The Classification Of Learning Strategies English Language Essay

The Classification Of Learning Strategies English Language Essay Interest in the characteristics of good learners led researchers to identify learning strategies. Learners are different because of their internal differences and the role played by the external factors. Among these differences are the strategies used by learners (Griffiths and Parr, 2001, p 249). In some researches the terms strategies and skills are used synonymously à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦skills and strategies such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Drake, 2008, p 8), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦skills/ strategiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Lu, 2006, p ii). In other researches, skills are differentiated from strategies. Skills are defined as acquired abilities, proficiencies (Harris and Hodges 1981, 298) and a mode(s) or manner(s) in which language is used (Richards et al. 1985, 160) and they are used to perform well (Hudson, 2007, p 78). In (Griffiths, 2004) strategies are defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾devicesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Ellis 1986; Rubin 1975), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾techniquesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Rubin 1975), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾operations, stepsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (OMalley et al 1985), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾directionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Stern 1992) and are used to acquire (Rubin 1975) to facilitate, (OMalley et al 1985), and to compensate (Ellis 1986). Strategies are also different from skills in that they are used consciously (Nuttall, 1996). Because they are tools, strategies are assumed to dominate over skills (OMalley et al., 1985, p 557). In this work, the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾strategiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ is used to refer to the systematic ways which are consciously used by the readers to guide and enhance their reading processes. 2.6.1 Classification of learning strategies Researchers have tried to produce lists of learning strategies. Classification of learning strategies has primarily followed the theory of cognition, which is concerned with the way the brain works to process and call information back (Macaro, 2001). Rubin (1975) defined learning strategies as the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge. She divided these techniques or devices into Direct Learning Strategies and Indirect Learning Strategies. Direct Strategies are directly related to the items or issues being learned. They are clarification/verification, monitoring, memorisation, guessing/inductive inferencing, deductive reasoning, and practice. Indirect Learning Strategies are concerned with learning environment adaptation: creating opportunities for practice, and production tricks (Hismanoglu, 2000). Rubinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s (1975) classification reflects an interest in the relationship between the strategies used on one hand and learning processes and learning-environment adaptation on the other. In a later study, Wenden and Rubin (1987) learning strategies were classified into cognitive strategies and self-management strategies (Gamage, 2003). While cognitive strategies are concerned with the procedure used by the learner to process the information received, self-management strategies involve controlling the learning process itself. Using the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾self-managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ highlights the conscious use of the strategies. Social and affective factors were introduced in the classification presented by OMalley and Chamot (1990). They classified language-learning strategies into Cognitive strategies, Metacognitive strategies and Social/ Affective strategies (OMalley and Chamot, 1990, pp 44, 45). Cognitive strategies are relevant to the learning activities used by the learners to process new information. Metacognitive strategies are the activities which reflect a learners knowledge and management of his/ her learning process. Finally, Social/Affective strategies account for the social and affective aspects related to learning such as interacting with other people or controlling oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s own feelings while learning. Oxford (1990) developed the so-called Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) which also apply to teaching. In this inventory, she divided strategies into main groups: Direct strategies and Indirect strategies. She divided these two major groups into six subgroups. 1) Direct Strategies: Cognitive Strategies (practicing, receiving and sending messages, analysing and reasoning, and creating structure for input and output) Metacognitive Strategies (centring learning, arranging and planning learning, and evaluating learning) Memory Strategies (creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds, reviewing, and employing action) 2) Indirect Strategies: Compensation Strategies (guessing intelligently, and overcoming limitations) Social Strategies (asking questions, cooperating with others, and empathising with others) Affective Strategies (lowering anxiety, encouraging oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s self, and taking emotional temperature) (Oxford, 1990, p 17) This classification of strategies can be considered the most detailed one because of its headings and subheadings. 2.7 Reading strategies Reading strategies are defined as readersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ conscious use (Nuttall, 1996, p 40) of techniques, operations or steps a learner takes to conceive a task, what textual cues they attend to, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand (Block, 1986, p 465). Doing so, readers should be aware of the strategies used and how to control them when they read (Paris et al., 1986, pp 92- 108). L1 reading studies constituted the base of reading studies in general.and the results and procedures were extended to cover L2 studies. Grabe and Stoller (2002) point out that foreign language teachers should assist students to transfer L1 reading strategies and to gain sufficient L2 proficiency (pp 84, 85). Studies of L1 reading strategies have usually concentrated on describing and listing the characteristics and strategies that distinguish good readers from poor readers and on the factors or reasons that may affect the reading process. Olshavsky (1976/1977) studied the effect of reading material and interest in reading strategy use for 24 tenth grade students while they were trying to comprehend a short story. The results revealed that both good readers and poor readers used the same strategies; however, readers with high interest in the material used strategies more frequently than did readers with low interest. In relation to the material, readers used more strategies when engaged in abstract material. Thus, it can be concluded that the kind of material and readers interest affect the number of the strategies used. Hosenfeld (1977) compared the strategies used by good readers and poor readers. The subjects were 40 students out of the 210 students who administered MLA-Cooperative Test of Reading Proficiency in Western New York. Twenty of the subjects scored high (32-45), and the other twenty scored low (13-19). The researcher concluded that good readers are characterised by keeping the meaning of the passage in mind as they read, reading in broad phrases, skipping words that are considered unimportant and unknown, looking up words, correctly, in the glossary as a last resort, and having a positive self-image as a reader. This study reveals that good readers are strategic and make use of their working memory. Some studies investigated certain strategies rather than describing the general characteristics of the reader. Kavale and Schreiner (1979) compared the way reasoning strategies were used by eight average and eight above-average readers who were selected from sixth grade population in a suburban public elementary school based on their scores in the Comprehension section of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. Although the two levels used similar strategies, above- average readers used strategies more efficiently and successfully. Moreover, they realised that the above-average readers used strategies flexibly and sought alternatives when they needed to. In this study, it seems that the difference between the readers is not the number or kind of strategies used rather it is a matter of efficiency and flexibility. Studies also investigated the use of a group of strategies to achieve one purpose. Afflerbach (1990) investigated the strategies used to construct the main idea of difficult texts, and the contribution of prior knowledge to strategy use. The participants were eight (four anthropology doctoral students, four chemistry doctoral students) who had relatively high background knowledge in their own field, and relatively low knowledge in the other field. The two texts used in this study were from two different knowledge domains: anthropology and chemistry. In this study, the topic sentences were removed from the texts. He noticed that four strategies were used: Draft-and-Revision, Topic/ Comment, Initial Hypothesis, and Listing. In Draft-and-Revision, the reader jots down an idea, judges it, then when it proves to be wrong, it is revised. The second strategy is Topic/ Comment, in which the reader highlights a topic and comments on it. The third is generating an Initial Hypothesis based on the title, the first sentence, or skimming the text; then testing the accuracy of th e hypothesis and modifying it. The final strategy is Listing where the related words, concepts, or ideas are grouped together. It was also noticed that familiarity with the text generated its automatic processing (Afflerbach, 1990, p 33). This may suggest a relationship between automaticity and prior knowledge. The strategies used can also be affected by level of difficulty. Kletzien (1991) compared the strategies used by good readers and poor readers as they were presented with texts that varied in difficulty. The 48 participants in this study were 10th and 11th grade students at a suburban high school in the U.S. Twenty four of these subjects were good comprehenders while the others were poor comprehenders. She observed that both groups used the same type and number of strategies when the text introduced suited groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s level. However, poor readers used fewer strategies than the good readers as the texts became more difficult. Macaro (2001) also reported that good readers do not get anxious when they do not understand (Macaro, 2001, pp 86, 88). Kozminsky and Kozminsky (2001) explored the relationship between general knowledge and skills in applying reading strategies on one hand and reading comprehension on the other. The participants were 205 ninth-graders in two comprehensive high schools in a city in southern Israel. Thirty four subjects were expected to successfully complete the full high school programme and full course of the national matriculation examinations, 128 were expected to get the diploma and take a few of the national matriculation examinations, 21 students were expected to complete the high school programme and obtain a diploma, and finally 22 were expected to complete twelve years of schooling to obtain a diploma. In this study, the researchers concluded that general knowledge and the ability to apply reading strategies contribute to reading comprehension. However, this contribution varied because of the differences in the educational level of the students (academic, semi-academic, vocational, and learning disabilities). Through think-aloud protocol and interviews, Lau (2006) highlighted the difference in the reading strategies used by four good and four poor Chinese readers. These subjects were in eighth grade in Hong Kong. The researcher realised that good readers are characterised by their knowledge of vocabulary and strategies, their abundant use of the strategies, and their memory capacity whereas poor readers lack these characteristics. L2 reading proficiency can also affect metacognitive strategies. Koli -Vehovec and BajÃ…Â ¡anski (2007) explored comprehension monitoring of bilingual (Croatian native speaking) students at different levels of perceived proficiency in Italian. They noted that proficient students in a second language showed greater mastery of monitoring skills than the less proficient students, and that monitoring contributed to reading comprehension in higher elementary school. These studies show that good readers are characterised by their knowledge of vocabulary and their working memory capacity. These characteristics helped them use reading strategies more efficiently and flexibly than poor readers. Lack of these abilities and prior knowledge about the reading material, and textsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ levels of difficulty affected poor readersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ achievement negatively. The strategies mentioned in the above studies can be grouped into three categories: tools used in the reading process, manipulation of reading material and planning and monitoring of reading process. The following table summarises that.

Research Paper: CalREN Systems

Research Paper: CalREN Systems Introduction: The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) projected that they the state of California can achieve greater heights if they give it a better and more improved internet. On April 9, CENIC announced that they had talked with the technology giants and are working on the same project and those partners are going to provide all the hardware and communication technology to create a more robust network for California known as CalREN-2 which would be high performance internet for the California. The high-speed networking hardware such as routing and switching equipment will be provided by Cisco System, Pacific Bell Communications. California Research and Education Network (CalREN) is amongst the most powerful technology tool California has in its sleeves. The network infrastructure is a multitiered network with around 3,800 miles of fiber optic connecting over ten thousand educational and research institutes and universities like California State, Stanford, USC and community colleges to 58 counties of California. The CalREN system is completely owned and monitored by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), a non-profit organization which was established in 1996 by the various education and research communities from California to create a very high bandwidth and efficient solution to networking that would meet the needs of the faculty and all students which belong to these various schools and universities. Goals: CalREN is completely monitored by the CENIC now and has new goals to achieve high quality video conferencing to the classes to let students receive high quality education in real-time at all levels even if the faculty is not currently present in the city, state or nation. This would also connect many scientists around the globe to this existing high bandwidth network. With CalREN, various artists could take live stream classes of the production house from institution like San Francisco Opera from any part of the world. The San Francisco would create an online video classes to students throughout the world and would share these libraries so that all the musicians could learn music via special software or any streaming media. Recently, Los Angeles has also been added to CalREN system in 2016. Backbone: The CalREN backbone provides various capabilities to the network as follows: CalREN-DC: The Digital California is presented for everyday applications like video conferencing, emails, web browsing etc with a bandwidth of 10 Gbps to the students and faculty. CalREN-HPR: The High-Performance Research network which is used for applications with high data needs. This is a high-end network with a speed of 40Gbps. CalREN-XD: The eXperimental/Developmental network is a support network to other services for network research in universities like University of Southern California, Advanced Computing Research at Caltech etc. This is to have a focused perspective on research and innovation on the network.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Backbone image from, http://cenic.org/network/network-maps The Central Valley Next Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project (CVNGBIP): The Central Valley Next Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project (CVNGBIP) was implemented to provide internet connectivity in 18 counties. Only 8% of the nations agricultural output is produced by the central valley. This kind of a strong and robust infrastructure network was implemented because central valley was still not completely connected to the internet. This was possible because of a vision in mind next generation connectivity where people living in those counties can learn things in a different way leaving the traditional way of learning behind where people used to ask each other for tips and methods. This is when two organizations CENIC and Central Valley Independent Network (CVIN) came together forming a joint venture making this like a dream come true and provide a better future to the people. The service also aims to keep the cost of the internet service as low as possible to help the schools, universities hospitals etc. to take as much as profit they can. The project was funded by NTIA (70%), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)s CAS Fund (10%) and the rest form other parties and the total amount is to be estimated at around 66 million involving 1,371 miles of cabling and connecting businesses together. California Library Initiatives: There are various initiatives by the California libraries. Video conferencing, emailing, and public research to schools and colleges are enhancing the learning possibilities at higher level. Many benefits and innovative ideas are initiated at the Public libraries making them abundant possibilities to achieve more in the coming future. Therefore, merging these libraries with CalREN would be an addition to the feature and service provided in digital age where everything and everyone is connected. Pacific Research Platform (PRP) initiative: Pacific Research Platform (PRP) is an initiative carried forward by UC San Diego and Berkeley which would help the college network for data access to be much faster than it is today within a few years. There is also a 5 million dollars funding for the initiative from the National Science Foundation (NSF). this would help the PRP with this grant. Quality of Service (QoS): Quality of Service (QoS) is the service provided by the network service provider that would affect the overall accessibility of the computer while performing certain task related to the internet connectivity. It is generally used to measure overall network performance over few characteristics like bandwidth, transmission delay etc. CalREN is a very high bandwidth network that provides is vital services to various research institutes throughout California hence, making quality of service a very important aspect to CalREN system. 100 Gigabit Ethernet connections: To achieve superfast speed for faster data travel, we need a higher capacity bandwidth. This is all possible by implementing and installing 100 Gigabit Ethernet connections that support lightning fast transmission over fibers or over the air. This is achieved with framerate of 100 gigabits per second bandwidth providing services to laboratories and research centers where there are supercomputers that can use this huge capacity bandwidth along other big facilities. A supercomputer in San Diego is using this speed and is connected to CalREN system. Network Operations Center (NOC): Network Operations Center is a building or a place where all the network connections are monitored, managed and if possible or need arises are also troubleshoot so that to avoid any possible chances of network failure or unavailability of the service. CalREN uses a multitiered network as we discussed earlier that allows access to many universities and research centers throughout California. This is where NOC would play important role in the system to manage and troubleshoot the network in any such cases. Applications for CalREN: On march 2006, at the CENIC workshop, iGrid showcased and important application of CalREN to the people. It was an experimental real-time broadcast of very high quality 4K video that was very much improved over our conventional televisions. They were also awarded networking innovation award. There was an issue with the video over the internet protocol on the CalREN-DC network. To trouble shoot the problem they adapted the new codec for the video broadcast throughout the CalREN system. Since the new codec was transmitted through packets, high quality of service was a concern which can be overlooked if we use the CalREN systems high speed network. K20 Video: CalREN is supporting this project by providing high speed internet connections. K20 video is an adaptation of video conferencing technology throughout the state with the collaboration of all K12, University of California and California State University sites. This is achieved by improving the distance learning scheme by providing high quality video services to all the students and faculties. End-sites connected to CalREN-DC network: There are 34 end sites to the CalREN-DC network. Everyone are using optical fiber for their access technology. The capacity provided to the end-sites is more than sufficient as we can see that some of the sites are underutilized and need proper resource management as most of the resource are wasted. End-sites connected to CVNGBIP network: There are many things that are carried forward in the fields of health care, business and residential with more than 63000 access lines. they are also using optical fibers for their access technology. SLA performance guarantees of CALREN: The SLA performance guarantees are as of November 2006. Implementing ticketing system to the educational institution with 99% availability. Various means of deployment would be assigned and operations to be performed to avoid outages. The jitter form central point to Los Angles for round-trip time should not be over 80 ms in 5 minutes. SLAs will be forced in all regions of network deployment such as fibers, routers etc. and use third party equipment to solve the problem.The problem can also be rectified by mailing to [emailprotected] to choose appropriate actions necessary. All the performance guarantees seem reasonable as there is a definite time to resolve any issue and rectify the problem using the ticketing system that is very efficient everywhere in communications business. Hierarchy in CalREN: CalREN is a multitiered network with 3 tiers. CalREN-XD with experimental or developmental abilities, CalREN-HPR for big applications and CalREN-DC with 10gbps bandwidth for research institutes and video conferencing uses. The CalREN-DC would consist of 3 level hierarchy network as a final design. One will be hub sites following with level two as nodes sites and all these node sites connected to CalREN infrastructure where all the schools, colleges and universities will be connected to each other for information Backbone Locations: The backbone locations for the CalREN are Corning, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Fergus, Sunnyvale, Fresno, Soledad, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Tustin, and San Diego. Most of the sites are reasonable but Tustin could be dropped as it can share resources from either of the two Los Angeles or Riverside. In future, maybe we can add San Jose or Palo Alto as it is booming in I.T infrastructure and the data availability would be much more and easy to troubleshoot. CSUEB to CalREN: Following are the links that connect CSU East Bay to CalREN: Link Speed Average Utilization [eb-csu] 10G DF to svl-agg4 Te0/7/0/4.212 CLR 6378 10 Gbps 9.8% [eb-csu] 10G DF to oak-agg4 Te0/4/0/7.208 CLR-6366 10 Gbps 10.3% To take full advantage of the bandwidth we could start features like online classes where a student could also attend classes if he/she is sick and cannot be physically present at the lectures or this could be also helpful to the students who need accessibility services. Also, keeping the bandwidth use in mind, we could also upload our video presentations over the network that could be asked to be rated or grades accordingly by our classmates. Comparing CalREN2 with SoX: Southern Crossroads (SoX) is an organization that provides high capacity internet service with global connectivity in Atlanta. It serves with internet2 to provide international research access.by the help of its supporters, SoX can implement a very low cost internet service in the whole Atlanta area. Comparing it to CalREN, SoX supports k-12 education as well as federal agencies in the united states. Similarly, CalREN is also powering research in various field in networking and development for the institutes. Conclusion: The CalREN system is an excellent design and the robust characteristic makes it a strong and better solution to form of higher level learning with technology. Few Strengths of CalREN is that the infrastructure is focused on various educational institutes and research facilities. Helping public libraries join CalREN is a brilliant step towards achieving that goals per the situation. CalREN also has few weaknesses amongst itself. We have seen that the backbone supports the CalREN which is a good thing but most of the links are underutilized which can be improved drastically over a period. Few of the resources could also be shared among sites which are close to each other saving expensive resource. References: http://www.cvngbip.org http://cenic.org/network/library-initiative http://cenic.org/files/publications/2011-13CENICAR.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Gigabit_Ethernet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_operations_center http://www.sunnycv.com/steve/local/pacific/art980408.html http://cenic.org/network/network-maps http://cenic.org/network/service-level-expectations http://prp.ucsd.edu/ http://www.sox.net/about-us/ https://intermapper.engineering.cenic.org/CENIC%20-%20DC%20Backbone%20Overview/document/_/full_screen.html

The Fight for Racial Equality In North Carolina Essay -- essays resear

Plessy vs. Ferguson was a landmark decision passed in 1896 that instituted the practice of 'separate but equal' in American society. The 'separate but equal' doctrine was an oppressive system of racial segregation which greatly lessened the rights of all minorities especially in public education. The fight for educational equality made public schools in North Carolina and other states in the south a major area of conflict. Wilma Peebles-Wilkins noted, 'Upward mobility through the educational structure is in keeping with the desires of post-World War II black Americans to enhance their economic, political, and social statuses.' There were many court cases in which organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and private citizens questioned the constitutionality of the dehumanizing practice of 'separate but equal'. The cases were filled on the pretence that segregation was not equal among the races which was a direct violation o f the 14 Amendment of the constitution of the United States. After many noteworthy attempts to end segregation, on May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States of America rendered the Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas decision which ruled that ?segregated schools were inherently unequal.? The fight for equality and civil rights had been a long battle fought in America. Although a great victory had been won for minorities in America a greater battle was yet to come regarding the unwillingness of many states such as North Carolina to fail to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. According to Nelson H. Harris,? The Negro in North Carolina and other states has been forced to face all kinds of prejudices, hatred, contempt and discrimi... ...sion also leads to more turmoil within North Carolina. On February 14, 1969 150 blacks from Hyde County, joined by 800 students from Shaw and Saint Augustine College protested an integration policy that would close two of their school in Raleigh. The demonstrators walked over four miles and spent over two hours protesting around the capital and education building. Leaders of the movement had a promising conversation with Dr. Craig Phillips, The State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Superintendent Phillips stated that ?He hoped to persuade the Hyde County School authorities to return temporarily to a freedom of choice plan that would enable the Negro children to return to school next week.? Attempts of policy makers to abide by the Brown Decision and advocate for fair integration plan ultimaley ended the fight for integration in North Carolina.

Ways of Racial Categorizing Essay -- Racial Relations, Discrimination

What is discrimination? Discrimination is a combination of representation, stereotyping and ideology set by society to rank different groups of people. In an excerpt of â€Å"The Woman in the Window†, Ramona Lowe shows that there is a racial discrimination toward African-Americans in America. The story focuses on Mrs. Jackson, an African-American who lives in the north, and the struggles she faces at her work place. She was hired to cook in front of a restaurant window dressing as a stereotypical â€Å"Southern mammy† (Lowe 3) to attract customers. While cooking in front of the restaurant window, Mrs. Jackson was laughed at by a group of white kids who called her â€Å"Aunt Jemima and nigger† (Lowe 3). Clearly, Mrs. Jackson was mistreated because the society she lives in ranks her race, Black, lower than her bosses', which is white. Lowe’s short story, â€Å"The Woman in the Window†, demonstrates a racial discrimination against Blacks during the 194 0s by incorporating representation, stereotyping and ideology in the text. In order to illustrate the segregation of African-American, Lowe uses representation in her work. The characters in the story represent a social status based on race: the owners, Mr. Parsons and Kraft, represent the high-class and Mrs. Jackson represents the low-class. First, let’s discuss how Lowe shows the audience that Mr. Parsons and Kraft represent the high-class. For instance, the narrator frequently refers to Mr. Parsons and Kraft as â€Å"the proprietor† (Lowe 2) but always refers to Mrs. Jackson as herself. By using the word â€Å"proprietor† instead of their names, Lowe shows a separation between Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Parsons and Kraft. This use of word declares that the owners are a representation of high-class. They are different... ... So by using ideology, Lowe can reveal the racial discrimination against Blacks. After the establishment of the Jim Crow law, America faces the problem of African-American segregation. An excerpt from Ramona Lowe’s short story, â€Å"The Woman in the Window†, demonstrates a racial discrimination against Blacks during the 1940s by incorporating representation, stereotyping and ideology. First of all, the representation of the owners as high-class and Mrs. Jackson as low-class shows that representation can be use to demonstrate racial discrimination. Secondly, the owners’ assumption that Mrs. Jackson is from Georgia and that she needs money proves that stereotyping can be use to demonstrate racial discrimination. Lastly, the white children laughing and calling Mrs. Jackson â€Å"Aunt Jimima and nigger† is evidence that ideology can be use to demonstrate racial discrimination.

A Complete Cleopatra Essays -- Cleopatra Different Perspectives Essays

A Complete Cleopatra In the tragic play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare comments, â€Å"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other word would smell as sweet† (2.1.85-86). A word can have many meanings depending on a person’s perspective. Cleopatra is a â€Å"rose† that has been depicted under many names. Throughout history numerous authors have sought to depict her character and their differing opinions have made her name one which resounds in very different ways. The Roman historian Plutarch created Cleopatra the political manipulator; John Dryden illustrated Cleopatra the ultimate sexual woman; George Bernard Shaw offered Cleopatra the uneducated impetuous young child-queen; and, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote of Cleopatra the martyr of love. The character of Cleopatra presented by Shakespeare is a complex combination of each of these traits and is thus the most memorable and meaningful depiction. The Cleopatra that emerges from Plutarch’s writing is a manipulative and scheming political woman who dominates both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. In his Roman Lives, Plutarch offers a biased historical account of Mark Anthony with frequent references to Cleopatra. According to M.S. Mason, Plutarch does not fulfill his role as an objective historian and deliberately vilifies the character of Cleopatra (Mason). It is almost a completely negative portrayal of the Egyptian queen. She is referred to as a â€Å"charmer† (Waterfield 343) with â€Å"devastating effects on Caesar† (514). Her â€Å"eloquence [and] argumentative cunning† (382) are described as a means of drugging and bewitching her men (392). Plutarch describes one situation when Cleopatra is afraid of Octavia’s political power and she goes about weeping and starving herself to manipulate... ...the Egyptian queen, it can be found in the character that emerges in Antony and Cleopatra. Bibliography: Bernard Shaw, George. Three Plays for Puritans. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2000. Greenblatt, Stephen, ed. The Norton Shakespeare: Tragedies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1997. Helvarg, David. â€Å"Cleopatra: What Kind of a Woman Was She, Anyway?† American Theatre 14:4 (Apr. 1997): 5-8. Jones, Chris. â€Å"Still Seductive After All These Years.† American Theatre 14.4 (Apr. 1997): 4. Mason, M.S. â€Å"The Allure of Cleopatra.† Christian Science Monitor 93.297 (25 Jan. 2002): 13. Noyes, George R., ed. Selected Dramas of John Dryden. Chicago: Scott, Foresman & Company, 1910. Percival, Florence. Chaucer’s Legendary Good Women. New York: Cambridge UP, 1998. Waterfield, Robin, trans. Plutarch: Roman Lives. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.

WEARABLE COMPUTING :: Essays Papers

WEARABLE COMPUTING Wearable computing is the next step to the computer revolutionary world. At MIThril lab, they are working on a wearable computer. Like a sleeveless winter coat or a sweater, they are working toward they goal. With the complicated project, they don’t know the finishing line yet. But with every step the MIThril team takes, they freely document and post on the web for worldwide access. The name MIThril derives from the fictional classic The Hobbit and Lord of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. As comfortable and unnoticeable as the Dwarves’ ring-mail tunic, MIThril’s team promises our gifted society the future clothes of electronic. The world exists where people no longer wear just clothes, but a person wears a watch or a shirt that is always functioning and require a minimum of the wearer’s attention. Laptops are no longer need because with wearable computer on him why needs of a lab top. MIThril’s vision of this project is to provide our gifted society with a better way to computing. Laptops are the thing of the past; wearable computer is the step to the future. Their main goal toward this futuristic project is to create a power computer, running Linux operating system, that is lightweight, unobtrusive, reliable, and always doing its job. The MIThril design is based on the use of one or more low power computing cores, each of which is capable or running a full-blown operating system. It is going to be there whenever a user needs. There is no need to carry a compatible, but a simple display vision on the user class. The military is looking forward to have a full combat package for their trained soldiers. The soldiers will have advantage with high tech in the field. MIThril task is to make a wearable computer as unnoticeable and light as possible. There are not kits for marketing, but an easy and clear document available to anyone who is willing to attempt of making one himself. This is a task that gets people to get involved and make a wearable computer to be worldwide.

Cormyr :: Essays Papers

Cormyr I chose this particular book mainly because of the authors. I have read previous books written by them and I liked their works. Another thing that caught my attention was the size of the book. I have never read anything larger than 300 pages. The name of this book is called Cormyr, the book was called this because it is the entire the history and present happenings of Cormyr. Cormyr sticks to a general plot that highlights many problems that eventually â€Å"spell the end of Cormyr†. The book tells a story in the present and at the same time constantly reflects the history that got them there. I would not suggest a different title, the title reflects accurately what the book is about. In the story of Cormyr, the author conveys over and over how history always seems to repeats itself. I believe the authors’ purpose in writing this book was to explain a theory in an entertaining fashion. I do not know much more about the author except that my brother told me that Ed Greenwood writes good stories. The story takes place between –400 DR and 1369 DR. I know this because the heading of all the chapters have a date included. For reference –400 DR could be compared to our Bronze age and 1369 DR would be compared to our Medieval era. The story of Cormyr takes place on a magical continent called Toril. Cormyr is located towards the center of the land near a fairly large body of water called the Sea of Swords. I know this because many battles take place along the Sea of Swords. The story setting is very effective for those who read this kind of material. Cormyr is a magical land based on a system of kingdoms, fiefdoms, and ancient battles. The feeling that the author creates would not be the same if the setting had been anywhere else. For example, if her had tried a oriental setting, the same system of government would not apply and many of the characters would not be able to act the same without changing the atmosphere of the story. The main characters in Cormyr are Baureble, King Azoun IV, Vangerdahast, Princess Tanalasta, Aunadar Bleth. Baureble is the founding wizard of Cormyr, he is the first to settle the land and the first to make peace with the elves.