Reflective diary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Reflective diary - Essay Example of communicating effectively through training and development; however, most of the learning is acquired through automatic learning in natural settings. In either case, effective communication has proved critical throughout my life, both in school and at home. Effective communication involves skills such as active listening, nonverbal communication skills, stress management, and emotional control. In writing this reflective diary, I used the Cook’s 4R’s of reflective practice because it is simple and straightforward to use. Cook’s model of reflection consists of four stages; these are recollection, reaction, reflection, and response. During the beginning of this module, I engaged in effective communication with my peers and tutors. Some cases required active learning among the peers as we progressed through the module. Communication with the Course Committee also required engaging in sending and receiving messages with great caution, as it was necessary to ensure both parties send and receive the messages in their exact forms. While we were making groups for role-play, it was sometimes difficult to reach amicable solutions to issues especially those that were characterized with conflicting decisions. We had to sit down as a group and discuss all issues that were affecting the process of our role-play. We accepted our individual differences and cultural diversities, and focused on the goals of our assignment. Effective communication was a critical ingredient in this process. The Course Committee advised us to seek clarification all the time in case we had any issues with preparation of the role-play and reflectiv e diary preparation. I learnt various methods of communication in delivering messages. These methods include written, oral, and non-verbal communication. Written messages are the most frequently used mode of communication in organizations (Holliday, Hyde, and Kullman, 2010). The types of written communication include memos, letters, periodicals,

Importance Of Distribution Channels Marketing Essay

Importance Of Distribution Channels Marketing Essay Meaning: in the field of marketing, channels of distribution indicates routes or pathways through which goods and services flow, or more from producers to consumers. We can define formally the distribution channels as the set of interdependent marketing institutions participating in the marketing activities involved in the movement the flow of goods or services from the primary producers to ultimate consumers. A channel of distribution is a path traced in the direct or indirect transfer of ownership of a product as it moves from producers to consumers. A channel is pipeline through which a flows on its way to the consumers. The manager put his products into the pipeline marketing channels and it moves towards various marketing people and reaches the ultimate consumer which is the other end of the channels. Components of distribution system: The distribution system involves two components such as below. Channels of distribution Physical distribution Channels of distribution: means a process through which the products are transferred from the producers to the ultimate consumers. It also known as marketing channels. The channels members such as merchants agents wholesalers and retailers are middlemen in distribution and they perform all marketing functions. These channels members such as merchants agents wholesalers and retailers are middlemen in contribution and try perform according to marketing functions. These middlemen facilitate the process of exchange and create time, place and possession utilities through matching and sorting process. Sorting enables meeting or matching the supply with consumers demand. Physical distribution: it looks after physical handling of goods and assures maximum customers services. It aims at offering of delivery of right goods at the night distribution activities cover: Order processing Packaging Warehousing Transportation Inventory control Customer service. All middle in distribution on performs these function and they assure putting the products with in an arms length customers desire and demand. Elements of distribution channels: Path way: distribution channels are a pathway through which products and services flow from manufacturers to customers. Flow: this of goods and services in sequential and usually in directional. Composition: it is composed of intermediaries also called middlemen who participate in the flow of voluntarily. Objectives: although channels components largely strive to achieve mutually acceptable objectives, the manufacturer focus is an achieving corporate marketing objective. Leader: manufacturer leads the channels components and their behavior is regulated by mutually acceptable code of conduct, trade customer and or contracted stipulation. Thus the company acts as the channels caption and manages the pathway. Functions: the intermediaries perform such functions which facilitates transfers of ownership and possession of goods and services from marketers to consumers. The function performed by intermediaries is been classified as follows: Sorting out: it involves breaking a homogeneous through grading or inspection. Accumulation: it involves bringing a number of like products together into a large homogeneous supply. This process is called concentration. Allocation: it involves sorting out of accumulated products and consists of breaking down a homogeneous supply into smacker lots it is also referred to as the process of dispersion. Assorting: it involves building an assortment of different but perhaps a related product to form a stock of an intermediary. At the manufacturer level assortment are dictated by production technology while at the consumer and, use assortments are governed by consumption pattern. These discrepancies in assortment create opportunities for intermediaries to participate in the channels of distribution. Importance of distribution channels: Channels of distribution for a product the route taken by the title to goods they are from the producers to the ultimate consumers. It is very important because product in one place while the consumption scattered in many place. So there is big gap between producers and the consumers. So through channels of distribution can only fill the gap. A channel of distribution connects a link between the producers and the consumers. The middle man plays an important role in consumer orientation demand. The middlemen are specialist in concentration equalization and dispersion, i.e. collects output of various producers subdivide the products according to the needs of the consumers. disperse this assortment to the consumers. The success of channels of distribution [COD] is completely depending upon the middlemen as they create time and possession utility. The COD helps in making products available at right time in the night place and in the right quality. Marketing is a comprehensive term, which includes distribution also, distribution is a function to distribution or sub divided the producers goods to various specific markets which incurred to all ultimate consumers. Role of channels of distribution Channel of Distribution plays a very important role in achieving the marketing objectives of a company. Undoubtedly, the manufacturer of product or services creates involve utility but the distribution channels create time and place utilities. According to Drucker, both the market and distribution channels are offer more crucial than the product. They are primary; the product is secondary. In an ever widening market, particularly in consumer goods market distribution channels have a distinctive role in the successful implementation of marketing plans and strategies. These channels performing the following marketing functions the machinery of distribution. The searching out of buyers and seller. Matching goods to requirements of the market(merchandising) Offering products in the form of assortments packages of items usable and acceptable by the consumers /users. Persuading and influencing the prospective buyers to favor a certain products and its maker [personal selling /sales promotion]. Implementing pricing strategies in such a manner that would be acceptable to the buyers and ensure effective distribution functions. Participating actively in the creation and establishment of market for a new product. Offering pre- and after sales service to customer Transferring of new technology to the users along with the supply of products and playing green resolution in our country. Providing feels back information, marketing intelligence and sales forecasting services for their regions their suppliers. Offering credit to retailers and consumers. Risk- bearing with references to stock holding transport. MIDDLEMAN IN DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Merchant intermediaries are those channels member who take both title to and position of goods from the proceeding member (s) and channels them to the subsequence. These may classify as follows: Wholesalers : A merchants wholesalers may be defined as that intermediary who buys goods in bulk from manufactures and sells them largely to subsequent intermediaries participating in the channel, namely, semi-wholesalers and retailers, they buy the goods and sees the same on their own account and risk. They take title of goods and they resale the goods at a profit with commission. Retailers: A retailer may be defined as that merchant intermediary who buys product from preceding challes members in smaller assorted lots to suit individuals consumer requirements. Retail in the final middlemen in the channel of distribution as he is going to sell products to houses holds consumers for non- business use. Retailers are further classified as institutional and non- institutional retailers. The institutional retailers are: Consumer Co- operative stores. Fair price shops. Departmental stores. Chain / multiple stores. Mail order houses. The non-institutional buyers are: Stress sellers. Peddlers. Hawkers. Agent Intermediaries: Agent Intermediaries are those channel components who never take title to end usually do not take title to and usually do not take possession of goods but merely assist manufacturers, merchants intermediaries and consumers in carrying out transactions of sale and purchase. There for, unlike merchant intermediaries, they do not buy or sell goods on their own account but merely bring buyers and sellers together in order to strike a transaction. There exist an agency relationship between such an intermediary manufacturers where in the former acts as agent and the latter as his principal, such agent intermediaries solicit orders, sometimes with discretion a fixing prices, and determines the term of sale with buyers. Agent intermediaries are usually compensable for their services by way of commission on the value of sale affected through them or any other basis naturally agrees upon. Agent intermediaries may be further classified as follows: Sole selling agent. Selling agent. Commission agent. Brokers. Channel decision The first problem of channel design in whether you want direct sale to consumer or indirect sale i.e., sale through middleman under the direct sales the channel problem becomes problems of company organization. If the company chooses the indirect route, it must consider such problem as the type and number of middlemans and methods to be employed in motivating and controlling them. The selection of these middlemen beings with the knowledge of ultimate customers-his needs and desires for distribution services. Customer conveniences and economics of exclusive distribution will determine the number of middleman employed. The company must choose whether to attempt extensive, selective or exclusive distribution or combination of all three types, the decision is made after the careful analysis of product, customer, dealers, and company objectives and policies, and the conflict with in the channels and any other relevant factors. The company must resolve channels and bring the product profit ably to the market. In the chance managements a manufacturer has to make three decisions: Section of a particular middleman at each level and in each market. Number of middlemen at each level and in each market. Selection of particular middlemen for selling goods, with or without any exclusive rights of distribution. Once the company has determined, its basic channel design and levels of distribution, it has to select middlemen appoint them, motivate their efforts, evaluate their utility periodically and if necessary, it has to reorganizing the channels in the light of experience. Channel choice Channel decisions also require special attention as involve long term commitments to other firms with whom marketer enters in to a contract. The problem of selecting the most suitable channel 0f distribution for a product is complex. The most fundamental factor for channel choice and channel management it economic criteria, viz., cost and profit criteria, we have to consider a number of factors such as the nature of the product, market trends, competition outlooks pricing policies typical consumer needs, as well as needs of the manufacture critical factor. Product factors Product manufactured by a company itself is a governing factor of great force in the distribution channel selection. The product attributes shape the channel decision in the following manners, If a commodity is perishable or fragile a producer prefers few and controlled levels of distribution. For durable and standardized goods longer and diversified channel may be necessary. For custom made product direct distribution to consumer or industrial user may be desirable. Systems approaches needs package deal and shorter-channel serves the purpose. For technical product requiring specialized and selling and serving talent, we here the shortest channel. Products of high unit value are sold directly by traveling sales force and not through middlemen. Market factors Under the modern concept of marketing market factor shape all marketing decision. As a corollary, the distribution channel choice is considerably influenced by market factor. Consumers: the numbers of consumers, their geographic location and purchase pattern considerably govern the choice of a channel. Intermediaries: the relative strength and weakness of intermediaries and the difference in the type of function performed and facilities and privileges desired by them often determine the choice of channel. Competitors: the distribution channels used by competitors also influence the channel choice because it may be the customary channel used by all those operating in the field. If the market size is large, we have many channels where as in a small market direct selling may be profitable. Company factors Like markets and products, companies own strength and weakness significantly influence and shape channel choices. Financial strength: a company with substantial and financial resources need not really too much on the middlemen and can offered. To reduce the levels of distribution a weaker company has to open on middlemen to secure financial and warehousing relief. Past channel experience: in case often old and established company its past experience of working with certain kind of intermediaries also condition channel choice. Marketing policies: the marketing policies relevant to channels decision may relate to advertising delivery, after sales service and pricing. Reputation: it is said that the reputation travels faster than the man. It is true in case of companies also who wish to select distribution channels. Middlemen Middlemen who can provide wanted marketing services will be given first preference. The selected middle men must offer maximum co operation particularly in promotional services. They must expect marketing policies and programs of the manufacturers and actively help them in their implementation. The channel generating the largest sales volume unit cost will be given top priority this will be minimizing distribution cost. Competitors Marketers closely watch the channels used by rivals. Many a times, similar channels may be desirable to bring about distribution of your products also. Followers, sometimes marketers deliberately avoid customary channels (dominated by rivals) and adopt different channels strategy for instance, you may by pass retail store channel (usually used by rival) and adopt door to door sales (where there is no competitors). Environmental factors Marketing environment can also influence the channel decision. During recession or depression, shorter and cheaper channel is always preferable. In times of prosperity we have a wider choice of channel alternatives. Technological inventions also have impact on distribution. The distribution of the perishable goods even in distant markets becomes a reality due to cold storage facilities in transport and warehousing. Hence this led to expanded role of intermediaries in the distribution of perishable goods. Arranging in classes of distribution channels and intermediaries Types of distribution channels: broadly distribution channels may be classified as a non integrated and integrated channel is individual or conventional marketing channels.

Speaker identification and verification over short distance telephone l

SPEAKER IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION OVER SHORT DISTANCE TELEPHONE LINES USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS Ganesh K Venayagamoorthy, Narend Sunderpersadh, and Theophilus N Andrew gkumar@ieee.org sundern@telkom.co.za theo@wpo.mlsultan.ac.za Electronic Engineering Department, M L Sultan Technikon, P O Box 1334, Durban, South Africa. ABSTRACT Crime and corruption have become rampant today in our society and countless money is lost each year due to white collar crime, fraud, and embezzlement. This paper presents a technique of an ongoing work to combat white-collar crime in telephone transactions by identifying and verifying speakers using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Results are presented to show the potential of this technique. 1. INTRODUCTION Several countries today are facing rampant crime and corruption. Countless money is lost each year due to white collar crime, fraud, and embezzlement. In today’s complex economic times, businesses and individuals are both falling victims to these devastating crimes. Employees embezzle funds or steal goods from their employers, then disappear or hide behind legal issues. Individuals can easily become helpless victims of identity theft, stock schemes and other scams that rob them of their money White collar crime occurs in the gray area where the criminal law ends and civil law begins. Victims of white collar crimes are faced with navigating a daunting legal maze in order to effect some sort of resolution or recovery. Law enforcement is often too focused on combating â€Å"street crime† or does not have the expertise to investigate and prosecute sophisticated fraudulent acts. Even if criminal prosecution is pursued, a criminal conviction does not mean that the victims of fraud are able to recover their losses. They have to rely on th criminal courts awarding restitution after the conviction and by then the perpetrator has disposed of or hidde most of the assets available for recovery. From the civil law perspective, resolution and recovery can just be a difficult as pursuing criminal prosecution. Perpetrators of white collar crime are often difficult to locate and served with civil process. Once the perpetrators have been located and served, proof must be provided that the fraudulent act occurred and recovery/damages are needed. This usually takes a lengthy legal fight, which often can cost the victim more money than t... ...phone speech†, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, vol. 2 no. 3 March 1995, pp. 46 - 48. [2] J.M.Naik, L.P.Netsch, G.R.Doddington, â€Å"Speaker verification over long distance telephone lines†, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 23-26 May 1989, pp. 524 - 527. [3] A.L.Mcilraith, H.C.Card, â€Å"Birdsong Recognition Using Backpropagation and Multivariate Statistics†, Proceedings of IEEE Trans on Signal Processing, vol. 45, no. 11, November 1997. [4] G.K.Venayagamoorthy, V.Moonasar, K.Sandrasegaran, â€Å"Voice Recognition Using Neural Networks†, Proceedings of IEEE South African Symposium on Communications and Signal Processing (COMSIG 98), 7-8 September 1998, pp. 29 - 32. [5] V.Moonasar, G.K.Venayagamoorthy, â€Å"Speaker identification using a combination of different parameters as feature inputs to an artificial neural network classifier†, accepted for publication in the Proceedings of IEEE Africon 99 conference, Cape Town, 29 September – 2 October 99. [6] H.Demuth, M.Beale, MATLAB Neural Network Toolbox User’s Guide, The Maths Works Inc., 1996. [7] T.Kohonen, Self-organizing and associate memory Spring Verlag, Berlin, third edition, 1989.

Another Brick in the Wall

This song was written by Pink Floy’d. It was recorded April-November 1979 and was released to the public on December 1979. The song can be found on â€Å"The Wall† album. The song is written with three parts: part one is referred to as reminiscing, part two is referred to as education, and part three is referred to as drugs. Part two is the most recognized part of the whole song. â€Å"Another Brick in the Wall† hit number fifty-seven on the disco chart. Part one of â€Å"Another Brick in the Wall† starts off with a soft and long guitar solo, this solo hits a few louder notes throughout this part. You can hear a teacher yelling at students. Floy’d comes in with soft vocals; he only gets louder in a few parts. All the vocals are softer than the other two parts. In all three parts the line â€Å"all in all it was just a brick in the wall† is repeated. This line is a symbol for people building up a wall to protect themselves from emotional harm. Part one is about Pink’s childhood life. This part is reminiscent about Pinks’s father; this is shown in the lines â€Å"daddy’s flown across the ocean and what did you leave for me. † The first line shows the separation from his father due to the military. His father was killed in Italy, so the separation from him was a great issue for him. Pink uses the word ocean as a metaphor for the afterlife that lies past a great body of water. He is both physically and mentally separated from his father. Reminiscing ends with another soft guitar solo. Part two, education, is the most famous part of â€Å"Another Brick in the Wall†. Floy’d tries to show his childhood struggles with cruel teachers whom he blames for adding more bricks in his wall. Since its release, there have been accounted stories of children and adults adopting this song as an anarchistic hymn. They use it to fight back against their years of educational oppression. The line â€Å"we don’t need no education† does not suggest that we do not need education, but, in fact it is a double negative which means the â€Å"don’t† and â€Å"no† cancel each other out producing we do need education. Part two has added the drums and a synthesizer to its musical items. The guitar is still used here. In a part of this song Floy’d has children singing the same stanza he sang earlier. This part of the song also ends with a guitar solo with the drums being played in the background. Part three â€Å"drugs† is much shorter than the previous two parts but it starts out with a sound of smashing then you hear a guitar and drums starting to play. At the same time, Floy’d starts singing with the line â€Å"I don’t need no arms around me. And I don’t need no drugs to calm me. † This part symbolizes his pain and how he dealt with it: drugs and loving arms around him. He uses part three as an attack against the world. He uses the line â€Å"I have seen the writing on the wall† as a metaphor for him seeing what life can throw at you and you have to stand strong if you want to survive. The song ends with the sound of the synthesizer fading into nothing.

Hispanic Groups Living in US Essay

It is very common for someone walking down the streets of any American city and hears Spanish spoken. The federal government of America coined this term ‘Hispanic’ way back in 1970’s to refer people tracing their origin in Spanish speaking countries which were former Spanish colonies or those who can trace their origin to Spain or its territory. This represents a varied range of countries and ethnic groups with different social, political and emotional experiences. A large part of Hispanics still try to characterize themselves in terms of their individual ethnic identity as Mexican, Cuban, and others rather the whole term ‘Hispanic’. Hispanic Americans, n. d. ) The wide range of the Hispanic group includes Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, El Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, Columbians, Central and South Americans among others. The Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and Cubans form the largest part of the Hispanics living in America. (Tienda and Mitchell, 2006) America’s cultural canvas is very vivid as each group brought their respective culture’s specialty with them which has totally mingled in the main force. The Hispanic community has left their mark over traditions, customs and cultures throughout the country and the bilingual education structure of America displays the growing importance in the country as they are the largest minority community. It has been noticed that people from the Hispanic groups have done well in various fields and their progress is something to be watched. The 2002 census showed the Mexicans forming the largest part of the population with 66. 9%, followed by Central and Latin Americans at 14. 3%, third position held by Puerto Ricans, others 6. % and last Cubans at 3. 7%. (The Hispanic Population, 2002) Majority of the Hispanics are native born neutralizes citizens or have acquired legal residency status. They are largely concentrated in the west part of the country especially the urban areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, and Texas. There is a tendency among them to live in family units which are generally large in size unlike the non-Hispanic Whites. In comparison to Whites communities, the rate of unemployment and poverty is much more in the Hispanic groups. Mexican Americans are the one to form the largest part of the Hispanic population living in America and they are also the largest group of White Hispanics. The Mexican immigration could be traced in the past decades as they started establishing themselves in the 1600s in southwestern parts of the country who later became New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas. (Stacy, 2002) The work at railroads and steel industry of the Midwest America attracted them in the 1800s and this immigration is still continued to the present time. Today majority of Mexican Americans are U. S. born citizens. The major causes behind the migration of Mexicans to America are self-liberty, quality education, modes to improve economic condition and achieve good living standard. Spanish is the main language for Mexican Americans, some of them are monolingual. But most can fluently speak both English and Spanish. The attitude of the Mexican Americans is something to be watched as more than 90% of them are literate. Their respect towards others is also acclaimed as their communications are respectful in manner. They are one of the strict believers in the concept of familism (Nash, 2007) and value family considerations over individual as well very much rely on family in times of crisis. Patriarchy is the trend of Mexican American family. Earlier, they used to neglect family planning but at present time they have been active in that. Largely they are the followers of Roman Catholicism. They look at churches as powerful source of hope, faith and strength while spirituality and religion play significant role in times of illness, health and life. Their housing conditions are really bad as they live in colonies not appropriate for living to low-income. Central and South Americans stand second in the American Hispanic population. They owe their origin to different countries such as Guatemala, Venezuela, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Argentina among others. These groups of people display a vast diversity due to their different origins. Most of them migrated from their respective countries in the period of 1970s and 1980s when the region was going through political turbulence. Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala were suffering from civil wars that made their people to flee in search of stable life. In the present time too, the immigration is on due to different causes. Although many of them arrived in U. S. as refuges, gradually they acquired political asylum from the state. Cheap accommodation and easy immigrant services made most of the Central and South Americans settle in California. They speak other languages rather than Spanish, which is a main language, such as French and Portuguese. Though Catholicism is the main religion, Protestants and Jews as well as other beliefs are followed by this group. They have high religious values. Males are treated as the head of the family. Due to intermarriage among this group and other Hispanics or Europeans, they have become much diversified. The education level of Central and South Americans is much appreciable than other Hispanics but still they lack behind in employment tin respects of other groups. Third largest group belonging to Hispanic community are the Puerto Ricans as they became U. S. citizens after Jones Act of 1917. (Stacy, 2002) But they are not allowed to vote in U. S. Presidential elections. They are mainly settled in industrial areas such as the states of Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, and New York due to the availability of employment opportunity. Wherever they settled, they tried to hold on their tradition and culture and formed various groups and organizations to support them. Puerto Rican Americans pay huge respect to education but still they maintain a low level than other Hispanics which makes parents encourage their children to pursue good education for better future. They are bilingual speaking both Spanish and English. The expressive nature of Puerto Ricans and their hospitality is well known. They possess high respect for women, parents and elderly people and family units that they even allow more than one family living together. Puerto Ricans are followers of Catholicism and seek support from religion and spiritualism in tough situations. Their approach to health and illness is based on these beliefs. Cubans too comprise a significant part of the Hispanic community. Cuban immigration to America can be traced back to history but the major wave was created during the political turmoil of 1959 which still continues today. They have their bases at Miami, Florida and New Jersey. They can be considered as the most affluent among all the Hispanic groups due to their well performance in education, which led to better employment opportunities and a good quality lifestyle. Till recent past they faced problem in speaking English, but nowadays they have overcome that. The Cuban Americans are very much into their culture that they most often do not show much interest in the Anglo culture. They hold a rather conservative outlook towards politics due to their experience in their native country. They possess diverse beliefs of religion; still Catholicism is more prevalent among them. They stand against communism holds much important place in U. S. The Hispanic groups in spite of their various origins share some commonalities as well some major differences among them. Spanish is a bond that binds all of them, while most of them are bilingual. Approach towards education is another common factor between them as all the groups show very much respect to education as they know it is the only key to good living. Religion too makes them stand on a common platform as most of the Hispanic Americans are followers of Catholicism. Political perspective is one thing that creates differences among these groups as each of them has their respective political idea. Cuban Americans support Republicans as they are inclined towards conservative idea of politics whereas Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and South Americans have a liking for democrats. Still, Catholic faith, language and belief in their respective culture make them stand on a single platform.

How Fantasy Has Changed Since the 1920s

How Fantasy Has Changed Since the 1920s A Century of Fantasy: How the Genre's Changed Since the 1920s The English word, "fantasy," sprang from Old French's  phantasie, or "vision, imagination." But you wouldn't be entirely remiss if you'd thought that it came from  the word, "fantastic." When you consider all the fantastic things in our world and our imaginations, it's no wonder there are so many different subgenres in fantasy - and dedicated readers of each subgenre.In our past piece in this series on writing fantasy, our editors gave tips on writing compelling fantasy fiction. In this post, we conduct a brief examination of the evolution of the genre and its subgenres. Because we've only got so much space, we're going to concentrate on the Anglophone side of things - though fantasy is a worldwide phenomenon that's got roots in Indian myth, dating back to 1500 BC.   And yet, up until the 1940s, "fantasy" wasn't even a universal term for the genre yet! ("Fairy tale" was preferred.)How did we get from there to fantasy's current, steadfast position in mainstream English literat ure?The Two Giants of FantasyEnter two names that you might’ve come across before: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.The two fathers of fantasy met in 1926 on the campus of Oxford University, where they were both on the faculty together. (Lewis was a part of the Literature faction of the English faculty. Tolkien, unsurprisingly, was more of a Linguistics person.) So it's curious that it seems to actually be young adult and children’s fantasy (something called Harry Potter, in particular) that changed all of that. First,  Harry Potter got everyone reading fantasy. Then the genre really sprang into popular culture when the advent of CGI took fantasy from our books to our silver screens. Suddenly, the worlds that we could only envision in our minds were right in front of our eyes. In 2002, Peter Jackson captured the attention of both readers and non-readers with the Hollywood adaptation of Lord of the Rings. Then  Game of Thrones started showing up on our televisions every week, and that, as they say, is that.Where will fantasy go now?We mentioned it already, but we’ll mention it again. There really is no better time to write fantasy. When you think about it, the biggest pop culture phenomena since the turn of the millennium almost all have ties to fantasy: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Twilight. Even The Hunger Games is a dys topian fantasy, set in an entirely imagined (albeit terrifyingly bleak) world.Looking back now, it’s easy to see the many ways that the genre’s evolved since the days of Tolkien. Consider The Hobbit, which possessed a grand total of zero women. Then take a gander at all the girls who are mainstays in the most popular fantasy books now (Hermione, Katniss, Triss).Admittedly, it’s tough to predict the future, but at the rate that the genre’s progressing, there are two big trends that will carry us through the next couple of years:An ever-diversifying spectrum of characters and worlds as fantasy expands beyond its European and medieval roots. In Tor.com’s past open call for submissions, for instance, they specifically asked for novellas that  were not based on European cultures - seeking, instead, worlds that â€Å"take their influences from Africa, Asia, the indigenous Americas, or any diasporic culture from one of those sources.†Further gen re- and subgenre-blurring. Fantasy already overlaps with romance, mysteries, and thrillers - and we’ll see much more of fantasy’s influences in other genres as the spectrum of writers and readers continues to broaden.Fantasy traditions of other countries will impact the stories of the Anglophone world. Russia, for instance, recently pioneered the increasingly popular "LitRPG" genre, where the stories take place in worlds with video-game mechanics.Ultimately, the future of fantasy rests on the imaginations of all the writers out there. How will you show us glimpses of another universe? People are always wanting to escape from reality. And so it's Lloyd Alexander, the author of the famous The Chronicles of Prydain series, who  states the purpose of modern fantasy best: â€Å"Fantasy is barely an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.†Has this post inspired you to write fantasy of your own? Tell us about your ideas in the comments. And if yo u want to get an even more concrete idea of fantasy's evolution, check out this post of the 100 best fantasy series of all time.

Whats the Lowest SAT Score Possible How Many Get It

What's the Lowest SAT Score Possible How Many Get It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you embarrassed of your SAT score, or think it’s pretty low? Chances are it isn’t even close to the lowest possible SAT score. In this post, we’ll reveal how rare the lowest possible SAT score is, the lowest scores we have seen, and how to improve on the test, regardless of what your currentscore is. What Is the Lowest SAT Score? On the Redesigned SAT, the lowest possible score is a 400: 200 on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 200 on Math. The lowest possible SAT score on the old SAT was a 600 composite, which could only be earned with scores of 200 on the Critical Reading, Math, and Writing sections. While there is no data yet on the Redesigned SAT, we know from data on the old SAT that the lowest possible score is extremely rare. Only 374 people got a 600 on the SAT in 2014 – even fewer than a perfect 2400! The SAT is scaled so that the average score is about a 1500 old/1000 redesigned, or 500 per section. The bottom 25% of scorers have about a 1270 old/850 redesigned or lower. Any score below an 1100 old/750 redesigned is rare – only 10% of test-takers score that low. So odds are, even if you have a low score, it’s not the very lowest possible! In fact, it’s incredibly difficult to get a 600 old/400 redesigned SAT composite score. How Do You Get the Lowest Score on the SAT? It’s harder to get a 600 old/400 redesigned than you might think. Even if you guess on every question, you’ll probably get higher than the lowest possible score. Why? Assuming you really don’t know anything and guess on each question, odds are you will guess correctly 25% of the time, since there are four answer choices. And it turns out that getting 25% of SAT questions right gets you a score above the lowest possible! Even Jon Snow, who knows nothing, would probably score higher than a 400 on the SAT. The SAT is scored by translating your raw score (the total amount of questions you get right) into a scaled score. For more on this process, check out our scoring guide. On the Redesigned SAT, a Reading raw score with 25% of the questions correct is a 13. A Writing raw score with 25% of the questions correct is an 11. After combining these, your final Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score would be around 350 low, but far from the lowest possible score of 200. A Math 25% raw score is about a 14, which would net approximately a 380 final score. If you add up these two scores, you would get a 730 composite – low, but far from the lowest! So you would have to have very bad luck or be deliberately trying to get a low score to get a 200 on each section for a 400 composite on the Redesigned SAT. You need a raw score of 1 or lower on each section to get a scaled score of 200 on the Redesigned SAT, which means you basically have to get every single question wrong. So even if you just give up on the test and fill in every answer bubble with a "C," you'll definitely get more than 1 raw point on each section, and thus get a higher score than a 400. On the old SAT, getting the lowest possible score was actually pretty complicated. Since the old SAT had a guessing penalty, you needed a negative raw score on each section to get the lowest possible score. That meant you could sleep through the test, leave all of the answers blank, get a raw score of 0, and still get about 210-220 per section, which was higher than the lowest possible score. On the Redesigned SAT, however, leaving the test blank and taking a nap will result in the lowest possible score, since you would get a raw score of 0. This means getting a 200 on each section of the old SAT was surprisingly tricky. You could have skipped most of the questions but answered 8 incorrectly to get a -2 raw score. Or, of course, you could have gotten every single problem wrong and gotten a raw score below a -2, and thus received a 200 section score. You can actually read about one man’s attempt to get the lowest possible score on the old SAT here. Note that he had to know the SATquite wellto accomplish this â€Å"feat.† Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! What Are the Lowest Scores You’ve Seen? At PrepScholar, we work with everyone from high-scorers, trying to close the last 100-point gap to a perfect score, to students who struggle with standardized tests and want lots of extra help. On the old SAT, we’ve seen scores as low as 900 (around 300 in each section), but gotten them up to the 1300 range, which gets them into the top 75% of scorers. How do we do this? There are two main ways to improve a low score: fill content gaps and improve test-taking strategy. If you’re scoring in the 300s, there is probably content on the SAT you simply don’t know. Whether you struggle with vocabulary, geometry, grammar rules, or all of the above, not knowing major concepts can seriously hamper you on the SAT. That said, even if you know the content, struggling with test-taking can lower your score, too. Just because it's multiple choice doesn't mean it's easy. Time management, process of elimination, smart guessing, and familiarity with the test are all factors that can make or break your score. A student who is able to manage their time and answer 40 out of 58 math questions will get a better score than a student who gets stuck on a single problem, loses time, and only answers 30 math questions by the end of the test. Also, knowing how to eliminate wrong answers can raise your odds of getting a question right from 25% to 50%. Process of elimination is an important strategy! Sound like there’s a lot to learn? There is, but it’s very manageable to make big SAT score leaps, especially if you have the best resources. How Can I Improve My Score? The key to a higher SAT score is fixing your weaknesses, practicing with quality questions, and learning test-taking strategy. With PrepScholar, we will create a custom program for you based on your weaknesses. We will fill your content gaps and get you on track for a higher score. Basically, we take the hard part out of SAT studying – analyzing your weak spots – and give you more time to practice. You can also study on your own with prep books and a study schedule. Remember to block your SAT prep time into your schedule like it’s a class or a sport – you have to put in the time to see a difference. Finally, you can see if your school has an SAT prep class, study sessions, or other free resources to take advantage of. This can help you make time for SAT studying each week. If you commit dedicated time to studying, and use the best resources, you are guaranteed to see an improvement in your score. Even you, Jon Snow. What’s Next? Learn more about average SAT scores by state to learn just how good or bad your score is. So what’s a good SAT score? An amazing one? See our guide to the best SAT scores, based on which colleges you are aiming for. Thinking about giving the ACT a try instead? See our guide to which test is easiest, and which one you will do the best on. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: