Compare/ Contrast Han China Mauryan/ Gupta India Essay

Compare/ Contrast Essay Intro: 1. Broad Analytical Statement: Almost all successful classical civilizations needed a strong political base in order to thrive. 2. Thesis: Although both Han China and Gupta India’s political control directly correlated to religion, they differed in the centralization of their government, and what members of society became rulers. 3. a) Religion – Han China’s political system was directly influenced by Confucianism, and India’s political system correlated with Hinduism b) Economic – China’s isolation led to them having a localized government. On the other hand, India was susceptible to outside forces and influences, causing it to have more diverse culture, and therefore to have local†¦show more content†¦4. Contrast – China’s centralized and unified government allowed them to become a stronger civilization. Mauryan/ Gupta India wasn’t as strong of a civilization, due to their lack in unification in both politics and culture. 5. Evidence – Since China was overall more unified than India, many of the systems and beliefs they had and practiced during Classical times are still intact today. Also, although the Han dynasty came to an end, the existing culture remained in place with little change during the years and years to come. India was constantly changing during the next time period. Only certain things, such as Hindu practices, still exist in India today. Paragraph 4: 1. Topic – Lastly, Han and India differed in the way a person was a leader and who could assume that role. 2. Contrast – In China, the Han rulers and people with the most power were the educated bureaucrats. India’s rulers were part of the ruling family who were leaders of the empire. 3. Evidence – (China) These people were elite members of society. To become involved in politics or to be any leader, a person had to take a test of intelligence, based off Confucian teachings and beliefs. (India) In society, Brahmins (priests) were held in the highest regard. Whatever caste a person was born into, that is where the person stayed, and that’s what determined the person’s importance. 4. Contrast – Han China was ruled in dynastic cycles while India was ruled in empires. 5.Show MoreRelatedHistory Essay3334 Words   |  14 Pagesdifferences in methods of political control in TWO of the following empires in the Classical period. †¢ Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) †¢ Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.) †¢ Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.) Revised Question Analyze similarities and differences in techniques of imperial administration in TWO of the following empires. †¢ Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) †¢ Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.) †¢ Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.) Rationale for Revision: By changing the

Alzheimers Disease Essay - 1800 Words

Alzheimers Disease On the first day of class, it was proposed that Brain=Behavior, implying that not only all actions and emotions can be explained by neuronal activity, but also the very sense of self which is so important to many of us. This latter implication was met with considerable resistance. Surely there must be more to an individuals personality and Self than a bunch of patterns of activity across neurons. Through the research I have done for this paper, I have discovered that disorders such as Alzheimers disease add a new twist to the debate surrounding the origin of the Self. My purpose here is to provide an overview of Alzheimers disease, including its neurobiological basis, the differences between early and late†¦show more content†¦The disease functions by causing neurons to degenerate and lose their synapses with other nerves, thus cutting down severely on the intercellular communication which lies at the heart of all behavior. (1). Degeneration is characterized by clumps of beta amyloid (a protein fragment derived from amyloid precursor protein, or APP) called neuritic plaques which form outside and around neurons, as well as by the twisting and tangling of a neurons microtubules, a phenomenon referred to as neurofibrillary tangles (1, 2). These tangles specifically involve a protein known as tau, which usually forms the crosspieces or rungs of the parallel-running tracks of microtubules. In Alzheimers patients, however, these crosspieces twist into helical shapes, thus breaking down the neurons inner transportation system. The precise functions of beta amyloid and tau are not yet known; however, various studies suggest that beta amyloid may be involved in altering the concentrations of various chemicals both inside and outside of neurons, either by creating extra channels in the neuronal membrane or by changing already existing channels (see 1 for more details). (1) Research targeting the cause, or possibly, causes of Alzheimers disease has a number of areas of focus, including several neurotransmitters, various postsynaptic events, genetic factors, cell metabolism, and possible environmental contributorsShow MoreRelatedAlzheimers Disease945 Words   |  4 PagesAlzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive neurological disease; it often attacks the brain tissues causing memory loss of one’s identity and regular behaviors. Statistics indicates that the rate of predicted people to get Alzheimer’s will increase briskly as time goes on. There are currently no cures for such disastrous disease, but there are currently approved treatments available that can help people within the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Once the disease is too far alongRead MoreAlzheimers Disease3170 Words   |  13 PagesThe Role of Caregiving to Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease Megan Zann April 27, 2012 Health Psychology Dr. Ackerman Introduction It is normal to periodically forget your keys or a homework assignment, because you generally remember these things later. However, individuals who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease may forget things more often, but they do not remember them again. The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease has dramatically increased because people are living longer. This is a result ofRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease1503 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that gets worse over time. It leads to nerve cell death, and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions. It gradually destroys a persons memory and ability to learn and carry out daily activities such as talking, eating, and going to the bathroom† (What Is Alzheimer’s). Early symptoms include personality changes, memory impairment, problems with language, decision-making ability, judgmentRead MoreAlzheimers Dis ease Essay2414 Words   |  10 PagesAlzheimers Disease Alzheimer’s disease is the disease of the century. This disease is affecting many lives, families, and caregivers. This research presented is to help educate on the topic of Alzheimer’s disease, which many people aren’t aware enough about. Statistics are given to show how extreme this disease is, and how many people it’s affecting in society. Also statistics are presented that give the amount of money being spent relating to Alzheimer’s disease. This research explainsRead MoreAlzheimer’s Disease Essay2544 Words   |  11 PagesAlzheimer’s disease defined: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, terminal, degenerative brain disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death in adults and currently affects over four million people in the United States. This number is expected to increase over the next several years as the baby boomers age, until it reaches fourteen million by the year 2025. Alzheimer disease generally occurs in people over seventy five years of age; however it does strike people in their forties, fiftiesRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease2405 Words   |  10 PagesAlzheimers Disease is a condition that affects 50% of the population over the age of eighty five, which equals four million Americans each year. It is becoming an important and high-profile issue in todays society for everyone. There are rapid advancements being made in the fight against this disease now more than ever, and the purpose of this essay is to educate the public on the background as well as the new discoveries. There are many new drugs that are being tested and studied every day whichRead MoreAlzheimers Disease Essay2168 Words   |  9 PagesAlzheimer’s disease or AD is an incurable disorder of the brain that results in loss of normal brain structure and function. In an AD brain, normal brain tissue is slowly replaced by structures called plaques and neurofibrillary tang les. The plaques represent a naturally occurring sticky protein called beta amyloid and in an Alzheimer’s brain, sufferer’s tend to accumulate too much of this protein. Neurofibrillary tangles represent collapsed tau proteins which, in a normal brain along with microtubulesRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease813 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Topic: Alzheimer’s Disease Specific Purpose: To help my audience understand what Alzheimer’s Disease is. Thesis Statement: The need to educate people on Alzheimer’s Disease for family members or friends in-case a loved one is diagnosed. Introduction: A. What would one do if their family member or friend knew of someone who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease? What would they do to help or take care of this family member? Well, I work in a nursing home with the elderly with this diseaseRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease 512 Words   |  3 Pagesmajor medical advancements like the world has never seen before, some diseases still continue to plague the human race and confuse even some of the brightest scientists today. Unfortunately, Alzheimer Disease (AD) is one of them and it affects between 2.4 and 4.5 million people in America. Alzheimer’s is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 65, but in rarer cases people as young as 16 have it. Since it is a degenerative disease, patients develop it with few symptoms at an earlier stage, but thenRead More Alzheimer’s Disease Essay1176 Words   |  5 PagesAlzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimer’s, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put considerable burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues are not going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimer’s will be reviewed

What is My Biggest Fear Essay Example For Students

What is My Biggest Fear? Essay Fear is an interesting matter of discussion. Everyone experiences fear, but each person experiences it differently. To consider all fears the same is the same as not recognizing the differences in separate species of insects. They may be similar, but each one is at least a little bit different. Fear operates in the same manner; two people may both be arachnophobic, but one may fear the dark while the other fears heights. People may have different combinations of fears, and the fears may be in a different order of how much the person fears them. For me, the fear of not being in control is atop the hierarchy of fears. That may seem like I am a control freak, and perhaps I am, but I mean it in a different manner. I do not have to necessarily be completely in control of the entire environment surrounding me, but I do need to be in control of myself, along with anything that I am put in charge of. I understand that until I graduate high school, my teachers and parents technically are in charge of me. However, I still control what I do, though depending on what I do, I may have to deal with repercussions. It is for this reason I do not respond well to being told what to do. If an order is phrased like a question so that I can at least pretend I have a choice in the matter, I will perform the task, if somewhat begrudgingly. When given an order, I may do the exact opposite, just to prove that I am still in control of myself. Being afraid of losing control has other consequences, besides being seen as a brat. When a situation gets out of my control, I worry about the outcome. Though I know it is beyond the point of me being able to change the outcome, the outcome often possesses me, not letting me do anything about stuff that I can still change. In freshman year, I had auditioned for the winter play. My nerves were fine before and during the audition, but as soon as I exited the auditorium, I nearly broke down, because regardless of how I had done in the audition, there was nothing more I could do to influence the outcome. That entire weekend, the only thought in my brain was how I may have completely bombed my audition, but it was no longer in my control, and that terrified me. In color guard, I have difficulties with the tosses because letting go of the flag means surrendering control of it. Letting go means that the pole could hit me or someone else, which would either result in being hurt or having a guilty conscience. This is actually a really good metaphor for the fear as a whole. When I let the fear control me, no pun intended, I do not perform well and I am thrown off for a bit following the incident. In guard, if I do not let go of the toss, I end up behind the other people. However, when I finally decide to just let it go, my toss normally ends up fairly decent. To overcome my fear, I need to just let it go and hope for the best. Not letting my fear consume me is the only way for me to move on with life.

Macbeth Ghost of Banquo Essay Example

Macbeth Ghost of Banquo Paper Macbeth portrays the character Macbeth as a fearless and powerful leader. It has been said that Shakespearean character Macbeth Is the only single character In all of his writings that has seen a ghost without other characters present. In order to stay King of Scotland, Macbeth kills his friend Banquet, only to see him a few moments later as a ghost. The fact that only Macbeth can see the ghost of Banquet represents both his ambition to become powerful and the regret he eels for killing him in order to remain in power. When Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquet at the dinner party it represents Machetes constant ambition to become and remain the king. As Macbeth rises to power he becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming king. When we see Lady Macbeth manipulating Machetes mind, she ensures that he would do anything in order to become king. This can symbolize the possibilities of Machetes dark side and his desire to do anything necessary to be powerful. As his ambition increases, the threat of Banquet comes to Machetes attention. Already somewhat comfortable with the Idea of murder after killing Duncan, the previous King of Scotland, Macbeth feels that the easiest and safest way to secure his power would be to execute Banquet. Machetes ambition and drive for the throne creates this evil side to him. This evil side is developed by his overwhelming desire to be king and causes him to murder Banquet when Banquet starts to question him . The ghost of Banquet can represent the completion of his desire for control. The ghost is seen, therefore he has completed his task of removing the threat against him. We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth Ghost of Banquo specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth Ghost of Banquo specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth Ghost of Banquo specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Machetes regret could also be represented by the ghost of Banquet. This regret is so strong after killing Banquet that it causes Macbeth to imagine his ghost at the party. Someone appears at the murder scene of Banquet. It is suggested to be Macbeth. He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers our offices and what we have to do to the direction Just. (page 95 Act 3 SC. 3) (said by one of the murderers as he sees the cloaked figure and assume It Is Macbeth) We never find out exactly who that character Is. Perhaps It was Macbeth reconsidering what was about to happen. Perhaps he was hoping to solve his problem another way. Maybe he himself couldnt possibly begin to understand the gravity of the atrocity, and the revelation that it was carried out by his hand. If he was completely comfortable with the idea of killing his friend I dont think he would have been haunted by his guilt and therefore see the ghost of Banquet. When the murderers appear at the banquet and begin to tell Macbeth about the murder of Banquet they explain that Banquets son, Balance, escaped the scene.

In Which Ways Does Harper Lee Use Outsiders In To Kill A Mockingbird Essays

In Which Ways Does Harper Lee Use Outsiders In To Kill A Mockingbird Essays In Which Ways Does Harper Lee Use Outsiders In To Kill A Mockingbird Paper In Which Ways Does Harper Lee Use Outsiders In To Kill A Mockingbird Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Outsiders To Kill a Mockingbird The Novel To Kill A Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee; one of the younger generation of writers. She was born in 1926 in a town called Monroeville, Alabama. As she grew up she joined a university and began writing her book based on her own background experience. Harper Lee set it in a town called Maycomb; a quiet village just like the one she lived in. Although this place did not exist Harper Lee used her knowledge from her town to create this novel. She based the characters on people in Monroeville and used Scout to narrate the book. Scout was made to be very much like Harper Lee because they both are similar ages and have a similar background making it easier for her to tell the story. Its easier to tell the story because she can describe how prejudice, intolerance, injustice, and courage was built up in her time and reflect it onto Scout. At this time in the American South there was a lot of civil rights made by the people because of the War in 1861-5 making black peoples rights minimal. Although the War took place 70 years before the period in which the book is set its still strong in their mind and making their beliefs very moral. The black people in America in the period when the book was set were very outcast and looked upon very differently from white people. The black people came to America because of the slave trade and were divided into the Southern states because of the issue of slavery. As time passed the Northerners became very unwilling to overlook what they felt to be the evil of slavery in the South. Southerners justified their practise by arguing that the black race was naturally inferior. They told the Africans that they were very lucky to be American Slaves because of the Christianity and civilisation introduced to them. The slave system suffered from brutality and the Southerners thought of them as children who were very ignorant. Because of this the white people thought upon themselves as superior beings and gave a very disliking attitude towards the black people, which has been observed in the book. In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee uses outsiders to make a social comment about what society wants and what society rejects. Without outsiders in this novel there wouldnt be such an in-depth, intriguing, characteristic, real life novel. In this book outsiders work well because they can make us intrigued and because theyre not insiders people rarely know much about them. Myths and rumours are made up about them, which can change as they are passed down from people giving a sense of mystery about them because no one knows them well enough to tell the truth. In the book there are lots of characters that we want to find out about which keeps us reading on. Outsiders create different emotions for people in Macomb. For the kids, they have their wild imaginations they create monster like people just because it keeps them entertained and excited. The adults tend to have a sense of disgust for them. Through the outsiders we can really see what the characters in Maycomb are like. They help us see what theyre like by acting in their selfish and racist ways and show us how, in this period of time, black people are thought upon because of their alternative lifestyles. One of the outsiders in To Kill A Mockingbird is used a lot in the beginning of the book because of Scouts imagination making her obsessed with someone she hasnt even met. This character is called Arthur Radley (better known as Boo) and he is one of the main characters of the book. Although throughout the beginning of the book we dont really get to see what hes really like, we can build up a picture based on the people of Maycomb and what their beliefs are of him. Boo Radley served as a mystery at the beginning of the story. A man only known to Scout as some kind of monster from the tales gathered by the town gossips over the years. When Scout first found a gift in the tree Jem said Dont you know youre not supposed to even touch the trees over there? Youll get killed if you do. Scouts fictional life, built upon made up stories, served her, Dill and Jem a game to act out. It was not until the story progressed that we see that Boo isnt the strange man that Maycomb folks make him out to be. Near the end of the book we find out that hes a very caring, gentle, calm and maybe even mentally challenged man. But unfortunately for him the townspeople consider him an individual who should be locked up in a mental institution, or a homicidal maniac. Boo Radley was in his house for a very long time, but when he came out, he came out as a man who deserved a lot more credit and respect then anyone had wanted to give him. He deserves credit because of his kind gestures which are made really discreet such as leaving them gifts in the hollow hole in the trunk of the old tree between their houses, and by covering Scout with a blanket when Miss. Maudies house was on fire. In To Kill A Mockingbird another use of outsiders is the Ewell family. The Ewells live in a tiny house near a dump, surrounded by woodland, on the outskirts of Maycomb. The varmints had a lean time of it, the Ewells gave the dump a thorough gleaning every day, and the fruits of their industry made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child, Nobody was quite sure how many children were on the place, showing their lifestyle to be so corrupt that nobody really wanted to go to the dump to see who or what was there. They are made outsiders because no one in Maycomb likes grubby, smelly and poor people. The Ewells are a big family with only a drunk as a father and a big sister to look after them. The father is called Bob and the daughter is called Mayella and they are a very important part of the book. As the book nears the end we see the trial of Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping Mayella. This is a totally different part of the book as it shows the very serious side of Maycomb. Mayella, 19, has accused Tom Robinson of raping her in her home. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed. Tom is a black man who lives in a nigger-nest near to their house. In this scene Harper Lee manages to involve most of the citizens of Maycomb because they appear at the trial. This is the scene were we can find out how outcast and lonely Mayella is. This trial is seen to be her plead for help, showing us the bitterness she has rather than accusing her father, who we know raped her, but by accusing Tom. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Boo Radley and The Ewells are both outsiders but have been given that status in very different way. Boo is a very sad character that keeps to himself and hides from the public eye. The townspeople of Maycomb caused him to become an outsider because of his lifestyles which did not revolve around the towns stereotypes. Boo Radley was a made an outsider because he made it seem to the towns people he didnt want anything to do with Maycomb. He did this by staying in his house all the time. From the book we can build up the idea that maybe he stays in his house because he was locked up by his parents or that maybe he had a lot of anger that he needed to be kept away. As a result of this the people of Maycomb ended up wanting nothing to do with him. Before Boo was made an outsider he used to be accepted in the town because; he lived in the right place, had a good reputation from his family, but ruined it when he attacked his father. Boo stayed in his house for a very long time and only appeared occasionally in the book when helping Scout. What the people of Maycomb believe about Boo is a very different idea to what he is actually like. Unlike Boo, The Ewells have never been insiders and they didnt bring it on themselves. They have always been looked upon as dirty and horrible people because of their reputations they have built up. They built up these reputations because they lived pretty much outside Maycomb, they live in a dump, their father is a drunk, they have no money and they way they act towards Maycomb folks. Just like the black people of Maycomb the Ewells will always be outsiders. Harper Lee uses outsiders in To Kill A Mockingbird to make a social comment. She constructs them to show the contrast and differences between black and white people in her time and how society rejects and how society accepts. She manages to use them well in her novel by getting the message across about moral issues. She shows us the different people and how their own personalities, beliefs and politics, lead to them being made into outsiders.

Quality, by John Galsworthy

Quality, by John Galsworthy Best known today as the author of The Forsyte Saga,  John Galsworthy  (1867-1933) was a popular and prolific English novelist and playwright in the early decades of the 20th century. Educated at New College, Oxford, where he specialized in marine law, Galsworthy had a lifelong interest in social and moral issues, in particular, the dire effects of poverty. He eventually chose to write instead of pursuing law and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932. In the  narrative essay Quality, published in 1912, Galsworthy depicts a German craftsmans efforts to survive in an era where success is determined by adverdisement, nod by work. Galsworthy depicts shoemakers attempting to stay true to their crafts in the face of a world driven by money and immediate gratification - not by quality and certainly not by true art or craftsmanship. Quality first appeared in The Inn of Tranquility: Studies and Essays (Heinemann, 1912). A portion of the essay appears below. Quality by John Galsworthy 1 I knew him from the days of my extreme youth because he made my fathers boots; inhabiting with his elder brother two little shops let into one, in a small by-street - now no more, but then most fashionably placed in the West End. 2 That tenement had a certain quiet distinction; there was no sign upon its face that he made for any of the Royal Famil - merely his own German name of Gessler Brothers; and in the window a few pairs of boots. I remember that it always troubled me to account for those unvarying boots in the window, for he made only what was ordered, reaching nothing down, and it seemed so inconceivable that what he made could ever have failed to fit. Had he bought them to put there? That, too, seemed inconceivable. He would never have tolerated in his house leather on which he had not worked himself. Besides, they were too beautiful - the pair of pumps, so inexpressibly slim, the patent leathers with cloth tops, making water come into ones mouth, the tall brown riding boots with marvelous sooty glow, as if, though new, they had been worn a hundred years. Those pairs could only have been made by one who saw before him the Soul of Boot - so truly were they prototypes incarnating the very spirit of all foot-gear. These thoughts, of course, came to me later, though even when I was promoted to him, at the age of perhaps fourteen, some inkling haunted me of the dignity of himself and brother. For to make boots - such boots as he made - seemed to me then, and still seems to me, mysterious and wonderful. 3 I remember well my shy remark, one day while stretching out to him my youthful foot: 4 Isnt it awfully hard to do, Mr. Gessler? 5 And his answer, given with a sudden smile from out of the sardonic redness of his beard: Id is an Ardt! 6 Himself, he was a little as if made from leather, with his yellow crinkly face, and crinkly reddish hair and beard; and neat folds slanting down his cheeks to the corners of his mouth, and his guttural and one-toned voice; for leather is a sardonic substance, and stiff and slow of purpose. And that was the character of his face, save that his eyes, which were gray-blue, had in them the simple gravity of one secretly possessed by the Ideal. His elder brother was so very like him - though watery, paler in every way, with a great industry - that sometimes in early days I was not quite sure of him until the interview was over. Then I knew that it was he, if the words, I will ask my brudder, had not been spoken; and, that, if they had, it was his elder brother. 7 When one grew old and wild and ran up bills, one somehow never ran them up with Gessler Brothers. It would not have seemed becoming to go in there and stretch out ones foot to that blue iron-spectacled glance, owing him for more than - say - two pairs, just the comfortable reassurance that one was still his client. 8 For it was not possible to go to him very often - his boots lasted terribly, having something beyond the temporary - some, as it were, essence of boot stitched into them. 9 One went in, not as into most shops, in the mood of: Please serve me, and let me go! but restfully, as one enters a church; and, sitting on the single wooden chair, waited - for there was never anybody there. Soon, over the top edge of that sort of well - rather dark, and smelling soothingly of leather - which formed the shop, there would be seen his face, or that of his elder brother, peering down. A guttural sound, and the tip-tap of bast slippers beating the narrow wooden stairs, and he would stand before one without coat, a little bent, in leather apron, with sleeves turned back, blinking - as if awakened from some dream of boots, or like an owl surprised in daylight and annoyed at this interruption. 10 And I would say: How do you do, Mr. Gessler? Could you make me a pair of Russia leather boots? 11 Without a word he would leave me, retiring whence he came, or into the other portion of the shop, and I would continue to rest in the wooden chair, inhaling the incense of his trade. Soon he would come back, holding in his thin, veined hand a piece of gold-brown leather. With eyes fixed on it, he would remark: What a beaudiful biece! When I, too, had admired it, he would speak again. When do you wand dem? And I would answer: Oh! As soon as you conveniently can. And he would say: To-morrow ford-nighd? Or if he were his elder brother: I will ask my brudder! 12 Then I would murmur: Thank you! Good-morning, Mr. Gessler. Goot-morning! he would reply, still looking at the leather in his hand. And as I moved to the door, I would hear the tip-tap of his bast slippers restoring him, up the stairs, to his dream of boots. But if it were some new kind of foot-gear that he had not yet made me, then indeed he would observe ceremony - divesting me of my boot and holding it long in his hand, looking at it with eyes at once critical and loving, as if recalling the glow with which he had created it, and rebuking the way in which one had disorganized this masterpiece. Then, placing my foot on a piece of paper, he would two or three times tickle the outer edges with a pencil and pass his nervous fingers over my toes, feeling himself into the heart of my requirements.

Female Juvenile Delinquents Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Female Juvenile Delinquents - Term Paper Example The essence of this paper is to investigate the status quo of the girl child delinquent and to evaluate the effectiveness of the various mitigation measures that have been put forward. Statistics have proved that there is disproportionate growth of the female juvenile crime rate as compared to that of the opposite gender. According to FBI report (2011), female-child arrests increased by 4% between the year 1999 and 2003 in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2008, the female child arrests for minor crimes increased by about 12% while the rate of male juvenile increased only by 2%. The data from FBI statistics point to an alarming growth of the female crime rate, while the effort to control male juvenile seems to be yielding a good reap. In addition, the statistics analysts have predicted that going by the projection of this crime scenario, female juvenile would get out of control by the year 2014. Resultantly, there is a need for quick and effective intervention procedures contain female delin quency before it is out hands. Research has associated the offending behavior of the girl child to a lot early age victimization of this gender. Physical, sexual and emotional harassment predisposes young girls to the risk of engaging in future offending actions. Scholars have identified a causal relationship between female juveniles and a history of victimization during their early age of growth. According to Acoca (2000, p. 48), most of the females offendants who have been arrested have a history of some form of harassment. These scholars believe that female children resort to crime as a way of settling their emotional distress that is hard to cope. Moreover, the female child is more prone to victimization than the male child, which explains why there is a disproportionate growth in crime rate among female child. Various forms of victimization have been manifested among the sample cases that have been used for research. Rape, violent beating, stabbing and clack of parental care we re among the cases that affected many girls at the age of 13 and 14 years. The FBI (2011) blamed increase in child victimization for the rise in female child defendants. According to psychologists, victims of violence manifest symptoms of post-traumatic stress, which if not properly managed can permanently impair the social behavior of the girl child. Most psychologists have drawn an analogy of female delinquency to the condition of battered woman syndrome that is manifested among married women (Paludi, 2011). The similarity between the two is that both are runaways for victims of some form of violence. The Detroit Police Department reported that females who suffered rape either from strangers or from members of their family had a higher risk of engaging in crime. Another trigger for female delinquency is the lack of or poor parenting. Children who have their parents dead either through murder or any other reason ended up indulging in crime. Most orphaned females end up dropping out of school, risk getting pregnant at adolescence and in some instances end up in drug abuse. Eventually, they end up being enrolled in criminal groups as the only consolation for their stressful life. There is more to worry about since these female delinquents end up being the women criminals in the society (Siegel & Welsh, 2008).

Motivation At Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Motivation At Work - Essay Example IKEA has somewhere around 12,000 products available on their website, which is very near to their products range. In 2005 a survey was conducted and it was reported by the company that they had over 275 million hits on their website. The motto of the company is that are trying to create a better life for many people through their products. Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in Almhult, Sweden by in 1943, when he was a17 years old boy. The work IKEA is the abbreviation of Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. IKEA started out by selling all kinds of products like pens, runners, wallets, photo frames, watches, jewelry, furniture and stockings etc. anything that Kamprad thought that would sell at a reduced but reasonable price. It is the business idea of IKEA that they offer a wide range of home furnishing products at process which are affordable by many people. (IKEA) In 1948 IKEA introduces furniture in their range. The furniture was produced by the local manufactures in the forest closest to Ingvar Kamprad’s home. The response to the furniture was a positive one. Kamprad first started to sell the products out of his home and then he used mail order to deliver the products to his customer’s homes. In 1951 Kamprad saw an opportunity to sell his products through a catalog. The IKEA catalog which we know today was introduced to the world. 1n 1953 the first IKEA showroom was opened in Almhult, Sweden. In 1952 the concept of flat packing takes place and when one of the employees of the company took of a table’s leg so that it would not be damaged in the delivering process and it can also fit in the car. After discovering this, the flat packs and self assembly products were included in the IKEA’s range of products and they became an instant hit. In 1958 IKEA opens its first outlet in Almhult, Sweden. This outlet had 6700 sq meters of home furnishings displayed in that store and that was the largest

Illusion of free will Essay Example for Free

Illusion of free will Essay In our society, free will is something that is ingrained in our set of beliefs that every citizen of the world should possess. We generally believe that we possess free will because of the choices we make on a day-to-day basis that is generally not forced upon by any direct outside force like in a totalitarian society out of a science-fiction story: the decision of whether or not to go to school in the morning, or finishing an essay at the last minute or allowing the grade to drop for an extra day are excellent examples of my view of free will. In Paul Halbach’s â€Å"The Illusion of Free Will†, he systematically attempts to debunk the debate between the combating theories of free will and hard determinism. He conveys his argument by stating that determinism and free will are incompatible with one another: one cannot exist if the other is true. If he can thoroughly prove that determinism is true, then free will would be deemed incapable with the human condition which we must accept. Holbach breaks down his strategy into two parts, the first of which he explains how the thought process and decision making of human beings are complex, yet mechanical, which boils down to the fight of competing desires. Lastly, he attacks different views on actions people would normally view as explanations of free will. Holbach believes that the human mind makes decisions based on the laws of nature governing the person’s environment; the upbringing, culture, surroundings and countless situations a person has experienced are what determines his or her way of thinking. The causal effects of everything around a man is always what governs every decision he makes, as Holbach states that â€Å"he always acts according to necessary laws from which he has no means of emancipating himself† (Holback 439). He uses the example of presenting a parched man being presented with a fountain and wants to drink from it. Upon realizing that the water in it has been poisoned, the man can still choose whether or not to drink from it. Not drinking the water upon realization of its impurity is a voluntary choice to resist the urge to quench his thirst, although it still stems from the same desire of self-preservation. Regardless of if he does or does not is not of importance because of the prevailing motive behind making either decision, proving that every action one takes is predetermined by an impulse involuntarily generated based on the man’s upbringing and experiences which creates his sense of morals, beliefs, and self-worth, none of which he has any power of influencing. If this is the case, then determinism is true, and free will is only an illusion.

Workplace Diversity Essay -- Racial Diversity, Ethnic Diversity

Diversity is the uniqueness which every employee brings to the workplace in an organization or establishment. Examples of differences include nationality, belief, disabilities, physical appearance, race, gender, age, educational background, sexual orientation, and work experience, social and family status. At the workplace, valuing diversity means creating a work environment that respects and includes individual variation by maximizing the potential of all employees or in which every employee feels included. It means acknowledging that other people, other races, other voices, and other cultures have an equal claim on the world. Valuing diversity is the recognition that there are many ways of viewing the world, solving problems, and working together. Workplace diversity is the differences people bring in an organization. It encompasses learning and interacting with people who share different opinions, backgrounds from us and creating an environment which fosters diverse views and opinions. It does not only involve how people perceive or relate to themselves but how they perceive others and these perceptions do affect their interactions. â€Å"Most diversity experts believe that the significant distinctions are race, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, nation of origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, occupation, and class† (Leo Parvis, 2003). Complications begin from workplace difficulties to diversity which can disorganize and create a hostile environment. These threats, if not exposed and resolved through effective leadership, will lead to loss of potential and ultimately failure in the undertakings of the organization. Furthermore, diversity is in an elevated studying curve and similar to others continuin... ...ity is an important aspect in the workplace. We need diversity to offer the best service to customers, employees, affiliated companies, and share holders. Diversity offers personal difference in the people we work with. It is every employee's responsibility to ensure diversity is valued in the workplace. In every organization, employees should be open-minded and treat others with dignity, respect, courtesy and consideration and not tolerate harassment or discrimination. This creates a workplace that encourages learning and associating with people from diverse groups. With a diverse working environment and an equally diverse opportunity, the sky is the limit to what you can achieve during your career. In addition to a very important requirement when people deal with diversity is when there is a promotion of a "safe" place for people to communicate (Koonce, 2001).

Lesson questions

Write an explanation to someone who does not know how to make proper measurements on how to measure the following line with the ruler. To the untrained eye, the ruler may seem like a useless and mundane tool straight out of a crappy ass's movie. But in fact, resent studies have that the ruler has many functionally sign efficacy purposes other than the ones used by teenagers behind closed bathroom doors. This tool is used to measure objects in standard or metric measurements.Here are instructions on how to use this device: 1 . Put down the TV remote and the bag of extra cheesy Ghettos. 2. Find an object worth measuring (I. E. The length of your TV remote) 3. Align the far edge of the remote with the line that reads â€Å"O† on the ruler. 4. Scanning to your right, locate the opposite end of the remote and read the corresponding number found on the ruler. That's it! 5. Repeat when necessary or to resolve any bets between your roommates or friends.The ruler is so easy to use a fo eman can do it! Be safe and enjoy! Explain how you would gather data and calculate the density of an irregularly shaped rock. By the word â€Å"rock† can only assume that you are referring to the one and only Deanne Johnson, who is both extremely manly and slightly irregular. Taking this into consideration, lets discuss how we would measure his density (this technique will also work on regular rocks as well but are far less entertaining). Here are the steps: 1.First we need a vessel filled approximately halfway with water that also has markings of measurement on them. Note the original volume of water (this will be used later) 2. Carefully introduce the object (or person) into the vessel until the water is displaced. 3. Note the new water level on the measurement indicators of the vessel (This measurement is your objects volume). 4. Now divide the volume by the object mass and the answer will equal the objects density. 5. Finally, get Deanne Johnson a towel, he's cold!

Assignment Meg 5

Dhvani This word means â€Å"sound† literally, but does not deal with the fhction of sound in the musical sense. The theory was first propounded by Anandavardhana, the ninth century thinker, in his treatise, Dhavanyaloka (Dhvani+aloka). The Dhvani theory considers the indirectly evoked meaning or suggestivity as the characteristic f a e of literary utterance. This feature separates and determines the literary from other kinds of discourse, and is an all-embracing principle which explains the structure and function of the other significant aspects of literary utterance: the aesthetic &e,d or rasa, the figural mode and devices (alamkara), and so on. Related article: Fallacy of Absolute StatementIn Kapoor's words, â€Å"all the subsequent literary theorists in the tradition found the combination of rasa and dhvani theories both adequate and sufficient to analyse the constitution of meaning in Indian literature. † In his treatise I have mentioned before, Anandavardhana has given a detailed description of structural analysis of indirect meanings. According to him, if we can explain how indirect meanings arise systematically, we can claim that all potential meanings inhere in a text. Anandavardhana uses the term dhvani to designate the universe of suggestion. The soul of kmya is dhyani, he says). His preference for the term sprang from the fact that grammarians before him had used the term to denote several concepts. First, to denote the sound structure of sabda or words; second, to denote the semantic aspect of sabda; and third, the complex of the now revealed suggested meaning and the process of suggestion involved. Thus dr vuni theory is a theory of meaning (an Indian hermeneutics or sorts), of symbolism. The thrust of this theory is towards claiming a greater value for the poetry of suggestion.Anandavardhana integrates the theory of the rasa with his dhvani theory; that is, he says that dhvani is the method through which the effect of rasa is achieved. Rasa is the effect of suggestion. Mimesis For Plato (429-397 B. C. ), ‘poiesis' or what we call literary theory or even criticism was an imitation or, ‘mimesis'. (‘Poiesis' (GK) translates into poetry, in English, but the focus of these two term is very different, for the Greeks lyric poetry had a very small part to play as compared to the epic or drama. Plato and Aristotle moreover theorised not about lyric oetry, but about tragedy and comedy, about drama, so Richard Harland suggests the more appropriate use of the terms literary theory/criticism for the Greek ‘poiesis'). Plato called ‘poiesis' an imitation or ‘mime sis' because he believed drama to be a reproduction of something that is not really present, and is therefore a ‘dramatisation of the reproduction' (Richard Harland, p. 6). What he means is that in a play or an epic, what happens is this – the poet recreates an experience, the audience watch that re-created experience, they are in fact encouraged to live through that experience . s if they are physically within the time and space of that experience. Not only this, Plato, also goes on distinguish between ‘mimesis' and ‘digenesis'. â€Å"Mimesis' is the speech of a character directly reproduced,' whereas ‘digenesis' is ‘a narration of doings and sayings where ‘the poet speaks in his own person and does not try to turn our attention in another direction by pretending that soineone else is speaking . ‘ [Plato, quoted in Harland, p. 7). With this distinction between ‘mimesis' and ‘digenesis', it is easy for us to discern that drama is entirely ‘mimet~c' , whereas epic is mi metic only where dialogue is reproduced rii t e%:! t. where the poet t r l l s (lie ~ [ O I, il I ,d i ‘r IV. / $C' . I ! ] . iiurt, this is what larv called ‘ s h c ~111 ~:' , 1 1 1 t i ‘tcllii~g'r e:,pet>l~l; . l1l*zi~h owever disapprt . imitation, and i)1 tit~ln,ltiscdd ~alogue. ‘Mimesis', in Greek thought primarily meant ‘making' of one sort or another. This is well recorded in Plato. Plato gave a new metaphysical and epistemological perspective to mimesis, enlargening its meaning from ‘making' by human hands to ‘making' by universal force.Yet, mimesis, not only in Plato's definition but in the use of the concept in the whole of western tradition, always retained the sense of not only ‘making,' but of ‘making' a copy of some original which was never totally independent of the model. (Gupt 93). In Platonic theory, all art (techne) has been taken to mean some kind of manipu lation close to craft. In the Sophist, Plato has divided techne into acquisitive, productive and creative categories of which the last brings into existence things not existing before.However, the highest art, in the scheme of Plato is not music or poetry, but statecraft, which is compared to the making of a tragedy in the Laws (817B) and to sculpture in the Republic (420C). All production, in a general way, is ‘mimesis'. In the Greek usage, there was not only the term ‘mimesis' but others such as mithexis (participation), homoiosis, (likeness) and paraplesia (likeness) and which were close to the meaning, of mimesis. These terms were also used to show the relationship ‘between an im age (eidolon) and its archetype.Moreover, not only are objects imitated by pictures of them, but the essences of things are imitated also by names that we give to those things. For example, the essence or the dogness of a dog is imitated by the name ‘dog' given to that creature ( Cratylus 423-24). Similarly, reality is imitated or mimetised by thought, eternity by time (Timaeus 38b). The musician imitates divine harmony, the good man imitates the virtues, the wise legislator imitates the Form of God in constructing his state, god (demiourgos) imitates the Forms in the making of Ws world. With Aristotle the concept of mimesis undergoes a major transformation.It retains the condition of being a copy of a model, but the Platonic denigration is reversed. This reversal is based on a metaphysical revision. The permanent reality is not transcedental in Aristotle's opinion. When an artist makes an object, he incorporates certain universal elements in it but he does fall short of any absolute model of dniversality. Because of the universality contained in art, in Aristotle's view, art, as all other imitation leads to knowledge. The pleasure that mimesis provides is on account of knowledge that is acquired through mimesis, even though this knowledge is of particulars: And since learning and admiring are pleasant, all things connected with them must also. be pleasant; for instance, a work of imitation, such as painting, sculpture, Toetry, and all that is well imitated, even if the object of imitation is not pleasant; for it is not this that causes pleasure or the reverse, but the inference that the imitation and the object imitated are identical, so that the result is that we learn something. † (Rhetoric I, xi, 1371 b; trans. Freese qtd. by Beardsley 57) Besides possessing didactic capacity mimesis is defined as a pleasurable likeness.Aristotle defines the pleasure giving quality of mimesis in the Poetics, as follows: â€Å"First, the instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals being that he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no less universal is the pleasure felt in things imitated. Thus the reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, ‘Ah, that is he. ‘ Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. (Poetics IV. 1-6 ) As a corollary it follows that the artist is no liar, but on the contrary, leads us to Truth. However, Aristotle seems to have limited his vision when it comes to enumerating the objects of imitation. In Plato, all creation was an imitation of Forms, which were transcendental. For Aristotle, though the Form (eidos) of every object existed, it was not a transcendental reality but something within Nature which Nature itself tends to attain. Further, it is said that for Aristotle, Art helps Nature in this endeavour of attaining the perfection of Form.This interpretation of Aristotle's metaphysics has been based upon his two oft-quoted sayings, â€Å"Art imitates Nature† (Physics iii. 2 I94a 21. ) and â€Å"the artist may imitate things as they ought to be† (Poetics XXXV: I ). Amplifying from this Butcher has concluded: † If wekxpand Aristotle's idea in the light of his own system, fine art eliminates what is transient and particular and reveals the permanent and essential features of the original. It discovers ‘form' (eidos) towards which an object tends, the result which nature strives to attain. (150) There is little in the writings of Aristotle that can explicitly sustain such a conclusion. This discovery of the form (eidos) in objects tends to make Aristotle into a shadow of Plato. Aristotle admits that there is something permanent and enduring in art, but that something could be called eidos, is beyond substantiation from Aristotle's writings. Similarly, the dictum, art imitates nature, has given rise to many interpretations over the centuries. â€Å"It has been argued that the irrner principle of Nature is what art imitates.But if we follow out his thought, his (Aristotle's) reply would appear to be something of this kind. Nature is a living and creative energy, which by a sort of instinctive reason works in every individual object towards a specific end † (Butcher 155). The teleological and structural pattern of tragedy seems to have been transferred on to Nature by Butcher. This was a typical nineteenth century view of Aristotelian philosophy. Since the Renaissance, different definitions of Nature have been foisted upon Aristotle's dictum, art imitates Nature.For the purpose of drama, the most disastrous one was that of realism, which having captured fiction by techniques of portraiture, landscape, and caricature, transferred these on to drama. Aristotle was clear that a e purpose of imitation in drama, was to provide proper pleasure by imitating action. Mimesis of men in action was mimesis of all human life. Through music, the artist imitates, anger and mildness as well as courage or temperance (Politics v. viii. 5. 134~1 8) and ethical qualities and emotions. Similarly, he says, â€Å"Dance,'imitate s character, emotions and action† (Poetics 1. 5).We should be content to note that in drama he applied the general theory ef mimesis, which he thought, was both for the s&e of pleasure and knowledge. But even the Aristotelian affirmation of pleasure in art was not sufficient to free art from being constantly compared with its original, that is the worldly objects. This originally Platonic habit, has been strong throughout western criticism which repeatedly gauges art in terms of how truthfully or realistically it represents the world, how much of an understanding of the world can it bring to us, one way or another. , 3. 3 THE MEDIA OF MIMESIS 3. 3. 1 Rhythm, Language, and Haniony After stating that epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, flute or lyre playing are all ‘modes of mimesis,' Aristotle states that mimesis in different arl forms is achieved differently, and that the object and manner of mimesis is different in each case ( Poetics 1; 2-4 ). He states t hat the three media for all arts are as follows: For there are persons who, by conscious act or mere habit, imitate and represent various objects through the medium of colour and fonn, or again , by voice; so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the imitation is produced by rhythm, language and harmony, either singly or combined. Poetics 1:4 ) Leaving aside painting and sculpture which use colour and other forms (materials), the arts of performance like music, dance and drama, use rhythm, language and harmony. Flute and lyre use rhythm and notes only, and dancing uses only rhythm. But for Aristotle, rhythm is not a mere beat or a division of time, but movement with regularity, be it theemere movement of the body or that of notes. That is why, dancing, he says, imitates characteG emotion and action by rhythmical movement (15). -Poetry or verse whether creative or informative imitates through language alone, but dithyrambic and elegiac poetry, tragedy and comedy use all thre e means. In dithyrambic and elegiac poetry all three means are used together, but in tragedy and comedy now one means is employed, now Aristotle's Theory of Imitation Classical Cdtkisrn another (15). What is true of tragedy and comedy can be taken as true of all drama, satyr plays included. Aristotle's brevity of plan has prevented him from saying anything further about the manner in which rhythm, language and harmony are employed in drama.About the details of language (lexis) one can gather quite a few things from Aristotle's comments on language which he categorised as one of the six elements of tragedy. But the nature of harmony (which he called melopoiia and enumerated as another element of tragedy) is hardly touched upon by him. So is rhythm never mentioned again in the Poetics. No wonder, then, that one has to look elsewhere to gather information about the use of music in the Greek theatre. Aristotle perhaps took musical employment in drama for granted and, therefore, refraine d from stating anything further about it.But the result of what may have been for him a redundancy, was disastrous for the post-Renaissance readers of the Poetics. The practical art of theatre-music being extinct, the Europeans reconstructed a picture of Greek drama in which there was hardly any place for rhythm or music. Greek drama was envisaged as a primarily rhetorical affair (an impression reinforced by Roman tragedies) far removed from the balance of visual and aural channels of theatrical expression that ancient drama depends so much upon.But if Aristotle left out the details of musical application he was at least explicit in stating it as a medium of mimesis. However, he not only neglected but left out from his description of tragedy the visual content of Greek performances constituted by the physical movements and complex gestures of the actors and the chorus. More than their mask and costume, the Greek actors had a repertoire of highly emotive gestures, just as the chorus members had a repertoire of a variety of dances to create complex visual effects. CatharsisThere has been a sustained attempt to postulate that catharsis could be a common and basic aesthetic experience. But the very meaning of catharsis has been a source of conflicting interpretations. In the nineteenth century one major way of looking at catharsis was to take it as a medical term transferred to poetic criticism. Cleansing (kenosis) in the Hippocratic writings denotes the entire removal of healthy but surplus humours: Catharsis is the removal of the afflictions or excesses (â€Å"ta lupounta†) and the like of qualitatively alien matter (But cher 253). This doctrine of imbalance of vital forces later on called humours, as the primary cause of disease, is of purely Indian origin. As demonstrated by Filliozat, the science was well formulated in India as early as the Atharva Veda and travelled t o Greece through Persia). According to the Hippocratic theory, an imbalance among th e elements of air , bile (of two kinds) and phlegm causes each and every disease. The cure lying in subduing the overswollen element and restoring the balance between the four elements. Besides this well-stated medicinal doctrine, there was also the practice of curing madness through musical catharsis.The patients were made to listen to certain melodies which made them â€Å"fall back into their normal state, as if they had undergone a medical or purgative (cathartic) treatment† (Politics V. viii. 7. 1342 a IS qtd. in Butcher 249). It is further added that not only is catharsis achieved musically but that â€Å"those who are liable to pity and fear, and in general, persons of emotional temperament pass through a like experience; †¦ they all undergo a catharsis of some kind and feel a pleasurable relief' (Butcher 251).The nature of catharsis described in the Politics should be true for the Poetics, as Aristotle himself has stated that his observations are of a general na ture in the former treatise but shall be more detailed in a later work. Therefore, those who presumed that tragic catharsis like musical catharsis restores normally healthy emotional state, were not so wrong. But this rather clinical definition of catharsis does not satisfy the literary theorists. As early as Butcher it was felt there was more to it. â€Å"But the word, as taken up by Aristotle into his terminology of art, has probably a further meaning.It expresses not 6nly a fact of psychology or of pathology, but a principle of art (253). The tragic pity and fear he postulated, â€Å"in real life contain a morbid and disturbing I' element †¦ As the tragic action progresses, the lower forms of emotion are found to have been transmuted into more refined forms† (254). He further postulated that this purification is also a change of the personal emotion to the universal. Purged of the â€Å"petty interest of the self' (261) emotion now becomes a representation of the un iversal, so that the â€Å"net result is a noble emotional satisfaction† (267).It is not difficult to discern that catharsis is equated with aesthetic pleasure in which noble emotional satisfaction is an essential feature, â€Å"But whatever may have been the indirect effect of the repeated operation of catharsis, we may confidently say that Aristotle in his definition of tragedy is thinking, not only of any remote result, but of the immediate end of the art, of the Aristotle's Theory of aesthetic function it fulfils† (Butcher 269). Tragedy -Part IJ In my opinion, to raise the balancing function of catharsis to the level of . universalisation is to stretch the concept too far.CertC,-;rlyt, he restorative function of catharsis may bring relief such as a sick person feels upon recovery. But it is a presumption on the part of Butcher that universalisation takes place because the element purged from the dramatic emotion is that of personal â€Å"petty interest of the self ' (261). The Aristotelian catharsis, or for that matter the whole tradition of catharsis, by music or Dionysian orgies, has personal cure or satisfaction as its end. Inner restoration, but not the enjoyment of a new aesthetic element, can at best be the purpose of catharsis. The factors of enjoyment, of â€Å"oikeia hedone†, are ifferent as stated earlier. . Other than regarding it as purgational, there has been another m~jowr ay of interpreting catharsis. The dual concept of purity and impurity which pervaded the physical, moral, religious and spiritual life of the Greeks was the most deepseated factor governing their daily activities. The duality of pollution (miasma) and purgation (catharsis) was part of the Indo-European belief system. We find that in Greek plays, all tragic action is dependent on acts of transgression such as the murder of a kin, sexual defilement, affronts to deities, and so on.These acts brought pollution (miasma) upon the protagonist and the people ar ound him. In Greek religion there were prescriptions for expiation of such crimes, just as in India rituals were prescribed for purging of pollution. In tragedies, the very ritual of expiation was often enacted, as in the Oresteia. In most plays, the protagonist was expelled from the community by death or banishment; there was expulsion (kenosis) of the sinner and purification (catharsis) of a given location, city, grove or household. Whereas in some plays, as in the Oresteia, this cycle was shown in ,- itP n——. 1, . teness, in other playh it was shown partially. In some other plays as in Hecabe or Women of Troy, there is only miasma and no katharsis. Looked at in this way, tragedy was a depiction of the cycle of miasma and catharsis. To my mind, the annual enactment of tragedy was to reaffm the miasrnacatharsis duality, which was a major cultural value of ancient Greek society. In all ancient societies the purpose of retelling the myths, particularly on festive occasi ons, was many-fold; it was to preserve and transmit the stories, to re-state the beliefs they enshrined, and $0 relive the behaviour patterns sanctified by tradition.The retelling always had a ritual significance even if it took the form of dramatic enactment for the purpose of entertainment. Entertainment and ritual were intertwined in ancient theatre. In this manner, tragedy was a reliving of the pollution-purity cycle by both the actors and the spectators. The community, the protagonist, hisher acts, and the aroused emotions of the audience, all underwent a catharsis. In his analysis,of catharsis, Gerald Else has rightly grasped the spiritual significance that catharsis had for the Greeks, but he restricts the scope of purgation to the acts of the protagonist.For Else, remorse makes the hero eligible to the spectators' pity, and this pity along with the hero's remorse proves that the act of transgression was actually a pure (cufharos) act. Thus catharsis is the process of proving purity. As Else puts it: The filthiness inheres in a conscious intention to kill a person who is a close kin. An unconscious intention to do so, i. e, in intention to do so without being aware of the kinship as Oedipus did not know that he killed his father would therefore be pure, catharos. But purity must be proved to our satisfaction.Catharsis would then be the process of proving that the act was pure in that sense. How is such a thing proved ? According to Nicomachean Ethics (3,2, 11 lob19 and 11 1 la20 ), by the remorse of the doer, which shows that if he had known the facts he would not have done the deed. In Oedipus, the thing which establishes this to our satisfaction is Oedipus' self blinding. It, then, effects a purification of the tragic deed and so makes Oedipus eligible to our pity. (Else 98) From this interpretation it seems that Else does not believe that catharsis enefits the audience and their emotions in anyway. In his reading of the famous passage , in the Poetic s, catharsis is purification of the tragic deed and not of the emotions of the spectators. This goes against all other instances of catharsis as mentioned by Plato and Aristotle. The examples they have givenindicate a change in the mental state of the spectators or music listeners. Besides, it is nowhere indicated by Aristotle that pity in tragedy was aroused for the purpose of regenerating and purifying the sin and the sinner.He is more concerned with showing how we can feel pity for the protagonist. This feeling in us is more capable of providing catharsis to us rather than just providing that the act of the hero was catharos. If the concept of catharsis is to have any general utility, it must be persumed that the cycle of pollution and purgation (miasma and catharsis) effects an emotional catharsis in the audience as well. A harmonious view of catharsis which combines its spiritual, clinical and aesthetic effects is more in keeping with the unified approach of the ancients. Biogr aphia Literaria Biographia Literaria was begun by its author as a literary autobiography but ended up in discussions about Kant, and Schelling and Coleridge's perceptive criticism of Wordsworth's poetry and a comprehensive statement on creative imagination which constitutes his most signal contribution to literary criticism and theory. As was his wont, oler ridge has let his awe-inspiringly powerful mind loose on aestheiics, its philosophical foundations and its practical application in an almost desultory manner.The result is a mine of inexhaustible potential called Biographia Literaria to which critics of all shades of opinion have turned for help and inspiration and very seldom has any one of them been disappointed. Arthur Symons justly described the work as rthe greatest book of English criticism']. Coleridge has sometimes been accused of borrowing from the Germans, particularly from Kant, Sckelli~~angd the Schlegels, but most of his ideas were originally arrived at and, in my c ase. the system into which these ideas were f;tt~A as the creation of his own great mind. Coleridge's whole aesthetic – his definition of poetry, his idea of the poet, and h ~ s poetical criticism – revolve around his theory of creative imagination. From this point of view chapters XI11 and XIV of Biographin Liter~rri~alr e most sign~ticant. The statement of the theory of imagination in Biographia Litercrria is preceded by a prolix and, at time, abstruegn†;losophical discourse in the form of certain theses or propositions whose crs is Coleridge's attempt to define Nature and Self.Nature – the sum of all that is objective – is passive and unconscious while Self or Intelligence the sum of all that is subjective – is vital and conscious. All knowledge is the product of the coalescence of the subject and the object. This coalescence leads to the act of creation, I AM. It is in this state of self-consciousness that [‘object ar. d subject, be ing and knowledge, are identical'] and the reality of [‘the one life in us and abroad'] is experienced and affirmed and chaos is converted into z cosmos. What happens is that the Self or Spirit views itself in all objects which as objects are dead and finite.Coleridge's theory of creativeymagination is essentially grounded ir, ihis perception. Hence Coleridge's view of the . =lagination approximates to the ~riecvso l Schelling and Kant. Like Coleridge they recognise the interdependence of subject and object as complementary aspects of a single reality. Also they all agree about the self conceived 2s a totality: thought and feeling in their original identity and not as an abstraction. Thomas Steams Eliot (1888-1965) is probably the best known and most influential English poet of the twentieth century. His work as a critic is equally significant. l7. S.Eliot's critical output was quite diverse; he wrote theoretical piecesas well as stud~eso f particular authors. â€Å"Tradition and the Individual Talent† (1919) clearly expresses Eliot's concepts about poetry and the importance of tradition. Eliot emphasizes the need for critical thinking –â€Å"criticism is as inevitable as breathing†. He feels that it is unfortunate that the word â€Å"tradition† is mentioned only with pejorative implications, as when we call some poet â€Å"too traditional. † He questions the habit of praising a poet primarily for those elements in his work which are more individual and differentiate him Erom others. ccordingto T. S. Eliot, even the most â€Å"individual† parts of a poet's work may be those which are most alive with the influence of his poetic ancestors. Eliot stresses the objective and intellectual element. The whole of past literature will be â€Å"in the bones† of the poet with the true historical sense, † a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literiture of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order. † No poet has his complete meaning alone. For proper evaluation, you must set a poet, for contrast and comparison, among the dead poets.Eliot envisages a dynamic relationship between past and present writers. â€Å"The existing monuments form an ideal order amgng themselves, which is modified by the introduction of the new (the really new) work of art among them. † An artist can be judged only by the standards of thepast; this does not mean the standards of dead critics. It means a judgement when two things, the old and the new, are measured by each other. To some extent, this resembles Matthew Arnold's â€Å"touchstone† ; the â€Å"ideal order† formed by the â€Å"existing monuments† provide the standard, a land of touchstone, for evaluation.As with Arnold's touchstones, Eliot's ideal order is subjective and in need of modification from time to time. T. S. Eliot Eliot l ays stress on the artist knowing â€Å"the mind of Europe — the mind of his own country–a mind which he learns in time to be much more important than his own . private mind†. But he does not mean pedantic knowledge, he means a consciousness of the past, and some persons have a greater sensitivity to this historical awareness. As Eliot states, with epigrammatic brevity, â€Å"Some can absorb knowledge, the more tardy New Criticism must sweat for it. Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than ost men could from the whole British Museum. † Throughout Eliot's poetry and criticism, we find this emphasis on the artist surrendering himself to some larger authority. His later political and religious writings too valorized authority. It is interesting that Eliot always worked within his own cultural space: religion meant Christianity, while literature, culture and history meant exclusively European literature, culture or history. Tradition, for Eliot, means an awareness of the history of Europe, not as dead facts but as a11 ever-changing yet changeless presence, constantly interacting subconsciously with the individual poet.He wants the poet to merge his personality with the tradition. â€Å"The progress of the artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality. † He suggests the analogy of the catalyst in a scientific laboratory for this process of depersonalization. The mind of the poet is a medium in which experiences can enter into new combinations. When oxygen and sulphur dioxide are mixed in the presence of a filament of platinum, they form sulphuric acid. This combination takes place only in the presence of platinum, which is the catalyst. But the sulphuric acid shows no trace of platinum, which remains unaffected.The catalyst facilitates the chemical change, but does not participate in it, and remains unchanged. Eliot compares the mind of the poet to the shred of platinum, which wil l â€Å"digest and transmute the. passions which are its material†. Eliot shifts the critical focus from the poet to the poetry, and declares, â€Å"Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry. † Eliot sees the poet's mind as â€Å"a receptacle for seizing and stonng up numberless feelings,phrases, images, which remain there until all the particles which can unite to form a new compound are present together. He says that concepts like â€Å"sublimity†, â€Å"greatness† or â€Å"intensity† of emotion are irrelevant. It is not the greatness of the emotion that matters, but the intensity of the artistic process, the pressure under which the artistic hsion takes place, that is important. In this way he rejects the Romantic emphasis on ‘genius' and the exceptional mind. Eliot refutes the idea that poetry is the expression of the personality of the poet. Experiences important for the man may have no place in his poems, and vice-versa. The emotions occasioned by events in the personal life of the poet are not important.What matters is the emotion transmuted into poetry, the feelings expressed in the poetry. â€Å"Emotions which he has never experienced will serve his turn as well as those familiar to him†. Eliot says that Wordsworth's formula is wrong. (Iam sure you would remember Wordsworth's comments on poetry in the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads: â€Å"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling: it takes its origins from emotion recollected in tranquility. â€Å") For Eliot, poetryls not recollection of feeling, â€Å"it is a new thing resulting from the concentration of a very great number of experiences . . it is a concentration which does not happen consciously or of deliberation. † Eliot believes that â€Å"Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape fiom emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from pers onality. † For him, the emotion of art is impersonal, and the artist can achieve this impersonality only by cultivating the historical sense, by belng conscious of the tradition It is now generally believed that Eliot's idea of tradition is rather narrow in two respects.First, he's talking of simply the poetic tradition and neglects the fact that even the poetic tradition is a complex amalgam of written and oral poetry and the elements that go into them. It was only in later writings that he realised the fact that in ibc making of verse many elements are involved. In his wntlngs on poetic drama he glves evidence of having broadened his scope. Second, Eliot is neglecting other traditions that go into social formations. When he iatrr wrote ‘Religion and Literature', he gives more scope to non-poebc elements of tradition. On these considerations one can say that he develops'his ideas on tradition T.S. Eliot throughout his literary career – right up to the time he wro te ‘Notes Towards a Definition of Culture' in which traditionis more expansive than in his earlier writings. Dissociation of sensibility is a literary term first used by T. S. Eliot in his essay â€Å"The Metaphysical Poets†[1] It refers to the way in which intellectual thought was separated from the experience of feeling in seventeenth century poetry. Eliot used the term to describe the manner by which the nature and substance of English poetry changed â€Å"between the time of Donne or Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the time of Tennyson and Browning. In this essay, Eliot attempts to define the metaphysical poet and in doing so to determine the metaphysical poet’s era as well as his discernible qualities. â€Å" We may express the difference by the following theory: The poets of the seventeenth century, the successors of the dramatists of the sixteenth, possessed a mechanism of sensibility which could devour any kind of experience. They are simple, artificial, d ifficult, or fantastic, as their predecessors were; no less nor more than Dante, Guido Cavalcanti, Guinicelli, or Cino.In the seventeenth century a dissociation of sensibility set in, from which we have never recovered; and this dissociation, as is natural, was aggravated by the influence of the two most powerful poets of the century, Milton and Dryden. † Theory of dissociation of sensibility The theory of dissociation of sensibility rests largely upon Eliot’s description of the disparity in style that exists between the metaphysical poets of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century and the poets of the late seventeenth century onward.In â€Å"The Metaphysical Poets,† [1] Eliot claims that the earlier grouping of poets were â€Å"constantly amalgamating disparate experience† and thus expressing their thoughts through the experience of feeling, while the later poets did not unite their thoughts with their emotive experiences and therefore expressed thoug ht separately from feeling. He explains that the dissociation of sensibility is the reason for the â€Å"difference between the intellectual and the reflective poet. † The earlier intellectual poet, Eliot writes, â€Å"possessed a mechanism of sensibility which could devour any kind of experience. When the dissociation of sensibility occurred, â€Å"[the] poets revolted against the ratiocinative, the descriptive; they thought and felt by fits, unbalanced; they reflected. † Thus dissociation of sensibility is the point at which and the manner by which this change in poetic method and style occurred; it is defined by Eliot as the loss of sensation united with thought. Eliot uses John Donne’s poetry as the most prominent example of united sensibility and thought. He writes, â€Å"[a] thought to Donne was an experience; it modified his sensibility. Eliot’s apparent appreciation of Donne’s ability to unify intellectual thought and the sensation of fee ling demonstrates that he believes dissociation of sensibility to be a hindrance in the progression of poetry. Eliot asserts that despite the progress of refined language, the separation between thought and emotion led to the end of an era of poetry that was â€Å"more mature† and that would â€Å"wear better† than the poetry that followed. Deconstruction Deconstruction has been variously presentehs a philosophical position, a political or intellectual stance or just simply as a strategy of reading.As students of literature and literary theory, we should be interested in its power as a mode of reading; therefore most of the points about Deconstruction in this Block will be made through instances of reading literature and philosophy. Let us begin here with a simple reading of Derrida describing a general strategy of Deconstruction: Every philosophical argument is structured in terms of oppositions and in this â€Å"traditional philosophical opposition we have not a pea ceful co-existence of facing terms but a violent hierarchy.One of the terms dominates the other (axiologically, logically etc. ), occupies the commanding position. To deconstruct the opposition is above all, at a particular moment to reverse the hierarchy†. Deconstruction, Derrida implies, looks upon a text as inherently riddled with hierarchical oppositions. A deconstructive reading uncovers not only these hierarchical oppositions but also shows that the superior term in the opposition can be seen as inferior. When we put together some other strategies of Deconstruction outlined in Derrida's writings, a working definition begins to emerge. To deconstruct a discourse is to show how it undermines the philosophy it asserts, or the hierarchical opposition on which it relies, by identifying in the text and then dismantling the rhetorical operations that produce the supposed ground of argument, the key concept or premise. † This explanation by Jonathan Culler is comprehensive . So, let us treat it as a companion to the description by Derrida cited above in order to advance our working idea of Deconstruction. Broadly speaking Derrida and Culler are making these points: 1. ‘ Deconstruction is a â€Å"searching out† or dismantling operation conducted on a discourse to show: . How the discourse itself undermines the argument (philosophy) it asserts. 3. One way of doing it is to see how the argument is structured/[email  protected], that is investigate its rhetorical status or argumentative strategy. As Derrida argues, this struchkis often the product of a hierarchy in which two opposed terms are presented as superior and inferior. Deconstruction then pulls the carpet from below the superior by showing the limited basis of its superiority and thus reverses the hierarchy, making the superior, inferior. 4. This reversed hierarchy is again open to the same deconstructive operadon.In a way, Deconstruction is a permanent act of destabilization. .So, Deconstruction points to a fallacy not in. the way the first or second hierarchy is constructed but in the very process of creating hierarchies in human thought (which as I have stated earlier, is indispensable to most if not all human arguments or thought. ). Deconstruction does not lead us from a faulty to a correct way of thinking I or writing. Rather it shows us the limitations of human thought operating through I language even while harboring the same limitations itself.Every deconstructive operation relies on the same principle it sets out to deconstruct and is thus open to deconstruction itself. Yet, Deconstruction is not simply about reversing hierarchieMough it is one of the I things a deconstructive analysis achieves. Fundamentally, it is a way of understanding the structure of a discourse, locating its controlling centre and identifying the unfounded assumptions on which it relies to function as a discourse. It may be compared to a probing operation that uncovers fault l ines in a discourse, which may include ideological assumptions and suppositions .

Mount Vesuvius According to Pliny

Mount Vesuvius According to Pliny Mt. Vesuvius is an Italian volcano that erupted on August 24* A.D. 79 blanketing the towns and 1000s of residents of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum. Pompeii was buried 10 deep, while Herculaneum was buried under 75 of ash. This volcanic eruption is the first to be described in detail. The letter-writing Pliny the Younger was stationed about 18 mi. away, in Misenum, from which vantage point he could see the eruption and feel the preceding earthquakes. His uncle, the naturalist Pliny the Elder, was in charge of area warships, but he turned his fleet to rescuing residents and died. Historical Importance In addition to Pliny recording the sights and sounds of the first volcano to be described in detail, the volcanic covering of Pompeii and Herculaneum provided an amazing opportunity for future historians: The ash preserved and protected a vibrant city against the elements until future archaeologists unearthed this snapshot in time. Eruptions Mt. Vesuvius had erupted before and continued to erupt about once a century until about A.D. 1037, at which point the volcano grew quiet for about 600 years. During this time, the area grew, and when the volcano erupted in 1631, it killed approximately 4000 people. During the rebuilding efforts, the ancient ruins of Pompeii were discovered on March 23, 1748. Todays population around Mt. Vesuvius is about 3 million, which is potentially catastrophic in the area of such a dangerous Plinian volcano. A Pine Tree in the Sky Prior to the eruption, there were earthquakes, including a substantial one in A.D. 62** that Pompeii was still recovering from in 79. There was another earthquake in 64, while Nero was performing in Naples. Earthquakes were seen as facts of life. However, in 79 springs and wells dried up, and in August, the earth cracked, the sea became turbulent, and the animals showed signs that something was coming. When the eruption of the 24th of August began, it looked like a pine tree in the sky, according to Pliny, spewing noxious fumes, ash, smoke, mud, stones, and flames. Plinian Eruption Named after the naturalist Pliny, the type of eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is referred to as Plinian. In such an eruption a column of various materials (called tephra) is ejected into the atmosphere, creating what looks like a mushroom cloud (or, perhaps, pine tree). Mt. Vesuvius column is projected to have reached about 66,000 in height. Ash and pumice spread by the winds rained for about 18 hours. Buildings started to collapse and people began to escape. Then came high-temperature, high-velocity gasses and dust, and more seismic activity. *In Pompeii Myth-Buster, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadril argues that the event occurred in the fall. Translating Plinys Letter adjusts the date to September 2, to coincide with later calendar changes. This article also explains the dating to A.D. 79, the first year of Titus reign, a year not referred to in the relevant letter. ** In Pompeii Myth-Buster, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadril argues that the event occurred in 63. Sources Volcanic Phenomena at Pompeii[formerly at www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/europe/pompeii.html Pompeii][formerly at volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html Vesuvius Italy][formerly at vulcan.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/79_eruption.html The 79 AD Eruption of Vesuvius]

The Buraku - Untouchables of Japan

The Buraku - Untouchables of Japan During the Tokugawa Shogunates rule in Japan, the samurai class sat atop a four-tier social structure. Below them were farmers and fishermen, artisans, and merchants. Some people, however, were lower than the lowest of merchants; they were considered less than human, even. Although they were genetically and culturally indistinguishable from other people in Japan, the buraku was forced to live in segregated neighborhoods, and could not mingle with any of the higher classes of people. The buraku was universally looked down upon, and their children were denied an education. The reason? Their jobs were those designated as unclean by Buddhist and Shinto standards - they worked as butchers, tanners, and executioners. Their jobs were tainted by their association with death. Another type of outcast, the hinin or sub-human, worked as prostitutes, actors, or geisha. History of Burakumin Orthodox Shinto and Buddhism consider contact with death unclean. Therefore those in occupations where they are involved in slaughtering or processing meat are avoided. These occupations were considered lowly for many centuries, and impoverished or dislocated people may have been more likely to turn to them. They formed their own villages separated from those who would shun them. The feudal laws of Tokugawa period, starting in 1603, codified these divisions. Buraku could not move out of their untouchable status to join one of the other four castes. While there was social mobility for others, they had no such privilege. When interacting with others, burakumin  had to show subservience and could not have any physical contact with those of the four  castes. They were literally untouchables. After the Meiji Restoration, the Senmin Haishirei edict abolished the ignoble classes and gave the outcasts equal legal status. The ban on meat from livestock resulted in an opening of slaughterhouse and butcher occupations to the burakumin. However, the social stigma and discrimination continued. Descent from the burakumin could be deduced from ancestral villages and neighborhoods where the burakumin lived, even if individuals dispersed. Meanwhile, those who moved to those neighborhoods  or professions could themselves be identified as burakumin even without ancestors from those villages. Continued Discrimination Against the Burakumin The plight of the buraku is not just a part of history. Discrimination is faced by descendants of buraku even today. Buraku families still live in segregated neighborhoods in some Japanese cities. While it is not legal, lists circulate identifying burakumin, and they are discriminated against in hiring and in arranging marriages. Numbers of burakumin range from an official tally of around one million to over three million as assessed by the Buraku Liberation League. Denied social mobility, some join the yakuza, or organized crime syndicates, where it is a meritocracy. Approximately 60 percent of yakuza members are from burakumin backgrounds. Nowadays, however, a civil rights movement is having some success in improving the lives of modern-day buraku families. It is disheartening that even in an ethnically homogenous society, people will still find a way to create an outcast group for everyone else to look down upon.

Reflection 10 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection 10 - Research Paper Example t approach between these two is the approach whereby the customer reserves flights directly via airlines websites with their personal computers since the approach avoids intermediaries (â€Å"Airline Reservation Systems†). Airline companies are the most likely segments that will use the internet to distribute airline tickets to their customers. In this case, the necessity of these airline companies to deal directly with their clients will be the guiding factor that leads them to use this approach and offer their airline tickets to the customer in order to lessen the power of intermediaries and competitively offer their services to their customers. In addition, airlines will benefit from using this distribution channel since agencies may fail to offer an airline’s tickets to customers and offer the competitor’s tickets depending on the amount of commission an agency obtained from different airline companies. The main aspect that may inhibit the success of this distribution channel is its nature in targeting customers who have access to computers and the internet. In addition, only computer literate customers will be able to carry out the procedure involved in booking a flight online without the assistance of another person. Therefore, the system leaves out potential customers who were not computer literate and customers who do not have access to the internet. Hence, airline agencies are the most suited distribution channels for these two groups that the internet distribution channel failed to serve. There is an underlying potential conflict between these two distribution channels. First, the agencies present many alternatives to customers in order for the customer to make an informed decision regarding their choice for the airline to use since an agency does not deal with one airline. Hence, this channel of distributing tickets will not meet a company’s objective of selling tickets directly to the customers since airline agencies will be selling tickets

Financial issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial issues - Assignment Example The global financial crisis is one that has affected many companies. This has led to many changes with regard to the various regulations that exist. There is development in financial planning and the management of wealth (Elizabeth 1156). The article critically discusses this and shows the manner through which the global financial crisis of 2008 has led to trading of financial instruments. There is also the existent issue in modern days with regard to financial instruments that brings up the question of disclosure in the relevant industries and a case in example is what happens in Brazil mostly (Malaquias 95). Many companies do not seem to appreciate the value of privacy in an organization. In modern days, privacy is so poor such that financial statements of various debtors are portrayed to other people that attend to the same bank. Financial reporting is also important as some people fail to offer the important information that is necessary for financial instruments and planning. This information is such as the actual assets that the company or individual bears (Mark 3). It is important for these people to offer exact information to assist in the actual planning of a person’s or the investment of the company. Malaquias, Fernandes. â€Å"Disclosure of financial instruments according to International Accounting Standards: empirical evidence from Brazilian companies.† Brazilian Business Review, 2013: 10, 3. Pgs 82 – 107. Elizabeth, Blankespoor. â€Å"Fair Value Accounting for Financial Instruments: Does It Improve the Association between Bank Leverage and Credit Risk?† Accounting Review, 2013, 88, 4. Pgs 1143 –

Module 3 SLP Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 3 SLP - Coursework Example As of December 2012, The Kraft Food owns 34 manufacturing plants in the US and two plants in Canada. The plants are capable of accommodating multiple product lines. They manufacture Cheese products in 12 locations, Beverage products in eight locations, Grocery products in 15 locations, Refrigerated Meals products in nine places. Apart from this they also outsource the production of products, if found advantageous (Kraft Foods Annual Report, 2013). The company garnered net revenues of $18.2 billion while earnings before tax stood at $4.1 billion in 2013. The companys balance sheet as on December 28, 2013 shows assets of $23.1 billion. The companys market capitalization is close to USD 39 billion. The companys operating profit margin is 22.67%. Operating cash flow is $1.8 billion. The companys return on assets is 11% while return on equity is 45.45%. The company stocks are traded on NASDAQ Stock Market (Balance Sheet, 2014). Human resource is considered an important and vital resource at Kraft Foods for companys sustainable development. Based on 2013 data, the company employs 20,400 employees in the US alone and around 2100 people in Canada (Kraft Foods Annual Report, 2013). The company employs rigorous development plans to retain this important resource. The company puts a special emphasis on employee engagement for their overall development and growth. Kraft Foods has mastered the basic science of food processing and the art. They have developed savory flavors, cheese solutions, and enhancers for developing distinct taste of their products. The company has developed cost-reduction technologies for its numerous processes to benefit consumers. The technical resources help them to compete in the market. They are considered a leader in flavor technology and capable of identifying and developing the best solution for their food products. They have pilot plant facilities to developing ingredients for

Impact of Master Data Management

Impact of Master Data Management The impact of Master Data Management in an organization to improve decision making. Abstract This research deals with assessing the importance of Master Data Management in an organization and the impacts it has when making decisions. I will present the methodological framework which allows a centered master data to flow to different systems. This research will use the qualitative approach and interpretive paradigm. Master Data Management MDM Keywords: Master Data Management, Data Quality, Information Management, Data Governance Background of the study The focus to Master Data Management is to provide relevant information for decision making using the various systems in the organization. Based on the increasing number of expected benefits of systems that they will deliver a single version of key organizational entities. â€Å"MDM represents the set of policies, governance, standards, processes and tools that define and manage the master and reference data of a business organization to provide a single point of reference.â€Å"(Subotic, Jovanovic, Poscic, 2014) Years of using and retaining data in different data stores have led to conflicts in data descriptions, in the way data is structured, and the values of data, which makes it impossible or hard for an organization to understand and properly use its key data(Cleven Wortmann). Data are used in almost all the activities of companies and constitute the basis for decisions on operational and strategic levels. Poor quality data will have significantly negative effects on the competence of an organization, while high quality data are often crucial to a company’s success (Haug, Zachariassen van Liempd). Integrating those business definitions and data records across business lines and across subsidiaries is no simple task, demanding rearranging of data ownership and governance, however also requiring advanced technology for policies and business rules to be enforced(Scheidl 2011). The goal of MDM is to create and maintain consistent and complete business data for all stakeholders in a controlled and single-view capable manner across the whole organization which will help them figure out the improvement areas so they become more efficient and competitive. MDM is meant to provide organizations with the ability to integrate, analyze and exploit the value of their data assets, regardless of where that information was collected (Milanov Njengus 2012). Research Problem Organizations deal with different data which may be scatted across the whole organization where systems do not communicate with each other causing the organization to make decisions based on data that is not accurate. Research Objectives Master Data Management seeks to consolidate data that resides in various systems that do not communicate with each other, in such a way that accurate and up to date organizational data is available in a single place (Reichet, Otto, Ostele, 2013). This research will discuss on how Master Data Management can manage the organizations data and outline the benefits of using MDM which will permit the organization to understand their key data. Consequently, the lack of a suitable master data management may lead to severe problems like operational faults, inadequate decision making. The bigger the company, the bigger the issue of managing the data will be. If companies grow the data landscape gets more complicated and managing data becomes an issue that is hard to deal with (K Pietzka). Companies need to make decisions based on the data that they understand and has qualities of data quality dimensions – Timely, Consistent, Completeness, Integrity, Accuracy, Conformity. To be successful in business, you need to make decisions fast and based on the right information. (Thatipamula 2013) Preliminary Literature Review Master data form the basis for business processes. Master data represent a company’s essential basic data which remain unchanged over a specific period of time. Which include customer, material, employee and supplier data. Inconsistent master data cause process errors resulting in higher costs. With proper governance, the master data can be regarded as a unified set of data that all applications can rely on for consistent, high quality information (Hamilton G). Theoretical Framework This framework will allow master data to flow from the Master Data System to the applications, making sure that all applications use the same data. It ensures that the data used is always created the same way and is unique. Which will then allow all linked applications to use the centralized master data. By: C LOSER, Dr. C LEGNER, D GIZANIS showing Central Master Data System Research Questions Asking the right questions will enable the organization to better the way they make decision and the processes involved in their every day to day transactions (Cleven Wortmann). This research will use a qualitative research to answer the following research questions: How to maintain high data quality?   The impacts in business for not having high quality data What causes data redundancy in the organization Maintaining high data quality Achieving better insight into the performance of processes involved in the everyday running of the business, the customers they have and product profitability and market share is one of the goals. These reporting understandings are the base for key decision making, however, the quality of the reporting is directly impacted by the quality of the data. Data that is not of high quality leads to under-informed decisions. Also, the return on costly investments in business intelligence is partly diminished if the source data is corrupt (C Loser, Dr. C Legner and D Gizanis 2004) A major factor of any company’s day-to-day business is the data that is used in business processes and is available to the operational staff. If it happens that this data is not available, out of date or incorrect, the business may suffer delays or financial losses. â€Å"The implications of poor quality data carry negative effects to business users through: less customer satisfaction, increased running costs, inefficient decision-making processes, lower performance and lowered employee job satisfactionâ€Å"(Haug A, Zachariassen F, van Liempd D, 2011) Data in an organization needs to be controlled and managed. Without having specific rules in place or enforcing data governance, this will cause data to be redundant in different places/systems across the organization. Data governance specifies the framework for decision rights and accountabilities to encourage desirable behavior in the use of data (Otto B, 2009) When wrong data is identified in the system, some analysis would have to be performed to find out why it happened and how it can be prevented from happening again. The process of correcting the issues will take time and organizational resources. Benefits of Master Data Management The key benefit of Master Data Management is to integrate similar data management processes, consolidate the critical information that is scattered across the organization, improve the integrity of data which makes sure that the data available is complete and accurate and business will be able to make more effective business decisions from the data with integrity. (Al-Zhrani, 2010) Challenges of Master Data Management Master Data Management challenges consists of managing the data as there is continuously increasing amount of data which will come with unclear processes of how to collect and maintain that data. Because master data is often used by multiple applications and processes, an error in master data can have a huge effect on the business processes. (Gustafsson, Franke, Johnson, Lillieskà ¶ld) Hypothesis Having implemented MDM effectively, the following can be made from the evidence gathered. Hypothesis 1 (H1): Understanding the company’s customers will lead to increase in market share Hypothesis 2 (H1): Data inconsistencies are caused by the distribution of data ownership across different business and function areas and across IT systems. Hypothesis 3 (H0): Companies that explicitly create a master data stewardship program are significantly more successful in terms of data governance Research Methodology Research design For this research I will be using interpretive research design, as its main idea is to assist in understanding, recognizing and restructuring the subject meanings that already exist in the social world so we can use that understanding as steps into theorizing (Goldkuhl, 2012) Research approach and strategy Qualitative approach will be used for this research as it is suitable for discovering and gaining insight about a problem (Scheidl H, 2011) Data collection The data collection technique used for this research was one-on-one interview using a semi structured questionnaire. This technique is appropriate to this research as it allows elicitation of information that is not yet uncovered. Time kept for each interview is 45 min for each respondent. (Scheidl H, 2011) Sampling and population For this research I will use everyday decision makers so to get an understanding of how data influence the decisions that they make. Data analysis After having the interviews, I will then summaries the whole interview by making notes of the key points that were given by the respondents. This will assist in making sure that I familiarizes myself with my research. Knowledge gap In recent studies there have been increased focus on the importance of Master Data Management. This research contributes to the improvement of the scientific body of knowledge since it explores a part where only little previous study are available. Conclusion Poor data quality means there will be difficulties where decision makers have to build trust in the company data. Therefore, addressing and integrating MDM at the start should be part of an operational excellence initiative, in order to solve part of the process inefficiencies. References Milanov G Njengus A, (2012) Using scrum in master data management development projects. Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences, VOL. 3, NO.11 Nov, 2012 Available from http://www.cisjournal.org [Accessed: 15 April 2015] Cleven A, Wortmann F (2010) Uncovering four strategies to approach master data management, Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 2010 Available at www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2010/3869/00/09-01-05.pdf [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Subotic D, Jovanovic V and Poscic P (2014), Data warehouse and master data management evolution –a meta-data-vault approach, Issues in Information Systems, Volume 15, Issue II, pp. 14-23, 2014 Cervo D, Allen M (2011) Master data management in practice: Achieving true customer MDM, John Wiley Sons Inc., New Jersey, ISBN 978-0-470-91055-9 Al-Zhrani S, (2010) Management Information Systems Role in Decision-Making during Crises: Case Study, Journal of Computer Science 6 (11): 1247-1251, 2010 [Accessed: 11 March 2015] Rahm E, Hai Do H Data Cleaning: Problems and Current Approaches, University of Leipzig, Germany Available at http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Gustafsson P, Franke U, Johnson P, Lillieskà ¶ld J, Identifying IT impacts on organizational structure and business value, Proceedings of BUSITAL’08, Available at people.dsv.su.se/~pajo/busital2008/paper4.pdf [Accessed: 23 May 2015] Duff A 2015 Master data management roles – their part in data quality implementation. 10th International Conference on Information Quality, 2005 [Accessed: 25 March 2015] Reichert A, Otto B and Ãâ€"sterle H, 2013 A Reference Process Model for Master Data Management. 11th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik [Accessed: 2 April 2015] Jonker R, Kooistra F, Cepariu D, van Etten J and Swartjes S, Effective master data management Available at www.compact.nl/pdf/C-2011-0-Jonker.pdf [Accessed: 28 May 2015] Scheidl H (2011), Master data management maturity and technology assessment, Master’s Thesis, Turku school of Economics Kawulich B. (2005) Participant observation as a data collection method Volume 6, No. 2, Art. 43 – May 2005 Otto B, Schmidt A, ENTERPRISE MASTER DATA ARCHITECTURE: DESIGN DECISIONS AND OPTIONS Available at http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Boris_Otto/publication/50222231_Enterprise_Master_Data_Architecture_Design_Decisions_and_Options/links/0a85e53205fc23566a000000.pdf [Accessed: 25 March 2015] Weber K, Otto B and  ¨Osterle H 2009 One size does not fit all—a contingency approach to data governance. ACM J. Data Inform. Quality 1, 1, Article 4 (June 2009), Haug A, Zachariassen F and van Liempd D 2011, the costs of poor data quality, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. Available from doi:10.3926/jiem.2011.v4n2.p168-193 [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Kamel A, Lakhder D and Ammar Z 2012, The organizational impacts of information systems: Analysis and proposal of a methodological framework, British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, ISSN: 2046-9578, Vol.9 No.II (2012), Available from http://www.bjournal.co.uk/BJASS.aspx [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Liang T, You J 2009, and Resource-based View in Information Systems Research: A Meta-Analysis, Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems Available from http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2009/72 [Accessed: 18 May 2015] Nowduri S, Management information systems and business decision making: review, analysis, and recommendations, Journal of Management and Marketing Research Available at www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10736.pdf [Accessed: 16 May 2015] Mishra M, Das T 2011, A Study on challenges and opportunities in master data management. International Journal of Database Management Systems ( IJDMS ), Vol.3, No.2, May 2011 C Loser, Dr. C Legner, D Gizanis 2004 Master Data Management for Collaborative Service Processes Available http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.454.7987rep=rep1type=pdf [Accessed: 03 June 2015] Goldkuhl G 2012, Pragmatism vs interpretivism in qualitative information systems research, European Journal of Information Systems, (21), 2, 135-146.Available at http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:515141/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed: 04 June 2015]