The Golden Lily Chapter 3

EVEN THOUGH EDDIE had told me not to worry about Angeline, the curious part of me couldn't help but prod him about it on the drive over to Adrian's apartment. â€Å"How are you going to handle it?† I asked. â€Å"Have a heart-to-heart?† He shook his head. â€Å"Mostly I was going to simply avoid her unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully she'll lose interest.† â€Å"Well. I guess that's one method. But, I mean, you're a pretty direct person.† If faced with a roomful of Strigoi, he would've walked in without hesitation. â€Å"Maybe you should try that kind of approach instead. Just confront her and tell her honestly that you're not interested.† â€Å"That's easy in theory,† he said. â€Å"Not so much in person.† â€Å"Seems easy to me.† Eddie was skeptical. â€Å"That's because you've never had to do it.† Going to Adrian's was a lot easier than it once had been for me. His apartment used to belong to Keith and was also the site where a Moroi named Lee and two Strigoi had died. Those were hard memories to shake. The Alchemists had offered the apartment to me, since I'd also taken on full responsibility for Palm Springs, but I'd yielded it to Adrian. I hadn't been sure I wanted to live there, and he'd been pretty desperate for his own place. When I'd seen how happy the apartment made him, I knew I'd made the right choice. Adrian opened the door before we'd barely had a chance to knock. â€Å"The cavalry! Thank God.† I hid a smile as Eddie and I stepped inside. The first thing that always hit me about this place was the sunny yellow paint Adrian had put up on the walls. He was convinced it helped the mood and had warned us not to question his â€Å"artistic sensibilities.† The fact that the yellow clashed pretty terribly with his secondhand plaid furniture was apparently irrelevant. Or maybe I just wasn't â€Å"artistic† enough to appreciate it. Nonetheless, I actually found the erratic style comforting. It bore little resemblance to Keith's decorating, making it a little easier to blot out the events of that awful night. Sometimes, when I looked around the living room, my breath would catch as visions of the vicious Strigoi attack and Lee's death haunted me. Adrian's stamp on the apartment was like light chasing away the gruesome shadows of the past. Sometimes when I was down, Adrian's personality had a similar effect. â€Å"Nice blouse, Sage,† he told me, deadpan. â€Å"It really brings out the khaki in your pants.† His sarcasm aside, he looked supremely delighted to see us. He had the tall, lean build that most Moroi guys did, along with their typically pale (though not Strigoi-pale) skin. I hated to admit it, but he was more good-looking than he had any right to be. He wore his dark brown hair stylishly messy and had eyes that sometimes seemed too green to be real. Adrian had on one of those button-up printed shirts that were trendy with guys lately, with a blue pattern on it I liked. He smelled like he'd been smoking recently, which I didn't like. Dimitri and Sonya were sitting at the kitchen table going over a bunch of papers with hand-written notes on them. The papers were kind of haphazardly scattered around, which made me wonder how much work they could really be accomplishing. I would have had those pages neatly stacked and organized by topic. â€Å"Glad you're back, Sydney,† said Sonya. â€Å"I've needed a little female support here.† The prettiness of her red hair and high cheek bones was tainted by the fact that she showed her fangs when she smiled. Most Moroi were taught early to avoid that, to prevent detection from humans. Sonya had no qualms about doing it in private. It still bugged me. Dimitri smiled at me. It made his already handsome face even more so, and I knew that â€Å"Zen master wisdom† wasn't the reason Rose had fallen for him. â€Å"I'm guessing you didn't take a nap.† â€Å"Too much to do,† I said. Sonya gave Eddie a curious look. â€Å"We've been wondering where you were.† â€Å"Busy at Amberwood,† said Eddie vaguely. He'd mentioned in the car that it might be best if Angeline's indiscretion and his forced shopping weren't mentioned. â€Å"You know, keeping an eye on Jill and Angeline. Besides, I was waiting until Sydney came back since she wanted to see what we were doing.† I let the white lie slide. â€Å"How is Angeline?† asked Dimitri. â€Å"Is she improving?† Eddie and I exchanged glances. So much for avoiding her indiscretions. â€Å"Improving how exactly?† I asked. â€Å"In combat, in following the dress code, or in keeping her hands to herself?† â€Å"Or in turning off caps-lock?† added Eddie. â€Å"You noticed that too?† I asked. â€Å"Hard not to,† he said. Dimitri looked surprised, which was not a common thing. He wasn't caught off guard very often, but then, no one could really prepare for what Angeline might do. â€Å"I didn't realize I needed to be more specific,† said Dimitri after a pause. â€Å"I meant combat.† Eddie shrugged. â€Å"There's a little improvement, but it's hard to get through to her. I mean, she's absolutely dead set on protecting Jill, but she's also convinced she already knows how. She's got years of that sloppy training drilled into her. It's hard to break that. Plus, she's†¦ easily distracted.† I had to swallow a laugh. Dimitri still looked troubled. â€Å"She has no time for distraction. Maybe I should talk to her.† â€Å"No,† said Eddie firmly, in a rare show of contradicting Dimitri. â€Å"You've got plenty to do here. She's my responsibility to train. Don't worry.† Adrian pulled up a chair, turning it backwards so he could rest his chin on its back. â€Å"What about you, Sage? I know we don't have to worry about you violating the dress code. Did you have fun at your Alchemist spa this weekend?† I set down my bag and walked over to the refrigerator. â€Å"If by spa, you mean underground bunker. And it was just business.† I made a face as I looked inside. â€Å"You promised to get me diet pop.† â€Å"I did promise that,† said Adrian, no remorse whatsoever. â€Å"But then I read some article that said those artificial sweeteners aren't good for you. So, I figured I'd watch out for your health.† He paused. â€Å"You're welcome.† Dimitri said what we were all thinking. â€Å"If you want to start tackling healthy habits, I could suggest a few.† If Eddie or I had said that, it would have rolled right off Adrian – particularly since it was completely valid. But coming from Dimitri? That was different. There was a huge amount of tension between the two men, tension that had been building for a long time. Dimitri's girlfriend, a notorious dhampir named Rose Hathaway, had briefly dated Adrian. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but she'd been in love with Dimitri the whole time. So, there was no way that situation could have ended well. Adrian still carried a lot of scars from that and was particularly bitter toward Dimitri. â€Å"Wouldn't want to inconvenience you,† said Adrian, a bit too coolly. â€Å"Besides, when not hard at work with this research, I'm actually conducting a side experiment on how cigarettes and gin increase charisma. As you might guess, the results are looking very promising.† Dimitri arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Wait, go back. Did you say hard at work?† Dimitri's tone was light and playful, and again, I was struck by the double standard here. If I'd made that comment, Adrian's response would've been something like, â€Å"Absolutely, Sage. I'll probably win the Nobel Prize for this.† But for Adrian, Dimitri's words were a call to battle. I saw a glint of something hard in Adrian's eyes, a stirring of some old pain, and it bothered me. That wasn't his way. He always had a smile and a quip, even if they were often irreverent or inappropriate. I'd gotten used to that. I kind of liked it. I glanced at Adrian with a smile that I hoped looked genuine, rather than a desperate attempt to provide distraction. â€Å"Research, huh? I thought you were a gambling man.† It took Adrian a few moments to drag his gaze from Dimitri and fix it on me. â€Å"I've been known to roll the dice now and then,† he said warily. â€Å"Why?† I shrugged. â€Å"No reason. Just wondering if you'd put your charisma research on hold and step up for a challenge. If you went twenty-four hours without cigarettes, I'd drink a can of pop. Regular pop. The whole can.† I saw the glimmer of Adrian's earlier smile returning. â€Å"You would not.† â€Å"I totally would.† â€Å"Half a can would put you into a coma.† Sonya frowned. â€Å"Are you diabetic?† she asked me. â€Å"No,† said Adrian, â€Å"but Sage is convinced one extraneous calorie will make her go from super skinny to just regular skinny. Tragedy.† â€Å"Hey,† I said. â€Å"You think it'd be a tragedy to go an hour without a cigarette.† â€Å"Don't question my steel resolve, Sage. I went without one for two hours today.† â€Å"Show me twenty-four, and then I'll be impressed.† He gave me a look of mock surprise. â€Å"You mean you aren't already? And here I thought you were dazzled from the moment you met me.† Sonya shook her head indulgently at the two of us, like we were adorable children. â€Å"You're missing out, Sydney,† she remarked, tapping the open pop in front of her. â€Å"I need about three of these a day to keep me focused on all this work. No detrimental effects so far.† No detrimental effects so far? Of course not. Moroi never had any. Sonya, Jill†¦ they could all eat whatever they wanted and still keep those amazing bodies. Meanwhile, I labored over every calorie and still couldn't reach that level of perfection. Fitting into these size four khakis had been a triumph this morning. Now, looking at Sonya's slender build, I felt enormous by comparison. I suddenly regretted my comment about drinking a can of pop, even if it had succeeded in distracting Adrian. I supposed I could rest easy knowing that him skipping cigarettes for a day was impossible. I'd never be called to pay up on my sugary wager. â€Å"We should probably get to work. We're losing time.† That was Dimitri, getting us back on track. â€Å"Right,† said Adrian. â€Å"This is five minutes of valuable research wasted. Up for more fun, Castile? I know how much you love sitting around.† Because they were trying to find something special about Dimitri, Sonya and Adrian would often sit the two dhampirs side by side and study their auras in fine detail. Their hope was that Dimitri's Strigoi conversion had left some sign that would help explain the immunity to being turned again. It was a valid idea, though not something that someone as active as Eddie enjoyed. He didn't complain, of course. Eddie wore a look as tough and determined as Dimitri. â€Å"Tell me what you need.† â€Å"We want to do another aura study,† said Sonya. Looked like poor Eddie would be doing some more sitting around. â€Å"Last time we focused on any sign of spirit. This time, we want to show both of you some pictures and see if they trigger any color changes in your auras.† I nodded in approval. A lot of psychological experiments attempted similar techniques, though they usually monitored physiological responses instead of mystical auras. â€Å"I still say it's a waste,† said Adrian. â€Å"They're both dhampirs, but that doesn't mean we can assume any different reactions they have are because Belikov was a Strigoi. Everyone's unique. Everyone's going to respond differently to pictures of kittens or spiders. My old man? He hates kittens.† â€Å"Who could hate kittens?† asked Eddie. Adrian made a face. â€Å"He's allergic.† â€Å"Adrian,† said Sonya. â€Å"We've already been over this. I respect your opinion but still think we can learn a lot.† I was actually impressed that Adrian had an opinion. So far, I'd kind of felt like he was just going along with everything Sonya and Dimitri told him to do and that he didn't give these experiments much thought. And, although I wasn't familiar with the auras that surrounded all living creatures, I could understand his point that individual differences would throw off their research. â€Å"All data is useful in this case,† said Dimitri. â€Å"Especially since we haven't found anything so far. We know there's something different about former Strigoi. We can't rule out any chance to observe it.† Adrian's lips tightened, and he made no further protest. Maybe it was because he felt overruled, but I had a feeling it was because he just didn't want to engage with Dimitri. With the attention off me, I settled into the living room with a book and tried to stay awake. They didn't need me. I'd simply come to keep Eddie company. Occasionally, I'd check the others' progress. Dimitri and Eddie watched as Sonya flipped through different images on her laptop. In turn, Adrian and Sonya watched the dhampirs closely and made notes on paper. I almost wished I could see the bands of color and light and wondered if there really were any noticeable differences. Studying Eddie and Dimitri, I sometimes would notice a change in facial expression when particularly cute or horrific images showed up on the screen, but for the most part their work remained a mystery to me. Curious, I walked over to Sonya when they were about halfway through. â€Å"What do you see?† I asked in a low voice. â€Å"Colors,† she said. â€Å"Shining around all living things. Eddie and Dimitri have different colors, but they have the same reactions.† She changed the picture on the screen to one of a factory spilling black smoke into an otherwise clear sky. â€Å"Neither of them like this. Their auras dim and turn troubled.† She flipped to the next image, a smile on her lips. Three kittens appeared on the screen. â€Å"And now they warm up. Affection is very easy to spot in an aura. So far, they react in normal ways. There's no sign in Dimitri's aura that he's different from Eddie.† I returned to the couch. After a couple of hours, Sonya called a halt. â€Å"I think we've seen what we needed to. Thank you, Eddie.† â€Å"Happy to help,† he said, rising from his chair and stretching. He seemed relieved both that it was over and that it had involved something slightly more interesting than staring off into space. He was active and energetic, and didn't like captivity. â€Å"Although†¦ we've got a few other ideas,† she added. â€Å"Do you think you guys can power through a little longer?† Naturally, she asked just as I was yawning. Eddie regarded me with sympathy. â€Å"I'll stay, but you don't have to. Go sleep. I'll get a ride home.† â€Å"No, no,† I said, stifling a second yawn. â€Å"I don't mind. What are your other ideas?† â€Å"I was hoping to do something similar with Eddie and Dimitri,† she explained. â€Å"Except this time, we'd use sounds instead of images. Then I'd like to see how they respond to direct contact with spirit.† â€Å"I think that's a good idea,† I said, not really sure what that last one would entail. â€Å"Go for it. I'll wait.† Sonya glanced around and seemed to notice I wasn't the only one who looked tired. â€Å"Maybe we should get some food first.† Eddie brightened up at that. â€Å"I'll go,† I offered. It was a sign of my progress that vampires talking about â€Å"food† no longer made me hyperventilate. I knew she didn't mean blood, not if the dhampirs and I were being involved. Besides, there was no feeder around. Feeders were humans who willingly gave blood to Moroi for the high it produced. Everyone here knew better than to even joke about that around me. â€Å"There's a good Thai carryout place a few blocks away.† â€Å"I'll help,† said Adrian eagerly. â€Å"I'll help,† said Sonya. â€Å"The last time you ran an errand, you were gone two hours.† Adrian scowled but didn't deny the charge. â€Å"Our aura observations have been identical anyway. You can get them started on the sounds without me.† Sonya and I took everyone's orders and set out. I didn't really feel like I needed help, but I supposed carrying food for five people – even for a few blocks – could get unwieldy. I soon learned she had other motives for coming along, though. â€Å"It feels good to get outside and stretch my legs,† she said. It was early evening, with significantly less sun and heat – a condition the Moroi loved. We walked along a side street leading toward downtown, lined with cute apartments and small businesses. All around us, huge palm trees loomed, providing an interesting contrast to the eclectic urban setting. â€Å"I've been cooped up there all day.† I smiled at her. â€Å"And here I thought Adrian was the only one who got cabin fever from the work you guys do.† â€Å"He just complains the most,† she explained. â€Å"Which is kind of funny since he also probably gets out the most, between his classes and his cigarette breaks.† I'd nearly forgotten about the two art classes Adrian was taking at a local college. He usually kept his latest projects on display, but there'd been none in the living room lately. I hadn't realized until that moment how much I missed them. I might give him a hard time, but sometimes those artistic glimpses into the way he thought were fascinating. Sonya gave me a brief recap of her wedding plans as we walked the short distance to the Thai restaurant. Her relationship with dhampir Mikhail Tanner was kind of epic on a lot of levels, I supposed. First, dhampirs and Moroi didn't generally get involved in serious relationships. Usually, they were just casual affairs that resulted in the reproduction of more dhampirs. In addition to the scandal of even being involved, Mikhail had actually wanted to hunt down Sonya when she was a Strigoi to free her from that twisted state. Rose had attempted the same with Dimitri, believing death was better than being a Strigoi. Mikhail had failed, but their love had remained steadfast enough through the ordeal that when she'd defied the odds and been restored, they'd immediately gotten back together. I couldn't even begin to imagine love like that. â€Å"We're still deciding on flowers,† she continued. â€Å"Hydrangeas or lilies. I'm guessing I know what your vote is for.† â€Å"Actually, I'd say hydrangeas. I'm around too many lilies already.† She laughed at that and suddenly knelt near a flower bed filled with gladiolas. â€Å"More than you know. There are lilies sleeping in this bed.† â€Å"They're out of season,† I pointed out. â€Å"Nothing's ever out of season.† Sonya glanced around covertly and then rested her fingers on the earth. Moments later, dark green shoots appeared, growing taller and taller until a red trumpet lily opened up on top. â€Å"Ah. Red. Alchemists ones are white – oh, are you okay?† I had backed up so far on the sidewalk that I'd nearly walked into the street. â€Å"You†¦ you shouldn't do that. Someone might see.† â€Å"No one saw,† she said, getting to her feet. Her face softened. â€Å"I'm so sorry. I forget sometimes how you feel about this. It was wrong of me.† â€Å"It's okay,† I said, not sure that it was. Vampire magic always made my skin crawl. Vampires, creatures who needed blood, were bad enough. But being able to manipulate the world with magic? Even worse. That lily, although beautiful, took on a sinister edge now. It shouldn't have existed this time of the year. No more was said about magic, and we soon reached the main strip downtown, where the Thai restaurant was. We placed a giant carryout order and were told it would take about fifteen minutes. Sonya and I lingered outside, admiring downtown Palm Springs in twilight. Lastminute shoppers were out before the boutiques closed, and all the restaurants were hopping with those coming and going. Many of them had outdoor tables on the sidewalk, and friendly conversation buzzed around us. A large fountain, tiled in bright colors, fascinated children and inspired tourists to stop for photo ops. Sonya was easily distracted by the various plants and trees that the city used to beautify the streets. Even without spirit's ability to affect living things, she was still quite the gardener. â€Å"Hey you! Elder Melrose!† I turned and winced when I saw Lia DiStefano striding toward me. Lia was a fashion designer with a shop here in downtown Palm Springs. I hadn't realized we were standing directly across from her store. If I had, I would've waited inside the restaurant. Lia was short but had an overwhelming presence, enhanced by the flamboyant gypsy style she often chose for her personal attire. â€Å"I've been calling you for weeks,† she said, once she reached our side of the street. â€Å"Why don't you answer?† â€Å"I've been really busy,† I said straight-faced. â€Å"Uh-huh.† Lia put her hands on her hips and tried to stare me down, which was kind of amazing since I was taller. â€Å"When are you going to let your sister model for me again?† â€Å"Miss DiStefano,† I said patiently, â€Å"I've told you before. She can't do it anymore. Our parents don't like it. Our religion doesn't allow faces to be photographed.† Last month, Jill's runway-perfect build and gorgeous, ethereal features had attracted Lia's attention. Seeing as having your picture taken en masse was kind of a bad way to stay in hiding, we'd only agreed to let Jill walk in Lia's fashion show because all the models wore Venetian masks. Lia had been on me ever since to let Jill model again. It was hard because I knew Jill wanted to, but she understood as well as I did that her safety came first. Claiming we were part of some obscure religion had often explained away our weird behaviors to others, so I'd figured it would get Lia off my back. It hadn't. â€Å"I never hear from these parents of yours,† Lia said. â€Å"I've watched your family. I see how it is. You're the authority. You're the one I have to go through. I have the chance to do a major magazine spread for my scarves and hats, and Jill was born to do it. What's it going to take to get her? You want a cut of the pay?† I sighed. â€Å"It's not about the money. We can't show her face. If you want to put her in a Venetian mask again, then be my guest.† Lia scowled. â€Å"I can't do that.† â€Å"Then we're at an impasse.† â€Å"There must be something. Everyone has a price.† â€Å"Sorry.† There was no price in the world she could offer to get me to shirk my duty to Jill and the Alchemists. A restaurant clerk stuck his head outside and called that our order was ready, mercifully freeing us from Lia. Sonya chuckled as we loaded up on our bags and headed back down the street to make the walk to Adrian's. The sky was still purple with the last of the day's light, and street lamps made whimsical patterns on the sidewalk as they cast their light through the leaves of palm trees. â€Å"Did you ever imagine your job here would involve dodging aggressive fashion designers?† Sonya asked. â€Å"No,† I admitted. â€Å"Honestly, I never foresaw half the stuff this job has – â€Å" â€Å"Sonya?† A young man appeared seemingly out of nowhere, blocking our path. He was no one I knew and looked to be a little older than me. He wore his black hair in a buzz cut and was staring curiously at Sonya. She came to a halt and frowned. â€Å"Do I know you?† He brightened. â€Å"Sure. Jeff Eubanks. Remember?† â€Å"No,† she said politely, after a few moments of study. â€Å"You must have me mistaken for someone else. I'm sorry.† â€Å"No, no,† he said. â€Å"I know it's you. Sonya Karp, right? We met in Kentucky last year.† Sonya stiffened. She'd made Kentucky her home while she was a Strigoi. I knew those couldn't be pleasant memories. â€Å"I'm sorry,† she repeated, voice strained. â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about.† The guy was undaunted, still smiling as though they were best friends. â€Å"You've come a long ways from Kentucky. What brings you out here? I just transferred for work.† â€Å"There's some mistake,† I told him sternly, nudging Sonya forward. I didn't know what that mistake could be exactly, but Sonya's attitude was all I needed. â€Å"We have to go.† The guy didn't follow us, but Sonya remained silent for most of the walk home. â€Å"Must be hard,† I said, feeling like I should say something. â€Å"Meeting people from your past.† She shook her head. â€Å"He's not. I'm certain of it. I've never met him.† I'd figured she just wanted to avoid all associations with being a Strigoi. â€Å"You're sure? He wasn't just some casual acquaintance?† She shot me a wry look. â€Å"Strigoi don't have casual acquaintances with humans. They have them for dinner. That guy shouldn't have known who I was.† â€Å"He was human? Not dhampir?† I couldn't tell the difference, but Moroi could. â€Å"Definitely.† Sonya had stopped again and was glancing back at the guy's retreating figure. I followed her gaze. â€Å"There must be some reason he recognized you. He seems pretty harmless.† That got me another smile. â€Å"Come now, Sydney. I figured you'd been around us long enough to know.† â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"Nothing's ever as harmless as it seems.†

Explore Blake’s Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience Essay

In this essay I am going to explore Blake’s Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. During this essay I will cover Blake’s life and times and the way chimney sweepers get treated around that time and what Blake attempts to do about it. Blake was born on November 28 in the year 1757. His parents where strict but understanding. Blake’s parents realised early in his life that Blake was gifted. He had an extremely active imagination and he often got visions. At only four years old he claimed he had seen God in one of these visions. Another time when he was with one of his friends he envisaged angels filling a tree. He horridly told his family what he saw but the response he got from his father was quite negative. His father threatened to whip him because he believed it was time for him to grow up. However his mother took Blake’s side and when she asked him about it he stated that the angels took the form of his thoughts. This vision was stuck with him and was extremely influential in his life. Blake obviously had a gift for seeing things with his eyes and in his imagination. He used his artwork to express his experiences. When Blake turned ten years of age his parents decided to enrol him into a drawing school. Later on in his life Blake used his talent as an artist to become a apprentice engraver. Throughout Blake’s life he had a dislike for nasty, unfair people especially towards those that had power and money like those in the government, and those that where associated with the church. Blake also could not stand power abusers and bad unfair treatment towards the poor, young and elderly. In the time of William Blake chimney sweepers went through a torrid time, it was as if they where young slaves. The age of the infants varied between five years old to the age of eight or nine if they could be fit up the chimneys. They where often bought off parents for as little a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2, in some cases however they may be purchased for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 but it is still a despicable price to pay for a young child. In the extreme cases the chimney sweepers where stole from family’s. When the sweeps had lost the use around the age of seven they get passed over to the church. Blake despised the serious health problems the sweeps got from this demanding life of threatening work. Most sweeps after only a short time of working in the chimneys end up with twisted kneecaps, ankles and even spines from crawling up the extremely cramped chimneys. There was even such a thing as â€Å"chimney sweeps cancer† which they got from the soot irritating there skin. Again we can see why Blake hates the idea of chimney sweepers and there treatment, they are forced to do inhumane things that even animals would never be told to do. The master sweeps imbedded fear into the young brains and subjected them to clean chimneys. They where made to live in the most inhabitable of conditions. They often slept on soot bags in dirty wet cellars. The sweeps where forced to clean the chimneys if they refused or could not fit up the chimneys they where punished by the fire being lit, slaps, prodding with poles and various other instruments and pricking of the bottoms of their feet. All this just so the master sweep can make an easy living from the poor misfortune of innocent children. Blake strongly disagreed with the treatment of the sweeps so much he wrote two beautiful poems about their treatment, these featured in two separate books, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The first chimney sweeper poem is from the Songs of Innocence, Blake shows a strong message through his poems, and they sometimes come across light hearted like nursery rhymes. But often, if not all the time they have a dark sinister meaning. This is the beginning of Chimney sweeper 1 and straight away Blake invites the reader to feel sympathy for the situation the family is in. It shows how poor the family is, it gets so bad the father has to sell his child to get some money to keep the rest of the family going. This reflects on the state of working class people of that time. â€Å"When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue.† The boy is sold so young that it has not even developed the ability to speak properly; in the poem he â€Å"Could scarcely cry â€Å"weep! weep! weep! weep!† The boy could be crying in this passage or he could be trying to say the word sweep but is unable because of his age. This is clever by Blake because the passage has a double meaning; this carries on throughout the poem. The effect of the first stanza is to bring the reader into perspective of what lengths of desperation the families go to, to earn a small amount of money. In the second stanza the audience is introduced to Tom Dacre, his hair is shaved off and Tom is very upset about this. Blake feels very strongly about the dehumanisation of people and shows this in his poems. Blake compares Tom to a lamb because a lamb is innocent like the chimney sweeps and is also a form of sacrificial animal so it is showing there inability to have there own personality and independence. â€Å"There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curl’d like a lamb’s back, was shav’d† The final part of this stanza represents the pureness of Tom Dacre. The soot represents the master sweeps trying to make him impure but the white hair represents how innocent Tom is. The effect of this stanza is to bring across the innocents of the sweeps to the audience. â€Å"Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your heads bare, You know the soot cannot spoil your white hair.† The third stanza is when Tom has a dream; in his dream he has visions of thousands of dead sweeps. The coffins of black represent a enclosed environment with dead sweeps covered in black soot. Blake involves the fact that thousands of chimney sweepers died to once again show the audience what really goes on. â€Å"That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack, Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black.† In Stanza four Tom Dacre is still in his dream and an Angel comes to set him free, this represents the chimney sweeps being liberated from their life of peril. â€Å"And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open’d the coffins & set them all free† Then Blake goes on in the conclusion of this stanza to contrast there life when they are trapped being made to go up chimneys, to being let to run free and be there own boss. It is everything they can not do when working as a chimney sweeper. Blake mentions that they wash in the river, this symbolises that they have left that dark past behind them and are moving on. This stanza has a light hearted mood and shows everything that the chimney sweepers can not have. In the fifth stanza Blake brings his feelings about the church through. The unfairness and manipulative abilities the church is shown in this stanza. â€Å"And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father, & never want joy.† This means basically that if you do not sin you get to go to heaven. The angel represents the heartless church who manipulate through fear. This is what Blake is strongly against. In the final stanza of the first poem the boys go back to work after Tom wakes and have to work in poor conditions. â€Å"And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags & our brushes to work.† In the end of the last stanza Blake makes it seems as if it has finished on a high note, however Blake doesn’t believe in this naive belief. â€Å"So if they do all their duty, they need not fear harm.† That was the first of the two chimney sweeper poems, throughout this poem Blake says one thing but if you look deeper into it, it has a much deeper sinister meaning. The second chimney sweeper poem is from the Songs of Experience this poem has a different angle that the first poem. Stanza one, The Chimney Sweeper 2 begins like this; â€Å"A little black thing among the snow, Crying â€Å"weep! ‘weep!† in notes of woe! â€Å"Where are thy father & mother? Say†Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"They are both gone up to church to pray.† Blake represents the chimney sweeper in the first part, calling it â€Å"A little black thing among the snow,† To Blake the â€Å"black† represents the sweep all dirty and tainted. And calling it a â€Å"thing† dehumanizes the sweep. Blake wrote, â€Å"A little black thing among the snow† because the chimney sweeper is tainting society which is the white snow. Blake uses the same words from The Chimney Sweeper 1, in this poem for the same effect, to show the young boy upset, confused. â€Å"Crying â€Å"weep! ‘weep!†Ã¢â‚¬  At this point in the poem the audience can not tell who is speaking. I believe it is the poor people; they are represented as chimney sweepers. The chimney sweeper is lost in society, represented by the snow. The government which is represented by the chimney sweeper’s parents is ignorant to reality. Blake has used the situation in the poem to express his feelings about politics of that time. â€Å"Because I was happy upon the heath. And smil’d among the winters snow, The boy in the second poem has had more experience chimney sweeping and has come to terms that there is nothing he can do about it. He puts on a brave face and gets on with it, when compared to Tom Dacre in Chimney Sweeper 1 he doesn’t have the naivety that Tom had. Once again I think Blake had another meaning that poor people represented as the chimney sweep are happy and they smile in society. â€Å"They cloth’d me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe.† The parents of the chimney sweeper in this poem clothed there son and sentenced him to death when they decided to sell him to a master sweep. They made the boy cry when he had to leave and now he is alone and knows it. I think that Blake had another deeper meaning. I think the chimney sweeper represented poor people, they got clothed in the clothes of death by the chimney sweepers parents represented as the government. In the final stanza Blake goes on the attack at the church and the government he does this by provoking anger towards them through the unfairness of it all. â€Å"And because I am happy & dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, In these lines Blake is how the chimney sweeper feels after his ordeal, putting on the front everything is ok when it is not. Going deeper into what Blake is trying to bring across is representation that the chimney sweep is the poor people again. The final two lines Blake attacks the church and the government, the chimney sweep is wise and is experienced and realises that the church and government exploit the poor so that they can make their own heaven out of the money from the society. And we gone to praise God & his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery†

Atheorist's voice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Marketing and Sales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words - 1

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Art Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Compare and contrast the beliefs separating the two sides in the Irish Essay

Compare and contrast the beliefs separating the two sides in the Irish Civil War (1922-23) - Essay Example As a matter of fact, even the new parliamentarians of the Free State were entailed to swear their loyalty to the British King/Queen. (1) The Country was divided into two halves owing to the issues resulting from the Treaty – one side arguing that this Pact conforms to the long-term interests of Ireland and the other strongly disagreeing with it. Despite best efforts of both the sides, mainly from the Pro-Pact one, to bring about an amicable solution to the issue, the Civil War could not be avoided. The War was eventually won by the group favoring the Treaty. It (War) led to severe bloodshed and devastation, the likes of which were without a precedent at that point of time of Ireland’s history. Additionally, the strong repercussions of the Civil War can be seen exercising their impact on the political scenario of even the present-day Ireland. (1) It needs to be noted that the root cause for the origin of any conflict leading to a large scale war is the varying ideology and diverse beliefs of various groups, with the Irish Civil War being no exception to this thumb rule. The respective beliefs of both the sides involved in this battle were diametrically opposite to each other. At this juncture, it would be worthwhile to be briefly analyzing these ideologies, so as to develop an apt understanding about the reasons triggering such a big war. For the group abiding by the Treaty, it (Treaty) was considered to be supporting the form of democracy where citizens have the right to vote, while the opposing side viewed the pact as a collective conspiracy designed to further strengthen the British presence in Ireland. From the viewpoint of the anti-Treaty faction, the democracy that the supporters claimed to be resulting (from the Treaty), was a weak system relying heavily on the protection offered by the UK. (2) The opponents were primarily driven by their firm conviction that it is solely their political ideology, which would pave the way for

Theme & Introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theme & Introduction - Essay Example The theme "How well do you know the people around you' will help to create a special context of communication because all communication is context bound. We can think of spatial, temporal, relational and sometimes organizational frameworks within which it is embedded. Employees will be divided into several families (mothers, fathers and children despite of their sex and age). The imagined place is a countryside; event - holidays, a picnic. 'Plunged' into this situation, the personal characteristics of the participants together with features of the shared situation act to shape the interaction that transpires and both may be influenced, to some extent, in consequence. Likewise, goals pursued are determined by personal and situational factors (Beebe, Masterson 2000). This theme was selected for training program because many employees lack knowledge and practice of interpersonal communication. The goals people pursue are not always conscious, and indeed one feature of skilled performance is that behavior is often executed automatically. Once responses are learned they tend to become hard-wired or habitual. When employees know how to interact, they no longer have to think about actions such as how to start a talk and how to behave. Skilled behaviors must be interrelated, in that they are synchronized in order to achieve a particular goal.

Edgar Allan Poe and Suspense in Poe and Jackson Term Paper

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Biometrics and Wireless Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biometrics and Wireless Technologies - Essay Example Dominant security-enhancement technologies leave a lot to be desired. In addition to security risks, has been estimated that between half to a third of calls to IT help desks are password related, and that managing multiple passwords and password resetting costs can range between $200 (Forrester Research estimate) to $340 (Gartner estimate) per employee per year (www.Forrester.com (2005); www.Gartner.com (2005)). Biometrics can offer significant security enhancements as well as other value-added applications. Potential applications of biometric technologies range from controlling physical access to facilities (used by Disneyworld to provide access to season pass holders), enabling voice recognition at call-centers (used by the Home Shopping Network and Charles Schwab to enable hassle-free client authentication), controlling time and attendance of employees (used by McDonalds), providing self-service access to safe deposit vaults at banks (used by the Bank of Hawaii and First Tennessee Bank), or cashing checks in supermarkets (used by Kroger, Food 4 Less and BI-LO). Security concerns and higher levels of fraud, such as the rising incidence of identity theft, combined with advancements in biometric technologies and reducing costs of the technologies involved, have provided an impetus for greater diffusion and highlighted biometrics' immense potential. In 2003, while industry revenues were US$719 million, the estimate for 2004 is US$1.2 billion. This is expected to rise to US$4.6 billion in 2008. Currently the lion's share of biometric technologies is accounted for by fingerprint biometrics at 48 percent, followed by face recognition at 12 percent and hand geometry at 11 percent. Iris recognition, by far the most secure method, has just 9 percent market share, since it costs a lot more to implement and there is a lower level of customer acceptance (International Biometrics Group, 2005). However, the overwhelming majority of current biometrics applications are focused on simply improving security rather than being led by a clear mandate of providing quantum leaps to customer service while simultaneously raising efficiency as well as security. We believe that the winners of tomorrow will be firms that manage to harness the power of biometrics to achieve this essential combination (Wirtz and Heracleous, 2005). Following several industry interview results and other industry participant interactions, the researchers arrived at the conclusion that many, but not all, biometric industry vendors appear to be depending on sales based on "supply push" rather than "demand pull" marketing strategies. That is to say, the biometrics vendors appeared to be captivated with the technology underlying the biometric devices more so than concentrating on current biometric devices as part of a solution to a business problem for prospective customers. However, on the contrary, it was appar ent from our conversations with customers and potential customers that they were inclined to be less interested in devices, and more focused on buying solutions to problems. For instance, three prospective customers pointed out that they were "waiting it out" in order to see which technology or vendor would come

All of the psychoanalyst Essay Example for Free

All of the psychoanalyst Essay Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that  their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the  childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that  their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the  childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that  their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the  childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that  their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the  childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial. Psychoanalytic – Freud- Psychoanalytical theory was formulated by Freud based on how the human mind functions. He believed that there were factors outside of the individual person’s awareness (unconscious thoughts, feelings and experiences) that influence their emotions, behaviour and actions, and that their past experiences, and their future. The Psychoanalytical Theory highlights the importance of the unconscious mental processes and childhood development issues as they relate to childish impulses, childish wishes, juvenile desires and the anxiety of reality. The Psychoanalytical Theory is also based on the idea that a person’s personality is formed throughout the childhood years, that children go through certain stages at certain points of their childhood and depending on how well the child copes with each of these stages, their adult personality will be affected. This influences current practise as Freud’s observations into the link between our unconscious actions and our mind are still seen as beneficial.

Indian Institutes of Management and Interview Essay Example for Free

Indian Institutes of Management and Interview Essay With academic internships on Internshala (likes of CERN, JNCASR, EPFL etc.) ruling the roost, we have been inundated with requests for tips on how to write an impressive Statement of Purpose (SOP). The kind which grabs selection committee’s attention and forces them to accept you in one go. We present, a been there and done that, expert telling you the finer nuances of how to write an effective SOP. About the author: – Nirmal Jayaram graduated from IIT Madras in 2006 post which he did his M. S Ph.D from Stanford University. Whether Nirmal is synonymous with the term Academic Brilliance or coined it; I am not sure. Sample this – he graduated with a CGPA of 9.54 from IIT Madras (last 4 sem GPA being 10/10), he had calls from all 6 IIMs and attended interviews of only 2 and converted both including IIM Ahmedabad. But of course he did not join it. He had admits with full scholarships from Stanford, MIT, Berkley, Cornell, UTA, Purdue. Rumors has it that MIT admission committee stalked him for weeks to swing his decision in their favor and sulked for months when he went to Stanford instead. With these credentials, if I were you I would pay VERY close attention to what he has to say on SOP writing. Happy reading†¦ 1. Understand what a statement of purpose means: You’ve probably been in situations where you have to choose one among several exciting alternatives. Recruiters face the same scenario while dealing with several good resumes intended at the same job opening. The statement of purpose gives you an opportunity to connect all your application materials together and express to the recruiter why you fit the role the best. To understand what goes into a good statement of purpose, you need to put yourselves in the recruiter’s shoes, and try to get a feel for the two burning questions a recruiter has: 1.Why are you interested in the opening? Sometimes the answer to this might be obvious. You current area of study/ work could well be closely related to the job opening, but it still can’t hurt to clearly enunciate your interest in this area of work and how that helps you move further in your intended career path. Naturally this is much more important whe n the job opening is in an area unrelated to your current area of work, although you might believe that the new area is really your calling. The end goal is that the recruiter needs to believe that you are very serious about this opening and you would give it your all once you actually get the job. More on this later. 2.What do you bring to the table? So, you have shown the recruiter that no one could be any more serious about the opening than you are. You’ve won half the battle, but you still need to prove that you are not all bluster and you are capable of performing the work at a very high level. Your resume does this for you partly, but the statement of purpose gives you an opportunity to highlight some of your major achievements and skill sets that are closely related to the job of interest. 2. Tell a story, your story! Let’s talk about structuring your statement of purpose for a bit. Your statement of purpose needs to tell your story in such a way that the recruiter clearly understands your background, your capabilities and your suitableness for the job. There are many ways to structure a statement of purpose, and this would be one: †¢Who are you and what do you do currently? Start out with your current education background and what got you there. Maybe you were inspired by pure science as a kid and ended up as a physicist. Maybe you were excited by the world of algorithms in high school that inspired you to pursue the field of computer science. Or maybe you even wanted to build the next Eiffel tower and decided to become a Civil Engineer! †¢What are your current academic credentials? Dedicate some part of your statement of purpose to explain your academic achievements and credentials in your current education program. If you did great in your college entrance exam or in your college exams, state it here and explain how this reflects your dedication to your current field and the hard work you are ready to put in. If you won scholarships through, for example, the National Talent Search Examination, make sure the recruiter kn ows that. †¢What is your current state of knowledge? Most disciplines are very broad and diverse, and it is imperative that you explain your specialization in more detail. Discuss your coursework and explain why you chose to specialize in the area that you did. Suppose that the job opening requires an intern that pursues research in the analyses of large data sets. You could be a mathematician and might have pursued a diverse set of courses, but you need to explain why the field of data mining excites you the most. You need to specifically identify your data mining-related coursework that clearly illustrates that you have the theoretical background to succeed at this new job. †¢Discuss your past projects: This is particularly critical for research based jobs that require that you be creative, comfortable working in open-ended problems, good at communicating orally and in written, and will not get easily frustrated by occasional difficulties in furthering the project due to research complexities. Some jobs also require that you be capable of working without much guidance or work as part of a large team. The most obvious way to communicate that you possess the above-mentioned skills is to provide a brief description of all your past proj ects and the skill sets you demonstrated along the way. Any journal or conference papers that you published as part of your projects will go a long way in helping you get a research-oriented job! †¢Discuss your non-technical skills: A lot of successful people are technically sound but also charismatic and possess excellent interpersonal skills. These are almost essential qualities in modern work places and activities that you’ve been part of where you have demonstrated these skills should help you big. Such activities include playing a leadership role in a department or college level association, being part of NSS, or maybe even running your own small startup! †¢Identify yourself with the company/ university: It is of utmost importance that your statement of purpose does not look generic, rather seems well crafted to the specific job opening. It would be wise to discuss briefly about your interest in the specific workplace and not just the nature of work, and in particular detail the attempts you’ve made to learn m ore about the workplace. 3. Ensure that the statement of purpose is written in a professional manner: A poorly worded statement of purpose with spelling or grammatical errors is a big turn off that would certainly hurt your cause. Request help from friends and colleagues regarding possible wording changes that would make the essay look more professional. Avoid terminology and wording that aren’t obvious to the reader, and remember that different countries may use different terminologies to refer to the same word. Keeping these sensitivities in mind will help. 4. Be brief: Recruiters do not have the time or energy to read through a rambling 4 page essay. The statement of purpose shouldn’t exceed a couple of pages and should be to the point. We are not trying to author the next Lord of the Rings here! Statement of Purpose (SOP) is a document containing one’s personal and professional details which makes the task of knowing a candidate for the MBA school much easier. It is a concise essay about one’s career goals, identified means to achieve them, and accomplishments so far in reaching towards those goals. An SOP often acts as the yardstick for assessing the capabilities of a prospective student of the MBA School. What should your SOP contain? According to top experts the answers to the following queries must be there in your SOP: You, your background and personality The reason or reasons for making a particular career choice Your hobbies Your short-term and long-term career goals Social initiatives taken by you, if any Leadership qualities demonstrated by you How you have dealt with failure Example of teamwork at the workplace Strengths and weaknesses Ethical dilemmas faced by you Preparing for writing the SOP Some suggestions on how to prepare for writing the SOP: Think deeply about matters concerning you, your choices and aspects of personality. Adopt pre-writing strategies and jot down thoughts as they occur Prepare a rough draft and proofread it to remove any errors. Start well in advance. While writing the SOP SOP is an extremely important document that you will have to prepare before you will be accepted into any MBA School. You must ensure that your SOP lacks any kind of spelling or grammatical error. Your ability to write at an acceptable level will tell a great deal about you as an overall student, so do not neglect to proofread your document before submitting it. The SOP must make an interesting read; otherwise it won’t leave any impact on the readers’ minds. Integrate your knowledge about the B-school with your career goals, as this will make it seem as though there is really no other school that you are thinking of attending. Some important points to keep in mind while writing the SOP: Originality The answers have to reflect the distinctive ‘you’ all the way. So, be original. Copy –Paste exercises will do more harm than good as one shoe size does not fit all, especially in terms of personality. Relevance Read the question very carefully before you start framing your essay. Consider the question: â€Å"Please detail your long-term career goals. Why have you classified them as long term? Do you foresee any change in these goals in the future?† Now, you must be careful in crafting a reply to each question in a convincing manner. Concentrating only on the first segment will make the statement lopsided and put off the admissions panel. Conciseness Every word, every sentence should be present in the essay for a purpose. Rambling and undirected thoughts are a no-no as your essay will be given a couple of minutes within which the panel member has to locate something memorable and distinctive. Imagery Imagery means using words that enable pictures to form in the minds of the reader. For example, the phrase ‘turning point’ is better than writing ‘The course of my life changed decisively at that point because it succeeds in giving rise to a picture in the mind of the reader. Avoiding jargon Using too much jargon clichà ©s or long-winded sentences obscure the point you want to convey. Professional tone and elements of standard usage There is a world of difference in the way we speak and the way we write. You should avoid informal style or slang while penning the academic essay. Keeping the standard elements of usage in mind will go a long way in ensuring admittance in the MBA School. It takes a lot of time and engages your mind to undergo lot of thinking before you come up with the perfect SOP. So you should start much before. All this takes time, so begin writing the SOP well in advance. Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on MBA admission tips! CAT Toppers share their GD, PI WAT experiences When a student is selected by a top B School, it is ensured that he has not just scored well in CAT but has also performed well in the Group Discussion, Personal Interview and or Written Ability Test (WAT) or Essay Writing rounds. This page will give you the GD, PI WAT experiences of the CAT 2011 toppers who are now students of the academic year 2013-15 of the top B schools. I had an enjoyable WAT PI experience of IIM Ahmedabad B Sekhar Anand IIM Ahmedabad Tricky WAT by IIM Indore Vishal Vyas IIM Indore My interview at XLRI lasted for 15 minutes Arjun Gupta XLRI Jamshedpur I had a grilling interview session at Common Admission Process of new IIMs Siddhant Gupta IIM Raipur WAT PI experiences of top 3 IIMs Anusha Subramanian IIM Bangalore If you are a fresher, be thorough with your subjects for PI Parag Poddar IIM Indore My WAT topic was on foreign coaches at Indian sports Aditya Agar IIM Bangalore My interview experience was different in the top four IIMs Mohit Srivastava IIM Bangalore There was no stress at my interview; it was a candid conversation with learned men Tanishq Goyal IIM Ahmedabad I had an enjoyable WAT PI experience of IIM Ahmedabad, B Sekhar Anand IIM Ahmedabad Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: My WAT/PI experience was very enjoyable. The topic for WAT was on corruptions affects- a topic that I was comfortable with. The PI on the other hand was skewed towards my academics. A lot of preparation beforehand helped me answer most of the questions. Though I could not answer a few, the interviewer was fairly satisfied with my approach to those questions. Tricky WAT by IIM Indore, Vishal Vyas IIM Indore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: WAT and PI were the two vital stages of IIM Indore selection process. WAT was somewhat tricky with a question on prà ©cis writing and another asking about my opinion in a given situation where a choice was to be made between a family managed business and a professionally run organization. PI probably was the most challenging part, with the interviewers asked extensively about by job profile and nature of work apart from a good amount of general knowledge. Work experience was somehow a difficult part to tackle with questions ranging from basic programming concepts to industry quality standards and their constituents. Overall, it was a mixed kind of interview which had its own high points and lows. I was hoping to convert with a good performance on almost all the measures which I later did. My interview at XLRI lasted for 15 minutes, Arjun Gupta XLRI Jamshedpur Q: How many GDPI rounds have you had? Please share your experiences in detail. A: I attended the GDPI rounds for the following institutes: †¢ NMIMS, Core †¢ XIMB, PGDM PGDM(HRM) †¢ SPJIMR(FIN) †¢ XLRI (BM HRM) SPJIMRs admission process is unique in the sense that they call you on the basis of your profiles. In the group interview rounds also, the emphasis is on ethics and values. They question you comprehensively on your work-experience, if any. XLRI has a single PI round for the BM program. The interview covers all the important points, viz., work-experience, Graduation subjects (Math, especially for Engineers), current affairs and ethics. Highly unpredictable stuff, I must say. The HRM program has both GD PI components. My interview went on for around 15 minutes in which I was questioned a lot about cultures, economies and technologies. I was asked to relate the factors citing suitable instances. Some questions on work experience and mathematics were also there. GD topic was related to IT sector. It was pretty basic hence I did not face any problem during the GD. XIMB had a single GDPI round for its BM and HRM programmes. The GD was related to Income disparity and was manageable. The interview again revolved around my work-experience. We had a very candid discussion instead of an interview. I could easily answer all their queries related to work. NMIMSs GD was related to the airline sector. The interview was about Petrol/Diesel pricing, Basic Share Markets term and history about my parent company. For all the above GDPIs, I brushed up my Graduation Subjects well. Read about the major issues which are plaguing the nations, basic indices to measure economic health society, knowledge about the parent company, its product profile, job role, etc. I had a grilling interview session at Common Admission Process of new IIMs Siddhant Gupta IIM Raipur Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail A: I had my WAT/PI in Delhi. I was given a topic on financial crisis in Europe. I was asked to speak on any topic from current affairs during the interview. I chose to talk on KFA bailout. I explained the problem and was asked for possible solutions. I suggested some solutions and a few cross questions were fired. Then I was asked a few questions on chemistry (I am a chemical engineer). Towards the end, I was grilled on â€Å"Which IIM will I choose if I happen to get multiple converts†. I linked it to the question related to the meaning of name and the panel seemed impressed. WAT PI experiences of top 3 IIMs, Anusha Subramanian IIM Bangalore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: Let me share my experiences of attending IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore. IIM Calcutta – I had a good WAT and GD. My interview was mostly about events doing the rounds, a few maths questions, logic puzzles and some general questions about my future plans, etc. IIM Ahmedabad – The WAT was tricky as we were given only 10 minutes to complete the essay. I was questioned on a wide range of topics ranging from work, recent happenings in the software industry and academics. IIM Bangalore – My interview with IIM Bangalore was almost entirely based on the statement of purpose submitted earlier. I was quizzed in great detail about specific points in my SOP, regarding my work experience and future plans. If you are a fresher, be thorough with your subjects for PI, Parag Poddar IIM Indore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: The WAT process for IIM Indore involved summarizing an article in one-third word limit and was followed by essay writing. I had been practicing essays during my GD/WAT preparations and this helped me perform well in the WAT section. This was followed by PI. Being a fresher, I was questioned thoroughly on my subjects. Professors checked every aspect of my personality through questions on general awareness, GK, current affairs and my background. The interview was a great learning experience and helped me gauge myself better and identify areas of improvement. My WAT topic was on foreign coaches at Indian sports, Aditya Agar IIM Bangalore Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: At IIM Bangalore’s WAT/PI process, I was asked to first write an essay on ‘Foreign coaches are a waste of money in Indian sports.’ My interview was centered on my experience at work and I was asked a lot of questions on the contributions I made to the organization. All in all, the interview was a big test of finding out what I gave to the organization I worked for and to the college I came from, which, trust me is very difficult to comprehend. My interview experience was different in the top four IIMs, Mohit Srivastava IIM Bangalore Q: How was your WAT/PI experience? A: The interview experience was very different at all the four IIMs. IIM Lucknow was focussed more on general affairs. IIM Bangalore was mostly academics and SOP based (they actually asked me an algorithm) IIM Calcutta was purely quant based in terms that the first five questions were based on Permutations and Combinations. After I satisfactorily answered them the interviews started asking me questions on Seattle and where all I had been in Seattle. IIM Ahmedabad was very unpredictable in terms that most of the questions were not from my strength. It was somewhat less academic. There was no stress at my interview; it was a candid conversation with learned men, Tanishq Goyal IIM Ahmedabad Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail. A: I got calls from all 13 IIMs, but I gave interviews for the top four only. In IIM Ahmedabad, the WAT topic was In today’s world, business and ethics don’t go hand in hand. The questions ranged from my work experience, solving math problem, my hobby tennis to politics. The entire interview was like a candid conversation with learned men on some random topics. There was no stress at all. Personal Interview A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately assessing the clarity of thinking process, future goals and the fit with the B-school. A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately – assessing the clarity of thinking process, future goals and the fit with the B-school. Personal Interview What does it test? Analytical Skills †¢ During the personal interview, Interviewer will check the analytical skills of the candidate in ways that cannot be done with a written test. Certain questions during the personal interview are devised to see how the candidate can analyze a situation and create a solution. For example, an employer may ask a candidate to explain a time when the candidate had to work quickly against a pending deadline. In the personal interview, the employer can ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into the candidates critical thinking process, to see if he/she fits to be a part of the Institute/organization Goal Clarity †¢ Why do want to do an MBA? How does it fit into your career goals? What do you wish to do after your MBA? These are some hard questions that you will have to answer almost invariably in all Interviews. These questions search the inner motivations of a candidate, and there are no right answers. The only way to answer these questions is to introspect: what excites and motivates you; what makes you perform your best; what would you really like to do in your life, and how do you genuinely see an MBA helping. Tough questions, but answering them honestly is critical for your success! Why MBA? is the most important question that MBA aspirants need to answer. There is no good answer for this. The answer needs to be your answer. In other words, you need to think deeply, introspect and find out what it is that really drives you. So put on your thinking cap, do some soul searching and then jot down the answers to whats your goal questions. Communication †¢ When an employer is engaged in a personal interview with a candidate, he will listen to hear how the candidate gives answers to questions, watch for body language that can indicate the candidate is not being truthful or is uncomfortable; determine confidence by gauging eye contact. Is the student is able to effectively communicate using his entire body, etc and these skills can only be judged during a personal interview. Domain Knowledge †¢ Given that a good MBA is a demanding programme, B-schools would like to know how you will be able to cope up with the academics and the extra-curricular 24 x 7 demands of your new campus. They are also keen to assess how you have utilized the earlier learning opportunities. Be prepared to discuss different specialty areas in business and their responsibilities. Interviewers will also expect you to discuss current issues in business, including the economy, taxation, foreign competition, the role of technology and ethical challenges in the field. So be careful about the gates you open, and be very sure you have in-depth knowledge about whatever you mention. For e.g. if you say you have an avid interest in Badminton, be ready for questions pertaining to Prakash Padukone, Deepika Padukone, plastic shuttles v/s feather shuttles, Saina Nehwal etc. It is advisable to brush up 2-3 subjects from your graduation thoroughly if you are a student fresh out of college. Also, contextual knowledge of the environment around you as well as general knowledge comes quite handy. Presentation †¢ Candidates who do not take the time to create a professional presentation for a personal interview can hurt their chances for getting the job. A personal interview gives the employer the opportunity to see what the candidate considers to be professional grooming, professional attire and a professional attitude. A candidates resume may be impressive, but if he shows up to the interview 30 minutes late and is not dressed in professional interview attire, then he may not be the candidate you are looking for. Attitude †¢ In a personal interview it is not always the answer you give to a question that is important, but how you give that answer. An interviewer is well aware of the corporate culture within his institute and a personal interview gives the interviewer a chance to gauge the candidates attitude to see if there is a match with the institute. Importance of an Interview: Who Conducts MBA Interviews? Every business school has different policies when it comes to MBA interviews. Typically, an MBA interview is conducted by one or more members of the admissions committee. However, it is not unusual to be interviewed by current students or alumni. Professors do not normally conduct admissions interviews, but there are a few schools who do assign faculty members to the task. No matter who interviews you, expect a lot of questions and an evaluation. Most admissions committees have a form that they work off. They will ask you specific questions from the form. If you are being interviewed by other students or alumni, dont expect anything different. They have probably been trained by the admissions committee to use the form or ask specific questions. Read more about the different types of MBA interviews. Personal Interview can also turn out to be an opportunity to sell yourself. While intimidating for some MBA-hopefuls, the personal interview represents a prime opportunity. Interviews allow you the chance to not only put a face and personality to the name and credentials on your application file, but also to express your academic, personal, and professional accomplishments, experiences, and intentions.