Thursday, October 31, 2019

TARP Report...Project Scope Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TARP Report...Project Scope - Case Study Example As such, the paper addresses the issue of lack of diversity in the group with reference to its functional and cultural skills. Such are the key elements, which hinders the group from achieving success in terms of having diversified projects, as well as having the ability to appeal to people from other cultural backgrounds. The current demographic composition of the group depicts a gap, which needs filling so that the group is not limited to a given clientele. Thus, No Kurfew Entertainment will have the ability of attracting different artists from different cultural backgrounds. No Kurfew Entertainment group has music makers, visual artists, creative writers, photographic and videographic talents. However, these persons have other responsibilities in the group. Thus, it becomes impossible for the individuals to achieve a high level of specialization, which will contribute towards their achievement of success. Thus, the project is limited to providing solutions and recommendations on how No Kurfew Entertainment group can achieve internal diversity in terms of functional skill and talent. These will ensure that the group has the potential of penetrating the market of entertainment industry in a creative manner while sustaining a diverse culture. Such includes supporting the creativity culture, which results in the improvement of the production level of the group. The provided recommendations are for the No Kurfew Entertainment to consider without being coerced in any issue. This is because the primary focus is the provision of professional consultancy services on how No Kurfew Entertainment can fix its problem of cultural diversity. Nevertheless, the recommendations will contribute in ensuring that the group increases its clientele, promotes brand development, retains and recruits employees, improves the work performance of employees and the productivity level increases significantly. The provided recommendations do not

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Nuclear Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Nuclear Energy - Essay Example Solar energy is the biggest source of energy. Electrical energy can be generated directly from solar energy by employing solar photo voltaic panels. Electrical energy can also be produced by focusing multiple beams of light at a point to generate electrical energy using the thermal energy produced by focused beams. Solar energy has the biggest potential among all the renewable sources of energy. A photo voltaic solar panel employs semiconductor material, which generate electricity when photons strike its surface. If there are solar panels on every home, the need of energy can be fulfilled (West 2011). A wind generator generates electrical power by utilizing aerodynamic energy of the wind and converting it to electrical energy. When wind strikes the turbine blazes of a wind generator, it runs the generator. An electrical power generator, if a permanent magnet type, rotates magnets around a coil in such a way, that the magnets cut the flux, thus generating electrical power. There a two common designs of a wind turbine horizontal axis wind turbine and vertical axis wind turbine. Both of the designs are enough efficient to generate electrical power even in a low wind conditions. Wind power holds the second biggest potential of energy. A hydro power plant captures the hydrodynamic energy of running water and utilized it to generate electrical power. Dams are constructed as reservoirs of water, where water is collected from rivers and streams but mostly rivers. That water run through a number of turbines to collect hydrodynamic energy from water and convert it to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is then converted back to the electrical energy. There are many hydro power stations all over the world and they are being in use for over more than eighty years (Renewable Energy World .com 2011). Tidal energy generator converts tidal energy to electrical energy. A tidal generator works on the principle of high tide and low tide. It has the same mechanism as that of a horizontal axis wind turbine but in tidal energy generator, turbines are submerged under the water to collect the energy from the low or high tide. These types of generators can also be utilized to collect energy from running water as in the rivers, streams and other running water sources. Large tidal units can be placed at shores and at the rivers. Geothermal energy can be captured from geothermal grounds. This type of energy is basically a thermal energy and a geothermal power plant acts as a thermal power plant, where water is converted into steam which then runs the turbine to generate electrical power. Long pipes are bored into the earth where geothermal grounds are present. Water is passed through these pipes, where it is heated by the thermal energy from the ground and converted into steam (West 2011). There are several geothermal grounds in the world and energy can be generated by employing these geothermal plants. Biomass energy can be extracted from biomass or from organ ic waste. Biomass is gasified to produce a gas that can be burnt to generate electrical energy. These methods are not new, they are being utilized in many countries for many years. Biomass can be produced from raw wood, organic waste and other organic sources. Sometimes micro organisms are involved in the process to capture bio methane or bio gas from biomass. In this way the byproduct can be utilized as a fertilizer,

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Management By Objectives Business Essay

Management By Objectives Business Essay The management by objectives is the best way to get more out of an employee in any organization. It is the way of dealing the problems by defining prior objectives for each employee and then to compare and to direct their performance against the objectives which have been set for each of them individually. It helps in increasing the performance of the organization by matching organizational goals with the objectives of subordinates from top level to the bottom level in any company. In normal cases the employees are asked to find out their own objectives and then they are evaluated by their superiors and will be added any extra if they do not meet the requirements or deadlines which are already preset for project completion. MBO includes tracking of the continuous changes of the processes and providing feedback to reach the objectives. Term coined by Peter Drucker: Management by Objectives was first introduced by Peter Drucker in 1954 in the book written by him, The practice of Management. According to DruckerManagers follow two rules without their knowledge Rule 1: With active involvement in the current activities,Managers come under a trap namely activity trap to successfully complete those jobs. Rule 2: As they are continuously involving in current activity it is quite common that they will lose their vision on long term goal. One of the concepts of Management ByObjectives was that instead of just a few top-managers, all managers of a firm should participate in the strategic planning process, in order to improve the implementability of the plan. According to Peter Drucker all managers (which implies both top as well as middle level) should: participate in the strategic planning process, in order to improve the implementability and practicality of the plan, and implement a range of performance systems, designed inorderto help the organization stay on the right track. Another concept of Management by Objectives was, that managers should implement a range of performance systems, which are designed to help the organization to function well without any problems. Clearly, Management by Objectives can thus be seen as a predecessor of Value Based Management. MbO Main Principles Cascading of organizational goals and objectives, Specific objectives for each and every member, Participative decision making, Explicit time period, and Performance evaluation after an activity and provide feedback. The SMART Objectives: The SMART goal era of the 1980s and 1990s provided some helpful criteria about what makes goals more or less effective in shaping behavior. By definition, a goal that doesnt shape behavior is ineffective. The theory went on to suggest that SMART parameters were good predictors of influential or effective goals. As an example, goals that were not specific or measurable were less likely to shape behavior than those that were high in these characteristics. Using a play on words, you were smart to include these characteristics in your goal and objective definition. Management by Objectives has also introduced the SMART method for checking the validity of the objectives, which should be SMART: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic, and Time-related One of the almost important impressions of SMART goals is that they are pointed; they have an edge, often a sense of energy created by the specificity, the time limits and the measurement. Non-SMART goals seem flat in comparison (ie. Improve productivity); bureaucratic, like one more strategic plan thats going nowhere. While the enhancement to goal definition was a helpful direction, it did not address fundamental weaknesses in this model. In the 90s, Peter Drucker put the significance of this organization management method into perspective, when he said: Its just another tool. It is not the great cure for management inefficiency Management by Objectives works if you know the objectives, but 90% of the time you dont. The MBO style is appropriate for knowledge-based enterprises when your staff is competent. It is appropriate in situations where you wish to build employees management and self-leadership skills and tap their entrepreneurial creativity, tacit knowledge and initiative.Management by Objectives (MBO) is also used by chief executives of multinational corporations (MNCs) for their country managers abroad. Famous innovation management policies: MBO followed at Intel A Managers Guide at Intel provides the following directions. Start with a few well-chosen overriding objectives. Set your subordinates objectives that fit in with your overriding objectives. Allow your subordinates to set their own key results to enable them to meet their objectives MBO followed at Microsoft By: Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft Prevent the missions or objectives that are competing against each other. Review Mechanism The review mechanism enables leaders to measure the performance of their managers, in the key result areas: marketing; innovation; human organization; financial resources; productivity; social responsibility; and profit requirements All individuals within an organization are assigned a special set of objectives that they try to reach during a normal operating period. These objectives are mutually set and agreed upon by individuals and their managers. Performance reviews are conducted periodically to determine how close individuals are to attaining their objectives. Rewards are given to individuals on the basis of how close they come to reaching their goals. . Setbacks of Management by Objectives: 1. May lead to suboptimalization: which means people are not ready to look beyond their own objectives and help each other. 2. Innovation cannot be seen anywhere. 3. Involvement of the time and paperwork. 4. Potential misuse by superiors who simply assign the objectives rather than asking their opinion. 5. Subordinates may try to negotiate easy goals. 6. Watch out for unrealistic expectations about what can be reasonably accomplished. 7. Inflexible and rigid. Solution: The Scheduled Project Management Drawing upon the influence of MBO theory that is to set clear objectives, build an action plan, andmeasure progress and Demings work (optimize processes and products by identifying andpracticing listed best practices behaviors), emerged the project management movement. Ineffect saying, 1. Yes set clear objectives, and get key stakeholder buy-in and definition for the participantthrough explicit requirement setting 2. Yes, put together a series of best practices action steps in the form of a work breakdownstructure. 3. But, what primarily helps people achieve their objective, is the planning, securing,scheduled deployment of resources and the completion of tasks. Project management is an evolution of MBO theory. Management by Objectives (MBO) (All about the goal) In the 60s, 70s and 80s it seemed like a good thing to manage work efforts by goals, hence theterm management by objectives. The idea was to improve management and workproductivity in general by being more clear visioned about the intended outcomesMBO principals contained many precursors to the basic building blocks used by current projectmanagement tenants. The basic MBO principles include the following activities: 1. Establishing a set of top level strategic goals. 2. Creating a cascade of organizational goals that are supported by the lower level definitiveobjectives and action plans. 3. There should be participative decision making in developing an organizational role and mission statement, as well as specific objectives andaction plans for each member. 4. Establish key results and/or determined performance standards for each objective. 5. Periodical measurement and assessment of the status or outcome of the goals. The assumptive strength behind the MBO model, as commonly practiced, is the notion that if adesired outcome is defined as a goal and progress is measured towards reaching that goal, thenthe chances of reaching that outcome are enhanced. Mission Statements and MBO All organizations have their own mission statement or vision statement that tries to encapsulate the overall strategic management of their company. Such statements are designed to implicitly state the organizations objectives in the broader sense. Yet this often fails to capture the true meaning behind the meaning of mission. A mission is an objective that needs to be managed, i.e they are the short term goals to be achieved. Therefore it should be specific to elements that make up the whole; thus flexible, dynamic and responsive to both the internal and external environment. Each mission needs a main effort an overriding factor that underpins the purpose of the mission. This should be communicated to all those involved it is the desired outcome that must be achieved. Expressed in this manner the objectives are clear, unambiguous and the employees are told what needs to be achieved not how to achieve them; thus encouraging new methods of innovation, flair and problems solving. SUMMARY: Successful management consists of settingup the good objectives and making the rightchoices towards the fulfillment of those objectives. Thosewho fail these two basic tasks, fail asmanagers. Management by objective is ageneralized procedure which lends itselfwell to that portion of management capableof being systematic. The remainingportion of management which is not systematic cannot be followed easily either in theory or in practice.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Bats :: essays research papers

Bats Contents 1. Title Page Page... 1 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contents  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Page... 2 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bat Facts Page... 3-4 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Congress Ave. Bridge Page... 5-6 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How To Get A Bat Out Of Your House Page... 6 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About Bat Houses  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Page... 7 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  References  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Page... 8+   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My report is on bats. I will start my story off by telling you some facts about bats. Bat Facts 1. Did you know that the worlds smallest mammal is a Bumblebee bat that lives in Thailand. It weighs less than a penny! 2. Vampire bats adopt orphan pups (the name for a baby bat) and have been known to risk their lives to share food with the less fortunate. 3. The African Heart-Nosed bat can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from a distance of over six feet! 4. The giant Flying Fox bat from Indonesia has a wing span of six feet! 5. Disk-winged bats of Latin America have adhesive disks on both feet that enable them to live in unfurling banana leaves (or even walk up a window pane). 6. Nearly 1,000 kinds of bats account for almost a quarter of all mammal species, and most are highly beneficial. 7. Worldwide, bats are the most important natural enemies of night- flying insects! 8. A single brown bat can catch over 600 mosquitoes in just one hour! 9. Tropical bats are key elements in rain forest ecosystems which rely on them to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds for countless trees and shrubs. 10. Bat droppings in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms, including bacteria useful in detoxifying wastes, improving detergents, and producing gasohol and antibiotics. 11. More than 50% of American bat species are in severe decline or already listed as endangered. Losses are occurring at alarming rates worldwide. 12. All mammals can contract rabies; however, even the less than half of one percent of bats that do, normally bite only in self- defense and pose little threat to people who do not handle them. 13. An anticoagulant from Vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human heart patients. 14. Contrary to popular misconception, bats are not blind, do not become entangled in human hair, and seldom transmit disease to other animals or humans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Well, enough with the facts. I think that should get you ready for the rest of my essay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Austin, Texas Congress Ave. Bridge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Bit Of History.......   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Engineers reconstructed downtown Austin's Congress Bridge in 1980, they had no idea that the new crevices beneath the bridge would make an ideal bat roost. Although bats had lived in Austin for years, it was headline news when they suddenly began moving by the thousands under the bridge.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The perks of living in the 21st century

Society’s deranged. There is no way to put it lightly, because it is. Between the mind numbing reality shows about partying, to the 80-pound model on every magazine we pick up. These crazy things have distorted our minds and have become our society’s norm. 90% of women are unhappy with their bodies, and 95% of teen girls think they’re fat. Is there not something wrong with that? For years and years our lives have been run by unrealistic role models and distorted images of beauty, all resulting in mental health issues. When did thin become so in?And why is â€Å"perfect† the only beauty we see now? Musicians, Actors, Models, the celebrities, the people that us as individuals see everywhere, the people that are idolized similar to the way Christians worship God and Jesus Christ. We hail them, we praise them, and we envy them. Now what do most of them all have in common? Drop dead, gorgeous looks. They have it all, the money, fame, looks, love; the list is en dless. What do we have? Hope. The hopes of one day becoming just like them. Have you ever seen an ugly singer or actor? No. There isn’t any.Think of all the talented people out there that couldn’t make it big just because of one superficial fragment. â€Å"In Hollywood I’m obese. I’m considered a fat actress. †(-Jennifer Lawrence) This quote displays how Hollywood is at the core of this disturbing phenomenon. How having a curvy body results in being called obese. â€Å"Models should be thin, clothes just look better on people who are thin, certainly photograph better. † (-Calvin Klein) This quote is a representation of something that the fashion industry has harnessed for years, if you not thin, it’s simple; you’re not in.What is true beauty? Because growing up in my generation I only have one idea of it. The girls that are splashed across the magazines and the slender actresses in all the box office hits, growing up I was taug ht that that’s what you had to look like to be beautiful. Being skinny and having perfect face structure is all you need; it will bring you love, attention, and most of all, happiness. Growing up in a narcissistic generation has fueled minds to hurt and feel pain when they don’t meet the qualification and standards of today’s version of beauty.â€Å"Nothing tastes how skinny feels† (-Kate Moss) this quote is just overall sad, it represents how our society thinks, and overall how people today run their lives. Teen girls worship The Victoria Secret models; the exotic, tall, shockingly stunning women prance around in little to nothing every year for the annual Victoria Secret fashion show. Along with it comes the wave of Tweets of young girls pouring out there insecurities. â€Å"Why cant I look like the Victoria Secret models. † â€Å"This fashion show is literally making me want to kill myself.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Can’t look at myself in the mirror ever again. † (-Tweets) This forces girls to cave into the pressure that society hands out on a golden platter. â€Å"As every girl with weight issues knows, the foolproof method of self-protection is to beat the crap out of yourself before someone else has the chance. † –(Los Angeles Times) Millions of people out there have issues with their appearance, young girls, young boys, grown men, grown women, the whole lot. The standards of beauty in our society are just too high for the majority of the population to reach.In result we beat the shit of out our self in sheer anger and shame. Each year the number of mental health illnesses increase. From eating disorders, depression, anxiety, etc. Eating disorders have increased by 400% since 1970. â€Å"Women today feel much worse about their body images than women several decades ago. †(-Los Angeles times) This quote is proof that this is a generational issue. We have distorted the true image of beauty and shove d in an unrealistic standard that no one can live up too.This â€Å"image† that society has created is destroying us, bit by bit. People are dying everyday from illnesses that chemically irrupt in the brain, and the overwhelming and horrific pressure put on by the media and society causes it. 35,000 girls suffer from anorexia each day, 1 in 10 Americans are clinically depressed, and Teenagers are committing suicide almost on a daily basis. These numbers are shocking and continue to grow as the generation and world moves forward.Each week the average person watches 31 hours of television, spends 10 hours online, and 4 hours looking through a magazine. This is the place where the media hits us hard. Where we are bombarded by the never-ending pursuits of perfection. Where beauty is taken to a whole new level and standard. â€Å"That’s sad. How plastic and artificial life has become. It’s getting harder and harder to find something real. Real love, real friends, re al body parts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (-Jess C. Scott) We’re the narcissistic generation, the generation that paints on beauty instead of finding in within.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Music on the Bamboo Radio

How does Nicholas change and grow During the novel? â€Å"Music on the Bamboo Radio† is a historical fiction novel written by Martin Booth sets in the time of 1941 when the imperial Japanese Army invades Hong Kong. The main character of this novel, Nicholas Holford, a British boy who disguised as a Chinese and survived through the war, but on the way, he faced a lot of challenges and difficulties to his new life which transform Nicholas into a brave and mature young man.Nicholas changes and be more matures in many ways, one of Nicholas’s most obvious change that he demonstrated in this novel, is that he turned to be more independent and started to make his own decisions. He was a boy who relies on his parents a lot and rarely needs to make his own decisions. At the start of the novel, Nicholas’ parents were sent away to join and work in the war, which they left Nicholas alone with their servants, Tang, Ah Mee and Ah Kwan.Tang urged for Nicholas and the other serv ants to leave and hide from the Japanese Soldiers, but Nicholas refuses to leave and insists on waiting for his parents. â€Å"We must wait, when my parents get back. † (Page 4) He does not realize that refusing to leave will bring them into huge danger, he is also not brave and mature enough to make decisions. However, as the novel progressed, Nicholas became much more independent and starts making his own decisions. In Nicholas’ new life, he has to live with a Chinese family and help them to do housework which chores became his daily routine.Unfortunately, Tang was sick from a mosquito bite after selling fish in the market one day, and in order to same Tang’s life, Nicholas and Ah Mee has to risk a trip to Kowloon to take the medicine, Quinine, which is the only way to save Tang’s life. After the tough and difficult journey, they finally took the medicine they need, but on their was back home, Ah Mee becomes too exhausted and tired that she couldnâ€⠄¢t walk anymore. The time is ticking away, they must bring the medicine back home as soon as possible to save Tang’s life. â€Å"Nicholas knew there was nothing for it.Tang’s life depend on him now. â€Å" (Page 52) Nicholas ran back home with the Quinine, he decided to leave Ah Mee behind after serious and carful thoughts. â€Å" You’ll be safe here,’ Nicholas declared. ‘ The people will look after you while you sleep. † (Page 52) These show that Nicholas is now able to make good and thoughtful decisions. Unlike before, Nicholas thought carefully rather should or should not run back home and leave Ah Mee here, he is able to consider both sides and determine the importance on each side before making the decision, so he takes out his bravery and made this decision.In the middle of the novel, Major Fox, from the British Army Aid Group have been asked for the helps from Nicholas to deliver a package of a bottle of vaccine and a bar of gold. T his bottle of vaccine could save hundred of human lives, and this task could only be done by Nicholas. After thinking deeply, â€Å"When he had been considering going with Tai Lo Fu to destroy the†¦ his voice quite and resolute. â€Å"I’ll deliver it. ’ â€Å" (Page 109/110) Nicholas decided to help deliver the package.This mission is very risky and dangerous for Nicholas, he might get caught by the Japanese soldiers and possibly get killed by them, but Nicholas know that he could not rely on anyone this time, instead, he has to help others in need and make this decision himself. Making this decision also showed that Nicholas became very independent and he is able to make mature decisions. Another major change that Nicholas demonstrated in this novel, is that he protects and helps other in need and became considerate of others.Nicholas grown up in a wealthy family, he has a gardener, cook and servants. (Page 3/4) He doesn’t really need to do chores for h imself, regardless the fact that he wouldn’t even need to help and protect others. However, as Nicholas begins his new life, living in a Chinese Family. He starts to take his own responsibilities, and even helping his new family do chores and housework. (Page 26) Nicholas also shows his protection of others when he and Ah Mee went on the trip to get Quinine for Tang.Nicholas and Ah Mee walk past some Japanese soldiers And the prisoners on their way back home, but Ah Mee stumbled and dropped her bundle beside them, this caught the Japanese soldiers attention and they thought Ah Mee was trying to communicate with the prisoners, which caused the soldiers to shout and took out their rifles pointing at them, but Ah Mee was too wear to stand up. Nicholas suddenly thought of an idea, he thought that the Japanese will not understand Cantonese either, so he made up nonsense with Cantonese and imitates the Chinese accent, trying to protect and change the Japanese soldier’s focus . Page 49/50) Although Nicholas did to succeed at the end and was saved by Ah Kwan, he had tried his best to protect Ah Mee in times of danger. Nicholas also became a lot wiser and smarter, and also became much more trustworthy. At the beginning of this novel, Nicholas saw two Japanese soldiers in less than seventy meters from him. â€Å" He wanted to scream, jump up, shout out, it’s alright. It’s only me. Don’t shoot. I’m only eleven. â€Å" (Page 3) Nicholas didn’t realize that doing that will only cause more attention from the Japanese soldiers and caused them to kill him straight away.The right thing he should so, is quietly leave without causing any attention and hide. However, Nicholas changed as he faces more challenges. When Nicholas went on a trip with Ah Kwan and Tai Lo Fu, he met a few Japanese soldiers walking past him, again, but he reacted wisely. Although he was very afraid and scared, he stayed quiet and still, not causing any att ention, (Page 65) This incident showed that Nicholas became much more wise and smart, knowing how to keep himself safe in times of danger and also learning from his mistakes.Before Nicholas went on this trip with Ah Kwan and Tai Lo Fu, he has to keep a secret first. The purpose of this trip, is for Nicholas to do a huge favor for the East River Column Army, which fight against the Japanese secretly. The army wanted Nicholas to translate a english note from the British for them, but if the Japanese find out about this Army, they will kill all of them immediately. So Nicholas has to keep this great secret and help finish this mission without letting anyone know. â€Å"Nicholas nodded. Any sense of flattery evaporated. (Page 61) As the novel progress and Nicholas went on his mission, we can see that Nicholas kept his promise and the secret only to himself. This showed that Nicholas is not a wise and trustworthy young man. Through this war, Nicholas changed dramatically in many ways, b oth mentally and physically. He faced many difficulties and tough challenges, but it’s only these challenges that can transform Nicholas into a mature young man. Nicholas also surprised and amazes me because of his significant change and transformation and he also sets a great example for us to learn and experience from.