Greek And Classical Greek Philosophy - 997 Words

Classical Greek Philosophy A philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, esp. when considered as an academic discipline. Greece was divided into several city-states, which ran separately and independent from each other. However, they shared commonalities, such as common ancestry, language, and festivals. Foreigners were all considered barbarians to the Greek. Greek Culture is reflected in today s Society in many ways. These ways include mathematics, government, medicine, art, and architecture. Without Greek Culture, we would not have the idea of mathematical proof or geometry, which are still used today. Without Greek Culture, we also wouldn t have technologies and other refined technologies that first came from Greece. Greek artists of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. attained a manner of representation that conveys a vitality of life as well as a sense of permanence, clarity, and harmony. Significant achievements were made in Attic va se painting. Most notably, the red-figure technique surpassed the black-figure technique, and with that, great strides were made in portraying the human body. Also, Greeks believed music became a form of expression subject to rules, styles, and rational analysis. To them, music fulfilled an ethical function in the training of young individuals. However, there were three famous Greek philosophies that are: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The beginnings of philosophers are thatShow MoreRelatedThe Hellenistic Age And Classical Age952 Words   |  4 Pagesto describe the spread of culture from the Greek civilization that developed after the reign of Alexander the Great. How does the Hellenistic Age differ from the Classical Age? The Classical Age, referred to as Hellenic Greek, was founded in 507 B.C.E. and concluded in 323 B.C.E. The Hellenistic Age was founded in 323 B.C.E. and concluded in 31 B.C.E. after the reign of Alexander the Great. The Classical Age was ruled by the Greek civ ilization in Greek city states and their territories. The HellenisticRead MoreThe Era Between 350 And 310 Bc929 Words   |  4 PagesThe era between 350 and 310 BC marked a dramatic change in the Western World from the first, classical Hellenic Age of the Greeks, to the second, Hellenistic Age of the Greek Civilization. This classical period was considered the height of Greek civilization and deemed â€Å"The Golden Age† of ancient Greece. The polis (Greek city-state) was the center of Greek political life for the majority of this period. The poleis were small, independent, and self-sufficient; however, too politically divided to surviveRead More Can Education be Classical and Christian? Essay1342 Words   |  6 PagesCan an education be both classical and Christian? Many parents ask this question every year, unknowingly echoing an age-old question. Tertullian, an early church father, was perhaps the first to consider whether these two ideas are compatible when he asked, â€Å"What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?† The church fathers continued to wrestle with the question for centuries, most concluding that all ideas that are taken captive for Christ may be used profitably by Christians. Examining this ongoingRead More Role Model of the West Essay1539 Words   |  7 Pagesancient Greeks for their many contributions, such as architecture, fine arts, education, philosophy, and mostly for their form of democracy and ways of government. The architecture and fine arts in ancient Greece had proved to be beyond its time. The Greeks talent for architecture and art was and still is irresistible to many artist of today. The spread of this talent moved from the Greeks throughout Europe, especially Ancient Rome and all the way to present day United States. The Greek peopleRead MoreClassical vs. Hellenistic Periods Essay677 Words   |  3 PagesDuring the span of the Classical and Hellenistic periods in Ancient Greece, many changes occurred that differentiated one from the other. There were many facets of society that were affected as a result from the Classical period leading to the Hellenistic period. The Classical period was a time of intellectual growth and stimulus. The desire to learn brought about the need for a group of teachers to impart worldly wisdom unto their students. This new group of teachers that emerged were known asRead MoreAncient Greek Essay1393 Words   |  6 PagesChapter 3: Ancient Greek Civilization 1. During the Mycenaean civilization, who was the great poet and what were his two important literary works that influenced the Greeks and formed part of Western literature? Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey 2. In a period known as the Dark Ages from 100 B.C. to 800 B.C., life reverted to simpler forms and people lived in relative isolation. 3. The period from the 9th to the 6th century B.C. is known as the Archaic Age during which the Greek kings were deposedRead More Roman and Greek Philosophys Influence on Todays Western Culture780 Words   |  4 Pagesand politics were made in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Greek philosophers were among the first in the West to explore nature in a rational way and to make educated guesses about the creation of the world and the universe. This is why Greece is often referred to as the birthplace of Western culture. The ancient Greeks viewed the world in a way that one would today perhaps describe as holistic. Science, philosophy, art and politics were interwoven and combined into one worldview. MoreoverRead MoreThe Classical Age1305 Words   |  6 Pagesknown as the Classical Age, which had brought many ideas, values and virtues to the rest of the world. After the Persian War, Athens began a time where art, literature, philosophy, theatre, and music influenced the world in such a manner, that we are still uncovering facts of ancient Athens today. The classical period was a time where the Greeks had great pride in what they accomplished. After years of war, Athens was victorious and able to enhance their great empire. The Athenians used Greek philosophyRead MoreAttributes Of God Within Classical Christian Theism978 Words   |  4 PagesAttributes of God in Classical Christian Theism We continue our study of the history of God by looking at His attributes from a number of different viewpoints. We will first examine the view of Classical Theism, then the view of Freewill Theism, and finally that of Open Theism. We begin by defining Classical Theism, also called traditional theism or Augustinian theism. In a section entitled, â€Å"The Classical Christian Concept of God,† Francis Beckwith gives a short definition of Classical Theism in See theRead MoreEssay about Latin Literature in History1232 Words   |  5 PagesLatin Literature in History Greek literature was one of the numerous Greek accomplishments from which Romans drew immense influence. The Romans picked up first on the Greek embrace of rhetoric, which became an educational standard, given that a mans rhetoric, his ability to push the buttons of the subject audience by way of speeches, supplemented the mans rise to political power. But as rhetoric began to diminish from Roman daily life following Romes imperialization, identical

ATP Definition and Importance in Metabolism

Adenosine triphosphate or ATP is often called the energy currency of the cell because this molecule plays a key role in metabolism, particularly in energy transfer within cells. The molecule acts to couple the energy of exergonic and endergonic processes, making energetically unfavorable chemical reactions able to proceed. Metabolic Reactions Involving ATP Adenosine triphosphate is used to transport chemical energy in many important processes, including: aerobic respiration (glycolysis and the citric acid cycle)fermentationcellular divisionphotophosphorylationmotility (e.g., shortening of myosin and actin filament cross-bridges as well ​as  cytoskeleton construction)exocytosis and endocytosisphotosynthesisprotein synthesis In addition to metabolic functions, ATP is involved in signal transduction. It is believed to be the neurotransmitter responsible for the sensation of taste. The human central and peripheral nervous system, in particular, relies on ATP signaling. ATP is also added to nucleic acids during transcription. ATP is continuously recycled, rather than expended. Its converted back into precursor molecules, so it can be used again and again. In human beings, for example, the amount of ATP recycled daily is about the same as body weight, even though the average human being only has about 250 grams of ATP. Another way to look at it is that a single molecule of ATP gets recycled 500-700 times every day. At any moment in time, the amount of ATP plus ADP is fairly constant. This is important since ATP is not a molecule that can be stored for later use.​ ATP may be produced from simple and complex sugars as well as from lipids via redox reactions. For this to occur, the carbohydrates must first be broken down into simple sugars, while the lipids must be broken ​into  fatty acids and glycerol. However, ATP production is highly regulated. Its production is controlled via substrate concentration, feedback mechanisms, and allosteric hindrance. ATP Structure As indicated by the molecular name, adenosine triphosphate consists of three phosphate groups (tri- prefix before phosphate) connected to adenosine. Adenosine is made by attaching the 9 nitrogen atom of the purine base adenine to the 1 carbon of the pentose sugar ribose. The phosphate groups are attached connecting and oxygen from a phosphate to the 5 carbon of the ribose. Starting with the group closest to the ribose sugar, the phosphate groups are named alpha (ÃŽ ±), beta (ÃŽ ²), and gamma (ÃŽ ³). Removing a phosphate group results in adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and removing two groups produces adenosine monophosphate (AMP). How ATP Produces Energy The key to energy production lies ​with the  phosphate groups. Breaking the phosphate bond is an exothermic reaction.  So, when ATP loses one or two phosphate groups, energy is released. More energy is released breaking the first phosphate bond than the second. ATP H2O → ADP Pi Energy (Δ G -30.5 kJ.mol-1)ATP H2O → AMP PPi Energy (Δ G -45.6 kJ.mol-1) The energy that is released is coupled to an endothermic (thermodynamically unfavorable) reaction in order to give it ​the  activation energy needed to proceed. ATP Facts ATP was discovered in 1929 by two independent sets of researchers: Karl Lohmann and also Cyrus Fiske/Yellapragada Subbarow. Alexander Todd first synthesized the molecule in 1948. Empirical Formula C10H16N5O13P3 Chemical Formula C10H8N4O2NH2(OH2)(PO3H)3H Molecular Mass 507.18 g.mol-1 What Is ATP an Important Molecule in Metabolism? There are essentially two reasons ATP is so important: Its the only chemical in the body that can be directly used as energy.Other forms of chemical energy need to be converted into ATP before they can be used. Another important point is that ATP is recyclable. If the molecule was used up after each reaction, it wouldnt be practical for metabolism. ATP Trivia Want to impress your friends? Learn the IUPAC name for adenosine triphosphate. Its  [(2R,3S,4R,5R)-5-(6-aminopurin-9-yl)-3,4-dihydroxyoxolan-2-yl]methyl(hydroxyphosphonooxyphosphoryl)hydrogen phosphate.While most students study ATP as it relates to animal metabolism, the molecule is also the key form of chemical energy in plants.The density of pure ATP is comparable to that of water. Its 1.04 grams per cubic centimeter.The melting point of pure ATP is  368.6 °F (187 °C).

The Text and Images in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Essay

Essays on The Text and Images in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Essay The paper "The Text and Images in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi" is a wonderful example of an essay on literature. The veil in Persepolis is used as the cover image and since it basically represents oppression. Marjane is always rebelling against the norm of ‘veiling’. She is often scolded for not putting on approved garments. As such, Marjane is ‘unveiling’ herself by refusing to be suppressed. This strategy of using the veil is quite critical to her goal of seeking freedom. The veil becomes a symbol of nationalistic ideas since it symbolizes Iran’s struggle during the revolution; just like Maryjane is unhappy about the veil. The author (Satrapi) might have used a child as a narrator since children tend to portray their environment without a lot of bias. This characteristic makes her a reliable narrator. Additionally, a child narrator often experiences things mainly for the first time, as the reader does too. As such, the child narrator will get comp lete and easy to comprehend the description. This concept will enable the reader to understand the story better. In Persepolis, the text and images work harmoniously together. For example, the images depicting an adult authoritatively handing school children a veil is in line with the text (Satrapi 4). This was in 1980 when it became mandatory for school children to wear a veil. Persepolis can be viewed as Satrapi’s form of resistance since she clearly opposes the veiling of women. According to her, veiling demeaned women. Satrapi implies that games and jokes were used as a form of resistance by women. Marji’s family treats Mehri as their own child. However, they become discriminatory when Mehri’s time to marry comes. They understand that she must marry from her social class (33-39). Pictures are often used as evidence. As such, we can read it as ‘evidence’ by mainly focusing on the meaning of the graphics. The graphics represent the situation in Iran. As evidence, these images will be reviewed later and help the reader to comprehend how the environment was the n. It might be illegal to take photographs in Iran since they will act as evidence of atrocities committed (29).

Foundations of Business Analysis

Question: Write a Research Proposal to Address the Problems Faced by Visa Inc. Answer: Problem Statement/Background This is an applied business research which is specifically for the Visa Inc. It is a multinational company facilitating electronic payments through credit cards. It is popular in the air, sea and train travels, banks, large shopping malls, and in the restaurants (Stiglitz, 2017). Visa eliminated the problem of substantial cash payments. There used to be robbery and theft especially to people who used to carry large amounts of cash. Besides, cases of fake money used to be constantly reported. The Visa Company did away with such problems. The cards enabled safe, secure and flexible trading. Although Visa promises secure banking system to its clients, there have emerged various forms of online fraud. They include internet banking frauds such as phishing, mobile banking and mule recruitment (Australian Federal Police, 2017) they have resulted due to improved technology. Hackers and computer experts are conducting the fraud. Others include scams, spams and identity thefts. Purpose of the Research This work can be referred to as a causal analysis (Ochsner, Hug, Daniel, 2013). It attempts to find inferences to minimize banking fraud. This research is aimed at identifying solutions to the existing problem of bank frauds. Secondly, it improves the customer support. Once the research is done, it defines new methods of doing away with the issues customers are facing. When the problems are eliminated, the customers will be happy with the good work the firm would have done. Ngai, Tao Moon, (2015) explain that conducting research helps in improving the products. Visa Inc. will have to improve their systems and the programming of their cards in a way hackers cannot trespass or hijack. Moreover, research helps the firm in identifying most dominant problems. For instance, there are more scam frauds than shopping and auction site cases. The company can then focus more on the affected areas. 150 words Research Design Abrahamse, Schultz, Steg, (2016) explain it as a master plan which includes all methodologies, processes, and activities conducted for data collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of the results. For this causal research, surveys, observations and sources of secondary data will be used to obtain information. Surveys It involves various activities utilized by the moderator to get information. Rea Parker, (2014) say administration of questionnaires, interviews, talks over telephones, mails, emails and the internet can be used. Questionnaires: They are very efficient since they are affordable to produce, enable the researcher to gather much information, and all aspects are covered within the survey (Bakker, Voordt, Vink Boon, (2014). Visa Company will use the following design questionnaire Sample Telephone: It almost the same the interviews. However, it better since the interviewer and the interviewee could be at different geographical locations. Visa will use phones to contact the respondents who are far away. When an individual is sampled to be interviewed, but he or she is far, the questions can be prepared. When the call is made, the person answers the questions. Giugale, Hoogeveen, Croke, Dabalen Demombynes, (2016) say such issues should not be complicated. Mails The will involve sending the questionnaires to various people who fill them and return. Its important since many inquiries can be sent to many individuals at once. Furthermore, it does not require physical movement. It will be easier for Visa to use mails instead of surveyors to go around picking clients. The forms will be sent to particular individuals to fill and post them back. Interviews or in person: There will be a face-to-face talk. Both individual and group interview will occur. Doody Noonan, (2013) say interviews have the following advantages; detailed questions could be asked, complex issues may be known, uses both verbal and non-verbal method, and literacy issues have no effect here. The method is quite better since additional information which we may not have covered in the topics may be raised. Emails and the internet: The company will create a page on its website where various people could be filling an electronic page and submit it to the company server. Similarly, the e-pages will be sent via the email for the clients to fill and upload them. The method is quite essential since very many people can fill the sheets enabling the researcher to get a lot of information. The management Visa team will find time to go through the comments, emails and the recommendations the clients would have typed. 502 words Sample Design The term sampling in research explains the process through which only a portion is obtained from the population for data collection (Khoshgoftaar, Gao, Chen, Napolitano, 2015). There are two broad categories of sampling quoted by (Robinson, 2014). These are the non-probability and the probability techniques. Probability Random- It is very easy and cheap (Khan, Ullah, Al-Hossain, Bashir, 2015). It is the best sampling method available not only for Visa but also for any other researchers. The company agents will just be sent to obtain Visa users randomly. Even the clients visiting the company offices could be utilized. Systematic. The company will provide the list having all members who have subscribed to Visa services. Each nth members shall be selected, and be used (Moffett, Cooper Weare Jr, 2015). If the person is very far, the internet, emails, or telephone methods will be used. Non- Probability Quota- Visa will use this method to ensure equal and proportionate representation of the respondents (De Rada Martn, 2014). The number of ladies and gent interviewees must be same. Convenience- this method will be used to cut costs and save time. The researchers will obtain individuals who are close, accessible and convenient for the study. It wont be wise to travel all over the world to interview Visa users. Purposive- it will be utilized to get detailed information. Each person is questioned concerning his or her field. For example, asking bankers about phishing and mobile banking frauds. 250 words Data collection, Processing, and Analysis The data will be collected using the previously mentioned methods. Respective people will lead the activity where the respondents shall answer the questions as they are recorded. Physical writings, typing, audio and video recording may be used primarily for the interviews. Although for sensitive data the respondents may not want to be recorded. It will just be written down (Ortlieb, Garner, (2016). The collected data will proceed to the analysis stage. The stage involves two processes, editing, and coding (Saldaa, 2015). The first one will include checking the forms and sheets for legibility, consistency and correct omissions. The latter will enable interpretation, grouping, and put the data into appropriate records and media. Analysis of data will mean cleansing and modeling to provide useful information (Riff, Lacy, Fico, 2014). Bar graphs and pie charts showing the compositions of the banking frauds will be made as well as comparisons and percentage changes. 152 words Budget and Timeline Budget Activity Total Budget (Au$) Air travel 8796.8 Accommodation 194.1 Food 175.05 Interviewees appreciation 310.8 Mailing 124.8 Telephone 155 Printing activities 129.4 emails and internet 155.2 Other overheads 130 Totals 10,171.15 Timeline No Activities/ time April May June 1 Weeks 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 Issue Identification 3 Preparation of questionnaires 4 obtaining clients 5 Researchers to do Literature review 6 Identifying the research method 7 Collecting of Data 8 Interpretation and analysis 9 Discussing the solutions 10 Reference, creation of the abstract, title page and compiling the proposal. 11 Reviewing and submitting the work Dummy tables Visa Count Percentage of total Users Non users Total Visa usage Count Percentage of total Often Normal rarely Never Total Banking fraud Count Percentage of total Victims Non victims Total Type of banking fraud Count Percentage of total Scam Spam phishing mobile banking mule recruitment Identity theft Total Interviewees Count Percentage of total Lost money Never lost money Total Amount lost ( Au$) Count Percentage of total 0- 100 101-150 151-200 201-250 251-300 Above 301 Total Members involved who Count Percentage of total Still use Visa Stopped using visa Total Type of recommendations Count Percentage of total Best Average Poor Total Glossary Budget- a summary of intended expenditure Data- collection of objects which are transformed to give relevant information Dummy tables- an outline of results achieved in a research Fraud Any act of deception for unlawful gain. Probability- state of likelihood, likely. Questionnaires- forms having a list of questions Quota- a proportional part. Scam- fraudulent deal Visa- a credit card company References Abrahamse, Schultz, Steg, (2016). Research Designs for Environmental. Australian Federal Police. (2017). Online fraud and scams. Retrieved March 8, 2017. Bakker, I., van der Voordt, T., Vink, P., de Boon, J. (2014 Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 15(5), 464-478. De Rada, V. D., Martn, V. M. (2014). Open Journal of Statistics, 2014. Doody, O., Noonan, M. (2013). Nurse researcher, 20(5), 28-32. Khan, M., Ullah, S., Al-Hossain, A. Y., Bashir, N. (2015). Journal of Mathematics and Statistics. Khoshgoftaar, Gao, Chen, Napolitano, (2015). International Journal of Reliability, Quality and Safety Engineering. Giugale, M., Hoogeveen, J., Croke, K., Dabalen, A., Demombynes, G. (2016). Measuring African Development: Past and Present, 186. Moffett, P., Cooper, J. P., Weare Jr, W. H. (2015). Making Room for Innovation: Ngai, E. W., Tao, S. S., Moon, K. K. (2015). International Journal of Information Management. Ochsner, M., Hug, S. E., Daniel, H. D. (2013). Research Evaluation, 22(2), 79-92 Ortlieb, M., Garner, R. (2016). IT-Information Technology, 58(5), 217-228. Rea, L. M., Parker, R. A. (2014). Designing and conducting survey research. Riff, D., Lacy, S., Fico, F. (2014). Analyzing media messages Robinson, O. C. (2014). Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: Saldaa, J. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Stiglitz, J. E. (2017). National Bureau of Economic Research

Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro Essay Example For Students

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro Essay As just about everyone knows by now, Peter Sellars directed radical productions of Mozarts three operas to librettos by da Ponte at the Pepsico Summerfare Festival in Purchase, N.Y. during the latter half of the 80s. Everyone knows about these productions because, by setting The Marriage of Figaro in Trump Tower, Don Giovanni on a mean street in Harlem and Cosi fan tutti in a Long Island diner, Sellars attracted a tremendous amount of attention. In the summer of 1989, after presenting the three operas cyclically for the final Summerfare season, Sellars filmed them for video in Vienna. They were broadcast on PBS-TV last year, and have, at last, come out on home video. These productions been so contentiously scrutinized and debated that their appearance on the London label in VHS videotape and laserdisc formats has been almost anticlimactic. Certainly, they stir up many of the same old complaints about the sacrilege of updating, but updating opera has been going on for so long and to such an extent especially in Europe that it is almost standard operatic practice these days. But what really makes Sellars so controversial an operatic practitioner is that he is no typical updater, and the true radicalism of his approach becomes all the more evident in his video work. Sellars claims to despise the whole notion of concept productions, and denies doing them. He believes, instead, that since Mozart came closer than any other artist to capturing and articulating the human condition, it is worthwhile to hold ourselves and our times up to the measure of Mozart to see how we stack up. Creating a New York trilogy of the Mozart/da Ponte operas was simply a device to help us recognize ourselves in these characters. It is not especially important that Don Giovanni become a drug dealer. But it is important that the Don not be funny or foreign; he is a desperate character rushing headlong into the abyss, unable to discover a way out a situation neither amusing nor unfamiliar. In the videos, Sellars has now gone one step further. Most opera video is either a document of a performance in the opera house or an opera film. What I like is that these videos look like TV, Sellars said in a recent conversation. Thats why a lot of people were stunned when PBS first broadcast the productions they were flipping channels, and they flipped to this thing that looked just like the cop show on every other channel. Then suddenly they noticed that there was music, and people were singing. Weve taken the situation and the comedy and allowed them to be as deep as Mozart happens to be. So its really nice to subvert television in that way, at the same time using the vocabulary that television has perfected, these daydream diners, these nonexistent street corners, the pathetic love life of the rich and forlorn. All standard television material. In some ways these operas find their ultimate form on TV. So subversive, in fact, are these videos that they deconstruct Sellarss own productions. Relying upon claustrophobic closeups in Don Giovanni, for instance, Sellars never allows a long shot to show the whole of George Tsypins astonishing set. The director doesnt even fear undercutting much of the stage action by showing only reaction shots. But since the Don and his sidekick, Leporello, happen to be sung by remarkable identical twin baritones, Eugene and Herbert Parry, the effect of the intimate camera is extraordinary. It is as if Don Giovanni is so self-absorbed in his own compulsion to call up death that he sees only himself reflected in the world. .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .postImageUrl , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:hover , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:visited , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:active { border:0!important; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:active , .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9cc7d4f058c3b038ffd6ca73c04bdbef:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Council, NEA head clash over vetoes EssayWhen Herbert and Eugene start looking at each other, you know you never saw that in the theatre, Sellars says. You guessed it was there, but you never saw it. And here in a closeup you can really see it. The result is that the o sometimes seems to take place inside Don Giovannis head, which turns out to be an even more frightening place than a Harlem street. In Cosi possibly the most profound opera ever written about the relationships between men and women, as well as the most perfect of all of Sellarss opera stagings the psychological intimacy proves profoundly wrenching. The use of closeups on singers able to convey great emotion through both music and action creates opera as catharsis to a degree impossible on the stage. Even more than Don Giovanni, Cosi relies on singers to express as much through their acting as their singing, and whereas most singers look just awful in closeup mouth gaping open, brow furled in tense concentration, eyes nervously darting to the conductor for assurance singers like Susan Larson (an arresting Fiordiligi whose face seems to bring out the deepest meaning of the music) and Sanford Sylvan (a searing Don Alfonso whom you can actually see feeling what the music tells him to feel) are, like the Perry twins, all the more effective the closer you get to them. Still such an approach has its drawbacks; in Cosi, it requires that the sheer elegance of the staged production be sacrificed in the bargain. Sellarss brilliantly layered mise-en-scene had pitted a kind of refined 18th-century sensibility against the chaotic emotions of the characters, even to the point of laying out the diners dimensions to fit the proportional architectural schemes of the earlier age. And the productions elaborate roundelay of movement and gesture is lost as well. In The Marriage of Figaro, however, the video works on every level. The garish colors of the Trump Tower set translate perfectly to the video screens brightly lit two dimensions, and Sellars allows himself to have fun; the camera pulls in and out and all over the place. Figaro, especially as staged by Sellars, is the least ambiguous of the operas Cosi ends in profound disquiet; Don Giovanni concludes with the unresolved quest for salvation; but Sellarss Figaro leaves you with hope, with a sense that these people might actually work it out in the end. The videos are not without their excesses. While Sellarss fanciful synopses of the operas, which are included, are illuminating and entertaining, his slang subtitles seem too in-your-face on repeated viewing. The video work itself is sometimes a bit crude for these sophisticated productions, although Sellars likes the fact that the roughness lends the performances a live quality. The laserdisc sound has a kind of harshness that is not flattering to the singers voice, and the orchestra-a not-very-responsive Vienna Symphony, tepidly conducted by Craig Smith is too recessed. But these are quibbles, never enough to rob the performances of their irrepressible intensity or immediacy. In fact, as an indication of the sheer impact this kind of video opera can have, Sellars says that his recently filmed production Handels Giulio Cesare (which will be released on London this fall) will not, this time, be shown on PBS. Sellars updated the opera to the present-day Middle East, and the images proved just too upsetting, too highly charged for television, even though the production dates from 1985. Television cannot deal with Americans being taken hostages in the Middle East, Sellars says. And so people were panicked. It showed at the Cannes video market during the Gulf War, and people were freaking out, because it was too close. .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .postImageUrl , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:hover , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:visited , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:active { border:0!important; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:active , .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68 .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0b19eb4cd35736eff47c4ad344c9be68:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The rehearsal of Martin Guerre EssayBut then it is just that closeness that separates Sellarss video opera from all others. Or as the director enthusiastically puts it: I think were used to videos cooling things out opera videos, in particular, are basically a cool situation. And these are so hot.

Babies Having Babies essays

Babies Having Babies essays As todays family values slowly decline, the teen pregnancy rate slowly increases. Each year teenage girls are getting pregnant at a younger and younger age with no guarantee of a father by their side. Many girls are left with the responsibility of supporting young children financially, and many girls arent even ready for the responsibility of caring for another human being. In order to solve this teenage pregnancy problem society as a whole needs to come up with a solution that will guarantee that no unplanned, unwed, or under-aged teenage pregnancies occur. I have come up with a solution that I feel will eliminate this problem. Before any girl enters into elementary school it will be required by law that they get a vaccination shot that will keep them from procreating life. Only after getting married will they be given a booster that will kill off this vaccination and allow them to have children. It wont be required to get this booster right away, you have the option of getting it whenever you wish, but it will only be given with proof of a marriage certificate issued by the state. This way only married mothers will be having children. By getting this vaccination young girls will be protected from pregnancy. Not only will this allow teenagers to participate in sexual activities , but also keep rapists from impregnating young, innocent children. Although I am not for teenagers having sex, in todays society many are participating so this will allow them to have sex without the worry of procreating. What could be better than the guarantee of not getting pregnant? This vaccination guarantees no pregnancy, this way children arent having children. ...

Keep Going - An Interview With Two #1 Amazon Bestsellers

Keep Going - An Interview With Two #1 Amazon Bestsellers "Keep Going" - An Interview with #1 Amazon Bestsellers Mark Edwards and Louise Voss Success doesn’t happen overnight. It is often the result of hard work put in over the years. And Mark Edwards and Louise Voss’ success story tells us as much. They are known for being the first indie authors to ever reach #1 on Amazon.co.uk back in 2011. Now with Amazon Publishing, their latest book is From The Cradle (and the best one, they tell me). Their story begins much sooner, though. They have been through the ups and downs that characterize a writer’s life, but they have been through them together and always determined to keep going.Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing both of them. They share their whole story (not only the success part) and their advice for starting indie authors. They also debunk a metadata-myth, analyze why Amazon Publishing is so powerful and explain how to co-write a book using Dropbox.So sit down with a nice cup of tea/coffee, and hit play. Or alternatively, read through the whole transcript below (courtesy of the Reedsy team). REEDSY: Hi Mark and Louise, I’m really pleased to have you here. You are known for being the first indie authors to have reached the top of the charts on Amazon.co.uk, a few years ago, with two books that you had co-written. But your collaboration started long before that, right Louise?LOUISE: Sure, it’s a good story, though it can make me sound a bit like a stalker. It started years ago, around 1998-99, and Mark was on this TV documentary about â€Å"wannabe writers†. I was in the exact same situation as him: I had an agent but she wasn’t very enthusiastic. We were both getting lots of rejections but they were really positive rejections. So I just sent him a little email via his agent, basically saying â€Å"I really liked your interview†.He wrote back, and we started corresponding via email about books and writing for around 18 months before we finally met in person. And then we thought: rather than just critiquing each other’s stuff, why d on’t we write something together? That’s when we started writing Killing Cupid. We did it all by email, because at that time Mark was in Japan.MARK: Yes, I was in Tokyo, and Louise was in London. We wrote an entire novel without even speaking to each other, literally. This was back in 2001, and Killing Cupid was optioned by the BBC but we didn’t manage to get a publishing deal for it.Then, a few years after, I came back from Japan and we decided to write another one together: Catch Your Death. Back then, however, we didn’t have an agent, we still couldn’t get a publisher, we were really back to square one, so we pretty much gave up at that point, didn’t we?LOUISE: Yes, I think the problem with Killing Cupid was a genre one. When we sent it to publishers, they said â€Å"well, it’s not really enough of a thriller to be a thriller; and it’s a comedy as well, we don’t know what to do with it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And that’s why we decided to write Catch Your Death, because that was unquestionably a thriller.MARK: Yes, so we both more or less gave up. I came back to the UK, got a good job, and thought: it’s really not worth the pain of trying to find a publishing deal.Then, 2010 when was I first heard about KDP. And I got a Kindle for my 40th birthday. So I said to Louise: why don’t we take our two old novels, spruce them up a bit, self-publish them and see what happens? And she was very reluctant.LOUISE: Yes, I thought â€Å"oh, no, it will be humiliating, we’ll sell 4 copies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ MARK: So we spent a few months rewriting and reworking them, because they were really out of date. There were no mobile phones, social media, etc.We put Killing Cupid out in February 2011, and as Louise predicted we sold around 4 copies on our first day, to people that we knew†¦ But then I became completely obsessed about trying to sell it. I had a full-time job, my girlfriend was pregnant, and she still talks about how I neglected her during that time! And Louise did promotion stuff too.LOUISE: Yes, we had a list of all the bloggers that accepted unpublished books - there weren’t that many of them but we put together this list and divided it up. Mark started at A and I started at Z and we worked our way to the middle, contacting all of them. It was a lot of work.REEDSY: And Mark, you did a very good job on the metadata too, right? I read about it on Joanna Penn’s blog, but maybe you can tell us what in your metadata helped make your book successful?MARK: Yes, we used subtitles. On Killing Cupid, I think it was pretty simple: â€Å"Killing Cupid, a psychological thriller†: nothing fancy, really. But we kept rewriting the blurb (book description). Back then, you used to be able to see what percentage of people who viewed your book had bought it, which was fantastic, you could see your conversion rate from browser to reader. So I kept looking at th e books in the top 10, especially the self-published thrillers and the ones that had the highest conversion rates, and tried to figure out what it was about those books that incited more people to buy them after they looked at them.So I was continually tweaking the description and I think that at one point I got it right, because it suddenly doubled our sales in just an hour. I had made the description shorter, more straightforward about the book while also making it sound more intriguing.We did something much more interesting for the second book, Catch Your Death. We called it: â€Å"Catch Your Death (For fans of Dan Brown Stieg Larsson)†. This quickly became a controversial point, with people starting to talk about it in The Bookseller magazine.But I actually believe, to this day, that it didn’t make any difference to the sales, because I think we put off as many people as we attracted. If you searched for Dan Brown at the time (and I did it quite a few times), our book didn’t come up, not even on page 30. It didn’t make any difference to the search results.What really made a difference, and this is a lesson for all indie authors, is that we were patient and hardworking in building a readership. We hand-sold every copy of Killing Cupid in the first 3-4 months: every single sale was hard work. And as we did that, we built a momentum and started climbing up the charts, which made our book more visible. And because it was good, word-of-mouth really worked in our advantage and more people started to buy it.We released Catch Your Death around 3-4 months after Killing Cupid, as Killing Cupid was climbing into the top 100. And Amazon then sent out an email advertising Catch Your Death to all the people who had previously purchased Killing Cupid.And it was the day that this email went out - even though we only realized this quite a long time afterwards - that more and more readers started buying both books and we shot up into the top 1 0. A couple of days later, Amazon removed the Dan Brown subtitle, and it didn’t make any difference at all.So there was a lot of hype about our metadata at that time, but I really don’t think it made any difference in the end. It was all about slowly building that readership.REEDSY: I think that’s a great lesson indeed for indie authors. But if we go back to the writing process, Louise, how does that technically work? What tools do you use: Google Drive, Dropbox, †¦?LOUISE: Dropbox, we have everything in Dropbox. It works really well for us, you can see the last things people have worked on and when. Though sometimes it happened that we were both working on the same document at the same time, so when we saved it created conflicted copies, which are a nightmare to sort out. But we don’t do that so much now, we’ve got better at it.We also email a lot, and text, when it’s particularly urgent, but we don’t actually talk that much, un less there is a problem, or in the beginning and the end, when there are things to figure out.MARK: For Dropbox, we have a â€Å"master document† - we do it all in Word - and we write separate chapters in separate Word documents, save them into Dropbox for the other person to make comments. The original author then goes back to that chapter to amend it and when we’re both happy with it we add it to the master document!We also have other Word documents and spreadsheets for our chapter plans. I think that, ideally, we’d use Scrivener, because that’s what we both write on for our solo novels, but you can’t really use it for collaborative work, as far as I’ve been able to work out.REEDSY: Now, with the success of Killing Cupid and Catch Your Death, you were prompted to partner with an agent, who got you into traditional publishing. How was that experience?LOUISE: It’s quite ironic, because we spent years trying to get a publishing deal for both books. But we didn’t have an agent at all until we were #1 on Amazon. I was talking with an author friend of mine and he suggested me to contact his agent. I said â€Å"well, he turned us down a few years ago so I don’t think he’ll be interested†. He answered â€Å"oh, it’s different now, you’re #1†. So we contacted his agent and he quickly got us a deal with HarperCollins, which was fantastic! I don’t regret it, really, because it was just so lovely to finally have this public validation through a traditional publishing deal, and the idea to have our books in shops, the advance, etc.I often wonder, with the benefit of hindsight, whether we would do it differently if we had to do it again, and I don’t think we would change much, other than to get more involved in the marketing and publicity of these traditionally published books. We were thinking that the publisher would do most of the marketing and promotion, a nd it didn’t happen. So I think our mistake wasn’t taking the deal, it was not pushing the books as much as we had when we were self-publishing.MARK: Louise literally just took the words out of my mouth. I definitely don’t regret it either, it was â€Å"a dream come true†. Louise had already had a traditional publishing deal in the past, but for me it was something I’d wanted for years.LOUISE: Yes, I guess I was a bit more cynical about it, because I already had had an experience with a publisher who dropped me after not promoting the books - and that was back in the day when you could do little yourself. But I still don’t regret it, we had a lovely editor, who did an excellent editorial work, really improving the books. It’s just that not many people got to see them.MARK: Yes, that was the frustrating thing. What happened is that after the first and second books didn’t do as well as they hoped, the third and fourth ones were pretty much dead in the water.LOUISE: It basically took the exact same trajectory as my first publishing deal: sales got smaller and smaller and the publisher’s interest got smaller and smaller. Also, one thing to take into account is that two of the four books had already been self-published before and picked up by a lot of people. So I think that didn’t help us as much as we thought it would.MARK: That was the problem, really. Catch Your Death and Killing Cupid came out a year after we first self-published them, which means the sequel to Catch Your Death came a year and a half after the first book, and by then, everyone had lost interest. And it wasn’t pushed at all, it wasn’t in any shops, it had no visibility.I actually think that we were a little bit like guinea pigs, because we were the first â€Å"indies† to go through that process over here in the UK. The publishers learned from what happened with us for some of the following indie success stories that they picked up.REEDSY: So you were with a publisher that didn’t do as much as you hoped on the marketing side of things. But now you’re with Amazon, right? Which is almost the opposite.MARK: Yes, but there is a stage in between. In January 2013, we were in a dark place. We’d had a very disappointing 2012 with the two paperbacks, and when the third one came out in January it just disappeared without a trace. Literally without trace, it left nothing.I had gambled by quitting my job to be a full-time writer, and I was in a very difficult financial position, with massive tax and credit card bills, plus my wife and I had another baby on the way. So I really was in a state of constant panic, thinking â€Å"what am I going to do?† I can laugh about it now, but it was terrible at that time. Every now and again I think â€Å"I can’t believe I managed to get myself out of that dark pit that I was in†.I remember Louise and I had this meeti ng with our agent in London and he - now, he would probably deny it - but he had lost a bit of interest in us as well. But we were determined to make it work so we decided we would not give up, and start a new series of books instead.Now, I had this book â€Å"The Magpies† that I had had sitting in my bottom drawer for years, and I’d been tinkering with it, on and off. Louise said: â€Å"why don’t you just do it, just self-publish it?† So I went home that day, read through it, and thought â€Å"actually, this is quite good†. So I self-published The Magpies via my agent (it’s called â€Å"agent-assisted self-publishing†) and it basically completely transformed everything, because The Magpies ended up selling (in its self-published version) 170,000 copies. It simply changed my life, and it’s what led to the deal with Amazon.Amazon Publishing bought the rights for it and for another solo novel from me. And when Louise and I fini shed our new co-written one, it did go out in submission to various publishers, but Amazon pre-empted it and our commissioning editor there read it in a few days. They made an offer, and because I’d had such a great experience with them already, Louise thought: â€Å"why not?†Everything so far with Amazon Publishing has been fantastic. I mean, I’d like to sell more books in the US, but in the UK it couldn’t have gone any better I think.REEDSY: Yes, and we actually interviewed another Amazon-published author, Bob Mayer, a few weeks ago who highlighted the â€Å"marketing reach† of Amazon publishing imprints. What does that mean exactly? What do these imprints do in terms of marketing that makes it worth it signing away royalties to them?MARK: Well, they’ve got the most amazing database in the world. They’ve got anyone who has ever bought anything, including anyone who has ever read a psychological thriller! That’s what sets them apart from all the other publishers. Plus, they’ve got the platform of their website, and they also do a lot of on-device marketing. So if you’ve got a Kindle Fire, you’ll see that whenever you turn it on, an advert will appear on the home screen, and they rotate, but they’re often books.That visibility that you get with Amazon publishing is just fantastic. The restriction of being with them is that you’re pretty much only on the Amazon platform, although they do print books and they are making efforts to get them into the shops. But they’re not on any of the other digital stores, so you’re in kind of a walled garden, like a luxury gated development!When somebody from a big publisher said to us: â€Å"well, wouldn’t you rather be with a traditional publisher and have your books in the shops?†, my answer was that that all sounds great, but when we did have that opportunity, our books were barely in the shops anyway†¦REEDSY: So, do you now still produce some marketing effort yourselves or is it all Amazon?LOUISE: We’ve worked very hard on building up our Facebook page. It’s not like we have tens of thousands of followers, but the ones we do have are so loyal that it’s really helping us get the word of mouth thing going, which is the holy grail of marketing anyway. But we still do work very hard, especially when we do online launches.REEDSY: To finish on an encouraging note for other authors out there: you’ve been through everything, both of you, in a writer’s career; the ups, the downs, so what would be your advice for an author who’d be in a â€Å"dark year† like you had in 2012?MARK: I think it’s certainly nurturing your existing fans and readers. That is what goes through in our Facebook group, where we have really loyal readers as Louise pointed out. They were really really helpful and acting as cheerleaders to keep us going. And then when we did start selling well, they were there and helped spread the word.REEDSY: And Louise, what would be your advice?LOUISE: Keep going!We lost the rest of Louise’s advice due to recording problems, but feel free to ask her (or Mark) anything in the comments below!Sharing is caring, so here are our Twitter handles: @ReedsyHQ, @mredwards and @LouiseVoss1