Notes: Meaning of Life and Distinguished Indian Writer

R. K. Narayan (1906-2001) is one of the most famous and distinguished Indian writer in English. He had a fine insight into various aspects on the lives of the poor and the middle class people, particularly in South India. He makes the dull and common place events more interesting and this essay is one such essay. In a writing career that spanned over sixty years, Narayan received many awards and honours. His writings are full of humour. In this essay he explains the advantages of headache.A blessing for Mankind: R. K. Narayan explains how headache conferred on mankind as a blessing by a benign providence and also talks about the usefulness of headache to avoid difficult situations. He later narrates an incident in his school life about the letter writing exercise, where his teacher used headache as a cause in the specimen letter. He always wondered what made his teacher to select for headache as a cause even in a specimen letter.Later he talks about the drill class during his school days and how students usually mentioned ‘headache’ as an excuse for avoiding the drill class after the school hours. One day the instructor asked all the students suffering from headache to hold their arms. For many students it raised large hope. The instructor also added that he was going to give them some special exercise to cure their splitting headache. Not even a boy raised his arms. Thus the instructor put an end to that problem. Touch of Importance:Headache gives the sufferer a touch of importance because it can be mentioned in any social gathering and is well taken. No other pain can be so openly mentioned with freedom from punishment. Other aches sound crude and bad which cannot be mentioned in publish and thus headache helps us to avoid many embarrassing situation. What is indisposition? Indisposition is a superior expression; it can be used only by eminent people. R. K. Narayan was really concerned about finding the real meaning of the word indisposition sinc e it is very vague and confusing.He feels that he was not able to understand the meaning of the word indisposition except that it sounds very well in press notes or health bulletins or in messages from eminent men to gatherings to which they have been invited. It cannot be written directly and it will sound better in the third person. A gentlemen is an eminent one, has a secretary or a deputy who can speak for him. For example a gentleman regrets his inability to attend the meeting today owing to indisposition (sickness or unwillingness).People will understand and accept the statement and will not question the concerned person. R. K. Narayan wants to know the perfect meaning of indisposition. Is the concerned person down with flu or malaria or cold or rheumatism (pain in joints and muscles)? He feels that the word indisposition could be used only at a particular level, not by all and if a school boy says â€Å"As I am indisposed, I want to be let off†, he will have his ears t wisted for his intelligence beyond his age. Headache as an excuse:If we openly say that we want to avoid the situation or an important meeting, people will get angry. No one has really got courage to tell that he/she is not willing to attend a meeting or a social gathering. The world is not yet ripe for such outspokenness and frankness. So we safely use headache as an excuse. At home, headache is used as an excuse to avoid many uncomfortable situations. The mother-in-law, who is angry with the daughter-in-law, uses it to avoid food. The son, who does not want to take his wife out, gives headache as an excuse.The boy, who has skipped his homework, claims headache in order to avoid his tutor and to send him back away. The cultured existence is not to interfere too deeply, but to accept the face value as expressed by the speaker. Conclusion: Headache has become a confirmed habit. Lots of medicines have been produced to cure headache, which people always carry with them and feels uneasy without them. Opticians give glasses to cure and relieve headache. All these things prove that mankind easily begins to believe in myths.

Continuum: Poetry Essay

Continuum: anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition to a diffrerent condition, without any abrupt changes or discontinuities In this poem, Curnow explains the hardness of poem. He is waiting for inspiration for his poem and he is bored about thid and wants to sleep. He explains that writing a poem is an endless cycle. He personifies moon as a symbol for himself which creates a restless mood. The poet can not rest until he finished his poem. â€Å"I am talking about myself† this sentence suggests the reader that the poet is lonely and isolated. His source for inspiration is nature in this poem and he sais â€Å"Better bare-foot it out the front† because he wants to connect directly with the nature. He can not concentrate anything because of his restless mood. â€Å"washed-out creation† and â€Å"dark-place† imageries suggest that he wants to find sth unique. â€Å"A long moment stretches, the next one is not on time. † this sentence means that the poet doesn’t notice the time had gone. Curnow used â€Å"(query)† because he want to explain his sense of questioning. The â€Å"cringing demiurge† is the creative side of the persona and he is in an inner-conflict because one side of him wants to sleep the other one wants to write a poem. At last stanza, we are not sure but we understand that he found sth like inspiration and he turns to his bed, stealthily in step. Curnow’s punctuation suggests that he is lack of control. His commas shows that he is jumping from thought to thought. Curnow’s enjambment rambling poet’s own thoughts. The poem’s structure is also explains the theme and title of th poem, â€Å"Continuum†. The poem is also composed of very long stanzas which explains the confused mind of the speaker. Allen Curnow’s â€Å"Continuum† is a poem on the continuity of poetic inspiration. The poetic source of stimulation of great poets since ages has been the landscape. The moon has been a persistent metaphor for poetic inspiration in celebrated poems like Samuel Coleridge’s â€Å"Dejection: An Ode. The poet’s quality of being a satirist is prominent here. He first asserts that the moon rolls over the roof, and falls back. This is to imply that his poetic capabilities are sinking. Subsequently, he goes on to substantiate that the moon does neither of these things, he is talking about himself. When poets generally do falter in poetic output or due to lack of inspiration, they tend to blame the external circumstances. However, Here Allen Curnow asserts that the poet himself is to be blamed; for, Poetic inspiration comes from within and not from outside. Being sleepless is not an excuse for writing a poem. Sleeplessness does not necessarily allow one to ruminate over a subject, or planet or subjective thoughts. The condition of insomnia can also be dodged conveniently by walking barefoot on the front. The speakeris then visualized as an onlooker of nature. As he stands at the porch he beholds an objective view of himself, as he discerns â€Å"across the privets/and the palms a †washed out creation†. This portion is a dark space. The poet moves to his satiric tone yet again. This dark space contains two particular clouds, one was supposed to be a source of inspiration for the poet, and the other for his adversary-the other fellow poet. Bright clouds dusted(query) by the moon, one’s mine The other’s an adversary, which may depend on the wind or something. The clouds seem to dust the moon for the poet in his quest/query for poetic stimulation. Nevertheless as one cloud functions in his favour, the other (cloud) poses as an adversary that may shadow the cloud, accompanied by the wind. Poetic brainwave or competence must not mar the other’s inspiration, for each poet has his individualistic insight that springs from within and does depend on external features. Creative Inspiration The poet gets the feeling that he has overcome his writer’s block. As creativity begins in impulses, there are gaps. The next gap is a long one, and obviously the next poetic impulse is not on time. Corresponding to the inner lack of productivity, the feet outside lack warmth as the chill of the planking underfoot rises. As the poet cringes for poetic output based on external inspiration, the night sky seems to empty all it contents down, as in an action of excreting or vomiting. The speaker then turns on his bare heel and closes the door signaling the end of his creative endeavour. This is He, the objective Author, feeding on this litter of the scenic sky and employing his poetic tools in the process. Therefore, he is aptly the cringing demiurge. â€Å"The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools ofphilosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of thephysical universe. Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not quite the creator figure in the familiar monistic sense; both the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are the product of some other being. † (Wikipedia) The poet Allen Curnow asserts that he neither is he original, nor his poetic source of insight. This is because the motivating stimuli did not spring from Him. It is objective, when it should be rather subjective. {Continuum * Allen Curnow} In the poem Continuum by Allen Curnow, he tells us about his lack of inspiration or his lack to â€Å"create†. The theme of the poem revolves around poetic inspiration, and how he is unable to get that inspiration. He uses a variety of literary devices to portray this. The title, â€Å"Continuum†, shows us that the problem he talks about, his lack of inspiration is never ending and is continuing all the time. The first stanza shows us Curnow’s unstable thoughts; â€Å"the roof falls behind†, as he is unable to compose poetry he is in a sense of rolling and falling all over the place. In the first line, the word â€Å"moon† is used as a metaphor, as a symbol for himself. As the moon is unable to shine on its own, as it depends on the sun, just like that Curnow depends on his writing to keep him going in life. The first stanza also tells you about the setting and time of the poem which is at night. The poem has no rhyme scheme, this tells us that the poet is finding it difficult to express his thoughts, and he cannot tap into the world of imagination. The last line of the first stanza; â€Å"I am talking about myself. † Also shows his frustration. In the next stanza, Curnow is seeking connection with nature to find poetic inspiration. The line, â€Å"It’s not possible to get off to sleep†, tells us that the poet is unable to sleep which shows that something is troubling him. Curnow goes out â€Å"barefoot†, to rid himself of the human material and wants to connect with nature. He stands in the porch looking at the moon and the clouds, not really conscious of either the time or the chill that he starts to feel. Curnow eventually goes back to bed having written this poem. He writes about himself as another person or thing – He says he is the moon; in the last stanza he writes as if he is describing what he did to the â€Å"the author†. Curnow walks â€Å"stealthily in step† as if half of him is afraid of what is happening to him. Summary: The author writes about his inability to sleep due to his inability to come up with material to write about (most likely a poem, could be another form of text). He therefore gets up in the dead of night when everyone is asleep and experiences a surreal world as his reality and dreams blend together in one beautiful work of poetry. It is ironic however, that when he finds nothing to write about, he writes about his inability to write.

Business opportunity Essay

The opportunity announcement provides both weekday and weekend minimum for service hours An independent business calculates service revenue by applying the calculation located in the opportunity announcement under the program details section. The Stramatic 2. 0 is the system use to schedule and manage service hours. C. 5 actions to reduce noise levels in your office Ensure the door to your office remains closed while you work. If sound passes through the door, consider investing in a solid core door. Close the windows to outside noise Do not place your desk against a wall with a TV set, dishwasher, or washer/dryer on the other side. Purchase a noise cancelling telephone headset. It should have an â€Å"echo-canceller† which reduces vibrations between the speaker and the listener. If your office has wooden floor or tiles, consider investing in carpet because it tends to muffle sounds. D. Maintaining a professional manner and image Professionalism: approach the service you provide with the same professionalism that you would give if you were working in a corporate office setting. Phone etiquette: answer your business phone with a focused response, clearly stating the name of the client with a positive and natural tone. Family rules E. Check your understanding You should use DSL and cable to service arise clients F. Security protection Acceptable software: virus protection (Norton), antispyware (Norton), and firewall (windows firewall). You must have at least one software program from each of the three categories of protection. Installation: you must install and enable antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall software on your computer before servicing arise clients Host checker III. Lesson 3: selecting business opportunities A. You can select a business opportunity through the: Partner admissions dashboard: the place where you are currently going through the admissions process. This is where you will have your first chance to select a business opportunity and enroll in the related client course The arise portal: you will only be able to select business opportunities listed on the Arise Portal after you have selected you first business opportunity. B. Check your understanding C. Check your understanding D. Check your understanding E. Maximize your marketability Be selective and focus on relevant skills and accomplishments Improve your credentials by making them more competetive. F. Give yourself a competitive edge Choose the wording that will have the greatest impact Use verbs that best describe your abilities, skills, and accomplishments Review each section to see if you can edit your sentence to make a more favorable impression. Remember it is important to be truthful at all times G. Overview of the arise portal The 5 major functions of the arise portal: G.. 1. Reviewing available business opportunities G.. 2. Accessing Quick Links G.. 3. Accessing Starmatic 2. 0 G.. 4. Reviewing the network status section G.. 5. Accessing support chat rooms H. Check your understanding I. The 2 arise support channels The admissions team: contact for questions related to the admissions process by chat Monday-Friday 1000-1700 EST Ava: contact for any non-admissions related questions about Business opportunities, technical issues or other topic by virtual and live chat 24/7

Empirical Methods in Software Engineering Research Paper

Empirical Methods in Software Engineering - Research Paper Example Repetition allows greater certainty of observation. Anecdotal and case studies are based on observation of actual practice; however the researcher cannot exercise the same level of control over the study that is possible in experimentation. Another practical problem is that it is difficult to find case studies that match the researcher's goals. Depending on the significance of our results, we may be able to state that application of textual differencing as a selective regression testing technique will reduce the test cycle (the duration of regression testing after each release) while retaining the power of the test suite. Empirical software engineering is a related concept, sometimes used synonymously with experimental software engineering. Empirical software engineering is a field of research that emphasizes the use of empirical studies of all kinds to accumulate knowledge. Methods used include The Scientific Method is a way to make sure that experiment can give a good answer to specific question. The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the world around them. The Scientific Method helps to organize thoughts and procedures so that scientists can be confident in the answers they find. Scientists use observations, hypotheses, and deductions to make these conclusions. Various possibilities are thought through by using the Scientific Method to eventually come to an answer to the original question. The steps of the Scientific Method are: Observation/Research Hypothesis Prediction Experimentation Conclusion The observation is done first so that to know how to go about the research. The hypothesis is the answer thought to be found. The prediction is specific belief about the scientific idea. The experiment is the tool that is invented to answer the question, and the conclusion is the answer that the experiment gives. OBSERVATION This step could also be called "research." It is the first stage in understanding the chosen problem. After decision of area of research and the specific question to ask, it is

Reaction essay of The Art of Lying By Gerald Torto

Reaction of The Art of Lying By Gerald Torto - Essay Example Effective lying may be hampered by an emotional relationship between the liar and those he/she knows because they can easily detect behavioral changes when one is lying. Psychopath lairs such as politicians show no guilt when lying and are thus able to convince others that they are telling the truth. There is also a co-relation between the symmetry of the face and the art of lying with psychologists citing that attractive people are easily trusted as opposed to unattractive people. Children who lie and get away with it develop a knack for lying thus becoming pathological liars. People with low self esteem also become habitual liars as they exaggerate facts to appear better than they actually are. It is often almost impossible to detect liars without the help of polygraph or brain printing machines, but common indicators include long pauses while talking, omission of details such as names and places, intensive facial expressions when

LMX Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LMX Theory - Essay Example He or she may have a quality relationship with other subordinates of the group that could be characterized by warmth, trusting and open that could make followers group and could also have poor relationship with others that could characterized by coldness and suspicion which makes the followers hold back. It is the leader who initiates the relationship and through this exchange, could influence the degree of a subordinate’s relationship that could make them an in-group or an out-group. Leaders have close subordinates and are considered the in-group and their role in the group can be elevated to the degree of â€Å"trusted lieutenant† (Lunenburg, 2010 pg. 2). In effect, in-groups would be able to have greater latitude and influence in the process of decision making and enjoys the open communication from the leader. He or she may be given bigger responsibilities and more benefits to enjoy. The out-group members on the other hand are supervised according to the formality of their employment. The leader exercise his or her leadership not through the quality of relationship as enjoyed by those in the in-group but rather by the implicit relationship between a leader and a subordinate and exercises leadership as dictated by job function and does not extend beyond what is stated in the formalities of employment contracts. In sum, out-group members are treated as regular employees and only do what they are supposed to do as employees. The Leader-Member Exchange posits that relationships between leaders and subordinates go through the stages of role-taking, role making to routinization. Role-taking is the first stage when the manager’s first assesses the new member’s skills and other abilities as he or she joins the group. Role-making then follows where the leader assigns the new member either as part of in-group or out group. The members of the in-group are the trusted lieutenants of the leader whose relationships are characteristically positi ve. Often, they have the similar or share same personality with their manager. Out-group are those members who is outside the grace of the leader and whose job are not as rewarding as those who are in the in-group. The leader also deems those in the out-group as less capable. Finally, relationships are established in the routinization stage where the categorization of roles becomes self-fulfilling. In-group continues to work to maintain their status in the group where the managers delegates more responsibilities and groomed to advance in the corporate ladder while the out-groups receive casual treatment from the manager. II. Provide the results of your complemented questionnaire Score: 22 Low LMX: 20-24 III. Describe what you learned that you can apply to you leadership practice The exercise made me realized that my relationship with my leader falls into the category of low LMX. Our interconnectedness or dyad of relationship falls in the neutral and therefore, can be taken as based on the contractual nature of my employment. My leader is neither warm nor cold to me, nor trust or distrust me not initiates grand action that will make me believe him. It is basically grounded on the principle that if I do my job, I will be okay. Basically, my relationship to him is based on my job and falls on the out-group of LMX. This explains why I am not attached to the leader and to the organization because I felt that I am just an employee there whose

Re-designing Services Offered by NHS UK Assignment

Re-designing Services Offered by NHS UK - Assignment Example The authorities have to establish better performance evaluation systems and ensure that their facilities are delivering world class services like their neighboring countries. Established on 5th July 1948, NHS is now one of the largest public health care service in the world (Hawe, 2008). The UK authorities established the NHS to provide the residents with equal access to treatment. NHS aims to provide clinical help to patients regardless of their ability to pay for the medical expenses. The organization is funded through national taxation and this ensures that NHS is able to provide care to people who are not able to afford it with personal means (Dept. of Health Staff, 2004). This report will now conduct a SWOT analysis of NHS UK. This analysis is expected to present more clearly the current situation of this organization, show its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The government has increased the investment in NHS UK. While the organization only had 33 billion in 1996/1997 to spend, it now has around 67.4 billion in funds for its needs. NHS has also seen an increase in spending on buildings and equipment and now has 3.4 billion for investment in the infrastructure. This surplus has allowed the organization to have more modern equipment and facilities and take better care of its patients. NHS has also decided to have more staff on board and thus it has begun to steadily increase the number of doctors, nurses and attendants (Dept. of Health Staff, 2004). These figures indicate that the organization has the attention of the authorities, and the government is trying to pull it up by putting more money for its sustenance and future growth. The funds available to NHS have increased considerable over the last decade, and the authorities now have the money to improve their infrastructure. By purchasing modern equipment, NHS can dramatically improve its quality of services and gain appreciation from the patients in the UK. In addition, NHS has more staff at its disposal and thus they have more hands to provide services to their community. Weaknesses Even though the authorities are making several efforts to improve the quality and accessibility of NHS, the organization is often accused of low standard in health care. A report indicates that in comparison to other European countries, the patients' survival rates were very low in NHS. This reason for this low rate was due to poor organization of services. NHS has very long outpatient and elective surgery waiting times and need to have more focus on areas such as cancer and heart disease (Scambler, 2003). Apparently NHS is not improving despite the amount of money it is receiving from the government. The residents of UK are not happy with the quality of services and are still complaining about the low standard in health care. The patients are comparing the services available to them with those of health care services provided to residents in other European countries. NHS needs better organization of services where the patients don't have to wait for a very long time for surgeries. Also, NHS has to ensure that