ACT English Prep The Best Methods and Strategies

ACT English Prep The Best Methods and Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Preparing for the ACT English section can feel overwhelming. This section covers a lot of material that is often not taught in school, and the format is probably different from that of any other test you’ve taken. Even more confusing, there are a ton of differentsources forACT English prep. How do you decide which ones to use? How do you make the most efficient use of your study time? What should you do to prepare for ACT English to reach your target score? In this article, I will break down the best way to prepare for ACT English. I've arranged my tips by how important I feel they are to ACT English success, but you need to follow them all if you want to be fully prepared on test day. By following these tips, you can have a more disciplined, focused approach to your ACT prep, and you can be more confident in the methods you’re using to prepare. #1: Comprehensively Learn the Grammar Rules on the ACT Understanding the grammar rules the ACT tests isessential to doing well on the ACT English section. The ACT tests the same grammar rules repeatedly; if you can master these rules, you'll be well on your way to reaching your ACT English target score. On the PrepScholar blog, we have written articles on the grammar rules and errors that appear on the ACT. Each article provides real examples, explanations, and strategies for answering related questions: Subject-Verb Agreement Verb Tense and Forms Comma Rules Punctuation Pronoun Agreement Pronoun Case Wordiness and Redundancy Idioms Run-On Sentences/Sentence Fragments Parallelism Faulty Modifiers Adjective and Adverb Errors Relative Pronouns Word Choice/Diction Focus your studying on the rules that are most commonly tested, but ultimately you should be familiar with all the rules, especially if you're targeting a 36. Check out this article on the distribution of appearance of the grammar rules on the ACT. #2: Review the Types of Rhetorical Skills Questions and Strategies for Answering Them Many of the rhetorical skills questions differ greatly from the grammar questions, as theytest your reading comprehension andyour ability toanalyze the passage rather than your knowledge of conventions. To tackle these questions,you need to be able to identify what you're being asked and know how to find the correct answer. On the PrepScholar blog, there are articles on each type of rhetorical skills question, examples, and strategies for correctly answering each type of question. Here are links to these articles: Macro Logic Transitional Logic Relevance Add/Delete Author Main Goal Author Technique Formality Understanding the content and questions that appear on ACT English is imperative to doing well. However, if you want to prepare yourself fully, you need to repeatedly test your understanding by doing practice problems. #3: Do Tons of Practice Problems and Understand Every Mistake Doing tons of practice problems will make you more confident with the material and increase your comfort level with the unique format of the ACT English section. Make sure you keep doing practice problems consistently. Use official practice tests, when possible, because the problems on those tests are most representative of what you're likely to see on the ACT. I highly recommend you follow the advice in this post on the best sources for ACT English practice.Additionally, PrepScholar has over 1500 practice problems customized to each skill. It's important to note, however, that just doing practice problems isn't enough. Why You Need to Understand Your Mistakes Even though doing a ton of practice problems will be beneficial to your ACT English preparation, if you keep repeating the same mistakes, your score won't improve. You have to understand why you're getting questions wrong so you can address your weaknesses and continue raising your score. Students often neglect to take the necessary time to understand their mistakes and figure out how to correct them in the future. Understanding your mistakes can be more difficult than just doing practice problems, but it's an extremely important step in the preparation process. How to Understand Your Mistakes Fully understanding your mistakes takes time and effort. Here is the process I recommend you use to comprehend why you made each mistake and know how to improve your deficiencies. This process is somewhat rigorous, but it's the best way to prepare for ACT English. On every practice test andproblem set you do, circleevery question onwhichyou're even 20% unsure what the answer is. When you grade your test or quiz, carefully review eachquestion you circledor answered incorrectly. This way you'll be reviewing bothyour missed questions and the questions that you got right by guessing. On your computer or in a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid that mistake in the future. Create different sections for each grammar rule and type of rhetorical skills question. Try to determine why you got questions wrong on your own. However, if you're having trouble figuring out why you made mistakes, the ACT website has a test with explanations and The Real ACT Prep Guide has 5 tests with explanations. Take notes on what you specifically missed and how to improve in the future. Be as thorough and specific as possible. For example, don't just write that you missed a comma question. Did you add a comma unnecessarily? Did you forget that you should put a comma before and after an appositive phrase? What resources will you use to learn this rule and ensure that you don't make the same mistake again? Also, don't just take notes on your content issues. Write down any information about your careless errors and what steps you'll take to prevent repeating them. Did you forget to read the whole sentence? Do you need to look at the answer choices more closely? You want to really dig into why you're missing questions and focus on specific ways to improve. #4: Identify Your Weaknesses and Drill Them As long asyou do a thorough job of categorizing your missed questions, you should be able to easily determineyour weaknesses. Spendadditional time practicing the areas in whichyou're struggling. Maybe there's a specific grammar rule like pronoun agreement or parallelism that's causing you difficulties. Maybe you struggle with a specific type of rhetorical skills question like author main goal or macro logic questions. Do extra content review and practice problems related to those types of questions. We thinkPrepScholar is a great resource for this type of practice because it's designed to customize your ACT prep to focus on your weaknesses.If you'd prefer to try something else, the best ACT prep books and websitesalso have real and realistic practice problems for each type of ACT English question. Additionally, you should continue reviewing all the questions you missed and marked. Focus your studying on the areas where you're having problems. If you spend the majority of your time practicing stuff you already know, you're not using your time effectively. #5: Determine If You Have a Time Management Issue and, If So, Address It How to Determine if You Have Time Management Issues Find an official ACT and take the ACT English section. Use a timer and treat it like a real test. If time runs out and you're not finished, keep going,but for every new answer or answer you change after the allottedtime, mark it with a note as "Extra Time." Grade your test, but we want two scores: 1) The Realistic score you got under normal testing conditions and 2) The Extra Time score. If the difference is more than 4 raw points, then you need to address your time management issues. How to Fix Time Management Issues Generally, time management improves as you become more familiar and confident with the content. If time management is a lingering issue, you may have to change how you approach ACT English passages. Also, you may need to monitor your time spent per question. Easier grammar questions should take around 15-20 seconds. Big picture rhetorical skills questions can take up to a minute. I recommend never spending more than a minute on any individual question. Keep in mind that you have an average of 36 seconds per question in ACT English. While some of you may struggle completing the ACT English section, others may find that they're rushing. This is an equally serious problem. If you're finishing the section with more than 5 minutes left and you're getting more than a couple of questions wrong, you need to slow down. Reread the previous sentence. Slow down! Read the questions more carefully, take a closer look at the answer choices, and spend time reviewing your answers. Don't Rush. #6: Build Your Test Endurance The ACT can be mentally draining and it's easy to lose focus during the test. Fortunately, the ACT English section is always first, so you should have plenty of energy. On the other hand,you won't have time to ease into the test. Before test day, take at least 3 official tests simulating test-taking conditions. Mimic the test day experience as closely as possible. Use a timer. Bubble in your answers. Only take the ACT-allowed breaks. Turn off your cell phone. Yes, you read that correctly. Turn off your your cell phone! I know that will probably be scary and cause you anxiety, but you have to turn off your cell phone during the ACT, so you might as well practice going a few hours without posting an Instagram pic. If you follow all these tips, I guarantee you'll be ready for the ACT English section when test day arrives. You'll know the content, be comfortable with the format, and be confident that you can successfully complete the section. What's Next? As you continue your ACT English prep, I encourage you to study this post on the 5 critical concepts you must understand to ace ACT English. If you're striving for a perfect score, learn how to get a 36 on ACT English from a perfect scorer. You'll also find helpful advice in this article on my top tips for ACT English success. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Fitness for Life

Fitness for Life Free Online Research Papers The physical activity pyramid classifies activities by type and associated benefits. It is a good way to illustrate different types of activities and how each contributes to the development of health, wellness, and physical fitness. The four levels of the pyramid are based on the beneficial health and outcomes associated with regular physical activity. Activities lower in the pyramid require more frequent participation, whereas activities higher in the pyramid require less frequency. Level 1 is the lifestyle physical activity which is encouraged as a part of everyday living and can contribute significantly to good health, wellness, and fitness. It can be viewed as the baseline, or minimal, activity that should be performed, also known as moderate activity. Level 2 are aerobic, sport and recreation activities, which are more intensive with long periods of time without stopping, but elevate the heart rate significantly, also known as vigorous activities. Level 3 include flexibility (stretching) exercises are a type of physical activity that is planned specifically to develop flexibility. Level 4 is named inactivity and that it is why has been placed at the top of the pyramid because it should be minimized. Rest is important to good health but too much inactivity results in low fitness as well as poor health and wellness. My personal activity assessment is level 2 and level 3 of the pyramid. We live in a residential area, which offer a Jewish Community Center YM-YWHA, in which we are members and our children compete in the swim team. My wife and I made the commitment that While our children are swimming , We Are performing four days of fitness activities during the week ; Monday Through Thursday 3:30 pm to 5:00pm . On Friday 5:15pm to 6:15pm we take a group power class which uses moves from traditional strength training and programs these movements to music, creating a simple, fun and effective way to train in groups. The class starts with a comprehensive warm up, followed by eight songs that focus on specific muscle groups, and finishes with a well earned stretch. We are happy with all these changes especially with the extra energy that our body supports due to this new lifestyle. My goals are to continue exercising more frequently and increase my level of fitness. Next year I will try other course s, such as boxing combos, body sculpting, karate and start playing tennis or strength and conditioning. All these changes are important to me because with a big family I really need to stay healthy; I want to enjoy my children and to be an example to them. Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease, as well as a positive concept emphasizing social, personal resources, and physical capacities. Wellness is the quality of being healthy in body and mind, including social, emotional, mental, spiritual and physically. It expands everyone’s potential to quality of life, work effectively and makes good contribution to society. It reflects how a person feels about life and function effectively showing a positive state of good health. Healthy lifestyles are ways to prevent illness and early death in our society, a variety of activities include physical activity, eating well, managing stress and time, avoiding destructive habits, practicing safe sex, being an informed consumer, adopting good health and safety habits and learning first aid. With this class you can find a healthy lifestyle based on your personal needs, which in my case include making changes in my daily eating habits, start a good regular physical activity, managing time, stress, avoiding bad habits in food and time to physical activity, adopt good health and safety habits to my whole family. I started my plan four months ago and including my wife and children, all these changes are important to all of us in order to avoid over weight and the most importantly my family will have good health, wellness and healthy lifestyle. Before starting this wonderful class, I never had time to make a regular physical activity due to all the excuses that you can imaging with small kids, a business and an exigent family to attend during the weekends. Now my plan of improvement includes my family. and it starts with our daily eating habits including more vegetables, salads and fruits to our diet. I have a construction company which requires a lot of physical activity but mostly it puts the strain on my shoulders and lower back. By exercising, I have reduced my back pain and lost fifteen pounds and reduce my clothes size from thirty six to thirty four. All these changes have been possible thanks to my new food habits and the support my wife and children provide. The lab #5b have been increasing, the first time in level 1 I was performing 1 day of 30+ minutes of lifestyle activities. Currently, I am performing 4 to 5 days including climbing the stairs rather than the elevator, walking to the supermarket rather than ride, parking my car far away from the building or stores. Level 2 and 3 increased from 2 days to 3 days including the gym days. Level 4 continue same no inactivity during the week. Little by little the lifestyle activities have been increasing due to a positive outlook and a new way of life. The different is that every time I do an extra activity I am mentally prepared to do it without thinking that I am tire or that I need rest time. It is great progress to think in a positive way and I will continue doing all possible to improve my exercise time. Exercise logs from the beginning of January till present it include a summary by month of a weekly type of exercise. My improvements continue to change as I constantly try different exercises and routines to find a balance in physical and mental activities that will bring enjoyment and lasting results to my health. My personal self management skills started with a contemplation level of thinking about the changes in my physical activities. I got ready by making a lifestyle change. Now I am in the action level making more constant the physical activity on a weekly base. I plan to continue with a maintenance level, which means improving my health and well being. Factors of healthy behavior are personal, predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing. Personal factors affect health behaviors but are often out of or personal control. Some examples are age, gender, heredity, social status, and current health and fitness levels. With my age at 40+ years old I do not have the same energy such as when I was 18 years old but now I have a positive mind. Predisposing factors make you more likely to adopt a health lifestyle, such as participation in regular physical activity, a part of your normal routine. Such example would be a member of a health fitness cent er and start going regularly starting with a weekly base activity. Enabling factors help you carry out your healthy lifestyle plan. A good example is belief in you thinking that you can be successful with a new lifestyle and self efficacy performing at least 3 days of fitness exercises. Reinforcing factors are important in adhering to lifestyle changes. Once a person has reached the action or maintenance stage, it is important to stay at this high level. Reinforcing factors help people stick with a behavior change. In my personal case, I have support from my family, friend and relatives, if I have to change my weekly schedule that week my wife takes the kids to the Y and I make the time changes to fit the schedule , I don’t aloud other factors to take priority. Warm-up is light to moderate activity done prior to the workout. Its purpose is to reduce the risk of injury and soreness and possibly to improve performance in a physical activity. Cool-Down is light to moderate tapering-off activity after vigorous exercise; often consisting of the same exercises used in the warm-up. Progressive resistance training is when the body adapts and improves; the muscles and systems of the body must be challenged. The concept PRE is when frequency, intensity, and duration of lifts are progressively increased to maintain an effective stimulus as the muscle fitness improves. PRE is the type of physical activity done with the intent of improving muscle fitness. Cardiovascular fitness is generally considered to be the most important aspect of physical fitness. Those who possess reasonable amounts of fitness have a decreased risk for heart disease, reduced risk for premature death, and improved quality of life. Regular cardiovascular exercise promotes fitness a nd provides additional health and wellness benefits that extend well beyond reducing risks for disease. Calisthenics exercises are those that don’t need any equipment. Instead, you use your own bodyweight to provide the resistance you need to build strength and endurance. Abdominals are designed to increase the strength of the abdominal muscles. They are important for maintaining a neutral pelvis, good posture, prevents backache associated with lordosis and they must hold stretches for 15 to 30 seconds. Some kinds of abdominals are reverse curl, crunch or curl up crunch with twist and sitting tucks. Flexibility is not the same thing as stretching. Flexibility is a component of health related physical fitness. Stretching is the primary technique used to improve the state of one’s flexibility. Stretching is designed to increaser strength in the muscles and to improve range of motion. They are helpful in preventing and resolving symptoms of pain and for relieving trigger points. They must be hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Strength is the amount of force you can produce with a s ingle maximal effort of a muscle group. Muscular endurance is the capacity of the skeletal muscles or group of muscles to continue contraction over a long period of time. You need both strength and muscular endurance to increase work capacity; to decrease the chance of injury; to prevent low back pain, poor posture, and other hypokinetic conditions and to improve athletic performance. Exercises for core strength would include crunch, reverse curl, crunch with twist, sitting tucks, hands and knees balance, marching, side step and squatting. Strength and muscular endurance self assessments include seated press or chest press and let press. My balanced exercise plan and logging system exercises start with 3-5 minutes of cardiovascular walk or jog warm up prior to muscle stretching. Then, hold calf, hamstring and seated side stretchers for 30 seconds each one during 3 or 4 minutes. Also leg hug, zipper and sometimes side, hip, thigh or legs stretches for other 3 minutes. My plan continues with a 10-13 minutes with eight calisthenics exercises. Push ups and let down develops the muscles of the arms, shoulders and chest. Modified pull ups help to develop the muscles of the arms and shoulders. Dips helps with the latissimus dorsi, deltoid, rhomboid, and triceps. Crunch or curl up develops the upper abdominal muscles. Trunk lift helps the muscles of the upper back and corrects round shoulders. Side leg raises and lower let lift work with the muscles on the outside and inside of thighs. Alternate leg kneel develops the muscles of the legs and kips. It is good include abdominal exercises such as reverse curl, crunch with out a nd with twist and sitting tucks for another 8-10 minutes. After all of these basic exercises I start my muscle strengthening routine my future goals include to increase the days going to the gym. One alternative would be to take Sundays morning and enjoy 45-60 minutes of dance class or gym exercises with more section of abdominal following in wall support, hands and knees, crunch and reverse curl. But I have to take in consideration the church services hours. Thanks God my Christian Church offers 3 different services in Sunday including early in the morning or late in the afternoon. At the same time I need to follow my doctors advices on the amount of force I can apply do to recent abdominal surgery. I will improve my resistance training section by doing more muscle exercises such as abdominals to get a better abdominal shape, or increasing the seconds for each section during my flexibility, stretching, and endurance exercises. Currently I can hold 3 section of 12 reverse and crunc h curl up, those would increased during the next four to six weeks to 4 sections of 15. It will be a little difficult but during the end of the year I will be in better physical shape, including my diet food plan. 7-day meal plan would include the following table, The amounts of food you need every day depends on your age, body size, activity level, whether you are male or female and if you or pregnant or breast feeding. All service portions must be 1 cup, juices 8 ounces, meat, chicken or fish 50-100 grams, cheese 2 slices, yogurt  ¾ cup, 1 medium size vegetables or fruit, 1 slice bread, 30grs cereal or  ¾ cup. Personally I have gained a lot of benefits from this class. My self motivation to continue with this new lifestyle is knowing that I will have a smaller clothe size, same as when I was 20 years old ( size 30 ), feeling strong and unstoppable. During the last two months of this wonderful new lifestyle I have reduced from size 36 to 34 in pants size. For me it is spectacular because I don’t feel hungry and I am full of energy. I work with a level of enthusiasm I haven’t felt in years. Believing in my self, planning the extra activities with my family and children, it is fantastic. God bless you Professor Weitzmann for your dedication, positive mind and high enthusiasm to teach us a new way to see ourselves and the society. Research Papers on Fitness for LifeInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfTrailblazing by Eric AndersonThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraResearch Process Part OneOpen Architechture a white paperThe Spring and AutumnEffects of Television Violence on Children

To What Extent Does Personality Predict Employee Performance Essay

To What Extent Does Personality Predict Employee Performance - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the identification of the potentials of employees to respond to the demands of their role can be characterized as one of the most critical challenges for managers in modern organizations. Moreover, it has been proved that employee performance can be depended on various factors; securing high employee performance can be a difficult task even for highly experienced HR managers. The literature developed in regard to this subject verifies the intervention of personality in the prediction of employee performance. However, the terms of involvement of personality in the prediction of employee performance are not standardized, being influenced by the organizational environment and the psychological characteristics of individuals, as analyzed below. In any case, the value of personality as a means for predicting the performance of individuals in the workplace cannot be doubted. In fact, the research developed in this field proved that personali ty is a strong indicator of an individual’s behavior in all aspects of his daily life, no matter his economic or social status. In regard to the above, the following issue should be also explored: is the prediction of employee performance using personality fully accurate or not and how the relevant risks can be limited? Personality, as a concept, refers to various aspects of human behavior. In practice, it has been proved that the personality characteristics, or else traits, of individuals, are likely to be incorporated into five, major, categories. The relevant model of personality is known as the ‘Five Factor model’. The categories of the particular model are presented in the paper. Different explanations have been given in the literature in regard to the involvement of personality in employee performance. The Big Five model, as presented above, can be used for measuring employee performance, both in regard to specific individuals and in regard to groups. In th e last case, the personality characteristics/ traits of each group’s individuals would be ‘gathered and evaluated as a total for identifying the group’s performance’.

Research paper on three plays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research paper on three plays - Essay Example Perfect examples of how this greater knowledge can affect the dramatic irony in a literary work are: Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sophocles'' Oedipus the King and Miller's Death of a Salesman. What ties the main characters of these three plays together is that they all know what they need to do in order to fix their problems, but are unable to take action because of their own fears and cowardice. These fears and cowardice are made perfectly clear to the reader, yet the characters are unable to see themselves for who they really are. Irony binds these three plays together through the blindness of the characters and their inability to see their own realities. Shakespeare's character Hamlet can be extremely frustrating to many readers and audience members. It is perfectly clear from an outside perspective that Hamlet can't make up his mind about anything, but Hamlet himself is blind to the fact that his indecisiveness is making matters worse. Since the knowledge of Hamlet's true reality is hidden from him he becomes more and more indecisive as the play progresses. In his famous soliloquy in Act IV Hamlet asks "To be or not do be," as he tries to decide whether or not to end his life. He cannot decide is it is "nobler in the mind to suffer", questioning if it is more noble to just stick it out and suffer in life saying, "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." He cannot decide if it is more of a sin to live ones life in pain and suffering, or to end it knowing that what death offers will be better than what life can. His mind has become so confused and clouded that he can only focus on "The heartache and the thousand natural shocks t hat flesh is heir to". A similar circumstance can be seen in the character of Oedipus because according to the history books, Sophocles' audience came to his plays already knowing the background of Oedipus and the ironic life that fate has dealt him. This previous knowledge only builds the dramatic irony. Throughout the play Oedipus makes several allusions to sight and blindness only adding to the audience's sense of dramatic irony, making the play into the great tragedy that it is known as today. While Oedipus has no idea about the ironic relationship between his past and present, the audience does. Irony can best be seen is circumstances when Oedipus is most blind to the realities of his life. Fir example Oedipus replies to the Priest who tells him that the people of Thebes are dying by saying, "I could not fail to see this". As Oedipus tries to uncover the truth it is easy for the audience to see that he is simply a victim of fate, but at times it seems as though the irony is strong that Oedipus seems to be trying to bring all the horrendous truths into his life. It is almost as if he does in fact know the truth when he comments about the fact that he is lying in the bed of a dead king saying that a marriage would create "blood bonds" between them. In Death of a Salesman, the main character Willy is very unhappy with his life and has a hard time appreciating what he has. Here again, dramatic irony comes into play because to the outside audience Willy has a very nice life and it is only Willy's own mind that sees his life as unsuccessful. To anyone else, Willy seems to have a very normal and fulfilling life. He has a family, a job, and a nice home, but the overachieving pull of the American dream causes Willy to become discontent. The climax of the play is when Willy's son Biff says, "Pop, I'm a dime a dozen, and so are you! . . . I am not a

An analysis of job opportunities in the finance field for business Research Paper

An analysis of job opportunities in the finance field for business graduates - Research Paper Example Recruitment levels for fresh graduates are still low due to the adverse effects of financial crisis witnessed in all parts of the globe. It is argued that about 10% of fresh graduates stay for over six months without securing a job in their field of study (Oduma 4). This may result into unchanged starting salaries despite rise in the state of living a state that is not good for graduates. With increased number of graduate, some employers are taking advantage of the situation to pay graduates peanuts since they have little alternatives in employment opportunities. Studies shows that competition for job is so fierce those employers receive up to 56 applications for one vacancy, most of which are fresh graduates in dire need of employment opportunities. This scramble for jobs is worse among business opportunities where employers receive approximately 192 applications form one job opportunity advertised. A quarter of these are people with experience in such positions scrambling for the s ame jobs with fresh graduates a condition, which is amazing. Overview of finance field Since the finance field was the hardest hit by the global financial crisis, the employers are very keen on who to employ and whom not to employ. This is because issues dealing with finances are very sensitive thus, only graduates who are up to the task usually have the highest chances of being employed. This is because they want employees who are able to withstand the high expectations from investors thus develop trust and confidence. There is no room for mistakes when dealing with finances this may severely ruin the reputation of firm.... Overview of finance field Since the finance field was the hardest hit by the global financial crisis, the employers are very keen on who to employ and whom not to employ. This is because issues dealing with finances are very sensitive thus, only graduates who are up to the task usually have the highest chances of being employed. This is because they want employees who are able to withstand the high expectations from investors thus develop trust and confidence. There is no room for mistakes when dealing with finances this may severely ruin the reputation of firm (Oduma 3). Graduates in finance field have a variety of places to explore their skills. Some of these places are supermarkets, airlines, large motorcar companies, investment banks, insurance companies, financial advisers, brooking firms, unit and investment trust companies just but to mention a few. Due to this wide career path, graduates with training in finance field have the advantage of having a wide career base to choose form in the field of finance. Those who do not secure places in the above named places still have the opportunities to work in other places in managerial positions due to the nature of their training (Oduma 4). Several factors diminish the chances of a graduate form getting a job in finance field. They include lack of job skills, inability to communicate well in English, negative attitude, lack of awareness on job opportunities and mismatch between industry needs and thee graduate field of study (Ahmad et al 2). The graduate needs to have all the above-mentioned skills in order to be competitive and survive in the job market. This is because skills and

Growth vs Development in Ethiopia

Growth vs Development in Ethiopia Part One Growth V/s Development w.r.t Ethiopia and Madhya Pradesh Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, has been exhibiting stupendous and inconceivable set of numbers. With growth rates of double digit, the country is among the fastest growing economies in Africa. Ironically, regardless of its agriculture, mineral and hydrological resources Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Irrespective of high economic growth rates, the economic development indicators are yet a matter of concern. HDI as low as 0.4 (HDI report 2014). This dejected story of Ethiopia elucidate that Economic Growth and Economic Development are two contrasting terms. Mercantilism, a school of economic thought, functioned only for the purpose of economic growth by capital accumulation (mainly gold). On the other hand, Physiocracy, another school of economic thought, believed on agro-based growth. These schools of thought did not know the concept of development. Sooner or later, people began to notice that the growth is not beneficial to all. The theory of ‘trickle down approach’ doesn’t seem to have a great impact. The quantity of capital accumulation was not enough to capture the actual increase in the living standard of the people. Hence, the concept of economic development emerged. Several efforts are made to capture development. One of the prominent was HDI, formed by Mehboob Ul Haq and Amartya Sen. These indicators take into account the necessary variables, which upgrade the life of an individual. Several other development indicators were dformed such as Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which brings out the level of d eprivation in the country. General Mier describes development as â€Å"the process whereby the real PCI of a country increases over a long period of time subject to the stipulation that the number below absolute poverty line does not increase and that the distribution of the income does not become more unequal† Part Two Country Profile The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa. After the civil war against Eritrea, the Ethiopian government went through the following changes as follows: A political transition from totalitarian dictatorship to multiparty democracy. A transition from a socialistic planned economy to a capitalist market economy. This transition was a crucial change in the country. Post 1991, Ethiopia was struggling with its essentials and was yet to set a strong foundation for economic development, which should be the primary goal of every nation. The major issue faced by Ethiopia was: As the country had just come out of a war, health conditions in the country were critical. Malnutrition and starvation was at its peak as resources were used to brace war. Illiteracy rate was as high as 90 percent during 1974 and went down to almost 70 percent in 1991. The government had a vast challenge ahead with respect to education. Poverty headcount ratio at $2 a day (PPP) was as high as 85 percent of the population. (World bank) Inequality in the country was at a constant rise. Gender Inequality Index was at its extreme Conflicts among religious groups In 1990, Ethiopia experienced a population growth of 36.33% and 31.91% in 2010. This has not been the case with the growth in wealth and production. Such unequal growth has lead to a decline in the socio-economic condition in the country. Part Three – Analysis of Economic Growth and Economic Development in Ethiopia Economic Growth Analysis GDP: Health In the least developed countries, such as Ethiopia, health is not only a basic human right but also an urgent prerequisite for broad socio-economic development. Malnutrition and starvation is pre-dominant in the country. Ethiopia faces serious challenges in providing basic nutrition to its citizens. The country is highly depended on the foreign aid for food supply. The problem in nutrition can easily be seen in the Child Mortality and Infant mortality rate. Ethiopia lacks medical infrastructure irrespective of consistent effort by the government. However, in the urban areas, the issue is much better. Rural areas lack access to such facilities, as connectivity to these majors city remains limited. Moreover, the government has failed to provide proper medical infrastructure in the rural areas. As shown in the table above, the IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) and CMR (Child Mortality Rate) have decreased over the period of time, but these level remain unsatisfactory. 80 percent of the deaths are caused due to preventable communicable diseases. The approach of the government to cure rather than preventing diseases is highly criticized. Maximum number of births takes place at home, with very few women delivering at a well-equipped clinic. Lack of nutrition, as the country faces several drought years and famine condition. With an increasing population in the rural areas, the task of the government keeps getting tougher. An average woman in the rural areas gives birth to 6 children. The child mortality rate did decrease but was not swift enough to satisfy the government. Initiatives taken by the government to reduce mortality: Increasing child immunization coverage. The coverage reached to the extent of approximately 84 percent. Providing education to women with respect to becoming a mother. Why has the government failed? The Ethiopian government has been spending on medical infrastructure. It has also been receiving financial aid from western nations to expand and upgrade its medical facilities, but yet the government fails to bring down the IMR and CMR. Observing the procedure of the Ethiopian government, the following conclusion could be derived. According to researchers, the diseases are caused due to lack of clean drinking water, poor sanitation facilities and lack of nutrition. Health conditions of the mother has a huge impact on the child health. In order to have a great impact on the child mortality rate, the government should use the direct attack approach. It should focus on improving access to clean drinking water and solving sanitation issues. Building medical infrastructure is definitely necessary, but is the later part of the stage. If the disease is prevented by providing healthy growth conditions, the root cause of child mortality would be eliminated. Hence, the approach of the government to cure the diseases rather than preventing it with providing clean drinking water and improving sanitation conditions have not allowed economic growth to be converted into economic development. Education To build a strong education foundation for its young people, Ethiopia came up with Education Sector Development Program (ESDP). The implementation of this program started with the expansion of primary education, which resulted in a significant increase in access to primary education. The gross and net enrollment rate has seen a tremendous growth. At the beginning of 1991, the gross enrollment rate in primary schools (grades 1-8) was only 32 percent. This figure rose to as high as 95 percent by 2012. The figures exhibited look stupendous. But the reality looks totally different. Despite such large number of enrollment, the national literacy is still as low as 36% (UNDP) in 2011. Following are the hindrances in converting this economic growth into economic development: While sustaining the successful effort of high enrollment, the country also needs to pay greater attention on improving the quality of primary education. The schools built, especially in rural areas are not adequately equipped. This act as a barrier to a good quality education. One of the reasons could be lack of trained teachers. A sharp drop could be noticed in the period between year 2009 and 2010. (Refer appendix) Several parts of the country do not have proper access to schooling. Several children have to walk miles to for gaining handicapped education. The gender gap in enrollment ratio still persists. Girls are often pulled out of school to get married. Male children are pulled out to help the family work in fields. These are the factors that have created a barrier from converting the growth of high enrollment rate to be converted into an economic development for the country. Poverty By the end of 1991, approximately 45.5 percent of the population was living under poverty. This figure dropped down to 27.8 percent by the end of 2012. Ethiopia has successfully been able to reduce poverty but would definitely want to reduce this figure as much as possible. Ever since a new government was formed in 1995, majority of schemes and policies have been pro-poor. The government has looked at poverty eradication seriously. 80 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture as a source of living. In order to bring out people of poverty, the government needs to generate enough jobs in the country. Migration rates have been high as pay and living conditions are far better. This has led to brain drain in the economy as qualified Ethiopians left the country for self-benefit. The HDI of the country is 0.435, one of the lowest in the economy. The growth story of Ethiopia has been amazing when it comes to numbers. The economy has been posting double-digit growth rates but yet remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The high growth were an indication of inequality rising in the country. The Gini Index is 33.6. Gender Inequality Ethiopia is a patriarchal society that keeps women in a subordinate position. There is a belief that women are docile, submissive, patient, and tolerant of monotonous work and violence, for which culture is used as a justification. Gender disparity are largely seen in primary education enrollment Girls are forced to marry at an early age, against the legal age of marriage. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still practiced in the country. Health of women in the country is critical, particularly of women who are expecting a baby. FGM is also vulnerable to diseases in the long run Women in Ethiopia are suppressed due to social, religious and other reasons. The government has undertaken several policies and program for their betterment. Yet the key issues are not looked upon as follows: Empowering women through access to education as well as providing them with physical and financial resources is crucial to the long-term development of the country. Proper education would help in resource allocation and also adequate decision such a delayed marriage (generally not in the hands of the girl child) Adequate education would also enable the girl child to be an efficient mother as it would gain knowledge with respect to health. International Relation Foreign Aid A free financial aid will always be welcomed, but it also does have consequences if not used wisely. The challenges that an economy faces in receiving financial aid are as follows: Investment in favor of greater/mass consumption. With such large amount of money entering the economy, these cash flows are highly inflationary. As the aid comes in the form of foreign currency, this appreciates the value of local currency, making export more expensive in the international market. (Ethiopia highly depends on its export of coffee) Aid increases inflation, which leads to even more poverty and unemployment. To support this issue, the government asks for more aid which keeps on concentrating the issue. However, there are benefits of aid seen in the country. The government has been able to implement several of its policies with the help of such aid. A recently built highway to the capital, or be it the controversial dam in construction; the aid has contributed significantly to the nation. These aids also come as the rescue to the Ethiopians in situations of drought and famine. Foreign Direct Investment Due to lack of local investors, Ethiopia had to look for foreign investments. The Ethiopian government has not opened up the economy in all sectors as the banking system is still with the local authorities. FDI has become a major aspect of globalization. The major investment is seen in the land-leasing scheme launched by the government. The Ethiopian government has given out large part of lands to foreign companies in lease for agricultural purposes, without any restriction on the agricultural produce. Approximately as large as 6,00,000 hectares of land has been leased out to foreign companies Locals are being displaced in order to meet the requirements of these investors. Displaced locals are finding it difficult to sustain living. The benefits of these schemes are as follows: The foreign investors have brought in latest technology for agriculture, which the Ethiopians lacked. People were hired to work on the leased lands generating employment. The objective behind this scheme look relevant, however, the investors have exploited the scheme heavily and the government seems to have no control over it. Moreover, the scheme allows these investors to lease the land for really long periods, which wasn’t necessary. A shorter duration would have had the same impact to the economy. Also to make the scheme more citizens friendly, the government should’ve come up with better displacing techniques and improving the condition of living. The land-leasing scheme has increased the exports of the country as the investors export the produce to get better price than the local markets. This growth on the other hand has impacted the HDI of the economy as displaced population is facing serious issues. Several people have already fled away to neighboring countries as the government is leasing of land without consent. Bibliography Ethiopia Country Report- BTI 2014 Global Financial Crisis Discussion Series, Ethiopia Phase 2- Overseas Development Institute The Political Economy of Growth in Ethiopia, Chapter 4 of volume 2,-Alemayehu Geda Millennium Development Goal Report of Ethiopia- UNDP report Ethiopia Country Data-World Bank Appendix

Oedipus and Creon in Sophocles Oedipus the King Essay -- oedipus Soph

Oedipus and Creon in Sophocles' Oedipus the King   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At first glance, Oedipus and Creon are two very different people. But as time progresses their personalities and even their fates grow more and more similar. In Sophocles’s play â€Å"Oedipus the King†, Oedipus and Creon are two completely opposite people. Oedipus is brash and thoughtless, whilst Creon is wise and prudent. In â€Å"Oedipus the King†, Oedipus effectively portrays the idea of the classic â€Å"flawed hero†. He becomes arrogant and brash. He accuses Creon and Tiresias of treachery. Even worse however, Oedipus goes against the gods. This causes them to punish him severely. Creon is the exact antithesis of Oedipus. He thinks before he acts. Creon is wise and loyal. In Sophocles’ other play, â€Å"Antigone†, however, he undergoes a drastic personality change. He becomes more and more like Oedipus. Creon commits acts of hubris, kills and humiliates people for no reason whatsoever. Once he realizes the folly of hi s ways, he punishes himself for going against the gods and destroying all that he loved, This is strikingly similar to the story of Oedipus. At first Oedipus and Creon seem like entirely different people. But through the course of events, they share almost identical personalities and even fates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"Oedipus the King†, Oedipus is a brash and arrogant ruler while Creon is his patient, thoughtful right hand man. After Oedipus and his sons all die and Creon becomes king of Thebes, he begins to grow wilder and even more out of control than Oedipus was. In â€Å"Oedipus the King† Oedipus accused Creon of bribing Tiresias, the blind prophet, to make a prediction that will doom Oedipus. He accuses Creon of â€Å"plotting to kill the king† (189). He does this without any concrete evidence or proof. Oedipus rationalizes that because Creon induced him to â€Å"send for that sanctimonious prophet [Tiresias]† (190), he is responsible for the prophecy. Oedipus assumes that â€Å"if the two of you [Creon and Tiresias] had never put heads together, we would never have heard† (192) the prophecy. Creon even calls Oedipus a man is full of â€Å"crude, mindless stubbornness† (190). Oedipus lashed out at Creon for â€Å"betrayin g a kinsman† (192). He did so without any evidence or proof. He just did accused Creon without thinking about the consequences. Although Creon stands against rashness and unthinking now, he soon becomes another Oedipus. ... ...e world that you can name† (237) Creon receives a very similar punishment. He too, loses all he deems valuable in the world. Creon will not allow Haemon to marry Antigone. He condemns their marriage and greatly distresses his son, Haemon. As a result of Creon’s actions, Haemon commits suicide, â€Å"his blood spilled by his very hand† (120). Eurydice, Creons’s wife, also kills herself. She is so wracked with anguish by Haemon’s suicide, that she â€Å"stabbed herself at the altar† (126). Creon â€Å"murdered†¦ his son†¦ and his wife.† (127). He has nowhere to â€Å"lean to for support† (127) and no-one to â€Å"look to† (127). The chorus sums up his and Oedipus’s fate when they say â€Å" The mighty words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom† (128) Creon and Oedipus were obviously very similar people. They both rose through chance and circumstance and they both fell because of their brashness and hubris. Creon started off as a very different person to Oedipus. But once he became king, he immediately became an almost identical person to Oedipus. He was rash, unthinking and uncaring. This resulted in his downfall just as it caused Oedipus’.