FBI - White collar crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FBI - White collar crimes - Essay Example The main role of the FBI is investigation of criminal activities that are assigned to it. This incorporates intelligence and law enforcement initiatives from the agency. Another role of the FBI is collaboration with other law enforcement agencies in investigative measures in which it helps with evidence examinations, and in empowering members of the other agencies through trainings. In facilitating its investigative role and collaborative role with other agencies, the FBI collects intelligence information, analyses the data and shares it with relevant authorities (The Federal Bureau of Investigations 1). As a special agency, however, the role of the FBI under domestic jurisdiction is limited to â€Å"white-collar crimes, kidnapping, extortion, interstate transportation of stolen property, and bank robbery† among others (Gaines and Miller 156). White-collar crimes are crimes that professionals commit in their course of duty with intent of obtaining material benefits of concealing some information with the aim of avoiding a consequence. Elements such as â€Å"deceit, concealment,† breach of trust characterize it (Ferguson 16). White-collar crimes are also free from use of violence or threat of violence and often aim at receipt of money of commodities of avoiding material liabilities (Ferguson 16). The FBI investigates these crimes to ensure evidence towards justice and its special intelligence is essential to the type of crimes that intellectuals commit through well-crafted schemes that sometimes incorporate intelligence and use of technology to cover up the criminal activities. The Enron case is an example of white-collar crimes that the FBI has investigated. The case involved a series of fraudulent misrepresentation by the firm on its financial position and collaboration with the organization’s accounting fi rm for concealment of the misrepresentations and for further misrepresentations. This led to losses among investors as officials of the company

Finite Element Analysis of structures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Finite Element Analysis of structures - Essay Example Each element contains nodes which are points were the elements are mathematically connected to one another. The idea of dividing a domain up into subdomains is the basic principle of how FEA works' FEA consists of a computer model of a material or design that is stressed and analyzed for specific results. It is used in new product design, and existing product refinement. A company is able to verify a proposed design will be able to perform to the client's specifications prior to manufacturing or construction. Modifying an existing product or structure is utilized to qualify the product or structure for a new service condition. In case of structural failure, FEA may be used to help determine the design modifications to meet the new condition. There are generally two types of analysis that are used in industry: 2-D modeling, and 3-D modeling. While 2-D modeling conserves simplicity and allows the analysis to be run on a relatively normal computer, it tends to yield less accurate results. 3-D modeling, however, produces more accurate results while sacrificing the ability to run on all but the fastest computers effectively. Within each of these modeling schemes, the programmer can insert numerous algorithms (functions) which may make the system behave linearly or non-linearly. Linear systems are far less complex and generally do not take into account plastic deformation. Non-linear systems do account for plastic deformation, and many also are capable of testing a material all the way to fracture. How Does Finite Element Analysis Work' FEA uses a complex system of points called nodes which make a grid called a mesh . This mesh is programmed to contain the material and structural properties which define how the structure will react to certain loading conditions. Nodes are assigned at a certain density throughout the material depending on the anticipated stress levels of a particular area. Regions which will receive large amounts of stress usually have a higher node density than those which experience little or no stress. Points of interest may consist of: fracture point of previously tested material, fillets, corners, complex detail, and high stress areas. The mesh acts like a spider web in that from each node, there extends a mesh element to each of the adjacent nodes. This web of vectors is what carries the material properties to the object, creating many elements. A wide range of objective functions (variables within the system) are available for minimization or maximization: Mass, volume, temperature Strain energy, stress strain Force, displacement, velocity, acceleration Synthetic (User defined) There are multiple loading conditions which may be applied to a system. Next to Figure 3, some examples are shown: Point, pressure (Figure 3), thermal, gravity, and centrifugal static loads Thermal loads from solution of heat transfer analysis Enforced displacements Heat flux and convection Point, pressure and gravity dynamic loads Each FEA program may come with an element library, or one is constructed over time. Some sample elements are: Rod elements Beam elements Plate/Shell/Composite elements Shear panel Solid elements Spring elements Mass elements Rigid elements Viscous damping elements Many FEA programs also are equipped with the capability to use multiple materials within the structure such as: Isotropic, identical throughout Orthotropic, identical at 90 degrees General anisotropic, different throughout Types of

Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Conclusion - Essay Example Based on the expected value, manufacturing of pipes is more favorable despite not taking into account positive side influences producing additional tubes, which is reaped from the present manufactured pipes. The decision to manufacture pipes is mainly based on the NPV of the projects under specific conditions. In the scenarios, NPV of undertaking the project reduces equating it to the corresponding NPV of purchasing the pipes. Moreover, this results in the decrease of incremental cash flow for the project to zero thus making the strategy unfeasible (Dayananda, pp.124-178). Lowering the price by the supplier changes the NPV to change by $ 100,000. Therefore, it is profitable for Great Lakes Pipe and Tube to purchase the pipe from the underlying supplier at the expense of manufacturing 10 inches and corresponding 12-inch pipes. Nevertheless, the percentage development of the GLPT in production of the 3, 6 and 8-inch pipes will result in lowering the cost of purchasing the 10 and 12-inch

Relational Calculus Essay Example for Free

Relational Calculus Essay Introduction Procedural Query language query specification involves giving a step by step process of obtaining the query result e.g., relational algebra usage calls for detailed knowledge of the operators involved difficult for the use of non-experts Declarative Query language query specification involves giving the logical conditions the results are required to satisfy easy for the use of non-experts Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 1 TRC – a declarative query language Tuple variable – associated with a relation ( called the range relation ) †¢ takes tuples from the range relation as its values †¢ t: tuple variable over relation r with scheme R(A,B,C ) t. A stands for value of column A etc TRC Query – basic form: { t1.Ai1, t2.Ai2,†¦tm.Aim | ÃŽ ¸ } predicate calculus expression involving tuple variables t1, t2,†¦, tm, tm+1,†¦,ts specifies the condition to be satisfied Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 2 An example TRC query student (rollNo, name, degree, year, sex, deptNo, advisor ) department (deptId, name, hod, phone ) Obtain the rollNo, name of all girl students in the Maths Dept (deptId = 2) {s.rollNo,s.name| student(s)^ s.sex=‘F’^ s.deptNo=2} attributes required in the result This predicate is true whenever value of s is a tuple from the student relation, false otherwise In general, if t is a tuple variable with range relation r, r( t ) is taken as a predicate which is true if and only if the value of t is a tuple in r Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 3 General form of the condition in TRC queries Atomic expressions are the following: 1. r ( t ) -true if t is a tuple in the relation instance r 2. t1. Ai t2 .Aj compOp is one of {, ≠¥, =, ≠  } 3. t.Ai c c is a constant of appropriate type Composite expressions: 1. Any atomic expression 2. F1 ∠§ F2 ,, F1 ∠¨ F2 ,  ¬ F1 where F1 and F2 are expressions 3. (∀t) (F), (âˆÆ't) (F) where F is an expression and t is a tuple variable Free Variables Bound Variables – quantified variables Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 4 Interpretation of the query in TRC All possible tuple assignments to the free variables in the query are considered. For any specific assignment, if the expression to the right of the vertical bar evaluates to true, that combination of tuple values would be used to produce a tuple in the result relation. While producing the result tuple, the values of the attributes for the corresponding tuple variables as specified on the left side of the vertical bar would be used. Note: The only free variables are the ones that appear to the left of the vertical bar Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 5 Example TRC queries Obtain the rollNo, name of all girl students in the Maths Dept {s.rollNo,s.name | student(s) ^ s.sex=‘F’ ^ (âˆÆ' d)(department(d) ^ d.name=‘Maths’ ^ d.deptId = s.deptNo)} s: free tuple variable d: existentially bound tuple variable Existentially or universally quantified tuple variables can be used on the RHS of the vertical bar to specify query conditions Attributes of free (or unbound ) tuple variables can be used on LHS of vertical bar to specify attributes required in the results Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 6 Example Relational Scheme student (rollNo, name, degree, year, sex, deptNo, advisor) department (deptId, name, hod, phone) professor (empId, name, sex, startYear, deptNo, phone) course (courseId, cname, credits, deptNo) enrollment (rollNo, courseId, sem, year, grade) teaching (empId, courseId, sem, year, classRoom) preRequisite (preReqCourse, courseID) Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 7 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Example queries in TRC (1/5) 1)Determine the departments that do not have any girl students student (rollNo, name, degree, year, sex, deptNo, advisor) department (deptId, name, hod, phone) {d.name|department(d) ^  ¬(âˆÆ' s)(student(s) ^ s.sex =‘F’ ^ s.deptNo = d.deptId) Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 8 Examples queries in TRC (2/5) Schema 2)Obtain the names of courses enrolled by student named Mahesh {c.name | course(c) ^ (âˆÆ's) (âˆÆ'e) ( student(s) ^ enrollment(e) ^ s.name = â€Å"Mahesh† ^ s.rollNo = e.rollNo ^ c.courseId = e.courseId } Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 9 Examples queries in TRC (3/5) Schema 3)Get the names of students who have scored ‘S’ in all subjects they have enrolled. Assume that every student is enrolled in at least one course. {s.name | student(s) ^ (∀e)(( enrollment(e) ^ e.rollNo = s.rollNo) → e.grade =‘S’)} person P with all S grades: for enrollment tuples not having her roll number, LHS is false for enrollment tuples having her roll number, LHS is true, RHS also true so the implication is true for all e tuples person Q with some non-S grades: for enrollment tuples not having her roll number, LHS is false for enrollment tuples having her roll number, LHS is true, but RHS is false for at least one tuple. So the implication is not true for at least one tuple. Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 10 Examples queries in TRC (4/5) Schema 4) Get the names of students who have taken at least one course taught by their advisor {s.name | student(s) ^ (âˆÆ'e)(âˆÆ't)(enrollment(e) ^ teaching(t) ^ e.courseId = t.courseId ^ e.rollNo = s.rollNo ^ t.empId = s.advisor} 5) Display the departments whose HODs are teaching at least one course in the current semester {d.name | department(d) ^(âˆÆ't)(teaching(t) ^ t.empid = d.hod ^ t.sem = ‘odd’ ^ t.year = ‘2008’)} Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 11 Examples queries in TRC (5/5) Schema 6)Determine the students who are enrolled for every course taught by Prof Ramanujam. Assume that Prof Ramanujam teaches at least one course. 1. {s.rollNo | student (s) ^ 2. (∀c)(course (c) ^ 3. ((âˆÆ't),(âˆÆ'p)( teaching(t) ^ professor(p) ^ 4. t.courseId = c.courseId ^ 5. p.name = â€Å"Ramanujam† ^ 6. p.empId = t.empId )) → 7. (âˆÆ'e) (enrollment(e) ^ 8. e.courseId = c.courseId ^ 9. e.rollNo = s.rollNo) 10. ) 11. } Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 12 Problem with unrestricted use of Negation What is the result of the query: {s.rollNo |  ¬ student(s)} ? Infinite answers !! Unsafe TRC expression : Any expression whose result uses â€Å"constants / values† that do not appear in the instances of any of the database relations. Unsafe expressions are to be avoided while specifying TRC queries. Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM. 13 Expressive power of TRC and Relational Algebra It can be shown that both Tuple Relational Calculus and Relational Algebra have the same expressive power A query can be formulated in (safe) TRC if and only if it can be formulated in RA Both can not be used to formulate queries involving transitive closure find all direct or indirect pre-requisites of a course find all subordinates of a specific employee etc. Prof P Sreenivasa Kumar, Department of CSE, IITM.

Mozart :: essays research papers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791 Probably the greatest genius in Western musical history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 27, 1756, the son of Leopold Mozart and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl. Leopold was a successful composer and violinist and assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court, whose archbishop, Sigismund von Schrattenbach, encouraged the activities of Leopold and his remarkable children. Wolfgang began composing minuets at the age of 5 and symphonies at 9. When he was 6, he and his older sister, Maria Anna, embarked on a series of concert tours to Europe's courts and major cities. Both children played the keyboard, but Wolfgang became a violin virtuoso as well. In 1762 the Mozart children played at court in Vienna; the Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, received them cordially. Later the Mozart children displayed (1763-66) their talents to audiences in Germany, in Paris, at court in Versailles, and in London (where Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and was befriended by Johann Christian Bach, whose musical influence on Wolfgang was profound). In Paris the young Mozart published his first works, four sonatas for clavier with accompanying violin (1764). In 1768 he composed his first opera, La Finta Semplice, for Vienna, but intrigues prevented its performance, and it was first presented a year later at Salzburg. In 1769-70, Leopold and Wolfgang undertook a tour through Italy. This first Italian trip culminated in a new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto, composed for Milan. In two further Italian journeys he wrote two more operas for Milan, Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772). In 1772, Archbishop von Schrattenbach died, to be succeeded by Hieronymus von Colloredo. The latter, at first sympathetic to the Mozarts, later became irritated by Wolfgang's prolonged absences and stubborn ways. In 1772, von Colloredo retained Wolfgang as concertmaster at a token salary. In this capacity Mozart composed a large number of sacred and secular works. Wishing to secure a better position outside Salzburg, he obtained permission to undertake another journey in 1777. With his mother he traveled to France, where he composed the Paris Symphony (1778); he could find no permanent position, however. His mother died in Paris. When he returned to Salzburg he was given the position of court organist (1779) and produced a splendid series of church works, including the famous Coronation Mass. He was commissioned to compose a new opera for Munich, Idomeneo (1781), which proved that he was a consummate master of opera seria.

Tragedy Archetype- the Stranger

The Tragedy Archetype: The Rebirth Within Prim Lerthirunvibul Y10D (Blue) The seven archetypes is a theory in which there are seven ways of story-telling namely Quest, Voyage and Return, Rebirth, Comedy, Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches and Tragedy. The Tragedy archetype is one of the seven archetypes used in story-telling mentioned by Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots. This archetype is known to expect a specific reaction from the readers often using grief, destruction and death.As the archetype manifests itself through time, there are many ways authors have interpreted the archetype through their stories. An element in the archetype that can be carefully observed is the notion of Rebirth where the main character eventually comprehends their misinterpretation of the world and their blunders which had caused their destruction, typically hubris. This suggests that there is a part of the Rebirth archetype in the Tragedy archetype. The question is, is tragedy a type of t he rebirth archetype?The absurdist novel entitled The Stranger (The Outsider), also known as L’Etranger by Albert Camus clearly portrays the rebirth in the story but is still engulfed by the tragedy concepts seen in many literature examples. â€Å"Once you’re up against it, the precise manner of your death has obviously small importance† (Camus, 71). The Stranger, written by Albert Camus is a tragedy book based on the story plot of a man named Meursault who is a psychologically and socially detached individual. He is also known to be amoral, not caring or knowing what is right or wrong and sees feelings in a physical sense.In one scene of the book, his mother had passed away and instead of grieving, he impassively looks at his mother’s grave and refuses the re-opening of the casket, which surprises many. He is also not responsive to human emotions such as desires and love. When the prospect of marriage was mentioned by his recent lover, Marie Cardona, he responds with â€Å"If she was keen on it, we’d get married. † (28, Camus. ) The Stranger can go under the tragedy archetype where it is classified by Booker as ‘the hero as a monster’ since Meursault himself is the cause of his own death.This happened since he stopped a friend, Raymond Sintes from shooting an Arab who was his â€Å"mistress’s† brother. And for no apparent reason, he came back and killed the Arab with a gun. A factor that may have affected his actions was probably because of the condition of the beach that was â€Å"pulsing with heat† (38, Camus). Although hubris is a common cause in the tragedy archetype, Meursault did not think of himself highly or more superior than others, but rather as an observer where reality is harsh for those who have no poignancy.He does not express himself much but with the reader as an observer as well, this creates the feeling of sadness for the main character even though he doesn’t experience much of it. As the titles of the book says, he is merely a victim tortured by the difference in perspectives, this small difference makes him unique, or even a threat to others. Not only did Meursault set up his own death, but the society in which he lived in contributed as well. The core of the consequences can be traced by Hamartia ( ), a Greek term meaning the fatal flaw of the hero which causes their death in the tragedy archetype story.In The Stranger, Meursault’s flaw can be seen as his lack of emotions and his frankness. Even though being emotionless does not affect his daily life or well-being, the environment of the situation created was greatly affected. An example is of how the people in court see him and how they also judge his beliefs, not for what he is, but what he says. When Meursault met a magistrate who tried to convert him, he called Meursault â€Å"Mr. Antichrist† (45, Camus) for being open and truthful about his beliefs, this then advoc ated his execution.Meursault sees things that other do not, which is one of the main causes of the resulting consequence. Humans often act on impulse, not by logic and the miscommunication between the other characters and Meursault creates conflict and sadly, the majority regularly wins in the tragedy archetype. The tragedy archetype is known to end with death, which is the norm for many stories, including The Stranger as well. Booker had also stated that the archetype sometimes involves the rebirth of the main character which usually comes before the tragic end of the main character.In comparison to Looking for Alaska, a modern novel written by John Green, The Stranger is more eye-opening since the concept of rebirth is directly experienced by the main character whilst the rebirth element in Looking for Alaska is not quite clear because the main character, Miles, continues on with his life as nearly the same person even though his friend, Alaska’s, death had a tremendous eff ect on other characters. With the longer lingering rebirth in The Stranger, Meursault finds comfort in the end where he becomes a ‘new person’ within himself, which proposes the idea of self-discovery.In his last moments, Meursault thoughts were â€Å"To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still. † â€Å"For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration† (76, Booker). Even though the happiness was short, there was still a change in him as seen before the end of the book. In Booker’s analysis of the rebirth archetype, there are two types of rebirth which is physical and mental rebirth.An example of a physical rebirth could be found in the folktale of The Sleeping Beauty as she literally wakes up from her curse. A mental rebirth example could be found in Crash (2004), where a Farhad, a character realizes that his rage had clouded his judgment and he becomes calm and content, different from how he was from the start. The Stranger goes under the mental rebirth category since Meursault’s own conclusions resulted in the enrichment of his own mind as he begins to accept things in life.However, this does not necessarily mean that The Stranger can be directly ‘put under’ the Rebirth archetype. When referring to Booker’s analysis, it is stated that â€Å"we have only seen this return of light partially, ultimately insufficient to prevail against the forces of darkness which have been unleashed, and which eventually sweep the hero or heroine away† (Booker, 192). This means that in the tragedy archetype, ‘the light’ which is the rebirth of the character, can be seen only for a moment before it dissipates with the main character’s demise.This could b e compared to a candlelight where it flickers in the dark but does not last forever since it cannot maintain the flame and eventually, will be engulfed by darkness, which is, the sins or the consequences that slowly yet surely, catch up to the main character. All in all, even though The Stranger contains the Rebirth of a character who wakes up from an inner sleep or obliviousness, the tragedy archetype had proved itself to be more complicated and deeper with many fundamentals and forms that had manifested overtime.This then revealed the inner workings of the archetype including the profound meanings in the book. It is difficult to justify realistic and life-like story into separate categories as there are many factors, emotions and feelings brought in different events. But as they say, the end justifies the means in this particular book where Meursault dies a miserable and solitude death within the clutches of society. Again, regardless of the light’ in the story, The Strange r is a tragedy story weaved with the rebirth archetype’s features which implies that the tragedy archetype could also contain mixes but still maintain its structure throughout history whether it is in an old-world or modern literature. In short, the tragedy archetype is one of the most interesting and riveting of the seven archetypes that seem basic; but with careful observation and research can prove to be a very useful way of story-telling that can be remembered by readers despite of the era or time in which the archetype had laid itself upon.Bibliography (Citations) Innovateus. â€Å"What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? †Ã‚  What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? Innovateus, 2011. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. Booker, Christopher. â€Å"Chapter 9: Tragedy. †Ã‚  The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pag. Print. Booker, Christopher. â€Å"Chapter 11: Rebirth. †Ã‚  The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pa g. Print. â€Å"The Stranger. †Ã‚  SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.

Acquiring a jewelry company

Nowadays, the trend in companies establishing strategic alliances has become more apparent as compared to the trend in 1980s and 1990s.Companies have viewed that diversity in the global market has been increasing rapidly and such formation of alliances may help them achieve a fast and a long-term profitable growth for their businesses.   The establishment of strategic alliances is a technique of expansion and diversification, accomplished through the strategic implementation of merger and of acquisition.Merger and acquisition are two different terms that are often interchanged because the purposes in determining these two strategic implementations are often very similar.   These two methods start with the acquisition strategy where a company attempts to find an appropriate company to merge with.Accordingly, a merger occurs as two companies agree to stand as a new single company where the original identity is maintained.   On the other hand, acquisition occurs as a company purch ases and takes over another company to venture into a new separate business.Most companies who decide to merge with or acquire another company have the goal of ensuring stability and growth of their businesses in the future.   However, every company also has distinctive goals that relate to their business.A company may decide to merge or acquire to save its collapsing business, to operate with reduced competition, or to diversify its services or products.   In the process of merging and acquiring, these goals of the companies are coupled with advantages and potential disadvantages as well.This paper aims to discuss the potential benefits that Zale Corporation will obtain as it pursues its plan of merging with or acquiring Blue Nile, Inc.   In addition, this paper aims to analyze each of the company by providing a company backgrounder and a comparative financial statement analysis, which includes liquidity analysis, activity analysis, profitability analysis, and capital structu re analysis.Furthermore, this paper aims to provide a company valuation of Blue Nile, Inc. as well as information on mergers and acquisitions that Zale Corporation need to consider prior to pursuing its plans.COMPANY BACKGROUNDERA. Zale CorporationZale Corporation is one of the largest specialty retailers of fine jewelry.   Morris Zale, Ben Lipshy, and William Zale founded the company in 1924.   It is now operating 2,203 retail locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.   More so, Zale Corporation has established several different business units.   These include:Zales JewelersZales Jewelers, also known as the â€Å"Diamond Store,† is recognized nationally as an authority in fine jewels.   It has grown into an international jewelry corporation relying on its commitment to excellence as well as its strong traditions.   The focus of Zales Jewelers is to provide a range of choices for the majority of jewelry customers.   Apart from fine jewelry , it also offers brand-name watches, which provides customers a variety of merchandise at a scope of price points. Zales OutletThe stores of Zales Outlet are tied-up with the national marketing programs of Zales Jewelers.   Thus, it has gained recognition with customers.   It competes with well-known retailers; however, it tops the fine jewelers of the outlet market.   Zales Outlet offers a diversified range of merchandise including certified diamond engagement rings, colored gemstones, platinum jewelries, and Swiss watches from famous makers.   It has established a loyal customer base that specifically seeks for tremendous value of discontinued styles. Gordon’s JewelersThe target market of Gordon’s Jewelers is the upper moderate customers who seek a complete selection of diamonds and fine jewelry.   Gordon’s Jewelers has created an expert sales team that offers a rare combination of value, service, and quality to its customers.   Its marketing strategy includes direct mail and newspaper inserts and regional television features.   The stores of Gordon’s Jewelers are designed in an appealing environment with friendly sales staff. Peoples JewelersPeoples Jewelers is the largest national jewelry retailer in Canada.   Its focus is to provide a varied selection of fine jewelry and brand-name watches at affordable prices.   Peoples Jewelers has developed its exclusive 100-facet Peoples Canadian Diamond Collection, which is mined, cut, and polished in the Northwest Territories.   It ensures its customers that the hottest trends in jewelries including titanium, stainless steel, gemstones in all colors, gold fashions, circle pendants, and cultured pearls are offered in its stores.Mappins JewelersMappins Jewelers also caters to customers in Canada who seek classic fine jewelry and watches.   Mappins offers a varied range of merchandise from engagement rings to modern and contemporary jewelry.   The marketing programs of Mappins establish strong commitment to excellence as well as strong traditions.   Its television campaigns aim to carry out gift-giving programs while its direct mail campaigns aim to provi de special values and strong communication with customers.Piercing PagodaPiercing Pagoda started from a single retail location to chains of kiosks.   It is the largest specialty kiosk retailer of extensive selection of gold charms, rings, body jewelry, bracelets, earrings, chains.   It also offers stainless and silver jewelry.Piercing Pagoda was acquired by Zale Corporation in 2000 to broader the range of customers specifically in the younger customer category.Zale Corporation believes that this market appreciates quality jewelry at level price points.   In return, the acquisition of Piercing Pagoda has opened the opportunity to capitalize on the resources of Zale Corporation and modernize the look of Piercing Pagoda in order to provide its customers with more desirable products.ZLC DirectZLC Direct is the online base of the brands of Zale Corporation, which provides e-commerce web stores for both Zales and Gordon’s Jewelers.   It provides direct access to customers w ho prefer to purchase quality merchandise on the Internet.   The quality and service found in the stores of Zale Corporation is also exhibited in the sites of ZLC Direct as it also offers value, excitement, and convenience for online shoppers of today.Zale Corporation has established its mission of being the best fine jewelry retailer in North America.   Its goal is to innovate and market unique jewelry assortments as well as to offer superior customer experience.   Zale Corporation is committed to establishing strong and lasting relationships with its customers and at the same time build value for its shareholders.   It assures its talented workforce of continues success through trainings and rewards as well as permanency of jobs.

Famous Christmas Quotes

Famous Christmas Quotes There is something about Christmas that makes everyone feel spirited, happy, and excited. Christmas brings out the child within. The festive air is contagious; even the most despairing soul cannot help but feel enthused by the vibrancy of the season. Famous Christmas Quotes Happy holidays! Enjoy your eggnog while you read these famous Christmas quotes. Deborah WhippLike snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. Mary Ellen ChaseChristmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. John Greenleaf WhittierFor somehow, not only at Christmas, but all the long year through,The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you. Charles DickensI will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Janice MaeditereChristmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. W. J. CameronChristmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. Henry Wadsworth LongfellowI heard the bells on Christmas Day; their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men! Shirley TempleI stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph. Walter Scott, Sr.Heap on the wood! the wind is chill;But let it whistle as it will,Well keep our Christmas merry still. Helen KellerThe only blind person at Christmas time is he who has not Christmas in his heart. Norman Vincent PealeChristmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Alexander SmithChristmas is the day that holds all time together. Hamilton Wright MabiBlessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. Christina G. RossettiLove came down at Christmas; love all lovely, love divine; love was born at Christmas, stars and angels gave the sign. Calvin CoolidgeChristmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

Free Essays on Weighing the Morality of Affirmative Action

Weighing the Morality of Affirmative Action Is affirmative action, as racial preference, morally justified? Affirmative action in the United States began with efforts to confirm the elimination of discriminatory practices, but soon developed into programs promoting preferential treatment. This particular type of treatment has been upheld as repercussions for past injustices, and yet it lifts up the same values as those injustices such as favoritism. It has been praised for increasing minority access to business and professional careers, but also blamed for degrading standards in the process. By valuing one’s credentials more, solely on the basis of their nationality undermines the foundation on which this country was started. These ideas include tolerance and equal opportunities for all. The emotions involved in the controversy over preference are powerful. The purpose of this essay is not to arouse these emotions or to persuade by means of them. Rather, to inquire whether there are moral principles, commonly practiced, being infracted. American law on this subject is uncertain, even some what contradictory in some cases, but everyone can make their own deductions from what the law states because one’s opinion and morals will determine their position on the issue. Preference on the basis of race or national origin occurs primarily in higher education. During the recent decades, the minority groups most often designated for preference have been African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans living. In an article in Newsweek the author writes, â€Å"If the goal of affirmative action is to create a more equitable society, it should be defined by its tendency to reduce people to fixed categories: at many universities it is who you are rather than what you are. As a result, affirmative action programs rarely do benefit the children of middle- and upper-class black Americans.† (Armstrong, 33) The decisions f... Free Essays on Weighing the Morality of Affirmative Action Free Essays on Weighing the Morality of Affirmative Action Weighing the Morality of Affirmative Action Is affirmative action, as racial preference, morally justified? Affirmative action in the United States began with efforts to confirm the elimination of discriminatory practices, but soon developed into programs promoting preferential treatment. This particular type of treatment has been upheld as repercussions for past injustices, and yet it lifts up the same values as those injustices such as favoritism. It has been praised for increasing minority access to business and professional careers, but also blamed for degrading standards in the process. By valuing one’s credentials more, solely on the basis of their nationality undermines the foundation on which this country was started. These ideas include tolerance and equal opportunities for all. The emotions involved in the controversy over preference are powerful. The purpose of this essay is not to arouse these emotions or to persuade by means of them. Rather, to inquire whether there are moral principles, commonly practiced, being infracted. American law on this subject is uncertain, even some what contradictory in some cases, but everyone can make their own deductions from what the law states because one’s opinion and morals will determine their position on the issue. Preference on the basis of race or national origin occurs primarily in higher education. During the recent decades, the minority groups most often designated for preference have been African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans living. In an article in Newsweek the author writes, â€Å"If the goal of affirmative action is to create a more equitable society, it should be defined by its tendency to reduce people to fixed categories: at many universities it is who you are rather than what you are. As a result, affirmative action programs rarely do benefit the children of middle- and upper-class black Americans.† (Armstrong, 33) The decisions f...

Famous Last Words Kings, Queens, & Members of Royalty

Famous Last Words Kings, Queens, & Members of Royalty Whether realized at the time they are said or only in hindsight, nearly everyone will express a word, phrase or sentence that proves the last thing he or she ever says while alive. Sometimes profound, sometimes every day, here you will find a select collection of the last words spoken by famous kings, queens, rulers and other crowned heads throughout history. Famous Last Words Organized Alphabetically Alexander III, King of Macedon(356-323 B.C.)Kratistos! Latin for mightiest, strongest, or best, this was Alexander the Greats deathbed response when asked whom he would name as his successor, i.e., Whoever is the mightiest! Charlemagne, Emperor, Holy Roman Empire(742-814)Lord, into Thy Hands I commend my spirit. Charles XII, King of Sweden(1682-1718)Do not be afraid. Diana, Princess of Wales(1961-1997)Unknown Despite numerous sources quoting the dying words of the Peoples Princess - such as My God, what happened? or Oh, My God, leave me alone - no reliable source exists concerning Princess Dianas final utterance before she lapsed into unconsciousness following a car crash in Paris, France, on August 31, 1997. Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom(1894-1972)Mama... Mama... Mama... Serving as king of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for less than 12 months, King Edward VIII officially abdicated the royal throne on December 10, 1936, so he could marry American divorcà ©e Wallis Simpson. The couple stayed together until Edwards death in 1972. Elizabeth I, Queen of England(1533-1603)All my possessions for a moment of time. George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland(1738-1820)Do not wet my lips but when I open my mouth. I thank you... it does me good. Despite the formal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain in 1776 and his countrys later formal acknowledgment of the United States of America as an independent country six years later, this English monarch nevertheless ruled until his death, a reign of more than 59 years. Henry V, King of England(1387-1422)Into Thy hands, O Lord. Henry VIII, King of England(1491-1547)Monks, monks, monks! Immortalized in numerous books and films, the oft-married Tudor king famous for severing all ties with the Roman Catholic Church so he could legitimately marry another woman was likely referring to the troubles he encountered after dissolving Englands Catholic monasteries and convents in 1536. John, King of England(1167-1216)To God and St. Wulfstan, I commend my body and soul. Despite his fame in the Robin Hood legends as the evil prince who oppressed the English people while conspiring to steal the throne from his brother, King Richard I The Lion Hearted, King John also signed Magna Carta in 1215, albeit reluctantly. This historic document guaranteed several basic rights for Englands citizens and established the idea that everyone, even kings, is not above the law. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France(1755-1793)Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur. French for Excuse/forgive me, Sir, the doomed queen apologized to her executioner after stepping on his foot on her way to the guillotine. Napoleon Bonaparte(1769-1821)France... Army... head of the army... Josephine... Nero, Emperor of Rome(37-68)Sero! Haec est fides! Often depicted in film as playing a fiddle while Rome burned down around him, the tyrannical Nero actually committed suicide (although perhaps with the assistance of someone else). As he lay bleeding to death, Nero uttered the Latin for Too Late! This is faith/fidelity! probably in response to a soldier who tried to staunch the emperors bleeding in order to keep him alive. Peter I, Tsar of Russia(1672-1725)Anna. Peter the Great called out his daughters name before losing consciousness and eventually dying. Richard I, King of England(1157-1199)Youth, I forgive thee. Loose his chains and give him 100 shillings. Mortally wounded by an archers arrow during battle, Richard the Lion Hearted nevertheless forgave the shooter and ordered his release before he died. Unfortunately, Richards men failed to honor their fallen kings wish and executed the archer anyway after their sovereigns death. Richard III, King of England(1452-1485)I will die king of England. I will not budge a foot. Treason! Treason! These words feel somewhat less dramatic than Shakespeare later attributed to the king in his play The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Robert I, King of the Scots(1274-1329)Thanks be to God! For I shall now die in peace, since I know that the most valiant and accomplished knight of my kingdom will perform that for me which I am unable to do for myself. The deed to with The Bruce referred while dying involved the removal of his heart so a knight could carry it to Jerusalems Holy Sepulchre, the burial site of Jesus according to religious belief. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom(1819-1901)Bertie. The long-reigning queen for whom an entire era is named, and who started the tradition of wearing black at funerals, called out to her eldest son by his nickname shortly before she died.

Managing Finance and Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing Finance and Information - Essay Example In this manner, the knowledge base is transformed through the systems logical process modeling, which allows for data applications to be interoperable and interchangeable through the enterprise in a secure manner. The transformation process involves strategic security levels. This focuses on the logic linkages of data packets, for example, linking the engineering intellectual capital of suppliers to transform into composite information for product development. The transformation process is incremental to ensure that data maintains integrity and is validated throughout the process, with the goal of removing inconsistencies and promoting the business model. Data outputs are organized based on system uses information already maintained by the company; however, the information requires a different method of storage and access. The data integrity validation system may require additional storage space to allow for the real-time job proofing that is an integral part of the system. The intellectual property received, transformed, and administered to the end user have increased dependence on electronic transmission of order information and therefore demand a greater degree of redundancy regarding the output infrastructure. Monetary value fluctuates with the type of intellectual property or research data received, the transformation i... locally obtain necessary information using accessible physical devices (hardware) that process particular data (retained in a database) via a certain set of instructions (software). All successful information systems must connect and direct people, processes, data, hardware, and software towards a desired goal. The IM project tools such as work process maps, internal project reviews, focused client expectation and satisfaction surveys, and Jacobs Value Enhancing Practices to both deliver successful, repeatable results, and to create new opportunities for innovation and enhanced value Delivery Throughout The Input-Output Cycle The success of both the IM department and the ontology of the systems systems depend on the integrity of the data that forms the foundation for each system. A database stores a collection of files containing various pieces of information or data that are interrelated in some fashion. It can also not be stated that any one source of data has a greater value than another, or than the transformation of the data, or the output to clientele. However, a lack of validity, integrity or security in any input-transformation-output cycle could cost Jacobs Engineering millions, if not billions, of dollars in lost, stolen, or corrupt data. Therefore, while there cannot be a specific monetary value attached to the data cycle, there is a strong amount of financial risk involved with loss of information in the data cycle. The Budgets table shows the estimated cost of relative data control needs. The IM value is not monetary based, but without the succinct capabilities there would be a significant gap in the functional ability of Jacobs Engineering to work in the global information technology environment. The value of IM is therefore not based on the traditional

Research foundations in criminal justice Term Paper

Research foundations in criminal justice - Term Paper Example Research foundations in criminal justice This paper explains my developed knowledge. Stages in conducting a research are one of the developed knowledge from the course. The research process involves presentation of a research proposal for approval and implementation of the proposal to generate data that is then analyzed and results and recommendations communicated. Doing a research involves identification of a problem to be investigated that may result from social concerns or personal interests in a field and culminates to research questions, based on background information. Review of literature on the topic of interest follows, leading to accurate identification of existing knowledge gap and potential approach to bridging the gap (Sampson, 2012). A problem statement, statement of purpose, and research hypotheses are then established before development of research methodology. When the research committee approves a proposal, the methodology is implemented and data analyzed, documented, and communication done to target audie nce (Scuth, 2010; King and Wincup, 2008). Literature review informs a researcher of previous developments such as investigated and developed theories together with involved methodologies, and findings. Identified consistency in applied research method, research design and data collection instruments, for example, communicates tradition in a research topic and unless a researcher can develop alternative strategies that better suits the research, such traditional practices informs a proposed research methodology.... dology such as data collection instruments and measures for ensuring ethical studies as other researchers have applied in conducting their researchers (Acton, 2013). Research by other people also helps in development of new theories or modification of existing theories because reviewing and comparing existing knowledge allows for identification of flows in existing theories that new research initiatives can remedy (Corrigan, 2013). Review of other researchers’ findings can inform the need for codification of scattered knowledge into a theory while a review of existing theories may induce problem statements into new research that adds to the existing theories or develops new and overruling theories (Dantzker and Hunter, 2011). The role of existing research as bases for informing future study is another derived knowledge from the course concepts. In addition to directions that a researcher develops from analysis of results from previous studies, a research may recommend further research to remedy its reliability and validity concerns or effects of its confounding factors in research (Bayens and Roberson, 2010). A researcher should therefore be critical to note potential challenges in a study and communicate the challenges together with possible remedies in future research by the researcher or other researchers (Maxfield and Babbie, 2011). Deployment of theory through identification and implementation of a theoretical framework is another area of knowledge that the course concepts have covered. In addition to the role of previous research in facilitating development of research problems and guiding methodologies, theoretical frameworks offer bases for identifying variables in a study and forecasting relationships among the variables. This further informs research

What is the difference between Art & Design Essay

What is the difference between Art & Design - Essay Example This paper will review the dissimilarities between the two, and what brands the two so differently. One of the key dissimilarities that exist between art and design is the purpose in which they are created. The work of art starts from nothing other than an empty canvas. Through feeling and opinions, works of art are put on canvas that brings out what the artist feels. They are inspired by these emotions which then capture the attention of the audience (Fichner-Rathus 89). Designers, whether starting on a new piece, will always have a fixed point from where to start. They are used to communicating something that people already know exists. By doing this, they motivate the audience to do something with regards to another form of art. The interpretation of the messages communicated by art and design is also a difference between the two. Artists set out to convey a certain message. However, it is usually not always certain if the massage being conveyed has one or many meanings. As there are many interpretations for different art by different audiences, art connects differently with people. Designs are meant to convey a meaning (Fichner-Rathus 95). If they convey something different other than what the designer intended, then they have not met the requirement. The taste exhibited by the audience is likely to judge art and design differently. The taste that an audience may exhibit might determine how they interpret the message being brought forth by a piece of art. Likes and dislikes can alter the interpretation of the message, and the meaning by an artist. Design, regardless of taste, can be successful (Fichner-Rathus 97). If a certain design achieves the objective of making the audience do a task, it is only a matter of opinion if it is exceptional or poor. Art and design are seen differently. Exceptional art is seen as talent, whereas exceptional designing technique is considered skill. Artists have the natural ability to put creativity on a canvas at a

Court Report Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Court Report - Personal Statement Example Excessive formality involving security checks etc makes the proceedings look serious, but this is a necessary security precaution. The silence is important too as everybody needs to hear all proceedings clearly. Modern techniques of using multimedia display screens and air conditioning makes the proceedings easier for the judge(s), jury and others. Waites observes that flat-panel monitors are more conducive to the courtroom environment. They allow the judge and attorneys to review information together before displaying it to the jury (Waites, 384). Such systems have the option of delaying display on the large screen through 'delay switches'. This allows the judge to review information before presenting it to the jury. Moreover enhanced video and sound playback devices such as the ELMO, as acknowledged in the Litigant's report, improves the quality of information processing inside the courtroom (Webb). The courtroom looked well secured. All entrants are thoroughly examined through security devices such as metal detectors. The judge's bench is elevated about three steps above the floor, so that his/ her vision covers the whole courtroom, and he/she is equipped with security alarm as well. The hallways and the courtroom comes under surveillance of security cameras, moreover a docket box may be used to control for large number of arrestees, who wait there with the defendants before appearing in front of the judge in the courtroom. On a whole the courtroom looked well secured from any miscreant activity. Court Personnel Barristers: Barristers are specialist legal advisers found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in legal representation. They are court room advocates trained to advise clients on the strengths and weaknesses of their case. Barristers become involved in a case when advocacy before the court is required by the client. It is the solicitor who is in a direct relation with the client. As put in the UK bar council website a barrister could be compared to a specialist in medicine, who is consulted by a client's personal doctor when the case is complex and beyond the personal doctor's knowledge. Here the personal doctor or a general practitioner is taken to be the solicitor (What Barristers Do). The comparison is not entirely accurate though. There is no difference in the level of complexity in the practice of law by the different branches of the profession, though barristers tend to be instructed in complex litigation and in certain other specialist fields. Stenographer: He or she is an individual who records court proceedings either in shorthand or through the use of a paper-punching device. A court stenographer is an officer of the court whose appointment is largely governed by statute. She is an official under the control of the court and is, therefore, generally subject to its direction. The stenographer has the duty to attend court throughout the trial and record all proceedings. She must take notes of what occurs before the court and these notes must certify that all the evidence, and charges levied against the defendant were fully and accurately taken at the trial and that the transcript represents an accurate translation of the notes. In addition to preparing and protecting the legal record, the Bureau of Labor Statistics website informs that many stenos

Principles of Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Principles of Economics - Assignment Example The problem of alcohol abuse is not easily overcome because alcohol is highly addictive. In this case, if the alcohol abuser is an economist, he or she will consider many things that he or she would use to help him or her overcome the situation. They will look at the opportunity cost whereby they will consider buying those goods that are best for their health such as food other than alcohol that would cause a problem to his or her health (Mantzavinos 64). Additionally, they will use cost benefit analysis by viewing the benefits accrued from stopping the habit of alcohol consumption. In this case, the benefit of stopping consuming alcohol is higher than continuing with the habit (Porter 1998). For instance, there is wastage of money in purchasing alcohol. They would rather use the same money can be used to buy other important things. More so, they will consider rational behavior by assuming actions that are necessary when they stop consuming alcohol. Further, an economist would look at the market forces of demand and supply of alcohol in that they will analyze the level at which alcohol is supplied to the market and the price that alcohol come with. When the supply is not sufficient, they would prefer to stop drinking alcohol rather than continuing with the habit of looking for a commodity that is scarce and costly. More so, they will consider the level at which alcohol is demanded; therefore, they will analyze the possible outcomes o f many people drinking alcohol. The possible way to help alcohol abuser is to assist them to realize that they have alcohol consumption problem. Friends and family members can help make the abuser realize that alcohol drinking is affecting them in that they strained economically because the money that can be used to purchase basic commodity is used to buy alcohol. The abuser should be willing to look for assistance given that consumption of alcohol is dangerous to an individual’s health.

Court Report Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Court Report - Personal Statement Example Excessive formality involving security checks etc makes the proceedings look serious, but this is a necessary security precaution. The silence is important too as everybody needs to hear all proceedings clearly. Modern techniques of using multimedia display screens and air conditioning makes the proceedings easier for the judge(s), jury and others. Waites observes that flat-panel monitors are more conducive to the courtroom environment. They allow the judge and attorneys to review information together before displaying it to the jury (Waites, 384). Such systems have the option of delaying display on the large screen through 'delay switches'. This allows the judge to review information before presenting it to the jury. Moreover enhanced video and sound playback devices such as the ELMO, as acknowledged in the Litigant's report, improves the quality of information processing inside the courtroom (Webb). The courtroom looked well secured. All entrants are thoroughly examined through security devices such as metal detectors. The judge's bench is elevated about three steps above the floor, so that his/ her vision covers the whole courtroom, and he/she is equipped with security alarm as well. The hallways and the courtroom comes under surveillance of security cameras, moreover a docket box may be used to control for large number of arrestees, who wait there with the defendants before appearing in front of the judge in the courtroom. On a whole the courtroom looked well secured from any miscreant activity. Court Personnel Barristers: Barristers are specialist legal advisers found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in legal representation. They are court room advocates trained to advise clients on the strengths and weaknesses of their case. Barristers become involved in a case when advocacy before the court is required by the client. It is the solicitor who is in a direct relation with the client. As put in the UK bar council website a barrister could be compared to a specialist in medicine, who is consulted by a client's personal doctor when the case is complex and beyond the personal doctor's knowledge. Here the personal doctor or a general practitioner is taken to be the solicitor (What Barristers Do). The comparison is not entirely accurate though. There is no difference in the level of complexity in the practice of law by the different branches of the profession, though barristers tend to be instructed in complex litigation and in certain other specialist fields. Stenographer: He or she is an individual who records court proceedings either in shorthand or through the use of a paper-punching device. A court stenographer is an officer of the court whose appointment is largely governed by statute. She is an official under the control of the court and is, therefore, generally subject to its direction. The stenographer has the duty to attend court throughout the trial and record all proceedings. She must take notes of what occurs before the court and these notes must certify that all the evidence, and charges levied against the defendant were fully and accurately taken at the trial and that the transcript represents an accurate translation of the notes. In addition to preparing and protecting the legal record, the Bureau of Labor Statistics website informs that many stenos

Computer Science Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Computer Science Research Proposal - Essay Example Our company stands to gain by creating a smart and easy-to-use debugger. It will make the process of programming swifter and more efficient, leading to both profits by selling the debugger and savings by creating a more efficient software engineering process for ourselves. The main improvement of our debugger over other debuggers will be a visual component; complex data structures like graphs, tables, and trees will be displayed visually as the programmer conceptually sees them, not as lines of text. First of all, we could create our own IDE and implement the debugger along with it. This option would take longer to develop than the first, but would not have the difficulties of interfacing with other IDE's, since the debugger would be tailor-made for our own IDE. Also, we could stand to charge more for this product than for a plug-in(GraphViz). Secondly, we could create the debugger as a plug-in for an environment such as Visual Studio or Eclipse. This would take less time and be cheaper than other options, but may lead to difficulties in interfacing with a variety of IDE's, and may be unstable. Finally, we could link an existing IDE and an existing graph displayer but program the interface between the two. This would take the fastest among the three options but would not lead to much actual profit by sales. It would, however, improve the efficiency of our own programming practices. As for the schedule, option 1 could take many years; it would probably demand constant attention. Several years would be a reasonable period for option 2, and option 3 could be done in a matter of months. The duration of one development cycle within these schedules would vary depending on how many versions we release to the awaiting public, among other factors, but the ideal development cycle would be one version per year. Both Eclipse, which was open source starting on November 7, 2001, and GraphViz, which started in 2000, have maintained a nearly annual release schedule. Management of this Software Management of this project depends on how components of the project will be subdivided. Option 1 will need many more teams and a large staff, to cover the many aspects of an IDE. Option 2 could require one team for interfacing with IDE's, a large one for displaying graphs visually, and other smaller teams for the execution window and the variable window. Wages for programmers could run around $20,000 a year a person. Computer equipment and office space, which requires property taxes, will be needed. I conclude that, with the need for cutting the cost and time associated with debugging, this project is worth the costs, and option 2 is the optimal choice. Introduction An integrated development environment puts jointly the whole lot needed for programming into one application: a text editor, a compiler, a runtime environment, a debugger, and other tools. Some instances of these applications include Visual Studio, JBuilder, and Eclipse. Integrated developm

Resistance investigation Essay Example for Free

Resistance investigation Essay Resistance is the opposition to current and voltage within a given material. George Ohm discovered the concept of resistance in 1826. He stated that the current flowing through a wire is proportional to the potential difference across it as long as the temperature remains constant. The formula to calculate resistance is Resistance (measured in Ohms)= potential difference across a wire (volts) Current through a wire (amps) In this investigation we are going to find out how resistance changes in relationship to when the length of a wire is changed. We will take readings every 10 cm because this should give a substantial variation in the readings and go up to 100 cm because this will give us a sensible set of results to work with. To ensure that the experiment is safe we will have to clear the work area and make sure that it is clean and dry, and keep the current low, in this case two volts. I predict that as the length of the wire increases the resistance will also increase in direct proportion, as there will be more particle collisions in the longer wire. In addition the free electrons in the outer shell have to carry the charge further, which also increases the chances of collision. To make the experiment a fair test we will use 2 volts throughout and include a switch in the circuit, which will enable us to control that the circuit is only on when we are taking readings. It will therefore obey ohms law, as the temperature will remain cool, and the cross sectional area of the wire will also remain the same. We will keep the same apparatus throughout the experiment and will take more than five sets of results to ensure that we have a good statistical average. The only thing that we will change is the length of the wire. The apparatus we will need in the experiment are a power supply, wires, a switch, a 1metre ruler, a voltmeter and an ammeter. Results These are the sets of results that I obtained: Distance (cm) Voltage (v) Current (a) Resistance (ohms). From these results we have found out that as the length of a wire increases so does the voltage and resistance, whereas the current reduces. The data shows that the distance of a wire does have an effect on the resistance through it. This is because as the length of the wire increases the likelihood of collisions between the nucleus of the atom and the electron which carries the charge increases. On the graph the line of best fit shows that that there is a good correlation of the data showing that there is a direct and proportional relationship between the length of a wire and the resistance. This proves that my original prediction correct that the resistance of a wire will increase as the length does. Evaluation The method used for the experiment worked well and we were able to gain the results needed to make a conclusion. The accuracy of the data was on the whole good but there were two odd results. These were anomalies as the resistance was lower on average than the resistance from the reading taken from a 10 cm shorter wire. The method for the investigation was well suited to the experiment. To improve the reliability of the results we could keep the room temperature constant, and be more accurate in measuring the length of the wire. We could also use more accurate voltmeters and ammeters. Due the close position of the points plotted on the graph there is enough accurate information obtained from the results to support the definite conclusion that as the length of the wire increases so does the resistance. To improve the results we could repeat the experiment but take readings at different or more frequent intervals . We could also take more sets of results.

French Essays French Society

French Essays French Society ‘Les liaisons dangereuses’ and the position of women in eighteenth-century french society.   Abstract This research analyses in depth Les Liaison Dangereuses by Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos, paying a particular attention to the emancipatory subtext of the novel in regard to the position of women in eighteenth-century French society. The received results reveal that Laclos rises against the subordinate position of women and considers that it is crucial to provide women with freedom. However, the writer demonstrates that freedom without appropriate education and true morality can result in many negative consequences. Applying to different characters and different liaisons, Laclos reflects the conflicts between two opposite sexes that occur because of the wish of both males and females to occupy superior positions in French society. In this regard, some findings of this research are consistent with the results received in earlier studies and critical analyses on Laclos’ novel, while other findings oppose to them.   Ã‚   1 Statement of the problem Eighteenth-century France experienced rather complex gender tensions, as, on the one hand, the period of Enlightenment and the French Revolution gave rise to the ideas of liberty and equality between men and women, but, on the other hand, women were still associated with the position of a mother and a wife, restricting their participation in other spheres of social and political life. However, despite such stereotypic vision on females, some philosophers and writers of that era opposed to this perception of women, applying to a certain emancipatory subtext in their literary works. Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos belongs to such French writers; in his well-known novel Les Liaison Dangereuses he criticises education of women in eighteenth-century France and uncovers the inferior position of women in those times. Laclos is one of the first authors who manage to express his views on the failed social system that inspires the conflicts between two opposite sexes. 2 Introduction Pierre Ambrose Choderlos de Laclos (1741 – 1803), a general of Napoleon and the secretary of the Duc d’Orleans, was born in a rather noble family and devoted his life to a military career. However, at the age of forty, Laclos became a revolutionary and feminist writer, having written only two literary works that were both admired and criticised in his times. He met his future wife Marie-Soulange Duperrà © in 1783 and soon married her. Laclos became the member of the Club of the Jacobins in 1790 and was even imprisoned for his political activity. Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was greatly influenced by the works of Jean-Jacque Rousseau, especially by his epistolary novel Nouvelle Hà ©loise; and this influence is obvious in both of Laclos’ works L’Education des Femmes and Les Liaison Dangereuses. But it was the novel Les Liaison Dangereuses that brought popularity to Laclos, as well as social rejection, because this literary work appeared to be â€Å"a portra it of an age whose tragedy lies in the waste of its great gifts†1. The eighteenth century was the period of Libertinage in France, when some people rejected all social norms and struggled for free will. These libertines eliminated emotions and pointed at the necessity of intelligence. Libertinage was supported by the regent Philippe of Orleans who substituted religion and virtues for freedom and vice. However, this was also a period of female subordination, that’s why libertines were mainly males, because women, due to their poor education, were considered as unfit for any display of free will. They were regarded as inferior to men, because their intellectual abilities were reduced only to the domestic sphere. As a result, women were psychologically destroyed creatures that were controlled and manipulated by males in French patriarchal world. These females were deprived of any possibility to take part in political, military or cultural life of society. But Laclos destroys these stereotypes in his epistolary novel Les Liaison Dangereuses, demo nstrating that not only males, but females as well may be libertines. The writer is not satisfied with the treatment of women in his times; thus his motives in writing L’Education des Femmes and Les Liaison Dangereuses can be explained by Laclos’ wish to protect women from men by means of female independence. However, Laclos considers that female freedom is both good and dangerous, because society, in which a woman lives, is too false and preoccupied with wrong stereotypes. Although the writer points at the necessity of education for a woman, he believes that good education will help her in her private life rather than inspire a female to utilise her freedom for any other activity. The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the extent of the emancipatory subtext concerning the position of women in eighteenth-century French society in Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. The research paper is divided into several sections. Chapter 1 reveals a statement of the problem that points at the problematic of the conducted analysis. Chapter 2 demonstrates a general overview of the issue, evaluating the social and political contexts and Laclos’ motivations for the utilisation of emancipatory elements in his literary works. Chapter 3 observes the opinions of various critics on Les Liaison Dangereuses. Chapter 4 points at the theoretical research methods that are applied for the research. Chapter 5 provides a profound investigation of the emancipatory subtext in Laclos’ novel, paying a particular attention to women and their roles in French society. Briefly observing Laclos’ essays L’Education des Femmes, this chapter further analyses female characters of Les Liaison Dangereuses and their relations with male characters, uncovering gender tensions of the eighteenth century and the negative results of social inequality. Chapter 6 conducts the summarisation of the received findings, and Chapter 7 reveals the limitations of the research and provides some suggestions for further analysis of Laclos’ novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚   3 Review of the literature Les Liaison Dangereuses has raised hot debates among various critics since the time of its publication. Earlier criticism regards this novel as one of the first feminist literary works, but as Suellen Diaconoff claims, â€Å"in the past ten or fifteen years the assessment of Choderlos de Laclos’ treatment of women has undergone significant revision†2. Some contemporary critics point at a misogynist context of the novel in addition to the emancipatory subtext, while other researchers consider that Les Liaison Dangereuses uncovers female weakness and male dominance. Such contradictory viewpoints reflect the ambiguous vision of women’s roles in Laclos’ narration, as the writer provides his female characters with the power to resist and the power to withdraw. According to Martin Turnell, Les Liaison Dangereuses â€Å"has been called the most impersonal novel in the French language and certainly the author is not to be found in it†3. The major criticism of the work in the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries regards its moral side; many critics considered Les Liaison Dangereuses to be a threat to readers, as the novel provided a new vision on the issue of virtue and was â€Å"morally dangerous or historically fanciful†4. Although Baudelaire praised Laclos’ epistolary novel, the spread of Romanticism depreciated this praising, regarding the work as a literary piece, where â€Å"reason and cold analysis triumph†5. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century the researchers began to take a particular interest in Les Liaison Dangereuses, analysing the writer’s realism and the characters’ psychology. In particular, Byrne points at a profound morality of the novel, claiming that the book provides â€Å"a ‘correct’ moral viewpoint which only a churl would find fault with†6. Other critics reveal pessimistic aspects in the described sentimentality of the eighteenth-century fiction, in particular, John Mullan considers that French novelists â€Å"were able to concede that habits of sociability were limited or exceptional, only just surviving in a world in which fellow-feeling was rare and malevolence prevailed†7. This is especially true in regard to Laclos who demonstrates these pessimistic aspects throughout the narration. Peter Conroy analyses a close connection between two males in Les Liaison Dangereuses, revealing that such bonding results in female d estruction, for instance, when Valmont provides Danceny with the letters to destroy Mme de Merteuil8. The researcher considers that male bonding reflects one of the crucial aspects of female oppression in French society. Thus, despite the novel’s criticism and rejection in the eighteenth century, Les Liaison Dangereuses is considered to be one of the most popular epistolary works. 4 Research methodology This dissertation applies to three theoretical research methods – a social constructionist approach, a discourse analytical approach and a feminist approach. With the help of these methods the paper investigates the discussed issue from various perspectives and provides valid explanation to the emancipatory subtext of Laclos’ novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. As an appropriate tool for investigation, the social constructionist approach regards people as the products of society that defines particular roles for them. In this regard, this approach is especially important for analysing the position of women in eighteenth-century French society and the reflection of this vision in a particular epistolary work. The discourse analytical approach provides an opportunity to discuss the emancipatory subtext of the novel in its close connection with social and political conditions of France. It allows to evaluate the consequences of the dominant position of males over females and to uncover the inequality of both genders before the French Revolution. The feminist approach reveals the impact of certain social stereotypes on the portrayal of females in French literature, exposing the negative consequences of these ideologies on women of the eighteenth century. This approach evaluates the roles and positions of women through the principal female characters of a literary work, simultaneously pointing at the differentiation between men and women.  Ã‚      5 Discussion 5.1. ‘L’Education des Femmes’ Before the publication of his epistolary novel Les Liaison Dangereuses, Laclos wrote three essays on female education that were compiled together under the name L’Education des Femmes. In the era of Enlightenment this issue became especially crucial in France and was of particular interest to Laclos. As Turnell puts it, Laclos â€Å"only discusses those feelings which interest other people as well as himself†9. In his essays Laclos depicts his own vision on the position of women in French society and the ways to improve their conditions. The ideas presented in L’Education des Femmes are implicitly reflected in Laclos’ novel, that’s why it is crucial to observe these essays for better understanding of the emancipatory subtext of Les Liaison Dangereuses. In the first essay the writer points at the fact that an advanced education won’t make the lives of women better, instead he claims that it is necessary to introduce social changes that will im prove a female position10. Laclos considers that women do not have enough freedom and are usually treated as slaves by males; they prefer to adhere to social standards rather than to oppose them. Although Laclos proclaims the necessity of freedom for women, he slightly transforms this viewpoint in the second and the third essays. In particular, he claims that a woman should be protected, but not liberated. Despite such ambiguous vision, L’Education des Femmes reveals the truth about the position of females in Laclos’ times and simultaneously uncovers the contradictions that emerged in France in that period. These contradictions were a direct result of the emerged liberty and the preservation of the older social stereotypes. On the one hand, Laclos rises against the limitation of female freedom, but, on the other hand, he doesn’t really reveal the ways to free a woman. Laclos reveals that in the struggle for dominance, men and women destroy each other: males treat females as their slaves, while women utilise their sexuality to prove their own superiority. As females are deprived of equality with men in social and political spheres, they start to manipulate males with the help of sex. According to Laclos, this constant sex war greatly depends on the ability of a woman to diversify sexual re lations. However, as Laclos demonstrates further, there is a danger that such manipulation will turn against women. Laclos implicitly shows that enslavement of women by men is inspired by this particular manipulation. As a woman starts to depend on her sexuality, she reduces herself to a position of a slave. Thus, though the writer criticises the dominance of French males over women in the eighteenth century, he doesn’t provide an actual proposal for changes that will improve female positions. The same approach is maintained by Laclos in his novel Les Liaison Dangereuses. 5.2. The emancipatory subtext of ‘Les Liaison Dangereuses’ In Les Liaison Dangereuses Pierre Choderlos de Laclos creates the characters that belong to the French aristocracy and that apply to cruelty and deceit to disgrace other people. Although this novel received unusual population after its publication in 1782, the writer was immediately criticised and rejected by the members of the upper class society. According to Turnell, â€Å"The Liaisons was read by everyone and discussed in all the salons, but the people who read him with most passion shut their doors in his face†11. Such attitude can be explained by the fact that Laclos reveals the truth about French aristocracy, the truth that people could no longer avoid. On the example of such characters as Cà ©cile de Volanges and Mme de Volanges the writer demonstrates the negative consequences of poor female education and the superior position of men over women. On the other hand, introducing such female characters as the Marquise de Merteuil and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, Laclos simultaneously implements the emancipatory subtext into his narration. Throughout the novel Mme de Merteuil tries to achieve a dominant position over other people, including the Vicomte de Valmont, her former lover. Discussing the relations between Mme de Merteuil and Valmont, Turnell claims that â€Å"they are both so determined to dominate, so impatient of any restraint, that Mme de Merteuil cannot make up her mind to return permanently to Valmont†12. It is this female character that involves Valmont into her intrigues and further induces his death. Mme de Merteuil’s wit and determination make her superior to men. Since the very beginning Mme de Merteu il makes constant attempts to manipulate Valmont. As a result, Laclos’ epistolary work dispels a prolonged illusion created by the majority of French novels that were primarily â€Å"a smoke-screen that concealed the exploits of the aristocracy from the rest of the world†13. Characterising his characters through their letters, the writer uncovers the inner degradation of aristocracy before the French Revolution. As Emile Dard puts it, â€Å"people recognised their portraits in them and the likeness was so good that they could not turn their horrified gaze from this new image of themselves†14. According to the discourse analytical approach, it is possible to evaluate people through their expressed ideas15, thus Laclos applies to the characters’ letters to uncover people’s essence and reveal his own vision on both males and females. According to Laclos, a French woman is greatly controlled by a social machine that allows men to take possession over women. As Turnell states, â€Å"The role of the female is to be ‘defeated’ by the predatory male†¦ Yet the defeated woman is not so much victim as an accomplice†16. In other words, as a woman marries a man and is defeated by him, she becomes a part of him, because â €Å"the engagement does not end in ‘victory’ for one party and ‘defeat’ for the other. It is a combination of the two, victory-and-defeat†17. However, in the case of Mme de Merteuil, the situation is quite different, because this female character is not â€Å"restrained by any inhibition, by any feeling of guilt or shame†18. Letter 81 reveals Mme de Merteuil’s personal explanation of her behaviour and actions. In particular, Mme de Merteuil points out that she greatly differs from other females of her social class, as she possesses strong principles that are not based on some established rules, but instead are created by her in the process of deep reflection. Even the first sexual intercourse of this character with her husband is regarded by her as the possibility to experience both pain and pleasure, to explore something new and utilise new experience for her own benefits. In this letter Mme de Merteuil puts herself in a superior position over others, even over politicians, and reveals that she is able to get pleasure from various things, not only from love. On the contrary, she eliminates love, because it p revents her from intrigues. As the feminist approach reveals, such behaviour of a woman is understandable, because under constant social oppression from the side of men, some females begin to act similar to men, acquiring male features and rejecting excessive emotionality19. In this regard, Laclos’ novel differs from the novels of the seventeenth century, as Turnell puts it, â€Å"there is no interior conflict in the minds of Laclos’ two principal characters because the elements of conflict – love as well as duty – have been removed†20. Instead, the writer introduces an exterior conflict between Mme de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, that is, the conflict between a male and female that uncovers the emancipatory subtext of the narration. Demonstrating the relations between two opposite sexes, Laclos reveals not the tensions between individuals, but the conflicts that emerge when old stereotypes collide with the attempts to oppose to this social system. Laclos divides his characters into two parties: on the one side, there are Mme de Volanges and Cà ©cile de Volanges with their traditional moral values, but, on the other side, there are Valmont and Mme de Merteuil who oppose to any conventions and involve other peop le into their intrigues. On the basis of this division Laclos reflects three kinds of relations. Mme de Merteuil and Valmont are engaged in the relations that are characteristic for the eighteenth century, that is, they eliminate any emotions, proving that sexual pleasure doesn’t depend on desires and feelings. The relations between the Chevalier de Dancery and Cà ©cile de Volanges are of different nature, they are based on sentimental emotions. The relations between Mme de Merteuil and Dancery, Valmont and Cà ©cile, Valmont and the Prà ©sidente reflect the wish of Valmont and Mme de Merteuil to take revenge on their enemies, but, on the other hand, they reflect their desire â€Å"to get at conventional morality†21. They involve such young and naà ¯ve girl as Cà ©cile into their intrigues, fully ignoring the feelings of this female. Cà ©cile who is regarded as a child by everyone around her feels uncertainty and fear, when she starts to interact with other members of society. She is a beautiful female, but she lacks both intellect and free will, and her princ iples reflect the social norms that existed in France in the eighteenth century. Thus, Cà ©cile de Volanges is a stereotypic female, a product of French society that regards her as a toy; such characters may be easily involved in any intrigues and be destroyed. As Cà ©cile claims to her friend, â€Å"What made me most uneasy was that I did not know what they thought about me. I think I heard two or three times the word ‘pretty’, but I very distinctly heard ‘awkward’22. According to the feminist approach, such behaviour of a woman is a direct result of female subjugation that develops weakness and excessive emotionality in her23. As a result of this constant subordination, Cà ©cile greatly depends on social opinion, but Mme de Merteuil doesn’t want to understand the weakness of Cà ©cile, instead she utilises this naivety for her own benefits. The same regards Mme de Volanges, a mother of Cecile; pretending to be her close friend, Mme de Merteuil assigns a certain role for Mme de Volanges. But, adhering to traditional morality, Mme de Volanges decides to tell the truth about Valmont to the Prà ©sidente, thus â€Å"play[ing] the Male game in leading the anti-Merteuil party†24. But Laclos reveals that new morality of Mme de Merteuil is based on evil and thus, results in many negative consequences. Substituting one morality for another, Mme de Merteuil wants to prove her freedom and her superiority over other people. However, in this sex battle Mme de Merteuil destroys herself. Although this female character manages to convey her emancipatory behaviour, Laclos shows that wrong upbringing and poor education of Mme de Merteuil deprive her of the possibility to utilise her intelligence for better things than revenge. On the other hand, the writer introduces such female characters as Mme de Rosamonde and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel who embody true virtue in contrast to both traditional virtue and the virtue of Mme de Merteuil. As a result, Mme de Merteuil realises that these female characters, especially the Prà ©sidente, are dangerous for her. The Prà ©sidente is not only a sincere woman, but she also has a great impact on Valmont, making him â€Å"forget his famous principles†25. Mme de Merteuil understands that the Prà ©sidente is a threat to her relations with Valmont and her intrigues, thus she makes Valmont eliminate this female, simultaneously eliminating true virtue. Mme de Merteui l exceeds Valmont and other characters of the narration, because she possesses powerful intelligence and inexorability. She stresses on the fact that by the time she was fifteen, she had more talents than any politician; such viewpoint is â€Å"the measure of her powers and of her tragedy†26. Contrary to Mme de Merteuil, Valmont embodies a weakness, because he possesses sentimentality that brings him to destruction. The eighteenth-century was preoccupied with the principles of rationalism that rejected any display of sentimentality. Mme de Merteuil manages to get rid of this sentimental shortcoming, while Valmont preserves it, although he doesn’t want to admit this truth. As a result, Mme de Merteuil constantly criticises Valmont, considering that the opposite sex has no virtues and abilities. Mme de Merteuil is superior to Valmont, because she has an unusual gift for understanding inner worlds of other people, while Valmont’s ‘principles’ do not allow him to develop a deep insight of the world and people around him. Mme de Merteuil and Valmont are engaged in the struggle against each other, reflecting their desires to achieve dominance. In this struggle love and hatred coexist together, revealing the essence of relations between men and women i n eighteenth century France. When Mme de Merteuil involves Valmont into her intrigues and makes him establish relations with other women, she still wants to possess Valmont; she doesn’t want to admit that another female may substitute her. As Fellows and Razack puts it, â€Å"Women challenged about their domination by calling attention to their own subordination†¦ If a woman is subordinate herself, she cannot then be implicated in the subordination of others†27. However, this is not the case with Mme de Merteuil who rejects subordination of men over her, but is involved in subordination of both males and females. Comparing herself with Dalila, Mme de Merteuil reveals that as â€Å"for the man each conquest is a victory for his sex; for the woman it is equally a victory for hers, because in allowing herself to be seduced, she dominates the male and deprives him of his strength†28. Mme de Merteuil considers that in the process of seduction both sexes achieve victory, but males fail to rea lise that women change them into slaves. Such female viewpoint reflects the core of the emancipatory subtext of the novel, but simultaneously it uncovers the conflict between sexes. According to Jean Giraudoux, â€Å"the battle begins the moment that each sex regards the other as its accomplice†29. As Valmont starts to compare Mme de Merteuil with other females, with the whole female sex, she starts to experience hatred and anger towards her former lover, aggravating the tensions between them. Valmont’s death is the end of this sex battle, and, by killing Valmont, the representative of the male sex, Laclos reveals females’ superiority, proving that a woman may be more intelligent than a man. On the other hand, the writer reduces Mme de Merteuil’s victory by depriving this female character of all things that are valuable to her, especially appearance and reputation. Such failure can be explained by the fact that, despite her intelligence and power, Mme de Merteuil remains a weak woman because of her jealousy and wish to dominate over other members of society. This character doesn’t want to accept the victory of the opposite sex, because in this case she will be forced to admit her own weakness. But in her pursuit to prove her superior position, Mme de Merteuil destroys not only her lover, but she also ruins her own life. According to Turnell, â€Å"Laclos’ theme is the tragedy of the Rational Man, the man who was carefully conditioned through the removal of all moral scruples and the sense of guilt†30. This is true in regard to Mme de Merteuil who maintains the principles of rational thinking and eliminates any display of sentimentality from her relations with people in order to prove her own superiority over others. However, she masterfully utilises her own sexuality to manipulate men and make them act as she wishes. According to the social constructionist approach, such sexual behaviour of a woman is developed by society, in which she lives; it is not an inherent feature, but rather a direct consequence of social pressure31. Laclos doesn’t state that a female is unable to experience pleasure; on the contrary, the writer reveals female ability for sexual desires. He presents a woman as an active partner in sexual relations, but he also considers that sexuality may destroy a woma n, if she allows sexuality to take control over her life and interfere with love, as is just the case with Mme de Tourvel. As for Mme de Merteuil, her sexuality also destroys her, because she hopes to prove her superiority with the help of sex, but finally she appears to be trapped in self-delusion. Mme de Merteuil’s attempt to achieve an equal position with males is rather courageous and feminist, but she chooses a wrong approach for attaining her goal. This female character rises against individual people, failing to realise that it is the existing social system that should be transformed. Destroying some persons, Mme de Merteuil doesn’t eliminate the system that puts women into inferior positions. On the other hand, Laclos reveals that Mme de Merteuil is a true libertine. She fails to succeed at the end of the narration, but her way of life demonstrates the greatness of this female. She lives in patriarchal world, where women are prohibited any freedom, but she manages to overcome these stereotypes and act in accordance with her desires. Mme de Merteuil ignores morality of French society , creating her own morality and trying to eliminate all powerful emotions. She experiences pleasure when she demonstrates her superiority over others and she easily manipulates men with the help of her sexuality and intelligence. Such behaviour is unusual for a woman of the eighteenth century, but, creating such female character as Mme de Merteuil, Laclos wants to prove that in reality there is no difference between a man and a woman. In fact, Mme de Merteuil is similar to Valmont, and even superior to him, as the writer reveals in the denouement. Valmont might achieve success in politics or in any other field, but instead he is involved in intrigues. In his relations with women Valmont plays a role of a noble man, deceiving both Cà ©cile de Volanges, when he claims that â€Å"I detest everything that savours of deception: that, in brief, is my character†32, and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, when he asks her â€Å"who was ever more respectful and more submissive than I?†33 In his relations with the Prà ©sidente he seeks to subjugate her and destroy her true virtues. Valmont feels admiration for this female and he considers her as â€Å"the enemy worthy of me†34. But, similar to Mme de M erteuil, the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel appears superior to Valmont. His seduction of the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel gradually is transformed into love, because he is strongly affected by her kind heart. As Valmont claims, â€Å"I left her arms only to fall at her feet and swear eternal love; and to tell the whole truth, I meant what I said†35. Valmont falls in love for the first time, but Mme de Merteuil makes him destroy the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel. When Valmont makes an attempt to return her, Mme de Merteuil forbids him to do so, stating that â€Å"It would suit you very well to take the credit for breaking with her without loosing the pleasure of enjoying her†36. These words reveal the negative aspect of Libertinage; although Valmont rises against social morality, society continues to influence him and shape his behaviour. Maintaining the principles of Libertinage, he is not able to act against these principles, thus Valmont’s freedom appears to be a delusion, because he simply changes one rules for other norms. The same regards the principal female character of the novel Mme de Merteuil who is also trapped in her principles and new morality that finally bring her to destruction. Despite their close relations with each other, Mme de Merteuil prefers to destroy Valmont and his love to the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, and Valmont destroys Mme de Merteuil as a revenge. In this regard, Laclos creates two powerful female characters in his novel Mme de Merteuil and the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, through which he uncovers his emancipatory subtext; however, the writer, drawing a parallel between these women, reveals their differences. Mme de Merteuil is a woman who uses her sexuality and intelligence to transform men into â€Å"the toy of my caprices, or my fantasies†37, as she claims in Letter 81. Mme de Merteuil directs her principles and education towards the only purpose to â€Å"avenge my sex and to dominate yours†38. Love can’t bring happiness to this woman, as she deprives herself of any emotions. Mme de Merteuil mocks at those females â€Å"who cannot see their future enemy in their present lover†39, reducing the relations between a male and woman to a simple sex battle. As Mme de Merteuil considers herself superior to others, she doesn’t admit any equality between two opposite sexes, that’s why she clai ms that â€Å"no one should be further from my confidence than my husband†40. She doesn’t want to love a man, instead she wants to control him. Mme de Merteuil deprives herself of any passion and she believes that such ability to suppress powerful feelings makes her better than other women. But Laclos reveals that such viewpoint is wrong by contrasting Mme de Merteuil with the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel who possesses those virtues that Mme de Merteuil lacks. From the beginning of Valmont’s relations with the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel, she realises that this woman has something that allows her to attract men, and thus Mme de Merteuil tries to depreciate the virtues of the Prà ©sidente de Tourvel. Mme de Merteuil calls her â€Å"a poor creature†41 that is obsessed with her religion. However, Mme