Review TOEFL iBT Prep Plus 2020-2021 (Kaplan)

Review TOEFL iBT Prep Plus 2020-2021 (Kaplan) Another year and another bad edition of TOEFL Prep Plus by Kaplan.There are four problems with this book every year. They are:It isnt updated very much.It needlessly complicates the test.The practice questions and sample are terribly inaccurate.The online resources are not as promisedIll deal with these one at a time.First of all, though this is the 2020-20201 edition of the book, it is pretty much the same as the 2008-2009 edition from11 years ago.The online content seems even older, and looks to be the same stuff that was on the CD-ROM of the 2007-2008 edition. The publisher has deleted the stuff that was dropped from the test this year, but everything else (the strategies and the samples) is almost entirely the same. The contents badly need to be replaced with new material, especially the samples which dont reflect what students get on the actual test. The samples were bad even when the book was first published, but now that a decade has passed, the errors are much less forgivable .Secondly, the book is way too complicated. The book includes69 strategies for mastering the reading section. I counted another 69 numbered strategies for the writing section (not to mention the fact that number 16 is broken down into 16A through 16E). Thats just too much crap. This aspect of the book needs be culled.Thirdly, and most importantly, the questions in the book are inaccurate. As always, thats the aspect I want to focus on most of all in this review. Lets get started.ReadingThe book starts out okay with a few decent samples of articles used in the reading section (pages 19, 25), but then pairs these with inaccurate sample questions. Instead of matching a question with a specific paragraph, students are required to read through the whole article looking for the paragraph that matches the given question. This becomes a major problem on page 32 when a NOT/EXCEPT style question refers to details that are actually spread out over three paragraphs. That means the student is ac tually required to use all three paragraphs to answer the question, rather than using just a single paragraph as on the real test. This is replicated on page 54 where students have to look through four long paragraphs to properly answer an inference question that would be specific to only a single paragraph on the real test.It should also be mentionedthat beyond the problems with question designs, most of the sample articles are somewhat weak overall. On pages 35, 51, 66 and 94 students are given articles that are generally longer than the real test, and with fewer paragraphs. This means that the paragraphs are really long, some stretching out to about 300 words. This bothers me as students really need to become familiar with hunting for answers in short but dense paragraphs.ListeningThis is probably the strongest section of the book. The conversations and lectures are about the same length as what is used on the real test. The delivery of the voice actors is somewhat monotone and l acks the natural quality of the actors on the real test, but thats a minor complaint. The questions themselves are not as accurate as the ones in the Official iBT Tests Collection, but they are pretty close. I might actually recommend this chapter to someone who needs a bit of extra practice and has already worked through everything in better books.SpeakingMostly bad here. The sample independent speaking questions on page 168 are all terrible. Instead of using proper agree/disagree or preference choices it just lists 15 yes/no questions. Kaplan should know by now that Do government workers need privacy? is not how a TOEFL speaking question is phrased.The book does have a decent type 2 speaking question on page 174 about parking on campus (a very common topic!) but quickly jumps into a terrible question on page 180 where the reading is ajob posting rather than an announcement of some change on campus.It then includes a completely wrong type 3 question which illustrates a concept usin g three examples, rather than 1 or 2 like on the real test (page 182/183).The chapter finishes with a massive type 4 question, which includes a lecture probably twice as long as what would be used on the real test.WritingThe integrated writing here is all bad as well. The authors of the book just dont understand how the reading and lecture are structured on the real test. On test day, students get a four paragraph reading that has an introduction followed by three body paragraphs, each of which includes a unique and specific point. That is followed by a lecture which begins with an introduction and challenges each of those three points in turn (and in the same order). I call this a mirror structure. If you look at the samples on pages 233 and 255 they are nothing like this. The sample on page 253 almost figures this out, but the listening fails to rebut the readings pointsin the right order.The section on independent writing is equally weak. It includes a bunch of opened-ended quest ions (268, 287, 288) that arent used on the real test. Itfails to include any multiple choice questions, which are used very often these days.The Online ResourcesThe above problems are also present in the online tests. In the reading section students again have to hunt around the whole article to answer many of the questions, instead of being told to focus on a single paragraph as on the real TOEFL. The articles again include freakishly long paragraphs that dont match the real test. Not only is this inaccurate, but it really messes up any chance students have of learning proper time management in this section.The listening content is okay, while the speaking and writing content is marred by the same sort of problems I identified above. The questions all have a superficial resemblance to the real test, but never quite achieve an acceptable level of accuracy. Notably, speaking Q3 in the first test asked me to explain the major differences between what was in the reading and the lectur e. Theres just no excuse for that.Just as frustrating is the clunkiness of the online test software. Users are unable to quickly skip ahead to desired sections. If you wish to study only writing? Too bad, you are going to have to sit through the reading, listening and speaking sections. This represents a step back from when Kaplan offered the same tests on CD.Speaking of taking a step back, it must be mentioned that the practice tests dont record student answers, so they cannot listen to what they said for review purposes. This functionality was provided 11 years ago when the same tests were provided on CD.I noticed also that Kaplan failed to record new instructions for the shortened speaking section, so the questions are now misnumbered. The same is true in the lectures provided online. Thats just laziness. In addition, the timers in the practice test are all wrong, and dont reset between questions in the speaking and writing sections. So, for example, if you only use 10 minutes to answer the first writing question youll have 40 minutes to answer the second writing question. This needs to be fixed.Finally, the cover of the book promises 4 Practice Tests (and an insert clarifies that they are all provided online) but there are only three tests provided. Last years edition had the same problem. I find that kind of sleazy.OverallDont get this book. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone. Kaplan needs to get serious about updating their material. They havent done a proper update since 2008. There are so many good resources they can use to study the design of the TOEFL that were not available when this material was first created. They need to take advantage of them.

Italian Verbs Conjugated Trasferire

Team Leadership, Team Building and Transactional Analysis...

Chandaria School of Business Masters in Business Administration Course: Leadership and Management of Change Code: BUS 6030 Semester: Fall 2011 TOPIC: TEAM LEADERSHIP, TEAM BUILDING AND TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS AS TOOLS OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE Group Member Adera P. Musyula Dominica G. Nkonge Lecturer: Prof Ciru Getecha Table of Contents 1.0 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................... 3 1.1 Importance of Organization Development ................................................................. 4 2.0 TEAM LEADERSHIP ......................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Team Leadership Model†¦show more content†¦Organizational Development can involve interventions in the organization s processes, using behavioral science knowledge as well as organizational reflection, system improvement, planning and self-analysis. Kurt Lewin (1898–1947) is widely recognized as the founding father of Organizational Development, although he died before the concept became current in the mid-1950s. After Lewin were the ideas of group dynamics and action research which underpin the basic Organizational Development process as well as providing its collaborative consultant/client ethos. 3 1.1 Importance of Organization Development Organizational development takes into consideration how the organization and its constituents or employees function together. Does the organization meet the needs of its employees? Do the employees work effectively to make the organization a success? How can the symbiotic relationship between employee satisfaction and organizational success be optimized? Organizational development places emphasis on the human factors and data inherent in the organization-employee relationship. Organizational development strategies can be used to help employees become more committed and more adaptable, which ultimately improves the organization as a whole. The Organizational Development process isShow MoreRelatedEssay on Cmi 50022550 Words   |  11 Pages1. Understanding the links and differences between management and leadership 1.1 Discuss the concept of leaders as effective managers Leadership and management go hand in hand but is not the same thing, but are linked and compliment each other. There has been debate about the difference between leadership and management. With some believing there is no distinction, while others that they should be separated in two defined roles. A common definition is: Management is about theRead MoreStrategic Leadership Practice Essay examples4171 Words   |  17 PagesStrategic Leadership Practice 1. The Relationship between Strategic Management and Leadership 1.1 Analyse the Concept of Managers as Effective Leaders To understand the relationship between strategic management and strategic leadership, it’s useful to define the terms management and leadership. These terms are used interchangeably and often with very little attention paid to the roles implied by them. Roles in management hierarchy are ‘Team Leader’ or ‘Supervisory’ positions and these positionsRead MoreA Coca-Cola Great Britain Case Study6080 Words   |  25 Pagesinterest.e.g. consultants in the NHS, or computer programmers or IT people who work on short-term contracts. 4.Task Culture In this type of culture structure team work has the priority.Is a team work project based in matrix structure.Here there is no single source of power is about individuals creativity to work together towards organisational goals.E.g. technology companies and management consultancies. P2-Based on the Scenario given,explain how the relationship between an organization*s structureRead MoreCIPD - 5DPP Essay3319 Words   |  14 Pagesthinking, and team working and conflict, political behaviour, ending with formal recommendations. The principal argument will look at the functionality of project management and the delicate balancing act of the different element that would bring a successful outcome or possibly result in failure. 1. Project Planning Definition: What is a project? A project is a programme of activities that have a beginning and end. Projects are generally used to instigate change, improvements orRead MoreTheories Of Leadership Using A Reflective Account2563 Words   |  11 Pagestheories of leadership using a reflective account. The author intends to discuss how the identified theories and/or models influence clinical practice in healthcare settings. Additionally, the essay will include discussions on the ways of measuring the effectiveness of these models. Finally, recommendations for the improvement of patient and staff experiences will be provided. The essay first defines leadership in general terms, and then focuses on leadership in the health care system. Leadership entailsRead MoreLeadership Assessment Of The Healthcare Setting2147 Words   |  9 Pages This essay aims to examine leadership in the healthcare setting. According to Weihrich and Koontz (2005), Sullivan and Garland (2010) leadership entails guiding others to realize, a particular goal using interpersonal skills. Therefore leadership is the art of influencing others to readily and actively endeavour towards meeting goals set by the team. As noted by Spector (2006), there is a shared theme that leadership entails influencing others individual belief systems, behaviours and feelingsRead MoreLeadership Assessment Of The Healthcare Setting2159 Words   |  9 PagesLEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE SETTINGS This essay aims to examine leadership in the healthcare setting. According to Weihrich and Koontz (2008), Sullivan and Garland (2010) leadership entails guiding others to realize, particular goals by using interpersonal skills. Therefore, leadership is the art of influencing others to readily and actively endeavour towards meeting goals set by the team. As noted by Spector (2006), there is a shared theme that leadership entails influencing others individual beliefRead MoreThe Theories Of Leadership Using A Reflective Account2350 Words   |  10 Pagestheories of leadership using a reflective account. The author intends to discuss how the identified theories and/or models influence clinical practice in healthcare settings. Additionally, the essay will include discussions on the ways of measuring the effectiveness of these models. Finally, recommendations on the improvement and patient and staff experiences are provided. The essay first defines leadership in general terms, and then f ocuses on leadership in the health care system. Leadership entailsRead MoreApplying Burke-Litwin Framework in Research11638 Words   |  47 PagesASSESSING ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS Authors: Nico Martins1 Melinde Coetzee1 Afï ¬  liations: 1 Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, South Africa Correspondence to: Nico Martins e-mail: martin@unisa.ac.za Postal address: Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, PO Box 392, UNISA, 0003, South Africa Keywords: Burke–Litwin model of organisational performance and change; organisational diagnosis; organisational effectiveness; transactional factors;Read MorePersonal Development as Strategic Manager18363 Words   |  74 PagesBTEC Edexcel Level 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership COURSE HANDBOOK October 2011 Intake TERM 1 CONTENTS EDSML 1. EDSML Course Structure ........................................................................................................................ 2 2. EDSML Regulations ................................................................................................................................ 2 3. Assessment Schedule .............................

Recovery System Dbms Free Essays

string(95) " on data item X j X j had value V 1 before the write, and will have value V 2 after the write\." 17. Recovery System in DBMS – Presentation Transcript 1. Chapter 17: Recovery System * Failure Classification * Storage Structure * Recovery and Atomicity * Log-Based Recovery * Shadow Paging * Recovery With Concurrent Transactions * Buffer Management * Failure with Loss of Nonvolatile Storage * Advanced Recovery Techniques * ARIES Recovery Algorithm * Remote Backup Systems 2. We will write a custom essay sample on Recovery System Dbms or any similar topic only for you Order Now Failure Classification * Transaction failure : * Logical errors : transaction cannot complete due to some internal error condition * System errors : the database system must terminate an active transaction due to an error condition (e. . , deadlock) * System crash : a power failure or other hardware or software failure causes the system to crash. * Fail-stop assumption : non-volatile storage contents are assumed to not be corrupted by system crash * Database systems have numerous integrity checks to prevent corruption of disk data * Disk failure : a head crash or similar disk failure destroys all or part of disk storage * Destruction is assumed to be detectable: disk drives use checksums to detect failures 3. Recovery Algorithms Recovery algorithms are techniques to ensure database consistency and transaction atomicity and durability despite failures * Focus of this chapter * Recovery algorithms have two parts * Actions taken during normal transaction processing to ensure enough inf ormation exists to recover from failures * Actions taken after a failure to recover the database contents to a state that ensures atomicity, consistency and durability 4. Storage Structure * Volatile storage : * does not survive system crashes * examples: main memory, cache memory * Nonvolatile storage : survives system crashes * examples: disk, tape, flash memory, non-volatile (battery backed up) RAM * Stable storage : * a mythical form of storage that survives all failures * approximated by maintaining multiple copies on distinct nonvolatile media 5. Stable-Storage Implementation * Maintain multiple copies of each block on separate disks * copies can be at remote sites to protect against disasters such as fire or flooding. * Failure during data transfer can still result in inconsistent copies: Block transfer can result in * Successful completion Partial failure: destination block has incorrect information * Total failure: destination block was never updated * Protecting storage me dia from failure during data transfer (one solution): * Execute output operation as follows (assuming two copies of each block): * Write the information onto the first physical block. * When the first write successfully completes, write the same information onto the second physical block. * The output is completed only after the second write successfully completes. 6. Stable-Storage Implementation (Cont. ) * Protecting storage media from failure during data transfer (cont. ): * Copies of a block may differ due to failure during output operation. To recover from failure: * First find inconsistent blocks: * Expensive solution : Compare the two copies of every disk block. * Better solution : * Record in-progress disk writes on non-volatile storage (Non-volatile RAM or special area of disk). * Use this information during recovery to find blocks that may be inconsistent, and only compare copies of these. Used in hardware RAID systems * If either copy of an inconsistent block is detected to have an error (bad checksum), overwrite it by the other copy. If both have no error, but are different, overwrite the second block by the first block. 7. Data Access * Physical blocks are those blocks residing on the disk. * Buffer blocks are the blocks residing temporarily in main memory. * Block movements between disk and main memory are initiated through the follo wing two operations: * input ( B ) transfers the physical block B to main memory. output ( B ) transfers the buffer block B to the disk, and replaces the appropriate physical block there. * Each transaction T i has its private work-area in which local copies of all data items accessed and updated by it are kept. * T i ‘s local copy of a data item X is called x i . * We assume, for simplicity, that each data item fits in, and is stored inside, a single block. 8. Data Access (Cont. ) * Transaction transfers data items between system buffer blocks and its private work-area using the following operations : * read ( X ) assigns the value of data item X to the local variable x i . write ( X ) assigns the value of local variable x i to data item { X } in the buffer block. * both these commands may necessitate the issue of an input (B X ) instruction before the assignment, if the block B X in which X resides is not already in memory. * Transactions * Perform read ( X ) while accessing X for the first time; * All subsequent accesses are to the local copy. * After last access, transaction executes write ( X ). * output ( B X ) need not immediately follow write ( X ). System can perform the output operation when it deems fit. 9. Example of Data Access x Y A B x 1 y 1 buffer Buffer Block A Buffer Block B input(A) output(B) read(X) write(Y) disk work area of T 1 work area of T 2 memory x 2 10. Recovery and Atomicity * Modifying the database without ensuring that the transaction will commit may leave the database in an inconsistent state. * Consider transaction T i that transfers $50 from account A to account B ; goal is either to perform all database modifications made by T i or none at all. Several output operations may be required for T i (to output A and B ). A failure may occur after one of these modifications have been made but before all of them are made. 11. Recovery and Atomicity (Cont. ) * To ensure atomicity despite failures, we first output information describing the modifications to stable storage without modifying the database itself. * We study two approaches: * log-based recovery , and * shadow-paging * We assume (initially) that tran sactions run serially, that is, one after the other. 12. Log-Based Recovery A log is kept on stable storage. * The log is a sequence of log records , and maintains a record of update activities on the database. * When transaction T i starts, it registers itself by writing a ;T i start ;log record * Before T i executes write ( X ), a log record ;T i , X, V 1 , V 2 ; is written, where V 1 is the value of X before the write, and V 2 is the value to be written to X . * Log record notes that T i has performed a write on data item X j X j had value V 1 before the write, and will have value V 2 after the write. You read "Recovery System Dbms" in category "Essay examples" When T i finishes it last statement, the log record ; T i commi t; is written. * We assume for now that log records are written directly to stable storage (that is, they are not buffered) * Two approaches using logs * Deferred database modification * Immediate database modification 13. Deferred Database Modification * The deferred database modification scheme records all modifications to the log, but defers all the write s to after partial commit. * Assume that transactions execute serially Transaction starts by writing ;T i start ; record to log. * A write ( X ) operation results in a log record ;T i , X, V; being written, where V is the new value for X * Note: old value is not needed for this scheme * The write is not performed on X at this time, but is deferred. * When T i partially commits, ; T i commit ; is written to the log * Finally, the log records are read and used to actually execute the previously deferred writes. 14. Deferred Database Modification (Cont. ) During recovery after a crash, a transaction needs to be redone if and only if both ;T i start ; and; T i commit ; are there in the log. * Redoing a transaction T i ( redo T i ) sets the value of all data items updated by the transaction to the new values. * Crashes can occur while * the transaction is executing the original updates, o r * while recovery action is being taken * example transactions T 0 and T 1 ( T 0 executes before T 1 ): * T 0 : read ( A ) T 1 : read ( C ) * A: – A – 50 C:- C- 100 Write ( A ) write ( C ) * read ( B ) * B:- B + 50 * write ( B ) 15. Deferred Database Modification (Cont. ) * Below we show the log as it appears at three instances of time. * If log on stable storage at time of crash is as in case: * (a) No redo actions need to be taken * (b) redo( T 0 ) must be performed since ; T 0 commi t; is present * (c) redo ( T 0 ) must be performed followed by redo( T 1 ) since * ; T 0 commit ; and ; T i commit; are present 16. Immediate Database Modification The immediate database modification scheme allows database updates of an uncommitted transaction to be made as the writes are issued * since undoing may be needed, update logs must have both old value and new value * Update log record must be written before database item is written * We assume that the log record is output di rectly to stable storage * Can be extended to postpone log record output, so long as prior to execution of an output ( B ) operation for a data block B, all log records corresponding to items B must be flushed to stable storage * Output of updated blocks can take place at any time before or after transaction commit * Order in which blocks are output can be different from the order in which they are written. 17. Immediate Database Modification Example * Log Write Output * ; T 0 start ; ; T 0 , A, 1000, 950; * T o , B, 2000, 2050 * A = 950 * B = 2050 * ; T 0 commit ; * ; T 1 start ; * ; T 1 , C, 700, 600; * C = 600 * B B , B C * ; T 1 commit ; * B A * Note: B X denotes block containing X . x 1 18. Immediate Database Modification (Cont. ) * Recovery procedure has two operations instead of one: * undo ( T i ) restores the value of all data items updated by T i to their old values, going backwards from the last log record for T i * redo ( T i ) sets the value of all data items updated by T i to the new values, going forward from the first log record for T i * Both operations must be idempotent That is, even if the operation is executed multiple times the effect is the same as if it is executed once * Needed since operations may get re-executed during recovery * When recovering after failure: * Transaction T i needs to be undone if the log contains the record ;T i start ; , but does not contain the record ;T i commit ; . * Transaction T i needs to be redone if the log contains both the record ;T i start ; and the record ;T i commit ; . * Undo operations are performed first, then redo operations. 19. Immediate DB Modification Recovery Example * Below we show the log as it appears at three instances of time. * Recovery actions in each case above are: * (a) undo ( T 0 ): B is restored to 2000 and A to 1000. (b) undo ( T 1 ) and redo ( T 0 ): C is restored to 700, and then A and B are * set to 950 and 2050 respectively. * (c) redo ( T 0 ) and redo ( T 1 ): A and B are s et to 950 and 2050 * respectively. Then C is set to 600 20. Checkpoints * Problems in recovery procedure as discussed earlier : * searching the entire log is time-consuming * we might unnecessarily redo transactions which have already * output their updates to the database. * Streamline recovery procedure by periodically performing checkpointing * Output all log records currently residing in main memory onto stable storage. * Output all modified buffer blocks to the disk. * Write a log record ; checkpoint ; onto stable storage. 1. Checkpoints (Cont. ) * During recovery we need to consider only the most recent transaction T i that started before the checkpoint, and transactions that started after T i . * Scan backwards from end of log to find the most recent ; checkpoint ; record * Continue scanning backwards till a record ;T i start ; is found. * Need only consider the part of log following above star t record. Earlier part of log can be ignored during recovery, and can be erased wh enever desired. * For all transactions (starting from T i or later) with no ;T i commit ; , execute undo ( T i ). (Done only in case of immediate modification. * Scanning forward in the log, for all transactions starting from T i or later with a ;T i commit ; , execute redo ( T i ). 22. Example of Checkpoints * T 1 can be ignored (updates already output to disk due to checkpoint) * T 2 and T 3 redone. * T 4 undone T c T f T 1 T 2 T 3 T 4 checkpoint system failure 23. Shadow Paging * Shadow paging is an alternative to log-based recovery; this scheme is useful if transactions execute serially * Idea: maintain two page tables during the lifetime of a transaction –the current page table , and the shadow page table * Store the shadow page table in nonvolatile storage, such that state of the database prior to transaction execution may be recovered. Shadow page table is never modified during execution * To start with, both the page tables are identical. Only current page table is us ed for data item accesses during execution of the transaction. * Whenever any page is about to be written for the first time * A copy of this page is made onto an unused page. * The current page table is then made to point to the copy * The update is performed on the copy 24. Sample Page Table 25. Example of Shadow Paging Shadow and current page tables after write to page 4 26. Shadow Paging (Cont. ) * To commit a transaction : * 1. Flush all modified pages in main memory to disk * 2. Output current page table to disk * 3. Make the current page table the new shadow page table, as follows: * keep a pointer to the shadow page table at a fixed (known) location on disk. * to make the current page table the new shadow page table, simply update the pointer to point to current page table on disk * Once pointer to shadow page table has been written, transaction is committed. * No recovery is needed after a crash — new transactions can start right away, using the shadow page table. * Pages not pointed to from current/shadow page table should be freed (garbage collected). 27. Show Paging (Cont. ) * Advantages of shadow-paging over log-based schemes * no overhead of writing log records * recovery is trivial * Disadvantages : * Copying the entire page table is very expensive Can be reduced by using a page table structured like a B + -tree * No need to copy entire tree, only need to copy paths in the tree that lead to updated leaf nodes * Commit overhead is high even with above extension * Need to flush ever y updated page, and page table * Data gets fragmented (related pages get separated on disk) * After every transaction completion, the database pages containing old versions of modified data need to be garbage collected * Hard to extend algorithm to allow transactions to run concurrently * Easier to extend log based schemes 28. Recovery With Concurrent Transactions * We modify the log-based recovery schemes to allow multiple transactions to execute concurrently. * All transactions share a single disk buffer and a single log * A buffer block can have data items updated by one or more transactions * We assume concurrency control using strict two-phase locking; * i. e. the updates of uncommitted transactions should not be visible to other transactions * Otherwise how to perform undo if T1 updates A, then T2 updates A and commits, and finally T1 has to abort? * Logging is done as described earlier. Log records of different transactions may be interspersed in the log. * The checkpointing technique and actions taken on recovery have to be changed * since several transactions may be active when a checkpoint is performed. 29. Recovery With Concurrent Transactions (Cont. ) * Checkpoints are performed as before, except that the checkpoint log record is now of the form ; checkpoint L ; where L is the list of transactions active at the time of the checkpoint * We assume no updates are in progress while the checkpoint is carried out (will relax this later) * When the system recovers from a crash, it first does the following: * Initialize undo-list and redo-list to empty Scan the log backwards from the end, stopping when the first ; checkpoint L ; record is found. For each record found during the backward scan: * if the record is ; T i commit ;, add T i to redo-list * if the record is ; T i start ;, then if T i is not in redo-list , add T i to undo-list * For every T i in L , if T i is not in redo-list , add T i to undo-list 30. Recovery With Concurrent Transactions (Cont. ) * At this point undo-list consists of incomplete transactions which must be undone, and redo-list consists of finished transactions that must be redone. * Recovery now continues as follows: Scan log backwards from most recent record, stopping when ; T i start ; records have been encountered for every T i in undo-list . * During the scan, perform undo for each log record that belongs to a transaction in undo-list . * Locate the most recent ; checkpoint L ; record. * Scan log forwards from the ; checkpoint L ; record till the end of the log. * During the scan, perform redo for each log record that belongs to a transaction on redo-list 31. Example of Recovery * Go over the steps of the recovery algorithm on the following log: * ; T 0 star t; * ; T 0 , A , 0, 10; * ; T 0 commit ; * ; T 1 start ; * ; T 1 , B , 0, 10; ; T 2 start ; /* Scan in Step 4 stops here */ * ; T 2 , C , 0, 10; * ; T 2 , C , 10, 20; * ;checkpoint { T 1 , T 2 }; * ; T 3 start ; * ; T 3 , A , 10, 20; * ; T 3 , D , 0, 10; * ; T 3 commit ; 32. Log Record Buffering * Log record buffering : log records are buffered in main memory, instead of of being output directly to stable storage. * Log records are output to stable storage when a block of log records in the buffer is full, or a log force operation is executed. * Log force is performed to commit a transaction by forcing all its log records (including the commit record) to stable storage. Several log records can thus be output using a single output operation, reducing the I/O cost. 33. Log Record Buffering (Cont. ) * The rules below must be followed if log records are buffered: * Log records are output to stable storage in the order in which they are created. * Transaction T i enters the commit state only when the log record ; T i commit ; has been output to stable storage. * Before a block of data in main memory is output to the database, all log records pertaining to data in that block must have been output to stable storage. * This rule is cal led the write-ahead logging or WAL rule * Strictly speaking WAL only requires undo information to be output 34. Database Buffering Database maintains an in-memory buffer of data blocks * When a new block is needed, if buffer is full an existing block needs to be removed from buffer * If the block chosen for removal has been updated, it must be output to disk * As a result of the write-ahead logging rule, if a block with uncommitted updates is output to disk, log records with undo information for the updates are output to the log on stable storage first. * No updates should be in progress on a block when it is output to disk. Can be ensured as follows. * Before writing a data item, transaction acquires exclusive lock on block containing the data item * Lock can be released once the write is completed. * Such locks held for short duration are called latches . Before a block is output to disk, the system acquires an exclusive latch on the block * Ensures no update can be in progress on the block 35. Buffer Management (Cont. ) * Database buffer can be implemented either * in an area of real main-memory reserved for the database, or * in virtual memory * Implementing buffer in reserved main-memory has drawbacks: * Memory is partitioned before-hand between database buffer and applications, limiting flexibility. * Needs may change, and although operating system knows best how memory should be divided up at any time, it cannot change the partitioning of memory. 36. Buffer Management (Cont. ) Database buffers are generally implemented in virtual memory in spite of some drawbacks: * When operating system needs to evict a page that has been modified, to make space for another page, the page is written to swap space on disk. * When database decides to write buffer page to disk, buffer page may be in swap space, and may have to be read from swap space on disk and output to the database on disk, resulting in extra I/O! * Known as dual paging problem. * Ideally when swapping out a database buffer page, operating system should pass control to database, which in turn outputs page to database instead of to swap space (making sure to output log records first) * Dual paging can thus be avoided, but common operating systems do not support such functionality. 37. Failure with Loss of Nonvolatile Storage So far we assumed no loss of non-volatile storage * Technique similar to checkpointing used to deal with loss of non-volatile storage * Periodically dump the entire content of the database to stable storage * No transaction may be active during the dump procedure; a procedure similar to checkpointing must take place * Output all log records currently residing in main memory onto stable storage. * Output all buffer blocks onto the disk. * Copy the contents of the database to stable storage. * Output a record ; dump ; to log on stable storage. * To recover from disk failure * restore database from most recent dump. Consult the log and redo all transactions that committed after the dump * Can be extended to allow transactions to be active during dump; known as fuzzy dump or online dump * Will study fuzzy checkpointing later 38. Advanced Recovery Algorithm 39. Advanced Recovery Techniques * Support high-concurrency locking techniques, such as those used for B + -tree concurrency control * Operations like B + -tree insertions and deletions release locks early. * They cannot be undone by restoring old values ( physical undo ), since once a lock is released, other transactions may have updated the B + -tree. * Instead, insertions (resp. eletions) are undone by executing a deletion (resp. insertion) operation (known as logical undo ). * For such operations, undo log records should contain the undo operation to be executed * called logical undo logging , in contrast to physical undo logging . * Redo information is logged physically (that is, new value for each write) even for such operations * Logical redo is very complicated since database state on disk may not be â€Å"operation consistent† 40. Advanced Recovery Techniques (Cont. ) * Operation logging is done as follows: * When operation starts, log ; T i , O j , operation-begin ;. Here O j is a unique identifier of the operation instance. While operation is executing, normal log records with physical redo and physical undo information are logged. * When operation completes, ; T i , O j , operation-end , U; is logged, where U contains information needed to perform a logical undo information. * If crash/rollback occurs before operation completes: * the operation-end log record is not found, and * the physical undo information is used to undo operation. * If crash/rollback occurs after the operation completes: * the operation-end log record is found, and in this case * logical undo is performed using U ; the physical undo information for the operation is ignored. Redo of operation (after crash) still uses physical redo information . 41. Advanced Recovery Techniques ( Cont. ) * Rollback of transaction T i is done as follows: * Scan the log backwards * If a log record ; T i , X, V 1 , V 2 ; is found, perform the undo and log a special redo-only log record ; T i , X, V 1 ;. * If a ; T i , O j , operation-end , U ; record is found * Rollback the operation logically using the undo information U . * Updates performed during roll back are logged just like during normal operation execution. * At the end of the operation rollback, instead of logging an operation-end record, generate a record * ; T i , O j , operation-abort ;. Skip all preceding log records for T i until the record ; T i , O j operation-begin ; is found 42. Advanced Recovery Techniques (Cont. ) * Scan the log backwards (cont. ): * If a redo-only record is found ignore it * If a ; T i , O j , operation-abort ; record is found: * skip all preceding log records for T i until the record ; T i , O j , operation-begi n; is found. * Stop the scan when the record ; T i , start; is found * Add a ; T i , abort ; record to the log * Some points to note: * Cases 3 and 4 above can occur only if the database crashes while a transaction is being rolled back. Skipping of log records as in case 4 is important to prevent multiple rollback of the same operation. 43. Advanced Recovery Techniques(Cont,) * The following actions are taken when recovering from system crash * Scan log forward from last ; checkpoint L ; record * Repeat history by physically redoing all updates of all transactions, * Create an undo-list during the scan as follows * undo-list is set to L initially * Whenever ; T i start ; is found T i is added to undo-list * Whenever ; T i commit ; or ; T i abort ; is found, T i is deleted from undo-list * This brings database to state as of crash, with committed as well as uncommitted transactions having been redone. Now undo-list contains transactions that are incomplete , that is, have neither committed nor been fully rolled back. 44. Advanced Recovery Techniques (Cont. ) * Recovery from system crash (cont. ) * Scan log backwards, performing undo on log records of transactions found in undo-list . * Transactions are rolled back as described earlier. * When ; T i start ; is found for a transaction T i in undo-list , write a ; T i abort ; log record. * Stop scan when ; T i start ; records have been found for all T i in undo-list * This undoes the effects of incomplete transactions (those with neither commit nor abort log records). Recovery is now complete. 45. Advanced Recovery Techniques (Cont. ) * Checkpointing is done as follows: Output all log records in memory to stable storage * Output to disk all modified buffer blocks * Output to log on stable storage a ; checkpoint L ; record. * Transactions are not allowed to perform any actions while checkpointing is in progress. * Fuzzy checkpointing allows transactions to progress while the most time consuming parts of checkpointing are in progress * Performed as described on next slide 46. Advanced Recover y Techniques (Cont. ) * Fuzzy checkpointing is done as follows: * Temporarily stop all updates by transactions * Write a ; checkpoint L ; log record and force log to stable storage * Note list M of modified buffer blocks Now permit transactions to proceed with their actions * Output to disk all modified buffer blocks in list M * blocks should not be updated while being output * Follow WAL: all log records pertaining to a block must be output before the block is output * Store a pointer to the checkpoint record in a fixed position last _ checkpoint on disk * When recovering using a fuzzy checkpoint, start scan from the checkpoint record pointed to by last _ checkpoint * Log records before last _ checkpoint have their updates reflected in database on disk, and need not be redone. * Incomplete checkpoints, where system had crashed while performing checkpoint, are handled safely 47. ARIES Recovery Algorithm 48. ARIES * ARIES is a state of the art recovery method * Incorporates numerous optimizations to reduce overheads during normal processing and to speed up recovery * The â€Å"advanced recovery algorithm† we studied earlier is modeled after ARIES, but greatly simplified by removing optimizations * Unlike the advanced recovery lgorithm, ARIES * Uses log sequence number (LSN) to identify log records * Stores LSNs in pages to identify what updates have already been applied to a database page * Physiological redo * Dirty page table to avoid unnecessary redos during recovery * Fuzzy checkpointing that only records information about dirty pages, and does not require dirty pages to be written out at checkpoint time * More coming up on each of the above †¦ 49. ARIES Optimizations * Physiological redo * Affected page is physically identified, action within page can be logical * Used to reduce logging overheads * e. g. hen a record is deleted and all other records have to be moved to fill hole * Physiological redo can log just the record deletion * Physical r edo would require logging of old and new values for much of the page * Requires page to be output to disk atomically * Easy to achieve with hardware RAID, also supported by some disk systems * Incomplete page output can be detected by checksum techniques, * But extra actions are required for recovery * Treated as a media failure 50. ARIES Data Structures * Log sequence number (LSN) identifies each log record * Must be sequentially increasing * Typically an offset from beginning of log file to allow fast access * Easily extended to handle multiple log files Each page contains a PageLSN which is the LSN of the last log record whose effects are reflected on the page * To update a page: * X-latch the pag, and write the log record * Update the page * Record the LSN of the log record in PageLSN * Unlock page * Page flush to disk S-latches page * Thus page state on disk is operation consistent * Required to support physiological redo * PageLSN is used during recovery to prevent repeated re do * Thus ensuring idempotence 51. ARIES Data Structures (Cont. ) * Each log record contains LSN of previous log record of the same transaction * LSN in log record may be implicit Special redo-only log record called compensation log record (CLR) used to log actions taken during recovery that never need to be undone * Also serve the role of operation-abort log records used in advanced recovery algorithm * Have a field UndoNextLSN to note next (earlier) record to be undone * Records in between would have already been undone * Required to avoid repeated undo of already undone actions LSN TransId PrevLSN RedoInfo UndoInfo LSN TransID UndoNextLSN RedoInfo 52. ARIES Data Structures (Cont. ) * DirtyPageTable * List of pages in the buffer that have been updated * Contains, for each such page * PageLSN of the page RecLSN is an LSN such that log records before this LSN have already been applied to the page version on disk * Set to current end of log when a page is inserted into dirty page tab le (just before being updated) * Recorded in checkpoints, helps to minimize redo work * Checkpoint log record * Contains: * DirtyPageTable and list of active transactions * For each active transaction, LastLSN, the LSN of the last log record written by the transaction * Fixed position on disk notes LSN of last completed checkpoint log record 53. ARIES Recovery Algorithm * ARIES recovery involves three passes * Analysis pass : Determines Which transactions to undo * Which pages were dirty (disk version not up to date) at time of crash * RedoLSN : LSN from which redo should start * Redo pass : * Repeats history, redoing all actions from RedoLSN * RecLSN and PageLSNs are used to avoid redoing actions already reflected on page * Undo pass : * Rolls back all incomplete transactions * Transactions whose abort was complete earlier are not undone * Key idea: no need to undo these transactions: earlier undo actions were logged, and are redone as required 54. ARIES Recovery: Analysis * Analys is pass * Starts from last complete checkpoint log record Reads in DirtyPageTable from log record * Sets RedoLSN = min of RecLSNs of all pages in DirtyPageTable * In case no pages are dirty, RedoLSN = checkpoint record’s LSN * Sets undo-list = list of transactions in checkpoint log record * Reads LSN of last log record for each transaction in undo-list from checkpoint log record * Scans forward from checkpoint * .. On next page †¦ 55. ARIES Recovery: Analysis (Cont. ) * Analysis pass (cont. ) * Scans forward from checkpoint * If any log record found for transaction not in undo-list, adds transaction to undo-list * Whenever an update log record is found If page is not in DirtyPageTable, it is added with RecLSN set to LSN of the update log record * If transaction end log record found, delete transaction from undo-list * Keeps track of last log record for each transaction in undo-list * May be needed for later undo * At end of analysis pass: * RedoLSN determines where to st art redo pass * RecLSN for each page in DirtyPageTable used to minimize redo work * All transactions in undo-list need to be rolled back 56. ARIES Redo Pass * Redo Pass: Repeats history by replaying every action not already reflected in the page on disk, as follows: * Scans forward from RedoLSN. Whenever an update log record is found: * If the page is not in DirtyPageTable or the LSN of the log record is less than the RecLSN of the page in DirtyPageTable, then skip the log record * Otherwise fetch the page from disk. If the PageLSN of the page fetched from disk is less than the LSN of the log record, redo the log record * NOTE: if either test is negative the effects of the log record have already appeared on the page. First test avoids even fetching the page from disk! 57. ARIES Undo Actions * When an undo is performed for an update log record * Generate a CLR containing the undo action performed (actions performed during undo are logged physicaly or physiologically). * CLR for record n noted as n ’ in figure below * Set UndoNextLSN of the CLR to the PrevLSN value of the update log record * Arrows indicate UndoNextLSN value * ARIES supports partial rollback * Used e. g. o handle deadlocks by rolling back just enough to release reqd. locks * Figure indicates forward actions after partial rollbacks * records 3 and 4 initially, later 5 and 6, then full rollback 1 2 3 4 4†² 3†² 5 6 5†² 2†² 1†² 6†² 58. ARIES: Undo Pass * Undo pass * Performs backward scan on log un doing all transaction in undo-list * Backward scan optimized by skipping unneeded log records as follows: * Next LSN to be undone for each transaction set to LSN of last log record for transaction found by analysis pass. * At each step pick largest of these LSNs to undo, skip back to it and undo it * After undoing a log record For ordinary log records, set next LSN to be undone for transaction to PrevLSN noted in the log record * For compensation log records (CLRs) set next LSN to be undo to UndoNextLSN noted in the log record * All intervening records are skipped since they would have been undo already * Undos performed as described earlier 59. Other ARIES Features * Recovery Independence * Pages can be recovered independently of others * E. g. if some disk pages fail they can be recovered from a backup while other pages are being used * Savepoints: * Transactions can record savepoints and roll back to a savepoint * Useful for complex transactions Also used to rollback just enough to release locks on deadlock 60. Other ARIES Features (Cont. ) * Fine-grained locking: * Index concurrency algorithms that permit tuple level locking on indices can be used * These require logical undo, rather than physical undo, as in advanced recovery algorithm * Recovery optimizations: For example: * Dirty page table can be used to prefetch pages during redo * Out of order redo is possible: * redo can be postponed on a page being fetched from disk, and performed when page is fetched. * Meanwhile other log records can continue to be processed 61. Remote Backup Systems 62. Remote Backup Systems Remote backup systems provide high availability by allowing transaction processing to continue even if the primary site is destroyed. 63. Remote Backup Systems (Cont. ) * Detection of failure : Backup site must detect when primary site has failed * to distinguish primary site failure from link failure maintain several communication links between the primary and the remote backup. * Transfer of control : * To take over control backup site first perform recovery using its copy of the database and all the long records it has received from the primary. * Thus, completed transactions are redone and incomplete transactions are rolled back. When the backup site takes over processing it becomes the new primary * To transfer control back to old primary when it recovers, old primary must receive redo logs from the old backup and apply all updates locally. 64. Remote Backup Systems (Cont. ) * Time to recover : To reduce delay in takeover, backup site periodically proceses the redo log records (in effect, performing recovery from previous database state), performs a checkpoint, and can then delete earlier parts of the log. * Hot-Spare configuration permits very fast takeover: * Backup continually processes redo log record as they arrive, applying the updates locally. When failure of the primary is detected the backup rolls back incomplete transactions, and is ready to process new transactions. * Alternative to remote backup: distributed database with replicated data * Remote backup is faster and cheaper, but less tolerant to failure * more on this in Chapter 19 65. Remote Backup Systems (Cont. ) * Ensure durability of updates by delaying transaction commit until update is logged at backup; avoid this delay by permitting lower degrees of durability. * One-safe: commit as soon as transaction’s commit log record is written at primary * Problem: updates may not arrive at backup before it takes over. Two-very-safe: commit when transaction’s commit log record is written at primary and backup * Reduces availability since transactions cannot commit if either site fails. * Two-safe: proceed as in two-very-safe if both primary and backup are active. If only the primary is active, the transaction commits as soon as is commit log record is written at the primary. * Better availability than two-very-safe; avoids problem of lost transactions in one-safe. 66. End of Chapter 67. Block Storage Operations 68. Portion of the Database Log Corresponding to T 0 and T 1 69. State of the Log and Database Corresponding to T 0 and T 1 70. Portion of the System Log Corresponding to T 0 and T 1 71. State of System Log and Database Corresponding to T 0 and T 1 How to cite Recovery System Dbms, Essay examples

Pop Music Essay Example

Pop Music Essay Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of popular) is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple love songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and later rock style. [citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 Definitions 2 Origin of the term Influences and development 4 Characteristics 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Bibliography 8 External links [edit] Definitions Hatch and Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz and folk musics. [1] Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the singles charts it is not the sum of all chart music, which has always contained songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs, while pop music as a genre is usually seen as existing and developing separately. 2] Thus pop music may be used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. [3] [edit] Origin of the term The term pop song, is first recorded as being used in 1926 in the sense of a piece of music having popular appeal. [4] Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. [5] We will write a custom essay sample on Pop Music specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pop Music specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pop Music specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer According to Grove Music Online, the term pop music originated in Britain in the mid-1950s as a description for Rock and roll and the new youth music styles that it influenced . [6] The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience [,] since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the special meaning of non-classical mus[ic], usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, ABBA, etc. [7] Grove Music Online also states that n the early 1960s [the term] ‘pop music’ competed terminologically with Beat music [in England], while in the USA its coverage overlapped (as it still does) with that of ‘rock and roll’. [6] Chambers Dictionary mentions the contemporary usage of the term pop art;[8] Grove Music Online states that the term pop music seems to have been a spin-off from the terms pop art and pop culture, coined slightly earlier, and referring to a whole range of new, often American, media-culture products. [6] From about 1967 the term was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, a division that gave generic significance to both terms. [9] Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of popular music,[9] pop was more commercial, ephemeral and accessible. [10] According to Simon Frith pop music is produced as a matter of enterprise not art, is designed to appeal to everyone and doesnt come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers and concert promoters) rather than being made from below Pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. [11] [edit] Influences and development Technological developments played an important role in the dissemination of pop music, particularly the 7-inch 45 rpm record (right) and the Compact Disc (above). The 12-inch 33 rpm record (left) was more associated with rock albums than with pop music. [citation needed]Throughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from most other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on the sentimental ballad for its form, gained its use of vocal harmonies from gospel and soul music, instrumentation from jazz, country, and rock music, orchestration from classical music, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music, rhythmic elements from hip-hop music, and has recently appropriated spoken passages from rap. [3] It has also made use of technological innovation. In the 1940s improved microphone design allowed a more intimate singing style[12] and ten or twenty years later inexpensive and more durable 45 r. p. m. ecords for singles revolutionized the manner in which pop has been disseminated and helped to move pop music to ‘a record/radio/film star system’. [12] Another technological change was the widespread availability of television in the 1950s; with televised performances, pop stars had to have a visual presence. [12] In the 1960s, the introduction of inexpensive, portable transistor radios meant that teenagers could l isten to music outside of the home. [12] Multi-track recording (from the 1960s); and digital sampling (from the 1980s) have also been utilized as methods for the creation and elaboration of pop music. 3] By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of Music Television channels like MTV, which favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince who had a strong visual appeal. [12] Pop music has been dominated by the American and (from the mid-1960s) British music industries, whose influence has made pop music something of an international monoculture, but most regions and countries have their own form of pop music, sometimes producing local versions of wider trends, and lending them local characteristics. 13] Some of these trends (for example Europop) have had a significant impact of the development of the genre. [3] According to Grove Music Online, Western-derived pop styles, whether coexisting with or marginalizing distinctively local genres, have spread throughout th e world and have come to constitute stylistic common denominators in global commercial music cultures. 14] Some non-Western countries, such as Japan, have developed a thriving pop music industry, most of which is devoted to Western-style pop, has for several years has produced a greater quantity of music of everywhere except the USA. [14] The spread of Western-style pop music has been interpreted variously as representing processes of Americanization, homogenization, modernization, creative appropriation, cultural imperialism, and/or a more general process of globalization. [14] [edit] Characteristics Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre: n aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology[3] an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal artistic qualities[3] an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live performance[10] a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments[10] much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms[10] The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and a simple tradi tional structure. [15] Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form, with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks, and a chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse. [16] The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. [17] The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions. [3] Harmony in pop music is often that of classical European tonality, only more simple-minded. [18] Cliches include the barbershop harmony (i. e. moving from a secondary dominant harmony to a dominant harmony, and then to the tonic) and blues scale-influenced harmony. [19] The influence of the circle-of-fifths paradigm has declined since the mid-1950s. The harmonic languages of rock and soul have moved away from the all-encompassing influence of the dominant function. There are other tendencies (perhaps also traceable to the use of a guitar as a composing instrument) – pedal-point harmonies, root motion by diatonic step, modal harmonic and melodic organization – that point away from functional

Juxtapositions for Creative and Critical Thinking Essays

Juxtapositions for Creative and Critical Thinking Essays Juxtapositions for Creative and Critical Thinking Essay Juxtapositions for Creative and Critical Thinking Essay Essay Topic: Critical Thinking Juxtapositions for Creative and Critical Thinking On September 20, 2012 I attended the Core Convocation held at St. Catherine University in the O’ Shaughnessy Theater. The topic of the Core Convocation was entitled Juxtapositions and Mental Gymnastics, instructed by Geri Chavis. Chavis is an English Professor at the University of St. Catherine. She has been teaching at the university for some thirty five years or so. She is involved in therapeutic use of poetry for healing. She exclaimed her love for literature of the Romantic period and her fascination of multidisciplinary or integrated education. Chavis refers to her approach to education as â€Å"horizontal interactions†. This Idea of â€Å"horizontal interactions† basically describes what she calls the juxtaposition, where two or more completely opposite ideas, subjects, media, excreta can be linked somehow. In education this linking becomes important. I think it helps the students actually learn verses just memorizing material in order to pass a test. When subjects are presented in a manor so that they can be linked it creates not only repetition but also a new light in which to view things, like that â€Å"ah ha moment† in which one truly understands something for the first time. Last semester I attended the University of Minnesota Rochester. There, they pride their college courses on being integrated. All my classes from Calculus, to Biology, to The History of Terrorism could be linked in one way or another. I found this concept that Chavis also described as â€Å"linking knowledge across fields† to be extremely useful based on my own experiences. I am very good at memorizing material. I typically get good grades in school, but I feel that in the past I have actually â€Å"learned† very little. If I had to retake some of the tests I aced then I would fail miserably. I found that I actually â€Å"learned† more last semester; I was able to make that linkage and apply it to my studies to which I actually understood the material. I found that I have carried that ability to link my courses into my first semester at St. Catherine’s and it has greatly improved my ability to understand subject material, to be able to produce well educated opinions and to allow my thinking to be both creative and critical. Chavis discusses how spontaneity or creative thinking and ogic or critical thinking goes hand and hand. She used a visual of overlapping circles to show how the subjects can be linked and promote creativity with language. Chavis challenges the viewers to write about their shoes. I had fun describing the color, texture, design and comfort of my shoes. She then adds more criteria, telling us to talk about where our shoes have taken us. I loved this writing. I usually h ave difficult time thinking about what to write but I found that literally describing my shoe led to giving it personality. Once my shoe had personality my writing turned into a story of a journey through the perspective of my shoes. Everyone knows shoes don’t think or have feelings, but they do all have a story and it was fun to dive into what that story might be. Chavis then read a poem called Poison Tree by William Blake. The poem describes anger as though it was a tree. The author water his tree with more built up anger until it grows with in him until it becomes self-destructive. She then played a song that was inspired by the poem she had just read bringing new light onto the meaning of the poem. I found it interesting how I was able to connect with the meaning of the poem more through the musical version verses the poem. I think many people can relate to this poem. We are often more likely to express our emotions with those we love. Getting issues off our chest, so to speak, allows us to move on. But deep rooted anger that is not released only grows until it becomes self-destructive or explosive into something far darker than the issue itself. I enjoyed the Core Convocation. I don’t think I realized the â€Å"links† between the topic and my life until I put my thoughts into this reflection paper. I would have liked to have driven deeper into some of the topics Chavis was discussing. I felt we only scratched the surface of many ideas. Once one is able to make connections between multiple ideas it was kind of fun to try and find more. Although, I still find expressing my thoughts through writing Chavis’s exercises helped me to allow creativity to flow, especially the shoe exercise. I wish I had someone there to help me do that all the time. Writing would be much more fun and less of a chore for me.

GPA, SAT, and ACT Admissions Data for the Ivy League

GPA, SAT, and ACT Admissions Data for the Ivy League The eight Ivy League schools are among the most selective colleges in the country. This doesnt mean that you need a 4.0 GPA and 1600 on the SAT to get in (although it doesnt hurt). All the Ivy League schools have holistic admissions, so they are looking for students who will contribute more than good grades and test scores to the campus community. A winning Ivy League application needs to present a strong academic record, meaningful extracurricular activities, glowing letters of recommendation, and a compelling application essay. Your college interview and demonstrated interest may also help, and legacy status can give you an advantage. When it comes to the empirical part of your application, you will need good grades and standardized test scores to get accepted to an Ivy League school. All of the Ivies accept both the ACT and SAT, so choose the exam that works best for you. But how high do your grades and test scores need to be? Follow the links below to learn more about each Ivy League school, and to see admissions data for accepted, rejected, and waitlisted applicants: Brown University Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown is the second smallest of the Ivies, and the school has more of an undergraduate focus than universities such as Harvard and Yale. Their acceptance rate is only 9 percent. The great majority of students who get into Brown University have a nearly perfect 4.0 GPA, an ACT composite score above 25, and a combined SAT score (RWM) of above 1200. Columbia University Located in Upper Manhattan, Columbia University can be an excellent choice for students looking for an urban college experience. Columbia is also one of the largest of the Ivies, and it has a close relationship with neighboring Barnard College. It has a very low acceptance rate of around 7 percent. Students accepted at Columbia have GPAs in the A range, SAT scores (RWM) above 1200, and ACT composite scores above 25. Cornell University Cornells hillside location in Ithaca, New York, gives it stunning views of Cayuga Lake. The university has one of the top engineering and top hotel management programs in the country. It also has the largest undergraduate populations of all the Ivy League schools. It has an acceptance rate of about 15 percent. Most students accepted at Cornell have a GPA in the A range,  Ã‚  SAT scores (RWM) above 1200 and ACT composite scores above 25. Dartmouth College If you want a quintessential college town with its central green, nice restaurants, cafà ©s, and bookstores, Dartmouths home of Hanover, New Hampshire, should be appealing. Dartmouth is the smallest of the Ivies, but dont be fooled by its name: it is a comprehensive university, not a college. Dartmouth has a low acceptance rate of 11 percent. To be accepted, students tend to have A averages, an ACT composite score above 25, and a combined SAT score (RWM) of above 1250.   Harvard University Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with dozens of other colleges and universities nearby, Harvard University is the most selective of the Ivy League Schools as well as the most selective university in the country. Its acceptance rate is just 5 percent. For the best chance of acceptance, you should have an A average, SAT scores (RWM) over 1300, and ACT composite scores above 28. Princeton University Princetons campus in New Jersey makes both New York City and Philadelphia an easy day trip. Like Dartmouth, Princeton is on the smaller side and has more of an undergraduate focus than many of the Ivies. Princeton accepts only 7 percent of applicants. To be accepted, you should have a GPA of 4.0, SAT scores (RWM) above 1250, and ACT composite scores above 25. University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania is one of the larger Ivy League schools, and it has a roughly equal population of undergraduate and graduate students. Its campus in West Philadelphia is just a short walk to Center City. Penns Wharton School is one of the top business schools in the country. They accept about 10 percent of applicants. To be accepted, you should have a GPA of 3.7 or higher,  a combined SAT score (RWM) of over 1200, and an ACT composite of 24 or higher. Yale University Yale is close to Harvard and Stanford with its painfully low acceptance rate. Located in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale also has an even larger endowment than Harvard when measured in relation to enrollment numbers. Yales acceptance rate is just 7 percent. For the best chance of acceptance, you need a 4.0 GPA, SAT score (RWM) above 1250, and an ACT composite score above 25. A Final Word All of the Ivies are highly selective, and you should always consider them to be reach schools as you come up with your short list of schools to which you will apply. Thousands of extremely well-qualified applicants are rejected by the Ivies every year.