Collection Of 24 Stories - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1267 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Canterbury Tales Essay Did you like this example? Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories written between the years of 1387 and 1400 in Mid-Century England and runs over 17,000 lines. The question is How is Chaucers Canterbury Tales an accurate representation of the middle class in the middle ages? Canterbury Tales is much more than an interesting collection of character and their tales, but a representation of the middle class during the time in which the stories were written. As the church was losing its leading role in the latter half of the 14th century, people started to realize the importance of being in the forthcoming middle class. Chaucers Canterbury Tales is a microcosm of this general public since it exhibits the social divisions known as the Estates, it outlines the development of the white collar class and the decrease of the medieval framework, and it demonstrates the debasement and intensity of the Church, and it epitomizes most parts of the Middle Age. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Collection Of 24 Stories" essay for you Create order Primitive society was generally isolated into three estates, which were generally equal to social classes. The first estate which was the Church, which was composed of the pope, the second estate which was the noble, the king/queen and prince/princess, and the third estate which was the lower class. The harsh division of society into the three estates was starting to separate in late 14th century England, and when the time of Chaucer, there was an increase of the middle class. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer is exceedingly aware of the social divisions known as the Estates While the class of The Canterbury Tales all in all is a casing account, the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is a case of Bequests Satire, a type which censures the maltreatment that happens inside the three conventional Estates. Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales encapsulates most parts of the Middle Ages, regardless of whether it is an indecent religious minister, poor, idealistic agriculturists, or the good knight. Every one of these characters gives great precedents of the numerous ubiquitous subjects of the Middle Ages. The predominant qualities and topics of the Middle Ages included brutality and vengeance, religion and debasement, and societal position and chain of command. The occasions in which Chaucers The Canterbury Tales is set are wild and are loaded up with anguish, struggle, and general ill will; all things considered, the thoughts of reprisal and hence viciousness are genuinely common. In a considerable number of Chaucers stories, this topic is framed flawlessly. An example towards the end of the Reeves story after the miller finds the researchers injustice. He grabbed Allan by the adams apple, and he, in return, roughly grabbed the miller and hit him on the nose with his fist (Chaucer). On this occasion, not only a simple reflex to fall back on violence is shown, yet brutality is utilized as retribution as the miller assaults Allan after understanding that he has had an affair with his wife. Confirmed by this, violent behaviors were regularly the most widely recognized, and the most suitable reaction. In all of England, violence was seen as something of a way of life Curtis Gruenler, in a literary analysis, states, In England, Curtis Gruenlers life was viewed as a violent way of life, from a literary standpoint, [V]iolence on a large scale held English attention as spectacular victories against the French early in the Hundred Years War were followed by a series of costly, disastrous campaigns (Gruenler). War was a calling of numerous individuals in England including a character of Chaucers, the Knight had battled in no less than 15 fights and had basically worked out his whole job dependent on the fights he was called upon by his ruler to partake in. Generally, viciousness was an all around perceived type of equity and requital something that was unequivocally called attention to in Chaucers accounts. One more subject is the nearness of religion, or all the more particularly, the nearness of defilement inside religion. Numerous individuals from the journey have connections to a religious office, and everything except the Parson has here and there damaged their promises or generally acted to some degree out of their limits as a high positioning individual from the Church. Chaucer shows this carefully as the Pardoners introduction where he states make an offering to my relics in this church [] make an offering in the name of God, I shall absolve them by the authority of which was granted to me by papal bull (Chaucer). Subsequent to telling the pioneers of this trap unmistakably went for taking a decent arrangement of cash, he clarifies, By this trick I have gained a hundred marks year after year since I became a pardoner (Chaucer). The Pardoner isnt, nonetheless, the main improper religious character engaged with the journey. The Friar, for instance, has broken his pledges as an administrative individual from the Church, most unmistakably his promise of virtuousness. The Friar has occupied with connections that have disregarded this promise, and when a youngster comes because of this cooperation, he has ventured to such an extreme as to wed the lady to her darling in order to cover his very own tracks. These parts of chapel defilement in The Canterbury Tales inevitably come down to a craving for joy and cash, something that tormented the authenticity of the Catholic Church and in the long run prompted the religious transformation. Among the characters, a kind of social chain of command turned out to be rapidly obvious amidst these numerous voyagers. A general character developed that isolated the pioneers dependent on their monetary and social standings. There was a fairly expansive differentiation between the most extravagant of the voyagers and the poorest. For instance, the Franklin was a proprietor of a vast home and sumptuous individual products. Despite the fact that he is profoundly in the red, his societal position is still far higher than that of say, the Plowman. The Plowman is one of the poorer individuals from the journey, yet in spite of this, he is one of the sprightlier and beneficent individuals from the journey. This can be viewed as Chaucers methods for communicating his sentiments toward the social chain of the importance of the occasions. Chaucer likewise says something regarding feudalism, the financial arrangement of the time. [Chaucer represents the] feudal arrangement of society [] around the figure of the knight as a conception of nobility, and around the laborer a conception of commonality (Morgan). Chaucer appears to consider feudalism to be a framework that partitions individuals into the well-off nobles and the poor workers. Chaucer likewise appears to perceive the nearness of a white collar class that appears to ascend out of feudalism. For instance, the figure of a vendor who picks up his riches by his own agreement, particularly cash exchanging, and is on the whole free of the primitive framework. The Merchant is portrayed in the general preface as [a] responsible man [who] kept his wits about him [] Nevertheless he was really a worthy man (Chaucer). So, Chaucer saw the social structure of his time and saw certain things he had dissatisfaction with, yet without a doubt, he saw some different parts of it as valuable to the advancement of society. To close, Chaucers showstopper The Canterbury Tales displays numerous common topics and in such a way illustrates the occasions. He does this by discussing viciousness, religious debasement, and social organizing, which were all extremely appropriate bits of society in the time as they all shaped a framework that is thought back on and translated through works of reality and fiction, for example, The Canterbury Tales.

Brian Is The Owner Of R R Construction - 1437 Words

Brian Rosenbarger was the entrepreneur that we chose to interview to gain more insight into what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Brian is the owner of RR construction and it is a sole proprietorship that he started in 1999. Since he has been in business for 17 years, he was able to offer a lot of advice to us as young entrepreneurs. We will discuss the advice he gave more in depth later. There were quite a few things that stood out to us about Brian that allowed us to better understand the life of an entrepreneur. It was very prevalent to us that Brian is extremely determined. He actually had dropped out of Jeffersonville High School in the 1990’s. Although he didn’t finish his high school career, it did not stop him from†¦show more content†¦Not only does he know about construction, but he is also really good at engineering and handling mechanical issues. When asked about these topics, he said that they have always come easy to him. When he has spare time he also hunts raccoons with his dog. He has been able to train his dog well enough to make him the 5th ranked dog in the U.S. and 4th in Indiana. This additional passion he has helps him to earn an extra $2,000-$3,000 on the weekends. We believe that his business is interesting, because he not only operates his business in Indiana but he also works in Virginia. He has to make several trips a month to Virginia to oversee projects and things of that nature. One of the great things about his business is that he sometimes is able to take his family along with him to Virginia. This allows him to still have the work-life balance that he needs. As with most entrepreneurs, Brian has to put in long hours. Another thing that is interesting about his business is that he doesn’t have to pay for any kind of marketing. He has been able to use word-of-mouth and networking to generate more customers. Marketing is a big expense for most companies, and it is interesting that he was able to be successful and maintain his business without it. He wanted to own his own business in order to make a better life for him and his family. Brian has certainly done just that. The main reason that

Significance of Employee Motivation-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Identify the Impact of Employee Motivation on the Organizational Performance in the retail Industry. Answer: Project Context Employee motivation is crucial for the employee and the organization to maximize the overall performance of the organization. I would like to be a human resource manager in a retail sector in future. Hence, I need to understand how to motivate the employees and its necessity in the retail sector as it is a prime duty of HRM and will enable me identifies the motivational issues in an organization. Problem Statement Motivational issue related to the employees affects the performance of the organization. However, if the employees are not properly motivated in their work then they fail to cope up with the challenges that will hamper their performance as well as the productivity of the organization (Wright, Hassan Christensen, 2017). Aim of the Project This research aims to identify the impact of employee motivation on the organizational performance in the retail industry. Research Questions What are the factors of employee motivation? What is the impact of employee motivation in the retail sector? Literature Review According to Pradhan et al., (2017), employee motivation includes the benefits of employees like financial and non-financial reward systems that easily motivate the employees in their work. As argued by Lira, da Silva Viseu, (2016), inappropriate employee motivation process may harm the employee satisfaction as well as organizational performance. Employee motivation provides empowerment to the employees that insist them in their work (Mikkelsen, Jacobsen Andersen, 2017). Person correlation is an effective process of employee motivation (Kanfer, Frese Johnson, 2017). According to (Wright, Hassan Christensen, 2017), there is a strong relationship between the organizational effectiveness and the employee motivation. Methodology This research study will be carried out through the secondary data analysis. However, article review will be conducted through the exclusion and inclusion criteria from different databases. Proper citation will be done and no manipulation will be occurred. References Kanfer, R., Frese, M., Johnson, R. E. (2017). Motivation related to work: A century of progress.Journal of Applied Psychology,102(3), 338. Lira, M., da Silva, V. P. G., Viseu, C. (2016). Performance Appraisal as a Motivational Tool in the Portuguese Public Administration.Portuguese Journal of Finance, Management and Accounting,2(3), 91-118. Mikkelsen, M. F., Jacobsen, C. B., Andersen, L. B. (2017). Managing employee motivation: Exploring the connections between managers enforcement actions, employee perceptions, and employee intrinsic motivation.International Public Management Journal,20(2), 183-205. Pradhan, R. K., Pradhan, R. K., Panda, M., Panda, M., Jena, L. K., Jena, L. K. (2017). Transformational leadership and psychological empowerment: The mediating effect of organizational culture in Indian retail industry.Journal of Enterprise Information Management,30(1), 82-95. Wright, B. E., Hassan, S., Christensen, R. K. (2017). Job choice and performance: Revisiting core assumptions about public service motivation.International Public Management Journal,20(1), 108-131.

The intelligence failures of Operation Barbarossa

Intelligence failure basically describes a situation in which mistakes and misunderstandings results to enforcement of inappropriate measures by the government. The operation Barbarossa was a mission planned by Hitler to attack Russia in 1941.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The intelligence failures of Operation Barbarossa specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the operation Barbarossa failed to realize its objectives which defeat of Germany in the 1941 war (Spencer, 2010, p. 1). The major factors that resulted to the failure were political, ethnic and military based. Hitler’s much blame for the failure lay on the German staff that was responsible for the escape of Lenin and his colleagues. The powerful leaders and the German society as a whole had no trust on Hitler. They viewed him as an uneducated street man who lacked cultivation. One of the most possible causes for the intelligent failure is overe stimation where the state over evaluated the missile gap between America and the Soviet Union. However, underestimation of warnings by political leaders may have contributed to the failure as well. Stain never paid much attention to warning made by the Americans and British (Murphy, 2007, p. 1). The failure to trust foreign intelligence might have led to unpreparedness by Stalin’s government which resulted to its failure and defeat. Stalin has therefore been blamed for his believes and blind correspondence which led to inability to resolve the problem. Hitler had expected that the war would last for not more than three months but to his surprise, the war became a long one and since his army troops were not prepared for a long war, he found himself in trouble as the Soviet Union did not collapse as he had expected. The operation simply had many goals and high expectations of securing Moscow, Ukraine and Leningrad within only twelve weeks (Ruzza, 2006, p. 1). The plan for the o peration was difficult to realize as it was planned for a short war as Germans expected that the war would be finished before Russia could organize its advanced troops and other resources. However, Russia did get ready for the war immediately and due to the inadequate resources by the Germans, they had to lose the war to Russians. Hitler’s plan to invade Greece and Yugoslavia at the same time that he had planned on infesting Moscow did not seem to be a wise decision because it made him lack enough time to hit Moscow (Vale, 2009, p. 1).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The winter weather conditions in Russia were not favorable for war which was a big mistake by Hitler just as Napoleon had attacked Russia towards the end of year. The German troops were given twenty days after the first period of the war to relax and gather other supplies before going for the final episode. This gave the Russians the chance to come together and strategize their tactics as well as increasing their very advanced resources which made them stronger to attack and defend their country (Kirchubel, 2008, p. 1). Basically, Hitler’s miscalculation led to the defeat of the Germans by the Russians. His ignorance could be associated with his lack of knowledge and education since he had not gone outside the country and he certainly could not estimate the capacity of Russia’s resources for war (Flemming, 2004, p. 1). From this incidence, it is clear that miscalculation of defense capabilities of another country is a very serious matter. If German were to invade other country, it would be wise to first get hold of information on the country’s defense mechanisms so that it can prepare enough for the longest time possible. Reference List Flemming, P. (2004). Operation Barbarossa. Web. Kirchubel, R. (2008). Operation Barbarossa 1941. Web. Murphy, D. (2007). What Stain Knew: T he Enigma of Barbarossa. Web. Ruzza, M. (2006). The Failure of Operation Barbarossa. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The intelligence failures of Operation Barbarossa specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Spencer, H. (2010). The History and Lessons of Intelligence Failure. Web. Vale, B. (2009). The Failure of Operation Barbarossa. Web. This essay on The intelligence failures of Operation Barbarossa was written and submitted by user Casey Carter to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Pfizer

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. is a research-based diversified health care company with operations around the globe. Pfizer Inc. has three main business groups. They include the Consumer Health Care Group, U.S. Pharmaceuticals Group, and the Pfizer Animal Health Products Segment. Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and many of the world's best-known consumer brands.Pfizer was first started by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in 1849. The two German entrepreneurs borrowed $2,500 to start a chemical plant in the United States. They wanted to produce chemicals that were unavailable in the United States. In 1862 because of the Civil War painkillers were needed. This was the first time Pfizer produced morphine as well as other drugs. Doctors and soldiers in the civil war were grateful for Pfizer's developments of pain killers. Because of the Civil War Pfizer's revenues doubled. This allowed for expansion. In 1880 because of the im portation of lemon and limes, Pfizer became the largest producer of citric acid.English: Royal St George's Golf Links On the horiz...Citric acid was used in many things such as food, drinks, as well as medications. In 1891 cofounder Charles Erhart left his share to his son William. Charles Pfizer offered to buy his share from him and William agreed. From 1892 and on the company belonged to just Charles Pfizer. The 1900's was a growing time for Pfizer. As many more cures were found, such as Penicillin which was discovered in 1928, Pfizer was able to grow very large. When Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin Pfizer offered to help back it up. Pfizer became extremely profitable from penicillin because it was known as the "wonder drug." Pfizer and penicillin were very popular during World War II. Many soldiers were treated with penicillin produced by Pfizer. In 1950 Terramycin, used to treat bacterial infections, was...

Financial Analysis of Reflect Corporation and Tranquility Inc. Essays

Financial Analysis of Reflect Corporation and Tranquility Inc. Essays Financial Analysis of Reflect Corporation and Tranquility Inc. Essay Financial Analysis of Reflect Corporation and Tranquility Inc. Essay Financial Analysis of Reflect Corporation and Tranquility Inc. Reflect Corporation (R. Corp. ) and Tranquility Inc. (T. Inc. ) are two companies that applied for a loan from us recently. In order to assess the risk of granting the loans, I analyzed both companies financial situations. This paper attempts to analyze the financial ratios of the two companies based on their financial statements, and thus we can determine which company is better able to pay the loan in time so that the risk of our losing money would be minimized. I will evaluate their financial situations hrough some crucial parameters, as follows: Liquidity Ratios Parameters R. orp. T. INC. Current Ratio 0. 86M Receivable Turnover 8. 82 (times) 115 (times) Average Collection Period 42 (days) 3 (days) Inventory Turnover 6. 87 (times) 8. 26 (times) Days In Inventory 53 (days) 44 (days) Liquidity ratios indicate the short-term ability of a company to pay its obligations. As we computed above, the current ratio of R. Corp. is 1. 62:1 in 2012. That means for every dollar of current liabilities, R. Corp. has $1. 62 of current assets. So, it has enough current assets relative to its currents debt. Comparatively, T. Inc. only has $0. 6 of current assets for every dollar of current liabilities, so it is not healthy financially. Specifically, this company would not be able to pay its short-term debt even if all of its current assets have been converted to cash The numbers of receivable turnover ratios are pretty different between the two companies: one is 8. 82 times, the other one is 115 times. To illustrate by a popular variant of receivable turnover ratio, R. Corp collects its receivables in about every 42 days, but T. Inc. collects its receivables in only 3 days. That means T. Inc. ould convert sales to cash ery quickly, and this is very g for the liquidity of its business. The Inventory turnover ratios of the two companies are relatively close, 6. 87 vs. 8. 26. It indicates that R. Corp. could sell out their inventory in 53 days, and T. Inc. could do that in 44 days. T. Inc has a higher value of inventory turnover ratio which indicates it do better performances to control inventory levels, and that means it has the less cash ties up in inventory and the less chance of inventory obsolescence. After comparing liquidity ratios of 2012, we can see that T. Inc. is much better than R. Corp. n the liquidity of eceivables and inventory, but this company have a lower value of current ratio. However, a relatively lower current ratio sometimes is not a serious issue if a company has no problem of cash flow and makes solid earnings. From the financial statements of T. Inc, we can see that the company made $13,295 net income in 2012. And, the gap between its current assets and current liabilities is not too large (about $10,000). Overall, I believe that T. Inc. has no problem on paying short-term debt and it has better liquidity than R. Corp. Profitability Ratios Profit Margin 4. 2% 3. 3% Ass ets Turnover 1. 55(times) 2. 8(ttmes) Return On Assets 6. 4% 7. 7% Profitability ratios give us the information regarding a companys ability to make profits. R. Corp. has a higher profit margin (4. 2%) than T. Inc. (3. 3%), but not much. However, their profit margin ratios are both low relatively, compared with common profit margin of companies in the market. For the two companies, each dollar of sales only makes 3 or 4 cents of profits; this is not a good number. But we cant make a conclusion from this data that they are failed in their business, because profit margin ratios are relatively low in some fields like discount stores or grocery stores. The ssets turnover ratio is a parameter that measures how efficiently a company uses its assets to make sales. In 2012, T. Inc. generated sales of $2. 38 for each dollar it had invested in assets, and R. Corp. made $1. 55 sales for each dollar of assets. 1. 55 or 2. 38 of assets turnover ratio is not a bad number for a company, no matter what industry the company . T. Inc is better on this factor. Return on assets ratio explains the percentage of each dollar of assets that results in net income, or how much income a company makes for each dollar of assets. Based on the financial statements, every one dollar of R. Corp. assets generates 6. 4 cents of net income, and every one dollar of T. Inc. s assets makes 7. 7 cents net income. These data show us that T. Inc. had a relatively better ability to make profits, using its assets. Although it has a lower profit margin ratio, it has the advantage in generating profits by using assets. T. Inc has total assets of $176,203, about 3 times mor e than R. Corp, and t at means it would make more profits. Solvency Ratios R. Corp. Total Debt to Total Assets 65% Times Interest Earned 7. 8(times) 1 1. 6(Ttmes) Analyzing solvency ratios can find out whether a company could survive well in a long eriod of time. : As a creditor, we are interested in the companys ability to pay interest and the face value of a long-term debt. R. Corp. s total debt to total assets ratio is 65%, and T. Inc. s is 60%. That means the creditors have provided 65% of R. Corp. s total assets, and 60% of T. Inc. s total assets. In other words, more than half of both companies total assets is provided by their creditors; this is not a desirable percentage for creditors. In this area, R. Corp. is worse than T. Inc. But, a relatively higher total debt to total assets ratio might be reasonable depending on what ndustry they belong. Lets take a look on another significant ratio which is the time interest earned ratio. T. Inc. makes income of 1 1. 6 times compared with interest expense; this means they have no problem in paying interest as it comes due. R. Corp. s number is 7. 8, which is not bad but worse than that of T. Inc. Comparing solvency ratios, we know that T. Inc. has a better ability to pay long-term debt than R. Corp. It has lower total debt to total assets ratio and it has better ability to pay long- term interest. Through analyzing financial ratios of the two companies, we find out that T. Inc. better in performing its business than R. Corp. The company has a better ability to pay short-term debt and long-term debt they owed to creditors. Especially, it can convert its receivables to cash very quickly, which guarantees they can get cash soon when it is necessary. Furthermore, it uses its assets more efficiently to make sales and profits as we analyzed above on profitability ratios. And, we cant doub t on its ability to pay long-term debt when we analyze its solvency ratios. Although the profit margin ratio of T. Inc is not so high, it would not matter when it could make profits stably. However, this companys current liability is a little higher than current assets. I would make a number of suggestions to resolve this issue. For example, the company could borrow money using a short-term note; or the owners could invest cash temporarily to resolve the short-term issue. To conclude, T. Inc. seems to be a better customer for us to reward a loan, after comparing the financial ratios of the two companies. Regarding R. Corp. , it has a problem in collecting receivables. This is harmful to its liquidity especially since it doesnt make a large amount of sales and incomes. The managers of R. Corp. ould do more work in communicating with their customers in order to collect cash faster. Also, R. Corps profit margin is too low. It should reduce the expense such as supplies to save money so that there would be more net income left. On the other hand, the Total Debt to Total Assets ratio is too high for R. Corp. This will decrease the companys credibility for creditor. I dont bel ieve the company should borrow more money before it resolves the issue of improving its performance. The values of financial ratios are not the only significant factors of a company to consider when deciding which company hould receive the loan. For example, the average profit margin ratio of companies in the market depends on which industry they belong, and it is same when we talk about liquidities. In other words, we need more background information of the two companies if we want to analyze their performance more precisely. Similarly, it would be better if we have more financial statements of previous periods of the companies. Thus, we could make a horizontal analysis of the financial accounts and have a better sense of a companys ability to make profits over a long-period of time.

Not sure yet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Not sure yet - Essay Example The new â€Å"knowledge based† economy is defined by the World Bank (Report, 2003, p1) as that which relies â€Å"primarily on the use of ideas rather than physical abilities and on the application of technology rather than the transformation of raw materials or the exploitation of cheap labor†. This is a new determinant that propagates the idea of life-long learning. This change is bound to have an effect on the choice of an individual’s vocational education and training methods. We witness a contradiction and a replacement of the traditional view of life-long education of what Longworth (2003,p33) sees as being â€Å"about the development of the whole person† with that of its contemporary view of what Bagnall (2000) calls as ‘economic determinism’. This need has come about with the emphasis laid upon the currency in paid employment and an unavoidable need to sustain one’s employment and currency in the growing face of change. This paper shall argue that there is an imbalance in the view of lifelong learning and that the need for life-long learning changes with the change in time, industrial circumstances and that it also relevant to economic carve. But we shall argue that the traditional conception of lifelong learning as being a mode of personal fulfillment also holds an important role in setting the real purpose of life-long Education while this view is given less importance in today’s world. A balanced outlook between that individual and social obligation of life-long learning is desirable and this shall be the perspective of the paper while not forgetting that the use of these two perspectives as the purpose and end of the life-long education depends upon individual and circumstances. The change that has come about in the view in Lifelong learning however, shall be exemplified with the change in education system, policies and globalization

Corporate Governance And Itseffects On Firms Performance Evidences In Dissertation

Corporate Governance And Itseffects On Firms Performance Evidences In Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example Modern changes in the business environment have made it more frequent for families to own a whole corporate. This has its own benefits but side effects include a lot of problems between the agency, owners, management and shareholders. Conflicts are on the rise and due to this problem trust is more important than ever in the process of financial analysis and its reporting (Klein, 2002). The core issue that corporate governance deals with is the agency problem which serves as a conflict of interest for both managers and owners. This is because of the gap between the ownership and control. In most of the cases the management of shareholders is the duty of managers and the top most managers sometimes exploit their power. There are many corporate governance models some of them are; participative model, behavioural model, finance model, stakeholder model, political model, strategy model and the policy government model. Implementing good corporate governance in firms is designed to give res ults in terms of better firm performance and that can be accomplished by making better and more rational decisions. It has been a common practice among firms to expropriate the control of shareholders in order to receive a smoother stream of earnings. But as a better lubricant to smoothen the friction between the shareholders and managers comes corporate governance. With the placement of good corporate governance, firms are less likely to expropriate as more investors prefer to invest in firms with good corporate governance (Melis, 2004).... †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 2.5.2 Return on Assets (ROA) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 2.5.3 Earnings per Share (EPS) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 2.5.4 Book Value per Share (BV) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 2.6 Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦24 Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦25 3.1 Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..26 Works Cited †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦28 Introduction 1.1 Overview Modern changes in the business environment have made it more frequent for families to own a whole corporate. This has its own benefits but side effects include a lot of problems between the agency, owners, management and shareholders. Conflicts a re on the rise and due to this problem trust is more important than ever in the process of financial analysis and its reporting (Klein, 2002). The core issue that corporate governance deals with is the agency problem which serves as a conflict of interest for both managers and owners. This is because of the gap between the ownership and control. In most of the cases the management of shareholders is the duty of managers and the top most managers sometimes exploit their power. There are many corporate governance models some of them are; participative model, behavioural model, finance model, stakeholder model, political model, strategy model and the policy government model.

Stock Market Vs. Gambling Essay Example for Free

Stock Market Vs. Gambling Essay The difference between gambling and buying stocks of companies is that you are betting on the future of the company and you have records you can research. If something terrible happens to the country, like a natural disaster, stocks will go down. If the country does well, the stock market will most likely go up. The key to doing well in the stock market is to research the companies you are trying to buy stock in. If you just pick a couple random companies to invest your well-earned money in, it would be more like gambling. It is possible to lose a large sum of money buying stocks if a company that was once flourishing has something bad happen. For example, those who owned stock in BP were probably doing all right until they had a vessel drop hundreds of thousands of oil into the gulf. Gambling in a casino, on the other hand is completely different. The house always a edge, and even though the edge is slim it still makes it so that the house will always win in the long run. If you are gambling in Vegas you better be using money you are willing to lose. In conclusion, if you do your homework and research and choose your stock right, more likely than not you will be making money. One thing is for sure I would feel safer tying my money up in the stock market than at the blackjack table.

Nihilsmo, Fin de la Metafisica y Secularizacion en el Pensamiento de Nietzsche, Heidegger y Vattimo :: Spanish Essays

Nihilsmo, Fin de la Metafisica y Secularizacion en el Pensamiento de Nietzsche, Heidegger y Vattimo ABSTRACT: The purpose of this article is to articulate Nietzsche's criticism of morality which is centered in his experience of the death of God and the end of the subject of Modernity. Nietzsche considers nihilism as a nihilism of morality, not of metaphysics: it is morality and its history that has given rise to nihilism in the Occident. That is why Nietzsche separates himself from metaphysics as well as from morality and science, which differs from Heidegger's reasons. According to Heidegger, Nietzsche places himself in a primal position in the history of metaphysics, by which he means the consummation (Vollendung) of metaphysics' nihilism, which Heidegger tries to transcend. On the one hand, Heidegger shows us how Nietzsche consummates the Platonic philosophy by inverting its principles. On the other, Nietzsche consummates the metaphysics of subjectivity. Consequently he conceives the thought of the will of power and of the eternal recurrence as the two last forms of the metaphys ical categories of essence and existence respectively. On this ground it is possible to understand Nietzsche's and Heidegger's thought as the necessary first stage in the transition to Vattimo's postmodern philosophy and his notion of secularization. Si bien la discusià ³n en torno al nihilismo se remonta a la à ©poca del del idealismo alemà ¡n, tal como lo seà ±alara Otto Pà ¶ggeler oportunamente, el "nihilismo" es la nocià ³n fundamental sobre la que gira la meditacià ³n nietzscheana, asà ­ como el problema de su superacià ³n. (1) La conviccià ³n de la magnitud de tal tarea llamada en Ecce homo una "autoreflexià ³n de la humanidad" (Selbstbesinnung), se presenta como un "destino" dentro de la historia de la filosofà ­a occidental. (2) En noviembre de 1887 escribà ­a Nietzsche: "Lo que cuento, es la historia de los prà ³ximos dos siglos. Describo lo que viene, lo que no puede venir de otra manera: la llegada del nihilismo". (3) La llegada del nihilismo es "necesaria" porque: "son nuestros mismos valores habidos hasta ahora, los que conducen a à ©l, porque el nihilismo es la là ³gica llevada hasta el fin de nuestros mà ¡s grandes valores e ideales." (4) Por eso, el nihilismo es pensado desde Nietzsche, como nihilismo de la moral principalmente y no como nihilismo de la metafà ­sica, tal como postularà ­a Heidegger posteriormente. Por el contrario en Nietzsche el centro de la reflexià ³n lo ocupa la moral: "La moral, lo he dicho una vez, fue hasta ahora la Circe de los filà ³sofos.

Desiree’s Baby

Desiree's baby Kate Chopin wrote the short story â€Å"Desiree's baby† in 1892, when black people where considered second-class citizens. Even though the slaves were freed in 1865 as a directly consequence of the north states victory at the civil war, racial segregation were at it highest, particular because of the â€Å"Jim Crow† laws. Black people were free – but their opportunities were not good. Even tough many new schools and churches were built for the black people, racism were a big sinner and black people were treated very bad – especially in the south states.Miscegenation was a cursed word, as the communities saw it as a crime and both the family and the baby were suppressed. Desiree felt that on her own body. â€Å"Desiree's baby† contains a lot of typical short story characteristics, e. g. â€Å"in media res† and an ambiguous ending – yet it differs on places, such as the length of the act and the number of characters â€⠀œ but Kate Chopin wrote both short stories and novels, so it's not unthinkable that she mixed the two genres here. The short story is told by an omniscient third-person narrator.It's not a limited narrator, as we hear more than one character's thoughts. E. g. in this sentence â€Å"it made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby† one of the characters, Madame Valmonde's, inner thoughts are shared with us, while Armand bares his soul places like this â€Å"he thought Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; †¦ †. The main character is Desiree. She's â€Å"beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere – the idol of Valmonde† and an orphan, found in â€Å"the shadow of the big stone pillar† just outside Valmonde.She's adopted by the religious and kindly madame Valmonde, who believes that â€Å"Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing that she was without child of the fleshà ¢â‚¬ . Desiree's also described very gentle in her actions, e. g. with the slaves and she's madly in love with Armand, which sentences such as â€Å"when he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God† intensely indicates – and it is, at least in the start, reciprocated. Armand is described as a very â€Å"hard† and strict person, but his love for Desiree makes him soft as butter.Their love is almost described as in a fairytale, as he fell in love with her â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot†. He's blinded by love and even looks beyond her â€Å"obscure origin†, even though he's warned. Later, he grew even softer, as â€Å"â€Å"marriage, and later the birth of his son had softened Armand Aubigny's imperious and exacting nature greatly† – but all that changed, when it occurred to him that the baby was not white. He's a product of his time and surroundings – a â€Å"typical† south state man, who leads a cotton farm and perceives black people as second-class people. However, Madame Valmonde, is at some points ahead of her time.When Desiree wrote to her that the people were telling her that she was not white, she answered â€Å"My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child. â€Å". Even though she gave birth to a â€Å"colored† baby, she still wishes to see and be in touch with Desiree AND the baby. That may be considered normal today, but at that time it was an enormous privilege. The setting of the story is the southern state, Louisiana, on the two plantations Valmonde and L'abri. Valmonde is the name of the family who owns the plantation, while L'abri is the French word for shelter.The reason that many French words and French sounding names appear in this story, is that Louisiana once was a French colony. The story takes place before slavery was abolished, so it's going on around the mid-nineteenth century. The community surrounding the c haracters of the story are very wealthy, as many slaves harvest the cotton at L'abri. Besides that, it is also a sign of status and money that Armand orders a â€Å"corbeille from Paris† to his wedding with Desiree, as the journey from Louisiana to Paris was incredibly long and difficult at that time.The story unfolds in the period July to August, as we hear that three months are going from the day Miss Valmonde visit Desiree to the â€Å"break up† of Desiree and Armand – and Desiree leaves Armand â€Å"an October afternoon†. One of the themes of the story is miscegenation. Kate Chopin wishes to bring the subject to the knowledge of people – to bring the topic to debate. Kate Chopin is famous for using naturalism in her work, which is a literate movement, with realistic writing, who brings social issues to debate.It's used her, as the story narrates about a white girl, giving birth to a colored child, taking the â€Å"easy† way out – disappearing, which is possible the death for her and her child. The hertz against â€Å"mixed†, and of course black, people, were something Kate Chopin wished to change and that's the issue she tried to put focus on with this short story. The story also deals with ethical and morale themes, such as the fact that it's not right to accuse people for something you're not sure about. Armand learns this the hard way, as he receives â€Å"nemesis† for his evil deed, when he discovers that it's him who's carrying the black genes. Desiree’s Baby Desiree's baby Kate Chopin wrote the short story â€Å"Desiree's baby† in 1892, when black people where considered second-class citizens. Even though the slaves were freed in 1865 as a directly consequence of the north states victory at the civil war, racial segregation were at it highest, particular because of the â€Å"Jim Crow† laws. Black people were free – but their opportunities were not good. Even tough many new schools and churches were built for the black people, racism were a big sinner and black people were treated very bad – especially in the south states.Miscegenation was a cursed word, as the communities saw it as a crime and both the family and the baby were suppressed. Desiree felt that on her own body. â€Å"Desiree's baby† contains a lot of typical short story characteristics, e. g. â€Å"in media res† and an ambiguous ending – yet it differs on places, such as the length of the act and the number of characters â€⠀œ but Kate Chopin wrote both short stories and novels, so it's not unthinkable that she mixed the two genres here. The short story is told by an omniscient third-person narrator.It's not a limited narrator, as we hear more than one character's thoughts. E. g. in this sentence â€Å"it made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby† one of the characters, Madame Valmonde's, inner thoughts are shared with us, while Armand bares his soul places like this â€Å"he thought Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; †¦ †. The main character is Desiree. She's â€Å"beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere – the idol of Valmonde† and an orphan, found in â€Å"the shadow of the big stone pillar† just outside Valmonde.She's adopted by the religious and kindly madame Valmonde, who believes that â€Å"Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing that she was without child of the fleshà ¢â‚¬ . Desiree's also described very gentle in her actions, e. g. with the slaves and she's madly in love with Armand, which sentences such as â€Å"when he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God† intensely indicates – and it is, at least in the start, reciprocated. Armand is described as a very â€Å"hard† and strict person, but his love for Desiree makes him soft as butter.Their love is almost described as in a fairytale, as he fell in love with her â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot†. He's blinded by love and even looks beyond her â€Å"obscure origin†, even though he's warned. Later, he grew even softer, as â€Å"â€Å"marriage, and later the birth of his son had softened Armand Aubigny's imperious and exacting nature greatly† – but all that changed, when it occurred to him that the baby was not white. He's a product of his time and surroundings – a â€Å"typical† south state man, who leads a cotton farm and perceives black people as second-class people. However, Madame Valmonde, is at some points ahead of her time.When Desiree wrote to her that the people were telling her that she was not white, she answered â€Å"My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child. â€Å". Even though she gave birth to a â€Å"colored† baby, she still wishes to see and be in touch with Desiree AND the baby. That may be considered normal today, but at that time it was an enormous privilege. The setting of the story is the southern state, Louisiana, on the two plantations Valmonde and L'abri. Valmonde is the name of the family who owns the plantation, while L'abri is the French word for shelter.The reason that many French words and French sounding names appear in this story, is that Louisiana once was a French colony. The story takes place before slavery was abolished, so it's going on around the mid-nineteenth century. The community surrounding the c haracters of the story are very wealthy, as many slaves harvest the cotton at L'abri. Besides that, it is also a sign of status and money that Armand orders a â€Å"corbeille from Paris† to his wedding with Desiree, as the journey from Louisiana to Paris was incredibly long and difficult at that time.The story unfolds in the period July to August, as we hear that three months are going from the day Miss Valmonde visit Desiree to the â€Å"break up† of Desiree and Armand – and Desiree leaves Armand â€Å"an October afternoon†. One of the themes of the story is miscegenation. Kate Chopin wishes to bring the subject to the knowledge of people – to bring the topic to debate. Kate Chopin is famous for using naturalism in her work, which is a literate movement, with realistic writing, who brings social issues to debate.It's used her, as the story narrates about a white girl, giving birth to a colored child, taking the â€Å"easy† way out – disappearing, which is possible the death for her and her child. The hertz against â€Å"mixed†, and of course black, people, were something Kate Chopin wished to change and that's the issue she tried to put focus on with this short story. The story also deals with ethical and morale themes, such as the fact that it's not right to accuse people for something you're not sure about. Armand learns this the hard way, as he receives â€Å"nemesis† for his evil deed, when he discovers that it's him who's carrying the black genes.

“Erin Brockovich”: Effective Communication Essay

Competent Erin Brockovich’s Characteristics The main character in the movie Erin Brockovich is an easy going woman who seems tobe very competent in communication. This paper will discuss three characteristics that a competent communicator, such as Erin Brockovich possesses. I will also explain specific scenes where she demonstrated the following characteristics: self-monitoring, empathy, and commitment; commonly known as denominators that characterize effective communication. The first characteristic Erin displayed was empathy in relationships with her clients. In one scene, Erin met with a cancer suffering child and her family. A young girl named Anna, was suffering from alopecia and wearing a bandana. She had lost her hair from the cancer treatments she had received. Erin’s eyes reflected painful sadness even as she smiled and laughed with Anna. At the end of their conversation, Erin’s genuine concern for Anna left her speechless. Erin’s attitude displayed empathy, which involves feeling and experiencing another person’s situation almost as they do. It is the most important aspect of non-verbal communication competence. The second characteristic Erin showed was her intense commitment for the people ofHinkley. This characteristic was revealed during the scene placed at the Jensen’s residence. Erin sat on the end of the bed with Donna Jensen, the woman that was suffering from uterine cancer. Erin’s eyes filled with tears as Donna tells Erin that her cancer turned malignant, which is the fast spreading form of cancer. Donna’s eyes began to pour due to her fear and hatred she felt toward PG&E. Donna said, â€Å"We are going to get them aren’t we?† Erin replied, â€Å"Yes.† Erin’s willingness to listen and the desire to spend time with her proved her commitment to her. The third characteristic Erin portrays is self-monitoring. This was shown at Ed Masry’slaw office. Erin stood face to face with Ed. In a demanding tone of voice she said, â€Å"I need apaycheck!† Erin’s face turned a shade of red in anger. Her eyes began narrowing as she stared inhis eyes. Erin said, â€Å"I’m smart, hardworking, and I’m not leaving here without a job!† She waspersistent and determined to get the job. Erin’s eyes looked around the room only to notice theskepticism of Ed’s employees. Erin’s shoulders began  to droop and her guilty eyes driftedtowards the floor. She became aware of her behavior and the impression she had given. Sheknew she made a fool of herself. In a whisper Erin said, â€Å"Don’t make me beg.† She then said, â€Å"Ifit doesn’t work out, fire me.† Erin was able to change her behavior when she recognized thingswasn’t looking positive. Erin’s overall communication efforts displayed in her character was unique as well as knowledgeable. Self-monitoring, empathy, and commitment that were explained in this paper were shown with distinction. The communication techniques were useful and helpful to prove her drive for satisfaction and completion for the people in the town Hinkley.

Merriam-Websters 2017 Words of the Year

Merriam-Websters 2017 Words of the Year Merriam-Webster’s 2017 Words of the Year Merriam-Webster’s 2017 Words of the Year By Mark Nichol Toward the end of each calendar year, around the winter holidays, various dictionaries trot out their annual Words of the Year feature. This year, as can be expected, the focus (according to Merriam-Webster) was predominantly on terms directly or indirectly associated with politics. Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year, prompted by various events and incidents regarding gender equality and women’s right, is feminism. The term has various connotations, depending on one’s perspective about the concept, but the objective meanings, according to the company’s website, are â€Å"the theory of . . . equality of the sexes† and â€Å"organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.† More unusual words that appeared in Merriam-Webster’s top ten include dotard, which refers to one in a state or period of dotage, or senility; the root word is dote, the verb form. (However, dote is more commonly employed for the sense of â€Å"give generous attention or affection.†) Like dotty (meaning â€Å"crazy or eccentric,† or â€Å"obsessed† or â€Å"ridiculous†), dote stems from a Germanic word meaning â€Å"foolish.† Another term prominent in online-dictionary surges earlier this year is the spelling bee participant’s bane, syzygy, which simply refers to a generally straight-line configuration of bodies in a solar system or other gravitational system, such as occurs during an eclipse. The word, by way of Latin, is from a Greek term meaning â€Å"yoked together.† Greek is also the source of gyro, which made the list in the sense of a type of sandwich of Greek provenance, rather than a spinning device such as a gyrocompass. Both senses relate to turning; the sandwich is so named because the meat filling is traditionally turned on a spit over flame to cook it. Then there’s gaffe (meaning â€Å"blunder or mistake†), sometimes erroneously spelled gaff, the word from which it is derived. A gaff is any one of several types of hooks or hooked implements, and as a verb it applies to using or applying a hook. As a slang term, it means â€Å"music hall or theater†- my guess is that it’s derived from the notion of the proverbial hook used to yank poorly received vaudeville performers off the stage- and it also informally pertains to abuse or an ordeal, or a trick or hoax. (It also serves as a verb associated with these senses.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and ExpressionsHow to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsRite, Write, Right, Wright

Understanding Acculturation and Why It Happens

Understanding Acculturation and Why It Happens Acculturation is a process through which a person or group from one culture comes to adopt the practices and values of another culture, while still retaining their own distinct culture. This process is most commonly discussed regarding a minority culture adopting elements of the majority culture, as is typically the case with  immigrant groups that are culturally or ethnically distinct from the majority in the place to which they have immigrated. However, acculturation is a two-way process, so those within the majority culture often adopt elements of minority cultures with  which they come into contact. The process plays out between groups where neither is necessarily a majority or a minority. It can happen at both group and individual levels and can occur as a result of in-person contact or contact through art, literature, or media. Acculturation is not the same as the process of assimilation, though some people use the words interchangeably. Assimilation can be an eventual outcome of the acculturation process, but the process  can have other outcomes as well, including rejection, integration, marginalization, and transmutation. Acculturation Defined Acculturation is a process of cultural contact and exchange through which a person or group comes to adopt certain values and practices of a culture that is not originally their own, to a greater or lesser extent. The result is that the original culture of the  person or group remains, but it is changed by this process. When the process is at its most extreme, assimilation occurs wherein the original culture is wholly abandoned and the new culture adopted in its place. However, other outcomes can also occur that fall along a spectrum from minor  change to total change, and these include separation, integration, marginalization, and transmutation. The first known use of the term acculturation within the social sciences was by John Wesley Powell in a report for the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology in 1880. Powell later defined the term as the psychological changes that occur within a person due to cultural exchange that occurs as a result of extended contact between different cultures. Powell observed that, while they exchange cultural elements, each retains its own unique culture. Later, in the early 20th century, acculturation became a focus of American sociologists who used ethnography to study  the lives of immigrants and the extent to which they integrated into U.S. society. W.I Thomas and Florian Znaniecki examined this process with Polish immigrants in Chicago in their 1918 study The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. Others, including Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess, focused their research and theories on the outcome of this process known as assimilation. While these early sociologists focused on the process of acculturation experienced by immigrants, and also by Black Americans within predominantly white society, sociologists today are more attuned to the two-way nature of cultural exchange and adoption that happens through the process of acculturation. Acculturation at Group and Individual Levels At the group level, acculturation  entails the widespread adoption of the values, practices, forms of art, and technologies of another culture. These can range from the adoption of ideas, beliefs, and ideology to  the large-scale inclusion of foods and styles of cuisines from other cultures. For example, the embrace of Mexican, Chinese, and Indian cuisines within the U.S. This includes the simultaneous adoption of mainstream American foods and meals by immigrant populations. Acculturation at the group level can also entail the cultural exchange of clothing and fashions, and of language. This happens when immigrant groups learn and adopt the language of their new home, or when certain phrases and words from a foreign language make their way into common usage. Sometimes, leaders within a culture make a conscious decision to adopt the technologies or practices of another for reasons associated with efficiency and progress. At the individual level, acculturation may involve all the same things that occur at the group level, but the motives and circumstances may differ. For example,  people who travel to foreign lands where the culture differs from their own, and who spend extended periods of time there, are likely to engage in the process of acculturation, whether intentionally or not, in order to learn and experience new things, enjoy their stay, and reduce the social friction that can arise from cultural differences. Similarly, first-generation immigrants often consciously engage in the process of acculturation as they settle into their new community in order to succeed socially and economically. In fact, immigrants are often compelled by law to acculturate in many places, with requirements to learn the language and the laws of society, and in some cases, with new laws that govern dress and covering of the body. People who move between social classes and the separate and different spaces they inhabit also often experience acculturation on both voluntary and required basis. This is the case for many first-generation college students who suddenly find themselves among peers who have been socialized already to understand the norms and culture of higher education, or for students from poor and working-class families who find themselves surrounded by wealthy peers at well-funded private colleges and universities. How Acculturation Differs from Assimilation Though they are often used interchangeably, acculturation and assimilation are two different things. Assimilation can be an eventual outcome of acculturation, but it doesnt have to be. Also, assimilation is often a largely one-way process, rather than the two-way process of cultural exchange that is acculturation. Assimilation is the process by which a person or group adopts a new culture that virtually replaces their original culture, leaving only trace elements behind, at most. The word means to make similar, and at the end of the process, the person or group will be culturally indistinguishable from those culturally native to the  society into which it has assimilated. Assimilation, as a process and an outcome, is common among immigrant populations that seek to blend in with the existing fabric of society. The process can be quick or gradual, unfolding over the years, depending on the context and circumstances. Consider, for example, how a third-generation Vietnamese American who grew up in Chicago differs culturally from a Vietnamese person living in rural Vietnam. Five Different Strategies and Outcomes of Acculturation Acculturation can take different forms and have different outcomes, depending on the strategy adopted by the people or groups involved in the exchange of culture. The strategy used will be determined by whether the person or group believes it is important to maintain their original culture, and how important it is to them to establish and maintain relationships with the greater community and society whose culture differs from their own. The four different combinations of answers to these questions lead to five different strategies and outcomes of acculturation. Assimilation. This strategy is used when little to no importance is placed on maintaining the original culture, and great importance is put on fitting in and developing relationships with the new culture. The outcome is that the person or group is, eventually, culturally indistinguishable from the culture into which they have assimilated. This type of acculturation is likely to occur in societies that are considered melting pots into which new members are absorbed.Separation. This strategy is used when little to no importance is placed on embracing the new culture, and high importance is placed on maintaining the original culture. The outcome is that the original culture is maintained while the new culture is rejected. This type of acculturation is likely to occur in culturally or racially segregated societies.Integration. This strategy is used when both maintaining the original culture and adapting to the new one are considered important. This is a common strategy of acculturation a nd can be observed among many immigrant communities and those with a high proportion of ethnic or racial minorities. Those who use this strategy might be thought of as bicultural and may be known to code-switch when moving between different cultural groups. This is the norm in what are considered multicultural societies. Marginalization. This strategy is used by those who place no importance on either maintaining their original culture or adopting the new one. The result is that the person or group is marginalized - pushed aside, overlooked, and forgotten by the rest of society. This can occur in societies where cultural exclusion is practiced, thus making it difficult or unappealing for a culturally different person to integrate.Transmutation. This strategy is used by those who place importance on both maintaining their original culture and on adopting the new culture - but rather than integrating two different cultures into their daily lives, those who do this create a third culture (a blend of the old and the new).

Compare Article 5-109 (a) of the ( Amercian) Uniform Commercial Code Essay - 1

Compare Article 5-109 (a) of the ( Amercian) Uniform Commercial Code with the approach under english, the full question is in the attachment - Essay Example This also stands to be true in a scenario when the transaction being backed by a letter of credit does not actually take place. On the one side, the letters of credit extend to the sellers the assurance of a guaranteed payment, while on the other side they safeguard the interests of the buyers by necessitating the presentation of the right documents that to a large extent ensure performance. Such documents may be the like of insurance forms, transportation documents and quality related certificates. The underlying dogma supporting the autonomy principles associated with letters of credit is that the transaction backed by a letter of credit stands to be autonomous of the sales deed formalized by the buyer and the beneficiary. To put it simply, the two essentially contractual arrangements mentioned above are regarded as being independent of each other. In other words, the utility of a letters of credit is pragmatically solemnized by the severance of services and documents. It is this principle that is the legal ground on the basis of which banks agree to such transactions. As already mentioned, a letter of credit is the legal and financial instrument, which extends to the beneficiary the security of getting the payment due to one. Yet, this bolstering of security to the beneficiary in a way dilutes the security against risk or loss to the account party. Thus, in the letters of credit, the balance of risk is tilted more in favour of the seller. Though the autonomy principle practically assures the expected commercial results in business transactions, this principle stands to be defective and inequitable when the underlying transaction is vitiated by a fraud. Under such circumstances, the autonomy principle gets limited by the fraud exception. In the United States, in Maurice O’Meara Co v National Park Bank, the court of law simply denied the possibility of invoking a fraud exception.

Business Level Cooperative Strategy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Level Cooperative Strategy - Term Paper Example According to the study findings  strategic alliances can be defined as co-operative agreement and arrangements between the two or more partners, and hence, the co-operative relationship management is one of the prime requirements in strategic alliances.   The strategies aim to meet this requirement are known as the business level co-operative strategies. Co-operation is one of the basic attributes of the strategic alliances and the partners must have a clear understanding of this attribute for framing a set of business level co-operative strategy. Kwok and Hampson have identified the very specific parameters to measure and frame the co-operative strategies in case of strategic alliances. Firstly, the level of co-operation should be out of any kind of mutual desire or need. Secondly, a partner must co-operate for sharing risk. Thirdly, partners’ co-operation should determine a strong foundation for business growth. Finally, the co-operation must aim to minimize â€Å"the l ikelihood of opportunistic behavior†.This paper highlights that  the need for greater consolidation within the highly capital intensive aerospace and defense industry segment has paved the way for greater alliance and collaboration among various organizations for an effective supply chain management.  The need to develop high-end research has also promulgated the need to have greater strategic alliances with international partners.  For example, the NATO partners are actively trying to enter into greater collaborations and strategic alliances with the US and European companies in a bid to improve upon the efficiency of the companies.

Diversity in the Workplace (Sociology) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diversity in the Workplace (Sociology) - Essay Example Diversity among the military workers is a challenge itself, but should be also viewed as the number of certain separate aspects and diversities, among which are generation gap, incomes and benefits, communication with civilians, etc. The fact, that 'many large corporations transfer executives and their families to different cities, particularly early in their careers. [] The military is unique in the American labor force in the extent to which it expects its rank-and-file personnel and their families to relocate'. (Segal & Segal, 2004) This creates the principal diversities in the workforce among military. Generation gap is rather common problem among military, as well as among the other kinds of working staff in the country. From the sociological point of view, the principal attention of this aspect should be devoted to relations between the representatives of Generations X and Y. Though both generations display rather comfortable relations with technology, they still tend to have d ifferent attitudes towards work as the notion and the co-workers as the social surrounding at workplace. In the military workforce, where the changes in surroundings occur more frequently due to the geographical and movable character of the military work, it is essential not only to remember the differences, but to manage these differences effectively. Both generations, having much in common, still need different techniques of motivating them at work, which should also be accounted. Stereotypes in relation to generation gap should be eliminated. It is common to judge the person and its attitudes on the basis of the commonly spread assumptions; 'although certain characteristics may be attributed to one generation or another, that does not mean that all people in a particular generation exhibit each of that generations' common characteristics'. (Segal & Segal, 2004) The same characteristics should be eliminated in stereotyping the mostly probable population to serve for military. For example, as Segal & Segal (2004) state, 'enlistment is predicted by parents' education, high school grades, college plans, race and ethnicity'. However, it does not mean that sociologically this or that population layer is more likely to participate in the military, than the other. Thus, stereotyping is a common problem in the military organization. As other issues, it is closely connected with the challenge of active move across the country, or even abroad, for both militaries and t heir families; thus in getting used to the new work surrounding stereotyping should be replaced by immediate feedback and thorough analysis of the actions performed. The diversity in income and benefits directly impacts the performance of the military in one organization. It is clear, that the rank plays certain role, but the process of promotion also influences the attitudes of marines towards the job they have to do. 'When you came up for promotions, your minority status was prominent and was included as a basis for promotion." He recalls the promotion candidates' dossiers being flashed to board members from a microfiche projector. "On the screen was the dossier, and splashed across on a diagonal banner, in big, bold, capital letters was the word MINORITY.' (Waller, 2001) This probably resulted in the inappropriate behavior among marines which has become the subject of ardent discussion in press and

Demographic economics Essay Example for Free

Demographic economics Essay Overpopulation is an issue which is constantly being debated upon, as the very aspect of humanity is at stake here. Paul R Ehrlich, Anne H Ehrlich, Frank Furedi and Vanessa Baird bring each of their unique perspectives to the table. Ehrlich and Ehrlich, in the abstract from â€Å"The Population Bomb Revisited†, believe that overpopulation is a problem that needs to be constantly addressed for humanity to survive in the long run. On the other hand, Furedi shares his views, in the article â€Å"Really Bad Ideas: Population Control†, about how he thinks the people that perceive overpopulation as a hindrance are the real problem here rather than overpopulation itself. Baird, from â€Å"Population Panic†, takes a neutral stand on overpopulation among the 3 authors. She does approach overpopulation with caution and yet is optimistic that the issue of overpopulation will get taken care on its own the way things are flowing. Ehrlich and Ehrlich believe that the natural resources humans have available to them are limited and overpopulation will only hasten the exploitation of these resources (65). Ehrlich and Ehrlich also warn that â€Å"it is an error to consider increases in human numbers as automatically expanding real wealth† as it can be seen in the case of China and India (64).Other problems due to overpopulation would be depletion of ozone layer due to exploitation of chlorofluorocarbons and increase in carbon dioxide emissions(66). Ehrlich and Ehrlich also believe that overpopulation will eventually lead to a resource war among ourselves as â€Å"the capacity of Earth to produce food and support people is finite† (68). The only way that we can escape without having to deal with the death rate solution would be to â€Å"entrain a general population decline toward an optimal number† (68). Ehrlich and Ehrlich believe that humans will have to lower fertility rates much further if they want to survive with adequate resources (68). Low fertility rates also lead to an ageing which is ideal as it is one that can easily controlled and managed (65). Furedi detests the very idea of population control. 1) Furedi points out that we are being hypocrites by spending a lot on healthcare and trying to make sure that people can live as long as possible but also blaming ourselves as a source of the world’s problems and trying to minimize the population by carrying out birth control measures.(1) Furedi believes it is the Malthusians, such as Ehrlich and Ehrlich, that are the real problem as they promote inhuman practices such as birth control to be given such great lengths of attention.(1) Furedi discredits Ehrlich and Ehrlich ’ global warming concerns by stating that without human species, the issue would resolve by itself (2)and so the â€Å"obsession with natural limits distracts society from the far more creative search for solutions to hunger or poverty or lack of resources†(5). He also claims that Malthusians strongly lower people’s confidence in fighting future problems(5) by giving people immoral solutions such as stopping to reproduce altogether. Malthusians also enforce the use of contraception for women in poor countries by disguising the whole thing and calling it counseling about family planning which is mandatory for everyone to attend(3). Furedi wants people to start believing in themselves again and begin having faith in humanity as a whole. Furedi believes that people will never reach the â€Å"death rate solution† mentioned by Ehrlich and Ehrlich if they do not sacrifice humanity. According to Furedi, overpopulation should never have been given this much attention and spotlight in the first place. Vanessa Baird seems to recognize that there are both positive aspects and negative aspects of trying to deal with overpopulation. She approaches this topic with caution as there are estimated to be about nine billion people by the year 2050(5). Baird is still optimistic in the sense that she believes that humans are well on their way to stabilizing the populations, â€Å"Fertility rates around the world are falling. If this trend continues, it will help stabilize global population size.† (Baird,5).Baird agrees with Fureti to a certain extent about people starting to blame overpopulation for all their problems, such as child abuse, murder and increase in carbon emissions and people implement more birth control measures instead of finding other solutions to these problems. Unlike Fureti, Baird does not seem to question the moral aspect of dealing with overpopulation. Baird also does agree with Ehrlich and Ehrlich also to some extent about implementing birth control measures as she believes that there are other benefits of lower fertility rather than just population control, such as more education since there is more money available per child when resources are not stretched as much anymore(7). Finally, unlike Ehrlich and Ehrlich, Baird believes that ageing population is not such a great thing as many problems do come with it (8).Paul R Ehrlich, Anne H Ehrlich, Frank Furedi, Vanessa Baird each had their own thoughts and views on overpopulation. Vanessa Baird saw the advantages and disadvantages of tackling this overpopulation. For Frank Furedi, this was never an issue to begin with. Ehrlich and Ehrlich want more emphasis to be given on dealing with the problem of overpopulation . Work Cited Frank Furedi â€Å"Really Bad Ideas: Population Control† spiked, 18 June 2007 Paul R Ehrlich, Anne H Ehrlich â€Å"The Population Bomb Revisited.† The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development 2009, p.64-70 Vanessa Baird â€Å"Population Panic† New Internationalist, January/February 2010

Dylan Thomas style in Under Milk Wood. Essay -- English Literature

Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood. Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and lived for many years in a small Welsh town called Laugharne. He could speak not a single word of Welsh. The piece called 'Under Milk Wood' was finished just short of a month before he passed away. It was commissioned by the BBC to be broadcasted on the National radio. This meant that it was broadcasted with no costumes, no props and no visual imagery to excite the audience. Dylan Thomas' radio play had to entertain the audience by the spoken word only. The style and language in Under Milk Wood is therefore very important. Under Milk Wood uses throughout the play an opaque and poetic style giving the listener an impression of fluency and flowing. We propose to contrast this style with others that are used in Under Milk Wood. The first style in Under Milk Wood is an opaque poetic style, which Thomas uses to perfection; it is used to describe the strange and unusual inhabitants of Llareggub and their day-to-day activities. There are many different techniques that are used that help build up an atmosphere that is normally created through the use of actors and costumes but as Under Milk Wood was broadcasted and not meant to be performed upon a stage with an audience. One way to introduce an atmosphere is to bring songs into the play as a sombre song will make a sombre mood. Dylan Thomas uses songs through out the play to reflect on the atmosphere, a song such as Tom, Dick and Harry produces emotions "O Tom, Dick & Harry were three fine men" the whole song is very sombre and is a technique that wasn't used in very many plays. It is very effective and the songs are repeated again numerous times throughout the play this use of familiar ... ...uteous". The rhythm of the poem is also too regular, which creates boredom far apart from the poetic technique that Dylan Thomas employs. Dylan Thomas shows that he is capable of writing in a good number of different styles and proves that he is able to recreate the atmosphere although he is not able to use the devises of a stage performance. He is able to recreate this through his mastery of the English language mastering metaphors, similes and transferred Epithets. Dylan Thomas shows in Under Milk Wood that he is Able to write in the opaque poetic style but is also able to contrast this with other popular styles. The poetic devises that Dylan Thomas does use can sometimes be described as strange and opaque it's quite similar to the device employed by poets but it does do the job and is very affective at attaining the reader's attention and keeping it. Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood. Essay -- English Literature Dylan Thomas' style in Under Milk Wood. Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and lived for many years in a small Welsh town called Laugharne. He could speak not a single word of Welsh. The piece called 'Under Milk Wood' was finished just short of a month before he passed away. It was commissioned by the BBC to be broadcasted on the National radio. This meant that it was broadcasted with no costumes, no props and no visual imagery to excite the audience. Dylan Thomas' radio play had to entertain the audience by the spoken word only. The style and language in Under Milk Wood is therefore very important. Under Milk Wood uses throughout the play an opaque and poetic style giving the listener an impression of fluency and flowing. We propose to contrast this style with others that are used in Under Milk Wood. The first style in Under Milk Wood is an opaque poetic style, which Thomas uses to perfection; it is used to describe the strange and unusual inhabitants of Llareggub and their day-to-day activities. There are many different techniques that are used that help build up an atmosphere that is normally created through the use of actors and costumes but as Under Milk Wood was broadcasted and not meant to be performed upon a stage with an audience. One way to introduce an atmosphere is to bring songs into the play as a sombre song will make a sombre mood. Dylan Thomas uses songs through out the play to reflect on the atmosphere, a song such as Tom, Dick and Harry produces emotions "O Tom, Dick & Harry were three fine men" the whole song is very sombre and is a technique that wasn't used in very many plays. It is very effective and the songs are repeated again numerous times throughout the play this use of familiar ... ...uteous". The rhythm of the poem is also too regular, which creates boredom far apart from the poetic technique that Dylan Thomas employs. Dylan Thomas shows that he is capable of writing in a good number of different styles and proves that he is able to recreate the atmosphere although he is not able to use the devises of a stage performance. He is able to recreate this through his mastery of the English language mastering metaphors, similes and transferred Epithets. Dylan Thomas shows in Under Milk Wood that he is Able to write in the opaque poetic style but is also able to contrast this with other popular styles. The poetic devises that Dylan Thomas does use can sometimes be described as strange and opaque it's quite similar to the device employed by poets but it does do the job and is very affective at attaining the reader's attention and keeping it.

Jane Eyre in the Opening 3 Chapters Essay

Charlotte Bronte is the author of the novel Jane Eyre about an orphaned girl struggling throughout the novel to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. In the opening 3 chapters, Bronte emphasizes Jane’s loneliness, lack of familial affection and emphasizes her sensitive nature and inner strength. As we witness Jane being punished and neglected at the hands of her unfeeling aunts and left feeling isolated and out of place in her society. Firstly, we are introduced to Jane, hiding reading a book. This establishes her odd and lonely place at Gateshead hall. As not only is she separated from the rest of the reed family but Bronte explains that she is ‘happy’ and ‘feared nothing except interruption’. To feel safe and content only from being excluded from her family signifies jane’s neglected and troubled childhood. This is indicated as a child should want to be surrounded by family and love. for Jane to be living in ‘despair’ by the sense of this seclusion to be ‘obstructed’ implies her inner strength of independence as she’s willing to find a book and read educating herself instead of moping and giving up. And she’s joyful when emphasises her independence and drive to find a book and read rather than mope. ane sitting and reading by herself, not allowed to play with her cousins, establishes her odd and lonely position at Gateshead Hall. Yet her willingness to find a book to read, rather than just moping, establishes her independence.

Response to Journeys End Essay

In the novel Stanhope has the most physical status, not just because of his rank but also because people look up to him. Stanhope may rank the social hierarchy level amongst his fellow comrades but inside he is emotionally distraught, he does not show this and somehow stays head strong, on the other hand there is Hilbert who is tired and has lost all hope and hates the war and then decides he would like to pull out claiming that he has neuralgia but he is just trying to find ways to get home. To create a dugout like entrance we set up a few plinths on top of each other and the lined chairs up behind it creating a walkway which was on the width of our shoulders, this helped us to show great emphasis in our gestus as we clambered in and out of the trench. Workshop Two – Lighting/ Staging Our stage set was very minimalistic so that we could re-create what it would be like to be in a trench, to help us adapt and realise this we set up chairs as a border and them established a rule stating that venturing outside the border was ‘forbidden’. For our play we had only a few lights on stage, we did this to try and achieve the same amount of minimal lighting just as it would be in the trench. In one of our lesson we even used live candles to help build the low lit and damp surrounding of a trench and we also cramped all of the furniture together to make ourselves adjust to such a small so space just as the soldiers would have had to in journeys end. Workshop Three – Crosscutting In our third work shop we focused on the dramatic explorative strategy of cross-cutting, first we assembled ourselves into groups with sizes of 2-4 people and then we had to take a scene from the book and re-enact it using the dramatic strategy of cross-cutting. My group chose the scene where Riley dies from a battle wound. To add the element of cross cutting we showed a small part of the scene where riley dies and then we had 2 other scenes which showed his arrival to the regiment, and an argument with Stanhope. The final scene which was a vital part to our short performance included an extended, and more detailed version of riley’s death. The way that we used cross cutting helped us to raise tension in the audience and also made the audience assume a conclusion to our piece or build assumptions on what it was about, but the catch of cross cutting is that no matter what the audience may think the actors always have the ability to twist the last scene and maybe even end the performance on a cliff-hanger. Workshop Four- Hot seating In our fourth workshop we used the D.E.S ‘Hot seating’ so that we could have a better understanding and wider knowledge of the characters in journeys end, the vital part of hot seating is that you do not just pretend to be your chosen character but to put yourself in the characters shoes and wield the characters personality, habits and lifestyle. In the work shop we split ourselves into groups of four and then took on characters in the book that we did not know a lot of information about so that we could gain a greater insight into what that character is like. After that we asked our characters questions in which they would have to answer just as their character would as if they were in the same setting as in the book, this gave the other members of the group a chance to note down information on what the character’s personality is like and what their thoughts are in the book. After we had hot seated each member on their chosen character we reformed with the rest of the class and did the same thing. I think that reforming the class and having a bigger audience was a very clever idea as it widened the variety of questions that could be asked about the character and also gave us a larger insight into the characters lives in the book. I feel this workshop went very well because it benefited all in the room and we all shared and therefore gained information on the personalities of the characters. Workshop Five – Forum Theatre/Still image/ Thought Tracking For our fifth workshop we used the D.E.S ‘forum theatre’, by using this strategy it enabled us to receive feedback from the audience live on how we could better our performance. Once we had received this feed back we put it into practise straight away. Our teacher also created a stage set using chairs which enclosed around the actors all around apart from the back of the stage this made us feel very exposed due to the claustrophobic effect of the stage. Our task was to perform a small part of the book so that we could receive feedback on how to better our performance, as each group performed their piece our teacher changed the positioning of the stage set too create a different effect on the actors. As we received feedback our peers changed the theme of our piece at one point from a sad and solemn piece to a comedic and vibrant one. Due to the sudden change in the theme it enabled us to improvise our lines and tint the tone and accent of our voices so that it would match with the theme. Another advantage of the change in them is that we all changed our levels and status when the comedic twist was incorporated. Overall I think forum theatre is a great, successful technique. It enhances your performance because you receive ideas and use them to improve your performance. Workshop Six – Still image/ Thought Tracking We used thought tracking because it helped us fully explain the particular theme of whatever still image we were trying to express, it also helps because there is a lot of unnoticed emotional tension within the atmosphere. By using this technique we gave our characters a chance to expresses themselves in a way that they are too afraid to in front of their fellow comrades. Emily Davison: Protests Workshop One – Narration This workshop was focused on Emily Davison who was a famous suffragette, who gave her life to stand up for women’s rights. In our workshop we worked together as a whole class so that we could introduce many different characters that held different views on the thoughts and actions of Emily Davison. Our teacher gave us some information on the history of Emily Davison and her struggle for equal rights amongst the women and men of Britain. We were then to act out a small scene by improvising with the information that we had received, sir picked two people to start the scene and gradually assigned people to join them but first he gave each person a role. As we were all eventually in the scene he started to narrate and tell us what we were to do by telling a story, this helped give us an understanding of each character which helped us to produce the scene with ease although we had no formal script. Next we were all split into two groups and then we had to act out a key event in Emily Davison’s life with my group which consisted of four others. Our group had decided to recreate the time when Emily Davison was sent to prison for the second time and was almost drowned in her cell, one member of our group became the narrator and the rest of us acted out the scene but we also included still images and thought tracking to equally express the emotions flowing through the character at the time. Workshop Two – Devised Piece/ Role-play In the second workshop we had to devise a piece using the information we had received on Emily Davison’s history. We were split into groups of four and then we had to plan on what we intended to do, we decided on having 4 scenes in our performance which explained a mass sum of Emily Davison’s life in a short amount of time I think that as a group we acted smartly as to only include vital events in her life as it was paramount to the last scene which was very tense; 1. The school classroom that Emily taught in. This included a monologue where a member of our group played as Emily who was talking about her aspirations for the future. 2. A demonstration march to campaign for women’s rights. This is after she gains followers who believe in equal rights for women as she does. 3. The prison where Emily was horribly mistreated in. This scene shows the pure brutality of the struggle that Emily Davison went through. 4. The race track where she died through an act of marty rdom. This scene shows how far Emily Davison went to stand up for what she believed in and unfortunately she paid the ultimate price for it. All of these scenes we included the vital key parts that were needed to help the audience to understand the life, death & history of Emily Davison. To develop our piece we used dramatic explorative strategies like chorus were we all joined in when shouting at another member of our group during the performance this helps to express the characters emotions or the theme of that particular moment in the play. At one point we also used thought tracking so that we could express the characters inner feelings i.e. when Natalia (Emily) is arrested by the police and taken to court she uses the thought track as an opportunity to make the audience aware of her emotion at the time. By developing our own piece based on the history of Emily Davison it allowed us to build our own perspective of her personality and the many troubles that she faced throughout her life. Workshop Three – The Race Track – Contrast In this workshop we had to explore the aspects of each characters physical/emotional level by using contrast, our teacher also gave us some rope as a stimulus and we were asked to incorporate it into our piece. As a class we decided to use the rope as a way to split the characters in a social aspect i.e. on one side of the rope we had the women and on the other we had the men. To show mass contrast within the group of women we had Emily Davison and two of her fellow campaigners placed away from the large group of housewives. Over on the boys’ side most of the men who were betting on the race standings were focusing on a member of our group who used physical theatre to interpret that she was a horse by using a mask and using incorporating the element of gestus and physical theatre. The rope is a very strong stimulus because its shows highlights the ability and how easy it is to divide relationships, emotions and even society, this was strongly shown in our performance when Emily ran in front of the horse and both sides stopped in awe and then in chorus whispered ‘the woman†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.the horse’ eventually this whispers grew into shouts and then everyone rushed over to tend to the horses needs. This particular moment shows how in those times society was a lot different and women were seen as second class citizen. Although Emily Davison wanted equality for all women, not all women agreed with her and some were very comfortable with their life at the time we showed this in our performance by having a member of our group who played the role of a housewife do a thought track which expressed her hate for what Emily Davison was doing. I think that the rope as a stimulus helped us greatly to bring across our point society’s clear line between how women and men were respected and seen at the time. The rope also represented how divide society’s thoughts were at the time and that only material things such as horse racing we greatly prioritised over the life of a woman who stood up for what she believed in. Rosa Parks: Ride to Freedom Workshop One – Bus Boycott – Marking the moment/ Still Image/ Thought Tracking In this workshop we watched a short part of the film ‘Ride to Freedom’ its about the moment when Rosa Parks was arrested for standing up against being prejudiced for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white person. Our class was split into half and then we worked in groups to recreate the scene that we had watched. Although we had ample opportunities to use many elements of D.E.S we went too far and tried to cram too many things in our performance. Unfortunately the fact that we had so many D.E.S strategies conflicted with the fact that we all had to remember our cues, due to lack of organisation our performance was very slow and robot-like because everyone was trying to do too much that even when improvisation was attempted it greatly lacked in co-ordination which also led to the mass confusion within our minds when on stage. There were some good moments in our performance i.e. we used split staging well when I left the scene to get the police officer and everyone on the bus was still carrying on trying to get Rosa off the bus, but other wise I was not very happy with the way our performance went and I have also learnt a lesson and that is not to over complicate things. Workshop Two – Devised piece/ Chorus/ Levels / Signs In this workshop we worked in groups of fours and were given a poem to use as a stimulus, the poem was made by a famous author called Maya Angelou. We incorporated the theme of the Rosa parks story with our stimulus and created a short performance. First we read the poem and decided as a group to only use lines than empowered the mental status of our characters as it would help us greatly in our use of physical levels we also had many elements of D.E.S Within our performance we decided to use chorus so that we could help the audience realise the passion that our characters had for what they believe in, as a group we had also decided to do our best to maintain a simple bold and stern voice when saying our lines so that we increased the depth of anger that we were portraying to the audience. At the end of the performance we all stood at different levels on plinths which gave the impression that we were physically and emotionally rising higher and higher by the end of the play all of us were standing at attention showing great power through the since of our bodies. Through the positive feedback we received from the audience we could tell that the way in which we had used DES was very successful and that it was a great help to us as many of the audiences feedback pointed out to us whilst being briefed about our performance. I think that by us using a stimulus it helped us to build a story around it in a way that we felt comfortable and therefore I feel that is why this was success. Workshop Three – Physical Levels/ For this workshop our class was split into two and were given a stage to use as a stimulus as we continued to explore our ideas on the theme of Rosa Parks, our teacher also gave us a set of plinths that were all on different levels, he also said that we were only allowed to stand on the plinths throughout the whole performance limiting our movement on stage. Our main objective was to create a piece that used all the themes and aspects from our other two workshops on Rosa parks. Before we started to build our story we assigned characters according to our own strengths so that we would be able to achieve the best we could when it came to developing lines that our character would say. To gain the most out of our performance and to use as many useful D.E.S and different drama techniques so that we could enhance the quality of our performance. Our group decided to use thought tracking and still image to play out the scene of when Rosa Parks challenged the bus driver and was arrested and as our space on stage was limited we had decided to use thought tracking and split staging to make our performance effective. All the characters voiced their opinion on Rosa parks refusal to move out of her seat and then one member of our group narrated a scene so that we could add the element of split staging to performance. When we had received feed back from our peers they had greatly expressed their positive views on our use of staging and that having a narrator helped to tell what was going on due to there being a lack of conversation within our performance between our characters. I feel that due to the great organisation of our group and selected role assignment that we were able to pull off the performance well. Pitmen Painters Plot The Pitmen Painters was a spectacular historical/ cultural play about a group of miners in the 1930’s that lived in Ashington which is a small town by the cost in Newcastle, it is about 5 men and an unemployed teenager who through art classes explore their own hidden talents using their emotions to express themselves through painting. Through the play they also develop mentally as people and eventually start thinking g a lot more positively and see the world as a place full of opportunity. Sub – Plot Out of the whole group of miners Oliver Kilbourn is the main character as he is quick to become a pawn to the appreciation of real art. His talent in painting and interest also increases due to their raise in public awareness and eventually he meets a rich collector called Helen Sutherland who is a dear fan of his work, they grow to become good friends but hit a bombshell when Mrs Sutherland ask Oliver to come out of his life-long job of being a miner down in the pits to becoming an artist and working when he wants. Angered by the arrogance that Mrs Sunderland is posing although she is unaware of it at the time he declines the offer and loses his temper, but then apologises at a later date and then sets up a union for the miners to help better not just his future but his new found friends and the rest of the pitmen in Ashington. Staging The stage that we watched the performance on was simplistic and very small compared to the size of others that I have seen at other performances. The scene had only two entrances and exits through which the actors walked through they were placed at the back of the centre stage and on the stage left. Although there was a great shortage of space all of the actors did use the stage appropriately and to their advantage i.e. during a scene where they are all assessing each others art work the way that the chairs are positioned and the strict border lines that the actors stuck to when moving clearly suggested the length and width of the room. Lighting I feel that the lighting used in the performance was excellent because it did not just have the house lights on to show where the actors were, they also had spotlights of many colours which were used in certain scenes which helped set a range of different atmospheres on stage and in the audience. For instance during the scene where all of the miners go to see an exhibition on traditional Chinese art a white spotlight immediately shone on the faces of the whole group, and then they all froze and listened to Oliver’s monologue which described the piece of art in a very intense way this also empowered the audience to feel the same passion for the piece as the character did on stage. An overhead projector was also used throughout the play to show the audience the name of the each scene before it started. It was mostly used though to show the pieces of art that the pitmen had drawn, this was very smart because due to the size of the paintings the audience were unable to see the art , but this small setback was obviously countered by the stage crew with the use of a projector. Costuming Throughout the play most of the characters show a very clear line of division that suggest the difference of wealth between them all for instance the Leader of the mine George brown always attendee the art appreciation group in a nice suit and decent polished shoes with his hair slicked back, this tells me that although he works down in the mines he either is very wealthy or is a man with great pride who likes to look good. Professor Robert Lyon who comes down to run the art group in Ashington wears a variety of suits throughout the performance suggesting that he is wealthy and has a golden pocket watch on display at all times. Now although these two characters dress very well you can clearly notice the difference between them due to the way that they speak and how their body language is. Sound/Voice The performance did not have a lot of sound effects due to the fat that they purely didn’t need them and that due to the constant conversation that happened throughout the play it wasn’t appreciated, but neither was it missed. The characters voices included many different ranges of pitch and expression such as Helen Sutherland who is a rich middle aged art collector who is very wealthy; she speaks with a very sharp, squeaky but strong english accent which suggests that she was taught at a school and wealthy enough to afford an education. Oliver Kilbourn who is another pitman from the Ashington art group speaks with a heavy northern English accent and also spits his words and mumbles them a lot of the time, this infers to me that he may not be from a good background where the pronunciation of English is paramount in life and education. Just from the way that all of the characters speak I am able to build my own personality file on every one of them and develop my own ide as on what their characters are like.