Automation Billing System

International School of Informatics & Management Jaipur Project on Supermarket Billing System By Ankita Aggrawal Neha Chaturvedi Devendra Singh Sisodia (Students of MCA IV- Semester, Group No. 20) Under Mr. Vijay Singh Rathore Assistant Professor IIIM Synopsis of Supermarket Billing System Introduction The project is on Supermarket Billing. Supermarket is the place where customers come to purchase their daily using products and pay for that. So there is a need to calculate how many products are sold and to generate the bill for the customer. In our project we have 3 users.First is the data entry operator who will enter the products in database. Second one is the administrator who will decide the taxes and commissions on the products and can see the report of any product. Third one is the bill calculating operator who will calculate the bill and print. Objective â€Å"To make software fast in processing, with good user interface so that user can change it and it should be used for a long time without error and maintenance. † Work Flow Work in the Supermarket will be done in the following way: 1. The product will come in the store. 2.Data entry operator will enter the information of the product in database. 3. The Administrator will enter the taxes and commissions for each product. 4. The customer will come and take the basket with him/her and choose the product and took it to the counter. 5. The bill calculating operator will check the products with the bar code detecting machine then it will match with product-id then it will show its information and price and the bill will be calculated and total payment will shown. 6. Customer will pay for the products. 7. All the products will be packed and delivered to the customer.Modules We will use 5 modules in this project. These are as follows: Module 1: Login–Id This module is made for the login of users. We know that we have 3 users so login-id is for: 1. Administrator 2. Data Entry Operator 3. Bill Cal culating Operator Module 2: Apply taxes and commissions This module is for administrator who will 1. Set the taxes for the products. 2. Set the commissions for the products. Module 3: Check the Report This module is also for the administrator who can generate or check the report of the product and how many products are sold on particular date or in a period of time.Module 4: Enter the information about products This module is for data entry operator who will 1. Enter which products come in the store. 2. Prices and expiry date of the product. Module-5: Calculate the bill This module is for bill calculating operator who will 1. Calculate the bill. 2. Print it. Scope Our project has a big scope to do. We can: 1. Calculate the bill. 2. Give the bill to the customer. 3. Store how many products are sold. 4. Store products and their prices and with other information. 5. Set the rates of taxes and commission on the products. 6. Can see the report of the product in a fix period of time. 7.Ch ange the Graphical User Interface of the system. We can’t: 1. Calculate of the salaries of the employees. 2. Calculate the expanses on the product. Database Database is used to store data on the computer and fast retrieval of the data so we use Oracle 8i. We will make database by entering values in different tables like tables for the login-id, products in the store, etc. Programming Languages We will use following languages for the coding: Front End: Visual Basic 6 Back End: Microsoft Access SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION Description of the Existing System Many Supermarkets use this type of billing system for a decade.It is also improved many times according to requirements of sellers and customers. It does the same work that is calculating the bill, gives it to the customer and maintain proper database. They are accurate in calculation and printing, they also generate records. A new concept is also added in the billing system is that they also maintain relationships wi th the customers who purchase more products from the store regularly. System also concerns their requirements and gives them more commission. It also shows the overall profit and profit on a particular product and give repots which items are required and which have cross their expiry date.Bottlenecks of the Existing System Every system has pros and cons so existing system also have many advantages and disadvantages. So the bottlenecks of the existing system are as follows: 1. User Interface: User Interface is not so much good that operators feel some problems in working. 2. Graphical User Interface: GUI is not good so the operators get bored by watching screen. 3. Processing speed: Processing speed of the software is not so much good to operate fast. 4. Flexible: Existing system is not so much flexible that can be changed according to the operators and customers. 5.Automatic generation of the Reports: Not able to automatically generate the reports and documents. 6. Workload: Sometim es the system hangs when workload is more. 7. Error Free: Sometimes the system gives error in the calculation in making the bill and in the information of the products due to workload. 8. Man Power: Existing system uses so many people to operate the system. 9. Resources: System does not use the resources properly. Advantages of the Proposed System To reduce the bottlenecks of the existing system there is a need to develop a new system. The new system should concern the requirements of the customer and the sellers.It has the following qualities: 1. Reduction in processing cost. 2. Error reduction. 3. Automatic posting. 4. Improve reporting. 5. Automatic production of the documents and Reports. 6. Faster response time. 7. Ability to meet user requirements. 8. Flexibility. 9. Reduced dependency. 10. Improves resource uses. 11. Reduction in use of the paper. 12. Reduction in Man Power. Proposed system has these qualities including the qualities of the existing system. Feasibility Study â€Å"Feasibility Study† is a test of the system according to its workability, impact of the organization, ability to meet user needs and effective use of the resources.We can test our system by different type of the feasibilities. There are 5 types of the feasibilities which are discussed here. These are as follows: 1. Technical Feasibility: A study of resources availability that may affect the ability to achieve an acceptable system. This evaluation determines whether the technology needed for the proposed system is available or not. This system can be made in any language that support good user interface and easy database handling. Technical needs may include: Front-End Selection: Front-End means a language that is used for user interface designing and coding.Front-End should have following qualities: It must have a graphical user interface that assist employees that are not from some IT background. Scalability and Extensibility Robustness According to the organization req uirements and culture. Must provide excellent reporting features with good printing support. Platform independent. Easy to deploy and maintain. Event driven programming. Front-End must support some popular Back-End like MS Access, SQL Server and Oracle. According to the above stated features we selected Visual C#. Net as Front –End for developing our project. Visual C#. Net is used in Microsoft Visual Studio. Net 2003.Back-End Selection: Back-End means a language that is used for database management. Back-End should have following qualities: Multiple user support. Provide inherent feature for security. Efficient data retrieval and maintenance. Stored procedures. Popularity. Operating System compatible. Easy to install. Various drivers must be available. Efficient data handling. Easy to implement with Front-End. According to the above stated features we selected Oracle as Back–End for developing our project. We will use Oracle 8i specifically because it has more feature features then other later versions and it is easy to make and maintain database.It is also easy to implement Oracle 8i with Visual C#. Net in Microsoft Visual Studio. Net 2003. 2. Economical Feasibility: In this we consider following costs: 1. The cost to conduct a full system investigation. 2. The cost of hardware and software for class of application being considered. 3. The benefit in the form of the reduced cost. Our system has a lot of features at a minimum cost so it is feasible to implement and it will be very much beneficial to the sellers in the reduced cost. It’s software and hardware cost is also low then the existing system. 3. Operational Feasibility: In this feasibility we consider following points: 1.What changes will be brought with the system. 2. What new skills will be required? Do the existing staff members have these skills? If not, can they be trained in due course of time? In the new system we made some major changes for the staff members so that they h ave to be trained to use the newly added facilities. These major changes are possible and give a new era in the Supermarket in production and sales management. 4. Schedule Feasibility: Time evaluation is most important consideration in development of the project. So the project is concerned should be completed with fixed in scheduled time as far as company is concerned.New system is not so much big so it is easy to make in few days. 5. Behavioral Feasibility: People are inherently resisted to change and a computer means â€Å"change is the only certainty†. An estimate should be made of how strong a reaction the user staff in going to have towards development of new system. Thus special efforts can be made to educate and train the staff. SCREEN SHOTS Project on Supermarket Billing System Coding Private Sub Command1_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Image1_Click() End Sub Private Sub Label3_Click() End Sub Change Password CodingDim db As Database Dim rs As Recordset Dim sty le As VbMsgBoxStyle Dim result As VbMsgBoxResult Private Sub Command1_Click() If Text1. Text = rs! Password Then rs. Edit rs! Password = Text2. Text rs. Update Beep result = MsgBox(â€Å"Password Suuccessfully Changed. â€Å", style, â€Å"Supermarket Billing 1. 0†) Unload Me Else result = MsgBox(â€Å"Incorrect Password. â€Å", style, â€Å"Supermarket Billing 1. 0†) Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Text1. SetFocus End If End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"password. mdb†) Set rs = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) End Sub Employee Pay slipCoding Dim a As String Dim rs As Recordset Dim rs1 As Recordset Dim rs2 As Recordset Dim db As Database Dim db1 As Database Private Sub Combo1_Click() Set rs = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select * from Table1†) rs. MoveFirst Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Text3. Text = â€Å"â⠂¬  Text4. Text = â€Å"† Text5. Text = â€Å"† While Not rs. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs! Name Then Text1. Text = rs! designation Text2. Text = rs! salary End If rs. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Command1_Click() MDIForm1. Enabled = True Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() rs1. AddNew rs1! Name = Combo1. Text rs1! designation = Text1. Text rs1! salary = Text2.Text rs1! leaves = Text3. Text rs1! ot = Text4. Text rs1! deductions = Text5. Text rs1! netsalary = Text6. Text rs1! Date = Label9. Caption rs1! Time = Label8. Caption rs1. Update Beep Beep rs2. AddNew rs2! Name = Combo1. Text rs2! designation = Text1. Text rs2! salary = Text2. Text rs2! leaves = Text3. Text rs2! ot = Text4. Text rs2! deductions = Text5. Text rs2! netsalary = Text6. Text rs2! Date = Label9. Caption rs2! Time = Label8. Caption rs2. Update CrystalReport1. Action = False End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() Dim a As Integer Dim b As Integer Dim ot As Integer Dim net As Integer Dim ded A s Integer a = Val(Text3.Text) b = Val(Text4. Text) ded = a * 10 Text5. Text = ded ot = b * 5 Set rs = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select * from Table1†) rs. MoveFirst While Not rs. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs! Name Then net = Val(rs! salary) + ot – ded End If rs. MoveNext Wend Text6. Text = net Command2. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Command2. Enabled = False Command3. Enabled = False Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"emp. mdb†) Set rs = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select name from Table1†) rs. MoveFirst While Not rs. EOF Combo1. AddItem rs! Name rs. MoveNext Wend Label9. Caption = Date Set db1 = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"payslip. mdb†) Set rs1 = db1.OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) Set rs2 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table2†) db1. Execute (â€Å"delete * from Table1†) End Sub Private Sub Label9_Click() End Sub Private Sub Text4_Click() Command3. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub Timer1_Timer() Label8. Caption = Ti me End Sub View Employee’s Detail Coding Private Sub Command1_Click() Text3. SetFocus Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text3. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Text5. Text = â€Å"† Text4. Text = â€Å"† rs. MoveFirst End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() While Not rs. EOF If rs! code = Text3. Text Then Text3. Text = rs! code Text1. Text = rs! Name Text2. Text = rs! ddress Text5. Text = rs! designation Text4. Text = rs! salary End If rs. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"emp. mdb†) Set rs = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) ‘Text1. SetFocus End Sub Private Sub Text3_Change() End Sub Save Employee’s Details Coding Dim i As Integer Private Sub Combo1_Click() Command1. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub Command1_Click() rs! code = Text1. Text rs! Name = Text3. Text rs! address = Text2. Text rs! designation = Combo1. Text rs! salar y = Text4. Text rs. Update Command1. Enabled = False Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Text3. Text = â€Å"† Text4. Text = â€Å"† ‘Combo1.Text = â€Å"† End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() i=i+1 Text1. Text = i rs. AddNew Text1. Enabled = False Text2. Enabled = True Text3. Enabled = True Text4. Enabled = True Combo1. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Text1. Enabled = False Text2. Enabled = False Text3. Enabled = False Text4. Enabled = False Combo1. Enabled = False Command1. Enabled = False Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Manager â€Å") Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Cashier â€Å") Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Accountant â€Å") Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Sales â€Å") Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Security â€Å") Combo1. AddItem (â€Å"Sweeper â€Å") Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"emp. mdb†) Set rs = db.OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) rs. MoveLast Text1. Text = rs! code i = rs! code End Sub Private Sub Text1_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer) If KeyAscii = 13 Then Text2. SetFocus End If End Sub Total Stock Coding Dim db As Database Dim rs As Recordset Dim rs1 As Recordset Private Sub Combo1_Click() Set rs1 = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"select * from Table1 â€Å") Text1. Text = â€Å"† rs1. MoveFirst While Not rs1. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs1! itemname Then Text1. Text = Val(rs1! quantity) + Val(Text1. Text) End If rs1. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Command1_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"save. mdb†) Set rs = db.OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select distinct itemname from Table1 â€Å") rs. MoveFirst While Not rs. EOF Combo1. AddItem rs! itemname rs. MoveNext Wend End Sub Purchase Product Coding Dim style As VbMsgBoxStyle Dim result As VbMsgBoxResult Dim db As Database Dim rs As Recordset Dim db1 As Database Dim db4 As Database Dim db2 As Database Dim rs2 As Recordset Dim rs1 As Recordset Dim rs3 As Recordset Dim rs4 As Recordset Dim rs6 As Recordset Private Sub Combo1_Click() Set rs3 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) rs3. MoveFirst While Not rs3. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs3! dealer Then Combo2. AddItem rs3! product ‘Combo3. AddItem rs3! price ‘Combo4. AddItem rs3!Weight End If rs3. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Combo2_Click() Set rs3 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) rs3. MoveFirst While Not rs3. EOF If Combo2. Text = rs3! product Then Combo3. AddItem rs3! price Combo4. AddItem rs3! Weight End If rs3. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Command1_Click() On Error Resume Next rs. AddNew rs! dealername = Combo1. Text rs! itemname = Combo2. Text rs! price = Combo3. Text rs! quantity = Text3. Text rs! amount = Text2. Text rs! date1 = Text1. Text rs! time1 = Text4. Text rs! Weight = Combo4. Text rs. Update result = MsgBox(â€Å"Saved Successfully. â€Å", style, â€Å"Supermarket Billing 1. 0†) Unload Me Load Form7 Form7.Show Form7. Move 0, 0 End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me Load Form7 Form7. Show Form7. Move 0, 0 End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command5_Click() End Sub Private Sub Command6_Click() rs. Delete End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Command1. Enabled = False Text1. Text = Date Set db1 = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"deal1. mdb†) Set rs1 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) Set rs2 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select distinct dealer from Table1 â€Å") Set rs4 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) ‘Set db4 =apppath+ OpenDatabase(â€Å"c:employee ransaction. mdb†) ‘opens record from transaction database Set db2 = OpenDatabase(App.Path + â€Å"save. mdb†) Set rs = db2. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) ‘saves the purchased data to updated data rs2. MoveFirst While Not rs2. EOF Combo1. AddItem rs2! dealer rs2. MoveNext Wend End Sub Private Sub Text1_Change() End Sub Private Sub Text2_Change() Command1. Enab led = True End Sub Private Sub Text3_Change() Text2. Text = Val(Combo3. Text) * Val(Text3. Text) End Sub Private Sub Timer1_Timer() Text4. Text = Time End Sub Add New Product Coding Dim db1 As Database Dim rs1 As Recordset Dim rs2 As Recordset Dim i As Integer Private Sub Command1_Click() rs1! code = Text1. Text rs1! dealer = Combo1. Text rs1! product = Text5.Text rs1! price = Text6. Text rs1! Weight = Text2. Text rs1. Update Command1. Enabled = False Command3. Enabled = True Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text5. Text = â€Å"† Text6. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Combo1. Clear End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() i=i+1 Text1. Text = i rs1. AddNew Text1. Enabled = False Combo1. Enabled = True Text5. Enabled = True Text6. Enabled = True Text2. Enabled = True Command1. Enabled = True End Sub Private Sub Form_Load() Command3. Enabled = True Command1. Enabled = False Text1. Enabled = False ‘saving the current records Set db1 = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"deal1. db†) Set rs1 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) ‘calling the dealer name field from other database Set db = OpenDatabase(App. Path + â€Å"deal. mdb†) Set rs2 = db. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select name from Table1†) rs2. MoveFirst While Not rs2. EOF Combo1. AddItem rs2! Name rs2. MoveNext Wend rs1. MoveLast Text1. Text = rs1! code i = rs1! code End Sub Add a Dealer Coding Dim db1 As Database Dim rs1 As Recordset Dim rs2 As Recordset Dim i As Integer Private Sub Command1_Click() rs1! code = Text1. Text rs1! dealer = Combo1. Text rs1! product = Text5. Text rs1! price = Text6. Text rs1! Weight = Text2. Text rs1. Update Command1. Enabled = False Command3.Enabled = True Text1. Text = â€Å"† Text5. Text = â€Å"† Text6. Text = â€Å"† Text2. Text = â€Å"† Combo1. Clear End Sub Private Sub Command2_Click() Unload Me End Sub Private Sub Command3_Click() i=i+1 Text1. Text = i rs1. AddNew Text1. Enabled = False Combo1. Enabled = True Text5. Enabled = True Text6. Enabled = True Text2. Enabled = True Command1. Enabled = True End Sub View Sold Stock Coding Dim db As Database Dim db1 As Database Dim db2 As Database Dim rs As Recordset Dim rs1 As Recordset Dim rs2 As Recordset Dim rs3 As Recordset Dim rs4 As Recordset Dim style As VbMsgBoxStyle Dim result As VbMsgBoxResult Private Sub Combo1_Click() Set rs1 = db.OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select * from Table1 â€Å") Text2. Text = â€Å"† rs1. MoveFirst While Not rs1. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs1! product Then Text2. Text = Val(rs1! quantity) + Val(Text2. Text) End If rs1. MoveNext Wend Set rs2 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Table1†) Set rs2 = db1. OpenRecordset(â€Å"Select * from Table1 â€Å") Text1. Text = â€Å"† rs2. MoveFirst While Not rs2. EOF If Combo1. Text = rs2! itemname Then Text1. Text = Val(rs2! quantity) + Val(Text1. Text) End If rs2. MoveNext Wend Text3. Text = Val(Text1. Text) â₠¬â€œ Val(Text2. Text) If Val(Text3. Text)

Political Philosophy Essay

Introduction: Abu Nasr Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Tarkhan al-Farabi was born at Wasij, a village near Farab, a district of Transoxania. He was one of the greatest philosophers that the Muslim world had ever produced. He mainly studied in Baghdad and after gaining considerable proficiency in the Arabic language, he became an ardent pupil of the Christian savant Abu Bishr Matta bin Younus, quite prominent as translator of a number of works by Aristotle and other Greek versatile writers. Being a first Turkish philosopher, he left behind lasting and profound influence upon the life of succeeding Muslim Philosophers. Being a great expositor of Aristotle’s logic, he was aptly called al-mu’alim al thani (the second teacher). According to Ibn-e-Khaldoon, no Muslim thinker ever reached the same position as al-Farabi in Philosophical knowledge. Al-Farabi is the first Muslim philosopher to have left political writings, either in the form of commentaries or in treaties of his own based upon Plato. Al-Farabi’s works was preserved from ravages of time contain five on politics as under: 1. A Summary of Plato’s Laws 2. Siyasatu’l-Madaniyah 3. Ara’u ahli’l-Madinatu’l-Fadilah. 4. Jawami’u’s-Siyasat 5. Ijtima’atu’l-Madaniyah Contribution of Al-Farabi to Islamic Political Thought â€Å"In pure philosophy, Farabi became as famous as any philosopher of Islam, and it is said that a savant of caliber of Avicenna found himself entirely incapable of understanding the true bearing of Aristotle’s Metaphysics until one day he casually purchased one of Farabi’s works and by its help he was able to grasp their purport. †Ã‚  (Sherwani) Al-Farabi was a renowned philosopher of his age and deeply reverenced in all ages. Al-Farabi’s insatiated enthusiasm led him to study Philosophy, Logic, Politics, Mathematics and Physics. He left his indelible impact upon the succeeding generations through his works, which are still read, learnt and discussed with great passion and literal zest. His sincerity, profound moral convictions and his genuine belief in liberty and in the dignity of human being united with his moderation and humanitarianism made him the ideal spokesman of his age, which was full of rivalries, corrosions and false vanities. Sherwani was of the view,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A man with such learning had no place in the ninth-century Baghdad and as we have pointed out, we find him regularly attached to Saif-ud-Dowlah’s court. In 946 Saif took Damascus and Al-Farabi became permanent resident of that delightful place, spending his time in the gardens of the erstwhile Umayyad capital discussing philosophical questions with his friends and writing down his opinions and compositions sometimes in a regular form, sometimes in an irregular form, sometimes, on merely loose leaves. †Ã‚  Al-Farabi renunciated from the worldly matters and he never pursued the pleasures and luxuries like other middle class Abbasids. He led exemplary simple life with full contentment with what he got to eat and to wear. It can be very well asserted that al-Farabi was in the truest sense â€Å"the parent of all subsequent Arabic Philosophers†. The great Christian scholars namely Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquines acknowledged their indebtedness to al-Farabi in the development of their own political theories. Al-Farabi laid down several rules for teachers honestly striving to train the young students in philosophy. No scholar should start the study of philosophy until he gets very well acquainted with natural sciences. Human nature rises only gradually from the sensuous to the abstract, from the imperfect to the perfect. Mathematics in particular is very important in training the mind of a young philosopher, it helps him pass from the sensuous to the intelligible and further it informs his mind with exact demonstrations. Similarly, the study of logic as an instrument to distinguish the true from the false should precede the study of philosophy proper. Al-Farabi voluminously wrote mainly on pure philosophy and there is no doubt that he had to draw on neo-Platonic ideas current in the Arab world of those days in his commentaries on Aristotle, Porphyry and Ptolemy. Sherwani says that  we might accept the proposition that he was inspired by Plato, in this setting up of the Ideal City, but as there is a mass of new material in his political writings not found in Plato and taken from local sources, it is a matter of importance that such material should be analyzed and Farabi be given his rightful place on the scene of political philosophy. Al-Farabi died at the ripe age of nearly eighty years in 950. His name and works are everlasting and echoed in the corridors of time. Al-Farabi’s Ideal Head of State Every Islamic state is ruled by the ruler, or as later European Political scientists would call him the Sovereign. Plato after developing the matter of the government of his ideal city in his Republic had made the omnipotent and omniscient philosopher sovereign who should have no other interest but that of the affairs of state. Al-Farabi starts from the nature of the workers of leadership and impresses his readers that what is wanted for the office is the power of making proper deductions. According to Al-Farabi, his Rais should be such superior man, who, by his very nature and upbringing, does not submit before any power or instructions of others. He must have the potentialities to convey his sense to others for complete submission. Rosenthal was of the view, â€Å"He is the Imam, the first ruler over the ideal city-state, over the ideal nation and over the whole inhabited earth. The philosopher-prophet, in the opinion of Al-Farabi, is alone qualified to help man, a citizen to reach his true human destiny, where his moral and intellectual perfection permit him to perceive God, under the guidance of the divinely revealed Shariat. Those ruled by the first ruler are the excellent, best and happy citizens. † Al-Farabi contemplatively points out the virtuous qualities of his ideal Head of State, who should be competent to control the actions of all in the State and must be in possession of latest intellect as well as the gained intellect. All such refined and high qualities including his political and literal caliber make him an Ideal Sovereign for the overall interest of the society and the nation. He enumerated tweleve attributes of an ideal Sovereign: 1. He must possess persuasion and imagination to attain perfection as well as a philosopher skilled in the speculative science. 2. He must be physically sound with meticulous understanding. 3. He must have visualization of all that is said. 4. He must have a retentive and sharp memory. 5. He should discuss the matters with least possible arguments and must have authority to get the work done. 6. He must have power to convey to others exactly according to his wish and he has profound love of learning and knowledge. 7. He must have perfect capacity for a comprehensive knowledge and prescription of the theoretical and practical sciences and art, as well as for the virtues leading to good deeds. 8. He must shun off playfulness and control over anger and passions. 9. Al-Farabi’s ideal Rais must have love of truth, persuasion of justice and hatred of hypocrisy, knavery and duplicity. 10. He must vie for utmost happiness to his subjects and he should do away with all forces of tyranny and oppressions. 11. He must have power to distribute justice without any effort, fearless in doing things as he thinks best to be done. 12. He must serve the people of his state from all internal and external dangers. He must be in possession of considerable wealth, so that he should not prone to greed and lust. Al-Farabi fully realizes that these fine qualities cannot be found in one single human being, so he says that one without just five or six of these qualities would make a fairly good leader. If however, even five or six of them are not found in a person, he would have one who has been brought up under a leader with these qualities, and would thus seen to prefer some kind of hereditary leadership, with the important condition that the heir should follow the footsteps of his worthy predecessor. In case even such a person is not available, it is preferable to have a council of two or even five members possessing an aggregate of these qualities provided at least one of them is a Hakim, i-e one who is able to know the wants of the people and visualize the needs of the state as a whole. This Hakim is to Farabi a desideratum of every kind of government, and if such a one is not procurable then the State is bound to be shattered to atoms. Kinds of State Al-Farabi describes the varieties of the states other than the Ideal States and the remarkable contribution of this philosopher are very much alive and given serious considerations even today. Al-Farabi divides states into following categories: 1. State of Necessity (Daruriya): Its inhabitants aim, at the necessities of the life, like food, drink, clothing, a place to live and carnal gratification and they generally help each other in securing these necessities of life. 2. Vile State (Nadhala): Its citizens strive for wealth and riches for their own sake. The account in the Siyasa includes a description of its ruler. Ibn-e-Rushd also succinctly touches upon this state. 3. Base and Despicable State: Its inhabitants concentrate on the pleasures of the senses, games and other pastimes. This state is the one in which men help one another to enjoy sensual pleasure such as games, jokes and pleasantries and this is the enjoyment of the pleasures of eating and merry-making. This state is the happy and fortunate state with the people of ignorance, for this state only aims at attaining pleasure after obtaining first the necessities of life and then abundant wealth to spend. 4. Timocracy (Madina Karama): It contains a variety of honours. Since the Arabic source of Al-farabi is lost in the wealth of legend, we are unable to determine whether this lengthy and diffuse description goes back to it or represents Al-Farabi’s own amplification. The latter seems to be more correct. The citizens of these honor-loving states assist each other in gaining glory, fame and honor. The honors fall into two groups. The first is a personal relationship between one who is worthy to be honored because of some virtue in him, and the others who accord him honor and respect because they recognize him as their superior. The second kind of honor is accorded to men because of their wealth, or because of they have been victorious, exercise authority or enjoy other distinctions. This state in the opinion of Al-Farabi is the best of all the states. 5. Tyranny (Taghallub): It receives from the aim of its citizens; they co-operate to give victory over others, but refuse to be vanquished by them. Al-Farabi sets out to distinguish between despotic states and define tyranny or despotism according to aim, mastery over others and over their possessions for power’s sake, within or externally, by force and conquest or by persuasion and achieving enslavement. His despotic rule is a mixed one and thus often resembles timocracy or plutocracy. Ibn-e-Rushd avoids this by following Plato’s description of tyranny and the tyrannical man, and the transition from democracy to tyranny and of the democratic to the tyrannical man but done to their common source both Al-Farabi and Ibn-e-Rushd similarly define tyranny as absolute power. Rosenthal  was of the view,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Tyranny has even more variations for Al-Farabi than timocracy; as many as the tyrant has desires, for this despotism expresses itself in imposing his will on his subjects and making them work for his personal ends. Al-Farabi knows of two kinds of tyranny within which these variations occur, internal and external tyranny. The first consists in the absolute mastery of the tyrant and his helpers over the citizens of the state, and the second is the enslavement of another state or people. † 6. Democracy (Madina Jama’iya): It is marked by the freedom of its inhabitants to do as they wish. They are all equal and no body has master over another. Their governors only govern with the explicit consent of the governed. Democracy contains good and bad features and it is therefore not impossible that at some time the most excellent men grow up there, so that philosophers, orators and poets come into being. It is thus possible to choose from its elements of the ideal state. Apart from the afore-mentioned classification of the states, which seems to be idealistic, Al-Farabi has a definite place for the trait of political character over other nations. He initiates reasons for this mastery and says that it is sought by a people owing to its desire for protection, ease ort luxury and all that leads to the satisfactions of these necessities. In this powerful state, they might be able to get all the desire. There is nothing against human nature for the strong to over power the weak, so nations which try to get other nations under their control consider it quite proper to do so, and it is justice both to control the weak and for the weak to be so controlled, and the subdued nation should do it for the good of its masters. There is no doubt that all the lapse of centuries and the international ideology which is the current coin in politics, the psychology of the nations today is much the same as described by the Master centuries ago. Al-Farabi  said,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"But the more chivalrous among them are such that even when they have to shed human blood they do so only face to face, not while their opponent is asleep or showing his back, nor do they take away his property except after giving him proper warning of their intentions. Such a community does not rest till it thinks it has become supreme forever, nor does it give any other nation an opportunity of over powering it, always regarding all other peoples their opponents and enemies and keeping itself on Guard. † Colonies: Al-Farabi is comprehensively clear about the principles of colonization. He opines that the inhabitants of a State must scatter hither and thither in different parts of a State because they have been overpowered by an enemy or by an epidemic or through economic necessity. There are only alternatives to the colonists, either to migrate I such a way as to form one single commonwealth or divide themselves in different political societies. It may come to compass that a large body of these people are of opinion that it is not necessary to change the laws which they have brought from their mother country; they would then simply codify existing laws and begin to live under them. It will thus be clear to understand that A-Farabi not only contemplates colonization but also self-Government of a republican kind which is closer to the modern conceptions.

Learning Has No Age Bar

Each and every human is born with a right to be educated irrespective of his or her age. study is a thing which can be done without no age limit independently. for example children have the right to go to school and there is another programme for adults to recieve education, ie adult education. being free and educated is no bad. so acknowledge the locals to encourage their children to go to school and any illeterate adult to receieve proper education so that we can advance to a better economy. In todays competitive world education has become very important for all human beings. Everyone wants to get educated at the best level. Age is no bar for study because learning has no age limets. You keep learning things from the time you are born. First you learn walking, then speaking and then writing. The phases of life include learning at every stage. The myth that only children can study is not true. People can get educated at any age. It is not only education people can learn anything at any age. So people should change their point of view and encourage people who want to learn . | | with a right to be educated irrespective of his or her age. study is a thing which can be done without no age limit independently. or example children have the right to go to school and there is another programme for adults to recieve education, ie adult education. being free and educated is no bad. so acknowledge the locals to encourage their children to go to school and any illeterate adult to receieve proper education so that we can advance to a better economy. long experience. It is not attained at any specific age or time. Age is no barrier for learning. People learn through experiences, not by simply reading and writing. Knowledge is not what we prosper through reading. It is what we learn from every single day-to-day experience. We now know about the force of gravitation because we have read about it. But what about Issac Newton? He never invented this law by studying about gravity through sources like books. He got to know about it only when he saw an apple falling down from a tree. And he wasn ‘t in school when he observed this, was he? So through this example, it is obvious that the more we know, the more we grow LEARNING HAS NO AGE BAR Have you ever heard someone say, â€Å"I’m too old to learn†? Did you believe them? I hope not. There are many people in their 50’s and 60’s going back to college to earn their degree. At that point in their life they are probably doing it because it is something they want to accomplish. The likelihood of improved earning power is no longer the motivating factor. Computers are now such a part of our lives. Do you know anyone who is very uncomfortable around computers? Chances are it is an older person. Younger people have grown up with computers and are very knowledgeable of them. Share your knowledge with them. Even if you only have basic knowledge, share it. They will think you are a genius. Teach them to e-mail. Teach them the basics of MS Word. Teach them to surf the web. What a wealth of knowledge is available online. Teach them to find it. It will enrich their lives. I recently began an online business. I spent months researching businesses and ended up joining this opportunity. It required very little investment, which suited my budget. A fully set-up website was included. Now I had so much information at my fingertips. I was overwhelmed! I couldn’t concentrate on one thing. There were so many things to investigate. Fortunately, as a member of this organization, I had access to an excellent Forum. People are so helpful. You get answers and encouragement. The downside of this is that I then felt pulled in many more directions. I was learning a lot, but not making much progress. Then a gentleman posted a thread on the forum. As I said earlier, share your knowledge with others. He is very successful. He offered to help any members who felt like they needed help. I was amazed! This man could sit back and do nothing and still make good money. Here he was, offering to help a newbie. He is sharing his knowledge and I am working hard to learn everything that he says I should learn. A couple of weeks ago â€Å"HTML† didn’t mean much to me. Now (after studying) I can go in my website and make changes. WOW! I never thought I would ever be able to do that. My confidence is growing and I know I will succeed. Thank you! Again I ask, as I did at the beginning, are you ever too old to learn. In a few weeks I turn sixty. I have learned a lot in the last few months. My brain seems to work even when I am asleep. The other night I could not fix a problem on my website. I finally gave up and went to bed. When I woke in the morning, I had the answer. I do not care what age you are: EXPAND YOUR MIND. FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, GO AFTER THE IMPOSSIBLE! You won’t be sorry. You will grow, even if you don’t succeed in a particular endeavor. You will try again and you will make it. THEY are the sunset students. Hair turning grey, they have fulfilled all but one commitment in life: that of higher education. In pursuit of which, they have wielded the pen and are ready to fight the rigours of examinations. I don’t remember who said this,but it was some Chinese author. Even at the age of 90+,he was constantly reading and experimenting. once,he went to university and asked for a degree course in law. Amazed and amused,the dean said,will you be able to complete your 3 years session? In reply,the author snapped back: â€Å"Can you take your guaranty that you will live till tomorrow? If not,then how can you say that I wont be able to finish my studies? I don’t know about my next breath,but my brain is still very young,and I can assure you that I will score high enough with distinction† Young age of ladies is lost in childbearing and taking care of them and inlaws. Middle age is facing many problems of menopause,bones,etc. etc. It is this old age,say above 55,that you have settled in your life. Why not learn something new? or something we were longing for since our young age? Yes it is true that,physical abilities are limited,you don’t have that much of energy and stamina,but the whole thing is to gather your will power and start again. And my dearies,I cannot agree that any one of you is without any talent! This is a mere excuse. Each one of us is born with some or other talent. If you haven’t explored it,do it right now. tickle your grey cells,think again and again,What was your hobby? What cheers up you most? Do you love to be with flowers? Think and think and think! You will get an answer. Now just gather your will power,make it strong and take an oath! i will do it. i will learn it!

The Social Environment and Health Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Social Environment and Health - Assignment Example On the other hand aging and obesity are biological factors. As Hillier and Barrow (2014) state, hypertension exists in about 31% of individuals above the age of 65 and only in 22% of those between 45 and 64 years. Chen, Lo, Chang, and Kuo (2014) note that obesity indices are substantially associated with the risk of hypertension across age and gender. Approaches geared towards enhancing health when biological and social factors are considered differ. If considering the physical fitness, it is easier to undertake physical exercises that will lead to improved health. In the case of dieting, it requires the intervention of a nutritionist who advises on what foods to and not to take. Also, the results of dieting may not be physically observable as those of physical exercise. For example, reducing dietary sodium salt intake to the recommended standard of around a 1,500 mg a day (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2014), it is not physically expressed. Chen, S. C., Lo, T. C., Chang, J. H., & Kuo, H. W. (2014). Variations in Aging, Gender, Menopause, and Obesity and Their Effects on Hypertension in Taiwan. International Journal of Hypertension, 2014,

Partnership Agreement Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Partnership Agreement - Case Study Example Except as Otherwise determined, all decisions shall be made by the partners whose capital accounts total a majority of the value of the capital accounts of all the partners 11. Bank Account. The partnership may select a bank for the purpose of opening a bank account. Funds in the bank account shall be withdrawn by checks signed by any partner designated by the partnership. 14. Transfers to a Trust. A partner may, after giving written notice to the other partners, transfer his/her interest in the partnership to a revocable living trust of which he/she is the grantor and sole trustee. 17. Voluntary Withdrawal (Partial or Full) of a Partner. Any partner may withdraw apart or all of the value of his/her capital account in the partnership and the partnership shall continue as a taxable entity. The partner withdrawing a portion or all of the value of his/her capital account shall give notice of such intention in writing to the Recording Partner. Written notice shall be deemed to be received as of the first meeting of the partnership at which it is presented. if written notice is received between meetings it will be treated as received at the first following meeting. In making payment, the value of the partnership as set forth in the valuation statement prepared for the first meeting following the meeting at which written notice is received from a partner requesting a partial or full

Compare and contrast The Andy Griffith Show and I Love Lucy Essay

Compare and contrast The Andy Griffith Show and I Love Lucy - Essay Example There are no crimes for Andy to solve, and most of his work involves mediating, philosophizing and calming his cousin Deputy Barney. On the other hand, I love Lucy is the daily life story of a couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The two are married and bring out the contradiction in intercultural marriages that were quite strange at the time of this show. Lucy is an American woman whereas Ricky is a Cuban man. Lucy is a housewife and undergoes many funny and weird occurrences in her life. She makes many mistakes and Ricky is always excited when this happens as he gets a chance to correct her. The couple lives a real married life that also involves sensational moments aside from the funny occurrences that occur often. The couple lives in a simple home in a neighborhood that is filled with friendly people in terms of neighbors. The pace of the I Love Lucy show is fast and jovial, with neighbors moving from door to door without having to knock. The environment they live in and the lives they live allow them to interact freely and with ease. The pace of the show is lively through the musical performances by Ricky Ricardo. Lucy attempts to join some of these dances so as to enjoy them with her husband. This rather quick pace contradicts that of the Andy Griffith Show. This show is characterized by a slow pace that can be described as sleepy. This pace is because the life of Andy is not marked by crimes and subsequent investigations that make up the ordinary life of a Sheriff. He spends his time meditating and talking to his cousin Barney. He also solves problems with neighbors and gains a lot of popularity in the neighborhood. The setting of the I Love Lucy show is in the 1950s. It depicts a good environment in a black and white show. This film is set in an American environment that still finds it strange to have Americans married to non-Americans. Lucy’s husband is a Cuban, and couple shows the possibility

Bessie Smith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bessie Smith - Essay Example Bessie Smith’s inherent passion for music was discovered fortunately at a very young age as she and her brother took to the streets of their local neighbourhoods in Chattanoonga, as they sang and danced in order to earn money for their meals. However, her brother soon left her to join a professional troupe and she was left behind due to being very young. Soon enough, her brother arranged for a meeting and interview for Bessie for the Stokes Troupe and she was hired as a dancer but not as a singer, thus her true potential had yet not been realised. In 1915, the singer left and became a part of the Theater Owners Bookers Association, an African American performance group and this became the milestone in her career. The group helped her to gain popularity all over and become a recognised singer. Following this, offers began coming in for Bessie to be part of musicals and one of her firsts, titled ‘How Come?’ made its way to Broadway as well. Here, Bessie co starred w ith Sidney Bechet. Looking at her success and getting motivated by the same, Smith moved on to working in theatre, mostly Black theatres as they accepted her better, and in 1923 she landed with her first recording contract. Soon enough, Bessie became one of the highest paid black women in her field however, the money did not make much difference to her life then and she realised she wanted to sing all her life. Smith’s voice, mellifluous and harmonious, was something she was able to practice and develop on her own. She did not receive any formal training from anywhere, and with the practice she had had since her early years, she dedicated and devoted more time to get even better than what she was and all that she had achieved. Bessie’s mentor, during her years with the Stokes Troupe was Ma Rainey, and she learned a lot during her time there even though it was not a platform for her to better her vocal power and skills. Nonetheless, under Ma Rainey, she was able to lear n and understand what stage presence meant and how she could make herself better in front of the general public. During the time that Bessie was trying to establish herself, the environment for black people was not very conducive. Apartheid reigned badly all around and the opportunities for blacks were very limited, especially in off the hook fields like music. She first got a chance to sing with Okeh Records as they signed her alongside Mamie Smith. Being a woman, Bessie knew she had to really give in her best and fight for her rights in order to get her music heard across to people and have them accept her first as a musician and then as an identity and part of her race. Columbia Records thus, was impressed by her because of her work with Okeh Records, and soon signed her as a part of ‘race records’ series with her record named ‘Cemetery Blues’ which was the first to be released in 1923. Paramount Label had helped Bessie’s first hit titled ‘G ulf Coast Blues’ coupled with ‘Downhearted Blues’ to become an even bigger hit than what it was at the time of release. Bessie began to tour following this success as well as prepared and trained for theatre productions and musicals. She was given titles such as ‘

10 page Term Paper of an amendment to the United States Constitution

10 page of an amendment to the United States Constitution - Term Paper Example The legislative branch (Congress) which has the powers to make laws, the executive branch (which is represented by president, as well as his advisors,) of which has the power to apply the laws, and lastly the judiciary branch (i.e. the supreme as well as other federal courts) which has the power to reverse or dismiss laws that it decides are unconstitutional. Immediately after America won independence from Great Britain with its victory in 1783, during the American Revolution, it became evident that the newly formed nation was in need of a strong central government to remain stable. In 1786, a lawyer as well as a politician from New York by the names of Alexander Hamilton called for a discussion on the matter of a constitutional convention. In February 1787, the legislative body of the confederation supported the idea and invited all the 13 states to have their delegates meet in Philadelphia (A&E, 2014, 1). However, after the creation of the new constitution, it remained vague because that was the main intention of the constitution, so that with time the constitution would grow which in turn would solve many of United States’ current problems that the forefathers could not predict. The constitution’s first ten amendments are collectively referred to as the Bill of rights. The bill of rights ranks alongside the declaration of Independence as well as the constitution as one of America’s most treasured documents. The bill of rights was projected in order to appease the fears of the anti-federalists who opposed the constitutional approval. The bill of rights was fashioned exclusively to guarantee the individual rights and freedoms of citizens under the constitution of which included the first 10 amendments. The bill of rights was also reserved for definite powers to the states and the public, and limited the governments authority in judicial and other proceedings (Carey, 2003, 1). In addition, while the amendments were only initially

Essay question Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Question - Essay Example iThe argument is however based on the fact that neoclassical economists claims or rather emphasize smith’s â€Å"invisible hand† while classical economists on the other hand think that smith clearly stipulates his programme for promoting the â€Å"Wealth of Nations† in the first sentence of his work. Smith uses the phrase â€Å"the invisible hand† in both theories under different context and each having a different meaning. Therefore, different interpretations of the phrase can be regarded as the source of conflicting ideas between classical and neoclassical economists. Moreover, various economists have advance theories that are in line with smith’s theory of wealth of a nation or contradicting theories thus economic policies are more of a battle field between neoclassical economists and classical economist who concurred with smith’s theory of an inquiry into the nature and the cause of wealth of a nation. Adam Smith’s work, â€Å"Wealth of Nations† is regarded as the perfecto of the theory of moral sentiments since it targets the problems of how people express their self-interests and their morality. He argued that a pin factory that employs division of labor is likely to produce thousands of pins more than a pin factory that each individual worker attempts to produce his or her own pin. Therefore he advocated for specialization and division of labor in production for efficiency. Adam Smith also emphasized on the importance of flexibility during transition from one phase of life to the other by developing institutions that are fit for that phase; and this therefore illustrates self-interest and morality in the society. Smith described people’s economic behavior as individuals who are guided by an â€Å"invisible hand†. He argued that production of high priced products in relation to production cost would induce individual production of this product

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boys coming of age in the Missouri of the mid-1800s. The main character, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. Before he does so, however, Huck spends some time in the fictional town of St. Petersburg where a number of people attempt to influence him. Before the novel begins, Huck Finn has led a life of absolute freedom. His drunken and often missing father has never paid much attention to him; his mother is dead and so, when the novel begins, Huck is not used to following any rules. The books opening finds Huck living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Both women are fairly old and are really somewhat incapable of raising a rebellious boy like Huck Finn. Nevertheless, they attempt to make Huck into what they believe will be a better boy. Specifically, they attempt, as Huck says, to sivilize him. This process includes making Huck go to school, teaching him various religious facts, and making him act in a way that the women find socially acceptable. Huck, who has never had to follow many rules in his life, finds the demands the women place upon him constraining and the life with them lonely. As a result, soon after he first moves in with them, he runs away. He soon comes back, but, even though he becomes somewhat comfortable with his new life as the months go by, Huck never really enjoys the life of manners, religion, and education that the Widow and her sister impose upon him. Huck believes he will find some freedom with Tom Sawyer. Tom is a boy of Hucks age who promises Huck and other boys of the town a life of adventure. Huck is eager to join Tom Sawyers Gang because he feels that doing so will allow him to escape the somewhat boring life he leads with the Widow Douglas. Unfortunately, such an escape does not occur. Tom Sawyer promises muchrobbing stages, murdering and ransoming people, kidnaping beautiful women- -but none of this comes to pass. Huck finds out too late that Toms adventures are imaginary: that raiding a caravan of A-rabs. really means terrorizing young children on a Sunday school picnic, that stolen joolry is nothing more than turnips or rocks. Huck is disappointed that the adventures Tom promises are not real and so, along with the other members, he resigns from the gang. Another person who tries to get Huckleberry Finn to change is Pap, Hucks father. Pap is one of the most astonishing figures in all of American literature as he is completely antisocial and wishes to undo all of the civilizing effects that the Widow and Miss Watson have attempted to instill in Huck. Pap is a mess: he is unshaven; his hair is uncut and hangs like vines in front of his face; his skin, Huck says, is white like a fishs belly or like a tree toads. Paps savage appearance reflects his feelings as he demands that Huck quit school, stop reading, and avoid church. Huck is able to stay away from Pap for a while, but Pap kidnaps Huck three or four months after Huck starts to live with the Widow and takes him to a lonely cabin deep in the Missouri woods. Here, Huck enjoys, once again, the freedom that he had prior to the beginning of the book. He can smoke, laze around, swear, and, in general, do what he wants to do. However, as he did with the Widow and with Tom, Huck begins to become dissatisfied with this life. Pap is too handy with the hickory and Huck soon realizes that he will have to escape from the cabin if he wishes to remain alive. As a result of his concern, Huck makes it appear as if he is killed in the cabin while Pap is away, and leaves to go to a remote island in the Mississippi River, Jacksons Island. It is after he leaves his fathers cabin that Huck joins yet another important influence in his life: Miss Watsons slave, Jim. Prior to Hucks leaving, Jim has been a minor character in the novelhe has been shown being fooled by Tom Sawyer and telling Hucks fortune. Huck finds Jim on Jacksons Island because the slave has run awayhe has overheard a conversation that he will soon be sold to New Orleans. Soon after joining Jim on Jacksons Island, Huck begins to realize that Jim has more talents and intelligence than Huck has been aware of. Jim knows all kinds of signs about the future, peoples personalities, and weather forecasting. Huck finds this kind of information necessary as he and Jim drift down the Mississippi on a raft. As important, Huck feels a comfort with Jim that he has not felt with the other major characters in the novel. With Jim, Huck can enjoy the best aspects of his earlier influences. As does the Widow, Jim allows Huck security, but Jim is not as confining as is the Widow. Like Tom Sawyer, Jim is intelligent but his intelligence is not as intimidating or as imaginary as is Toms. As does Pap, Jim allows Huck freedom, but he does it in a loving, rather than an uncaring, fashion. Thus, early, in their relationship on Jacksons Island, Huck says to Jim, This is nice. I wouldnt want to be nowhere else but here. This feeling is in marked contrast with Hucks feelings concerning other people in the early part of the novel where he always is uncomfortable and wishes to leave them. At the conclusion of chapter 11 in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim are forced to leave Jacksons Island because Huck discovers that people are looking for the runaway slave. Prior to leaving, Huck tells Jim, Theyre after us. Clearly, the people are after Jim, but Huck has already identified with Jim and has begun to care for him. This stated empathy shows that the two outcasts will have a successful and rewarding friendship as they drift down the river as the novel continues.

Unitary PLC, Rack-Mounted PLC and Modular PLC

Unitary PLC, Rack-Mounted PLC and Modular PLC Overview Before PLCs were created many industries such as the automobile industry used hundreds of thousands of relays to control their processes. This was very time consuming and expensive, sometimes resulting in a two year change around between different products because electricians would have had to individually rewire every relay to change a production system for a different line of cars etc. Programmable Logic Controllers or PLCs were first designed in 1968 when General Motors decided that a replacement for this type of process was needed. PLCs are designed for multiple inputs and outputs. A PLC is essentially a small computer which is used for mainly industrial purposes but also has other uses. Industrial uses could be: Packaging lines Robots Hydraulic machines Pneumatic machines Other uses could be; Traffic lights Car parking barriers Signalling systems PLC Units There are three types of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). They are Unitary, Modular and Rack mounted. All three types have different features both good and bad which make each type suitable for many different applications. Unitary PLC Design and characteristics A Unitary PLC contains all the features of a basic system in one compact unit, the features include; A power supply. The main module which contains a central processing unit (CPU). The input module. The output module. Unitary PLCs are fitted directly to the component or machine that they are controlling. The advantages of a unitary PLC: They are small and compact. They hold all the basic components in one unit. They allow portable and easy access. They are usually the cheapest type of PLC. The disadvantages of a unitary PLC: They cannot be expanded. If any feature fails then the whole unit has to be replaced. They are very simple and basic. Applications Unitary PLCs can be used for any application that does not require a lot of inputs or outputs. For example a car park barrier, this would not use many inputs/ outputs and would only require a simple program. Modular PLC Design and Characteristics Modular PLCs are a system of modules that can be slotted together to build up a system. The basic modules contain; A power supply. The main module which contains a central processing unit (CPU). The input module. The output module. Other types of module can be attached as well as extra input and output modules to increase the capacity or to cope with changes in hardware system. The advantages of a modular PLC: The amount of input and output terminals can be expanded to cope with any changes to the hardware system. If any feature fails then only that part has to be changed saving on cost. The disadvantages of a modular PLC: They are expensive compared to unitary PLCs. Applications Modular PLCs are useful for applications where there would be a lot of inputs and outputs because more input/output modules can be added if needed. This type of PLC is widely used in the manufacturing industry to control process lines. Rack-Mounted PLC Design and Characteristics The design and characteristics of a rack mounted system are very similar to a modular system however these modules are on standard cards which then slot together into a rack inside a control cabinet. These modules communicate via the rack. The advantages of a rack-mounted PLC: They are easily modified or expanded. They have more I/O points than any other type of PLC. If any feature fails then only that part has to be changed saving on cost. The disadvantages of a rack-mounted PLC: They are usually the most expensive of the three PLCs Applications Like the modular PLC this type of system is widely used in the manufacturing industry. This is mainly because of the amount of input/output points that the system can contain but also because it has the ability to communicate with other networks. Internal Workings of a PLC CPU The CPU- Central Processing Unit acts as the brain of the PLC. It contains a memory unit into which the PLC program is written into. It is basically used to process the information it receives from inputs and carries out instructions to the outputs according to the logic programmed into it. This process is called the scan cycle and it occurs every 5ms. The scan cycle is shown below. (Ref 2) When a program is written on a programming device such as a laptop it is uploaded to the CPU, once it has been uploaded it is then written into the CPUs memory. The programming device can then be disconnected without losing any data from the PLC because the program is now saved into the memory of the CPU. Only the unitary PLC has a CPU built into it, on the modular and rack-mounted PLCs the CPU comes as a separate module. On modular PLCs the CPU would be the first module whereas on rack-mounted PLCs the CPU is governed by the amount of inputs and outputs that are being used. Input and Output Devices In PLCs data is collected from inputs which are connected to the input modules and sent to the CPU, this data is then executed within the program logic and then sent to the output devices via the output modules to perform a specific task. The inputs and outputs are assigned a reference point in the PLC so that they are easily recognisable when programming. An input device is any peripheral piece of hardware that is used to send data information and control signals to any information processing system, in this case the PLC. In terms of PLCs there are two different types of inputs, analogue and digital. An example of an analogue input would be a sensor or transmitter and an example of a digital input would be a switch, push button etc. Inductive proximity sensor An inductive proximity sensor will detect metal surfaces or devices without coming into contact with them. The sensor face is made up of windings from the oscillator. These form an alternating magnetic field around the sensor face called an inductance loop. The inductance of a loop will change if a metal is placed inside it because metals are much more effective inductors than other types of material. Once the inductance loop is altered the change is detected by sensing circuitry which then signals to another device such as a PLC. Capacitive sensor A capacitive sensor will detect any surface or device without coming into contact with it. A capacitive sensor uses an alternating voltage which in turn causes the positions of the charges to continually reverse. This then creates an alternating electric current which is detected by the sensor face. The sensor face is made up of capacitors from the oscillator. The amount of current flow is determined by the capacitance, and the capacitance is determined by the area and proximity of the conductive objects. Therefore the larger and closer the object then the greater the current will be and vice versa. Photo Electric Sensor A photoelectric sensor uses light to operate. When a preset level of light is picked up by the sensor the sensor switches. This type of sensor is used to detect moving objects, for example bottles on a conveyor are detected due to the bottles breaking the line of light. Once the line has been broken the switch signal is fed into the electrical control circuit which provides a corrective action. There are three types of photo electric sensor. These are Reflective, retro-reflective and separate type. Optical Reflective Sensor The light is reflected off the surface of the bottle back to the receiver. Optical Retro-reflective Sensor The light is transmitted and reflects off a reflective surface back to the receiver. Optical Separate Sensor Outputs An output device is basically any device that is controlled via the output module of a PLC. In terms of PLCs there are two different types of outputs, analogue and digital. Analogue devices are devices that the output can be varied. Digital outputs are used to control two state devices, this means that they are either on or off. An example of an analogue output would be motor speed; valve position etc and an example of a digital output would be a relay, solenoid valve etc. Indicators Indicator light The simplest of the PLC outputs, the indicator light simply shows that a certain function has worked correctly, for example if a machine was in run mode then a green indicator light could also be activated to notify operators etc that the machine is running. Indicator buzzer Acts in the same principle as the light but uses sound; it is more effective at alerting someone to a problem especially if that person does not have a line of sight of the machine. For example if there was an error that has caused a machine to stop then the buzzer would sound. Solenoid valve A solenoid valve can be operated electrically and pneumatically. In the case of a normally open 3/2 valve it uses one of these to switch it from off to on. Solenoids are named after the amount of states or ports they have and also what function they do. For example a 3/2 spring return solenoid has 3 ports, 2 states and once it has been deactivated it returns back to its natural position via a spring. The 3/2 valve below is shown in two stages. Stage 1 is where the valve is in its natural state where air is flowing from P (the air supply) to b (the exhaust). Whereas in stage 2 the valve is activated allowing air to flow from P to a where the air is sent to another device for example a cylinder. Stage 1 (Ref 1) Stage 2 (Ref 2) Signalling Signalling refers to the use of signals for controlling communications. Signals can be either digital or analogue. With digital signals the signal is logic therefore it is either a 1 (True) or a 0 (False). With analogue signals the entity is continuous where the signal is constantly varying based on real time. For example the amount of light a sensor receives is an analogue signal because it can be any value within the range that the sensor can pick up. (Ref 1) In some systems both digital and analogue signalling is needed. For example a house phone shares the same network connection as a pc. In this case a device called a modem is used to convert the signal between the two. (Ref 2)http://geekrich.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/home-network-diagram.gif Networks A PLC must communicate with other devices in order to operate. These devices are connected to the PLC via a network. There are many different types of network such as: Bus Network A bus network is a long cable acting as a backbone which links devices together, the backbone has nodes connected to it via a single line. The signal travels in both directions until they are terminated at either end. The amount of nodes that can be attached however is limited to the strength of the signal. http://www.olson-technology.com/mr_fiber/images/bus_network.gif (Ref 1) LAN- Local Area Network A LAN network is used to connect different hosts in a small area such as an office or a small building. Data is sent in the form of a data packet which includes the address of both the sender and the destination. http://berbagisolusi.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/lanwan11.gif (Ref 1) Programming There are three main types of programming that are used in PLCs. These are; Ladder logic Structured text Functional block Ladder logic Ladder logic is one of the most common styles of PLC programming and it is used in most manufacturing companies. It is called ladder logic simply because the style resembles a ladder as shown below where the two vertical rails are connected by a rung. Rung Rails (Ref 1) It is popular because of its similarity to relay logic which in turn allows most program designers to easily grasp the concept. Ladder logic is written using logic symbols which are shown below and is read from left to right. Ladder logic symbols (Ref 1) Normally open Normally closed Normally open immediate Normally closed immediate NOT Positive transition Negative transition Output Output immediate Set Set immediate Reset Reset immediate Set-dominate bistable Reset-dominate bistable No operation Example of Ladder logic Below is a simple circuit designed to mimic a drilling process where 3 cylinders are used to drill a part. Cylinder a when extended places a part below cylinder b, whilst cylinder c is already extended holding the part securely in place and also preventing the part from falling through the gap below cylinder b. Cylinder b then comes down, drills the part, goes back up and cylinder c retracts allowing the part to fall through the gap. (Ref 1) Cylinder B Cylinder A Cylinder C The ladder diagram for this circuit is shown below. (Ref 1) As can be seen from above the system uses sensors to show whether each cylinder is extended or retracted. This information is then used to activate each cylinder. For example in the first part of the programme which has been highlighted; Relay R1 is activated when the start button is pressed given that the stop button is in the normally closed position. Sensor 5 (S5) is off which is showing that cylinder 3 is extended. When this is off it allows Relay 1 to stay permanently on because one of the contacts from R1 can then complete the circuit and create a latch. R1 is then used to activate solenoid 1(Sol1) to extend cylinder 1 provided that S2 and R4 are off. Structured text Structured text is a text based language that uses statements to define what needs to be executed. Structured text uses statements such as: IF†¦THEN†¦ CASE†¦OF†¦ FOR†¦DO†¦ WHILE†¦DO†¦ REPEAT†¦UNTIL†¦ People who are trained in computer language find structured text easier to understand than ladder logic because they are of a similar format.

Portrayal Of Social Issues Faced By Women

Portrayal Of Social Issues Faced By Women The aim of this extended essay is to analyze how Patience Agbabi portrays the issues women are faced with in her poem cycle Seven Sisters from her poetry collection Transformatrix and examine the different viewpoints of the main themes presented in the seven poems from the perspective of the poet. This is done by first distinguishing three main topics in the seven poems which are: Teenage pregnancy and prostitution Adolescence and fairytale stereotypes Sexuality, sexual abuse and gender expectations These topics were then thoroughly analyzed by detailed investigation of the poems and additional external sources. With the purpose of understanding the message behind the poems more adequately, an interview with the poet, Patience Agbabi, was organized first by contacting her through www.patienceagbabi.wordpress.com and later by email. The correspondence is attached in the appendix. After an in depth research of the main topics, it was possible to conclude that Patience Agbabi portrayed the women and the social issues in a more unconventional manner by highlighting the virtuous as well as the unpleasant characteristics of the main characters. This is different for example from the media which, influenced by society, typically only presents only one point of view and thus disregards the opinions of the people who actually suffer from the social issues discussed in this essay. Introduction Patience Agbabi is a British poet born in London in 1965 to Nigerian parents. She was educated at Oxford Univeristy and published the poetry collection, named Transformatrix, in 2000. This extended essay will analyze seven sestina poems from that collection, suitably called the Seven Sisters, which are a truthful interpretation of the poets view on women and the many challenges they go through. With each of the seven women representing a different time and type of life, Patience Agbabi has given a very interesting depiction of the transformation of women through time. The issues in the poems vary a great deal. The main topics discussed are teenage pregnancy and prostitution, adolescence and fairytale stereotypes, and sexuality, sexual abuse and gender expectations. In her poems Patience Agbabi tries to break the stereotypes of women that have formed from years and years of misunderstanding and lack of interest to know the other side of the story. It is interesting to see that even th ough a feminist, the poet does not depict the women in the seven poems in an extremely positive or ideal manner; the characters are all authentic and with flaws, as it is in real life, which is exactly the reason why they are so intriguing to read. Instead of the worn out depictions of the topics in the poems, Agbabi tries to explore a different viewpoint and widen the understanding of for example transvestites, lesbians or rebellious teenagers. The poet uses one of the most difficult forms of poetry to master, the sestina, to emphasize the most important aspects in each poem. A sestina is a highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by its envoy. The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the stanzas, but in a different order each time  [1]  . The six repetitive word are time, girl, end, child, boy, dark each of these representing the central themes of the poems and combining the Seven Sisters together. In whole the question this essay aims to answer is: How does Patience Agbabi portray the issues women are faced with in her poem cycle Seven Sisters? Teenage pregnancy and prostitution Teenage pregnancy has been a problem throughout history, the only difference being that nowadays it is much more talked about and there are actual measures taken to relieve the situation. During the Second World War however, which is also the time frame for the first poem Martina  [2]  , the situation was much worse and the problem was ignored or denied. As described in the poem, the war had a horrific effect on people as most were living in constant fear, thinking only about the outcome of the confrontation. With the men sent to battle, the women had to provide for themselves and for many it meant getting a job and working long hours for the first time in their lives. It is to no surprise then, that some women resorted to easier ways to keep their previous lifestyle and at the same time help the war-effort. The so called victory girls or khaki-wackies provided respectable companionship for military men: they wrote letters, played cards, danced with them and eventually ended up c arrying their children as a result of imprudence.  [3]  In the poem Martina, the difference between the two manners of behaviour is described by the fact that in the time of fear and despair, when women had to work hard and food was in very short supply, the so called khaki-wackies had a much more glamorous lifestyle, at least on the outside: .. But we were weekend disciples, evacuees scared of dark nights pierced with blitzkrieg pyrotechnics, child- like, clinging to mothers skirt. She found time to party in new nylons, good-time girl growing voluptuous from man and boy, on chocolate and plum brandy. I was tomboy  [4]   In reality they were non-professional prostitutes, girls who resorted to more straight-forward measures to survive the turbulent and uncertain times. In the last three stanzas of the poem, Agbabi describes the very typical outcome of such behaviour, which was pregnancy. As the V-girls were in majority young girls raging from the age of 12 to 17, teenage pregnancy rate was for example in the United States higher in the 1940s than it is now.  [5]   . We all knew she was expecting a child. In those days we all expected the boy to marry her. But it being wartime, too soon his two-month leave came to an end. Her father threw her out into pitch-dark Novembers clutches with words No girl of mine She gave birth to a baby girl, Martina. They wanted to put the child up for adoption. .   [6]   In these lines the poet also explains the misconception people had about the lifestyle of such girls. It was expected that the soldiers would marry the girl they got pregnant, but the reality was quite different. Majority of the men had no intention to take responsibility, and even when they did walk down the aisle, the marriages usually ended when the war was over. The girls were left behind, pregnant and rejected by the society, with no other option than to resort to illegal abortion, give the child up for adoption or try to raise their newborn alone.  [7]  The women could not expect help from their families as it was considered unforgivable to have a child born out of wedlock. The media portrayed them as people who only had themselves to blame for their situation, but the poem Martina evokes rather sympathy than dismay for the character, especially with the last lines: . In time, she got married for the childs sake, a boy- next-door type; and in time I met a girl with sloe-dark eyes and loved her till the end.  [8]   Patience Agbabi herself says that: The conversational first person narrative invites the reader to identify with these women, to enjoy their spirit and wit, to empathise with them in spite of their morals.  [9]  Throughout the poem and especially in the end, the narrator is more intrigued and fascinated by the victory girl, rather than being appalled. In my opinion it reflects that in many ways the V-girls were envied for their seemingly glamorous lifestyle and their free-spirited nature, by other, more conservative, women during that time. The other poem in the collection, that has the central themes of teenage pregnancy, prostitution and also sexual abuse is Samantha  [10]  . Unlike Martina, the life of Samantha takes place at a more modern time. The poem deals mostly with prostitution, but once again it is not from the very typical viewpoint, as the womans positive characteristics are equally emphasized with her short-comings. The poem also gives more insight to one of the reasons behind prostitution and from that also teenage pregnancy. They cant see my bump in the dark. I work Stamford Hill mostly. My first time was 96. We was really broke. Boy from the local estate. Dealer. The girls put me up to it. Once I got over the taste it was childs play. Sucked him like an ice lolly in June. We call it making ends meet.   [11]   In this stanza, the prostitute is talking about why she first got started with her line of work, and as for most girls, it is usually about financial problems and a lack of education or opportunities to find a proper job. According to Claire Sterk: money, history of sexual abuse, having grown up without love from the significant adults in their lives and being enticed by a male of female friend or by peer pressure from a group of friends are the main reasons behind prostitution.  [12]  All of those are also mentioned in the poem Samantha. When comparing Samantha to Martina then their one similarity is pregnancy, what is different, is the two womens perception of the situations. In Martina, the girl is punished for her situation and considers putting the child up for adoption. In Samantha, the prostitute has a much more positive attitude towards the fact that she has a child. ..Id die if anything happened to my kid. A child keeps you sane. ..  [13]   Even though only taking place 20 to 30 years later, the outlook on the situation had transformed, and prostitutes at that time felt like they had the right and freedom of talking about their lives without shame of what others may think. What is interesting about the poem is the fact that Samantha herself does not seem to be too disturbed about the way her life has turned out, she seems foolishly hopeful that things might change for the better. The fact is however, that the reasons that first dragged the woman into prostitution are not likely to just disappear. In an interview with the Guardian journalist, Emine Saner, a long-time sex worker told Saner that she would like to be able to stop working, but does not know how else to manage financially  [14]  . The importance of this poem and also Martina is the fact that even though both women have a distorted sense of morals, the reader can not help but feel somewhat sorry for the characters and therefore enabling them to see teenage pregnancy and prostitution in a different light than usually portrayed by the media. Adolescence and fairytale stereotypes According to Patience Agbabi herself, exploring childhood moving into adolescence is one of her favourite themes. As every person has been a kid in the past and can say that puberty is a very emotional time of a persons life, it is therefore no surprise that adolescence is an interesting topic for all writers and poets. In a life of a usual teenager, adolescence is the time of first love, discovering sexuality and for most girls the realisation of the truth behind fairytale stereotypes. One of my personal favourites, Agbabis poem The Tiger  [15]  is an excellent portrayal of a rebellious teenage girl who is just on her journey of discovering what life as an adult is actually like. Majority of young girls have a huge misconception about adulthood, mainly concerning romance. Tracy loves Darren. It was girl power, 1979. He was my aerosol boy and the swelling inscription, my lifebuoy. We lasted a month.  [16]   In the poem, the young girl gets a tattoo with the name of her first love. It is a very truthful depiction of young people s understanding of love, as they think it will last forever just like the tattoo. The reality of the situation hits youngsters usually when they gain more independence and responsibilities, which also marks the end of their puberty. The Tiger shows the ordeal in an emotional and familiar way, thus making the reader feel the angst of puberty once again. In modern society, adolescence is widely discussed, as parents seem more and more clueless of what to do when their child is behaving in a rebellious matter. By giving the reader an insight to the girls point of view, Agbabi once again enables people to see the problem from a new angle. It takes an hour to obliterate girl meets boy a minute for childhood to end, and for dark blue to fade to grey, a lifetime.   [17]   With the final stanza of the poem, Agbabi emphasizes again the fact that emotions and situations that all seemed so important during years of puberty, mean very little when compared to the rest of a persons life. The second poem in Agbabis collection that also deals with the problems of fairytale stereotyping and more generally, youngsters misconception of the life ahead, is Leila  [18]  . This poem is mostly depicting the usual dream of a little girl, in her early years of adolescence, when she dreams about charming princes and extraordinary weddings. This delusion has been created by entertainment industry, as children are exposed to more and more cartoons, films and toys in a very early age. The idea behind this is to influence the children into wanting all sorts of consumer goods, but in addition these movies and toys give the young children a distorted view of life which in later years may prove to be a major obstacle on their way of living a fulfilled life. Developmental ps ychologists have long identified the fact that playing has a crucial affect on a childs development. During play children communicate with their world and internalize elements of society, such as norms, values, and adult roles. Childrens toys have a huge effect on their development of self-image and their concept of the society one of the fundamental tasks of childhood and adolescence  [19]  . It is to no surprise then, that the poet has chosen this topic as it sheds light and explains another group of women, who are suffering from some kind of social issue. dreaming all night of her shoe-shine boy, their diamond wedding, that happy end- ing. If she were a time shed be midnight, when each child paints the dark with fantasy, when girls become women, boys become men and Once upon a time becomes The End.  [20]   The last stanza of the poem is showing exactly Agbabis point that eventually all people grow up and with that they also have to grow out of fairytales. No fairytale ever shows the life of the protagonists after the happily ever after, and therefore having unrealistic expectations in ones adulthood to, for example, have a relationship that can be compared to a classical fairytale, is a dream that in reality will never come true. The two poems of adolescence and fairytale stereotypes are not only instructive for the young girls and women who are faced with the issue, but also for those who as observers may not have completely understood or recognized it as a social issue before. Sexuality, sexual abuse and gender expectations Sexuality is most definitely the most controversial and most covered topic that the poet has examined in her poem collection Seven Sisters. Patience Agbabi, being a bisexual herself, gives a very interesting and somewhat perceptive portrayal of a vast variety of different women and their sexualities. Not only does she discuss the sexualities of the women themselves, but also gender expectations amongst mothers, who also wish for their child to be of certain sex. According to researchers children are increasingly more aware of their sexuality from an early age, for example according to the research of 2004 by the Guttmacher Institute, 46% of teens in the United States between ages of 15-19 have had sex at least once  [21]  . It is to no surprise then that sexuality is such a talked about topic around the world these days. The problem with young children and their sexuality is briefly discussed in the poems Martina  [22]  and The Tiger  [23]  . In the poem The Tiger, Agbab i writes about the protagonist losing her virginity at a very young age, and thus also losing her childhood. In Martina, the main character is presumably around the age of 16, but has to grow up fast, and therefore get in touch with her sexual side, because of the war. The more controversial part of sexuality in Martina is the fact that even though the character is heterosexual, the narrator is a lesbian, as said by the poet.  [24]  Sexual orientation has a very big part to play in our sense of who we are and exactly where we belong. Even though no-one chooses their sexual orientation, there are still millions of people who are strongly against homosexuality, or bisexuality for that matter. As a close to heart topic for Agbabi, she chooses a very different angle to express her feelings about the social issue concerning sexuality. In her poem Ms de Meanour  [25]  , the narrator who is also the main character in the poem, is a drag queen and in lively fashion talks about her l ife of behaving like a woman, even though actually being a man. Time for boy meets girl in the mirror and wild child bitch with a dick from Crouch End becomes Wild West End diva with dark luscious lashes. .  [26]   In my opinion the poet is trying to draw a comparison between transvestites and gay people, as both are hiding their true personality and sexuality for the benefit and content of others. Drag queens dress and act as women, for the purpose of entertaining or performing. Homosexual people, on the other hand, need to sometimes hide their preferences from other in fear of public condemnation. In the beginning of the 21st century, violence against homosexual population was increasing, even the only wrong they have done is just have the courage to show difference from the majority  [27]  . Fortunately during the last couple of years, the situation has improved, as for example in many countries and in some states in Unites States, same-sex marriages are allowed and recognized by the government. Very closely connected with this topic, is gender expectations which is another theme in Agbabis poems. Centuries ago, it was crucial for a family to have a son, for the very obvious reason that a son is stronger and was more helpful around the house. Not only are there expectations about the gender of the child before it is born, but also after. Parents assume their children to grow up and follow the manner of behaviour that is acceptable by the society. For a heterosexual couple, who have certain expectations for their child, depending on the kids sex, it is probably quite disturbing to accept if the child turns out to be homosexual for example. The poem The Earth Mother  [28]  , is set in a fairytale time of Once upon a time, where an old woman craves for a son and is initially disappointed, when the child she had already named Boy turned out to be a girl. Old Woman named it Boy and dreamt earth, wind and fire, better times And here the tale would end if little girls could truly tame the dark and little boys were really boys, not girls. Old Woman woke and saw her baby Boy was girl and being wise, gave praise and raised this girl-child .  [29]   The poem is a fascinating approach to the subject, as the Old Woman represents most parents who wish their child to grow up a certain way they have imagined. It is also educational, as in the poem even though preliminary shocked to find out that things had not gone as planned, the Old Woman still raised the child without any complaints or regrets. In my opinion, Agbabi is trying to convince the reader that even when a child does not grow up according to certain gender expectations, it is no excuse to repel person s own flesh and blood. A more terrifying theme of sexuality in Agbabis poems is child sexual abuse, which she writes about in the poem Samantha  [30]  , where the character is a young 14 year old girl, who was raped by her step-father and consequently became a prostitute. Sexual abuse between adults and children, and moreover between siblings, is unfortunately not a passing issue in todays society. In 1994, 46% of all rape cases reported, were victims of their family members.  [31]   Pervs. Like my stepdad. I was still a child when he did it. Told her I was sleeping with boys but she walked in on us that lunchtime, and called me a whore. Jealous bitch. I left that weekend. Fourteen, and still scared of the dark.  [32]   One of the most disturbing facts about child sexual abuse is that in some occasions, the parents of the children dont believe when their child tells them about the rape or accuse the child of being seductive and asking for being raped. In those cases, the parent is usually more concerned about the relationship with the abuser than the well-being of their child. Therefore it is no surprise, that after such ordeal, these children end up running away from home and when reaching adulthood suffer from low self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, difficulties with having a healthy relationships, depression, substance abuse and so on.  [33]  The frankness of the main character in the poem, shows the reader the outcome of sexual abuse without any buffers, in its purest form which has proven to be the most efficient way to get people acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and do something about one of the most horrific problems women have to go through in their lives. Conclusion Patience Agbabi is a true-hearted feminist, who in her poem collection Seven Sisters writes about some of the most common social issues women are faced with, without taking sides. In her own words: As a feminist, when I started out as a writer there was a political pressure not to let the side down. Women were seeking equality and you had a duty as a writer to show women in the best possible light. But by this second book, I let art rather than politics lead the way.  [34]  Even though there were many bigger and smaller issues discussed in the poems, the themes that prevailed and seemed to be most close to heart for the poet, were teenage pregnancy and prostitution, adolescences and fairytale stereotypes and lastly sexuality, sexual abuse and gender expectations. The way of portraying issues that are exceedingly talked about, making them sound innovative and interesting, and in addition finding something new to teach in all of the situations is what makes the poems beautiful and absolutely worth reading. Patience Agbabi draws the reader in with writing in first person narrative and therefore lets the reader to identify with these women and the difficulties they face. Teenage pregnancy and prostitution are often discussed from the viewpoint of the general media but what a regular person does not hear often about is the other side of the story, the truth about the situation. As the poet mentioned herself, she is not trying to idealize these women or justify their behaviour and morals, but rather give the reader a change to make up their own decision about the characters. This applies to all of the themes and characters discussed in Seven Sisters. As a whole the collection serves as a quick study book for anyone interested in women their problems, their views on society and how the society views them and most importantly it allows the reader to analyse the information without any outside influence, thus coming to a conclusion that has its bases on the persons own views rather than the views of someone else. Sources Patience Agbabi Transformatrix Edinburgh: Payback Press. 2000. Marilyn Hegarty Victory Girls, Khaki-Wackies and Patriotutes: The regulation of female sexuality during World War II New York: NYU Press. 2007. Claire Sterk Tricking And Tripping, Prostitution In The Era Of AIDS New York: Social Change Press. 2000. Ken Moore Anti-lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual Violence in 2000 New York: National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.2001. Kluft Incest-Related Syndromes of Adult Psychopathology Washington: American Psyhiatric Press.1990. Penelope Maza Adoption Trends: 1944-1975 US Childrens Bureau.1984. Emine Saner Youre consenting to being raped for money Guardian.11th December 2007. http://www.eduqna.com/Words-Wordplay/841-1-words-4.html http://www.public.asu.edu/~kleong/adolescents%20barbie.pdf http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewerDocumentID=32315 Seven Sisters Unveiled FORM DICTATING CONTENT I discovered the sestina quite by accident. I was well known for being a Janis Joplin fan, the 60s rock star who lived fast and died young of a heroin overdose. I was particularly mesmerised by her rendition of Ball and Chain, a blues number she performed at the Monteray pop festival in 1967. The friend gave me a copy of a poem called You Cant Rhumboogie in a Ball and Chain (for Janis Joplin). It was written by Alice Fulton, a poet Id never heard of. The poem really captured Janis spirit and I loved it. I also loved the way the words seemed to dance around each other. Of course, what I was responding to subliminally was the form of the poem, the form known as the sestina. So what is a sestina? Like many poetic forms it has musical roots. It was invented by Arnaud Daniel (whom Dante considered the best wordsmith). The form was originally sung by the top class troubadours, those who could master the intricate form. The sestina is still seen as the most difficult form to master in modern How to Write Poetry books. Basically, you have six words which appear in a set order at the end of each line. You have six stanzas of six lines each and a final stanza of three lines. It makes more sense when you see it on the page so heres one I prepared earlier, the first one I wrote: WRITING THE SEQUENCE A poet friend from the US, Samantha Coerbell, reintroduced me to the sestina by giving me the six end words, time, girl, end, child, boy, dark. They immediately suggested to me a poem about the passing of time, adolescence, coming of age with dark undertones. I didnt analyse it too closely. One day I went to the Poetry Library in London with a couple of hours to spare. I decided to write a sestina. It was supposed to be difficult but I believed it couldnt be that hard. I managed to write something I was reasonably pleased with in that two hours. It made sense and it has a story line. I knew it was a first draft that needed more work but it was a pretty good first draft as first drafts go. Like the Alice Fulton poem, I also adhered to 10-syllable lines. Traditional English sestinas are written in iambic pentameter. I enjoyed the writing experience, using the word repetitions as a form of rhyme and thought: WHAT IF 100 people got given the same six end words. Imagine the difference in the poems theyd produce. Yet each poem would have a relationship to the next due the set repetition of the end words. Each poem would perform the same dance to a different tune. I then decided to embark on the Seven Sisters project. I gave myself a year but eventually found myself writing one sestina a month. I wanted sufficient gaps between poems so theyd be very different.