History of English Language Essay

English language, like many elements in the history, has gone many transformations for nothing is permanent in this world. There are many contributing factors that played in its development as what it is now including different influences brought to it by merging of cultures and sometimes war. English language also differs depending on the culture of one’s country, since not only one country is using this as their official language but many of them; and, each has gone some modification that represents their culture. In this global period, English language is considered as the world’s official language through which, all countries are united heading towards future economic progress and common understanding of all people in the whole world. Through this also, war is avoided, common goals are set for the good of all, and poor countries are taken into account by international organization. English language then as widely accepted fact, is the lingua franca of the world and the language of economics. English language, since it is replacing other previously dominant languages of the world such as French and Spanish, is taught in almost schools in all countries from Pre-elementary courses to college courses. Through this emerging trend, many students from affluent countries avail themselves of western education which they consider as an advantage in their career. Some would even take English lessons in other countries to acquire fluency and competency. The reason behind is that, English is the only means to communicate with all the people of the world wherever you are or what ever country you may be. Thus, international communication is now possible regardless of which country you come from as long as you know even just the basic and as their languages unite their understanding of their culture is strengthened. Development of Old English Language Old English language had been developed through many components with its origin from the history. Although, many historians believed and developed the hypothesis that English language and other languages in many parts of Europe were identical because of evidences of similarities of many words. Aside from that, it was also believed that Sanskrit, the old language of India which was much older than Greek or German, had preserved common features with that of Old English language (Baugh & Cable, p. 18). It is easy therefore to presume that English is a by-product of the development of many languages in Europe which had only one origin. The Arrival of Celts in Britain English language was known as the language of English people, however, it was not the language spoken by earliest settlers of the lands; historians believed that many races had come and their languages were not known and recorded in the history until the arrival of the Celts which had the trace of Old English language, and began the history of its development. The Celts were bronze and iron-age inhabitants and when they reached Britain they pushed the earlier settlers into the remote corners of the nation through their mighty weapons. According to history, they arrived around 500 BC with language known for being the first Indo-European tongue to be spoken in Britain. Celts and Celtic language as they say had very little contribution in the Old English, as they tried to trace some of those words. However, scholars believed that they influenced the grammatical structure of the language (Baugh & Cable, p. 82-83). At this far-flung advancement of English, many of those languages are no longer traced; though, it is believed to be the first among the contributors of the English language development, however, its influence is no longer recognized today. Anglo-Saxon Settlements In the beginning, Old English was an assortment of group of dialect languages, reflecting the diverse beginning of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. Anglo-Saxon was a group of different races with the Germanic people as the dominant among them who arrived in Britain during the 5th and 6th AD upon the invitation of the King of Briton to help them against Roman invaders. This group had acquired influences of the Latin culture including language that after the collapse of Roman Empire in their country arrived in Britain to find settlement also. According to Barbara Fennell, there was no written record about language use in Britain before the Anglo-Saxon invasion (Fennell, p. 55). There were indications that England was inhabited for thousands of years prior to Anglo-Saxon invasion, with its known early inhabitants as the Celts or Scotts. The Romans did not have much linguistic contribution on the linguistics development, but the collapsed of the Empire paved the way for the settlement of Anglo-Saxon. The native Britons were either pushed into isolated and farthest areas or they adapted the Anglo-Saxon’s way of life. The Angli was actually a Germanic tribe which has been in Britain a couple of centuries prior to Roman invasion. These Anglo-Saxon spoke Germanic dialect which had some similarities with the original settlers, the Celts which eventually blended with them. Thus, Germanic tribes began arriving and settling in Kent. Not long when the Germans formed a kingdom known in history as the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. As these German tribes struggled for superiority, Kent, the main settlement, emerged as the dominating tribe which claimed sovereignty over all the kingdoms of the South. Barbara Fennel pointed out that they dominated largely because of the influence of centers of learning at Linchfarne. Subsequently, the kingdom was passed from King Egbert down to his grandson Alfred the Great, and on to King Edward the Confessor who became Rex Anglorum, which means King of the English in 1026 BC (Fennel, p. 57). The merging of Anglo-Saxon and Celtics had come to be known as the English people, and their language as the English language. The Scandinavian Influence Of course, there had been more developments and significant contribution towards the linguistic development of the English language. But, ultimately, invasions and settlements had been the major factors for this development. The invasion of the Romans and the collapse of the Empire lay the ground for the settlement of Anglo-Saxon, while the influx of more Germanic tribesmen overlay the founding of a new nation. In 787 to 850 AD, a new invasion and settlement had taken place; the Scandinavian under King Guthrum invaded Britain which was under King Alfred. As the Danes were defeated by King Alfred, they withdrew from King Alfred’s territory but remained in Britain. Eventually, he accepted Christianity and was baptized. The settlement of these people in England not only involved political and linguistic assimilation but also culture and religion which are essential in the development of language. The succeeding political assimilation that follows after the Scandinavian invasion as well as the intermarriages of political rulers had been instrumental in Anglo-Saxon – Celtic people to be identified as an English people. Fennell said that King Henry’s successor Richard II, was renowned as the lion’s heart â€Å"†¦who spoke little or no English at all, and spent only six months in total on English soil† (p. 57). Fennel’s emphasis on â€Å"speaking English and spending six months on English soil† meant two things, the beginning of the English language and of the English country. The Linguistic Development during the Middle Ages Middle Ages had been a very significant in the development of English languages after its assimilation during the merging of Anglo-Saxon and Celts. This period gave way to the advancement of the language in terms of words incorporation from other native languages specifically the Northern European and some Germanic tribes. This was also significant in the expansion of the language in its grammatical structure. Change in the Inflectional Endings Inflectional endings are unstressed syllables at the ends of words of most of Old English language such as –en in drunken. The decay of inflectional endings was attributed to the influence of Vikings in their language and at the same time, the Germanic language has a stress on the first syllable and not on endings. Some of those endings that were omitted were -a, -e, -u and –an, which had been evenly reduced to -e, (pronounced ). Another alteration involved the loss of final -n after -e in unstressed syllables. For example, drinken, from Old English drincan â€Å"to drink,† became first of all drinke and then drink (Baugh and Cable, 1993, p. 155). Fennel had also observed these significant changes in the English language. She pointed out that the â€Å"development of more fixed words order and the loss of inflections† (p. 97), characterizes the Middle English. Further, she observed slight consonantal changes in such that certain voiced consonants became voiceless and other voiceless consonants became voiced (p. 97). The Noun and Adjectives Old English is also typified in terms of infection wherein they add letters to the end of the word to signify another meaning either from singular to plural or gender differences. For instance, the singular stan, stanes and stane having its plural form of stanas, stana and stanum; which according to Baugh and Cable, reduced to stan, stanes and stane. These changes have been observed in the Modern English. Old English was seen as having similarity with the Latin grammar which was more inflected. To note, Old English had four cases: the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases that are emphasized by adding letter/s at the end of the word. For example, the singular neuter had an ending –a, feminine had –o, masculine had –n. On the other hand, Latin had six cases such as nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative. This development in English language was obviously an influence of Roman in their language. Throughout the development process, especially coming into the Middle Ages, English language had survived its –s plural form and the weak –n form become infrequent as in the case of oxen, brethren, children and oxen. Verb Form The Middle English had a grammatical rule similar to the Modern English. In general, the first person singular of the Middle English present tense verbs end in –e, the second person had –est, while the third person had –eb. This is applied to strong verb, while in weak verbs, word endings used are –ed(e), -d(e), or –t(e). It was also usual in the Middle English the Object -Verb sequence whereas the Modern English follows the Verb-Object pattern; for example : then fell he down, which is contrast with today’s grammar structure as then he fell down. (Fischer, p. 180-181) The infinitive –to was also usual in Middle English which was later replaced by that. For instance, He commanded them that they should tie him up. (Fischer, p. 211)

Muscular System Essay

The human muscular system is made up of over 600 connecting muscles. All of the muscles work together in sync to make your body move in several different ways. None of the body systems can work without muscles and your muscles can’t work without your other body systems so that means that all of your body systems need each other to work and make your body function correctly. Your muscles need protein, nutrients, and oxygen to move and work. Then the circulatory system carries those essential particles to your muscles from the digestive and respiratory systems. That is when your circulatory system carries the leftover waste back to the original systems to be discharged from your body. Your nervous system runs the whole show by telling your different systems to make this whole process happen Muscles Your muscles are made up of body tissue which consists of very very small fibers which make up your muscles and you also have ligaments which help your muscles move in the right way. Each of your muscles are responsible for their own special job. All of your muscles contract to provide motion when the brain sends a signal through the nervous system which are stimulants. These stimulants tell your muscles to move your arms, legs and other muscles move your eyelids and they all work in sync to make you walk and talk. There are some muscles in which you have no control over like the muscles in your internal organs like your heart, stomach, and other organs in all of your body systems. There are three different types of muscular tissues. There are the Smooth, the Skeletal, and the Cardiac muscular tissues. Smooth muscles are made of spindle-shaped cells. Smooth muscles are found in the skin, internal organs, reproductive system, major blood vessels, and excretory system. Skeletal muscles are composed of long fibers surrounded by a membranous sheath, the  sarcolemma. Since the Skeletal muscles are under control by whom ever they belong to are called voluntary muscles. This muscle is attached to two or more bones which are then attached to the skeleton by tendons. For example, head and neck muscles; contraction of these muscles produces facial expressions and head movements. They are also responsible for speech and swallowing. Skeletal muscles are the main muscles which move your body. Muscles nearly always work in coordinated groups; contraction of one muscle is accompanied by relaxation of another, while other muscles stabilize nearby joints. Then the last of the muscle types is the Cardiac Muscle or the involuntary muscles. Cardiac muscles are not under conscious control they do not react by a persons decision or movement. and are connected to the nervous system which are stimulated by autonomic impulses. Cardiac muscles are found in your internal organs like the heart or the intestine. For example; they include muscles that propel food through the intestine and those that control sweating and blood pressure. Muscles that are properly exercised react to stimuli quickly and powerfully. As a result of excessive use muscles may have an abnormal increase of an organ or tissue in the muscle cells. That is why if you work out at the gym your muscles become larger, but if you overwork your muscles they decrease sometimes to a fraction of its original size and becomes substantially weaker

It Has Been Said That the Comparison Method of Valuation Is the Best Method. Do You Agree with This Statement?

It has been said that the Comparison Method of Valuation is the best method. Do you agree with this statement? It has been said that the Comparison Method of Valuation is the best method. I personally agree to this statement but I believe there is no perfect valuation method. All methods have advantages and disadvantages. Valuers always prefer to use the comparative method for assessing market value or market rent, because it links directly to evidence of current market transactions. The other methods: profits, residual, contractors and investment are used when the comparative method cannot be used with full confidence. The comparison method is used to value the main types of property for example houses shops offices and standard warehouses and factories. These are regularly sold or let in the market giving plenty of evidence to support an assessment of rental value or market value of similar properties. The comparison method can be used to calculate the market value of the property and the rental as well; all other methods can provide results for one or the other. So this method is mainly used because it provides solid evidence of the property’s value. All other methods can be manipulated by the valuer. This is the reason why the comparison method is the only acceptable method for court usage. When there is little or no evidence of comparable market transactions the valuer needs to stand in the shoes of the most likely purchaser or tenant to simulate their thinking and calculations they might carry out when assessing how much to pay for the property concerned. To perform a valuation with the comparison method: The valuer needs to be fully aware of the current economic conditions * The market should be stable * There should be plenty of evidence of recent sale in similar properties * In Size * Condition * Age * Area * Type As I notice today it is very hard to find comparable market transactions simply because there are very few transactions done. But even when we do find comparable date the market is so unstable that they aren’t r eliable. The comparison method of valuation is also a basic component of each of the other methods. It plays a vital role in the Investment method. In the first stage of the investment method we need to analyze property sale transactions to establish the relationship between rental income and the capital prices recently paid by investors. So we basically use the comparable data from the comparison method to find a yield or a multiplier which expresses the relationship between rent and capital. And finally we use this yield and the rental income of a property to calculate the current value.

Total Quality Management (TQM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Total Quality Management (TQM) - Essay Example The main idea is that execution and outcomes of TQM processes are quite distinct from its precepts and theories. Besides, TQM is itself in the process of reinvention and evolution and has unquestionably come a long way since it was first established during the middle of 20th Century. What strikes one most about TQM is that it does not really concern itself about quality or benchmarks, but is a system that is designed to sustain long term value addition and growth for the total business, and not necessarily for specific constituents of business segments like Production, Quality Controls (QC), Inventory Management, etc. Perhaps, one of the major aspects of TQM, besides its holistic approach, lies in its continued sustenance and implementation over long period of time, thus contributing to the overall success of this technique. Perhaps, sustaining the momentum of TQM practices is even more challenging and onerous, especially in SME organizations, where there are several constraints, in terms of available documentation and a well laid out work flow system, besides shortage of human and material resources to set systems afloat. â€Å"Implementing TQM Management alone cannot ensure its long term business success. The leader has to drive the TQM implementation in accordance to the TQM principles, follow the TQM model, provides regular TQM training in the application of TQM Tools, get total employee involvement in their continuous improvement culture building and keep up its momentum† (Foong 2001).

Government's Policies and Economic Development Essay

Government's Policies and Economic Development - Essay Example Problems faced by developing & transition economies, in which more markets are lacking, the markets that do exist may function less effectively, and information problems are more severe than in industrial countries simply because of the rapid change in the economic environment. While markets failures loom larger over this developing and transition economies, the capacity of the government to correct these market failures is often weaker. So the question arises is what should have been the role of the government in the past two decades. Assessing the appropriate role of the government requires the recognition of both the need for and the limitation of the government action. Successful governments have helped create markets such as bond and stock markets and long- term credit institution. They have established and enforced laws and regulations that have financial markets more stable and increased competition in all sectors. In many cases government has acted as a surrogate entrepreneur, encouraging the firms to enter the certain markets. Especially in export markets governments have provided firms with strong incentives. Some econometric evidences suggest that many of these interventions were quite effective. For instance, an analysis of the mild financial restraint evidenced in most East Asian economies suggest that it did lead to more rapid economic growth, but it can not be inferred that all governments are infallible. Even in the East Asian economies governments have made mistakes. The Japanese government for example initially prevented Honda from entering the automobile industry. Government cannot fix every problem. Government definitely has a plac e, but it should know its place. Economic growth in the last 20 years has shown a very clear decline in progress for some countries as compared with the previous two decades (1960 - 1980). The poorest group of countries went from a per capita GDP growth rate of 1.9 percent annually in 1960-80, to a decline of 0.5 percent per year (1980-2000). For the middle group (which includes mostly poor countries), there was a sharp decline from an annual per capita growth rate of 3.6 percent to just less than 1 percent Progress in education also slowed in the last two decades. The rate of growth of primary, secondary, and tertiary (post-secondary) school enrollment was slower for most groups of countries. There are some exceptions, but these tend to be concentrated among the better performing groups of countries. By almost every measure of education, including literacy rates, the middle and poorer performing groups saw less rapid progress in the period of globalization than in the prior two decades. The rate of growth of public spending on education, as a share of GDP, also slowed across many countries. Over the past few years the persistent economic crisis in Asia has called into question much of the received wisdom that liberalization has enhanced the economic contribution of international capital markets. The Asian crisis is but the most recent example of other similar episodes: the

Reforming tax and regulatory policy in Canada Research Paper

Reforming tax and regulatory policy in Canada - Research Paper Example Importation of industrial knowledge s been achieved through business alliances, market arrangements, or internal channels. Canadian firm increase in productivity has been achieved through importation of capital equipment and production system, sub-assemblies and parts, and production concepts. Canadian companies should try to secure a place in global markets, which in turn will earn the country opportunity to expand in terms of her telecommunications, resources, and environmental technologies. Small companies and business account for a larger employment percentage in the local economy. According to Carnoy (72), global markets aids in expanding these opportunities in the world economy. Such moves gives countries like Canada an opportunity to expand. For Canada to succeed in her economy, she must revise her tax and regulatory policies. For instance, federal tax is too high, which suppresses many small businesses. When these small companies start to expand, tax increase, which makes the m, disappear from the market. Canada should adopt tax system that does not discourage financial capital expenditures. Not only is the taxation system killing the development and growth of her economy but also there is need to review the regulatory system for Canadian markets. There is an urgent need to establish a regulatory system that is suitable for Canadian future (Ingrid 45-51). The Canadian administrators and securities have tried to provide a common ground for all securities regulators to work in unison. For example, the passport system in Canada, which all the provinces have adopted, provides an opportunity for dealer and dealer registration. Such common regulation has reduced the costs as Canadians issuers and... This essay analyzes that the formula has served Canada economy in tax calculation from 1982 to 2005 though several adjustments were incorporated. These included limitation of â€Å"tax back† effect extent, total payments floor, and total payments ceiling adjustments. Ceiling enabled the Canada’s federal payments growth were limited to the nominal gross domestic product growth rate within a specified time. Total payment floor was implemented in the formula to protect equalization from unusual changes in their economic conditions. â€Å"Tax back† effect limitation was aimed at controlling resource revenues since an increase in income from tax representing a large share of the province tax base may lead to even or total offset in equalization payment. In conclusion, unlike other countries, Canada does not have a formal system to consolidate the tax reporting of corporate groups or offset losses and profits of the member groups. Therefore, it should implement tax sys tem that does not daunt financial capital expenditures. Not only is the taxation system hindering the progress and growth of her economy but also there is need to re-examine the dictatorial system for Canadian markets. Past years have seen adopt a solitary system. The federal and provincial government of Canada should embrace a new system of group taxation and group relief such as tax loss transfer system. Since technological advancement has been identified as a key factor in the Canada’s economic growth, taxes imposed and regulation policies on new technologies should be redefined.

Contract for difference(CFDs) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12500 words

Contract for difference(CFDs) - Essay Example Following this the next chapter will deal with the pricing of the CFDs. Also the trading of the CFDs will be discussed in detail within this chapter. This will provide for a better understanding of the working of the CFDs and will also detail the risks that face the investors who invest in the CFDs. The chapter will also provide for details of how the CFDs can be hedged. This chapter will form the body of the research and will discuss the details like the trading methods that can be used for these financial instruments. Also the pros and contras, and sample computation of CFD will be discussed in detail within this research. Also sample pricing will be discussed within the research, which will help provide a better understanding of how the pricing is done in the real time. The last chapter of the literature review will involve a comparison of the contract of differences with futures, options and spread betting. This will help gain an insight of how the contracts for difference are different from the more commonly used derivatives. This will also help understand in brief the futures, options, spread betting and will provide for an understanding of how they work. Since the objectives of this research are very basic and are mainly to understand the global financial instrument – CFD better, hence secondary research will be used in this research. This will involve a through research of the contract for differences. The research will mainly be carried out mainly using books, research papers, etc. This research is very different from the primary method. This is also referred to as the Tertiary research. The research involves using information that has already been presented by other authors, in previous researches. The main sources of the data are from books, journals, newspapers, online sources, etc. In short the secondary research refers to information published by others and which is already available1. It is also data collected by other people

Critique on the Article, An Anorexic's Recovery. by Leanna Rutherford Lab Report

Critique on the Article, An Anorexic's Recovery. by Leanna Rutherford - Lab Report Example According to Rutherford, she "was 17 and in her [my] graduating year of high school when she [I] decided that she [I] wanted to lose weight" (n.p.). Studies show that mostly, adolescent young women are affected by this mental illness. And women are more prone than men; although, in some cases men can also be a candidate for this disorder. American Psychiatric Association viewed this as a psychological disorder affecting mainly young women (American Psychiatric Association, 1984) and recent reports suggest a long-term increasing incidence of the problem (Lucas, 1991; Lucas et al., 1991; Willi & Grossman, 1983). The article, "An Anorexic's Recovery" is a timely way of informing people/readers of this lethal psychological disorder through the experience of the writer on this illness. As a narrative article, the point of views of the writer was emphasized on her accounts of battling the mental disorder. The worst part of anorexia is the determination of factors that causes the disorder. Until now, there is no exact cause of anorexia nervosa. However, researchers on the field of medicine and psychology suggested that factors in general could be categorized as follows: Cultural Pressure - Just like in the case of Rutherford, cultural pressure played as the main role why she suffered from anorexia. . Rutherford "wanted to impress the boys in university and she [I] thought being thin would help. So she [I] went on a diet"(n.p.). (eHealthMD, 2005) claimed that "in many societies, being extremely thin is the standard of beauty for women and represents success, happiness, and self-control.(p.3). Cultural pressure seems to be the primary cause of why some suffer from this mental disorder. In the article, this was the only cause stated; however, below you can see that not only cultural pressure is to be blamed but other factors as well. Psychological Issues - People who have low self-esteem, poor body image, rigid thinking patterns, perfectionism, feelings of ineffectiveness, physical or sexual abuse, and need for control are prone on developing anorexia. Psychological imbalances may be a by-factor of having the disorder. Rutherford's case may seem to imply that she may have suffered from the need of being perfect, although the writer projected that being good in school or things he did imply that he is psychologically stable: "I was an honors student when I entered university and had an 82 percent average after my first semester. I had made lots of friends and had balanced my social and academic obligations". In view points of psychology, anorexia is a mental illness and therefore has a lot to do with psychological issues. Rutherford may have overlooked this issue on his article. Family Environment - Some family upbringings may be factors to the development of anorexia. The families of people who have the disorder are more expected to be rigid, overprotective, and suffocating closeness. In these situations, anorexia nervosa builds up as a way of fighting back for individuality and independence. Genetic Factors - According to (Wade, et.al, 2000) "anorexia shares a genetic risk with clinical depression" (p.157). People who have

Java Card Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Java Card - Essay Example This paper dwells greatly on the smart card technology focusing on Java Card as the case study. Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines a smart card as â€Å"a small plastic card that has a built-in microprocessor to store and process data and records1.† In 1968, two great German scientists first mooted the idea of incorporating an integrated circuit into a plastic card. Many other people worked on this technology with no notable progress until 1974-1979 when Roland Moreno filed patents on smart cards in 11 different countries. Late 1970 saw the first commercialization of the smart card and the introduction of the microprocessor smart card through the work of CII-Honeywell Bull. Initial trials on the smart card took place in France and Germany in the early 1980 where they were used as prepaid phone cards and secure debit/credit bank cards2. Currently, the power of smart cards has greatly advanced consequent of the existence of improved modern chip and cryptography technologies. They have diverse commercial applications such as banking, identification, ticketing as well as telecommunication applications where they are used as SIM cards on cell phones. Traditionally, the development of smart card applications is subject to a lengthy, rigorous and difficult process. Development tools are built by smart card manufacturers using generic assembly language tools and dedicated hardware emulators obtained from silicon chip vendors. These facilities are not readily available to third party application developers making the development of these applications exclusive to a few highly skilled developers who have specialized in a particular smart card hardware and software. Until recently there existed no standard high-level application interface thus compelling developers to deal with the always technical low-level programming of modules such as communication

Concert Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Concert Report - Essay Example If technically superior and sophisticated, but with an accessibility that allows anyone to be able to listen and appreciate it. The evening was a pleasant and exciting event for music as jazz musician created a magical atmosphere. Listening to smooth jazz is similar to listening to pop music. The ways in which they are similar includes the easiness of listening, the simplicity that appears to be present even though there is obvious technical difficulty involved, and that it creates a sense of joy even when its being sorrowful or melancholy. Stetcu defined as smooth jazz as something that is driven by a popular audience appreciation (25). This in no way diminishes its presence, but instead provides a means for the principles of jazz to be more enjoyable as the composition takes its complexity and supports it with a lighter presentation. Most of the music that was playing seemed joyful. There is a certain amount of happiness that comes through this particular style of music that may not necessarily be in other forms of jazz. One of the interesting things of note was the way in which the drummer played. Some drummers tend to be extremely active and aggressive as they beat on the skins. Even during his solos, Ramon Banda was laid-back in the way which he approached his methods of play even though this sounds did not seem restrained. His solos flowed seamlessly into the rest of music as the other instruments dropped away and then joined him. This particular style was not necessarily aggressive, but that did not mean that his beat was repressed. He was constant and vigilant in the way in which he created an underlying rhythm. The duet between Henry Franklin and Gilbert Castallanos was in inspiring. The complexity of what they were playing created an overtone of the smooth jazz line with a sophistication that ran through

Running Fence by Christo and Jeanne-Claude Essay

Running Fence by Christo and Jeanne-Claude - Essay Example The biggest continuous part of the Running Fence that remains intact is hanging below Rio Theater’s ceiling in Monte Rio. The Running Fence is perceived to be among the most significant projects as far as public arts are concerned, and at the time when it was installed, it was one of the most ambitious projects that were embarked on by Christo and Jeanne-Claude after they arrived in the US in 1964. When the art piece was made public at America’s bicentennial, it caught the imagination of the public as the exceptional beauty of the light as well as the weather that played across the fence’s fabric sharply contrasted with the issue of limitations and division that underlie the aspects that are usually conveyed by fences. In the case of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the fence was an embodiment of bigger issues in regards to human freedom as well as a constraint. The manner in which the Running Fence was planned, designed and installed along with the critical response t o the piece was a tone-setter for the rest of their bigger projects as none of them could have been conceivable without the Running Fence. Between 1972, when the idea of the Running Fence was initially conceived and 1976 the artists experienced apparent overwhelming difficulties and apart from negotiations of land rights with numerous ranchers, they had to deal with administrative obstacles at a time when they were not famous. The two artists had the ability to convince ordinary people of the transformative aspects associated with art.

Characters and Plot in the Black Gold Essay Example for Free

Characters and Plot in the Black Gold Essay It is not so frequent to find a novel written with an animal as the main character and the story revolving primarily around him. Nevertheless, there are writers like Marguerite Henry who writes animal stories with so much fascination and passion, one of which is the Black Gold. It was based on true-to-life experiences set during the early 1990s in Oklahoma and Kentucky. Mixing her vast knowledge about the topic and her creative talent in writing, Marguerite Henry was able to weave a story with extraordinary characters confronted with extraordinary conflicts. Brief Summary The story evolved in the story of a colt named Black Gold, following his adventures being a race horse. He was regarded by many as weak and not good in racing since he possesses a smaller body compared to other horses. But through the help of his trainer Hanley Webb and rider Jaydee Mooney, the colt started to win and finally gained victory in the Kentucky Derby. His success continued to flourish until he got injured in one of the races he joined. His leg got a quarter crack. Eventually, the colt died. Black Gold was given a burial in the middle of a field in New Orleans. Analysis of the Characters Being an animal is not a reason to live a life less simple. It is very much evident in the story of Black Gold. His life is consisted of complex occurrences that can be considered as more intricate when compared to lives of other people. His birth was a product of a dream. Al Hoots, the owner of Black Gold’s mother named U-See-It, dreamt that if he will breed U-See-It to a leading sire, the mare shall give birth to the horse that will win in the Kentucky Derby. As a result, Hoots tried to mate U-See-It to a stallion named Black Toney. The money Hoots used came from the oil that during that time was being excavated from their land in Oklahoma. Here is where the name Black Gold originated. Among the individuals who imparted time and dedication to Black Gold was his rider Jaydee Mooney. Jaydee Mooney was the one who initially believed in the capacity and talent of Black Gold: â€Å" †¦us Mooneys always try. We do our best†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ( p. 108). However, his spirit was pushed into limits when Black Gold got injured several days before the Derby: It was the first loss for the team of Black Gold and Jaydee Mooney. Was it the soreness in his foot showing up again-the same trouble hed had the week before the Derby? (p. 143). Nevertheless, Jaydee Mooney proved to be not only as a rider but a friend as well to Black Gold, especially when the horse died. Analysis of the Plot Since the book was based from true stories and actual experiences, Marguerite Henry wrote it by narrating events in chronological order. Although written in this manner, the book is not boring and dragging to read. It is because the plot itself is a compelling one that catches and drawn immediately the attention of its readers. She used literary devices so as to show her creativity and mastery in handling and writing a topic such as that presented in the book. Henry was also successful in presenting transition of events. Every chapter in the book promises a more interesting and intense happenings from previous events and chapters. In addition, Henry was effective in inflicting transitional devices that guide the readers while reading. The use of illustrations in the book helped in the proper interpretation of events in the story since the readers will be carefully guided while going on through the story. However, the use of these illustrations somehow gives an impression that Black Gold is a children’s book. But all in all, the story’s plot, as well as the book in general, was a well- crafted depiction of an extraordinary tale. Reference Henry, M. ( 1957). Black Gold. Illinois: Rand McNally

Effect of Acculturation on Consumer Behaviour

Effect of Acculturation on Consumer Behaviour Acculturation and affect of it on ethnic minorities consumer behaviour. Abstract: This paper presents what acculturation is and its impact on consumer behaviour. Acculturation represents a multifaceted and ongoing process where the continual interactions between the minority and dominant ethnic group iteratively affect cultural attitudes, behaviours and values across society. An important aspect of the acculturation process is often the need for individuals to demonstrate success in life, either to the dominant societal group or to their own ethnic group. This behaviour is consistent with consumer acculturation theories that argue that products imbued with cultural meaning are deliberately consumed by ethnic minorities to demonstrate their cultural adaptation. This is the process of acculturation. Introduction: An alternative consumer acculturation perspective is that ethnic minority individuals who demonstrate conspicuous consumption often do so in order to show their sense of rejection from the dominant society. This rejection may arise from experiences of racism often culminating in poor academic performance, inability to obtain well-paid jobs and struggles to establish a self-identity that is both recognized and valued by their own ethnic group and others. The ethnic minority persons sense of rejection may then be represented by the consumption of products that differentiates them from the dominant group and highlights their differences. A consumption act potentially reflects their perceived sense of rejection and demonstrates their inability and unwillingness to conform to the dominant societal culture. Main body : The contention is that there are variations in purchase decisions of micro cultures. It is thought that the division of subcultures will give academicians and practitioners with better and more correct data from which to understand the customers who acculturate. Research in this area will let greater and more precise intercultural comparisons. We also hypothesize that the currently identified social categories are far and too broad to prove meaningful utilization patterns or be predictive of future consumption behaviour, with the changing ethnic origin county. Dimensional nature of acculturation: To consumer researchers, acculturation is measured by some scale on various items relating to the respondents acculturation process, such as language favourite and knowledge about the host culture.   A respondents scores on all items are then put together (or further averaged) to yield a single score of the respondents acculturation level.   This practice assumes acculturation to be one-dimensional and therefore can be expressed by a single score.   However, research in psychology and sociology has shown that acculturation is a more compound multidimensional idea. A noticeable study from the above is that different researchers have proposed different structures for the acculturation. Some look at only behavioural, some use purely attitudinal elements, yet others join both behavioural and attitudinal elements in the structure. Although these structures differ from each other, they all state that acculturation is a one-dimensional form, but a multidimensional construct.   Therefore, when a researcher declares level of acculturation with a single score, the result may be prejudiced and may not reflect the real influence of the different aspects of acculturation. Way acculturation can influence consumer behaviour is through the maintenance and change of the acculturating individuals self-identity.   The acculturation process obviously has a significant impact on the individuals self.   It is main for the individual to get used to the changes while at the same time maintain an incorporated self.   The conflict between change and continuity in the acculturation process is reflected in the products the customer consumes and the way consumption takes place. Ecological factors and individual characteristics also play a vital role in the acculturation process and in the connection between acculturation and consumer behaviour. Acculturation and Consumer Behaviour One central way to differentiate between members of a subculture is to think the degree to which they keep a sense of identifying with their home country vs. their host country. â€Å"Acculturation refers to the process of progress and alteration to one countrys cultural environment by an individual from another country† (Blackwell, Miniard and Engel, 2007). The nature of this change process is affected by many aspects. Personal differences, such as whether the person speaks the host country language. The persons contacts with acculturation causes people and establishments that educate the ways of a culture are also crucial. Some of these agents are united with the culture of origin (in Sevgis case, Turkey). These factors include family, friends, the mosque, local businesses and Turkish-language; media that keep the shopper in touch with his or her land of origin. Other agents are linked with the culture of migration (in this case, the Netherlands), and help the consumer to learn how to pilot in the new surroundings. These comprise state schools and Dutch-language media. As immigrants become accustomed to their new surroundings, some processes come into work. Movement refers to the things appealing people to pull up themselves physically from one location and move to another. Although many ethnic members all over Europe are second generation (born in the country where they live), their parents are more probable to have been the first to arrive in the new country. On arrival, settlers come across a need for transformation. This means attempting to master a set of rules for functioning in the new situation, whether learning how to interpret a different currency or understanding the social meanings of strange clothing styles. This cultural knowledge directs to a process of adaptation, where new consumption patterns are formed. As clients experience acculturation, several things happen. Many immigrants suffer (at least to some extent) assimilation, where t hey agree to products that are recognised with the mainstream culture. At the same time, there is an effort at maintaining of practices related with the culture of origin. Immigrants stay in touch with people in their country, and many go on to eat ethnic foods and read ethnic news-papers. Their continued credentials with their home culture may cause conflict, as they hate the pressure to plunge their identities and receive on new roles. These processes show that ethnicity is a flowing concept, and that the borders of a subculture are continuously being recreated (Laroche et al. 1998 as cited in Palumbo and Teich, 2004). An ethnic pluralism perspective argues that ethnic groups diverge from the mainstream in shifting degrees, and that adaptation to the dominant society occurs selectively. Research facts argue against the view that assimilation essentially entails losing identification with the persons original ethnic group. For example, Sevgi feels relaxing in conveying her ‘T urkishness in a variety of consumption associated ways: the magazines she buys, the TV programmes on the Turkish network she wishes to watch, her selection of ethnically suitable gifts for events such as weddings and bayram(religious holidays).   Otherwise, she has no problems at all in communicating consumption behaviours of the mainstream culture she loves eating drop (Dutch liquorice), buys ‘Western music and has her favourite clothing for going out to the theatre and clubs. The researchers argue that the best pointer of ethnic assimilation is the scope to which members of an ethnic group have social exchanges with members of other groups in comparison with their own. A consumers way of life refers to the ways he or she decides to spend time and money and how his or her values, attitudes and tastes are reproduced by spending choices. Lifestyle research is helpful to track societal consumption preferences and also to place specific products and services to different sections.   Marketers segment by lifestyle distinctions, often by grouping consumers in terms of their AIOs (activities, interests and opinions). Psychographic techniques try to categorize consumers in terms of psychological, subjective variables in addition to visible features (demographics). A variety of systems, such as RISC, have been developed to identify consumer kind and to distinguish them in terms of their brand or product liking, media usage, leisure time manners, and attitudes towards such broad topics   as politics and religion. Interconnected sets of products and activities are associated with public roles to form consumption gathering. People frequently purchase a product or service because it is associated with a group which, in turn, is linked to a lifestyle they find attractive. Where one comes from is often a significant determinant of lifestyle. Many marketers identify national or regional diversity in product preferences, and develop different editions of their products for different markets. Because a consumers culture exercises such a huge influence on his or her lifestyle choices, marketers must learn as much as possible about differences in cultural rules and preferences when marketing in more than one nation. One important issue is the level to which marketing strategies must be customized to each culture, rather than standardized across cultures. A set of techniques called geo-demography investigates consumption models using geo-graphical and demographic data, and identifies bunch of consumers who exhibit similar psychographic characteristics. Consumers identify with many groups that share general qualities and identities. These large groups that live within a society are called subcultures, and membership in them often gives marketers a important clue about individuals consumption decisions. A large constituent of a persons identity is defined by his or her ethnic origins, racial identity and religious background. The growing numbers of people who argue multi-ethnic back-grounds are starting to blot the traditional peculiarities drawn among these subcultures. Recently, several minority groups have trapped the interest of marketers as their financial power has grown. Segmenting consumers by their ethnicity can be of use, but care must be taken not to depend upon inaccurate ethnic typecasts. Because a consumers culture exerts such a major control on his or her lifestyle options, marketers must discover as much as possible about differences in cultural standards and preferences when marketing in more than one country. The appearance of immigrants as a new market opportunity has discussions of immigrants consumption behaviour by both practitioners and academic researchers.   Studying the immigrants acculturation process and their consumption nature present us both a better view of this specific segment and a better understanding of the cultural dynamics fundamental consumer behaviour. Study of acculturating customers can offer us insight into immigrants consumer behaviour and consumer behaviour in common.   With more research undertaken, it can be expected to see extended knowledge of acculturating individuals consumption experience and a more complete understanding of consumers.   The model suggests two paths through which acculturation can influence consumer behaviour.   One is through consumer re-socialization. The other is through the individuals self- management when faced with remarkable changes in the self regularly characteristic of the acculturation process.   Environmental facto rs and individual demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological characteristics can influence both paths and therefore temperate the relationship between acculturation and consumer behaviour. Several orders for future research can be immediately seen.   First, most research has seen acculturation as a one-dimensional construct.   Future research should recognize the fact that individuals accepting the new culture do not necessarily throw away their original cultures.   They can adopt a variety of acculturation strategies including separation and integration.   Psychologists and sociologists have developed multidimensional methods of acculturation that can be adapted to consumer research.   Consumer researchers can also incorporate measures of assimilation and measures of ethnic identification to form a two-dimensional measure of acculturation.   Both construction and corroboration of acculturation measures fitting for consumer research are needed. Second, consumer researchers can study acculturating individuals consumption experience from consumer socialisation outlook.   Some research has been undertaken in this direction.   Penaloza (1989) projected a mo del of consumer acculturation based on consumer socialization.   There are also studies on acculturating individuals information probing behaviour and their dealings with socialization agents such as mass media (DRozario and Douglas 1999; Lee 1989).   More research is needs that study the influence of other socialization agents such as peers and institutions on an acculturating individual and how he or she interacts with them.  Ã‚   Studies on mass media can also be approved further to learn acculturating individuals media use pattern and how different patterns show the way to different consumption related awareness, approaches and values. Thirdly, how acculturating individuals supervise their self-concept during the acculturating process and how different management strategies are toughened and mirrored in the individuals consumption need to be looked at.   Consumer researchers have apprehended the impact of self-concept in consumption and have argued that belongings are part of an individuals extended self (Belk 1988).   These concepts can be applied to acculturating individuals to find out how dynamics of the self are coupled with consumer behaviour. Lastly consumer researchers should put together more hard work to study how an individuals demographic, socioeconomic and psychological characteristics can influence his or her acculturation process and consumption.   Researchers should go ahead of measuring these variables only for testing external strength, but should also study these variables themselves as they may have important suggestions on how acculturating consumers learn and consume.   Efforts should especially be made to identify variables applicable to consumer research and to establish measures of these variables.   Numerical tests can also be done to test these variables reasonable effects and their indirect effects on consumer behaviour. Conclusion: Consumer acculturation can be studied on the base of consumers socialisation. Ethnic identification and level of assimilation are often used to individuals within these minority groups. Acculturation affects consumer behaviour according to both assimilation and unique behavioural model showing the acculturating individuals in their eagerness to adjust to the culture of residence, may develop different social perceptions and behaviour patterns. The paper has attempted to determine the various aspects of acculturation in relation to different ethnic minorities.   Reference Barnett, H. G., Bernard. J. Siegel, Evon Z. Vogt, James B. Watson. 1954. Acculturation: An Exploratory Formulation From the Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Acculturation, 1953. Blackwell, Miniard, Engel, (2007) Consumer Behaviour, Tenth Edition, Thomson South-Western. Palumbo and Teich (2004) â€Å"Market segmentation based on level of acculturation†, Journal of Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol: 22, Issue: 4, pp. 472-84.   Jamal (1996) â€Å"Acculturation: the symbolism of ethnic eating among contemporary British consumers†, British Food Journal. Solomon et al, (2008) â€Å"Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective†, Third edition, Pearson publications, U.K

Offshore Catering Companies

Offshore Catering Companies The best way to break in the world of marine or oil rig employment is offshore catering companies. With no experience required on offshore locations, getting through the selection process is not tough either. As offshore catering companies provide catering operations in different countries, once can gain tremendous amount of experience and move up the employment ladder quickly as well. The term off-shoring has different meanings in different context. In regard with catering business, companies which relocate their business processes in different countries or provide catering services and solutions offshore are termed as offshore catering companies. The management and control of offshore catering companies is outside the jurisdiction of its primary location. These businesses are organized and maintained in offshore financial centers. Benefits of Offshore Catering Companies For a mobile workforce, food becomes the most important factor for productivity as well as well being. Traveling in sea or long hauls in abroad locations can leave any one asking for regular food which one has grown up and get accustomed to. Absence of such basic requirements can leave the workforce dejected and listless. Therefore any business set up with mobile workforce or foreign stays must hire an offshore catering company that can deliver quality food all the time with consistency in taste as well as hygiene. For a business, an offshore catering company takes care of the following things: On demand availability of food: There are times when a crew member celebrates his birthday or marriage ceremony or there is a general get together. In such conditions, nicely cooked food with some exoticness can add more sheen to the event and thus give the workforce a much needed break from the monotony of the work lifestyle. Presence of offshore catering companies on board thus can make a lot of difference in the way the crew celebrates events. Dedicated department with zero responsibility: As the food department belongs to an offshore catering company, the responsibility of arranging the infrastructure or the tools for cooking reduces to the bare minimum and the responsibility gets transferred to the offshore catering companies. Cost benefits: Needless to say, hiring an offshore catering company has many cost benefits as well. One doesnt need to set up the cooking infrastructure and bear the various overheads involved with the procurement of the raw materials and other things needed for the cooking process. However the benefits dont stop only for the companies hiring offshore catering companies, In fact the offshore companies enjoy various benefits as well such as: Tax discounts: The benefits of moving the business by offshore catering companies to an offshore location can be seen in terms of tax discounts they get by operating in offshore financial center. Less Paperwork: Another advantage of forming offshore catering companies is reduced hassles of paper work which leads to the less complicated running of operations. Also little reporting work is required for auditing and verification purposes in offshore companies. Confidentiality maintenance: By incorporating offshore catering companies one can keep the data about company structure and other affairs private which is not possible onshore. Thus offshore catering companies, when seen as a full fledged industry, which needs security of data and various financial benefits, becomes a nice ways for the regular catering companies to increase the span of their clients and services. Working in offshore catering companies Working in offshore catering companies can be highly exciting and rewarding but at the same time, quite demanding. Working for offshore catering companies requires extensive diligence and commitment. Catering work on offshore oil rigs is one of the popular jobs among jobseekers. An offshore oil company requires catering personnel like chefs, housekeeping staff and cooks on regular basis. Catering companies offer service offshoring for such requirements. The most important thing required to work in offshore catering companies is ability to handle pressure as working conditions are really challenging. The work involves the preparation and presentation of quality food, cleaning and sanitation tasks and maintenance of cordial customer relationship. Offshore catering companies require a proper back office system to track various catering activities. If you want to work in offshore catering companies then you may explore several options available apart from culinary stuff. You can get involved in activities like planning and coordination of catering events, communicating with customers about menu requirements, creating and verifying catering budget and monitoring the quality of food and ingredients used. There are number of work opportunities available in offshore catering companies like cooking, housekeeping, goods supply management, customer interaction etc. Apart from work experience one can benefit from some special training like first aid training and offshore survival training for getting hired in offshore catering companies. Opportunities for Catering Personnel working in offshore catering companies There are numerous opportunities available for catering personnel working offshore. Generally offshore catering companies get contract for offshore catering from different sectors. One of the important categories which require the services of offshore catering companies are oil rig companies. Offshore catering companies get requirement of catering staff from oil rigs not only for cooking but for a lot of other activities also, so opportunities for catering personnel are quite high and rewarding here. Listed below are some of the positions: Chef Head Cook: Chef Head Cook has the important responsibility of managing the whole kitchen and preparing good quality meals. The job requires experience because the task is to prepare sumptuous food in huge amount and that on regular basis as well. CampBoss: This is also a high level position that requires experience and is responsible for the management of whole offshore catering department.CampBossensures the smooth functioning of all the catering related activities and of course the preparation of healthy and nutritious food. There is catering staff which assists the camp boss in managing all this stuff. Housekeeping staff: Housekeeping and cleaning activities also come under the catering department in offshore companies. Offshore catering companies are required to provide housekeeping staff along with other staff. Their job involves cleaning and maintaining kitchen area, mess, recreational and sleeping halls. Night Baker: All the bread, muffins, desserts needed by crew is baked by the night baker. Offshore assistant Cook: Assistant cook helps the lead chef and also required to work as a night cook. He follows the instructions of master chef and prepares meals according to his recipes and guidelines. The options are not only many but voluminous as well. There are a plenty of offshore catering companies that generate a huge demand for such vacancies. However in order to get a job, one must show dexterity, multitasking, patience and high level of commitment.

Emiliano Zapata Essay -- essays research papers

Emiliano Zapata, born on August 8, 1879, in the village of Anenecuilco, Morelos (Mexico), Emiliano Zapata was of mestizo heritage and the son of a peasant medier, (a sharecropper or owner of a small plot of land). From the age of eighteen, after the death of his father, he had to support his mother and three sisters and managed to do so very successfully. The little farm prospered enough to allow Zapata to augment the already respectable status he had in his native village. In September of 1909, the residents of Anenecuilco elected Emiliano Zapata president of the village's "defense committee," an age-old group charged with defending the community's interests. In this position, it was Zapata's duty to represent his village's rights before the president-dictator of Mexico, Porfirio Dà ­az, and the governor of Morelos, Pablo Escandà ³n. During the 1880s, Mexico had experienced a boom in sugar cane production, a development that led to the acquisition of more and more land by the hacienderos or plantation owners. Their plantations grew while whole villages disappeared and more and more medieros and other peasants lost their livelihoods or were forced to work on the haciendas. It was under these conditions that a plantation called El Hospital neighboring Zapata's village began encroaching more and more upon the small farmers' lands. This was the first conflict in which Emiliano Zapata established his reputation as a fighter and leader. He led various peaceful occupations and re-divisions of land, increasing his status and his fame to give him regional recognition. In 1910, Francisco Madero, a son of wealthy plantation owners, instigated a revolution against the government of president Dà ­az. Even though most of his motives were political (institute effective suffrage and disallow reelections of presidents), Madero's revolutionary plan included provisions for returning seized lands to peasant farmers. The latter became a rallying cry for the peasantry and Zapata began organizing locals into revolutionary bands, riding from village to village, tearing down hacienda fences and opposing the landed elite's encroachment into their villages. On November 18, the federal government began rounding up Maderistas (the followers of Francisco Madero), and only forty-eight hours later, the first shots of the Mexican Revolution were fired. While the government was confide... ...Morelos seemed at a permanent stalemate. Carranza knew that he could never fully take Mexico while Zapata was still alive and in charge of his army. To rid himself of his enemy, Carranza devised a trap. A letter had been intercepted in which Zapata invited a colonel of the Mexican army who had shown leanings toward his cause to meet and join forces. This colonel, Jesà ºs Guajardo, under the threat of being executed as a traitor, pretended to agree to meet Zapata and defect to his side. On Thursday, April 10, 1919, Zapata walked into Carranza's trap as he met with Guajardo in the town of Chinameca. There, at 2:10 PM, Zapata was shot and killed by federal soldiers, and as the man Zapata hit the ground, dead instantly, the legend of Zapata reached its climax. Carranza did not achieve his goal by killing Zapata. On the contrary, in May of 1920, à lvaro Obregà ³n, one of Zapata's right-hand men, entered the capital with a large fighting force of Zapatistas, and after Carranza had fled, formed the seventy-third government in Mexico's history of independence. In this government, the Zapatistas played an important role, especially in the Department of Agriculture. Mexico was finally at peace.

Legal Progression of Marriage in America :: Essays Papers

Legal Progression of Marriage in America As the British colonies in North America took root, a great part of the economic growth in colonial society was predicated on the labor of imported African slaves. As the number of slaves increased significantly, especially in the southern colonies, a system of separation of the races was established. Since the beginning of the White and Black coexistence in America, Whites have suppressed the rights of Blacks in order to emphasize their racial superiority and to prohibit mixing between the races. In order to maintain their racial purity, Whites established laws making illegal the marriage of Blacks and Whites. Although anti-miscegenation laws were present in early colonial societies, the legacies have continued in the contemporary period. For example, Alabama amended its constitution in 2000 to acknowledge interracial marriages as valid and legal. For over 300 years, anti-miscegenation laws have remained generally the same, outlawing marriages between people of different races. Over time, however, definitions of who is Black have drastically changed, reflecting the status of Blacks’ in society. Anti-miscegenation laws during the era of slavery defined Blacks as having at least one Black grandparent, or one quarter â€Å"Black blood†. Later, these same laws during the Great Migration of the twentieth century, evolved to define Blacks by the â€Å"One Drop Rule,† a rule stating that one was Black if he or she had at least one Black ancestor. These laws, as represented in this paper and based on the policies of the colony and state of Virginia, were used to maintain a separation of races and, thus, to preserve the purity of Whites and to guarantee their system of White supremacy. Sent by King James I, The Virginia Company established the first colony in America in 1607 appropriately named Jamestown (History of Jamestown 1). It is generally accepted that the first Blacks were imported to America in 1619, only twelve years after the colony was established. At this point, no specific laws prohibited interracial relations, but societal taboos and religious doctrines were enough to separate Whites and Blacks from sexual contact. Such beliefs were noted in the proceedings between the governor and his council within the colony: In 1630, a man named Hugh Davis, accused of being sexual involved with a Black, was â€Å"to be soundly whipped before an assembly of Negroes and others for abusing himself to the dishonor of God and the shame of Christians by defiling his body and lying with a Negro† (Hall 602).

“Match Girl” by Anne Bishop Essay

Anne Bishop bases her story, â€Å"Match Girl, off of Hans Christian Andersen’s â€Å"Little Match Girl†, but she adds a disturbing twist. Bishop uses so much torture and violence that as a reader you want no more. â€Å"Little Match Girl† was a story based on an innocent little girl having to face the cold heart of society. On the other hand, â€Å"Match Girl† was a story based on a young girl that has to face a disgusting and cruel world. The misery and cruelty that Bishop adds to her story is too much for this story to gain credibility. The story starts off with Phoenix already having to suffer from her owner’s cruelty. Just like the little girl in Andersen’s story Phoenix is suffering from cold and torn boots, but in Bishop’s story we get to meet her owners. In this tale we have characters that we can hate. Thanks to all of the characters that Bishop’s uses we are able to get a background story, a setting, and are able to have other feelings besides sadness. To start off with her owners were too cruel. Da had no voice throughout the story and the only action he had that was seen was when he hit Moll. Moll is a cold-hearted woman that treats Phoenix badly probably because she is also living a miserable life. She is forced to live in a man’s world. The men in her life control her and at the first chance she gets to show power and control she takes it. At first it seems like she is the only cruel character but that title is removed once we meet the rest of the characters. Moll and Da’s son does not fall too far from the tree. William is a disgusting creature that should have never been given life. He is absolutely good for nothing and does nothing besides shove his penis into innocent and defenseless Phoenix. He gets away with so much and no one says or does anything, not even Phoenix. But William is only a fraction of all the disgusting males in this story. The worst scene in this story is the one when all the men take a turn on raping Phoenix. She has a spoon that is violently hurting her mouth, meanwhile she has men violently rape her one right after the other. These men are completely heartless and time and again Bishop includes scenes of other women being punished by the men when they don’t do what they are told. Bishop only shows the men in the story as being drunk, violent, and horny. It’s as if she is trying to make a greater argument besides the cruel society that Phoenix lives in. All the men in this story are completely useless and do not have any actions besides violence and sex. This violence and sex is what leads critics to say that the cruelty takes credibility away. It is just too much for one girl to stand. There is too much misery for one story too hold. Anne Bishop said, â€Å"While I embellished or modified details to fit the fictional place, I didn’t make up the instruments of torture. They all existed† (Pg 247). I seem to disagree with Bishop. These â€Å"modified details† did not fit this fictional place. It was too much torture for one story, for one specific character to endure. Although Phoenix saw other women being hurt in different ways, she still had to endure watching them suffer. Phoenix when through too much and although in real life humans also have to endure torture and cruelty, I don’t believe anyone will ever go through all that Phoenix went through. I understand that the methods of torture used are real and were used; I just wish Bishop had cut done a bit on all the horrible things that happened to Phoenix. Phoenix didn’t deserve anything that happened to her, but she continued to be kicked around in more misery until the end. This story was really hard to read and accept. The imm ense cruelty took away from the credibility of the tale.

Danny and the Ring Essay

Even though the spring sun was out in force, the wind still made Danny’s nose so cold that it wouldn’t stop running. The weatherman said that it was going to rain later, but so far the sunshine made him squint his eyes as he walked. Every day, Danny had to be at work by 7:30 in the morning, and he had never been late. He walked up the concrete steps to the door of the funeral home slowly, taking care not to trip on the middle step, which had a large crack in it. When he got to the door, he wiped his nose with his sleeve, and then fumbled for his special key. There wasn’t anything else in his pocket, but Danny still fumbled anyway. A minute later, he took the key which was on a long shoelace string and opened the heavy wooden door, wincing at the squeak that cut through the silence of the cold April morning. Danny took his job very seriously, and was pretty good at it. The pay was enough to help pay for his room at the â€Å"Special House† where he lived, and he liked his good friend Dr. Jacob that worked with him in the basement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jacob arrived at the funeral home every day about a half an hour after Danny got there. He thought Danny was a good kid, and he liked the fact that even though he had Downs Syndrome, Danny took to the job well. One thing he couldn’t understand is how he made it every morning at the same exact time like clockwork. Jacob worked on the bodies downstairs, getting them processed and ready for viewing. Danny would come in and sweep, mop, and generally clean up the workshop. The first day that Danny came in to work, he saw Jacob hooking up hoses to a body. Danny was amazed, yet very calm and understanding, wanting to figure out exactly what Jacob was up to. After Jacob tried to give Danny an overview of what he was doing and why, Danny just told him that he didn’t get it, but that he was a heck of a doctor. After that, Jacob had become Dr. Jacob.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Danny was already started when Dr. Jacob had arrived that morning. The bucket was drawn with fresh hot soapy water, and most of the floors had already been swept. Danny was getting the mop ready when Dr. Jacob got off the elevator. Danny greeted him with his famous smile, and went to shake his hand like he did every morning. â€Å"Hands are all full today Danny, let me get over to the counter and drop off my stuff.† The sterile smell of cleaner mixed in with the lingering formaldehyde wafted it’s way around Dr. Jacob’s nose and told his brain that it was time to get to work. He dropped off his coat and lunch and then turned to Danny, who was waiting patiently for his morning handshake. â€Å"Here ya go Danny, and a good morning to you too.† They shook hands and Danny was back to work again. The silence was unbearable down there in the dungeon, as it was sometimes called. Dr. Jacob went to start up the Mr. Coffee, and then turn on the radio.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"You know you can turn this on when you get here Danny boy to give you some tunes to work to, right?† Dr. Jacob said.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Not till your here Dr. Jacob. No radio till your here. Your coffee is almost ready. Got to get back to work now.† Danny smiled with his whole face, eyes and all. He turned and grabbed the mop and began to dip it and ring it out, getting ready to mop the dressing room. That was the room that Dr. Jacob couldn’t stand. He could work on the dead, processing body fluids and what not, without hesitation. But there was something weird about getting them dressed for the last time, complete with hair dos’ and all that he just couldn’t stomach. That job was left to the night guy, Joe. He was gone before six every day, and got there at about ten at night. Joe did pretty good work, even made up the ladies with lipstick and all, but Dr. Jacob tried to avoid the whole area if he could. He put some creamer in his coffee, and turned up the radio a bit, and sat down at his desk to review the files that came with each body. He was working on his second cup when he heard Danny yell.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dr. Jacob jumped up, spilling his coffee on his white lab coat, and ran over to the dressing room. He had never heard Danny holler like that, and he thought something was very wrong. He walked though the double doors and found Danny sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth. â€Å"Danny, what happened? What’s wrong? Come on up Danny boy, tell me what’s going on?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The lady said she needed her ring back. She said give it back to her. She was a mad lady.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Danny, there’s no one else down here but you and me. The elevator hasn’t moved all day. There can’t be any lady in this basement. Did you get scared by one of the bodies down here? Do you want to go home?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"No, I will get back to work. Your right, Larissa is gone now. I’m sorry Dr. Jacob.† Danny dusted himself off and picked up the mop, and started right up again where he had left off. Dr. Jacob took a long look around the room, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Danny had calmed down, almost as if nothing had happened. Dr. Jacob shook it off and went back to his desk, and decided to call Joe and ask him if anything had been going on the night before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The phone rang three times, then a groggy voice was on the other end. â€Å"Hello? This better be important, I’m sleeping.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Hey Joe, this is Jacob down at the home. Anything weird happen last night? No break ins or anybody snooping around in the basement dressing room?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"What? No man. Just business as usual. Had two chicks to do up last night. Hell, it was kinda slow. Something going on or what?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"No, Danny got freaked out. Said something about some lady named Larissa that wanted her ring back. I looked around and there ain’t nobody else in here but us. The doors upstairs dosen’t open until ten in the morning, I just thought you might of known something. Go back to bed Joe, if anything comes up I give you a shout.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I’ll come in early tonight, check the place out. See ya Doc.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dr. Jacob hung the phone back into place and got up to start working on the first customer of the day. At lunchtime, Danny went home, and Dr. Jacob went upstairs to check in with the manager. He mentioned what happened with Danny, and asked if he knew anything about a girl named Larissa. The manager had no idea, but asked if it was such a good idea having Danny working there, especially with his own key. Dr. Jacob went outside with the manager to the parking lot, where the huge old Swann’s sign stood. The sun had hidden itself behind a thick wall of clouds, and the wind had whipped up another notch.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"There is nothing wrong with Danny working here, he does a hell of a job. I took him on so ya, he’s my responsibility. If something happens, it’s on me.† Dr. Jacob stood his ground as small drops began falling on the pavement of the parking lot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"So far, there hasn’t been any problems, but like I warned you from the start. The first time he screws up, he’s gone.† the manager huffed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I got you, there won’t be any problems. Joe’s coming in early just to check everything out, so I might stick around a little till he gets here. If you don’t mind,†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The manager rolled his eyes, adjusted his suit, and walked back into the home. Dr. Jacob thought about having a smoke, but the rain really started kicking in, and it was getting colder. He decided to head back in to work. When he got off the elevator and headed for the work table, he thought he heard someone sniffle. He called out to see who was there. Danny came out from around the corner, with a strange look on his face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Danny, I thought you went home. What are you doing here?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I came back to help Larissa. She’s sad. I don’t like to see a lady cry. Can we give her back the ring now?† Dr. Jacob explained that there was nobody there named Larissa, and he knew nothing about a ring. Danny asked if he could stay for awhile and look for Larissa’s ring, and even though everything in Dr. Jacob’s mind told him not to, he told Danny that he could. A couple hours later, the phone rang. Dr. Jacob answered it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Hey Doc, I was thinking about what you asked me earlier, and one of those chicks I did last night had a toe ring on it. I took it off when I put her shoes on, and I don’t think I put it back on. Do you think a family member came looking for it or something? Mabey that’s what freaked Danny boy out. Look on the top of the clothes rack. I’m gonna get another hour of shut eye in before I come down.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dr. Jacob told Danny where to look, and they found the ring. Danny went over to one of the bodies and placed the ring on the pinky finger. Danny looked up at Dr. Jacob and gave him one of his famous smiles. â€Å"I think she’s happy now. Thank you Dr. Jacob.† Danny got on the elevator and headed up. Dr. Jacob checked the name on the body, Laurie Essa. Larissa.

Malcolm X Views on Racism

Malcolm X views on Racism† English II Ms. Taylor June 18, 2009 Malcolm Little (aka Malcolm X) viewed racism in America as dehumanizing to African Americans and that African Americans were treated with indifference and discrimination. During his lifetime, Malcolm X experienced firsthand how racism affected the lives of African Americans including himself, his family and friends. With some of his first encounters with whites being so terrifying and horrific the firsthand experience was the beginning of his views on how America allowed such treatment to exist. Malcolm X lived during a period in American history when racism and civil rights were at the forefront. This essay will explain what led to his views of racism in America and how his views changed. It will also explain why he embraced the Nation of Islam Muslim organization which works toward the change for the better of African Americans in an array of areas, including spiritual, financial, and social. I will argue why he left the Nation of Islam after he helped strengthen the Nation of Islam membership. Malcolm lost his father Earl Little when he was six years old. Earl Little was viciously beaten by a white mob and run over by a trolley in Lansing, Michigan (Bloom, 2008). The death of his father divided his family. After the father’s death, Malcolm’s mother, Louise Little, struggled to raise him and his seven siblings. The pressure of trying to raise eight children on welfare and the horrific death of her husband, Louise Little eventually had a nervous breakdown and was ultimately institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were then separated and placed in orphanages. For Malcolm, the role the state agency plays in breaking up his family became symbolic of how deeply racism is ingrained in society and its institutions. He stated â€Å"I truly believe that if ever a state social agency destroyed a family, it destroyed ours. We wanted and tried to stay together. Our home didn’t have to be destroyed. † (Bloom, 2008). From this point racist social barriers and Malcolm’s own sense of rebellion threw Malcolm into the criminal world as he became partially, broken by imperialism (Wood, 1992). The aforementioned encounters began molding Malcolm’s views on racism in America. As a youth Malcolm was sent to a detention home in Mason, Michigan the home was run by a white family the Swerlins. He had expected the worst due to his past experiences with whites but he was surprised to find that they were kind and generous. Malcolm then started feeling as though he was there mascot. The Swerlins and their friends would talk freely about â€Å"niggers,† using hurtful language, as though he wasn’t there. From here he went to another detention home. Once he was released he went to go live with his sister Ella where he continued to hang around people who were a bad influence on him. It wasn’t before long Malcolm was back in jail his one last hustle with two white women and a friend landed him back in jail for burglary. â€Å"His court appointed lawyer was appalled to see white women being lured into crime by black men and told him he had no business messing around with white girls! †(Helfer, 2006). While in prison Malcolm was introduced to the Nation of Islam (NOI) by his brother Reginald who visited him often. During his time in prison he recalled all the white people he’d encountered. â€Å"In one way or another he felt they all used blacks to better their own lives leaving blacks living under the same or worse conditions as before†(Helfer, 2006). Malcolm began to read a variety of books morning and night, he felt that knowledge was the ammuniton needed to fight the battle against the white devil whom he blamed for his wasted years. Malcolm also developed a relationship with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad through mail correspondence. After corresponding back and forth for a considerable length of time, Elijah Muhammad provided Malcolm with instructions of how he could enter into the Nation Of Islam. Malcolm commited himself whole heartedly to the Nation Of Islam and was welcomed into the brotherhood. â€Å"The teachings of the Nation of Islam that he receives in prison effect a further change in both Malcolm's character and his view of white people. He simultaneously abandons his wild past and embraces a systematic hatred of whites† (Bloom, 2008). After his release from prison Malcolm continued to embrace the Nation of Islam which worked toward the improvement of African Americans in an array of areas including spiritual guidance, financial independence, and social skills. At this time Malcolm was given the X to replace his last name because Elijah Muhammad believed that Little was a slave name. Malcolm seen the Nation of Islam as a place that gave his life purpose and a sense of pride for African Americans. Soon after Malcolm’s last name changing he became a minister for the Nation of Islam. He would become very well known for his eloquent speeches and his ability to persuade others. During the time of his ministry, some of Malcolm’s close friends were murdered at mosques in Louisiana and New York that were apparently raided by white police officers for no reason. These unjust and tragic events angered Malcolm. This tragic act caused Malcolm’s first disagreement with the Nation Of Islam, because he felt that the Nation Of Islam should defend itself more aggressively over this tragedy. After this, Malcolm began to question the beliefs and philosophy of the Nation of Islam. His faith was soon crushed after he discovered that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, whom he believed was a prophet, was secretly having relations with as many as six women whom were members of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm was so devastated by this deception and blatant hypocrisy he soon terminated his membership in the Nation Of Islam and founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. After establishing his own Muslim organization, Malcolm took a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia which changed his opinion about whites. Malcolm greatly expanded his views on race in America by integrating the wisdom he gained from his travel to Mecca. The trip opened Malcolm’s eyes to see that Muslim’s come in all different races and genders. The trip proved life altering, as Malcolm met â€Å"blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers†(Wood, 1992). He returned to the United States with a new outlook on integration and a profound truth that all white people weren’t racist and evil people. After my research it validated my prior assumptions about Malcolm X himself being racist while under the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. His views changed about racism in America that he could also call a white man his brother as well as a black man. He realized you should judge the individual not an entire race of people as a whole but only the individuals that display or encourage acts of racism. References Alkalimat, A. (1999). ed. , Malcolm X: A Research Site: University of Toledo and Twenty-first Century Books) http://www. brothermalcolm. net Bloom, H. (2008). Bloom’s Guides Comprehensive Research & Study Guides: Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X Hefler, A. (2006). A Graphic Biography Malcolm X Wood, J. (1992). Malcolm X In Our own Image

Abortion and Unborn Child Essay

For many years when you heard the word abortion people would have plenty to say. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to abortions and how they affect women and men. Mitt Romney who is one of our former presidential candidates has very interesting views about abortion. Many people will agree with how Mitt Romney wanted to handle abortion if he won office. Romney was brought up in a Mormon house hold and in this religion abortion is a forbidden word. Abortion should be illegal and should be frown upon like murder in America. Abortion is a medical procedure that requires a licensed professional to perform under doctor and nursing care. This procedure is abuse to the mother and the unborn child it consisted of salt poisoning, a partial birth, dilation and evacuation of embryo. According to (Romney2011) he made several comments in his campaign about how he is a big supporter of the reversal of Roe vs Wade. The Roe vs Wade was a controversial case this was history in the making. Before 1973 abortions were illegal. Abortions are looked at as killing a life that did not have a choice. Romney is an advocate and big supporter of the unborn child protection act. He opposes abortion except in rape, incest, and if the mother’s life is in danger. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay Some people have used the word genocide to describe abortion in the early 1900’s which means killing off a species of any decent. Abortions should be out lawed in the U. S. and should have strict punishment for anyone who chooses to break this law. Women are seeking for affordable ways to receive an abortion procedure and run into all kinds of problems which may cause you can bleed to death. According to Guttmacher Institute about 41 million legal abortions take place worldwide each year and about 48% of those abortions are illegal. In 1988 the abortion pill was introduced to France. Both types of abortions surgical or medical can have physical side effects such as nausea, stomach cramps, bleeding, and some mental or emotional problems. Health problems can occur even with a license doctor there are still many things that can go wrong. There are reports of women who had a legal abortion procedure and died. Some women have had the procedure and never been able to get pregnant or carry a baby to full term due to problems caused from having an abortion. This is a big concern for America when women are dying on the table after having an out- patient surgery performed. Abortions affect everybody not just the women who carry’s the child. Men play a role in the conception but are not asked what their opinion is on what will happen. Men should have a choice too, they have feelings but we often don’t take them into consideration. The women may want to have an abortion due to money problems or not stable enough to handle a child at the moment. The men should be allowed to have some right to where if they are stable enough they will have a choice to raise the child. We have single mother’s and father’s in our country in all different races and religion. I have seen men turn their life around due to having children some men will say having a child saved their life. Some people believe that a unborn child has the right to live weather the life they choose will be a good life or not. People will say that the fetus right to live comes before the mother’s right to choose. One view that made really good sense was if the government keep giving the women an option or a way out then extinction and poverty will be sure to come. If we make abortions illegal then America will think before they act. Women and men won’t be so quick to have unprotected sex which can result in a child being conceived. Women will resort to other ways to protect themselves like using condoms or birth control options to ensure they don’t have a pregnancy. The use of birth control lowers the likelihood of abortions by 85%. We can educate people better about the other options they may choose instead of abortion. Adoption is a good idea with adoption your child can be born an given a fair chance at life to a family that may not be able to have children. Abortions should be illegal due to the lack of facts about is the fetus really a life or a mother’s choice. Congress need to come together and make a law about the abortions in our country. Being a activist can be a good way to spread the message about pro-life choices. An activist sometimes carry a bad rep because in the past some activist routinely threatened clinic workers and some even stalked the families or damaged their property and pets. Many pro-lifers will use the bible as a tool to get the message across about abortions being wrong. The bible do state that to do away with a life in anyway is a sin. (â€Å" We need to protect our future generations and legal abortion is the unlimited right to the private use of lethal force against innocent human beings. †) Boyle,M 1997. The late-term abortions are just too horrible to imagine this consist of the fetus being in second or third trimester or and having a live birth then killing off fetus when it is extracted from the mother. This is murder to many people when you are stopping a life from becoming a human being. A website that will give you a good view on what abortions really are is called Nuremberg Files. This website aims to make us visualize the criminal nature of abortion it makes the pro-life activist point out how the fetus is the victims. By allowing abortions to be legal make us question other laws like self defense law or the right to bear arms. Some laws are put in place to help protect or regulate a law that is already put in place. Abortion is another word for murder we can’t expect the world to be a better place if we allow such decisions to be made by a woman who want to terminate a fetus just because of her own selfish reasons. Men should have the same rights to a fetus they played a part in creating. A woman should have the right to choose to be safe and protect herself from harm but we cannot give her the right to abort a unborn child that did not ask to be here children, fetus, and embryos should have the right to live.

The Contribution of Processual and Emergent Perspectives to Strategic Change

Change is ubiquitous. Organisational change has become synonymous with managerial effectiveness since the 1980s (Burnes, 1996; Wilson, 1992). However, north American influence over the quest for commitment, efficiency and improved performance, appears to have fallen back upon largely Tayloristic notions of management, with the result that organisational change is widely perceived to be controllable by modern management, with organisations themselves instrumental in their in their hands (Collins, 1997). However, this ‘scientific' approach appears to have diffused with scant regard to contextual variables that may serve to modify and constrain contemporary managerial rhetoric for change (Hatch, 1997). One perspective that attempts to refocus the debate on wider issues has come to be known as the processual or emergent approach to organisational change (Collins, 1997), and it is this perspective that this paper seeks to evaluate You can read also Waves First, the inevitability of change is briefly considered as the time frame selected for organisational analysis tends to dictate the substance of investigation. This leads into a critique of planned change under the umbrella of strategic choice, with its core assumptions based upon managerial hegemony. This approach is then contrasted with the processual and emergent perspectives that seek to widen management appreciation to include factors beyond the organisation and its immediate environments. The implications of the apparent divergence between theory and practice are briefly outlined before concluding that the subjectivist paradigm of the processual/emergent approach is best seen as a modification to theories of strategic choice, which may add to effective managerial practice in the future. This argument is qualified by the need to support such a modification by a fundamental change in modern managerial education. The Inevitability of Change ‘Change' exudes temporality. While it may be a truism that in any field of activity, all periods may be characterised by change and continuity, the time frame selected will tend to highlight change or continuity (Blyton and Turnbull, 1998). For example, a focus upon organisational change during the last two-decades may reveal a period of rapid change. However, a perspective encompassing the last two hundred years may indicate a basic continuity in the capitalist social mode of production (ibid). Consequently, differentiating between whether organisational change should be analysed from the perspective of a strict chronology of ‘clock' or linear time, with its associated notions of relentless progress, planning and implementation, or whether changed is viewed from the perspective of a processual analysis over tracts of time, has given rise to a vigorous debate on how change should be understood as it applies to complex business organisations (Wilson, 1992). Two paradigms dominate the analysis of organisational change. On the one hand, a positivist view holds that change is objectively measurable, and thus controllable, embracing notions of rationality, temporal linearity and sequence – change is an outcome of deliberate action by change agents (Hatch, 1997; Kepner and Tregoe, 1986). On the other hand, a subjectivist view holds that change is dependent upon the temporal context of the wider social system in which it occurs and is thus a social construction – while organisations define and attempt to manage their change processes, outcomes are not necessarily the result of the top-down cascade advocated by the planned approach (Pettigrew, 1985). Consequently, as a point of departure, planned organisational change shall be discussed before moving on to examine the emergent approach as a challenge to the rational model. The Planned Perspective Contemporary US and UK managerial ideology may be identified as an outcome of, and a contributor to, neo-liberalist voluntarism (Dunlop, 1993). This ideology is mobilised through the agency of management to protect capital's interests above all others. Consequently, management and managers come to be considered a social elite through their exercise of ‘god-like' control over a logical and rational process of adaptation, change and ever-improving performance. The organisation is thus instrumental in the hands of management (Collins, 1997; Daft, 1998; Hatch, 1997; Kepner and Tregow, 1986). Generally referred to as ‘strategic choice', the planned approach, according to Wilson (1992:22) is constructed upon the following theories of organisation: 1 Organisational Development (OD) and Behavioural Modification (BM); 2 Planned incrementalism; 3 The ‘enterprise culture', best practice and ‘gurus' as change agents. These perspectives have all in common the role of human agency, whereby, ‘†¦human decisions make an important difference†¦ a voluntarism in which human courage and determination count' (Gouldner 1980, cited in Wilson, 1992:25). OD and BM (closed system) approaches emanate from the field of psychology, positing that organisational change is implemented by management through changing the behaviour of individuals. OD aims to foster consensus and participation on the basis that management attributes resistance to change to poor interpersonal relations (Wilson, 1992). BM is a systematic approach to the conditioning of managerially defined ‘appropriate' behaviour, based upon Skinnerian psychological theories of learning (reward and punishment) and motivation (ibid). Both approaches are based on the assumptions that managers are capable of identifying internal barriers to change, determining appropriate behaviours, and designing and implementing programmes to achieve desired outcomes. Consequently, there is a plethora of ‘frameworks', ‘recipes' and ‘how to' packages aimed at managerial audiences (Collins, 1997) A central feature of many of these packages is Lewin's (1951) ‘force field' framework, which proposes that change is characterised as a state of imbalance between pressures for change and pressures against change. It is suggested that managers are capable of adjusting the equilibrium state of zero-change, by selectively removing or modifying specific forces in the required direction (Senior, 1997). Implicit is the normative nature of planned change: managers should know the various forces as they apply to their own particular situation, and should understand and possess the means to exert influence over them. It follows that, ceteris parebus, without deliberate managerial action, change, at worst is unlikely to occur and, at best, is unlikely to realise desired outcomes without the intervention of chance (Collins, 1997). Planned incrementalism argues that change is constant and evolutionary and should be planned in small steps based on an orderly adjustment to information flowing in from the operating environment (Quinn 1980, cited in Senior, 1997). This approach is related to contingency theory. The argument runs that the most effective way to organise is contingent upon conditions of complexity and change in the environment. Thus, the organisation should achieve congruence with its market environment and managers should support their strategies with appropriate structures and processes to enhance the likelihood of success (ibid). Turning to the final ‘ingredients', Wilson (1992:37) argues that ‘enterprise culture', ‘best practice' and ‘management gurus' are different faces of the same ideology. Enterprise culture denotes best practice and grows from a particular interpretation of management theory. This interpretation shapes the role of external consultants and thus determines who are the gurus; the ideology becomes self-supporting. Thus the ideology of strategic choice is mobilised in support of managerial ideology: to be successful in a free market system (entrepreneurial), firms should be modelled by managers upon best practice (currently, from the US and Japan), should adopt flexible specialisation and decentralised structures, and should seek to create organisational cultures congruent with managers' own. The ‘successful' manager comes to be defined as a ‘change master' (Kanter, 1993; see Peters and Waterman, 1982). The Emergent, Processual Perspective A common critique of the planned perspective is that the ability of management to rationally plan and implement organisational change ignores the influence of wider, more deterministic forces outside the realms of strategic choice (Wilson, 1992). Largely in opposition to this perspective and generally referred to as ‘systemic conflict', the emergent approach, according to Wilson (ibid:22) is constructed upon the following theories of organisation: 1 Contextualism; 2 Population ecology; 3 Life cycles; 4 Power and politics; 5 Social action. While also tending to acknowledge the role of human agency in effecting change, these approaches serve to widen the debate to include the impact of human interaction at micro and macro levels, thus constraining strategic choice (ibid). Contextualism is based upon an open systems (OS) model which views any organisation as being an interdependent component of a much larger whole (Pettigrew, 1985). Serving as a direct intellectual challenge to closed system perspectives, fundamental is the notion that no organisation exists in a vacuum. Emery and Trist (1960, cited in Wilson, 1992) argue that OS reveals the following characteristics: Equifinality – no one best way of achieving the same outcomes; Negative entropy – importing operating environment resources to curtail or reverse natural decay; Steady state – relationship stability between inputs, throughputs, outputs; Cycles and patterns – cash flows, stock-turns and so on. Thus, OS enables the variances between organisations' performances to be explained by external influences, facilitating comparative analysis, the establishment of sectoral norms and the identification of ‘supra-normal' practices (Wilson, 1992). Population ecology (and perhaps institutional theories) is based upon the Darwinian notion of ‘survival of the fittest' (Hatch, 1997). Thus strategic change is aimed at maximising ‘fitness' within the general population of organisations, through the identification of ‘market' niches and strategies of specialisation, differentiation or generalism (Porter, 1980, 1985). Competitive advantage is thus created and sustained through the construction of distinctive and inimitable structures, processes and cultures, eg: erecting high barriers to entry through technological investment, or eliminating threats of product substitution through high R & D investment and thus (desired) innovation (ibid). The life cycle perspective explicitly recognises the temporal nature of organisational change. Though linear in nature (all life cycle theories assume birth, growth, maturity, decline and death as givens), this approach provides insights into the potential internal and external conditions (and constraints) that an organisation is likely to encounter during distinct life cycle phases (Greiner, 1972 cited in Senior, 1997). However, this approach suffers from a similar critique to those levied at models of planned change. ‘Cycles' are not in fact cycles (suggesting reincarnation). Development is linear and progressive and an organisation's location on the ‘cycle' is highly subjective. Perhaps the major contribution of the emergent approach to organisational change, is the highlighting of the role of power and politics in moderating managerial efforts to effect fundamental and sustainable change (Handy, 1986). Essentially, three political models of power reveal that outcomes are incapable of being considered independently of processes and personal stakes. First, overt power is the visible manifestation of localised influence over preferred processes and outcomes (eg: ‘it's the way we've always done things around here'). Second, covert power is less visible and related to the extent of information sharing and participation in change processes afforded by organisational sub-groups (eg: senior management) to others – the phrase ‘inner circle' is a common indicator of covert power relations in operation. Finally, third, contextual power suggests that outcomes are mediated by societal forces and the economic structure of society itself (eg: elites, notions of social justice, and so on) (Burrell and Morgan, 1979). Postmodern analysis reveals the influence of discourse, symbol and myth as interchangeable between organisations and societies in the endorsement of preferred solutions. Thus, contextual power may be utilised to shape the wider justification and acceptability for organisational change( eg: ‘restructuring' for labour stripping; ‘reingeering' for work intensification; ‘partnership' for collective labour coercion; ‘TQM' for zero-tolerance and panoptican managerial control). Moreover, the contextual power perspective also reveals the hegemony of accounting ideology in neo-liberal systems (itself positivist, reductionist and inextricably linked to Taylorism). Thus serving to expose the influence of elite groups, notably silent under the strategic choice framework (Wilson, 1992). Finally, social action theories depict organisational culture (OC) as the structure of social action (ibid). The strategic framework choice would hold that OC is a possession of the organisation and is thus capable of manipulation . In contrast, the systemic conflict framework depicts OC is something an organisation is (a contrasting ontological position) and is therefore largely beyond managerial influence (Legge, 1995). Nevertheless, ‘strong' (integrated) notions of OC are eulogised by the so-called gurus (see Kanter, 1993; Peters and Waterman, 1982), despite receiving severe criticism for their weak methodological foundations (See Guest, 1992). The emergent approach appears to be at odds with the strong culture = high performance proposition at the heart of most change programmes; its causality is unclear. Implications As the above discussion illustrates, the management of change appears to hold sway over the analysis of change (Wilson, 1992). This implies that understanding has been exchanged for expediency. Put differently, managing change is both a learnable and teachable skill. In view of the short-termism inherent in the US and UK economies, with their shareholder emphasis on maximum financial returns and minimal financial risk (itself a contradiction with the notion of ‘entrepreneur'), it is hardly surprising that ‘recipes for success' are so eagerly sought after by under pressure managers and eagerly supplied by management gurus with pound-signs in their eyes. Practice appears to be on a divergent path from theory (Collins, 1997). Collins (ibid) attributes this apparent divergence to managerial education, which itself (as must any educative process) be viewed as a perpetuation of ideology. With respect to organisational change, management education serves to promote the aggrandisement of managers as †Canute-like rulers of the waves'. Epitomised by the MBA (Master of Bugger All?) with its roots in north America, such programmes are themselves reductionist and short-term in nature. Thus, students are precluded by time constraints from exposure to the theoretical foundations of change and, consequently, may be discouraged from challenging received wisdom. This is not to assert that ‘hands on' skills are unimportant, rather to expose that they lose potency in the absence of the appreciation of the wider context which MBA ‘babble', among a wider range of programmes, serves to suffuse. Conclusion – a rejection of Positivism? The investigation of organisational change has not escape the inexorable north American ‘shift' towards hypothetico-deductive perspectives of economics and psychology, with their positivist paradigms focused upon atomisation akin to the natural sciences (Cappelli, 1995). From a temporal perspective, while organisational change is viewed as inevitable in much the same way as in nature, the time frame selected for analysis tends to dictate the scope and degree of change to be investigated. Short-termism, it appears, is a form of temporal reductionism in the search for objective truth, that is a key factor behind the notion that managers can be trained to manage change through sets of skills that imply mastery over the ‘natural' world and therefore, time itself. In this view, planned models of change, rooted in classical theories of management, may be accused of being an ideological construct of assumed legitimacy and authenticity. On the other hand, a subjectivist systemic tension approach, rejects reductionist ‘tool kits' and lays claim to the inclusion of contextual variables at work throughout an organisation, its operating environment and beyond. In this view, while change is clearly not beyond managerial influence, its management is reliant upon wider understanding of the interplay of these variables, of which power relations may be prominent, in order to be able to predict the likely outcomes of managerial actions. However, for something to exist it must be capable of theoretical explanation. That practitioners have opted for voluntarist models of strategic change is not surprising given the elitist ideology of modern management: to control is to manage; short-termism equates to reduced risk and increased control; the institutions of Western corporate governance and finance thus have their goals met by such an approach. Yet, this is to obfuscate the quintessential qualities of the processual, emergent contribution to organisational change. While not refuting planned change, it perhaps serves to modify it – for any change to be understood, explained and sustained, the duality of voluntarism and determinism must be acknowledged and incorporated into the managerial knowledge base. The emergent approach exposes the potential folly of the extremes of positivism as applied to organisations as social entities, thus throwing open the debate to multi-disciplinary perspectives and enriching the field or organisational change. To be of value, such enrichment must be reflected in managerial education itself.