To write a business plan asking for supporting fund Essay

To write a business plan asking for supporting fund - Essay Example The project was established in the year 2009 with an objective of supporting the developing country in fighting for Malaria. This report will analyse the various activities that the project will be undertaking as part of their Malaria mission. The report will analyse the feasibility of the project, its scope of operation, the success factors, the marketing and financial plan, and its organization structure. The financial plan will analyse how the organization will manage the funds. Malaria has been a serious threat for the people living in this region. It has claimed the lives of many people including children.(Malaria Elimination Group, 2012) Among the children that are killed in Malaria, most of them fall below the age group of five. What makes such hazard rather sad is that Malaria is a curable disease and still children are prone to death due to unavailability of proper medical attention. Vision, Mission and Objectives Vision: The vision of Dunga Project is to empower the Zanziba r community to fight, prevent and control Malaria. Mission: Dunga Project’s mission is to drive the curative measures for Malaria in the Zanzibar region with an organized effort that works on a sustainable and eco-friendly mode. The project’s mission is to educate the children and their caretakers to take care of themselves and prevent the Malaria from spreading. Objectives: 1. To supply all required medical aids to the malaria affected region. 2. To take adequate measures for preventing the Malaria. 3. To educate the people about the causes, treatment and prevention of Malaria. Nature of Business This project is focussed on taking adequate care of the children in Zanzibar region who are affected by Malaria. The charity also aims at taking accurate preventive measures against the disease. The business will operate as a non-profit seeking organization in the form of a trust. The major activity of the business is to conduct health camps in diagnosing malaria or any other disease that has affected the people in the area. The health check-ups will be a periodic activity of the business. This will be conducted by dividing the regions into various groups for ease of management. Another major activity involved is to make available, the medical aids for infected people, mainly children. The third activity is the anti-malaria drive that will focus on spreading awareness about the disease. This will be conducted as a group activity at various sub groups in the region. (Where in City, 2012) Uniqueness of the Project The uniqueness of the project lies in the fact that it focuses more on the prevention aspect. The famous phrase ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is one of the major driving forces of the project. Though utmost attention is provided towards supply of medicine and curing the disease, a major portfolio of the activity consists of preventive measures. The team has already purchased around 400 mosquito nets to be supplied to the househol ds. The mosquito nets can help in the prevention of Malaria to a great extent. We are also actively involved in removal of waste accumulations in the region, proper treatment of stagnant water and various other preventive measures that goes to the root cause of the problem. These entire activities make Dunga project unique in terms of its mode of operation. (Easmon, 2011) Constraints Following are the major constraints that are faced by the Dunga project. 1. Lack of adequate funds: Comparatively huge funds are required for

British TV soap operas Essay Example for Free

British TV soap operas Essay How would you account for the continuing fascination that British TV soap operas have for such a large and diverse audience? (30 mks) Soap opera is the most popular form of television programming in the world, being the most popular genre in Britain for 35 years, since the very first episode of Coronation Street was screened in 1960. The phenomenon evolved from the radio soap operas of the 1930s and 40s, emerging initially in the United States, and attracting a large following of predominantly female listeners. The name soap opera is so called because of the soap commercials that accompanied the episodes originally on American commercial radio by companies such as Proctor and Gambol. Soap operas differ from other TV genres in that they carry on showing up to 5 episodes a week, in comparison to super soaps which come in series these include programmes such as Casualty, Londons burning and footballers wives. Coronation Street was the first majorly popular soap opera in Britain. Tracking the lives of the people living on a street in central Manchester. Many more came over the years with the BBC trying to challenge ITVs dominating grip on the audience with attempts such as Compact (1962-65) and United set in a football team. Finally in 1975 Eastenders appeared tracking the lives of people living in a square in a fictitious suburb of London called Walford. Eastenders challenged Coronation Street and the two have gone head to head over the years for the Crown of Top soap. In 1982 Channel 4 a new channel tried their hand at the soap game with Brookside, set in a housing estate in Liverpool with the only communal point being the post box. Brookside never challenged Coronation Street or Eastenders for the soap crown but got close, due to its radical and inventive story lines such as Lesbianism, murder and teenage drug abuse, which none of the other soaps had dare tackled. Many more came and fell probably the biggest known flop being Eldorado only lasting between 1992 and 93. More are bound to come and go, but why do TV companies strive so hard to have a percentage of the soap market? Soap Operas are basically addictive, people get a buzz out of them. The way they are written and filmed makes the viewer feel like they are part of the story, it is a type of escapism for many. Looking in on other peoples lives gives the viewer a sense of voyeuristic pleasure, some people build emotional links with the characters. E. g. the death of Jamie in Eastenders on Christmas day had some people in tears, the characters are made to be so that people can relate to them like they know them. In all truth every character in the soap probably has similar traits to various people known by the viewer. Such as Phil Mitchell in Eastenders everyone knows someone who is a bit of a rouge slightly evil, even if not on personal terms. The reason people like the characters are because of the love hate relationship the viewer builds up inside of them. Ian Beale again from Eastenders is a perfect example when things are not going his way you feel slightly sorry for him but when he is successful he rubs it in everyones nose and seems like an annoying character. Some people can hold to high an opinion of the characters and even confuse reality with the soap world. E. g. Release Deirdre from prison actually campaigned by the sun newspaper. There have been reports of people hitting soap actors for the dirty deeds their characters had done. The world created in the soaps is very different to the real world, I believe this adds to their popularity even more. There always seems to be constant bad feelings which ever story line the soap is following, be it adultery, paedophilia, death or even marriage, doom and gloom is never far away. The fact that these events occur is not unrealistic as they happen every day to people all over the world, but it is the concentration of these bad feelings, in such a small area. The soaps always try and take on real life relevant social issues, and the audience feed off of it. I believe that humans enjoy seeing others fail and how they cope with it. The main draw to these soaps I believe is the sense of community, over many years the feeling of community within the areas that people live has been lost with crime on the rise and more reason to stay in, with multi-channel TV. It is ironic then, that TV programmes that hold such a sense of community in their main conventions such as soaps, are the things that distance people from their neighbours. People who watch soaps probably know more about who lives at number 5 on Coronation Street than who lives at number 5 on their road. The audience of soaps differs extremely even though the characters are nearly all working class, with some exceptions, the audience spreads across all classes, ages and sex. Although sometimes soaps are frowned upon as being a lesser genre, and low culture. Even though some may think soaps have no cultural relevance, they are still the most popular type of programming available, and probably the most culturally relevant in terms of the issues they tackle, they are also the flagship programmes for BBC and ITV at the very least. With 100s of channels and TV figures declining, soaps audiences continue to grow showing that soaps are around to stay. Theo Leeds.

Comprehending English text

Comprehending English text CHAPTER 1 1.0 Introduction Reading ability is a very important element in a higher education level. Since English has become the lingua franca or the language of all regions, students of a higher education as in the tertiary level must be able to read and comprehend English text. Reading is a vital for an individual especially students of a higher education for many reasons. Reading is done by most people in order to obtain information, to make decision or for pleasure. Professionals too read to expand their knowledge and skills. Hence, the ability to read well is a valuable asset because any act either education professional or less need at least some reading ability. Furthermore, tremendous quantity of reading material makes the reading possible. However, if an individual can read but could not understand the meaning of what he has read, then the reading served no purpose to him. In fact, he will face a lot of problem in order to acquire information. Since reading skill plays a major role in education, great emphasis is given towards this skill started from the early school. Knowledge in most cases is imparted through printed material. Therefore, in order to have an effective teaching learning atmosphere, the students should be able to read and comprehend English text. Same goes when the students are in the higher education level, reading is still one most important skill to be mastered as there are thousands of education source are written in English. Reading is an active mental process which deals with interaction between readers and the text. A good reader is hypothesized as who are not only able to comprehend the text as a whole but are also who are able to employ various skills such as scanning, skimming, locating information, predicting, understanding, sequencing and interfering while comprehending the text. Weak readers on the other hand may only read the text where they can only understand the text at the surface level. 1.1 Background Of The Problem Difficulties in comprehending English text within Malaysian students have occurred so many years ago. In order for them to excel in the higher education level as in the tertiary level depends very much on their ability to read and comprehend text because reading is a fundamental asset for every individual. Brunan W.K (1980) for instant defines reading as a two way interaction in which information is exchange between the reader and the author. From many researches done, it shows that there are a lot of difficulties faced by Malaysian students and also by the native speakers in comprehending English text. This happen caused by several factors or problems that contribute to the difficulty of comprehending text such as low vocabularies, different social background knowledge, sentence length and also the term used. Based on my own experience, I am facing with students who are having this kind of problem, difficulties in comprehending English text. This happen when they are given a text written in English such as journals by their lecturer as the material was the source of the subject matter, they rather ask me or some students who are good in English to translate the text into Malay language. This shows that they are having problem in comprehending English text. I do believe that they can read but what makes them refuse to read is because they cant understand or comprehend the text. 1.2 Problem Statement This problem arises when the students read English text or materials but could not be able to comprehend them. They simply could not get the essence or the main idea of the writing which would be very problematic when it comes to the higher education level. From my own observation which is concern with some UPSI students of different courses such as Sport science, Science, Business Study and Counseling, it was initiated that they are having problem in comprehending English text even though most of the references regarding the courses are most found in English language. As a result of having problem in comprehending English text, they face other difficulties when carrying out assignments or presentations. In order for them to understand and comprehend the text, they need the text to be translated into Malay Language as Malay language is their first language. People with a good language of English will be chosen as their translator. Hence their English skill will never develop. This is a very serious matter because they could not comprehend English text. It means that they are having problem with their reading skills. This study is necessary to find the difficulties faced by the students of various courses studying in a tertiary level at Sultan Idris Education University and it is hoped that this study will help the teachers as well as the students of how to handle these difficulties. 1.3 Purpose of The Study The purpose of this study is to investigate the difficulties faced by the students of various courses studying in a tertiary level at Sultan Idris Education University in comprehending English text. This is because being able to understand English text is necessary since English language is concerned to be the language used in most of the reference books. This study will also help teachers to know what are the difficulties that actually faced by the students and it is hoped that this difficulties can be eased to enhance students reading ability. I will analyze and look what are the problems faced by the students and what strategies that they do in order to overcome that problem. From the data gained, some suggestions will be added in contributing to the diminution of the problem. 1.4 Research Questions There are three questions that need to be answered as a guide throughout the study as well as a means for the data collection. The research questions are as follows: What are the main problems faced by the students in comprehending English text? What strategies they use to understand the English text? How do these difficulties effect on their study? 1.5 Theoretical Framework In this study, I am using two (2) theories that match the topic of difficulties in reading comprehension. The first theory is the schema theory which is based on the assumption that the readers prior knowledge directly impacts new learning situations. In schema theory the concept of Schema has been used to understand the major factor that affecting comprehension process. The concept of schema comprising of knowledge about concept, concepts: objects and the relationships they have with other objects, situations, events, sequences of events, actions, and sequences of actions. The schema theory is relevant to this study as the study investigate the difficulties faced by students in comprehending English reading text. In this context the readers knowledge about the topic is to be considered as the existed prior knowledge of the reader. According to the theory the existed prior knowledge on their first language (L1) will be used in comprehending reading text in their second language (L2) which is English. The second theory that will be used in this study is interactive approach by Grabe (1991). According to Grabe in his interactive approach model, interaction occurred between the reader and the text whereby the reader constructs meaning based partly on the knowledge drawn from the text and partly from the existing background knowledge that the reader has. This theory is suitable for the study as the study was aimed to investigate how students deal with the reading difficulties that they encounter. 1.6 Significance of the Study This study is beneficial to certain group of people because it might help them in some aspect of learning and teaching. This study is relevant as a guide for teachers in school to be prepared for some possibilities they might face in teaching their students. Besides that, this study will also give brief suggestions to the students on how they can deal with such a problem in reading. It is hope that from this study, the students will be much aware about their weaknesses and try to overcome and improve the weaknesses. University students are the most targeted group to view this study as it provides them with suggestions regarding problems in reading English text. The suggestion might help them to become a better reader and excel in their field. 1.7 Limitation of the Study In this study, there are several limitations that might occur. In order to get the data, I will use two methods. Those methods involve quantitative and qualitative design. For the quantitative design, I am going to distribute questionnaires for them to answer. The qualitative design on the other hand involves interviewing some respondent and it will be carried out verbally. I might have problem regarding data collection. Firstly, the data gathered from the questionnaires might not be as perfect as I wanted them to be. This is simply because the subjects are students of other courses that I am not familiar with. There is a tendency that they might simply answer the questionnaire without really focusing on the issue. This is something that usual to happen when questionnaires are being distributed. Besides that, I might have to face the risk that the questionnaires returned to me will not be as the same number as I have distributed them at the first place. Another limitation that I might face is from the interview. The respondent might not be able to communicate in English very well. As for that, a mixture of Malay language and English will be use in the interview. The idea is to get the information regarding the problem.

The World Channel Tunnel Engineering Projects Construction Essay

The World Channel Tunnel Engineering Projects Construction Essay The Channel Tunnel (French: le tunnel sous la Manche), widely recognized as one of the worlds greatest civil engineering projects, is a 50.5km underwater rail tunnel connecting Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in France under the English Channel. Even though it began construction in 1988 and was opened in 1994, the idea to have a cross-channel tunnel was first mooted more than 200 years ago but did not materialize due to political, national security and cost considerations. However, with the tremendous increase in traffic growth, better and alternative means of communication, convenience and speed was necessary and hence the need for an alternative transport route was clearly evident. The need for such tunnel was further compounded with Britain joining the European Community and the cross-channel traffic doubling in the last 20 years (leading to the project), reflecting improved trading between the Britain and rest of Europe. The Channel Tunnel would also be a ble to provide an alternative competitive link between the transportation systems of the UK and France, providing both speed and reliability to freight deliveries. With the strong endorsement from the governments of both sovereigns, the decision to build the Channel Tunnel was thus made. In April 1985, the British and French governments issued a formal invitation to potential tenderers for the fixed Channel link and eventually the contract was awarded to the consortium Channel Tunnel Group Limited- France Manche S.A. (CTG/FM) (later renamed Eurotunnel). Figure 1: Project Organization The Channel Tunnel, with the governments intention that it be privately funded and there would not be any government assistance or undertaking, was a build-own-operate-transfer (B-O-O-T) project with a concession. The project organization is shown in Figure 1. In this contract arrangement, Eurotunnel would be the owner cum operator, which was being funded by the banks and shareholders. The governments of UK and France were represented by the Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC), to which the Safety Authority and the Maitre dOeuvre (an independent technical auditor) would report to. The IGC would then make final engineering and safety decisions. TML (essentially split from CTG/FM so as to separate the roles of owner/operator and contractor) consisted mainly of five British contractors (Translink Joint Venture) and five French contractors (G.I.E Transmanche Construction) and would carry out the construction works for the Channel Tunnel in a design and build contract. Upon completion of the project, the British and French governments would award Eurotunnel a 55 (which was later revised to 65) year operating concession to repay the banks and shareholders. The Contract was officially signed on 13 August 1986 and the fixed rail was to be fully commissioned in 1993. The services offered by the Channel Tunnel include the Eurotunnel Shuttle (a shuttle service for vehicles), Eurostar passenger trains and freight delivery trains. TMLs contract was to design, build, and test and commission the fixed rail tunnel. The Channel Tunnel (Figure 2) was designed to have three concrete-lined bores approximately 50km long, with 37.9km undersea and the rest under land at either ends of the English (Cheriton near Folkstone) and French (Pas-de-Calais village of Frethun) terminals (Figure 3). Two of the running tunnels were designed to have an internal diameter of 7.6m while the third was a 4.8m service tunnel running midway between the two and connected to them via 3.3m diameter cross passages at 375m intervals. 2m diameter piston relief ducts connecting the main tunnels at 250m spacing were built to prevent the accumulation of differential air pressures and aerodynamic resistance. To facilitate operations and maintenance, four crossover caverns were built between the two terminals to allow trains to cross between the running tunnels. Two crossovers were laid close to the terminals while the other two were under the seabed , effectively dividing the tunnel into three approximately equal lengths. Figure 4 below shows the main phases of the project. Two separate rail tunnels were chosen instead of a single large twin-track rail tunnel because this could minimize construction risk while at the same time enhance operations, maintenance and safety. The diameters were finalized after design analysis, development and optimization studies, taking into consideration the operation and support, speed and cost of construction. The service tunnel provided access between the running tunnels during normal and emergency situations and was equipped with a guided transport system. It was also where the water and pumping mains run and functioned as a fresh air supply duct to the tunnels in normal working condition. In addition, the service tunnel would function as a lead tunnel during construction which allowed the workers and engineers to assess and ascertain the uncharted ground conditions before advancing the main tunnels. Basing on the existing geotechnical investigations, past tunneling expeditions and two additional geotechnical and geophysical surveys carried out by TML on the English Channel along the proposed tunnel line, it was ascertained that there was a distinct sub-unit of the Lower Chalk layer known as the Chalk Marl running continuously between the two terminals. Chalk Marl, made up of alternating bands of marly chalk and limestone, was found to be the best tunneling medium as it was essentially impermeable (due to its high clay content) and provided good short term stability under excavation, thus minimizing the number of supports required (Figure 5). It was designed to be bored in the bottom 15m of the Chalk Marl layer to minimize the ingress of water from the fractures and joints, but above the Gault clay which is susceptible to swelling when wet, imposing high stresses on the tunnel lining. The chalk marl strata dipped gently at less than 5o with smaller displacements of less than 2m d ue to faulting towards the UK side; whereas the strata dipped severely towards the French side (up to 20o) with much larger displacements of up to 15m (Gueterbock, 1992). Chalk at the French side was also harder, more brittle and fractured. This thus led to the use of different tunneling methods on the English and French sides. The seaward and landward bores for all three tunnels on the UK side began at Shakespeare Cliff. Construction traffic would enter the tunnel via a new inclined access (Adit A2) at the Lower Shakespeare site, while worker access was built via a shaft driven to the tunnel level from the Upper Shakespeare site (Gueterbock, 1992). Due to the fast construction time required and the relatively dry chalk marl at the UK side, it was assessed that the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) was most suitable for the UK tunnels. One feature of the NATM was the interlinking of design, construction method, sequence and plant and the success of this method depended on the continuous integration of these elements by the tunneling engineers. Six TBMs were used to drive the UK tunnels spanning a total distance of 84km. The TBMs were operated on an open-face mode with a front excavating section and a rear gripper unit which acted as a temporary anchor point when the cutting head drove forward at 1.5m inc rements (Anderson Roskrow, 1994). Excavation of the tunnel and erection of the tunnel linings were carried out concurrently. Depending on ground conditions, the thickness of the linings ranged between 380mm and 500mm. Expanded concrete lining was used for the UK tunnels where the unbolted lining was expanded against the excavated ground. Pads on the back of the lining allowed the formation of an annulus to be filled with grout to prevent water ingress (Byrd, 1996). Each 1.5m lining ring was made up of eight precast concrete segments with a key segment. Cast iron lining segments were only used in poor ground conditions. Over at the other side, the tunnel drives started at the shaft in Sangatte in France. Due to the highly fissured ground resulting in very wet conditions on the French side, a different type of TBM known as the Earth Pressure Balance Machine was used. The TBMs were designed to operate both in open and closed modes. Close mode is characterized by the sealing off of the machine from the spoil around it and the cutting head, thus keeping pressure on the dirt in front as it excavated and allowing the machine to work in the dry as the pressure in the machine was higher than the outside. The arrangement of seals on the TBM allowed it to withstand up to 10 atmospheric pressures. When the TBMs reached dryer and more favourable grounds, they could then switch to open mode. While precast sections were also used on the French side, the materials used were different owing to the different soil conditions: neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast-iron and high strength concrete (Ander son Roskrow, 1994). The French tunnels were made of six 1.4 to 1.6m wide segments plus a key segment. A total of 5 TBMs were employed on the French side, and the bores from the UK and France were to finally meet in the middle of the English Channel in the tunnel breakthrough phase. The Channel Tunnel project was huge by any standard, with a number of key factors that could potentially impact the parties involved: bi-nationality, private funding (thereby effectively transferring most of the financial risks to the contractors), schedule and cost. To stay attractive to investors and banks alike, the project had to meet the following priorities: minimum risk of cost overrun, minimum operating cost and maximum traffic revenue. It was recognized, from the outset, that the main challenge of the project was to resolve the logistical support associated with large scale tunneling and the fast-track nature of this project. The management, finance and technical challenges related to this project would be explored in the subsequent paragraphs.

You Will Always be in My Heart :: Love Letters Dating Email Relationships

Dear Anthony, I just wanted to thank you for all that you have done for me. I don't think you realize how much you inspire me and I am so proud of the person you've become and are still becoming. I understand you've been through a lot and you haven't made the best choices, but I can see that you have grown. Truthfully, I've known from the first time I met you to now, that you were a strong person. You are so full of wisdom about life that when you speak I could stay there forever and listen to your open mind, for it is peaceful and inviting. Anthony, you have become my awakening, you have helped me see things in a brighter way, happier, and more enlightening way. I was once drowning from my own fears, completely cynical about love, hope, and security. I used to think that no one understood me and never would. Then one day before I knew you personally, you came into my thoughts and I wasn't sure why you were there. Suddenly I felt reassured and a smile was brought to my face. I believe deep down that I loved you then. When I got to know you better a year later I realized I wasn't alone and that something inside of you was what constantly brought tears to my own eyes. I went through a time in my life where I felt worthless and unloved and I continuously searched for happiness. I wasn't getting along with my family, and my friends were all hating each other, leaving me in the middle, stressfully trying to pull things together. You made me laugh and forget everything that was going on. That year you became my escape, my survival. I don't think I could have made it through as strong as I did if it weren't for you. Anthony, I thank you for all the fun times we have spent together even if they were short lived. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that you must have been an angel sent by God to help me grieve and become a strong willed woman because no one has ever been able to help me see the light like you could. Clouds of darkness shadowed over me no matter what anyone else would say, but you made me smile with just your presence. You didn't have to say a word; everything was okay when you were beside me.

Essay --

Professional Development for Strategic Managers Introduction Professional development can provide the drive to progress your career, keeps managers across the industry more competitive. Mostly, professional development is something you will do everyday of your life without even thinking about it, however, being aware of the development you tackle, will allow you to record this and develop in a practical way. In order to maximise your prospective for lifetime employability, it is important to maintain high levels of professional competence by continually improving your skills and knowledge. It is essential to take ownership of your career and its continuing professional development, because of this ever changing market environment as you may no longer be able to depend on your employers to identify and satisfy your development necessity. The impact of such changes has increased the demands on professionals to maintain documentary evidence of their continued competence; because of the swift technology advancement in organisations. It is very important developing a personal portfolio of your professional activities and their relevance to your current job and your continued career as well as future ambitions. Task 1. Be able to assess personal and professional skills required to achieve strategic goals T1.1: Using appropriate methods to evaluate personal skills required to achieve strategic goals Professional skills are those skills obtained by an individual and necessary for use in a particular assignment or profession. These skills are developed over a period of time and are endlessly sharpen by working in the particular professional area. The skills are mostly used in businesses and professional organisations to expand the ... ...port personal development at the individual level in the organisation. At the individual level, self development involves the following; †¢ Improvement of social abilities †¢ Developing talents or strengths †¢ Improving knowledge †¢ Improvement in self awareness †¢ Improving or identifying potential †¢ Executing or defining personal development plan Conclusion In order to be effective, the objectives set at personal development and performance review should relate in part to the organisation’s key strategic objectives. The job description should have a connection, where suitable, with the strategic organisational and departmental goals. These strategic outcomes need to be translated for practical application at departmental and individual level. It is important for staff to understand what their organisation is trying to achieve and the implications for their work.

Anayas Bless Me, Ultima: A Psychological Critique of Religions Essay

Christianity, Judaism, Islam. These are only a few of the many religions in this world. How does one choose which religion to follow? Is it their background, nationality, belief, or because that’s the only thing they have always known or come in contact with? The concept of religion is a complex one, a concept to be investigated and questioned. This is the journey that Antonio Marex Luna explores in Rudolfo Anaya’s (1972) Chicano novel Bless Me, Ultima. Throughout the novel, Antonio fights a psychological war in his mind about all the religions and faiths that surround him in his everyday routine. All his life he was raised to believe in God, and as a result he grew to be a devote Catholic. However, some of his beliefs alter when Ultima, a curandera, comes to live with his family. By witnessing her mysterious powers, Antonio begins to question his beliefs. For many years following Ultima’s arrival Antonio balanced the religions of both worlds, by praying to the Virgin Mary while his brothers were away at war, as well as helping Ultima pick and care for her many magical herbs. At first, he didn’t compare the two faiths, but as time went on, he knew it was time to choose which path he wanted to follow into his future. It was his mother’s dream for Antonio to grow to be a priest and be considered a leader of the people and he deeply wanted to grant his mother’s wish. Even at the young age of 6, he would act priestly by blessing those who were in most need. For example, he was there for Narciso’s his last confession and performed the man’s last rites as he lay on his deathbed. Antonio also put a blessing over his brothers so that they would be safe as they left home. Throughout the novel, Antonio suffered an excessive ... ...the carp, he witnessed something elemental, magical, and miraculous without much effort and continued to hear the stories told with great detail and logic. With further investigation he concludes that the legend of the Magic Carp could have very well taken place. With these two concepts of religion, Antonio battles and organizes his thoughts through questions and observation. At certain points he believes that he will be sent to hell for believing in the stories of the King of the Fish. After all, the golden carp is a natural, pagan deity compared to the Christian God Antonio is used to worshipping. But in the end, that too is the teachings of Ultima’s wisdom, Antonio realizes he must learn to live in a world in which Catholicism and the golden carp can coexist, and he must grow to impart knowledge and enlightenment from all the spiritual forces in his life.