10 Fun Facts about Occidental College

Occidental College is one of the very few liberal arts colleges located in Los Angeles. These 10 fun facts will tell you why President Obama initially chose Occidental College for his undergraduate studies:1. President Obama first enrolled in occidental College before transferring to Columbia University after his sophomore year. 2. Occidental College almost became an all male school in 1912, and again in 1932. 3. Can you believe that at the time Occidental College was founded in 1888 the cost of tuition for 44 students was only $50? 4. The last time is snowed at Occidental College was on January 11th, 1949. 5. Students at Oxy celebrate their birthdays by being thrown into the main fountain on campus at midnight. 6. Occidental College is the oldest liberal arts college in Los Angeles. 7. There are many other notable alumni from Oxy, including Oscar-winning director, writer and actor Ben Affleck; Congressman and NFL quarterback Jack Kemp, and Andrea Elliot, Pulitzer Prize winner and investigative journalist with the New York Times. 8. Oxy’s beautiful campus has been used as filming locations for more than 80 movies and TV shows, such as Clueless (1995), â€Å"NCIS† and â€Å"Arrested Development,† since the first filming took place in 1919. 9. Occidental offers the nation’s only residential academic semester program at the UN! Oxy students who are part of this program live together in New York and take courses with Occidental professors while maintaining a full-time internship at a U.N.-related agency or country mission. 10. Occidental Colleges most popular majors include Economics, Political Science, International Affairs, and Psychology. Are you looking to apply to Occidentalor just starting to build outyour college list? Make sure to search through profiles of students accepted to see essays, stats, and advice. See how they got in, and how you can too!

A Pirating War essays

A Pirating War essays Would you rather pay twenty to twenty-five dollars for one DVD or less than forty bucks for a computer program which copies any DVD and stores it onto your computer? If you were a smart shopper it comes to you as common sense. There are such programs on the market that you can buy, but there are a few problems. There are certain little things called copyright laws. This is how certain companies such as MGM and other such companies are winning lawsuits against people that distribute these programs and also hackers that break through the encryptions on the DVDs. The current legal DVD battle between the movie industry and the free/open software communities over DVD is a microcosm of an ongoing intellectual property war. This war pits intellectual property owners against such diverse groups as programmers opposing restrictions on reverse engineering and the publication of computer code and librarians opposing new restrictions on copyright rights of first sale and fair use. Jon Johansen may be the youngest victim of this war. Because of software posted on the 16-year-old's Web site, his home in Norway was raided in January by police who seized two computers and a cell phone. Both Jon and his father were indicted; criminal charges could result in two- to three-year prison Now ever since there has been DVDs, there has been hackers trying to break the encryptions on these DVDs. Encryptions are a certain series of codes that makes it hard to copy a DVD. MGM and other such companies have brought these hackers to court and accused them of breaking the copyrights of these DVDs. Lets just say that it was Hollywood against these certain big named hackers. Of course Hollywood won and is still winning, dew to the copyright laws of the movies. But this does not mean that they can stop all the low profile hackers that break these laws everyday by copying DVDs and then selling them. Now these concer ...

Bank law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bank law - Essay Example The agent in possession of the said Nursing Home sold it and the proceeds were applied to reduction of the credit debt and no surplus accrued to benefit the other creditors and Narni. After the sale, no profit or income was derived by Narni. 2. Narni which runs the Carrum Nursing Home applied for overdraft facility with National Australia Bank. Pending formal approval of the application with limit of $65, 000.00, the Bank nevertheless honored the cheques drawn by Narni even though there were no funds to meet them since the account was regularly in debit. The bank refused to extend the overdraft facility to $100, 000.00 but supported Narni by honoring the cheques drawn despite lack of funds. The Court found that the "Bank and Narni conducted their business and arranged their affairs, from February 1989, on the basis that the approved overdraft of $65,000 was at best a nominal limit and that the Bank would tolerate surges well in excess of that limit in each monthly cycle. The bank ope rated and permitted the account to operate in a very flexible way so that the monthly surges far exceeded any such limit". The court also found that "Narni relied upon this attitude on the part of the Bank in the operation of its business, as the Bank officers knew". It was deduced from the facts that the Bank itself also enjoyed a benefit from this arrangement from the receipt of interest and other fees and by the retention of a satisfied customer. The Court found that it was a "term of this arrangement between the Bank and Narni that the Bank would not refuse to honour cheques drawn by it on the ground that the balance of the account exceeded the approved overdraft limit of $65,000." The correctly held that it was an implied term of the arrangement that the Bank could not terminate or vary it without giving the customer reasonable notice so as to allow time for it to arrange its affairs to comply. Furthermore, they must have regard to the fact that cheques, which had been previous ly drawn and delivered may have to be honoured under the pre?existing arrangement in place at the time they were drawn and delivered. The implication of such a term is an incident of the arrangement between the Bank and its customer because the Bank knew that Narni was dependent upon it. As aptly held by the court, " there was no warning of dishonor from the bank and this act was relied upon by Narni and giving rise to overdraft extension. Narni was dependent for its cash flow upon the accommodation of the bank in excess of the agreed limit given by the Bank." In the case of Joachimson v Swiss Bank Corporation [1921] 3 KB 110 CA, it was held that the following are considered implied terms: a). The bank will receive the customer’s deposits and collect his or her cheques; b). The bank will comply with written orders (i.e. cheques) issued by its customers assuming there is sufficient credit tin the account; c). The bank will repay the entire balance on the customers demand at th e account holding branch during banking hours -as was also held in Libyan Arab Foreign Bank v Bankers Trust [1989] AC 80 PC for the application for the terms in relation to UK banks; d). The bank will give reasonable notice before closing a customer’s account if it is in credit; e). the customer will take reasonable care when writing cheques (Topic 1, n.d.). Implied terms are extra terms read into contracts by the courts in order to give effect to statutory requirements and common law presumptions (Robinson, 2009). Implied

Text Analysis essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Text Analysis - Essay Example Just as Dassanowsky states, artists are not interested in picturing the reality but picturing the picture of reality. The duty of artists therefore is delivering the right information to the society without alteration of information for further critics. The most outstanding focused and engaging films by Tarantino is a clear indication of their roles. They serve as role models who always speak for the community (Dassanowsky, p.65). In this case, Tarantino talks about the World War II which degrades the human value and purpose through merciless killings. The mourning of author’s mother and wife indicates the condemnation of the society and this clearly indicates artists are the voice of the community (Dassanowsky, p.78). . However, the film has received much criticism from the public which is the duty of the community to scrutinize the work of artists. This gives meaning to the existence of humankind and their core values. In this film, women are seen as victims of circumstances who go through rape and brutality. Though this is condemned, it is clearly brought out and it is upon the society to accept the truth and make the necessary changes. The society scrutiny is seen as ineffective since it does not consider the truth brought out by Tarantino but criticizes that the film harshly judges the society (Dassanowsky, 125). The action of the author highlights the essence of existence of artists with the major roles they play in the society. It does not only bring out their purpose but also upgrades the production quality of other films which will try to meet the set standards. The idea of having Hitler assassinated may be criticized as being against humanitarian laws but it is the only solution to the end of World War II and the violence involved. It is evident that artists provide guidelines to the society in terms of way of living. Tarantino advices the society to forget about the World War II and move on and not to keep mourning about the

Communicating With People On The Internet

Communicating With People On The Internet The arrival of the internet has heralded a lot of new opportunities, created new markets, and afforded us new ways of interacting with each other. Meeting new people is no longer limited to talking to the person youre sitting beside on the bus, or keeping in touch with someone you met at a bar. Now we can find friends from continents away. The internet is a busy place, full of people, many of whom share your own passions and interests. And not just friends, its also a place where its possible to meet someone special. Naturally the hyper-connected youths of today use the internet as if its an extension of themselves. For them meeting new people online seems like a given. But the internet holds just as much promise for the rest of us. It has grown in popularity as a way to find friends, to chat among like minded people, and for finding love, sex, quick flings, soulmates, partners, husbands and wives depending on whos looking. Nowadays there are more and more people who are single enough to use it. The number of people getting divorced is higher than ever. The US, UK, Canada, Russia, New Zeland and Australia all in the top ten for highest divorce rates (per 1,000 people). Society has changed, and with it our values. It is no longer seen as socially unacceptable to leave someone. Why stay in an unhappy marriage? There are many women and men who have faced that very question. Of course there are still those who see it as a sign of a sinful society, or feminism run rampant, or the natural progression of a morally bankrupt western culture, or any number of fantasies that explain a trend in statistics they dont understand. In the past divorces were rare, but were the couples happy? Thankfully society is breaking free of old fashioned attitudes. Where it would have been seen as debauched and morally sinful for a woman to leave her husband, or a man to leave his wife, now individuals have an out. The modern world is about individual choice and personal freedom. Because of this, more people are single, and open to the possibility of meeting someone new. People are also working harder. A busy career can leave little time to build a social life and result in a stagnant love life. Success can often bring more work, and more money, at the expense of someone to share it with. Many successful individuals are even reticent when it comes to looking for love. Relationships can be a lot of trouble, and some people are content without them. Being far removed from our primitive origins, we are no longer slaves to biological imperatives. On the other end of the scale, its thought that as many as a third of the singles on the internet arent quite as single as youd think. But assuming we are single, free, and would like to find someone special, where do we look in the 21st century? Bars and clubs are naturally as popular as ever. Many people still meet through work and friends. Many people bump into that special someone through a random encounter a dropped batch of paperwork, getting stuck in a lift it could be clichà ©, but it will still happen for some of us. With the advent of the internet, meeting people online has become yet another option. A natural one, in this connected world we live in. Personals and dating are big business, bringing in $503.4 million (US) in 2005 and showing consistent year after year growth. And in the UK, with its population of around 60 million, 7.8 million singles used some form of dating service in 2007 according to a press release by dating service PARSIHP. Meeting people on the internet doesnt have to be conducted through dating sites either. Many people who use the internet find people naturally as they wander the landscape of cyberspace. Nor is this a new phenomenon. The dawn of the internet saw the creation of crude bulletin boards and internet relay chat. People found each other using these services just as they do using Messenger clients and forums today. The technology has definitely advanced through, and this has brought people a large number of places to go on the internet. There are many different services that run on the internet, here are some of them: Internet relay chat One of the oldest services on the internet, internet relay chat (IRC) is a service that posts messages to the page instantaneously so that the users can have a conversation that flows naturally in real time. There are thousands upon thousands of chatrooms available through IRC servers, and most of them are free. They can be accessed by downloading an IRC client, though sometimes a bit of configuring is needed to make it work. IRC isnt the easiest thing in the world to pick up and learn, a throwback from its early origins. Messenger clients From Yahoo Messenger to MSN, and now more recently Skype (which can be used in much the same way as a messenger between calls), messenger clients allowed people to manage a list of contacts and then chat with those contacts just like in IRC. Unlike IRC, big improvements were made to the interfaces and ease-of-use that helped to explode the popularity of messengers until we find that most people use at least one. Messengers are also great for keeping in touch with business contacts, family, friends, among many other uses. One of the earliest messenger service called ICQ had a random chat button that would find you someone to chat to, or indeed allow them to find you. Social Networks Like them or loath them, social networks found their place as the heart of meeting people on the internet. At first they were places to link up with your friends and share information about you what you were doing, how you felt, where you were, or indeed where you werent (such as working). Social networks soon snowballed into a giant productivity eating monster. If you havent heard of social networks then hello, and greetings under-rock person. Some of the more well known include LiveJournal, MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo. LiveJournal mixes blogging and social networking, Facebook has become synonymous with social networks, MySpace synonymous with controversy and Bebo was huge in the UK then fell out of favour with users. The phenomena of keeping in touch with contracts led to new companies trying spinnoffs of the idea. One of these Twitter lets users post short messages of up to 140 characters. These tweets can then be read by followers. Like them or loath them, social networks app ear to be here to stay. Work Rather than have separate disjointed categories, lets lump everything thats done for the sake of work together. It can be emails, video conferencing, virtual conferencing, social networking, messaging. If your work requires you to liase with anyone at all over the internet then theres always the chance of meeting someone you hit it off with. It happens all the time. Friends Friends are always looking out for you. If youre single then you can guarantee that your friends are looking out for someone to hook you up with. On the internet this behaviour is no different. Dating services Dating services started off as simple catalogs of user-made profiles, that could be searched according to any criteria. Paying users could then contact the users they found interesting. Growing from these primitive early systems, they added features such as live chat, messenger services, social networking and so on in order to stay ahead of competing services. Their combination of the best ideas found on the internet to provide the optimal environment for users to meet each other, and maintained the value of the service so that people would continue to pay. Dating services have been one of the leading drivers of growth. Similarly theres also a lot of overlap between dating services and other internet services such as social networks. Online Universes Pushing internet interactions further into the futuristic vision of cyberspace, online worlds give us the Neuromancer vision of cyberspace. Gamers were among the first to explore online universes. The advent of massively multiplayer online games (or worlds/universes/spaces) collectively known as MMOs added a new dimension to the internet. The earliest were game worlds, where users had no set goals, other than lead a double (and supposedly exciting) life as a mage, wizard, ranger, space pilot or any number of alternative personas depending on the game. These evolved, and soon virtual universes began to appear which played down gaming aspects and played up its usage as an alternative universe. Second Life proved to be one of the most popular, and its name captures the spirit in which many of these new universes were formed. Others, such as Entropia Universe grew out of games, but diversified into a platform for delivering anything the partner company could imagine (by renting out world ). In these spaces, you can wander through virtual towns and meet peoples avatars as they in turn go about their business. Avatars are, to steal a description from the matrix films, the mental projection of your digital self. People customize their avatars and in doing so reveal a lot about themselves. Interestingly, people behave similarly to the way they do in real life, albeit with less inhibitions. Sociologists have a great time studying virtual worlds because of this, but that is a story for a different article. Virtual universes however are a little too gamelike for some of us. A more recent addition to the virtual universe landscape called IMVU cleverly combines messenger services with Virtual Universe services to create a hybrid that has found a more mainstream popularity than other virtual worlds. Users can keep in touch through a messenger like contact list, or use its social network-like website, and chat to users in virtual rooms. Unlike virtual worlds, there is no walki ng around. You can move your avatar around, but only to fixed locations called nodes. Standing nodes feature in all rooms, and adding furniture adds more nodes. A couch will come sitting nodes, and some furniture includes nodes for couples to sit snuggled together. Removing the ability to walk around, kept IMVU simple enough that the virtual universe features didnt overwhelm the chat features. Users can buy new rooms, furniture, clothes, pets. They can also buy streaming music to play in their rooms. People meet in virtual universes all the time. Sometimes they even get married in the online universe. Often they get married and then quickly split. Sometimes couples take their relationship further, and meet in real life. Does it work? Implications Dangers Anonymity Conclusion What are people looking for? When asked the question: For me, dating is mainly about.. ? in the top dating tips survey, the most popular answer was simply love, edging ahead of the rest with 21% of the votes. Surprisingly, next came Marriage and Sex with 19% each. 1. Love 21% 2. Marriage 19% 3. Friendship 8% 4. Partnership 6% 5. Sex 19% 6. Company 3% 7. Social life 3% 8. Romance 12% 9. Conversation 3% 10. Sharing 6% (Source: TopDatingTips.com)

Examples of Good an Bad Essays

Student Essays Going for the Look |On-Demand Writing Assignment | |You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan| |what you will say. Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, | |providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.Your essay should be as well-organized and carefully | |written as you can make it. | |â€Å"Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and industry experts see the point. ‘In today’s competitive | |retail environment, the methods have changed for capturing the consumer’s awareness of your brand,’ said Marshal Cohen, a senior industry | |analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. ‘Being able to find a brand enhancer, or what I call a walking billboard, is critical. |Itâ €™s really important to create an environment that’s enticing to the community, particularly with the younger, fashionable market. A guy | |wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good-looking gals. ’† | |Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and| |examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. | The sample student essays that follow reflect the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria.Sample student essay with a score of 6: Portable Posters In today’s society, marketing is being taken to new heights. Not only do companies spend a majority of their money on advertising, they also use their employees as portable posters. If employees are supposed to be â€Å"walking billboards,† then most people would agree that not everyone will be eligible for that particular position. Discrimination is defined as showing favor unjustly. What some corporations are doing today is clearly unjust. People cannot control their appearance completely.Therefore, I must agree with Steven Greenhouse, the author of â€Å"Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination. † Mr. Greenhouse has clearly shown in his article that only hiring certain people that â€Å"look great,† is definitely discrimination and should not occur. That is why I disagree with Mr. Cohen’s analysis. It is a known fact that one cannot sell everything by appearance alone. Mr. Cohen is a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. He said, â€Å"Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and the industry experts see the point. I thought that people were supposed to be hired based on their ability. In fact, Stephen J. Roppolo, a New Orleans lawyer who represents many hotels and restaurants, said â€Å"I tell employers that their main focus needs to be hiring somebody who can g et the job done. † Hiring for looks must be fairly risky from a legal standpoint because even lawyers that represent the businesses are saying that they should hire based on merit so that they do not get into trouble with the law. I have seen some first hand examples of questionable hiring practices.Many of the restaurants near my home are excellent examples of hiring based on appearance. At the restaurants, I have noticed that the servers are usually Caucasian and that the bus-boys and chefs tend to be Mexican-Americans. I have also noticed that the Chinese restaurants in my area only have Asian-Americans as waiters and waitresses. I thought that America was on the way to becoming a place full of equal opportunity. Apparently, we are taking a step back, instead of moving forward. Is hiring based on how attractive people are illegal?No, there is not a specific law saying that businesses cannot. Just because it is not illegal does not mean that it should be done. I feel that Mr . Cohen’s analysis is not correct. If a company had an extremely innovative and sought after product due to its wide range of uses and quality, the company would not need to stoop to such discriminatory hiring practices. The product would simply sell itself. After all, every company would love to get by without spending one dime on advertising. Imagine a world where everyone was hired based on merit.Productivity would increase everywhere because people would be doing what they are best at instead of just standing around and â€Å"looking great. † Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 6. The superior response indicates that the writer is very well-prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer understands and focuses clearly on the topic raised by the quotation in the thesis, â€Å"†¦ only hiring certain people that ‘look great,’ is definitely discrimination and should not oc cur. † †¢ The summary of Cohen’s argument is clear and accurate, and the paraphrasing is effective. The writer analyzes the issue of hiring for looks thoughtfully and has developed an insightful response focused on the legal implications of the practice. †¢ The essay is coherently organized and developed with a body paragraph of analysis and a paragraph citing the example of hiring on the basis of appearance in ethnic restaurants, which extends the response beyond that which is provided in the reading passage. The conclusion makes a strong case for hiring on the basis of merit. †¢ The writer demonstrates a strong command of language and syntactic variety, alternating fluent, longer sentences with short sentences to make a point. The essay is virtually error-free and reflects the writer’s command of the conventions of incorporating the words and ideas of others into the writer’s response to an argument. Sample student essay with a score of 5: Discrimination Vs Wealth One of the biggest problems causing separation in today’s society is discrimination based on looks. Our morality is constantly decreasing due to greed and selfishness. At one point in time we focused on the well being of every human being no matter their race, color or gender; looks meant nothing while love and friendships meant everything.On the contrary to Marshal Cohen’s statement that a â€Å"brand enhancer† or a â€Å"walking bill board† is critical, hiring people based on looks is not morally correct, and morality should be held above money and reputation. Hiring by looks can cause numerous amounts of issues, both at the governmental level and the emotional level. As Olophius Perry stated in the article, Going for the Look but Risking Discrimination, â€Å"If you’re hiring by looks, then you can run into problems of race discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, and e ven disability discrimination. (Greenhouse 1). Our country specifically was founded on equality and equal opportunity for all. When businesses start hiring based on looks and/or gender, our country’s morals begin to slip slowly through Uncle Sam’s fingers. Discrimination of any sort may also cause a person great emotional damage. Perhaps a hard working, well-kept, person was turned away from a job because of his or her un-attractive face, that person could be so hurt that they commit suicide; while one person gets richer because of this life changing decision they made, another person’s sanity is lost.This type of discrimination is not worth the pain and suffering of one human being in return for fame and money. Young men and women are used as sex symbols in today’s twisted society. Many companies will hire young attractive women based on their beauty with the intention of giving men something to look at as well as giving them an incentive to come into th eir store. As Marshal Cohen replied, â€Å"A guy wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good looking gals† (Greenhouse 3) shows that companies hire these girls only to bring in more profits by using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over.What kind of messages are we sending to our future generations? Is it that girls must learn that they will not receive respect and that they need to weigh 110 pounds with big lips in order to be successful in life? Pressures are enormously overwhelming on today’s young adults to look â€Å"perfect† in society’s eyes. The pressures build up and eventually lead to up to unhealthy alternatives to being skinny, becoming â€Å"built†, or having the exact look being sought. While our society may look better if we allow companies to hire by looks, it is also increasingly becoming unhealthy.In conclusion, hiring based on looks solely to raise profits is ethically and morally wrong. This idea will eventually bring our morality to an end. Health rates will drop and human sanity will continue to be taken away. In order to save our society and its morals, we should ban discrimination, or as some would call it hiring based on looks. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. The writer understands the topic and accurately summarizes Cohen’s position, using his phrases â€Å"brand enhancer† and â€Å"walking bill board. † The essay’s thesis is clear, but the writer could have sharpened it by refraining from presenting it as a three-part divided thesis. †¢ The essay reflects the writer’s understanding of some of the complexity of the issue. The analysis of the impact of the practice of â€Å"hiring for the look† on young adults’ self-image is thoughtfu l and adds depth, but the assertion that it causes insanity and suicides is unsubstantiated. The essay is well-organized and coherent, with the writer focusing on the legal implications of hiring on the basis of looks in the first body paragraph and the individual implications in the second. Each paragraph is thoroughly developed, and the conclusion presents a strong recommendation. †¢ The essay displays some syntactic variety and facility, with occasional lapses in word choice and sentence construction. †¢ The essay has scattered errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics (e. g. , â€Å"numerous amounts of issues,† â€Å"using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over†). Sample student essay with a score of 4:Beauty = Money Marshall Cohen’s argument is basically that beautiful women sell, and I strongly agree. It’s true that guys want to hang out in places where there are beautiful women. It’s also true that these wom en represent an image and that if that image is pleasing to the eye then other women will want to emulate it. Being a guy, I know the power women have over us as a gender; especially the good looking ones. The fact is that businesses know this and exploit it. Last year alone I must have spent a good 300 dollars because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good in a pair of pants she wanted me to buy.Also, it’s how most guys decide on things. Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. We would almost always end up going to the one with the good looking waitresses. Guys are suckers for cute girls and will spend great amounts of time and money just to the around them. However, men aren’t nearly as bad as women. When the average girl sees a super model or Britney Spears wearing Abercrombie and Fitch they think the key to being beautiful and popular is to match their wardrobes. They feel that if they dress like t heir idols they’ll be more important in the public eye.I have a friend that buys every outfit she sees Mandy Moore wear on television. It’s already cost her over a thousand dollars, but she doesn’t mind just as long as people make her feel important. In the end using beautiful people to advertise your product translates to one thing: money. The equation is simple, the better the girl looks the more money you make, and as long as the public sees beauty as only skin deep this will always be true. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 4.This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer demonstrates a generally accurate but somewhat simplistic understanding of the passage, summarizing it as â€Å"beautiful women sell. † The writer accepts this argument on the basis of his own experience and develops his response accordin gly. †¢ The essay maintains a clear focus on the point. It is organized around the assertion that both men and women are attracted to businesses that â€Å"hire for the look. † However, it never acknowledges the legal or moral counter-arguments to this position. The personal examples support the writer’s position and are developed in some detail, but the essay would have been strengthened by more analysis of the issues. †¢ The language is fluent and often colloquial (â€Å"Guys are suckers for cute girls†), in keeping with the writer’s personal approach to the topic. However, some sentences are not formed correctly (e. g. , â€Å" . . . because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good†¦. †; â€Å"Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. †) †¢ The essay generally demonstrates control of grammar, usage, and mechanics.Sample student essay with a score of 3: Goi ng For the Look There are three types of people in the world when it comes to style. There are the fashionable, who care what they look like and what other people think. There are the unfashionable, who think they are fashionable but do not run with the trend. Then there are the people in between. They could care less what others think. To try to get people to buy their products, a producer will look at all three types of people and chose the one that best fits the product. So the Gap would choose someone who looks good in their product.There are certain clothes that fit certain bodies certain ways. People do not want to see a fat, ugly person in tight pants and a short shirt. A place like Hot Topic wants to draw in a punk rocker crowed so they will hire people that look as if they are punk rockers. These people will have many piercings and tattoos that are visible to the public. Only certain people do not think that that stuff is not attractive and Hot Topic wants to bring them int o the store. Thrift stores and hand me down stores would hire the last type of person. People who shop at those stores do not care what they look like or cannot afford to shop anywhere else.These people cannot choose what the person selling their clothes looks like. In conclusion, there are three types of people in the fashion industry. Some are shoe-ins for certain jobs just from what they look like. Others cannot get those jobs if they tried. Cohen’s statement is correct. Now a day people hire for looks not skill. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests a developing competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer’s need for additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. The writer does not explain Cohen’s argument, instead writing an essay about style. †¢ The thesis, â€Å"There are three types of people in the wor ld when it comes to style,† does not focus on the issue of â€Å"hiring for the look. † The writer addresses the issue in the body of the essay by saying that Gap and Hot Topic hire people who look good in the company’s clothes, while thrift stores have no choice in who they hire; however, the writer directly addresses Cohen’s argument only in the final sentences. †¢ The body paragraphs are series of assertions that lack effective transitions. Most of the sentences lack variety (e. g. , the series of â€Å"There are . . . † sentences in the introduction), and word choice is imprecise (â€Å"that stuff†). †¢ The essay has an accumulation of errors, especially in spelling and punctuation. Sample student essay with a score of 2: Going for the Look Cohen’s argument expresses his oppions and his only the may not matter in the sites of other people. I don’t agree or disagree with his argument. I hold this position because of three reasons, for starters is the retailers choice who he or she wants to hire not his.And for there businesses to expand and to grow then they must hire whoever appeals to the consumer. Last his argument may or may not be true and tell complete truth, so I’m not going to base my facts or opions on him because sometimes you should keep them to your self. As I Said before it is the retailers choice who they want to hire and if you must ensist on talking bad about these people then you must have problems with yourself maybe your jellous, just because your not in the positon to hire whoever you want doesn’t mean the people that do make those choices wheather they are right or wrong.The retailers must hire the right personel to appeal to the consumer if that means only hireing whites, just blacks or purple, green, yellow it does not matter because that is what they have to do to sell there product. My third and final reason is that I don’t really want to agree or disagree baed on the facts that he is giving me are more better things to worry about then I some stores have racial issues that is there business not yours. To conclude Cohen argument expresses his own oppions that might be better kept to himself. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 2.The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer demonstrates a basic understanding of the passage but is unable to respond meaningfully to the topic, instead resorting to a personal attack on Cohen. †¢ The writer fails to respond to Cohen’s argument with a focused thesis. The sentence â€Å"I don’t agree or disagree with this argument† suggests a failure to understand the need to take a position and provide evidence to support it. †¢ Although the writer attempts three body paragraphs, they are severely underdeveloped. The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. †¢ The writer has serious and persistent errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. In particular, the sentence boundary errors and serious spelling errors obscure the meaning. Sample student essay with a score of 1: Their many methods of hiring people. Many markets know hire just because of the image of a person. In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point. Their could be certain stores that have people who have expirence, no experience, and just for the look.When you have a pearson who has experience you could expeted from them to accomplished their job. They would always be on time or even earlier. You would not hear bad comments about that person Their very reasponsible and would not complain about geting their job done Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies of thi s essay clearly indicate that the writer needs much additional practice to be ready to succeed at college-level reading and writing. †¢ The writer indicates only a slight understanding of the passage and fails to refer to Cohen’s argument. The essay seems to be about qualifications for jobs, with one qualification being â€Å"the look. † However, the relationship of the thesis to the topic is not clear. The sentence, â€Å"In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point† suggests a serious lack of focus. †¢ The essay appears to be incomplete, with the second and third body paragraphs and the conclusion implied by the thesis but unwritten. †¢ The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. †¢ The writer has serious and persistent errors in mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. Spelling and verb form errors are pervasive.

The female characters in Great Expectations have the greatest influence on Pip’s development

While it may be true to argue that the female characters of Great Expectations have the most detrimental effect on Pip, it would certainly not be accurate to portray them as having had the greatest influence on his development. Although, the tyrannical Mrs Joe, the embittered Miss Havisham and Pip's ‘beloved' Estella have a large hand in shaping Pip's moral decline, it is without doubt Magwitch and of course, the moral cornerstone of the book, Joe who have the most profound effect on him. As well as this there are the minor male characters of the book such as Wemmick (in his Walworth capacity) and to a lesser extent Jaggers, and their part in restoring Pip to decency. Having said this, it must be acknowledged that in his childhood years it is in fact Mrs Joe who has the most immense influence on Pip's development. Her highly unfavourable â€Å"bring him up by hand,† regime destroys his self-worth, forcing him to develop a real sense of self-resentment. Hear that, be grateful to those who brought you up by hand,† is a deeply ironic statement, for it is Mrs Joe he owes least gratitude to, considering the negative impact she has on Pip's young life. The physical and verbal abuse she expels on him leads to a lack of adequate love and affirmation. â€Å"I'm a common labouring boy, my hands are coarse and my boots are thick†¦ generally I'm in a low lived bad way,† is a bleak outlook that comes from a young boy who has had his self-worth quashed unde r his sister's tyranny. It is of course this lack of self-esteem which is most harmful to Pip's development, forcing him to create the fantasy of reinvention that ultimately leads to his moral decline. However, we cannot forget that regardless of Mrs Joe's predominant influence, Joe, Pip's friend and father figure, is, to an extent, able to have a positive impact on Pip. Primarily, he is able to provide him with what little affirmation possible in such a cold household, establishing a solid friendship with his fellow sufferer, â€Å"We are ever the best of friends ain't us Pip? Furthermore, in terms of moral development, this â€Å"gentle Christian man† is able to instate in Pip the foundations of the values which he must ultimately return to in the peak of his moral decline. Joe the moral mentor, encourages Pip to develop the same goodness he himself possess, by teaching him number of vital lessons such as compassion through the quote â€Å"We don't know what it is you have done, but we wouldn't have you starve to death for it, poor fellow miserable creatur, – would us. ‘ and the importance of honesty through â€Å"(telling lies) ain't the way to get out of being common. Hence Joe is able to have some effect on Pip in his childhood years. Once exposed to the world of Satis house it is the influence of Miss Havisham and Estella that largely occupies his life during the ‘expectation' years. We see the manner in which Miss Havisham plays further on his lack of self-worth, using Estella to belittle him and â€Å"break his heart†; â€Å"He's a coarse and common labouring boy. † This lack of self-worth combines with the glamour of their lifestyle which mesmerizes Pip and leads him to create the fantasy of reinvention. It is the initial meeting at Satis house, therefore, that consequently sees Pip commence his deluded journey in the pursuit of false ideals. Estella also becomes a major contributor to this fantasy, as Pip is naively led on by her and is blinded by her beauty, failing to realize what truly lies beneath. Thus it could be said that Miss Havisham and Estella have a large part in negatively influencing Pip and fuelling his desire to become a ‘gentleman'. In contrast, we see that it is the male character Magwitch who initiates the moral redemption in Pip. Although initially Pip holds him with abhorrent disgust, as time moves on he is forced to under go a major reality check in assessing his idle and wasteful lifestyle. Magwitch is able to extract from Pip the core values he exhibited in his childhood years, in particular the quality of compassion. Towards the end of their relationship we have the declaration from Pip â€Å"May I be as true to you as you have been to me. † indicating the profound effect this common convict has had in returning Pip from the pretentious prig to the morally decent character we are able to respect. Wemmick and to a much lesser extent Jaggers are also able to provide examples of this compassion which help Pip towards his return to decency. During his reality check Pip is also provided with the unselfishness of Wemmick in his Walworth capacity. His caring of the age and the simple idealistic life he leads Pip to open his eyes to true gentility. In a much more ambiguous way we have Jaggers. The revelation of his secretive rescue of Estella from the criminal milieu provides Pip with a compassionate side of Jaggers not revealed before. These examples dramatically influence his development, encouraging his shift back to integrity. However, it is once more Joe who is able to most profoundly influence Pip, completing his moral redemption and providing him with the model of selflessness and compassion. Pip suffers from a mystery illness which is highly symbolic of a phase of personal disassembly, in which he questions himself and rebuilds his character. It is Joe who appears as the saviour, nursing him back to health and in the process teaching Pip that true gentility comes only with qualities such as humility, honesty and most importantly the ability to love and be loved. God bless this gentle Christian man,† is a defining moment in Pip's development as he is finally able to recognise Joe's nobility. Thus without doubt we are left to see that it is the male character Joe who has the most intense influence on Pip's character. It is clear to see therefore that it is instead although the female characters do have quite a detrimental effect on Pip's development, it is instead the male characters and lead by Joe who have the greatest influence. In particular these male characters have quite a substantial hand in helping Pip re-establish his moral decency and hence redeem himself in the eyes of the reader.