Monday, October 28, 2019

The Study On Nokia S Utilizing Of Communications Mix Marketing Essay

The Study On Nokia S Utilizing Of Communications Mix Marketing Essay 1 Introduction When it comes to modern international marketing, it is not just confined in developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and making it available to target customers. Firms need also communicate with current and potential customers. For most companies, the question is not whether to communicate, but how much to spend and in what ways. This is what the communications mix is good at. Communications mix is comprised of sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, advertising, and direct marketing tools which the firm uses to fulfill its marketing objectives and strategy. Here the theory of communications mix is primarily analyzed related with the case of Nokias. The international company Nokia takes full advantage of the theory of communications mix to fulfill its strategic goal. Under the guidance of the theory of communications mix, the concrete marketing measures or activities taken by Nokia are analyzed. It mainly includes: how Nokia makes full use of advertising, publ ic relation, promotion and direct marketing in its international marketing, cultural influences on the communication, and the recommendations, etc. 2 Communication Mix Marketing, as a concept with specific meaning, has come into being for about one hundred years. Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others (Kotler, 1967). It is a definition grounded upon human needs and wants, which are satisfied through products or services. When marketing crosses borders, it is called international marketing. There are literally dozens of marketing methods, for instance, customer segmentation, product/service offering, market research activity or part of their communication mix. Communication mix is emphatically discussed hereinafter. The communication is comprised of direct marketing, advertising, personal selling, promotion and public relations. Communication mix is mainly used to promote the new products. It is an effective method to attract consumers and increase the selling (Gatignon, 1993). 3 The Background of Nokia In 1865 when Nokia was established in southwestern Finland, it was a little company. At that time, Nokias business covered mainly following sectors, such as televisions, personal computers, shoes, electricity production, communications cables, capacitors, paper products, etc. In the 1960s, the electronics section of the cable division was founded and it witnessed a modern Nokia. In 1967, this section was divided from into its former division and became independently, and started to produce telecommunications equipments. In this period, Nokia got itself more involved in the telecommunications industry and began to develop its network equipment products. In 1992, Nokia changed its name and began to use the name of Nokia Telecommunications, which is todays name. Since 2000, Nokia has begun to expand its business and cooperation with other companies. In 2006, Nokia and Siemens made an unprecedented cooperation in the fixed line and mobile phone network equipment businesses and built one of the largest network companies all over the world. The two companies jointly held a fifty percent stake in this infrastructure firm and built Nokia Siemens Networks. About 20, 000 Nokia employees had been transferred to this new company. Nokia is the leading mobile phone manufacture around the world. Its logo Technology Connecting People has been deeply rooted in customers mind. Nokia House was constructed between 1995 and 1997. Nowadays, there have been more than 1000 Nokia employees in its company. At the same time, Nokia is a customer oriented company. There has been a continuous and progressive increase contact in technology and communications all over the world. Nokias strategy is to build trusted consumer relationships by offering compelling and valued consumer solutions that combine beautiful devices with context enriched services. And, Nokia promises to connect people in a better and new way. 4 The Communication Mix of Nokia 4.1 Advertising It is any paid form of no personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. It is a widely-used means of publicity. The major media types for advertising are: newspapers, television, magazines, radio, internet and so on (Rao, 1993). Advertisements help to draw the publics attention and make people aware of this product. As a result, it undoubtedly could promote a companys sales. However, it is also kind of double-edged sword as advertisements can be very money-consuming. What is more, advertisements may mislead consumers if they are not properly designed or contain any exaggerated information. Therefore, when a firm chooses advertisements as it means for promotion, it must be very careful to select a advertising company and be clear the messages and the image that it wants to convey to it current and perspective customers. Technology Connecting People is Nokias distinguished brand concept. Through TV advertisements, magazine advertisements and leaflets; the concept has been deeply rooted in consumers mind. Except some traditional promotion ways, Nokia adopts some new ways to announce its new products. When selling classical mobile phone Nokia 8810, Nokia sold the products on Internet and became the first firm adopting interactive advertisement in Asia. Nokia held celebrity salon with the theme the upper life to push its new product Nokia 8800 in 2006. Its target consumer was the top end consumer who paid attention to life quality and adored elegant product design. 4.2 Public Relations Public relations mean establishing good relations with the publics by earning a good reputation, shaping a favorable image and dealing with the companys rumors and events (Doyle, 1994). It mainly contains keeping good relations with the firms different social groups by getting favorable publicity and setting up a healthy and good corporate image in public and at the same time, tackling or heading off stories, rumors, and events which damage its reputation. As a result, consumers get a good impression with this kind of firms and, therefore trust and purchase products manufactured by them. From the perspective of enterprises social obligations, especially in modern times, companies can be condemned and eventually be abandoned by consumers if they fail to perform their social responsibilities. Therefore, today, it is not whether firms should build good relations with the public, but how to construct it in a better and more impressive way. In order to develop public relationship promotion, Nokia tries best to be all excellent enterprise citizen in China and makes its effort to sponsor the development of the society, sports and education through series of innovation activities. The first series of activities are donations. In 1998, it donated RMBl0 million to the districts suffered from flood in China. From 2000 to 2001, N0kia launched the planting trees activities in China with its cooperators. Up to now, Nokia still takes these activities as all important components of its marketing methods. The second series of public activities ale gym support activities. By gym support activities, Nokia builds a stylish, leading, and creative brand among the young generation. In 1995, Nokia sponsored Beijing international tennis match. In 1997, Nokia sponsored the No8 national chess match. In 2000, it donated mobile phones to sports meeting for the disable. In 2001, Nokia sponsored No 21 national university match. In 2005, it supported China international diving match. In 2006, it supported NBA China Jam Van and Basketball without Borders activities. The third series are education activities. From 1999 to 2000, Nokia held series of activities in theme of innovation is the source of wisdom to promote teenagers innovation abilities. In 2000, it organized Nokia 2000, flew ideas match with the theme of advancing to future in Beijing University. In recent years, Nokia paid more attention to develop the campus marketing. In order to ease the university enter exam pressure, Nokia held campus activities named communication crates happiness. By humors pictures and creative attempts, these activities added fun to campus life, also set up a good brand image among the campus. 4.3 Promotion Promotion refers to activities or performances taken by companies in a short term to stimulate the purchase or sale of the product or service using varieties of formats such as premiums, coupons, contests, etc (Brick, 1982). Through a serial of activities or performances, it can promote people to purchase more. And sales promotion is targeted at final buyers, wholesalers and retailers, other business customers and members of the sales force (Schall, 1983). It can be effective especially for introducing new products or services. In order to announce its new product, Nokia cooperated with the famous star Wang Lihong and pushed its new product Nokia 3230 to the youth. Nokia 3230 was a music smart phone, which embodies the demands of the youth at that time. In December 2006, Nokia cooperated with Hunan TV Station, and held a concert named Music let me feel happy to push its middle end products. In July 2007, Nokia held a concert named Nokias stylish trend night to announce its new product Nokia 7500 prism, which was the unique design for Chinese market that month. 4.4 Direct Marketing It refers to direct contacts with carefully targeted individual customers in order to acquire a reply in time as well as cultivate permanent consumer relationship, for example, using telephone, mail, fax, e-mail, the Internet, and other tools to communicate directly with specific consumers. Direct marketing is very useful helps companies obtain the first hand information directly from consumers. And companies can give an immediate reply to their customers if there are any questions. Through this way, customers obtain a sense of being respected and cared by firms and, therefore, consumers can be loyal to this kind of companies. However, there are also negative effects brought by direct marketing. Firstly, it undoubtedly costs a lot of money, time and human resources. Secondly, companies may not draw any useful conclusions for decision-makers at all if information is processed in a scientific way. Therefore, to make full use of direct marketing, firms must make sufficient preparations. When it comes to the contour design, Nokia appears to be rather conservative and backward. Especially in China, consumers pay a lot of attention to it. Compared with its competition rivals such Motorola and Samsung, Nokia seems stubborn in reaction to market. However, by directing contacts with its consumers and obtaining the relevant information from the Chinese market, Nokia finally produced its freshly designed foldaway mobile phone 7200. However, any one aspect of the communications mix is not enough to guarantee a good marketing. Instead, a successful promotional strategy should adopt the concept of integrated marketing communications widely by coordinating the promotion channels and tools. Through putting together and reinforcing all the images and messages, it constructs a famous brand in public. Integrated marketing communications requires that all the messages, positioning and images, and identity from the corporate are harmonized across all marketing communications venues. Under this concept, to deliver a clear, unchangeable, and convincing message about the organization and its products, the company should be careful to integrate and bring into line its many communications methods. In terms of this aspect, Nokia really excels in. 5 How Culture Affects the Communications Mix of Nestle 5.1 The Introduction of Culture Since 1871 when the founder of cultural anthropology E.B. Taylor put forward the definition of culture in his works Primitive Culture, scholars have raised hundreds of definitions about culture from different perspectives. The definition of culture given by Taylor is that the so-called culture or civilization is an internal integration of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by human beings as community members(Taylor, 1871 ). His view has a deep influence on the later research and has been accepted by many scholars. In the West, the origin of the word culture is cultura in Latin. In English, the very beginning meaning of the word culture referred to agriculture and raising of plants. Since the 15th century, it has been extended to cultivate peoples morals and competences. And culture is also a basic definition in both sociology and anthropology. In broad sense, culture is the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth created by human beings; in narrow sense, it refers specifically to spiritual wealth including language, literature, art and other ideologies. Based on the analysis above, the thesis adopts the definition of culture in large sense, that is, culture is composed of three aspects: material culture, spiritual culture and behavioral culture. 5.2 How It Affects the Communications Mix of Nokia As an international company, Nokia needs to handle cross-cultural problems and culture plays a significant role in Nokias application of communications mix. Undoubtedly, Nokia is a firm sensitive to cultural differences and adapts varied cultural counter-measures in varied regions. Advertising is the most commonly utilized promotional method. Companies must be very clear who their potential customers are probably to be, make effective contacts with those consumers, and be aware of the relationship between the culture and advertising, i.e. .cultural impacts. Various cultures reaction to communications and messages are quite different. Companies which realize these differences may succeed; those that totally neglect them fail. In Korea, consumers often recommend the suitable and good products to their friends, relatives and workmates. Therefore, the word-of-mouth advertising is very popular: a consumers testimony works more effectively than advertisements on television or in newspaper. In the same way, Chinese are also dependent on this form of communications. The Chinese consumers value and trust their family and this is justified by their purchasing products through their families recommendations. Thus, Nokia have noticed that and put a great emphasis on this i n East Asia. For example, Nokias advertising message is technology is people-oriented. As everyone knows, people-oriented thought is put forward by ancient Chinese two thousand years ago. Therefore, Nokias advertisement is rather successful. It is a typical example of Nokias combination of its own enterprises culture and local culture. Many companies today use marketing public relations to support their marketing departments in corporate/product promotion and image making. The Japanese have little concept of public relations in the American sense. Since the Japanese are very modest and self-effacing, they cannot understand self-promotion. They have little need for corporate public relations. The tendency o f the Japanese conservative and low profile way of doing their business results from many economic and cultural factors. From the ancient times, Japanese society has been comprised of exclusive groups and even within groups there are smaller ones. Each one is cared about its living, obligations, and powers and is generally hostile to the other. Therefore, when Nokia operates its business in Japan, it also adapts the way Japanese companies take and keep a low profile in public relation. Although it still seems to make a better job than Japanese firms. Culture also has a deep influence on Nokias promotion. When Nokia notice that todays youth are passionate for fashion, music and sports, it adapts the concept of youth marketing and cooperates sports and music stars to promote its new product. For example, in China, as Nokia 3230 was a music smart phone, it cooperated with the famous star Wang Lihong and Wang especially wrote a song for publicizing the new phone. 5.3 Recommendations International companies must objectively know and learn the diversity of the culture, turn the cross-cultural awareness to the cross-cultural marketing skills and develop cultural sensitivity (Schwartz, 1981). Culturally sensitive companies understand that differences exist and make corresponding accommodations for them. Advertising is a key tool in international marketing, and it is required to accurately position the product as desired for multinational companies. For an international company like Nokia, firstly, it needs to emphasize one characteristic that caters for local culture. Therefore, in the United States, Nokia should focus on durability and economy; in France, it could be leisure and power; in Germany, utilization; in Mexico, price; and in Venezuela, quality. Secondly, it must be aware of local taboos and idioms when selecting the advertising message. Otherwise, it could be at least embarrassing and even hurt local consumers trust and respect towards Nokia. For example, an advertising campaign used by Pepsi-Cola-Come Alive with Pepsi-translated too literally in some countries. The German translation of come alive became come out of the grave, while in Chinese it read Pepsi brings you ancestors back from the dead. In Spanish, the very word for advertising poses a problem since the corres ponding Spanish word means propaganda, which has other connotations in English. Public relations are designed to promote and/or protect a companys image or its individual products. However, under different cultural background, there are different skills in carrying out it. For example, in China, Nokia needs to focus on such activities as lobbying and counseling-the former aims to improve the relationship with legislators and government officials, and the later, connected with public confidence and loyalty. In this respect, Amway set a good example-through out the seven years after its entry into Chinas market, it has always been concerned with the Chinas children, and it has sponsored nearly one hundred charity campaigns to help these children, such as Chinas Hope Project or Spring Bud Project, through which it obtain sanction from the government and popularity from the citizens. 6 Conclusions It has been proved by many international companies that a good quality of products does not certainly guarantee companies successful sales, and that a proper and wise application of communications mix is indispensible in this respect. Communications mix is essential to help a company maintain its market share and even obtain more, build its good image such as innovation, responsibility and so on, stimulate consumers to buy more products, and also get people to know its new products. However, a firm may be end with a loss if it fails to know positive and negative aspect of each method and choose the right one or ones in the right time and in the right place. Especially when the firm selects more than one method, it needs to make sure that all these methods are to convey a consistent, clear message about its image and products. If it fails to do so, consumers can get confused and therefore, there be will no loyalty customers. Besides, culture has a substantial influence on communicatio ns mix. For those companies which are not sensitive to cultural differences, they cannot obtain the result they have expected by using communications mix in better and even worsen their selling. The international company Nokias leading role in mobile phone market tells us that a successful is the result of the combination of a good quality of product and of proper using of marketing strategy.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Oriental Outlook on Abortion :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Oriental Outlook on Abortion Even Buddhism recognizes the abortive woman's need to come to terms with residual grief. Yvonne Rand, a Soto Zen priest trained at the San Francisco Zen Center, has adapted the mizuko ritual to help American women who have lost children come to terms with their grief. Each woman sews a bib which she offers to an image of Jizo Bodhisattva with prayers for the well-being of the child who has met with an accidental death or died through induced or spontaneous abortion. This ritual has proved to be an excellent way for women to deal with the psychological consequences of abortion. Even so, both in the United States and Japan, there is concern that the ritual can be interpreted as condoning abortion or as a kind of penance. In Japan, a schedule of fees for these services has replaced the donation system and abortion has become big business, with sizable amounts of money changing hands. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs have taken advantage of women by raising the specter of harmful influences from the vengeful spirits of mizuko and charging for rites to propitiate and exorcise these spirits. In the Tibetan tradition, unwholesome actions may be purified by applying the Four Opponent Powers: recognizing one's unwholesome action as a mistake, generating remorse, determining not to repeat the action, and doing some purification practice, such as meditation, prostrations, or the repetition of mantras or prayers. Purification practices such as these serve as antidotes or methods to counteract the effects of unskillful deeds. In addition to helping purify one's karma, these practices have the effect of preventing debilitating feelings of guilt and self-blame. Meditations on lovingkindness and compassion for oneself, the aborted fetus, and all sentient beings help to replace feelings of sadness and depression. Buddhist thinking on reproductive ethics recognizes the complexity of the issues. Today traditional Buddhist perspectives are being examined anew in light of technological discoveries such as amniocentesis and nonsurgical abortion techniques such as the RU486 pill developed in France. There are no moral absolutes in Buddhism and it is recognized that ethical decision-making involves a complex nexus of causes and conditions. "Buddhism" encompasses a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices, and the canonical scriptures leave room for a range of interpretations. All of these are grounded in a theory of intentionality, and individuals are encouraged to analyze issues carefully for themselves.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Existing relationship between attitudes and motivations of high achieving students to their academic success in science at captain albert aguilar national high school Essay

This study primarily identified the different attitudes and motivations of high achieving students of Captain Albert Aguilar National High School. Specifically, this research identified (1) the significance of attitudes and motivations to students specially those have high level of achievement to their academic success in science and the importance f the study to the school, teachers and students, (2) the percentage of the students that have high interest towards science and those have low interest to learn science, (3) the relationship between the attitudes and motivations of high achieving students to their academic success in science while engage in a public high school. To execute this, the researchers applied Descriptive Research which falls under the category of a Non-experimental design. A total of 44 respondents were chosen with the use of Purposive Sampling as guided by the qualifications set. Self-Recording/Reporting Approach was used to collect the data with the utilization of a questionnaire. To describe and summarized the data, Inferential Statistics was used. The weighed mean was computed to utilize for the Pearson Product-Moment correlation to examine the relationship between the attitudes and motivations of high achieving students and their academic success in science. FINDINGS: 1) Is there an existing relationship between student’s attitudes and academic success? By using the Pearson product moment correlation, the researchers found out that there’s an existing significant relationship between the 2 variables. It has a high correlation shows that student’s attitudes greatly affect the academically status of the student. (Respondents don’t find science as an interesting subject, that’s why their academic success can have an average grade of 85-88) 2) Is there an existing relationship between student’s motivation and their academic success in science? An average or marked relationship had identified the 2 variables in this research. It has a moderate correlation that shows students are motivated enough and v have a good academic success. 3) What are the significances of the researchers study?The significant of the researchers study is to widen student’s intelligence quotient with the cooperation of the community, school, and teaching profession and to measure the thinking ability of a high school students that stands as a basic building blocks of success without successfully passing individual exams. CONCLUSION: The researcher, conclude that there is an existing relationship between student’s attitudes & motivations to their academic success in science. There are also factors that can affect academic performance. These factors might be an advantage or disadvantage and might be classified as learning environment, school facilities, teacher’s teaching method & the attitude and motivation of the student toward the subject as well. Based on the study, the student’s don’t find science as an interesting subject but they can be motivated. Thus, the hypothesis is rejected since it was ascertained in the study that there is a significant relationship between student’s attitude and their academic success. RECOMMENDATION: It is therefore recommended that even if the school facilities are perceived as adequately available and accessible for use, they should improve further for maximumutilization and more effective science instruction. Furthermore, the student’s should be given hands-on experiencesin the subject and may enhance their understanding on the subject.The school should be design a teacher development program that would maximize the teacher’s capabilities and enhance their effectiveness in teaching subject which may focus on the content of the subject. The teachers should be sent to seminars in the divisional, regional levels so that they could become better & more effective in teaching science, thereby raising the student’s performance in the subject. It is also manner of satisfying their professional needs and for personal enrichment. Moreover, teachers should integrate values in every lesson as part of value formation. The teachers should give emphasis on creative approach in learning since this is where the students could expressed themselves in terms of creativity & critical mindedness relative to the subject matter. The school heads should intensify the monitoring on the implementation of the DepEd’s programs, designed to improve the student’s performance. The students should be encouraged to develop a good study habits so that they could also perform better in the subject. Researchers also recommend the overviews of the Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis. Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports student’s beliefs that they can do well. Ensure opportunities for student’s success by assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult. Help student’s find personal meaning and value in the material. Create an atmosphere that is open and positive. Help students feel that they are valued members of learning community. (Jossey-Bass Publishers:San Francisco, 1993)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Military insurgents

This short summary will be a brief synopsis covering the issues America faces â€Å"fighting modern insurgents†. This paper will be based on Information gathered from three videos created by Dry. Martin Catalan. The First being â€Å"The Iran Threat†. This lecture give Its listeners a glimpse of what methods and strategies the Iranian government has been trying to employ against the US and Its allies. The lecture describes In detail the various threats that the united States and its allies (particularly Israel) face. The first threat covered by Dry. Citation is the threat of a clear weapon.Although Iran is a sovereign state it has been a long time concern of the US that if able to develop any type of significant nuclear technology (weapons grade or otherwise) it may fall in the hands of state sanctioned (The Iranian state) terrorist. Iran has employed tactics such as trying to kill a Saudi diplomat and bomb a Saudi embassy in the US with the help of an Iranian American. This event shows the reach that the Iranian state sanctioned terrorism and the danger it poses even on us soil. The second lecture Is titled â€Å"The Non-State Solider In History†. Dry.Catalan tells his students from the onset of this lecture that the â€Å"Non-State Solider† Is not at all a conventional solider or army or even the unrecognized Molotov- cocktail throwing rioter. They are Insurgents or guerilla groups who specialize In unconventional warfare. He explains to us that these groups are without an allegiance to a state but are often times funded by states such as Iran. These groups tend to fight using the terrain and other factors as an advantage. They try to avoid major clashes with conventional armies that are larger and better equipped.They use civilians to both strengthen their numbers and to use as a sort of bargaining chip against the worlds government. The current cancer that the US and its allies face called ISIS is this type of group. The third le cture covered was entitled â€Å"A sectarian Spring: The Continuing Struggles In Bahrain. † In this lecture Dry. Catalan covers the uprising in Bahrain that started In 2011 and continues even today. He covered the tactics that the Insurgents use In order accomplish their particular goals. He also covered the various crude weapons that these groups employ.These types of insurgences are polar opposites to the two previous mentioned groups in this paper. Although organized this type of group has far less resources and an under prepared sporadic â€Å"army† or following. At its core though, there is a thinking person or group of people who use the beliefs, conviction, and emotions of the people to immobile them dodo their (the leaders) bidding. Ferguson Missouri is an example of this type of scenario. In conclusion these are great lectures that contain a wealth of information and explains the regarded topics fully.Military insurgents By leaflets â€Å"fighting modern insu rgents†. This paper will be based on information gathered from three videos created by Dry. Martin Citation. The First being â€Å"The Iran Threat†. This lecture give its listeners a glimpse of what methods and strategies the Iranian government has been trying to employ against the US and its allies. The lecture describes in detail the various threats that the United States and its allies The second lecture is titled â€Å"The Non-State Solider in History'. Dry.Citation tells his dents from the onset of this lecture that the â€Å"Non-State Solider† is not at all a rioter. They are insurgents or guerilla groups who specialize in unconventional Struggles in Bahrain. † In this lecture Dry. Citation covers the uprising in Bahrain that started in 2011 and continues even today. He covered the tactics that the insurgents use in order accomplish their particular goals. He also covered the various crude group has far less resources and an under prepared sporadic à ¢â‚¬Å"army' or following. At conviction, and emotions of the people to immobile them to do their (the leaders)

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The main purpose of the Panathenaia was to show of the greatness of Athens Essays

The main purpose of the Panathenaia was to show of the greatness of Athens Essays The main purpose of the Panathenaia was to show of the greatness of Athens Paper The main purpose of the Panathenaia was to show of the greatness of Athens Paper I disagree with the statement above. Primarily, the main purpose of the Great Panathenaia was to in the same as in the Lesser Panathenaia. The Lesser Panathenaia sought to honour the deity Athena by the means of a procession which started at the Diplyon Gate and headed through the city to the Acropolis. To honour Athena, the Athenians sacrificed many cows and sheep. The peplos was made by the women of Athens Polias in her temple. The Lesser Panathenaia also had many sporting events like traditional dancing, boat racing and a torch lit race, etc. The Lesser Panathenaia was a local event, in which only Athenians could take part, so they could not have been possibly be showing off their greatness. Later in 566 BCE, the Athenian tyrant Pisistratos expanded the Lesser Panathenaia into the Great Panathenaia, which was modelled on the Olympic and Pythian Games. The new sporting events introduced from the Olympic Games included running, equestrian events such as chariot racing and the pentathlon. The musical events included rhapsodes (reciters of poetry) retelling passages from Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. There were also competitions for who could best play and accompany the lyre and aulos. As a result of these new events being introduced, new introduced and spectators began to come from all over the Greek world. Some also argue that in the Great Panathenaia, a very large peplos (robe) was made foe Athena Parthenos. The aim was the same, however if an additional peplos was made for Athena Parthenos in the Great Panathenaia, then in that year the Athenians had expanded their festival to honour both Athena Polias and Athena Parthenos. Athenians themselves were not trying to show off their greatness, instead the effects of the expansion of the festival made it seem that way. The introduction of new events, attracted more participants and spectators, who saw the wealth of the Athens, which by reflected in the new grand festival. They also saw the great architecture of Athens, and in particular by looking at the new temples which were recently built in the 5th century BCE, such as Parthenon on the Acropolis. The prizes of the events also increased Athenian prestige, such as amphorae of olive oil. They gave olive oil because Athena’s present to Athens was an olive tree and by giving the victors olive oil, they kept the tradition. However, as a result, it showed their wealth in oil, so that60 amphorae of oil could be given to a winner of chariot racing and one amphora contained 40L of oil. The amphorae of oil also contained paintings of the sporting events on one side and a picture of Athena Polias on the other side. This indirectly showed of the skills of Athens in arts, painting and pottery. The prizes of the musical events involved olive crowns in gold and shoed Athens’ wealth. The fact they also gave prizes to the second place winners also showed their wealth. Taken together, the expanded games and expensive prizes given to both first and second place contestants served to showed the greatness of Athens, and increase its prestige. However, welcome to the Athenians, the primarily purpose to honour the city’s goddess was served.

Monday, October 21, 2019

search for excellence essays

search for excellence essays There are countless Greek inventors, scientists, and athletes, whose life history of intellectual or athletic excellence prior to becoming wealthy is itself proof of the possibility of gaining such excellence without necessarily being born wealthy. Example is Thales and Benjamin Franklin. Greeks showed that they were not only theater goers, but also invented many forms of theater still used today (such as, drama, comedy, and tragedy). Plays were used for education, as they still do today. They invited young people to adult events, where there were lots of opportunities for learning through emulation by the young. In such situations, adults usually acted uprightly in their capacity as role models.They also used statues of heroes as role models. Greeks used a informal educational system of expert teachers, who provided both an excellent education, and a model of excellence in learning. Democracy, itself a political invention of the ancient Greeks, in the sense of being consciously practiced, allows us today to have freedom of speech, without personal or political repercussions. This freedom, opens doors for putting to use our newly discovered abilities to think critically without fear of some punishment. Buildings also showed the excellence of he people. There buildings influenced agriculture in the west for centuries. Just as the Greek Olympics, our Olympics are still an enduring symbol of the best the world has to offer. We beleive in the Olympic Games, because we beleive in excellence. We honor the contestants of the games, because they are excellent often the most excellent in the world. They have formed excellence through continually improving their ablities. When we hire people, we want the best performers that we can afford. When we marry someone, we want the best person who will have us. Its only natural that we choose to seek excellence in what we do. The Olympic athletes who are...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

ACT Test Dates When’s a Good Time for You

Choose Your SAT / ACT Test Dates When’s a Good Time for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips "I have no idea what to expect" is not a sentence you want runningthrough your mind on your way to take theSAT or ACT. If you take control of your test prep and schedule, then you shouldn't have any surprises on test day. Besides studying, part of your preparation should bestrategically planning out your SAT/ACT test dates. Instead of closing your eyes and pointing randomly at a calendar, you canask yourself some key questions to figure out when the best SAT/ACT test dates are for you. The first question that every student should ask herself, of course, is, When are my college deadlines? When Are My Deadlines? Most, if not all, students taking the SAT/ACT are doing so are part of their applications to 4-year colleges.Knowing your deadlines is the first piece of important information for making your SAT test date choice and ACT test date choice. SAT/ACT scores might also be required for some scholarships, which also might affect your choice of test dates. Deadlines for College Most regular decision deadlines for college are around January 1st in your senior year. January 15 is another common deadline, and some colleges go even later, like into February and March. If you're applying early action or early decision, then your deadlines are probably sometime in November. It takes about 3 weeks to receive your SAT or ACT scores, so you want to make sure you leave at least this much time between your test dates and your first deadline. For peace of mind, though, you'd be much better off getting your test done and ready to go before the last possible date. Leaving it to the last minute gives you no protection if you have a fluke testing day or are disappointed with your scores. Plus there's the rare chance you could get unlucky and have your scores delayed or even canceled, and then you'd be out of time. The SAT is given 7 times throughout the year, in January, March, May, June, October, November, and December. The ACT is usually given 6 times, in February, April, June, September, October, and December. One way to consider your testing schedule is the "1/3 - 2/3 rule." Depending on when you're starting to prep and plan, you could take the SAT/ACT 1/3 of the time between your starting point and when your applications are due, and the second time at 2/3 between "now" and your deadlines. If you started in January of junior year, for example, you could take your first SAT/ACT in April or May and your next test in the fall, like in October. This "rule" assumes you're going to take the SAT/ACT twice, but a lot of students choose to take it three or more times. I'll delve into what a typical test-taking schedule looks like for students more below, but first let's discuss the other deadlines you might be meeting: scholarship deadlines. Can't relate to this at all, right? Deadlines for Scholarships Your SAT/ACT scores might also be an important consideration for winning scholarship money. Most score-based scholarships come directly from colleges, so your scholarship deadlines will generally match your college deadlines. If SAT/ACT-based scholarships are important for you, then you might want to get your scores earlier to help determine your college list. If you are able to achieve qualifying scores for guaranteed SAT/ACT scholarships, then you can make sure to apply to those schools that will award you money. Since application planning is a process that takes several months, you probably want to have your SAT/ACT scores by the end of junior year. That way you can plan accordingly, know which colleges you're applying to, and focus on the rest of your application. As I mentioned above, one potential problem with taking your tests last minute is that you'd run out of test dates if you aren't satisfied with your scores. Many students take the SAT/ACT more than once or twice to prep between tests and improve their scores. How many times you want to take the test is the next important questionto ask yourself when choosing test dates. How Many Times Do I Want to Take the SAT/ACT? There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking the SAT/ACT more than once to achieve your target scores. In fact, I'd highly recommend taking it at least twice, if not three or more times. Almost everyone improves when they retake the SAT/ACT. This "real test" experience can be especially valuable if you use it as a launching off point to determine your strengths and weaknesses and do targeted test prep that will help you pull up your scores the next time. If, like most students, you're taking your test more than once, then you want to make sure you leave yourself enough test dates and monthsin between each one to study. If you took the SAT in May and then again the next month in June, then you really wouldn't have time to improve very much. Instead, you want to leave several months in between test dates to prep effectively. Given this strategic approach to hitting your scores on the SAT/ACT, what does a typical test-taking schedule look like for most students? Typical Test-Taking Schedule A typical SAT/ACT schedule for the majority of students involves three opportunities to take the test. Hopefully this guide helps you realize that there are several considerations when making your SAT test date choice and ACT test date choice. Just because this schedule works for a lot of students, doesn't automaticallymean it's the best one for you. Typical Schedule Many students take their first SAT/ACT in the fall of junior year, after spending the summer studying. After receiving their initial scores and reflecting on the experience, students can take the next few months to reinforce their understanding and improve areas of weakness. Then they take the test again in the spring of junior year. At this point, you might have achieved your target scores and be satisfied with your results. If you want another chance to improve your scores, you still have several summer months to prep and then take your test again in the fall of senior year. At this point, you've reached your last opportunity to test and will be applying to college. There are pros and cons to this schedule. The pros include 3 opportunities to take the SAT/ACT Advanced skills and content knowledge that you've developed throughout high school. Over a year to prep and improve your scores between fall of junior year and fall of senior year. This schedule works really well for a lot of students, but there are also some cons to consider: Limited test dates. Once you reach fall of senior year, you don't have time to take the SAT/ACT for a fourth time. May overlap with busy times of year, like AP tests, college planning, and varsity sports in junior and senior year. May feel more pressure and stress on each test date, since you don't have extra time beyond these dates. If any of these cons resonate with you, perhaps because of your junior year activities or anxieties around testing, then you might consider pushing back this typical schedule and registering for the SAT/ACT even earlier than junior year. Juggling a lot junior year? Considertaking the SAT/ACT earlier. Earlier Schedule If you push this typical schedule back about half a year, then you could take your first SAT test in the spring of sophomore year and then have about three more opportunities to test. If you wanted five test dates, then you could take it in the fall of sophomore year. Depending on how much prep you put into the SAT/ACT, you could even be ready to take it freshman year. Technically, you can take the SAT as many times as you want and the ACT up to 12 times. Of course, this would be overkill, both a waste of time and money and a potential red flag to colleges. While taking the SAT/ACT up to 6 times is acceptable, you probably don't need more to leave yourself any more test dates than that. If you find yourself having to take it over and over to achieve your scores, that time and energy could probably be better spent on test prep. Besides taking the pressure off and leaving you with more test dates, pushing this typical schedule back to sophomore year is a good option if you're trying to build up your scores section by section, or "superscore" your test. I'll explain what exactly I mean by superscoring below. Superscoring the SAT/ACT For anyone not familiar with the term "superscoring," it refers to the policy that some colleges use when they consider your standardized test scores. If colleges superscore, they take your highest section scores across all the dates you took the test and use those for your final test scores. If you take the SAT/ACT more than once, then superscoring is your friend. If you know that your colleges will superscore your results, you can actually use this policy to your advantage. Rather than focusing on improving your scores in every section every time you take the test, you could focus intensively on bringing up your math score, for instance. Then you could take the test again and really focus in on Reading, or Writing, or ACT Science. Obviously you shouldn't completely neglect any sections, but this could be a way to achieve a really strong score section by section across numeroustest dates. Again, you would need to make sure your colleges superscore and don't look at all scores or your highest sitting.If you're using this approach, you would want to start taking the SAT/ACT in freshman or sophomore year to leave yourself enough test dates. Again, I wouldn't recommend taking either test more than 6 times. This superscoring approach to taking the SAT/ACT leads us to the next important considerationwhen choosing your test dates - how much test prep you're willing and able to devote to meeting your goals. Hard at work. How LongCan I Prepare Before My Test? Just as you don't want to neglect any sections of the SAT/ACT, you also don't want to treat any official test as a throwaway, even if it's just the first time you're taking it. At the very minimum, I would recommend putting in 10 hours of test prep before sitting for a real test. This will help you get familiar with the instructions and format, but won't help much beyond that for improving your scores. Your study schedule is a big factor in determining which test date you choose for your first SAT/ACT. So how long do you plan to study? How Much Time Can I Devote to Test Prep? To figure out your study schedule, you need to figure out how you can balance test prep with everything else you're doing in and out of school. I think the best way to make a schedule and stick to it is to write it down in a planner or calendar and create a routine. If you have free time on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 8, then set that aside as your study time. Of coursethis can change if you get assigned a big project or essay, but beingconsistent about your test prep is the best way to ensure that you'll stick to your plan. Before taking your first SAT/ACT, I would also recommend taking a practice test. You can time yourself, score it, and see if you're performing near your target scores. If you're much lower than you think you can achieve and still have several available test dates, then you might want to hold off on taking the real test until you study some more. If you start early enough, then you can have more flexibility in your study schedule and which test dates you choose. Either way, it's a good idea to consider your test-taking schedule in conjunction with your test prep schedule. As academic tests, the SAT/ACT also line up with your classes in school, but when they line upmight differ from student to student. Before signing up for your test, you should consider how it coincideswith your current high school classes. How Does It Line Up With My Classes? In order to answer this question, you want to familiarize yourself with what's actually tested on the Reading, Writing, and Math section of the SAT and the Reading, English, Math, and Science section of the ACT. While the content on each test is not all that advanced, there are certain concepts that are helpful to have studied in school. Both tests cover geometry, for example, and the math section of the ACT even covers some trigonometry. If you're taking geometry freshman year, then your best SAT test dates might beearlier than junior or senior year, since by then you'll have moved onto more advanced math. Conversely, if you aren't studying geometry or trigonometry until junior year, then you might be better off sticking to the typical schedule mentioned above and taking the SAT/ACT for the first time junior year. Similarly, you might benefit from one or two more years in high school writing persuasive essays and developing your reading comprehension skills before taking the SAT/ACT. If you're strong in English, however, you might be well prepared to score highly before you're an upperclassman. Plus studying early could help you cultivate your existing skills and get a headstart on learning new knowledge. The best way to gauge your level is to tryofficial practice problems for the SAT and ACT and see how familiar you are with the material. If you're already studying the concepts you need in freshman or sophomore year, then you might strongly consider signing up for the test early and even getting it finished with before you're a junior or senior. Getting your scores all set and ready to send to colleges early may also be a relief if your schedule gets busy in th and 12th grade. Yikes. What Else Is On My Schedule? When choosing the best SAT test dates and ACT test dates, you might also think about what other activities and responsibilities you have coming up. Junior year might get busywith AP classes and finals. You might lead Student Council or an Amnesty International campaign. Maybe you're exhausted everyday fromvarsity football practice. If your life is looking hectic junior year, then you might want to get your SAT/ACT done earlier than junior year. Even if it seems easier to push off the tests and let Future You deal with them, you could do yourself a favor by prepping early, taking the tests, and then having more time as your schedule gets more and more packed. On the flip side, maybe you're busy with summer camps before freshman and sophomore year and have more time before th and 12th grade. In either case, you can really personalize your testing schedule to fit your own goals and find balance with your other activities and interests. These might sound like a lot of questions to answer before signing up for the SAT/ACT, but they are meant to help you take control of the process and maximize your ability to find balance and achieve strong scores for your college applications. Read on for a summary of the most significant factors in determining the best SAT/ACT test dates for you. Choosing Your SAT/ACT Test Dates As I mentioned above, the typical test-taking schedule for the SAT/ACT is to take it for the first time in the fall of junior year, again in the spring of junior year, and, if so desired, for the final time in the fall of senior year (as long as your college deadlines allow). Students who are prepping earlier might move this timeline ahead to leave themselves extra test dates or get their scores all set and ready to go early. The most important questions you should ask yourself when planning your test-taking schedule are the following: What are my deadlines for college and scholarships? How many times do I want to take the SAT/ACT? Am Itrying to improve my scores in all sections with each retake or using a "superscoring" strategy? How long do I plan to study? Besides these primary considerations, you might also consider your classes and other pursuits as factors. In this case, ask yourself How does the SAT or ACT line up with my high school classes? What else do I have in my schedule and how can I balance test prep with my other assignments and activities? By answering these questions, you can devisea test prep and test-taking schedule and have a strong rationale behind your choices. Take control of the college application process by having a strong sense of where you're starting out, where you want to go, and what you need to do in between to get there. By articulatingclear reasons and a strong sense of purpose, you can answer any questions you have about the SAT or ACT and achieve your goals. Confused pug answered all his SAT/ACT questions. What's Next? Find out which exact dates you want to choose with our Table of 2015-2016 SAT Test Dates, and then read our Full Review of Every Single 2015-2016 SAT Test Date here. For more test-specific advice on exactly when to take the SAT or ACT for the first time, check out our SAT guidehere and ACT guidehere. Do you still have questions about how to design the best study plan for the SAT/ACT? Check outour guidefor your study plan before junior year and study plan before senior year. As you study, you definitely want to use official SAT and ACT practice questions. You can download official practice test pdfs for the SAT here and the ACT here. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: