Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Book Review - Essay Example These documents are tangible proof of the manner in which governments and titans of the industry have harmed their own people. What is most shocking is the tendency of investigating agencies to later help in the cover up operations mounted by these industrial giants and the so-called protectors of the citizens of the nation. These accounts of governmental apathy and disregard for innocents raises the troubling question of how safe are we, the populace of a nation. In this summary, we shall be discussing this hand in glove attitude of people in power, who treat common individuals as guinea pigs in their quest for control over the world. Edwin Black’s IBM and the Holocaust is a painstaking episode delving into the convergence of technology and the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1945. It is a powerful documentation of how Thomas J. Watson’s (Chief of IBM at the time) greed and his desire to monopolize the emerging market of technological possibilities led him to make covert deals with Hitler’s government. Hitler was not the first man to hate the Jews, but his terrifying objectives of wiping out Jews from Europe was aided by the â€Å"solution providers† at IBM. The IBM Hollerith D-11, card sorting machine, which identified the Jews during the 1933 census, in a way sealed their fates forever. Edwin Black lays the blame for the condition of Jews as much on Hitler as the card machines provided to the Third Reich by Thomas J Watson’s company. These machines helped in cross indexing government, church and communal records. Edwin Black juxtaposed the movement of ma chines from one Nazi occupied territory to another and uncovered that it was these machines, using punch cards, all provided by IBM, which helped in the systematic slaughter to Jews. These lists can be termed as glaring instances of corporate misconduct, because the greed of one company fed the vicious ambitions of one individual,

You decided Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

You decided - Case Study Example This will achieve the board member’s aim of listening first, and then delivering a message that has measurable results, impact, and truth. This will also help on the best ways to reach the students. The social media specialist has a good point because in order to reach students, fellow students need to lead in this campaign. It will be advisable to involve student leaders in this campaign because other students are most likely to listen to them and we can be assured that they will lead a no-nonsense and honest message. Involvement of the student leadership team will also help the committee save on the money that would have been used to pay outside specialists. This is because this group will most likely be willing to be involved in the campaign as volunteers or on condition that they paid a small amount of money since improving the lives of other students is their mandate. Overall, it is crucial for the organization needs to do a proper market research before starting the campaign. This will help the committee address its concerns of understanding the target group, how to reach this group, and the best place to reach them. When a good marketing plan has been developed, unnecessary costs will be avoided and therefore, we can be able to work with the limited budget. I hope this input will be helpful to the successful completion of this

The Influence Of Christianity On Culture Religion Essay

The Influence Of Christianity On Culture Religion Essay The novel, Things Fall Apart, was written by Chinua Achebe and was first published in 1958. The book deals with Okonkwo, the main character in the book, and his approach towards Christianity and the new Umofia after his exile. The novel shows us the impact of a western culture on the Igbo society and how the citizens have to adapt to the new changes and beliefs. Achebe, through this story, wants to show the readers that, things, culture and relationships do fall apart as we read it. White men arrived in Africa as traders, missionaries and administrators. In this essay, I will talk about the influence of Christianity on the Igbo culture. Is the Igbo culture civilized or barbaric? Was the arrival of the white missionaries in Things Fall Apart positive or negative? My essay will be divided into four sections, each giving a different influence of Christianity on the Igbo culture. I will discuss the four main influences. Christianity has influenced the Igbo culture in many ways. The main influence is on the religion that tribes follow. The white missionaries bring a different set of beliefs and laws which are incompatible with Igbo traditions and practices. The church which is built by the Christians, contributes to the destruction of the clan. Many Umofians decide to convert to Christianity, as they feel they will get more freedom, comfort and they can be and do what the clan does not agree to. The converts are outcasts, people with no titles and women who had twins. Such people are mistreated in the lgbo society. Christianity is giving such people dignity. The converts have the chance to find their true identity. The missionaries begin to establish themselves through the church. The white mens power increases as they survive the Evil Forest. The missionaries say We have been sent by the Great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you d ie. The power of the traditional gods is challenged by the survival of the missionary hut in the Evil Forest, in which, the unfortunate people, twins and ogbanje children are thrown. Christianity points fingers to the beliefs of the Igbo culture. For many, Christianity is an answer for all their queries. People think that converting to Christianity means peace and was better than the Igbo religion and its superstitions. Three converts had gone into the village and boasted openly that all the gods were dead and impotent and that they were prepared to defy them by burning all their shrines. This shows that the converts and the missionaries no longer respect the views and beliefs of the Igbo clan. The converts know that they are protected by the white men and the feel that they have a greater god than the lgbos. In Chapter 18, with the episode of the python, the belief of the Igbos in god strengthens and the death of the convert responsible proves that the gods still exist and do justi ce to its people. In a sense, despite the influence of Christianity, some of Igbo people still have firm belief in their gods. The second major influence is on the legal system in the Igbo tribes. It has a major hand in the collapsing of the clan. The new rules also apply to the Igbo tribe members, which has people who do not wish to convert to Christianity. The imposition of an alien legal system confuses the lgbos and adds up to the hatred the Igbos have towards the white men and the converts. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ stories were already gaining ground that the white men had not only brought religion, but also a government. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umofia to protect the followers of their religion. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary. Before the coming of the white men, decisions are made by the heads of the clan, the men with high titles. But now, these men have lost their place and there is the police to pass laws and give final verdicts and punishments. The new legal system proves to be neither just nor deserves praise. While the egwugwu frequently settle land disputes both effectively and fairly, the colonial courts decisions result in conflict and murder. The previously accepted traditions now are punishable offenses. Soon, the prison is full of men who had offended against the white mens law. Some of these prisoners have thrown away their twins, while some have molested Christians. This shows that to a great extent, the Igbo members of the society neither fear the Christians, nor are they scared of the new legal system and its laws. By building the Christian church and establishing a new legal system with their own western laws, the colonial government gradually makes the tribal legal procedure less effective and destroys traditional beliefs. This shows that the western culture is interfering in the day-to-day running of the Igbo government. The third influence is on the education given by the lgbos. Educating people of different age groups in Umofia helped those who were eager for self-advancement, who soon realize the potential of the schools. Hence, by educating the people of Umofia, the Christians do well to the place. The people are able to widen their knowledge. There is no harm in educating somebody. Mr. Brown, one of the missionaries, teaches the ambitious students. Mr. Brown is, understanding, patient and friendly, which make the people, feel welcomed and they would thus want to continue studying to become responsible. More people came to learn in his school, and he encouraged them with singlets and towels. They were not all young, these people who came to learn. This shows that Mr. Browns school produced quick results. A few months in it were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk. Those who stayed longer became teachers. This tells us that Mr. Browns school is effective and good. The studen ts can become successful and can even educate others, keeping the trend of education. On the other hand, through education, Mr. Brown is luring the Umofians to convert. By aiming at the different age groups, he wants the maximum number of converts who will accept the religion and its beliefs. The singlets and towels are forms of bribe as the Igbo have never used them. These items, therefore, symbolize luxury and also the mode of living of the white. By using such stuffs, they will feel superior to their fellow Umofians. Mr. Brown tries to become godly figure in the eyes of the people. Mr. Browns polite and caring nature helps him in his strategy to attract Umofians to convert. The last striking influence is that on trade. Christianity takes hold over the community but the clan also benefits from the trade and prosperity which it brings with it. In Chapter 21, the influence is introduced. The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he had also built a trading store and for the first time palm oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umofia. The coming of Christians brings money indirectly to the Igbos. By trading, they grow their knowledge about trading and other countries. Trading helps Umofia as they now have a trading store and get money to improve the place. The traders mostly trade palm oil and kernels. This buying and selling of goods changes Umofia. People now believe in the white missionaries and trust them better. This shows that the coming of Christianity in the Igbo society brings both positive and negative changes. This dealing requires manual skills and special training which might be given in Mr. Bro wns school. But in Umofia, before the arrival of Christianity, money was not of great value as sharing and borrowing existed. The appearance of money, through trading, decreases fraternity and friendship that was once there among the citizens. In a sense, the evil has been introduced in Umofia. There is competition and people want to be rich, unlike before. To conclude, the Igbo culture, in Things Fall Apart, is presented as both good and bad. Achebe manages to a great extent, to destroy the myth of the African savage. He impresses the reader by the fact that the white men are not bringing civilization, but are destroying the society. It shows that the colonization of Africa by western powers perpetuated the stereotype of primitive African savage. In Part 1 and Part 2, Achebe portrays a long-established and orderly African society with its strict hierarchy of gods, elders and titled men and with its own customs and religious beliefs. As from the end of Part 2, the white missionaries decide to destroy the culture and create hatred among its citizens. I think that each culture has the right for its own systems and other modern cultures, intruding, will just result in misunderstandings and hatred among the people who belong to the separate cultures. The arrival of the white missionaries makes few positive effects but also brings detestatio n in Umofia. Nevertheless, it also contributes considerably, as the Africans can learn new languages and modern techniques. 1550 words.

The War :: essays research papers

The Persian Gulf War all started because of one country’s greed for oil. Iraq accused Kuwait of pumping oil and not sharing the benefits, and Kuwait was pumping more oil than allowed under quotas set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, it decreased the price of oil, Iraq's main export. Iraq's complaints against Kuwait grew more and more harsh, but they were mostly about money. When Iraqi forces began to assemble near the Kuwaiti border in the summer of 1990, several Arab states tried to intervene the dispute. Kuwait did not want to look weak so they did not ask for any help from the United States or other non-Arab powers for support. Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Saudi Arabia, on August 1, 1990, but that meeting resulted only in charges and countercharges. A second meeting was planned to take place in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, but Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day, leading some people to think that Iraqi presiden t Saddam Hussein had planned the invasion all along.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Iraqi attack began shortly after midnight on August 2. About 150,000 Iraqi troops, many of them veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, easily overwhelmed the unprepared and inexperienced Kuwaiti forces, which numbered about 20,000. By dawn, Iraq had assumed control of Kuwait City, the capital, and was soon in complete control of the country. The United Nation Security Council and the Arab League immediately condemned the Iraqi invasion. Four days later, the Security Council forced an economic restriction on Iraq that forbidden nearly all trades with Iraq. Any armed attempt to roll back the Iraqi invasion depended on Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Iraq and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia did not have the power to fight Iraq alone .So Saudi rulers did eventually open the country to foreign forces, in mainly because they were worried by Iraq's aggressive negotiations also U.S. intelligence reports claimed that Iraqi forces were well positioned for a strike against Saudi A rabia. Beginning a week after the Iraqi take over of Kuwait and continuing for several months, a large international force called the â€Å"international coalition† gathered in Saudi Arabia. The United States sent more than 400,000 troops, and more than 200,000 additional troops came from Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, France, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Senegal, Niger, Morocco, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

Michelangelo showing his religion Essay

Michelangelo painted frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and made a sculptor of David. Both the painting and the sculptor point to the great deal knowledge Michelangelo has of the Bible. On the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling he painted scenes from the book of Genesis, and David the person comes from the first Book of Samuel. Michelangelo has background with the Christian Church and did many sculptures and painting for the church. The religious influence of the church could not be avoid by Michelangelo. He had been introduced to it very early in his life. Sistine Chapel’s ceiling was a very religious painting job done by Michelangelo. The Sistine’s ceiling shows Michelangelo’s knowledge of Bible events. It has Prophets and Sibyls painted on it, which are very religious figures. It shows the beginning of time to the Flood with Noah’s Great Ark. The sculpture of David was done for Saint Peters Cathedral. It gave new meaning to life for the people of Florence. David was not only thought of as a Messiah by the Old Testament Prophets, but also by the people of Florence. He brought hope as a person and a statue. Michelangelo not only showed that religion was important to him through his works, but also immortalized part of the Bible. Michelangelo showing his religion The Sistine Chapel is one of the most visited places in the world, and the Colossal David is one of the most well-known sculptors in the world. These two great works of art affect whatever people look at them. Without knowing it people get a brush of religion. Michelangelo shows his view of religion to people even after he has died. Michelangelo lived a life of art. From the day he was born to the day he died he lived art. Michelangelo was one of, if not the best sculptor and painter ever to touch foot on this earth. He any painter made a â€Å"shining† in  religious art it was Michelangelo. The Sistine Chapel is located in the Vatican City. This is where Saint Peter’s Basilica was built. The Sistine Chapel was a private room for the Pope. Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint on the ceiling. He almost turned it down because he thought of himself as a sculptor not a painter. He took the painting job on to prove to people that he could paint even though he did not like to do it. Through the works of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and the statue David, Michelangelo immortalized his Christian religion. Background: Michelangelo Michelangelo (Figure 1) was born on March 6, 1475 in a town called Caprese, a region of Tuscany, near Florence. Michelangelo’s father was Lodovico Buonarroti Simon, and his mother Francesca Miniato del Sera. Michelangelo’s mother decided to send the baby Michelangelo away to be looked after for a while by a stonecutters wife, because his dad didn’t have a job and his family life was difficult. â€Å"Michelangelo said his love for stone came from the milk of stonecutters wife who nursed him as a baby†(Richmond pg. 24). Michelangelo wanted to be an artist but his father did not agree. When Michelangelo was seven he was sent to a basic school, he was always sneaking off and drawing something. After many long arguments with his father, Michelangelo finally convinced him that sculpturing and block carving are different. Michelangelo was then allowed to study the arts. Michelangelo’s father put him in the workshop of the painter Domenico Girlandaio. After two years Michelangelo studied at a sculpture school in the Medici gardens. He wanted to join a bottega, which is a workshop where young men could learn art with masters. At age 13 he was allowed to join, and shortly thereafter was invited into the household of Loreczo de’ Medici, the Magnificent. Because Michelangelo was so good at sculpting, a fellow student, Pietro Torrigiano, got jealous and punched Michelangelo in the nose , giving him a prize fighters nose that makes him so recognizable in his portraits. When Michelangelo’s talent became known, he no longer paid for the lessons, instead he was paid. â€Å"Michelangelo produced at least two relief sculptures by the time he was sixteen years old, the battle of the features and the Madonna of the stairs†(Gilbert pg.68). This showed that Michelangelo had achieved a personal style at a very early age. Most sculptors have not finished learning about style, let alone have their own style by the age of sixteen. Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564 at almost 90 years old, he was hard at work on a statue. Background: Sistine Chapel Ceiling In 1508 Michelangelo took on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Figure 2) after Julius offered it to him. Michelangelo was annoyed, since he was a sculptor primarily. One reason it was annoying was â€Å"†¦ ceilings in churches and chapels are minor compared to the walls, which in this instance had been frescoed thirty years before by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and other distinguished painters†(Gilbert) Ceiling normally did not show scenes, but only a single feature or ornament. To make his work more eloquent Michelangelo got permission to paint scenes on the ceiling as well as single figures. Of course they are awkward to see, but the power and success of the work was so great that for centuries this unreasonable scheme of painting scenes on the ceiling was followed in other buildings without special thought. He had to unmanageably stand on the scaffolding with his head thrown back on his shoulders. â€Å"Michelangelo divided up the area with a very original framing system in order to organize the large scenes, the large single figures retained from the first proposals, and a host of smaller representations.†(Gilbert pg. 90) He choose nine scenes from the Book of Genesis- three of the creation of the world, three of Adam and Eve, and three of Noah-â€Å"†¦ they were inevitable choices, because scenes of Moses had been painted on the walls, and the natural narrative sequence is downward.† The twelve large figures are prophets and sibyls- sibyls being women appearing in various pagan mythologies, such as the Delphis Oracle. Michelangelo started painting at the end of his narrative, with the Noah stories, and the adjacent prophets  and sibyls, then moving with both scenes and figures toward the other end. It is surprisingly little noticed that the first seven prophets and sibyls were painted in one size and the last five in a larger size. All fit nicely into their painted frames, and the inconspicuousness of the change in size is a token of the subtlety of the frames. The change itself has a good artistic reason, which is that the scenes first painted, of Noah and Eve, contain quite a few figures, while those painted later, of god creating the world and man, contain only one or two, they needed to be larger in order to fill the space which was given to him from the framing system. â€Å"The point where the scale of the figures changes is also a point where, it seems, he took a rest for several months†(Levy pg.74). The break did not affect the splendid painting on the ceiling. Religion on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling The religion aspect of the Sistine chapel is overwhelming. It pours out of every crack, from painted over frescoes to sculptures. On the ceiling ,as mentioned above, is painted three scenes of the creation of the world, three scenes of Adam and Eve, and three scenes of Noah and the Flood, along with scared sibyls and prophets. The sibyls and prophets come from the pagan religion which Michelangelo was introduced to by one of his early teachers. The sibyls were interpreted as having made prophesies similar to those of the Old Testament prophets. The scenes on the ceiling come from the book of Genesis, which comes from the Bible. Michelangelo was chosen to paint the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling but he got to pick what he painted, with the approval of the Pope of course. He chose scenes from both the Pagan religion and the Bible, which makes a religious influence evident. Michelangelo was knowlegdable of the Bible, without having knowledge of the bible how could he have known about the specific happenings. Background: David David (Figure 3) was born in 1040 B.C. and became King of Israel. He first  distinguished himself by slaying Goliath. Goliath was a giant born in Gath who Challenged the army of Israel. He was Six cobils and a span tall, which is about 11 feet. David was taken into Saul’s household, the king of Israel. There he became too popular for his own good and had to flee from Saul’s jealously. After the death of Saul’s he was elected king of Judah and reigned for seven and one half years in Hebien. When Ishbosheth, the king after Saul, died, David was chosen by all Israel as king. He conquered Jerusalem and made it the political and religious center of his kingdom. To the Old Testament prophets David became a type of Messiah. The story of David and Goliath comes from the Bible from Book one of Samuel Chapter 17. In verse 46 of that Book David said to Goliath: This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine land; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fouls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that their is a God in Israel. The Cathedral asked Michelangelo to sculpted a Colossal David . Michelangelo accepted the offer and guaranteed to complete a Colossal David for the Cathedral in 2 years. Around the chunk of marble he obtained for this feat he built a shed, which was locked at all times. â€Å"He did not launch immediately into the stone as legend had it, making chips fly off violently as he struggled to set free the image he saw within†(Tolnay pg. 41). For many weeks he examined and measured his material to see what pose it could accommodate. He made sketches of possible positions, and carefully detailed drawings from models for the parts of the figure. He tested out his image in wax on a small scale. â€Å"Then, and only then did he pick up a point and a mallet to make the first rough spilters fly clattering to the floor†(Tolnay pg. 42). Although it occupied him nearly three years to complete, it was worth the wait for the people living in Florence. â€Å"Michelangelo phrased his first titan in terms of a civic guardian, symbol of righteousness. None of his later masterpieces so profoundly affected his fellow citizens†(Gilbert pg.82). The author Gilbert writes: In the precision of its anatomy one can recognize the scientific spirit of investigation of the Florentines; in the forms, which are full of strength, and in the noble, proud face, one finds the heroic concept of man as a creature who is free and master of his own destiny(page 85). Technically this statue marked a change in Michelangelo’s development. In a single work he achieved the difficult transition from normal scale to the colossal without a flaw, setting back the chin slightly so that it would not cut off too much of the other features from the spectator’s view, building out the nose and forehead. Religion in David David comes straight from the Bible. In the following lines, from Book one of Samuel, Chapter 17, verses 49 through 51, it tells how David came to slay the giant Goliath: 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath therefor, and slew him, and out off his head therewith . And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. Religion in David is undeniable. He is a part of the Bible therefore a part of religion. A religion which Michelangelo learned about since he was an infant with the stonecutter’s family. David was sculpted having the look of fear, as if the sculptor knew what David was going through at that exact point in the battle with Goliath. The religion Michelangelo shows through David is immense. Conclusion Both the painting of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling and the sculptor of David reflect the knowledge that Michelangelo has of Pagan religion, but mostly of the Bible. Clifton Harby Levy writes: Religion was the supreme interest of the leaders in human thought during this century, when the Church played so large a part in the destiny of nations, and very naturally any and every artist who felt the pulse of his time was impelled to prove his power by the skill with which he presented sacred subjects. Art was religious because the people were religious†¦(page xi). In other words, art could make or break a nation. Michelangelo was trying to make Italy, by giving them the best religious art you could find. In a way the art helped the people survive, fight, and showed them what they could believe in to get away from the agony of living a life of torment. These works illustrated points from the Bible in such a magnificent manner, that they have changed life from the day they were put on display to the present. Religion was, is, and always will be a powerful thing. Works Cited Gilbert, Creighton. Michelangelo On and Off the Sistine Ceiling. New York: George Braziller, 1994. Levy, Clifton Harby. The Bible in Art. New York: Covici Friede, 1936. Richmond, Robin. Introducing Michelangelo. New York: Walker, 1984. Salvini, Roberto. Michelangelo. Connecticut: Masterworks Press, 1976. Tolnay, Charles de. Michelangelo Sculptor-Painter-Architect. London: Princeton University Press, 1975. Works Consulted Bellosi, Luciano. Michelangelo: Painting. New York: Bellview, 1946. Buonarroti, Michelangelo. Michelangelo, the painter. Italy: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1964 Chase, Alice Elizabeth. Famous artists of the past. New York : Platt & Munk, 1964. Coughlan, Robert. The world of Michelangelo, 1475-1564. Italy: Time, inc., 1966 Day, Thomas. Where have you gone, Michelangelo? : the loss of soul in Catholic culture. New York : Crossroad, 1993. De Vecchi, Pierluigi. Michelangelo. New York : H. Holt, 1992. Rasponi, Simonetta. Michelangelo. Italy: Avenel Books, 1978. Ripley, Elizabeth Blake. Michelangelo : a biography. New York, Oxford University Press, 1953.

Creating a World Beyond Reality Essay

In Azar Nafisi’s â€Å"Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran†, Nafisi and her students, rather than denying the reality that they live in, created a world alternate from their reality. In their physical world the government has stripped them of their individualism. They were unable to act or do as individuals would, thus they went to the book club as a way to escape reality. It gave them insight into a world they could not experience. Literature becomes their color in their bleak world of black and white restrictions. They came to the realization, through their readings, that they had given their government the power to take away from them their individuality. They created a fictional world to let them be individuals and escape the restrictions that their physical environment placed upon them. With this fictional world, they rebelled against their government and used it as a way to escape their harsh reality. Possessing their fictional world allowed them to remain unique individuals. Fiction can express truth as effectively as reality. The way someone views reality can be their own fiction. Nafisi and her students did not use fiction as a way to deny their reality but instead it opened up a window of many minds other than their own. They learn from fiction just as much if not more than they do with reality. Fiction brought them realities they never would have been able to be aware of in their physical world â€Å"She fashions her universe not through physical force, as does the king, but through imagination and reflection† (Nafisi 259). They learn through fiction that they have one thing that the Revolution did not and could not take away from them, their imagination They learn that with their imagination it makes them each their own unique person. Fiction helped them realize more about themselves and more about reality. Their situation is similar to the character of that book, although they cannot do anything to chance their lives through force, they have their imagination and that itself is enough to make a differences for themselves. Furthermore, Nafisi and her students enabled themselves to experience new worlds by exposing themselves to different realities from the books they read. Instead of denying they are now aware of other worlds beyond their own. â€Å"do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life: what we search for in fiction is not so much reality but the epiphany of truth† (Nafisi 248). They did not try to hide reality with their created world, only to better their state of mind by allowing themselves the freedom to think as individuals. Nafisi did not want the purpose of this book club to make her students try to live the realities of the books, she wanted to make them aware of realities that they are unable to experience physically. Their government has suppressed them and they are not allowed any individuality so the purpose of the book club enabled them â€Å"to experience how the ordinary pebble of ordinary life could be transformed into a jewel through the magic eye of fiction. † (Nafisi 252). The only way they can get away from their dull lives is through this book club. By reading, it brightens their lives in way they could never be able to do on their own. Their fictional creation allows them to be individuals and escape restrictions that their physical environment has on them. In the book club, Nafisi and her students are given â€Å"the possibility of a boundless freedom when all options are taken away† (Nafisi 262). They find a way to be stay their real unique selves through their learning. â€Å"Reality has become so intolerable, she said, so bleak, that all I can paint now are the colors of my dreams† (Nafisi 253). The book club is the only way they can get a break from their reality. It helps the girls keep their distinct selves. Dreams are something the government cannot take away from someone, just like their created world they still have something personal left of them. â€Å"acts of writing are his means of escape. He is a hero because he refuses to become like all the rest. † (Nafisi 262). Their fictional world is some place for the girls to flee to. Reading the writing helps them see things from a different perspective they are unable to encounter, the story they create is their fantasy and thats what keeps them individuals. The Revolution is trying to mold them into people they want them to be, while they are creating themselves. The government is trying to control their reality and their fiction. Nafisi and her students are rebelling against their government not only by attending this book club but with the creation of their fictional world. Their fictional world opens up their minds and empowers them to exercise their right to be able to think how they wish to. That is something the government tried but could not take away from them. Nafisi and her students are not denying their reality by creating this world of theirs, they have accepted it in order to build a barrier around themselves from that reality. â€Å"An absurd fictionality ruled our lives. We tried to live in the open spaces, in the chinks created between that room, which had become our protective cocoon and the censor’s world of witches and goblins outside† (Nafisi 264). The veil they are forced to wear, is a symbol of fictionality because the Revolution is forcing everyone to pretend to be someone who they are not. The book club is a safe haven for their individuality. It protects their different characteristics from the government. With their fictional world, they are going against the government and not letting their authorities oppress them. â€Å"These girls, my girls, had both a real history and a fabricated one† (Nafisi 265). Keeping both worlds is an act of rebellion against government who tried to make them conform to the real standards of their society. â€Å"Is she aware, Sanaz, of her own power? Does she realize how dangerous she can be when her every stray gesture is a disturbance to public safety? † (Nafisi 265). They are the only ones who have control over how and what they think. By creating this fictional world they are making changes against the government. â€Å"where we simultaneously invented ourselves and were figments of someone else’s imagination† (Nafisi 263). Nafisi and her students are living through the stories they read, like being the characters that they created, it makes them stronger, inspires them. Fiction has become a coping mechanism for them, giving them stronger will to deal with reality. â€Å"to experience how the ordinary pebble of ordinary life could be transformed into a jewel through the magic eye of fiction. †(Nafisi 252). They are able to view things with different eyes, in the books they read there is a much more optimistic view than their reality. Seeing things through someone else’s perspective lightens the burden of their reality. They can escape real life momentarily and see things from an unrestricted point of view. Their created world is something that gives them strength to carry on with their daily lives. Denying reality does not help, therefore when they create the fictional world of theirs they realize that the government is trying to take away from who they are. In reality they are the ones who have power over their own minds if not anything else. â€Å" imagine us the way we sometimes didn’t dare to imagine ourselves in our most private and secret moments, in the most extraordinarily ordinary instances of life, listening to music†¦ or reading Lolita in Tehran. † (Nafisi 250). In their real world they always have to be careful of letting themselves show their true selves, but with fiction they are not afraid to be themselves. In fiction, they compare their own situations with the characters in the books they read. Those books teach them things such as totalitarianism to being happy a goal. â€Å"the most central of which was how these great works of imagination could help us in our present trapped situation as women. We were not looking for blueprints†¦we did hope to find a link between the open spaces the novels provided and the closed ones we were confined to† (Nafisi 259). These novels become the girls source of freedom. With these books they are allowed to freely interpret and believe whatever they with in contrast to their reality where they are not allowed to have their own opinions. With their imagination they are not denying themselves, but rather filling in the spaces that they are missing. They cannot experience many things in real life so to fill the void, they do so with fiction. By finding a link between fiction and reality they found a way to keep their individualism. And accepting and creating, fiction allows for them to have a stronger will in order to keep who they are even in the world they are in. â€Å"Perhaps one way of finding out the truth was to do what we did: to try to imaginatively articulate these two worlds and, through that process, give shape to our vision and identity† (Nafisi 264). They are not denying reality, rather it helps them to accept it, they use this world to get through reality, their world reality or imagination motivates them to continue having a strong will and continue moving forward. Not only does it give them the strength to carry on but it keeps their identities in their minds by accepting and personalizing their fantasies motivating them to be individuals. In conclusion, Nafisi and her students have found a way to escape their restrictions and can let themselves be who they want to be through fiction. With the use of literature, Nafisi and her students are trying to reshape and create their own reality. Although their freedoms are temporary, Nafisi’s home is safe from the censor the Revolution put on them that limits their thoughts and actions. They now have power over their minds, something they must rebel against the government to be able to keep for themselves. To be able to keep that power over their minds they are keeping their individualism. Because the girls comply with the government and also participate in the book club, they are not denying reality instead they are learning ways to accept and cope with it. Through fiction Nafisi and her students learned more about themselves and the powers of imagination.

Downsizing in America

Downsizing in America Although my immediate family has been lucky enough not to fall victim to layoffs or downsizing, however, I have friends and relatives who have not been as lucky. My uncle is a good example. He had worked for a utility company for 25 years, rising through the ranks to become the head of the sales division. However, in 2007, the company was hit hard by the global financial crisis and one of the restructuring strategies adopted by the management was to outsource the sales department.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Downsizing in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Consequently, the entire sales team was laid off. In the months that followed, my uncle sent letters to numerous companies but very few bothered to reply. The economy was in crisis and few firms were hiring. The family’s home was repossessed by the insurance companies for defaulting to pay mortgage fees. My uncle slumped into depression because his family had no roof over its head. He was so desperate that he had to pump gas at a local gas station owned by a friend for a whole 4 months. His teenage son and daughter took part-time jobs to supplement the income of the family. The mother, hitherto a stay-at-home mom, registered with a number of online companies as a freelance online writer. Indeed the layoff has caused psychological and financial anguish to my uncle and his family. Downsizing is the result of a change in the economy, such as the reduced demand for a company’s products. This may have been occasioned by an economic recession, or even when the main products of an industry are no longer fashionable. Another reason why a firm may decide to downsize its workforce is when it fails to keep pace with the recent development in technology (Baumol, Blinder Wolff, 2005). When a firm suffers from an inefficient workforce, this means that its products shall not be competitive enough to compete with the best in the indu stry, and hence the reduced demand (Shaw Barry, 2001). There have been claims that downsizing is inevitable for a firm. However, it is perhaps best to view this as an issue of perception, more than anything else. When top managers are about to make announcements about workforce reductions and layoffs, one of the common statements issued is that downsizing is inevitable, and that it is a natural law of globalization or capitalism. In his article, ‘perceptions of organizational downsizing’, Robin Sronce identified several perceptions regarding this issue: downsizing comes about due to a natural law of capitalism; from a corporate point of view, downsizing is inevitable; organizations have to undertake a downsizing activity; downsizing is often expected as part of the business cycle and; downsizing has been occasioned by our economic system (Sronce 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 1 5% OFF Learn More Downsizing is a necessary activity to help organizations improve their profit margins. Consequently, they have to reduce their workforce as part of their restructuring exercise. Under such circumstances, downsizing is necessary especially when certain departments of a company have too many employees, thereby increasing their inefficiency (Ayling 1997). Companies with unresponsive communication systems, duplication of efforts, and unresponsive administrative functions are also likely to downsize. Under such circumstances, it makes sense for a company to downsize, at least to stay afloat. Job security is no longer guaranteed. In fact, it is a thing of the past. An increasingly higher number of employees have come to accept it but it is creating a new problem at the workplace altogether. Owing to the looming danger of unemployment occasioned by layoffs, employees have become quite suspicious because no one knows where the axe shall fall next. Consequen tly, this has also dampened employee loyalty to the company because their future is not guaranteed. Also, the innovative spirit of the employees, their tendency to take risks and level of creativity are all likely to reduce, further adding to the woes of the company (Baumol et al, 2005). With downsizing comes an increased load of work for the remaining employees. On the other hand, downsizing can be a good thing for the remaining employees because they are forced to work hard and target high profile positions so that in the event of another downsizing activity, they do not fall victim. Competition is a key feature of capitalism. Capitalism breeds a state of oligopoly in which we have a few firms in the industry characterized by concentrated economic power. Consequently, competition is eliminated and we have a few dominant firms in the market that sets the price of products in the industry. As such, the market environment is dictated by these few firms. Capitalism has also helped to usher in a free market and automation. Automation forces inefficient firms to close shop. On the other hand, intense competition in the market forces companies to either adopt novel technological advances and innovative ways of running their business activities to avoid elimination. A company may have a sound justification for downsizing its human resources but in spite of this, laying off productive and loyal employees who have been with the company for a long time can be quite an upsetting experience. This is because such employees fall victim to both psychological and financial injury. Most people view the workplace as the place to maintain and develop relationships. It is our second home. Our work defines who we are, in addition to giving meaning to our lives.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Downsizing in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, once we have been laid off, all these things get compromis ed. Inasmuch as we have economic and legal ramifications for downsizing, nonetheless, downsizing can be considered more of an ethical issue. As such, a good manger should endeavor to protect not just the legal and financial interest of a company, but also the integrity and honor of its employees (Shaw Barry, 2001). Sometimes, layoffs may violate the rights of workers. Employees should be aware of an impending layoff but sometimes firms fail to inform them in advance. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act holds that employers needs to make their employees aware that a layoff is on the way, or that the plant is about to shut down depending on the size of the firm. There have been reported cases of companies that closed plants abruptly without notifying their employees of these recent developments and from this context, this is indeed a violation of the law. There is a need therefore to ensure that plant closures, layoffs and outsourcing activities are regulated to avo id a collision of unions, companies, and the local government. CEOs who lay off thousands of workers are often rewarded with a handsome pay package. This revelation is an indication of great unfairness at a time when a company is faced with a recession. This is because CEOs reduce their workforce as a strategy to boost the short-term profits of the company and at the same time, ensure that they take home a fatter paycheck. At face value, such revelations may appear somewhat shocking but looked at from another angle we need to consider that the primary obligation of a CEO is to ensure that the shareholders to the company get the maximum value for their investments in the company. Accordingly, CEOs are out to please their shareholders first, before they can satisfy the employees (Ayling, 1997). However, such a perspective puts to question the ethical concern of a company on its employees. It would mean that employees are just tools for enabling a firm to attain its economic goals. Fir ms should endeavor to balance the social, economic and ethical concerns for all the stakeholders, including their employees. For a long time, manufacturing has remained the backbone of our economy. Also capitalists have made a fortune through the manufacturing sector. In the last few decades however, manufacturing has been on the decline, thanks in large part to international competition. In the mid-1960s, manufacturing contributed more than a quarter of America’s GDP (27%). This has however reduced by nearly 50%.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Today, manufacturing sector employs not more than 10 % of Americans (Shaw, 2007). The future therefore looks bleak for the manufacturing sector in the U.S. Outsourcing holds the future for the manufacturing sector. We are likely to witness a lot more companies outsourcing their manufacturing departments to the emerging economies because labor is cheap and since they have to remain in competition. The global recession that was triggered by a slump in the housing market in the US is thought to have begun due because Americans had a lot of faith in the free market and that it regulate the economy. This is a fundamental component of the â€Å"Anglo-Saxon† capitalism. One thing that Americans need to learn from this is that we should all aspire to live within our means. This way, we avoid going into massive debts. Reference List Ayling, R. (1997). The downsizing of America. New York: Nova Pulishers. Baumol, W. J., Blinder, A. S., Wolff, E. N. (2005). Downsizing in America: realit y,  causes, and consequences. London: Sage. Shaw, W. L. (2007). Business Ethics. Stamford, Mass: Cengage Learning. Shaw, W. H., Barry, V. E. (2001). Moral issues in business. Ohio: Wadsworth, 2001. Sronce, R. (2007). Perceptions of organizational downsizing. Journal of Leadership   Organizational Studies. Web.

Don Juan essays

Don Juan essays Obra de gnero dramtico o teatral. Es religiosa-fantstica y est dividida en dos partes, una de comedia y otra un drama religioso. Pasado un an de los dos era ms mujeriego y ms malvado. Don Luis enojado por la perdida de la apuesta, propuso un nuevo envite, el cual consistà ­a en conquistar a Dos. Para facilitarse las cosas, los dos sacaron los trapos sucios del otro, siendo asà ­ encarcelados los dos. Ambos lograron escaparse y de nuevo Don Juan logr sus propsitos, enamorando a la prometida de Don Luis. Don Juan rapt a Dos, del convento en el que se encontraba, llevndosela a su casa. Al poco tiempo llegaron Don Luis y Don Gonzalo, padre de Dos, pidindole a Don Juan que le devolviera a su hija. Don Juan mat a Don Gonzalo y huy a Italia. A su regreso de Italia se dirigi a su antigua casa dnde se encontr con un cementerio con todas las personas a las que l habà ­a matado, entre las tumbas pudo distinguir las de Don Gonzalo, Don Luis y para su sorpresa la de Dos. El fantasma de Don Gonzalo le advirti de su muerte, la sombra Dos velo por l salvndole del infierno, y logrando asà ­ vivir juntos en la eternidad. El tema central es el amor, algunos de los temas secundarios son la muerte, el honor y la valentà ­a. - Actos de la 1 ª parte : 1. Libertinaje y escndalo. 4. El diablo a las puertas del cielo. - Actos de la 2 ª parte : 1. La sombra de Dos. 2. La estatua de Don Gonzalo. 3. Misericordia de Dios y apoteosis del amor. - Actos 1 parte : 1. Hostelerà ­a. 2. Casa de Do&nti...

Analysing Titan Marketing Strategies

Analysing Titan Marketing Strategies Titan, a Tata group company entered the watch market in 1987. Since then it has developed into one of the most recognized brands in India. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by A the exclusive Insignia; PSI, for those turned on by technology; and Raga, which has been considered exclusively for women. Titan’s focus has always been on India. Research reveals some interesting facts and figures about this diverse market. The Indian market is estimated at 25 million watches a year, with 50 per cent being sold by the organized sector. Titan is the runaway market leader, with domestic sales of 6 million watches a year. There are 190 million watch-owning Indians; between them they own about 210 million watches. Urban India accounts for 120 million of these watches and 90 millions are on rural wrists. More men than women own watches in India, and more working women than housewives own watches. It is the rural segment within this diverse market that Titan is now looking to tap. â₠¬Å"The key to success is getting into the rural market on a larger scale. The company’s Sonata range is targeted at rural customers, and is part of a strategy where the alignment of price and reliability are crucial. The rage costs between Rs.495 and Rs.1,200 has showrooms exclusively for it, and is sold mainly in small-town India (Kelly, 2006, 144).

Outline and critically discuss what you see as the main examples of Essay

Outline and critically discuss what you see as the main examples of attempts to control crime using 'environmental controls - Essay Example Furthermore, the designs are meant for long term controls rather than employing more security guards or personnel in certain areas (Brewer, 2001). The designs are also likely to reduce the conflict or danger between the criminals and the judicial system among other benefits. Natural surveillance is the process of using modern cameras and technology to capture major incidences in certain areas for future reference and to pose threat to the criminals. Formal surveillance is the process through which the government or relevant authority installs watching mechanisms to record any criminal or suspicious acts in the community. The process could also mean ensuring sufficient space and light so that every activity in various places can be monitored without strain (Burke, 2004). This would increase chances to noting fishy activities and taking the appropriate actions. Natural surveillance may also limit the criminals from escaping the crime scenes and this would discourage them from making an y criminal attempts. This strategy could be implemented in various ways and this includes having landscape designs with well lit entries, having transparent walls in entry corridors to enhance noting anybody entering or leaving certain premise. The lighting designs should ensure good distribution of lighting devices and limit blind spots that may favor easy escape of criminals. There should be sufficient lightening in strategic areas like the ATMs, bus stations, children’s playgrounds, parking sites, recreational zones and major and minor pathways among others, and this should be placed in appropriate heights to capture everybody’s face and movements. Pedestrian tacks should be alongside the motor vehicle tracks to create more surveillance. Bright lights should be avoided in such strategic areas as it may cause blindness and favor criminal activities. It is important to consider the best light intensity in accordance to normal human sights. Curved streets have been use d in major developed nations to ease viewing of majority of residential entrances and reduce traffic speeds in case a certain criminal has been spotted. Natural surveillance may also involve installing mechanical monitoring devices like closed circuit television (CCTV) and cameras to capture the major movements or images in certain strategic places. The cameras are strategically placed at the entrances to record the entry or existence of every individual in such places. Some CCTVS and cameras are connected to alarming systems and this raises awareness in instances fishy or awkward activities are suspected. CCTVs are made with high resolution to capture both close and far objects, for future analysis. Informal surveillance on the other hand involves the community taking its own initiative to protect itself from criminal acts. Neighborhood watch schemes are popular in various regions of the United States and Europe, among other places. The community members are encouraged by homeland security to remain vigilant and report any suspicious individuals in the community. This has helped reduce domestic assaults, rape, negligence and bestiality among other crimes. Controlling access points is another environmental strategy to

The Artistic Impulse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Artistic Impulse - Essay Example As Greek statuary progressed, so did a sense of individuality in the face of the statues. Attention was paid to the eyes, hair, facial features etc. giving the statue a sense of individualized life likeness. Early Renaissance sculpture marks a return to the classical period with the bronze statue David (1420-1450), created by Donatello for the Palazzo Medici courtyard. Donatello reinvented the classical nude by choosing to depict the biblical hero David, who slew Goliath, and not choosing a pagan God or athlete, as his contemporaries did. As such, the statue of David symbolizes the strength, culture and independence of the Florentine republic. David is a freestanding bronze statue and thus, is considered to be one of the first sculptures in the round, to represent the nude human form since ancient times. He stands in classical contrapposto style, [Student 2] with the weight of his body thrown to one foot creating tension on one side of the body and relaxation on the other. Standing w ith the Goliath’s head at his feet, Gardner (2006) likens the pose to that of a â€Å"hunter with his kill† (474). ... Less than half a century following Buonarroti’s completion of David, biographer Giorgio Vasari writes â€Å"without any doubt the figure has put in the shade every other statue, ancient or modern, Greek or Roman† (Gardner, 502), praising the technical and aesthetic value of the colossal statue. Like Donatello’s David, he is depicted in contrapposto style; however, Buonarroti chose to represent the young man before the victory, with his head turned to left and his face full of stern watchfulness. The prelude to action is most evident in the anatomy, revealing a certain psychological energy in the pose as one views his sturdy limbs, rugged torso and swelling veins. His whole body, as well as his facial features, is tense with collective power. Gardner (2006) observes â€Å"David exhibits the characteristic energy in reserve that imbues Michelangelo’s later figures with the tension of a coiled spring† (502), showing how this David differs from Donatell o’s in abandoning the self-contained composition that characterized 15th –century statuary. [Student 3] Baroque sculpture is not merely decorative, but educational in nature as well. In his sculpture David (1623), Baroque artist Gianlorenzo Bernini captures the spirit of this historical period with theatrical energy. Bernini’s work strives for a sense of unity between body, spirit, action and emotion, showing that â€Å"Baroque and the High Renaissance drew different lessons from ancient art† (Jansen, 2004, 686), however neither were more classical than the other. This three dimensional marble statue tries to focus on a very precise moment and differs dramatically from the relaxed figures of David rendered

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers - Essay Example In this context, Jennifer tries to understand the issues and the prison conditions. The rest of the book involves her visiting the prison as a rehabilitation teacher and eventually as the director of the program that she had established in the prison. Her major goal in going to the prison was to get some sort of understanding of the social context in there. After acquiring this, the book explains that she intended to take up the matter with the respective authorities in a bid to get prison reforms (Wayne, 2002). This was inspiring to me as I have always been a person who supports justice and equality despite the different social statures around. The chapter states that in the prison, she talked to some of the inmates, after which she was able to go and visit their homes and talk to their families. The stories provided by their families are very touching and leave one contemplating the feeling of having one of their family members in prison. Jennifer talks about the food that the inmates eat. She complains stating that the fact that they had broken the law does not mean that they had to suffer the conditions which they were going through. One of the points stated in the book is where she explains the manner in which one of the inmates wakes up in tattered clothes as he walks around the cellblock. This was one issue I found very disturbing as the welfare of inmates was ignored even after guards looking at him and giving a scornful laugh. Another key point that I noted explained in the book was that of drugs in prison. In the prisons, many of the interpersonal relationships found to go well were those that involved drugs. She was able to find that there were different gangs, or rather territories as they referred to them. These were the major causes of the violent activities witnessed in prisons. Not only does Jennifer focus on the welfare of inmates but also looks at the condition of the correctional

Escape from the Long Arm of the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Escape from the Long Arm of the Law - Essay Example The dialog finds Plato's mentor and narrative mouthpiece imprisoned and awaiting execution, a result of the trial in which he was found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens. Crito, a friend of Socrates, has come to prison to visit the condemned man and to advocate that Socrates escape from jail. Socrates will have none of it, and instead engages Crito in one of Socrates' famous dialogs, all in an effort to prove that Socrates cannot flee the punishment of Athens in a way that does not do serious injustice. To justify his claims, Socrates introduces the character of the Laws, voice of the legal charter of Athens. The Laws ask Socrates to stay where he is, to avoid even thinking about escape, since doing so would invite the utter ruination of Athens as a whole: â€Å"Do you imagine,† the Laws inquire, â€Å"that a city can continue to exist and not be turned upside down, if the legal judgments which are pronounced in it have no force but are nullified and destroyed by priva te persons† (Plato 50a-b)? If anyone could simply escape their punishment whenever it didn't suit their own desires, they would be bending laws past their breaking point, since punishment would never have any meaning. Socrates concludes that such a stance is unacceptable. To explain his position to Crito, who is obviously predisposed to the opposite position, Socrates offers a couple of analogies, each of which highlights Socrates's subordinate relationship to the Laws. The law, he contends, is like a father or a master, and Socrates is the child or the slave—in either instance, neither the child nor the slave has the legal right to retaliate against the parent or master simply because they did not like their treatment in one particular instance. In a similar fashion, Socrates benefited from the laws regarding marriage and childrearing, and he cannot simply pick and choose such that he gains all the benefits but suffers none of the consequences. It helps his claim that the Laws have been personified, thus making a set of very diverse laws seem as if they were crafted together and objectively (which seems unlikely) and Socrates clearly believes that because one cannot separate out the Lawsone wants to obey from the Lawsone does not, then one must submit to the force of law in general. This is true even if the law ultimately produces an unfair or even unjust outcome. The price of that one small injustice does not justify committing a grave injustice by disobeying. I believe that the logical result of the Platonic view is nothing less than authoritarianism. There exists little wiggle room in Plato's formulation; the law commands and the citizen obeys. Socrates argues that the greater injustice comes from violating the laws, but what is the threshold at which such a statement can be made? If the state orders the infanticide of second or third-born children because of concerns over population density, or if the federal government declares that cancer p atients can only take marijuana if it comes in a pharmaceutical company's pill form rather than an inexpensive and more effective joint, does one really have to just shrug their shoulders and obey?

The Lady Gaga Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Lady Gaga Empire - Essay Example It also includes mediums through which messages can be spread, such as radio, television, magazines, recorded music, associated media, newspapers, and movies (Rothenbuhler).  It can be said that Lady Gaga’s mass communication approach is unique in the sense she seemingly uses her status to initiate and propel positive ideas. Rarely do celebrities act with virtuous motive in the interest of those who put them on their pedestals. However, a perfect example of another artist who does illustrate similar characteristics is the actor, Academy-Award winning director, philanthropist, and "supporter of uncompromised creative expression," Robert Redford (qt. in Saunders).   While true, selfless actions by few other public figures have been promoted in the media, it is difficult to recognize authenticity and sincerity comparable to those of Lady Gaga’s.USING MEDIA FOR GOOD The Look to the Stars Website identifies several of Lady Gaga’s public recognitions of her work wi th various organizations. The author states, â€Å"Lady Gaga is a creative ‘win-win’ philanthropist, who throws the weight of her popularity behind donation projects† (â€Å"Look to the Stars: The World of Celebrity Giving†). Teaming with Virgin Mobile, Gaga gave free VIP tickets to Little Monsters who dedicated a specific amount of time and/or offered monetary donations to help homeless youth, which raised more than $80,000 and produced upwards of 30,000 community service hours. Her idea to have a â€Å"Gaga for Haiti† day on January 24, 2010, in the midst of the devastating earthquake, generated more than $500,000 for the small country of Haiti.4 By joining forces with former pop culture icon, Cyndi Lauper, and MAC Cosmetics, for the VIVA Glam Campaign,5 the group raised more than 160 million dollars to globally spread information and awareness about HIV/AIDS to women (â€Å"Look to the Stars: The World of Celebrity Giving†). In addition to Gaga’s many charitable projects, she was also at the forefront of

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers - Essay Example In this context, Jennifer tries to understand the issues and the prison conditions. The rest of the book involves her visiting the prison as a rehabilitation teacher and eventually as the director of the program that she had established in the prison. Her major goal in going to the prison was to get some sort of understanding of the social context in there. After acquiring this, the book explains that she intended to take up the matter with the respective authorities in a bid to get prison reforms (Wayne, 2002). This was inspiring to me as I have always been a person who supports justice and equality despite the different social statures around. The chapter states that in the prison, she talked to some of the inmates, after which she was able to go and visit their homes and talk to their families. The stories provided by their families are very touching and leave one contemplating the feeling of having one of their family members in prison. Jennifer talks about the food that the inmates eat. She complains stating that the fact that they had broken the law does not mean that they had to suffer the conditions which they were going through. One of the points stated in the book is where she explains the manner in which one of the inmates wakes up in tattered clothes as he walks around the cellblock. This was one issue I found very disturbing as the welfare of inmates was ignored even after guards looking at him and giving a scornful laugh. Another key point that I noted explained in the book was that of drugs in prison. In the prisons, many of the interpersonal relationships found to go well were those that involved drugs. She was able to find that there were different gangs, or rather territories as they referred to them. These were the major causes of the violent activities witnessed in prisons. Not only does Jennifer focus on the welfare of inmates but also looks at the condition of the correctional

The Lady Gaga Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Lady Gaga Empire - Essay Example It also includes mediums through which messages can be spread, such as radio, television, magazines, recorded music, associated media, newspapers, and movies (Rothenbuhler).  It can be said that Lady Gaga’s mass communication approach is unique in the sense she seemingly uses her status to initiate and propel positive ideas. Rarely do celebrities act with virtuous motive in the interest of those who put them on their pedestals. However, a perfect example of another artist who does illustrate similar characteristics is the actor, Academy-Award winning director, philanthropist, and "supporter of uncompromised creative expression," Robert Redford (qt. in Saunders).   While true, selfless actions by few other public figures have been promoted in the media, it is difficult to recognize authenticity and sincerity comparable to those of Lady Gaga’s.USING MEDIA FOR GOOD The Look to the Stars Website identifies several of Lady Gaga’s public recognitions of her work wi th various organizations. The author states, â€Å"Lady Gaga is a creative ‘win-win’ philanthropist, who throws the weight of her popularity behind donation projects† (â€Å"Look to the Stars: The World of Celebrity Giving†). Teaming with Virgin Mobile, Gaga gave free VIP tickets to Little Monsters who dedicated a specific amount of time and/or offered monetary donations to help homeless youth, which raised more than $80,000 and produced upwards of 30,000 community service hours. Her idea to have a â€Å"Gaga for Haiti† day on January 24, 2010, in the midst of the devastating earthquake, generated more than $500,000 for the small country of Haiti.4 By joining forces with former pop culture icon, Cyndi Lauper, and MAC Cosmetics, for the VIVA Glam Campaign,5 the group raised more than 160 million dollars to globally spread information and awareness about HIV/AIDS to women (â€Å"Look to the Stars: The World of Celebrity Giving†). In addition to Gaga’s many charitable projects, she was also at the forefront of

West Bank, Gaza and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay Example for Free

West Bank, Gaza and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been very crucial in the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict. After the First World War, the area was under the British Mandate of Palestine. But Jordan captured West Bank in 1948 when the Arab-Israeli War commenced. By 1967, Israel recaptured the West Bank during the Six-Day War. Yet, Jordan did not drop its claim to the area until 1988. It is interesting to note that most of the residents in the area are Arabs. But since 1967, more Israeli settlement has been added. Israel’s occupation of the West Bank area is historically important because they consider this area as historically theirs. As such, they called it Judea and Samaria. The Arabs, however, object to this terminology and claims that the Israeli just want to justify their expansionist aims. As such, the Arabs call it the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River. The establishment of Israeli settlements in the West Bank area drew the ire of Arabs during the 1970s. Only in 1978 did the Arabs’ desire for self-rule taken into consideration under the Camp David Accords. The plan however never materialized. Gaza Strip on the other hand is part of the Palestinian authorities although it has been in the hands of the Israeli military since 1967 as part of the West Bank occupation. In 1987, the Arabs started rioting in response to the curfew and increased Israeli presence at the Gaza Strip. In their view, such acts were a violation of their human rights and they could not allow it to proceed. This led to the Intifada or uprising, which led to protests and violent attacks. The Israeli military responded with force leading to deaths and property damages. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank figure prominently in the security concerns of Israel. In the first place, the occupation of Gaza Strip was tied up to the efforts of Israel to cut off the support of Lebanon to Palestinian fighters. The occupation was a means to stem the attacks against Jerusalem and serve as a watching post should there be renewed violence and fighting directed against the country, which stands as an island in a sea of Arab nations. As Israel continued to occupy the Gaza Strip and West Bank, it went through painful confrontations, peace talks—some of which succeeded, most of it failed. Yet, with the continuous assertion of Palestinians of their right to the territory and the civilian toll of the conflicts, Israel had to agree to the terms of various peace talks in withdrawing from the territory and relinquish control to Palestinians. In the year 2005, the Israeli government declared unilaterally that it has ended its occupation of the Gaza Strip. Due to the continuous dangers posed on the civilians and perhaps because of the heavy damages caused by war, the government has chosen this course of action. Still, the case of West Bank and Gaza Strip is peculiar because of the lack of sovereignty of the area prior to the occupation of Israel. Yet, with the withdrawal of Israel from the region, the country still holds control of Philadelphi Route, which is important in preventing the smuggling of materials into Egypt. The main concern of Israel remains its security and the prevention of hostilities. Reference Dowty, Alan (2001). The Jewish State: A Century Later. California: University of California Press.

Analysis of the Term Victorian

Analysis of the Term Victorian How useful is the term ‘Victorian’? The era of Queen Victoria’s reign witnessed the passing of milestones in social, economic, and personal progress. It was the age of industrialisation, a time of travel, a battleground for the conflict between science and religion. Yet further to these great markers by which many of us recognise the nineteenth century, and indeed because of them, Victoria’s reign inspired change within the individual; a revaluation of what it meant to be a human being. The literary artists gave new form to the questions on the lips of the society around them: questions that were no longer so easily answered by Christianity. This essay will explore how the term ‘Victorian’ does or doesn’t fit into the context from which it supposedly arises. I will look at trends such as the development of literary criticism, pioneering scientific discoveries, the exploration into psychic phenomenon, the increasing independence of women, the mapping of the world, all of which contribu te to what we know and understand as ‘Victorian’, and have in some way shaped the work of authors such as Eliot, Conan Doyle, and H.G Wells. Using some close textual analysis I hope to identify the nature of the inspiration behind the literature of the time and whether or not such work transcends the limits of the term ‘Victorian.’ Many great literary minds of the time such as Arnold, Dickens, and Ruskin helped define the era in their critical attitudes towards it. (Davis 2002, p.10). Criticism appears to have become a form of exploration in an attempt to turn what concerned and worried the artist into something that questioned and reassured. Arnold, in his Essays in Criticism (Arnold, 1865, p.V) explains how he perceives the difference between logical and artistic thought The truth is I have never been able to ht it off happily with the logicians, and it would be mere affectation in me to give myself the airs of doing so. They imagine truth something to be proved, I something to be seen; they something to be manufactured, I as something to be found. It is this growing awareness of difference that was to become a defining feature of Victorian literature. Differences appeared in the very perception of things, which led to feelings of isolation, despair, alienation all prominent themes in nineteenth century work. In Arnold’s A Summer Night (Arnold 1913, p.167) we see the poetic mind struggling to find meaning on a moonlit street where the windows, like hostile faces, are ‘silent and white, unopening down’: And the calm moonlight seems to say Hast thou then still the old unquiet breast That neither deadens into rest Nor ever feels the fiery glow That whirls the spirit front itself away, 30 But fluctuates to and fro Never by passion quite possessd And never quite benumbd by the worlds sway? And I, I know not if to pray Still to be what I am, or yield, and be Like all the other men I see. Arnold recognises that the society around him is unfulfilled, that men are giving ‘their lives to some unmeaning taskwork’ and he questions whether he should be questioning at all. He is aware of a gap between the reality of working life and life outside of work; a difference that he strives to find explanation for. Arnold appears to be lost amidst the streets of his own mind afraid of not being able to define who he is, what he is. These feelings in part express what it meant to be a Victorian struggling to place thoughts and feelings which appear to no longer fit into society. The Victorian era contained much of what had past and much of what was still to come it cannot be seen as an isolated time, nor as an isolated term. It contained aspects of the Romantic period for instance in Arnold’s poem, The Buried Life, we see vestiges of Wordsworth’s legacy of Ode to Immortality. In both poems there is a sense of something lost an old passion or instinct that has gone with the passing of time yet Arnold, unlike Wordsworth, finds it more difficult to come to terms with this: ‘A longing to inquire / Into the mystery of this heart that beats / So wild, so deep in us, to know / Whence our thoughts come and where they go.’ (Arnold 1913, p.170). The language is more passionately discontent than the resolute tone of Wordsworth’s visionary acceptance: ‘We will grieve not, rather find/Strength in what remains behind.’ (Wordsworth 1928, p.136). The styles are obviously connected, but the trouble with defining the era usi ng literary terminology is that it is clearly neither a quirky extension of the Romantic’s vision, nor is it a straightforward path to the modernists. The 1870’s saw the maturation of authors such as Anthony Trollope who brought out his later novels, yet only twenty years later in 1896 these publications are sitting beside the considerably different form and subject matter of work such as H.G. Wellls’ The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau, with literary experiments with the modern such as Richard Jefferies’ The Story of My Heart occurring between in 1883. A growing concern in nineteenth century life was the potential loss of the Romantic link between human nature and the natural world, and the gap which sudden industrial progress highlighted between nature and mechanisation. As technology developed so did the notion of artificiality. It is worth noting J.S.Mill’s essay on Nature (Mill 1874, p.65) where he says that it is man’s nature to be artificial, to remedy nature by artificial pruning and intervention. Further to this, a contemporary of Mill’s Richard Jennings also drew a line between the ‘province of human nature’ and the ‘external world.’ (Lightman 1997, p.80). In the countryside more efficient methods of farming were employed (see the contrast between Henchard’s methods and Farfrae’s ‘ciphering and mensuration’ in Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge, (Hardy 1886, p.122)), and new machines introduced which no longer required the labour force to run the m, encouraging people to migrate to towns and cities. The urban reality was harsh in 1851 roughly four million people were employed in trade and manufacture and mining, leaving only one and a half million in agriculture. (Davis 2002, p.13). City life, as portrayed by Dickens, was a cruel, unhealthy and unwholesome existence for many (see Bleak House and Little Dorritt). However, much of his work was set in the period of his youth and childhood which was pre-Victorian. (Lawton (ed) 1995, p.xvi). Working conditions in cities were often cramped, unhygienic and poorly ventilated, and living conditions could be even worse. Mrs. Gaskell, living in Manchester, witnessed the appalling pressures that these conditions forced upon family life, and in North and South depicts the difficulties of urban living, offering that salvation for the working classes lay with themselves and their employers, working together. (see North and South 1855) However, city life was not all desolate based in cit ies, the development of the detective novel brought the city back to human scale (Lehan, p.84). Detectives pieced together and reconstructed past events through clues for example, the murder of Bartholomew Sholto in The Sign of Four by Conan Doyle: As far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr Sholto’s person, but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father had been carried off. The discovery was first made by Mr Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson () Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the Norwood police station () Mr Jones’ well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window but must have made their way across the roof of the building, and so through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. (p.66) The city provided an exciting backdrop to crime scenes its labyrinthine streets similar to the mapping of the pathways of the human mind so that the two became inextricably linked. As Joseph McLaughlin says in Writing the Urban Jungle, ‘the urban jungle is a space that calls forth a pleasurable acquiescence to something greater, more powerful, and, indeed, sublime () also an imaginative domain that calls forth heroic action: exploring, conquering, enlightening, purifying, taming, besting.’ (McLaughlin 2000, p.3). Further to what McLaughlin suggests, the Victorians’ perception of time and space in the city and the countryside was changing radically from the medieval perceptions that still existed in the Romantic period. People saw the finished products in both manufacturing and farming no longer involving the long, drawn-out means to an end, instead the end result was being achieved faster and with more control. Here developed the root of modern industry which continues today in intensive farming and factory lines. Yet here too the beginnings of waste and excess. Richard Jefferies, a nineteenth century naturalist and mystic, known for his essays on nature, remarks on the abundance of food in the natural world in his essay Meadow Thoughts: The surface of the earth offers to us far more than we can consume the grains, the seeds, the fruits, the animals, the abounding products are beyond the power of all the human race to devour. They can, too, be multiplied a thousandfold. There is no natural lack. Whenever there is lack among us it is from artificial causes, which intelligence should remove. (Jefferies, 1994, p.26). Unfortunately there was plenty for those who could afford it but not enough to spare for the poorer lower classes. (Ritvo 1997, p.194). Trends of over production and wastage which became a worry in Victorian times are reflected in the literary concerns of Jefferies’ spiritual autobiography The Story of My Heart, and in his children’s story, Bevis, where words, despite their abundance, are in danger of becoming an insufficient medium of expression and not filling the metaphysical space on the page. In describing a sunrise and the thoughts and feelings associated with watching it, Jefferies struggles to articulate the beauty before him: The sun had not yet stood out from the orient, but his precedent light shone through the translucent blue. Yet it was not blue, nor is there any word, nor is a word possible to convey the feeling. (Jefferies 1881, p.391) We see too in James Thomson’s City of Dreadful Night (Thomson 1892, p.2) the desperateness of trying to articulate thoughts and feelings: Because a cold rage seizes one at whiles To show the bitter old and wrinkled truth Stripped naked of all vesture that beguiles, False dreams, false hopes, false masks and modes of youth; Because it gives some sense of power and passion In helpless impotence to try to fashion Our woe in living words howeer uncouth. In both passages there is a sense of trying to convey so much more than the words will allow. And that is the essence of the problem of defining the era with a word which the era itself selected ‘Victorian’ like the authors of its time struggles to convey the enormity and the condensed nature of its changing environment. Victorian literature is thus perhaps best studied between the lines of its texts rather than for what it offers at face value. Thomson’s words ‘to try to fashion our woe in living words’ although appearing dismal could actually withhold a more positive message: it deals with the notion of perseverance that by creating words, however difficult, the author is refusing to give in to despair by trying to transform it into creative energy. There is a sense of crisis in the work of Thomson, just as there is to be found in Jefferies futuristic After London where the lone explorer Felix discovers the land after humanity has overreached itself to sociological disaster and has lost the harmonious relationship between mankind and nature. London becomes no more than a crystallised ruin in a ground oozing with poison ‘unctuous and slimy, like a thick oil.’ (Jefferies 1885, p.205). Through work like this we see that ‘Victorian’ was an era of possibility where visions of the future suddenly became tangible concerns and possible realities, and where contemporary conceptions of language and life might no longer hold up to the pressures of the time. In H.G. Wells’ the Time Machine, the time traveller discovers a land in the year 802,701: The air was free from gnats, the earth from weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The ideal of preventative medicine was attained. diseases had been stamped out. I saw no evidence of any contagious diseases during all my stay. And i shall have to tell you later that even the processes of putrefaction and decay had been profoundly affected by these changes. (Wells 1995, p.28) In this description of a futuristic age the Victorian imagination still retains the idea of a paradise a place full of ‘butterflies’ and ‘flowers.‘ This Christian concept is a literary hangover from Milton’s Paradise Lost, and remains an important theme for the moderns such as D.H. Lawrence. (see The Rainbow). The Victorian age suffered from a dualistic split between a bright future on the one hand promised by leaps in technology, education and economical success and an increasingly alienated, confused society on the other. There were those writers like Huxley who believed that by human intervention within a political and economic framework humans could evolve out of their condition seeing ‘no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will () may modify the conditions of existence’ (Huxley 1911, p.149), and there were those like Hardy whose characters were destined to fail because they were not emotionally fitted into the cosmos ou t of which they evolved. (see Tess and Jude the Obscure). It was the nineteenth century spiritual crisis which precipitated the literary shift into the new genre of the realist novel. By the mid-nineteenth century, society had begun to grow away from the idea of atonement for sin within an omnipotent religion, where judgement would come solely in heaven, and towards the more humanistic idea of God as in-dwelling, so that salvation could be achieved on earth: We have now come to regard the world not as a machine, but as an organism, a system in which, while the parts contribute to the growth of the whole, the whole also reacts upon the development of the parts; and whose primary purpose is its own perfection, something that is contained within and not outside itself, an internal end: while in their turn the myriad parts of this universal organism are also lesser organisms, ends in and for themselves, pursuing each its lonely ideal of individual completeness. (Gore (ed) 1890, p.211) A spiritual lack created a need to define, order and categorise a world that suddenly appeared chaotic. When Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 he raised issues of public concern as to the truth of the bible and the essence of Christianity. However, it’s content and its methodology were seriously criticised (Appleman 2001, p.200). It was a difficult work to accept as it caused the public to rethink and redefine their history that they were a product of evolution and not a tailor made being came as a shock. The future of thought and literature was suddenly changed as people tried to sew together the threads of the past. Natural Science became a national obsession exotic flora and fauna from across the world were brought into London daily, to be displayed in the British Museum or Kew Gardens (Lightman, 1997 p.1). In literature, we see the author begin to play the part of evolutionist: Eliot’s Middlemarch although concerned with the evolving character of D orothea Brooke follows the threads of sub-plots and the successes and failures of other characters which form a pattern of development. As Gillian Beer says: There is not one primitive tissue, just as there is not one key to all mythologies () emphasis upon plurality, rather than upon singleness, is crucial to the developing argument of Middlemarch. (Beer 2000, p.143). Gone is the tradition of the valiant hero or heroine singularly conquering their environment (a trend set by classics such as Homer’s The Odyssey) and in its place a landscape upon which the author grafts and nurtures developing shoots of life. It is this sort of growth that is in danger of remaining unseen to the contemporary historian or critic as it can become shrouded by generalising concepts which are so often prescribed to the term ‘Victorian’ concepts such as ‘repression‘, ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘prudish.’ (http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor4.html). These sort of terms restrict the individual’s perception of the era when it was a time when growth was encouraged rather than restricted. Authors used the metaphor of pruning and nurturing plant life to symbolise the development of the self for example in North and South Gaskell discusses the problem of the working individual who struggles to reach his or her potent ial when the manufacturers are ‘unsparingly cutting away all off-shoots in the direction of literature or high mental cultivation, in hopes of throwing the whole strength and vigour of the plant into commerce.’ (Gaskell 1865, p.69). For Gaskell, it is through the everyday interaction between people that such difficulties are given the chance to be overcome. And this was the essence of the realist novel set amidst a world which had witnessed such alteration to transform the lostness felt by society into a seeing of the smaller things in life which could withhold qualities of greater spiritual value. As Philip Davis says, ‘the realist novel was the holding ground, the meeting point, for the overlapping of common life.’ (Davis 2002, p.144). And it was within this common life that a more calm acceptance of the new state could be achieved. Gillian Beer suggests that through her novel’s organisation Eliot creates order and understanding of the evolving process of novel-writing. In Middlemarch, the naming of Casaubon‘s books ‘Waiting for Death, Two Temptations, Three Love Problems draws attention to the book’s organisation by emphasising categorisation: But the process of reading leads into divergence and variability. Even while we are observing how closely human beings conform in the taxonomy of events we learn how differently they feel and think. For Dorothea and Casaubon waiting for death means something very different from what it means for Mary Garth and Featherstone. The relations are different. The distances between people are different. Lydgate, here at one with the project of the book, longed to demonstrate the more intimate relations of living structure (1:15:225). In this double emphasis on conformity and variability George Eliot intensifies older literary organisations by means of recent scientific theory. In Darwinian theory, variability is the creative principle, but the type makes it possible for us to track common ancestry and common kinship. (Beer 2000, pp.143-4) Writing itself was becoming an almost divine representation, an inner order of a chaotic external world. The idea that humans had evolved from primates meant that the boundaries between what was one thing and what was another were no longer so clearly defined. There developed a fear of the animate and a fear of the inanimate, and efforts were sought to understand them. As Harriet Ritvo says in The Platypus and the Mermaid: Depending on the beholder, an anomaly might be viewed as embodying a challenge to the established order, whether social, natural, or divine; the containment of that challenge; the incomprehensibility of the creation by human intelligence; or simply the endless and diverting variety of the world. And beholders who agreed on the content of the representation could still disagree strongly about its moral valence whether it was good or bad, entrancing or disgusting. (Ritvo 1997, p.148). In a world where categorisation was important but not so easily achievable, the novel too became neither one thing nor another; realism became a melting pot for ideas, a sort of hybrid of styles. In Eliot’s The Lifted Veil realism is used as a vehicle for the exploration of her ideas into psychology and psychic phenomena. Latimers clairvoyance forces him to endure a painful insight into the minds of the people around him: I began to be aware of a phase in my abnormal sensibility, to which, from the languid and slight nature of my intercourse with others since my illness, I had not been alive before. This was the obtrusion on my mind of the mental process going forward in first one person, and then another, with whom I happened to be in contact: the vagrant, frivolous ideas and emotions of some uninteresting acquaintanceMrs Filmore, for examplewould force themselves on my consciousness like an importunate, ill-played musical instrument, or the loud activity of an imprisoned insect. But this superadded consciousness, wearying and annoying enough when it urged on me the trivial experience of indifferent people, became an intense pain and grief when it seemed to be opening to me the souls of those who were in a close relation to me when the rational talk, the graceful attentions, the wittily-turned phrases, and the kindly deeds, which used to make the web of their characters, were seen as if thrust asund er by a microscopic vision, that showed all the intermediate frivolities, all the suppressed egoism, all the struggling chaos of puerilities, meanness, vague capricious memories, and indolent make-shift thoughts, from which human words and deeds emerge like leaflets covering a fermenting heap.(Eliot 1859, pp.13-14) Latimer is no longer caught up in the ‘web’ of people’s characters. Eliot plays with the idea that his consciousness has the ability to transcend the mundane the ’rational talk’, the ’kindly deeds’ in order to gain insight into an alternative and not so rosy vision of the mechanics of the human mind where thoughts are ‘make-shift’ and ‘chaotic.’ The nineteenth century saw the acceptance of the concept of otherworldly phenomena into the working classes. Robert Owen, a social reformer, who influenced the British Labor movement (Oppenheim 1985, p.40) encouraged many working class ‘Owenites’ to ‘follow him into the spiritualist fold, where they enthusiastically continued their ongoing search for the ‘new moral world.’’ Interests such as spiritualism and psychology which had previously been more underground pursuits, were brought out into the open. The concept of telepathy, a term coined by Frederic Myers in 1882 (Luckhurst 2002, p.1) even helped to ‘theorize the uneasy cross-cultural encounters at the colonial frontier.’ (Luckhurst 2002, p.3) These developments suggest that the Victorians felt imbued with the power of their age they felt confident of their ability to communicate on different planes of consciousness. So it could be argued that ‘Victorian’ was not simply a time devoted to the discovery of the self and the workings of the inner mind, but a time that also focused on the projection of ideas and thoughts outside of the self; ideas which themselves stand outside of the category ‘Victorian.’ In 1869 the Spiritualist Newspaper began selling first as a fortnightly, then as a weekly publication. (Oppenheim 1985, p.45). This draws the discussion to the point of representation the social nature of Victorians seems to suggest that they enjoyed the focus being on themselves. Self-obsession is an aspect of the time which the term ‘Victorian’ usefully represents: by specifically referring to the rule of the Queen the term draws attention to the importance of the individual. The era saw the development of many different styles of fashion and the use of photography. As part of the Freudian influence great importance was placed on childhood and it was during the nineteenth century that the first laws concerning child welfare were passed. (Mavor quoted from Brown (ed) 2001, p.i) The focus on the central, the ego, was paramount. As Mavor says, it was as if the camera had to be invented in order to document what would soon be lost, childhood itself; and childhood had to be invented in order for the camera to document childhood (a fantasy of innocence) as real. (Brown (ed) 2001, p.27). Perhaps because of society’s awareness of change there seems to have been a necessity to record and keep track of the world around. Discovery took place on a much grander scale in the exploration of the world. The British Empire was global, yet as Patrick Brantlinger suggests in Rule of Darkness, (Brantlinger 1988, p.4) imperialism was not generally reflected in the literature of the time. What we do see evidence of however is the mapping of new worlds and territories (see Robert Louis Stevenson‘s Treasure Island and Richard Jefferies’ Bevis). The development of the adventure story suggests that Victorians desired to explore what lay outside of what they knew and in this respect the term ‘Victorian’ which people can think of as representing a society closed within in itself is misleading. The rise of imperialism began to shape the ideological dimensions of subjects studied in school (Bristow 1991, p.20) and so through literature the Victorian child was offered an exciting world of sophisticated representation and ideas with the knowledge that the world was theirs to explore. Does the term then encourage us to think of the society as a class of people set apart from the rest of the world? In The Island of Dr. Moreau it is not just the future of science that is explored but the concept of a new territory and its effects on the mind. For example, when the protagonist first sees the beast-servant on board the ship he is immediately frightened: I did not know then that a reddish luminosity, at least, is not uncommon in human eyes. The figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind. Then the effect passed as it had come. An uncouth black figure of a man, a figure of no particular import, hung over the taffrail, against the starlight. (Wells 1997, p.31). The circumstances of being at sea is disorientating and causes the imagination to play tricks so that the man is first one thing ‘a figure with its eyes of fire’ and then suddenly becomes an ‘uncouth black figure of a man.’ The effect is that the protagonist suddenly regresses to the ’forgotten horrors of childhood.’ This sudden fluctuation is important as it represents the fluidity of the era and how change and discovery on a global scale, although empowering, also caused instability within the individual. Therefore, when considering the age in the context of its name we can understand that the term was perhaps created out of both the desire to represent achievement but also out of a need to belong. This desire to belong which manifested itself during an age ruled by one woman placed great importance on the role of the female in society. It was a time when women began to travel and write without the necessity of using a pseudonym (see Cheryl McEwan on Kingsley in West Africa, (2000, p.73)). In books such as Hardy’s Tess the idea of the fallen woman is tested: Tess attempts to rediscover paradise at Talbothays but ultimately a life with her lover is denied. The nineteenth century began to be more explicit concerning issues of gender: for example, the relationship between Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick (see McClintock 1995, pp.132-138) where Cullwick is photographed cross-dressed as a farm worker. A ‘Victorian’ man however appears to have had more stigma attached to him and in this context the term is commonly associated with heroism and English valour (Ridley/Dawson 1994, p.110). There is less flexibility surrounding the notion of Victorian men -as if the te rm somehow threatened their masculinity. However, this did not seem to affect the male authors of the time. Lewis Carroll captured the public imagination through Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which although following the story of a little girl, depicts many male characters. (see Carroll 2000). In conclusion, the term ‘Victorian’ although useful to refer to a specific time period in history, does however encourage us to make sweeping generalisations without investigating how diverse the era was. In terms of the subject matter of Victorian Literature there is no clear cut distinction between early, middle and late Victorian for example, Bulwer-Lytton (see Zanoni and A Strange Story) attempts at the beginning of the century what Richard Jefferies does at the end the difference is in style and form. Within that time frame there was condensed an incredible diversity of styles, tastes and attitudes, yet the term suffers from being associated with prejudices and assumptions about Victorians. However, it is worth bearing in mind that prejudices were indeed a part of Victorian society. When the Victorians explored the rest of the world they made generalisations and assumptions based on what they found (eg: The Island of Dr. Moreau) where experience and the nature of what is discovered defines behaviour. As a critic in 1858 wrote ‘we are living in an age of transition’ (quoted from Houghton 1957, p.1); therefore when considering the Victorian age we should remember that values and trends were evolving it was not a static time governed by repression or old fashioned values. From the research carried out for this essay it appears that through the gaining of knowledge, Victorians also realised how little they knew and how much more there was to discover. As Arnold says in The Buried Life: How fair a lot to fill / Is left to each man still. (Arnold 1913, p.168). In this context the term ‘Victorian’ can be dualistically representative: discoveries of the time, although revolutionary, were often rudimentary in nature, and it was humbling for the individual to consider how much further knowledge and discovery had yet to go. On the other hand, the term suffers too from being inadequate: a single word is too smaller term for the vast wealth and diversity of discovery, and it could be argued that the era is better realised if seen as a second revolution. Like the Victorian authors themselves we are left with no suitable words to convey the entirety of an era as John Lawton says in his introduction to The Time Machine (1995, p.xxvi) ‘the term ‘Victorian’ is used too loosely to encompass a sequence of eras, the diverse reign of a woman who lent her name to objects as diverse as a railway terminus and a plum.’ When studying Victorian Literature it is worth bearing in mind the fluidity of the time and the changeability which arose out of living on the cusp between the passing away of old values and the unknown territory of the new. Realism recognised the gaps which were forming in society such as the distancing of the self from religion and offered to paper the cracks through its vision of bringing people together on a mundane level. It’s territory stretched to include the darkest recesses of the mind to the smallest of everyday events, celebrating the grey area between extremes as we now know as ‘Victorian.’ Bibliography Arnold, M., 1913, The Poems of Matthew Arnold, 1840-1867. Oxford: Oxford University Press Appleman, P, 2001, Darwin. London: Norton Beer, G., 2000, Darwin’s Plots. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pr