Free Essays on Achilles

Although the very first line of the Iliad state that it is Achilles’ anger that costs the Achaians thousands of lives, it is actually the Trojans who suffer the price of his anger. The Achaians suffered because of his pride. When Agamemnon says that he is the most important warrior (1. 185-187), Achilles becomes angry, but his pride had already prompted him to threaten retreat rather than suffer the insult of having Briseis taken. â€Å"And now my prize you threaten in person to strip from me†¦I am returning to Phthia, since it is much better to go home†¦I am minded no longer to stay here dishonored†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1. 161-171) When Agamemnon’s herald’s come to take Briseis, he vows not to fight until the battle reaches his own ships. (1. 335-342). As the Achaians’ losses mount, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to persuade Achilles to help. Once again, it is Achilles pride that stops him from accepting Agamemnon’s offering and joining the battle. Although he states other reasons - that he was truly in love with Briseis (9. 341-343) and that he’d rather live a long and obscure life (9. 411-420) - it is his still wounded pride that motivates his decision. His pride and honor must be restored, and only an apology from Agamemnon will do: â€Å"All the other prizes of hounour he gave the great men and the princes are held fast by them, but from me alone of all the Achaians he has taken and keeps the bride of my heart†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (9. 334-336) â€Å"†¦not if he gave me gifts as many as the sand or dust is, not even so would Agamemnon have his way with my spirit until he had made good to me all this heartrending insolence.† (9. 385-387) This need to have his wounded pride healed is made clear when he sees the injured Machaon driven past his ship. â€Å"†¦now I think the Achaians will come to my knee and stay there in supplication, for a need past endurance has come to them† (11. 608-609). Achilles makes it clear that it is not his fear o... Free Essays on Achilles Free Essays on Achilles Although the very first line of the Iliad state that it is Achilles’ anger that costs the Achaians thousands of lives, it is actually the Trojans who suffer the price of his anger. The Achaians suffered because of his pride. When Agamemnon says that he is the most important warrior (1. 185-187), Achilles becomes angry, but his pride had already prompted him to threaten retreat rather than suffer the insult of having Briseis taken. â€Å"And now my prize you threaten in person to strip from me†¦I am returning to Phthia, since it is much better to go home†¦I am minded no longer to stay here dishonored†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1. 161-171) When Agamemnon’s herald’s come to take Briseis, he vows not to fight until the battle reaches his own ships. (1. 335-342). As the Achaians’ losses mount, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to persuade Achilles to help. Once again, it is Achilles pride that stops him from accepting Agamemnon’s offering and joining the battle. Although he states other reasons - that he was truly in love with Briseis (9. 341-343) and that he’d rather live a long and obscure life (9. 411-420) - it is his still wounded pride that motivates his decision. His pride and honor must be restored, and only an apology from Agamemnon will do: â€Å"All the other prizes of hounour he gave the great men and the princes are held fast by them, but from me alone of all the Achaians he has taken and keeps the bride of my heart†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (9. 334-336) â€Å"†¦not if he gave me gifts as many as the sand or dust is, not even so would Agamemnon have his way with my spirit until he had made good to me all this heartrending insolence.† (9. 385-387) This need to have his wounded pride healed is made clear when he sees the injured Machaon driven past his ship. â€Å"†¦now I think the Achaians will come to my knee and stay there in supplication, for a need past endurance has come to them† (11. 608-609). Achilles makes it clear that it is not his fear o...

Ap american DBq essays

Ap american DBq essays The American Revolution is one of the most significant events in American history. This revolution formed a new view on government and revolutionized its organization which was the first of its kind. Various factors have helped pushed this revolution into full throttle; the unfair treatment of the colonies by England and its parliament, which affected the colonies negatively socially, politically, as well as economically. However, it is certain that this revolution would not have been successful if the colonies had not developed a sense of their identity and united as Americans by the Before the American Revolution unity among the colonies was unheard of. As the political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette suggested, if the colonies wished to remain alive and independent they must work together as a whole. The colonies themselves, however, would not unite until George Grenville, the royal treasurer, decided to create several acts, aimed at removing the economic pressure from The Proclamation of 1763, one of the first of many unpopular acts, prohitbited settlers to settle beyond the Appalachian mountains. Next came the Stamp Act of 1764, although this cut down the tax on molasses, it also meant that the tax was actually going to be collected. In the same year the Navigation Act, which prohibited the colonists from directly exporting goods except to Britain and Currency Act, which prohibited the use of paper money, were passed creating more conflict and hatred towards England. These actions towards the colonies might have been negative, however it had actually strengten the bonds developing between the colonies. After, the infamous Boston Tea Party in 1773, where a group known as the Sons of Liberty, lead by Samuel Adams, dumped three ...

The Differences between Financial and Management Accounting Assignment

The Differences between Financial and Management Accounting - Assignment Example Management and managerial accounting are used by the management to make decisions with regards to the daily operation of the business. It is based on the past performance of the business. It relies majorly on the forecasting of market trends and markets. Management accounting is internally presented while financial accounting is meant for the external stakeholders. Financial management is important to the current potential investors while management accounting is used by managers in making current and future financial decisions. Finally,  financial accounting is succinct and adheres to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) while management accounting is usually a guess or estimate given that a myriad of managers rarely have time for exact numbers when they need to make decisions.      Some of the key financial statements include;   Income statement (profit and loss account), Balance sheet, Cash flow.   Income statement tells the users about the earnings and the profitability of the business. The statement is for a specific period of time. The periodic statements are important given that the owners can know the periodic performance of the company. It shows the sales first then cost of sales, the differences of which gives the gross profit. Then it explains the operating expenses which are subtracted from the gross margin to show Earnings Before interests and Taxes (EBIT). It then subtracts expenses and taxes to get the net profit. The balance sheet shows the financial position of the business. It tells the investors whether the company is able to pay its bills on time and the flexibility in the acquisition of capital and the distribution of cash distribution in terms of dividends. The key items are assets, liabilities, and equity.

An Examination of Motivation Among African American Males of Junior Research Paper

An Examination of Motivation Among African American Males of Junior High School Age - Research Paper Example It is a process in which an individual acquires and develops knowledge, understanding, skills, interests and attitude that are necessary to meet life’s situations. It is not necessary that the quality of education is the same everywhere. Quality of education depends on how society or government help young students to achieve their educational goals. It is not necessary that all the people may have the same learning or grasping abilities. Learning is a complex process which depends on many factors such as the cultural, intellectual and economic background of the learner. Different people may have different learning styles and learning abilities because of their individual differences. For example, in America, most of the schools may have students from different parts of the world. African Americans are huge in number in America and hence in many of the public and private schools may have a substantial amount of African American students. The learning abilities and the learning styles of American students and the American African students may have huge differences and in many cases, the teacher may faces troubles in teaching a diverse class. Moreover, compared to girls, boys always regarded school as a boring waste of time. America claims that they provide equal learning opportunities for all, however, the Black-White achievement gap still exists. This leads to a variety of political, economic, and social ramifications for students. This paper analyses the reasons why and how, middle school-aged African American boys in the United States are, by that age, especially unmotivated to do well in school. Black males are among the most likely students to take the least rigorous academic schedule and least likely to take advanced math or advanced science- all predictors of college. Black males begin falling behind in reading math and science during the primary grades. Subsequently, they are disproportionately underrepresented in advanced math, science and foreign language class in middle school (Black male achievement, n. d).

Strategy to overcome loneliness Essay Example for Free

Strategy to overcome loneliness Essay Though Mrs. Kennedy is indeed a lonely woman, the ritual of having to visit the park each Saturday usually helps her to cope with her boredom and loneliness. It is patent how much this old lady enjoys from the simple activities. The Saturday outing provides a prospect for Miss. Kennedy to be in the presence of other people as she leaves her little boring room which she has lived for the last seventy five years. She has employed the tactics and the techniques of listening keenly and watching in order to passively feel happy and complete in the ongoing activities of the crowd at the park. She is a major expert at eavesdropping to other people’s conversation. This habit of listening and pretending she is not interested has helped her a lot as it makes her feel included too and part of the group. Being an avid watcher, Mrs. Kennedy pays immense attention to all those who are around her. Through the same care that she places in noticing and appreciating the presence of other people, she usually hopes deep inside that somebody among the group would obviously notice incase she was not there. This thought helps her to have a sense of communion and happiness in the midst of strangers on Saturdays. Miss. Kennedy’s seizes each opportunity she get to imagine herself as being connected with individuals that she observes in attempt to have some sense of belonging. She usually likens herself to being a part and parcel of the ‘family’ that the band in the park plays. In effect, the Saturday outing offers her a means to escape from the isolation that is felt and has always been felt in her solitary existence since her husband died through engaging herself in all the happenings of the public park. However, as she listens and observes, she usually prefers to view her entire world through her set of colored glasses in order to confront the truth that she is indeed a lonely woman.

civics :: essays research papers

What is Civnet? Civnet is a website of Civitas International for civic education practitioners (teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum designers), as well as scholars, policymakers, civic-minded journalists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting civic education all over the world. Objective Any healthy, fully functioning democracy requires a political culture composed of active participants who understand what it means to be democratic citizens. Though there may be free and fair elections in new and emerging democracies, there might not yet exist a democratic culture; i.e., people may be unaccustomed to voting, running for elective office, understanding how their government works, seeking out different sources of information to make informed choices, forming advocacy and public-interest groups to influence political outcomes in a consensus-building, non-coercive political system, and creating voluntary organizations to meet societal needs not met by government or the commercial sector. "Civil society" may be thought of as the third sector, and a foundation on which free, non-coercive, democratic polities must rest. Moreover, well-established democracies often witness increased apathy, atomization, and a dilution in citizen participation and civic behavior, as civic values are not properly reinforced and are allowed to go stale. Therefore, civic education at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels is vital both to newer and older democracies, to ensure that future generations of citizens understand the values, mechanisms, and skills necessary to develop and maintain a democratic political system. Accordingly, an international coalition of concerned academics and representatives of non-governmental and governmental organizations formed Civitas International association and helped establish Civnet to address these needs by raising the profile of civic education, promoting civic education on the agendas of government policymakers throughout the world, enriching the debate on teaching methodology, establishing teacher-training programs, creating and distributing civics lesson plans, syllabi, curricula, text books, and teaching materials, and enabling civic education practitioners to network and share information, ideas, and resources. In addition to teachers, educators, and policymakers, many believe that journalists also have a role to play in highlighting solutions and citizen success stories, rather than merely reporting on societal problems. While Civitas International has many activities to achieve these aims, Civnet is unique in that it provides an international electronic resource where teachers may instantly receive and download teaching resources, scholars may read articles of thought and opinion, and use Civnet's links to find a world of other civic Web resources, and civic educators may read what their colleagues are up to in Civnet news, network with their counterparts in other organizations, and learn about upcoming civic events on the Civnet calendar.

Music: the International Language Essay

Music is a part of people’s lives from all around the world. It has been around for at least 50,000 years and most likely originated in Africa (Wallin, et al. 1). There are several distinct genres of music. The most recognized forms in the western hemisphere are: classical, jazz, rock and folk, as well as others which are essentially branches from the four previously mentioned. Many career options exist for those wishing to pursue music, many of which require one or more scholastic degrees. In music, there are a plethora of diverse structural forms in which music is composed. A structural form usually describes the order the â€Å"sections† in a piece of music are written. Without composers, there would be little music today. Most composers have a unique style that they write in that can be identified by anyone with a trained ear. Music is constantly in an evolutionary state, and the music industry changes to reflect that. The future holds endless possibilities for the social and economical effects of new music. Musical notation was not always nice printed symbols arranged in an easy to read format. The Greeks were the first to implement a system for translating written work into sound. However this system made it difficult for someone to imagine the melody, and was extremely difficult to reproduce, and there were usually many errors on copies. The Romans used the first 15 letters of the Roman alphabet above the applicable words to determine pitch with the first letter as the low pitch and the 15th letter as the high pitch. Neuma, or Neumes, is a very peculiar notation used mostly by 6th to 12th century ecclesiastical writers. Deciphering this notation is essentially guesswork due to the number of variables affecting the sounds. (â€Å"Changes in Musical Notation†). Of all the genres of music, classical is the most distinct. It usually includes string instruments, French horns, and trumpets, as well as others. Rock music or â€Å"devil music† as some people refer to it, has become increasingly popular around the world since its inception in the mid 1900’s. This type of music is known to use electric guitars, drum kit, and vocals. Jazz also uses those instruments, but in a different way. In a typical â€Å"big band† jazz orchestra, there will be five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, a pianist, a drummer and a guitarist. The jazz style is quite different from that of other types of music. Normally, the first and third beat of a four beat measure are emphasized, in jazz the second and fourth beats are emphasized. In music, there are many formal structures (the way sections of a piece repeat) in which songs are written. Sectional form is a mixture of short chunks of a piece (DeLone. et al. 87). Vocal music often employs the use of the strophic form, which repeats the same section over again (AA†¦). Binary form, as the name might suggest, has two different sections played in succession (AB) or one repeated and then the other repeated (AABB). Similarly to binary form, chain form has three or more sections played in succession (ABC) or (AABBCC). Ternary, or tertiary form, similarly to binary form has two different sections, the difference being there is a â€Å"B† section sandwiched in between two â€Å"A† sections (ABA). Arch form has three different sections, one â€Å"C† section in between two â€Å"B† sections, which is then in between two â€Å"A† sections (ABCBA). Finally, rondo form, which comes in two varieties: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical form is (ABACABA) as asymmetrical form is (ABACADAEA) (â€Å"Musical Form†). There are many fun and rewarding careers in music many of which involve working with an assortment of creative individuals. Composition, the art of writing music, is one of the more difficult, yet also more rewarding choices, although it is hard to make a living as a composer unless the utmost dedication is displayed. Teaching others music, either by instruments, theory, or otherwise, is an occupation in high demand around the United States (â€Å"Bachelor of Music†). Musicians are the key element of music, without them there would be no live music. Music therapy is one of the less known musical vocations. Music therapists help people with mental illness or disability by using music (â€Å"Careers in Music Therapy†). There have been many great classical composers, each with his or her own identifying characteristics in their writing. Johann Sebastian Bach is known for never leaving pauses in his music. However, George Frideric Handel writes so that there are moments where no notes are played (grand pause. ) Mozart has written over 600 pieces of music, all of which were written in one draft. Music is all about sound, and for a mostly deaf man, Ludwig Van Beethoven is quite an accomplished composer. The music industry is generally defined as â€Å"the businesses and organizations that record, produce, publish, distribute, and market recorded music† (â€Å"Music Industry†). There are four major record companies or â€Å"labels,† Sony BMG, EMI, Universal and Warner. In 2005, Universal dominated the United States market with a 31. 71% market share. In a close second came Sony BMG with 31. 71%. Warner firmly holds third with a solid 15% market share, leaving EMI to clean up with the remaining 9. 55%. Independent labels cover18. 3% of the US market, but there are many independent companies and none of which hold a candle to he â€Å"big four† (Cashmere). Music artists and record companies alike make most of their money from music sales, but with the rise of peer-to-peer file sharing networks, it has been increasingly popular to illegally download or, pirate, stolen music. According to the American Federation of Musicians, gross revenue for music drops about 20% annually due to piracy. In reaction to the horrifying statistics the Recording Industry Association of America or, RIAA, has taken a number of steps to fight internet piracy. One of their goals is to inform the public of the repercussions music piracy has on the individuals who earn a living from legitimate music exchange (â€Å"Online Music Piracy†). Jazz is the only style of music native to the United States of America. It is clear that many other genres thought to be â€Å"truly American† are actually just bits and pieces from the musical traits of other cultures. Jazz music is brimming with improvisation solos, where a musician is usually given a chord progression also known as â€Å"changes,† and the musician plays notes in the scale of the key given at the specified time. Although the ink on the page may say to play in C7 one could just as well play in Cm in stead. Jazz is also not bound to the â€Å"limitations† of other forms of music and will not always be cut up into easy-to-identify sections. One thing almost all types of music have in common is scalability, for example, there could be a single saxophonist playing â€Å"Harlem Nocturne† on a street corner, or there could be an 18 piece big band orchestra playing the same song in a concert hall. The same applies to classical music, but it is more common to see a street musician playing jazz than classical music. The invention of solid-state electronics brought on many changes. The music world was affected when someone figured that if you make a keyboard and set it so each key you press produces a different frequency at a line level current and run it through an amplifier, there will be an electronic piano-style keyboard! This device later became known as the analog synthesizer and was used in many performing bands. Several years later, digital sound synthesis technology made it possible to have hundreds of different â€Å"patches† on a keyboard, eliminating the need for expensive sound modules for analog synthesizers. Today, both technologies are used, but analog is mostly just used and built for historical and experimental purposes. Every kind of music requires an instrument, be it human vocal cords, a bassoon, or a microchip, at least one instrument is required. There are three types of â€Å"traditional† instruments. Brass instruments are devices in which sound is made by pressing the lips to the large end of an almost conical mouthpiece and buzzing the lips whilst blowing. Instruments requiring no buzzing are referred to as woodwinds. The sound can be made either by a single reed, where the layer places the top front two teeth on top of a tapered mouthpiece and presses the bottom lip over the bottom teeth contacting the reed and blowing so the reed vibrates in between the mouthpiece and the bottom lip. A double reed instrument has no mouthpiece, only two reeds that are pointed together at the end. The third form of woodwind sound production entails placing the lips one the near side of a hole in the mouthpiece and blowing air over the gap, just like making a glass bottle whistle. In music, there are two categories, one for the high society, and one for the low society. The high society music is that of the classical, baroque romantic and other such eras, are usually preformed in formal venues. In contrast, the low society music such as jazz, rap and hip hop could be preformed in places where formal etiquette is not present such as a casino, night club or parking lot. It is apparent that the average audience member of a classical performance will have an income higher than that of an audience member from a hip hop concert. By analyzing this data, musicologists have concluded that the class distinction is not related to the music itself, rather, the crowd associated with that type of music.

Chapter 13 Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw

It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that Harry couldn't see how they'd ever make up. Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on Ron's head in the Magical Menagerie. Personally, Harry was sure that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and when he tried to point out to Hermione that the evidence all pointed that way, she lost her temper with Harry too. â€Å"Okay, side with Ron, I knew you would!† she said shrilly. â€Å"First the Firebolt, now Scabbers, everything's my fault, isn't it! Just leave me alone, Harry, I've got a lot of work to do!† Ron had taken the loss of his rat very hard indeed. â€Å"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was,† said Fred bracingly. â€Å"And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly — one swallow — he probably didn't feel a thing.† â€Å"Fred!† said Ginny indignantly. â€Å"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself,† said George. â€Å"He bit Goyle for us once!† Ron said miserably. â€Å"Remember, Harry?† â€Å"Yeah, that's true,† said Harry. â€Å"His finest hour,† said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. â€Å"Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?† In a last-ditch attempt to cheer Ron up, Harry persuaded him to come along to the Gryffindor team's final practice before the Ravenclaw match, so that he could have a ride on the Firebolt after they'd finished. This did seem to take Ron's mind off Scabbers for a moment (â€Å"Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals on it?†) so they set off for the Quidditch field together. Madam Hooch, who was still overseeing Gryffindor practices to keep an eye on Harry, was just as impressed with the Firebolt as everyone else had been. She took it in her hands before takeoff and gave them the benefit of her professional opinion. â€Å"Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end — you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows — a pity they've stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom it was too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She continued in this vein for some time, until Wood said, â€Å"Er — Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Harry has the Firebolt back? We need to practice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Oh — right — here you are, then, Potter,† said Madam Hooch. â€Å"I'll sit over here with Weasley†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She and Ron left the field to sit in the stadium, and the Gryffindor team gathered around Wood for his final instructions for tomorrow's match. â€Å"Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw is playing as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good†¦I really hoped she wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Wood scowled his displeasure that Cho Chang had made a full recovery, then said, â€Å"On the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt.† He gave Harry's broom a look of fervent admiration, then said, â€Å"Okay, everyone, let's go –â€Å" And at long last, Harry mounted his Firebolt, and kicked off from the ground. It was better than he'd ever dreamed. The Firebolt turned with the lightest touch; it seemed to obey his thoughts rather than his grip; it sped across the field at such speed that the stadium turned into a green-and-gray blur; Harry turned it so sharply that Alicia Spinnet screamed, then he went into a perfectly controlled dive, brushing the grassy field with his toes before rising thirty, forty, fifty feet into the air again — â€Å"Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!† Wood called. Harry turned and raced a Bludger toward the goal posts; he outstripped it easily, saw the Snitch dart out from behind Wood, and within ten seconds had caught it tightly in his hand. The team cheered madly. Harry let the Snitch go again, gave it a minute's head start, then tore after it, weaving in and out of the others; he spotted it lurking near Katie Bell's knee, looped her easily, and caught it again. It was the best practice ever; the team, inspired by the presence of the Firebolt in their midst, performed their best moves faultlessly, and by the time they hit the ground again, Wood didn't have a single criticism to make, which, as George Weasley pointed out, was a first. â€Å"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!† said Wood. â€Å"Not unless — Harry, you've sorted out your Dementor problem, haven't you?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Harry, thinking of his feeble Patronus and wishing it were stronger. â€Å"The Dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic,† said Fred confidently. â€Å"Well, let's hope not,† said Wood. â€Å"Anyway — good work, everyone. Let's get back to the tower†¦turn in early†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm staying out for a bit; Ron wants a go on the Firebolt,† Harry told Wood, and while the rest of the team headed off to the locker rooms, Harry strode over to Ron, who vaulted the barrier to the stands and came to meet him. Madam Hooch had fallen asleep in her seat. â€Å"Here you go,† said Harry, handing Ron the Firebolt. Ron, an expression of ecstasy on his face, mounted the broom and zoomed off into the gathering darkness while Harry walked around the edge of the field, watching him. Night had fallen before Madam Hooch awoke with a start, told Harry and Ron off for not waking her, and insisted that they go back to the castle. Harry shouldered the Firebolt and he and Ron walked out of the shadowy stadium, discussing the Firebolt's superbly smooth action, its phenomenal acceleration, and its pinpoint turning. They were halfway toward the castle when Harry, glancing to his left, saw something that made his heart turn over — a pair of eyes, gleaming out of the darkness. Harry stopped dead, his heart banging against his ribs. â€Å"What's the matter?† said Ron. Harry pointed. Ron pulled out his wand and muttered, â€Å"Lumos!† A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of a tree, and illuminated its branches; there, crouching among the budding leaves, was Crookshanks. â€Å"Get out of here!† Ron roared, and he stooped down and seized a stone lying on the grass, but before he could do anything else, Crookshanks had vanished with one swish of his long ginger tail. â€Å"See?† Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again. â€Å"She's still letting him wander about wherever he wants — probably washing down Scabbers with a couple of birds now†¦.† Harry didn't say anything. He took a deep breath as relief seeped through him; he had been sure for a moment that those eyes had belonged to the Grim. They set off for the castle once more. slightly ashamed of his moment of panic, Harry didn't say anything to Ron — nor did he look left or right until they had reached the well lit entrance hall. Harry went down to breakfast the next morning with the rest of the boys in his dormitory, all of whom seemed to think the Firebolt deserved a sort of guard of honor. As Harry entered the Great Hall, heads turned in the direction of the Firebolt, and there was a good deal of excited muttering. Harry saw, with enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin team were all looking thunderstruck. â€Å"Did you see his face?† said Ron gleefully, looking back at Malfoy. â€Å"He can't believe it! This is brilliant!† Wood, too, was basking in the reflected glory of the Firebolt. â€Å"Put it here, Harry,† he said, laying the broom in the middle of the table and carefully turning it so that its name faced upward. People from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were soon coming over to look. Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate Harry on having acquired such a superb replacement for his Nimbus, and Percy's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold the Firebolt. â€Å"Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!† said Percy heartily as she examined the Firebolt closely. â€Å"Penelope and I have got a bet on,† he told the team. â€Å"Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!† Penelope put the Firebolt down again, thanked Harry, and went back to her table. â€Å"Harry — make sure you win,† said Percy, in an urgent whisper. â€Å"I haven't got ten Galleons. Yes, I'm coming, Penny!† And he bustled off to join her in a piece of toast. â€Å"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?† said a cold, drawling voice. Draco Malfoy had arrived for a closer look, Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. â€Å"Yeah, reckon so,† said Harry casually. â€Å"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?† said Malfoy, eyes glittering maliciously. â€Å"Shame it doesn't come with a parachute — in case you get too near a Dementor.† Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. â€Å"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy,† said Harry. â€Å"Then it could catch the Snitch for you.† The Gryffindor team laughed loudly. Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed, and he stalked away. They watched him rejoin the rest of the Slytherin team, who put their heads together, no doubt asking Malfoy whether Harry's broom really was a Firebolt. At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team set off for the locker rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze; there would be no visibility problems this time, and Harry, though nervous, was starting to feel the excitement only a Quidditch match could bring. They could hear the rest of the school moving into the stadium beyond. Harry took off his black school robes, removed his wand from his pocket, and stuck it inside the T-shirt he was going to wear under his Quidditch robes. He only hoped he wouldn't need it. He wondered suddenly whether Professor Lupin was in the crowd, watching. â€Å"You know what we've got to do,† said Wood as they prepared to leave the locker rooms. â€Å"If we lose this match, we're out of the running. just — just fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay!† They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was shorter than Harry by about a head, and Harry couldn't help noticing, nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty. She smiled at Harry as the teams faced each other behind their captains, and he felt a slight lurch in the region of his stomach that he didn't think had anything to do with nerves. â€Å"Wood, Davies, shake hands,† Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. â€Å"Mount your brooms †¦ on my whistle †¦ three — two — one –â€Å" Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom; he soared around the stadium and began squinting around for the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, which was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan. â€Å"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship –â€Å" â€Å"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?† interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice. â€Å"Right you are, Professor — just giving a bit of background information — the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and –â€Å" â€Å"Jordan!† â€Å"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor, heading for goal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier — she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction. â€Å"Show her your acceleration, Harry!† Fred yelled as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Alicia. Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goal posts and Cho fell behind. Just as Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, he saw it — the Snitch was close to the ground, flitting near one of the barriers. Harry dived; Cho saw what he was doing and tore after him — Harry was speeding up, excitement flooding him; dives were his specialty, he was ten feet away — Then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial seconds, the Snitch had vanished. There was a great â€Å"Ooooooh† of disappointment from the Gryffindor supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. George Weasley vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludger directly at the offending Beater, who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it. â€Å"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn — Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision — balance is really noticeable in these long –â€Å" â€Å"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!† Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which put Gryffindor only fifty points ahead — if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win. Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a Ravenclaw Chaser, scanning the field frantically — a glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings — the Snitch was circling the Gryffindor goal post†¦ Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead — but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him — â€Å"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!† Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. â€Å"KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!† Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was grinning. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet above the game. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho following him †¦She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitch herself†¦All right, then†¦if she wanted to tail him, she'd have to take the consequences†¦ He dived again, and Cho, thinking he'd seen the Snitch, tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply; she hurtled downward; he rose fast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time — the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end. He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second — then — â€Å"Oh!† screamed Cho, pointing. Distracted, Harry looked down. Three Dementors, three tall, black, hooded Dementors, were looking up at him. He didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, he whipped out his wand and roared, â€Å"Expecto patronum!† Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of his wand. He knew it had shot directly at the Dementors but didn't pause to watch; his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead — he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and just managed to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch. Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Harry turned around in midair and saw six scarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team was hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd. â€Å"That's my boy!† Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd. â€Å"Yes!† Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. â€Å"Yes! Yes!† â€Å"Well done, Harry!† said Percy, looking delighted. â€Å"Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me –â€Å" â€Å"Good for you, Harry!† roared Seamus Finnigan. â€Å"Ruddy brilliant!† boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors. â€Å"That was quite some Patronus,† said a voice in Harry's ear. Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased. â€Å"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!† Harry said excitedly. â€Å"I didn't feel a thing!† â€Å"That would be because they — er — weren't Dementors,† said Professor Lupin. â€Å"Come and see — â€Å" He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field. â€Å"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright,† said Lupin. Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall. â€Å"An unworthy trick!† she was shouting. â€Å"A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!† If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it. â€Å"Come on, Harry!† said George, fighting his way over. â€Å"Party! Gryffindor common room, now!† â€Å"Right,† said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up to the castle. It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George Weasley disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets. â€Å"How did you do that?† squealed Angelina Johnson as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd. â€Å"With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,† Fred muttered in Harry's ear. Only one person wasn't joining in the festivities. Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Harry broke away from the table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottles and went over to her. â€Å"Did you even come to the match?† he asked her. â€Å"Of course I did,† said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. â€Å"And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday.† â€Å"Come on, Hermione, come and have some food,† Harry said, looking over at Ron and wondering whether he was in a good enough mood to bury the hatchet. â€Å"I can't, Harry. I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!† said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. â€Å"Anyway†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She glanced over at Ron too. â€Å"He doesn't want me to join in.† There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly, â€Å"If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them –â€Å" Hermione burst into tears. Before Harry could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight. â€Å"Can't you give her a break?† Harry asked Ron quietly. â€Å"No,† said Ron flatly. â€Å"If she just acted like she was sorry — but she'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation or something.† The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. Harry and Ron climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, exhausted, Harry climbed into bed, twitched the hangings of his four-poster shut to block out a ray of moonlight, lay back, and felt himself almost instantly drifting off to sleep†¦ He had a very strange dream. He was walking through a forest, his Firebolt over his shoulder, following something silvery-white. It was winding its way through the trees ahead, and he could only catch glimpses of it between the leaves. Anxious to catch up with it, he sped up, but as he moved faster, so did his quarry. Harry broke into a run, and ahead he heard hooves gathering speed. Now he was running flat out, and ahead he could hear galloping. Then he turned a corner into a clearing and — â€Å"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!† Harry woke as suddenly as though he'd been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings, he could hear movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan's voice from the other side of the room. â€Å"What's going on?† Harry thought he heard the dormitory door slam. At last finding the divide in his curtains, he ripped them back, and at the same moment, Dean Thomas lit his lamp. Ron was sitting up in bed, the hangings torn from one side, a look of utmost terror on his face. â€Å"Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!† â€Å"You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?† said Dean. â€Å"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!† They all scrambled out of bed; Harry reached the dormitory door first, and they sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them. â€Å"Who shouted?† â€Å"What're you doing?† The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted. â€Å"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?† â€Å"I'm telling you, I saw him!† â€Å"What's all the noise?† â€Å"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!† A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing. â€Å"Excellent, are we carrying on?† said Fred Weasley brightly. â€Å"Everyone back upstairs!† said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke. â€Å"Perce — Sirius Black!† said Ron faintly. â€Å"In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!† The common room went very still. â€Å"Nonsense!† said Percy, looking startled. â€Å"You had too much to eat, Ron — had a nightmare –â€Å" â€Å"I'm telling you –â€Å" â€Å"Now, really, enough's enough!† Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around. â€Å"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!† â€Å"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!† said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. â€Å"I was just telling them all t o get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare –â€Å" â€Å"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!† Ron yelled. â€Å"PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!† Professor McGonagall stared at him. â€Å"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?† â€Å"Ask him!† said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. â€Å"Ask him if he saw –â€Å" Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath. â€Å"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?† â€Å"Certainly, good lady!† cried Sir Cadogan. There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room. â€Å"You — you did?† said Professor McGonagall. â€Å"But — but the password!† â€Å"He had 'em!† said Sir Cadogan proudly. â€Å"Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!† Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk. â€Å"Which person,† she said, her voice shaking, â€Å"which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?† There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.

America and the Articles of Confederation essays

America and the Articles of Confederation essays The new United States had finally gained their freedom from England. With being a new country, they needed to form a new system of government. The Articles of Confederation was adopted then between 1781 to 1789. The Articles of Confederation, I believe, were a "successive failure." Even though the Articles had some successes, there wasn't too many. One of the successes was that the negotiation of the Treaty of Paris, which ended up ending the Revolutionary War. Another successful section was the passage of the Northwest Ordinance. In the Northwest Ordinance, the formal procedure for transforming territories into states was established. The Ordinance included a Bill of Rights, which guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest. The Articles were key to guide the new nation through a critical period of it's beginning. Also through the successes, there were the failures produced by the Articles of Confederation. Measures that were passed by Congress needed to seek the approval of nine out of the thirteen states. Under the Articles, the government was severely limited in its powers. They could not raise money by collecting taxes; they could only ask the states, which did not have give the money. They also had no power over foreign commerce and could not regulate trade between the states. Laws could be passed, but the states could not be forced to agree with them. Since the states did not have to comply, often they did not cooperate. Soldiers were unable to be drafted by the government and states were often asked to provide them willingly. Some of the failures of the Articles had caused a couple of cause and effect circumstances. The inability to pay off the debt had caused the United States to seem less like a nation in the eyes of other countries. Therefore also hurting our ability to borrow mone y from the other countries. States began taxing each other, which c...

About Robert A.M. Stern, Classically Postmodern

About Robert A.M. Stern, Classically Postmodern Hes been called a Postmodernist and also a New Urbanist. He may be a Modern Traditionalist and a New Classicist.   Robert A.M. Stern, certainly a Master Planner and architect/teacher of the 21st century, designs seemingly simple buildings that express affection for the past. Background: Born: May 23, 1939, New York City Full Name: Robert Arthur Morton Stern Education: 1960: Columbia, Bachelors degree1965: Yale, Masters degree in architecture Selected Buildings: 1990: Disney Beach Club Resort, Florida1990: Disney Yacht Club Resort, Florida1993: Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts1996: Disney Boardwalk Resort, Florida1998: Celebration Health, a healthcare facility for Celebration, Florida2003: The Museum Center, The Mark Twain House2004: Miami Beach Library, Miami Beach, Florida2005: Jacksonville Public Library, Florida2006: Federal Courthouse for Richmond, Virginia2008: 15 Central Park West, residential, NYC2008: International Quilt Study Center and Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln2010: One Museum Mile at 1280 Fifth Avenue atop the Museum for African Art, New York City2013: George W. Bush Presidential Center and Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas2016: 30 Park Place (formerly known as 99 Church Street), residential, Tribeca, NYC Product Design: The firm of Robert A.M. Stern Architects employs hundreds of architects, interior designers, and support staff. Product designs include furniture, lighting, fabrics, and other decorative household items. Visit Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP for information on product furnishings as well as an extensive display of architectural projects. Urban Planning: Although well-known for his house designs, Robert A.M. Stern has been involved in vast urban planning projects such as the 1992 renovation of 42nd Street theater block in New York City. Along with architect Jaquelin Robertson, Robert A.M. Stern was the master planner for Celebration, Florida. Other Works: Robert A.M. Stern has served as dean for the Yale School of Architecture since 1998. Stern has written or edited dozens of books about design, including the PBS television series and companion book Pride of Place: Building the American Dream. Books by Stern and Partners at Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA): Robert A. M. Stern: Houses and Gardens, Monacelli Press, 2005Robert A. M. Stern: Buildings Projects 2004-2009, Monacelli Press, 2009Robert A. M. Stern: Buildings and Projects 1999-2003, Monacelli Press, 2004Robert A. M. Stern Architects: Buildings and Projects 2010-2014, Monacelli Press, 2015Robert A. M. Stern: On Campus, Monacelli Press, 2010Designs for Living: Houses by Robert A. M. Stern Architects, Monacelli Press, 2014 Related People: After graduating from Yale, Stern briefly worked as a designer in the office of architect Richard Meier.Architect and urban designer Andres Duany once worked for Stern.Tom Piper of the Checkerboard Film Foundation made a documentary film in 2011 entitled Robert A.M Stern: 15 Central Park West and the History of the New York Apartment HouseBuy on Amazon Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP: RAMSA460 West 34th StreetNew York, NY 10001 Web Site:Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP About Robert A. M. Stern: New York architect Robert A. M. Stern takes history to heart. A postmodernist, he creates buildings that express affection for the past. Stern served on The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors from 1992 to 2003 and has designed many buildings for The Walt Disney Company. Robert A.M. Sterns Boardwalk at Disney World suggests an American seaside village from the early 20th century. The buildings illustrate the evolution of architectural styles from the Victorian to the Vienna Secessionist movement. The mini-village is not intended to be historically exact rather, it presents a dream-like walk past artifacts from several eras. There is an ice cream parlor, a piano bar, a 1930s dance hall, a vintage roller-coaster, and an authentic 1920s carousel. Across Crescent Lake from Boardwalk, the Yacht and Beach Club hotels were also designed by Robert A.M. Stern. The Yacht Club is modeled after Victorian Shingle architecture, a rustic yet elegant fashion on Americas Atlantic coast at the turn of the century. The Beach Club is an informal, sprawling wood structure which also reflects 19th century American resort architecture. When Stern envisioned the Casting Center, an employee training area on Route I-4 near Orlando, Florida, he wanted to express the spirit of Disney, and also to reflect the Florida locale. The result is a building that resembles a Venetian Palazzo, yet contains whimsical Disneyesque details. Hence, classical columns are topped with gold leaf Disney characters.

Effects of Divorce on Children's Achievements in School Research Proposal

Effects of Divorce on Children's Achievements in School - Research Proposal Example The present study makes an attempt to study the consequences of divorce on the child's education and academic achievement as compared to their previous academic records. The present study is a descriptive study because it involves comparison of previous existing academic records about the students and comparing the same with the latest records which will help to analyze the effect of divorce on their academic brilliance. The development of society has led to many changes in the lives of people. The new age of information has resulted in changing attitudes with regard to their approach towards life and relationship which was earlier a bonding of different lives. The approach, the present paper highlights is about divorce which is ever increasing in developed countries, but developing nations are not left behind as the trend is followed over there too. Divorce is technically the formal dissolution of marriage which is more often conceived as the catalyst for the increasing family fragmentation characterizing contemporary western societies. It is further important to mention that divorce reflects the changing societal values and norms concerning marriage, gender, children, parenting and care giving (David Clarke, 2007). According to Bane (cited in Hetherington, Cox and Cox, 1982) high rate of divorce per se is not a matter for concern in a society that values individual choice, even though some of the consequences may warrant societal attention. Divorce, in legal terms, is an end to marriage but the separation has greater impact on various factors which also includes children's welfare, education and their academic and social development. According to Bumpass (cited in Keith and Finlay, 1988), the increasing prevalence of divorce involving children is an important topic which needs to be studied over the period of time so as to ascertain the effects of divorce on their academic achievements. Some of the previous studies with regard to effects of divorce on children's education have led to a conclusion that there is no significant effect once adequate controls for social class are introduced. In a longitudinal study carried out by Cherlin, Furstenberg, Chase-Lansdale, Kiernan, Robins, Morrison and Teitler (1991) it was revealed that the academic performance of the children, both boys and girls, has reduced as compared to their previous performance when their parents didn't separat ed. However it is pertinent to mention here that the effect of divorce in girls was minimal as compared to that of boys. An early research into the effects of divorce on young minds by Judith Wallerstein and her colleagues which included 60 divorced couples and their 131 children, it was revealed that almost half of the participants were characterized as worried, underachieving, self deprecating and sometimes angry young man and women (Weiten, Lloyd, Dunn and Hammer, 2008). Research Methodology Research is a way of thinking, critically examining the various aspects of the subject being studied, understanding and formulating guiding principles that govern a particular procedure; and developing and testing new theories (Kumar, 2005).

Investment management strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment management strategies - Essay Example The correlation coefficient between the daily stock return in each portfolio is also calculated and combined with the standard deviations in a covariance matrix to calculate the variance and standard deviation for each portfolio. Sensitivity analysis is also carried out by changing the weights of each stock in the portfolio to see how the performance changes. The variance and thus the standard deviation are far more difficult to calculate because the variance of a portfolio is not simply a weighted average of the individual variances of the stocks included in the portfolio except for the special case where the individual stock returns are uncorrelated with one another. The variance for a two stock portfolio is given by: We need to set up a covariance matrix to bordered covariance matrix to be able to calculate the 1variance and standard deviation for a portfolio of more than two stocks. For a three stock portfolio the bordered covariance matrix can be written as follows (Bodie et al., 2002): The portfolio variance is calculated from the above nine terms by multiplying the bordered weights by the corresponding covariance and then summing the different terms. The standard deviation is calculated by taking the square root of the variance. From the table above, the variance is given by: (3) and the standard deviation of the portfolio is given by: (4) The covariance matrix in table 1 above can be extended to any number of stocks. Haven discussed how to calculate the expected return on portfolio, the variance and standard deviation; we now apply the above models to the U.S and Australian portfolios. Std. Dev (%) Ave Ret (%) Citi Group Inc. 3.58 -0.03 American Express 2.99 0.26 Motorola Inc 2.25 -0.30 Boeing Co. 1.85 -0.38 McDonalds Corp 1.45 -0.44 Coca Cola 0.91 -0.34 Table two above show the standard deviation and average return of each of the stocks included in the U.S portfolio over the period under study (details of the calculations are found in the attached excel file). To be able to calculate the covariance between the different stocks, we need to know the correlation coefficients between the different stocks. We use the correlation function in Excel to calculate the correlation coefficient between the different stocks. Doing this we obtain the following correlation matrix for the different stocks: Table 2: Correlation matrix (U.S Portfolio) Citigroup Inc. American Express Motorola Inc Boeing Co. McDonalds Corp Coca Cola Citi Group Inc. 1.00 0.90 0.54 0.74 0.78 0.25 American Express 0.90 1.00 0.64 0.78 0.87 0.34 Motorola Inc 0.54 0.64 1.00 0.37 0.53 0.23 Boeing Co. 0.74 0.78 0.37 1.00 0.72 0.16 McDonalds Corp 0.78 0.87 0.53 0.72 1.00 0.31 Coca Cola Co. 0.25 0.34 0.23 0.16 0.31 1.00 To obtain the covariance matrix we use the following formula formula to calculate the