Influence of video games on youth Essay Example for Free

Influence of video games on youth Essay What is not normally thought about when buying a new game console or game is: Do video games influence a child’s psychological development and make them more aggressive and violent? Do video games affect a child’s grades? These will be some of the topics we will be discussing. Some parents have the concern that video games, among other outlets, affect their children and cause them to be more aggressive and violent with other children their age and elders, also. Parents have the right to limit the time spent playing video games and partaking in the other outlets available such as media. According to Anderson and Gentile, [Parents have an important role to play. Psychologists have found that when parents limit the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play, children are less likely to show aggressive behaviors (Anderson et al. , under review; Gentile et al. , 2004). Other research suggests that active parental involvement in childrens media usage-including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative nonviolent solutions to problems-all can reduce the impact of media violence on children and youth (Anderson et al. , 2003). ] On the contrary, as according to Anderson and Gentile, [Dr. Anderson and colleagues have shown that playing a lot of violent video games is related to having more aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Anderson Bushman, 2001). Furthermore, playing violent games is also related to children being less willing to be caring and helpful towards their peers. Importantly, research has shown that these effects happen just as much for non-aggressive children as they do for children who already have aggressive tendencies. ] Some studies have been done about the habits of children. Some of the studies showed that although children love to play video games alone, they prefer to play them more within groups. Parents, as well as teachers, have found that with some games, where reading, doing mathematical problems, and following instructions are needed, that their children’s grades have improved. The BBC (2002) stated, â€Å"Computer games could become part of the school curriculum after researchers found they had significant educational value. The UK study concluded that simulation and adventure games such as Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon, where players create societies or build theme parks, developed childrens strategic thinking and planning skills. Parents and teachers also thought their childrens mathematics, reading and spelling improved. The investigation into the habits of 700 children aged seven to 16 also found that, far from being a solitary activity, children preferred to play games in pairs or small groups. † (para. 1-4) Video games can help develop the brain’s response time when the games used are dealing with with variables, teaching a specific skill or problem solving. Games have been used by several websites by politicians teaching politics and by the Nobel Prize Foundation to teach history. The Wikipedia () stated, â€Å"Video games can aid the development of proficiency by allowing users to interact with objects and manipulate variables. They are said to be particularly effective when designed to address a specific problem or teach a certain skill in curriculum subjects, where specific objectives can be stated and when deployed selectively within a context relevant to the learning activity and goal. Simple types of games can be designed to address specific learning outcomes such as recall of factual content. For instance, the Nobel Prize Foundation website uses on-line games to aid children in understanding the discoveries made by its laureates by embedding the scientific knowledge as part of the game environment. Video games have historically received more criticism than other forms of recreational learning because they are often perceived as or associated with issues such as mindless entertainment, enhanced social recluse, sexism and consumerism. However, a shift from pure entertainment to educational tool has emerged in recent times. Children growing up today can benefit from educational video games because they are already exposed to a society that is increasingly dependent on digital technology. The medium of educational games provides an opportunity for teachers to introduce educational and playful elements into the learning environment. With computer-aided learning programs, teachers may assist students on social aspects such as critical learning, knowledge based communication and effective interpersonal skills that traditional methods of teaching cannot offer. † (para. 2, 5-6). Many people are under the conclusion that by letting children play video games, they will spend less time outside. Even though children play video games, most children still partake in old fashion activities such as soccer, baseball, and many others. Most children still prefer to play in groups than to play alone. According to Cauchon (), [The fundamental nature of American childhood has changed in a single generation. The unstructured outdoor childhood days of pick-up baseball games, treehouses and be home for dinner has all but vanished. Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors, watching television, playing video games and working the Internet. When children do go outside, it tends to be for scheduled events soccer camp or a fishing derby held under the watch of adults. In a typical week, 27% of kids ages 9 to 13 play organized baseball, but only 6% play on their own, a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. ] On the contrary, according to Anderson and Gentile, [Drs. Anderson and Gentiles research shows that children are spending increasing amounts of time playing video games 13 hours per week for boys, on average, and 5 hours per week for girls (Anderson, Gentile, Buckley, under review; Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh, 2004). ] In conclusion to all of the information above, we have concluded that video games are not the only effect on children that could cause them to be violent or aggressive in their childhood and when they are older. Children learn from the programs they see on TV, Music Videos, Video Games, and especially from what they see going on in their home. It is unfair for us to exclusively blame the video game creators and the stores that sell the products for the aggressiveness in children. Parents should also be held accountable, especially if they are the ones buying the games for their children. We both came to this agreement, thanks to the information we have gathered in reference to our topic of the influence of video games on the youth. It is irrelevant to believe that video games are a main factor or the most important factor of a negative development in children. References Pros: BBC. (2002). Video Games Stimulate Learning. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/education/1879019. stm Cauchon Dennis, (2006). Kids are Living Under House Arrest. White Dot. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from http://www. whitedot. org/issue/iss_story. asp? slug=sedentary%20kids Wikipedia. (). Video Games. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_game Cons: Anderson, Craig A. , Gentile, Douglas A. , Buckley, Katherine E. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. Oxford, Connecticut. Cauchon Dennis, (2006). Kids are Living Under House Arrest. White Dot. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from http://www. whitedot. org/issue/iss_story. asp? slug=sedentary%20kids Kent Steven, (2006). Anti-video Games to Me Misses Its Target Widely. Tegenwicht. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from http://www. tegenwicht. org/03_littleton/anti_video_games. htm.

Porters Five Forces Analysis In Companies Business Essay

Porters Five Forces Analysis In Companies Business Essay The Environmental analysis can be defined as a study of environment within the organization for the purpose of locating environmental factors that effect on the operations. For the purpose of analysis the business environment we can categorize in to three levels: Internal environment, Operating environment and General environment. This can be shown in figure as below. STEEPLE Analysis By the STEEPLE analysis we can examine that which external factors can be influenced the organizations ability to achieve its vision and mission. FACTOR EVENTS Social Factors The life styles of the peoples is changing due to economic crisis therefore, they change to use energy for sometime People would like to use bio fuel rather than normal fuel due to reduce environmental pollution Technical Factors The International Energy Agency states that alternative energy markets will be underpinned by technological breakthroughs. technology is the key to competitiveness in the alternative energy industry; The government spending for research on bio fuel and other alternatives Environmental Factors BP should highly concern on Environmental Law Responsibility of Oil Spill damage Economic Factors Due to economic crisis there is a declining demand for energy There is a increasing demand for Alternative energy sources Political Factors The global energy market is becoming more unstable because of geopolitical instability. Encouragement of the government towards more sustainable forms of energy due to CO2 emission Legal Factors According to the environmental law, responsible for Payments on oil spill damages Transportation safety Ethical Factors Charitable giving Investment on development programme Table 01. STEEPLE Analysis Source: EU (2004) The European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, EUROPA, http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/emission.htm [Accessed 22nd May 2011]. Porters Five Forces Analysis The Analysis of Porters five forces help to assess where the power of BP lies in Market and also helps to analyze the attractiveness of the industry. In addition to that we assess the current strength and future strength needs to plan in the BPs competitive position as shown: (Source: http://notesdesk.com// porters-five-forces-model.jpg -Accessed on 23rd may 2011) Potential Entrance Strict government policies and requirements High technological focus on alternative energy industry Large initial capital is required Threat of Substitutes Alternative energy due to higher cost Competitive Rivalry High exit barriers High fixed costs High stakes for Shell Renewable and low stakes for BP Solar. Bargaining Power of Buyers Low volume of buyer Low information of buyers High availability of substitutes Bargaining Power of Suppliers Low concentration of alternative energy suppliers (principally just BP Solar and Shell Renewable) Strategic Group Analysis Helps identify who the most direct competitors are and on what basis they compete. We can decide that SHELL is the major competitor in the industry for BP in both geographic coverage and service diversification by analyzing SGA as follows: SWOT analysis for BP Strengths World third largest energy company Strong Brand loyalty Financial strength of the company. It has vertical integration operation system. Weaknesses Increase the petrol price in UK Has to paid criminal charges due to spread huge amount of oil in the Alaska Sea in 2006. Reduce in natural gas and crude oil production. Opportunities Has high investment capacity Research to investigate alternative fuel such as Hydrogen, Solar, Wind and natural gas Increase demand for natural gas in USA and Europe countries. Implement more flexible price polices to face their competitors. Treats Unsound policies related to Environment after oil and toxic spill in 2006. Explosion of refinery tunnels in occasionally Has big rivals such as Shell and Chevron Instability in some oil and gas producing countries and regions Task Two Strategic Options and role of corporate parent Strategic Options is an important facet and it helps to craft companys alternatives and provide safe and keep up the competitive situation. The international requirements for energy for the next 20 years are such that hydrocarbons are still going to have a leading part in meeting that energy demand. BP supports emissions trading mechanisms as a means of putting a value on carbon in order to make appropriate investment decisions. Corporate Mission of the BP BP mentioned that there goal for next few years to realize the latent impending of their advantage base by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of everything they do. They will dynamically drive cost and capital efficiency whilst at the same time maintaining the first main concern of safe and reliable operations. Objectives of the BP BP has some objectives for their growth in 2015. And all employees are working as a team to achieve company goals. Average 1-2% p.a. volume growth to 2015 Underpinned by upward resource base and quality through preference Key sources of growth beyond 2015 will come from: Increasing deepwater Leveraging expertise in gas Managing worlds enormous oilfields Enabled by application of technology Source-: http://www.bp.com/sectionbodycopy.do?categoryId=2contentId=7065607 Values and ethics of the BP BP is a compilation of resources and there people working together. To attain business objects they focus on sustaining and encouraging their leaders and staff. And they maintain recruitment stands and developing people skills at every level. BP is a well distinguish organization and wants to do some different in the world. BP is a performance driven company which is competitively booming. Through all this they prefer high ethical stand. Directions and methods of Strategic Options BPs direction is clear and it is the unrelenting pursuit of competitive leadership in respect of cash costs, capital efficiency and margin quality. The Strategy Clock is another suitable way to analyze a companys destructive position in comparison to the contributions of competitors. The Ansoff Growth matrix tool which is helps businesses to decide their product and market growth strategy. Figure 02.Ansoff Market mix (Source-: http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm) Evaluating strategies at BP SOP Matrix is a tool which can use to identify the company relevant strategies through external environmental factors. As an example BP Opportunities and treats as below and by indentifying the external environmental factors can recognize the relevant strategies options. Has high investment capacity Invest in HR development and through that develop the skills of the staff members. A same time invest in market opportunities. RD to investigate alternative fuel such as Hydrogen, Solar, Wind and natural gas By research can find the best alternative and company can give attention to that. Extension of acquisition of North sea area Can develop deep sea oil well. Increasing demand for natural gas in USA and European countries. Efficient and effective resource allocation to maximize profit. Implement more flexible price polices to face their competitors. By price reducing can get more customers on their products Gas and Oil searching Will help to increase their market values and can demand them among the competitors Threats Strategic Option Unsound policies related to Environment after oil and toxic spill in 2006. Understand the policies and work with less effect to environment Explosion of factory tunnels in occasionally By keeping the brand image without harm can face the problem Has big rivals such as Shell and Chevron To make company as No1. And more promotional works Sold corporate owned stations. Buy the stations Pipeline decomposition Should check the pipeline back and do the needful changers Insecurity in some oil and gas producing countries and regions Should find some more producers in case to use. Task Three SMART Objectives of BP BP Objectives are prepared according to SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed).That means it should be particular about what we are going to achieve and should calculate about the objectives. There are a several types of objectives like process objectives, outcome objectives, personal objective that all can be done in the SMART format. BPs five year plan objectives are, Increase profitability by 20% Increase production Financial gain by serving to the increasing demand Build brand value that was affected by the oil spills BP spends on growing technology budget on potentially most competitively profitable innovations both in open and new power spaces. It is both a strategic option and an opportunity for BP when comparing with the rivals as BP is strategically positioned themselves in a highly innovative RD processes which is unmatchable by the rivals easily. While facing major challenges of dilapidated supplies and defense of supply in oil and gas, global warming and insist for pure energy in major markets, BPs percentage of expend on novel technologies is growing. Five year development plan for BP Business plan is a statement about companys future goals and plans to achieve those goals. This can be externally focus or internally focus. BPs Strategies in development can position as, Upstream growth Downstream turnaround Alternative Energy: alert disciplined Corporate overview In the upstream will hub on cost and capital efficiency to distribute profitable growth. In the downstream will drive additional efficiencies and a focus on quality and incorporation. They will maintain their disciplined approach to substitute energy and will carry on unlock corporate efficiency through a culture of uninterrupted enhancement. Evaluating and implementing the plan In business strategy, Johnson, Scholes and Whittington shows a model in strategic options are evaluated next to three key success criteria such as Suitability, Feasibility, and Acceptability. Recommendations Strategic investments in RD to exploit new market opportunities and to maximize efficient and effective productions. To negotiate with governments and other low and medium sized firms in the industry through a joint profit sharing process to search for new avenues of the market. Recruit experienced and capable sales, marketing and research experts. Re-build the brand value and affinity using new media opportunities like social media to reduce the black mark occurred as a consequence of oil spills. Streamline production and business operations by using just in time (JIT) and creating a agile end at the supplier end of the operations. Conclusion Strategic planning plays a vital role in strategic management and the leadership. Strategic planning can divide in to three stages as strategic Analysis, Strategic Options and Evaluation and Implementation. The British petroleum Corporation is a well established organization in petroleum industry and here it is illustrated through the strategy and competitive advantages of the BP and the technical tools which they could could use to analyze the situations. The porters five forces investigation helped identifying the competitive environment and market situation BP is facing. There are major rivals like Solar, Sharp, Chevron in the market and BP engaged with mass production. By the SWOT analysis company situation and the market position identified which extracts the internal and external environment of the company. BP is focused on customers and they believe in their mass productions over its rivals. Company can use strategy clock, Ansoff growth matrix tools to analysis their position in the market. To develop strategic options first it should identify the external context and priorities and clusters. Then it should develop the strategic options. SOP matrix is one of the best tools to identify the strategies of the company. BP has a decentralized en route for RD units. It also drives the strategic positioning of BP in competition among rivals. Cost advantage exits when company can give same benefits as competitor with lower cost. And differentiation advantage exits when the company can make different benefits or the value to the customer from their products (Broad differentiation strategy). As an Example BP is using combination of Crude oil and natural energy such as solar power to give differentiation to their customers and it is a well successful strategy. STEEPLE analysis also can be used to investigate the external environment in a business operates and concerned with the political, economic, social factors influential industry change and helps to gain a better understanding for external conditions for growth in a market. The porters five forces investigation helps to diversity a competitive environment. For example, BP analyzes the market for Quality oil production. BP entered into solar market in 1973 and produced BP solar in 2000, it was one of main strategy to face current oil crisis and environment issues. BP solar becomes profitable but it is not prominently spread among the public, so government involvement is important to become popular of solar power. BP business plan has advantage in the Research and investigation area. The crude oil plus the solar power combinations was very successful strategy implemented in recently. Products segmentation, explorations and productions, significantly company restructuring, improve cost efficiency, centralized company departments are their current strategies to compete with rivalry and increase company profits. They entered into oil plus solar power combination and they should strategically positioned the product segmentation, improve cost efficiency and enter into new market opportunities through the findings of RD to increase their profits. They have created value through technology innovation and this is a barrier for their competitors. But the opportunity is yet to be scrutinized with more investments to the RD. By a comprehensive situation analysis company can create strategic options to devise organizations external atmosphere and can exploit the potential.

Time Management: History and Concepts

Time Management: History and Concepts WARMING UP TO THE CONCEPT OF TIME Now go on and enjoy yourself, dance to your hearts content and win the Princes heart. But remember, you have to be back before the clock strikes twelve at midnight. We all are familiar with the words of the Fairy God Mother in the evergreen fairy tale Cinderella. Its these words that probably made us aware-for the first time in our lives-of the value of time. We all sympathized with Cinderella when all her splendid gown and other finery turned to rags at the stroke of midnight. Our first acquaintance with the villainous Time! But then, is time such a villain, who should always be painted in black? We have heard the proverb that says there are no wounds that time cannot heal. Here of course we get the image of a wizened old woman who comes hobbling up to us with a pitcher full of balm and gentle fingers that soothe away all our pains and sorrows. But thats enough! This project was not made to sing the praises of time. There is no need of the romance of Cinderella or the soothing finger of an old lady when we are talking about time. And do you know why? Its because we do not have the time for it. We are going to try and understand time in its many faces. No, I was not referring to the faces of watches or clocks. I was referring to the many meanings that time has. Oh yes it does! You thought that time meant the same to everyone. Well think again; or maybe you could try to explain the logic behind the following cases. Picture a farmer who plants a sapling of a tree that would probably take ten to twelve years to reach the stage when it would start to bear fruit, by then the farmer would in likelihood be under the soil himself. Picture a jailbird in bird counting on the bars of his cell waiting for the seconds, minutes, and hours, days, weeks, months and years to go by before he can be free again. Now picture a young couple madly in love with each other cherishing the few minutes they get to spend with each other every day, cursing time because it flies so fast when they are together and never the other way round. So what does time mean to you? When was the last time that you realized the value of time? The answer is probably the last time you watched one of those Bollywood thrillers in which the hero is driving a car in which a time-bomb has been planted and the hero is unaware of this. But we being the getting-to-see-it-all audience watch with bated breath as the tiny needle of the timer ticks towards the point at which the explosion is sure to occur. But just before that, the hero hits the brakes screeches to a halt to avoid hitting that old lady crossing the road. And when he jumps out to help her cross the road the needle reaches the point and the bomb is exploded. And our hero is safe. Its funny how the hero always escapes without a scratch in these movies. But I expect thats why they call them heroes. Now we are really transgressing arent we? So back to our subject that is Time Management. Do you know what is interesting about the concept of Time? It is absolutely uncontrollable. Personally I believe that there is something very humbling about this concept. Just imagine a man with all his power is just like a helpless babe before time. There it is Time stands tall and strong before man and man remains vulnerable and weak before it. Man, the big strong man who tamed rivers and seas, who reached out to the skies and beyond, who harnessed wind and water and dug up the bowels of the earth is but a worm before Time. The best he can do to win the battle against time is die is hair and use some anti-wrinkle cream on his face. In fact, the closest that man has got towards conquering time is those many history books that have been penned; they are of course chronicles of events that happened long ago and that is certainly not much to boast about. And so now we come to our subject that is time management because after all the illustrations given above, I hope that I have made one point clear, that is that Time cannot be controlled, it can only be managed. And that is what we are going to do. We are going to learn the art of time management. I dont want you to have an air of helplessness. You might begin to feel that if the battle cannot be won, then what is point in putting up a struggle? Ah, but there you are missing out on a very important point. In all the illustrations that I used above, I was referring to man in general and not to one particular Tom, Dick or Harry. So you can see that this aspect of time is applicable to every human being and there is no running away from it. Every person has only twenty four hours in a day and no force on earth can alter that. So in order to get the cutting edge what you have to do is to be able to manage your time in the most effective way possible. And that is what Time management is all about. Its about managing your time effectively and if I may I would like to add the word efficiently too. Now, when we talk about our resources, everyone knows that we are referring to the resources like fossil fuels, forests, mineral wealth, and water bodies and so on. But surprisingly time is never included in this list. When we talk about non-renewable resources, fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas top the list. But what about time? A point that most people tend to forget is that time is the most valuable resource that we have, and time once lost, is lost forever. We can think about alternate sources of energy for fossil fuels like electricity, fuel cells, solar energy and the research goes on. But is there any alternative for time that is lost. Again I stress on the point that time once lost, is lost forever. And hence we have the proverb, time and tide waits for no man. HISTORY OF TIME MANAGEMENT The idea of time management has been in existence for more than 100 years. Unfortunately, the term time management creates a false impression of what a person is able to do. Time can neither be managed, nor controlled. We can only manage ourselves and our use of time. History of time management dates back to the 6th century AD with the St. Benedictine Monks who emphasized and encouraged scheduled activities at all times. The concept of time efficiency was introduced by Scottish Economist Adam Smith who developed an assembly line system for factory workers. Benjamin Franklin is considered by many to be the father of modern time management. He mostly emphasized on the effective use of time. Franklin carried around a little black book wherever he went, and within it, he wrote about his thirteen virtues. Each night he would reflect upon the days activities to judge whether he had lived up to these core values. These values were as follows: Temperance Silence Order Resolution Frugality Industry Sincerity Justice Moderation Cleanliness Tranquility Chastity Humility UNDERSTANDING TIME MANAGEMENT We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever. Bruce Lee (Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams) Every individual on earth has the same amount of time 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour; 1,440 minutes in a day; and 525,600 minutes in a year. While a vast majority of people confesses faltering to come to grips with it, extremely few can claim to have made the most of it. How is it that they have got it all done? Its because they have managed a way to figure out how to manage their time effectively. Time Management is more than just managing time. It is about controlling the use of the most valuable and undervalued resource. It is managing oneself in relation to time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of the situation and time utilization. It means changing those habits or activities that cause waste of time. It is being willing to adopt habits and methods to make maximum use of time. With good time management skills one is in control of ones time, stress and energy levels. One can maintain balance between ones work and personal life. One finds enough flexibility to respond to surprises or new opportunities. It is not how much time one has, but rather the way one uses it. The bottom line is how well one manages time. Internationally known authority on time management Dr. Alec Mackenzie in his book The Time Trap argues that the very idea of time management is a misnomer because one really cannot manage time in the way other resources can be managed: financial capital, physical capital, human capital, information and time. While each of the first four can be augmented, reduced, transferred or otherwise controlled, Time cannot be manipulated. Dr. Mackenzie contends that when it comes to time, one can only manage oneself in relation to it. One cannot control time as one can control other resources one can only control how one uses it. In the world in which we live, time cannot be replaced or re-created. It is therefore not for us to choose whether we spend or save time but to choose only how we spend it. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TIME There are several misconceptions which we all have about time. They affect everyone including those persons who may be considered quite successful and effective. Here are some of the misconceptions identified by Dr. Mackenzie:  · Time management is simple all it requires is common sense. While it is true that the concept is simple, the self-discipline required to practice effective time management is not easy.  · Work is best performed under pressure. Psychological studies show this to be no more than an excuse for procrastination. One does not work well under pressure only does the best one can under the circumstances. Pressure and challenge must not be confused. Laras performance when the West Indies Team is in trouble has more to do with application and determination rather than pressure.  · I use a diary, a to-do list and have a secretary to keep me organized. One has to keep oneself organized no one can do it for others. The trouble with the disorganized person is that he hardly has time to listen to his secretary or look at his diary.  · I do not have the time. The effective worker or manager often gets more work done in the earlier hours of the morning than most laggards get done in the whole day. He then no longer has to work against tight deadlines and under stress which contributes to heart problems and not unusually the ultimate reduction of time on this earth.  · Time management might be good for some kinds of work but my job is creative. Time management is not about routine: it is about self-discipline. Lack of discipline prevents one from being great instead of simply good. Time management takes away the fun and freedom of spontaneity. Is working under stress, forgetting appointments, making constant excuses and apologies to be fun? Would it not be much more fun if by better organization one had one or two more hours every day to spend with the family, to play games, read a good book, plan for tomorrow and the day and week after or just relax? WHY IS TIME MANAGEMENT SO IMPORTANT? Time management is a common problem faced by most of us. Oftentimes, when you are swarmed with multiple tasks at once, it becomes extremely difficult to identify which ones you must complete first. Too often, people eat up what is supposed to be their free time to be able to accomplish all pending tasks in time. It takes a considerate amount of skill in order to manage your time properly. If you are one of these people, you are usually able to control your time efficiently that you can even finish tasks ahead of time. Lets try to analyze the importance of Time Management in different fields. Time Management in School/College: Due to more freedom merited to college students, it can become quite challenging for new (freshman) students to cope with time management. The liberty to choose your own schedule readily creates a false notion that they can do whatever they want. On the other hand, it reflects ones priorities and how you are able to properly appropriate them into your schedule. With lack of proper time management, a student will have trouble coping up with deadlines set by professors. Most students would tend to slack off during vacant hours that they end up accomplishing nothing. If a student has prepared his or her own list of work for the day, he or she will be able to properly allocate the time spent for extracurricular activities and assignments. Time Management at Work: When it comes to your job, proper usage of your time is more particular. This is because you are paid for the hours of service you render to the firm. Hence, companies will try to ensure that each hour you spend at the office is utilized effectively for work. Despite of this, employees still seek out ways to have a break. If time is not properly managed, employees could easily eat up more time for their breaks than what is actually spent on actual work. Hence, the company ends up requiring the employee to do overtime work just to finish a project. If the overtime rendered is reflected on your paycheck, then good for you. But if not, then you reap the unpleasant effects of poor time management. SYMPTOMS OF POOR TIME MANAGEMENT Poor time management shows up by way of one or a combination of typical perceptible symptoms. Managers would do well to look for and reflect on whether they are subject to any of those symptoms with a view to take necessary corrective actions. The following are some of the indicators of poor time management: Constant rushing (e.g. between meetings or tasks) Frequent delays (e.g. in attending meetings, meeting deadlines) Low productivity, energy and motivation (e.g. I cant seem to get worked up about anything) Frustration (e.g. Oh, things just dont move ahead) Impatience (e.g. where the hell is that information Ive asked him for?) Chronic vacillation between alternatives (e.g. whichever option I choose it is going to put me at a big disadvantage. I dont know which way to jump) Difficulty setting and achieving goals (e.g. Im not sure what is expected of me) WHERE DOES ALL THE TIME GO? It is quite surprising when you sit and think about where all the time in one day goes. Twenty four hours is really a lot of time. But on most days it scarcely seems enough. But this is because of certain misconceptions about time. Let us proceed to carefully examine where all that time goes and find out if twenty four hours really is. For that I have listed out certain points which will help you to get a realistic view about how much time you really have in a day. Point 1 We do not really get twenty four hours in a day. Maybe its because we always talk about the twenty four hours in a day, we get the feeling that we really do have twenty four hours to finish our daily business and the fact is that we do not. Assuming that you hit the sack at least by twelve in the night and taking for granted the fact that you need at least seven hours of sleep; let me fix your waking time at seven in the morning. That means that you have already lost seven hours, which we can deduct from twenty four, giving us only seventeen waking hours. Waking hours does not mean the hours you take to wakeup but the hours that you are awake. So let us get that straight, we have only 17 hours in a day. Now if you think that all those seventeen hours can be used for productive work, you are wrong again. For this come to the next point. Point 2 The seventeen waking hours cannot be used completely for productive work. There are many things that a human being should do in order to continue to live like a human being and some of these things do take up a lot of time. Now the following list that I have drawn up is sure to vary from person to person. But I have taken the times for each action on what I felt to e reasonable times as far as any normal human being is concerned. Taking a shower. Most of us take a shower at least once in a day and the time I think we can put down for that is ten minutes. For those of you cleaner ones who shower twice a day put that as twenty minutes. Answering the call of nature Oh yes, we are all very cultured people who have the best of manners and upbringing. We dress ourselves properly and conduct ourselves with the utmost poise. But there are several times in a day when we have to go back to nature and summing up all those things we do in the bath room I think a good half hour should be enough. Getting ready and tidying ourselves When we move about in society definitely we have to look our best and adding up all the minutes that we spend in front of that mirror, we get another ten minutes. For some people of course, this figure comes up to half an hour. But I think ten minutes is good enough. Eating We need to eat to live and though I accept the fact that people have different eating habits and times, I think that and Im sure doctors will agree with me that a person needs three meals a day and should take at least ten minutes to ingest a meal and not just gobble it down. So that makes it 30 minutes for food. Time to relax Please do not raise an argument now. I promise to deal with this bit later on. But right now I would like to put down one hour as the time to relax, and this includes the time that you get to yourself for prayer or meditation or just to stare out of your window or perhaps the few extra minutes that you spend in your bed after waking up, waiting for the last traces of sleep to go away. Time with family and friends Please we are human beings, arent we? And we certainly cannot get along with our business of life without chatting a few minutes every now and then with our friends and the family too. So with your permission, I would like to deduct another hour from your waking time. So now what do we have left? We started off with 17 hours of waking time. And we proceed to add up all the time that we accounted for in the above mentioned points; let us see how much time we have left for productive work provided we still want to exist as human beings. The activities mentioned above would take when put together a good three hours and twenty minutes. That is 3 hours and 20 minutes. I put it down in both numerals and words so that you can get a real taste of the figure. Now if we proceed to subtract this figure from our 17 hours of waking time, what do we get? We are left with just thirteen hours forty minutes. In figures that is 13 hours 40 minutes. And that is a fact. That is all that we get. So from now on dont you think that it would be more realistic to say that we have just thirteen hours and forty minutes to accomplish a days work and not twenty-four hours. For if we continue to believe that we have twenty four hours, and then we are in effect deceiving ourselves. But wait there is more to this story than meets the eye. These crucial hours that we have painstakingly added up are not really put to constructive use. There are certain things called time waster which you have to look out for and that is what we are going to deal w ithin our next chapter. Time Killers Till now, we have been harping about how valuable time is and how time lost is time lost forever and so on. But now we come to a strange concept and that is Time Killers. The very word sound like sacrilege doesnt it? How can one talk about killing such a valuable resource. But thats the way the story goes. Thee are a lot of time killers in this world and what you have to do is that you have to identify these time killers, look out for them and stay wary of tem. Only then can you put your available time to the maximum possible use. The time killers that I have listed below are more or less general. They are things that most of us encounter. But apart from these, each one of us may have unique time killers that are particular to our style of living and way of work. Be smart and identify these killers. When I talk about killers, do not get the impression of masked men lurking in shadows brandishing guns and knives. The killers that I am referring to are quite ordinary every day things that we see and use in our lives but often do not realize how much of our time they take away. Seven terrible Time Killers Telephone calls Chatter boxes Traffic jams Finding parking spaces Meetings Bad machinery Long queues The list could of course go on. But before we keep adding to the list, I would like to elaborate on certain of the items listed above. How to handle Time Killers †¢ The funny thing about telephone calls is that these instruments are indeed great time savers. In fact the amount of time that people get to save thanks to telephones is stupendous. The problem arises when telephones are not used properly. Most people do not understand and even if they do they forget that telephones are not to be used for lengthy conversations. For one thing, another person may be trying to reach you and there is nothing as exasperating as trying to reach a person over the telephone and being confronted with a busy tone. So the first thing about a telephone conversation is that it should be brief. Another thing about telephones is that most people do not know how to use a telephone properly. In stead of immediately identifying themselves and asking directly for the person they want, some people go on playing a lot of who is speaking games once they make a call or answer the telephone. Now coming to mobile phones there is a lot to be said and done. What should be done is turn off your cell phone when you are having a conversation or a discussion with more than one person. As soon as you get a call, you may ask the people you were talking to excuse yourself but you leave them waiting while you chuckle and giggle over your phone. Often we tend to give ore importance to the caller than to the person we were having the discussion with. Again the same rule applies here. Be brief. A mobile phone is to be used to get an important message across to a person who you were not able to reach on the land line. * The next point is about those chatter boxes. Havent we all met them? They simply love the sound of their own voices and once they open their mouths, there is no stopping them. They waste not only your time but their time as well. Steer clear of such people. Believe me, it is much easier to avoid such people than to tell them to shut up and if you get a telephone call from such a person, use a caller ID facility or ask your secretary to divert the call.  · Traffic jams and finding parking spaces. Any one who has lived in the city for at least a day will know what I am talking about. There is no getting past a traffic jam at the rush hour. And will someone tell me whit is called the rush hour when that is the time when the traffic is the slowest. The only thing you can do is anticipate the traffic jam and leave your home a half hour or one hour early. But that does not really keep the time killer at bay. It just helps you to avoid being late. In this respect you have two options. Either you could find something constructive to do while you wait for the traffic to move along or the traffic light to change or a better option would be to take subway and walk the rest of the way. You can get a long a lot faster on your feet and it is a lot better for your health as well. By doing so, you can also get rid of the headache of finding a parking space.  · Not surprisingly lengthy meetings and discussions can prove to be awful time killers particularly if the meeting does not have a clear agenda and if there are people who love top talk among the group. It has been found that most middle and senior level mangers spend nearly 70% of their work time talking. And in most organizations, parleying has been made into a fine art. * Bad machinery is a time waster. How many of us have wanted to sit and scream and bang the daylights out of a pc that does not give us the required data or information. A computer that takes a long time to start up, a photocopier that gives shamefully faint photocopies, even a leaky faucet or a stubborn drawer or door knob can waste a lot of time and send us up the wall. If you have such equipment or machinery, get it changed at the earliest possible date. It is worth the amount of time and energy that you waste on it every day. * Long queues certainly waste a lot of time. That does not mean that you have to jump the queue. If you can get the job done over the telephone or can reserve your ticket in advance, do it, even if it means a few extra dollars, it is worth the time you may have to spend waiting. Apart from these each person may have particular time wasters, like for instance, a car that refuses to start in the morning, difficult hair that insists on looking like Medusas head on a bad snake day, an elevator that takes forever to reach your floor. Use your common sense and try to find alternate methods or even better, if you cannot find an alternate method, you could put the time to some use like read your morning paper in the elevator. You will get a better idea of how to get over time killers once we handle the section called the time savers. Lining Up Your Ducks: Prioritize! Lining up your ducks is a familiar and charming phrase. It derives from the tendency of baby ducklings to swim in a perfectly straight line behind their mother. If the ducklings begin to stray too far, the mother duck will invariably shepherd them back into line—thus, getting her ducks in a row. The application of this phrase to time management is clear. If you deal with things in a logical, orderly sequence, youre sure to bring efficiency and results to your efforts. When your ducks begin to stray too far afield, danger is lurking—for them and for you. Lets face it. 24 hours in a day is not enough time for many people to do everything in their schedule. It is therefore imperative that people perform their activities in the order of priority. Time management experts like Stephen Covey S R (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; Simon Schuster) have developed a model called a time management matrix. This model enables managers to prioritize their activities and use their time more effectively. With the help of the model, they can evaluate their activities in terms of importance and urgency. The art of prioritizing covers 4 major task groups: Important and Urgent Not Important but Urgent Not Urgent but Important Not Important and Not Urgent TIME MANAGEMENT MATRIX Important and Urgent Quadrant 1 represents things which are both urgent and important labeled firefighting. The activities need to be dealt with immediately, and they are important. These tasks are the ones that must be done right away, or consequences may result. An example would be bills that are due today. If you dont pay your bills on time, you would incur additional charges or they might cut off their services to you. Activities belonging to this category need to be acted upon without delay. You should give them the highest priority. Important but Not Urgent Quadrant 2 represents things which are important, but not urgent labelled Quality Time. Although the activities here are important, and contribute to achieving the goals and priorities they do not have to be done right now. As a result, they can be scheduled when they can be given quality thought to them. A good example would be the preparation of an important talk, or mentoring a key individual. Prayer time, family time and personal relaxation/recreation are also part of Quadrant 2. Urgent but Not Important Quadrant 3 represents distractions. They must be dealt with right now, but frankly, are not important. For example, when a person answers an unwanted phone call, he/she has had to interrupt whatever he/she is doing to answer it. Not Important and Not Urgent Quadrant 4 represents Time Wasting. You might think activities in this section are not worth peoples time, so they wont engage in these activities much. You would be surprised to know that people spend most of their time doing things that are both unimportant and non-urgent, such as watching TV and movies, playing video games, senseless chatting for hours on the phone, shopping for new clothes, etc. Of course, it is essential for people to relax and unwind once in a while. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as they say. But you should be strict in limiting your time for these activities; that is, if you really want to accomplish a lot in your life. Treat activities belonging to this section with the lowest priority. If you really want to succeed, strictly limit your time in doing these activities or dont do them at all. Focus on those that will bring you fruitful results. Numbered Priority Tactic Heres one of the most powerful techniques that you can use to manage your time efficiently the Numbered Priority Tactic. Buy a very small notebook that you can put in your pocket. You should be able to bring it anywhere you go. At the front page of the notebook, put the title: Important and Urgent. At the back page, put the title: Important but Not Urgent. If an idea or event you encounter is Urgent but Not Important, then forget it. You want to utilize your time well, wont you? If you think its significant in some way, then you may put it under Important and Urgent. Ignore Not Important and Not Urgent tasks. Every time something comes up during your daily work or on your mind, put it in the appropriate page of your little notebook. So lets say your boss told you to submit a report due tomorrow. Write it down on your notebook under Important and Urgent. Then your friend told you that theres a big 2-day sale at the downtown furniture store. You may put it under Important and Urgent if you simply must have that furniture youre drooling for months. But if you think your house would do fine without it, then dont write it anymore. As youre walking down the street you suddenly thought of a great new idea for your part-time business. You may put it under Important but Not Urgent. As the day goes on, write down each and every idea, thought, or event that comes to your mind. As the list increases in each category, examine each of them carefully and start numbering each item in the order of priority with 1 being the highest priority. Start working on Number 1, and never go to Number 2 until youre done with Number 1 for each category. If distractions come about, you may take care of them first but always come back to your numbered list when youre done. Because priorities may change, you may switch or change the numbers of the items in the list. You may also transfer one item from Important and Urgent to Important but Not Urgent, and vice-versa. When you do any changes, make sure your notebook stays clean. Transfer your writings to a new page when you see that its getting untidy. Start off with a new page every day. This method can enable you to achieve more in one week than what most people can accomplish in a month. The important thing you must do is to buy that little notebook and to start doing this super tactic right now! Time is running fast. <

traglear The Tragic Truth of King Lear :: King Lear essays

The Tragic Truth of King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   King Lear is another story of a soul in torment, a "purgatorial" story. Again the tragic writer has internalized a commonplace action, the facts of which were legendary and presumably known to Shakespeare's audience. Like the Poet of Job, who dramatized the tragic alternatives to the folk story, and like Marlowe, who saw the elements of tragic dilemma in the story of Faustus, Shakespeare transformed the tale of the mythical, pre-Christian King Lear ("who ruled over the Britons in the year of the world 3105, at what time Joas ruled in Judah") into a dramatic action whose shape and quality define Christian tragedy in its full development. This is not to say (as it should now be clear) that the play accords with Christian doctrine --- certainly not the Christian view of death and salvation, although the values of the Christian ethics are abundantly illustrated. Nor does the term "Christian tragedy" make a statement about the author's faith or lack of it. It suggests the meeting in a single dramatic action of the non-Christian (Greek, pagan, or humanist) with the Christian to produce a world of multiplied alternatives, terrible in its inconclusiveness --- as, for instance, the "terrifying ambiguity" with which Faustus confronts us --- in which the certainties of revealed Christianity lose the substance of faith and become only tantalizing possibilities hovering about but not defining the action, like Horatio's "flights of angels" or the "holy water" of Cordelia's tears. Marlowe followed out the old story, even to the devils carrying off Faustus amidst thunder; but his actual Hell is humanist ("Where we are is hell," said Mephistophilis) and, like the Heaven Faustus reached for in the end, functions in the play less as an objective Christian belief than as a way of dramatizing inner reality. The one absolute reality that Faustus discovered, and the absolute reality all tragedy affirms and to which Christian tragedy gives new emphasis and infinite di mension, was the reality of what Christianity calls the soul --- that part of man, or element of his nature, which transcends time and space, which may have an immortal habitation, and which is at once the seat and the cause of his greatest struggle and greatest anxiety. Compared with Faustus, King Lear shows this situation in a much vaster ramification, until it seems to touch the highest ("the gods that keep the dreadful pudder o'er our heads") and the lowliest, and is finally caught up in a Greeklike fate that carries the action to a swift and terrible conclusion.

Creole Men of The Awakening by Kate Chopin Essay -- essays research pa

In Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, the Creole men are as diverse and different as Edna. Kate Chopin’s story centers around a woman, unsatisfied with her life in a man dominated society. The three main male characters resemble typical men of that era. Chopin shows the diversity of each of those three characters- Roberts awakening, and the struggle to do the right thing, Alcee and his carefree and unconcerned attitude towards society's expectations, and Mr. Pontiller, a business man, with little time left for wife and family. In exploring these three men in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, there are certain aspects of each that are the same. All live in the 1800’s were morale reputation was considered to be the utmost importance to the businessman. Yet, Alcee seems unconcerned with any morale or business responsibility. In exploring the character of Robert, who seems to be at a crossroad in his life, doesn't know weather he should search for his fortune, find a wife, prosper, and be respectable, or do the unthinkable and just follow his heart. But he ends up going to Mexico to work because he knows his love for Edna will always be forbidden. Mr. Pontellier is the typical Creole husband and businessman. â€Å"Leonce is convinced that fulfilling monetary needs excuses the paucity of time he spends with the children, never presuming that some needs cannot be monetarily satisfied: {â€Å"He has his hands full with his brokerage business †¦making a living for his family on the street†(885)} Perhaps because he is aware of his own neglect, Leonce projects his guilt onto Edna, "expecting a flawles mammal performance on her part to remedy his domestic absence.† (Patrsn, Out Of A Convention of Awakening, np) Patterson describes Leonce has having ... ...a tragic loss. Mr Pontieller will remarry as soon as the proper mourning period has passed because he has his two sons, who need a mother, to think about. Meanwhile Leonce’s mother keeps the boys with her so Leonce can conduct business as usual. Alcee truly misses his friend and mourns her loss for a while. Then his attentions are drawn to some other woman, and Edna is forgotten. Robert takes it the hardest. He truly loved Edna and harbors some guilt for her death. He mourns Edna’s loss and doesn't listen to gossip of mental instability as others talk about her. Robert takes a long time to find another love, but eventually, he finds the love of his life, and only thinks, on occasion, of Edna. Eventually, all the men in Edna's lives move on. Weather they continue to think about her or not, the impact she made on their lives is what makes them the men they are now.

Financial Ratio Analysis: Pakistan State Oil Essay

In 2011, company is more liquid than other two years this is due to increase of Rs 983917 in current asset from 2010 to 2011. And in 2011 to 2012 there is decrease of Rs 227300 in current asset. Quick Ratio is high in 2012 because stock-in-trade i.e. inventory decreases by Rs. 6854599 in 2012. Fixed Asset turnover is higher it means company has utilized its fixed assets more efficiently as compare to other period. Debt ratio and debt to equity ratio indicate that Company is more leveraged in 2012 than other periods. This higher leverage in part explains Company’s poor financial performance of 2012 relative to 2011 because the leverage commits Company’s interest payments that must be paid regardless of economic and market conditions. The ratios indicate that Company’s has a higher cost of sales in 2012 than the 2011. In 2012 Company’s has a better liquidity position, with both the current ratio and the quick ratio being higher than other years. In 2012, total assets are higher than other two years and its fixed asset turnover is significantly higher than other year. Alternatively, the poor fixed asset turnover may indicate overcapacity caused by extremely poor forecasts of future sales. Or, the poor ratio may indicate a fundamental inability or inefficiency in using the deployed assets. Keep in mind, though, that the debt ratios used in the ratio analysis above used total liabilities as a measure of debt. In contrast, capital structure analysis focuses specifically on long-term debt in calculating leverage. DuPont System of Financial Analysis: The DuPont analysis is similar with analyzing ratios: Company has an advantage in its leverage ratio in 2012 (Assets to Equity 6.95 compared to 6.26 and 6.89) and in its use of assets in 2010 (Total Asset Turnover of 4.93 compared to 4.19 and 3.9), yet has a poorer return on equity due to its low net profit margin. While one would expect a somewhat lower net profit margin for a firm with a higher leverage ratio (the firm has to pay interest to service the debt that gives the higher leverage ratio). Reference: Â  PSO Annual Report 2012 and 2011

Poetry Essay

Poetry is a form of literary art and uses particular forms and conventions to suggest alternative meaning in the words and to evoke some emotional responses. There are sound patterns in poetry which create further meaning, such as assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia. These sound effects have a particular function in a poem. Poems often make heavy use of imagery and word association to quickly convey emotions. [1] Poetry is distinguished from prose because are used some techniques such as rhyme, meter and repetition. The same sounds can convey different meanings and it depends on the context of a poem. Sound patterns can be also discovered in some advertising slogans. In advertisement we have the freedom to change the natural order of the language. It depends on the product and the target group of consumers. The advertising text has to capture the reader’s or listener’s attention. Therefore the natural order of the language is modified, shaped and stylized. One of the most frequently used devices in slogans, catchphrases and article titles is alliteration: Don’t Live a Little, Live a Lotto! 2] The advertising slogans are the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of the product. In this text we can spot an example of foregrounding. ‘Deviation, which is a linguistic phenomenon, has an important psychological effect on readers (and hearers). If a part of a poem is deviant, it becomes especially noticeable, or perceptually prominent. We call this psychological effect foregrounding’. [3] Most of the writers use the sound of words in such a way that the readers’ attention is immediately engaged. The most common mean which is involved by the writers is repetition. Our attention is captivated and we start analysing the reasons why the writers use it. We can recognise play of sounds : little/lotto. There is also alliteration- the repetition of ‘l’ and ‘t’ sounds. Alliteration refers to tbe repetition of the same or similar consonants. /t/ is a voiceless, alveolar, plosive sound. It is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords, by obstructing the airflow in the vocal tract. /l/ is a voiced, bilateral, retroflex and approximant sound. The vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation and the airstream flows over the both sides of the tongue. When poets construct a poem they carefully choose words for their meanings, connotation and sounds. According to Paul Simpson ‘we make connections between, on the one hand, the physical properties of the sound represented within a text and, on the other, the non- linguistic phenomena situated outside a text to which these sounds relate’[4]. The sound effects of the poetic text are basic to the interpretation of poetry. When a relationship between sound and meaning is obvious, then it can reinforce the significance of a word for speaker and hearer. ‘The way people ‘sound’ their language can, certainly, be an indication of their individual or cultural personalities†¦ Speakers of a different language, from a different culture, might associate different implications with such sounds’. [5] The most critics are interested in the form of the poem and its meaning, and the poet’s message. According to Paul Fussell ‘Poetic forms are like that: they tend to say things even if words are not at the moment fitted to their patterns. As Louis MacNeice has said, â€Å"In any poet’s poem the shape is half the meaning. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. [6] Poetic forms refer to different sets of rules followed by poems. The rules describe such ascpects as the meter or rhythm of the poem, the rhyme scheme or the use of alliteration. One of the basic ways in which poetry can be distinguished from prose is the possession of metre. Some critics maintain the idea that the rhythm and metre are the same thing. The difference between both is in the way in which they relate to the whole. The metre is ‘an extra layer of rhythmic structuring’. 7] The rhythm is ‘the apprehension of a series of events as a regularly repeated pulse of energy, an experience which has a muscular as well as a mental dimension’. [8] The following lines aim to discuss the relationship between sound patterns, their function and their contribution towards the meaning a certain poem generates. Attention will be paid to the poem ‘My Last Duchess’, written by Robert Browning. He was an English poet and playwright whose verses of dramatic monologues made him one of the most renowned Victorian poets today. The poem is anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue, ‘in which an identified character, or person, is the sole speaker: that is, the voice in the poem is ‘playing’ a role as in drama’. [9] The structure and the style of this poem play a significant role. It contains three formal elements – an occasion, a speaker, and a hearer. The words in dramatic monologues not only convey setting and action but also reveal the speaker’s character. The comments which he makes reveal information about his personality and psyche, knowingly or unknowingly. The main focus of a dramatic monologue is the personal information, not the topic which the speaker happens to be discussing. ‘We can see the personality of both poet and speaker in dramatic monologue, and can be aware of them operating as a reflex in the elements of action which is constant picture and vice versa’. [10] Browning defined the poem as a dramatic lyric. It is dramatic because there is an actor in it and performs a scene. However, at the same time it can’t be said that it is a typical lyric poem. The poem appears as one half of a conversation. He is not speaking his thoughts aloud to himself while he is alone. In general poems are written with the ‘full body’ of words and have their own meaning. ‘Meaning is something the reader intuits through the distorting influence of ‘form’, something the writer may choose, but does not necessarily control. ’[11] The goal of Browning is to illustrate a scene. There is a relation between sounds and meanings, the reality which language may represent. In his piece of work Robert Browning uses many techniques – enjambment, a simple rhyme scheme and caesura to convey various characteristics and qualities about the speaker and the situation. Mick Short claims that ‘The basic idea was that poems should enact what they described: ‘the sound must seem an echo to the sense’ (Alexander Pope, ‘An Essay on Criticism’, line 365). Musicality revolves around phonetic and rhythmic effects in particular, and it is thus necessary to be able to do metrical analysis in order to be able to explain important effects in many poems’. [12] ‘My last Duchess’ is written in iambic pentameter in order to imitate natural speech so that the poet is not confused with the persona. Browning’s intention is to imitate natural speech could be to distance himself from the Duke, who is the speaker in the poem.