Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Marxian Theory versus Weberian Theory Essay - 727 Words

Marxian Theory versus Weberian Theory Karl Marx and Max Weber both offer valid approaches to social class in modern capitalist society, though there are very different from each other. The capitalist society is a type of society in which the private ownership of the ‘means of production’ is the dominant form of providing the things needed to survive. What distinguishes capitalism from other types of society is the emphasis on the rights of property and the individual owner’s right to employ capital, as she or he thinks fit. Karl Marx’s approach was, at first, the most convincing theory of social class. However the Neo-Marxists (the later generation Marxists) have developed the same ideas but in different ways. So today there is no†¦show more content†¦This is known as the LABOUR THEORY OF VALUE. Marx has three contradictions: 1. Polarisation of social classes. This is where Marx thinks that the proletariat will fall further behind the bourgeoisie. Class divisions will become more polarised as ‘intermediate’ classes merge with either bourgeoisie or the proletariat. 2. Social Alienation. This is the ‘impoverishment of the human spirit’, which means that the workers have very little chance of leaving the working class. 3. Economic Crisis. This is when capitalist’s profits fall because it is an uncontrollable system. Marx believes that eventually the capitalist system will collapse. Max Weber also sees social class as an economic matter. However he did not seem to agree with the ‘two class model’. Weber chose to define class by position in the economic market. This market has various positions that all have a different amount of income, amount of occupational skill or educational qualifications required. Weber’s approach gives many more classes based on the position in the market. When Weber speaks of status he means the degree of honour which is in all social groups. Each group fights for the amount of ‘social esteem’ they have in society. Status has more to do with judging people based on consumption styles (how you spend your money). Party refers to the exercise of power by pressureShow MoreRelatedTheories of Organizational Behavior10512 Words   |  43 PagesRevisiting the Classical theories Introduction Organization indexes considerably more than the structures that lifts us out of ‘bare life’. Organization is also intimately, and utterly, connected to thought. While many, and by no means just those in the West, think of themselves as ‘free’ from enslavement by others, and even free from the organization of the state, who can argue that they are also free from the pervasive effects of language, culture and science? These are matters into which

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Macroeconomics Short-Term Economic Impact

Question: Part 1 (Max 1000 words in total, this part counts for 2/3 of the grade) How is Brexit likely to affect the UK business cycle? Suggested approach (feel free to deviate) 1) Focus on the main drivers of cyclical fluctuations. How is Brexit likely to affect them and why? 2) How would these affect the relevant macroeconomic indicators? Are there feedback effects? 3) Discuss possible policy responses and how they could affect the cycle. Part 2 (Max 500 words in total, this part counts for 1/3 of the grade) (Please choose between Question 2a and Question 2b.) 2a Pick a sector in the UK economy and discuss the main opportunities and threats that macroeconomic changes to the business environment (due to Brexit) could create. Answer: Part 1 Effect of Brexit on UK business cycle The main drivers of business cycle fluctuations are interest rate, investment and multiplier effect of investment and consumption, inflation etc. When the output of the economy increases, there is a boom phase in business cycle. The equation of national income is presented as Y = C + I+ G + (X-M), where Y represents national income or GDP, I represents investment, G represents government spending and the last components is net export. When, the federal bank increases the interest rate, the cost of borrowing increases. This has direct impact on private investment. Business organisations reduce their investment spending. In the view of neoclassical economists the supply shocks are main determinants of business cycle fluctuations. The sources of supply shocks are technology, increase in productivity of labour or capital. These factors affect the business performance during a period. When there is technological up gradation or improvement in factor productivity, output in different secto rs of the economy increases (Thomas 2015). Inflow of capital affects the business cycle. Brexit is likely to affect UK business and other countries, which are related through business agreement. Before Brexit UK enjoyed advantage of single market in the European Union. After Brexit there would be a trade relationship between the UK and EU. The new tariff rate in UK and single market of EU are likely to be different. This can impact the business prospects of UK economy. There is a possibility of increase in trade deficit in UK economy as UK may lose the existing privilege of free trade agreement with EU. If EU increases the tariff rate for the import from UK, the export of UK becomes costly, which decreases the trade balance of UK. The trade deficit decreases cash flow in the economy. It may also reduce the volume of trade between UK and rest of the economy in the EU. Decrease in export in the EU may reduce output of the export sectors in UK, which negatively affects countrys GDP (Baker et al. 2016). Some market analysts expect that the value of pound is likely to fall due to Brexit. Therefore, depreciation of currency may hit the internal market in the form of rising inflation. Depreciation increases export and reduces import, as import gets costlier. Inflation increases the borrowing cost. Therefore, investment in real estate and business tends to fall. Private investment falls due to rise in interest rate. Decrease in investment reduces output and employment in the economy. Therefore, the economy is likely to enter into the recession stage (Moultonet et al. 2016). Figure 1: Changes in investment rate (Source: created by author) Increase in interest rate has other aspects. Rise in interest rate influence people to save more. Therefore, economy experiences a decrease in consumption. Decrease in consumption reduces aggregate demand. It also negatively affects the economy by reducing output. As the consumption decreases given the same level of investment, aggregate decreases below aggregate demand and thus there is accumulation of inventory in the economy. Hence, in the next period, national output is likely to fall. Chances are there to enter into recessionary stage increases. Figure 2: Impact on Real GDP (Source: created by author) Brexit may make the UK economy a less attractive location for investment. Firms of other country may intend to sell in EU markets, as it may give more facilities for business operation. Therefore, reduction in external investment may reduce capital inflow. This effect may also increase unemployment rate in the UK economy. IMF has warned that, Brexit is likely to have adverse impact on UK as the possibility of inflation in more. High inflation rate may decrease standard of living of UK people. There is lots of argument against Brexit. Presently Britain gets facility to sell goods in the European market easily. Moreover, the influx of migrant from different region of European countries increases supply of labour in the UK market. The immigrant workers contribute significantly in countrys growth (global-counsel.co.uk, 2016). Baker et al. (2016) argues that Brexit has positive impact Brexit is likely to affect the employment policy of UK, as UK can freely regulate the labour market without the influence of EU. Therefore, the government can regulate the productivity of labour through labour market reform. At present UK has to follow the EUs agency workers directive, which gives the temporary workers same working environment and right of equal pay as the permanent workers. The UK economy incurs annual cost of 490 million due to these regulations. Exit from European Union will give Britain the freedom of own policy formation in the labour and product market. However, unemployment in UK may rise after Brexit, which would reduce the pressure in the wage rate. In case of recessionary stage, the monetary policy is more effective than fiscal policy. According to Keynesian economics, in very short run, the federal bank has to boost up aggregate demand by raising money supply. Investment can be encouraged by reducing interest rate. The central bank can buy short term government bonds to increase money supply in the economy. Increase in investment increases output in several sectors in the economy. As a result, output, employment can rise in medium term. The recessionary effect is offset somewhat as the recessionary gap is reduced. The recessionary gap arises due to gap in actual GDP level and potential GDP. In recessionary period, the actual output falls below potential output. Possibility of increase in tax rate is there with decrease in government spending. However, this also has political impact (Thomas 2015). Part 2 Effect of Brexit on banking business in UK Currently UK is an important financial centre of Europe. In cross border bank lending, the UK have 17% share in international market. In hedge fund assets and wholesale financial services, UK have significant share. However, the Euro zone countries want the wholesale banking to be overseen by the ECB. After Brexit, this enforcement is more likely to happen. UK may suffer an opportunity cost as it cannot take part in liberalising initiatives of Capital market union after Brexit (Smales 2016). The actual outcome of Brexit on UK depends on treaty between UK and EU. Brexit may have mixed impact on UK financial sector. HSBC has decided recently to continue business in UK even after Brexit. However, chief executive of JP Morgan mentioned in Financial Times 2016, that this bank may reduce business in London after exit of Britain from EU. Reducing banking business in UK will have effect on employment. Unemployment in banking sector may rise after Brexit (Monaghan and Elliott 2016).) Passporting is an important pillar of EU financial system. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) allows the banks to carry business in member states without having license in each country. Any other bank belonging to country other than member of EU, cannot get the opportunity of passporting system. Presently mainly third country banks thus established business in London to use the EU market for financial services. After Brexit, this facility will depend on the negotiation between UK and EU. UK banks may then require new licenses to operate multiple EU jurisdictions under capital requirement directives (Moulton et al. 2016). Currently, the European banks, which trade derivatives, operate under the European Market Infrastructure Regulations (EMIR). The banks require following regulations regarding clearing, trade reporting and risk reporting in line with G20 group. These rules are not applicable for UK after Brexit. However, being a G20 member, UK may have to follow pr inciples of EMIR even after exit from EU. Brexit may increase the interest rate in the market raising the borrowing costs. Average cost of mortgage can increase up to 1000 annually. Therefore, investment in real estate sector may fall. As UK may face recession after Brexit, many economists have suggested that Bank of England should cut the interest rate to boost the economy. Reduction in interest rate would encourage domestic private investment. After Brexit, the UK banks may lose their rights to provide services based on passport. This will not have much effect on retail banking product as few customers obtain retail services in short or medium term. In case of consumer credit, Brexit may have positive effect (bbc.com, 2016). UK is likely to implement the Consumer Credit Directives, which imply that the lender has to comply with one regime for consumer loans up to 60260 and a different regime for consumer loan in excess of the amount and for business loan. References Baker, J., Carreras, O., Ebell, M., Hurst, I., Kirby, S., Meaning, J., Piggott, R. and Warren, J., 2016. The short-term economic impact of leaving the EU.National Institute Economic Review,236(1), pp.108-120. bbc.com (2016). How will Brexit affect your finances? - BBC News. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-36537906 [Accessed 4 Aug. 2016]. global-counsel.co.uk (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.global-counsel.co.uk/sites/default/files/special-reports/downloads/Global%20Counsel_Impact_of_Brexit.pdf [Accessed 4 Aug. 2016]. Monaghan, A. and Elliott, L. (2016). British economy begins to show signs of post-Brexit slowdown. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/28/health-check-of-key-sectors-post-brexit-vote-counter-growth-figure [Accessed 4 Aug. 2016]. Moulton, R., Coiley, J., Perry, J., Aird, R., and Ward, N., (2016). Brexit: potential impact on the UKs banking industry [online] Available at: https://www.ashurst.com/doc.aspx?id_Content=12909 [Accessed 4 Aug. 2016]. Smales, L.A., 2016. 'Brexit': A Case Study in the Relationship between Political and Financial Market Uncertainty.Available at SSRN 2805807. Thomas, D.S., 2015.Social Aspects of the Business Cycle (RLE: Business Cycles)(Vol. 7). Routledge.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Frank Lloyd Wright Essays (3030 words) - Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright The way you live is being directly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's innovations in residential architecture. Mr. Wright's ?organic architecture? was a radical departure form the traditional architecture of his day, which was dominated by European styles that dated back hundreds of years or even millennia. He contributed the Prairie and Usonian houses to the familiar of American residential design, and elements of his designs can be found in a large proportion of homes today. While most of his designs were single-family, his collections include houses of worship, skyscrapers, resorts, museums, government offices, gas stations, bridges, and other masterpieces showing the diversity of Frank Lloyd Wright's talent. Not only did Wright possess genius skills in the spatial cognition, his approach to architecture through geometric manipulation demonstrates one aspect of his creativeness. Frank Lloyd Wright's views on architectural space, ornamentation, and relationship to site, and concerning the place of architecture in art, life, and philosophy have inspired generations of architects and artists all over the world. Frank Lloyd Wright's career was notable in several areas. As a practicing architect, he designed several hundred buildings, of which around 500 were built. Within his roles of architectural theoretician and academic, he wrote several books on architecture, and founded and ran a successful school in the field, training many architects. Mr. Wright's design went beyond the building to the finest details of the interior design spaces, including furniture, art glass, and other aspects of interior designs. Frank Lloyd Wright's views on architectural space, ornamentation, and relationship to building sites, and concerning the place of architecture in art, life and philosophy have inspired generations of architects and artists all over the world. Frank Lloyd Wright was an innovator who drastically influenced architecture of the twentieth century around the world. Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect with a democratic vision. By integrating the city into the countryside, Wright was envisioning a decentralized city that stressed agrarian, or rural pastoral, living and familial connectivity. Many of Wright's ideals and visions are rooted in his life experiences. Specifically, his childhood experiences in the countryside made Wright highly critical of the city, which ignited his vision of the city rooted in the Jeffersonian values. He believed the role of an architect to be that of a builder, not only of buildings but of the social structure, because he felt that if society were given conditions in which building had intelligence and raison d'etre the whole structure of human society itself would have the substance of strength and beauty. It was stated in Brooks book Writings on Wright that Wright was ?Interested in politics and affairs of the state, he believed that architecture as the plan-in-structure of all things was the all-inclusive basis f or every civilization and culture. He repeatedly related architecture to democracy, considering democracy the highest form of aristocracy man has ever known, a society based on the sovereignty of the individual? (24-5). Wright's early work reflects his democratic ideals, especially Oak Park, as an importance was placed on family. His ideas about democracy grew into the vision of Broadacre City, which emphasized the important influence that technology would have on his envisioned democracy. It was through this vision that Wright sought to build for citizens of the United States. His vision of the city was placed in the countryside, where people could live free from centralization. Here nature and city would blend into one entity. Within this entity, the structural forms will be built to merge into and become one with the natural landscape. Frank Lloyd Wright's childhood experiences would later have a significant impact on his architectural and city designs. After spending a part of his childhood moving from place to place, the Wright family settled at his maternal family's farm in Wisconsin. Although the family customs and life had an effect on Wright's democratic philosophy, the greatest impact on his work came from the Froebel blocks his mother had purchased for this future architect. Before her son was born, his mother had decided that her son was going to be a great architect. Using Froebel geometric blocks to entertain and educate her son, she appears to have struck on a genius her son possessed. His early childhood

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Trotsky and The Bolshevik Government †Government (100 Level Course)

Trotsky and The Bolshevik Government – Government (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Why did Trotsky maintain such a prominence in Bolshevik government from 1918 to the death of Lenin in 1924? History (100 level Course) Trotsky enjoyed prominence within Bolshevik government for his achievements before, during and after the Bolsheviks came to power: He was the â€Å"star† of the 1905 Revolution, heading the St. Petersburg soviet. He organised and implemented the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917. He was head of the Red Army during and immediately after the successful civil war of 1918-20. As a result of these achievements he enjoyed powerful support from within the party, particularly from left-wing activists and from young Bolsheviks. This support in itself ensured his prominence. In party and government terms he could not be ignored. Trotsky’s prominence was assured by his closeness to Lenin. He’d known Lenin since 1902. Despite differing views before 1917, Lenin liked and admired Trotsky. In his testament he described him as â€Å"outstanding† and was happy to give Trotsky his absolute trust. As a result, he was prepared to delegate key tasks. As commissar for foreign affairs, he was entrusted with the task of making peace with the Germans in 1918. Later, he was closely associated with COMINTERN, the body Lenin created to help spread world revolution. He was made head of the Red Army at a time when no such army existed. He created it, organised its structure and had general control over its winning tactics during the civil war, subsequently during the war with Poland and finally during the siege of the Kronstadt naval base (1921). He was a key figure in the Politburo, acting as something of an ideas man. It was he, for example, who came up with the idea for the NEP. Trotsky’s closeness to Lenin gave him positions of authority within the government that equated to deputy leader. It also gave him a standing and authority that could not be ignored. Trotsky’s closeness to Lenin was based on more than personal regard. The two men shared views about the development of government policy. They shared a common view on world revolution. Both expected socialist revolutions to break out in the wake of the Bolshevik seizure of power. Policy towards peace with Germany was conditioned by the view that peace would bring revolution. Out of this came the policy of â€Å"neither peace nor war† that stalled peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk for weeks. The failure of Germany to fall to an immediate socialist revolution did not deter Trotsky and Lenin. Both believed that the survival of socialism in Russia was dependent on world revolution. They therefore sought to ferment it through the establishment of the COMINTERN, a body that worked with Communists from throughout Europe. During the civil war both Lenin and Trotsky applied â€Å"war communism†. Where Lenin brought in specialists from the bourgeoisie to run industry, Trotsky brought in former Tsarist officers to run the army. Where Trotsky re-applied military discipline to the armed forces, Lenin applied it equally to the industrial workers. After 1921, Trotsky and Lenin moved Russia towards the NEP. Trotsky dreamed it up, Lenin supported him and put in charge of economic policy. Only illness prevented him from developing the role more fully. In 1924 the two came together again. Both were concerned at the bureaucratisation of the party and feared the power it gave to people like Stalin. Given the impetus that Lenin and Trotsky gave the movement in policy matters, it was not surprising that Trotsky retained a key role in government. Further, with his ability to speak out and convince, he was often the person who fronted these policy developments. Towards the end of the period, Trotsky’s prominence turned to notoriety in the eyes of others. Lenin’s illness and subsequent death made Trotsky the heir-apparent and sparked reaction from the likes of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev. His close association with Lenin’s policies provoked a similar reaction. Stalin opposed him on world revolution. Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev, all key party figures, opposed him on the issue of bureaucratisation. He was cast as Napoleon at a time when others sought more consensus in government. Not surprisingly, by the end of 1924 he was a marked man. Research Papers on Trotsky and The Bolshevik Government - Government (100 Level Course)Appeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Assess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeQuebec and CanadaBringing Democracy to AfricaUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresPETSTEL analysis of IndiaTwilight of the UAWCapital Punishment19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraGenetic Engineering

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Financial Performance Measurement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Performance Measurement - Essay Example The cost of capital aspect is usually a main area of focus. The reason for cost of capital to be taken care of seriously is to ensure that the capital used does not exceed the expected returns from activities of the organization. There is also need to ensure that the cheapest type of capital is used to finance the company. The company therefore considers the cost of each type of capital to compute a general cost of capital referred to as weighted average cost of capital. This incorporates costs such as cost of equity and also cost of debt. The weighted average cost of capital method allocates weights to each component cost of capital. This weighted average cost of capital is usually the rate of return that the company should not operate under in order to be operating at a safe point. Weighted average cost of capital is the best measure of a company's cost of capital. Its measure gives weights to the components of a company's capital structure. Usually shareholder's equity and debt create a company's capital (Brealey, & Richard 2000p.66-67). The company's share price as in the financial times is recorded as 876.50 being the last price. This represents an increase in the company's share price as compared to last one week by 2.2%. 876.50 being the last share price also represent a decrease in share price as compared to 3 months earlier. ... EQ = This represents the shareholder's equity and equity equivalents TC = This represents the total capital RRR = This is the required rate of return, usually cost of equity capital D = This represents debt capital K = This represents the cost of debt capital TR = This represents the tax rate Using the figures of the group company the British Associates Foods plc the shareholder's equity for the year 2005 = 3,696,000 This is at required rate of return of 12% The group's debt as at 17/09/05 was at the tune of 150,000,000. This debt was at a cost of 10% Therefore the weighted cost of capital can be computed as follows: - Total capital = Equity capital + debt Therefore Equity capital = 3,696,000,000 Debt = 150,000,000 Total capital = 3,746,000,000 Therefore WACC = 3,696,000,000 x 12% + 150,000,000 10% (1.28%) 3,746,000,000 3,746,000,000 Note: the tax rate = 28% WACC 0.118 + 0.02 WACC 0.138 = 13.8% Therefore the WACC = 13.8% The company's share price as in the financial times is recorded as 876.50 being the last price. This represents an increase in the company's share price as compared to last one week by 2.2%. 876.50 being the last share price also represent a decrease in share price as compared to 3 months earlier. At the earlier three months the share price was 5.4% higher than the current share price of 876.50. Six months ago, the company's share prices are recorded to have been 16.4% higher than 876.50. This represents a large fall in the company's share price. Upto these six months ago, the trend seems to be moving in the same direction as that of the sector. A difference in the trend of the company's share prices emerges when the comparison of the

Friday, February 7, 2020

Michel Foucault's Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Michel Foucault's Theories - Essay Example This is usually understood that people are dominate by big social groups and are unable to resist the power of institutions which control day-to-day lives. In the last ten years, the ideas of Foucault has been taken up and use not only by students, but also by professionals in numerous areas. Looking on the three major Foucault's themes in account of prison - power, subjectivity and surveillance - is vital to understanding ideas of Foucault. Foucault's works deal with discipline and instructions. He traces the workings of power at the micro-level and distinguishes his approach from studies of power that focus on the dominating role of the institutions. Foucault writes that it is necessary to cut off the king's head, to understand that power is not the property of the might, but rather the set of forces which establish positions and ways of behaving that influence people in everyday life (Grovier 2005). Foucault has distinguished his understanding of power by noting that there is no right and no wrong way of reasoning, and people are capable of making sense of the world through their own reasoning. However, the human understanding of the self and lives is always filtered though the ideas and institutions that constitute the society (Danaher 2000). Penal system is the s... Foucault devotes a lot of his writings to presenting the genealogy of the prison. IN particular, he writers about the changes in penal procedures in France in late 18th- early 19th centuries. The key change was the abandonment of the torture and public executions, the development of the incarcerating practices and regulating prisoners by practices of surveillance (Eribon 1991). Foucault relates these changes to the Enlightenment - the emerging philosophies based on humanistic virtues of reason and justice. Thus, the changes in prison system were the reflection of the idea that prisoners were aware of their failings. Thus, the old concept of power was replaced by the new physical power which Foucault associates with discipline. He offers two ways of understanding discipline - one tied to punishment, and the other to skills and knowledge. The second concept of discipline is like the set of qualities which humans need to master in order to be recognized and values within the particular field (Danaher 2000). If from the first perspective, discipline is negative, from the second perspective discipline is seen as the positive force tied with self-empowerment and achievement. Disciplinary power gives the person the space within the institution as well as the rank within the system. This ranking enables the institution to regulate the movement of people throughout the space as well as to regulate the progress they can make from one task to another. Foucault further notes that discipline was not simply imposed from above and people submitted themselves to be able to operate effectively in the social con ditions (McNay 1994). It is important to note that Foucault has collected the material

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Chrysalides Essay Example for Free

The Chrysalides Essay During the course of the novel The Chrysalids we learned and traveled into the minds of some of the characters. All of the characters had their strengths (as well as weaknesses) but one character in particular seemed to keep her cool and lead her group of friends with a power known as ESP (extra sensory perception) away from a place known as Waknuk where they would be hunted and killed werent it for the fact that they all looked like regular human beings. The name of the girl I speak of is Rosalind. She plays a very big part in the story even though most people dont pay much attention to the things she does, she in essence keeps the group together and keeps them alive because she is a determined, resourceful and self-reliant young woman. To start lets look at some of the characteristics that make Rosalind who she is. A large part of her personality revolves around her determination in everything she does in life. (this includes her love life, her motherly attitude, the safety of the group etc. ) Lets start with her love life. In the early stages after David and Sophie are separated because her deviation is discovered we find out that Rosalind and David start to like each other, we find this out more through David then Rosalind as David is mainly the one speaking in the novel and we know that they like each other because things like She was handsome, with a face you could not help watching; she was attractive, too, in the way she moved and carried herself, (93) and I loved the bronze-gold hair that felt like heavy silk in ones hand(p. 149) It is also stated in the book that they would ometimes go into the fields to meet with each other and keep a romantic relationship but they could not do so as often as they would have wanted to because their fathers did not quite like each other The feud between our families which had first come into the open over the matter of the great-horses had now been established for years. (98). In terms of her determination towards her motherly duties at the time (taking care of Petra) she was always making sure she was safe even if it meant taking her away from David emotionally. It also served as a relief to her having another female other than David that she could vent to. She was also determined to keep Petra calm when she was scared of what would happen to the group and try to get information out of her calmly when she contacted the people of Sealand. for example when she says Did you ask her the name of the place, darling? Rosalind inquired. and But it is, darling. You get them from her, then you show them to us only gently, so that we can read them. (136) She would say words like darling and keep calm and say things in an upbeat tone so that she would cooperate and tell them what they wanted to know. To finish off this topic of discussion I look toward the fact that Rosalind was always determined and ready to help the group when they needed it. She did various things throughout the book to show her determination to the group. These actions were very beneficial and helpful but may have gone unnoticed because she was always the one pulling the group together so we forget about the smaller things she did and usually just recall the big things. For example, some very important things she did that could have gone unnoticed during the course of the book include the fact that before David and Petra had to leave home because the group had been discovered, they had not packed very much for the journey as opposed to Rosalind who had everything set up and ready to go at a moments notice. This small detail in the plot could have made the difference between life and death for the 3 of them. I say this because if Rosalind did not have everything set up the way she did it might have taken too long to get the horses or they might have run out of food on the way and starved making them incapable of finishing their journey. In essence we can already see that Rosalind is a true leader and we can also see by the last example that she is a very resourceful young lady. She demonstrates this in many parts of the novel and every time she shows this trait it not only helps the group proceed in their journey but also advances the plot. To start if we look back to the novel we can see that in every case where a plan needed to be made or a task executed she would be at the front lines getting everything ready to ensure that everything went smoothly. This included events such as the escape from Waknuk which I have already mentioned AND also the route for the journey they would take to get into the Fringes. She would also make contact to Michael whenever she could to get a status report on the soldiers position Whats happening? I asked Michael. Was that your lot shooting? No. That was the other party. Theyre trying to draw the Fringes men across their way so that we can come in from the opposite side and take them in the rear. (173) During their travels the group would also meet up with some people they didnt particularly want to see. Rosalind being the resourceful quick thinker she is would quickly take care of them with whatever and however she could. Perhaps I was sleeping lightly, or it may have been just coincidence that I woke up to catch an anguished thought from Rosalind. Ive killed him, Michael. Hes quite dead . . . Then she slid off into a panicky, chaotic thought-shape. (103) This just goes to show that her resourcefulness and committed attitude strengthens her overall personality and she will go to great lengths and use as well as do whatever she has to do to keep the group safe, which truly displays her personality and the type determined resourceful kind of person she is. To conclude there is one more point that must be addressed that brings her personality all together. Rosalind never had anyone at home or in her family she could talk to. For the most part she had to grow and learn for herself. This is what gives her, her protective shield and bring her together as one of the strongest (if not the strongest) member of the group. In every aspect of her life that we know of in the novel she relied on herself and got things done for her well being as well as the well being of those she cared about, because she was incredibly self-reliant. She always took things into her own hands and would even scold or get away from people if things were being done wrong Do you mean to say thats all youve brought? she said disapprovingly. ( ) She also took an active role in being a parental figure for Petra even though she had no parenting experience. She would simply rely on what she knew from what she had learned from what she had done through her mistakes and accomplishments and apply it to her real world scenarios. And in doing so would also give her the capacity to apply a game plan to other scenarios in her life such as how to keep everyone quiet about the groups powers and how to avoid and escape dangerous situations. It could even be said that being alone helped her develop her mind faster and that her armour would keep her in her thoughts long enough to be able to make non-rash decisions which could have ultimately led to the groups overall victory in the end. In conclusion the aspects of Rosalinds personality let her strive in a community where she would not have been accepted.  Knowing this Rosalind trained herself in the 3 key personality traits I have discussed which allowed her to be able to carry herself and the group to a triumphant victory over the people of Waknuk and allowed her to finally be able to take off her armour She turned her head. The under-Rosalind was in her face, smiling, shiny-eyed. The armour was gone. She let me look beneath it. It was like a flower opening. (208)which was probably Rosalinds biggest accomplishment.