Make Hot Ice From Vinegar and Baking Soda

Sodium acetate or hot ice is an amazing chemical you can prepare yourself from baking soda and vinegar. You can cool a solution of sodium acetate below its melting point and then cause the liquid to crystallize. The crystallization is an exothermic process, so the resulting ice is hot. Solidification occurs so quickly you can form sculptures as you pour the hot ice. Fast Facts: Hot Ice Science Experiment MaterialsBaking SodaVinegarConcepts IllustratedSupercoolingCrystallizationExothermic Chemical ReactionsTime RequiredFrom start to finish, this experiment takes about an hour. Once you have the hot ice, you can quickly melt and recrystallize it.LevelBeginner to Intermediate LevelNotesThe chemicals in this experiment are non-toxic. However, because liquids are boiled, adult supervision is recommended. This project is best for middle school and above. Sodium Acetate or Hot Ice Materials 1-liter clear vinegar (weak acetic acid)4 tablespoons baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) Prepare the Sodium Acetate or Hot Ice In a saucepan or large beaker, add baking soda to the vinegar, a little at a time and stirring between additions. The baking soda and vinegar react to form sodium acetate and carbon dioxide gas. If you dont add the baking soda slowly, youll essentially get a baking soda and vinegar volcano, which would overflow your container. Youve made the sodium acetate, but it is too dilute to be very useful, so you need to remove most of the water. Here is the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar to produce the sodium acetate: Na[HCO3]– CH3–COOH → CH3–COO– Na H2O CO2Boil the solution to concentrate the sodium acetate. You could just remove the solution from heat once you have 100-150 ml of solution remaining, but the easiest way to get good results is to simply boil the solution until a crystal skin or film starts to form on the surface. This took me about an hour on the stove over medium heat. If you use lower heat you are less likely to get yellow or brown liquid, but it will take longer. If discoloration occurs, its okay.Once you remove the sodium acetate solution from heat, immediately cover it to prevent any further evaporation. I poured my solution into a separate container and covered it with plastic wrap. You should not have any crystals in your solution. If you do have crystals, stir a very small amount of water or vinegar into the solution, just sufficient to dissolve the crystals.Place the covered container of sodium acetate solution in the refrigerator to chill. Activities Involving Hot Ice The sodium acetate in the solution in the refrigerator is an example of a supercooled liquid. That is, the sodium acetate exists in liquid form below its usual melting point. You can initiate crystallization by adding a small crystal of sodium acetate or possibly even by touching the surface of the sodium acetate solution with a spoon or finger. The crystallization is an example of an exothermic process. Heat is released as the ice forms. To demonstrate supercooling, crystallization, and heat release you could: Drop a crystal into the container of cooled sodium acetate solution. The sodium acetate will crystallize within seconds, working outward from where you added the crystal. The crystal acts as a nucleation site or seed for rapid crystal growth. Although the solution just came out of the refrigerator, if you touch the container you will find it is now warm or hot.Pour the solution onto a shallow dish. If the hot ice does not spontaneously begin crystallization, you can touch it with a crystal of sodium acetate (you can usually scrape a small amount of sodium acetate from the side of the container you used earlier). The crystallization will progress from the dish up toward where you are pouring the liquid. You can construct towers of hot ice. The towers will be warm to the touch.You can re-melt sodium acetate and re-use it for demonstrations. Hot Ice Safety As you would expect, sodium acetate is a safe chemical for use in demonstrations. It is used as a food additive to enhance flavor and is the active chemical in many hot packs. The heat generated by the crystallization of a refrigerated sodium acetate solution should not present a burn hazard.

Job Analysis Methods Free Essays

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT 1 DETAILS OF METHODS OF GETTING INFORMATION FOR JOB ANALYSIS Job analysis may be defined as a methodical process of collecting information on the functionally relevant aspects of a job. It involves job description (determining the duties and skill requirements of a job) and job specification (determining the kind of person who should be hired for the job). The methods of Job Analysis are as follows: 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Job Analysis Methods or any similar topic only for you Order Now INTERVIEW METHOD This tool is considered to be very useful to the analysis of jobs. It is a method to collect a variety of information from an incumbent and supervisors by asking them (individually or as a group) to describe the tasks and duties performed. The benefits are that it allows the incumbent to describe tasks and duties that are not observable. However, they may exaggerate or omit tasks and duties. Three types of  interviews  are used to collect  job analysis  data: *  Individual  interviews  with each  employee. * Group  interviews  with groups of employees having the same job, and *  Interview  supervisor who are knowledgeable about the job  being analyzed. Interviews consist of structured Interviews and unstructured interviews. 2. QUESTIONNAIRE METHODS There are many techniques, one of them which is: 3. POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE (PAQ MODEL) This model developed by McCormick, Jeanerette, and Mecham (1972) is a structured instrument of job analysis to measure job characteristics and then associate them with human characteristics. It consists of 195 job elements that describe generic human behaviors during work activities. It includes: 1. Information input (where and how the worker gets information), 2. Mental processes (reasoning and other processes that workers use), 3. Work output (physical activities and tools used on the job), 4. Relationships with other persons, and 5. Job context (the physical and social contexts of work). Over the years it has been observed that there exists a wealth of research on the PAQ since it has yielded reasonably good reliability estimates and has been linked to several assessment tools. 4. OBSERVATION In this method incumbents are observed performing their jobs which enables the trained job analyst to obtain first-hand knowledge and information about the job being analyzed. This method is suited for jobs in which the work behaviors are 1) observable or 2) job tasks are short in duration or 3) jobs in which the job analyst can learn information about the job through observation. With observation, the trained job analyst can obtain first-hand knowledge and information about the job being analyzed. It allows the job analyst to see the work environment, tools and equipment used, interrelationships with other workers, and complexity of the job. 5. CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE (CIT model) This method applied to discover behaviors towards working which can help classify performance into a good and bad level. These  observations  are used to solve practical problems and develop psychological principles. The main purposes are building  job descriptions, job specification and job standards, creating a list of good and bad behaviors which can then be used for  performance appraisal and testing the effectiveness of  the job  description and job specification. . WORK SAMPLING This method is a  measurement technique  for  the  quantitative  analysis of  non-repetitive  or  irregularly occurring activity. Work sampling operates by an observer taking a series of random observations on a particular thing of interest (machine, operating room, dock etc. ) to observe its state (working, idle, sleeping etc. ). When enough samples are taken, an analysis of the observations yields a statistically valid indication of t he states for  each thing analyzed. It is relatively inexpensive to use and extremely helpful in providing a deeper understanding of all types of operations. 7. REPERTORY GRID The  repertory grid technique is a method for eliciting personal constructs, i. e. what people think about a given topic. It is based on George Kelly’s  Personal Construct Theory. It is called a ‘grid’ because one way of doing it is to use a matrix with the people along one side and the similarity and contrast poles along another side. The method is as follows: Identify a range of 10-20 people who do the job (these are called  elements). * Select three at random. * Select two that seem more similar in some way. * Identify what it is about them that is similar (this is the  similarity pole). * Identify what is different about the other person (this is the  contrast pole). * Repeat this until you have about 20 contrasts. * Thin this down to about 10 by combining similar contrasts. The remaining contrasts should give a good idea of the factors that make up the job. How to cite Job Analysis Methods, Essay examples

Merry Wives Of Windsor Essays - Operas, Shakespearean Comedies

Merry Wives Of Windsor The first thing that struck me about The Merry Wives of Windsor was the appearance of some characters from Henry VI: Falstaff, Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol. The second thing that struck me was the complexity of the plot. Shakespeare is tough enough for me to understand on its own, without the introduction of a plots that twist and turn, and entwine each other like snakes. I wish I could see the play performed, because it seems like a delightful comedy, and I feel that seeing actual players going through the motions presented to me in the text would do wonders for my comprehension. This is my first play read outside of class, with no real discussion to help me through the parts that don't make a lot of sense the first time around. Fortunately, I found some resources on the web that provided synopses of Shakespeare's plays, and really aided my understanding of the play. The aforementioned plots reminded me of the plots common to Seinfeld, quite possibly the most glorious of television shows. Seinfeld always had at least two plots going per episode, and the outcome of one always seemed to have some effect on the outcome of the other. It seems that the original recipe for sitcoms is this: get two plots going side by side, near the end of the piece, smash them into each other, and then tie up all of the loose ends. This recipe is followed in The Taming of the Shrew (the two plots being the marriage of Petruchio and Katherine, and the wooing of Bianca), and again appears in the Merry Wives of Windsor (Falstaff's attempted wooing of the wives being one, and the impending marriage of Anne being the other.) It would be interesting to see if all of Shakespeare's comedies follow this same pattern, and if so, to see if previous playwrights used the same formula. The appearance of the characters from Henry VI, especially Falstaff, was also quite interesting. For some reason, seeing the other characters shared by the plays didn't do quite as much for me as seeing Falstaff. Perhaps I identify with Falstaff more than the others (a rather damning proposition, considering what I'm about to write), but I think it's more likely due to the fact that Falstaff is more prominent that the others. Knowing that Falstaff was a gay lover in Henry VI, and seeing him involved in obviously heterosexual pursuits, I was reminded of our conversation in class concerning the views of sex in Elizabethan times, compared to our current views on the subject. I feel that seeing Falstaff in this play gives me a lot more insight into the character Shakespeare was trying to create for his audiences than Falstaff's appearances that we have seen in class. Falstaff really gave me the impression of being a scoundrel in this play, plotting to commit adultery, and then add insult to injury by stealing money from the husbands of the adulterous wives. He's accused at the beginning of the play for getting Slender drunk to pick his purse, and he hires off his "friend" Bardolph as a bartender. Finally, as a result of all of this, Falstaff ends up the butt of a practical joke. Everyone ends up forgiving everyone else, and they all go home to live happily ever after, and laugh about the events they have just gone through. If that last sentence seems lacking, it's with reason. I was relatively disappointed with the way the play ended. It seemed to me like Shakespeare decided he was finished writing, and looked for the quickest way to end his play. It was one step better than the Greek's method of having one of the Gods come down from Olympus, and decide who married who, who died honorably, and who was damned to Hades. I felt that The Taming of the Shrew ended much more cohesively.

The Sinking of the RMS Titanic (1912)

The Sinking of the RMS Titanic (1912) The world was shocked when the Titanic  hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, and sunk just a few hours later at 2:20 am on April 15, 1912. The unsinkable ship RMS  Titanic sank on its maiden voyage, losing at least 1,517 lives (some accounts say even more), making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. After the Titanic had sunk, safety regulations were increased to make ships safer, including ensuring enough lifeboats to carry all on board and making ships staff their radios 24 hours a day. Building the Unsinkable Titanic The RMS Titanic was the second of three huge, exceptionally luxurious ships built by White Star Line. It took nearly three years to build the ​Titanic, beginning on March 31, 1909, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. When completed, the Titanic was the largest movable object ever made. It was 882 1/2 feet long, 92 1/2 feet wide, 175 feet high, and displaced 66,000 tons of water. (That is almost as long as eight Statue of Liberty placed horizontally in a line!) After conducting sea trials on April 2, 1912, the Titanic left later that same day for Southampton, England to enlist her crew and to be loaded with supplies. Titanics Journey Begins On the morning of April 10, 1912, 914 passengers boarded the Titanic. At noon, the ship left port and headed for Cherbourg, France, where it made a quick stop before heading to Queenstown (now called Cobh) in Ireland. At these stops, a handful of people got off, and a few hundred boarded the Titanic. By the time the Titanic left Queenstown at 1:30 p.m. on April 11, 1912, heading for New York, she was carrying over 2,200 people, both passengers, and crew. Warnings of Ice The first two days across the Atlantic, April 12-13, 1912, went smoothly. The crew worked hard, and the passengers enjoyed their luxurious surroundings. Sunday, April 14, 1912, also started out relatively uneventful, but later became deadly. Throughout the day on April 14, the Titanic received a number of wireless messages from other ships warning about icebergs along their path. However, for various reasons, not all of these warnings made it to the bridge. Captain Edward J. Smith, unaware of how serious the warnings had become, retired to his room for the night at 9:20 p.m. At that time, the lookouts had been told to be a bit more diligent in their observations, but the Titanic was still steaming full speed ahead. Hitting the Iceberg The evening was cold and clear, but the moon was not bright. That, coupled with the fact that the lookouts did not have access to binoculars, meant that the lookouts spotted the iceberg only when it was directly in front of the Titanic. At 11:40 p.m., the lookouts rang the bell to issue a warning and used a phone to call the bridge. First Officer Murdoch ordered, hard a-starboard (sharp left turn). He also ordered the engine room to put the engines in reverse. The Titanic did bank left, but it wasnt quite enough. Thirty-seven seconds after the lookouts warned the bridge, the Titanics starboard (right) side scraped along the iceberg below the water line. Many passengers had already gone to sleep and thus were unaware that there had been a serious accident. Even passengers that were still awake felt little as the Titanic hit the iceberg. Captain Smith, however, knew that something was very wrong and went back to the bridge. After taking a survey of the ship, Captain Smith realized that the ship was taking on a lot of water. Although the ship was built to continue floating if three of its 16 bulkheads had filled with water, six were already filling fast. Upon the realization that the Titanic was sinking, Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats to be uncovered (12:05 a.m.) and for the wireless operators on board to begin sending distress calls (12:10 a.m.). The Titanic Sinks At first, many of the passengers did not comprehend the severity of the situation. It was a cold night, and the Titanic still seemed like a safe place, so many people were not ready to get into the lifeboats when the first one launched at 12:45 a.m. As it became increasingly obvious that the Titanic was sinking, the rush to get on a lifeboat became desperate. Women and children were to board the lifeboats first; however, early on, some men also were allowed to get into the lifeboats. To the horror of everyone on board, there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone. During the design process, it had been decided to place only 16 standard lifeboats and four collapsible lifeboats on the Titanic because any more would have cluttered the deck. If the 20 lifeboats that were on the Titanic had been properly filled, which they were not, 1,178 could have been saved (i.e. just over half of those on board). Once the last lifeboat was lowered at 2:05 a.m. on April 15, 1912, those remaining on board the Titanic reacted in different ways. Some grabbed any object that might float (like deck chairs), threw the object overboard, and then jumped in after it. Others stayed on board because they were stuck within the ship or had determined to die with dignity. The water was freezing, so anyone stuck in the water for more than a couple of minutes froze to death. At 2:18 a.m. on April 15, 1915, the Titanic snapped in half and then fully sank two minutes later. Rescue Although several ships received the Titanics distress calls and changed their course to help, it was the Carpathia that was the first to arrive, seen by survivors in the lifeboats around 3:30 a.m. The first survivor stepped aboard the Carpathia at 4:10 a.m., and for the next four hours, the rest of the survivors boarded the Carpathia. Once all the survivors were on board, the Carpathia headed to New York, arriving on the evening of April 18, 1912. In all, a total of 705 people were rescued while 1,517 perished.

Big Picture Questions in ACT Reading Whats the Main Point

Big Picture Questions in ACT Reading What's the Main Point SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips On ACT Reading, you'll encounter questions that ask you to be able to read large amounts of text and distill them down; we call these "big picture" questions here at PrepScholar. Big picture questions can ask about the entire passage, a series of paragraph, or even just one paragraph (as opposed to "little picture" questions, which will ask for specific information). Being able to answer these types of questions will prove very useful for college/university, where professors will expect you to use these skills with even more dense and academic writing. What are â€Å"big picture† questions on ACT Reading, and what are the best ways to approach answering them? I’ll start by discussing the two primary types of big picture questions you’ll encounter on the ACT, along with common ways the ACT will ask you about each. After that, I’ll give you some strategies to answer both types of questions, illustrated with examples from prose fiction and academic writing. feature image credit: The Bigger Picture by F Delventhal, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Type 1: Main Point Questions First of all, what is the main point of a passage or paragraph? For Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science passages, the main point is the central argument. It's a little more complicated for Prose Fiction or Literary narrative, since they don’t always have central arguments; for these passage types, the main point is often the central conflict and its implications. If you're stumped, it can also sometimes help to think of the main point of a Prose Fiction/Literary Narrative passage as a short summary of what happens, or even the â€Å"moral of the story.† Questions that ask you about the main point are not asking about the topic, or theme, of the writing, but are instead looking for something more specific. The main point should answer the question, â€Å"so what’s the author’s point in this paragraph/passage?† in a short sentence. Identifying Main Point Questions It’s usually pretty clear when you’re being asked about the main point of a passage. The wording will go something like the following (all extracted from and modified from actual SAT questions): â€Å"Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?† â€Å"The primary focus of lines 65-92 is..." "The author’s main purpose in lines 54-69 is to show..." â€Å"The main theme of this passage concerns the...† â€Å"The main idea of the first paragraph is that the music of the video game Portal...† Main Point Questions: Examples Let’s take an example from a paper I wrote during graduate school (minus footnotes). I’ll even include introductory material, similar to what you might find on the ACT. This paragraph is excerpted from the paper â€Å"‘This was a triumph:’ Narrative and dynamic uses of music in Portal† by Laura Staffaroni ( ©2013 by Laura Staffaroni). This paper was written as the final assignment for a Research and Materials class. In general, because Portal is a puzzle game, it might be expected to lack a strong narrative; this, however, is not the case. While the gameplay is focused on the solving each level’s puzzle, you are also provided with tantalizing bits of story in the form of dialogue spoken to you by GLADoS, the AI directing the â€Å"tests.† Bits of the story are revealed over the course of the game in this way, picking up with the introduction of secret rooms with writing on the walls and the adorable but deadly turrets. So what’s the main point of this paragraph? If you just go with what the topic is, then your answer might be something like â€Å"games,† or even â€Å"the video game Portal.† *buzzer* EHHHHHH. WRONG. Remember, the main point should be able to answer the question "What's the author's point in this paragraph?" The answer to that question will be something like "The author is arguing that [main point]." So "the video game Portal" doesn't even make sense as an answer - "The author is arguing that the video game Portal" is not a complete sentence, which means "the video game Portal" cannot be the main point of this paragraph. Here's my short answer for what I think the main point of that paragraph is: Portal is a puzzle game that also has a narrative. This successfully answers the question "what is the author's point in this paragraph?" in a way that makes sense: the author is arguing that Portal is a puzzle game that also has a narrative. I will go into strategies for how to extract this information from a paragraph or passage in a little bit. For now, let’s take a look at another example, this time from prose fiction. This paragraph is excerpted from the short story â€Å"Writer’s Block† by Laura Staffaroni ( ©2009 Laura Staffaroni). This story was written as an assignment for a Creative Writing class. Emma gave her friend a glare that conveyed both her disbelief and annoyance. Really, sometimes Rachel could be a bit melodramatic, as shown by, oh, EVERYTHING she had just said and done. If anyone had trouble writing, it was her, Emma. When given a prompt, Rachel’s pen would start racing back and forth across the page like a ping-pong ball on a string, going to the right right right AND back to the left, where the metaphorical paddle awaited. Meanwhile, Emma would be sitting with her pen pushed into the paper, hoping for a few sentences or paragraphs in half an hour. It just didn’t seem fair. Now Rachel was worried about writing? It was probably a ploy, some kind of act she was putting on, so that when she ended up producing a three-page story in the space of fifteen minutes everyone would feel especially awed. What’s the main point, or primary focus, of this paragraph? If you go with â€Å"theme,† your answer might be along the lines of â€Å"jealousy,† or â€Å"writing.† Again, this is not specific enough to be correct. The answer to the question "What's the main point of this paragraph?" should be able to give a person who hasn’t read the paragraph a good idea of what goes on in it, not just what it’s about. So what’s the focus of this paragraph? Again, that can be answered with just a short statement: Emma’s jealousy of Rachel’s ability to write a lot quickly. What about the main point? The main point is that Emma is jealous of Rachel's ability to write a lot quickly. 1961 Triumph TR3A by The Car Spy, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. Type 2: Perspective Questions Rather than asking about â€Å"what happened†, perspective questions ask â€Å"what is the perspective, attitude, or point of view of the [person, narrator, author], shown in this [paragraph, series of paragraphs, passage]?† These questions are a little different from main point questions (and occur less frequently than main point questions), but since answering them requires you to synthesize large amounts of information down into one central point, perspective questions are still big picture questions. It's a subtle distinction, but it is important to make a note of whether a question is a main point or perspective question, particularly if it is asking about a paragraph, rather than the whole passage. Why? Because it's entirely possible that a single paragraph is from a particular character/person's point of view, and that person's opinion may differ from the objective reality presented in the rest of the passage. Identifying Perspective Questions Here are a couple examples of how a perspective question might be phrased on the SAT: "The passage is written from the point of view of..." "Based on the passage, which of the following statements best describes the overall attitude of the narrator?" Perspective Questions: Examples Let’s use the example of my paper on Portal again. This paragraph is excerpted from the paper â€Å"‘This was a triumph:’ Narrative and dynamic uses of music in Portal† by Laura Staffaroni ( ©2013 by Laura Staffaroni). This paper was written as the final assignment for a Research and Materials class. In general, because Portal is a puzzle game, it might be expected to lack a strong narrative; this, however, is not the case. While the gameplay is focused on the solving each level’s puzzle, you are also provided with tantalizing bits of story in the form of dialogue spoken to you by GLADoS, the AI directing the â€Å"tests.† Bits of the story are revealed over the course of the game in this way, picking up with the introduction of secret rooms with writing on the walls and the adorable but deadly turrets. Question: â€Å"The passage is written from the point of view of...† Correct answer: This passage is written from the point of view of†¦a dispassionate narrator describing a component of Portal’s gameplay. True. The narrator doesn't appear to have particularly strong feelings about Portal, and the excerpt describes an aspect of the gameplay (that you get bits of story through dialogue). Incorrect answer: This passage is written from the point of view of†¦GLADoS, the AI. No. The passage mentions GLADoS, but isn’t written from her POV. Incorrect answer: This passage is written from the point of view of†¦a narrator unhappy that Portal is different from all other puzzle games. No. The narrator mentions that Portal is a puzzle game, but doesn’t mention that it is different from all other puzzle games, nor does the narrator seem unhappy about this. Here's a prose fiction example, again using the passage from before: This paragraph is excerpted from the short story â€Å"Writer’s Block† by Laura Staffaroni ( ©2009 Laura Staffaroni). This story was written as an assignment for a Creative Writing class. Emma gave her friend a glare that conveyed both her disbelief and annoyance. Really, sometimes Rachel could be a bit melodramatic, as shown by, oh, EVERYTHING she had just said and done. If anyone had trouble writing, it was her, Emma. When given a prompt, Rachel’s pen would start racing back and forth across the page like a ping-pong ball on a string, going to the right right right AND back to the left, where the metaphorical paddle awaited. Meanwhile, Emma would be sitting with her pen pushed into the paper, hoping for a few sentences or paragraphs in half an hour. It just didn’t seem fair. Now Rachel was worried about writing? It was probably a ploy, some kind of act she was putting on, so that when she ended up producing a three-page story in the space of fifteen minutes everyone would feel especially awed. Question: â€Å"Based on the passage, which of the following statements best describes the overall attitudes of Rachel and Emma?† Correct answer: Emma does not believe Rachel’s anxiety is real. True: Emma thinks that Rachel's worrying about writing is an an "act [Rachel is] "putting on", which means it is not a real emotion. Incorrect answer: Rachel likes writing, while Emma doesn’t. Possibly true, but not directly supported by anything in the paragraph. Incorrect answer: Rachel is manic and exuberant, while Emma is depressed and calm. Again, maybe true, but not apparent from this paragraph alone. Warning: Main Point and Perspective ≠  Function Warning by Stefano Brivio, used under CC BY 2.0. Main point and perspective questions are different from function questions. Instead of asking "what's the point," function questions usually ask "what does this [line, sentence, paragraph] DO?" Rather than asking "What is the perspective from which the author is arguing her point?" (a perspective question), you'll be asked questions about the author’s purpose: â€Å"why is the author writing this?† Example: "The main idea of the first paragraph is..." You can translate this to "What does this paragraph say,† a main point question. Compare to: "Which of the following best describes the way the fifth paragraph (lines 48–54) functions in the passage as a whole?" You can translate this to "What does this paragraph do," a function question. On the other hand, sometimes main point questions can masquerade as function questions. Take this example (1): "1. In terms of the passage as a whole, one of the main functions of the third paragraph (lines 13-19) is to suggest that... A. ER’ s successes in various professional pursuits helped prepare her to take action in the political world.B. ER had avoided the political spotlight in her personal pursuits.C. ER had competing and conflicting interests during her first year as first lady.D. while ER had many personal accomplishments, little could have prepared her for life as the first lady." Even though the question has the word "function" in its wording, it is actually asking about the main idea of the paragraph. How can you tell? Compare the above question to a similarly-worded function question (2): "2. The function of the first paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole is to: A. orient the reader to the subject of longitude by explaining how longitude is determined at sea.B. explain the political significance of developing an accurate way of determining longitude.C. establish that longitude calculations are necessary to determine time in two different places at once. D. introduce a discussion of how knowledge of Earth’s position relative to the Sun was gained in the process of advances in timekeeping. " The difference is in both the wording of the question and in the answer choices presented. If you reduce the questions down to their basic strucutre, example 1 asks "what does this paragraph SUGGEST (what does this paragraph say)?" By contrast, example 2 asks "What is this paragraph's FUNCTION (what does this paragraph DO)?" The answer choices are also telling: function questions often have answer choices in the form of "verb a noun" (in this case, "orient the reader," "explain the political significance," "establish that longitude calculations are necessary," and "introduce a discussion"). Main point questions, on the other hand, have answer choices that answer the question "what's the point?" For more on the distinction between big picture and function questions, check back soon for my ACT Reading function questions article. Now that you know what big picture questions are, though, how do you go about answering them? Strategies For Answering Big Picture Questions The strategy you use to answer big picture questions depends on how you read the passage. If you have enough time to read each passage in full and answer questions afterwards without feeling rushed, then you should be trying to figure out the main point and author perspective as you read. You can do a quick check to see if there will be any questions about it first, but even if there aren’t any questions that directly ask you about the main point, it can be helpful in answering other questions (more on that later). If you read the questions first, you may be able to get a sense of what the big picture is just by the questions asked. If you skim the passage, then attack questions, you should focus on just the key information the first time through But how do you know what the key information is? Read on to find out! Check The Introduction and Conclusion For questions about non-Prose Fiction/Literary Narrative passages, chances are that if the author’s done a good job, the main point and perspective should be clear in the conclusion, if not the introduction as well. This can, of course, be true for Prose Fiction/Literary Narrative passages as well, but since it isn’t as essential to the construction of a successful piece of prose fiction or literary narrative, an author won't always structure her writing that way. When finding the main point of a single paragraph, on the other hand, this rule gets a little fuzzy. Sometimes there will be direction-changing words in the middle of the paragraph that are essential to understanding the main point - words you might miss if you only focus on the introduction and conclusion sentences. Last sentences also often try to take the argument a step beyond what has been discussed in the article, placing it in a broader context. Still, the introduction and conclusion can be helpful as places to start. If the introduction and conclusion seem to contradict each other, that is a clear sign that you need to dig deeper into the passage/paragraph to find the main point. Use Key Words It makes intuitive sense that you’d want to note where the author says things like â€Å"important† or â€Å"significant† – those things probably are important (or even significant). You can also uncover key information, however, by paying attention to words and phrases that signal changes of direction, like â€Å"in contrast,† â€Å"while,† â€Å"however,† and so on; because the information associated with these words contrasts with what came before, it often is important. Key words can help you get to the meat of the issue by helping you avoid the trap of just reading the first sentence of a paragraph and assuming that is what it will be about. Let's take yet another look at my Portal paper for an example of this. In general, because Portal is a puzzle game, it might be expected to lack a strong narrative; this, however, is not the case. While the gameplay is focused on the solving each level’s puzzle, you are also provided with tantalizing bits of story in the form of dialogue spoken to you by GLADoS, the AI directing the â€Å"tests.† Bits of the story are revealed over the course of the game in this way, picking up with the introduction of secret rooms with writing on the walls and the adorable but deadly turrets. The beginning sentence of this paragraph basically says that Portal doesn’t have a strong narrative. The â€Å"however† later on in that same sentence should catch your eye....however, as should the following sentence that starts with â€Å"While†, because they indicate that something in contrast to the opening statement is being presented. Don't ever abandon a paragraph without double-checking for contrast words.  ©2013 Laura Staffaroni. Answer In Your Own Words If you come across a question that asks you a big picture question, try to formulate the answer using your own words before you look at the test's answer choices, relying only on what you read in the passage or paragraph, not on things that COULD BE true but aren’t supported. Then, when you go to look at the answer choices, see which one best matches the answer you came up with in your own words. If you use this strategy, however, you have to be careful not to oversimplify when you answer the question in your own words. Remember, the central argument is the specific point the author is making, not a general topic or theme. Use as few words as possible to write down your version of the answer – after all, you don’t want to waste too much time on something that won’t be graded – while still being precise. It can be a tough balance to maintain at first, but practice makes it easier. Putting Strategies To Use: A Final Big Picture Example Let’s end by taking a look at the conclusion paragraph of my Portal paper and seeing if we can extract the main point from it, using some of the strategies I mentioned above. This paragraph is the conclusion of the paper â€Å"‘This was a triumph:’ Narrative and dynamic uses of music in Portal† by Laura Staffaroni ( ©2013 by Laura Staffaroni). The paper was written as the final assignment for a Research and Materials class. Overall, the music of Portal tends to fit more within a narrative framework than it does the ideal of interactivity. The use of an ambient musical soundtrack, silences, musical dialogue, non-ambient music for dramatic effect and underscoring of characters’ psychological states, and thematic music for narrative continuity and as a way to transition in and out of the game world all serve narrative purposes. Yet, like many other current game music composers, the composers of Portal created a paradigm wherein â€Å"the music and sound effects are responding to the needs of the game and the gameplayer† by creating tracks like â€Å"Procedural Jiggle Bone† that are able both to loop back into themselves and to move on to other tracks without a problem. This dichotomy confirms that the best way to analyze the music in Portal is not by applying any one analytical schema to it, but instead to assess what the most important elements of the game are and decide from there wh at methods of analysis are most appropriate. Perhaps the way music functions in Portal is best summed up by Whalen’s description of how music should function in general when it comes to digital games: â€Å"By simultaneously enriching the worlds of video games and assisting the player’s navigating the syntagmatic structure of video games, music is essential to the semantic operations of a video game as an interactive story.† If the music in Portal did not both provide narrative structure and respond to each player’s interaction with the game, it would not have been nearly as engaging and successful a game. Whew, that’s a lot of words. Where should I start if I want to figure out the main point of the paragraph? Step 1: check out intro and conclusion sentences: Intro: â€Å"Overall, the music of Portal tends to fit more within a narrative framework than it does the ideal of interactivity.† Conclusion: â€Å"If the music in Portal did not both provide narrative structure and respond to each player’s interaction with the game, it would not have been nearly as engaging and successful a game.]† Do these sentences support each other or contradict each other? My thinking: First sentence says music in Portal fits better with narrative framework than interactivity (whatever I meant by that); last sentence says music in Portal has both narrative structure and interaction parts. Hmm. Better go deeper to double check. Step 2: Look for direction words. Here's a sentence that begins with "yet," a direction word: â€Å"Yet, like many other current game music composers, the composers of Portal created a paradigm wherein â€Å"the music and sound effects are responding to the needs of the game and the gameplayer† by creating tracks like â€Å"Procedural Jiggle Bone† that are able both to loop back into themselves and to move on to other tracks without a problem.† Yikes. This is saying that the composers for Portal’s music did†¦something†¦to make music that could loop and also go on to other tracks. This is sort of contradicting the opening sentence (responding to the needs of the game is interactive, but the opening sentence says the game isn’t interactive). Also, that seems way too detailed to be a main point. Are there any other direction words? Aha, next sentence! "but instead": â€Å"This dichotomy confirms that the best way to analyze the music in Portal is not by applying any one analytical schema to it, but instead to assess what the most important elements of the game are and decide from there what methods of analysis are most appropriate.† [bolding mine] This says you shouldn’t just analyze Portal in one way, which seems to support the conclusion sentence. Good sign. Step 3: Answer in your own words. My thoughts: Main point is that music in Portal is used in both narrative and interactive ways (can’t just go with one or the other). Time to look at the actual answer choices... The main idea of the last paragraph is that the music in Portal: A. was a key factor in the game’s success B. occurs as a way of maintaining narrative continuity C. can be analyzed from a narrative or interactivity perspective D. results entirely from interactions between player and game My thoughts: A: could be true, but not really what this paragraph is about B: true, but that’s not the main idea C: true, and that’s close to how I phrased the main idea D: no, that’s entirely wrong. So the answer must be C. (and so it is) August 25th "The Big Picture We've Done It_I'm a World Record Holder!" by Amanda Slater, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. In Conclusion... Big picture questions require being able to scan a text and sum up â€Å"what’s the point.† Knowing the main point or perspective of a paragraph, series of paragraphs, or passage can be useful for answering other types of questions, especially function and author technique questions; on occasion, knowing the main point/perspective can also be helpful for little picture, vocab-in-context, and inference questions as well. No matter how you approach the passage, use the strategies of checking intro/conclusion, looking for key words, and coming up with the main point in your own words to help you answer main point and perspective questions. What’s Next? Are these strategies fine in theory...but in real life, you always run out of time when reading (especially on the ACT)? Discover how to avoid that terrible fate here. Want more in depth guides like this? Check out our articles on other ACT Reading skills types, starting with vocab-in-context questions! What are the other types of questions you’ll find on the ACT Reading, and what’s the best way to read the passage to answer them? We have ways of making you...read the passage effectively. Find out what's actually tested on ACT Reading here. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Development and Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Development and Diversity - Essay Example According to Watson’s Behaviorism, behaviors can be measured, trained and changed. John B. Watson claims, â€Å"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take anyone at random and train him to become any specialist I might select†¦doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.† This idea of behaviorism was advanced further through the publication of Watson’s classic paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It (1913). Miller (1983) adds that behaviorism, or behavioral psychology is based on the argument that all behavior is acquired through conditioning which takes place through contact and interaction with the environment, and therefore, it is the responses to our environmental conditions that shape our behavior. Behavior is considered in a systematic and observable manner with no weight on internal mental states such as mood and emotions which are argued to be purely subjective. It takes only conditioning for any person to be trained to perform any function completely independent of things such as genetic background, personality or thoughts. There are two main types of conditioning in behaviorism. The first type is the classical conditioning which is a method of conditioning in which a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response then a previously neutral stimulus paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. It is seen that, in the end, the previously neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) elicits the response (conditioned response) in the absence of naturally occurring stimulus. The second type of conditioning called the operant conditioning or the instrumental conditioning takes place via rewards and punishments for behavior and therefore a relationship is drawn between a behavior and a consequence for that particular behavior. As

Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Response Paper - Essay Example The arguments presented by the defense about the murderer are mere excuses. If the argument is to hold true for this man, what would be the explanation for the same situation if an all-round nurtured individual is involved? There are individuals who are brought up by loving parents, provided with anything they desire, well educated, and in good careers who still engage in similar or worse crimes. In the event that the argument is considered viable, then individuals who are brought up in favorable environments should never commit crimes. However, this is not the case. People who engage in crime exhibit all kinds of backgrounds; good and bad. In this regard, this man is much less of an environmental product. Wallowing and self-pity best describes the personality and character of this man. The man has totally accepted that the state he is in is the best life can offer. He, therefore, views every other thing that happened to his life in the past as a complementing factor to the situation. The society cannot be accused of neglect when the defendant has not been said to have tried to get some help from charitable agencies. The situation is more of a choice than a result of the unfolding events. As a result, this man is fully responsible for his actions. While the fact that the man has had a difficult past cannot be disputed, there are other alternative choices available to him than taking his past as an excuse in the situation. It is openly evident that all persons that have been previously charged with the crimes outlined in the situation did not necessarily share the same experiences with this man. For instance, drugs are expensive, and even the rich and wealthy engage in drug use and end up addicted to these drugs. There are others who have realized their wealth from robbing and related actions. In other words, the experiences of this man