion. ’ Trends are changing faster than ever before (Fig 1). (Tesseras : 2010) states; â€Å"textile waste at council tips now accounts for 30 per cent, compared to just seven per cent five years ago. † The thrill of watching each season’s runway shows, to the pressure of ‘joining in’ and following the trends, (Fig 2) fast fashion promotes mass production and waste. Fig 1 Fig 2 Another principle of Veblen’s, is that of ‘conspicuous leisure’ which he defined as a non-productive use of time. Examples of conspicuous leisure include taking long ’unnecessary’ vacations to exotic places which are fully motivated by a social factor (Fig 3). †Time is consumed non-productively (1) from a sense of unworthiness of productive work, and (2) as an evidence f pecuniary ability to afford a life of idleness† (Veblen 1934 : 43) These are time-consuming activities that suggest an indifference to such mundane concerns as working for a living. (Fig 4) â€Å"The leisure rendered by the wife in such cases is, of course, not a simple manifestation of idleness or indolence. It almost invariably occurs disguised under some form of work or household duties or social amenities, which prove on analysis to serve little or no ulterior end beyond showing that she does not and need not occupy herself with anything that is gainful or that is of substantial use. (Veblen 1934: 69) Figure 3 Figure 4 â€Å"Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability†¦ No class of society, not even the most abjectly poor, forgoes all customary conspicuous consumption. †Ã‚   Veblen (1994 :  Chapter 4) In Veblen’s time during the late 19th century (Fig 5) and early 1900’s (Fig 6) woman’s wear was made to look as far apart from any work-wear as possible. Corsets, delicate fabrics and high heels all were worn to prove that they are entirely restricted from any laborious work and would make manual work very difficult. Affluent women crippled themselves in order to put on a convincing display of idleness, and as he put it made them â€Å"permanently and obviously unfit for work. † Veblen (1994: Chapter 7) The tight corsets and luxurious fabrics proved that they could afford to wear impractical clothing which was expensive to clean all for the sole purpose to acquire a certain level of status amongst the public. These consumers could easily fall into the ‘Nouveau Riche’ category which was an emerging class in the 19th century. Style would therefore play a key role in separating the wearer from the working class. â€Å"In addition to showing the wearer can afford to consume freely and uneconomically it can also be shown, in the same stroke, that he or she, is not under the necessity or earning of a livelihood, the evidence of social worth is enhanced to a considerable degree. Our dress, therefore, should not only be expensive, but it should also make plain to all observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive labour† (Veblen: 1994:105) Fig 5 Fig 6 Veblen’s most well-known principle related to his term ‘conspicuous consumption’ which describes the unnecessary purchase of services and goods which are bought for the sole focus of displaying and advertising wealth. This is done in the endeavour to maintain or attain a certain level of social status. Such goods are now collectively known as ‘Veblen goods’ which is a group of commodities. The fact that these goods are placed at such high prices is the very thing that makes them attractive to conspicuous consumers. Conspicuous consumption was certainly not limited to the western countries, in China, for example, girls in affluent families would have their feet broken and tightly bound so that they grew to have tiny â€Å"lotus† feet. These were thought to be very fashionable since the women who had them were unable to survive without the help of servants. This was a sign of wealth taken to the extreme (fig 7 Figure 7 Mass advertising was kick-started by the Americans when Paris could no longer be relied on for the latest fashions due to ban in exports in the early 1950’s. The Americans capitalised on this ban and created a new form of ‘American Fashion. ’ It was now the Americans’ turn to show the world what’s what. American images swamped the media. By the 1950’s the media had However, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marlon Brando (Fig 8) now were coming onto the scene and headed the iconic ‘all-American’ rebellious look this decade brought about. Subcultures started to form, rebels and gangs adopted denim as a means of revolt against the want to fit the ‘mould’ the media portrayed. The Teddy Boys is a perfect example of such a subculture. The Teddy boys were largely working class men who wore clothes that had resemblances to that of the Edwardian era and would dress up for the evening. This look was strongly associated with American Rock and Roll and this look made it ok for people to start caring again for what they looked like since World War II in Britain. The look compromised of dark shades of ‘drape jackets’, waistcoats, high-waisted tight-fitting trousers exposing the wearer’s socks and velvet collars. In direct contrast to this, the upper and middle class â€Å"white collar† workers, were choosing to dress own during their leisure time, casting off the constraints of the suit they had worn to all week, resulting in a complete reversal of Veblen's â€Å"conspicuous leisure† theory, where the working classes are also rejecting the notion that just because they are involved in productive labour it does not mean they cannot dress socially above their class status. Figure 8 During t he 1970’s the Hippy movement began and as the hippies were mostly from wealthy backgrounds and middle to upper class families this was clearly yet another rebellion against Veblen’s theory. The 1980’s was the decade of ‘money loving’ and is often referred to as an excessive time of conspicuous consumption. The mentality in the 80’s was all about big money and spending (Fig 9). The economy had boomed, greed was good, women entered the boardroom with full force and it was all about power dressing. The yuppies were born due to conspicuous consumption and shopping malls began to sprout up everywhere. Figure 9 Today, there are still many examples of ‘conspicuous consumption’ and the studies on general modern consumption are so intricate, that almost all walks of life are targeted with today’s mass media. Adverts and billboards are everywhere telling the public what’s ‘cool’ and what’s not. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Moet ; Chandon sell a lifestyle. Moet ; Chandon (Fig 10) advert states ‘Be Fabulous’ and shows two beautiful well-dressed women climbing out of an expensive car with a bottle of champagne in one woman’s hand. An advertisement like this is basically trying to show the public what status could be achieved by purchasing a bottle of Moet ; Chandon. The term ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ comes to mind, as studies show that many consumers purchase goods just to ‘show off’ and maintain a certain status amongst their friends. Figure 10 Veblen goods aren’t just restricted to clothes as the purchase of certain magazines, purely for the status they offer. Being seen reading a magazine like Robb Report or Conde Nast’s traveller may give the impression that one can afford what is featured in the magazine. Veblen also spoke about the way dress can prove many things. The wearer can give an impression that they can spend without much thought on the price. Veblen goods are still very much around, such as designer handbags, expensive wines and thousand-dollar watches. The luxury watch is an ultimate example of a Veblen good as the consumer really buys into the allure of a higher status. Companies like Rolex, TAG Heur and Omega have all used celebrities such as Roger Federer, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Craig in his bond suit. Even though its purpose is very practical and can help with everyday decision making. These watches are aimed a business men with a high salary who identify or would like to identify with the sports stars and actors wearing these watches at the back of TIME magazine and the like. A Louis Vuitton bag for example just wouldn’t be viewed the same without the high price tag. Today’s fast fashion and mass production also encourages conspicuous consumption. However mass production has changed the outlook on man’s life and has created a singular type of existence which can be viewed as almost humiliating and that the products are what drives man. The trends we see from designers on catwalks are translated as quickly as possible into high street stores. It is not surprising that with the emphasis on keeping up with the latest trends which ties into ‘fitting in with society’ consumption of clothes has reached an all-time high. The quality of clothes however, is less of a feature than the over-all look of the item. In the Victorian times, garments had to be made of the best lace, but with today’s technology, garments can be made to look more expensive than they really are. Keeping up-to trend with accessories such and bags and shoes is still very expensive to do. Designer’s put their signature touches on shoes and bags which make them more lust after. Christian Louboutin’s shoes have the signature red sole, Louis Vuitton may feature an LV and a Mulberry bag could carry their characteristic tree on the logo (Fig 10). To be seen with any of these items offers a instantaneous status that comes with it. The recession did not bring about any less ostentatious designer bags from luxury fashion houses during the recession. Joseph Nunes, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business recently stated in the  Journal of Consumer Psychology (2011) â€Å"A good chunk of America loves using products to signal their status. If the recession didn't hit them, their need for status outweighed their need to follow social norms. † Figure 11 Most high fashion haute couture designers have yet to cater for a poorer crowd, and still target people with a higher income. The current obsession with what celebrities are wearing can also dictate what a large group of the public choose to wear. This is where Veblen’s theory is still very much in place. Victoria Beckham, Alexa Chung (Fig 12) and Kate Moss (Fig 13) are all very much followed by what they wear. By buying into the current ‘celebrity craze’ where being seen with a Birkin bag can greatly increase ones chances of a higher social status, one is also buying into conspicuous consumption. Magazines devote much of their features to ‘Who’s wearing what. ’ Most celebrities still choose to wear designer labels, thus making the public lust after these individual items, and save up for them just to be part of ‘the craze. This feeds into the label-hungry shopper where Burberry’s checked pattern and Gucci’s brown, red and green stripe offers a satisfaction worth shopping for. Fig 12 Fig 13 Charity shopping has presented a new outlook on inconspicuous consumption and the consumer no longer needs to spend a lot of money to look fashionable and be part of the ‘in crowd. ’ Five years ago the thought of purchasing second hand goods would be flinched at. Fashionably vintage items can be found and are lusted after in charity shops. Now you don’t have to spend money to look good which Veblen surely did not foresee. Even the media has gotten involved and magazines feature articles on how to be a ‘smart charity-shopper’, how to recycle your own clothing and the art of buying ‘classic’ pieces which will last forever. A few notable factors have changed since Veblen’s time which presents a new outlook on conspicuous consumption. In the late 1800’s when looking at the display of wealth through clothes, one would look at the wearer’s fabric quality to determine their status. Good handmade lace and beautiful tailoring was a status of wealth. Now hints that determine wealth have become less subtle with the ntroduction of labels that indicate the garment’s worth. Logo’s like Ralph Lauren’s man playing polo on a horse (Fig 14) , Lactose’s crocodile, Burberry’s knight on a horse and Hermes horse drawn carriage. Many of these logo’s feature a horse, and this might be because of their age and may hint to a previous era o r because of the fact that the ownership of a horse is a luxury in itself and is very expensive to maintain. There is much thought that goes into labels and there is always a message and reason behind them. Nike’s logo for example features a tick which means it is ‘correct. Subliminal messages such as these, feature everywhere today and there’s no doubt that Veblen would have never anticipated this. â€Å"This antagonism offers an explanation that the restless change in fashion which neither the canon of expensiveness nor that of beauty alone can account for. † (Veblen: 1994:108) Figure 14 Veblen’s theory in the modern day can be seen as somewhat of a sweeping statement and is not entirely applicable to the present day. Veblen relied on the concept that only if you were of the nouveau class would you take part in looking fashionable, thus ignoring the middle class completely. The internet, television and magazines (Fig 15) have brought fashion to a significantly larger audience where not only rich people partake in frivolous buying. Figure 15 I believe Veblen’s theory is still applicable today in some instances. However, with the introduction of mass production and the changing attitudes in class as that of which I have mentioned. Wealth is still very much shown through dress, from the use of logos and labels which hint on how much the wearer has spent on their clothes. However today with so many fake products and good imitations of these well-known labels it may be impossible to know how much the individual spent on their garment. One thing remains the same however, the item was bought for the primary purpose of being ‘seen’ and acknowledged by others, fake or not. Designers pay celebrities to endorse their products or ‘be seen’ wearing them which indicates that Veblen’s theory has stood the test of time, it is still very much the taste of the wealthy that has an impact on fashion and dictates what sells and what doesn’t. Veblen wrote that the lower classes would imitate the dress of the leisure class which as shown, is still applicable to today. Mass consumption and mass production are amongst the features that have changed since Veblen’s time. Throughout the decades since Veblen’s time there has not been as much of an emphasis on individuality and self expression through clothes as there is now, and this is where Veblen’s theory slightly loses its relevance. The movement to express oneself without considering wealth as much in a liberal society. Other factors have started to replace the display of wealth such as, religion, age, music taste and gender. This is obvious because of the large amount of subcultures found today. I have shown how Veblen’s ideologies have lost and increased in relevance through the decades. Veblen was able to show how consumption can also be a symbol of social structure and that conspicuous consumption is relational and not functional and is a conscious display of affluence and status through the consumption of these garments. Bibliography Info Books * Malcolm Barnard (1996). Fashion as Communication. First ed. London: Routledge Publishers. (p59-64) * Thorstein Veblen (2005). Conspicuous Consumption. London: Penguin Books. p. 42-62) * Tim Delany & Tim Madigan (2009). The Sociology of Sports. North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc. Websites * Tricia Ellis-Christensen. (2010). What is conspicuous consumption? .Available: http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-conspicuous-consumption. htm. Last accessed 6th Dec 2010. * Dr. Paurav Shukla. (2010). Middle-aged consumers & luxury consumption. Available: http:/ /www. evancarmichael. com/Management/1066/Middleaged-consumers–luxury-consumption. html. Last accessed 5th March 2011 * Ben Steverman. (2011). Conspicuous Consumption Is Back. Available: http://www. businessweek. om/investor/content/jan2011/pi20110127_382340. htm. Last accessed 7th March 2011 * Lexic. (2011). Literary usage of Conspicuous consumption. Available: http://www. lexic. us/definition-of/conspicuous_consumption. Last accessed 9th March 2011. Quotes * Thorstein Veblen (1994). The Theory of The Leisure Class. New York: Dover Publications. (p. 256) * Lucy Tesseras, 2010. Fast fashion: a throw away trend? {blog} 12 July, http://www. supplychainstandard. com Available at: {Accessed at: 2nd March 2011} Joseph Nunes quoted by Ben Steverman (2011). Conspicuous Consumption Is Back. Available: http://www. businessweek. com/investor/content/jan2011/pi20110127_382340. htm. Last accessed 7th March 2011. Images: (Fig 1&2) Image . (2008). Shop the Spring Trends. Available: http:/ /fashiontribes. typepad. com/fashion/2008/02/shop-the-spring. html. Last accessed 8th March 2011. (Fig3) Couple on Yacht. (2010). Image. Available: http://www. corbisimages. com/Enlargement/42-18292911. html. Last accessed 9th March 2011 (Fig 4) John William Godward. (1900). Conspicuous Leisure. Available: http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/File:Godward_Idleness_1900. jpg. Last accessed 8th March 2011. (Fig 5) Truly Victorian , (2010),  1899 Fashion Plate  [ONLINE]. Available at:  http://trulyvictorian. com/history/1890. html[Accessed 06 December 10]. (Fig 6) Chanarambie Victorian , (1905),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Very Latest† back in the days of 1905  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~usgenweb/mn/murray/history/098-099. htm  [Accessed 06 December 10]. (Fig 7) Daniel Schwen. (2010). Footbinding. Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/File:Foot_binding_shoes_1. jpg. Last accessed 8th March 2011. Fig 8) Columbia Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images, (1953),à ‚  Marlon Brando  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. stylelist. com/2010/05/25/joes-jeans-marlon-brando/  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 9) image. toutlecine. com, (1988),  Working Girl  [ONLINE]. Available at:  http://www. ellecanada. com/fashion/lights-camera-fashion/a/28965/4  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 10): Brandsizzle, (2006),  Moet & Chandon  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. brandsizzle. com/blog/2006/12/sexy_advertisin. html  [Accessed 08 December 10]. (Fig 11): Geek Handbags, (2009),  Mulberry Bag  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. eekhandbags. com/mulberry/mulberry-does-an-interestingly-classic-daria-hobo-bag  [Accessed 09 December 10]. (Fig 12): HOTELFASHIONLAND. COM, (2010),  Alexa Chung  [ONLINE]. Available at:http://lexposure. net/style/spotlight/people-and-parties/londons-top-10-it-girls  [Accessed 10 December 10]. (Fig 13) Kate Moss. (2008). Image. Available: http://www. handbagfairy. co. uk/blog/fashion/a-decade-in-fashion/. Las t accessed 9th March 2011. (Fig 14) Ralph Lauren Logo . (2010)  Image. Available: http://flockedwallpaper. co. uk/Stockist/index. php? main_page=index&cPath=1604_770_464_440. Last accessed 2nd March 2011.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Market Equilibration Process Paper

Market Equilibration Process ECO / 561 Market Equilibration Process Market Equilibrium occurs when the quantity supplied is equal to quantity demanded. The price equilibrium price exists when buyers and sellers price match and there is no governmental intervention (perfectly competitive market). After a market is in equilibrium, there is no trend for the market price to alter. For example, the law of demand states that as price goes up the quantity demand must go down and similarly, law of supply states price goes up quantity supply must go up (McConnel, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). Viewing the graph below we can find the equilibrium occur at the price of $3 where the quantity demanded equals the quantity supply at three units. The price is stable at $3 and at any other prices will have a |Price (P) |Quantity Demanded (Qd) |Quantity Supplied (Qs) | |$1 |5 |1 | |$2 |4 |2 | |$3 |3 |3 | |$4 |2 |4 | |$5 |1 |5 | Equilibrium occurs at P=$3 (Qs = Qd = 3 units) [pic] a tendency to change. At a dollor, for example, at $1 buyers are able to buy five units but seller are only willing to provide one unit to the market. In this situation, quanitity damand is greater than qualiity supply is referred to as a shortage and will result in an upward pressure in price. Since there is only one unit is available so buyers will complete to buy the one available unit by offering more money. Then price goes up and the qualitity demand decreases, quantity supply rises until equilibrium is reached (McConnel, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). pic] Disequilibrium Disequilibrium occurs when the price or quantity is not equal to Price or Quantity. If the prices are high, surplus is created and there will be inefficiency. Demand surplus is created when prices are below the equilibrium price. Since the prices are low, many buyers want the good while suppliers are not making enough of it. A shift in a demand or supply curve occurs when the good’s quantity demanded or supplied changes but the price remains the same. Short-run and Long-run Supervalu is going through a long-run, which is a period when a plant or company has a long period to adjust the quantities of all the resources that it employs. I currently work for Supervalu and its dissolving certain retail stores such as Acme Markets because it is not producing profits in a certain metropolitan markets. Acme Markets price was below the minimum average variable cost and to minimize its losses, Supervalu shut down the retail stores. New retail markets such as Save-a-Lot stores are increasing because it targets at low-medium level income families. Pure Competition Supervalu is part of the pure competition because its retail stores are offering standardized products. Supervalu retail stores are able to freely enter and exit the industry. In pure competition, marginal revenue and price are equal (McConnel, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). Reference McConnel, C. R. , Brue, S. L. , & Flynn, S. M. (2009). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies (18th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Asylum Seekers

They are fleeing a situation where the Sri Lankan government is killing 1400 a week of the 300,000 detained in concentration camps. This is a horror that drives people to flee with nothing other than the clothes on their back, is what politicians and media have taken to calling a â€Å"push factor. There is absolutely nothing illegal about seeking asylum, about arriving without authorisation or papers, or about coming by unregistered boats as long as there is a legitimate reason states the United Nations. However the Australian Government still labels them illegal immigrants and places them in Detention Centres which in most cases results in the emotional and psychological damage to a refugee. In 2002, the Medical Journal of Australia described the extreme psychological and emotional damage done to people detained in immigration detention in Australia. The pattern they describe includes â€Å"the development of a psychological state characterised by severe depression, despair, hopelessness, paranoia, chronic rage, persecutory delusions, sub-syndromal psychosis, characterological change and persistent self harming behaviour†. In their sample, â€Å"all but one of the detained asylum seekers displayed symptoms of psychological distress at some time during their period of detention†. Eighty-five per cent had â€Å"chronic depressive symptoms† and sixty-five per cent had â€Å"pronounced ongoing suicidal ideation†. Refugees should not have to stay in conditions conducive to mental disorders and suicidal tendencies. If the Australian government wishes to fix the problem they should fix detention centres, make the facilities more humane and turn off the electric fence,( The electric fences around such centres are more harmful than that of Auschwitz concentration camp). The government should also provide faster processing of refugees so these people are not subjected to what is incarceration with committing a crime. In 2002 protesters tore down the fences of Woomera Detention Centre, assisting people inside to make a courageous and inspiring breakout. They would not hesitate to do it again. Asylum seeking is an issue that cuts right to the heart of everything that’s rotten and inhumane about capitalism – its racism, its hypocrisy, its brutality and its utter contempt for humanity. We should all stand firmly for the rights of asylum seekers. Asylum Seekers They are fleeing a situation where the Sri Lankan government is killing 1400 a week of the 300,000 detained in concentration camps. This is a horror that drives people to flee with nothing other than the clothes on their back, is what politicians and media have taken to calling a â€Å"push factor. There is absolutely nothing illegal about seeking asylum, about arriving without authorisation or papers, or about coming by unregistered boats as long as there is a legitimate reason states the United Nations. However the Australian Government still labels them illegal immigrants and places them in Detention Centres which in most cases results in the emotional and psychological damage to a refugee. In 2002, the Medical Journal of Australia described the extreme psychological and emotional damage done to people detained in immigration detention in Australia. The pattern they describe includes â€Å"the development of a psychological state characterised by severe depression, despair, hopelessness, paranoia, chronic rage, persecutory delusions, sub-syndromal psychosis, characterological change and persistent self harming behaviour†. In their sample, â€Å"all but one of the detained asylum seekers displayed symptoms of psychological distress at some time during their period of detention†. Eighty-five per cent had â€Å"chronic depressive symptoms† and sixty-five per cent had â€Å"pronounced ongoing suicidal ideation†. Refugees should not have to stay in conditions conducive to mental disorders and suicidal tendencies. If the Australian government wishes to fix the problem they should fix detention centres, make the facilities more humane and turn off the electric fence,( The electric fences around such centres are more harmful than that of Auschwitz concentration camp). The government should also provide faster processing of refugees so these people are not subjected to what is incarceration with committing a crime. In 2002 protesters tore down the fences of Woomera Detention Centre, assisting people inside to make a courageous and inspiring breakout. They would not hesitate to do it again. Asylum seeking is an issue that cuts right to the heart of everything that’s rotten and inhumane about capitalism – its racism, its hypocrisy, its brutality and its utter contempt for humanity. We should all stand firmly for the rights of asylum seekers.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Personal Philosophy of Education Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal Philosophy of Education - Coursework Example Specific philosophies I plan to incorporate into the classroom include life lessons, as well as Native North American, Western and Eastern philosophies. These specific philosophies will allow me to instruct my students with a form of learning that is based off of actual events that produce positive outcomes. Student will be able to see and understand how specific actions produce specific goals. When a student works hard, they will gain knowledge which will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Students will also be able to see how negative choices have negative effects. A constructivist approach to instruction allows for me to be able to instruct students with the best instruction I can provide. I personally believe that this teaching philosophy reflects my personality and contribute greatly to my own classroom management style. A behaviorist approach will not totally be ignored, but a constructivist approach is definitely favored. Each will contribute to my own personal philo sophy towards education.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Womans Suffrage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Womans Suffrage - Essay Example In America both groups originated in the ideals of American democracy and Protestant individualism. But these ideals when applied to women were everywhere met with contradictory economic and social institutions which subjected women to traditional male authority or questioned their capacity for independence and initiative. â€Å"With the flood of post-civil war suffragist rhetoric came an equally full and passionate cry from the anti-suffragists, or antis as the suffragists called them. Threatened by the suffragists new conception of modern government†(Oates 1991) Religion profoundly helped to legitimize woman’s quest for equality. Of the five women who planned the Seneca Falls convention in the summer of 1848, four were Quakers. Historian Margaret Bacon has asked why the tiny Religious Society of Friends contributed such a disproportionate number of leaders to the feminist cause. It turns out that Quakerism was a veritable seedbed for the new feminism. As early as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Quaker women had served as traveling ministers, on occasion leaving behind husbands and children, so strongly did they feel called to the Lord’s work. Well before the Revolution the American Friends had also established a tradition of separate women’s business meetings of the monthly meeting. In addition, Quaker women who felt moved by the Holy Spirit to speak in meetings were expected to do so.

Skin cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Skin cancer - Essay Example This assignment will focus on signs, causes, types, stages, prevention, and treatment of skin cancer. Sun exposure is the major cause of skin cancer (Nouri 22). It begins in the skins top layer that has been exposed to the ultraviolet (UV) radiation found in sunlight as well as in the lights used in tanning beds. There are other factors that can contribute to the disease including exposure to toxic substances or experiencing conditions that weakens the immune system. There are various signs of skin cancer ranging from pale color and unnecessary growth of skin. Skin cancer has two main types, keratinocyte cancers  and melanomas. Keratinocyte skin cancers  are further divided into basal and squamous cell skin cancers. Basal skin cancer is by far the most common cancer of the skin. Both of them are often found in the skin areas that are exposed to the sun. Such as head, neck, and arms.Although they are very common but they are treatable. Furthermore, melanoma skin cancer is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. This form of skin cancer develops when unrepaired DNA damages the skin cells. An estimated 76,100 new cases of invasive melanoma have been diagnosed in the US in 2014(American cancer society). Moreover, there are other skin cancer types that are not quite critical. For example, Markel cell carcinoma, Kaposi sarcoma, Lymphoma of the skin, etc. Success of the treatment of skin cancer depends on how early it is diagnosed. The stages of skin cancer is one of the most important factors in evaluating treatment options and through it can be identified how far the disease have spread.Mostly the staging of skin cancer depends on the type of it. There are four stages of skin cancer. During stage one, the cancer is 2cm across or less and has 1 or no high risk features. During stage two, the cancer is more than 2cm across, or has 2 or more  high risk features. During stage 3 it has grown into the bones in the face, such as the jaw bone or the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Disparity and Discrimination Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disparity and Discrimination - Case Study Example Analysis of the material (Greene, 2009) related to criminal justice system has indicated that disparity is often an outcome of discriminatory practices, and on the other hand, individuals often take discrimination as an outcome of disparity. In particular, the disparity is the outcome of two specific factors: legal and extralegal. In the criminal justice system, the former factor plays the role of creating a lawful fundamental foundation regarding a person’s criminal actions in front of the court. For instance, the legal factor is the major component that confirms the detailed decision of a criminal based on his actions and criminal records. In the criminal justice system, law enforcement is an imperative body and it benefits from the legal factor as well. For instance, law enforcement personnel often take individuals under custody at the time of a crime based on their criminal records that indicate the presence of a major component of disparity (Hess, 2008). On the other hand, the other factor of disparity involves sociological components, such as gender, daily life, social status that do not relate to legal factor; however, plays important role in the criminal justice system (Greene, 2009). For instance, besides considering the legal factor, the courts often consider the extralegal factor of disparity to decide the amount of period of a punishment that results in its relation with discrimination due to its non-legal existence. In the result, a number of human rights organizations and experts have indicated disparities in the criminal justice systems and specifically, ethnic disparities that then points out the presence of discrimination in the system that is not the actual case. In addition, adversaries argue that the presence of injustice is evident in the system.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Improve Human Resources Practices in Abu Dhabi Government Entities Literature review

Improve Human Resources Practices in Abu Dhabi Government Entities - Literature review Example So, it becomes essential to have a set of HR rules and policies to implement it. There have been many activities undertaken by the Abu Dhabi government in HR practices to improve the efficiency of their work force. A workshop was organized by The Abu Dhabi Group for Best Practices in Human Resources Management in association with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ADCCI) recently. The workshop intended to present the best practices that can be applied in performance management. A presentation was made on the recruitment system of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company (ADNEC) that highlighted the application part of different recruitment methodology and the type of questionnaires used in recruitment and selection. The group was created to present a common forum for HR practitioners, specialists and also the workers related with training and development. The forum also included directors of human resources of the local departments at the Abu Dhabi governments in order to help them exchange their expertise and identify the best practices in HR practices that can contribute to achieve the corporate visions of the Abu Dhabi governments (Abu Dhabi Group for Best Practices in HRM Organizes a Workshop on the Best Practices in Performance Management and Recruitment Systems, 2012). Another article on the human resource practices in Abu Dhabi explained how HR theories helped to combine the economies in the Middle East which led to the process known as Emiratisation (Randeree, 2009). This article explained how the government in Abu Dhabi emphasized in the training and development programs including the women too. It stated that the Emiratisation strategy has led the Abu Dhabi government to include the European style of training system like apprentice schemes, mandatory in house trainings and conducting local or regional training events (Randeree, 2009). A seminar was conducted in Abu Dhabi by JCCP on human resource development programs. The seminar that was held for five days emphasized on the HRM techniques that were employed by a Japanese oil company (Customized Program on â€Å"Human Resource Management (HRM)† in Kuwait (KNPC) and UAE (TAKREER), 2008, p.1). Such practices and developments in human resource activities will contribute significantly in completing the anticipated corporate vision 2030 of the Abu Dhabi government. Human resource system - traditional to modern outlook Human resource that was treated as an added cost before is now emerging to be accepted as an asset for an organization. It was mostly regarded to be a support function in organizations, an extra cost that an organization can do away with. According to some definitions by the experts human resource is defined as a specific approach to execute proper employment management in order to achieve competitive advantage by deploying an efficient and capable workforce. This can be achieved by integrating the cultural, structural and personnel techniques (Armstr ong, 2006, p.31). Human capital represents the human aspect in an organization. It is the knowledge, skill and creativity of an individual that can add value and improve productivity in a firm (Armstrong, 2006, p.33). In recent times, a new aspect of human resource management has developed which is the strategic aspect. This includes human resource related decisions and facts while framing the strategic decisions. It is known as strategic human resource ma

Monday, September 23, 2019

Martin Luther King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Martin Luther King - Essay Example Throughout your letter, you explain to them why your demonstrations were necessary as a means of bringing in the interest and attention of the northern white people and force change in the laws for the benefit of black citizens of the South. You also indicate why it was appropriate and even incumbent upon you, as a minister, to stand up for the human rights of your people rather than to allow them to continue to be so poorly treated. Finally, you demonstrate your connection with your people by pointing out to these ministers why the timing of your demonstrations had to be now as society had finally reached a boiling point when some action was bound to occur. In your closing words, you criticize these other ministers for not helping you find a peaceful means for the people to express their frustration and to act in the name of human goodness. While it is true that your efforts throughout your life did bring about significant change for the better in getting many of these segregation l aws abolished, speaking as a citizen of the 21st century, I regret to tell you that things haven’t really changed all that much. In the 45 years since you wrote your letter, psychologists and sociologists have discovered more and more about the effects of the past upon the reactions of the present within the human mind. Recent investigation has proven that racism is rooted in dysfunctional belief systems resulting from distorted perceptions formed over a period of time as beliefs and practices are passed from one generation to the next. We cannot ignore the significant role of the socio-cultural environment in shaping perceptual patterns. In addition, it is well known that people are inclined to respond on the basis of their own experience when it comes to social interactions and social biases such as racism. Therefore, people who have

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Developing A Performance Appraisal System Essay Example for Free

Developing A Performance Appraisal System Essay All organizations utilize some sort of system that periodically reviews the performance of every staff member. As the director of human resources, you are responsible for developing such a system. Write a 750- to 1,050-word paper in APA format that details an original performance appraisal system for a human service organization. Address the following: Determine the elements that should be present in an appraisal system. What is the purpose of a performance appraisal system and how does it benefit the organization? Outline the elements of good appraisal systems. Determine the criteria for each element that should be present in an appraisal system. Cite at least two sources. Determine the elements that should be present in an appraisal system The elements that should be present in an appraisal system are thorough goal-setting process, which decide what you want from employees and agree these objectives with them. The key component of the people element is the manager, who give your employees the tools, resources and training they need to perform well. The manager drives the system by setting expectations, communicating plans, encouraging development, and giving and receiving feedback. Carrying out the appraisal allow managers to monitor and assess employees performance, discuss those assessments with them and agree on future objectives .It also identifies employees developmental needs and includes robust reward and recognition practices. Consider pay awards and/or promotion based on the appraisal and decides how to tackle poor performance. However, there can be dangers as well as benefits of linking rewards to performance. What is the purpose of a performance appraisal system and how does it benefit the organization? The purpose of a performance appraisal system is the two basic systems operating in conjunction: an evaluation system and a feedback system. The main goal of the evaluation system is to recognize the performance  gap (if any). This gap is the deficit that occurs when performance does not meet the standard set by the organization as adequate. The central aim of the feedback system is to notify the employee about the quality of his or her performance. Nonetheless, the information flow is not entirely one way. The appraisers also receive feedback from the employee about job problems, etc.) One of the best ways to appreciate the purposes of performance appraisal is to look at it from the different viewpoints of the main stakeholders: the employee and the organization. Outline the elements of good appraisal systems 1. Measurement vs. Management the performance measurement aspect of the performance appraisal system is a useful tool for measuring current productivity levels and determining the gap between those current levels and desired productivity levels. 2. Employee Input Employee input is a vital element of the effective performance appraisal system. It is essential for supervisors and managers to include the employee in the performance management process to ensure that the employee feels a sense of engagement in the process. 3. Clarification of Expectations Before a manager or supervisor can expect an employee to meet expectations, it is essential to ensure that the employees perception of what is expected is in alignment with the managers perceptions 4. Employee Development Perhaps the most essential element of an effective performance appraisal system is employee development. While the performance appraisal itself may identify areas where improvement is necessary, the employee development portion of the overall performance management system is used to determine the best way to bring this improvement to fruition. Determine the criteria for each element that should be present in an appraisal system There are four key elements in a good performance and appraisal system: Set objectives decide what you want from employees and agree these objectives with them. [ If appropriate, set timescales for  achieving them. – Manage performance give your employees the tools, resources and training they need to perform well. If appropriate, set timescales for achieving objectives. – Carry out the appraisal monitor and assess your employees performance, discuss those assessments with them and agree on future objectives. Provide rewards/remedies consider pay awards and/or promotion based on the appraisal and decide how to tackle poor performance. However, there can be dangers as well as benefits of linking rewards to performance.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Structure and Features of the Arabic Language

Structure and Features of the Arabic Language The Arabic language is a semantic language with a complicated morphology, which is significantly different from the most popular languages, such as English, Spanish, French, and Chinese. Arabic is an official language in over 22 countries. It is spoken as first language in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan), the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen), Middle East (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria), and other Arab countries (Mauritania, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia). Since Arabic is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, it is also spoken as a second language by several Asian countries such as: Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Malay[52]. More than 422 million people are able to speak Arabic, which makes this language the fifth most spoken language in the world, according to[53]. This chapter give brief description about the relevant basic elements of the Arabic language. This covers Arabic language structure, and the features of the Arabic writing system. The morphology of Arabic language and the Arabic word classes, i. e. nouns, verbs, and particles are presented in this chapter. The Arabic language challenges are also discussed in the last section of this chapter. 2.1.Arabic Language Structure The Arabic language is classified into three forms: Classical Arabic (CA), Colloquial Arabic Dialects (CAD), and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). CA is fully vowelized and includes classical historical liturgical text and old literature texts. CAD includes predominantly spoken vernaculars, and each Arab country has its dialect. MSA is the official language and includes news, media, and official documents[16]. The direction of writing in the Arabic language is from right to left. The alphabet of the Arabic language consists of 28 as shown in Table 2-1. Table 2‑1: The alphabet of the Arabic language No. Alone Form Transliteration Initial Form Medial Form End Form 1 Ø § a Ø § Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ § 2 Ø ¨ b Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ 3 Ø ª t Ø ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª 4 Ø « th Ø «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ « 5 Ø ¬ j Ø ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ 6 Ø ­ h Ø ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ 7 Ø ® kh Ø ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ® 8 Ø ¯ d Ø ¯ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ 9 Ø ° th Ø ° Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ° Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ° 10 Ø ± r Ø ± Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± 11 Ø ² z Ø ² Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ² Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ² 12 Ø ³ s Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ 13 Ø ´ sh Ø ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ 14 Ø µ s Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ µ 15 Ø ¶ tha Ø ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶ 16 Ø · ta Ø ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ · 17 Ø ¸ tha Ø ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¸ 18 Ø ¹ aa Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ 19 Ø º gh Ø ºÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ º 20 Ù  f Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  21 Ù‚ q Ù‚Ùâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 22 Ùƒ k ÙƒÙâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ 23 Ù„ l Ù„Ùâ‚ ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ 24 Ù†¦ m Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 25 Ù†  n Ù† Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   26 Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ h Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ 27 Ùˆ w Ùˆ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€  28 ÙÅ   y ÙÅ  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   The formulation and shape are different for the same letter, depending on its position within the word [24]. For example, the letter (Ø ¹) has the following styles: (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬), if this letter appears at the beginning of the word, such as in Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that means general; (Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬), if this letter appears in the middle of the word, such as in ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  that means know; (Ùâ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹), if this letter appears at the end of the word, such as in ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ that means hear. Finally, the letter (Ø ¹) can appear as (Ø ¹) if this letter appears at the end of a word but disconnected from the letter before it such as in Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ that means fast see Figure (2-1). Figure 2-1: The Formulation and Shape for the Same Letter Thus, a three-letter word may start with a letter in beginning form, followed by a letter in medial form and, finally, by a letter in an end form such as: [Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾] Instead of: [Ø ¹ Ù†¦ Ù„] But the reality is even worse since a letter, in the middle of a word, may have the final or the initial form as in [Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³] Because some letters do not connect with any character that comes after. They have only two forms: isolated (which is also used as initial) and final (also used as middle). These letters are (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø °ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø ±ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ø ²ÃƒËœÃ…’ Ùˆ) for example: [وؠ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©] For the purpose of this thesis, we have defined our own transliteration scheme for Arabic alphabets, which is presented in Table 2.1. Each Arabic letter in this scheme is mapped to only one English letter. Wherever in this thesis, any Arabic word is annotated as a triple attribute to be more clear for a non-Arabic reader. The first attribute for the Arabic word itself which is written in Arabic scripts between two square brackets, the second attribute for an English transliteration which is written in italics, while the third one for English translation which is written between two quotation marks. Figure 2-2 shows an example. Figure 2-2: An Example of Annotated Arabic Word Three letters from the twenty-eight letters appear in different shapes, which are they: Hamza [Ø ¡]: This shape can be: on Alef [Ø £], below Alef [Ø ¥], on Waaw [Ø ¤], on Alef Maqsura [Ø ¦], or isolated [Ø ¡]. Taa-Marbuta [Ø ©]: This is a special form of the letter [Ø ª], it always appears at the end of the word. Alef-Maqsura [Ù†°]: This is a special form of the letter [Ø §], it always appears at the end of the word. The above three letters pose some difficulties when building morphological systems. Many of the written Arabic texts and Arabic web sites ignore the Hamza and the two dots above the Taa-Marbuta. For example, the Arabic word [Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©] (mdrst, school) may appear in many texts as [Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡] (mdrsh) (which means school or his teacher) without two dots above the last letter. When comparing the last letter in the two previous words, we found it was [Ø ©] in the first word, while it was [Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â€š ¬] in the second word. Twenty-five of Arabic alphabets represent consonants. The remaining three letters represent the weak letters or the long vowels of Arabic (shortly vowels). These letters are: Alef[Ø §], Waaw[Ùˆ] and Yaa[ÙÅ  ].   Moreover, diacritics are used in the Arabic language, which are symbols placed above or below the letters to add distinct pronunciation, grammatical formulation, and sometimes another meaning to the whole word. Arabic diacritics include, dama (Ù ), fathah (ÙÅ ½), kasra (Ù ), sukon (Ù’), double dama (ÙŒ), double fathah (Ù†¹), double kasra (Ù ) [54]. For instance, Table 2-2 presents different pronunciations of the letter (Sad) ((Ø µ: Table 2‑2: Presents different pronunciations of the letter (Sad) (Ø µ) Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…’ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¹ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã… ½ Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚  /s/ /sun/ /sin/ /san/ /si/ /sa/ /su/ In addition, Arabic has special mark rather than the previous diacritics. this mark is called gemination mark (shaddah (Ø ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©) or tashdeed). Gemination is a mark written above the letter (Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ) to indicate a doubled consonant while pronouncing it. This is done when the first consonant has the null diacritical mark skoon (Ùâ‚ ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢), and the second consonant has any other diacritical mark. For example, in the Arabic word (كؠ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±) (kssr, he smashed to pieces), when the first syllable ends with (Ø ³)(s) and the next starts with (Ø ³) (s), the two consonants are united and the gemination mark indicates this union. So, the previous word is written as (كؠ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), and it has four letters {Ùƒ Ø ³ Ø ³ Ø ±}[55]. The Arabic language has two genders, feminine (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¤Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ «) and masculine (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ °Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±); three numbers, singular (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯), dual (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ «Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ °), and plural (Ø ¬Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹); and three grammatical cases, nominative (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹), accusative (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨), and genitive (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±). In general, Arabic words are categorized as particles (Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª), nouns (Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡), or verbs (Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾). Nouns in Arabic including adjectives (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª) and adverbs (Ø ¸ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ) and can be derived from other nouns, verbs, or particles. Nouns in the Arabic language cover proper nouns (such as people, places, things, ideas, day an d month names, etc.). A noun has the nominative case when it is the subject (Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾); accusative when it is the object of a verb (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾) and the genitive when it is the object of a preposition (Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±) [56]. Verbs in Arabic are divided into perfect (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), imperfect (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ µ) and imperative (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±). Arabic particle category includes pronouns(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¶Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), adjectives(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª), adverbs(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã ƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾), conjunctions(Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ ), prepositions (Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚  Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), interjections (Ø µÃƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ © Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) and interrogatives (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) [57]. 2.2.Arabic Morphology The Arabic language is one of the highly sophisticated natural languages which has a very rich and complicated morphology. Morphology is the part of linguistics that deal with the internal structure and formation processes of words. A morpheme is often defined as the smallest meaningful and significant unit of language, which cannot be broken down into smaller parts[58]. So, for example, the word apple consists of a single morpheme (the morpheme apple), while the word apples consist of two morphemes: the morpheme apple and the morpheme -s (indication of plural). In Arabic language for example, the word (Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, he asked them) consists also of two morphemes the verb (Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, he ask) and the pronoun (Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, them). According to the previous examples, there are two types of morphemes: roots and affixes. The root is the main morpheme of the word, supplying the main meaning, while the affixes are added i n the beginning, middle or end of the root to create new words that add additional meaning of various kinds. In more general morphemes could be classified as: (1) roots morphemes and (2) affixes morphemes, Figure 2.3 illustrated this classification. Figure 2-3: Morpheme Classification Root is the original morpheme of the word before any transformation processes that comprises the most important part of the word and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. In other words, it is the primary unit of the family of the same word after removing all inflectional and derivational affixes which can stand on their own as words (independent words). The root morphemes divided into two categories. The first category is called lexical morphemes, which covers the words in the language carrying the content of the message. Examples from English language: book, compute, and write, while examples from Arabic language: (قؠ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ £, read), (لؠ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨, play), and (كؠªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨, write). The second category is called stop words morphemes, which covers the function words in the language. The stop words include adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions. Examples from English language: on, that, the, and above. Examples from Arabic language: (Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  , in), (Ù Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, above), and (Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª, under). Affixes morphemes are also units of meaning; however, they cannot occur as words on their own; they need to be attached to something such as root morphemes. There are three types of affixes in Arabic language: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. In some cases, all of these affixes can be found in one word as in the word[وؠ§Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ] (and the warriors). This word has ten letters, three of them are root-letters, while the others are affixes. The root of this word is [Ø ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨] (war). The example in Figure 2.4 can clearly deduce the differences between the three main terms used in computational linguistics: roots, stems and affixes. Figure 2-4: The Decomposition of the Word [وؠ§Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ]. 2.3.Arabic Language Challenges Arabic is a challenging language in comparison with other languages such as English for a number of reasons:   In English, prefixes and suffixes are added to the beginning or end of the root to create new words. In Arabic, in addition to the prefixes and suffixes there are infixes that can be added inside the word to create new words that have the same meaning. For example, in English, the word write is the root of word writer. In Arabic, the word writer (كؠ§ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) is derived from the root write (كؠªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨) by adding the letter Alef (Ø §) inside the root. In these cases, it is difficult to distinguish between infix letters and the root letters. he Arabic language has a rich and complex morphology in comparison with English. Its richness is attributed to the fact that one root can generate several hundreds of words having different meanings. Table 2-4 presents different morphological forms of root study (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³). Table 2‑3: Different morphological forms of word study (Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³). Word Tense Pluralities Meaning Gender Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Past Single He studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª Past Single She studied Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Present Single He studies Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Present Single She studied Feminine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Dual They studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Dual They studied Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Dual They study Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Dual They study Feminine ÙÅ  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Present Dual They study Masculine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Present Dual They study Feminine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Past Plural They studied Masculine Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Past Plural They studied Feminine Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Present Plural They study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Future Single They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ Future Single They will study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Future Dual They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ § Future Dual They will study Feminine Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Future Plural They will study Masculine Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã‹â€ Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Future Plural They will study Feminine Some Arabic words have different meanings based on their appearance in the context. Especially when diacritics are not used, the proper meaning of the Arabic word can be determined based on the context. For instance, the word (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) could be Science (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), Teach (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) or Flag (Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã… ½Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) depending on the diacritics [46]. Unfortunately, Arabic people do not explicitly mention the gemination mark in their writing. They depend on their knowledge of the language to supply the missing letter and write the words without it. In consequence, this is make the morphology process of such words is not an easy task [55]. Another challenge of automatic Arabic text processing is that proper nouns in Arabic do not start with a capital letter as in English, and Arabic letters do not have lower and upper case, which makes identifying proper names, acronyms, and abbreviations difficult. In English language, a word is a single entity. It may be a noun, a verb, a preposition, an article, , etc. While in Arabic language a single word could be a complete sentence. For example, Table 2.4 shows some single Arabic words and their equivalent English translations. Table 2‑4: Example: An Arabic Word could be a Complete English Sentence Arabic Word English Sentences Ø °Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª She go Ø ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ I will read it Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ We hear him Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ®ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…   He told me Ù ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ ± Then he departed There are several free benchmarking English datasets used for document categorization, such as 20 Newsgroup, which contains around 20,000 documents distributed almost evenly into 20 classes; Reuters 21,578, which contains 21,578 documents belonging to 17 classes; and RCV1 (Reuters Corpus Volume 1), which contains 806,791 documents classified into four main classes. Unfortunately, there is no free benchmarking dataset for Arabic document classification. In the Arabic language, the problem of synonyms and broken plural forms are widespread. Examples of synonyms in Arabic are (Ø ªÃƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦, Ø ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ø £Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) which means (Come), and (Ù†¦Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, Ø ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±, Ø ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª, Ø ³Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ) which means (house). In the Arabic language, the problem of broken plural forms occurs when some irregular nouns in the Arabic language in plural takes another morphological form different from its initial form in singular. For example, the word (Doctors, Ø §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡) is a broken plural of the masculine singular (Doctor, Ø ·ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨). In the Arabic language, one word may have more than lexical category (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) in different contexts such as (wellspring, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¡), (Eye, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ³ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (was appointed, Ø ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬   Ù†¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ § للØ ´ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡). In addition to the different forms of the Arabic word that result from the derivational process, there are some words lack authentic Arabic roots like Arabized words which are translated from other languages, such as (programs, Ø ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ ), (geography, Ø ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ºÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã‚ Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©), (internet, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ªÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ª ), etc. or names, places such as (countries, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (cities, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  ), (rivers, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±), (mountains, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¬ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¨ÃƒËœÃ‚ §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾), (deserts, Ø §Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ÃƒËœÃ‚ µÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ §ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬ °), etc. 2.4.Summary Arabic language is an international language belonging to the Semitic languages family (different from Indo-European languages in some respects). The Arabic alphabet consists of twenty-eight letters in addition to some variants of existing letters. Each letter can appear in up to four different shapes, depending on the position of the letter in the Arabic word. Twenty-five of Arabic letters represent consonants. The remaining three letters represent the long vowels of Arabic. The Arabic writing system goes from right to left and most letters in Arabic words are joined together. Arabic has a rich and complex morphology. In many cases, one orthographic word is comprising many semantic and syntactic words. Traditionally there are two types of morphology in Arabic language: roots morphemes and affixes morphemes. The root morphemes divided into two categories. The first category is called lexical morphemes, which covers the words in the language carrying the content of the message. The second category is called stop words morphemes, which covers the function words such as adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions. Affixes morphemes cannot occur as words on their own; they need to be attached to something such as root morphemes. There are three types of affixes in Arabic language: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. All Arabic words could be classified into three main categories according to the part-of-speech: noun, verb, and particle. The noun and verb in Arabic might be further divided according to: number (singular, dual and plural), and case (nominative, genitive and accusative). Arabic. The Arabic language is a challenging language in comparison with other languages and has a complicated morphological structure. Therefore, the Arabic language needs a set of preprocessing routines to be suitable for cl

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Free Pride and Prejudice Essays: Characters Guilty of Pride and Prejudice :: Pride Prejudice Essays

Characters Guilty of Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen marvelously portrays the life of a middle-class country family in England during the early nineteenth century. The family, the Bennets, is presently engaged in finding suitable (rich) husbands for their five daughters. The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, is an intelligent, witty, and opinionated young woman. She has already rebuffed one would-be suitor because she felt he was unfit, and in this scene, she turns down another, Fitzwilliam Darcy, because she feels that he is arrogant and cruel. This scene portrays a lively exchange between the two, with Elizabeth accusing him of prejudice and Darcy charging her with being full of pride. The scene opens with Darcy entering the room where Elizabeth was reading. After inquiring about her health, he pauses for a few moments and then suddenly declares, "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you" (Austen, 142) He then proceeds to tell her all the things that are wrong with her family and her own "inferiority" (142). Despite all this, he still loves her. Darcy seems sure she will accept, but Elizabeth's dislike of his pride and arrogance make it impossible for her to accede. They then proceed to enter into a heated argument and each volley cutting insults upon the other. Austen's wording during this exchange adds to the liveliness of this quarrel. Elizabeth first disparages his proposal by saying, "Why with so evident a design of offending and insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character" (143) Darcy's proposal was a far cry from romantic and it convinced Elizabeth that D arcy wants a wife inferior to him, something she would never stand for. She goes on to accuse him of being prejudiced against another by laying charge after charge upon him and concluding with, "You have done all this! and yet you can treat the mention of his misfortunes with contempt and ridicule" (144). He retorts, "These offenses might have been overlooked, had not your pride been hurt by my honest confessions of the scruples that had long prevented my forming any serious design" (144). She counters by saying, "You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me" (145). She goes on to say, "You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it" (145).

Freud :: Essays Papers

Freud The theories of Sigmund Freud were advanced and are very influential to modern society. This Austrian physician and neurologist is commonly considered as having one of the greatest creative minds of recent times. Throughout his entire childhood Freud had been planning a career in law. Not long before he entered the University of Vienna in 1873 Freud decided to become a medical student. In school he met a boy that was much older than him. Looking up to him and respecting his thoughts, Freud developed a wish to study law as this older student did, and interact in social activities. Also at this time Freud was interested in the theories of Charles Darwin. He heard Goethe's beautiful essay on nature read aloud and that made him decide to become a medical student.2 He was drawn to a study of science and he wanted to solve problems facing the scientists of his day.3 His intention was not to be a conventional doctor but pressed by his "greed for knowledge," he studied philosophical-scientific questions.4 One of the scientists he studied he studied with was a French psychiatrist named Jean Martin Charcot who was the director of a mental hospital. Freud was impressed a great deal while he was with Charcot. He took a lot of interest in his latest investigations upon hysteria. Charcot's demonstrations provoked in many people a sense of astonishment and skepticism.5 Charcot's influence channeled Freud's interest toward psychopathology. He was Freud's model and had an insatiable willingness to see and listen.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Leadership Essay -- Synergistic Leadership Theory

Introduction According to Northouse (2009), leadership is a concept of multi-dimensional facets inclusive of skill, ability, inherent qualities, behaviors, and relationships. All or some of these dimensions may be observed in an individual that possesses leadership potential in different combinations and can be recognized when intent to make a change in an organization is for the greater good (2009). Even with good intentions and desires for positive changes, pathways to leadership can be locked with long periods of time and laborious experiences. The male gender, White males in particular and majority in the United States, have dominated the field of leadership therefore creating psychological barriers that excellence, potential, and aptitude enviably are tied to the male- gender (Jackson, Engstron, & Emmers-Sommer, 2007). Many explorations and developments allure to leadership theories centered around White male-gender prototypes, establishing ideologies ostensible to that same race and gender, signifying status and power, and mentioning minimal influences aspired by females and minorities. The speculations thereof have caused females and minorities to experienced delayed or non-existent advancements in managerial of leadership roles (2007). Recent literature more readily discusses cues that are suggestive of race and male-oriented ideologies of leadership as data depicts possibilities for setting apart females or minorities that may have potential and creditability for top leadership positions. Two articles, The Synergistic Leadership Theory (SLT), (Irby, Brown, Duffy, and Trautman, 2001) and the White Standard: Racial Bias in Leader Categorization (Rosette, and Phillips, 2008) probe female and minority presence ... ...ng from predispositions about behaviors. Subtle aversive racism derived from negative stereotypes continues to lay biases among female and minorities. Leadership prototypes that refer to being White as being â€Å"the† stereotypical characteristic nevertheless existent and lay constructs that affect minorities and not mentioned in these investigation, female minorities. To many instances occur in leadership where individuals in power set the organization’s culture or create biases that undermine the acceptance of leadership potential and follower 7 support. Research that ignores leadership traits, values, behaviors, abilities, and skills establishes, to the contrary, data based on traditional beliefs about any group not excluding the aged, female minorities, and others, is soaked in attitudes given by the majority and questionable.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Bluest Eye

The novel begins with a series of sentences that seem to come from a children's reader, describing a house and the family that lives in the house the child wants to play but no one is available to play. This sequence is repeated and then is repeated a third time without spaces between the words kind of like a nursery rhyme. This is to give an idea showing a child is talking. Pocola's low self-esteem comes from the physical and sexual abuse that she endured as a child. She was raped by her father she is abased and abused by many people. In the 1960's the self-image of black women and girls was determined by the white women that were around. During that time Black was not beautiful to all, white was. The forced white beauty standards contributed to most black women's low self-esteem during that time. The view of how the mass white culture floods the minds and ideological views of the black community. Pocola's low self-esteem comes from the physical and sexual abuse that she endured as a child. She was raped by her father she is abased and abused by many people. She was taught at a young age by her mother Mrs. Breedlove that she wasn't beautiful, this came from the resentment of her on mother's skin and she took it out on her daughter. Toni Morrison has a recurring struggle of self-identification and beauty standards. This is identified with the comparison of black women ; girls to the clichà ©d blonde hair and blue eyed white women in the 60's. An example of this would be when Claudia is gifted a white doll that has blonde hair and blue eyes. According to Toni Morrison's Character Claudia in The Bluest Eye â€Å"Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs — all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured. â€Å"Here,† they said, â€Å"this is beautiful, and if you are on this day ‘worthy' you may have it.† Claudia is explaining how confused she is because she does not see the same beauty that is forced on her with blonde hair and blue eyed white girls and baby dolls. She even goes so far as stripping the doll to its core which is a realization that the outside beauty meant nothing because the core was ugly. Something she was considered â€Å"worthy† of having she thought was ugly. Pecola suffers from low self-esteem issues from people calling her ugly and connecting her to negative and ugly things. â€Å"It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights — if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ If she looked different, beautiful, maybe Cholly would be different, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybe they'd say, â€Å"Why, look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn't do bad things in front of those pretty eyes.† Pretty eyes. Pretty blue eyes. Big blue pretty eyes.†( The Bluest Eye) Instead of the traits, she has already, she wants to have Blue eyes. Blue eyes were considered beautiful just like the reference before made to the baby doll. Since the white people dominated the view of beauty, this is why she obsessed over Shirley Temple who had blonde hair and blue eyes. According to the Huff post â€Å"She was America's top box-office draw during the 1930's, outranking Clark Gable, and receiving more fan mail than Greta Garbo. As a child star, she was amazing,†.(HuffPost). Claudia is the youngest child of the MacTeer family. She also endures the same issues of colorist and racist beauty standards as Pecola but she is too young to care. According to Toni Morrison's Character Claudia in The Bluest Eye † I couldn't join them in their adoration because I hated Shirley. Not because she was cute, but because she danced with Boj angles, who was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with me. Instead, he was enjoying, sharing, giving a lovely dance thing with one of those little white girls whose socks never slid down under their heels. So I said, â€Å"I like Jane Withers.† Claudia is also the fighter and the rebel as far as going against the views of others. When she is gifted a baby doll that has blonde hair and blue eyes she doesn't find it as beautiful as others do. Instead, Claudia picks it apart, this is because she is young and has not been able to truly understand self-hatred that the adults have. She is considered the hopeful character in the novel. Claudia is thrown into situations and has experienced different things which makes her mature but also a child and doesn't know much about the world yet. Opposite of Claudia, Pecola has self-image problems and is a passive character. Unlike Claudia, Pecola did not grow up in a loving and caring home. Instead, she grew up in what is described and â€Å"ugly† family. Ugly in terms of disastrous home, features, and upbringing. Pecola values the blonde hair and blue eyed people and wants to have the same traits. Out of the two, Claudia is better able to reject white, middle-class America's definitions of beauty. Pecola considers Shirley Temple as the perfects little girl. At the beginning of the book, Pecola's love for her Shirley Temple cup opens the view of her fascination. â€Å"My mother was referring to was Pecola. According to Toni Morrison's Character Claudia in The Bluest Eye â€Å"The three of us, Pecola, Frieda, and I, listened to her downstairs in the kitchen fussing about the amount of milk Pecola had drunk. We knew she was fond of the Shirley Temple cup and took every opportunity to drink milk out of it just to handle and see sweet Shirley's face.† She gets in trouble for drinking all the milk, Claudia's mother thinks she is being greedy but she just wants to use her cup at most. To Pecola Shirley Temple is who she wants to be, she considers herself ugly and she feels if she looked more like Shirley Temple. Where Pecola lives brings conceptual beauty standards such as blonde hair and blue eyes. Maureen symbolizes wealth in the black community. Her family were light skin and have money, she is also new to the neighborhood. According to Toni Morrison's Character Claudia in The Bluest Eye â€Å"Maureen Peal. A high-yellow dream child with long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her back. She was rich, at least by our standards, as rich as the richest of the white girls, swaddled in comfort and care. The quality of her clothes threatened to derange Frieda and me.† Both Shirley Temple and Maureen define the beauty that Pecola wishes she had. Shirley Temple is white with blonde hair and blue eyes and adored by America. Maureen is a beautiful light-skinned black girl with money. This may be a realization that you can still be black and pretty, she's just not that. She I identify with this when Maureen calls the three girls Black and ugly black referring to Pecola. â€Å"Safe on the other side, she screamed at us, â€Å"I am cute! And you ugly! Black and ugly black e mos. I am cute!†(The Bluest Eye) The Bluest Eyes gives a view of black women during the 60's and shines the light on the norm that was going on around that time. The novel represented different main situations in the black community. Touches on troubled homes and how black children were taken from the home to be placed in a flawed home that offers more love. Pecola was the darkest character literally and figuratively. She had the most going on in the novel and. Society has taught her that her skin and feature are ugly and everything she needs to value needs to be white. Being raped by her father and belittled by the whole community. This novel teaches struggle and social discrimination which is a recurring theme. Throughout the novel, Pecola is growing along with the Family she lived with. I'm sure she appreciates being in a loving family but unfortunately, the lesson was about loving herself and learning how to love herself because her mother couldn't teach her. Works Citedâ€Å"BEAUTY IDEAL OVER THE DECADES Part 7: THE 60's.† IDEALIST STYLE, www.idealiststyle.com/blog/beauty-ideal-over-the-decades-part-7-the-60s.â€Å"Full Text of ‘The Bluest Eye.'† Internet Archive, The Library Shelf, archive.org/stream/TheBluestEyeFullTextJAMESSUTTON/The Bluest Eye_full text – JAMES SUTTON_djvu.txt.Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eyes. Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1993.Rosas, Alexandra. â€Å"Why the Fuss About Shirley Temple Black.† The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-rosas/why-the-fuss-about-shirle_b_4768929.html.â€Å"The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Audiobook Fastest Loader.† YouTube, YouTube, 12 Nov. 2017,www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUCS2Orzo84.According to Toni Morrison's Chara The bluest eye Pectoral Overlooked Is a passive, young and quiet girl who lives a hard life; her parents are constantly physically and verbally fighting. Throughout the book, Pectoral is reminded continuously of how ugly she is, which fuels her aspiration to be white with blue eyes. Pectoral, a poor black girl, is compelled to believe that she is, In fact, ugly. Tortured and tormented by almost everyone she knows, the identity of the protagonist, Pectoral Overlooked Is destroyed by both society and her family situations and experiences.This presents the reader tit the idea that society and or family experiences can tear an individual from their identity if they are mentally weak enough. Pectoral Overlooked, who wants to be beautiful, becomes torn from her â€Å"black† Identity once society victimizes her Innocence by labeling her as ugly. Pectoral and her community live based on a set of ideals; whiteness and beauty. When Maureen Peal is introduced in the book, her skin color and class statu s is regarded as oppressive to other blacks in the novel, especially Pectoral who Is highly susceptible to It since everyone thinks of her as ugly.When described in the cafeteria, Maureen Is presented as â€Å"A high-yellow dream child with long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her back† (52). The â€Å"lynch ropes† expression is outright racial oppression, as â€Å"lynching† (hanging) is what commonly happened to slaves for punishment along with the ASK Incidences. When Pectoral sees that being beautiful is related to having friends and more importantly to her, being loved, she will do anything to become beautiful.When Pectoral and Claudia are exposed to Maureen Peal, they make up ugly names and relate her to ugly things so she would be on their level. Maureen is an example of the ongoing theme that white people are rich and gorgeous, and black people are ugly and not content. Maureen says later on, that â€Å"l am cute, and you ugly! Bla ck and ugly black e moss. I am cute! † (73). When Pectoral first met Maureen, they thought they were going to be friends.When Pectoral hears Maureen say this about them, she starts to believe that she needs to be beautiful In order to have friends, and she starts to wish for the bluest eyes and the whitest skin, thus proving that society can tear an individual from their true identity. Pectoral Overdose's self-esteem and her identity is also affected by her family situation and experiences. When the Overlooked family is introduced In the beginning of the story, Morrison portrays them as a stereotypical early sass poor black family. When they are first described. He wrote. â€Å"The Breadboxes did not live in a storefront because they were having temporary difficulty adjusting to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they were ugly† (37). Morrison writes about the role that the whites and the colored people give the Breadboxes In society. Because of the color of their skin, the Breadboxes are forced to adopt their storefront apartment as part of who they are and let it dictate their lives.They feel that they are ugly since they are not the model of what society in general portrays as appropriate. Pectoral sees what society portrays as appropriate, which Is light skin with blue eyes, along with a decent amount of money. She tries to get Just one of those things, the bluest eyes, and it ends up ruining her psychologically, causing her to go 1 OFF makes fun of Pectoral and her father, Just after Pectoral starts to consider her as a reined. â€Å"l wasn't even talking to you. I was talking to Pectoral. Yeah. About seeing her naked daddy' (72).Once the knowledge that Piccolo's father walks naked around Pectoral, Maureen decides to make fun of her because she is ugly, and because it is common knowledge that Pectoral sees her dad walking around naked. These family experie nces and situations all have a negative effect on Pectoral because she is not just the â€Å"ugly' girl now, she is the poor black girl who sees her father naked. As a member of a family that is part of the low society, Pectoral Overlooked, labeled as â€Å"ugly' trudges and fails to maintain her sanity and her childhood innocence when she tries to get people to like and love her.Once an innocent little girl, now a girl who is torn away from her natural identity after society and society's outlook on her family make her feel ugly and unwanted. She becomes labeled as the scapegoat of the community and slips into oblivion. Toni Morrison wrote the Bluest Eye depicting Pectoral Overlooked and her family as the scapegoat of the entire community. Using Pectoral as an example, Morrison tries to convey the point to not become subdued to what society thinks of as ugly and beautiful; Just be yourself. The bluest eye Pectoral Overlooked Is a passive, young and quiet girl who lives a hard life; her parents are constantly physically and verbally fighting. Throughout the book, Pectoral is reminded continuously of how ugly she is, which fuels her aspiration to be white with blue eyes. Pectoral, a poor black girl, is compelled to believe that she is, In fact, ugly. Tortured and tormented by almost everyone she knows, the identity of the protagonist, Pectoral Overlooked Is destroyed by both society and her family situations and experiences.This presents the reader tit the idea that society and or family experiences can tear an individual from their identity if they are mentally weak enough. Pectoral Overlooked, who wants to be beautiful, becomes torn from her â€Å"black† Identity once society victimizes her Innocence by labeling her as ugly. Pectoral and her community live based on a set of ideals; whiteness and beauty. When Maureen Peal is introduced in the book, her skin color and class statu s is regarded as oppressive to other blacks in the novel, especially Pectoral who Is highly susceptible to It since everyone thinks of her as ugly.When described in the cafeteria, Maureen Is presented as â€Å"A high-yellow dream child with long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her back† (52). The â€Å"lynch ropes† expression is outright racial oppression, as â€Å"lynching† (hanging) is what commonly happened to slaves for punishment along with the ASK Incidences. When Pectoral sees that being beautiful is related to having friends and more importantly to her, being loved, she will do anything to become beautiful.When Pectoral and Claudia are exposed to Maureen Peal, they make up ugly names and relate her to ugly things so she would be on their level. Maureen is an example of the ongoing theme that white people are rich and gorgeous, and black people are ugly and not content. Maureen says later on, that â€Å"l am cute, and you ugly! Bla ck and ugly black e moss. I am cute! † (73). When Pectoral first met Maureen, they thought they were going to be friends.When Pectoral hears Maureen say this about them, she starts to believe that she needs to be beautiful In order to have friends, and she starts to wish for the bluest eyes and the whitest skin, thus proving that society can tear an individual from their true identity. Pectoral Overdose's self-esteem and her identity is also affected by her family situation and experiences. When the Overlooked family is introduced In the beginning of the story, Morrison portrays them as a stereotypical early sass poor black family. When they are first described. He wrote. â€Å"The Breadboxes did not live in a storefront because they were having temporary difficulty adjusting to the cutbacks at the plant. They lived there because they were poor and black, and they stayed there because they believed they were ugly† (37). Morrison writes about the role that the whites and the colored people give the Breadboxes In society. Because of the color of their skin, the Breadboxes are forced to adopt their storefront apartment as part of who they are and let it dictate their lives.They feel that they are ugly since they are not the model of what society in general portrays as appropriate. Pectoral sees what society portrays as appropriate, which Is light skin with blue eyes, along with a decent amount of money. She tries to get Just one of those things, the bluest eyes, and it ends up ruining her psychologically, causing her to go 1 OFF makes fun of Pectoral and her father, Just after Pectoral starts to consider her as a reined. â€Å"l wasn't even talking to you. I was talking to Pectoral. Yeah. About seeing her naked daddy' (72).Once the knowledge that Piccolo's father walks naked around Pectoral, Maureen decides to make fun of her because she is ugly, and because it is common knowledge that Pectoral sees her dad walking around naked. These family experie nces and situations all have a negative effect on Pectoral because she is not just the â€Å"ugly' girl now, she is the poor black girl who sees her father naked. As a member of a family that is part of the low society, Pectoral Overlooked, labeled as â€Å"ugly' trudges and fails to maintain her sanity and her childhood innocence when she tries to get people to like and love her.Once an innocent little girl, now a girl who is torn away from her natural identity after society and society's outlook on her family make her feel ugly and unwanted. She becomes labeled as the scapegoat of the community and slips into oblivion. Toni Morrison wrote the Bluest Eye depicting Pectoral Overlooked and her family as the scapegoat of the entire community. Using Pectoral as an example, Morrison tries to convey the point to not become subdued to what society thinks of as ugly and beautiful; Just be yourself.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Nursing: Promising Pathways

I once heard it said that vocation should be the place where your greatest talents meet the world’s greatest needs.   For me the intersection between those two things lies in nursing.   Without question nursing has become one of our country’s greatest needs, as the deficit for certified nurses rises and more and more people in our nation’s hospitals are cared for by unqualified nurses.  Ã‚   Likewise, I believe that my greatest talents lie in this field and that my skill set will help me to provide the highest standard of care at a time when patients need it the most. Nursing is not the glamorized profession that one often sees on popular television shows.   It is not about looking pretty in a white uniform.   From my experience, being a nurse is actually the opposite of all that.   It entails working long hours and doing a lot of hard work. These are all part of why I chose to be a nurse. All the hard work and the fatigue pay off in the end when one has been able to save lives and make patients feel more comfortable during their times of need. In addition to the need that I will be fulfilling in my nursing career, I believe that it will be a rewarding job, as I will have the opportunity to help and to care for many people.   I have a passion for working closely with patients, regardless of their background or beliefs, and I believe that nursing is not merely a way to make a living, but a means of giving back to society. Not only will nursing be a rewarding and meaningful career for me, but my specific skill set gives me a great deal to offer my patients and my colleagues.   I am competent in Professional Health Care Management with the ability to provide and promote the highest standards in the rapidly changing and ever demanding Healthcare sector, driven by a vast global economy and vibrant technological innovation. I am attentive to detail, highly organized with strong analytical and decision-making skills. I have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, allowing me to provide care, compassion, and emotional support for irritable, stressed and ill patients.   I am highly knowledgeable in current and pertinent issues within and without the Healthcare sector.   I am able to work under pressure for long hours and to do a considerable amount of lifting such as moving patients, assisting with toileting needs and responding to emergencies.   I have a polished professional demeanor, which enables me to develop and maintain relationships with professionals in the healthcare sector. Furthermore, I have excellent conversational skills in three international languages; English, Spanish and Italian. I believe that my prior experience and my education will also help me to contribute significantly to this field.   I received a Pre-Med and Trustee scholarship to attend Suffolk University in Boston, where I major in Radiation Biology.   I have also become certified as a Phlebotomy technician, EKG technician and a Medical Clinic assistant.   Furthermore, I am pursuing a nursing assistant course as a State Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the American Red Cross in Peabody, MA where I am learning procedures such as psychosocial care, restorative care, resident personal care, resident rights, communication, general safety procedure and infection control. In addition to my training, I have also held several positions in the medical field that have both increased my knowledge and proved to me that nursing is indeed the field that I want to dedicate myself to.   Since 2006 I have worked as a Radiation Therapist Intern at the Massachusetts General Hospital/ Brigham and Women Hospital / DFCI Boston. My responsibilities include accurate positioning of patients for treatment, operation of advanced medical equipment, quality assurance and providing competent patient care. I am also in charge of assisting the oncologist and the physician with treatment plans during delicate procedures.   From 2005 to 2006, I worked as a Medical Assistant at Alexyenko Medical Associates Lynn, MA. My duty was to assist in phlebotomy and EKG procedures. These are delicate procedures that demand the maintenance of high standards, both of which I believe I showed great aptitude for. I aim to work for an organization where personal growth is encouraged, human values are nurtured and talents are utilized in the attainment of organizational goals. I would like to be able to apply what I have been learning so far by taking a hands-on and direct approach.   I would like to attain a Masters Degree in order to gain the knowledge and experience to better prepare myself for medical school.   By earning my degree, I am being both practical and responsive to the needs of the time.   It is practical because I have chosen a career that will allow me to utilize my talents and experience, and responsive because there is an overwhelming need for qualified nurses. I believe that I have had an abundance of valuable experiences and talents to offer the healthcare field.   My prior positions have taught me both technical and soft skills. Technical competence is a core requisite of being successful in any profession. And yet more than this, my exposure in these institutions has taught me fortitude, patience, love of authentic service, and a strong spirit of volunteerism. My desire to be of real service to others has compelled me to move ahead and take advanced studies in this field.   It is with great joy and excitement that I join the place where my talents meet one of our country’s critical needs. Â