Walmart. Final project Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Walmart. Final project - Lab Report Example SWOT analysis refers to the evaluation of an organization strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis offers an insight into an organization management strategy and the potential for success. Wal-Mart is an international company that provides home-based products at affordable prices. The company utilizes its strength in each of the market distributed worldwide, to meet the demands of their international and regional consumers. This paper seeks to provide a strategic insight of the company and a detailed SWOT analysis. Wal-Mart is a large wholesale distributor in the world that can afford modern construction technologies. For instance, during the year 2011, the company was ranked position one by Fortune 500 (Morse & Glassman, 30-40). Its operations are distributed worldwide and there is no worthy rival. Owing to its large influence on the market, Wal-Mart has the potential to replicate its best architectural techniques in all its stalls across the world (Roberts & Berg, 40). Wal-Mart uses variety of construction materials such as red bricks, steel-iron alloys, and coagulated tiles. In addition, it can suit its construction model with its retail products that cover cuts across different categories including apparels, domestic wares, and grocery. Wal-Mart’s dominant position allows it to benefit from high sales volume. In general, Wal-Mart’s strength includes international operations, scale of operations, wide range of products and cost leadership strategy (Hicks, 20-25). Wal-Mart is large supplier of domestic products and operates vast centers that require large construction space. This acts as a disadvantage as the company limit cannot expand beyond urban areas due to space. Research has shown that Wal-Mart has experienced loss in its store sales for the last eight years due to limited space (Kneer, 24). As such, Wal-Mart is required to develop new stores to accommodate fully its strengths concentrated in urban areas. This is

Vygotskys Educational Theory Essay Example for Free

Vygotskys Educational Theory Essay Vygotsky is an important theorist in the twentieth century in education. He has come up with the theory discussing the zone of proximal development and its application to the education of person with special needs. This theory has been put into practice in coming up with strategies for persons with intellectual challenges. But this however does not come up with full support as some of the propositions in his theories have been criticized. In his theories he considers the zone of proximal development to possess upper and lower limits where children are categorized in the limits. The first misconception that can be deduced from his theory is that assessment of a child’s zones provides a biased incomplete picture (Robert, 28). Hence an accurate picture of the child’s learning style, development level, and learning ability cannot be obtained through comparison to children of similar ages or degrees of motivation. Thus the zone’s width depending on its causes could be undesirable or desirable. Measurement is another hindrance observed in the theory. This is because, there exists no metric scale to configure a child’s individual zone. This is because Vygotsky at times measured the zone in terms of chronological age in relation to mental age. This has drawback in that comparison cannot be done by the number of years. For instance a 9 year old behaving like a 12 year old has a 3 year age difference. This cannot be applied in a case of children with ages 5 and 8 as the difference is similarly 3 years (Kozulin, 40). The zone meets another obstacle since little is known on the stability and generality of an individual’s zone. The domain of one child’s zone is not equal across different children (Daniels, Harry, and Mariane, 80). This is due to the fact that behavior differences do occur in children of similar ages. Thus a zone is not stable and neither can it be generalized. The theory pays little attention to issues of development across different ages. It gives little idea how a child’s level of cognition would constrain or permit processes in the zone. It also ignores the effect different settings have on children and ignores cognitive skills needed to respond to varying stimuli. The theory overlooks the fact that varying developmental levels lead to varying responses to a setting (Kozulin, 67). Finally Vygotsky’s theory lacks tasks  prototypical to be associated with the theory as he relies on general summaries. Considering the aforementioned weaknesses, many theorists and educationist borrow little from his theory in its application to special education. This is coupled with the fact that persons with special needs occur in a large diversity. Hence the theory would call for individualization of strategies adopted for special needs learners. Works cited Daniels, Harry, and Mariane Hedegaard. Vygotsky and special needs education: rethinking support for children and schools. London: Continuum International Pub. Group, 2011. Print. Kozulin, Alex. Vygotskys educational theory in cultural context. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Robert, Michelle Suzanne. Vygotsky theories meaningful relationships. Burnaby B.C.: Simon Fraser University, 2005. Print.

Drive-by Shootings on Londons Streets :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Drive-by Shootings on London's Streets Close your eyes and sit back in your recliner. Let the cool breeze refresh you as you relax in your hardwood floored den and sip your English tea. Now picture London. What kind of an image comes to mind? Perhaps the sophisticated languages of its inhabitants or just the aura of properness that encompasses typical visions of the great city of London. I am not writing to deny the eloquence of London, I am instead writing to challenge the notion of sophistication that many of us hold true to London. Could a city of such brilliance and royalty ever fester with the day to day problems that we witness daily in our own country? I argue, yes. When one thinks of America, the thoughts tend to centralize around, "The American Dream". The truth is, the American dream is no longer an ideal that all strive to obtain. Instead the title is now a preface to a long novel of "dog eat dog". America is full of competition to reach the ideal of stability, family life, and security. It seems that the way many Americans attempt to gratify their dreams is to lie, cheat, scheme, and that is just the beginning. Lately, the petty competition has led to drugs, crime, and hideous acts of violence. Unfortunately, the trend is catching on. London, England seems to have joined in the "rat race" and the London news has the headlines to prove it. It seems that something is gone from the "old" England, or at least the way it used to be perceived. Crime in London is at an all time high and the amount of drug use and violence is soaring. Although several Americans are already well acquainted with the "date rape" drug, Royhypnol, the streets of London are now getting a dose of it as well. According to a recent issue of The London Student newspaper, the drug first came to notice in Scotland a year ago. The paper also makes many references to the previous and vigorous use of the drug in the U.S. Unfortunately, it seems that London has seen its fair share of the drug as well. The British police have already been informed of the problem and are asked to be aware of the presence of the drug along with its possible side effects. London women are being advised to watch their drink at all times and never accept a drink offered to them by a stranger.

Dance choreography: Extended programme notes

Big Brother is a dance that explores the idea of being trapped and controlled within a â€Å"box. † For me the box was a larger metaphor for society, and on another level, the dance explores the idea of society controlling the individual, and the desire to escape this control. The accompaniment I chose is called, â€Å"The Black Parade† by My Chemical Romance. I chose this piece of music because I felt it created a very strong atmosphere that largely reflected the emotions of the character in my dance. Though only used for around twenty seconds, the varying pace and the complex rhythms in the piece created an air of frustration, desperation and excitement- emotions I try to convey as the character attempts to break free of the box. The electric guitars and drums complemented the powerful and often heavy dynamics. I chose to use a section that moved from a slower tempo into a faster tempo as I felt this represented the character's situation at that point in the dance. The slower tempo, I feel, made the character seem weary- tired of fighting. The transition into the faster tempo as the character makes a final attempt to break free of the box gives the final section an exciting climax, and creates a sense of excitement yet desperation at the idea of escaping. I decided to bring the music in slowly as I felt it built the atmosphere effectively towards a climax at the end of the piece. My piece is split into four sections of ABCD narrative. Section A focussed on the character's discovery of being trapped, whilst section B looked at the character being controlled whilst being trapped in the box (this was also a theme running throughout my piece. Section C, the largest of the sections looked at the character's attempt to escape from the box. Finally, section D, the shortest section, was the character's actual escape from the confines of the box. I began my dance at centre stage, in a ball shape on the floor. By making myself look very small, I feel it made me look very vulnerable, and as if confined- immediately defining the idea of restriction. I then began to run around the ‘box' following a random pathway, pushing off the walls. Creating the circular box as I define these walls. This random pathway indicates the idea of panic for the character on discovering they are in a box. The pathways being random represent the character's lack of self-control over oneself- and underpinning the theme of my dance. Although within these random pathways, I never travel outside the box, outlining the fact I am trapped. The strong pushing gestures (motif A) I use in this section are one of the main motifs running through my piece, and reveal the fact the character is confined to the box. Section B is performed mainly in bound-flow, though the gestures move from closed to open. Initially, the arms are tight to the body, trying to pull away- symbolising chains. Then when free, I take large steps, trudging around the box in a zigzag pathway, with my arms and head floppy yet tense- as if a puppet. Similarly, the idea of a puppet is reflected in the heavy steps here. I used the puppet to convey the idea of the character being controlled; his strings are pulled by society. I then make a gesture, at the edge of the box, facing the audience, as if ‘pulling' away the wall of the box. My facial expression here completely changes to one of wonder and amazement, and I use the second motif – a mime of touching/exploring the wall before pushing off into a spin (motif B). I do this very softly, a contrast from the strength of movements inside the box. I am then pulled back into the box, again like a puppet back under the box's control. This provides the link between section B and section C. I am trying to escape the confines of the box in section C and this is reflected in the repetition of motifs A and B as well as running about the space. As the character is pulled back into the box, the space becomes larger, into a rectangular shape. I included this to allow me to explore a larger amount of the space. This section begins with similar puppet like movements from section B this time repeated on the floor. After getting up, I then run about the space, repeating motif A. After pushing off each wall, I develop this motif by adding to the end of it- travelling to the next in various ways: spins, slide, leap and run. Using many actions emphasises the manic behaviour of the trapped character. The space then again becomes small, this time very small, as if within a corridor. Motif A is again developed, this time by using elbows to push instead of palms. As a result of being trapped in this new smaller box, the somewhat free flow gestures seen earlier in this section become bound flow. I then repeat motif B, this time with a new emphasis on the movements. Instead of them being soft, as they were first, I made them powerful and developed them by adding a hop and push. The hop and push helped make the character look more desperate as if pushing up as well as out of the box. In addition, I developed this motif by repeating each section (the push and spin and then the hop and push) alternately facing to each side. I did this because I wanted to show my motif to the audience from several viewpoints to help add interest to my dance. Section D provides the climax to the dance. The link between section C and D is a set of fast spins, with arms bent upwards. This shows that the character is breaking out of chains seen in section B. The music becomes louder, and moves into a faster tempo- I imagine this to represent the character's heartbeat. The music in section C is slower, but as the character reaches the final breakout he becomes more and more frantic and excited. The climax is me running into a slide on my knees across the floor toward downstage left. I thrash my arms to represent the break for freedom. I then repeat my developed motif B, further developing it by changing the level. This shows how tired the character has become of fighting to escape. For the final image in my piece I thrash my arms over my head, throw my torso forward and hold. The floppy arms here can be left to interpretation for the audience. They could be seen as showing relief at breaking free of the box. Similarly, they also resemble the puppet arms seen in section B showing the box's control- and therefore may indicate that however hard he fights, he cannot escape the box's control. I wished for the audience to make their own interpretation at this point. There is floor work in each of the four sections. The transition between low and high levels suggests at the characters weakness- as if being thrown about the space, as seen in sections A and C. I choreographed this dance as a solo because I wished for it to focus around an individual's fight to break free from the confines of a society that tries to force people into conforming to certain ways- as if the individual is a puppet. By performing in solo, it allows the audience to focus and speculate more on how the individual is affected by society. Similarly, I could have choreographed a group dance to display how this idea of control or the ‘box' affects many of us. Throughout my dance I mainly concentrated my focus forward, toward the walls of the box. I did this because I felt it revealed the character's determination to escape the box. I only had a different focus during two other moments. When being the puppet I had my focus follow my arms and legs to suggest that my whole body was being controlled and pulled toward a point in the space. Secondly, in section B when I pulled away from the wall of the box, to show I was outside of the box my focus was all around the space ahead- as if looking in amazement at what was outside the box. In my piece facial expressions played a huge part in helping tell the story. I used a large variety of facial expressions in accordance with my character's varying emotions. In the opening section my facial expressions were wide and open, and my breathing heavy, to show the character is panicking at being in the box. In the puppet section, my face is blank, to show I haven't control over myself. When seeing outside the box, I looked around in amazement to show the contrast between the box and the outside. And during sections C and D my facial expressions were much tighter to show the character is angry at being in the box, and is determined to find a way to escape. I ensured that the music entered at a time that it went well with the narrative. The music was symbolising the character's emotions. When controlled by the box the character has no control over his own emotions. The lack of music symbolises this- no emotion, no music. Similarly, in section D, the music indicated that the character was about to break free, and gain his own emotions back. As a result my music only came in very close to the climax, when I finally escape the box. I had two main inspirations for the dance. The book â€Å"1984† by George Orwell looks at the idea of society trying to control all aspects of our lives, by taking away individuality and making each person the same. A robot; or puppet in the image of society. This is where I got the main idea for the puppet like movements, and for the idea of being trapped within a box. It is also the inspiration for my title ‘Big Brother,' a term coined by the book. Also, watching the piece ‘Swansong' by Christopher Bruce influenced me hugely. I feel the greatest influence it had on me was to create a piece about the world we live in. The themes of bullying and injustices, that Bruce looks at in the piece, are things that happen in the context of prison all around the world. I took from the piece, that sometimes the most powerful pieces are ones that people can in fact understand and relate, to the dance idea. I am extremely pleased with the piece of dance I have choreographed for my coursework. I feel it clearly expressed an interesting dance idea in an engaging fashion. I am particularly, pleased with my manipulation of spatial design to make clear the idea of the box, and the way the box got larger and then closed in around the character. I felt that the simple motifs very clearly communicated the dance idea, with the pushing motions, and were developed in a way that made them very interesting: by adding spins, leaps, hops, turns and varying levels. Feedback from my peers suggested that my main motifs very clearly communicated the idea of being trapped within a box, and that the message of the dance was very clear. I believe I made the right decision in choreographing a solo piece, as I feel that this emphasised the idea of an individual against the greater society well. I did not like the section B I initially choreographed, as after watching it back on video and receiving feedback from my teachers I felt it was much weaker in comparison to the rest of the dance. The movements were much weaker, and the section did not clearly communicate the dance idea, as it was mainly just a set of non-complementing floor patterns and gestures. I instead developed the theme of society's control, and used this to create the puppet section- a section I am proud of as it is interesting to watch and expresses the dance idea clearly. I could possibly have changed the dynamic of section B to a slower pace to create a greater contrast between the controlled puppet character, and the character fighting for freedom. Other from that, I like the whole of my dance, and felt that all sections were powerful and communicated the dance idea effectively whilst being strong and exciting to watch- especially when combined with my powerful use of facial expression. In feedback from my teachers they suggested that the music would be more appropriately brought in at the point where the character pulls the walls apart and sees outside the box, to show that the character has seen an outside world- a hope- and that now they are not being so controlled but instead fighting the control. My favourite moment of the dance was the ending, the climax to the piece. The loud fast music, powerful and fast dynamic, thrashing gestures and throwing myself to the floor made this very dramatic and a very exhilarating end to the piece.

General Biology Ii Essay

I’m giving you a lecture note template rather than the ppt slides because the template takes less paper to print, includes tables that synthesize information from multiple slides, and includes blanks for you to fill in during in-class activities. IV. Practice Exam Questions These are questions similar to ones I will likely ask on the exam. Some of the questions are from past exams. V. Homework Assignment – This assignment covers the latter half of ecology and the first chapter of this unit. I. Learning Goals Overarching Content Goals: Students should be able to trace matter and energy across scales (cellular to organismal to ecosystem) and to use the laws of conservation of matter and energy in their reasoning. * trace molecules as they enter an organism as food or the building blocks of food (i. e. CO2 in plants) and follow those molecules as atoms are rearranged into the molecules used and stored in the body, and as they exit an organism and enter other organisms or the environment. * trace energy as it enters an organism as food or light (photoautotrophs) and should be able to follow the energy as it is converted to different forms (e. . chemical potential energy, heat) and trace energy as it exits an organism and enters another organism or the environment. * Explain body systems as mechanisms for transporting, transforming and conserving matter and energy (Ex. Discuss why temperature regulation is so important in plants and animals, and the costs and benefits of ectothermy and endothermy. )

Dialogue Guide Definition and Examples

Dialogue Guide Definition and Examples In reported speech, a dialogue guide serves to identify the speaker of directly quoted words. Also known as a dialogue tag.  In this sense, a dialogue guide is essentially the same as a signal phrase or a quotative frame. Dialogue guides are usually expressed in the simple past tense, and they are customarily set off from the quoted material by commas. In the context of small-group communication, the term dialogue guide is sometimes used to refer to a facilitator of group discussions, or to a booklet that provides advice on fostering communication between individuals. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: DialogueDirect SpeechQuotationTom Swifty Examples and Observations Its a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied, explained my father to our astonished guests.(Amy Tan, Fish Cheeks. Seventeen magazine, 1987)Im here, she said, because Im a taxpayer, and I thought it was about time that my boys have a look at those animals.(Ralph Ellison, On Being the Target of Discrimination. The New York Times, April 16, 1989)Look at these, the man from Kentucky said, holding up a rib. You could take these home and use them to make a skeleton.(Susan Orlean, Lifelike. The New Yorker, June 9, 2003) â€Å"He doesnt want Dijon, he  insisted, waving the waitress off. Here- he shoved a yellow bottle of Frenchs mustard in my direction- heres some mustard right here.(Barack Obama,  The Audacity of Hope.  Crown/Three Rivers Press, 2006)Never, said Elie Wiesel, never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed.We gotta call the newspaper, a doctor said.No, Werner said. He looked straight ahead, not at any of them. I just want you to sew me up.(Jo Ann Beard, Werner. Tin House, Fall 2006) Once Steinbrenner  said to me  before an Old-Timers Game, Get your ass down there and manage the team.†(Robert Merrill, quoted by Curt Smith in  What Baseball Means to Me. Hachette, 2002) The Function of Dialogue GuidesWe use quotation marks to identify certain material as an accurate, word-for-word report of someone elses speech or writing.  A representation of speech usually has two parts, a  dialogue guide  identifying the speaker and the quote itself: I got it down from five to three minutes, Mr. Brennan said later of his feat.(Scott Rice, From Reading to Revision. Wadsworth, 1996)   Elmore Leonards Advice on Reporting Dialogue3. Never use a verb other than said to carry dialogue.The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with â€Å"she asseverated,† and had to stop reading to ge t the dictionary.4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb said† . . .. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances full of rape and adverbs.(Elmore Leonard, Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle. The New York Times, July 16, 2001) Alternate Spelling: dialog guide

Themes of Education Migration and the Next Generation in the African American Communities of Youngblood The Street and The Piano Lesson essays

Themes of Education Migration and the Next Generation in the African American Communities of Youngblood The Street and The Piano Lesson essays Education of the next generation forms a core, central theme in many of the greatest works of literature, particularly those of the African- American tradition where the next generation holds such promise for those oppressed by the historical weight of the present. However, in the narrative framework of the novels Youngblood by John Oliver Killens Ann Petry's The Street, as well the play "The Piano Lesson," it is not only the youth of tomorrow whom receives an education from their wiser elders. Although the older individuals in the play educate the younger members of the family, ultimately the education in all fictional contexts is holistic, rather than an unbalanced relationship of old teaching morality to young. In all of the family structures presented, the protagonists are children, more or less, if not in years, than in certain dearly held but false assumptions they have about life and their place in history. The role of education in the African-American experience is particularly critical to all of the protagonists, as all members of the family must receive an education about their role in a society that has marginalized them and continues to marginalize them because of their race, as well as their role in the African-American community of America. One of the most profound teaching tools, the earliest of the novels suggests, comes through is the medium of migration. In John Oliver Killen's novel, entitled, Youngblood, the titular family's history is chronicled over nearly a half century. The novel begins in the Deep South. However, one of the most potent figures in the novel is that of Richard Myles, a New York teacher. The idea that education and the North are conjoined strikes a strong chord in the minds of many of the younger members of the next generations of Youngbloods. The younger Youngbloods, although the respect the family patriarch, believe tha...