Exercise in Identifying Effective Thesis Statements

This exercise will help you understand the difference between an effective and ineffective thesis statement, ie a sentence that identifies the main idea and central purpose of an essay. Instructions For each pair of sentences below, select the one that you think would make the more effective thesis in the introductory paragraph of a short essay (approximately 400 to 600 words). Keep in mind that an effective thesis statement should be sharply focused and specific, not just a general statement of fact. When youre done, you may want to discuss your answers with your classmates, and then compare your responses with the suggested answers on page two. Be ready to defend your choices. Because these thesis statements appear outside the context of complete essays, all responses are judgment calls, not absolute certainties. (a) The Hunger Games is a science fiction adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins.(b) The Hunger Games is a morality tale about the dangers of a political system that is dominated by the wealthy.(a) There is no question that cell phones have changed our lives in a very big way.(b) While cell phones provide freedom and mobility, they can also become a leash, compelling users to answer them anywhere and at any time.(a) Finding a job is never easy, but it can be especially hard when the economy is still feeling the effects of a recession and employers are reluctant to hire new workers.(b) College students looking for part-time work should begin their search by taking advantage of job-finding resources on campus.(a) For the past three decades, coconut oil has been unjustly criticized as an artery-clogging saturated fat.(b) Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat that is used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking.(a) There have been over 200 mo vies about Count Dracula, most of them only very loosely based on the novel published by Bram Stoker in 1897.(b) Despite its title, Bram Stokers Dracula, a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, takes considerable liberties with Stokers novel.(a) There are several steps that teachers can take to encourage academic integrity and curtail cheating in their classes.(b) There is an epidemic of cheating in Americas schools and colleges, and there are no easy solutions to this problem.(a) J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who directed the building of the first atomic bombs during World War II, had technical, moral, and political reasons for opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb.(b) J. Robert Oppenheimer often referred to as the father of the atomic bomb, was born in New York City in 1904.(a) The iPad has revolutionized the mobile-computing landscape and created a huge profit stream for Apple.(b) The iPad, with its relatively large high-definition screen, has helped to r evitalize the comic book industry.(a) Like other addictive behaviors, Internet addiction may have serious negative consequences, including academic failure, job loss, and a breakdown in personal relationships.(b) Drug and alcohol addiction is a major problem in the world today, and many people suffer from it.(a) When I was a child I used to visit my grandmother in Moline every Sunday.(b) Every Sunday we visited my grandmother, who lived in a tiny house that was undeniably haunted.(a)  The bicycle was introduced in the nineteenth century and rapidly grew into a worldwide phenomenon.(b) In several ways, bicycles today are  better than they were 100 or even 50 years ago.(a) Although many varieties of beans belong in a healthy diet, among the most nutritious are black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and pinto beans.(b) Although beans are generally good for you, some kinds of raw beans can be dangerous if theyre not well cooked. Suggested Answers (b)  The Hunger Games  is a morality tale about the dangers of a political system that is dominated by the wealthy.(b) While cell phones provide freedom and mobility, they can also become a leash, compelling users to answer them anywhere and at any time.(b) College students looking for part-time work should begin their search by taking advantage of job-finding resources on campus.(a) For the past three decades, coconut oil has been unjustly criticized as an artery-clogging saturated fat.(b) Despite its title,  Bram Stokers Dracula, a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, takes considerable liberties with Stokers novel.(a) There are several steps that teachers can take to encourage academic integrity and curtail cheating in their classes.(a) J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who directed the building of the first atomic bombs during World War II, had technical, moral, and political reasons for opposing the development of the hydrogen bomb.(b) The iPad, with its rela tively large high-definition screen, has helped to revitalize the comic book industry.(a) Like other addictive behaviors, Internet addiction may have serious negative consequences, including academic failure, job loss, and a breakdown in personal relationships.(b) Every Sunday we visited my grandmother, who lived in a tiny house that was undeniably haunted.(b) In several ways, bicycles today are  better than  they were 100 or even 50 years ago.(a) Although many varieties  of beans belong in a healthy diet, among the most nutritious are black beans, kidney beans,  chickpeas, and pinto beans.

Forming the Past Tense of Regular Verbs

The tense of a verb suggests the time of its action—present, past, or future. We rely on the past tense to show that an action has already been completed. Adding -d or -ed to Form the Past Tense In the following sentences, the verbs in bold are in the past tense: Wallace moved into his new house last Saturday.Yesterday I visited him for tea. Both move and visit are called regular verbs because they have the same past-tense ending of -ed. If the present form of a regular verb ends in -e, we add -d to form the past tense: Wallace and Gromit move frequently. (present tense)Wallace and Gromit moved into their new house last Saturday. (past tense) If the present form of a regular verb ends in a letter other than -e, we usually add -ed to form the past tense: I visit Wallace and Gromit every Tuesday evening. (present tense)Yesterday I visited them for tea. (past tense) Note that a spelling rule comes into play with verbs ending in -y. If the present form of a regular verb ends in -y preceded by a consonant (for example, cry, fry, try, carry), change the y to i and add -ed to form the past tense (cried, fried, tried, carried): Wallace and Gromit carry the cheese and crackers into the kitchen. (present tense)Wallace and Gromit carried the cheese and crackers into the kitchen. (past tense) Because all regular verbs have the same -ed ending in the past tense no matter what the subject is, subject-verb agreement is not a problem. The Different Sounds of the -ed Ending Dont let the sound of an -ed ending ever trick you into making a spelling error when you form the past tense. While we do hear a d sound at the end of some verbs (for example, moved and visited), we hear a t sound at the end of others (promised, laughed). Also, if you have a habit when you speak of clipping off word endings, dont do this when you write. No matter what sound you hear or fail to hear when you pronounce a regular verb in the past tense, be careful when you write to add -d or -ed at the end. EXERCISE: Forming the Past Tense of Regular Verbs The first sentence in each set below contains a verb in the present tense. Complete the second sentence in each set by adding -d or -ed to the verb in parentheses to form the past tense. When youre done, compare your responses with the answers at the end of the exercise. Carrot Top uses unusual props in his comedy act. Recently he (use) a double-wide toilet seat.Halleys Comet appears every 76 years. It last (appear) in 1986.We rarely punish the children. However, we (punish) them yesterday for spray-painting the dog.Wallace likes knitting and reading the newspaper. Even as a boy, he (like) to invent things.Wallace enjoys Wensleydale cheese and a nice cup of tea. When he was younger, Wallace (enjoy) cheddar cheese.I usually purchase a season ticket from the box office. Yesterday I (purchase) a ticket over the Internet.Gromit graduates from college today. Last year he (graduate) from Dogwarts University.Please carry this invention upstairs for me. I (carry) it into the house.Mookie and Buddy cry when they are hungry. Last night they (cry) for over an hour.Gromit tries very hard to be helpful. He (try) too hard last week. ANSWERS:1. used; 2. appeared; 3. punished; 4. liked; 5. enjoyed; 6. purchased; 7. graduated; 8. carried; 9. cried; 10. tried.

Conducting Buinsess Overseas Free Essays

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business 11/12/12 Phase 5 Individual Project Professor Ivy When conducting business overseas it is important to know the legal regulations (N/A, N/A) which should be considered as the first part of the business plan. One should do their research about how business is handled to avoid illegal activities that one may not be aware of. Some of the regulations are permits, licenses, requirements, documentation, and laws that apply in that country. We will write a custom essay sample on Conducting Buinsess Overseas or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are laws for importing merchandise into another country so therefore one must check with someone who specialize in that area of laws. As an importer one must give customs a complete report on the delivery of goods. On December 8, 1993 the Customs Modernization Act was put into place in order to â€Å"shift legal responsibility (N/A, N/A) from Customs to the importer for declaring, among other things, the value, classification, and rate of duty applicable to entered merchandise†. Importers should use reasonable care when complying with Customs requirements in order to fulfill their duties as importers. As part of Customs they strongly enforce requirements from other agencies which include Environmental Protection Agency, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration. All of these agencies are included to make sure goods passes safety requirements before any goods are imported into another country. If it is determined that an importer fail to use reasonable care they could face monetary penalties for not following laws. Any company that has large import activity should have satisfactory procedures in place in order to make sure they’re in compliance with Custom laws. Many importers use Customs Broker (N/A, N/A) to handle their files for them. These agencies are licensed by Customs to deal with files for importers. As an importer there is specific documentation requirements needed before any goods can be imported into another country. So therefore, importers use Custom Brokers to gather and file all of the necessary documents for importing the goods. Importers are still responsible for following all rules under the Mod Act. If these laws are broken they can be held liable for criminal or civil penalties under the Mod Act. Criminal Penalties can be defined as anyone who gives false information to Customs officers. Anyone who is in violation of this statue could face two years imprisonment, fines, or possible both for all violation that were related to importation. Civil penalties can be defined as anyone who provide fraud through the use of gross negligence or transmit false data which relates to any fraudulent activities. As part of Customs authority they can seize merchandise to get payment for the violation. As part of doing business oversees one will deal with exporters. Exporter duties (N/A, N/A) include making sure that it is legal to export merchandise from United States to another country. They are also responsible to make sure that all required documentation are in order and filed to proper agency. Before exporting any product one should be sure to check for licenses and other documentation needed to export products. There are certain laws that apply to exporters which include laws such as anti-boycott laws, the Export Administration Regulations, and Economic sanctions. When determining whether or not a license is needed for export the appropriate authority checks for the product’s classification, end-user, and end-use. It is also important that one should know about Free Trade Agreements. Free Trade Agreements (N/A, 2010) is known to be one of the best opportunities to expand the foreign market to the United States. Part of the Free Trade Agreement is to reduce barriers to United States exports which protect the United States interests. This law makes it easier and less expensive for U. S. ompanies to export their goods to trading market partners. So therefore, we could use this to our advantage as a company to export goods to from and to other countries. The ethical code of conduct (N/A, Sigue Corp. , 2012) for employees and vendors is to ensure strong ethical principles govern prevent conflicts that might occur between the employees and vendors. All employees and vendors must abide by the company’s ethical code of conduct. In order for the code of conduct to be enforced each employee or vendor must report any conflicts that relates to the company’s welfare. As part of the company’s policy we are responsible for keeping customers, employees, and vendors satisfied with the services provided from this company. So therefore, we required our employees to maintain a high level professional standard while conducting business in our company. Employees should keep all information confidential about Company, customers, employees, agents, and vendors. If any employee has an issue we encourage them to consult with someone such supervisor, management, or anyone else in a higher position about any problems they may encounter. If employees or vendor are found to be in violation of Code of conduct will be investigated and immediately terminated. As part of the Company’s policies we report any unlawful behavior to the appropriate agency. This company doesn’t tolerate fraudulent behavior, dishonest, theft, embezzlement, threats, or any other inappropriate behavior. Legal and ethical guidelines (Phillips, 2012) are important in all businesses because they are part of laws that shall be followed. All businesses should have ethical guidelines that they should abide by in order to maintain laws which are enforceable by the state and government. If a business fails to follow guidelines and laws they could be punish or penalized by local laws that weren’t followed. Ethical guidelines is used to protect employees from being unpaid by enforcing laws for wages and hours worked. These laws are put in place to avoid businesses from not treating employees fairly such as not paying them for the hours worked or overtime. When distinguishing between right and wrong in business dealings (Merchant, 2006-2012) one must consider is the action true and how it will affect the business. They should also take into consideration whether or not the decision is fair to all parties involved. Another question one should ask is will the decision benefit the outcome of people that have invested in this dealing. After thinking about the outcome of all decision it is important that you chose the action that is legal in order to avoid illegal behavior that will lead to punishment of some type. The punishment could result in termination, fines, or imprisonment depending on what type of wrong doings one has committed. So therefore, when hiring employees one should make sure they are capable of making the right decision that will have a positive outcome for the company. As part of ethical conduct one must be capable of deciding what is right and what is wrong in order to have a good foundation in ethics. Making the right choices in a company could result in the company being successful and kept out of the public eye for unethical behavior. This type of behavior has prompted such an increase in these types of legal and ethical violations (Richard Mauer Anna M. Tinsley, 2010) because they aren’t being handled appropriate. Many companies aren’t punished to the full extent because they have power and money to get them out of that situation. When other companies see that another company has gotten away breaking the law they think that they can away with it too. Ethical violations are increasing because many companies forget about them and want to get the job done in a short time with a low cost. Many companies in today’s society don’t have morals and good values so this makes it difficult to practice ethical guidelines for companies. If all companies enforced good ethical behavioral some of the unethical violation could be reduced. This could lead to a more successful reliable business that more people will feel comfortable with. My opinion regarding the impact of the ethical implications (N/A, 2005-2012) and violations on the business itself from the perspective of the consumer is that this company follows rules and regulation to avoid illegal behavior. Some companies seem to think that they can get away with doing things that are not legal and that they won’t be caught. If the court keeps ordering them to pay fines and put them on probation they may not recognize what the consequences are. So I think they should lose money in order to realize that this type of behavior is unacceptable. So therefore, the company should be shut down until everything is corrected. I feel by them paying isn’t enough because they have billions of dollars and money isn’t a problem. Investors may feel that this company is reliable for their actions and may not want to do business with them. The reason why investors may not want to do business with them is because they have a history of illegal and unethical behavior that may cause investors to lose money. How to cite Conducting Buinsess Overseas, Essay examples

How Juliet Can Be Recontextualised free essay sample

In Shakespeare’s play, Juliet is described to be more than just a pretty face; she’s smart, witty, determined and mature. She knows what she wants, and she gets it as it is Juliet who proposes to Romeo not the other way around. In the text, she is written to be thirteen years of age and begins the play as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo. Being a girl from a high social class family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city or climb over walls at midnight. However she shows amazing courage in trusting her life and future to Romeo, refusing to believe the worst reports about him and even willing to shut important people out of her life (nurse) the moment they turn against Romeo. And when I shall die, take him and cut him up in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that the entire world will fall in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun. We will write a custom essay sample on How Juliet Can Be Recontextualised or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Juliet’s role in society is very minor and simple. She is the pretty, ‘prized’ daughter of the Capulets and is expected to be obedient of men in their families. In the novel, she receives little guidance and help from her family and is expected to marry Paris as her father decided. This gives a clear example of women’s role and its unimportance. On the contrary, in Zeffirelli’s film we focus more on Juliet’s beauty and youthfulness as the actress who played Juliet seemed very young and had that ‘innocent’ child look on her face. The maturity of Juliet shown in Shakespeare’s text is greatly dimmed in Zeffirelli’s as with the youthful look of Juliet, it questions the audience making them treat and think of Juliet as a child, therefore not taking her or even her motives seriously. However Juliet is shown to be more cautious in this film, not being too rash or sudden. An example of this is at Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting, Juliet carefully looks at Romeo through the crowd of people, peeping through people’s heads and keeping her distance as if she was studying him before coming closer and closer to him. Although I join in thee I have no joy in this contract tonight it is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden. † The Juliet that Luhrmann presents to us is also differently recontextualised. One of the first things the audience takes attention on is how the actress that played Juliet looks so much older, definitely not only thirteen. This is because of the different time periods each movie/novel was set or created in as it is the 20th century and human’s behaviour has changed as they do not marry young, in fact that’s shunned upon. The role of women in society is also changed as women do have rights in the 20th century and can make their own decisions. An example of this is in the opening scene of Luhrmann’s film, a newspaper report with important information about the star-crossed lovers was being read by a dark-skinned female. This choice of using a female to read this important information indicates that we have stepped into a completely different era with the role of women being of equal importance as men. However Luhrmann’s Juliet is not only living in a completely different recontextualised society, but has different qualities in character and what makes her stand out is her strong confidence that the others do not have. She gains this by putting herself out there, getting involved in decisions and engaged in her relationships. With this in mind, it is also no doubt that this Juliet is also very mature as she can take control in situations. This is shown through her first encounter with Romeo as she is the one the initially makes the first move by kissing him, stealing the control of the situation. Both the camera angles and dramatic lighting on Juliet’s face in that scene show that Luhrmann wanted to make Juliet the centre of attention there. Juliet also has a very straight-forward personality as she does not dwell on things and does what she thinks. This can question the audience is it shows that Juliet is both stubborn and fearless at the same time. Therefore it can be seen that Shakespeare’s Juliet can be recontextualised differently by her character and personality as Shakespeare, Zeffirelli and Luhrmann have all created their Juliet with at least one quality different about each other. It can be seen that Shakespeare’s Juliet can be recontextualised through her different personality and character, looks and role in society. This is shown by Shakespeare’s novel and Zeffirelli and Luhrmann’s film.