Peeve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Peeve - Essay Example Traffic fatality rate in the non-Interstate rural roads for the year 2003 stood at 2.72 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles, in comparison to the traffic fatality rate in other roads in the year 2003 of around 0.99 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles. Truck traffic in small town roads and at the railroad crossings is an ongoing safety issue, in addition to their repair and maintenance concerns. Finally, lower level of physical activity and regularity of transportation, rural areas have disproportionately higher fatality and crash rates for the pedestrians and undeveloped public health outcomes (Shoup and Homa 8). Several rural areas presently experience declines in their population due to younger residents migrating to urban life for employment. These cases lead to rural being left without mature road system, which is the legacy from the time when larger population lived. Improving the public transportation is linked directly with encouraging the active transportation to be safe with attractive facilities. To reach their destinations and the everyday locations, people in smaller cities are dependent on travelling with unsafe infrastructural facilities alongside the highways with their excessive travel speeds (Shoup and Homa

Economic Situation in Bulgaria after EU Accession Essay Example for Free

Economic Situation in Bulgaria after EU Accession Essay Bulgaria has passed a long way between the fall of communism, transition to market economy, and up to EU accession that has become the culmination of Bulgarian economic transformation. Undoubtedly, Bulgarian economy has substantially benefited of becoming a full member of European Union. Despite the fact that Bulgaria does not have sufficient experience in managing various marketing processes, the whole process of transition from Central European priorities to European integration has been smooth and mostly positive. In this work, we will critically examine the impact of EU accession on Bulgarian product and labor markets, agriculture, and FDI. We expect that profound multifaceted analysis of Bulgarian economy will help determining the major economic benefits and problems of Bulgarias accession to EU. Historical background Before the end of the 1980s – the beginning of the 1990s, Bulgaria has been one of the largest communist states in Europe. After the general collapse of socialism and communism in Europe at the edge of 1990s, Bulgaria faced a choice between integration with other Eastern European countries or the developed Western Europe. In distinction from Romania and Hungary, Bulgaria was not characterized by high income per capita or its economic openness to foreign trade relations. However, Bulgaria was well known for its excellently trained workforce and well developed labor markets (Bevan, Estrin Grabbe 23). Bulgaria was characterized by high level of government involvement into economic affairs, and Bulgarian authorities had to develop new strategies for eliminating government intrusion into the newly formed free markets. In general, Bulgaria has experienced relatively smooth transition from dissolution of communism to the development of well-organized market oriented structures. At that time, most of the initiated processes, such as privatization, were postponed, and a series of new problems arose including the substantial damages to infrastructure and housing, a rapidly growing number of refugees, and a breakdown of trade and capital flows (Anusic Rohatinski 48). By the end of the 1990s, after the deep economic crisis of 1997, Bulgaria managed to resolve all economic issues, and to become prepared to further accession into European economic structures. Economic profile Since 2002, the European Commission has considered Bulgaria as one of the best performing market economies in Central Eastern Europe. Since 2006, useful steps were taken to contain the external deficit. The privatization process and the liberalization and restructuring notably of utilities have well advanced. Some additional progress has been made in improving the business environment and reducing non-wage labor costs (Baldwin Portes 127). Currently, Bulgarian GDP per capita equals to â‚ ¬7500 (32. 1% of the EU-25); economic growth: 6. 7% in 2007; inflation rate: 4. 9%; unemployment: 11%; government budget surplus: 2. 7%; exports to EU countries: 68% of total exports; imports from EU countries: 59% of total imports (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 303). It is expected, that by the end of 2008, the total economic output of Bulgarian markets will further increase 0. 4% (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 303). EU Accession and Product Markets After accession to EU at the beginning of 2007, Bulgaria has acquired additional opportunities and resources for further trade liberalization with European partners. Bulgaria has ultimately entered the Single Market; the administrative barriers to trade with the rest of Europe have been eliminated or reduced to levels that were acceptable among other EU members. Bulgaria had to re-consider the system of its external tariffs and to adopt it to the new European requirements; as a result, the tariffs have been liberalized compared to those exercised by Western European towards other third tier countries. The discussed tariff liberalization has seriously contributed into trade diversification and the growing portion of more expensive EU suppliers in the trade structure of Bulgarian economy. Bulgarian product markets have not only acquired free access to European trade potential; they have also been involved into European Structural Funds. This participation has reduced the risk of default for Bulgarian economy by almost 33%; consequentially, numerous political risks have also been reduced (Lejour 22). EU membership has greatly constrained arbitrary trade policy and indirect tax changes. It has locked in well-defined property rights, has codified competition policy, state-aids policies, and has secured open capital markets and right of establishment, assuring investors that they could put in and take our their money (Bevan, Estrin Grabbe 87). Here, we should pay more attention to the economic affects of Bulgarian accession to the EU internal markets and its trade effects. Lejour has developed a mathematical model for calculating the specific trade effects of EU accession onto various sectors of Eastern European economies. In terms of Bulgaria, Lejour has revealed the most promising trends within agriculture, food processions, textiles and apparel. Similar economic emphases have been made for Romania, Poland, and Hungary (Basci, Togan Hagen 54). Furthermore, Hungary and Poland have promising perspectives in Transport equipment and transport services with the rest of EU members. However, at the edge of Bulgarian accession to EU, the country has already experienced substantial liberalization of trade relations with Europe; 62% of Bulgarian exports were already distributed among other EU member countries (Basci, Togan Hagen 32). As a result of such preliminary trade liberalization, the net effect of accessing the EU market for Bulgaria has almost equaled zero. In distinction from Bulgaria, Hungarian GDP growth has been additionally increased by trade effects of EU membership. The abolition of trade barriers with old EU members has boosted Hungary trade. The countrys trade performance was impressive given the increased competition posed by its EU membership (Baldwin Portes 134). This is not the case with Bulgaria: the country has not experienced any trade boost, and there can be several reasons for that. First, we have already mentioned the effects of pre-accession trade liberalization with EU (exports from the European Union was increasing 6. 4% annually, to finally achieve 68% of total Bulgarian exports). Second, Bulgaria has spent only 18 months as a full EU member, and many positive long-term economic effects have not yet become visible. However, Bulgaria faced a challenge in the form of intensified import competition that has somewhat lowered inflation and has weakened European-directed domestic macroeconomic policies. It is expected that with further integration to Common Agricultural Policy and Single European markets Bulgaria will acquire additional opportunities for expanding its trade. In terms of agriculture, EU accession is anticipated to triple the total amount of trade, and to increase exports to other European and non-European countries by more than a third (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 307). In general, EU accession has developed stable confidence among the major Bulgarian trade partners towards Bulgarian economic environment and economic relations with the country. As with the other EU members, EU accession has and will result in further GDP growth within Bulgaria, with the subsequent impact on general EUs GDP. EU Accession and FDI Foreign Direct Investment has played special role in Bulgarian economy. For Bulgaria, FDI growth was critical to further promote restructuring processes within all sectors of Bulgarian economy. FDI has been particularly important for privatization and developing the confidence of investors towards Bulgarian economic environment. In this context, Bulgarias accession to EU has become the turning point towards further liberalization of all economic areas. It has been important to finance the acquisition of plants and equipment and the transfer of technology (Fiala 189). Before Bulgaria entered EU, the country could not boast high FDI inflows. Compared to other European countries, Bulgaria was lagging behind its major Eastern European partners – Croatia and Hungary. In Croatia, FDI inflows accounted for â‚ ¬2,800 per capita, while Hungarian FDI inflows equaled to â‚ ¬3. 7 billion in 2004 immediately after including Hungary into the list of full EU members (Lejour, Mooij Nahuis 223). Although Bulgaria did not experience FDI growth equal to that in Hungary and Croatia, the level of FDI increase after EU accession has been substantial. In 2007 following EU accession, Bulgaria marked a record of FDI for the last decade. Since EU accession implies secure environment for investors, it is not surprising that an estimated â‚ ¬1,790 per capita entered the country in 2007 (Lejour 49). Surprisingly or not, but Bulgaria and Romania have been among the states the least likely to be included into EU before 2015. This is why in this research numbers are less important than the quality of the emerging investor relations within Bulgarian financial structures: EU accession has significantly increased transparence of the financial and investor relations between Bulgaria and member (non-member) states. Similar situation has also been reported in relation to Hungary and Romania (Fiala 192). EU Accession and Labor Markets â€Å"While FDI, GDP growth, exports and inflation have developed evident positive tendencies since EU accession, unemployment has had ambiguous development† (Feldman 218). Currently, Bulgaria has one of the highest unemployment rates among EU state-members. For example, Hungary has been experiencing the rising rates of unemployment that have later reached 7. 2% in 2006 (Anusic Rohatinski 90). At that time, Hungarys unemployment rates were average for Europe, but the highest in the region. After EU accession of Bulgaria, its unemployment rates have gone up to 11% (Kolev 30). As a result, thousands of workers have set up their minds to reach other more developed labor markets. Simultaneously, â€Å"following EU accession Bulgarian perennial low labor participation and long-term unemployment showed positive signs† (Kolev 31). It is expected that by the end of 2008, Bulgaria will be able to decrease long-term unemployment to 9% (Kolev 34). EU accession has resulted in the emergence of new open labor markets which Bulgarian workers could easily reach. Migration is characteristic of all newly accepted EU members, and with unfavorable employment prospects for Bulgaria, other European states had to adopt a set of restrictive measures, to decrease the growing inflow of Bulgarian (and Romanian) workers into more developed EU states. â€Å"Member States do, however, have discretion to restrict migration of workers for up to seven years. The UK government chose to impose restrictions for an initial two-year period, to be reviewed on an annual basis. Low-skilled Bulgarian and Romanian nationals may only apply to work as seasonal agricultural workers or on sector-based schemes. † (Feldman 221) Bulgaria’s accession to EU has causes the two significant impacts on Bulgarian labor markets. On the one hand, immigrants have already created a â€Å"small net gain in terms of per capita income to Bulgaria† (Feldman 218). On the other hand, EU accession and the comparatively slower rates of Bulgarian economic development have already distracted large labor flows from Bulgarian towards other international labor markets. Although the net impact of Bulgarian migration has not been fully analyzed, the examples of other EU countries suggest that migration can undermine the stability of Bulgarian economy after EU accession: for Hungary, migration of local workers has resulted in 2% productivity decrease; in Poland and Czech Republic, productivity has fallen 3% (Basci, Togan Hagen 138). Researchers estimate that in the nearest 3 years current migration patterns will decrease Bulgarian economic productivity 3-5% (Feldman 222). Certainly, Bulgarian workers are willing to work for lower wages compared to those European countries pay to their citizens. As a result, accession of Bulgaria to EU creates serious pressures on other domestic labor markets. Here, Bulgaria should address its economic and labor misbalances, to promote equal labor opportunities for its workers, and to prevent the negative impacts of Bulgarian migration on other European economies. EU Accession and Agriculture Bulgarian agriculture has perceived the biggest and the brightest impact of Bulgaria’s accession to EU. EU accession has â€Å"significantly impacted the agricultural and food sectors because of its integration into the Single Market and its adoption of the Common Agricultural Policy† (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 304). Since the beginning of 2007, Bulgarian agricultural sectors have faced a challenge due to the absence of appropriate state support of livestock business. The first payments from the common European budget funds have reached farmers by the end of 2007; before that, Bulgarian farmers had to deal with the growing financial uncertainty and restrictions put on payments from national budget funds (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 305). However, Bulgarian economy and EU have been able to resolve all agricultural market issues. Between 2008 and 2010, Bulgaria will receive total â‚ ¬4. 3 billion to support its internal agricultural policies, to create cohesion funds, and to further promote effective agricultural policies within and outside Bulgarian economy (Davidova, Gorton Ratinger 309). Conclusion During the first 18 months of Bulgarias membership in EU, the countrys economy has not been able to fully perceive long-term benefits and failures of its accession to the Single European market. However, EU accession has already created multifaceted impacts on all economic sectors, among which labor and agricultural markets have been influenced the most. It is expected that in the two-three years Bulgaria will be able to stabilize its economic relations with Western Europe, and to benefit of opportunities which EU market opens to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Works Cited Anusic, Z. Z. Rohatinski, Z. A Road to Low Inflation: 2003-2006. Zagreb: Government of Republic of Croatia, 2007. Baldwin, R. E. Portes, R. â€Å"The Costs and Benefits of Eastern Enlargement: The Impact on the EU and Central Europe†. Economic Policy, vol. 24 (2007): 125-70. Basci, E. , Togan, S. Hagen, J. Macroeconomics Policies for EU Accession. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.

Anne Frank :: Free Essay Writer

Anne Frank In 1933, the Nazis began to execute their plan to round up all the Jews within Europe and relocating them into concentration camps. There, they would be executed or forced to labor until death. In 1942, when the Nazis began to invade their country, the Frank family, who were Jewish, went into hiding in an attic of a warehouse and office building. The Franks' daughter, Anne, kept a diary throughout their entire stay in the so-called "Secret Annexe." Although all the members of the Frank family, except Mr. Otto Frank, perished during the reign of the Nazis, Anne's diary is still in existence today. Minutes before the Frank's were captured in their hiding place after a two-year stay, Anne wrote in her diary the words, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." How could a young girl who had endured so much torture say such a thing? The answer is in the story of her undying courage and hope. Before Anne Frank went into hiding, she lead a blissful and joyous life. She was always surrounded by friends and boys alike, and her family was well-to-do. She was torn away from her happiness and placed into the harsh and cruel reality of the Nazi's realm at only thirteen years of age. All this only because she was Jewish. She stayed locked up in the top level of the warehouse with her family and another for almost twenty-five months, never being able to step foot outside. Such repression and life of fear would make almost any teenager completely depressed and more miserable than words can say. However, Anne Frank managed to keep her hope for a better tomorrow and her respect for the human race — a feat so great for such a young girl. Anne made a very powerful statement in her last words in her beloved diary. To truly believe such a thing after being abused by the Nazis is quite remarkable, indeed. I am very sure that most people, including myself, would have thought that the world was completely corrupt and humans were naturally cruel if they'd have gone through such times. By saying that all people are really good at heart, she was also saying that the Nazis were truly good at heart. She didn't feel hatred for her abusers, but sympathy because they stooped so low and were so prejudiced and ignorant.

Compare and Contrast “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Compare/Contrast Paper on â€Å"Raisin in the Sun, â€Å"by Lorraine Hansberry. The play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† was a radically new representation of black life, resolutely authentic, fiercely unsentimental, and unflinching in its vision of what happens to people whose dreams are constantly deferred. I compared Act One, Scene 2, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is on a Saturday morning, and house cleaning is in process at the Youngers. In the film, the setting is the same as play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is when Mrs. Younger gets the insurance check of $10,000. In the film, the plot is the same, but includes music not mentioned in the play. The dialogue in the film has some deletions from the original text, with new dialogue added throughout the scene. Some film techniques used are: the film cuts back and forth to different characters, the room is well lit with the sunshine coming in through the window, and music is added throughout some parts of this scene. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene involves dialogue. Much of the dialogue is deleted; however, new dialogue is added through some parts of this scene. Also, in the play, the mailman comes up to their apartment and rings the doorbell unlike the film, Travis runs up to him outside the building and gets the mail from him right away and runs back to give it to Mrs. Younger (his grandma). Racism was rampant during the 1950’s and this often hindered African American dreams. What is the American dream? In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter is depicted as being a very ambitious and determined man. He often had dreams of making a better life for his family and himself. One way of making a reaching his dream was to open a liquor store. â€Å"I got a dream†¦. I got to take hold of this here world; I’m going to open a liquor store. † (p. 701). This is all Walter dreams about. A way for him to achieve this dream is to utilize the $10,000 insurance money from his father’s death. Walter’s dream conflicts with his mother’s, Lena’s (mama’s), dream. Lena, known as mama, is a strong, caring, and very religious woman. She works very hard to try and help her family have the best. She dreams of owning a house for the family â€Å"You should know the dream I have of owning a house and fixing it up and making me a little garden† (p. 707). This brings about conflict with the other family members, particularly Walter who is already set on opening his own liquor store.

Coco Chanel Essay

Coco Chanel Coco Chanel was one of the most prominent fashion designers of the 20th century. Her contribution in the development of fashion can hardly be underestimated. In fact, she revolutionized fashion in a way, since she was one of the first fashion designers who made women think of themselves first rather than think how they look for their men, which was a traditional view on female fashion at the epoch. In actuality, the significance and her great contribution in the development of fashion as well as 20th century culture at large was marked by her contemporaries as well as modern specialists. For instance, she was the only person in the field of fashion design to be named on TME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century (Charles-Roux, 145). In such a way, she gained a public approval and popularity which made her name one of the most recognizable in the fashion world. At the same time, her life was quite difficult, especially during her early years and war time periods. In fact, she witnessed two world wars but she kept working regardless of all the problems and challenges she faced in her life. In fact, her work was her true passion she remained devoted to from her early life until the end. Gabrielle Bonheur â€Å"Coco† Chanel was born on August 19, 1883. She was a second daughter of travelling salesman Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle in a small city of Saumur, France (Orecklin, 49). In fact, her family was poor and she was raised in poverty stricken neighborhood along with her five siblings. Remarkably, when she got her birth certificate her name misspelled â€Å"Chasnel† because nobody knew how to spell Chanel correctly. As a result, the mayor of the city had to improvise and added the letter â€Å"S† in her name, which later became a serious problem for her biographers, who could not trace her origin and define genealogical tree because of such an error in her name (Orecklin, 51). However, the misspelling of her name was definitely not the biggest misfortune that happened to her in her early life. She lived in poverty and was practically of an opportunity to get a good education. Moreover, when she was twelve, her mother died of tuberculosis that provoked a serious psychological trauma for the child. At the same time, her father could not stay with the children all the time. He had to work to earn for living and to maintain the family, in which he was the only breadwinner. This is why Coco Chanel was sent to the orphanage of the Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she spent seven years and where she received her basic education. In fact, it is in the monastery she learned the trade of seamstress. However, she did not spend all the time in the monastery. During the vacations she went to her relatives in a provincial city, where her female relatives taught her to sew with more flourish than the nuns in the monastery were able to demonstrate. In such a way, her interest, her passion to design had started to develop since her childhood as she learned to sew and gradually she became very skilful in this field. At this point, it should be said that she was apparently a gifted person since she managed to develop her skills and abilities to the extent that she became able not only to create traditional wear, but she proved to be able to experiment and find new, original solutions, which were unusual for her time (Dwight, 119). However, at the early started to demonstrate her talent, which though was immature at the epoch. Nevertheless, her professional knowledge, to a significant extent, defined her further life, as her first job was the work at a local tailor, where she was employed at the age of eighteen as she left the orphanage. In fact, it was her first step in her professional career insignificant it seems to be, but still it was very important in regard to her future professional career since she could have hardly find a different work. Moreover, it was the only work where she could realize her full potential and implement her creative ideas while developing new wear. At the same time, it should be said that she could not afford working at a tailor for a long time because she needed to realize her ideas and she wanted to create clothes of her own. However, she could hardly start her own business, if she had failed to meet Etienne Balsan at the tailor’s shop where Coco Chanel worked. In fact, it was an occasional encounter which though outgrew into a love affair which opened Chanel the way to a new, different and better life. Etienne Balsan was rich and quite influential. It is during her life with Balsan, Coco Chanel started to design hats. At first, it was just a hobby which gradually transformed into a true passion for designing new clothe items, especially hats, where she grew more and more skillful. Her early works were characterized by high originality since they were quite different from traditional hats. At the same time, the high quality of her products attracted a lot of customers, while her acquaintance with Balsan allowed her to engage customers representing the upper-class of the French society (Charles-Roux, 210). Nevertheless, her love affair with Balsan failed to evolve into a true love. At any rate, their relationships did not last for a long period of time and Coco Chanel left Balsan, moved to Paris and took over his apartment in the French capital. In 1913, she opened her first shop, where she sold fashionable raincoats and jackets. Remarkably, the originality and quality of her wear contributed to the huge success of her shop which allowed her to maintain relatively high standards of life and she became very popular in Paris, which, at the epoch, was one of the world’s centers of the fashion industry. However, the development of her business in Paris was overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I, which started in 1914 and affected the life of the entire country dramatically (Charles-Roux, 219). Nevertheless, Coco Chanel had never stopped working and continued designing new products which still remained popular and the demand for her wear was traditionally high. But she had to stop her business in Paris because she was deprived of all her properties. Nevertheless, Coco Chanel was not discouraged and carried on her professional work and designing became an essential part of her life. On the other hand, she could live with her ideas only. She needed money to earn to maintain living. In this regard, the assistance of Balsan’s friend, Arthur â€Å"Boy† Capel proved to be very helpful for Coco Chanel. Their friendship evolved into a love affair which made them very close and Capel helped Coco Chanel to open a new shop in Brittany, France, which, similarly to the shop in Paris, became very popular among local customers (Weber, 35). It is worth mentioning the fact that celebrated French actresses buy wear in Chanels’ shop which was very important for the promotional campaign of her shop. In fact, the interest of celebrities to her shop contributed to the growing popularity of her products and her design in France that contributed to her professional recognition, while the popularity allowed her to expand her business steadily. Due to her popularity, she managed to introduce new women’s sportswear at her new boutique in Deauville. In such a way, she could expand her business, but, what was even more important, Coco Chanel changed the philosophy of women’s wear. To put it more precisely, her new design and new wear made women confident of the fact that they were supposed to dress for themselves but not for their men. In fact, it was a revolutionary philosophy for France as well as the entire world at the epoch of World War I, when the ominance of men was unchallengeable, while the development of feminism was still insignificant (Charles-Roux, 248). Nevertheless, the design and new philosophy of Chanel produced a significant impact on the development of fashion and the 20th century culture at large. Remarkably, as Coco Chanel grew more and more popular she attempted to change some facts from her past. For instance, she pretended to be born in 1893, instead of 1883, while she insisted that she lo st her mother at the age of six, instead of twelve. In such a way, she created a kind of tragic image of an orphan girl, who managed to achieve a tremendous success due her talent and hard work. At the same time, such manipulations with her past evoked numerous controversies which were insurmountable for her biographers. This is why some details of her biography are still quite controversial and unclear. The 1920s were the epoch of the fast progress of Coco Chanel as a designer and her business developed successfully. Her design was really unique and her wear was very popular in France as well as in other countries. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that her acquaintance with Vera Bate Lombardi, a daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and Duke of Teck, became of a paramount importance for Chanel’s empire. In fact, Vera Lombardi became Chanel’s muse and public relations liaison to a number of European royal families, including the British royal family. Her acquaintance with representatives of royal families and upper-classes contributed to her empire growth in power. As a result, before World War II, Chanel’s was one of the most influential designers in Europe as well as the world, because Europe, especially Paris, where Coco Chanel resided in the Hotel Ritz Paris, was the heart of the world’s fashion design (Barringer, 28). However, World War II forced Coco Chanel to stop her work and business. Nevertheless, she remained in Paris even during the German occupation. This period in her life was probably the most controversial because, after the war, she was repeatedly accused of collaborationism. For instance, she was suspected of having a love affair with a German officer and Nazi soy Hans Gunther von Dinklage. Moreover, she was even arrested after the war but she escaped the t rial after the interference of the British royal family, but she was forced to move to Switzerland where she lived until 1954. In 1954, she returned to Paris where she renewed her work and her business, but her new collection did not have much success with the Parisians and French because they believe Chanel to be a collaborationist, which produced a negative impact on her public image. Nevertheless, in spite of the failure in France, Chanel had open a new market, the USA, where her wear became extremely popular and the USA became her main market in the post-World War II period. On the other hand, even though the USA was the main market for Chanel’s Empire, Coco Chanel, herself, had never left Paris and stayed in this city until her death on 10 January 1971. She died at the age of 88 in her private suit in the Ritz Hotel Paris and she was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland (Charles-Roux, 341). Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that Coco Chanel was a very influential fashion designer. She had changed the traditional view on women’s wear and she had changed the women’s philosophy in regard to the wear. She was one of the first designers who made women think of themselves above all, instead of thinking of their men when they choose the clothes. At the same time, her personality is still quite controversial because, in spite of a huge popularity before World War II, she failed to regain the popularity in France after the war.

10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing

10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing 10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing 10 Tips for Clean, Clear Writing By Mark Nichol Adhering to the following guidance about usage, syntax, punctuation, style, and form will perceptibly improve the quality of your writing. 1. Use vivid verbs. Monitor your writing for excessive use of forms of â€Å"to be†- is, be, and their variants- and other helping verbs such as has, as well as other weak verbs like do and go, and replace with active verbs. Also, avoid baseline action words when possible. For example, people don’t just walk: They lumber, march, or stroll. Don’t strive to eliminate every instance, but do minimize vague verbs. 2. Reword or delete clichà ©s. Think outside the box. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. All (fill in the blank) are not created equal. These. Are. So. Lame. (YMMV.*) 3. Always use the serial comma. When listing more than two things, include a comma before the conjunction preceding the final item. Omitting the comma can prompt ambiguity about the list’s organization, but inserting it never contributes to confusion. Related article: The Rationale for the Serial Comma. 4. Avoid scare quotes. Generally, use â€Å"scare quotes† only to signal that the writer is calling out the quoted content as being dubious or ironic, not to introduce an unfamiliar term. Related article: 3 Erroneous Uses of Scare Quotes. 5. Hyphenate phrasal adjectives. If a two-word phrase doesn’t appear in the dictionary as a standing open compound, it is not exempt from hyphenation. Exceptions can be made for terms of art (vocabulary specific to a topic or discipline and well known among one’s readership), but use this privilege sparingly, and double-check that open phrasal adjectives aren’t ambiguous or confusing. Related article: 5 Types of Phrasal Adjectives That Require Hyphens. 6. When in doubt, don’t capitalize. If you’re not certain that a word or phrase should be capitalized, look the term up in authoritative sources. Writers often Capitalize Important Concepts that don’t deserve such emphasis, but careful writers don’t. (Also, for example, job titles are capitalized before a name but not after it, and generic terms that are abbreviated references to proper names- such as act when referring to a specific piece of legislation- are just that: generic.) Related article: Avoid Gratuitous Capitalization 7. Refrain from using all-caps. Employ italics to emphasize a word or phrase. Reserve use of all capital letters for humorous indication of shouting or panic, and avoid in formal writing. 8. Be consistent in formatting treatment. If a caption is boldfaced or italicized or appears in a different font, all captions should be formatted that way. If top-level headings are capitalized headline style (Capitalized Like This) rather than sentence style (Capitalized like this), treat subheadings the same way. 9. Vary sentence length. A healthy mix of sentence length and syntactical forms (simple declarative statements, sentences with lists, sentences with subordinate clauses and parenthetical phrases, and so on) keeps the reader engaged. Lockstep sentence construction and consistently short or long sentences are distracting. 10. Manage paragraph length. The traditional five-sentence paragraph form is fatiguing. Strive to craft paragraphs that will, in published form, be about ten to fifteen lines in narrow columns or five to ten lines in full-width display, and, as with sentence length, avoid paragraphs of consistent length. Related article: How Long Should a Paragraph Be? If you decide to ignore or break a rule for effect, take care with the rest of your content, or your attempt at deviation may seem like simply the most egregious of your errors. * Your mileage may vary. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, Whether"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?Writing a Thank You Note

A Pocket Full of Rye Essay Example

A Pocket Full of Rye Essay Example A Pocket Full of Rye Essay A Pocket Full of Rye Essay A Pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #1 (P. 1-24) What really stuck out to me as I was reading this, was the well, the obvious rye in Mr. Fortescues pocket. Why would something like that be there? I think maybe he feeds pigeons at a park or he might Just like rye, but still Now onto Inspector Neele. He seems fairly intelligent and hes able to get information out of people quite easily without them even knowing, as it shows on page 21, it states, Lance has got guts even if he did risk a criminal prosecution once- Oh dear, I oughtnt to have said that! This can allow the inspector to hopefully find the murderer. Anyway, I have a suspect in mind who could have been responsible for the murder. Im thinking Mr. Percival, his own son! That would be pretty cruel to murder your father. I think its him because recently theyVe been arguing due to, as it states on page 20, Well, Mr. Fortescue was doing a lot of things Mr. Percival thought unwise. You dont murder someone without reason, they alway s have a motive and that might be Percivals. Its still too early to make accusations, but its wise to keep him in mind. A pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #2 (P. 25-47) In these few pages we get bombarded with many new characters and with new haracters comes new suspects. I doubt it was the butler, Mr. Crump or the Chef, Mrs. Crump. I dont think it was the house maid Mrs. Ellen or Miss. Gladys. Miss. Dove is fairly innocent, but if she wanted she could have pulled off the murder. Shes a very efficient person as shes in charge of most things. She also does not really care for her employer, as it says on page 32, IVe no feeling of loyalty to my employers, so that might be a clue. In the end I think Miss. Dove most likely is innocent, but we cant be too sure. It could have also been anyone who was eating breakfast with Mr. Fortescue which includes, Mrs. Fortescue, Miss. Fortescue, and Mrs. Val Fortescue. That narrows it down, I dont think it was Miss. Fortescue or Elaine his daughter. It might be Mrs. Fortesuce, his wife whos thirty years younger and married for money or Mrs. Val who greatly despises him. Its hard to exactly pin point someone, but those are my main suspects as of now. A Pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #3 (P. 8-70) Finally we are introduced to Mrs. Fortescue. Shes one of my main suspects. Im thinking that she killed Mr. Fortescue. Her motive? The money. My logic is quite simple, she killed Mr. Fortescue so that she could inherit all his money, which is quite a lot. Thats Just what I think, theres no real evidence yet. Also as it states on page 53, On her lips was a very faint smile. So Adele or Mrs. Fortescue Just might be the murderer. We ca nt be too sure yet though. Im confused as to why Percy or Percival is reluctant to tell Inspector Neele of the argument. Maybe it has something to do with the murder? It can be Percivals motive, but to kill your own father? Thats a bit outrageous. Im wonaerlng I T Ms. RamsDottom Is sane. sne seems qulte alrlgnt, all she does is stay in her room. Surely she has nothing to do with the murder? She does despise Rex (Mr. Fortescue) though. It seems like everyone hates Rex as of now. Ms. Ramsbottom, Mrs. Val, Percival, etc. Very shortly Lance the other son will be coming. I think hell be a big help in discovering the murderer. A Pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #4 (P. 71-98) Well this part was full of surprises. I mean, Adele Fortescue has been poisoned! Cyanide to be exact. I thought she might have been a suspect. I casted her as a murderess, but I guess not. Another death was of Gladys the housemaid. Two deaths already? Right after Mr. Fortesuces! This was rather surprising, I thought the deaths would have ceased as the inspector is in the house. Whoever it is, they are certainly cunning to be able to pull it off. I infer that Vivian Dubois might have something to do with the murder, but Im not too sure. This narrows down the suspect even further, yet it seems more puzzling. Another part that puzzled me was on page 98, it states, There was a clothes peg clipped on her face. Is this some kind of twisted Joke from the murderer? This reminds me of the Joker, twisted, but not broken. A pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #5 (P. 99-132) This part has certainly probed my thoughts about the murderer. Obviously he was basing it off the nursery, Blackbirds. I doubt its all a coincidence. It all fits together perfectly, the king in his counting house, the scones and honey, and the clothes peg. Miss. Marple seems quite intelligent to be able to fgure that out. I predict that she might be the one to crack the mystery instead of the inspector. After all it is called a Miss Marple Mystery, so she maybe more than Just an ordinary character. One thing thats quite curious is Vivians behavior. Hes quite cautious much like Percival. Speaking of Percival, he hasnt been around much recently which is quite convenient for him. Could this be a clue? Or is this Just all a fluke? Another thing is the marmalade. Mr. Fortescue was the only one who used it which caused his death as the marmalade had taxine. It had been tampered with, but I wonder who it is? Clearly that would have made the murder much more efficient. I guess well Just find out further on. A pocket Full of Rye: journal Entry (P. 133-160) Why was Mrs. Val so nervous at the mention of blackbirds? Does she have something to do with putting the blackbirds on Mr. Fortescues desk? The blackbirds in the pie also sparked my curiosity. Who would do that? Im thinking whoever put the blackbirds are also related to the murders. It could be a possibility. Another curious character at the moment is Vivian. He seems very likely to be the murderer. From his point of view, he killed Mr. Fortescue so he could have Adele, then maybe he killed her then to obtain the money. You never know, they are very unpleasant people. But theres a fatal flaw, as states on page 159, Adele would not inherit the money if she didnt survive one month. Maybe it isnt Vivian. Who could it be? Also about Mr. Fortescues illness, GPI would have put his firm under the rocks. Percival has always been a cunning and sly fellow. Hes very passionate about economics and his money. Mayoe ne took out Mr. Fortescue In order to restraln nlm ana save tne Tlrm? Mayoe, thats definitely a possibility. I can certainly imagine him planning it all out. It seems to become more puzzling as the story progress, but Im sure everything will be clear soon. A pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry #7 (P. 161-190) Regarding Mrs. MacKenzie, shes definitely in the asylum for a reason. Shes almost scary carrying her book with names in it. It reminds me of the show Death Note. I wonder, where her children are. According to her, he died and she doesnt have a daughter. Apparently she erased her completely. Maybe her daughter is the one responsible for everything? It seems to have become even more complex than before. Also on page 190, how can Miss. Marple be sure that therell be no more murders? Does she know something that the inspector doesnt? She does seem fairly intelligent, but then again so is the inspector. One thing that Im surprised about is Lance going into the business. He doesnt seem like the type to wear a suit and go to work in an office every day. Mentioning that, why is Percival so against Lance Joining him? Shouldnt he be happy he now has extra help? Then again he does despise Lance, but I can shake off the feeling that Percival may have something to do with this hole scenario. You never know, he seems like a slippery fellow. A pocket Full of Rye: Journal Entry (P. 191-239) First things first, I cant believe it was Lance! Its crazy, I never even suspected him! I thought he was going to be the good guy in this story and his brother Percival was bad. Lancelot Fortescue murder Rex Fortescue, Gladys Martin, and Adele Fortescue all so that he could obtain money. That is very wicked and as they say, wickedness wont go unpunished. Who would have actually thought that he would be the suspect? I do admire his bravery to go and commit such a thing and his intelligence to actually lan this all together. A mastermind wouldnt even be able to come up with a devious plan like this. It Just shows how intelligent Miss. Marple is to be able to come up with this. I underestimated her abilities. I do feel bad for Pat and Gladys though. Pat really loved Lance, but will she after she finds out about all of this? Also Gladys, she was well not entirely innocent, but she didnt deserve to die! He basically used her to complete his scheme. Even though Lance committed all of this, I cant really look at him as being evil. Maybe its respect, I mean I wouldnt have ever thought it was him. Hes truly an evil genius.