Development in the Hardware and Software Industries Tapped by GIS Appl Assignment

Development in the Hardware and Software Industries Tapped by GIS Applications - Assignment Example Hardware and software industries have catered to the needs of various areas defined in the marketplace. Software that is used to integrate geographical information with people and events, help in producing knowledge useful in the industrial operations and a basis of research outcomes. Examples are the GIS software and hardware used for libraries, museums, and schools that facilitate management, demographic/market analysis, asset mapping and inventories (Educational License Options n.d.).   Specific applications include ArcGIS for Desktop, Explorer, Mapping, Server, Server Image Extension and many others. In the case of Botanical Gardens and Zoological Parks, a software was developed specifically designed as a data model for mapping facilities and plant collections. It is called ArcGIS Public Garden Data Model. The hardware developments kept up with the industry standard or what was required for efficient data capture of GIS components. The digitizing tablets allowed the operator to record coordinates and scanners which convert analog source documents into digital raster form (Jackson and Woodsword 2012). GIS has been integrated into social networking. Ushahidi, for example, is a software that is used to collect information from multiple channels such as text messages, email, and Twitter (Dumbill 2010). It has been found useful in reporting disasters such as floods and aggregating reports from citizen journalists. The trend analysis provided by GIS in a combination of social data resulted in quick and effective disaster management. It has used information from social networking as sensors of the pending disaster, enabling the authorities to respond accordingly.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Info Tech Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of Info Tech Essay 1.more time: I.T has made it possible for businesses to be open 24/7 all over the globe, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient.it also means that u can have goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle. 2.bridging the cultural gap: I.T has helped bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow the exchange of views and ideas.increasing the awareness and reducing prejudice. 3.communication:communication has become cheaper,quicker and more efficient. we can contact anyone in the word simply by sending them and email or using one of the social networks for almost an instantaneous response.the internet has opened up face to face direct communication from different parts of the world by video conferencing. disadvantages 1.unemployment: while I.T may have streamlined the business process it has also created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. this means all the middle class jobs have been gotten rid of causing more people to loose their jobs 2.lack of job security: industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue since technology keeps on changing everyday. this means that one has to be in a constant learning mode if he or she wishes to keep their job secure. 3.privacy: though I.T has made communication cheaper,faster and more convenient, it has also brought along some privacy issues.(eg. email hacking) people are now worried about their once private information  becoming puplic knowledge.

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay Some scholars argue that alternative approaches to IR theory have not made any significant contributions to the theorization of IR. Moreover, these approaches lead our IR theory into disorder and we are left with a lack of direction. However, focusing on Postmodernism, we find it has produced the idea of the power-knowledge relationship to criticize the absolute truth which is proposed by Positivism, and also provides us with different methodologies such as genealogy, text, narrative, discourse, deconstruction and double reading to explain world politics. Besides, Postmodernism has utilized a variety of methods such as deconstruction of text to overcome the theories and concepts that people believe (Der Derian and Shapiro, 1989). In the past international theory has been dominated by four main theories: Realism, Liberalism, Marxism and Constructivism. However, in the last two decades there has been a dramatic change to this picture. A range of new approaches has developed to aid understanding of world politics. In the context of globalization, even Realism seems inadequate to explain issues like the rise of non-state actors, identity politics, transnational social movements and information technology. The new major development is not only underway in the academic discipline of social science but also in the philosophy of social science, in a movement known as Positivism. Thus many alternative ways of thinking about the social sciences have been proposed and since the picture of IR theory has changed a series of alternative approaches has emerged as more relevant to world politics in the twenty first century (Smith S, 2008). Until the late 1980s, most social scientists in International Relations tended to be Positivists. But since then Positivism has been under attack. The assumptions made by Positivism met with dissent as criticism of the IR theories led by Positivism began to emerge (Smith S, 2008). This is the so-called the third debate (Ashley R., 1987; 1990; Walker R. B. J., 1993). It can also be called the Positivism and Post-Positivism debate (Lapid Y., 1989; Jim G., 1990; Smith S., 1995).. The dissent from Positivism prominently contains Feminism, Critical theory, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism. Their common idea is that they all see the world as something external to the IR theory (Smith S., 2008).Postmodernism is the term used by sociologists and others to describe a way of thinking that has become pervasive in the Western world in the last twenty-five years. It is an approach to reality that is having a significant effect on architecture, art, education, law, literature, psychotherapy, science, theatre, and the study of history and peoples view of religion (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.). It reached IR theory in the mid-1980s, but can only be said to have really arrived in the past fifteen years (Smith S., 2008).The term Postmodernism first entered the philosophical lexicon in 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern Condition by Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard (Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, 2005). Other significant writers who have promoted Postmodernism are De Man, Elshtain, Geoffrey Hartman, Harold Bloom, Michel Foucault, J. Hillis Miller, Jacques Derrida, Habermas, Richard Rorty and Rob Walker. Postmodernists who have made important contributions to IR theory are Richard Ashley, James Der Derian, David Campbell and William Connolly. Its origins are found in the philosophies of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Marx and Freud (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.; Smith S., 2008). As cited in Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy (2005), That Postmodernism is indefinable is a truism. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning. Until today there is no fit definition for the Postmodernism because it appears to be so open a theory that not even its advocates can agree upon how to define it (Geuras D., 2002). Some define Postmodernism as distrustful of all authority and dogmatism. Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard defined it as incredulity towards metanarratives and essentialism (1984: xxiv). The following paragraphs will discuss the significant contributions that Postmodernism brings to IR theory and use the methods that Postmodernists provide to deconstruct the Iraq war. 1. Power-Knowledge relationship and the non-existence of absolute truth Postmodernists emphasized the power-knowledge relationship and criticized the notion dominant in rationalist theories and Positivism that knowledge is irrelevant to the working of power; they also opposed the existence of absolute truth. From the rationalists and Positivists perspective, knowledge is not related to power and truth exists. However, Michel Foucault (1977, 1978, 1984, and 1994) totally disagreed with this idea and argued that power in fact produces knowledge. There is a well-known saying from Foucault that All power requires knowledge and all knowledge relies on and reinforces existing power relations. Thus, no truth exists outside power. To paraphrase Foucaults idea, Smith (2008) provided another saying, how can history have a truth if truth has a history? Whilst Marxism, -Sandpoint feminism Critical theory and Freudian psychoanalysis all support the existence of some fundamental truth about the world, Postmodernism still quarrels with direct access to truth. This aspect is stated most clearly by Stanley Grenz (1995) in a Primer on Postmodernism: Postmodernism affirms that whatever we accept as truth and even the way we envision truth are dependent on the community in which we participate . . . There is no absolute truth: rather truth is relative to the community in which we participate (summarized in Dean G., 2002). The Postmodernists use Foucaults approach which is known as genealogy to register and expose the significance of history in the light of this relationship between power and knowledge. Genealogy helps us to realize the process whereby the origins and regimes of truth edge out other discourse and are constructed into the so-called truth. Postmodernism focuses on how fragmental facts dominate others in very concrete ways (see, for example, Edwards P. 1996; Devetak R., 1996, pp.184-188). Postmodernists apply the genealogy approach to doubt the unity and certainty of national identity and explain how the existing appearance of unity and certainty is not natural but artificially constructed (Huang C. C., 2009: pp.138). Richard Devetak (1996) has mentioned that different configurations of power and knowledge give rise to different conceptions of sovereignty, statehood and intervention. Postmodernists always focus on counter-histories, seldom portray the impossible-to-get-to truth, but emphasize the existence of multi-histories, not just the one grand-history (cited in Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Take the ongoing war in Iraq for example; it could be an interesting field of study for Postmodernists to think about its shifting justifications. The US administrations purpose in making war upon Iraq has shifted from Iraqs disarmament to the spread of democracy. Public support from US citizens is essential throughout the ongoing war in the aftermath of 9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan and the Philippines), and it is reasonable to explain that the power-knowledge relationship contributes to the absence of outcry from US people. People have no means to access what they do not know about (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). 2. Divergent methodologies on analyzing text In addition to elaborating the power-knowledge relationship, Postmodernists are also concerned with the textual interplay behind power politics (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b; Derrida J., 1976). They believe that the world needs to be understood as a text, and all references to it are interpretative. Postmodernists claim that the best explanation for the text does not exist because the world is plural and explanations must be plural (Luo Li, 2009). All the interpretations of the world are meaningful and equal thus they use many ways to realize the world, and Postmodernists use techniques such as deconstruction and double reading in explaining the text (world) (Smith S., 2001: 240). 2.1 Deconstruction Postmodernists suggest deconstruction as a method of showing how all discourses and theories depend on artificial stabilities produced by means of seemingly objective and natural oppositions as well as a way to help us realize that there is not only one but always more than one truth behind an event (Smith S., 2008). A good summary of postmodern thinking is given by Os Guinness in Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Where modernism was a manifesto of human self-confidence and self-congratulation, Postmodernism is a confession of modesty, if not despair. There is no truth, only truths. There are no principles, only preferences. There is no grand reason, only reasons. There is no privileged civilization, only a multiple of cultures, beliefs, periods, and styles. There is no grand narrative of human progress, only countless stories of where people and their cultures are now. There is no simple reality or any grand objectivity of universal, detached knowledge, only a ceaseless representation of everything in terms of everything else. In sum, Postmodernismis an extreme form of Relativism. (Cited in Exploring Christianity) People always accept language or concepts constructed with the concept of binary opposition (such as black/ white, public/ private, right/ wrong, male/ female, homosexuality/ heterosexuality) as a matter of course. Constructivists make one of the binary privileged over the other by means of degrading the latter one. For example, in order to diminish white, Constructivists enhance the value of black (Luo Li, 2009). This concept is commonly used in contemporary political systems. When a dominant authority intends to intensify the reliability of a certain interpretation with respect to an event, it puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation.Jacques Derrida, a French Postmodern philosopher, originated the idea of deconstruction (Cky J. Carrigan, 1996). He himself found it difficult to explain the concept, and perhaps the clearest and most succinct definition comes from The Gale Cengage glossary: A method of literary criticismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦characterized by multiple conflicting interpretations of a given work. Deconstructionists consider the impact of the language of a work and suggest that the true meaning of the work is not necessarily the meaning that the author intended. Whilst the approach has been widely criticized and indeed ridiculed, for example by Anthony J. Fejfar (2006a, 2006b), it is an important tool in understanding what a text may be hiding. What Postmodernists try to do is to use deconstruction approaches to seek the truths behind an event that have been forgotten or deleted, and to explore the idea that a text is not a discrete whole but includes several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; there is always more than one interpretation behind an event. Through the process of deconstruction, several explanations for the first occurrence of war in Iraq are revealed. From the standpoint of the Iraqi government, it was a matter of getting back their territory. For the elite members of an Iraq army group, it seemed a good opportunity for praiseworthy achievement. From an Iraqi generals perspective, it was a good opportunity for promotion. On the other hand, the women of Baghdad who suffered and became homeless may have attributed the terrible war to their fate or to America or may have seen it as a punishment from Allah. English and Egyptian soldiers may have seen different truths behind the war. American Ex President G.H.W. Bush claimed that the purpose of the Gulf war was to prevent the emergence of a dictator like Hitler in Middle East area (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). The deconstruction approach can be used again to seek out more than one truth about the Second Gulf War in 2003. On 5th of February, 2003 United States Secretary of State, Colin Luther Powell proclaimed that the declaration of war was because of Iraqs possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The American government claimed that they were going to destroy the connection between Saddam Husseins Government and Al Qaida terrorists. American Ex President George Bush claimed that the war was inevitable in order to turn Iraq into a democratic nation. Some scholars argued that America intended to plunder Iraqs large oil reserves (Cited in Chui A.T., n.d.). The American administration tends to exclude many other possible interpretations of an event by only presenting the most favorable one with the assistance of the media (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). While G. Bush refers to good and evil and frames the world in such terms, techniques as used during the Cold war, Postmodernists argue that neither term is pure or complete, but only becomes so in contrast to the other (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Behind any event there is always more than one truth, as with the Gulf War and the 9/11 terrorism attacks on the New York Trade Centre: the reason broadcast to the world by the American administration was not the only one. The American government tends to intensify the reliability of certain interpretations with respect to these two events, and puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation. There are still lots of truths behind these wars that have not been exposed; Postmodernists try to use deconstruction to excavate truths (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). 2.2 Double Reading Double reading is the other means used by Postmodernists to read a text more deeply and realize how there is always more than one reading. After the 1980s, Postmodernists started to use this method to analyze aspects of world politics like the anarchy problematique of dominant IR theory (Ashley R., 1988) and to explain international events such as the Kosovo War, the Gulf War or Nazi issues. Double reading and deconstruction are both methodologies used by Postmodernists to focus on texts and help us to realize that there is no absolute truth. These two ways of elaborating texts are both from Derrida. Derrida used this technique to show how these stabilizations operate by subjecting the text to two readings. The first time of the reading is only a repetition of the dominant concept and text and shows how it achieves its coherence (Smith S., 2008). The second time of reading is trying to read the text deeper and find the obvious contradictions from the first reading. All ideas in the text via the first reading seem natural stabilization; however, utilizing the second reading can help scholars to find some differences. From the double reading approach, people can realize that this way of reading the same text can reveal not only one seemingly natural idea but also can explore the other, contradictory ones. Double reading is a useful, Postmodernist tool to illustrate the shortcomings of the dominant analytical languages. For example, the anarchy problematique- no existence of central government or hegemonic nation in the world- rests on a series of questionable, theoretical suppositions or exclusions, and sovereignty and anarchy are mutually exclusive concepts, which have to be deconstructed (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B. , 2005b). In International Relation Theory, Richard Ashley has performed exactly such a double reading of the concept of anarchy(on the state-level). He first provided the reading of anarchy based on traditional IR theories and then went through the second reading which showed that the seemingly natural opposition between anarchy and sovereignty in the first reading is in fact false opposition. Ashley showed that the truth of the traditional assumptions made about anarchy is arbitrary (Smith S., 2008). While the dominating, orthodox analytical languages of the modernist project analyze the war in Iraq in neo-realistic terms, Postmodernism would use double readings to make visible the assumptions underlying such interpretations (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Double reading is a useful tool for analyzing the post-war-war (May 2003 onwards) and illustrating that the reality is not as it is perceived by mainstream media (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005a). Postmodernists would also focus on analyzing the different interpretations of current affairs in Iraq and other world affairs. Conclusion Post-Positivism movements including Critical theory, Feminism, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism (which are so-called alternative approaches of IR theory) emerged as a reaction to the methodology led by Positivists and rationalists. . Some scholars have argued that Postmodernism does not have anything significant to contribute to the theorization of International Relations. Not only that, it also leads IR theory into chaos. However, the supporting evidence presented in this essay suggests that Postmodernism effectively provides many different ways of explaining and understanding systems of world politics. Postmodernism can be described as a challenge to the prevailing modernity project. It focuses on counter-hegemonic-theories and explains how conclusions perceived as rational only work within certain parameters. Postmodernists criticize the statement proposed by Positivism and Rationalism that power and knowledge are irrelevant. They present the Power-Knowledge relationship to let us understand that power in fact produces knowledge and they also propose the idea that there is no existence of absolute truth. From the Postmodernists perspective, there is always more than one truth existing in an event. Postmodernism also teaches us to employ techniques such as deconstruction and double reading to deconstruct texts and re-consider concepts that are seemingly natural and a matter of course. With regard to the war in Iraq, Postmodernists prefer to portray a wide array of descriptions and explanations than providing just one as the truth. With the world understood as a text, it is important that the textual interplay behind power politics is clearly seen and that we realize that all the references to this text are interpretive. Politicians always provide a reason for the war in Iraq such as It is about democracy and freedom or It is about the abundant oil. Postmodernists do not believe in the existence of only one truth behind the war and try to utilize genealogy, deconstruction and double reading to deeply analyze the text and explore the multiplicity of reasons. Although there are so many controversies surrounding the emergence and existence of Postmodernism, it is absolutely wrong and unfair to say that Postmodernism does not bring any significant contribution to our IR theory. During the past 20 years, Postmodernists have provided intelligent methodologies like double reading and deconstruction that may enable us to better analyze contemporary political issues. Obviously, Postmodernism plays an important role in the theorization of IR especially since economic structures, media, political and diplomatic systems have evolved into completely different forms from what they used to be, and they can no longer be easily analyzed by traditional IR theories.

Composed from Westminster Bridge Essay -- Literary Analysis

‘Composed from Westminster Bridge’ invokes a strong sense of nature into the reader. It is from this that we can see the beauty of Wordsworth’s London. One can argue that it is the purpose of this sonnet to highlight the power of nature and how civilization fits in around it. Primarily this can be seen in the linguistic choices of the Sonnet, particularly the role of personification, the function of phonological features such as rhyme and rhythm and the position of secondary sources. Using this methodology we should be able to explore the awe inspired respect of nature and how the city of London meshes with nature. Wordsworth makes heavy use of personification within the Sonnet. These personifications animate the city beyond the literal description we encounter into a more natural affair. ‘This city now doth like a garment wear/ The Beauty of the morning; silent, bare.’ To suggest that the city is wearing a garment implied that it is being covered up or censored. We could take this as a sign that nature hides the sins of civilization in the morning time when the people are still asleep. Further more as nature is being worn by civilization we could infer that Wordsworth only takes on this appreciation of the city due to the effects of nature. To prove this we can look at Wordsworth’s description of London in relation its surroundings. The description of London’s ‘Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples’ in the syndetic list is almost paralleled in the latter line of ‘In his first Splendour valley, rock or hill;’ which is the view of Suckersmith who states that ‘the listed details of the city skyline, 'Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples' find a careful parallel in the features of the natural landscape, 'valley, roc... ...alden:Blackwell Publishing 2006) p.534-535 All subsequent references are to this edition Harvey Peter Sucksmith, ‘Ultimate Affirmation: A Critical Analysis of Wordsworth's Sonnet, 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge', and the Image of the City in 'The Prelude’, The year book of English studies 6 (1976) p. 115 Charles V. Hartung, ‘Wordsworth on Westminster Bridge: Paradox or Harmony?’, College English 4 (1952) p.202 Harvey Peter Sucksmith, ‘Ultimate Affirmation: A Critical Analysis of Wordsworth's Sonnet, 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge', and the Image of the City in 'The Prelude’, The year book of English studies 6 (1976) p. 115 C. V. Wicker, ‘On Wordsworth’s Westminster Bridge Sonnet’, The News Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 9 (1955) pg.4 Carl Woodring, ‘Nature and Art in the Nineteenth Century’, PMLA 92 (1977)pg. 193

Blindness of Prejudice – to Kill a Mockingbird

Everyone forms first impressions about others, but to act upon these early impressions as definite conclusions about other people’s characters is the beginning of the unfavorable trait of prejudice. In Harper Lee’s story, To Kill a Mockingbird, a young girl, Scout grows up in the small, southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where prejudice is heavy. Being a secluded community, rumors fly around rapidly in Maycomb, creating warped and exaggerated stories of the targets of the gossip.Harper Lee demonstrates through the causes and sources of the discrimination that prejudice is derived from appearances as well as influences from other people. Harper Lee uses Jem’s prejudice toward his neighbor, Boo Radley to illustrate that discrimination branches off of other people’s opinions. Scout discovers two pieces of chewing gum in an oak tree on the Radley lot one day, while coming home from school. When her brother, Jem realizes where she obtained her prize, he screams , â€Å"Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the trees over there?You’ll get killed if you do! † (45). Jem’s prejudice toward Boo is based on the rumors, stories, and opinions he has heard from other citizens of Maycomb. Despite the fact that he has never seen, let alone met, their reclusive neighbor, Jem still speaks badly of Boo. He discriminates against Boo because of what he has heard, rather than what he has experienced personally. In addition, Harper Lee reveals through the white jury’s discrimination toward Tom Robinson, a poor, crippled black man, that appearances are a major factor contributing toward prejudice.While sitting in the courtroom, during Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout observes the jury and realizes that â€Å"All [Mr. Ewell] had that made him better than his nearest neighbors was†¦ his skin was white† (229). Race and skin color are huge contributors to prejudice in Maycomb. Black people are co nsidered to be of lesser value than white people. Despite the fact that the Ewells live under terrible conditions and have no manners or morals, they still manage to receive much more respect than any black person would warrant. Similarly, Lee demonstrates racism based on first impressions through Lula’s ignorant ideas of Jem and Scout.Calpurnia, their black maid, decides to bring Jem and Scout to the black church one day, where they are met by Lula, a black woman, who angrily declares, â€Å"You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n† (158). Lula’s views of white people are similar to the views white people have of black people. She is discriminating against Jem and Scout due to their appearances and skin color. Her ignorance creates a rift right away between her and the two children before she allows herself to know them better personally.By emphasizing the reasoning of those who are prejudiced toward others, Harper Lee ultimately reveals that prejudice is motivated by not only appearances but also opinions absorbed from other people. Throughout the novel, there was not a single circumstance where a person discriminated against another because of what they had seen or experienced. All cases of injustice were derived from at least one of many things: first impressions, physical features, rumors, etc. Lee’s morals leave a lasting impact on the readers. Prejudice will only end when people stop themselves from acting upon their pre-formed ideas of others.

Expert Review The Official ACT Prep Guide

Expert Review The Official ACT Prep Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Looking for official ACT practice? The Official ACT Prep Guide is a great resource. In this article, I'll provide a review of the current Official ACT Prep Guide, including positives and negatives of the new guide, how it differs from The Real ACT Prep Guide (3rd Edition), and whether or not you should buy it to help you through the study process. What’s in The Official ACT Prep Guide? The book is organized into five parts, which each are further divided into smaller chapters. The five parts of the book are: Part One: Getting Acquainted with the ACT Test (general study strategies and test-taking tips, explanation of the format and what’s covered on the test) Part Two: Taking and Evaluating Your First Practice Test (diagnostic practice test along with an explanation of how to use your results to identify weak areas) Part Three: Improving Your Score (test-taking strategies for each section of the exam) Part Four: Taking Additional Practice Tests (two additional practice tests for you to take after you’ve evaluated your mistakes and done more prep) Part Five: Moving Forward to Test Day (shows you how to sign up for the test and what to expect on test day) There are five full practice tests included in this guide, counting the initial practice test that you'll use to diagnose your mistakes in part two. The online bonus content includes 400 extra official ACT practice questions (100 each for English, Math, Reading, and Science). In the next section, I'll go through my full review of the book with extensive details on its strengths and weaknesses. The Official ACT Prep Guide Review There are many reasons to like or dislike this version of the Red Book. I'll start with the positive attributes of the guide and move onto its not-so-awesome qualities. Pros Smart Overall Structure The order of the chapters in the book corresponds to when you should take each step in the review and testing process. This book understands that the best way to guarantee improvement over time is to take a practice test, evaluate your mistakes, study the content that's relevant to your mistakes, and take another practice test to see if you’ve improved. You'll learn exactly how to begin studying and which steps you should take along the way to make sure you’re improving. Good Advice on Scores and What They Mean The guide walks you through scoring your practice tests accurately, and it gives you a table of percentiles so you can see how your scores compare to those of other students. It also does a good job of explaining how to judge your scores based on where you plan on applying to college and how much you improve from test to test. Learning to set appropriate goals is a huge aspect of studying for standardized tests that can be overlooked in some prep books. Abundant Test-Taking Tips There are many test-taking tips for each section of the ACT included in this book. Some tips can seem a bit repetitive (sometimes it seems like they’re just filling up space), but most are solid pieces of advice. For ACT English, helpful tips listed in the book include considering the context of the question before choosing an answer, rereading the sentence using the answer you've selected, exercising caution with two part questions, and paying attention to the writing style. Cons Dull Style This guide is dryly written, with little in the way of images, graphics, or differentiated headings to break up the text. There are sporadic efforts to be more engaging, but it’s definitely not the most student-friendly prep guide. Adding to this, Part 1 has an overview of the test that includes long lists of concepts covered by each section that could be condensed. The book makes the test seem way too intimidating and overwhelming (more on this in the next point). Complicates the Material While it's great that there are abundant test-taking tips included in this book, they aren't always presented in the best way. The tips are a bit hard to digest and use in practice on the test. While question examples are given to show how the tips work in some cases, these examples are not as abundant as they should be. This book falls short specifically in demystifying the science section. The main issue with this section for most students is that it looks super intimidating, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. To overcome this, you need to learn to pick out the most important details and ignore extra information that’s just there to distract you. This guide makes the science section look scarier and more â€Å"sciencey† even though in reality it’s more about reading comprehension than scientific knowledge. Answer Explanations are Lacking Math and science question explanations are laid out in a way that makes them confusing and difficult to think through. Here's an example of what the answer explanations for math questions look like: As you can see, there are rarely any images to guide you in your understanding or even much room for the text to breathe at all. Everything starts to blur together into a mass of unintelligible math-like word goop. If you're already having trouble with the Math section, these sorts of answer explanations probably won't clear things up. The guide also makes some assumptions about how much you know about the content. If you didn't even understand where to begin in answering these math questions, the answer explanations provided aren't too enlightening. It would be helpful if they at least indicated the page in the book where you could find additional details on how to solve these types of problems. Not Enough Guidance on Understanding Mistakes The book tells you how to understand your mistakes, but it could have a more consolidated system to help you go through and diagnose them. An organized chart where you could record your findings would be better than just saying "put a checkmark next to the mistakes you made" and listing potential mistakes for each section. There are also no direct actionables that go along with each type of mistake. The guide doesn’t tell you which page to turn to if you have a certain problem. It would be great to know where to find advice that corresponds to the errors you made in each section. The tips for the Reading section also don’t elaborate on different ways to approach passages, which can be a huge problem for people on that section and should be addressed more comprehensively. It would be a shame to burrow down into your mistakes only to reach a dead end. Should You Get This Guide? You should get this book if you’re new to the ACT. It's a thorough summary of everything you need to know about the most up-to-date version of the test, even if has its imperfections. If you need additional practice materials, you may also choose to buy the 3rd Edition as a supplement (though don't use the old Writing prompts to practice your essays because they’ve changed significantly). Keep in mind that many of the questions from the fourth and fifth practice tests in the 3rd Edition were transferred over to the third practice test in the new edition. The first three tests will be the most useful for practice in that case. You also could decide to get the Official ACT Prep Guide book if you want to practice your essay-writing skills using new prompts that align with the current version of the ACT. There haven't been many official ACT essay prompts publicly released, and if you're struggling with the essay, four extra prompts to practice with could prove extremely valuable. If you're confident about self-guided studying and are just looking for more practice questions, it might be worth getting the new ACT prep book. The addition of the fourth practice test in this addition is valuable, since there aren't that many full, publicly released official ACT practice tests out there. However, there still isn't that much material, and almost all of it is recycled from previous tests. An alternative would be to get the 3rd Edition, which has more original practice materials, and supplement it with free online resources (particularly for ACT Writing). The third practice test in this guide is the rebellious twin of the last two practice tests in the 3rd Edition. It may have changed its hairstyle, but the same DNA is still there. Side note: If anyone had natural eyelashes that were this long, it would be a truly terrifying sight to behold. How to Get the Most Out of The Official ACT Prep Guide The best way to ensure that you're getting the most out of the guide is to go through it in chronological order. First, read the basic tips in chapter two so you can get a handle on the basics of how the test works. Then, take the first practice test and go through your mistakes. Go on to use the content sections of the book and any other resources on hand to study the areas that need the most work. When you feel that you've addressed your mistakes and are confident that your results will reflect your newfound expertise, take a second practice test to see if you've made significant improvements. Note that the most recent version of The ACT Black Book, a resource that we recommend alongside the Official ACT Prep Guide for the best strategic test-taking advice, is tailored to the practice questions in an older version of the guide. The main upshot of this is that there are no answer explanations in the Black Book for questions in the fourth practice test of The Official ACT Prep Guide (since previous additions did not have this test). The tips can still be helpful, but this is something to keep in mind so you aren't confused when you can't match questions to explanations using the newest Black Book and Official ACT Prep Guide editions. What's Next? Not sure what score you should be aiming for on the ACT? Learn how to calculate a target score that makes sense based on your college goals. Did your ACT test date sneak up on you? Check out our 10-day prep plan for advice on how to cram for the ACT and potentially raise your score by four composite points! If you still have quite a bit of time before the test, read this guide on how long you should study for the ACT so you can come up with a solid study schedule. 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 your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Free Essays on Third Party

Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator, went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our government, we feel drastic changes need to occur. Review Of The Literature Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: S... Free Essays on Third Party Free Essays on Third Party Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator, went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our government, we feel drastic changes need to occur. Review Of The Literature Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: S...