Work of Composition

Introduction The English language has gained a wide acceptance and is being used by many people across the world. This language is used as an official language in many countries. Globalization is said to be the major cause of English Internationalization. Many nations are currently under pressure to involve English in their communication. The non native speaking countries are also under pressure to learn the language in order to facilitate communication in the international world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work of Composition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper summarizes the arguments provided in the article â€Å"An Essay on the Work of Composition,† which has been written by Min-Zhan Lu. The article is found in the journal titled â€Å"College composition and communication† that was published in the year 2004. Argument Summary As the language attracts considerable users across the w orld, there is a need to establish what is meant by being a responsive and a responsible user of English. There are assumptions, which have helped in the development of responsible and responsive approaches to the relationship between English users and the language itself. The reason for summarizing this essay is to ensure that it is possible to reiterate the major points of the argument faster, at any time, and anywhere. In addition, it is important to incorporate summaries in any paper that has been written in order to communicate the main ideas of the work effectively. Thesis There has been a set of reasons as to why English users need to be responsive and responsible. Globalization has been mentioned to be among the drivers for the increased use of the language. In fact, the aspect of globalization can be argued to be the main reason for the spread of the English language. The aspect of globalization tends to bring countries together to interact through business transactions. Ho wever, the use of the English language varies depending on the purpose and individual users. The author of the article presents assumptions, which are likely to develop considerable responsive and responsible approaches in the relation between English and its users. The main argument presented in the essay is that the assumptions developed by the author can help in the composition of the English language against the grain of all systems and relations of injustice. Sub-arguments In supporting her argument, the author says that people should be responsible especially in the catastrophe of the modern world. Being responsible will help people who are using the language. This is especially in selecting the best places where they can use the language, as well as how it should be used. People have to overcome the fears of communication breakdowns resulting from language imperfection. This will ensure responsibility and responsive communication is achieved.Advertising Looking for essay on languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If a language is not effective, then it can as well be termed as dead. The language effectiveness depends on its ability to pass on the required message at the right time. Language should not be biased for it to be effective. In this case, the non native speaking countries are making efforts to learn the language in order to communicate effectively using the language. As the language continues to become international, it is being differentiated into various versions with varying accents and pronunciation depending on the country that is using the language. The pressure to learn the language will eventually submerge the other cultures in the process. The use of English as a monopolistic language is likely to lead to capitalism, which is said to be in the interest of the US. An approach that is said to be behind this relationship of English and other languages is the commodity approach. Individuals learn the English version they need depending on the commodity they want. There is a fear that the designers of tools for learning such a language are likely to suppress the efforts to acquire or learn the language. This becomes challenging since people do not understand how the English users establish the different ways to design standards of learning the language. Users of the English language experience some level of dissonance in their discursive resources, and this has an influence on the English they are interested to learn. In fact, potential dissonance can assist an English writer in grasping the context of the language. If efforts are made to make the redesigned language to an existence of collectiveness, this is likely to bring long term changes. Therefore, the composition need to be redesigned. In the long run, this will help in the composition of the English language irrespective of all the challenges. Conclusion The English language has become or is becoming an international language at a high rate. The language has gone on to include a number of versions, which are dependent on the country in which the language is being used. As a result, learners will learn the version they wish to know depending on their interests.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work of Composition specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Different approaches define the relation between the English language and other languages. Nonetheless, there have been fears that the increased pressure to learn the US English is likely to result into capitalism. That is why the new approaches need to be embraced. This essay on Work of Composition was written and submitted by user Taraji Monroe to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

3 Easy Content Optimization Tips Every Blogger Should Focus On

3 Easy Content Optimization Tips Every Blogger Should Focus On You may be producing regular content as a way to drive traffic to your blog, but are you testing that content just like you would test any other landing page? Content marketing- or using your blog as a tool for traffic growth- is a great way to encourage readers to visit your site, share your content with others, and hopefully become a verified lead that you can follow up with. But this doesn’t happen automatically. You need to make sure that your content creation process has a suitable content optimization layer. Just like the rest of your site and business. Here’s the key thought- you know that good optimization and A/B testing works on landing pages, home pages, and product pages, but are you properly testing things where your regular content lives? On your blog, for example? With all of the knowledge out there about content optimization, it can be easy to apply the same scientific process to optimize your content marketing. There are  three simple methods you can use to optimize your content, and help you introduce an optimization layer to your blog. The result? More traffic, more shares, and more leads- it’s as simple as that. 3 Ways To Optimize Your Content For More Traffic And ConversionsTip  1: Optimize Your Content To Get More Traffic If you use a blog to create content and as a marketing tool, then one of your key metrics for success is the inbound traffic that comes in at the top of your funnel. While traffic  isn’t the only metric that matters, it is an important place to start. Its also one of the areas that deserves some heavy content optimization. There are three primary sources of traffic that you can optimize. Source #1- social media When new content goes live, you should be sharing it across all of your social media properties. Did you know that this process can be tested so that it will bring in more traffic? One of the ways to test this is to create a social sharing schedule that simply distributes  your social messages more than once on each network. Share your content more than once on social media. You can see the different times well share this post on different social networks. For this, you should be testing different times to post your content and different messages that may drive better results. We were able to double our own traffic with this process. Use a #socialmedia sharing schedule to share your #contentmarketing at just the right time.Source #2- email marketing Most email marketing software makes it super easy to A/B test your email subject lines, or pretty much any of the content within the email itself.  This is an important practice that is easy to implement. In fact, we never send out a major email that doesn’t have an A/B test built in. Always A/B test your email subject lines. After A/B testing our own email subject lines for months, we’ve been able to draw several conclusions about how to make our audience more likely to consume and share our content. The results for your audience will be different, but it is such an easy place to do testing,  itss  almost a no-brainer. Source #3- SEO and  SEM Most of us are regularly optimizing our blog content based on keywords that potential customers and readers might search for on Google. This is a smart practice, and one that you can easily A/B test. What you need to do is narrow your content down to one or two different keywords or keyword phrases that you think your visitors are the most likely to use. From there, optimize your content accordingly and make a small AdWords campaign for each keyword phrase that you are testing. After you run the paid campaigns for a few weeks, you should get a clear picture of what keyword will bring the most click-throughs, and you can optimize your content according to that keyword. For more tips on A/B testing your SEO pages, check out this excellent guide on the KISSmetrics blog. Optimize your current #blog content by #ABtesting with an AdWords campaign.Tip 2: Optimize Your Headlines  To Get More Shares After reaching a milestone of more than one million headlines in our database, our team started to wonder if we could find a way to predict how likely a headline was to be shared on social media. To our surprise, we found a little secret. Emotional headlines are in fact more likely to be shared via social media. With that in mind, we decided it was time to build a new tool to combine that data with everything else we know that makes up the best headlines. Thats the headline analyzer. Content with headlines scoring 70 or better with the headline analyzer  are  some of the most likely to be shared. This means that one of the best ways to get more shares is to write better headlines, and there are some easy ways to test those headlines as you learn. A/B test your headlines. Buffer, for example, has outlined their own process for A/B testing headlines on their blog. Their method is simple. By sending out a couple tweets with two alternate headlines, they are able to see which headline gets the most attention on Twitter. From there, they can adjust their post to accommodate the winning headline. Another option for A/B testing your headlines is by using the KingSumo Headlines WordPress Headline tool, which allows you to test multiple headlines at once. Over time, the tool will automatically select the best headline to use permanently going forward. It is a great ‘set it and forget it’ option. Write Better Headlines With A  Free Headline Analyzer The headline analyzer  will help you: Use headline types that get the most traction for social shares, traffic, and search engine ranking. Make sure you have the right word balance to write readable headlines that command attention. See the best  word and character length for search engines like Google and email subject lines, while also seeing  how your readers will scan your headlines. Try The Free Headline Analyzer Now Optimize your #headlines to increase your #socialmedia shares.Tip 3: Optimize Your Content To Get More Leads So, you’ve optimized your content to get more traffic and more shares, but what are you doing with all of those new visitors? Hopefully, youre converting some of those visitors into leads. This is another area that begs for some efficient A/B testing. Test different lead collection methods. There are several methods you can use to collect email leads, and even a few simple plugins that will help you with the process. But don’t take the default settings for granted. You need to test the methods for finding leads. For example, Noah Kagan recently shared his extensive pop-up box testing. He was able to determine the best time to display a pop-up box and learned exactly how often he could display it without annoying his readers. A few of the things that you should be A/B testing include: The overall look and feel of your lead collection area. We were able to increase conversions by switching from a blue to an orange option form. A simple change with a big result. The copy and content displayed on your lead collection form. Can you increase conversions by adding social proof? How long a user needs to be on your page before seeing your lead collection form. Noah Kagan found the magic number to be 5 seconds. Various methods and locations for lead collection. For example, does a pop-up or slide-in lead collection form perform better? Test different signup offers. Another thing you can test is the offer you make visitors in exchange for signing up. For example, does offering them a valuable piece of content improve conversions? We found that by offering a free e-book or download, we were able to double our conversion rate over night.

10 Fascinating Facts About Dung Beetles

10 Fascinating Facts About Dung Beetles Is there anything cooler than a dung beetle pushing a ball of poo? We think not. But lest you disagree, please consider these 10 fascinating facts about dung beetles. 1. Dung Beetles Eat Poop Dung beetles are coprophagous insects, meaning they eat excrement of other organisms. Although not all dung beetles eat poop exclusively, they all eat feces at some point in their life. Most prefer to feed on herbivore droppings, which are largely undigested plant matter, rather than carnivore waste, which holds very little nutritional value for insects (and really, who could blame them for that preference). Recent research at the University of Nebraska suggests dung beetles may be most attracted to omnivore excrement, since it provides both nutritional value and the right amount of odor to make it easy to find. 2.  Not All Dung Beetles Roll Their Poop When you think of a dung beetle, you probably picture a beetle pushing a ball of poop along the ground. But some dung beetles don’t bother rolling neat little dung balls at all. Instead, these coprophages stay close to their fecal finds. Aphodian dung beetles (subfamily Aphodiinae) simply live within the dung they find, often cow patties, rather than investing energy in moving it. The earth-boring dung beetles (family Geotrupidae) typically tunnel below the dung pile, making a burrow which can then be easily provisioned with poop. 3. Dung Beetles Provision Their Nests With Poop for Their Offspring When dung beetles do carry or roll the dung away, they do so primarily to feed their young. Dung beetle nests are provisioned with poop, and the female usually deposits each individual egg in its own tiny dung sausage. When the larvae emerge, they are well-supplied with food, enabling them to complete their development within the safe environment of the nest. 4. Many Dung Beetles Are Good Parents Dung beetles are one of the few groups of insects that exhibit parental care for their young. In most cases, child rearing responsibilities fall on the mother (surprise!), who constructs the nest and provisions it with food for her young. But in certain species, both parents share child care duties to some degree. In the Copris and Ontophagus dung beetles, the male and female work together to dig their nests. Certain Cephalodesmius dung beetles even mate for life. 5. Most Dung Beetles Are Particular About the Poop They’ll Eat For most dung beetles, not just any poop will do. Many dung beetles specialize on the dung of particular animals, or types of animals, and simply will not touch the poo of other critters. Australians learned this lesson the hard way, when the outback was nearly buried in cattle dung. Two hundred years ago, settlers introduced horses, sheep, and cattle to Australia, all grazing animals that were new to the native dung beetles. The Australian dung beetles were raised on poop from Down Under, like kangaroo poo, and refused to clean up after the exotic newcomers. Around 1960, Australia imported exotic dung beetles that were adapted to eating cattle dung, and things got back to normal. Phew. 6. Dung Beetles Are Really Good at Finding Poop When it comes to poop, the fresher the better (at least from the dung beetles perspective). Once a dung patty has dried out, it’s less palatable to even the most dedicated poop eater. So dung beetles move quickly when an herbivore drops a gift in the pasture. One scientist observed 4,000 dung beetles on a fresh pile of elephant scat within 15 minutes after it hit the ground, and shortly thereafter, they were joined by an additional 12,000 dung beetles. With that kind of competition, you have to move quick if you’re a dung beetle. 7. Dung Beetles Navigate Using the Milky Way With so many dung beetles vying for the same pile of poop, a beetle needs to make a quick getaway once he’s rolled his dung ball. But it’s not easy to roll a ball of poop in a straight line, especially when you’re pushing your ball from behind using your hind legs. So the first thing the dung beetle does is climb atop his sphere and orient himself. Scientists had long observed dung beetles dancing on their poo balls, and suspected they were looking for cues to help them navigate. New research confirmed that at least one species of African dung beetle, Scarabaeus satyrus, uses the Milky Way as a guide to steering its dung ball home. The researchers placed tiny hats on the dung beetles, effectively blocking their view of the heavens, and found the dung beetles could only wander aimlessly without being able to see the stars. 8. Dung Beetles Use Their Poop Balls to Cool Off Have you ever walked barefoot across a sandy beach on a scorching hot summer day? If so, you probably did your share of hopping, skipping, and running to avoid painful burns to your feet. Since dung beetles often live in similarly hot, sunny places, scientists wondered if they, too, worried about burning their tootsies. A recent study showed that dung beetles use their dung balls to cool off. Around noon, when the sun is at its peak, dung beetles will routinely climb atop their dung balls to give their feet a break from the hot ground. The scientists tried putting tiny, silicone booties on the dung beetles, and they discovered the beetles wearing shoes would take fewer breaks and push their dung balls longer than the beetles that were barefoot. Thermal imaging also showed that the dung balls were measurably cooler than the surrounding environment, probably because of their moisture content. 9. Some Dung Beetles Are Surprisingly Strong Even a small ball of fresh dung can be hefty to push, weighing 50 times the weight of the determined dung beetle. Male dung beetles need exceptional strength, not just for pushing dung balls but also for fending off male competitors. The individual strength record goes to a male Onthphagus taurus dung beetle, which pulled a load equivalent to 1,141 times its own body weight. How does this compare to human feats of strength? This would be like a 150 lb. person pulling 80 tons! 10. Millions of Years Ago, Ancient Dung Beetles Cleaned up After Prehistoric Giants Because they lack bones, insects rarely show up in the fossil record. But we do know that dung beetles existed around 30 million years ago, because paleontologists have found fossilized dung balls the size of tennis balls from that time period. Prehistoric dung beetles collected the poop of South America’s megafauna: car-sized armadillos, sloths taller than modern houses, and a peculiar long-necked herbivore called Macrauchenia.

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Ethics - Essay Example Business ethics requires the view of all business activities through the moral values lens to determine their acceptability in the society. For smooth business operations, all business actors must understand various issues such as the personal aspects of business including family, sex, marriage and friendship, individual rights, and the moral values ascribed by society within which the business operate. This paper entails discussion of chapters covered between week 4 and 8 and identification of different sources of information with information relevant to the readings. â€Å"It’s Not My Problem†: The Concept of Responsibility (Chapter 8) The concept of responsibility is applied in business in different ways in which every actor in the business world has a role to play. The different forms of responsibilities in the business field include consumer responsibility, corporate responsibility and shareholder responsibility. The view of these responsibilities through the busin ess ethics lens converts them into moral responsibilities and prima facie obligations. In this case, all business actors are obliged to ensure fulfillment of such responsibilities in orders for the business undertakings to have constructive ends or positive impact on the society. Lange and Washburn (2012) have explored the meaning irresponsible behavior in the business world to divert attention from what corporate social responsibility implies, to what business actors do that is against the expectation of responsible behavior. The information covered by the two authors closely relates to information covered in this chapter in which much emphasis has been put on the different responsibilities and the misunderstanding of the responsibility concept in business. According to Lange and Washburn (2012), business responsibility is deeply rooted in the external expectations and the perception of the people experiencing the business activities. The survival and success of a business organiza tion or venture greatly depends on the widespread external perception as to whether the organization acts in socially responsible manner and the ability to meet external expectations. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the responsibility concept in business does not imply going against self-interests in the business venture but the need to strike a balance between self-interests and societal interests. The greatest dilemma in business ethics revolves around the conflict of responsibilities, where individual’s power may be limited by external expectations or responsibilities. Social Responsibility and the Stakeholder (Chapter 9) Social responsibility in the business world refers to the different roles that businesses and actors in the business world have by virtue of operating within the society. The concept of corporate social responsibility encompasses the social concerns of stakeholders and the economic interests of business owners and shareholders. The corpor ate world and the society directly depend on each other, where the society cannot function in absence of economic and social roles of corporations while at the same time corporations cannot exist without the society. The stakeholder approach in business social responsibilities ensures that business owners commit to serve broader interests, in addition to the business economic and

Discuss Nora Helmer's journey from 'dolly' wife to emanicapted woman Essay

Discuss Nora Helmer's journey from 'dolly' wife to emanicapted woman in ''A Doll's House'' by Ibsen - Essay Example In this situation, Nora is depicted as an extravagant woman who spends a lot of money on Christmas presents and home improvements. Yet the play goes well past such meanings and point of view, so that when all the characters and intensities have appeared during the plot development, the play seems to point to something different from what the readers have supposed at the beginning. The first factor of change is marked by a blackmail form Nils Krogsta. In order to save her husband, Nora lent some money from Nils Krogstad, but he found that Nora forged her dying father's signature. When Nora finds a letter, she matures and understands that the disclosure will cost her love and devotion of her husband and happy family life. As a mature woman, she does everything possible to solve the situation (ask her friend Christine to help her), but fails. In Nora's remarks, readers can find the stages of a repudiation of such a "civilized" development, and this refusal, going deeper than a social responsibility. Though, because social role of the wife is predetermined, Ibsen underlines that Nora feels miserable and depressed. The symbolic meaning of blackmail helps readers to grasp the idea at once shaping atmosphere of the play. Also, this setting contemplates nature, both the natural world around the narrator and her own inner nature. Another unique setting is Torvald's st udy. Before he shuts the door he calls to him" (Ibsen).

Mid Term Essay Example for Free

Mid Term Essay I affirm that the attached work is entirely my own, except where the words or ideas of other writers are specifically acknowledged according to accepted citation conventions. This assignment has not been submitted for any other course at Robert Kennedy College or any other institution. I have revised, edited and proofread this paper. I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and fully disclosed in this paper (examination). I have also cited any sources (footnotes or endnotes) from which I used data, ideas, theories, or words, whether quoted directly or paraphrased. I further acknowledge that this paper has been prepared by me specifically for this course. MIDTERM ASSESSMENT Q1. 70 Points Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today. Q2. 30 Points: Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace please provide an example. Understanding Human Behavior is critical to organizations discuss the benefits of self evaluation/self assessment as it relates to leaders today. As the world is becoming more dependent on electronic gadgets, its becomes more difficult to have a face to face discussion or contacts with the people we work with. These have made it more important to understand the behavior of the people we work with and more critical to any manager that wants to be successful in his organization. For a leader to fully understand Human behavior, that person need to first do what is called self assessment. † being self aware allows one to recognize and improve their strength and weakness in order to maximize their leadership[ potential† Discovering your Authentic Leadership, Harvard Business Review February 2007 page 3 Human behaviors are must predictable if one have taken time to sturdy another person. In organizational Behavior 15th edition by Stephen and Timothy page 11 â€Å"Behavior is generally predictable and the systematic study of behavior is a means to making reasonable accurate predictions† Self evaluation is a major factor towards becoming a good leader, because this evolves looking at oneself so that all aspect that is important are identified and evaluated. As a leader you need to know your capacity and ability. The oxford dictionary defines self assessment as an evaluation of oneself or actions, altitudes or performance. As the definition implies there are several ways that a leader can evaluate his or her performance. In Harvard Business review of 2007 with the title discovering your Authentic leadership page 5 eight key questions are asked, and this I believe if well understood can benefit a leader today. And help to develop a better self evaluation mechanism. The people and experience in your early life have a great impact on an individual, As a leader knowing where your coming from is very important and this makes you to compare note to with were you want to be in the future. Self evaluation will help you know if progress is being made and were more efforts are required. As a modern leader you need to be systematic in your assessment, without over overrating your skills, this can be done through your pears subordinates by way of asking questions that brings out the honest answers from them. Arrogance should not have a part in these for your survival depends on their honest response. Every leader most have values, HBR in discovering you Authentic leadership page 4 says â€Å"The value that forms the basis for Authentic leadership are derived from your beliefs and convictions, but you will not know what your true values are until they are tested under pressure† must time people say† Nothing will ever make me change my mind â€Å"only to shift ground when much pressure are mounted on us, In other wars pressure is what refines our true vales, and when self evaluation is applied the value that you have or come out with unshaken is your true value. A leader is also motivated to act by one action or the other, self assessment will help you to know your motivation, does it come from the inside or the outside? Knowing the answers will help you to discover yourself. Most people waste there life leaving a programmed life, and not having satisfaction, only when they do things out of motivation will they truly be happy. You’re Family, friends, workmates and neighbors all reflect the kind of a leader one is so in the process of self assessments one needs to evaluate all to be sure whether the right set of people are what he has around him. Success is a team work; we are all interdependent on each other. Another area of leadership self awareness is on consistence, Do I double speck? A leader should be known as one who is constant in all situations that confronts him, and make sure everyone within the organization is carried along on most activities. A leader should assess his personality to see if he owns up to his mistake, leaders are human, they make mistakes and should accept correction. Leaders need to make out time for themselves and family. Having done a proper self assessment as a leader am ever more determined to develop a system and process were talented people are attracted and aligned to be future leaders. â€Å"No individual achievement can equal the pleasure of leading a group of people to achieve a worthy goal. When you cross the finish line together, all pain and suffering you may have experienced quickly vanishes† HBR discovering you authentic leadership page 8. In conclusion every leader must do some kind of self assessment periodically for improvement; this in true reflects in the person the quality of a good leader. Q2. Prejudice can be hurtful and destructive discuss how you can personally reduce prejudice in your workplace please provide an example. â€Å"All human being are born free and equal in dignity and right, they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood†. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human right. Despite this well articulated statement, Prejudice is still a universal problem, we all are prejudiced in one way or the other, but for us to be good leaders we all need to work hard in other to reduce prejudice in our work place. As a step towards reducing prejudice one has to acknowledge that it really exists. It is only when we accept it existence can we start to discuss way to end or reduce prejudice. â€Å"Prejudgment becomes prejudice only if they are not reversible when exposed to new knowledge† says the book the Nature of prejudice. And only the type of contacts that lead people together is likely to result in changed attitudes. According to the report UNISCO against Racism â€Å"education could be a precious tool in the struggle against new form of racism, discrimination and exclusion† having this fine idea before us should make us more aware of our responsibilities. The book Understanding Prejudice and discrimination says. â€Å"Perhaps they must important conclusions to emerge from prejudice research are 1. No one capable of human thoughts and speech is immune from harboring prejudice. It often takes deliberate effort and awareness to reduce prejudice and 3. With sufficient motivation it can be done† As a business owner I have I have synchronized the research work into my working environments. And this have reduced Prejudice in our organization, My country Nigeria is a multi ethnic and culturally diversified nation with more than three hundred ethnic groups. Must time working with people of different ethnic groups can be challenging if once does not do away with his pre conceived thoughts about another tribe. As an IGBO specking person I have come not to think that any other tribe is inferior to mine. So during recruitment we do not discriminate or apply mono-ethnic sentiments, rather we appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of our individuality. So everybody who performs well is given the opportunity to work with us. I have also made sure that each project team is not mono-ethnic; so that they can all learn from their diversity and this have really reduce the level of prejudice in our work place. I have notice a staff who was once very prejudiced about an individual from another ethnic group being good friends after they worked together on a project for a period of time, when I asked about his the new closeness and friendship with the person he was once prejudiced about he simple replied â€Å"ignorance can kill†. This was because by working with the individual as project team member he came to realize that the person has a very good principle and very hardworking too against what he previously thought.

Pablo Picasso Essay -- Essays Papers

Pablo Picasso "Yet Cubism and Modern art weren't either scientific or intellectual; they were visual and came from the eye and mind of one of the greatest geniuses in art history. Pablo Picasso, born in Spain, was a child prodigy who was recognized as such by his art-teacher father who ably led him along. The small Museo de Picasso in Barcelona is devoted primarily to his early works, which include strikingly realistic renderings of casts of ancient sculpture. "He was a rebel from the start and, as a teenager, began to frequent the Barcelona cafes where intellectuals gathered. He soon went to Paris, the capital of art, and soaked up the works of Manet, Gustave Courbet, and Toulouse-Lautrec, whose sketchy style impressed him greatly. Then it was back to Spain, a return to France, and again back to Spain - all in the years 1899 to 1904. "Before he struck upon Cubism, Picasso went through a prodigious number of styles - realism, caricature, the Blue Period, and the Rose Period. The Blue Period dates from 1901 to 1904 and is characterized by a predominantly blue palette and subjects focusing on outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. This was when he also produced his first sculptures. The most poignant work of the style is in Cleveland's Museum of Art, La Vie (1903), that was created in memory of a great childhood friend, the Spanish poet Casagemas, who had committed suicide. The painting started as a self-portrait, but Picasso's features became those of his lost friend. The composition is stilted, the space compressed, the gestures stiff, and the tones predominantly blue. Another outstanding Blue Period work, of 1903, is in the Metropolitan, The Blind Man's Meal. Yet another example, perhaps the most lyrical and mysterious ever, is in the Toledo Museum of Art, the haunting Woman with a Crow (1903). "The Rose Period began around 1904 when Picasso's palette brightened, the paintings dominated by pinks and beige, light blues, and roses. His subjects are saltimbanques (circus people), harlequins, and clowns, all of whom seem to be mute and strangely inactive. One of the premier works of this period is in Washington, D.C., the National Gallery's large and extremely beautiful Family of Saltimbanques dating to 1905, which portrays a group of circus workers who appear alienated and incapable of communicating with each other, set in a one-dimensional space... ...ods. This paperback version is the smarter buy. Also available: A Life of Picasso: Volume II, 1907-1917, which covers the critical Cubist Period. Picasso : The Early Years 1892-1906 This is the catalog to the blockbuster show of 1997, featuring the Blue and Rose Periods. The graphics are of exceptional quality, and the accompanying essays are enlightening, focusing on less well-known aspects of this period of Picasso's career. Picasso and Portraiture : Representation and Transformation William Rubin (Editor), Anne Baldassari, Pierre Daix This is the catalog to the blockbuster show of 1996, featuring portraits from the beginning to end of Picasso's long career. The graphics are again of exceptional quality. Rubin's essay in particular is critical in art historical writing on the Spanish master. Picasso's Variations on the Masters : Confrontations With the Past Susan Grace Galassi This is an extremely interesting look at Picasso's series paintings based on masterworks from the past, from Velazquez to Delacroix to Manet. It was as if he could not find sufficient competition among contemporary artists, and looked to outdo the masters of the past in their own works.