Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Life Of Goya Essays - Visual Arts, Arts, Francisco Goya, Fuendetodos

Life of Goya With the coronation of the two Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella in 1479, the country of Spain slowly began to unite. Piece by piece, the King and Queen recaptured once lost lands and built their empire. In 1516 Carlos V rose to power, establishing the Hapsburg reign. The Hapsburg ruled for nearly two hundred years until the death of Charles II. With him died a Golden Age for Spain that the Catholic rulers established. Spain fell into a time of mass poverty, disorganization, and lackadaisical rule. One force that was structured in Spain was the church. Catholicism was not only a religion in Spain but also a significant influence in society. At the time, however, it did little to improve the conditions. Classes were heavily lopsided. The middle class was almost non-existent, and the upper class monopolized agricultural land. The provinces of Aragon, La Mancha, and Castile were where most of the poverty and depression was concentrated. Costal cities like Cadiz and Madrid were whe re prosperity existed. In the midst of commencing political and aristocratic turmoil, was born one of the most talented and patriotically concerned artists Spain has ever seen. On March 30, 1745 in the rural town of Fuendetodos, Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born. He was born poor and at the fall of the Hapsburg Monarchy. Goya's father was the son of a notary, or a small time lawyer, and his mother Dona Gracia Lucientes, was a hidalgo. Hidalgos were the lowest order in Spanish nobility. Goya Pg2 was still a boy when he and his family moved to the city of Saragossa. Saragossa contained more life than the rural city of Fuendetodos. Here he began school, where he barely learned to read and write. After attending elementary school, Francisco went to a Jesuit school or "college". It was here where the foundation of his career was laid. It was recommended that he develop his natural skills in drawing. A local master painter, named Jose Luzan y Martinez, took Goya under his wing. Martinez was a typical third rank painter of that time, but was well respected in the city. Goya began learning to paint the human figure by copying sculptures and molds. The drawing of naked models was forbidden at that time. By this point Goya showed himself as a fine copyist, and able to adapt quickly to other peoples' styles. Goya's first commission was the painting of the church doors at Fuendentodos. This project confirmed his profession. When he saw the painting some 50 years later he exclaimed, " D on't say I painted those!" At age 17 Goya went to test himself in a larger and more demanding area, Madrid. Another individual who had a profound impact on Goya's life and art was Velazquez. Velazquez was a painter of Spain's pride and power ?a superb realist. Although Velazquez had an influence on Goya's artistic style, his art is distinctly different from that of his predecessor. Velazquez's paintings depicted absolute and precise figures. Most of Goya's work, other than portraits, was noticeably distorted. These were times of confusion and despair, which would serve as artistic topics for Goya's work. The other half of his work is strictly his reaction and response to Pg3 surrounding occurrences. Perhaps nobody depicted mortal's thoughts and actions better than Goya. He combined his personal thoughts and the thoughts of the character in the painting so they either contrasted or became one. Goya used this devise of altering human characteristics as a way to undermine politicians and aristocrats without confrontation. A prime example of this is in the portrait of the family of Charles the IV. Charles IV was a Bourbon King who was later deposed by Napoleon. This portrait is at the pivotal point of Goya's career. The public Goya and the private Goya, usually rigidly separated were briefly allowed to merge. As Goya was at the center of the social scene by this point, he was very aware of the history, people and events of his time. He depicts the characters and family members as he sees them, weak, sheltered, and cocky. The clothing and costumes on the people describe their rank in society, however their faces portray a lack of power and character. As

Saturday, November 23, 2019

James Oglethorpe and the Georgia Colony

James Oglethorpe and the Georgia Colony James Oglethorpe was one of the founders of the Georgia Colony. Born on December 22, 1696, he became well known as a soldier, politician, and social reformer.   Driven to the Soldier's Life Oglethorpe started his military career as a teenager when he joined in the fight against the Turks with the Holy Roman Empire. In 1717, he was aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene of Savoy and fought in the successful siege of Belgrade.   Years afterward when he helped found and colonize Georgia, he would serve as the general of its forces. In 1739, he was involved in the War of Jenkins Ear. He unsuccessfully attempted to take St. Augustine from the Spanish twice, though he was able to defeat a large counterattack by the Spanish. Back in England, Oglethorpe fought in the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 for which he was almost court-martialed due to his units lack of success. He tried to fight in the Seven Years War but was denied a commission by the British. Not to be left out, he took on a different name and fought with the Prussians in the war.   Long Political Career In 1722, Oglethorpe left his first military commission to join Parliament. He would serve in the House of Commons for the next 30 years. He was a fascinating social reformer, helping impressed sailors and investigating the terrible condition of debtors prisons. This last cause was especially important to him as a good friend died in such a prison.   He became a staunch opponent of slavery early in his career, a stance he would hold the rest of his life. Even though he was an elected member of parliament, he chose to accompany the first settlers to Georgia in 1732. While he traveled back some to England, he did not permanently return to England until 1743. It was only after the attempted court martial mentioned earlier that he lost his seat in Parliament in 1754.   Founding the Georgia Colony The idea for the founding of Georgia was to create a haven for Englands poor along with creating a buffer between the French and Spanish and the other English colonies. Thus in 1732, Georgia was founded. Oglethorpe was not only a member of its Board of Trustees but was also among its first settlers. He personally chose and founded Savannah as the first town. He took an unofficial role of the colonys governor and directed most decisions about the new colonys local administration and defense. The new settlers took to calling Oglethorpe Father. However, eventually, the colonists grew upset against his stern rule but also his stance against slavery which they felt put them at an economic disadvantage compared to the rest of the colonies. In addition, the costs associated with the new colony were questioned by the other trustees back in England.   By 1738, Oglethorpes duties were curtailed, and he was left with being the general of the combined Georgia and South Carolina forces. As previously discovered, he was deeply involved in the War of Jenkins Ear leading campaigns against the Spanish. When he failed to take St. Augustine, he went back to England never to return to the New World.   Elder Statesman and Champion of the Colonies Oglethorpe never wavered in his support for the rights of American colonists. He befriended many in England who also espoused their cause such as Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke.  After the American Revolution when John Adams was sent to England as an ambassador, Oglethorpe met with him despite his advanced years. He died soon after this meeting at the age of 88.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects children and Research Paper - 1

How attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affects children and adults - Research Paper Example will examine the symptoms that aid in the diagnosis of the disorder and will then analyze the epidemiology that will shed light on the pervasiveness of the disorder that is how vastly it impacts the everyday functioning of the individual according to the age bracket they fall into. According to researchers, bys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls and as discussed earlier the age of onset of the disorder is seven and the symptoms may continue in adulthood; however adults may develop a repertoire of coping strategies in order to alleviate the symptoms, but they still experience ample amount of dysfunctions. The signs and symptoms involved in ADHD are very complex and clinicians have to exercise immense amount of caution in order to avoid making a misdiagnosis. Clinicians have a wide range of disorders that they need to rule out before confirming that the individual suffers from ADHD. The disorder is divided into three subtypes by psychologists that are ADHD mainly inattentive; which was previously known as Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD), ADHD mainly hyperactive-impulsive and ADHD combined. If an individual shows symptoms of both ADHD mainly inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive, the individual is said to suffer from ADHD combined. (Lougy & Rosenthal, 2002) However, it can be seen clearly that the individuals suffering from ADHD fundamentally by hyperactivity, inattentiveness and impulsiveness. The symptoms are then divided along the aforementioned characteristics; in case of inattentiveness the individual’s behavior is characterized by a short attention span, he or she may face problems while concentrating and following instructions, they may become extremely forgetful and individuals exhibit clumsiness in the execution of minor chores or activities. On the other hand, hyperactivity symptoms include inability to sit quietly in ne lace, constantly moving hands and feet, they may talk excessively and is always ‘on the go’. (Lougy &

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Computer Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Computer Literacy - Essay Example These audiences are identified and the reasons as to why a certain search engine is suitable for them. The effectiveness of all the search engines for their different purposes is also discussed. Finally, each of the search engines has some advantages and disadvantages over the others due to their different aesthetic, technical and privacy features. These advantages and disadvantages are discussed for each of the search engines. Search engines can be classified into several types. General search engines are portals which allow for searching of content using an algorithm specifically designed for this task. Google is a general search engine, alongside Yahoo! and Bing among others. Metasearch engines work by submitting query keywords to other search engines, which in turn perform a search using the provided keywords. The results are then aggregated and returned to the user. A point to note is that metasearch engines do not have a database of webpage contents, they only sort the search results from other search engines in a desirable manner (Lib.berkeley.edu, 2015). Examples of metasearch engines includes Dogpile, Excite, DeeperWeb, Kayak, Answers.com, Clusty and LeapFish. DuckDuckGo takes a hybrid approach, being both a general search engine that uses its own crawler while still utilizing a metasearch functionality. Multimedia search engines are used to search the web for videos, images, music, movies and ima ges and multimedia-related services. Search engines can also be classified as crawler-based and human-powered. Crawler-based search engines use software bots to search through websites and create an index by analyzing and categorizing them based on their content, the websites that link to them, the websites they link to and the level of traffic that they experience. Human-powered search engines employ human editors to create and edit their indexes (Yuanlei.com, 2015). DuckDuckGo and Dogpile search engines fall in the crawler-powered category.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Review Questions MGMT Essay Example for Free

Review Questions MGMT Essay 1) Scheduling and sequencing are typically viewed from a technical perspective; that is, they are focused on minimizing quantitative measures such as lateness or cost. However, schedules also have intangible effects on customers, employees, and the perception of service quality. Discuss what some of these intangible effects might be and how managers should consider them when constructing schedules. Some intangible effects of schedules on customers, employees, and the perception of service quality could be, employee morale (overworked, underworked); customer/buyer satisfaction with rate of production/delivery of service; perception of efficiency of potential clients and ancillary support systems. Managers need to take into account that constructing schedules will impact stakeholders in different ways (Collier Evans, 2013). Where a quicker delivery time might make a customer happy, a salaried employee working 14 hour days to meet that demand may ultimately be causing more harm to the company in the long run. One of the best methods for developing schedules is an Activity-on-Node model. In this model, we can see the earliest start (ES) latest start (LS) earliest finish (LS) and latest finish for each activity of the project. Some of they may be able to run concurrently, which leads us to determining what the â€Å"critical path† would be. The critical path is the shortest time between activities that the project may be accomplished (Collier Evans, 2013). 2) Select two of Demings 14 Points and discuss the importance of them to operations managers (as well as all managers) in todays business environment. Deming’s steps 13 (Encourage Education and Self-Improvement) and 14 (Take Action) are the two that I find the most respectable attributes in operations managers and normal managers, alike. I have seen first-hand what sort of morale detriment can occur when self-improvement and education are not fostered in top-performers. For example, employee John Smith decides  he wants to obtain his Project Management Professional PMPâ„ ¢ certification. His company has a training budget that allows for such training, but Smith’s manager cannot rationalize the need for the certification, based on Smith’s current duties. Smith then decides to take vacation time and pay out of pocket to achieve this certification, nearly $2000 of his own money spent on professional development. Several months later, Smith’s company is awarded a substantial Earned Value (EV) contract from the DoD, in which a requirement was that there needed to be a certified PMPâ„ ¢ on the project team. Smith’s manager lacked the foresight to see the benefit of such a certification, and to this day, Smith has not been formally reimbursed for what ultimately led to the acquisition of a multi-million dollar contract. Needless to say, Smith’s regard for that manager severely diminished. Taking Action stood out to me as well, because I have seen what cost-plus contracts can do to a company. The â€Å"chaos is cash† mindset that melds into the minds of managers whose incumbencies are those contracts can be sickening. I once witnessed a company with a directorate that was so focused on this mind-set that deliveries were constantly late or with error, and it was considered the norm to have such things occur. DoD contractors are normally evaluated by the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), and this company was consistently in the unsatisfactory rating. With a new directorate and management, this company was able to climb that rating system two levels for the first time in over a decade. I attribute this to those whom replaced the previous directorate and managements â€Å"Take Action† attitude in correcting that horrific â€Å"cost-plus† mindset. 3) Explain how service quality is measured. Specifically, discuss how you may have experienced each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions as a consumer of services. â€Å"Service quality is consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations (external focus) and service-delivery system performance criteria (internal focus) during all service encounters† Collier Evans, 2013). The 10 dimensions of SERVQUAL are as follows: SERVQUAL Dimensions Reliability Responsiveness Competence Access Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Understanding/knowing the customer tangibles In regards to reliability, I have had amazing reliability with MESA/BOOGIE guitar amplifiers. My MESA amp has lasted over 10 years with no issues. In regards to competence, USAA’s customer service and knowledge of their own products/services continues to amaze me every time I speak to them over the phone. I would also attribute the courtesy, responsiveness, and communication dimensions to USAA, as well. Their representatives are always well spoken, pleasant, and prompt to return inquiries. With understanding/knowing the customer, I would say Pacific Caliber is high on my list. We at Pacific Caliber can recognize the true, earned-value potential in the candidates we place with our clients, because we have been subject matter experts in those fields already. Much of this has to do with military affiliations and core values, as well. Access would go to Cotixansâ„ ¢ Mexican Restaurant. They have amazing food, 24/7, and are adjacent to my home. Security would go to Lockheed Martin’s private flight-test facilities, that is all I can comment on that. References Collier, D., Evans, J. (2013). OM4 (4th ed., Student ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Etisalat and Total Quality Management (TQM)

Etisalat and Total Quality Management (TQM) Etisalat is one of the worlds largest telecommunication companies. It is the largest service provider of mobile facilities in United Arab Emirates. Etisalat claims to have almost a 100 million customers. The company is providing service in UAE, in Africa and now also in Asia. Etisalat has a profit of almost 8 billion dollars. Etisalat has also diverged into being on of United Arab Emirates largest internet providers. It is not only providing internet accessibility to customers but also to other companies who are in the same business. It is United Arab Emirates largest voice carrier and it is also Africas largest voice carrier.  Etisalat has roaming facilities in at least 186 countries around the world. Etisalat was founded in 1976. In 1983 , 60% of the share was bought over by the United Arab Emirates government and 40% share was sold in the open market. In 1991 it got the permission to provide wired and unwired telecommunication services within United Arab Emirates and also in other countries. During this time itself, the company got the license to produce, import or export tele-communication equipments. This step made Etisalat the monopoly over tele communication business in the United Arab Emirates. This not only started fetching the government huge revenues but it also developed the mobile sector of tele-communication and other tele-communication sectors in United Arab Emirates. It was a major achievement in this sector for the country. The companys profit grew to more than 80% and almost 700000 phone lines in the country are now owned by Etisalat. In 2001 Etisalat opened up its international ventures and it started business in Islamabad. Etisalat is the 6th largest company of United Arab Emirates and is the worlds 40th largest enterprise. It is United Arab Emirates largest revenue earner after the oil and gas industry. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT- AN INTRODUCTION: W. Edwards Deming was the person who invented the TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT concept. Total quality management refers to maximising customer satisfaction by minimising the errors. It involves optimal utilisation of resources. It involves training of employees to the maximum possible level. The most important aspect of Total Quality management is that it involves that the errors in production are removed completely. It involves giving the best to the customer. To give the best to the customer everything should be perfect in an organisation. The organisations functioning should be 100% so that the customer can as an end result get 100%. TQM is basically a set of functions which if performed shall ensure that all the customers expectations are exceeded or met. ETISALAT AND TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACH: Total quality management approach has become very important in todays world. All customers want better than the best for their money. Todays customer is not easily satisfied. Etisalat has been wise enough to recognise this new emerging trend. Etisalat believes that quality is the key to overcome competition in todays modern market. More and more organisations all around the world are looking up to quality production for overcoming competition. The total quality management field is a new field. It is still developing. Etisalat has developed its own ways of quality measurement with passage of time. Etisalat believes that quality improvement is a continuous process. You can never stop improving the quality of the product or service that you are providing. Quality is the essence of any product or service. Total quality management has become very important for Etisalat over the past few years. There has to be a continuous flow of improvements in the services being provided if proper benef its of total quality management are to be realised. Although it must be noted here that Etisalat does not depend on total quality management for satisfying the needs of its customers and for achieving its target. Total quality management does not solve any managerial issues. (hashmi) Total quality management only seems to cater to the problem of customer satisfaction. Etisalat has customised its total quality management approach in such a way that it gives a purpose to the company to move ahead and develop its product more not only for the satisfaction of the customer but also for the overall development of the company including the increase in profits agenda. Although at the beginning Etisalat had some problems in adopting this new total quality management approach but then it realised that the economic conditions everywhere are changing and sooner or later the company had to make itself more customer oriented. Etisalats internet providing services were the first to adopt the total quality management approach. Soon the company started seeing positive changes. The actual number of new connections also got increased. After realising the positive affect of Total quality management the same was applied to the mobile service providing sector also. Etisalat also realised that one way to successfully apply the total quality management approach was to improve the quality of equipments being used to provide the services. Earlier the marketing agenda of the company was that it was providing services at the lowest possible cost. Now the agenda is providing the best quality at the lowest price. And this approach has shown tremendous positive results. Moreover the problems should be sorted out as soon as they are found. One should not wait for meetings and discussions to get over them get over the problems as soon as they are found. This is also a relatively new concept which has emerged from total quality management. (hashmi) Proper training of employees is the essence of the total quality management approach. The best possible training needs to be given to the employees for the best possible results. Training enhances the capacity to work. It allows the employees to work on a level which is higher than what they can work on. (stark) The training should be given with regards to the requirements of the job that the employee has to do. Etisalat is using the latest technology available in the market to provide to the market the mobile services. Although it increases the capital requirements and cost of the company, but the customers get the best possible services and moreover running cost or cost of providing services is reduced substantially. Etisalat has picked up a new theory from total quality management, this theory involves that the company shouldnt function on the basis of increasing the number of customers, it should work on improving the quality of the services it is providing, and the customers wil l be attracted on their own if the services being provided are of the best quality. The company should hire only the best educated for properly applying the total quality method. Moreover the company in return should arrange for proper education facilities to the community. This will ultimately help the company itself in the long run. The truth is that Total quality management does not create the quality but it creates the process. Total quality management involves a complete change in the working culture of the people. (stark) It emphasises only and only on quality. The employees at Etisalat had some problem in adopting this new method of working, but as soon as they realised that this was the correct way ahead and it would be giving great rewards in the future they readily accepted it. Etisalats management decided that not only the basic product should be of quality the extra add-ons should also be of the best possible quality. Etisalats management decided that total quality manag ement should be so well adopted by the company that there should be no margin for error at all. Whatever the company is giving to its customers it should be of the best quality, no one else in the market should be giving something or anything better than what Etisalat could provide for. PROBLEMS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACH: Since total quality management is comparatively a new approach people are still working on it. All the firms who are trying to adopt this approach face problems while applying this approach. (stark) Each and every firm tries to explore with this new approach. The management at Etisalat has also introduced its own variations in this approach. One of the major problems which were faced by the mangers at Etisalat was the problem of measurement. There is no proper way which has been developed as of now that can measure the change in quality. It has been hard to measure the proper affects of change due to quality. Managers found it hard to measure whether the changes made in the working of the firm due to the total quality management approach were bringing positive or negative results; they ultimately had to refer to the number game to find the effects of total quality approach. Total quality approach on the other hand emphasises the attention of people away from the numbers to quality. T otal quality management is next to useless if it cannot be measured. The change in results must be measured if total quality management approach has to become successful. Moreover it was being realised that it was easier for the middle management and lower working class employees to adjust to the total quality management approach but the upper management at Etisalat found it hard to do so. This was so because upper management was used to working with numbers. It was hard for the top managers and the owners of the company to shift the very approach towards business. They had to change their very beliefs in business. Although total quality management is supposed to decrease costs, but in reality the management at Etisalat found that implementing this approach had infact increased the cost of providing services. Moreover it was found that businesses who are well established like Etisalat and they do not want to innovate a lot also face problems in applying the total quality approach me thod. Total quality management approach also increased the companys capital expenditure as it involved getting the best in line equipments. This involves investing huge amounts of money and maybe some smaller companies may not be able to do so. Moreover after applying the total quality management approach the company had to spend hugely on advertisement to let the world know of its change in approach towards business. The cost of the final service provided was also increased after applying the total quality management approach. The management tried very hard to avoid increase in price but as we all know that the best comes at a price so this increase in price was unavoidable for the people at Etisalat, and many customers did not approve of the change in costs. RESULTS AND METHOD OF IMPLEMENTING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY ETISALAT: Etisalat was able to identify a lot of things after implementing total quality management approach. It realised that the approach like all other approaches had both positive and negative effects on the functioning of the company, and also it had double effects on the final figures of the company, although surprisingly this approach had many more positive effects than it had negative ones. It was found that this approach affected everyone who worked for the company. Total quality management approach was completely based on team work. Team work was the essence of total quality management. It was although hard to implement because in such a large corporation as Etisalat it was hard to make everyone co-operate with everyone else. Moreover the management realised that it was actually hard for them to remove their attention from the number game and completely focus it on quality management. It was hard to find on the basis of quality that the firm was underperforming or was doing better th an before. It was later found out after a few months of application if total quality management approach that there was a significant increase in the actual numbers of customers. Also there was less number of complaints now. Application of total quality management approach is a hard job; moreover it challenges the very foundation of principles of management of business. Business success before and up till very recently was completely based on numbers, the higher the numbers the better it was. The quality hardly mattered. Whatever sold was considered to be of the best quality. With the application of total quality management everything changed. It did not matter anymore to the management at Etisalat whether the numbers increased or decreased they had to concentrate completely on the quality of services that they were employed to provide. This quality had to be the best. It was a heavy task as it had two aspects attached to it. The first was to actually start providing the best servic es to the people. This included changing various technological equipments, it involved changing the basic equipments used as raw materials, everything every equipment that the company used should be of the best quality, until and unless this happens it would be hard to give the best possible end result. Secondly the customers needed to be informed in the change of policies of the company. This in itself was a humungous task. The management at Etisalat was unsure that whether the customers would take this approach in a positive manner or not. It had to be conveyed to the public that there was a major change which would take place in the way the company functioned. This was very hard because Etisalat has almost 1 billion customers all around the world. But the top management of Etisalat was able to carry out this task properly. Company is now successfully providing the best possible services to its 1 billion customers whether in the tele-communication sector or in the internet service providing sector. CONCLUSION: Total quality management is more of a discipline than anything else. It is concluded that quality is the end product of all the activities undertaken in the total quality management approach. It involves a complete change in the outlook of producers and service providers. It changes their emphasis from mass selling to quality selling. Followers of total quality management believe that providing quality product or service will automatically lead to increased sales. It is important to understand here that providing quality products should not mean that the price of such product can be sky high, the approach should be such that the best quality product should be provided at the best possible price. The pricing should be correct because even if the product is the best in the market but it is overpriced it will not sell. Therefore this involves the working of financial analysts with total quality management approach experts. A balance between the two approaches must be struck. Etisalat ha s understood the importance of total quality management approach. The management of Etisalat are working more and more towards this approach now. They are also trying to communicate this change in their policies in the best possible ways to their customers. The customers have become very demanding all over the world these days and total quality management approach seems to be the only possible way to satisfy the needs of the modern customer.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

To what extent can Lord of the Flies be considered a Marxist piece?

Lord of the Flies centres on a group of boys stranded on a tropical island when their plane crashes en route from England to Australia as part of an evacuation during an atomic war (hypothetical war.) The story is essentially an allegorical tale of the innate evil of man – good versus evil. Of the book, Golding said that he wrote it to illustrate how political systems cannot govern society effectively unless they take into consideration the inherent defects of human nature. Marxism is seen as the development from an oppressive capitalist society to an equal and classless society. Golding tries to set a utopian world within the island devoid of adult, societal constraints but in the end the innate animal characteristics of man come to the fore. Golding based his story on the 19th century novel ‘The Coral Island' written by R M Ballantyne. Whereas Ballantyne's novel, an adventure story of three boys stranded on a desert island, was optimistic, Golding's is terrifyingly pessimistic. The novel was written shortly after World War II , in the early days of the Cold War when paranoia about communism was at its height. In the early 1950s many people were accused, often falsely, of being communists (the McCarthy era in the USA at this time is a good example of this.) It is within this context that Golding wrote Lord of the Flies. The battles between Ralph and Jack, the struggles between the Conch group and the Savages and above all the fight of good versus evil, originate in a degree of paranoia typical of the era in which the novel was written. Lord of the Flies' reflects elements of Golding's own life – his experiences during the war made him second guess the traditionally held belief that while society might be evil, man was inherently good. Golding had witnessed the evil in man, not just in the enemy but in his own allies (he was on the ship that sank the German ship Bismarck.) Golding said in his essay ‘Fable' – originally given as part of a lecture series in 1962 – â€Å"My book was to say: you think that now the war is over and an evil thing destroyed, you are safe because you are naturally kind and decent. But I know why the thing rose in Germany. I know it could happen in any country. It could happen here.† The breakdown of order and discipline is prominent throughout the novel. This idea was drawn from Golding's experiences as a school master (his father was also a school teacher.) Golding taught in an English public school so much of his insight was drawn largely from this. Golding felt that at the time, the education system lacked a balance between discipline and creative freedom. By placing the boys on an island without adults, free from the constraints of society, he allows the boys freedom to indulge their desires and impulses. But by setting the story in a tropical paradise, Golding allowed the boys' downfall to come not through a basic struggle for survival but instead from within themselves and commented â€Å"If disaster came, it was not to come through the exploitation of one class by another. It was to rise, simply and solely, out of the nature of the brute . . . . . the only enemy of man is inside him.† (Fable, 1962.) Golding uses the varied characters in the novel to symbolise the varying degrees of savagery exhibited by man and their rift with organised civilisation. For example, Piggy demands that the boys stay within the parameters of organised society – his frequent references to his ‘auntie' represent the only adult voice throughout much of the novel. Jack, on the other hand, is more interested in satisfying his own desires and is of the belief ‘if it's fun, do it.' Ralph, however, is caught somewhere between the extremes exhibited by Piggy and Jack. It is in the clashes between Ralph and Jack that the conflict between a civilised society and a savage one are dramatised and it is in their differing attitudes towards authority that these differences in ideology are portrayed. Ralph is eager to establish order – using the conch to assemble the boys – and although as Golding says â€Å"what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack† it is Ralph who is chosen as the ‘chief.' There is something about Ralph that has set him apart from the others, an innate quality; but it is his hold on the conch that seems to determine his election as leader of the group. The conch symbolises the old, established adult order the boys had been used to – it represents the rules and regulations or law and order of civilised society. Ralph is representative of government and authority and uses his own authority as chief to try and establish rules (for example, you can only speak if you are holding the conch) which are for the good of the group as a whole – he strives to enforce the moral rules of the society they are stranded from. Jack is the antithesis of this – seeking to gain control of the boys to satisfy his basic instincts (Ralph in fact recognising Jack's disappointment at not being chosen as leader is consolatory in announcing that Jack is in charge of the choir or ‘hunters' as they quickly become.) Jack's shift or decline towards savagery is marked throughout the novel. In the early chapters, his eagerness for killing pigs is really a show of bravery but is intertwined with the need to obtain food for the group. In this sense, Jack conforms to society's rules. It is only later in the novel when Jack no longer recognises Ralph's authority and forms his own splinter group with the hunters that Golding shows the reader Jack's true and more dangerous character. In this way, Golding is able to highlight the fact that to a degree certain savage aspects are an inherent part of man's nature (there is an overriding will to survive in humans) nevertheless in most instances this is suppressed to acc eptable levels by the mores of society. Golding himself does not see the novel as a Marxist piece, but as an illustration of â€Å"the darkness of man's heart†. Whilst the novel wasn't about class differences, Golding cleverly uses the language of the boys to highlight the fact there are indeed differences. For example at the beginning of Chapter 1 when Ralph meets Piggy and he asks â€Å". . . What's your father?† When responding Piggy asks â€Å"When'll your dad rescue us?† Alternate explanations from critics seem to come to the conclusion that the events of the novel were a result of circumstance and not of the evil within man. But Golding dismisses the idea that the actions of the boys were not inevitable. He suggests that the violence occurs â€Å"simply and solely out of the nature of the brute.† Modern critics will argue that the meaning of the text is individual to each reader. â€Å"I no longer believe that the author has a sort of patria potestas over his brainchildren. Once they are printed they have reached their majority and the author has no more authority over them, knows no more about them, perhaps knows less about them than the critic who comes fresh to them, and sees them not as the author hoped they would be, but as what they are† (Golding, Fable) Golding is suggesting that the meaning of a text is not always governed by the author, so although he clearly did not intend for â€Å"Lord of the Flies† to be a Marxist piece, it could be argued that it has become one. It could be argued that given Golding's life experiences and his father's influence, this was inevitable. Roger's sadistic manner was only stopped by the taboos and laws of society, but without these constraints he is unable to unleash the â€Å"id† that is caged by society, but is a demonic feature of the human psyche. In the chapter ‘Painted Faces and Long Hair' Roger is seen along with Maurice to destroy the ‘Littluns' castle. Then Roger throws stones at Henry, although deliberately misses – in this sense his action is controlled by the presence of the rules of society. Later in ‘Castle Rock' Roger, feeling that all aspects of civilised society have disappeared is now free of the constraints imposed by society and so unleashes his true savagery by throwing a stone at Piggy – this time deliberately aimed to harm. It can be argued that Golding uses Roger, who becomes the epitome of savage when he murders Piggy, to embody the central theme of the novel. The conflict between desire and moral obligation is a central theme of the novel. Golding uses the different personalities of the boys to indicate the varied degrees of savagery that humans demonstrate. Piggy juxtaposes Roger as he exhibits no animalistic qualities and adheres to society's rules. Golding expresses that this vehemence is a more natural aspect of human behaviour and that civilization forces compassion onto us rather than it being a natural human instinct. Even the naval officer recognises that the boys have become out of control – his comment to Ralph that they might have been able to â€Å"put up a better show than that . . . â€Å"illustrates this; Ralph recognises that in the beginning they were a cohesive group, a society. The signal fire's purpose is to hopefully attract the attention of a passing ship so that the boys may be saved. Metaphorically, indicates how savage the boys have become and how far they have moved away from socially acceptable behaviour. The boys start the fire using Piggy's glasses in an attempt to be rescued .This suggests that they still long for the order of civilisation. As the fire diminishes, we notice decay in the moral obligations the boys feel and they become more savage. The signal fire allows the reader to gauge how much of society is left on the island. Golding uses dramatic irony at the end of the novel when the officer arrives on the island. Ironically the fire is the antithesis of society at this point in the novel; it has now become a metaphor for the ferocity that man is capable of. The boys ask for some sign of the beast – the sign sent by the grown-ups is the dead parachutist; the beast is a dead pilot – Golding uses this to signify the chaos of an adult world at war. In chapter 5, Simon says â€Å"What I mean is†¦ maybe it's only us†. Simon suggests that â€Å"the beastie† is just a creation of the boys. It is the fear of the unknown that brings the beast to life. Simon's idea is one that links with Golding's views of humanity's savagery. Simon is the only boy on the island who does not abandon his morals, but he is savagely killed when he tries to help the rest of the boys. Simon's morality is overwhelmed by the other boy's amorality, so while Golding does not claim that mankind doesn't exhibit kindness, he does make the point that it is powerless when the rest of the world is evil. The island is a microcosm of society, and the boys represent different political ideologies. Ralph represents democracy, whilst Jack, with his symbolic red hair, represents communism. The boy's influence on the island itself can also be seen as a metaphor for human corruption of the planet. The forest scar created by the crashing plane symbolises the encroachment of corrupt civilisation onto the island. NOTES â€Å"What makes things break up like they do?† is the poignant question Piggy asks Ralph. Golding himself blames the breakdown of the island's democracy on the innate greed and ferocity that is an occupational hazard of being human. In a lecture at the University of California in 1962 he said â€Å"So the boys try to construct a civilization on the island; but it breaks down in blood and terror because the boys are suffering from the terrible disease of being human†. The fire is diatronically opposed to hunting which is the activity of anarchy. Ralph portrays democracy and the role of government in any modern society. He strives to satisfy the demands of the public at large but recognises that certain rules of behaviour must be followed in order to prevent anarchy. Anarchy eventually defeats order – Golding believed that government is ineffective in keeping people together. No matter how logical or reasonable government is, it will in the end give way to anarchical demands of the public.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Book Review “Thinking, Fast and Slow” Essay

I read the international bestseller â€Å"Thinking, Fast and Slow† of Daniel Kahneman (Winner of the Nobel Prize) over the last 3-4 weeks. I think it is a very interesting book and it is describing very critically the human brain and mind, which gave me many insights into decision-making and errors we are doing automatically without noticing it every day. He is very often talking about â€Å"System 1† and â€Å"System 2†. System 1 is fast; it’s intuitive, associative, metaphorical, automatic, impressionistic, and it can’t be switched off. Its operations involve no sense of intentional control, but it’s the â€Å"secret author of many of the choices and judgments you make† and it’s the hero of Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow. System 2 is slow, deliberate, effortful. Its operations require attention. System 2 takes over, rather unwillingly, when things get difficult. It’s â€Å"the conscious being you call ‘I'†, and one of Kahneman’s main points is that this is a mistake. You’re wrong to identify with System 2, for you are also and equally and profoundly System 1. Kahneman compares System 2 to a supporting character who believes herself to be the lead actor and often has little idea of what’s going on. System 2 is slothful, and tires easily – so it usually accepts what System 1 tells it. It’s often right to do so, because System 1 is for the most part pretty good at what it does; it’s highly sensitive to subtle environmental cues, signs of danger, and so on. It does, however, pay a high price for speed. It loves to simplify, to assume WYSIATI (â€Å"what you see is all there is†), even as it gossips and embroiders and confabulates. It’s hopelessly bad at the kind of statistical thinking often required for good decisions, it jumps wildly to conclusions and it’s subject to a fantastic suite of irrational biases and interference effects (the halo effect, the â€Å"Florida effect†, framing effects, anchoring effects, the confirmation bias, outcome bias, hindsight bias, availability bias, the focusing illusion, and so on). Thousands of experiments have been conducted, right across the broad board of human life, all to the same general effect. We don’t know who we are or what we’re like, we don’t know what we’re really doing and we don’t know why we’re doing it. That’s a System 1 exaggeration, for sure, but there’s more truth in it than you can easily imagine. Judges think they make considered decisions about parole based strictly on the facts of the case. It turns out (to simplify only slightly) that it is their blood-sugar levels really sitting in judgment. We also hugely underestimate the role of chance in life (this is again System 1’s work). Analysis of the performance of fund managers over the longer term proves conclusively that you’d do just as well if you entrusted your financial decisions to a monkey throwing darts at a board. There is a tremendously powerful illusion that sustains managers in their belief their results, when good, are the result of skill; Kahneman explains how the illusion works. The fact remains that â€Å"performance bonuses† are awarded for luck, not skill. They might as well be handed out on the roll of a die: they’re completely unjustified. This may be why some banks now speak of â€Å"retention bonuses† rather than performance bonuses, but the idea that retention bonuses are needed depends on the shared myth of skill, and since the myth is known to be a myth, the system is profoundly dishonest – unless the dart-throwing monkeys are going to be cut in. In an experi ment designed to test the â€Å"anchoring effect†, highly experienced judges were given a description of a shoplifting offence. They were then â€Å"anchored† to different numbers by being asked to roll a pair of dice that had been secretly loaded to produce only two totals – three or nine. Finally, they were asked whether the prison sentence for the shoplifting offence should be greater or fewer, in months, than the total showing on the dice. Normally the judges would have made extremely similar judgments, but those who had just rolled nine proposed an average of eight months while those who had rolled three proposed an average of only five months. All were unaware of the anchoring effect. The same goes for all of us, almost all the time. We think we’re smart; we’re confident we won’t be unconsciously swayed by the high list price of a house. We’re wrong. (Kahneman admits his own inability to counter some of these effects.) We’re also hopelessly subject to the â€Å"focusing illusion†, which can be conveyed in one sentence: â€Å"Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you’re thinking about it.† Whatever we focus on, it bulges in the heat of our attention until we assume its role in our life as a whole is greater than it is. Daniel Kahneman won a Nobel prize for economics in 2002 and much of his time he’s working together with Amos Tversky. Thinking, Fast and Slow has its roots in their joint work. It is an outstanding book, distinguished by beauty and clarity of detail, precision of presentation and gentleness of manner.

Friday, November 8, 2019

In a democratic society

In a democratic society, we the people elect representatives to carry out our needs and trust in them that they will carry out that representation in an efficient and responsible manner for the best interest of the public they are representing. That United States government as a legislature, executive branch, and a judiciary branch carries out that responsibility usually with much success and fairness. When the government becomes almost controlled by bureaucracy, that is when our republic becomes undermined and the democratic government that we entrust is, falls apart. The bureaucracy is permanent or ongoing structure that will always exist and will never be replaced. It is comprised of individual groups of government working to finish a common task. It is made up of supervisors upon supervisors who all have a specific job so that the end task is completed with preciseness and in an expeditious manner. The thing that ends up happening is that while the legislature may make the law and the executive branch may have to administer them as supervisors, but what ends up happening is that it is the supervised who do the work and often they exceed their authority. When they do, the entire system is undermined. The executive and legislative branches have created laws and regulations to control bureaucracy as a whole. The bureaucrats often times tend to step on the shoes if you will of the two branches and take matters into their own hands and completely disregard the law. In drafting and enforcing the regulations they issue under the laws passed by the legislators, they often act in excess of their legal authority. Such things they do are unconstitutional. A recent example of this is an issue that came up with the FDA. The FDA attempted to create rules and regulations concerning smoking and tobacco. The almost passed the laws until the government said that is was against regulations and they couldnt do it. The ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Quotes From the Movie Scrooge

Quotes From the Movie Scrooge Nothing can be more entertaining on Christmas Eve than a light musical comedy. Scrooge, a 1970 movie adapted from Charles Dickenss famous novel, A Christmas Carol, is fun and entertaining. The 1843 novel is a now well-known  redemption tale  of the wicked Ebenezer Scrooge. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by spirits, including his former business partner Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. In the 1970 movie adaptation, Albert Finney, who plays the role of Scrooge, steals the show with his scintillating performance. Here is a story being retold in a colorful ensemble. You cannot help asking for more. Read these Scrooge quotes and savor the finest moments of the movie. Ebenezer Scrooge As for you, nephew, if you were in my will, Id disinherit you! Go, and redeem some other promising young creature, but leave me to keep Christmas in my own way. [to Bob Cratchit] Well, my friend, Im not going to beat around the bush. Im simply not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. Which leaves me no choice, but to raise your salary. Fifteen shillings a week, a wife and five children...and he still talks of a Merry Christmas! How shall I ever understand this world? There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty, and yet, there is nothing it condemns with such severity as the pursuit of wealth. The Ghost of Jacob Marley Hello, Ebenezer. Ive been waiting here for you; I heard you were coming down, today. Thought Id be here to greet you; show you to your new office... no one else wanted to. See the phantoms filling the sky around you. They astound you, I can tell, these inhabitants of hell. Poor wretches whom the hand of heaven ignores. Beware, beware, beware, lest their dreadful fate be yours! The Ghost of Christmas Present There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, youre not here anymore. Tom Harry, Ive visited you every Christmas for the past five years, and to this day I can never understand this extraordinary ritual of toasting the health of your old uncle Ebenezer. I mean, everyone knows hes the most miserable old skinflint that ever walked Gods earth. Mr. Jorkin [about Scrooge and Marley] In short, gentlemen, if you want to save the fair name of the company by accepting their generous offer, they become the company!​ Tiny Tim God bless us, every one! The Spirit of Christmas Present Come in! Come in, and know me better, man!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest Research Paper

The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest - Research Paper Example Furthermore, according to the statistics, â€Å"more than 80 percent of the world’s ancient forests† (Tscharntke, 2007) have been destroyed due to the logging. This paper is a brief attempt to explore various dimensions devastating effects of logging in rainforests on various stakeholders. Discussion â€Å"Rainforests once covered more than 14 percent† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) of the total land on this planet; however, â€Å"today every second, the world is losing one and half acre of rainforests† (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) and thus, it is left with less than 6 percent of rainforests. Research indicates that if this process continues then we are likely to run out of rainforests in the coming three decades (Tscharntke, 2007). Currently, almost a quarter of the western dugs are derived from rainforest ingredients. Furthermore, interesting is the fact that scientists believe that they have only checked less than a percent of the total species of rainforests, which means that with deforestation of rainforests, the world is losing the cure of many diseases (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005). Logging is most common in the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world where there are large reserves of rainforest. Quite understandably, considering the income levels of these countries, money becomes an urgent, unavoidable, and imperative need. On an average, a hectare of trees in rainforest can earn the loggers more than 40000 US dollars, which is nearly equal to a fortune for them. To make matters worst, most of the governments in these countries are also involved in these practices since they have no other way to earn foreign exchange. However, these governments fail to realize that the logs that they sell to countries like America and other European countries, they later spend more than half of the foreign exchange or export earnings to buy important wood products as pulp, paper and others from these very countries (L aurance & Peres, 2006). It is important to note that timber industry claims to be following â€Å"safe† logging practices, which include selective logging and full forest harvesting. Interestingly, both of them are not at all safe. Selective logging may refer to the process of choosing specific mature trees to harvest. Once the harvesting process is complete, a sapling is planted so that a new tree can grow. However, this never results in favorable results. In most rainforests, average size of trees is very high which blocks sunlight and nutrients for other small trees (Jepma, 1995). Furthermore, research indicates that removing one tree from a bunch of trees in a rainforest may result in the death of 17 more trees. This is true because trees develop a system of interdependence with each other especially in rainforests (Tscharntke et al., 2009). Full forest harvesting which refers to the process of harvesting the entire trees with its branches and leaves is an even dangerous method of logging. The nutrients taken from the soil are usually in the leaves and branches of the trees and taking them away leaves the forest with lesser chances to grow again. Furthermore, with direct exposure of sunlight in the gaps and empty spaces dries the soil and the soil loses precious nitrogen (Tscharntke, 2007). In the absence of rainforest trees, the balance of carbon dioxide is being disturbed since there

Friday, November 1, 2019

Bacteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bacteria - Essay Example Once there they physically change. They become smaller in size and lose their flagella and begin to give off a natural glow. There are a number of interesting aspects to this particular bacterium, which includes, symbiotic living, a special relationship with certain species of cephalopods, animals that can actually glow in the dark, and preserving nature’s polluted waters. Again this bacterium is often found inside and one fish and certain species of cephalopods, like octopus and squid (OBrien). However, they are not harmful once inside of another species, in fact, the relationship is actually quite beneficial for both species. The Vibrio fischeri rely on the fish for a protective environment and the bacteria create a very special reaction that is incredibly beneficial to the aquatic species. There are five genes then when active and through the process of oxidation takes place in the system of certain species it causes the host animal to literally glow in the dark (Maiden). Despite how unusual and strange that may sound it is absolutely true. In truth 90% of most fish and sea life carry some amount of these bacteria in their systems or on their bodies, however, some creatures glow brighter than others (Widder).However, it is these bacteria that have been attributed to instances when processing of fish products have on occasion resulted in slightly glowing fish sticks (Maiden).However, one species in particular is the prime example of this phenomena the bobtail-squid, native to the waters of Hawaii, have colonies of these bacteria living on their undersides. Because the squid possesses an organ, called the light organ, which is a unique structure similar to the make-up of an eye, possessing both an iris and a lens, yet it allows the squid to produce a glowing light. To predators looking up at the squid it appears to be