Connection paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Connection paper - Essay Example For King, his imprisonment became the very reason why he wrote his letter while Thoreau’s imprisonment in a way influenced his perceptions and understanding as well as his courage to express his arguments in his article. The two are principled men who did their best to stand on what they believed in even in the midst of chaos. They both present their discourse on the basis of reason, using quotations from the Bible and well-respected men; seek to be understood, appealing to sense and sensibility of the people concerned who are politicians, Whites, Blacks, and Clergymen as well as discuss just laws, unjust laws, eternal and natural laws. Firstly, the aforementioned freedom fighters reflect in their written works of their influence from the Bible. As a clergyman, it was natural for King to mention God and the Bible but he emphasized how men should work with God to accomplish His purposes here on earth. Despite his co-clergymen’s discourse that the social issues King is fi ghting for are issues that the gospel has no real concern for, he argues that â€Å"human progress comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God†. ... Such quotations show how Thoreau uses information from the Bible to reflect on the circumstances he is facing. To make their arguments even stronger, the two authors named and quoted other philosophers such as Socrates, St. Augustine, Martin Buber, Confucius and Paley. King claims that he does not seek to go against government while Thoreau stands on the other side of the balance and they both are expressed the reason for their actions. King debated that he and his colleagues have brought their concern to the people in authority for it to be resolved. However, their pleas for equality and just treatment have been disregarded so that they had to resort to taking action. He presented how they have acted with all the discretion in accordance to the circumstances in Birmingham and explained how they finally have to â€Å"create constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth†. Similarly, Thoreau accounts that he is not a man who is violent in expressing himself but, he â€Å"quietly declares war with the State†, speaking about his reactions to the demands for him to pay â€Å"a certain sum toward the support of a clergyman†. Using the quotations and philosophers mentioned above, the two writers presented their reasonable actions. They effectively explained the principles on which they stand on and tried to persuade their audience using intellectual arguments instead of the violence that they have been perceived to hold. King and Thoreau believe in the existence of unjust laws. King defines and contrasts just and unjust laws to make clear his understanding of the subject. He quotes St. Augustine saying â€Å"an unjust law is no

Pre-Marital Sex Essay Example for Free

Pre-Marital Sex Essay I would like also to say thank you to the chair, Asst. Prof. Pimonpan Isarabhakdi, Ph. D. , and the external examiner, Prof. Surasak Taneepanichskul, M. D. , Ph. D. This thesis will not have been possible without their excellent support and effort. I would like to express my gratitude to all Ajarns of IPSR and guest lecturers for their valuable teaching in their expertise fields as well as their guidance to improve my knowledge. A special acknowledgement to Mrs. Luxana Nil-Ubol for her endless efforts. A lot of thanks to my office Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana Nasional (BKKBN) for granting me this prestigious fellowship which made me possible to carry out this program. I would like to express special thanks to Mr. Eddy Hasmi, Mr. Dora, Mrs. Yuyun and all friends in BKKBN for their helpful supports. Then, I would like thanks to my parents â€Å"bapak Donny S. M. Situmorang and ibu Theresia Lauretta Hutabarat†, my brothers â€Å"Freddy and Christian†, and my girlfriend â€Å"Henny Pakpahan† for supporting me mentally and physically, and encourage me during the study period in Mahidol University. However, this issue should be given attention because the rate increased from 5% to 6. 4% between 2002 and 2007. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to analyze factors influencing premarital sexual intercourse among in-school late adolescents in Indonesia. This study uses secondary data from the research of the Indonesian Young Adult Reproductive Health Survey (IYARHS) 2007. The study population of 6,792 in-school late adolescents aged 15-19 years was selected from a total of 19,311 unmarried Indonesian young adults that were interviewed. The findings illustrate that 2. 4% of the in-school late adolescents have engaged in premarital sexual intercourse. Evidence indicated that sex, age, place of residence, knowledge of sexual reproductive health (SRH), knowledge of contraceptive methods, source of SRH information, attitude towards acceptance of premarital sexual intercourse, relationship status defined by having a boyfriend or girlfriend, risky consumption behaviors, and peer influences have a significant association with in-school adolescents that have experienced premarital sexual intercourse.

Polar Bear :: essays research papers

SPECIES- Ursus Maritimus, Polar Bear, lord of the Arctic. Lives in an area of five million square miles of snow and ice. From Siberia to Alaska and across Canada, Greenland and the Islands north of Norway, he is the master of all living things except man. It lives in the brutal cold, ice, and snow. The temperature can plunge down frequently to -40 degrees and sometimes even lower but that does not bother the polar bear because of its color-less skin and layer of insulation fat. Its range extending around the northern polar region. Necessities of Life-The polar bear eats mostly seals which he has to hunt. His trick is to wait by a breathing in the ice and when a seal comes up by that breathing hole, he grabs it so fast it knocks it unconscious and then he eats it. Other pray is a walrus calf or a musk ox stuck in snow, birds, eggs, fish, and dead whales. And sometimes in the summer it eats berries and grass. The polar bear has no water to drink so it only eats the skin and blubber, avoiding the meat. So by eating the blubber and leaving the meat the male bear is helping keep his body in balance with the surrounding environment. The bear would usually stay in a den or bury it self in the snow to avoid the suns ultra violent rays. Usually the pregnant female polar bear stays in the den.Food Chain-The polar bear finds its way on the top of its food chain. No predator on earth approaches the bear in size. The polar bear towers over everything else in his food chain. The only thing that could stop him is a human with a gun.Super Amazing Facts-The polar bear is well adapted to its special live style. The hairs of its thick coat are hollow, giving extra insulation against the bitter arctic cold. It also has an extra layer of insulating fat under its skin and the hairs on the polar bear are color less, when the sun hits them they look white. Polar bears are twice as big as lions or tigers, a typical adult male weighs half a ton and is five feet high at the shoulder. His paws are a fool wide. When he stands up straight, he can look an elephant in the eye.Explain- My species was endangered bad back in 1965 with no more than 5,000 left in the world.

Knowledge Based Expert System in Transportation Engineering and Traffic

Knowledge Based Expert System in Transportation Engineering and Traffic Adaptive Signal Control System I. Abstract Advances in computer technologies have been changing transportation field. Based on those, Intelligent Transportation System has been proposed and being developed for the next generation transportation system. This system requires more utilization of Artificial Intelligence, such as Knowledge Based Expert System, than current one. Although Knowledge Based Expert System has not been robustly studied in the field of transportation, it is suggested to be implemented in Traffic Adaptive Signal Control System as a part of Intelligent Transportation System. Therefore, it is fundamental to overview that what the current position of Knowledge Based Expert System in transportation is. It will help to construct a specialized knowledge on and understand that system in Transportation. Previous applications of Knowledge Based Expert System in transportation field are briefly reviewed, and potential implementations are discussed by focusing on Traffic Adaptive Signal Control System in this paper. Key words: Knowledge Based Expert System, Intelligent Transportation System, Traffic Adaptive Signal Control System. II. Introduction Advances in computing have dramatically changed the transportation field in the last decades. These enhance the speed and credit of traffic analysis and allow transportation engineers to study various problems that would not be possibly answered without computer techniques, such as simulations. On the other hand, transportation system have been experienced congestion during its peak hours. To solve this, its facilities have been expended in order to increase their capacity by means of adding addit... ...ion Support Architecture For Advanced Traffic Management" Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Irvine, CA September 1989. 6. Dell'Olmo P. and Mirchandani P. "An Approach for Real-time Coordination of Traffic Flows on Networks", Paper No 950837, Transportation Research Board's 74th Annual meeting, Washington D.C., January 1995. 7. Stack R. and Ritchie S.G., "Real-Time Expert System for Freeway Incident Management" Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Irvine, CA, December 1993. 1. These are SCEPTRE (Surface Condition Export for Pavement Rehabilitation), OVERDRIVE (Overlay Design Heuristic Adviser) and Network Optimization. 2. In addition, it has resulted that each method from those five research centers is applicable in different traffic condition also.

A Human Service Professional Essay

A human service professional, plays a major role in society, working side-by-side with various professionals, and assumes a wide range of roles to assist individuals, groups, organizations and communities. Although human service professionals do not necessarily do in depth and psychotherapy, they are well-equipped to facilitate client change and growth typically by working directly or indirectly with clients around concrete tasks, objectives, and goals. A counselor, broker, advocate, case manager, community planner and behavior specialists are just few of the roles of a human service professional. (Lincoln University) Personal values, beliefs, prejudices and stereotypes can help the helping process when the client and the human service professional share the same idea or belief. The human service professional may be able to add to what the client feels or knows or enlighten the client in a positive way because of their personal knowledge or experience. On the other hand it could harm the helping process if beliefs are different. In this case study if the human service professional has any negative feelings about homosexuality, then Todd and Reggie may not receive the full help they are in search of. Although the focus is on getting themselves together, they came in as a couple with some relationship issues that they need to work on. If I were the human service professional on this case, I would be a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. Not only are they homosexual men but this is an interracial relationship. I personally do not fully agree with black and whites dating, although I am not racist. I also know that morally it is wrong to be in a same sex relationship but I do have a few acquaintances that are homosexual. After the initial negative thoughts have run through my mind I will be able to push that aside and get down to business. Honestly my biggest worry would be how they are treated by friends and family because those are the people who are most important and it seems as though those people are not there for Todd or Reggie. Given the situation that I’m the human service professional for Todd and Reggie I would ask Todd to tell me about his self, since he is more open than Reggie. Getting to know more about Todd is important because it gives me a look inside his life as far as where he came from to how he got to this point. I want to know about his relationship with his mom and why he feels she is emotionally abusive to him. This important because it â€Å"drives him to drink† and is one of the issues he is currently dealing with including substance abuse of cocaine. I would ask him how his sessions go with his psychiatrist and maybe get contact info to speak with the psychiatrist about Todd’s bipolar disorder. This is vital to know because he made need additional assistance controlling his disease. As for Reggie I would also ask him to tell me about his self. How he ended up in jail to the point where he is now, gives me a look into his life. It also helps me figure out what needs to be avoided to keep him in good terms with his parole officer. I also want to know why his estranged sisters will not speak to him. This is important because Reggie needs closure. If not speak to him for anything else, at least share with him the memory of his mother’s last days. I want to talk about his progress in the â€Å"STARS† program. Since he has not found a job yet, that may be something I need to assist him with. We also need to discuss why he has been violent toward Todd. For him to come with his partner to this meeting means he cares for Todd and wants help, so understanding their relationship will be helpful in helping them maintain one. Finally we should talk about why Reggie is uncomfortable with Todd’s behavior in public. This is important because he may be having issues coming to terms with his sexuality and if so, I need to help him overcome this feeling. Together I want to ask them about their relationship and what they want to come out of it. This is important because if they want to stay together as stated, both parties must be on the same page. Todd may have to accommodate to Reggie by toning down his behavior in public while Reggie will have to consider substance abuse counseling. Potential ethical issues with this case is the sexuality of the clients but Human service professionals provide services without discrimination or preference based on age, ethnicity, culture, race, disability, gender,  religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. Also obtaining or sharing information with Todd’s psychiatrist Human service professionals protect the integrity, safety, and security of client records. All written client information that is shared with other professionals, except in the course of professional supervision, must have the client’s prior written consent. A legal issue is the fact that Reggie is physical with Todd and although it was the past, if it happened again I must keep in mind If it is suspected that danger or harm may occur to the client or to others as a result of a client’s behavior, the human service professional acts in an appropriate and professional manner to protect the safety of those individuals. This may involve seeking consultation, supervision, and/or breaking the confidentiality of the relationship. Also Reggie smokes marijuana which is not good for urine tests with his parole officer along with Todd’s cocaine use. Human service professionals protect the client’s right to privacy and confidentiality except when such confidentiality would cause harm to the client or others, when agency guidelines state otherwise, or under other stated conditions (e.g., local, state, or federal laws). Professionals inform clients of the limits of confidentiality prior to the onset of the helping relationship. (NOHS, 2009) For Todd and Reggie I would recommend that they go to rehab because they both have addictions that need to be dealt with in order to move forward in the relationship and just life in general.

Dr Zhivago essays

Dr Zhivago essays Boris Pasternaks novel Doctor Zhivago was published in 1957. It was not published in Pasternaks native country of Russia, but in Italy. The USSR did not allow the publication of the novel because some believed that it showed a nonacceptance of the socialist revolution. (1) Today, Doctor Zhivago is considered to be one of the greatest Russian novels written. Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born in 1890 in Moscow. His father was an artist and a professor at the Moscow School of Painting while his mother was a concert pianist. Both his parents were of Jewish lineage. Through his parents friends and associations he was often around well known writers and poets. Pasternak entered the Moscow Conservatory but dropped his musical ambitions to study philosophy at Marburg University in Germany. His first published works, BLIZNETS V TUCHAKN, went unnoticed. This was a collection of poems Pasternak had written but he did not give up. With his poems Over the Barriers and My Sister Life, he gained attention and fame as a promising fine new poet. Most of his poetic works from the early 1920s were autobiographical or political poems. In the mid twenties he shifted from this and focused on the Revolution and focused on history and the moral problems facing the Russian people. As Socialist Realism was more and more imposed on Russian writers , Pasternak stopped publishing new and original material. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s officials did not favor his work and refused to allow its publication. He began to work translating literature from writers such as William Shakespeare and J.W. von Goethe. During the World War II period, he wrote primarily patriotic poems. In 1954, a group of poems was published in a Russian journal under the title From a Novel referring to Doctor Zhivago. It was not until 1957 that his novel was published first in the Russian language ...

Free Essays on Simulation In Casino Gambling

Use of Simulation in Casino Gambling With all the hype in gambling these days and especially the television coverage of Texas â€Å"Hold’em† Tournaments, you often wonder whether all the top players are lucky or they have some certain advantage over the other. Some people call it counting cards, some even call it cheating, but when you think about it, the game is just a simulation which the good players can do in their heads. The use of simulation can be incorporated with many aspects of the casino; poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and even slot machines all can be simulated. Poker When watching the world series of poker you notice all of the percentages flashing up by the person’s hand. That little percentage is the probability of winning the hand. It is done by a computer simulation in which it analyzes what hands have been played and what cards are left. The simulation isn’t perfect due to a few things: Imperfect knowledge is that the Opponent’s hands are hidden. Multiple competing factors are the many different competing players. The risk is the bets and their consequences. The deception of the other players bluffing. Many of the uncertainty can be taken into account using simulation. The computer would likely take in to account many â€Å"likely scenarios to which could happen. The problem however is taking into account the person you are up against. That is where artificial intelligence just isn’t quite sufficient. The use of simulation is to help your play however it would help someone who probably hasn’t played much to let them know how likely they are to win each pot with their specific hand. Many companies recently have been putting together poker simulation software for the ever increasing client pool of poker players throughout the world. The software is often just a crib sheet for players who play online. Online gambling has become common place in the U.S. and yet man... Free Essays on Simulation In Casino Gambling Free Essays on Simulation In Casino Gambling Use of Simulation in Casino Gambling With all the hype in gambling these days and especially the television coverage of Texas â€Å"Hold’em† Tournaments, you often wonder whether all the top players are lucky or they have some certain advantage over the other. Some people call it counting cards, some even call it cheating, but when you think about it, the game is just a simulation which the good players can do in their heads. The use of simulation can be incorporated with many aspects of the casino; poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and even slot machines all can be simulated. Poker When watching the world series of poker you notice all of the percentages flashing up by the person’s hand. That little percentage is the probability of winning the hand. It is done by a computer simulation in which it analyzes what hands have been played and what cards are left. The simulation isn’t perfect due to a few things: Imperfect knowledge is that the Opponent’s hands are hidden. Multiple competing factors are the many different competing players. The risk is the bets and their consequences. The deception of the other players bluffing. Many of the uncertainty can be taken into account using simulation. The computer would likely take in to account many â€Å"likely scenarios to which could happen. The problem however is taking into account the person you are up against. That is where artificial intelligence just isn’t quite sufficient. The use of simulation is to help your play however it would help someone who probably hasn’t played much to let them know how likely they are to win each pot with their specific hand. Many companies recently have been putting together poker simulation software for the ever increasing client pool of poker players throughout the world. The software is often just a crib sheet for players who play online. Online gambling has become common place in the U.S. and yet man...

How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content

How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content Data is the currency of social media marketing. It’s the lifeblood of your campaigns. Without it, there’s no way to properly analyze your audience or measure your results. Data is what justifies the time we spend writing posts, crafting campaigns, and connecting with our audiences. Understanding social media analytics is essential for making data useful. Modern analytics tools provide power that marketers could have only dreamed of just a decade ago. However, tools are only as effective as our ability to use them. In addition, data is only valuable as the insights we can extract from it. Download Your Free Social Media Analytics Kit In order to  apply the advice in this post, download the kit below. It includes: A Social Media Marketing Performance Report  Excel template  to help you track your performance metrics. A Social Media Content Creation + Measurement spreadsheet to help you write social posts, organize post images, and store post-level performance data. A Social Media Content Performance Presentation PowerPoint template to help you nail your next reporting presentation. A Social Media Content Strategy template to help you apply your data insights to create better content. The challenge thus facing social media marketers is threefold. Successful practitioners must understand each of the following: How to know which  data needs to be measured. How to find and analyze that data. How to use data  insights  to create better content. In this post, you’ll learn exactly how to slice and dice data like a social analytics ninja. How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best ContentIntroducing  Social Analytics: The Easiest Way To Understand Your Social Media Engagement Bring your social media data together, all in one place, with . With our new Social Analytics capabilities, you can: Measure the success of every social message so you can re-share your most engaging content (and improve future messages). Use real data to prove the ROI of the work you do. Identify trends and understand what your audience wants. Know what's working (and what's not). Save time and see how all your networks are performing within a single dashboard. See Social Analytics  in action:Social Analytics in helps you easily PROVE  your ROI!So, What Does Social Media Analytics Mean, Anyway? This term can mean different things to different people. Are we talking about overall performance on social media? Or, perhaps we could be referencing social media content analysis?  Could we even mean social media audience analysis? This topic gets complex fast, and any of the above answers could be correct. To make things simple, this post will focus on how to understand three  things: How your social media profiles are growing. How your social media content is performing. How to turn data  into action to create better content. Build Your Social Media Analytics Toolbox Every good craftsperson has a quality set of tools. Here are the options we recommend for doing social media analytics work: Google Analytics:  It’s free and powerful. In-App Analytics:  Most major social media networks provide fairly robust internal analytics. Cyfe:  This freemium web app is essential for building custom data dashboards. Simply Measured: These folks offer some excellent free tools to help perform a variety of social media tasks. There are certainly more tools available. However, these are the options we’ll use for the purposes of this post. How To Set Social Media  Goals You need a purpose for gathering and analyzing your data. This means you need to set goals. After all, how are you supposed to hit your target when you’re unsure what you’re aiming for? Let’s outline five basic social media marketing goals you could potentially establish: Traffic: Social media is a vital traffic driver to blogs and websites for many publishers. Follower Growth: The more people following your accounts, the more people you can reach, more easily. Engagement: This is the â€Å"social† part of social media. Likes, shares, mentions, and comments are equal opportunities to build connections with your audience and prospects. This can include industry influencers, current or potential customers, or the audience for your content. Reach / Impressions: Social media content exists to be seen. Getting in front of more viewers means more awareness for your brand and content. These may seem like soft metrics, but there is value in gaining exposure  (as long as you’re not being discussed in a negative light). Conversions: Marketing is ultimately about driving sales. Converting organic social media traffic can be tough. Paid advertising, while inherently more conversion-centric, presents challenges of its own too. However, it is possible to  drive conversions from your organic content. It’s also important to tie social media goals to overall business objectives. Follow this visual guide to map your metrics to your bottom line: Recommended Reading: What Really Is Your Social Media ROI? Align social media goals with business objectives.How To Use Google Analytics For Social Media Analysis Google Analytics provides so much data, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Before we dive into each specific network, let’s look at how to use this tool to find two key metrics (which apply to all networks): Referral Traffic Blog / Website Conversions Here’s how to find each of these pieces in Google Analytics. 1. Visit your Google Analytics account. Then, click through Overview All Traffic Channels Social. 2. Here, you’ll find data from your referral traffic from every social network. 3.   Next, let’s help you figure out how to find conversions from your social media referral traffic. This requires setting up a Goal in Google Analytics. Once this step is completed, you’ll see Conversions here: If you haven’t set up Conversion goals  for your site or blog, this official video from the Google Analytics team will show you how to do this: How To Understand Social Media Analytics On Every Platform Every social media network has unique purposes and strengths. Before we dig into understanding analytics on each one, let’s ensure you’re using the right platforms to achieve the right goals first. Did you know Google Analytics can help measure social media performance?Facebook Analytics: Which Metrics  Should You Monitor? Facebook’s declining organic reach has made the network tougher than ever for marketers. Here’s how to find the data you need to ensure  your posts are  laser-focused on the right audience: Post-Level Metrics Likes: People may not take time to comment. However, a Like is a quick indication that your post resonated. Pay attention to other emotions expressed too (such as humor, anger, or sadness). Comments: Positive comments mean your post hit the mark (unless your post was intended to elicit a negative reaction). Pay close attention to negative comments as well, however. They might teach you about things you can improve. Shares: You’ve probably heard your boss talk about â€Å"going viral.† Share counts are, in a sense, a measure of virality. More shares generally reflects greater interest in your content. Referral Traffic: Moving users from Facebook to your website helps get your content read. This helps establish your brand as an authoritative voice while increasing the odds your blog and website content will convert readers into customers. Reach: It's getting tougher to reach folks on Facebook. However, it's still an important metric for knowing how many people see your posts. Page-Level Metrics Page Views: More people looking at your page equals exposure for your brand. Engagement Rate: Facebook calculates engagement rate  by weighing the number of people who like, comment on, or share your posts against the total number of people who see your content. The higher this number, the more interesting users find your content. This is helpful for determining what your audience does and doesn’t like. It also provides a barometer for how your efforts are performing overall. Video Metrics: If you’re posting videos natively on Facebook, it’s important to know how long they’re being viewed. Page Fan Growth: More fans means more people see your posts. That equals more people seeing your content, which in turn helps build your authority and even drive conversions. However, do keep in mind that quality beats quantity here. Conversions: If you’re creating Facebook posts that direct to blog posts or web pages with conversion steps, use Google Analytics to monitor those conversions. This will tell you whether the messaging in your posts matches the messaging on your destination pages. It can also validate the persuasiveness of your copy. How To Find This Data Here’s how to use each tool in your box to gather this data. The Facebook Insights tab on your company’s brand page is an easy place to start. It provides an incredible amount of data completely for free. 1.   Find your Facebook Insights tab. 2. Next, you’ll see your Overview page. Here, you can get a quick glance at: Actions On Page Page Views Page Likes Reach Post Engagements Videos You’ll also see an option to Export Data to an Excel or .csv file. This makes viewing detailed Page Data, Post Data, and Video Data a bit easier. 3. Beneath the Overview tab, you’ll find access to more detailed data: Here, you can find everything you need to know when it comes to your page engagement data. How many of these Facebook marketing metrics are you monitoring?Twitter Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Twitter analytics are only slightly simpler than on Facebook. Here are the  metrics you should monitor for Twitter: Post-Level Metrics Retweets: Again, odds are someone in your organization has asked you about â€Å"going viral.† The more retweets, the more your content spreads. Replies: A lot of people see a lot of tweets each day. That makes earning  responses difficult. However, if you’re able to generate discussion and replies, you know you’re striking a chord with your audience. Referral Traffic: This is a big one. With Facebook organic reach in decline, Twitter may have more relevance than ever for driving traffic back to blogs and websites. Tweets Linking To You: Feel your ears burning? That’s just all the folks talking about your content and sharing your links on Twitter. Tweet Likes: Validation feels good. More importantly, Likes mean your content is appreciated. The more Likes, the better. Tweet Impressions: Tweets don’t always have to earn engagement to have value. Getting your brand and content seen can yield benefits by itself. Think of it like placing billboards on the information superhighway (we’re going to bet no one under the age of 25 got this joke). Page-Level Metrics Profile Visits: This indicates interest in your brand and what you’re about. Follower Growth: The more followers, the better (as long as you’re attracting the right kinds of people). Ideally, that means people who find your content valuable (and might one day want to buy your products or services). How To Find This Data Twitter offers fairly robust analytics within its web app. 1. Log into your account and visit Twitter Analytics. 2. The first page you’ll see if your Analytics Home page. Here, you can find (as you’d expect) a high-level overview of your performance for the last 28 days. This includes: Tweet Impressions: This is how many people saw your tweets in their feeds. Profile Visits: Self-explanatory. This is the number of times users visited your profile. Mentions: Tracks the number of times your profile was tagged in a tweet. Follower Growth: This is worth keeping an eye on, particularly if growing your following is a priority (as it should be). Tweets Linking To You: This is the number of tweets including links to your website or blog. These are valuable for sending traffic to your blog. You can also quickly see your top performing tweets. All in all, this is a fair amount of data (for free). Pro Tip: Your Top Tweets and Top Mentions are great  places to see which content resonates most with your audience. 3. Next, click the Tweets tab. At the top, you’ll find your daily tweet impressions for the past 28 days. Below that, you’ll find impression and engagement rate data for all your individual tweets. These can be sorted to include All Tweets, Top Tweets, and Tweets And Replies together. The right-hand panel also provides: Overall engagement rate Link clicks Retweets Likes Replies 4. Now, bounce over the Audience tab. The level of data Twitter provides here is almost astounding. You can quickly find out what your audience is most interested in, their household income, what kinds of products they buy, and more. Pinterest Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Pinterest is interesting (or shall we say, â€Å"pinteresting† †¦ sorry, we’ll leave jokes to professionals from here on). These are the metrics that you should be monitoring: Post-Level Metrics Saves: These show interest in your content, suggesting it’s something they don’t want to forget. Clicks: Clicks equal traffic. More traffic equals greater chance for conversions. Likes: Likes indicate interest in your content. Make note of what gets clicked and what doesn’t. Page-Level Metrics Average Daily Impressions: Getting in front of more eyes raises brand and product awareness. Average Daily Viewers: Same as above here. Average Monthly Engaged: Impressions are great. Engagement is even better. It means your content was compelling enough to click. Impressions: Similar to other networks, impressions are useful to gauge content exposure. Even if a user doesn’t click, you’ve still created a mental connection. How To Find This Data Simply log into your company’s Pinterest account. Next, check out your Overview page. Here, you can find daily and monthly viewer and impression data: Clicking the More button drills deeper into each top-level section. Your Pinterest Profile: This view displays more data from your top performing pins and boards. It’s worth noting that adjusting the dates allows you to view progression going as far back as you’d like. People You Reach: This view under the Demographics tab provides a simple breakdown of your audience based on location, language and gender. Clicking the Interests tab yields interesting information about what your audience likes. This can be immensely helpful for guiding which content you should pin: Activity: The Activity tab is useful for getting specific data on which pins from your website are driving the most engagement. This is extremely useful for gauging blog content performance on Pinterest. Are you overlooking key insights in your Pinterest Analytics?LinkedIn Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? This video provides a good oversight of how Insights work for company pages on LinkedIn. Post-Level Metrics Impressions: Each impression is an opportunity to get your message to a viewer. Clicks: Even better than impressions, more clicks means more traffic (and maybe even more conversions). Interactions: Even if it doesn’t result in driving attention to your blog or website, interactions still imply interest in your post. Page-Level Metrics Engagement Rate: This is a clear indicator of how valuable your content is to your audience. Reach: Ideally, you’ll want your content to drive shares so it gets seen by more than just your followers. This measures how many people see your content in their feed. Engagement (Total): While it’s useful to check engagement at a per-post level, this gives you a high-level overview of your overall performance. Visitor Demographics: LinkedIn is a professional network. Therefore, it’s safe to assume most followers will be folks working in your industry. However, this is useful to look at periodically to see what experience levels your followers have. If you’re looking to attract entry-level recruits, but only senior-level managers follow your page, you might consider switching up your content strategy. This is just one example of how this data can be helpful. Page Views: This tells you the number of times someone visits your page. The more interest and exposure you earn for your brand, the better. Unique Visitors: This tells you exactly how many individuals are viewing your page. Again, the more, the better. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide On How To Use Pinterest For Marketing Where To Find This Data There are two ways to gather this data: Manually monitoring each individual post. Under the Analytics tab. Let’s check out the Analytics tab. Start by visiting your company’s profile and clicking here: Scroll down and you’ll find your Reach and Engagement data: The Reach tab is particularly useful for understanding exactly how many people see your posts. Take some time to click  each tab under Engagement as well.  This can give you a detailed view of how your content is performing across the following metrics: Clicks Likes Comments Shares Followers Acquired Engagement Which metrics are most important for marketers to monitor on LinkedIn?Google+ Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Google+  makes it possible to analyze performance both within Google Analytics and your Google My Business dashboard (both for Local Pages and Brand Pages). Between these two resources, you can get a decent look at how well you're performing (even if the process of analyzing Google+ performance is slightly more complex, and just a touch less in-depth, than other networks). Fortunately, the folks at Online-Behavior.com have built an excellent guide on the technical intricacies of analyzing Google+ performance using Google Analytics. Plus, our friends at Steady Demand have written what might be the most authoritative post on analyzing Google+ marketing that we've seen.  We'll defer to them for this section. Instagram Analytics: Which Metrics Should You Monitor? Instagram doesn’t provide much data to analyze (yet). However, it’s worth monitoring some basic metrics to ensure you’re getting the most brand awareness for your time spent on this visually-driven network. Here are some of the metrics you should be monitoring: Likes: Given the limited number of data points made available on this network, Likes provide a clear and immediate indicator that your content is compelling. Comments: More comments equal greater interest in your content (provided they’re positive). Engagement Rate: This will let you know if your content is interesting to your audience. Clicks: Links can be placed in bio boxes. This represents one way in which Instagram can drive engagement that goes beyond branding and awareness. Total Followers: More followers means more opportunity to be seen. Where To Find This Data: As of this writing, Instagram is promising to roll out several new analytics features. Head over to the Instagram for Business Blog  to learn more. For now, the team at Simply Measured offers a free Instagram Analytics Reporting tool. You’ll need to provide an email address, but it’s a quick and easy way to get some useful data. These reports can be exported as Excel files or PDFs. How do measure marketing success on Instagram?Blogging Analytics: Which Metrics Should You  Be Monitoring? Lastly, let’s discuss blogging analytics. This may seem like an odd fit in a post about social media analytics. It's also a much deeper topic than we can cover completely here. However, if you run an active blog, it’s important to monitor how your blog content is performing  on social media. These are some of the things you'll want to be monitoring: Traffic: You want readers, right? The more, the better. Visitor Demographics: This tells you if the people visiting your blog actually fit the audience you’re trying to target. Page Views Per Session: If people visit multiple pages per visit to your blog, then you know you’ve hooked their interest. Bounce Rate: If people don’t find your content compelling, they’ll leave. A high bounce rate could mean your content doesn’t match reader expectations, or is otherwise poor quality. Conversion Rate: If your blog posts use lead generation forms to gather email sign ups, this metric tells you how well your calls-to-action are performing. It also tells you  whether the value proposition for signing up seems worthwhile to readers. Social Shares: This is the key to â€Å"going viral† (something you’ve probably heard your boss harping about). Where To Find This Data: If you’re using WordPress (or another blogging platform), it’s likely your blog CMS includes an analytics section somewhere. Google Analytics is also essential here. If you’re looking for a Google Analytics alternative, Piwik  is another similar option to look at. How do you measure the success of your blog posts on  social media?Pulling It All Together: Consider Using Cyfe Cyfe  is a data aggregating web app that brings together data from tons of other sources and services. It accomplishes this by enabling users to create custom data dashboards using widgets. This is extremely useful for doing social media analytics work, allowing you to create dashboards for most major social networks and view your data in one place. A free account allows for five widgets, which may provide enough basic functionality to be useful. Stepping up to a paid account at $19 a month unlocks unlimited dashboards and user accounts. Follow Cyfe’s guide to building a custom social media dashboard  to get started. Another Alternative: View Sharing Stats In If you’re a customer, you have one more option for finding social sharing data. Every blog post within the calendar interface features integrated social sharing stats: You’ll notice Twitter sharing stats are missing due to restrictions with that platform’s API. However, this is otherwise one more useful option to quickly get a bit more insight into your social media performance. How To Turn Social Media Analytical Data Into Actionable Insights You now know where to find data from your social media channels. That means it’s time to figure out how to make use of that data. We’ll do that by building a social media analytics report. NOTE: To complete this process, download the social media analytics template bundle included in this post. For our purposes, we’ll focus on our five main social media goals. These are: Traffic Follower Growth Engagement Reach / Impressions Conversions These aren’t the only goals you could conceivably aim toward. However, they’re the ones we feel the majority of content marketers and social media managers may value most. We also know you’re likely hard-pressed for time. That’s why we’ve built the included Social Media Marketing Performance report  template to be simple to use for quick analysis.  It looks something like this: This template is designed to allow you to track your data all year. Bringing all your metrics into one place makes it easier to view progress over time. The Excel sheet includes some fields pre-filled, but is intended to be easily editable to suit your own selected metrics and purposes. I'm using these free templates to rock my social media analytics:Select Specific Metrics For Each Channel For each channel, select metrics that best support your business goals. Then, set a baseline for performance for each metric on each channel. Your baselines are expected standards for performance. If you fall below your baselines consistently, you know you’re underperforming. Likewise, if you consistently beat your expectations, you’re on the right track (and may need to readjust). Set baselines for every metric following these two steps: 1. Find your average performance for a given metric for the past 90 days. If you're not a mathematician, use the calculation here. 2. Set goals within a reasonable range upward from there. Done. Find The Why Behind Your Data With Social Media Content Analysis The next step is understand the why behind your social media content performance. This requires some subjective analysis of your posts. 1. Look for spikes and valleys in your data. 2. Identify which content was published on or around the days and months where activity rises and falls. 3. Perform a quick content analysis. Look at the content you posted on days where performance spiked (or dipped). Then, find your top three performing posts overall (on a single network) and analyze the following points: Post Copy: [   ] How long is this post? [   ] Does this post pose an open-ended question? [   ] Does this post pose a close-ended question? [   ] What day and time was this post published? [   ] What kind of emotion does this post aim to elicit? Post Image: [   ] Is this a design image or a photograph? [   ] Is this a single image or an image gallery? [   ] Is this image consistent with the company brand and style standards? [   ] Is this image an optimal size for its given social network? [   ] Does this image feature text? Post Link: [   ] Is the content linked to high-quality? [   ] Are the copy and image relevant to this link? [   ] Do links use URL shorteners for data tracking? [   ] Are link descriptions (if applicable) accurate? [   ] Does the on-page content on the linked page clearly connect to this post? Recommended Reading: How To Increase Visibility With Social Media Optimization Use these insights to guide future content creation. If something works well, do it more often. If something negatively impacts performance, stop doing it. It's as simple as that. Over time, you'll get better at understanding which factors influence which behaviors in your specific situation. If you’d like to keep your social media content and analytics in one place for easy analysis, use the Social Media Content Analysis template included in this post download. It looks like this: This template makes it simple to create and store your content assets (copy, images, URLs, etc.) in one document. Then, store your post performance data in the Measurement section. It’s designed to be edited easily, so feel free to add or delete rows, columns, or sections to suit your needs. Are you analyzing your social media content the best way?Use Your Data To Create Better Content Data is most useful when it helps you create better content your audience loves. However, how do you actually execute better content marketing? Start by applying the data you’ve gathered to refine the topics and tactics that perform best. These posts on our blog will help you sharpen your skills too: The 6 Types Of Social Media Content That Will Give You The Greatest Value How to Get Insanely Loyal Followers On Social Media How To Develop A Winning Social Media Content Strategy How To Build A Social Media Editorial Calendar The Easy Way This Is The Social Media Posting Schedule That Will Boost Your Traffic By 192% Don't Forget About Social Media Analytics In Each individual social network offers useful analytics functionality. However, will soon let you bring more of that data together, all in one place. With our new Social Analytics capabilities, you'll be able to see what is (and isn't) working, prove ROI, and understand the impact of your efforts across all your networks. Recommended Reading: An Insider's Look At What's New (And What's Next) For Do You Feel Like A Social Media Analytics Maestro? There you have it! You now have a basic social media analytics framework to help you find the data you need fast. In addition, you’re able to store, analyze, and present useful insights from that data to impress your boss and create better social media content. Hopefully, this will help you do more efficient and effective analysis and reporting. We wish you the best of luck in your efforts.

SAP SYSTEM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SAP SYSTEM - Essay Example The following report is a critical analysis of adoption of SAP systems in business environment and challenges and benefits that are derived by implementing SAP from accounting perspective. For the purpose of analysis first an overview of the SAP systems is provided and is compared with Oracle financial accounting. Challenges and benefits of SAP are analyzed by means of literature review. From the analysis of challenges recommendations are provided which lead to the success factors of SAP. SAP stands for Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte which is the German word meaning Systems applications and products. SAP ERP system is used to encompass a wide range of software products that supports day-to-day business operations and activities. ERP serves different industries and several functional aspects in integrated approach. The attempt is to automate different operations from supply chain management, inventory control and almost any management process that uses data. Many business organizations use SAP for their entire business functions. Other business organization use SAP for some specific business functions only. The reason for the wide acceptance and the popularity behind SAP is this functionality that allows it to be designed and customized in accordance with the requirement of particular organization. Most organizations earlier used standalone software to perform  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­individual functions. However since ERP has been invented all these individual and stand alon e functions have been integrated and can be performed by this single software package alone. In case of standalone system for a particular change to be incorporated and taken into account the companies had to modify each functional software separately which was time consuming and expensive. However, since SAP has come into the picture all this cumbersome and difficulties have been resolved. For example if a salesman would have earlier completed an order then it was required that

Nuisance Case Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nuisance Case Law - Essay Example Winfield and Jolowize define private nuisance as an 'unlawful interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land, or some right over, or in connection, with it'. Lord Lloyd in Hunter v Canary Wharf1 stated that private nuisances are of three kinds. They are (1) nuisance by encroachment on a neighbour's land; (2) nuisance by direct physical injury to a neighbour's land; and (3) nuisance by interference with a neighbour's quiet enjoyment of his land. In Malone v Laskey 2 it was held that only a person who has a proprietary interest in the land affected by the nuisance can sue, for example, owner or reversioner, or be in exclusive possession or occupation of it as tenant or under a licence to occupy. Any person who creates the nuisance can be sued, whether or not that person is the occupier of the land at the time of the action. Public nuisance, in contrast, is both a crime and trot. It is defined by Romer L.J in Attorney-General v P.Y.A. Quarries Ltd 3 'any nuisance is "public" which materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of life of a class of Her Majesty's Subjects." However, now it needs to discuss about Statutory Nuisance. ... The first method is to require certain trades (referred to as 'offensive trades, and described in Acts of Parliament or local by laws) to be licensed in advance by the local authority. S.107 (1) of the Public Health Act 1936 provides a list of such trades (e.g. fat-extractor, fat -glue maker, shop- or tallow- or tripe-boiler), all of which are likely to cause obnoxious fumes or smells, while other provision of the Act (as well as Local Government Act, s.235) enable local authorities to extend the scope of the legislation to other treads or business, subject to confirmation by the Secretary of State. The second method is to describe certain unacceptable states of affairs as statutory nuisances and to provide summary remedies for them. For instance, section 92 (1) of the Public Health Act 1936 described certain matters as 'statutory nuisances, if they were nuisances at common law, or were 'prejudicial to health' (described by s. 343(1) as 'injurious or likely to cause injury to health'). Run down or defective premises, whether an actionable nuisance or not, may come under statutory nuisance prejudicial to health; and the same qualification may apply to the keeping of animals and to accumulations or deposits, such as manure or refuse. The Clean Air Act 1956, section 16, also provided the emission of smoke might, in certain circumstance, be treated as a statutory nuisance for the purposes of the Public health Act 1936. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 was passed to consolidate much of this material and the current matters which amount to a statutory nuisance are to be found in section 79. Where a statutory nuisance has been committed, it will be usual for the local authority to serve abatement notice, which, if not complied with,

Business Intelligence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Intelligence - Research Paper Example mpares and contrasts IBM and Tableau business intelligence software while evaluating how large companies handle BI implementation; the role of BI in competitive advantage and organizational strategy; organizational management of change during new information system implementation; and a summary of a case study of a company that implemented BI Solution. Large enterprises using Cognos gain from using elements such as reports, analysis, scorecards, and dashboards for monitoring the performance of their businesses, analyzing trends, and measuring results. This way, businesses have the capability and information needed to make better decisions and approach their services with a service-oriented architecture that has both ease of management and deployment. Other benefits of Cognos business intelligence are mobile BI, collaborative BI, and real time monitoring. In terms of trend analysis and results measurement using Cognos BI, large businesses benefit from the software’s capability to be used with relational and multidimensional data sources from different vendors. For instance, Cognos BI products can integrate with NCR Teradata, Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP, to present web-based service oriented architecture (SOA). Though IBM Cognos is designed for large companies, Cognos Express is meant for mid-sized companies to allow companies to take advantage of features such as budgeting, forecasting, and planning functions. Furthermore, Cognos 10, integrates with Lotus Connect and SPSS predictive analysis, and mobile capability that allows users to access to full version of Cognos from their smartphones and tablets (Lodestar, 2013). However, IBM Cognos is known for very slow performance in preparing active reports with large datasets and one is required to only use small data sets, and apply query filters to return only the values of interest. Secondly, Cognos BI does not drill through functionality when applied in active reports viewed off line. Thirdly, active reports do not

Critical reflection on a previous assignment (will be uploaded later) Essay

Critical reflection on a previous assignment (will be uploaded later) - Essay Example The Study of Society and the Environment will not only give the students an interactive scope and experience but will also equip them with a sense of citizenship. The SOSE makes individuals capable of coping with the day to day challenges by providing them with decision making powers and broad exposures. This paper depicts critical reflection and analysis on the feedback of assignment no. 3 which was intended to explain the learning plans and intent of the SOSE. The future learning sequences are also proposed at the end in order to give a clear course of direction and brainstorming so that the clear direction can be laid out for the productive and optimal results (Dyer, 2005). Identification and Proposals of the Issues in the Previous Assignment The SOSE should be taken into the global perspective rather than be limited to just Australia and other localities, because the study of society and environment is a science of environmental and societal studies keeping in view the diverse fo rm of changing and volatile environments. As depicted in assignment number 3, the intent and course of the SOSE and are defined to be in some kind of a limited perspective and the reader perceives it to be restricted to the border of Australia. Similarly, the previous assignment

Polarization as a Barrier to Effective Crisis Negotiation Essay

Polarization as a Barrier to Effective Crisis Negotiation - Essay Example ellow participant in an argument as â€Å"the other† or as something of an antagonist rather than an equal shareholder in the process and something that is quite actually neutral. Similarly, when dealing with a given situation, it is common for me to assume that the self-interested motives of others will be the sole determinant in helping to determine the way that the engagement plays out. Thirdly, rather than being able to see the situation in shades of nuance and shades of gray, or even shades of right or wrong, I am oftentimes tempted to view it from a perspective of fulfilling my own needs; regardless of whether it is able to do the same for the fellow shareholder. Although fulfilling my own needs within the given circumstance is not bad in and of itself, it is a selfish motive that helps to drive the integration apart. Fourthly, with regards to a polarizing situation regarding communication, it is often my weakness to seek to link to the speaker and the message. This is a n oversight due to the fact that it assumes that these two are necessarily the same (Medvec 389). Moreover, a better approach would be to seek to focus upon the message without polarizing it and seeking to have it intimately related to the original speaker or his/her own vantage point. Lastly, and perhaps most specifically, I oftentimes attempt to polarize situations into firmly determinant shades of good/bad/right/wrong etc. These levels of polarization serve to lessen my ability to analyze and draw inference from a number of situations; it ultimately weakens my skill in interpreting the world around me. As a function of these 5 polarizations that have been listed, the most effective way to engage them is to seek to lessen the effect that they play on my everyday life and as a means of understanding them, seek to work to overcome them. Furthermore, by approaching the above situations with an open mind and thoroughly focusing upon not developing preconceived perceptions of the

Critical reflection on a previous assignment (will be uploaded later) Essay

Critical reflection on a previous assignment (will be uploaded later) - Essay Example The Study of Society and the Environment will not only give the students an interactive scope and experience but will also equip them with a sense of citizenship. The SOSE makes individuals capable of coping with the day to day challenges by providing them with decision making powers and broad exposures. This paper depicts critical reflection and analysis on the feedback of assignment no. 3 which was intended to explain the learning plans and intent of the SOSE. The future learning sequences are also proposed at the end in order to give a clear course of direction and brainstorming so that the clear direction can be laid out for the productive and optimal results (Dyer, 2005). Identification and Proposals of the Issues in the Previous Assignment The SOSE should be taken into the global perspective rather than be limited to just Australia and other localities, because the study of society and environment is a science of environmental and societal studies keeping in view the diverse fo rm of changing and volatile environments. As depicted in assignment number 3, the intent and course of the SOSE and are defined to be in some kind of a limited perspective and the reader perceives it to be restricted to the border of Australia. Similarly, the previous assignment

The balanced scorecard Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7250 words

The balanced scorecard - Dissertation Example Research Methodology 16 Qualitative Research 16 Data Collection 17 Research Limitations 17 Research Findings- Empirical Evidence 17 Conclusion 30 Reference 33 Bibliography 36 Introduction 3 Literature Review 5 Overview of the Balanced Scorecard 5 Development of the Balanced Scorecard 8 Benefits of using the BSC 11 Balanced Scorecard Implementation in large enterprises and SMEs 12 Criticisms of the Balanced Scorecard Methodology- challenges of implementing the Balanced Scorecard 14 Research Methodology 16 Qualitative Research 16 Data Collection 17 Research Limitations 17 Research Findings- Empirical Evidence 17 Conclusion 30 Reference 33 Bibliography 36 Introduction Emerged as the most commonly used strategic performance management tool supported by proven automation tools and design methods, the balanced scorecard is extensively used by managers in organizations today for keeping track of activities undertaken by staffs and monitor and control the consequences resulting from these activities. Today’s organizations are amidst a revolutionary transformation in the business environment which is gradually transforming itself from industrially competitive structure into an information competitive one. Arising out of this cut throat competition organizations have been increasingly looking at improving their businesses further and thus the importance of initiatives like just-in-time system, total quality management systems, Re-engineering, employee empowerment etc have gained prominence. Even though such initiatives were successful in bringing about improvement in shareholders’ value, their disjointed structure primarily looked at short term growth and performance. The demand for creating long range competitive capabilities and improving the model of the historical cost financial accounting triggered the creation of the Balanced Scorecard. Widely used in industries and businesses the scorecard acts as a strategic management and planning system used the government and non profit organizations with the aim to align business activities of the organization with its strategic vision and mission, improve its internal and external communications and finally to monitor performance of the organization against strategic objectives. Originated by Dr. Robert Kaplan and David Norton this performance management frame successfully adds the no financial performance measures with the financial metrics and allows managers to have a comprehensive and balanced view of the organization performance. Kaplan (1994) has particularly used the example of Rockwater Company for explaining the developmental process of the balanced scorecard for ensuring that companies are able to realise their goals and objectives. Industries such baking and insurance have been particularly benefitted through the implementation of the process. Kaplan has explained the management structure of connecting the business units’ strategies with the entire interest of the company. Martinson (1999) has also made use of the case study method for exploring the impact on a corporate information system operation department through the adoption and implementation of the balanced scorecard in four different perspectives such as user orientation, corporate value, internal process and future preparation for the measurement and evaluation of the performance of information systems. The results have clearly shown that balanced scorecard can be effective in serving as a successful measurement system in a strategic information system (Chi & Hung, 2011, p.226). On the other hand Chia and Hoon (2000) has tried to study the procedures for the promotion of the balanced scorecard and the criteria establishment process in two of the largest merchandise circulation firms based in Singapore. The results have shown that the promotion of the system has been particularly effective in clarifying the vision of these companies and in the preparation of the strategy to be practiced. Numerous other empirical evidences have shown positive results with the implementation and use of balanced scorecard in organizations. The project brings forth an analysis of the effectiveness of the balance

Economies Of The Middle East. Essay Example for Free

Economies Of The Middle East. Essay According to the CIA world Fact Book Bahrain is located in the Middle East on the eastern side of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain’s climate is arid though characterized by hot and humid summers while the winters are pleasant. (CIA,2008). According to the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, Bahrain is an archipelago which is comprised of 33 islands and is sandwiched between the east coast of Saudi Arabia and the Qatar peninsula. Bahrain has an advantage in as far as tourism is concerned given her richness in geographical features like the sandy beaches as well as the coral reefs. It also has various museums, archeological sites and traditional markets which are all a plus to her competitiveness. Bahrain is also well known for her liberalistic tendencies in the Middle East region. (Council for International Exchange of Scholars). Being an Arab country, Islam is the most practiced religion although other religions which form less than 25% of the total population are allowed to take place. They include Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism as well as Judaism. In such a set up, where 85% of the total population is Muslim it is only natural that Arabic is the official language. However, English is used in the learning institutions as well as when conducting business. This paper will give an in depth analysis of Bahrain. The US department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs pointed out that in 2007 the population of Bahrain was 708,535 out of which a tune of 32% comprised of non nationals. Statistics of the same year also indicated that annual population growth rate was at 1. 39%. In accessing the composition of the Bahrain population by ethnic background it was established that Bahrainis recorded the largest proportion at 63%, Asians were next with 19% while the Arabs and Iranians were 10% and 8% respectively. The US department of State estimated that Islam is the religion observed by approximately 98% of the total population. It also estimated that other languages used in addition to English and Arabic included Farsi and Urdu. A unique characteristic of the education system in Bahrain is the fact that although it is not compulsory, it is offered for free at all levels. Estimates taken in the period 1991 to 2001 indicated that there was a high rate of school attendance at 84%. In the year 2003 it was established that the overall adult literacy levels for those aged 15 years and above stood at 89. 1% while the rate differed across the genders. (Bureau of Public Affairs, 2007). Males had a higher rate at 91. 9% while females registered a lower rate at 85%. Bahrain finances her citizen’s educational needs from incomes attained from her generous investment in oil reserves. The importance of the year 1920 in as far as the education of Bahrain cannot be underscored as it was at this time that the first public school which served both sexes was introduced. There are 2 universities or high learning institutions where people are able to improve their credibility levels in the job market. To cater for the health needs of her population there is a health science college which offers specified skills in the various medical fields like nursing, pharmacy. According to the 2007 statistics the infant mortality rate was at 16. 18 deaths/1000 live births while the life expectancy for males was 5 years lower than that of the females which was 77 years. Statistics from 2006 estimated that approximately 352,000 people formed the Bahrain labor or work force out of which a tune of 44% was foreigners. The US department of State also estimates that Bahrain is among the highly dense populated states and most of her population settled in the capital city Manama. A considerable percentage of Bahrain’s workforce is comprised of foreigners due to the ‘foreigner – friendly’ policies by the government. Although the naturalization process evokes contrasting views among the Bahraini’s it has seen approximately 10% of the total populations attain Bahraini nationality. Critics argue that the procedures or rather criteria applied could jeopardize the country’s security especially when foreigners previously working with sensitive departments like security are naturalized. There are 2 types of Muslims in the Bahrain state. About 2/3 of the people from the indigenous group are shi’a Muslims while prominent people in the society like the ruling family, numerous members of the government and the military as well as leaders in the state form the Sunni Muslim. (Bureau of Public Affairs, 2007). According to the CIA world fact book, the birth rate using 2008 estimates was 17. 26/1000 population while the death rate at the same year was at 4. 29deaths/1000 population. The rate of net migration was estimated to be 0. 4 migrants/1000 population. CIA also estimated that the sex ratios for the total population stood at 1. 25 males/females in 2008. 2008 estimates also had it that the total infant mortality rate was at 15. 64 deaths/1000 live births while that of females was at 12. 93 deaths/1000 live births. In 2006, the school life expectancy of both primary levels to tertiary education was 15 years though it varied across the genders with males recording a lower expectancy at 14 years while females lagged behind at 16 years. 2001 statistics indicated that approximately 86. 5% of the total population could read and write with males recording a higher rate at 88. 6% and females at 83. 6%. In 1991 the government spent approximately 3. 9% of the GDP to finance the education sector. (CIA,2008). The government in Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy with 5 administrative divisions namely Asamah, Janilyah, Muharraq, shamliyah and wasat. She attained her independence on the 15th of August 1971from the UK. In 2002, on the 14th of February she adopted a constitution that was to be followed. The laws consist of the English law but blended with the Islam laws. The universal suffrage is at 20 years meaning any one above that age has the right to vote. There are three branches of government, the executive, legislative as well as the judiciary. The executive is comprised of the King Hamad bin Isa al- Khalifa who took over in March 1999. the king is the chief of the Bahrain state. The Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa is the head of government and he has held this position since 1971. The monarchy has the responsibility of appointing the cabinet and the prime minister too but the monarchy is hereditary. (CIA,2008). King Hamad Isa al- Khalifa succeeded his father who died in 1999 after being in power for approximately 38 years. King Hamad can be commended for various reforms in Bahrain especially his zest to introduce democracy by changing the current system that was purely a ‘hereditary emirate’ to a ‘constitutional monarchy’. (CIA,2008). His efforts precipitated to a referendum in 2001 for the National Action Charter which approximately 94. 8% of the Bahrain voters endorsed. Another significant act by King Hamad was setting free of most political detainees and prisoner most of whom had been exiled, detained or imprisoned from as early as in the 1970’s for posing ‘security threats’ to Bahrain. Kind Hamad did away with the state security law and court which made it possible to detain people for up to 3 years without trial. The constitutional reforms Hamad introduced saw to it that a bicameral parliament which had a representative from the lower house was operational. Another aspect different from what was initially the trend was the creation of an independent body which was to act as ‘watchdog’ over corruption allegations such as the embezzlement of public funds. This was a way of increasing accountability and transparency in the region. (Bureau of Public Affairs, 2007). Hamad’s efforts were however not without challenges as for instance there were protests against the provisions he enacted on the constitution from members of the Shi’a community. The 2002 election made a mark in the political history of Bahrain as it was at this time when the first woman was elected in parliament. The legislature branch comprises of the 40 member consultative council and the 40 member chamber of deputies. The election of the two councils is different in the sense that the former is elected by the kind while the latter is determined through a direct election. Elections are held after 4 years with the last one in 2006. The judicial system of Bahrain is comprised of a combination of courts adhering to the English laws as well as the Islamic laws or religious and tribal laws. Hamad also made significant reforms in the judiciary when he set a separate branch to over see it. The king’s son or crown prince is the head of the commander in chief of the state’s defense force and the king’s successor. (Bureau of Public Affairs, 2007). Democracy in Bahrain, however is limited to the fact that political parties are discouraged and this had been the case for many decades but with the rise of Hamad to power political societies were allowed to operate (CIA) According to the CIA world fact book Bahrain attracts foreign direct investment a factor that has made various multinational companies settle there and carry out business. This is to the country’s advantage economically. Similar to other gulf countries the role of petroleum in stirring economic growth and development cannot be underscored. It is estimated that petroleum products attribute to over 60% of her total exports which contribute to a tune of 70% of the total government revenues. The petroleum industries directly contribute to approximately 11% of the country’s GDP. Bahrain is also rich in aluminum which is the second largest export. (CIA, 2008). The US department of state noted that other natural resources in Bahrain included textiles, natural gas, fish and pearls. (Bureau of Public Affairs, 2007).

Aesthetics In Piano Music From Romanticsm To Modernism Music Essay

Aesthetics In Piano Music From Romanticsm To Modernism Music Essay Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty (Aesthetics, 2010, Online). It is also a study of relationship between human and reality in an aesthetical investigation. Arts is the main object of investigation particularly, where its essence of beauty, ugly, sublime and other aesthetical aspects are examined. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory which is also called the judgements of sentiment and taste (Aesthetics, 2010, Online). The study of aesthetics is very diverse. It can be a speculative approach to philosophical ideas; it can also be drawn on current research methods through other related disciplines such as psychological analysis, anthropological and sociological methods, linguistics and culture learning methods, description of experience and so on. The perception of beauty is very subjective as it is basically based on our personal feeling and own experience. Different people have different feelings towards an aesthetical object thus often arguments are speculative and changed along with time and experience. Therefore, aesthetics is an independent discipline where the essence of beauty and its significance are examined. In this essay, the aesthetic of piano music in both Romanticism and Modernism will be discussed. As we know, these two neighbouring periods showed a tremendous different contrast in social development and movements, hence music as well had been morphed into a new aspect. Moreover, the style of piano playing was also changed due to the aesthetical values of composers and pianists were also affected. 1. Piano Music in Romanticism 1.1 Romantic Characteristics The term romantic derived from the medieval romance which has several meanings. A romance was a poem or tale about heroic events or persons, or it could also connote something distant, legendary, and fantastic. Basically, it suggested something imaginary, far away from reality. In the nineteenth century, the term was applied to literature, music, and art. The term contrasted with classic poetry, which was objectively beautiful. Thus, romantic poetry, which was not bound by rules and limits, focused more on the individuality of expression (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Instrumental music was regarded as an ideal art in Romanticism as it started to grow more importance compared to vocal music. It is because of the genre was free from words, images, characterised costumes, props and others. However, composers imagination often led them to explore new sounds although they still kept their works in a Classical framework. Besides, many romantics composers were also writers or had friends who were writers, such as Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and others. They always linked the intrumental pieces to literary works so as to draw out the inner meanings of the text through the music. At times, the use of literatures and descriptive titles were also added after the work was created (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Hence, distinctions were made between types of instrumental music absolute music and programmatic music, which later indirectly led to arguments between these two camps. Romantic views of music have been influential. Composers created music to express their own ideas and feelings rather than to suit the tastes of their patrons or audiences (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Originality was hence importance for composers and tradition was balanced with their own individuality and creativity. 1.2 The Aesthetic of Romanticism Musical Expression and Emotion In the Romanticism, music had reached the peak of emotionalism which was shaped by the lyrical melodies, daring harmonies, colourful instrumentation, and the strong contrast of form. Musical expression and emotion had been such a powerful force to influence the composers. The most crucial figure in the nineteenth century culture would be Richard Wagner. He was also one of the most influential musicians of all times. He brought German Romantic opera to a new height, created the music drama, as well as his rich chromatic idiom influenced later composers (A History of European Music, 2010, Online). Not only in composing great music, Wagner also wrote a number of essays regarding music and aesthetics, causing huge arguments among scholars at that time including the famous German philosopher and music critic Eduard Hanslick. In a series of essays, Wagner argued that music should serve dramatic expression. He felt that Beethoven had exhausted instrumental music because in his opinion the Ninth Symphony showed the path to the future with its union of music and words. He saw himself as the true successor to Beethoven. He therefore created Gesmatkunstwerk (total or collective artwork) as he felt that poetry, scenic design, staging, action, and music should work together. In other words, the words or texts related the events and situations, while the orchestra conveyed the inner drama (Burkholder, 2010b, Online). Although Wagner and his contemporaries such as Liszt saw the legacy of Beethoven pointing toward new genres and musical approaches, Johannes Brahms on the other hand matured himself as a composer in the Classical repertory. He combined Classicism with Romantic sensibility. He composed in Classical traditions but he also added new elements in order to appeal to contemporary audiences. Overall, he has been viewed as conservative, but he was a trailblazer. He was among the first to draw upon both the music of the past and present, a process or method that has been repeated by numerous composers of the twentieth century (Burkholder, 2010b, Online). In the mid Romanticism, the term New German School was coined as Wagner, Liszt, and Berlioz were leaders. Although Liszt and Berlioz were not Germans, Beethoven was their model. However, the term helped polarized the division between supporters of Liszt and Wagner, and supporters of Brahms and Hanslick. Among the composers who sided with Wagner and Liszt are Bruckner, Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler. These two camps debated the topics of music and its aesthetics, especially in musical meaning and expression, absolute and program music, tradition and innovation, Classical genres and forms as well as the new ones, and the list goes on. 1.3 Wagner versus Hanslick Expression was the growing importance as a source of aesthetic value. It pays no heed to the claims of formal convention. Music was viewed as a medium of expression and it has the power to influence listeners mind. The use of poetic titles was a manifestation of Romanticism, which signifying musics expressive powers. For instance the post-Beethoven composers especially Liszt, employed poetry to give a clearer expression so as to elevate the art to a powerful metaphysical status. Whatever its subject matter, the status of poetic or programme music was hotly debated in late nineteenth century music criticism and it naturally invoked the related concept of absolute music. In 1854, Eduard Hanslick wrote his own reflections on the nature of the beautiful in music (Vom Musikalisch-Schà ¶nen). In his book, he argues about music and feelings and disagrees with the exaggerated philosophical and cultural pretensions of the writings by Wagner and Liszt. Hanslicks convincing arguments quickly brought his book to attention. This indirectly overshadowed Hanslick as the leading critical antagonist of Richard Wagner and the New German School in general. Hanslick opposed their claims that programmatic instrumental music and the symphonically through-composed declaimed music drama represented the way of the musical future (Grey, 2010, Online). In other words, he is a typical classical formalist. Hanslick was the protagonist of Brahms. They both advocated for the continuity of classical tradition and opposed the radical dissolution of melodic and formal convention celebrated by the progressives of the day as a means of achieving greater expressive truth or the articulation of an ideal or conceptual content (Grey, 2010, Online). Hanslick writes: Music is not contingent upon, or in need of, any subject introduced from without, but it consists of sounds artistically combined. The ingenious coordination of intrinsically pleasing sounds, their consonance and contrast, their flight and reapproach, their increasing and diminishing strength this it is, which in free and unimpeded forms, presents itself to our Mental Vision. What is it then that music expresses? The answer is musical ideas. Now, a musical idea, reproduced in its entirety, is not only an object of intrinsic beauty, but also an end in itself and not a means for representing feelings and thoughts. The essence of music is sound in motion (1986, p.64). Hanslick thinks that the expression or representation of distinct feelings cannot be considered the content of music or the basis of its aesthetic value. He describes the content of music as tonally moving forms. He articulated that instrumental music is not a representational medium, and that representational impulses are likely to distract both composer and listener from musics true nature as beautiful (and freely or abstractly expressive) form (Grey, 2010, Online). The Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwek, however, provoked Hanslicks never ending opposition. He never agreed the composers exaggerated self-promotion and the dramatic and poetic expression. Hanslick thinks that music is purely autonomous while Wagner (who is also an anti-Semitic) portrays the postulate of autonomous musical beauty as a kind of ideological conspiracy to promote the ideals of a Judaized musical culture (Grey, 2010, Online). For Wagner, the content of music is not only sound but also the connotation of emotion that blended together. He thinks that the study of the aesthetics of music as autonomous restrains the beauty of music. 1.4 Programmatic Piano Music Piano music in the Romantic period was still expanding the formal structure from the Classical. However, the expansion of form (those elements related to form, key, instrumentation, harmony, and the like) within a typical composition made the pieces more passionate and expressive. So, it became easier to identify an artist based on the work. Piano music basically struggled to increase emotional expression and power to describe these deeper truths, while preserving or even extending the formal structures from the classical period. But are the composers aims in the romantic period just to focus in expressing their music? What kind of aesthetic value instilled in the listeners mind at that time? The most successful piano music composers in the romantic period certainly were Chopin and Liszt. They not only sought to fuse the large structure harmonic planning with chromatic innovations, but also brought the piano music to a virtuosic level. They also analogized piano music to poetry and its rhapsodic and narrative structures, while creating a more systematic basis for the composing and performing of concert music (Romantic Music, 2010, Online). In other words, they continued using previous practices such as the sonata form but extended them with increasing focus on impressive melodies, emotional harmonies, and themes. The use of literary inspiration was paramount to the composers. For instance, Chopin famous four ballades were inspired by Adam Mickiewiczs poems; while Liszts Sonettos were inspired by Francesco Petrarcas (Petratch) poems. Liszt also transcribed a huge number of songs from Schubert particularly where the texts came from Goethe, as well as transcribed from operas. Besides poetry and literature, composers also composed piano music through their experience and travel. Liszts Annà ©es de pà ¨lerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) is a good example when he travelled to Swiss, Italy, and France he wrote the music. This shows his complete mature musical style which ranges from virtuosic fireworks to sincerely moving emotional statements where he gained from his experience of life and travel. Another example will be the piano cycles, Kinderszenen of Robert Schumann which came from the composers reminiscences of childhood. Obviously, audience at that time were fully influenced by the powerful emotion through the aids of text, poetry and literature. They no longer restricted themselves in the frame of stereotyped abstract titles like Sonata in C Major, Rondo in A minor, Prelude and Fugue and so on, but they had more variety of direct programmatic titles such as Romance, La Campanella, Wanderer Fantasy and the like. The music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas and let the audience experience the unique emotions. Generally, composers had more freedom in form and design so that a more intense personal expression of emotion in which fantasy, imagination and a quest for adventure play an important part (Romantic Music, 2010, Online). 1.5 Piano Playing Style in Romanticism Moreover, the piano performing style in the romantic period was virtuosic and phenomenal. Virtuoso concerts became immensely popular. This phenomenon was actually pioneered by Niccolo Paganini, the famous violin virtuoso, and it was then developed by Liszt on piano. Carl Czerny claimed Liszt was a natural player who played according to feeling, and reviews of his concerts especially praise the brilliance, strength and precision in his playing (Liszt, 2010, online). One of the most detailed descriptions of his playing from this time comes from the winter of 1831/1832, during which he was earning a living primarily as a teacher in Paris. Among his pupils was Valerie Boissier, whose mother Caroline kept a careful diary of the lessons. From her we learn that: M. Liszts playing contains abandonment, a liberated feeling, but even when it becomes impetuous and energetic in his fortissimo, it is still without harshness and dryness. [] [He] draws from the piano tones that are purer, mellower and stronger than anyone has been able to do; his touch has an indescribable charm. [] He is the enemy of affected, stilted, contorted expressions. Most of all, he wants truth in musical sentiment, and so he makes a psychological study of his emotions to convey them as they are. Thus, a strong expression is often followed by a sense of fatigue and dejection, a kind of coldness, because this is the way nature works. (Liszt, 2010, online). From the quotation above, the piano playing style of Liszt is full of emotion. As we know it was the performance practice that every pianist would play the piano with beautiful tone colour, especially what the Chopin had called the Bel Canto playing in shaping lyrical melodies. Moreover Liszts facial expression and gestures at the piano would reflect what he played (Liszt, 2010, online). Also noted that the extravagant liberties he took created a dramatic feeling. Hence, pianists started to take tempo rubato for granted with their ancillary body movements so as to communicate with the audience more musically and successfully. Generally, the aesthetics of piano music in Romanticism were multi-facets. Performers not only swayed their body to make an intimate relationship with music, but also from their movements they conveyed emotional intentions to the audience. They made the piano sings with touching tone colour as well as their virtuosic playing and stage presence made vivid impressions to the ectasied audiences. However, these beautiful piano playing styles were then fully rejected in the Modernism by Prokofiev, Schoenberg, and Cage. These will be discussed in the later chapters. 2. Piano Music in Modernism 2.1 Modern Characteristics Modern music must be understood in terms of their own frame of reference and what artists (whether composers or performers) are trying to do. It was dissonant, controversial and shocking as compared to the prevailing Romantic period. Composers tried to achieve disorder rather than order. The art of creating sometimes replaces the importance of the object created. During that time, the Establishment considered modernism scandalous and an offense to good taste, common sense, and the conventions of polite society. It was also considered rebellious and threatening to the establishment order. However, when the arts of the modernists began to achieve world-wide attention and became more common, acceptance eventually followed. Museums were founded to exhibit modernist works, symphony hall started to promote more modern music, and middle-class society became collectors as modernist paintings rose in commercial value. These indirectly made a new establishment for modernism in art, music, literature, and architecture. In the era of modernism, lots of movements were created such as expressionism, serialism, cubism, dadaism, surrealism, and others. All of these separate movements within modernism combined to produce some distinct characteristics. Modernity has no respect for the past, even its own past. Therefore, it not only entails a ruthless break with any or all preceding historical conditions, but it is characterized by a never-ending process of internal ruptures and fragmentations within itself (Harvey, 1990, pg. 12). The image of creative destruction is very important to understanding modernity. How could new art, music, literature, and architecture be created without destroying much that had gone before? Artist Pablo Picasso and composer Arnold Schoenberg adopt through their individual works that the modernist must destroy in order to create, and the only way to be truly creative is through a process of destruction that is liable in the end to be itself destructive of those creations. (Harvey, 1990, pg. 19). It is important to note that the modernism that emerged around the first World War was a reaction to the new conditions of production (the machine, the factory, urbanization), circulation (systems of transport and communication), and consumption (rise of mass markets, advertising, mass fashion), as it was a pioneer in the production of such changes. These influenced the trend of music such as Darius Milhauds Machine Agricoles (1919) and Sergei Prokofievs The Factory form Pas deacier (1927) demonstrate the influence of the machine age. Undeniably, modernism was also an urban phenomenon that emerged with explosive urban growth. Modernism was an art of cities which confirmed how important the urban experience was in shaping the cultural modernist movement (Harvey, 1990, pg. 25). Machines, new transport and communication systems, skyscrapers, and bridges were all influences from which aesthetic modernism drew much of its stimulus. Finally, modernism in the arts, music, literature, and architecture could not represent the world in a single language. It is so diverse that understanding had to be constructed through the exploration of multiple perspectives. 2.2 The Aesthetic of Modernism Music and Atonality In the twentieth century, concert halls became museums for musical artworks created over the last two centuries. Living composers at that time found themselves competing with music of the past. Composers sought to continue tradition while offering something new. They needed to make decision about what to preserve and what to change. Hence, individuality took over conventionality causing that some composers abandoned tonality while others redefined it. Moreover, their composition turned to more national styles. Composers in the early twentieth century faced the challenge of creating works worthy of performance alongside the classics of the past. The music they created had to be of high quality in the tradition of serious art music. The music also had to have lasting value that rewarded performers and listeners through multiple hearings and study. Thus, these gave rise to young composers wanted a more radical break from the past. They reassessed inherited conventions and did not aim to please their listeners on first hearing so as to challenge perceptions and capacities (Burkholder, 2010c, Online). The major movement in Modernism came from serialism. Serialism is the process of giving a mathematical order to the way one composes music. The techniques used in these kinds of pieces have been termed such as twelve-tone, dodecaphonic, matrixes, tone rows, and others. The serialistic style of composition, most notably employed by Arnold Schoenberg, Alan Berg and Anton Webern, became so influential that these composers are often referred to as the Second Viennese School (1903-1925). This band of composers and their students believed in the idea that the use of mathematical representations could restore order to the composition of music without having to rely on the techniques of the past. 2.3 Schoenberg and Atonality in Piano Music Schoenberg wrote Six Little Piano Pieces Op. 19 in 1911. This is an example of Schoenberg short refining works, but also represents his early free atonal piano masterpiece. The entire work, a total of six little pieces, each creation embodies its own characteristics. Schoenberg abandoned the traditional tonal harmony and took equal importance of every single notes. He showed a new way of musical organization in 20th century piano music. The sounds created were not ever heard before, but many times were not well received by audiences. However, he was championed for what he had invented and his influence spread. The emancipation of the dissonance was Schoenbergs concept of freeing dissonance from its need to resolve to a consonance. This indirectly creates a distinctive musical language of Schoenberg which reflects the composers deep inner spiritual meaning that is the aesthetics of expressionism. Schoenbergs new music not only breaks the stereotyped tonality which had ruled the music for more than thousand years, but also after breaking, he re-established atonal music to a new order the twelve-tone system. Hence the new aesthetics value in Modernism was created. There is no more tonal centre in his music which providing the core. There is also no functional relationship between notes to notes, chords to chords. Tonal harmony is avoided absolutely at it best. Thus as compared to the piano music in Romanticism, the melody in Schoenbergs music is no more impressive and not as beautiful as before, the melody cannot be even easily sung in the mind. Hence, the aesthetics towards Schoenbergs atonal music is ambiguous; it can be beautiful, sublime, or even the other sides. There are no more clear boundaries in appreciating the music. In Schoenbergs early tonal period (before 1908), the composer was greatly influenced by Brahms and Wagner especially in the late works of German Romantic music. They were full of flavour, and the chromaticism which Wagner had developed had reached the limit. Hence in order to express the music more meaningfully, Schoenberg had to destroy all the tonality systems and began to explore new expressive musical style. He was inspired by the Marxism and Expressionism movements at his time and the atonal works were then created. For instance, the performance of his famous melodrama Pierrot lunaire Op. 21 (1912) shows the work as despair, fear, tension, pain and other pathological mental status, while the emotional musical language is also exaggerated, distorted, and weird. In the first decade of 20th Century, Schoenberg successfully established a new concept of musical arts, and thus set another standard for the aesthetic values which are subject to a strong challenge at that time. The aesthetic concepts were changed partly because of the tremendous changes in social thinking. From a social point of view, the extreme fear, agitation, depression, and twisted soul were embodied in Schoenbergs atonal music. These actually were influenced by the serious economic crisis in Europe at that time, social conflicts, and disasters caused by the World War I. From the cultural point of view, the performance of this non-rational atonal music reflected the artists humanistic ideas where serious imbalance of sense and sensibility occurred in the Europe at that time. These let Schoenberg to open the door of his inner creative power. Where tonality had reached its extreme limit, his creation of atonality frees the spirit and essence of expressionism, which contains a pr ofound social content and psychological motivation in that anxious time. The Six Little Piano Pieces although are small and insignificant, it definitely reflects the creative thinking of Schoenberg the new Expressionist aesthetics. Hence in order to understand Schoenbergs atonal music, one should escape and avoid from any musical representation, but from the spiritual essence to feel him, learn from him. 2.4 New Piano Playing Style in Modernism Prokofiev In the composition arena, Schoenberg particularly had made the emancipation of dissonnance. However, besides the changes in compositional techniques, how is the piano playing technique like in Modernism? Do pianists still equip the traditional technique or playing way to interpret the more radical modern piano music? Or perhaps any new playing way formed? As the Romantic pianisism were striving for making incredible beautiful singing line on the piano, Prokofiev however developed new kind of piano playing style which is more percussive and ear sore on the first heard. This new type of piano playing not only expressive but also it carries some sorts of hidden messages the elements of irony and mockery. Hence, Prokofiev again wrote new aesthetics elements on piano playing in the Modernism. Debussy wanted to suggest a piano without hammers. Prokofiev, Bartok, Stravinsky and Hindemith had the opposite view. Nonsense, they said in effect. The piano is a percussive instrument, and theres no use trying to disguise the fact. So lets face up to it and treat the piano as a percussive instrument. (Schonberg, 1964, p.389-90) From this quotation, Prokofiev together with his contemporaries were trying to argue that the piano could not be a singing instrument with superbly legato, as it is the nature of piano to have hammer effects which cause the piano to be percussive. Certainly, they all were bored with the beautiful, heavily wet sustained sounds from the piano pedal effect that went far beyond anything Chopin had dreamed of. They looked for another kind of new sound for which the piano can produce. So, they had to accept the fact that piano is a percussive instrument, the tones produced cannot be cheated or covered by the sustaining pedal. Harold Schonberg, a music critic of the New York Times, said about the playing of Prokofiev in a recital: Young Serge Prokofieff, the pianist of steel, came raging out of Russia, playing his own music and startling the West with his vigor, his exuberance, his wild rhythm, his disdain for the trappings of romanticism. The anti-romanticism age was under way [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Prokofieff at the piano attacked the music with a controlled fury, blasting out savage and complicated rhythms, giving or asking no mercy. He went about it almost without pedal, and with a percussive, metallic-sounding tone. (Schonberg, 1964, p. 390) Noted that the anti-romanticism is also a key of Prokofievs piano playing style. Remember, in his time, the early 20th century piano performance practice, pianists especially like Alfred Cortot, Paderewski, Rachmaninoff, and others play expressively with great liberty. They took tempo rubato for granted and more aware of bel canto playing on the piano. This performance tradition was actually passed down from the time of Chopin and Liszt. The famous Russian pedagogue, Heinrich Neuhaus, who is the teacher of great pianist Sviatoslav Richter, said about Prokofievs piano playing: Energy, confidence, indomitable will, steel rhythm, powerful tone (sometimes even hard to bear in a small room), a peculiar epic quality that scrupulously avoided any suggestion of over-refinement or intimacy, yet with a remarkable ability to convey true lyricism, poetry, sadness, reflection, an extraordinary human warmth, and feeling for natureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Shlifstein,1968, p.233) Although the views are subjective, these quotations give us clearer views of Prokofievs piano playing. Basically, Prokofievs tone on the piano was somewhat dry, but he still played with amazing assurance and freedom. Beneath his fingers the piano does not sing or vibrate. Hence, this evoked contradictory on the piano playing style should the pianists tone be deliberately violent or ugly, or should he strive for musical beauty? Definitely, Prokofiev had made a revolution on the aesthetics of piano playing to the violently, ugly playing style on the piano. This playing style is obvious in his later piano sonatas, especially in the three War Sonatas. The Pianists Responsibilities No matter how the aesthetics of piano music changed, the relationships among composer, pianist, and listener are always inter-related. Pianist, as a medium between the creator and the beneficiary, carries an important role in a performance. For me, regardless of playing the pieces from which period or time to the hardly understandable extreme contemporary piano music, a piano performance is not just a musical performance, it contains rich and valuable aesthetics thinking. From the aesthetic view of Hanslick, he states that music only contains its sound movement and its musical form and structure. If that case, they should be the only essence of piano music without incorporating the personal feeling and emotion into it. However personally, as a pianist, I am more in favour to have music can express emotion and meaning other than just mere sound so as to communicate with the audience as well as to convey the composers messages and intentions. A piano music score is just a carrier of written material, it does not make sense from a hearing point of view. However, if the score is being played by the pianist, it can express meaningful significance. So in a piano performance where the music is accepted and played, it creates a social consciousness relationship with its audience. It thus gives impact to the audience whether auditory, visually or emotionally. At the end, the pianist translates all the static musical symbols on the scores and liberates them into reality so as to make it into life. The aesthetic of piano playing is always based on the individuality of performers as well as the commonality of playing facts. The provisions of piano playing is not absolutely clear, we can never play the music authentically. Hence it is the tendency that every pianists will show their understanding of the music based on their own aesthetical point of views. Together with their unique personality, different pianists play the same stories with different resonance. Their own unique playing style are irreplaceable and cannot be represented by other pianists because their characters of playing were accumulated continuously from the past creative performances. Their innovations always grow with their experience of playing. The commonality of piano playing however restricts and limits performers playing style. It is the style of composers, and the style of playing of that period, that merged into a common playing style. Pianists still have to follow the conventions. Hence pianists individuality cannot exceed the basic style restriction or the commonality of a work in other words. For instance, each performers show different characters of playing on Beethovens Piano Sonata with their own treatment, but they still restrict themselves in a framework of typical Beethoven style, which is the general spirit and characteristics of Beethoven. In short, before playing the music with our own individuality and feeling, we must first respect to the composers