Monday, December 30, 2019

Conjugation of the Spanish Verb Seguir

Seguir is a fairly common verb that usually refers to continuing to do something or to following. The only other verbs that follow the same conjugation pattern are verbs based on seguir such as conseguir (to attain or achieve) and perseguir (to pursue, prosecute or persecute). The conjugation of seguir is similar to that of verbs such as vestir and pedir in that the -e- of the stem sometimes changes to -i-. Irregular forms are shown below in boldface. Translations are given as a guide and in real life may vary with context. Infinitive of Seguir seguir (to continue) Gerund of Seguir siguiendo (continuing) Participle of Seguir seguido (continued) Present Indicative of Seguir yo sigo, tà º sigues, usted/à ©l/ella sigue, nosotros/as seguimos, vosotros/as seguà ­s, ustedes/ellos/ellas siguen (I continue, you continue, he continues, etc.) Preterite of Seguir yo seguà ­, tà º seguiste, usted/à ©l/ella siguià ³, nosotros/as seguimos, vosotros/as seguisteis, ustedes/ellos/ellas siguieron (I continued, you continued, she continued, etc.) Imperfect Indicative of Seguir yo seguà ­a, tà º seguà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella seguà ­a, nosotros/as seguà ­amos, vosotros/as seguà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas seguà ­an (I used to continue, you used to continue, he used to continue, etc.) Future Indicative of Seguir yo seguirà ©, tà º seguirà ¡s, usted/à ©l/ella seguirà ¡, nosotros/as seguiremos, vosotros/as seguirà ©is, ustedes/ellos/ellas seguirà ¡n (I will continue, you will continue, he will continue, etc.) Conditional of Seguir yo seguirà ­a, tà º seguirà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella seguirà ­a, nosotros/as seguirà ­amos, vosotros/as seguirà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas seguirà ­an (I would continue, you would continue, she would continue, etc.) Present Subjunctive of Seguir que yo siga, que tà º sigas, que usted/à ©l/ella siga, que nosotros/as sigamos, que vosotros/as sigà ¡is, que ustedes/ellos/ellas sigan (that I continued, that you continued, that she continued, etc.) Imperfect Subjunctive of Seguir que yo siguiera (siguiese), que tà º siguieras (siguieses), que usted/à ©l/ella siguiera (siguiese), que nosotros/as siguià ©ramos (siguià ©semos), que vosotros/as siguierais (siguieseis), que ustedes/ellos/ellas siguieran (siguiesen) (that I continued, that you continued, that he continued, etc.) Imperative of Seguir sigue (tà º), no sigas (tà º), siga (usted), sigamos (nosotros/as), seguid (vosotros/as), no sigà ¡is (vosotros/as), sigan (ustedes) (continue, dont continue, continue, lets continue, etc.) Compound Tenses of Seguir The perfect tenses are made by using the appropriate form of haber and the past participle, seguido. The progressive tenses use estar with the gerund, siguiendo. Sample Sentences Showing Conjugation of Seguir and Related Verbs Hay nueve reglas no escritas de Facebook que todos necesitan seguir. (There are nine unwritten Facebook rules that everyone needs to follow. Infinitive.) Mi experiencia como nutricionista me dice que muchas personas han seguido dietas de adelgazamiento que no les han funcionado, (My experience as a nutritionist tells me that many people have followed weight-loss diets that havent worked for them. Present perfect.) Si sigo estudiando estarà © lista para mi examen pero muy cansada. (If I keep on studying I will be ready for my test but be very tired.  Present indicative.)  ¿Estamos siguiendo las recomendaciones de la maestra? Are we following the teachers recommendations? Present progressive.) Un enjambre de abejas persiguià ³ durante 48 horas a un auto. (A swarm of bees chased after a car for 48 hours.  Preterite.) Los manifestantes seguà ­an con sus gritos. (The demonstrators continued with their shouts. Imperfect.) Nunca pensà © en renunciar y seguirà © luchando. (I will never think about giving up and I will keep on fighting.  Future.) Las encuestas indican que el presidente conseguirà ­a la reeleccià ³n en Repà ºblica Dominicana. (The polls say that the president would win his re-election in the Dominican Republic. Conditional.) Todo està ¡ organizado para que sigas jugando. (Everything is organized so you can keep on playing. Present subjunctive.)  ¿Y quà © si persiguià ©ramos nuestros sueà ±os? (And what if we were to pursue our dreams? Imperfect subjunctive.) Sigue tu propio camino sin mirar atrà ¡s (Continue on your own path without looking backwards.  Imperative.)

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Atlanta Is An Fx Original Series Created And Starring,...

Atlanta is an FX original series created and starring, actor, comedian, and musician, Donald Glover (stage name: Childish Gambino). The series follows the lives of Earnest Marks (Donald Glover) and his cousin Alfred â€Å"Paper Boi† Miles played by Brian Tyree Henry, as they navigate through daily life in Atlanta Georgia. After dropping out of Princeton University Earnest (Earn) finds himself back in Atlanta, homeless, working at the airport on commission selling cell phone services. With no money and no home, he goes to his cousin Alfred who has found success with his newly released single, and asks to manage him. Earn who had a failed attempt at being a rapper still sees the potential in the music industry to provide for himself and his daughter. Within the first minute of the pilot episode you are introduced to World Star Hip-Hop and some common media representations of African American men, in the form of hyper-masculinity and violence, appropriately titling this episode The Big Bang. Donald Glover along with the other writers and producers of Atlanta proves the views with an authentic look into the daily challenges of being black in this country. The show creates a dialogue that examines the intersection of topics such as police brutality, mental health, and transphobic in relation to the systemic racism and violence experienced by black America. This review will examine the representation of blackness on Atlanta, and how the representations of African Americans continue

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts Free Essays

Abstract The main aim of this piece of work is to explore the views and opinions of young people of African origins (especially those from the DR Congo) who have come to settle in the United Kingdom, on how they would cope with being raised in a country with a different culture. Though the study emphasized more the reactions and attitudes of young people on being raised by their parents in an African manner, the views of parents on trying to educate their children in an African manner in a country with a different approach, understanding and different principles, are also taken into consideration. The introductory chapters give a brief overview of the reasons why this topic was chosen, the study aims and objectives and also the research methodology. We will write a custom essay sample on Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts or any similar topic only for you Order Now The following chapters focus more on the complexities of multiculturalism and of the different styles of educating children both in the DR Congo and in the UK. Despite the work finally closing with a summary conclusion and key recommendations for ways forwards, further research may still be necessary to determine if the opinions and views of the participants may be representative of the majority. Chap 1: Introduction. This paper will be an attempt to critically look at the lives of children of asylum seekers/refugees/migrants living in the UK, especially those coming from Central Africa and more particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While parents of Congolese origin will tend to think that the Western society has brain ‘spoilt’ and/or ‘damaged’ their children, turning them into ‘little rebels’, the western world will instead have the perspective that these parents are simply abusing their children with their way of educating them or dealing with their issues. Victoria Climbie is one such example that many living in the United Kingdom will still have in mind. The main reason for these different perspectives will be the respective cultures of the two parts. The innocent children would therefore find themselves in the middle as ‘collateral victims’ of a cultural conflict. Do these parents have the right to be harsh on their chil dren because of their beliefs/cultureDo they really understand how things work in the UK, with the evident problem of language being the first barrier for their integrationWhat is the right balance between the two extremesIs a certain type of media which is stereotyping parents of African origin as ‘child abusers’ helpingAnd finally, what should be the contribution of a youth and community worker to both the lives of young people and parents finding themselves in these situations. These are some of the questions that this piece of work will attempt to answer in an impartial way. Coming from the same background (the African one), reasons for prioritising this topic is the fact that both as a youth and community worker and as an African of origins, personal hope is that some change and challenge will be made to, if not necessarily the way children are being treated by some African parents, but to the way they believe is the best way of dealing with children, on the one hand. In fact, from personal experience, being born in Africa and having being raised there until the age of 30 when I then permanently moved to the United Kingdom, personal understanding and perspective is effectively that parents of African origins will generally tend to give their children very little ‘voice’ and/or ‘space’ or simply no voice at all in the all process of their education. They will, more than their European counterparts, appear to use ‘reasonable chastisement’ to ‘discipline’ their offspring, a practice still permitted by the law in most African countries. Considerations of matters such as children/young people’s rights will generally have very little importance or even in some extreme cases no importance at all in the sights of some/many parents of African origins. Many parents of DR Congo origins will only effectively hear about children/young people’s rights when arriving in the UK as these are not ‘popular’ topics in African contexts and countries, where issues of power, equality, respect and social justice are highly placed at the rear plan due to political, economic and cultural factors. Conversely, on the other hand personal hope is also that, some serious reflexion on the negative sides of giving ‘too much voice and/or space’ to children/young people will also be honestly and critically examined. In fact, so many times emphasis will be put on parents (of African origins) being ‘rude’ with their children. But little or even nothing at all would be done in cases where so many parents (of African descents) will go through depression, rejection, abjectness, misery and even physical assaults, all due to the fact that their children/young people would be ‘excessively using their rights of being children/young people’. Finally, another expectation of this work is to try and get the British/Western society to understand better where these parents of African origins are coming from in terms of their culture and consequently stops stereotyping/stigmatising them. There would tend to be more assumptions than real insights/knowledge when it comes to African cultures amongst the British/western public opinion. From personal experience of living in the UK for more than ten years now, it would appear that native form the UK would know very little about African cultures and would generally show very little interest in knowing what’s going on beyond the UK’s boundaries, particularly in Africa. Overview of following chapters The following are some of the issues that will be addressed in this dissertation: Chapter 2: Literature review This part will propose a comprehensive and extensive review of relevant literature on the topic area, including reliable internet sources, academic texts and journals articles. It will be an attempt to relate the chosen topic to existing knowledge, finding the gaps in them and eventually necessary future research/works to be done. Chapter 3:Research methodology In this chapter, principles and rules employed for the study will be analysed. The main issues to be discussed will include: The research design Procedures for data collection Why some specific procedures would have been preferred to others Participants observations Ethical considerations The process of interviews, its advantages and difficulties. Chapter 4:Social policy This piece of work will move on trying to link the issue to current and/or contemporary social policies. A particular focus will be on the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) policy though others social policies such as ‘Aiming high for children’ may also be taken into consideration. Chapter 5:Research findings and analysis This is obviously the most important part of the work where all live conducted interviews will critically, carefully and impartially be analysed. Their results will then be related to the main topic of this piece of work to try and learn something from them. Chap 6: Comparative element (secondary materials) This is where issues of power and/or differences in relation with raising children of DR Congolese origins and children of Indian origins/culture will be analysed and compared. Results from primary research will also be compared to secondary materials where possible. Chap 7: The Role of the Youth and Community Worker. This chapter will look at the crucial role the youth and community worker can particularly play with young person finding themselves in such complex situations, but also what support can they bring to the parents involved in the same process. Chapter 8:Conclusion and recommendations After some considerations on the limitations of the study and some useful recommendations in relation to the exploited topic, a general conclusion will finally be drawn. Chap 2: Literature Review This chapter’s main aim will be to critically review the points of current knowledge on the study’s topic, generally looking at relevant literature/materials in connection with the study. From outset, it might be important to signal here that not much has been previously written in the specific area of the DR Congo’s children being raised in the UK. Especially in Greater Manchester where the study has been conducted, same studies or research work to do with children/young people from the DR Congo being raised by parents of African origins are very difficult to find. But from an initial internet search, the few relevant materials in connection with this dissertation’s topic have been some articles on children from the DR Congo been maltreated by their parents mainly due to religion which is sometimes infused with elements of the traditional in many African countries. One particular case was a story on many newspaper front pages, of a young boy branded by a hot iron because his father thought he was a witch (BBC website, 2007). Looking at most of the newspapers and websites in relation to this story, what came out was that there was a general feeling of in crimination rightly based on the horrible act committed by this DR Congolese father without looking any further at ways to try and help the parents involved if not to recommend their community leaders to some kind of child protection courses. One may rightly confirm that there was no sympathy at all from the general public. Some materials in relation with children/young persons of other African countries such as Ivory Coast which is a country close to the DR Congo in terms of cultures have been considered. One really notable case resulting is the one of the Victoria Climbie’s Inquiry Report from the House of Commons Health Committee (2002-2003). Victoria Climbie was a young girl who died on 25th February 2000 as I just arrived in the UK on the 2nd February 2000. The case, which is still fresh in my memory as it really shocked me at the time, will be another key point of this literature review. The reporting committee found that this young girl from Ivory Coast who came to live in London with her great-aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao and with her grant- aunt’s partner, died because of multiple injuries arising from months of ill-treatment and abuse by her great-aunt and her partner who were both convicted and sentenced later on. Without going back into the details of this traumatic and shocking s tory, something to be noticed in the report is the Inquiry’s findings of staff making assumptions that because people originated from a particular culture, that behaviour could be described as being culturally determined when in fact they knew nothing about that culture and had never visited the country. The report clearly suggested that Victoria’s African culture (and religion) were the reasons why the all regrettable tragedy happened, while acknowledging that this culture misled some of those who came to deal with the case directly. On this one, African culture (and religion) was clearly be put on the bench of accused as having a very bad influence and bad consequences on the education, safety and protection of children. Moving from there and looking at books/materials on multiculturalism, a theme closely linked to the main title of this study, one point of focus was the excellent study of Taylor et al (1994) on multiculturalism in which they made the point that cultures deserve admiration and respect, even if it is accompanied by much that we have to abhor and reject. Similar point of view could also be found and read in others books and authors writing on the same theme. Many writers while agreeing on the necessity of multiculturalism in today’s society would however always make sure that those coming from outside should to some extents be ‘assimilated’ into the new culture they were joining. A very recent study on multiculturalism from the Journal of Intercultural Studies (2011) rightly pointed out that Contemporary popular debates around multiculture – or even worse multiculturalism – have tended to take a sceptical stance, to the extent it is understood as a ‘failure’. This will join in agreement with Thomas (2011) who argued that Since the 2001 ‘race riots’ in the North of England and the 7/7/2005 horrific events in London bombings, the botched attacks two years later on a Glasgow airport and a number of very serious foiled plots, Britain appeared to reject multiculturalism. One critic called it ‘the death of multiculturalism’. One thinking moving a bit in the opposite direction was the work of Paul Gilroy (1993) ‘The Black Atlantic’ who made a strong liberating call to the forces of cultural nationalism trapped in their respective camps. He made the interesting point that being both European and black requires some specific forms of double consciousness. McCalla (2003) seemed to argue in the same sense, going even a bit further in her book ‘Black Success in the UK’, suggesting that one of the strategy utilised by mothers of Caribbean/African origin in their childrearing to challenge racism is to provide their children with a sense of cultural belonging and a collective racialised identity that they can draw strength from in times of difficulties. She seems to make the point that the original culture of the child of African/Caribbean origin can be ‘positively’ used for their success in the British society, giving them some kind of strong identity. Despite all the above considerations, it might however be reasonable enough to say that most of these books/writings/materials have one major weakness: they don’t really understand African cultures and in some cases don’t even want to understand them. For the few who have attempted to get some deep insight on them, it is mainly about acknowledging and recognizing their existence without real will of practical understanding/knowledge of them. Personal concern when doing this literature review was also that no matter long could have a study conducted or a book written by a non African taken, it would still be very difficult for such a writer or researcher, despite all their willingness, to deeply grasp and understand some complex elements of African culture. Moreover, for some books/materials, by trying to protect the (African) child (only), it seems like the parents’ point of view (and culture) is simply ignored in many material relating to the subject. Assumption has instead always been made as to the conclusion that these children are being held ‘captives’ without their own consent. Very little has been done to try and find if the child themselves prefer the parent original culture. There is like a ‘taxation’ of the western culture and an obligation to renounce at one’s original culture. By trying to protect the British/European culture, the African culture is generally ignored. Not much help and effort to understand where the parents come from and try to help them as others in similar situations would benefit and get some compassion from the general public. In fact, Looking at an article from the Guardian (2009) – ‘Tracey Connelly: the story of a woman defined by abuse’- on a similar horrible similar story to the Victoria Climbie’s one, committed by the parents of baby Peter Connolly can reinforce this stand point. The Guardian effectively tried to look at the reasons why Tracey Connelly, the mother of this lovely innocent baby, would commit such an atrocity on her own child and came to the conclusion that the fact that she had had a similar childhood (of abuse) which consequently led her into a drinking and pornographic life should be into consideration. Looking at a blog/debate linked to this article got to personal conclusion that many in fact became a bit sympathetic with Tracey, arguing that it would be important not only to look at what had happened but to try and find the reasons/roots and try and fight them from there to ensure that such events do not re happen in the future. Personal expectations are now that the following chapters of this work will give a better balanced view of the topic and hopefully suggest some positive recommendations related to the main theme of the study. Chap 3: Research Methodology This third chapter of the paper will explore the process of information gathering, including a rationale for any specific research methods chosen and relevant ethical issues. This study has drawn on a wide range of sources. However, for the purpose of information gathering, it has mainly used ‘qualitative’ methods. As Bedford and Wilson (2006) argued, while quantitative research collects facts and study the relationship between one set and another, gauging public opinion, qualitative research, almost the opposite of quantitative research, is more concerned with trying to gain an insight into human perception of the world and, as such, recognize that it is not wise to generalise about human reactions, opinions, attitudes and so on. In the qualitative research, the hypothesis or theory comes after the data collection. For the purpose of qualitative research, the strategy mainly consisted on organising face to face interviews with different members of the public who were susceptible to bring any kind of contribution to the study. Most interviews were live and were recorded. The original idea was to conduct interviews with some young people of African origin and others interviews with parents of the same backgrounds. But after the first interview with one young person, some serious difficulties due to disclosure and maturity problems led to a change of approach. As a matter of facts, after consultation with the university tutor, it was then agreed to only interview adults of African origin who came in the United Kingdom as children, who would then relate their experience of being raised by parents of African origins in the a British context/culture. This strategy was found as being more reasonable and protective for the interviewer, and was consequently used. Insistence was on asking them to try and be as honest as possible and give their feelings/thoughts/perspectives of those times when they first arrived so young. This was because in the due process of growing up and becoming parents, some of them slightly/completely shifted their position today on the subject of being raised by African of Congolese origins. This was so important not to allow the research to get wrong answers, consequently wrong data. All together, 6 interviews have been conducted, recorded and transcripted. Four interviews were conducted on the experience of being raised in the UK by parents of African origins and the other two were done with parents of African origins raising children in the UK. Two of the six interviewees are people with whom previous rapport was established in the past. Difficulty wise, as said a bit above, one key problem was the one of disclosure. In fact, the topic being a very sensitive one, it was not easy to find people ready and happy to talk about such difficult and private things. For some reasons, 2 of the interviewees consented to be interviewed at the condition that they would not be recorded live. The methodology with them was to take note straight as they were answering the interview’s questionnaire. African beliefs and culture in general and specifically DR Congolese’s one was also a serious problem. In fact, coming from the same ground, personal strong knowledge and experience have usually shown that people from the DR Congo are very sceptical whenever it comes to anything like interview or similar things. It took a lot to convince interviewees about the well founded of the all thing and its benefits for the general society. Personal privilege of being able to speak many DR Congolese main languages really helped in the all process. In fact, in the absence of financial support/vouchers to encourage those taking part into the research, the technique used to convince people was to speak to them in their respective dialect. This put them into confidence and made them more relaxed. The interview questions were agreed in consultation with the university tutor. One vital element in conceiving them was to avoid using ‘leading’ and/or ‘misleading’ questions. General questions were to be used instead of questions which were susceptible of leading into private areas of the interviewees lives. An example of an interview questionnaire can be found in the index at the end of the work. In terms of ethical issues, it is important to note here that ‘respect’ of both human being and opinions of people either interviewed or simply approached to get an interview was vital and capital, constituting the basis of all research process. When for example there was a strict refusal for the interview to be recorded as the interviewee as said above, the interviewee not wanting their voice and/or answers to stay somewhere, it was important to show total respect of their opinion and not to insist on recording the interview. The specific context of African mentality being difficult and also because of the sensibility of the topic which may lead to some legal persecution, consent forms were used before all interviews. Permanent consultation took place with the dissertation tutor about the right decision to take in case of incertitude or in complex situations. Again as said a bit above, because two of the interviewees were of people with whom previous contacts were estab lished in the past and because of personal social position in the DR Congolese community in Greater Manchester doing that many people know me, the aspect of confidentiality was essential in the all study. Despite the use of consent forms at the beginning of all interviews, it was really necessary to make strong assurances to each interview that none of the collected information would be used without their consent. Finally, from recent work undertaken during a university placement in a local non for profit organisation in Greater Manchester mainly working asylum seekers/refugees/migrants from the DR Congo, some information were also gathered from that experience. The placement took place in an organisation called African Francophone Integration Project Ltd (AFIP). This organisation located in Beswick, has as main objective to help asylum seekers/refugees/migrants newly arriving in the UK in their integration process. Most service users of the organisation are form the DR Congo, some form different countries of Africa. Some personal non recorded informal talking with the first Director of the organisation on the subject also gave some interesting elements which this work will at some point draw on. The first Director related some of his personal experience in dealing with some personal cases in relationship with this study theme, notably one case of a parent and their child who were referred to them by the Central Manchester social services. Summarizing this important topic on the methodology used for this research, one key point may be that despite all difficulties encountered when conducting this research, the certitude is that the information harvested during this entire project have provided a strong base for analysing the main topic. Another important point in closing this section is that all research was really conducted in a professional and ethical way. Chap 4: Social Policy This chapter will outline the key reference to historical and contemporary developments in social policy, legislation and welfare interventions relative to this paper’s topic. It will also briefly explore wider policies that take into consideration the well being and/or protection of young people (of diverse backgrounds). The main piece of legislation which this piece of work is concerned with is the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) policy. The Government Department for Education Website (2011) explains that the Every Child Matters policy is a set of reforms supported by the Children Act 2004. Its aim is for every child, to have the support they need to: Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being Still from the department of Education Website on the origins of this policy, it can be understood that the ECM policy came into power after the horrendous death of a young girl called Victoria Climbie. This case was briefly evoked in the literature review. At the hands of those entrusted with her cares, Victoria suffered appallingly and eventually died. Her case was a shocking example from a list of children terribly abused and mistreated. Every inquiry related to this specific case has brought forwards proposals for change and improvement to the child protection system. There have been reforms. The Green Paper, Every Child Matters, which sets outs the government’s proposals for reforming the delivery of services for children, young people and families, builds on existing measures to ensure that children at risk of harm and neglect are protected from negative outcomes and support all children to develop their full potential. Beyond this, this Green paper also address the prob lem of children falling through the cracks between different services, emphasizing that child protection can not be separated from policies to improve children’s lives as a whole. The document looks at the progress towards a framework of services which will support every child, using this as a context in which to consider the specific need of children at risk. It stresses the importance of information sharing between different government agencies and of a higher level of accountability. One may rightly agree that since the implementation of this social policy, there have been so many positive improvements in the protection and well being of children, though much still need to be done. Trying to link this wonderful social policy which has certainly brought more protection and safety for children and young people to the DR Congo culture of raising children, one certain fact is that they unfortunately don’t always walk along. In fact, most parents really close to the culture of ‘discipline’ will tend to think that this policy has given children/young people to much space for ‘rebellion’ against their parents, despite the fact that most of them would acknowledged that cases such as the Victoria Climbie’s one are not to be encouraged at all or to be repeated, ever. The reasoning beyond this from the perspective of African parents is that policies such as the ECM have unfortunately treated all parents as being Victoria’s parents, not recognizing that all parents are not as evil as Victoria’s tutors were. The ECM would however acknowledge that all parents are not to maltreat and suffer their children as Victoria Climb ie’s tutors did, but would instead prefer ‘safety than being sorry’. Another really inescapable social policy that is certainly linked to the study’s topic is the ‘Aiming High for Children’ Policy. The Department for Education website (2011) summarizes this policy in these terms: The government’s aim is to ensure that, every child irrespective of race, gender, backgrounds or circumstances, gets the best start in life and the ongoing support that they and their families need to allow them to fulfil their potential. It wants to do this in a partnership with active, responsible parents and empowered communities, supported by public services that delivered packages of support tailored to families’ needs. To support parents to meet their responsibilities in raising their children and to help strengthen the role of communities in supporting parents, the government has made tackling child’s poverty a priority since 1997, has created a network of Sure Starts Children’s Centres to support children and their families in the vital early years. The government wants to ensure that the primary role of public services is to support families and communities to improve children’s outcomes. This great policy which has effectively ensured that many children, especially those from low income families, a group where many asylum seekers/refugees from the DR Congo would find themselves, have a real good start in life. However, there would appear again to have some conflicts in terms of what children of Africans origins receive as early education which some parents believe sets them on a wrong path from start. As this will be soon explored in the next chapter on the results and analysis of interviews one parent complained that their children are taught from very early ‘how to dial 999 for anything they might think their parents do to them which they would not approve’. The debate may go on for so long. Closing this chapter, it might be of help to recall that the UK government social policies in relationship with the education and protection of children/young people have made such a great difference in so many lives, though they don’t always go along with some parents of African origins opinions, and also though much still need to be done to improve them. Chap 5: Research Findings and Analysis. This chapter, obviously the most important part of the dissertation, will focus on all live (recorded) interviews conducted for the purpose of this study. The chapter will be composed of two main parts: in the first part, all conducted interviews will be reported and explained. The second part will mainly focus on critically analysing their results. All together, a total of 6 interviews were conducted. All of the six persons interviewed live in Greater Manchester, UK. There were 4 females and two males. As said a bit above in the third chapter on the methodology of research, because of some complications to do with disclosure and age, it was decided after consultation with my university tutor to only interview adults, but who had come to the UK as children/young persons. The study being interested not only with the experience of young people of African descent being raised in the UK by their parents/tutors but also with the parents themselves, four interviews were related to the experience of young people and the other two were of the parents talking about their experience of raising up children/young people in the UK. All of the six persons interviewed were aged between the age of 25 and 35 at the moment of the interviews taking place. Most of the participants relating their experience of young people came to the UK when they w ere aged between 8 and 14. Three of them were living with their direct biological parents and one with an uncle. All of their parents/uncle was originally from the DR Congo. One particular point which may be important to signal here is that one of the interviewee, who gave their experience of young person of African origins living in the UK, first came to live in the UK themselves as a young person and has now become parent themselves at a very early age when still living with her parents. She’s now living alone and has consequently the double experience of have been in both positions the study was interested with. Carefully looking at all answers given by all the persons interviewed, one key thing to be noted first was that the answers of ‘young people’ were diverse/different from one to another while in the answers given by parents, many similarities could be found. Young people. Answering the key interview question of briefly relating their personal experience of being rose in the UK by parents of African origins, two amongst the four ‘young persons’ interviewed thought the experience was negative and difficult. One striking point was that all two mentioned the fact that at the very beginning when they first came to live in the UK with their parents, there was no problem at all. But it is only after a few months (for one of them) or a few years (for the other one) that difficulties started arising. They all raised the point that when they got used to the way their peers were living and started imitating/copying them, that’s when they got into disagreement with their parents who were for all of the two persons interviewed very ‘traditional’ (according to the term used by one of them) or very ‘old fashion’ (according to the second interviewee). The two ‘young people’ found really painful and difficult the fact that they, at the same time loved their parents and loved their ‘new world’, as they put it. They reported that they found it difficult to try and choose between the British way of life and what their parents were asking them to follow as strict rules. They all unanimously thought that they were misunderstood by their ‘old fashion’ parents and would sometimes not know what to do as they had originally been raised (in Africa) in a way of total submission to their parents with no rights to argue with their decisions at all. The third ‘young person’ answering the interview questions came to live in the UK at the age of 9 with her parents of African origin. Her parents were strict on the fact that the way to ‘live her life’ was the African manner but were more understanding’ when she had different opinions. The parents were well educated persons since back in Africa where the dad had a BA from a DR Congolese university. They would however clearly state to her that the British way of life was ‘dangerous and wrong’ has it could leads her into a lot of trouble in the future. She reported that she eventually got into a ‘bad group’ of friends from school/college and ended up with becoming pregnant at nearly 16 years old. Her words were that the all experience of been raised by parents of African descent was not too bad because of the fact that her parents were more ‘open minded’ than most African parents who would give very little time to listen to their children and discuss with them. She nevertheless tried and made the point that, reflecting on her life after the pregnancy, she thought that despite the fact she thought at some point that her parents were too much like ‘village people’, had she followed their ‘way of life’ tough she didn’t like it much, she might have had a (positive) different life today. Answering the same crucial interview question on the personal experience of being raised by parents of African culture in a British environment and culture, the fourth ‘young person’ however went a bit in the opposite direction. In fact, he related that the all experience was a very good one without any ‘difficulty’ as he completely stayed in the line of what his parents told him to do. He continued saying that because his personal understanding of the all thing was that the British way of life was ‘deceptive’ and could potentially lead into a lot of troubles, he decided to stick with his parents way of education and didn’t find any problem with being raised in Europe/the UK by parents educating her in ‘an African manner’. Parents. As said a bit above, both parents who were females for the two them, have many similarities. As a matter of facts, they both made the common point in their answers that raising children in Europe/the UK is not easy at all, according to them. The reason why was about exactly the same. According to them, when they would like to raise their children in a disciplinary way as they had themselves been raised since back in Africa, they would encountered ‘the resistance’ of their child (as they put it) who would in many cases not listen to them anymore because they would have ‘known their rights’. One of them insisted on the fact that giving a sense of discipline to children doesn’t necessarily mean using physical punishment. She gave an example of the way of being dressed which she tried to inculcate to her daughter since they moved to the UK 11 years ago. In a DR Congolese context, she said that it would be such an embarrassing thing for a young girl to be dressed with ‘revealing clothes’. According to the point she made, a woman in the Congo with a trouser/skirt revealing her underpants or with a too short skirt would be ‘badly looked at. These types of things are completely normal in Europe she said. She made the point that the way of life in UK has encouraged her daughter to dress ‘freely’, forgetting her origins and/or culture. Her daughter would sometimes embarrassed her in front of her husband as she wouldn’t listen to anybody, copying her peers at school, on TV, on the streets etc. The second parent though a bit more ‘flexible ‘on such issues, however still made the point that she sincerely thought that the Congolese’ way of educating children would teach them to have more respect towards society in general and towards grown up/adults specifically. One clear point she made on the difficulty of raising her daughter in the UK was effectively emphasized on the fact she noti ced a complete change in the sense of lack of respect towards them when they moved to the UK and that their daughter started ‘being assimilated’ (according to her words by her friends styles of life. She reported how her daughter would simply threaten them to dial 999 and ring the police for any ‘little’ thing she would disagree with. Her most serious concerns was raised in these terms: if seems as they (meaning the police, the social services, the government, those in powers, those making law etc) only care about protecting children, which is right. But what about us parents the children are also giving us a terrible time. You’ve nothing to say and nothing to do as for any little thing not only she may call the police but also you may easily end up as listed on a child abusers list somewhere. Linking with the above question, both parents were asked about their knowledge of children/young people rights. Both parents acknowledged that they had never heard about children/young people rights back in the DR Congo. As Bedford and Elizabeth (2006) pointed out, no matter how interested the researcher is interested in her/his topic (which was my case), she/he do have to keep an open mind about the subject and be careful not to pre-judge the answers. Impartially and critically analyzing the above findings from all interviews, and without trying to over generalize, many may join in agreement with the statement according to which the all process of passing from being educated in an African context with different legislation, beliefs, culture etc to being raised in a very democratic western country such as the United Kingdom must be a really confusing one for the child/young person. In fact, as the answers of most young people appear to suggest they would at some point, agreeing with the parents’ culture or not, have to make a difficult decision on the best way to follow. And unfortunately some of them have had to make such decisions being as young as 7 or 8. The parents, who for most of them w ere raised up in a specific way of seeing things for all their lives, would be of no help at all, giving their children, as one of the young lads said, no space at all for dialogue. This ‘waterproof’ and ‘no openness’ attitude of parents combined with the hidden desire to enjoy the British way of life will eventually make of these innocent young people without any kind of voice ‘collateral victims’ of a cultural conflict which they have never asked for. They have just unfortunately found themselves at the wrong place and at the wrong time, one may say. However, trying to read carefully between the lines, from interviews done with the ‘young people’, one important factor is that all young people do not necessarily think that the African way of raising children is ‘old fashion’ and wrong. Even though amongst the ‘young people’ interviewed, only one of them went in that direction, it is still a very important fact to be considered. This is really important because the general impression of the general audience/public may generally be that these poor children are being held captive despite their own will to do things which they think is detrimental to their good causes. Turning sights towards the parents, one who might have read their answers reported above will certainly conclude that they also feel like being misunderstood by the general society and being treated unfairly. As said at some point at the opening of this chapter, contrary to the young people’s answers which were sometimes completely different form one youngest to another, the parents however, despite some minor differences in opinions, seem to be of the point of view that the western culture and/or way of life is causing ‘more damages than good’ to children education. Reading their answers will understand that they, of course, are coming form an African point of view on the education of children. Even tough, they were no clear allusion to the use of physical chastisement as the best way of education children, the certainty was that they are formal on the fact that the British way of raising up children, tough with so many positive aspects, seem instead to lack â₠¬Ëœsome discipline taste and/or flavour’ in it. They both thought that combining the actual wonderful way of educating children with some ‘authority’ would make a better job. Chap 6: Comparative element (secondary materials) This chapter, as one may deduct by its title, will essentially be about a comparison between the DR Congolese culture/way of life, way of educating children in the UK the Indian’s ones. This comparison will be placed into the context of this paper main topic to try and get some lessons. While many or most of children and young people will generally tend to behave the same way and/or have same attitudes/reactions/feelings because of the simple common fact that they are all just ‘children’, it may however be right to confirm that each child/young person’s original backgrounds, culture, beliefs, religion etc., will have a strong influence in the way they perceive society. This may lead to say that children of African origins will to some extent be different to those from Asia, in their understanding of how they are being educated by their parents of DR Congolese/Indian descents. Both parents (of DR Congolese and Indian origins) will in the same way, tend to educate their respective offspring accordingly to their respective cultures. From an initial comparative study on DR Congolese culture and the Indian’s one, it was noticed a lot of similarities between the two. From a study on the Indian child website (2011), here are some of the most important characteristics in Indian culture (family culture, values, clothing etc) which will also be found in DR Congolese culture: Indians are highly flexible in the sense that they would like to imbibe the changes dictated by western influence and yet clearly affirms their beliefs in tradition. Indian dress etiquette discourages exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes. Family culture in Indian is about joy and sharing. Generally India is patriarchal Indian culture is diverse and rich Ancient Indian culture believes in a lot of dogmas and rituals that can be termed as false beliefs. It is customary to respect elders and seek their blessings. Hindu rituals are all about dance and songs. Indians are known for their hospitality and level of tolerance. Observing the belief that there is one God prevailing despite so many religions is a value in India. Family and religion are so closely linked. Trying to compare the rights of children in both countries (DR Congo and India), the following results from the UNICEF’s website on the rights of children in India: In India, children’s vulnerabilities and exposure to violations of their protection rights remain spread and multiple in nature. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions about child’s labour and the value of education is one of the cause underlying child’s labour, though poverty may be one the main reason. The government of India ratified the UN Convention on the rights of the child in 1e November 1992. Most of the rights detailed in the Convention are guaranteed in the Constitution of India. Ensuring that child rights are met for every child is a daunting challenge for India. Reflecting on the above reports on the culture and the rights of children/young people in India, one clear conclusion when comparing them with the same in the Democratic Republic of Congo is that there many similarities not to say that they are totally identical, despite some minors’ differences. Linking this with this study’s main topic/ideas, understanding that both DR Congolese and African culture having strong indications of the child’s being an element with very little voice in the family setting from early and being raised in that context, it will be logical that many parents when coming to the UK would tend to try and keep educating their child in the same way. This will certainly put the innocent children in the same position of being collateral victims of a cultural conflict. Chap 7: The Role of the Youth and Community Worker. What should be the role of the community worker involved with young people of DR Congolese origins founding themselves in a position of ‘collateral victims’Does the youth worker have to take part for the young persons because that’s their workDo youth workers have to ignore the parentsWhat should be their positions in the cultural conflictual situationThese are a few questions this chapter will attempt to address. The first part of the chapter will try and explain what’s youth work is while its second part will critically examine the role of the worker in this situation. As a personal experience undertaken during a very recent university placement (January to April 2011) done in an independent organisation in Beswick once again revealed, the general public doesn’t seem to know much about the entire discipline of youth and community work, not to talk about its invaluable contribution. In fact, at a first meeting with colleagues and volunteers working within the association which usually work more with all parts of the local community and not specifically with young people, I was introduced as a youth and community worker. This visibly raised some unexpressed questions as to not only how I would fit in their work, but further as to ‘what I really was’ (as a youth and community worker), as some of my colleagues confessed to me later on when we got very close. After explaining to them what youth and community work really was, they again confessed that all they knew was that it was about keeping young people happy with Nintendo, footba ll table-tennis etc. Introducing me as a youth and community worker to the 6 interviewees who kindly gave their time to answer a few questions for the purpose of this study seemed also to raise the same questions. Two of the parents told me at the end that they thought that it was ‘social workers’ who were supposed to be dealing with such issues. This introduction may easily take one to confirm that many still don’t know or wrongly assume to know what youth and community work is. Batsleer (2008) rightly pointed that youth and community work is about dialogue, about conversation. She keeps on saying that it is about enabling young people to ‘come to voice’.This aspect of coming to voice is effectively a very crucial one when talking about youth work. As a matter of facts, may be because of what was seen and/or passed through generation after generation, until nowadays, people would wrongly tend to think of youth workers as people whose sole role is to ‘animate’ young people with different games, to keep them out of the streets. While youth work can indeed involve some recreational activities in the course of accomplishing its mission, that’s definitely not the primordial role of this noble profession. Because society will hardly listen to young people, youth work has as one key mission to give them a voice by creating safe space in safe place where they would be able to have a voice. Youth work is there underpinned by a set of strong values and ethics. These allow our work to be guided by anti discriminatory practice, equality, social justice, a commitment to harnessing participation. The National youth Agency (NYA) website (2011) gives a more complete definition of youth work is the following terms: The main purpose of youth work is the personal and social development of young people and their social inclusion. Youth work helps young people learn about themselves, others and society through non-formal educational activities that combine enjoyment, challenge, learning and achievement. We believe youth work methods can be applied in a range of settings by a wide range of professionals, support staff and volunteers, and we are committed to helping people understand and use these approaches. Youth workers will always aim to make their spaces safe for all young people, regardless of backgrounds, race, class, sex, ability, religion etc. in creating safe space in safe places for young people, we acknowledge that young people will feel better equipped to learn, share and influence society. What can then be the role of the above defined youth and community worker involved with persons/parents in a cultural conflict. To both the young person and the parents, it is first of all important to underline that, as seen in the definition of youth work, emphasis should always be put on ‘fairness’ in dealing with all matters. Despite the fact youth workers will have a sense of ‘alliance’ with the young persons for which they are advocating even for which they ‘are alive’, it may however be very important not to become ‘too emotionally involved’. Clear boundaries must always be traced between personal beliefs, values, opinions and professional ones. Youth and community work should remain as ‘neutral’ as possible, professional, ‘identifying’ the community first. This should apply to parties involved in the ‘conflict. In fact, as Belton (2009) argued, if we are to educate a community we must first identify it. He rightly insisted on the fact that youth workers should not label it or prejudice it as this would badly affect the ir work. Having critically and impartially examined the all situation, the youth and community worker will then have to take a decision on either refer the case to the appropriate services when necessary or either continuing to work between the two parties to get to some kind of resolution of the dispute. In everything, the youth and community worker will ‘peacefully’ challenge any form of discrimination, inequality, lack of respect etc. without being ‘pre judgemental, the role of the youth and community worker will basically be the one of encouraging debate et open/mature discussion between all parties. They will therefore encourage inclusion and promote social justice in doing so. Chap 8: Conclusions and recommendations. After going through a series of considerations on the very complex issues of children/young people of African origins, especially those from the DR Congo, the following can be said in conclusion: Many parents of African origins moving to the UK with their children will usually know very little about the way of life in Britain. They would generally tend to assume that they should keep giving their children the same education they were giving them when at home. The problem of language would evidently be the first barrier for them as for anyone moving to a country with a different language. This would unfortunately put the innocent children in a position where they are between the wraths of their inflexible, traditional and ‘old fashion’ parents and the hidden love of enjoying the British way of life. Some have precedent tried to look at the subject of the complexity of multiculturalism. Though this is generally considered as a good thing for society in principles, it is however taken with a lot of precautions. Recent activities of terrorism in the past few years have unfortunately increased the sense of rejection of multiculturalism. This study did use qualitative methods to try and get a better insight into the subject. For this, six interviews were conducted with members of the general public, originally from the DR Congo on living in the UK on their experience of being raised by parents of DR Congolese origins and on raising children in a DR Congolese manner, in the United Kingdom. Some UK social policies relative to the subject were briefly looked at and put into the context avec the main topic. From this exercise, the conclusion is that parents of African origin will struggle to adapt to these specific social policies, despite agreeing on their numerous positive sides. The reason again is found in those original ‘flames’ of fire profoundly imbedded within them since so many years, since their childhood, since hundreds and hundreds of generation. Analysing the results of all conducted interviews has provided the sense that most of the children being raised by parents on DR Congolese origins will struggle with the situation of being in between two cultures and will consequently especially suffer from a lack of understanding and/or support of a ‘too old fashion’ parent, who would give them very little support and voice/space for discussion, though they would not necessarily think that the African/Congolese way of raising children is a bad one. Comparing the way parents of DR Congolese origins deal with their children to the way those from India do the same has been a fruitful point as well. In fact, from that comparison, it emerged that both cultures have many similarities. This led to the understandable point that both parents raising their children in the UK will tend more to hang on to their original culture, not giving much ‘space’ for a shift into cultures to their children. Looking at all the above, it may be right to conclude by saying that though the debate on the complex issue of multiculturalism will certainly keep going on for as long as no one knows, it is a very good thing as it helps society in becoming a more diverse one. However, if the newcomers don’t necessarily need to completely be assimilated by the new culture they embrace, it may however be correct to give some thoughtful and honest considerations to their new homeland’s way of doing thing. This applies to the new homeland’s way of educating children. Conversely, on the other side, the new homeland or its inhabitants may or would definitely also benefit form, not rejecting the new comers’ culture straight away, but by trying to be open to them and try and learn from them, on what they may consider as being positive points. Those being in position of communication may help more by passing around this type of message than one focused more on the negative sides of the culture/actions/deeds of people from abroad. Finally, the children/young who have the privilege of finding themselves in a western country where their rights are properly protected and where they have got a bigger voice and more space for dialogue, should in no case find there an opportunity to willingly become a cause of pain for their parents, despite their Africa beliefs. While it is perfectly true that children have the right to be children on the one hand, it is also perfectly correct that parents have got the rights to be parents, on the other hands. Things can work properly if there are clear boundaries. Recommendations Once again, stressing the fact that though the above interview and the entire study is not to be necessarily as the reflection of the general public, the findings here my certainly informed many on what should be done. Amongst the most recommendations: – Putting more emphasis on educating the British general public on others’ cultures may have a significant impact on the acceptance of multiculturalism – More efforts may be needed in educating parents coming from abroad (especially from the Democratic republic of Congo) on the way of life/the culture in the UK will certainly help a lot. –Educating children living in the UK on the difference between using the right to use their rights/freedom and the respect they are expected to show respect to society is of the key recommendations this study would strongly suggest. – The youth and community worker whose main role is to fight for social justice and promote a society where social exclusion is completely eradicated one day will have a major role to play in this complex situation. Staying impartial, the youth and community worker will have to help all parties involved in trying to find a right balance for a better society. BIBLIOGRAPHY Batsleer, J. (2008). Informal Learning in Youth Work. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, p. 5. Bedford, D. and Wilson, E. (2006) Study Skills for foundation degrees. London: David Fulton Publishers, p. 61, 62 and 64. Belton, B. (2009) Developing Critical Youth Work Theory. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, p. 39 Clements, P. (2008). Policing a Diverse Society. New York: Oxford University Press. Department for Education Website (2011). www.education.gov.uk /childrenandyoungpeople/sen/earlysupport/esinpractice/a0067409/every-child-matters. Aiming high for children. Accessed On line 27 April 2011. Flekkoy, M. and Kaufman, N. (1997), The Rights of the child: rights and responsibilities in family and society. London: Jessica Kingsley. Freeman, M.D.A. (1983), The Rights and Wrongs of children. London: Pinter. Gilroy, P. (1993), The Black Atlantic, Modernity and Double Consciousness. London: Verso. Gollnick, D. and Chinn P. (1990), Multicultural education in a pluralistic society. Columbus: Merill Pub. Co Henley, A. and Scott, J. (1999), Culture, Religion and Patient care in a multi-ethnic society; a handbook for professionals. London: Age Concern England. Howson, D. and Momodou S., (2009) Europe’s established and Emerging Immigrant Communities – assimilation, multiculturalism or integration, Trentham Books. http//: www.csa.com/facsheets/assia-set-c.php Jandt, F.E. (2007), an introduction to Intercultural Communication; Identities in a Global Community 4th ed. London: Sage Publications Limited. Journal of Intercultural Studies (Volume 32, nr 2, April 2011). Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, p. 134. Kidd, W. (2002), Culture and Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Publishers Ltd. Lynch, J. (1989), Multicultural education in a Global Society. London: Falmer. McCalla, D. (2003) Black Success in the UK – Essays in Racial and Ethnic Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.93. Maguire, M. (2009) Law and Youth Work, Learning Matters. National Youth Agency. www.nya.org.uk/about-nya ‘Nick Clegg sets out vision multiculturalism’. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12638017. Accessed 20 April 2011. Packam, C. (2008) Active Citizenship and Community Learning: Empowering Youth and Community Work Practice. Exeter: Learning Matters Limited. Race and Difference – developing practice in lifelong learning. www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-race.htm. accessed 29 March 2011. Russell, S. and Amnesty International United Kingdom, â€Å"Most Vulnerable of All: the treatment of unaccompanied refugee children in the UK†. London: Amnesty International United Kingdom. Rutter, J. (2003) Supporting Refugee Children in the 21st Century Britain, a compendium of essential information (Revised Edition) Trentham Books) Rutter, J. (2006) â€Å"Refugee children in the UK†. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Sallah, M. and Howson, C. (2007) Working with Black Young People. Dorset: Russell House Publishing Ltd. ‘So what exactly is multiculturalism?’ www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3600791.stm Taylor, C. (1994) ‘Multiculturalism’. Commentary by Appiah, K.A., Habermas, J., Rockefeller, S., Walzer, M. and Wolf, S. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp 72-73. The Victoria Climbie Inquiry report. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmhealth/570/570.pdf Thomas, P. (2011). Youth, Multiculturalism and Community Cohesion. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1-2. Thompson, N. (2001) Anti-Discriminatory Practice 3rd ed.: Sage Publications. Tomlinson, S. (2008) Race and education. Maidenhead Berkshire: Open University press, p.58. Tracey Connelly: the story of a woman defined by abuse. www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/11/tracey-connelly-baby-p-mother. Retrieved 18 April 2011. Unicef.org/India/children_3220.html How to cite Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Essay on Life of Pi Essay Example For Students

Essay on Life of Pi Essay Yann Martel blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction in his novel Life of Pi. After reading the novel, I believe that the Pis story is nonfiction. Pis story about being stranded on a life boat with a tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, and a zebra with a broken leg seems to have more truth in it then the story about a cook, a sailor, and Pis mother stranded together. There are three main reasons that support my theory. First, the animal story provides you with a whole encyclopedia full of facts. Second, the animal story goes into a lot more detail then the other story. And third, I want to believe it. The animal story provides all different kinds of facts such as Of the five senses, tigers rely the most on their sight. Their eyesight is very keen, especially in detecting motion shows that Pi has a large knowledge about tigers (Martel 108). When people know more facts about something they have a tendency to believe it. It is easier to believe something that is based on facts, then to believe something that is based on nothing. Hyenas attack in packs whatever animal can be run down shows that Pi knows about hyenas (116). Now, Im sure that Pi Patel is not the only human being that has knowledge about tigers and hyenas, but it is extremely unusual for a boy to know so much about all different types of animals, which could then back up the fact that Yann Martel claims that Pis father owns a zoo. There is an unbelievable amount of details in this story. His carrot orange face had a broad bridge and a pink nose, and it was made up with brazen flair is used by Pi in order to describe the greatness of the tiger (151). Pi also adds that Wavy dabs of black circled the face in a pattern that was striking yet subtle, for it brought less attention to itself that it did to the one part of the face left untouched by it, the bridge, whose rufous luster shone nearly with a radiance gives a lot of detail that I cannot possibly see how a boy could come up with such grave detail without actually experiencing it first hand. Also when Pi explains about how the tiger became constipated and then relieved himself gives many details, almost too many (214). The more detail you give about something the more believable it is because you can then picture it in your mind, so when you have a whole book of details in which you can picture all of them, then the book seems to be very believable. When Pi tells about the zebra It had a two-foot-wide hole in its body, a fistula like a freshly erupted volcano, spewed half-eaten organs glistening in the light of giving off a dull, dry shine, yet, in its strictly essential parts, it continued to pump with life, if weakly it literally paints you an unpleasant picture about what this zebra is going through (128). He also gives detail when telling about how he killed his first fish while being stranded on the lifeboat as well as his emotional struggle with killing a living creature (183). On the day when I estimated it was Mothers birthday, I sang Happy Birthday to her out loud is a detail to the whole book which could have been very easily been left out, but it wasnt (209). It was put in the story in order to help you understand Pi and that through all of the ordeals that he has gone through he still longs for his family. The last reason that I believe that Pis animal story is true is because well, I want to. .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .postImageUrl , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:hover , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:visited , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:active { border:0!important; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 { 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; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:active , .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .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; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7 .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uee7c233826e698041f4b37dd1728f8c7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Christopher Columbus Essay You can believe in anything if you want to. The story, Life of Pi, has the same concept as landing on the moon. We honestly truly dont know if we really did land on the moon, unless we were one of the astronauts. Same with Pi, we honestly truly do not know if Pi really survived 227 days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, unless we are Pi Patel. However, you go and ask ten people today if we landed on the moon or not.. .and I guarantee at least nine out of those ten people well say Of course we landed on the moon! Why will they say that? Because they believe that we landed on the moon, .

Friday, November 29, 2019

Flower Power free essay sample

My feet were a blur to anyone who was watching. I was pedaling faster than a speeding bullet, flying down the road at a speed dangerous even for a NASCAR driver. With my helmet resting snugly on my sweaty 9-year-old head I was invincible, unstoppable, capable of anything. My hair was plastered to my forehead and my cheeks flushed pink with both the exertion and the excitement of it all. I could do it. My parents were wrong, and I could prove it. The pedals of my purple â€Å"Flower Power† bike scraped the ground as I leaned into the turn like a seasoned professional, despite the fact that just a week before my training wheels and I were inseparable. This was it-time to show everyone what I could do. And I fell. I fell hard. One minute I was Lance Armstrong, and the next I was on the ground, my bike laying next to me. We will write a custom essay sample on Flower Power or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Red blood dripped from my hands, my elbows, and my knees. I watched as it pooled into a small puddle in the crevices of the rough gravel road beneath me. Tears welled up in my eyes, though it was more from the embarrassment than from the pain. I hadn’t proved anyone wrong but myself. Once again my parents were right; I couldn’t do it. I was crushed. I just couldn’t believe that I had failed. I never failed. Even back then I set high expectations for myself. I believed that I could do anything I wanted, and that I could do it better than anyone else. That’s just the way things were; everything came easily to me, whether it was turning a perfect cartwheel or bringing home a 100 on my spelling test. I was 9-years old, and I was on top of the world, until I fell from the sparkly silver seat of that flower adorned bike. My embarrassment and frustration quickly turned to anger. Oh, I was mad alright, but not so much at myself as at my parents. They had told me that I couldn’t handle that hill. They didn’t believe in me. I thought they had willed me to fall. After all, there was no way my spill was my own fault, through my eyes at least. I just didn’t mess up like that. I pouted for days, nursing both my sore limbs and my shattered self-confidence. I watched as my friends effortlessly rode their two-wheelers back and forth, up and down the hills of the campground. Both my mother and father encouraged me to ride with them, to practice on the smaller hills before I gave the big one another go. I angrily refused. Who were they to tell me try the hill one more time when they had known I couldn’t do it in the first place? I wasn’t going to risk falling again. Eight years later, I am happy to report that I’ve recovered from that fall, both mentally and physically. I’m still the ambitious girl I was back then. I still strive to be the best at whatever I do. I still have high expectations for mys elf, and set lofty goals, but no longer do I think I will accomplish these goals simply by breathing. I’ve finally learned the lesson my parents were trying to teach the pretentious 9-year-old tomboy I once was. They wanted me to realize that I need to work towards my goals. That not everything is going to be easy the first time around, but that I can’t give up, no matter how far or how hard I fall. I realize that my parents weren’t rooting against me, as I’d believed back then. It’s not that they thought that I couldn’t handle that hill. They knew with a little practice I could fly down it like a pro. Looking back, I am ashamed at how I blew off their words of encouragement and refused to try again. I thought I was playing it safe. If I don’t get back on the bike, I thought, I can’t fall off again. I didn’t realize that playing it safe will get you nowhere. Since then, I’ve attempted many challenges that ended in failure, but I never backed away like I did when I was 9. Instead, I find it within myself to work even harder to reach my goal. As a class of 2011 officer as well as vice-president of my school’s chapter of the National Honor Society, I’ve had to continuously push my ideas of how to improve the school on resistant teachers. As a reporter for my school newspaper, I’ve shared my opinion on controversial issues such as immigration hoping to raise awareness for the injustices I see everyday. As a runner, I’ve had to pick myself up after spirit-crushing races and put in countless miles, pushups, and crunches so that I can win my next race. As a student, I’ve had to put in innumerable hours of studying to earn high grades in my toughest classes. As the years have passed, I’ve come to see that I thrive in adversity. Ever since I was that 9-year old tomboy on the purple bike I couldn’t back down to a good dare. I am always looking for a chance to not only prove myself, but to improve myself, and to improve the world around me. I am no longer afraid to take risks to reach my goals. I am no longer afraid to get back on the bike and, most importantly, I am no longer afraid to fall.

Monday, November 25, 2019

How To Conjugate Conducir and Other -ducir Spanish Verbs

How To Conjugate Conducir and Other -ducir Spanish Verbs Conducir, a verb that means to drive and also has meanings related to conduct of persons and things, and other verbs ending in -ducir are highly irregular. The most common of those other verbs are introducir, producir, reducir, reproducir, seducir, and traducir. Their conjugation is shown below with conducir as an example. Irregular forms are shown below in boldface. Translations are given as a guide and in real life may vary with context. Infinitive of Conducir conducir (to drive) Gerund of Conducir conduciendo (driving) Participle of Conducir conducido (driven) Present Indicative of Conducir yo conduzco, tà º conduces, usted/à ©l/ella conduce, nosotros/as conducimos, vosotros/as conducà ­s, ustedes/ellos/ellas conducen (I drive, you drive, he drives, etc.) Preterite of Conducir yo conduje, tà º condujiste, usted/à ©l/ella condujo, nosotros/as condujimos, vosotros/as condujisteis, ustedes/ellos/ellas condujeron (I drove, you drove, she drove, etc.) Imperfect Indicative of Conducir yo conducà ­a, tà º conducà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella conducà ­a, nosotros/as conducà ­amos, vosotros/as conducà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas conducà ­an (I used to drive, you used to drive, he used to drive, etc.) Future Indicative of Conducir yo conducirà ©, tà º conducirs, usted/à ©l/ella conducir, nosotros/as conduciremos, vosotros/as conducirà ©is, ustedes/ellos/ellas conducirn (I will drive, you will drive, he will drive, etc.) Conditional of Conducir yo conducirà ­a, tà º conducirà ­as, usted/à ©l/ella conducirà ­a, nosotros/as conducirà ­amos, vosotros/as conducirà ­ais, ustedes/ellos/ellas conducirà ­an (I would drive, you would drive, she would drive, etc.) Present Subjunctive of Conducir que yo conduzca, que tà º conduzcas, que usted/à ©l/ella conduzca, que nosotros/as conduzcamos, que vosotros/as conduzcis, que ustedes/ellos/ellas conduzcan (that I drive, that you drive, that she drive, etc.) Imperfect Subjunctive of Conducir que yo condujera (condujese), que tà º condujeras (condujeses), que usted/à ©l/ella condujera (condujese), que nosotros/as condujà ©ramos (condujà ©semos), que vosotros/as condujerais (condujeseis), que ustedes/ellos/ellas condujeran (condujesen) (that I drove, that you drove, that he drove, etc.) Imperative of Conducir conduce (tà º), no conduzcas (tà º), conduzca (usted), conduzcamos (nosotros/as), conducid (vosotros/as), no conduzcis (vosotros/as), conduzcan (ustedes drive, dont drive, drive, lets drive, etc.) Compound Tenses of Conducir The perfect tenses are made by using the appropriate form of haber and the past participle, conducido. The progressive tenses use estar with the gerund, conduciendo. Sample Sentences Showing Conjugation of Verbs Ending in -ducir No quiero conducir porque hay demasiados locos al volante estos dà ­as. (I dont want to drive because there are so many crazy people at the wheel these days. Infinitive.) Perà º es el à ºnico paà ­s latinoamericano que ha introducido una ley de divorcio rpido. (Peru is the only Latin American country that has introduced a law providing for quick divorce. Present perfect.) Los britnicos, al comienzo de la guerra, estaban escandalizados por la violencia que se estaba produciendo en la Espaà ±a republicana. The British, at the beginning of the war, were scandalized by the violence that was occurring in Republican Spain. Gerund.) Existen ms de mil laboratorios que producen estas sustancias en China hoy en dà ­a. (There are more than 1,000 laboratories that produce these substances in China these days. Present indicative.) Tradujeron el libro al francà ©s y lo distribuyeron en Ginebra en 1882. (They translated the book to French and distributed it in Geneva in 1882. Preterite.) La corrupcià ³n reducà ­a la inversià ³n y el crecimiento econà ³mico. (The corruption diminished investment and economic growth. Imperfect.) Al à ºltimo nos reproduciremos por clonacià ³n. (Ultimately we will reproduce by cloning. Future.) A mà ­ mismo me seducirà ­a si no fuera quien soy. (Even I myself would be tempted if I werent who I am. Conditional.) Le dio 10 dà ­as calendario para que produzca los documentos requeridos. (She gave him 10 calendar days to produce the required documents. Present subjunctive.) Un profesor de lengua rabe pidià ³ a sus alumnos que tradujeran el libro. (An Arabic-language teacher asked his students to translate the book. Imperfect subjunctive.) No conduzcas sin cinturà ³n. (Dont drive without wearing a seatbelt. Imperative.)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Writing Assignment #2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Writing #2 - Assignment Example The judgment in one country has to be recognized in the other. Italy for example in this case would have to recognize rulings from the court in the United States. This is because the court agreed upon and documented cannot be refuted unless there are grounds to show that it was not valid or lawful in either two states. The solving of disputes having been rendered to a particular state and court in writing shows that the other must recognize their rulings, foreign or not. A court may refuse to recognize or enforce a judgment if the agreement does not fall under the state of law of the country. This would mean that it is null and void. It would also be the case if the judgment was obtained through fraud. It would also be refuted if the defendant was not informed prior in order to create defense. If the judgment is not consistent with other rulings concerning the same parties, then it is refutable. Nielsen, Peter A. "Exclusive Choice of Court Agreements and Parallel Proceedings." A Commitment to Private International Law: Essays in Honour of Hans Van Loon: MeÃŒ langes En Lhonneur De Hans Van Loon. (2013):

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What are the main determinants of bank failure Essay - 1

What are the main determinants of bank failure - Essay Example e recent financial crisis has raised a large number of concerns about the strength of the current banking system to provide stability to the financial markets. Banks taking too much risk are highly prone to fail unless they have hedged their risks properly. Banks may fail if equity is insufficient to provide a safe cushion to write down any non-performing loans (Kolari, pp. 361-387, 2002). Before recent financial turmoil, banks were more concerned about their profitability. They attempted to maximize profits to increase shareholders wealth by increasing their financial advantage. A large deposit base provided for high financial advantage for banks, while their equity cushion continued to diminish. Most banks were using a ratio of more than twenty times debt compared to their equity (Goddard, pp. 1911-1935, 2007). Low level of equity provided a very small cushion for the banks in case of a financial turmoil. A bank with three percent equity could suffer a loss of all its shareholders wealth if it lost just a minor fraction of its loan assets. For example, bank with an equity base of 10 billion pounds and a loan base of as high as 300 billion pounds, would have lost all its equity with a decrease of 3.33% in the value of its loan assets (Altman, pp 589-609, 1968). Banks need to manage their liquidity risk with extreme caution. A bank that maintains to little liquid reserves can go bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations on time. These obligations include payment on demand deposits and interest payments to depositors holding cash in their saving accounts. If the bank is holding too little cash, it can usually borrow money through inter-bank borrowing at the federal funds rate (Ohlson, pp. 109-131, 1980). However, at times of financial crisis, the liquidity of the market could be low. In the recent financial crisis rumors about bank failures resulted in a run on banks. Depositors wanted to withdraw their money before a suspected bankruptcy. On a usual day banks

Monday, November 18, 2019

College Education and The Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

College Education and The Economy - Essay Example However, this case shows a situation where the demand of college education does not decrease despite the drastic increase in the tuition fees. As mentioned, the increase in tuition fee is expected to discourage the demand for college education for most people in the economy. This would portray a free market economy where prices determine the demand. However, the students in need of education have various expectations about their future economic status and career prospects. Consequently, the students observe their education based on prospective future gain in labor and wages. This is considered as the future economic rewards to education (Samuelson & Marks, 2012). Therefore, its demand increases influencing the enrollment in various colleges across the country. As a result, the increase in the price of college education over the last 30 years in the U.S has not affected the demand for the education from the high school graduates and nationwide college enrollments. The U.S government does not support its citizen’s education directly. Instead, it provides its support through the provision of loans and grants to the students over the period of four years for a standard degree course. After the completion of the college education, the former students are required to repay the loans extended to them at a given subsidized interest rate. As a result, the U.S government does not have control over the patters of change in the college tuition fee. The first graph shows the price of college education against the quantity provided, Q1. The supply of education has remained constant with minimal improvements in the existing educational institutions. Therefore, the supply curve is represented by S. the demand curve, D1 shows the present demand for college education. The need for education from the numerous high school graduates has increased its demand. This is indicated by a shift of the demand curve to the right from D1 to D2. Since the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Double Skin Facades In High Rise Building Engineering Essay

Double Skin Facades In High Rise Building Engineering Essay Abstract: Double skin faà §ade systems are increasingly used in High rise buildings across the world. It is more commonly use in high-end architecture of European and Pacific Rim countries. The growing architectural trend is driven mostly by (Poirazis,2004)1: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The reduction of energy use during the occupation stage of a building à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The aesthetic desire for a fully glazed faà §ade that leads to increased transparency à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The practical need for improved indoor environment, lesser reliance on artificial plant à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The need for improving the acoustic performance of buildings located in noise polluted areas 1. Poirazis, Harris. (2004). Double Skin Facades for Office Buildings, Literature Review, Lund Institute of Technology Web address: http://www.ebd.lth.se/avd%20ebd/main/personal/Project%20home%20page/main/publications/LITERATURE.pdf This essay attempts to study the Classification of Double Skin Facades, its advantages and disadvantages, and discuss on its application in high rise building and evaluate the benefits and limitations. Introduction The Double Skin Faà §ade is an envelope construction covering one or multiple storey, which consists of two pieces transparent glass layers separated by a intermediate cavity. Air ventilation strategy can be take place through the intake and air outlet on the external glazing. In the cavity, sun-shading louvers and thermal insulation devices are sometime installed to control the solar heat gain to improve the indoor environment. The BBRI, (BBRI, 2002) includes in the Source book a satisfactory description of the structure of a Double Skin Faà §ade System.The layers of the faà §ade are described below2: 2. Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI) (2002). Source book for a better understanding of conceptual and operational aspects of active facades. Department of Building Physics, Indoor Climate and Building Services, Belgian Building Research Institute. Version no 1. Web address: http://www.bbri.be/activefacades/index2.html à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exterior Glazing: Usually it is a hardened single glazing. This exterior faà §ade can be fully glazed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Interior glazing: Insulating double glazing unit (clear, low E coating, solar control glazing, etc can be used). Almost always this layer is not completely glazed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The air cavity between the two panes. It can be totally natural, fan supported or mechanically ventilated. The width of the cavity can vary between 200 mm to more than 2m according to the function of the applied concept. This width influence the way that the faà §ade is maintained. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The interior window can be opened by the user. This may allow natural ventilation of the offices. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Automatically controlled solar shading is integrated inside the air cavity. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ As a function of the faà §ade concept and of the glazing type, heating radiators can be installed next to the faà §ade. History of the Double Skin Faà §ade The history of Double Skin Facades can be trace back to end of 19th century. According to Saelens (2002), the early version of a mechanically ventilated multiple skin faà §ade was created around 1849. Jean-Baptiste Jobard at that time director of the industrial Museum in Brussels, mentioned how in winter hot air should be circulated between two glazing, while in summer it should be cold air. Crespo claims that a double skin curtain wall appears in 1903 in the Steiff Factory in Giengen, Germany. It is possibly the prototype of, at least, is more close to the modern double skin faà §ade system. She describes that: The priorities were to maximize daylighting while taking into account the cold weather and the strong winds of the region. The solution was a three storey structure with a ground floor for storage space and two upper floors used for work areas. The building was a success and two additions were built in 1904 and 1908 with the same Double Skin system, but using timber instead of steel in the structure for budget reasons. All buildings are still in use. Moving to the 20th century, with improved technology meant that the size and number of openings were no longer limited by structural considerations of the past. large glazed facade are able to construct but it is still very much limited by building physics and experiencing thermal comfort. At that time, fully glazed buildings have problem of summer overheating and heat losses and problematic condensation, lots of energy is used by mechanical plant in the operation state of the building. The outbreak of oil crises in 1973 1979 bring greater awareness on energy consumption. Innovative improvements on insulating glazing such as the addition of low-emissivity coatings and inert gas filled cavities were made. In the1990s a further breakthrough on insulation glazing was achieved with the development of spectrally selective glazing, electro-chromic and photo-chromic glazing. However, these products are unlikely available in short run as they are expensive. In contrast, double skin facades offer us a cheaper and more flexible way of achieving comfortable internal environment through a combined system of components, allowing the regulation of heat, cold, light noise with low energy consumption. Classification of Double Skin Facades There are numerous way of classification on Double Skin Faà §ade due to the variation in type of construction, the origin, destination and type of the air flow in the cavity, etc. Battle McCarthy, the Environmental Engineering firm in Great Britain created a categorization of five primary types (plus sub-classifications) based on commonalities of faà §ade configuration and the manner of operation. 3 These are: 3. Battle McCarthy website. http://www.battlemccarthy.demon.co.uk/research/doubleskin/doubleskinhomepage.htm Category A: Sealed Inner Skin: subdivided into mechanically ventilated cavity with controlled flue intake versus a ventilated and serviced thermal flue. Category B: Openable Inner and Outer Skins: subdivided into single story cavity height versus full building cavity height. Category C: Openable Inner Skin with mechanically ventilated cavity with controlled flue intake Category D: Sealed Cavity, either zoned floor by floor or with a full height cavity. Category E: Acoustic Barrier with either a massive exterior envelope or a lightweight exterior envelope. Belgian Building Research Institute Study (BBRI, 2002) investigate the potential of active facades, the related problems and risks in order to devise guidance in standardisation and technical approvals. They developed a classification system to describe different double-skin faà §ade configurations based on a database of case-studies2. 2. Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI) (2002). Source book for a better understanding of conceptual and operational aspects of active facades. Department of Building Physics, Indoor Climate and Building Services, Belgian Building Research Institute. Version no 1. Web address: http://www.bbri.be/activefacades/index2.html One storey height facade The air cavity is divided horizontally and vertically into small and independent facade modules. Naturally ventilated double facades with one storey height facade modules are also known as a Box window type. Corridor facade Corridor facade is divided at every storey, the cavity is going horizontally along the building. Partition is used for acoustical, fire security or ventilation reasons. Multiple storey facades Multiple storey facades are not divided vertically or horizontally. The air cavity continues throughout the whole facade with maintenance grids at the every level to allowing circulation. The air cavity ventilation is realised via large openings near the floor and the roof of the building. Shaft-box facades Shaft box facades are very similar in nature to the one-storey height module. A series of box type window modules in the facade which are connected via vertical shafts. Air are being drawn from the box windows by stack effect into the vertical shafts and emitted from top. Advantages of the Double Skin Faà §ade The passive design strategies of double skin faà §ade bring natural ventilation, day lighting and solar heat gain into the fabric of the high-rise building, thus bringing energy efficiency and comfort to the inhabitant. Natural Ventilation: One of the main advantages of the Double Skin Faà §ade system is that it allows the inhabitant access to natural ventilation with protection against the weather and burglar. The cavity is a key component in the system as it allows natural fresh air to enter into the building to cool and ventilate the space. Natural ventilation is make possible even in the higher levels of a high-rise building due to the addition of extra layer of glass which helps to reduce the wind pressure. Natural ventilation of fresh air is much more preferable than air from mechanical sources as it will help to reduce the energy cost. During the hot summer nights, Double Skin Facades can also provide natural night ventilation, thus making the indoor temperatures lower during the early morning hours providing thermal comfort and improved air quality for the office occupants. In this way lesser energy is use in air-conditioning thus reducing the CO2 output of the building. Day lighting: Day lighting is important element in the design of High rise building as it reduces the energy consumption of electrical lightings. Moreover, the quality of natural lighting is preferable to electrical lighting. The large area of glazing coverage in double skin faà §ade maximises the daylighting into the space. Good lighting of the workplace is one of the main factors of indoor comfort that can positively influence health and productivity of office personnel. Natural light, its variations and its spectral composition are of great importance for well-being and mental health. Natural light is a fundamental component of our life, helping our body to produce vitamin D, an important anticancer element. 5 5. http://www.buildingenvelopes.org Harvard University Massachusetts Institution of Technology However, The increased coverage of glazed faà §ade brings excessive glare and heat during the hotter times. Solar shading devices are require to decrease solar heat gain and reduce the amount of glare. Thermal Insulation and Solar Heat Gain: Double Skin Faà §ade System can provide greater thermal insulation to the high rise building over the year with its outer skin. Solar heat gain is controlled through the use of shading devices and the air in cavity also help to absorb some of the incoming solar radiation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ During the winter the external layer of glass reduce the external heat transfer rate to provide improved insulation. Heat transfer rate is further reduced due to the increse in temperature when cavity is partially or completely closed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ During the summer the warm air inside the cavity can be extracted by naturally or mechanically ventilation. The airflow of the air inside the cavity is very much depend on the size of opening and temperature of the cavity. A carefully selection on the combination of the type of the glass panes and the shading devices types is very important as it prevents overheat in the cavity and the interior space and also to achieve good ventilation. In a highly glazed building, external Shading devices are use to reducing solar heat gain and heat entering into the interior. Shading devices can be fixed or operable. Operable units allow the occupant to control environment to meet their desire. They are normally installed in the outer half of Double Skin Faà §ade, typically horizontal blinds. The horizontal blind allows day lighting penetration and maintaining some of the view of outside. Acoustic insulation: Double skin faà §ade provides acoustic insulation to the building from external sources. The cavity act as air barrier to reduce the external noise pollution. A reduction of 20dB by double skin faà §ade at mid frequencies was reported by Chiang et al. (2004) 6 However, the number of openings and the type of Double Skin Faà §ade will also determine the effectiveness of the sound insulation. Chiang, W-H., Chao, Y-N. Wu, C-J., 2004, Sound Insulation of Double Skin Faà §ade http://www.ncree.org.tw/2004tcworkshop/pdf/16.pdf Transparency: Double skin facades fully glazed faà §ade bring more transparency to the building with more natural day lighting and views of exterior. For years, the Architects and the developer has always wanted a transparent building. but in the same time energy efficient. Energy savings: Double Skin Faà §ades can save energy significantly. The system minimises solar loading at the perimeter of buildings, thus less electricity costs is used to cool the building. Natural ventilation also further reduces the energy used in mechanical air supply. Disadvantages of the Double Skin Faà §ade There are always debates on the benefits of the double skin system. The Pro camp claims the systems to be environmentally responsible as double skin system help to save energy cost. However the Con camp states that areas such as maintenance, life-cycle/durability of the system, mechanical costs and operation cost also need to take into account. The disadvantages of Double Skin Faà §ade are described below: Higher construction and additional maintenance costs: Comparing the Double Skin facade and the conventional cladding systems. Double Skin facade has higher construction costs due to the additional construction cost of the outer layer, mechanical and supporting structure. It also require higher skill workman. With the additional layer of skin, the weight of the buildings structure loading is also increase, so as the construction cost of the building. Double Skin type also has higher cost during the operation of the building. More costs will be added in maintenance such as cleaning, servicing. Reduction of rentable office space: As the width of the intermediate cavity of Double Skin Faà §ade can vary from 20 cm to several meters (Uuttu, 2001), this results to the loss of useful space and rental. It is quite important to find the optimum depth of the faà §ade so as not to lose valuable space. Overheating problems: If the Double Skin Faà §ade system is not properly designed. The temperature of air in the cavity will likely to be increased in the hot summer days and resulting in overheating of the interior space. To avoid overheating, the minimum width between the internal and external pane should not be less than 200 mm (Jager,2003) Double Skin Faà §ades in High-Rise Buildings: High-rise office tower with fully glaze facade is a major consumer of energy. However, double skin faà §ades passive energy concepts and design strategies have increased the potential of high-rise building to come closer with sustainable architecture. In terms of climatic control, double skin faà §ades allow the occupants to take better control of internal environment. The heating and lighting requirements could be adjusted according to occupants needs by controlling the operable windows for natural ventilation and the shading device to modify the incoming solar radiation. The GSW Headquarters building is a good example of architecture that uses double skin faà §ade to achieve sustainability (Note: Plan image north is down) Image from Flickr: Uploaded by  runningforasthma The plan demonstrates how the new 515,000 sf connects to the existing  building with the new core leaving a 36 foot clear lease span. This depth with the large glass area results in excellent daylighting characteristics. Building Name GSW Headquarters Architect Sauerbruch Hutton Location Berlin GSW Headquarters consists of existing tower, three-story street-oriented bar, and new 22-storey, 11-m wide office tower building, which is the most important aspect to present the sustainable concept. In response to urban and functional conditions, the major axis of the building faces east and west, a double skin is provided on the west faà §ade: a single-glazed weather screen suspended 1m from the internal double pane windows, which acts a thermal buffer to protect heat loss and a thermal flue drawing air through the building. The second layer of automation is the colourful, perforated aluminium shading panels within the west double skin cavity manage solar heat gain and day lighting. The louvers also can be manually adjustable by the occupants but protects against the direct sunlight in the afternoon. On the east faà §ade, automatically and manually-operated triple-glazed windows with between-pane blinds allows fresh air enter into the building to create cross ventilation. Fresh air is also admitted independently from the window with the exterior louvered metal panels provided on the east faà §ade. In hot summer season, the operable window of the double skin facade is closed resulting in increasing of temperature inside the cavity. warm air is being channel to central plant via riser for heat recovery. Arup  who engineered the building claims the goal to achieve energy savings of 30-40% in comparison to an ordinary building. And because of the cross ventilation created by the flue effect, mechanical ventilation is no longer required 70% the year. http://www.ecorussia.info/en/ecopedia/double-skin-glass-facades Conclusions Double Skin Faà §ades are increasing incorporate into high rise building to achieving greater transparency, acceptable indoor environment as well as reducing energy consumption. Double Skin Faà §ades is the by far the only system at present that offers a range of natural ventilation strategies to the occupants. From economical point of view, Double Skin Faà §ades does not score well due to its high construction cost and additional maintenance and operational costs. However, Double Skin Faà §ades fair better when we look at social and environmental aspect. Double Skin Faà §ades provide better day lighting, solar control and access to natural ventilation, creating better working environment for the employee and increase the productivity. However Double Skin Facades are not suitable in every part of the world. They are highly depending on the outdoor conditions such as solar radiation, outdoor temperature, etc as the outside conditions have great influence on the indoor environment. Thus, each Double Skin Faà §ade has to be designed according to different constraints such as: climate condition (solar radiation, outdoor temperature, etc), site conditions (latitude, local daylight availability, atmospheric conditions, exterior obstructions, ground reflectance, etc), building usage (operating hours, occupants tasks, etc). A thorough investigates and ability to control these environmental aspects inevitably leads to increased energy efficiency.