The Benefits of Trade China versus India

9 things to do before you write that resume- The JobNetwork

9 things to do before you write that resume- The JobNetwork So, you’ve found that job posting that looks a little too good to be true. You want to put your best foot forward, but you haven’t even gotten your resume in order. Sound familiar? Since your resume is your potential employer’s first impression of you, resume writing is a serious task - one that can’t be started without getting your life together first.Here’s what you should do before you start writing your resume:1. Introspection is keyBefore you even set pen to paper (or really, in this day and age, boot up your laptop), you first have to decide what it is you’re aiming for. This applies to both new job seekers and to those who simply wish to embark on a new phase of their career. Do you have a goal in mind for what you want to do with your life or where you want your career to go?If you need some help discovering your career path, check out these approaches:ââ€"  Search your soul: Set some time aside to ask yourself important questions about where you would like your career to go. Brainstorm what you enjoy doing, think through your priorities, or ask yourself questions like where you would like to see yourself in ten years. The conclusions you arrive at will be instrumental in helping you find your way.ââ€"  Take a test: If you’re interested to see if there are any options that you haven’t previously considered, there are plenty of free career tests online, such as Sokanu’s Career Test or the O*NET Interest Profiler, which is created by the U.S. Department of Labor. In these tests, you answer a set of questions and see if your interests or personality are suited for a certain career path. After that, you can research your results and see if it’s what you want.ââ€"  Talk to a professional: If you feel that talking to an unbiased professional would benefit you, seeking guidance from a career counselor may be a good move. A career counselor’s job is to guide you through your car eer choices. He or she may first find out more about you and your interests, and then give you suggestions based on what he or she knows about you and her expertise on the salaries and skills required for various fields. Though this option costs between $75.00 to over $1,200.00 per hour-long session, some colleges offer free counseling to alumni, so be sure to explore your options thoroughly.Once you decide on your path, it will be easier to see what assets you have that will take you where you wish to go.2. Gather your informationIf you already have a dream job in mind, great! The next step is figuring out what an employer in that field is looking for in an ideal candidate and preparing accordingly. According to  this article by Workopolis, only 2% of job seekers make it to the interview, with a well-crafted application being what elevates you to the top 2% of contenders. Therefore, having a resume that provides a lot of targeted information clearly and concisely is one of the be st ways to make the strongest impression possible.To create a competitive resume, be sure to take a stroll down memory lane and compile these important tidbits: ââ€"  Relevant previous work experience, including specific dates of employment. ââ€"  Pertinent certifications, licenses and awards, honors, and activities. ââ€"  A list of your publications. ââ€"  Your GPA, but only include this if it’s above a 3.0.Once you get all this information together, you can use it to build the case that you are exactly what your would-be employer is looking for.3. Ready your portfolio, website, and/or LinkedIn profileWhether it’s a hard copy binder or online, a portfolio is a collection of your best work that your potential employer can peruse to determine if you have the skills they are looking for. It’s a valuable tool, providing incontrovertible evidence that you’re the real deal, and not overselling yourself. Depending on the industry you’re hoping to enter, particularly if it’s arts related, a portfolio may even be required.A personal website often serves the same purpose as an online portfolio, with more biographical information in the form of an â€Å"About† section, and some additional features, such as a blog and contact page. Having a personal website greatly increases your visibility, and is known to impress would-be employers when he or she Googles you. So, if you have one, make sure that it’s up-to-date before including it on your resume.Finally, in this age of social media, your LinkedIn profile is quickly becoming a must-have on your resume. Therefore, an important step to preparing your resume is optimizing your LinkedIn. Although the information on both your resume and LinkedIn profile may seem similar, make sure that it’s not identical. Think of your LinkedIn as an additional opportunity to showcase yourself, so don’t waste it!4. Brainstorm your skillsNow that you have your past a ccomplishments laid out in front of you, it’s time to analyze the concrete skills that led to your success.For first time job seekers :If this is your first-ever resume, start by thinking about your achievements from school or other endeavors. If you’re a student, were you on the executive board for a club? If you’re a stay-at-home mother, did you run a fundraiser? Maybe you can even leverage your travels by emphasizing the skills you gained. Even if these are not â€Å"jobs† per se, they require certain skills to pull off, skills that you can put on your resume. For job seekers who have gone through the grind before : If this isn’t your first job, that means you must have some work experience you can glean skills from. If your previous job is similar to the one you’re seeking, then this part should be fairly easy because you already know the skills necessary for success.However, if your next job is in a completely  new field, identifying and convincingly presenting transferable skills between jobs will be your most critical and difficult task. Nevertheless, doing so will make you a much stronger candidate. Don’t forget soft skills!When assembling your list of skills, in addition to the more technical hard skills, such as typing or operating certain machinery, don’t forget to work in soft skills that may not be so obvious at first, such as people skills or leadership skills. If you can show that you are a well-rounded individual with the appropriate skills, it will convince your would-be employer that this job is right up your alley and that you are the best person for the job.5. Check in with your referencesThis tip is a matter of courtesy. Although a list of references is not customarily part of the resume, it’s a resource that should be available upon request. Therefore, before crafting your resume, it may also be a good idea to take a moment and ponder who would make an appropriate reference. Before you list names and contact info of your references, however, you should remember to make sure that the people you’re volunteering are okay with your potential employer contacting them. Not only are you showing your references that you respect them and don’t come off entitled to their good reviews, but asking for their permission ensures that your references aren’t taken by surprise when they are contacted by your would-be employer. After all, you want your reference to be prepared when the call comes!To make sure that you get the best possible recommendation, your reference should know what you are applying for and you should remind them of what you did while working under him or her. If possible, provide a template highlighting what you would most like the reference to emphasize. Even if you are the best job candidate, if your potential employer can sense that your references are caught off guard or don’t really know who you are or what you did, t hat reflects badly on you. You come off as disrespectful and unorganized, two strikes against you that will turn off any would-be employers.6. Determine what format works best for youResumes usually fall under one of three formats: reverse chronological, functional, or a combination of both. Each of these formats has their own advantages and disadvantages. You should choose accordingly, depending on which format presents your character and professional background in the most positive light.Here’s a quick explanation of the differences between the three formats:ââ€"  Reverse chronological : With this format, since your work experience is listed in reverse chronological order, would-be employers can easily discern upward mobility with your roles and responsibilities, making you a highly attractive candidate. However, despite being the most common format, it puts applicants who have a work gap or who don’t have as much work experience at a disadvantage, since your expe rience is front and center.ââ€"  Functional: Since functional resumes lead with the skills section and gloss over your past jobs, it’s good for applicants who would like to conceal a gap in their work experience, such as a stay-at-home mother returning to the workforce. Since functional resumes aren’t as common, hiring managers sometimes interpret it as a red flag, so be sure to back up your resume with a compelling cover letter and be ready to field questions about it in the interview.ââ€"  Combination: Another format that puts the skills section first, this format is ideal for applicants who are going for a very technical job or one who might be seeking to switch fields. After all, this format emphasizes your skills, which may be transferrable, and draws attention away from your work experience, which may not directly correlate with the job you’re applying for. A mix of both of the preceding ones, this format could be the perfect fit for your career path . However, since this format still has your work history in it, it is unable to conceal work gaps, so if you have any, you should choose a different format.Before you start writing, make sure you take a good look at your career up until now and choose the format that will best showcase it.7. It’s all in the wordsWord choice for your resume is also of critical importance. For one, most companies now run resumes through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that will scan your resume for relevant keywords. If your resume doesn’t hit enough of the keywords, your resume may never even reach human eyes before it’s summarily rejected.However, if your resume does reach a human, one thing you don’t want crossing his or her mind is: this is boring. Bear in mind that it’s likely that he or she has probably at least skimmed through hundreds of resumes before yours, so if your resume doesn’t stick out or command a presence, it won’t leave much of an impression.Here’s how you can ensure that your word choice makes your resume stand out from the rest:ââ€"  Research, research, research : A quick search of similar job postings should inform you what keywords have direct bearing on your industry. Work these into your resume, but don’t go overboard. Don’t forget to catch related keywords, as well.ââ€"  Ready a list of action verbs: Action verbs are important tools to have readily accessible because they vividly describe your actions and don’t take up as much space as passive voice. They also make you sound more authoritative, since you are actively implementing duties, instead of the duties passively happening to you. Employers love assertive resumes because they are more inclined to entrust you with important tasks.ââ€"  Dust off your thesaurus : Making use of a thesaurus will keep you from the monotony of repetition, thus keeping the hiring manager engaged. So, even if you have all this experien ce and know-how, it won’t amount to much if you can’t frame it with descriptive and powerful words that will resonate with your would-be employer.With the perfect words at your fingertips, you can weave them all together to compose a resume that will earn the approval of both the robots and the hiring manager.8. Style counts!This is one of those steps that seems trivial compared to the others. However, the font you choose can factor into your potential employer’s first impression of you. Choosing a silly font is going to make you stand out, but not in a way that you may want. Instead, fonts that convey reliability and trustworthiness are your best bet.Likewise, you want to help out your would-be employer as much as you can, so you should prioritize readability for your resume over something ostentatious. Depending on the typeface, something too flashy can obscure or distract from your message. If you want some suggestions on fonts that have proven to be well-lik ed by recruiters, take a look at this list of best fonts to use on your resume.9. Be prepared to kill your darlingsPhoto of William Faulkner by Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto of William Faulkner by Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsNo matter how long and illustrious your career, your resume should not be a document that rambles on and on. If you consider the hundreds of resumes hiring managers have to power through, it’s natural that they wouldn’t spend more than six seconds on each resume, as this study by The Ladders. This leads to an old adage that your resume shouldn’t exceed a single page, which still holds true today. Therefore, you should approach writing with the mindset: be concise.If you find yourself hesitating, take some advice from a famous writer, William Faulkner, and be prepared to kill your darlings. While this advice sounds extreme, what Faulkner really means is that you should be mentally read y to cut stuff out of your writing, even if you take great pride in writing it.This idea can also be applied to resume writing. Maybe you have a fondness for that first job you ever took or that high school club you participated in. However, if neither of these are pertinent to the job you are seeking, it’s best to just trim out the unnecessary information or reword it more efficiently.Wrapping things up Sitting down and writing your resume isn’t something you should approach haphazardly. Being mentally prepared and having all the appropriate information ready will result in a better looking and better received resume, making the job hunting process all the more smooth. So, don’t be afraid to take your time and brainstorm away!About the author:  Lauren McAdams is a hiring manager, career consultant, and lead writer at ResumeCompanion.com. She’s been quoted by sites like Forbes, Fox Business, and TechRepublic, and her resume templates and career advice o n Resume Companion have helped hundreds of applicants find their dream jobs. When she’s not busy enriching the lives of job seekers, she’s either sipping on coffee or a glass of wine – depending on the time of day of course.

Ecology (task 5) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ecology (task 5) - Coursework Example Other people enjoy seeing the pets on their sofa as they speak with their visitors. This issue is popular in the internet where we can see ads offering animals for sale. It threatens the survival of the animals. The capturing of wild animals is exploited by humans while this has lead to the extinction of some species. In addition, the animals are harvested from their natural habitat through painful methods. This can be considered a severe lack of animal welfare. This denies the animal its natural habitat and it is captivated at homes. Owners of the exotic animals may at some point feel bored with the animal and leave them to suffer from lack of water and food. The animal may finally die in a painful way. This means that the tiger is a tertiary carnivore and the main predator. This is also used to mean that no animal eats the tiger in the forest ecosystem. While the other animals feed on one another, the tiger rules the food chain and appears at the top whereby, no animal comes above it as its predator. The tiger keeps the populations of wild bore, deer and sambar as well as the other predators in balance. If the tiger is not present to control them, they would greatly expand. Their excessive population would therefore ravage their food source which is basically the vegetation. If the vegetation is overwhelmed, the smaller animals would not survive in the forest. If the small animals moved to the crops in farmlands, some basic food sources could be lost (Slade & Schwartz, 2011). This would cause serious impacts on human population. If plants stop growing in the jungle, soils become infertile and eventually the entire jungle fades away. These are the direct or the indirect contributions of the ecosystem to the well-being of human beings. Ecological services are therefore the benefits human beings obtain from the ecosystem. These may include fresh water, wood, food, medicines, pest control,

Organizational Structure in Coca-Cola Company Assignment

Organizational Structure in Coca-Cola Company - Assignment Example The range of resources here includes human, information, physical and financial. This paper will explore the organizational structure through a case study of Coca-Cola Company as well as endeavor to determine the extent to which the organizational structure is supportive or unsupportive of the company’s goals and suggest possible recommendations for improvement if any. The Coca-Cola Company is the largest beverage company in the world and the leading producer and maker of soft drinks. It is surely a global brand known by anyone because of its popularity through publicity and marketing. The firm in the beverages industry1 whose business idea was first conceived in downtown Atlanta on May 8, 1886, when only one product called the ‘Coca-Cola’, a mix of Coca-Cola syrup and carbonated water, existed. The price of one glass of coke back then was five cents a glass and only 9 drinks were sold per day. Today, the company is more than 126 years old with a client base around the world in more than 200 countries from just one city in one country back then. The company currently estimates the average drink sales per day at about 1.8 billion with more than 500 brands by 2011, four2 of which are the world’s top-five sparkling brands. Coca-Cola has a global presence and became a billion-dollar brand in 2010. It has sponsored world’s sporting events such as the FIFA world cup for more than 80 years. The company has undertaken many social responsibility initiatives including the Haiti Hope Project in 2010, which aimed at developing a sustainable mango industry in Haiti. The company attributes its business success to five main factors which are unique and recognized brand3, quality, marketing, global availability and ongoing innovation.

Manager Interview Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Manager Interview Activity - Essay Example - Rewarding tasks are interacting with guests that come in and meeting interesting people from all over the world. Most challenging is continuing to make sure the hotel continues to abide by the corporate franchise rules and regulations. People from corporate office will sometimes pop in for a night’s stay just to ensure everything is running smoothly and it can be tough on your nerves. More flexibility and time with family but most be available in emergency. -An open door policy with her employees. Everyone must know their tasks but then she has to sometimes delegate other people to do other jobs too in case someone calls in sick. She also said it’s important for everyone to know each other’s roles and to let them communicate in case they have schedule conflicts. Must be friendly and courteous to guests and must also reiterate to someone if a mistake is made or a problem needs solved. Holding quarterly staff meetings and sometimes meetings that are urgent just to identify a problem and discuss the solution of how it is going to work. Everyone from the housekeepers to the maintenance people and desk clerks know how to do each other’s jobs in case someone needs to fill in. - Getting attached to employees since it is a small branch and trying to find ways not to make them angry enough to quit. Halting any office gossip is also hard. Scheduling can be difficult. Not everyone is set but she remains flexible. -Be strong, friendly and respectful. Always look to bosses above you for help. Make sure you know the roles of others and are prepared to be motivated and also have to take responsibility for the whole branch. Any mistake made by an employee under her supervision reflects on her. When they mess up she gets called upon by people higher up. I was surprised to find out the manager was actually not formally educated and just had a high school diploma. When I discussed

Muscular Dystrophy: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments

Muscular Dystrophy: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments Muscular Dystrophy Background Information: Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a genetic disorder that causes the deterioration of skeletal muscles, the muscles that enable the human body to move. People with muscular dystrophy have missing or incorrect information within their genes, which prohibits the development of the proteins they need for healthy muscles. Due to fact that muscular dystrophy is genetic, it is not contagious or contractible from another person; a person must be born with the problem. Muscular dystrophy breaks down muscles over a period of time, causing the patients of the disease to gradually lose their ability to do daily and simple tasks, like sitting up or bending down. A patient with muscular dystrophy may have symptoms as a baby or later on in their life. Duchenne muscular dystrophy, also known as DMD, the most common type of muscular dystrophy, is caused by the incorrect information with the gene called dystrophin. The function of this gene is to help muscle cells keep their strength and shape. Without the presence of this gene, muscles begin to deteriorate and a person’s health becomes weaker. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is one of the types that affect boys, and symptoms of the disease begin to show between the ages of two and six. Most children with duchenne muscular dystrophy will require transportation by wheelchair by the age of ten or twelve. Patients with duchenne muscular dystrophy may experience heart complications, and need to be meticulously monitored by pulmonologists and cardiologists. They can also develop scoliosis and tightness in their joints. DMD is a muscle degenerative disease. Muscles that control essential tasks, like breathing may grow weak, requiring the patient to use a ventilator. Treatments Diagnosis: A basic physical exam will be performed by the doctor to look for the general signs of muscular dystrophy. Following this examination, the doctor will request information about your medical history. This includes any concerns you have, your past health, any medications you are currently taking, your immediate family’s health, any allergies you may have, and other matters. Blood tests can help the doctor narrow down which type of muscular dystrophy a person has and eliminate the possibility of other genetic diseases that damage nerves or muscles. One blood test analyzes the components of the patients blood, including, the levels of the enzyme, serum creatine kinase, and the levels of certain proteins that are responsible for chemical changes in the body. Abnormally high levels of serum creatine kinase in the blood from muscle cells indicates that the enzyme is causing damage to the muscle. Other blood tests are used to identify the presence of dystrophin, which is a gene that regulates muscle health and its shape. Blood tests are available to create a diagnostic from some of these disorders. There are also a few types of tests that look into the DNA of the patient. Different types of blood tests can be useful in diagnosing duchenne muscular dystrophy, and also a numerous amount of different types of muscular dystrophy. In some cases, a muscle biopsy is recommended. This procedure includes the doctor detaching a small sample of muscle tissue and analyzing it under the lens of a microscope. If a person is ill with muscular dystrophy, the sample of muscle tissue will visually show some abnormally enlarged fibers, and also evidence of fiber deterioration in different areas. How Is MD Treated? There is not a cure yet for muscular dystrophy, but any doctors and scientists are researching different methods to find a cure. Some scientists are trying to repair the abnormal genes that lead to muscular dystrophy so they will make the right proteins. Another group of scientists are trying to make chemicals and new medicines that will carry out the functions of the abnormal proteins in the body. Every single one of these scientists are working hard so that these chemical and genetic fixes will assist and hopefully cure the frail muscles to work properly in people with muscular dystrophy. There are a few activities children and adults alike can do by themselves to help their muscles. Certain stretches and therapy can help people with muscular dystrophy avoid stiffening of the muscles near the joints, also called contractures, which make mobility difficult and lock the joints in painful positions. In many cases, teenagers are equipped with custom braces to protect flexible joints and tendons. In a few cases, surgery is used to reduce the amount of pain and increase mobility that was reduced from contractures. Some of our body functions, like breathing, depend on certain muscles to properly work. A few patients with muscular dystrophy need artificial respiratory aids, such as a ventilator, to enable them to breathe. If a person was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy during childhood, that child may suffer complications including scoliosis, as a result of weakened muscles and joint inflexibility. For some variations of muscular dystrophy medication can be beneficial. For example, males with duchenne muscular dystrophy may be helped by a prescription called prednisone, and patients of myotonic muscular dystrophy might use the drug, mexilitine, to relax very tight muscles. Currently no scientific cure has been found for Muscular Dystrophy, disregarding its specific form. However, this is not a cause to be disheartened as various types of therapy and drugs are available and can assist a patient with DMD into their adult years. In order for you as a parent to fully develop an understanding about therapies available to your child, as this article continues, we will further discuss a rough outline of the benefits your child will be offered under the care of a specialist. Please keep in mind that these are only possible options that your child may choose from depending on how strongly he is being affected. These therapies also coexist with a clean diet and moderate exercise so as to keep your child as happy and healthy as possible. Most medical care for cases of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy include steroids such as glucocorticoids, prednisolone, and deflazacort.These medications are meant to delay muscle deterioration among other things and could quite possi bly be taken in repetitive or continuous periods of time. Before giving your child these medications, we humbly advise you to further research about their side-effects that they might hold. Some people with DMD acquire osteoporosis or thinning of the bones which may be caused by steroid treatment. This can be prevented by allowing your child’s intake of Vitamin D to increase whether by taking him out to enjoy the sunlight, by drinking lots of milk, by taking dietary supplements, or by taking bisphosphonates. If your child faces complications towards breathing, you might consider non-invasive ventilation which is simply a mask which delivers pressurised air to your child with minimal intervention in daily activities. Your child will have occasional ECG’s and may have to take certain drugs like beta-blockers to assist a weakening heart. Physical and occupational therapy are both liable and recommended courses of action for your child. For further information about DMD tr eatment please contact your local specialist. We are here to inform you, not discourage. If you have any troubles please feel free to contact us and talk it out. We are always willing to listen to your troubles. Please contact your doctor right away if any unusual symptoms or worsening occurs. Current Research: Although frustrating, current research has not yielded very many breakthroughs on new treatments and therapy for muscular dystrophy. Many treatments are short-term and are only able to prolong the lives of patients with MD. There are many research facilities as well as non-profit organizations currently involved in the development of new forms of medical care but drug development is somewhat delayed due to all the complicated processes needed to ensure its safety. In the lead is the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) and the other institutes that fall under the umbrella of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They are working diligently so that your child may benefit from modern-day technological advancements that will soon cleanse him of DMD. Recently, small scientific discoveries have been made that might lead to treatment production progress. Santhera, a pharmaceutical company, announced that Catena/Roxone might contribute to the delay of weakening abilities to respire. Another recent study was testing drugs commonly known as cialis and viagra. In a trial, young boys diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy were given a single dose of this drug and their blood flow to their muscles shot up. It is believed that this surge of blood flow may contribute to the delay of muscle deterioration, but has yet to be scientifically proven. Just a couple days ago a biotech company, Prosensa updated the scientific world about its latest program. They are planning to begin giving out doses of Drisapersen which is shown to skip over exon 51 in dystrophin and has shown promising results. For further updates on medical treatment for DMD and when it will be readily available to the global market, please feel free to contact us at our toll-free number during office hours and/or subscribe to our weekly emails in which we discuss the latest news concerning your child’s shining future. Why is its name Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy? What is the definition of Muscular dystrophy? Duchenne muscular dystrophy was named after its discoverer, the French neurologist, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne. The term muscular dystrophy is created by several numbers of medical terminology prefixes, word roots, and suffixes. Firstly, the word â€Å"muscular†, contains the word root â€Å"musc† which means muscle. The suffix of â€Å"muscular†, is â€Å"-ar,† which can be defined as â€Å"pertaining to.† The word â€Å"muscular,† means â€Å"pertaining to muscle.† Secondly, the word â€Å"dystrophy,† is composed of the prefix, â€Å"dys-,† and the suffix â€Å"-trophy.† The prefix â€Å"dys-â€Å"has the definition of â€Å"painful/difficult,† and the suffix â€Å"-trophy,† means â€Å"development.† In full, muscular dystrophy can be defined as â€Å"painful and difficult development that pertains to the muscle.† What are Genes A gene is the one sided unit that is passed down from generation to generation. A person can have changes (or mutations) in their genes which have the ability to cause many health problems for the person hosting the malfunctioning genes. Depending on the type of change, the effect can be small; like a change in eye color, or it can lead to major health issues. Mutations in a person’s genes results in the malfunctioning of genes. Within biology, we have learnt that in certain cases, there is a dominant gene that can hide the defective gene, which may also be called a recessive gene. In these cases, the dominant gene is strong enough to dampen the recessive trait, and keep the body functioning as it is supposed to. A person or any other organism can be born with gene mutations, or they can develop mutations over the years in their lives. If the gene mutation is present within the egg or sperm cells of the parents, the children/offspring can have the gene mutation passed down to them by their parents. When such a case as this occurs, the mutation is present within every cell of the body, and the human body is not able to fix the mutation on its own.

Homoerotic and Homophobic Possibilities in The Castle of Otranto Essay

Homoerotic and Homophobic Possibilities in The Castle of Otranto Eve Sedgwick describes the gothic novel as a â€Å"dialectic between the homosexual and homophobic† (92). Homosexuality was first recognized in the eighteenth century and resulted in far reaching social responses. With the establishment of the term â€Å"homosexuality†, social tensions appeared. These tensions found their way into novels as fears of sexuality and the struggle for sexual expression. Sedgwick terms this emerging homoeroticism as the â€Å"gothic unspeakable†, which is reflected through the depiction of male class and male sexuality (95). Although homosexuality is not explicitly discussed in the text of Otranto, some critics find the relationships and behaviours between the male characters to manifest Sedgwick’s queer reading of the gothic novel. Research on Walpole has yet to turn up any concrete evidence that proves he had a preference for men. However, analysts of Walpole’s letters have found that he had developed strong intimate relationships with men that can only be described as romantic, and therefore homoerotic in nature (Fincher 231). Historically, Walpole has also been accused of being effeminate. In a pamphlet written by William Guthrie, an attack is made on Walpole’s â€Å"ambiguous gender†, of which Guthrie describes Walpole as â€Å"delicate† of â€Å"the third sex† and â€Å"possessing a most ladylike manner† (Fincher 233). There is always the possibility that Guthrie’s pamphlet was only written out of anger. Never the less, it functions as a piece of evidence that suggests Walpole’s sexuality, as well as provides an indication of the attitude towards homosexuality at the time. If indeed Walpole had homoerotic tendencies, then his sexuality would â€Å"give rise to rec... ... wins at the end of the novel, as Manfred’s title and property is stripped from him. Whether this indicates Walpole coming to peace with his own sexuality is debatable, and one can only speculate. Never the less, Sedgwick’s queer reading of the gothic novel provides another unique perspective towards Otranto. Works Cited Fincher, Max. â€Å"Guessing the Mould: Homosocial Sins in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto.† Gothic Studies 3 (2001): 229-45. Haggerty, George E. "Literature and Homosexuality in the Late Eighteenth Century: Walpole, Beckford, and Lewis." Studies in the Novel 18 (1986): 341-352. Napier, Elizabeth R. The Failure of Gothic. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. New York: Columbia UP, 1985. Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.