Thursday, October 31, 2019

MECHANISMS FOR EVALUATING FINANCIAL HEALTH OF HEALTH CARE Essay - 1

MECHANISMS FOR EVALUATING FINANCIAL HEALTH OF HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS CS - Essay Example The total revenue for Pearland Medical Center reduced by $250,000,000 in the year 2013, compared to the revenue the firm had generated in the year 2012. At the same time, the operating expenses reduced by $200,000,000, which means that the net income of Pearland Medical Center reduced by $50,000,000 between the two years. The net revenue for 2012 and 2013 was $915,000,000 and $865,000,000 respectively. On the other hand, the total profit for the same period was $965,000,000 and $915,000,000 for 2012 and 2013 respectively. The cash flow of the Medical Center was equal to the total profit of the company since the inflow of the business was only through revenue and the cash outflow was through marketing, operating, research and education expenses. However, sinceBut depreciation is a non-cash flow item in this scenario, it should be used to establish the total profit and the net cash flow of Pearland Medical Center (Fridson & Alvarez, 2011). The profit margin measures how much every dollar revenue a firm keeps in its earnings (Albrecht & Albrecht, 2008). The total profit margin of the firm stood at 69% and 61% in 2013 and 2012 respectively. This means that the firm realized a net percentage of $0.69 and $0.61 for every dollar of sales. This showed that Pearland Medical Center’s ability to control its expenses, improved in 2013 as compared to 2012, and it is attributed to a reduction in operating expenses by $200,000,000. On the other hand, the total profit margin, excluding grants and investments, stood at 59% and 48% in 2013 and 2012 respectively. This implied that the firm’s earnings from every dollar it had invested reduced to 0.59 and 0.48 per dollar as a result of the exclusion of grants and investment in its revenue. Based on the income statement report, the firms financial health is not badly off because Pearland medical center made some positive returns from its investments. But if they are

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

A Reader's Response to Gilman's If I Were A Man in Gilman's Short Essay

A Reader's Response to Gilman's If I Were A Man in Gilman's Short Story - Essay Example However, she also feels the animosities of men against women. She tries to defend women’s abilities and sensibilities. Most especially, in the ending, Mollie questions how religion attacks women. I can relate to Mollie’s feelings as man, where she awakens to the possibilities of being a human being who has rights and responsibilities. â€Å"If I Were a Man† is about a woman who understands the beauty of being a man. I have not exactly experienced what Mollie felt, because in my family, women are respected as equals of men. Nevertheless, I know women who are treated as chattel. It is the modern times, but some men can be so Neanderthal when it comes to their women. I know men like Gerald, who treat their wives shabbily, because they are women per se. In my experience, some women like Mollie have turned into men, because their men have been debilitated by disease or accidents. As a result, they have to be the breadwinners of their family. I understand how Mollie fe els, because I have also heard about women’s experiences in being figuratively a man and how they felt happier and stronger. As men, these women begin to understand the frivolities of women. Chrissie, a relative of ours, used to love buying the latest fashionable attire, but when her husband becomes paralyzed, because of an accident, she works three jobs to make ends meet. Talking with her no longer revolves around fashion, but around practical matters. Mollie sees hats as silly as a man does: â€Å"And all that money just for hats--idiotic, useless, ugly things!† (Gilman). Chrissie also finds fashion as fleeting and unessential to a woman’s essence. She also cuts her hair, which makes her manlier too, and yet in a vital sense, it has freed her. Chrissie says: â€Å"I cut my hair and I feel and think like a man. I feel so free to do everything I want.† She states that she understand now that a woman’s place should never be in a home only, unless th eir husbands value their contribution and never make them worry about financial conditions. She is a classic example of a woman who has changed her perspective about being a woman. More importantly, these women-turned-man feel tired from each day’s work, but less stressed; in short, they are happier because of the freedoms they have. â€Å"Talking† is a motif in the story. As people came and â€Å"talked† to Gerald, it stands for the political and social empowerment of men. Men can easily interact with other men and talk about political and social issues anytime. They have a â€Å"voice† in society. Marie, a woman whose husband died because of lung cancer, also feels the same way. She says that before, she does not care about social and political affairs, but now she does. She says: â€Å"As a taxpayer, I deserve to know where my money goes.† I realize how being a woman can limit their participation in the public space. Furthermore, Mollie reveals man’s economic power and its role in their self-confidence: â€Å"†¦she felt what she had never felt before in all her life--the possession of money, of her own earned money†¦hers† (Gilman). This statement underscores how a woman feels to have money of her own. She does not have to beg, tease, or wheedle to have money given to them by their husbands. Bills suddenly do not have to be something to be stressed of, but something that can be rid of through hard work and perseverance. These women are stronger, because they have acquired a man’

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Team Building and Leadership Self Assessment Paper

Team Building and Leadership Self Assessment Paper First of all I would like to thank Prof. Bob Marx for his valuable efforts, kindness and time over the 3 days of marvelous journey together. Objective of this paper Through this paper I am trying to describe my job related problem and implement either Four Frame Approach or Situational Leadership Theory to improve it. In the end I will draw conclusions from there. Description of Situation The industry in todays world is growing quickly, and with this increase comes the necessity for more people to manage and lead the growing companies, but this growing need give rise to some prospective questions: Is anyone capable of becoming a leader or a manager? Is there any difference among the two? Can people be taught to have leadership or managerial qualities? Just like many other questions in business; these questions have no one definite answer. I work in a Multi National Company. The company is considered one of the world leaders in automotive products. I work in the Research and Development center of the company and occupy the post of R D laboratory engineer in the Electronic Laboratory. Our laboratory deals in the Validation and Development of automotive products. We are a team of 4 members (Refer Figure 1) who work on different projects. Both personally and professionally we share a healthy relationship and try to maintain a good and positive work environment. The strong point of our team is that we share the burden of work amongst us and help each other when the situation demands. We acknowledge the concept of teamwork and its importance to the success of our team. However, all of us together are still striving towards perfection. The principal problem is the low motivation of our team, may be its primarily because there is no positive communication with our manager. There is neither any feedback nor any assessment of task. He notices good performance but wait until half yearly performance review to express his appreciation. In an effort to achieve good results or meet deadline, he has forgotten about the finer behaviors that make the team better. Its lucid that for a manager its extremely important to be result oriented but at the same time its very important to keep the environment positive. A team means group of people, contributing their knowledge and skills, working together to achieve a common goal. But when a team doesnt perform efficiently its not merely the fault of manager of the team as a whole. We should never forget that there are always two parts to a coin. Now I would like to describe the behavior of my other team members including myself. I am the part of this laboratory from last 3 years. In this past three years I have worked on numerous projects. I am very dedicated and focused towards my work. I hardly ever need any direction from my manager but sometimes a little guidance is required. But every now and then I lose the motivation towards my work due to no feedback and no encouragement. The second lab engineer is a hard working and self directed person. He is working for the company for last 6 years. Since he follows the same monotonous routine for past 6 years, he gets bored with every task assigned. He also shows lack of interest in the work; however he works well with the team. The third lab engineer is a new team member. She is a contractor and has joined our team few months back. Her ambition is to get hired in the organization. She is enthusiastic and eager to learn new things, and always do her tasks well but at the same time relatively less skilled and inexperienced. I also find her sensitive and self critical. She takes things to heart and gets disappointed when things go wrong and then start criticizing the situation. The lack of communication with manager and no individual growth of the group are becoming the important factors for our team ineffectiveness. A new approach to problem solving My seminar on Team Building and Leadership taught me two different approaches of solving the problems. Four Frames Approach and Situational Leadership Theory are tools if used appropriately can help solve most of the professional and personal problems. Before this class I didnt even know if such type of tools existed. I am choosing Situational Leadership Theory for managing my job-related problem. I am trying to understand strengths and weaknesses of my each team members leadership style. Situational Leadership (SLII) suggests that leaders can work in any situation by adapting their behavior accordingly i.e. they should exhibit different behavior as per the situation and it should match the developmental level of the team performing a specific task. Different situations called for different kinds or styles of leadership. SLII defines 4 leadership behaviors: S1 (high-directive but low-supportive), S2 (high-directive and high-supportive), S3 (low-directive but high supportive) and S4 (low-directive and low-supportive) and equally 4 development levels of the follower: D1 (low-competence but high-commitment), D2 (moderate-competence but low-commitment), D3 (moderate-competence but no commitment) and D4 (high-competence and high-commitment). In the next table (Refer Figure 2) I have matched the leadership behavior levels and development levels of my team members: Plan of Action After studying acutely for few days the strengths and weaknesses of my team mates, I decided to apply the Situational Leadership Theory into Action. It was tricky to decide from where to start but I went with my intuition and asked my manager for a meeting. In the meeting I started by explaining him about the Situational Leadership Theory. I drew a chart by explaining the 4 leadership styles and 4 development levels. During the course of meeting, I outlined him at which developmental level we four are and asked him what he felt about it. I emphasized about the importance of giving feedback and providing encouragement, reassurance, support and admiration to acknowledge competence. I acknowledged him for his zeal to achieve the results but at the same time pointed out its drawbacks on the team members. In the end it was discussed that how we can help each other towards achieving same goals. We decided to have a team meeting. In the meeting we discussed about the situation and the SLII theory in detail. I provided them with my feedback on the situation. We shared each others point of view and suggested the ways to make our goal more interesting. We decided that everyone should make an action plan on how to achieve that goal together. My team manager than have one on one meeting with three of us. During our meeting, he valued my coming forward and briefing him on the situation. He appreciated my dedication to work and affirmed me that from now on he will give us the feedbacks regularly. We even talked about my lack of confidence in some tasks and how I can improve it. He recognized that he also needs to improve in some areas. I dont know what he discussed with my team members but I can feel an improved environment than before. Conclusions Its still too early to tell that if the SLII theory had solved the difficulty of our team. But its has definitely helped. And thats a really good start. I can see the improvement in our work and even in myself. I think its better to say that SLII is not just a theory but a model which when applied correctly can yield enhancing results. Self Assessment Paper Managing, understanding, motivation focused on others or yourself are lot more efficient when you understand yourself, and the people you seek to motivate. Understanding personality is also the key to unlock inexpressible human qualities, e.g. leadership, empathy and motivation, whether your purpose is self-development or helping others. With 7 main goals we started our 3 days of beautiful journey on Team Building and Leadership seminar. The principal goals were to learn about myself and my strengths, my growing edge and about each other so we can work together as a high performance team. These goals were well accomplished as the seminar helped me to know more about my elusive qualities and others emotions. It made me realize that I should spend more time in building my strength rather than remedying my weaknesses. In this assignment paper I am going to assess myself on the four main topics of seminar: Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is the ability, capacity or the skill that influence ones ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures. It includes the ability to motivate oneself and persist even when one is frustrated, to control ones impulses and delay gratification, to regulate the mood and keep distress from overwhelming the thinking ability, to empathize with others and to hope. Its structure is divided into Personal Competence (Self Awareness and Self Management) and Social Competence (Social Awareness and Relationship Management). With the help of EI Self Assessment questionnaire (Pg 17-20 of the booklet) I interpreted that I have the capacity to correctly manage my emotions and feelings but I lacked in self motivation. I am good in sharing the problems of anyone but I am afraid of taking the risks. The seminar helped me to know my strengths and limits. It helped me realise my capabilities and self confidence. It prepared me to be flexible in handling changes and to react efficiently in pressure situations. The self believe and confidence of Jennifer Connelly in the movie A Beautiful Mind taught me that one should not be afraid of taking risks and initiatives. When one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. (Henry C. LINK) Team Building Skills: I was once told that teamwork depends on the performance of every single member on the team. I had trouble understanding it until I was shown how the office computer performs when just one key is out of order. That one key destroys the effectiveness of the computer. Now I know that even though I am only one person, I am needed or essential for the success and fulfilment of the team. Everyone work, think and act in unique ways. A principal reason why teams struggle is due to different styles and approaches to work. It is very difficult to work efficiently in a team without knowing what your style of work. Once you know your style, it is equally important to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of other members. At my work, we are team of 4 members. We trust each other and we work together to achieve a common objective. I learned, from the game which we played last day, that to accomplish a goal we always have to work in accordance with a plan. After the group discussion and feedback, I realized that I was contributing actively in the team and offering the solutions. Everyone was equally focused to win. In the end I was happy to share the responsibility for my teams loss and to get the positive feedback about my role. Situational Leadership: It states that the effectiveness of a leader depends upon how much his leadership style is suited to the characteristics of his group and the nature of the group task. Its a contingency theory that concentrates on team readiness; the more ready the team the less the need for leader support and supervision. The case studies and the questionnaire which we responded in the seminar affirmed me that I have D3 developmental level and I have S3 leadership skills. I knew that I am capable of performing any task but at the same time I am doubtful of my own abilities. The seminar made me realize that I should not be afraid of doing things my way and taking things at my own pace because life is not about giving all or nothing; give what you can. It made me to push myself farther than I thought I could go. I learned a lot about myself and having a blast. I used situational leadership theory to improve my work related problem. I can feel the improvement at my work and the changes in myself. The Four Frames: Just getting the people in the team is not good enough. They have to be told what the goal is. A team consists of different individuals. The objective is to make them all work together like a fist, like a team. This is the job of manager to recognize the major constituencies and to manage conflict as productively as possible. A manager needs a wide range of ways of seeing frames. Frames are the set of assumptions that one carry in head; helps negotiate a particular territory. Reframing is an ability to understand and use multiple perspectives. There are four different frames for Leadership: Structural Frame (how to organize); Human Resource Frame (how to tailor organizations to satisfy human needs); Political Frame (how to cope with power and conflict) and Symbolic Frame (how to shape a culture that gives purpose meaning to work). I still remember Timothy said in seminar that any frame if applied efficiently can solve any problem. But on the contrary, I think that all four frames support each other. The biggest example is RFK High School Case. The situation of the school demands the application of each and every frame to improve problems. Even David King at the end of the day structured everything into four frames. With the help of questionnaire on Leadership Orientations (Pg 22 of the booklet), I recognized that I belong to Human Resource Frame (HR). I am a good listener and my strongest point is interpersonal skills. I am concerned about people and share their feelings. I care and support others and try to keep everyone involved. Conclusions Personally I feel that all the goals of the seminar were entirely accomplished. I learned a lot about myself, my elusive strengths and my weaknesses. I got to know my classmates well and now I am optimistic that we can all work together efficiently in our future projects. I had a lot of fun and it was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed a lot while playing different games and challenged myself to win them. I really appreciated the portrait of David King played by my class mates and that of Chauncey played by Bob. This seminar taught me a lot and it has definitely exceeded my expectation. It was an unforgettable and lifetime experience for me. The seminar changed my vision toward many things. My warm regards and thanks to Professor Bob.

Friday, October 25, 2019

That Was Then, This Is Now :: essays research papers

That Was Then, This Is Now 1.The perceive that were having a rough time financially because of their constant obsession with hustling, petty and sometimes not so petty crimes. The first clue was how the pair couldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t They were also very serious about their hustling and stealing. Judging by the way they scope out the vulnerable people and the amount of time they spend doing it, it seems they ¡Ã‚ ¯re not doing this for the fun fooling and scamming people. ( ¡Ã‚ °Mark, who was scouting out the two guys playing pool, came up and sat down to say there ain ¡Ã‚ ¯t nobody here to hustle. Pg.10). Since they spend a lot of time stealing and hustling it sends the message that they need a lot of money as soon as possible and that the little that they have is quickly running out. In fact, the very first and last paragraph in the first chapter was all about how Bryon and Mark are planning to go to the pool hall and hustle ( ¡Ã‚ °Mark and me went down to the bar/pool hall about two or three blocks away from wh ere we lived with the sole intention of making money. ¡Ã‚ ± Pg.9). When Bryon was unable to pay for a coke and the fact that he only had a dime on him suggested that he didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have much money (page 10). Also, when Mark told bartender Charlie to charge it to his bill, it demonstrated that the boys didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have a steady flow of money and that they were going from steal to steal just like how some people live from paycheck to paycheck. Bryon mentioned that his mother was in the hospital and had to have a very expensive operation. It was so expensive that they had to sell most of the little that they had. Including their transportation, a probably cheap and old Chevy; their television; and practically anything they can live without. Yet they are still short of money and the boys are forced to find jobs. Especially Bryon because what he made from hustling wasn ¡Ã‚ ¯t enough and he didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t like to still anything other than a pack of cigarettes. Bryon ended being unable to contribute as much as he wished when he said he had an extremely difficult time finding a job. 2. Bryon has trouble with authority because of a bad personal experience with them. Bryon was beaten by two cops who found him drunk and took him to a remote area and left him there afterwards.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Rear Window Essay

Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was made in the year 1954. It has been said that Rear Window is the basis for D.J. Caruso’s movie Disturbia. Rear Window has three main characters, J.B. â€Å"Jeff† Jefferies played by James Stewart, Lisa Fremont played by grace Kelly, and Stella played by Thelma Ritter. Each of these three characters is critiqued by five different categories, including, appropriateness, inherent thoughtfulness or emotionality, expressive coherence, wholeness and unity, and effortlessness. The first category is appropriateness which is to determine if the characters performance is natural looking, if he or she looks and acts like the character they portray by their physical, facial expressions, speech, movement and gestures. James Stewart who played J.B. â€Å"Jeff† Jefferies looked completely natural in his performance; the way he looked and acted fit the character perfectly in every aspect from the physical features to the mentality of the character. Grace Kelly who played Lisa Fremont looked almost natural in her role, she sometimes seemed unnatural and fake in some ways, her physical features fit the part but her facial expressions and movement seemed too careful. Thelma Ritter who played Stella looked and acted completely natural in every way possible, especially in her speech and gestures she made throughout the film. The second category is inherent thoughtfulness or emotionality which is to determine is the actor or actress effectively conveys the thought process or feelings behind the character’s actions or reactions. James Stewart seemed to put every emotion into his character J.B. â€Å"Jeff† Jefferies and put a great amount of thought into every scene. Grace Kelly seemed to have used a great amount of emotion into her character Lisa Fremont but didn’t really seem to put much thought into her acting she just seemed to do whatever she felt like doing. Thelma Ritter seemed to even out everything perfectly into her character Stella, she made it look as if every emotion and action was real. The third category is expressive coherence which is used to determine if the character used appropriateness and inherent thoughtfulness/emotionality to create a characterization that meshes with setting, costuming, and behavior. James Stewart seemed to use the correct body language and combine setting and costumes and behavior almost precisely. Grace Kelly correctly meshed together setting, costuming, and behavior in every scene she was in, not once did she seem to present herself wrongly. Thelma Ritter did not seem to always combine setting, costuming, and behavior in the appropriate manner, she may have a couple times but it didn’t seem believable at some points. The fourth category is wholeness and unity which is used to determine if the character has maintained the illusion of a seamless character, even if that character is purposely consumed by contradictions, despite all of the changes of shooting a film. James Stewart’s illusion of Jeff was seamless in every way; he had to overcome obstacles with the cast he had to wear the entire film but made it work throughout the film. Grace Kelly’s illusion of Lisa was also seamless; she tended to be able to breeze on through the entire film without seeming perturbed. Thelma Ritter’s illusion of Stella was absolutely seamless, didn’t seem to mess up or let anything get in her way throughout the film what so ever. The fifth category is effortlessness which is used to determine if the characters acting seems effortless or natural. James Stewart’s acting in the entire film seemed completely effortless; it seemed to come natural to him in every way. Grace Kelly’s acting did not seem to be completely effortless but a great deal of it did, she didn’t have to try to be sweet and sexy it came natural, but to act worried seemed to be more of a struggle for her. Thelma Ritter’s acting half way seemed effortless; she seemed to struggle and have work at some of the points in each scene. In the film Rear Window you are constantly wondering what will happen next because of the suspense involved in the film. Alfred Hitchcock kept this entire film simple and made it to where there were not many different sets, it stayed in the same set in almost every scene. The categories of; appropriateness, inherent thoughtfulness or emotionality, expressive coherence, wholeness and unity, and effortlessness is what is used to evaluate every actors performance in every film to this day. James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter were all fantastic actors and each added something different to the film, each had their own unique style and acting technique, which added up to make the film as great as it was.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Introduction to Muslim art and architecture

In this essay I will speak about the exhibits and shows I viewed on my recent visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum. It was a truly oculus opening experience. It opened up a new dimension of Islam which I had non considered antecedently. I had ne'er known there was any kind of art or architecture in Islam. I had ever thought of museums as truly deadening topographic points. At first, I was truly doubting but shortly was fascinated by the artifacts. I shall depict the most dramatic and outstanding artifacts I saw and some information I learnt about them. In the Victoria and Albert Museum, I viewed a hearth from the castle of Fuat Pasha. It was made in Istanbul in 1731 CE and is designed in a typical Ottoman manner. An interesting thing to observe here is the on some of the tiles are written some names. These are said to be the names of Ahl Al Kahf. Their narrative is related in the Quran. A group of young persons and their Canis familiaris who were monotheists were being persecuted by the Roman Empire. They sought safety in a cave and prayed to ALLAH ( SWT ) . ALLAH ( SWT ) caused them to kip and they woke up and thought a twenty-four hours had passed. They were weary of being caught and so they elected one of them to acquire nutrient. This young person went carefully and tried to purchase some nutrient. When he tried to pay for it, the store keeper would non accept on history of the money given was expired. Coins like this had non been in usage for 100s of old ages. He rushed back to the cave and told the others. They had really bee n asleep for 300 old ages! ALLAH ( SWT ) had saved them from their enemy who were destroyed where as they were unharmed. This was a mighty Ayat of the power of ALLAH ( SWT ) and of the world of Resurrection. The utilizing of their names on hearths is to guard off immorality. Another point which stood out was the minbar which is a mosque dais. It was built in Egypt, most likely Cairo, someplace between 1468 CE to 1496 CE. Its design is in a Mamluk manner. It uses geometric forms which is an implicit in characteristic of Islamic art. The chief exhibit had to be the Ardabil rug from Ardabil in North Western Iran. The rug is 34 ? pess by 17 ? pess. It is the oldest lasting rug from this period dating back to 1540 CE. It was completed during the regulation of Safavid Shah Tahmasp I the boy of Shah Ismail. Ardabil is a metropolis with a great historical tradition of rug trade and has produced the finest Iranian Rugs of all clip. The rug is symmetrical which is another implicit in characteristic of Islamic art. The xanthous medallion in the Centre is a symbolic representation of the Sun which at that point in clip was assumed to be in the Centre of the existence. Originally this rug was portion of a set of two, and was created for the intent of marking the shrine of Sheikh Safi Al Din Ardabil who was a Sufi maestro in mystical Islam who died in 1334 CE. Shah Ismail, who reunited Iran after many 100s of old ages, founded the Safavid Dynasty named after him and established Shiite Islam as the province faith in 1501 CE. In the British museum I saw a ceramic gravestone of a Qadi called Jalal Al Din Abdul Malik who passed off around the twelvemonth 1270 CE in Kashan, Iran. He was known as Malik Al Ulama. The gravestone is covered in Arabic penmanship incorporating poetries of the Quran. Ayat Al Kursi is written on the outside frame. The penmanship and frames are painted in Co blue. The following object I saw was a mosque lamp from the clip of the Ottoman Empire. It can be accurately dated thanks to the lettering which states the name of the creative person every bit good as where and when it was made. The creative person was Musli who produced it in Iznik in Turkey in the twelvemonth 1549 CE. The Ottoman Caliph Suleiman The Magnificent who reigned from 1520-1566 ordered the rebuilding of the Dome Of The Rock in Jerusalem. The lamp was created to adorn the inside. It has three grips and ironss are used to hang the lamp. When lit, the penmanship lights up. The lamp besides displays tulips which are a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Tulips were used in ornaments everyplace from mosques and castles to vesture. The lamp was discovered in Jerusalem in the nineteenth Century. I so viewed a gold dinar coin. It is one of the original coins from the clip of the Caliph Abdul Malik of the Umayyad Dynasty. This coin was portion of the Islamic coin system which was established in order to replace Byzantium and Persian coins which were antecedently in usage. This was done because the usage of images on Byzantium and Iranian coins are out. The Islamic coins contained the Kalimah, the basic and most cardinal message of Islam. The coin is dated to 696 CE to 697 CE, likely from Syria. The last point I would to speak about both because it is the last point I saw and was surely the one point which stood out for me was the carven jade terrapin. It caught my oculus instantly. It is highly graphic. It must hold been carved by a really skilled expert. It originates from Allahabad in Northern India and is dated back to the seventeenth Century. It may perchance hold been created between 1605-1627 during the reign of Selim the boy of the 3rd Mughal Emperor Akbar who reigned from 1556-1605 and a Hindu princess. Akbar built a castle at the Hindu metropolis of Prayag and renamed it Allahabad. Akbar ne'er lived in the castle alternatively giving it to his boy. Selim is known to hold had a captivation with natural phenomenon and this could hold been used as an decoration for the garden pools at his castle. The carven jade terrapin was made from a individual piece of green jade nephrite. It was discovered at the underside of a cistern in the beginning of the nineteenth Century d uring digging work in Allahabad. How it ended up at that place in the first topographic point is a enigma. It was so transported to England by Alexander Kyd. It was so sold to the British Museum in 1830. I discovered Islam has a rich diverseness and history. I learnt how Islamic art & A ; architecture is different from other civilizations. I learnt that despite assorted dynasties and epochs, all Islamic art & A ; architecture portion some common cardinal rules. These cardinal rules are that human or carnal figurative representations are non allowed, this is due to the cardinal rule of Islam being Tawheed which is belief in One GOD who is unobserved and nil is like Him so utilizing any images are purely out. This is in blunt contrast to many idol idolizing communities who created ocular images of their Gods such as Ancient Egypt. Another rule is the usage of geometric forms which can be infinitely repeated. Another rule is the usage of Arabic penmanship in order to fancify poetries of the Quran, which can so be used for its ultimate intent, to propagate the faith of Islam. I saw many ancient artifacts of the Islamic universe and saw how art & A ; architecture ties in with the history of great Islamic Empires and Dynasties. Each Dynasty had its ain typical symbols such as tulips for the Ottomans. Each Dynasty has left a go oning bequest through art & A ; architecture such as the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus as a mark of the power and glorification of the Umayyad Dynasty at its extremum. It was a genuinely mind blowing experience. The most of import thing I learnt is that all these objects and artifacts I viewed during my visits to the museums are a portion of my history and heritage.BibliographyCarved jade terrapin. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . British Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/carved_jade_terrapin.aspx [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .Ceramic gravestone of Jalal al-DincAbd al-Malik. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . British Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/tombstone_of_an_islamic_judge.aspx [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .Mosque lamp. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . British Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/m/ottoman_mosque_lamp.aspx [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .Golddinarof calif Abd al-Malik. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . British Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/g/gold_dinar_of_caliph_abd_al-ma.aspx [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .PALACE AND MOSQUE: ISLAMIC ART FROM THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . Victoria And Albert Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vam.ac.uk/images/image/8405-popup.html [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .Manner In Islamic Art. [ Online ] . ( 2009 ) . Victoria And Albert Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1342_islamic_middle_east/index.php? id=1024 [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .The Ardabil Carpet. [ Online ] . ( 200 9 ) . Victoria And Albert Museum. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/ardabil/index.html [ Accessed 26 December 2009 ] .