Face It Writers Make Less Now

Face It Writers Make Less Now If you are in this business full-time, and attempt to keep up with the pace of the current publishing paradigm, you cant help but feel depressed. Writers make less now than a decade ago. And no, it does not appear to be a temporary slump. Writers in Canada make less than in 1998 thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/05/29/writers-in-canada-make-less-than-in-1998.html Authors incomes collapse to abject levels theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/08/authors-incomes-collapse-alcs-survey We can argue the reasons why, but I see it as two-fold: Treasure in hand 1) Everybody can publish today. 2) Readers have become accustomed to deals, so the average cost of a book has seriously declined. Nobody pays $25 for a hardback anymore. Not when a reader can grab an ebook for $1.99. But writers tend to be their own worst enemy. It feels better to sell 1,000 books for $.99 each than 100 for $9.99. We think were more powerful at that 1,000 number, but what weve failed to see is that weve driven our reputation down to a level thats hard to recover from. Yes, I understand you can have one-day and two-day offers. I understand Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Countdown Deals attract lower priced sales. But with most writers pricing down their material, we all earn less. And with so many writers in the mix, we all sell less. My own publisher talks about how publishers across the board are earning less, which drives them to promote individual authors less, no longer provide print ARCs, and decrease advances. On the freelance front, $1/word was once the professional rate. When FundsforWriters was started, I scolded writers for accepting less than 20 cents/word. Today thats decent pay. Writing mills came into the picture, making new writers think they could gather experience doing click rate writing. Then people started writing internationally, and writers from some countries easily underbid writers in others. One So whats an author to do? 1) Write steadily and often. The prolific writers makes more money no matter the pay. 2) Stand firm for a respectable wage. Turn down bad offers. Set your floor. 3) Dont settle for a lesser publisher. Hold out for a reputable publisher or learn to self-publish and consider making your own success. 4) Be unique in your promotion. Do not use the mass promo offers everyone else uses. 5) Promote daily, a little at a time, but dont sound like the next guy. The slow-but-sure mentality wins this race, and its a darn marathon for sure. But there are sneakers and training programs for those marathons, and they await you. You just have to decide to put them on.

How to Get a Job in HealthCare Administration

How to Get a Job in HealthCare Administration if you look around at industries that have weathered the recession with few losses in jobs and pay, the healthcare professions are at the forefront. and the best news is, not every job in health care requires advanced medical training or degrees. there are literally hundreds of opportunities in different aspects of the field, both clinical and otherwise. here are five strategies to get your foot in the door- a crucial first step toward getting your career off the ground.1. pay attentionparticularly when trying to break into a new and complicated industry, it’s crucial to do a good deal of research. what are the driving issues of the moment? who are the important companies and names to keep in mind? bone up until you can speak intelligently about the industry. then figure out who’s hiring, and start staking out networking opportunities.2. minglenetworking is going to be your best friend here. remember that the most important factor when changing careers is who you know ( not what you know). volunteer, get active in social media discussions, ask friends of friends to introduce you to their contacts. show your eagerness and willingness to the right people and eventually you’ll find your in.3. assess your skill setyou may think you’re starting at the bottom rung with nothing, but most likely you have a number of skills under your belt that are totally transferrable into your new health care career. experience in sales, it, marketing, client care, administration- all of these can be extremely valuable. when in doubt, find an entry-level non-clinical position that can get you through the door, then work your way further into the field from that position.4. be humbleyou may be a 5- or 10-year veteran in the workforce, but if you have 0 years medical experience, you might want to take a step back and consider taking a job that might otherwise be beneath your current stage in life. remember that an entry-level gig in your brand-new medical car eer might serve you 10 times better (and much faster) than any position in current field. do what’s right for you, but remember to maintain some perspective.5. ask for helpfinding a mentor can be just the thing to help you on your quest. once you get your first gig in a hospital or office, even if you’re barely just answering the phones, you can absolutely seek out an experienced veteran and ask them to help steer you in the right direction. you’ll never go wrong emphasizing your willingness to learn, to put in the hard work and effort, and your keenness to keep advancing in your field.interested? Â  apply here

The Doctrine of Judicial Precedent Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Doctrine of Judicial Precedent - Thesis Example The doctrine of judicial precedent has undergone profound transformations from Eighteenth century onwards in accordance with the changing world. It is not a static concept but constantly evolving. Hence, the difficulty to grasp the relevance and scope of the doctrine of judicial precedent within the English legal system arises. In other words, since the doctrine of judicial precedent is a dynamic concept in both theory and practice, it always redefines its relationship with the legal system as a whole. There is a balance of power between the doctrine of precedent and other provisions in the legal system. Therefore, we need to examine some of the important aspects of English legal system that are closely related to the doctrine of judicial precedent such as the hierarchy of courts, parliament sovereignty, the ideologies of judicial adjudication and so on in order to locate the following of precedents correctly. The doctrine of judicial precedent is intrinsically interpretative. Method ologically, hermeneutic approach would be appropriate to grasp the interpretative nature of precedents and as a doctrine its 'flexible' relationship with the overall legal system. ... Certainly, a conjuncture-level analysis would not always necessarily show the centrality of the doctrine of judicial precedent within the English level system. However, a highest-level abstraction of the English legal system based on its trajectory of evolution and development would show that the doctrine of judicial precedent is at the heart of English legal system.As an idea in general, precedent is not confined with jurisprudence or legal practice. Usually, all sorts of people resort to experiences to guide their present actions. It is an instant help in resolving complex issues by virtue of 'lived in experience'. In addition, reliance on precedent helps the evolution and codification of ideas which otherwise would have been left forgotten in the annals of history. Thus, looking at the past for precedent is also an act of developing a theoretical approach towards it. While exploring the dynamics of the law of primitive man, Hoebel (1964) points out that the doctrine of judicial pr ecedent is not a sole property of the Anglo-American Common Law System. Rather, "primitive law also builds on precedents, for there too, new decisions rest on old rules of law or norms of custom, and new decisions which are sound tend to supply the foundations of future action" (Hoebel, 1964, p. 28). Historically, it is the reproduction Euro-centric, colonial point of view to argue that the doctrine of judicial precedent seems to be (nearly) absent in all legal systems other than English legal system. The idea of precedent is present in almost all the operational legal systems for the simple reason that it cannot be otherwise. Nevertheless, the degree of the influence of the precedent may vary from system to system.

Quadrant under Which MDCM Falls in Accenture IT Governance Model Case Study - 1

Quadrant under Which MDCM Falls in Accenture IT Governance Model - Case Study Example This was the result of inadequate and improper information technology implementation in the operations of the company (Jeffery, M & Norton, J. F, â€Å"IT Strategy Synchronization†). The paper will study the failure of the information technology practised in the company. The paper is also intended to provide with the strategic goals of the firm and the analysis of the competitive environment of MDCM Inc. The Accenture IT Governance Model enables to examine the way an organization’s information technology-based function creates value addition to the organization by the consideration the two factors i.e. ‘basis for competitive advantage’ and ‘rate of change in an organization’. In relation to the case, it can be observed that MDCM falls under information integrators. It has been identified that there was lower-rate-of-change in the organization. The organization primarily competed on the base of product/service differentiation. The management of the ‘information integrators’ generally expect to use information in order to improve their decision-making process. The information is expected to be used in order to create new products as well as services. The management of MDCM also sought for use of information in order to make their decision making the process faster, which would, in turn, enable them to enhance operational efficiency and redu ce the cost of operations (Jeffery, M. & Norton, J. F, â€Å"IT Strategy Synchronization†). One of the main strategic goals of MDCM was to reduce the production cost which was observed to be an extra expense of the company. The company was found to be lacking in making proper arrangement in its operational process which disabled the company to contact with the subsidiaries effectively. The main goal of the company stands to be determined in facilitating a smooth flow of information. The company needs to enhance its profitability by reducing its extra expenses. The company is observed to follow an obsolete email system. The new accommodated legacy system ‘Horizon 2000’ was noticed to increase the administration costs adding to the expenses of the company (Jeffery, M. & Norton, J. F, â€Å"IT Strategy Synchronization†).  Ã‚  

Free

Free Will and Determinism Can Coexist Essay Discuss the claim that we humans have no real freedom of choice. Throughout history, the problem of freewill vs. determinism has sparked major debates between philosophers. The debate between freewill and determinism stems from the apparent conflict between the universal rule of causality that is deeply rooted in nature, and between the apparent ability of human beings to choose between multiple courses of action in order to lead to the most desirable outcome. The universal rule of causality simply claims that inorganic matter such as tables, chairs and rocks are acted upon by whatever forces affect it, however, human beings seem to be an exception to this rule by their unique ability to ponder about how to go about making decisions in their life and which principles and morals to live by. In simple terms, determinism is the thesis that everything is caused whereas on the other hand, the doctrine of freewill maintains that some of our actions are free. It is for this reason that the problem of freewill and determinism is a paradox because these two equally evident assumptions seem to lead to inconsistent results and leads to the question about whether or not freewill and determinism can co-exist. It is for this reason also that nowadays one must accept as a fait accompli that the problem of finding out whether free will and determinism are compatible or whether freedom of choice actually does exist is a large part, perhaps the major part of the problem of free will and determinism; Van Inwagen book. On the other hand, other such incompatibilists accept freewill and disagree with the determinist position; these incompatibilists are known as â€Å"Metaphysical libertarians,† such as Thomas Reid and Peter Van Inwagen. Van Inwagen ( ) in his book claims that many philosophers hold not only that free will is compatible with determinism but that free will entails determinism. Determinism is the thesis that there is at any instant exactly one physically possible future. However, if there is more than one way which the world could go, then indeterminism is true and so human beings do have a freedom of choice. Another such view is that of hard incompatibilism, which asserts that, free will is incompatible with both determinism and indeterminism; this view is defended by Derk Pereboom. He claims in his book â€Å"Living without free will† that the best scientific theories have the consequence that individuals are not morally responsible for their actions. However, Pereboom argues that if this was correct, morality would have no place,and human life would be meaningless and without value. He then goes onto saying that by adopting a position that morality, meaning and value remain intact even if we are not morally responsible, then this would benefit our lives. Pereboom and morally responsibility: Claiming that freewill and determinism cannot xoexisit. The problem about moral responsibility arises from a conflict between two powerful consdiderations. On the one hand, we human beings feel that we are the source of our actions in a particularly weighty sense. We feel that the way in which we are the source of our actions is very different from the way a machine is the source of what is produces. We express this sense of difference by attributing moral responsibility to human beings but not to machines. Traditionally, it has been assumed that moral responsibility requires us to have some type of free will in producing our actins. At the same time, there are reasons for regarding human beings as more like machines than we ordinarily suppose. These reasons stem from various sources, most prominently, from scientific views that consider human beings to be parts of nature and therefore governed by natural laws and from theological concerns that require everything that happens to be causally determined by God. Causal (or Nomological) determinism[1] generally assumes that every event has an antecedent cause in an infinite causal chain going back to Aristotles Prime Mover or the beginning of the universe. Determinists believe that there is nothing uncaused or self-caused (causa sui). Arguments for determinism, Science: Free will:Van Invagen- free will: â€Å"when man has to choose between two or more mutally incompatible courses of action†¦has it within his power to carry it out. † Free will can be defined with reference to the term ‘can. ’ The concept f the power or ability of an agent to act is not the concept of physical possibility nor is it entailed by physical possibility; (van Inwagen). This can be shown by a simple example- John Locker example. Suppose I have been locked in a certain room and suppose that the lock on the door of that room is a device whose behaviour is physically undetermined; itin other words, it may be locked or unlocked. It is physically possible that I shall leave the room but it does not follow that in any relevant sense I CAN leave the room. Argument for incompatibilism: Consequence argument: If determinism is true, then our acts are the consequences of the laws o nature and events in the remote past. But it is not up to us what went on before we were born and neither is it up to us what the laws of nature are. Therefore the consequcnes of these things are not up to us. Free will compatible with determinism: The mind argument proceeds by identifying indeterminism with chance and by arguing that an act that occurs by chance, cannot be under the control of its alleged agent and hence cannot be performed freely. Proponents of this argument conclude therefore that free will is not only compatible with determinism but entails. Believing in dtermininisng determinism. One might believe in determinism because one believes that science has shown determinism to be true. One might believe that determinism is a truth of reason, on the ground that it is a logical consequnce of the Principle of Sufficient reason. Support of free will: Van Inwagen- it cannot be seriously maintained that we can know by some sort of introspection that we have or that we do not have free will. Even when we empirically study human beings we still do not know! However, if we do have free will, then there is no such thing as moral responsibility. However, since there is such a thing as moral responsibility, there is such a thing as free will. Moreover, since free will is incompatible wth determinism, determinism is false. Therefore they simply cannot coexist. However, anyone who accepts fatalism must regard all ascriptions of moral responsibility as false/incorrect and must refrain from deliberating about future courses of action. (6) But moral responsibility is extremely important and it is hard to imagine what human life would be like without it. Free will: Robert Kane Nothing could be more important than freedom to the modern world; Robert Kane. We want freedom because we are human beings who want to feel that we are in control of our own actions. This gives one the opportunity to satisfy more of our desires. Having free will is about being your own person.

Interest Groups and Political Parties Essay example -- Government Poli

Interest Groups and Political Parties The â€Å"advocacy explosion† in the United States in the 20th century has been caused by the extreme increase in the number of interest groups in the United States. The general public views the increase and the groups themselves as a cancer that has come to the body of American politics and is spreading. The explosion in the number of interest groups and interest group members and finances has had an effect on the decline of the American political party and partisanship, the effect on democracy and the public interest, and the bias that has come with interest group competition. The advocacy explosion is strongly linked to the decline of the American political party and the role of the political parties in elections. As interest groups have gained more power and had a larger control over politics and political goods the power that is exerted by political parties has dwindled. The power of the interest group has grown larger with the amount of members and the financial rewards that have come with the new members. In elections interest groups do not usually participate directly with the candidate or the election. Berry points out that â€Å"Groups often try to leverage their endorsement to obtain support for one of their priorities† (Berry, 53). With interest groups spreading their resources around the actual election can be affected very minimally by the many interest groups that contribute money to the election. However, the candidates who obtain political office through the help of special interest money still owe some sort of loyalty to th e interest group regardless of which party wins the election. This loyalty and the promise of more money in the future gives the elected of... ...the rise of the American public being able to voice there specific opinion about a topic. The rise in the number of interest groups has caused a definite effect on the public interest, and given more power to some groups. Big business has been the most successful at using interest groups to their advantage, however, in the changing political structure other organization will gain prominence and be able to, like big business, get their own view passed into law. The opinion of these groups may or may not be the opinion of the average American voter, but the use of interest groups gives everyone the chance to get the maximum political influence for their dollar. Bibliography Berry, Jeffrey. (1997). The Interest Group Society. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc. Schier, Steven. (2000). By Invitation Only. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Dreams in Death of a Salesman Essay

Dreams are part of any man’s nature. To dream is to live a life that you hope for yourself in the future. These dreams may or may not be achievable but will always drive people toward them. People may take these dreams seriously like Willy Loman; but to most people to achieve their dreams would be to achieve the impossible. Dreams can be very dangerous if they are the only driving forces behind a person’s life and lead them, not to hope but to want for things beyond their reach. This is the case in ‘Death of a Salesman’. The driving force behind Willy Loman throughout the Death of a Salesman, is the idea that he can achieve the â€Å"American Dream†. He wants to have the material things in life and to have the best of everything; he wants lots of money, a big house, and a loving family and, â€Å"To come out the number-one man†. He sees Ben as the epitome of success, he longs to be as successful as Ben or even as successful as Bernard, always asking â€Å"What’s the secret?† Instead of being discouraged from this by Linda she is tolerant of him, constantly backing down, right to the end. Even in his plans of suicide, she is scared to â€Å"contradict† him, instead replacing the rubber hose every evening when he comes home. Happy idolises his father and buys into the â€Å"American Dream†. Right until the end, he believes he actually is somebody. When Biff points out, â€Å"You’re one of the two assistants to the assistant† he still tries to convince himself of his importance. He is very like his father in his need for success, when he looks where there is no success he has to make it up. Both of them believe they have to lie to people to make themselves likeable. When Willy dies, instead of understanding how futile his dream is, Happy vows to fight on for Willy continuing his battle. Biff, however is less stubborn and prefers simple pleasures. He doesn’t want to be told how to live his life and doesn’t want to follow certain rules. He wants to be able to â€Å"whistle in the elevator†. He loves â€Å"The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke†. He doesn’t want to beg and crawl and make money he would only spend to beg and crawl less. However Willy doesn’t understand this and believes that Biff is simply, â€Å"A lazy bum†. He is sure that Biff could succeed in the city if he only tried. Both Willy and Happy feel they have to cover up Biff’s lack of success; Willy boasts to Bernard that Biff has being doing, â€Å"very big things in the West† and Happy in much the same way tells Stanley how Biff is a â€Å"big cattle man†. They wholly subscribe to the American Dream A major part of the play is the time that Willy spends living in the past – daydreaming and reminiscing. He is constantly revisiting the parts of his life that have shaped him to the person that he is. In this way the audience unravels the story of Biff’s childhood, Ben’s success and Willy’s affair with ‘The Woman’. This seems to be the part of his life he most regrets, as it is the time he revisits the most. At several moments throughout the play, ‘The Woman’s laughter is heard from offstage, usually at times that Willy sees what has become of his life, for example when he sees Linda mending her stockings. These flashbacks are played out to the audience like scenes in real life and often simultaneously – they are only indicated by the actions of the actors. During dream sequences, the actors pass through the boundaries of the walls as though acting on a completely different stage, but during sequences in the present the actors obey the imaginary lines of the walls, entering and leaving through the doors. This helps the audience to distinguish between times. Often during flashbacks a certain melody is heard on the flute – this is his father’s flute. Ben tells Willy about their father and how they used to sit around a fire and listen to their father play. Ben is idolised by Willy for his success and wealth but at the same time distrusted by Linda. She seems to be reserved in her affection for him as opposed to Willy who treats him as a hero the moment he walks through the door and she is disinterested when Willy reminisces about Ben years later. We don’t meet Ben in person at any time throughout the play, only through Willy’s dreams, so we are only aware of him through Willy’s estimation of him. Willy remembers him as a go-getter and a leader of men. He is shown to be motivated only by money as seen in his final conversation with Willy. He is not concerned with Willy’s wellbeing, only by the large sum of money he would gain from the insurance payoff, â€Å"twenty thousand – that is something one can feel with the hand† Linda is the only member of the Loman family that has no dreams, all she wants is for Willy to be safe and well and the boys to respect him. Happy’s farfetched idea of setting up business on their own carries even Biff away. Linda merely encourages. She is contented to live with Willy even if they have no garden or the car breaks down or the fridge fails. Arthur Miller seems to see her, not Ben, as the real hero of the play. This is reflected in the gentle respect he gives to her in his writing. This play is a strong message against the principle of the â€Å"American Dream†. Willy Loman is constantly striving to achieve the dream, but drives himself crazy. Biff seems to be the only character in the Loman family that is able to set himself aside from this dream, wanting only to be happy – his own man. Although I believe dreams to be an important, if not essential part of life, I also believe that contentment is far more important. If you cannot be happy with what you have, you cannot possibly hope to be happy with what you wish for. Willy Loman dreams of becoming a great man, dreams of the great man he was and dreams of the great man Biff can be, he just fails to realise that they are great men.

Internet and culture Essay

Introduction Technology affects culture in various ways. As the industrial revolution made its impact in Europe in the nineteenth century, the factory mode of production and assembly line operations had a significant impact on family structures. In the twentieth century the popularity of radio and television gave way to large scale broadcasting media that reached out to a large population. The post second world war era saw a proliferation of mass media shaped by new age advertising that attempted to create new markets, sometimes by determining people’s needs and sometimes by shaping their wants. This has been seen by many as a culture shaping mechanism that attempts to harmonize the entire world. One of the first models that studied this phenomenon is the Frankfurt School, which analyzed the processes of cultural production and political economy, the politics of cultural texts, and audience reception and use of cultural artifacts (Kellner 1989 and 1995). The Frankfurt school studied this trend in both the US and in Germany and was witness to the rise of modern media and a culture that evolved around the cinema, popular music, radio, television, and other forms of mass culture (Wiggershaus 1994). The Internet Revolution However the internet revolution that came on the heels of the collapse of the Berlin wall and the dismantling of the Soviet system, putting an end to the cold war unleashed other forces that would counter the unifying theme of global corporate controlled media. The Internet allowed people to access specific information, it made it possible for the ordinary person, cutting across digital divides to upload his or her won thought and through various websites, blogs and contributed material enabled a large amount of personalized information to be shared and debated. The forces of globalization coupled with individual thought and attitude made the internet a forum that could counter the uniformity that mass media was prone to develop. The future of the internet is one where larger communities develop of like minded individuals or of individuals who debate and discuss issues of their concern. The digital divide, thanks to cheaper broadband, is already dwindling and larger communities across the globe getting connected. The web, with its search engines and portals that carry loads of information, already is a seamless source of information that is easy to access and offers information for free. Email that developed along with the web is now something everyone uses and has brought back people in touch with each other without having to send slow snail mail or spend money in calling their contacts over the phone; Email will continue to be one of the most important tools on the web used by large populations for easy communication. Search engines have already developed to a large extent and the contribution of encyclopedia like Wikipedia to those wanting to share information and learn new things is already well documented. As Zittrain (2006) argues, â€Å"The most plausible path along which the Internet might develop is one that finds greater stability by imposing greater constraint on, if not outright elimination of, the capacity of upstart innovators to demonstrate and deploy their genius to large audiences. Financial transactions over such an Internet will be more trustworthy, but the range of its users’ business models will be narrow. † Conclusion However, what is yet uncertain is how this new technology shapes the future of culture in an international setting. Will it cause further stress as more people use the technology to spread terror, child abuse, sell spurious drugs over the net and indulge in petty financial fraud? Will it be an invasion of privacy as more and more personal information is stored in web pages across the net? Would it lose its current free flowing inclusive character and get regulated by various governments worried about the nature of the Internet that allows everyone to be the author and the reader at the same time? The future will answer these questions, but till then as we surf the web getting more and unique information, individual thoughts and insights, send email and blog, the power of this new technology captivates those of us who now spend hours on the net. REFERENCES †¢ Kellner, D (1989) Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity. Cambridge and Baltimore: Polity and John Hopkins University Press. †¢ Kellner, D. (1995) Media Culture. Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics, Between the Modern and the Postmodern. London and New York: Routledge. †¢ Wiggershaus, R (1994), The Frankfurt School. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. †¢ Zittrain, J. L. (2006) â€Å"The Generative Internet†. Harvard Law Review, Vol. 119. pp 1974 -2040. At http://www. harvardlawreview. org/issues/119/may06/zittrain. pdf. Last Accessed May 1, 2007.

Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication

Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication The article titled what we learn from writing on the job by Lester Faigley and Thomas Miller mainly addresses the importance of having the designers of college curricula take into consideration the importance of inculcating writing skills for the future benefit of their students.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two authors assert that college graduates should be able to write at a certain level of proficiency which should also be in tandem with their respective professions. The authors argue that as much as most of the professional writing is learned on the job, it is the prerogative of the trainers to ensure that the graduates they produce are worth the professional accreditation they are given. The authors argue that the literacy crisis can easily be linked to tertiary institutions of learning abolishing their writing classes. The study conducted by the two authors to establish the importance or academic training in writing reveals that individuals who are proficient in writing also tend to be effective in delivering oral presentations. The authors conclude that writing is gradually being regarded as just one of the established methods of communicating instead of the fundamental basis on which professionalism is grounded. I completely agree with the authors’ opinions that the abolition of writing classes should be attributed to the literacy crisis. This is primarily because I have personally discovered that the less I am required to write, the less I feel motivated to involve myself in learning through literary texts. This is particularly because the rapid technological changes in the communication have made it easier to pass a message across without necessarily involving the written text. For instance, I can easily get the same information about Nelson Mandela from watching a docu mentary as I could have obtained from reading one of his anthologies. The article titled writing in the professions by Anne Beaufort is primarily an analysis of the evolution of the research process as a factor of workplace writing. The author points out the relevance of the topic on professional writing by outlining a number of articles that have been written by various on the scholars on the same topic.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Beaufort explains that before the advent of computers workplace writing was held in high regard with most employers demanding that potential employees have proper writing skills. She then goes ahead to point out that with revolutions happening in every aspect of society, workplace writing evolved to factor in some amount of conscious deliberation and composition. This, according to her was necessitated by the realization that individuals in management who did not possess proper writing skills ended up becoming liabilities to the enterprises owing to their inefficiency. The impact of technology on the writing approaches of various professionals has also been underscored. Beaufort has included an analysis of writing in professions ranging from accounting at the International Monetary fund (IMF) to air traffic control. Her sole aim in this extensive exemplification is to show a correlation between writing and technological changes. The author comes to the conclusion that students need to know how to appropriately apply research skills depending on the situation that they find themselves in. I support Beaufort’s conclusion because it is easy to note the importance of research in each and every profession. As such, tutors and instructors should strive to ensure that there students develop proper research and analytical skills for the sake of effectiveness in their future careers. The two articles both touch on the i mportance of students developing proper writing skills for the purpose of future effectiveness at the workplace. However, the articles are not specific on which elements of learning need to be worked on and this leaves room for more research. Below are two questions whose analysis would provide guidelines as to the particular changes that need to be made to the education and professional system in order to create effective workers.

Inference Questions in ACT Reading Strategies + Practice

Inference Questions in ACT Reading Strategies + Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Questions that ask you about what infomation can be inferred from a line or series of lines on ACT Reading comprise about 15% of ACT Reading questions (based on my analysis of 4 publicly available ACTs). In order to answer these inference questions correctly, you must be able to understand what is written in the text and take one tiny, logical step beyond what is directly stated. But how are inference questions asked, and what ACT Reading strategies can you use to answer them? Keep reading to find out and prep for this important question type! feature image credit: Stevie Nicks by Trish Hamme, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. What Are Inference Questions? Inference questions on ACT reading ask you to interpret or infer the meaning (rather than function) of a phrase, line, or series of lines. Unlike with detail questions, this meaning asked about in inference questions will not be directly stated in the text, which is why inference questions use wordings like â€Å"can be reasonably inferred that† or â€Å"suggests that.† Since there can only be one correct answer, however, the answers to inference questions cannot be subjective or ambiguous. On ACT Reading, there are three main subcategories of inference questions: deduction, speculation, and examination questions. Type 1: Deduction Deduction questions are the simplest type of inference questions, because they only ask you to fill in missing information. In some ways, they are very similar to detail questions, except the paraphrasing that you must do in order to answer them requires you to make a logical deduction. Here's an example of a deduction question: It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that the woman most strongly desires to attain which of the following qualities from dreaming? A. RelaxationB. Self-awarenessC. EntertainmentD. Self-control For this example, I’ll save you the work of having to go through the passage and find the relevant lines (although that’s part of what makes inference questions challenging on the ACT). Here is an excerpt from the opening of the passage with the information you need: The woman never dreams and this makes her intensely miserable. She thinks that by not dreaming she is unaware of things about herself that dreams would surely give her. She doesn’t have the door of dreams that opens every night to question the certain- ties of the day. She stays at the threshold, and the door is always closed, refusing her entrance. My thoughts: So the woman â€Å"never dreams† which makes her â€Å"intensely miserable.† Why is she miserable? Because â€Å"she thinks that by not dreaming she is unaware of things about herself that dreams would surely give her.† So she’s unhappy about not dreaming because she thinks it’s stopping her from gaining awareness about herself (self-awareness). To take a step further, then, self-awareness is something that she wants to gain. The answer to this question is B. There will be a more full walkthrough of an inference question later on in this article – the point of that was to show the itsy bitsy step you have to take beyond what is written to answer inference questions. This is not like high school English literature classes, where you’re encouraged to make any interpretation you can, as long as you can back it up with enough words/rambling; you are really only making a logical extension from things that are directly stated in the passage. Some examples of how these questions have been asked on the ACT (modified for your entertainment): â€Å"It can most reasonably be inferred that the narrator’s discovery that an error has been made in programming the Mars probe is for him a source of:† â€Å"It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that before Harrison’s efforts, other individuals trying to solve the problem of space travel had failed to:† â€Å"The passage suggests that Armstrong’s most important contribution to science was his:† Type 2: Speculation This second subtype of questions ask you to speculate (hence the name) about the meaning of a statement, description, or something else in the passage. Speculation questions can be worded similarly to function questions, but the answer choices and the skills needed to answer the questions differentiate them. Example: In the context of the passage, the statement â€Å"All the guitars are made from certified wood† (lines 34–35) most nearly suggests that Gomes’s workshop: To turn this into a function question, the question would have to change to the following: â€Å"In the context of the passage, what is the function of the statement ‘All guitars are made from certified wood (lines 34-35’)." ...to which the answer would be something like "demonstrate that there is accountability at every level of the instrument making process." Instead, the question as it is currently worded asks "what does [the description] say/what’s the implication or suggested meaning of this statement/what does this emphasize about that other thing?" Here are a few more examples of how this sort of inference question is asked: â€Å"The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to:† â€Å"The paradox mentioned in the second paragraph (lines 9–14) is best described by which of the following statements?" â€Å"It can most reasonably be inferred from the passage that when the narrator says, â€Å"I didn’t see the red, yellow, and purple clusters that meant flowers to me† (lines 30–31), she is most nearly indicating that:† â€Å"When the narrator says, â€Å"I began to think of the present more than of the future† (lines 80–81), she most likely means that meeting Eugene led her to:† â€Å"It can most reasonably be inferred that for the narrator, the image of the diver bursting through the ocean’s sparkling membrane† (line 52) symbolizes her:† â€Å"By her statements in lines 77–80, the narrator is most nearly asserting that:† Type 3: Examination The wording of examination questions is very close to that of deduction questions, often starting with the phrase "It can reasonably be inferred that..." Rather than asking about specific facts, however, examination questions ask about the internal thoughts, feelings, or motivations of the narrator, author, or someone mentioned in the passage. Every examination question can basically be boiled down to "What would [that person] think about [this thing]?" Examination questions are the most complex type of inference question, because they ask you to get into the head of the author, narrator, character, or other person mentioned in the text. Furthermore, these types of questions often show up on paired passages, asking with the author of one passage would think about something the author of the other passage discussed. See below for some examples: â€Å"It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that the narrator regards her initial discovery of the truth about the reason the Mars probe failed as:† â€Å"It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that within the scientific community the year the passage was published, the small-comet theory was:† â€Å"It can most reasonably be inferred from the passage that regarding NASA, the author feels:† It can reasonably be inferred that after seeing the first man walk on the moon, compared to the narrator of Passage B, the narrator of Passage A felt: 20-Funny-Shocked-Cat-Memes-3 by Sparkle Motion, used under CC BY 2.0. As I believe I've said before, it’s a shame the answers to questions on the ACT cannot be cat pictures. Because that's probably the most concise description of how the narrator of Passage A felt. 5 Fabulous Strategies to Attack ACT Reading Inference Questions Today, I have gathered together for you five top strategies here to help you with inference questions. Some of these strategies are more useful for certain passage approaches (for instance, if you read the pasage thoroughly, you probably don't need to look for context as much as students who skim or start with the question first). Some advice, however, is useful for everyone Look For Context One weird thing that the ACT Reading section likes to do (and the SAT Reading does NOT do) is to ask you to make inferences about things from the passage...without providing any location information. I personally think that this is a pointless exercise, because all it does is give you less time to think because you're scrambling through the passage to even find the information being asked about in the first place. Although I suppose that this is a skill that could come in handy in college/university if you haven't done the reading for the class and are unexpectedly called upon to answer a question about it. In any case, even after you’ve found the thing being asked about in an inference question on ACT Reading (for instance, â€Å"the first woman to command a mission to the International Space Station†), you might find that that sentence may not contain all the information you need to answer the inference question. If you're struggling with an inference question because you need more context, the best places to look are at the sentences directly before and after the phrase, sentence, or lines you're given in the question. In those cases where you need even more context to answer inference questions, like knowing the bigger picture/main point/perspective of the text/author, I find the best strategy is to circle the question and come back to it after you’ve answered relevant big picture questions (such as questions about the paragraph/section the lines in question are in, or even questions about the whole passage). Answer In Your Own Words I believe that this is the most important strategy for answering inference questions correctly. If you can come up with the answer in your own words before you look at the answer choices, you will more easily be able to sidestep the traps the ACT has set for you. Why? Because if you answer the question using your own words, you're far more likely to only include relevant (and accurate) information. Your answer for â€Å"Garrison mentions the impact of a certain kind of meteor in order to illustrate†¦Ã¢â‚¬  will probably not be as elegant as the answer choices, but if you've done your job and only based your answer on the text, you will have a far easier time of picking the right answer (all you have to do is choose the answer choice that best matches your own). Wrong answer choices often have irrelevant information, or contain interpretations that â€Å"seem like they could be true.† This is especially annoying because, as I stated earlier, high school classes train you to see a situation from as many points of view as possible, so your impulse may be to try and prove how each answer COULD be true. No! Don't listen to it! There is only one right answer on the ACT, and even inference questions will not require you to assume much beyond what is written. If you start with your own answer in your own words, it's a lot easier to choose the right answer choice (which has the correct answer, but in the ACT's own words). Nail Down Other ACT Reading Skills As I was completing my analysis of ACT Reading sections by question type, I had this realization: inference questions are often the trickiest type of questions because you need several of the other Reading skills in order to answer them successfully. Take this question: It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that the narrator thinks her hometown has: F. improved significantly over the years.G. made little genuine progress.H. remained about the same as it was years ago.J. a chance of being rebuilt as it used to be. To answer this question correctly, you need... Little Picture skills. You need to figure out where in the passage the narrator indicates she is thinking about her home town and how it has changed. Big Picture skills. You need to be able to scan passage to get a sense of the attitude of the narrator. Even if all you're able to figure out is the general tone of the passage (is it positive or negative towards her hometown? Which answers are positive and which are negative?), you might be able to get rid of some answer choices. hammer time by Seniju, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Let your will be as the hammer and the nails as the ACT Reading skills you will hammer into the surface of your brain. I don't know what your fingers are in this analogy, though. Answer ACT Reading Questions In The Order That Works For You Something that it can be hard to wrap you mind around is that you don't have to answer questions in the order of they appear on ACT Reading. Going out of order runs you the risk of accidentally skipping questions, but the time you may save from answering questions in a particular order could make up for it (since you could use that extra time to make sure you've answered all the questions and filled out the right answers). I've created three different scenarios of the order in which you could answer questions, depending on how you approach the passage. If you are a quick and thorough reader, and read each passage in full before answering questions, I recommend that you start with big picture questions before moving on to inference and function questions. The advantage of being able to read quickly (and thoroughly) is that you can answer questions about larger amounts of text while they're still fresh, so it makes sense to start out with those questions, rather than getting bogged down in detail with little picture or vocab in context questions. If you read quickly enough to get through the passage and still have plenty of time to answer the questions, going in order is possible, but as someone who reads a book every couple of days (that is, I read quickly), I would still recommend starting with big picture questions and then moving on to inference questions. If your approach to ACT Reading involves reading the questions, then going back to the passage as needed, my advice is the complete opposite: start with little picture and vocab in context questions before moving on to inference questions. The answers to those kinds of detail questions will provide more information about the author and topic being covered, which in turn will provide context that might be useful for answering inference questions. If it turns out that you need "big picture" information to answer a particular inference question, you can always mark that question and come back to it later. If you start out ACT Reading by skimming the passage, then answering what questions you can before going back to the passage, I recommend getting both big and little picture questions out of the way before you move on to inference questions. Unless the phrase, sentence, or lines being asked about in an inference question was/were in the part of the text you read in your skim-through, it's unlikely you would be able to answer it right off the bat, whereas you might have the information you need to answer big picture questions and little picture questions (because you know where those details are likely to be) from skimming. Eliminate Answers The fundamental rule to answering every ACT Reading question is that you must eliminate three wrong answers. While answering the question in your own words first can make eliminating wrong answers easier (since you're looking for answer choices that match the answer you came up with), this is not always the case for inference questions. On occasion, I have found myself frustrated with inference questions because the inference I make from the text is correct, but it's not the information the ACT is looking for. As an example, for the question "It can most reasonably be inferred that the narrator’s discovery that the last of Boston's excessive snow melted on July 14th was to her a source of:" my initial instinct was that this fact was an endless source of jokes for the narrator, when in fact the question was asking about the narrator's feelings (and so none of the answer choices matched my inference, even though it was possibly also correct). So if you are in a situation where you haven't been able to use context and answer the question in your own words in a way that matches up with the answer choices, what do you do? Going through each answer choice might seem daunting at first, since each answer is has multiple facets to it. In actuality, though, complicated answer choices are easier to eliminate, because if any part of the answer choice is false, you can cross it out. Here's an example: Each of the three projects described in the passage reveals: A. the increasing antagonism between the grandfather and grandson.B. the errors the narrator makes and the disapproval they bring from others.C. that such incidents set the stage for the Bryant family traits to emerge.D. that the narrator is determined to avoid being ungrateful, hateful, or overly fastidious. If you can eliminate any part of the answer choice, you can eliminate the whole thing. Take answer A. the increasing antagonism between the grandfather and grandson. Is there antagonism between grandfather and grandson? If not, ELIMINATE (spoiler: there is not) Is that antagonism increasing? If not, ELIMINATE Do the projects show that the antagonism between the grandfather and grandson is increasing? If not, ELIMINATE As you can see, there are many chances for elimination – it should be really hard for an answer to make the cut. For this question, the correct answer, C, passes this test: there are incidents (the three projects) and they do set the stage for Bryant family traits to emerge. Inference Questions: A Walkthrough through Real Questions Before giving you some practice inference questions to work on, I wanted to do a walkthrough of answering an inference question. I'll have way more in depth explanations in this walkthrough than you would have to justify to yourself on the test, because I want to make sure my reasoning is clear, so don't be intimidated by how detailed it gets. My internal thought process is presented in italics. Here's the question: The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: A. feel more like a patient than a physician.B. become a more important part of the real world.C. understand his patients’ illnesses better.D. see if being a naturalist is like being a physician. Rephrase the question: change it from â€Å"why does the author leave the hospital† to â€Å"what’s the main thing that leaving the hospital let the author do?† Here is that last paragraph: With this in mind, I have taken off my white coat, deserted, by and large, the hospitals where I have spent the last twenty-five years, to explore my subjects’ lives as they live in the real world, feeling in part like a naturalist, examining rare forms of life; in part like an anthropologist, a neuroanthropologist, in the field- but most of all like a physician, called here and there to make house calls, house calls at the far borders of human experience. Step one: Look for context Luckily, this question gives specific location information (last paragraph), so I don’t have to hunt all through the passage for the information to answer the question. magellan by fPat Murray, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Monkey and binoculars: not necessary for finding the answers to inference questions, but still adorable. Step two: Answer in my own words So the main thing that leaving the hospital to visit his patients lets the author do is â€Å"explore my subjects’ lives as they live in the real world,† which involves â€Å"feeling in part like a naturalist, examining rare forms of life; in part like an anthropologist, a neuroanthropologist, in the field- but most of all like a physician† Step three: Can I eliminate any answers based on my answer in my own words? The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: A. feel more like a patient than a physician. No, because it says he feels â€Å"most of all like a physician.† I can eliminate this straight off the bat! The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: B. become a more important part of the real world. Mentions something about the real world in the passage. not sure. Can’t eliminate it just yet. The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: C. understand his patients’ illnesses better. Mentions exploring his patients’ lives†¦maybe related to understanding illnesses? Can’t eliminate just yet. D. see if being a naturalist is like being a physician. Does say something about â€Å"feeling in part like a naturalist,† and â€Å"but most of all like a physician,† which I guess could be comparing them? I don’t know. Need to examine the next more closely. Let’s go back to the text again: With this in mind, I have taken off my white coat, Wait, hold up. The first sentence of the paragraph begins, â€Å"With this in mind.† NO no no no this is not how we start paragraphs. Not with an unclear antecedent! But since the author made that choice, I GUESS I need to figure out what the â€Å"this† that he’s keeping in mind is. To the previous paragraph for more context! The study of disease, for the physician, demands the study of identity, the inner worlds that patients, under the spur of illness, create. But the realities of patients, the ways in which they and their brains construct their own worlds, cannot be comprehended wholly from the observation of behavior, from the outside. Aha! So the doctor decided to visit patients at home keeping in mind that â€Å"The study of disease†¦demands the study of identity†¦But the realities of patients†¦cannot be comprehended wholly†¦from the outside.† Does the paragraph make more sense now? With this in mind, I have taken off my white coat, deserted, by and large, the hospitals where I have spent the last twenty-five years, to explore my subjects’ lives as they live in the real world, feeling in part like a naturalist, examining rare forms of life; in part like an anthropologist, a neuroanthropologist, in the field- but most of all like a physician, called here and there to make house calls, house calls at the far borders of human experience. Okay. So the answer to â€Å"what’s the main thing that visiting patients at home allows the author to do† is that it allows him to â€Å"explore my subjects’ lives as they live in the real world† because figuring out what’s wrong with them can’t be done just â€Å"from the outside† Another look at the remaining answers: The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: B. become a more important part of the real world. Seems broad. I’m already making the inference that the doctor wants to explore his patients’ lives from the inside to figure out what’s wrong with them because doing it from the outside isn’t enough – taking another leap to having him do it to â€Å"become a more important part of the real world† seems too iffy for the ACT. Tentatively cross this one out. The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: C. understand his patients’ illnesses better. Oh. Well. Yes. That is the reason, except instead of â€Å"figure out what’s wrong with his patients† the ACT is way more elegant and went with â€Å"understand his patients’ illnesses better.† I guess I’ll check the last answer, just in case. The last paragraph suggests that the author’s main reason for leaving the hospital to visit his patients is to allow him to: D. see if being a naturalist is like being a physician. Nope, he doesn’t care about being a naturalist! It’s a red herring! The answer must be C. Red herring @ Lowestoft, Suffolk by Tim Parkinson, used under CC BY 2.0. Don't be fooled by red herring answer choices! ACT Reading Practice Questions on Inferences: Your Turn! Now that you've made it through that walkthrough of an inference question, it's time for you to practice on your own! Click on the image below for a larger version of the passage. 1. It is reasonable to infer from the passage that the narrator looks back on the dinner-dances as a time when: F. her parents were in conflict over her mother’s work.G. the entire family was filled with excitement and anticipation.H. she and her father had a much easier relationship with each other.J. her mother and father had renewed hope for the future of the family. 2. When the narrator says, â€Å"I solemnly would nod- the honored recipient of this arcane cultural wisdom† (lines 53–54), she most likely means that: A. she felt intimidated when her father was giving her information that she did not understand.B. her father was honored to be able to share personal information with his daughter.C. when her father put on his tie, she pretended to be honored, even though she thought his comment was silly.D. the information her father was giving her seemed important and made her feel valued. 3. The sentence â€Å"Like an eagle, her words slipped regally down a great distance and struck with awful ease† (lines 75–76) indicates that the narrator: F. was not sure what her mother expected of her.G. recognized that her mother was being demeaned.H. wanted to distance herself from her mother.J. was ill at ease with her position in the family. 4. Based on the last two paragraphs (lines 78–92), which of the following statements indicates what the narrator’s father and mother have in common? F. They both want control of the family finances. G. They are both fighting for their self-respect. H. They both want to teach a lesson to their children. J. They are both angry at the woman who came for the fitting. Answer key (scroll down when ready): 1. G 2. D 3. G 4. G In Conclusion... Inference questions ask you about the meaning of a phrase, sentence, or series of lines in a passage Look for context to help you answer the question Answer the question in your own words before looking at the ACT’s answer choices Nail down other ACT Reading skills to help you answer inference questions Attack questions in an order that makes sense, based on the way you read the passage/your own test-taking style Eliminate 3 wrong answers What’s Next? Want to up your ACT Reading game? Check out more of our ACT Reading Skills articles, including articles on vocab in context, big picture, little picture, function and development, and paired passage questions. For a deeper look at paired passages, also be sure to read about why ACT Reading paired passages are so difficult. Feeling overwhelmed and not sure how to read the passage? Find out the best way to practice ACT Reading and what's actually tested on ACT Reading. Worried about running out of time on ACT Reading? You’re not alone. Read more about how to avoid a time-crunch here! Do you find that breaking down questions by skill type and drilling them really works for you? Consider the signing up for the PrepScholar platform to jumpstart your test prep! 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:

International Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Law - Essay Example Treaty law essentially entails the same binding nature as custom, and is only distinguished from custom because it is more formal than the former.2 However, treaties are generally written law and as such is a more certain source of international law.3 Although some international law scholar refer to treaties and customary international law interchangeably, there is a clear distinction since customary international law is bereft of written law and treaties are identified with written instruments. For example, Article 2(a) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1974 proves that: ‘treaty’ means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation.4 In this regard there are two types of treaties under international law that represent important sources of international law. The first kind of treaties i s law-making treaties that establish rules that are universally and generally applicable. The second kind of treaties at international law are â€Å"treaty-contracts† which are concluded between two or more states and cover specific issues relative to the contracting states.5 Law-making treaties are direct sources of international law, while contract-treaties merely outline treaty obligations between the contracting states and thus circumvent the need to identify and apply customary international law, unless the treaty requires the application of customary international law.6 Since the mid-19th century there has been an unprecedented proliferation of law-making treaties which have come to be known as â€Å"international legislation†.7 The proliferation of international law-making treaties was responses to the inefficiency of international customary law in meeting the immediate needs of the international community for the regulation of mutual interests. The immediate ne eds of the international community arose out of developments at the economic and industrial levels which were increasingly tightening the interconnectedness of states. Thus relationships between states became more complicated and diverse.8 Law-making treaties can be viable alternatives to customary laws because as history informs, law-making treaties typically serve to main functions. First they may articulate crystalized rules of international law, thus making customary law more visible and essentially codifying customary law into an identifiable source of law. Secondly, law-making treaties may identify new issues and formulate new rules of international law designed to respond to new issues or to change current practices by states.9 For instance, UN Law of the Sea Treaty 1982 establishes new rules relative to jurisdictional parameters applicable to the seas.10 The UN Law of the Sea Treaty 1982 also codifies some customary rules of international law. However, the 1982 Treaty also p rovides new provision such as the creation of the International Sealed Authority for controlling the distribution of marine resources. Moreover, transit passages were established for replacing the concept of innocent passage via coastal states’ territories. Thus states ratifying the 1982 Treaty would necessarily be bound by new international laws relative to the distribution of marine life and transit passages.11 Thus law-making treati

Japan U.S. relation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Japan U.S. relation - Essay Example In 1639, the shogunate commenced the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy spanning two and a half centuries of feeble political unity known as the Edo period. (Frost, 25-7) Late in the nineteenth century, abundance of the prerogative and the resignation of the shogunate led to the founding of a centralized state integrated under the name of the Emperor. Influenced by Western political, judicial and military institutions, the Cabinet prepared the Privy Council, brought in the Meiji Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet. This transformed the Empire of Japan into an industrialized world power that got into a number of military conflicts to increase the empire's sphere of authority. Today, Japan is a constitutional monarchy, with the powers of the Emperor being very limited. Seen as a ceremonial figurehead, the constitution defines him as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". (NDL, 1) Power is chiefly vested in the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while Japanese people are the root of the sovereignty. The relationships between U.S and Japan date back to the 1850's when Commodore Matthew Perry with his "Black Ships" sailed to Japan and signed the Convention of Kanagawa in order to initiate trade between Japan and U.S. This ended the sakoku policy of Japan and 300 year seclusion from the outside world. A few years later, the first Japanese embassy to the United States ever, was sent to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation among the two regimes. Subsequent to the Meiji Restoration of 1867, the United States aided Japan in its modernization of its economy and of its military. This resulted in the new constitution of Japan being partly influenced by the United States Constitution. (Hay, 1) Diplomatic relations ended with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, drawing the United States into World War II. The war ended after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. After the end of the Second World War, Japan was taken under control by the Allied Powers, led by the United States. The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, manifested the end of the Allied occupation, and Japan regained its independence on April 28, 1952. The early post-occupation period Japan needed direct United States economic assistance. The general Japanese public feeling of dependence decreased gradually as the devastating results of World War II faded into the background and commercial activities with the United States saw a significant growth. (Huntington, 3-17) Self-confidence increased as the country applied its assets and organizational skill to retrieve economic health. This led to a general want for greater autonomy from United States influence. Bilateral talks on improving the 1952 security pact started in 1959, and the new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security was signed in Washington on January 19, 1960. The pact, when presented to the Diet for approval, stirred a bitter argument over the Japan-United States relationship and a violent all-out effort was made by the leftist opposition to thwart its passage. Under this treaty, both U.S and Japan assumed an obligation to aid each other in case of an armed attack on provinces under Japanese supervision. (LaFeber, 165) It was however implicit, that Japan could not come to