Artistic Innovations of Renaissance Florentine Painters essays

Artistic Innovations of Renaissance Florentine Painters essays Artistic Innovations of Renaissance Florentine Painters During the Renaissance, many new, different styles of painting were developed. Many of these techniques were perfected by Florentine painters. Some of these styles techniques include perspective, life-like human forms, realistic looking objects and chiaroscuro. These developments began to form in the early Quattrocento and were slowly perfected by a long flow of artists. Their influences included new scientific discoveries as well as new outlooks on religion, life and visual perception of the world. Perspective was perhaps one of the most significant methods developed and also the one with the most impact. It is still widely used today. Perspective is a method which is used to make a three-dimensional space or object appear three-dimensional on a two-dimensional space. It allows objects to appear closer or further away and gives them depth. This effect can be achieved by making all of the lines in a painting go towards a vanishing point on a horizon line. Artists also found that while using a horizon line and vanishing point, if you made one object in the painting which was identical to another object, but smaller, the objects would appear to be at different distances from the viewer.(see fig.1) During the early Renaissance, as humanism focused attention on man and human perspective, the viewer assumes the active role. Now, instead of projecting outward, space recedes from the viewers eye into the picture plane.1 The first person to begin using the perspective technique was an artist named Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). In an astonishingly short amount of time, Giotto revolutionized the art of Florence. He is considered by many to be the true father of Renaissance painting. Since Giotto was from a time before the Renaissance actually began, his style consists of some methods which later...

How to Use Italian Adjectives

How to Use Italian Adjectives The big piazza, the clear sky, and the  handsome Italian man are all examples with an adjective, or something that gives more information about a noun. Oftentimes this is a description. In Italian an adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies, and there are two groups of adjectives: those ending in -o and those ending in -e. Adjectives ending in -o in the masculine have four forms: Maschile Femminile Singolare -o -a Plurale -i -e Singolare il libro italiano la signora italiana Plurale i libri italiani le signore italiane Singolare il primo giorno la mesa universitaria Plurale i primi giorni le mense universitarie COMMON ITALIAN ADJECTIVES ENDING IN -O allegro cheerful, happy buono good, kind cattivo bad, wicked freddo cold grasso fat leggero light nuovo new pieno full stretto narrow timido timid, shy Adjectives ending in -o have four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural. Observe how the adjectives nero and cattivo change to agree with nouns they modify. Note that when an adjective modifies  two nouns of different gender, it keeps its masculine ending. For example: i padri e le madre italiani (Italian fathers and mothers). If an adjectives ends in -io, like vecchio - old, the  o is dropped to form the plural. labito vecchio - the old suitgli abiti vecchi - the old suitsil ragazzo serio - the serious boyi ragazzi seri - the serious boysUli à ¨ tedesco. - Uli is German.Adriana à ¨ italiana. - Adriana is Italian.Roberto e Daniele sono americani. - Robert and Daniel are American.Svetlana e Natalia sono russe. - Svetlana and Natalia are Russian. Adjectives ending in -e are the same for the masculine and the feminine singular. In the plural, the -e changes to an -i, whether the noun is masculine or feminine. il ragazzo inglese - the English boyla ragazza inglese - the English girli ragazzi inglesi - the English boysle ragazze inglesi - the English girls ENDINGS OF -E  ADJECTIVES SINGULAR PLURAL il ragazzo triste - the sad boy i ragazzi tristi - the sad boys la ragazza triste - the sad girl le ragazze tristi - the sad girls ITALIAN ADJECTIVES ENDING IN  -E abile able difficile difficult felice happy forte strong grande big, large, great importante important intelligente intelligent interessante interesting triste sad veloce fast, speedy There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -io (with the stress falling on that ) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii. The table below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know. FORMING PLURAL ADJECTIVES SINGULAR ENDING PLURAL ENDING -ca -che -cia -ce -cio -ci -co -chi -ga -ghe -gia -ge -gio -gi -glia -glie -glio -gli -go -ghi -scia -sce -scio -sci Where do the adjectives go? Unlike in English, descriptive adjectives in Italian are usually placed after the noun they modify, and with which they agree in gender and number. 1. Adjectives generally follow the noun. È una lingua difficile. - It is a difficult language.Marina à ¨ una ragazza generosa. - Marina is a generous girl.Non trovo il maglione rosa. - I cant find the pink sweater. TIP: Note that adjectives of colors that derive from nouns, like â€Å"rosa†, â€Å"viola†, or â€Å"blu† are invariable. 2. Certain common adjectives, however, generally come before the noun. Here are the most common: bello - beautifulbravo - good, ablebrutto - uglybuono - goodcaro - dearcattivo - badgiovane - younggrande - large; great TIP: When you place â€Å"grande† before a noun, it means â€Å"great†, like â€Å"una grande piazza†, but if you place it after, it means â€Å"big†, like â€Å"una piazza grande†. lungo - longnuovo - newpiccolo - small, littlestesso - samevecchio - oldvero - true Here are some examples: Anna à ¨ una cara amica. - Anna is a dear friend.Gino à ¨ un bravissimo dottore. - Gino is a really good doctor.È un brutto affare. - Its a bad situation. But even these adjectives must follow the noun to emphasize or contrast something, and when modified by an adverb. Oggi non porta labito vecchio, porta un abito nuovo. - Today he is not wearing the old suit, he is wearing a new suit.Abitano in una casa molto piccola. - They live in a very small house. Click here, here and here  to get practice with adjectives.

Marketing Strategy for Hair Extensions and Beauty Products Research Paper

Marketing Strategy for Hair Extensions and Beauty Products - Research Paper Example Behavioral segmentation involves observing how customers use products and media, purchasing behavior and ownership. Psychological segmentation involves using the lifestyles of customers, the types of benefits sought by customers and customers’ attitudes and perceptions. We shall use all different attributes from each of the three segmentation bases to help us identify possible target markets. Our approach for doing this will be the breakdown approach which considers the market as consisting of customers that are essentially the same, thus our job would be to identify groups sharing particular differences. Our core products are hair extensions and beauty products. The hair extension products shall be targeted at women whereas the beauty products shall have products targeting both men and women. Targeting both men and women in our beauty products will enable us to use complementarity of our products between the sexes to create a market positioning. The economic environment for o ur targeted customer, in North America and Europe, is still in recovery mode, thus many consumers have low discretionary income. The level of discretionary income affects our products because they do not fall under the essential products category. For this reason we shall target midlife independents (35–54 year olds who are not married and do not live with relations) and unconstrained couples (35–54 year olds who are married but do not live with son/daughter). These two life-stage groups are likely to have a job (in the current low jobs market) and have higher discretionary income because of fewer life-obligations such as not living with relatives, living single or married with two sources of income. Lastly, we cannot ignore the importance of geographic variables on our products. People in different continents tend to have different skin care concerns based on their skin pigmentation and climatic conditions. For example, women leaving in coastal regions will need skin care products with lower moisture content in comparison to their counterparts living in dry, inland areas. Competitors Two of direct competitors are NIVEA by Beiersdorf AG for beauty products and SHE by SO.CAP for hair extensions. NIVEA has a broad and deep product range for both men and women beauty products. It is also a strong and global brand. NIVEA’s product positioning strategy is a mix of both functional and expressive positioning. In its functional positioning strategy NIVEA focuses on use, for example, its sun care range highlights different products that match different needs such as sensitive skin or after the sun. In its expressive positioning strategy NIVEA speaks of its heritage as a symbol of knowledge and experience e.g. on its UK website it says â€Å"NIVEA: 100 years feeling closer†(NIVEA, 2012). NIVEA’s current positioning is delivering a heritage in beauty products in an extensive range of products. SHE by SO.CAP USA, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the 40 year old Italian Company, SO.CAP. s.r.l (SO.CAP, 2012). SHE is a functionally positioned brand that focuses on the features. For example, it emphasizes the fact that their hair extensions are hand selected and 100% European-type human hair that is pre-bonded with 100% Keratin (SO.CAP, 2012). However, it is not as globally-recognized brand as NIVEA. It promises to deliver to the customer the largest selection of hair types and hair color. According to a research conducted by

Management focused study and professional development plan (PDP) Essay

Management focused study and professional development plan (PDP) - Essay Example The importance of good leadership cannot be stressed enough with the number organizations and business entities that folded to the failure of its leadership. Leadership coupled with the tools of management, intends to reach or achieve the vision of an organization with its available resource in information, technology, materials, organization and personnel. In today’s very competitive business arena, leadership can spell the difference of an organization’s success or failure. Leadership is a critical element in ensuring the sustainability of an organization. Research in the field of leadership has never been saturated with theoretical and conceptual quests for leadership styles that work with any situation and followers’ condition. (Jamaludin, et al, 2011, pg. 73). One of the important attributes of leaders that attract the interest of many researchers is their leadership styles (Adeyemi-Bello 2001). Leaders lead through a combination of logical decision making a nd feeling. Depending upon the situation, it may require more emotional intelligence and less logical decision making or vice versa (Mayer & Caruso, 2002). ... Consistent with this observation, Al-Mailam (2004) argued that high-quality leadership is regarded as vital in bringing success to any group activity. One of the more recent and prevalent discussion about leadership is the emotional aspect of it as â€Å"leadership has been described as an â€Å"emotionladen process† (George, 2000, p. 1046), with the skillful management of followers’ feelings representing a critical leadership function (Humphrey, 2002, 2008). The ability to address underlying feelings and emotions is essential to effective leadership (Mayer & Caruso, 2002). This brings to the fore the relationship and emotional aspect of leadership which has been the subject of inquiry of many management theorist – emotional intelligence. This is quite interesting because the emotional aspect of human resource was used to be thought of as insignificant and irrelevant in the production line that management theorists relegated it as being trivial and unimportant. When science in management was first introduced in an organization and production line, the emotion of the people in the bureaucracy was never considered (Taylor, 1911). Organization then was viewed more of cohesive machine that works efficiently rather an structure that composes of people of different background, interest, predisposition and motivation. Recent management theorists however are looking at it at a different perspective. Mayer and Salovey (1997) elaborated the idea and defined emotional intelligence as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and action" (Grewal & Salovey, 2005 p. 332). Interpersonal

Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Essay Example for Free

Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Essay Some of these hurdles comprise of inefficacy of SMEs to access continued development and success. Lack of Finance: One of the crucial factors that prompts in the success or failure of enterprise is technology. The best use of technology no doubt enables enterprise in reducing cost of production, maintain consistency in quality, improve productivity and finally develop the competitiveness of the enterprise. Lack of technology: One of the crucial factors that prompts in the success or failure of enterprise is technology. The best use of technology no doubt enables enterprise in reducing cost of production, maintain consistency in quality, improve productivity and finally develop the competitiveness of the enterprise. Lack of Knowledge: Â  Lack of knowledge and information about the various schemes announced by the government. Lackof Marketing Assistance: One of the chief problems that they do not have marketing expertise or not in a position to hire someone who can jazz up their sales. Paucity of marketing support and limitation of the resources is a characteristic of all SMEs. In this framework the discussion focuses on SMEs typical traits and how these effect upon marketing characteristics within SMEs. When it comes to marketing of products or services internationally, any small or medium company is always constrained by its scarcity of budgets, which in turn limits its growth. A B2B marketplace is a platform where sellers can list thei businesses free of cost and leverage the power of internet. Not only they solve companies problem of reach to the buyers worldwide, the online marketplace also support their communication needs and help them display an array of products. Lack of right staff: Last but not the least SMEs are largely dependent on their staffs, if you fail in the recruitment process, you fail indeed. SMEs must hire right employees, who give their best and support the enterprise through their performances Lack of planning: Another problem that is mainly faced by SME sector is the proper division of time, which is usually the outcome of improper planning and strategy. Moreover, if you are in debt then you have to be careful from your bankers and suppliers and off course your employees who will be on your nerves on the salary day

Abortion By RU486 :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Dangers inherent in this method of abortion are evident in precautions used in other countries, for example France. The Food and Drug Administration based its 1996 finding that drug-induced abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol ("M/M") was "safe and effective" on results involving a subgroup of women (1,681) in French trials. M/M abortions in France are performed at government-operated hospitals and clinics, typically with or adjacent to emergency room facilities. Women are screened for numerous medical conditions that rule out use of the two drugs. Ultrasound is used to determine gestational age and to rule out tubal pregnancy. After women are given prostaglandin (e.g., misoprostol), they are monitored on site for approximately four hours so that allergic reactions, cardiopulmonary "events," hemorrhaging and the like can be treated promptly before they become life-threatening. A 1990 directive jointly signed by the French Republic's Director General of Health, Director of Hospitals and Director of Pharmacy and Medication, states that whenever prostaglandins are given "in association with RU 486" the "following technical conditions ... are indispensable and are to be followed: ... b) The doctor must ensure that diagnostic instruments and machines are close by, such as electrocardiogram equipment and particularly resuscitative cardiopulmonary equipment (including nitrous oxide and injectable calcium antagonists and a fibrillator). ... c) [C]linical observations and blood-pressure readings every half hour are indispensable for several hours following the administration of these drugs. d) Whenever there is ches t pain, an electrocardiogram should be taken on the suspicion of rhythm troubles and in case of significant lowering of blood pressure" ("Letter"). In Sweden, women are "supervised by the midwife for 4 to 6 hours at the outpatient clinic" (Bygdeman). In China "the emphasis on close medical supervision is well accepted. ... It is stressed that misoprostol should be taken in the clinic and followed by several hours of observation" (Wu). The long observation is one reason that staffs in some large hospitals in China are growing reluctant to prescribe the drug combination: "The number of medical abortions has decreased recently in some of the large hospitals. The staffs were too busy to handle the procedure (more counseling, more visits, and observation), and they also have to manage the referred cases with serious side effects and complications" (Wu 199). Searle, which manufactures misoprostol under the brand name Cytotec, has consistently opposed the use of Cytotec for labor induction and for

How Technology is changing our online life Essay

It is hard to imagine life without email nowadays. The only efficient means of communication, with efficient meaning that the message is delivered within seconds, is either through the cellular phone or through email via the internet. It is even more impossible to imagine how people could work under circumstances that denied them access to the latest communication technologies or even technology at all. Yet somehow, there was really a time when people where not at the beck and call of their cellular phones and a time when nobody really felt the urge to keep checking the mailbox every five minutes for fear of missing an email. There was a time when people actually drove to the store or entered a store and talked with the attendants before buying something. Ordering shoes and bags or other electronic items was done by going to a shop and not by going online and surfing online as it is done today. Friends and lovers were met and made by going to social functions and parties instead of by checking out somebody’s myspace profile or advertising on online personals. While those practices are still being done by certain individuals, the growth of the internet and the wide array of services that it offers have dramatically altered the manner by which people interact with one another and also the manner by which individuals lead their daily lives. The convenience and accessibility that the internet offers makes it an ideal replacement for all the previous time and energy consuming endeavors. With the number of people who are connected to the internet growing everyday, it is but a natural consequence that more and more services are being offered online ranging from dating, shopping, research and entertainment. In understanding how this newfound online lifestyle has changed our lives, it is important to understand the lures that are online that make it such a tempting alternative to doing this the time consuming and energy expending tasks. The internet provides everything online. Everything a person can desire or want is available online. Romance can be found through chatting or through online personals while intrigue can also be found on popular blog spots. Food is readily available for order online and so are clothes and other items. In short, there is nothing that cannot be found online and all a person needs to do is point and click. This is the lure of the online life and this is the reason why more and more people are leading the online life. It is convenient. It is time saving. It does not require one to expend a lot of energy. In certain cases, it also allows a person to work more efficiently and become more productive. From the standpoint of privacy, the internet offers virtual anonymity to anybody who goes online. All of this is offered online thanks to the great improvements in electronic and communications technology. As the developments in the electronics and communications technology continues to improve and advance, it will no longer be far off to imagine a world where nobody is walking the streets and everyone is hooked up to their computers interacting with each other in a world where they can be their own gods and dictate their own destinies without even breaking a sweat. Instead of just seeing an image of another person online, it may actually be possible to experience the sensation of feeling and touching that person. This all may just be future talk but one thing is certain. Today’s society has become so dependent on the benefits that technology has brought in making online life possible that we have come to a point of no return where we can no longer imagine life without it. If you think otherwise, turn off your cellular phone and unhook the jack of your computer and see how long you can survive without it.

Social Phsycology

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY FINAL EXAMINATION (CH 12, 13, & 14) SPRING 2011 MULTIPLE CHOICE: 3 points each 1. An act performed voluntarily to help someone else when there is no expectation of receiving a reward is known as a. nurturance b. altruism c. pro-social behavior d. modeling 2. True altruism is defined by a. the circumstances surrounding the behavior b. the person's intentions c. the person himself or herself d. culture 3. Pro-social behavior is defined as a. any act that helps others, even if it is done to make yourself look good b. a voluntary act to help others with no thought of reward . helping that serves to perpetuate one's genes d. none of the above 4. Ethan volunteers to help with the local Special Olympics in order to build up his resume for job hunting.His behavior would best be described as a. prosocial behavior b. altruism c. reactance d. reciprocity 5. Researchers have found that we are most likely to be helpful to a. anyone who asks b. strangers c. friends d. all of the above 6. Which of the following is NOT one of the theoretical perspectives on helping described in the text? a. evolutionary psychology b. a learning approach c. a decision-making perspective . social impact theory 7. Evolutionary psychologists have observed that a. prosocial behavior is rare among non-human animals b. prosocial behavior is common among primates, but not in other animal species c. prosocial behavior is observed among animals only when a mother is protecting her young d. prosocial behavior is common among non-human animals8. Evolutionary theorists believe that altruism among animals and humans persists because a. helping provides the helper with emotional rewards b. helping increases survival value c. helping is rarely risky to the helper d. elping makes an individual appealing to potential sexual partners 9. The notion that any genetically determined trait that has a high survival value will tend to be passed on to the next generation is a cornerstone of a. evol utionary psychology b. genetic determinism c. learning theory d. the nature/nurture debate 10. Sociobiologist Robert Trivers has argued that only ________ is biologically based. a. prosocial behavior b. reactive altruism c. reciprocal altruism d. maternal altruism 11. Laws that require bystanders to an emergency to help a potential victim are based on a a. norm of reciprocity . norm of social justice c. norm of social responsibility d. diffusion of responsibility 12. Which country has the highest murder rate?a. Finland b. Great Britain c. Canada d. the United States 13. According to materials presented in your text, _____ percent of violent crimes are committed by strangers. a. 0. 6 b. 44 c. 56 d. 90 14. In explaining the origins of aggression, Freud focused on the concept of a. childhood learning b. pathological behavior c. instinct d. self-esteem 15. The definition of aggression as â€Å"any behavior that hurts others† would be the preferred definition of a. ognitive disson ance theorists b. exchange theorists c. social impact theorists d. learning theorists 16. One problem with a behaviorist definition of aggression is that does not take into account a. displacement b. learning history c. intentionsd. sanctioned aggression 17. An unprovoked criminal act that hurts others would be considered __________ aggression. a. prosocial b. sanctioned c. aggressive d. retaliation 18. You see a television news report featuring a policeman foiling a bank holdup by killing two of the robbers. This is a case of a. reactance b. sanctioned aggression . prosocial aggression d. frustration-aggression 19. You see a television news report featuring a shopkeeper who shot and killed a masked gunman who was trying to rob his store. This is a case of a. covert aggression b. prosocial aggression c. social exchange d. sanctioned aggression 20. One of the most common sources of ________ is an attack or intrusion by another person. a. frustration b. anger c. low self-esteem d. rea ctance 21. The interference with or blocking of the attainment of a goal is known as a. frustration b. normative blocking c. reactance d. anger 22.A child who sees an adult on television hitting another person and then hits his little brother is engaging in a. disinhibition b. dehumanization c. imitation d. aggression anxiety 23. The realization that health is a psychological as well as a physical issue has given rise to the field of a. epidemiology b. oncology c. psychological anthropology d. health psychology 24. The study of health psychology focuses on a. preventing and treating illnesses b. promoting and maintaining health c. improving the healthcare system d. all of the above 25. The _____ model says health is social, biological, and psychological. . psychosocial b. sociological c. sociobiological d. biopsychosocial 26. Annual cancer deaths in the United States could be reduced by _____ percent if everyone stopped smoking. a. 5-10 b. 25-30 C. 55-60 d. 85-90 27. Your text descr ibes disorders such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes as a. preventable b. epidemic c. political d. ecological 28. Deaths due to vehicular accidents could be reduced by _____ percent if drunk driving were eliminated. a. 5 b. 20 c. 50 d. 85 29. Which of the following is described by your text as â€Å"preventable? † a. diabetes b. Heart disease c. Cancer d. All of the above 30.Which of the following is classified by your text as a â€Å"health behavior? † a. being no more than ten percent overweight b. not eating between meals c. eating breakfast each day d. all of the above 31. The reason many people do not engage in health behaviors is a. they do not know the behaviors most associated with better health b. they have biological predispositions that encourage unhealthy behavior c. the consequences of health behaviors often do not appear for many years d. all of the above32. Which of the following is NOT a basic health belief, as identified in your text? a. general health values b. sychological reactance c. self-efficacy d. personal vulnerability T/F (1point each) 33. It is very rare for people to offer help to strangers. F 34. Freud is the person most associated with evolutionary approaches to helping. F 35. An uneven distribution of economic resources in a country is associated with higher murder rates. T 36. Most scientists agree that aggression is learned; it does not come from inherited tendencies. F 37. Health beliefs have not done a very good job of predicting most health behaviors. F 38. Adolescents who engage in risky sexual behaviors are unlikely to use condoms consistently. T

Write My Killing of 3 Muslim-American College Students Essay Cheap

Write My Killing of 3 Muslim-American College Students Essay Cheap Hashtag: #ChapelHillShooting The Motive and Potential Causal Factor Three innocent Muslim-American college students have been shot dead in their home at Chapel Hill. Deah Shaddy Barakat was a doctoral student at UNC-Hill’s School of Dentistry, while his wife Yosur and her sister Razan were students of the nearby University of California. The gunman, Craig Stephen Hicks who describe himself as a supporter of an â€Å"Atheist for Equality† and a student of Paralegal Studies in Durham Technical Community College gave himself up to the police minutes later. The police initially said that the motive for the killings was a parking dispute. However, the suspect’s Facebook page showed several pictures of Hicks with atheist slogan and images mocking religion such as the United Atheist of America with â€Å"Why radical Christians and radical Muslims are so opposed to each other’s influence when they agree about so many ideological issues†. Hicks also shared a picture of a loaded 38 revolver, a holster, and 5 extra rounds of speed loader. Speculations about the motive are a hate crime and victims’ Islamic faith while others put the blame on Western media. An assistant professor at the University of North Alabama offered his opinion on Western media’s framing, a concept similar to agenda setting, where media representation of an event affects the choices of people. For example, Anti-Muslim criminals framed as â€Å"crazy, misguided bigot who acted alone†. This framing or generalization practices according to the assistant university professor make the killer act according to the larger and more common perception of himself. Therefore, Western media’s framing of Muslims as â€Å"backward, violent, fundamentalist, and threats to Western civilization† was likely causal factors in Anti-Muslim crimes such as the Chapel Hill murder. Find more information here: Contributing Factors of Student Suicides Violence against Female University Students Smoking in Public Places Should Be Banned Womens Right to Education Relieving Students School-Related Stress Academic Researchers Findings Academic studies conducted on Western media’s coverage of Islam and Muslims suggest that they often connect Islam to atrocity; Muslims are people of conflict and violence. Their tendency is to approach Islam and the Muslim from of difference and opposition and therefore creating â€Å"Islamophobia† or Anti-Muslim racism in Western societies. A good example is a magazine headline â€Å"Islam and Freedom: Are They Destined to Clash† painting Muslims’ as homogenous and zombie like people. Africa, on the other hand, has been framed as â€Å"uncivilized, crisis, and crime-ridden, corrupt, and negative† by the Western media. Other academic studies suggest the media encourage some people’s fascination with crime and criminal offenders. The reason is that public perception of crime and criminal justice system are greatly influenced by media’s presentation of framed ideas. The†Islamophobia† and frame of mind that was created by Western media may have been in some away accepted by a certain individual true and socially and politically accepted belief. In a similar manner, an Anti-Muslim framed, as a â€Å"crazy, misguided bigot who acted alone† would assume his role as an Anti-Muslim crazy and foolish extremist who works alone. Now, if the speculations are true that it is a hate crime and perpetrated because of faith, then is it correct to assume that the causal factor behind the #ChapelHillShooting is Western media?

The Best Way to Document Your Brand Voice Guidelines (Free Template)

The Best Way to Document Your Brand Voice Guidelines (Free Template) As a young journalism major learning about the publishing industry, I was in awe of the well-oiled machines that were large magazines, where I wanted to write one day. How in the world could they combine hundreds, or even thousands, of different writers and voices- some veteran, some new to the team, some freelancers or temporary interns- into this one voice that was cohesive and justfit? Was it that everyone they hired just thought and talked the same way? That seemed unrealistic. No, as I got further into my writing career, I realized that the well-oiled processes of the publishing industry ran deeper than I’d thought, and they usually had a documented system for representing the publication’s voice. I’m talking about the holy editorial guidelines. Editorial Guidelines: A Writer’s Holy Grail These publications would have a guide or manual to writing as part of the organization, and they’d be so clear and details that professional writers could hop into and out of the team knowing exactly how to adapt their writing voice. Well, aside from a few internships in college, I never actually made it into that industry. Instead, I found the world of content marketing and fell in love. But one thing I’ve noticed? Brand editorial guidelines are often sorely lacking compared to publishers’, when they exist at all. Sure, we have rules and guidelines for our content to tell guest bloggers or our CEO to follow when contributing content. We know our â€Å"brand personality† and can explain it easily. But does your brand have that comprehensive guide that can essentially onboard any new content creators for you?  Something documented that ensures cohesiveness whether you’re content’s being created by the marketing team, the product team, the C-suite, freelancers, or guests? If not, don’t feel guilty. You’re definitely not alone in this! So today’s post will lay out how you can define and document voice guidelines that are as clear as the rest of your branding and can be used for any kind of brand content. Define and document your brand voice guidelines with this detailed guide + free template:Why Bother Documenting Brand Voice Guidelines? Let’s clear the air first: why isn’t it enough to just explain the overall voice and brand personality to any new content creators? Documenting processes  in general is important to managing any team and lays out what’s required for effective project management Putting the rules in writing ensures consistency from writer to writer, as opposed to explaining it separately and/or differently to each contributor. Going through this process can identify areas of your branding you might not have thought about in relation to your content. Having a formal document helps streamline training and onboarding new team members or contributors. It offers a quick reference for any existing writers who want to double check something, which will make editing easier. Now let’s get to it. Download Your Free Brand and Editorial Voice Guidelines Template If youre going to document style standards for your brands voice, youll need a template to do it right. Right? Grab this freebie from and follow along as you read this post. By the time youre done, youll have a complete set of documented standards ready to go.The Best Way to Document Your Brand Voice Guidelines (Free Template)Step 1: Audit Your Existing Brand When you already have an established brand identity in place, documenting your brand voice is more about finding what your brand should sound like based on existing qualities, than it is creating something from scratch. Since you’re not creating a whole new voice or brand personality, your official voice should be an extension of the rest of your brand. So the first step in developing your guidelines is to take stock of your current brand vibes in order to find ways to vocalize it. Some questions you might want to ask include: What Are Our Brand’s Top Values? What is supposed to be at the core of everything your company does? If your company has defined core values, a mission statement, or any other type of formal statement, all roads should lead back to it. Theses values or purpose should be represented in all aspect of the brand, and how you talk to your audience is a huge part of that. For example, Skype’s brand guidelines, or â€Å"brandbook,† starts off with a few important parts of their mission and values statement: (Image Source: Skype Brandbook) Recommended Listening: How to Develop Editorial Values That Improve Customer Success With Gregory Ciotti From Help Scout"] What’s the Voice in Our Top Content? If you have a lot of existing content, but it wasn’t created with a specific, strategic voice, you can perform a content audit  to identify your best and worst performing content. Then, specifically look at and analyze the voice and tone of each piece. Do your top pieces have similarities in terms of writing style, personality, or direction? Do your worst? This will help you figure out what kind of voice your existing audience responds to, so you can make sure you’re moving in a direction that aligns with both your brand and your audience. How Do Our Customers Describe Us? Again, you need to make sure your voice aligns with what your audience and customers already like about you. Your voice guidelines should â€Å"make official† what’s already working well with your brand communication. So another great step in developing your guidelines is to go out and ask your customers how they would describe your brand’s personality. Are you elite? Approachable? Respectful? Subdued? Silly? Motivational? You can send a survey at the time you’re first developing guidelines, adapting this ongoing process from Joanna Wiebe at Copy Hackers: Poll your new customers. Send a follow-up â€Å"thanks for choosing us† email within days of a purchase, and ask your customer to indicate – quite simply – which adjective (of a short list of options) best describes how they feel about your brand.* Developing brand voice guidelines? Start by asking these questions.Step 2: Define Core Personality After you’ve looked at the strongest parts of your brand, you need to agree on, â€Å"well, what does that sound like?† aka tying things together into a theme. I like to look at it as coming up with a â€Å"spokespersona.† Just as you’d create an ideal profile or persona  for your customers or readers, create one for the embodiment of your brand. Or, if you have some kind of mascot or spokesperson, base this off of them. Decide your persona’s mood and personality, how they describe things, and how they see themselves. For example, are you: Conversational with a pension for fun tangents, or short-spoken? One to focus on facts and statistics or more interested in stories and people? Daring and adventurous, or cautious and risk-averse? Take what you collected in step 1 and lump it into three main bullet points or adjectives that describe your brand. (Image Source: Percolate) For example, Percolate defined their core personality  with adjectives like â€Å"thoughtful, interesting, proud, bold, and human.† Recommended Reading: Spark Your User Persona to Life With These 9 Important Tools Step 3: Drill Down to Tone Now it’s time for something that’s muddied up a lot: taking the overall themes and voice, and specifying tones to use in certain scenarios. It’s easy for brands to define one, but not the other, or confuse them for the same thing. But think about it personally: your voice is your voice, but you take different tones depending on: Who you’re talking to: your grandma vs. your best friend What you’re talking about: telling a story vs. giving instructions How you feel: confused vs. clear, energized vs. â€Å"hangry† In their guide to social media voice, Buffer offers this definition: â€Å"Essentially, there is one voice for your brand and many tones that refine that voice. Voice is a mission statement. Tone is the application of that mission.† An analogy I like is looking at voice as content, and tone as context. Voice defines what you might say, tone refines how you might say it. For your own brand, think about how you would write an email about a new launch or important milestone compared to a customer support email. Not the same, right? So once you’ve defined your brand’s overall voice, imagine how that would play out in different scenarios and contexts that will come up in your content.

Financial crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial crisis - Essay Example The global north was after this period walking on a financial tight rope. With the resource utilization reaching the maximum limits compounded further by a relatively high wage rate, most enterprises were feeling the pinch in the reduction of their rates of return. There are also indications that the credit crisis began in the developing nations that had began to experience financial turbulence in the early years before it eventually impacted the giant economies like the United States. With respect to these revelations and more, this paper therefore examines the causes of the credit crisis that affected the world and which its effects are yet to be fully mitigated. This essay will closely look at the major influencing factors in the global economy and that of the United States that led to the credit crisis that was experienced in the year 2004. As a precursor, the two major reasons for this crisis were internal policy framework and external influence as discussed below. Deregulation: Shadow Banking and Mortgage Securitization The main internal factor was that of the policy instruments by the government that led to further instability in the financial sector of the economy that was already unhealthy. The period before the crisis was characterized by a highly capitalist tendency that favored lack of regulation in the financial sector. Blundell-Wignall, Atkinson and Lee (3), state that by the year 2004 there were four key crisis-causing factors that came into perspective. First, the then president’s policy of making mortgages cheaper to low-income household. Secondly, the increased restriction of the sole mortgaging authority that made banks venture more into the sector and thereby increasing low value lending. Third was the publication of the Basel II accord that encouraged banks to get involved in other non-trading activities. Finally, the investment banks were given more freedom through ‘consolidated entities program’. In effect, this led to instability of economies mostly in the northern parts of the globe that depended highly on export surpluses. This created some sort of instability as Kapadia and Jayadev (35) indicate. They further state that the creation of a benchmark of currency and the isolation of the United States’ consumption sector as the last in consideration when exporting resulted into instability in the world economy. The effects of deregulation were mostly felt in the banking sector. First, the impact of disallowing the regulations that stated that demand deposits accrued interests. Secondly, the mortgage interests with relation to residential properties were lowered creating a boom in the housing sector through increased mortgage lending. Lastly, the deposit taking institutions were allowed access to the Federal Reserve through a credit window that in turn allowed non-banking institutions into the financial market that was already unstable. It was therefore inevitable that deregulation was boun d to create ‘indiscipline’ in the financial sector and that was the case. For instance, lack of proper monitoring of the banking institutions was creating an environment prone to unscrupulous deals that amounted to lose invested funds that created a recipe for future collapse of the whole lending system. Moreover, the mortgage sector was also affected