Realists and Liberalists Views

Liberalists and Realists World Views Liberalists and realists have completely different views on the world stage. Liberalists’ views are based on liberty and equality while Realists views are based on security and relationships with great powers. Liberalists believe that an international society can work together to resolve problems. This involves trade between all nations and war would end so that everyone could live in peace and help each other out. Liberalists also believe that war should only occur when it is an absolute emergency and not just to acquire new land or to improve their economy.The realists on the other hand believe that war is inevitable and that the best way of avoiding war is to be strong and let your enemies know that you are ready for anything. Realists believe that if we rely on reason to resolve war that nothing will ever get resolved. After World War Two, realists’ views were favored by the majority of the world. Realists argued that in world po litics there is no government to set rules or protect states, so that each state must look after its own because you cannot always rely on other states for help. I believe that there has to be a happy medium that the liberalists and the realists can come too.Why can’t we all work together to provide security for the whole world. There is no reason why our world has to be going to war all the time over territory or because we need to help an ally. War never really solves anything it usually just leads to more violence and more problems. I say this because even when war sometimes does solve a problem between two nations those nations’ people will never be able to live the same way. The consequences of war can be horrific; people can lose their homes, schools can be destroyed, people’s food sources can be cut off, and ultimately people can lose their whole families due to war.The nations are not only financially weaker but now you have ruined people’s lives on top of it. Both views can be favored at any time in the world; this depends on what is going on in the world. Liberalism is obviously going to be favored if the whole world was at peace. The reason I say this because if there were no wars going on people would not be so worried about security and power of their nation. They wouldn’t have to side with the realists view of security because there is no threat to their nation. While on the other hand if there are wars going on around the world people are going to favor realists iews because they are afraid of what could happen without a strong enough military to protect them. I cannot blame the realists’ views on security because there is a lot of violence in the world and if you do not have a strong enough military tragedies could happen to your nation. I feel that the only reason why Realists views still remain is because there are so many worries in the world. There is always going to be conflict over new global chal lenges such as worry of HIV, climate change, nuclear weapons and even cyber-attacks.We will never be able to eliminate all of the global challenges that arise but I don’t see why there has to be so much violence in the world. Every day in the news more and more innocent people die for no reason whether it’s in the United States or Cairo it doesn’t matter, the violence needs to stop. It is pointless to have nations flush billions of dollars down the drain every year over the dumbest things. Nations should keep their money that they get from taxes and help out their own nation and work to eliminate internal problems instead of always focusing on external problems.Who cares if other nations want to blow themselves up let them work out their own problems, other nations don’t need to jump in and make the problem worse. The only thing that comes out of war and violence is death and death to me doesn’t solve any problems. If it were up to me every nation would have to drop their weapons and talk there problems out. The problem with this though is violence has been in the history of every nation at some point, so everyone just knows violence as a way to solve a problem.I am not saying that we should never again raise a weapon to protect ourselves but we cannot always rely on violence to solve our problems it is just a huge waste of money and just creates a higher death toll. The thing is people think that when two nations go to war over a certain issue that the outcome will result in a resolution of that issue but that is not always true it usually ends in a temporary resolution but then sometime in the near future that issue will rise again whether it is between the same countries or different ones.All nations need to work together to resolve world problems so that those problems will not have to arise again. We should not have to use violence to deal with our issues we should just simply talk it out and combine our ideas to have a resolution for that problem. I know that it is not that easy to do, but we can talk things out without people dying and spending billions on pointless firearms. Yes, talking out our problems may take a while till we can agree on a resolution but war isn’t exactly a fast resolution either.

Activity Based Costing †Glaser Health Products Case Essay

Introduction Glaser Health Products manufactures medical items for the health care industry. Production involves machining, assembly and painting. Finished units are then packed and shipped. The financial controller is interested to introduce an activity-based costing (ABC) system to allocate (or distribute) indirect costs to products. Indirect costs, as distinct from direct costs, cannot be unambiguously linked to specific products. The controller would like to calculate product costs based on ABC for planning and control, not inventory valuation. Under an ABC system, the allocation of costs to products is achieved through at least four analytical steps. Firstly, costs are grouped into activity levels. Secondly, cost drivers are selected for each activity level to link activities with costs. Thirdly, for each activity level, a cost function is defined to arithmetically describe the relationship between cost drivers and costs. Finally, a unit allocated cost is calculated for each product (Schneider, 2012). This paper outlines a process for introducing an ABC system at Glaser. The paper is divided into six sections. The first section groups cost categories identified at Glaser by division. The second section groups cost categories by division and activity level. The third section identifies specific cost drivers for each activity level. The fourth section explains preliminary stage allocation. The fifth section explains primary stage allocation. The final section summarizes the main conclusions. Cost Categories by Division Glaser is organized into three functional divisions – Operations, Sales, and Administration. Operations is the only cost or activity center. Glaser recognizes 22 cost categories. These cost categories are grouped by division in Table 1, shown in the appendix. Cost Categories by Division by Activity Level The second step in an ABC system involves grouping costs based on the level of activity at which they are generated. An activity involves the movement or handling of any part, component, or finished product within the relevant organizational unit. The rationale for this grouping is that costs at each activity level are determined by different cost drivers. Four levels of activity are commonly recognized – unit, batch, product and facility level.  Unit-level activities are the most granular level of activity. They are performed each time a sub-unit is produced. Unit-level activities are on-going and reflect basic production tasks. Direct labor or direct materials are examples. Costs of these activities mainly vary according to the number of units produced. Batch-level activities are relevant to batch (rather than continuous) production processes. They are performed each time a batch of product sub-units is produced. Typical examples of these costs relate to machine setups, order processing, and materials han ¬dling. Costs of these activities vary mainly according to the number of batches produced, not the number of units in each the batch. Product-level activities support production of each product. The costs of these activities vary mainly according to the number of separate product models. Examples include maintaining bills of materials, processing engineering changes, and product testing routines. Facility-level activities are common to a variety of different products and are the most difficult to link to individual product-specific activities. These activities sustain the production process at an overall production plant or facil ¬ity. Examples include plant supervision, rental expense and other building occupancy costs. Some firms, including Glaser, choose not to allocate facility-level costs to product costs. Based on these activity level distinctions, the 22 Glaser cost categories may be grouped by division and activity level as shown in Table 2. By way of digression, it is worth mentioning that as a broad generalization, unit-level activities tend to generate mainly variable costs while and facility-level activities tend to generate mainly fixed costs, although there can be exceptions. Activities in the other two activity levels tend to generate a mixture of variable and fixed (Hansen & Mowen, 2006). Cost Drivers by Activity Level by Division Cost drivers can be identified for each activity or cost category based on observation, discussions with management, simulations and statistical studies. The key is to determine the behavior of indirect costs with respect to activity or resource usage in each activity center (Leslie, 2009). These efforts have identified the eight cost drivers shown in Table 3. Direct  labor assembly costs are, by their nature, directly traceable to individual products. Therefore the relevant cost driver for this cost is the number of Direct Assembly Labor Hours. The other 21 cost categories are indirect costs. At the unit activity level, electricity assembly costs are likely to vary with Direct Labor Hours, Assembly. Similarly, the three machining costs grouped at the unit-activity level are likely to vary with by the number of Direct Labor Hours, Machining. Secondly, at the batch activity level, paint cost is likely to vary mainly with the Number of Batches Processed. Painting activity is the only batch activity at Glaser. Thirdly, at the product activity level, the two Operations costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced and the three Sales costs are also likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced. Finally, at the facility-level, the five Operations costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced, the Square Feet of Building Space Used, Payroll Costs, the Number of Employees, and the Change in Number of Employees. The three Sales costs are also likely to vary mainly with the Number of Employees. The three Administration costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Employees, the Change in Number of Employees and the number of Square Feet of Space Used. In summary, eight separate cost drivers may be used by Glaser to link activities with indirect costs and finally allocate those costs to individual products. These cost drivers are summarized by activity level by division in Table 3. Preliminary Stage Allocation Direct costs can be linked immediately to a product without the need for a cost driver. This is not true for indirect costs. An indirect cost requires a cost driver to link that cost with an activity and finally a product (Kimmel, et. al., 2010, Chapter 5). The first step in allocating indirect costs to products is to complete a preliminary stage allocation. This involves allocating the support center costs to the activity centers. In the case of Glaser, there is only one activity center, Operations. The Glaser controller has decided that the ABC system implemented at Glaser should allocate all indirect cost categories to products except for the three Sales and three Administration categories classified as facility-level costs. The only non-activity center costs that need to be assigned are the three product-level Sales division costs. This allocation may best be demonstrated  with an example as summarized by Table 4 provided in the appendix. The table assumes Glaser produces two products, A and B, with 30,000 units of each product produced during the period. It also assumes that product-level Sales division costs total $300,000. Allocation of these non-activity center costs result in unit costs of $5 for Product A and $5 for Product B. These unit costs are identical at $5 because the number of units produced is equal at 30,000 units for Product A and 30,000 units for Product B. These non-activity center unit costs need to be added to unit costs derived from the primary stage allocation. Primary Stage Allocation In the primary stage allocation, activity center (that is, Operations division) costs are assigned to each of the two products. In the example summarized by Table 5, the 13 costs assigned to Operations totaled $2,041,000. Allocation of these costs based on the various cost drivers results in unit costs of $40.60 for Product A and $27.43 for Product B. Once the $5 non-activity center unit cost is added to each product, the total allocated unit cost is $45.60 and $32.43 for Product A and B respectively. Conclusions Accounting provides information about the financial health of a firm. That information is used by a variety of stakeholders and other interested parties including managers, investors, investment analysts, employees, suppliers, customers, financial journalists, and regulators. At the broadest level, the information is used to improve resource allocation. ABC is a good example of accounting data being used to raise resource efficiency. ABC allows management to methodically identify activities and resources used to produce a product. The system distributes indirect costs to individual products and in that way improves product costing and pricing which ultimately affects buying decisions by consumers and investment decisions by management and investors (Edmonds & McNair, 2012). Finally, the Glaser controller decided that the ABC system at Glaser will not allocate all indirect cost categories to products. The three Sales and three Administration division cost categories classified as facility-level costs are excluded from the allocation process. To that extent, costs are not fully distribute or allocated to products. The excluded sales and Administration costs must be recognized at some stage during the product price setting process otherwise those costs will not be recovered by the resultant product prices. References Edmonds, T.; Olds, P. & McNair, F. (2012). Fundamental financial accounting concepts. Kindle Edition. Hansen, D. R. & Mowen, M. M. (2006). Cost management accounting and control. Ohio: Thomas South-Western. Kimmel, P.D., Weygandt, J.J. & Kelso, D.E. (2010). Financial accounting: Tools for business decision-making (5th ed.). John Wiley Sons: Hoboken, NJ. Leslie, C. (ed.)(2009). Management accounting: information for creating and managing value. McGraw-Hill Australia. Schneider, A. (2012). Managerial accounting: Decision making for the service and manufacturing sectors. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Marketing opportunities of Columbia Sportswe, Umbro, Ltd. and Lotto Essay

Marketing opportunities of Columbia Sportswe, Umbro, Ltd. and Lotto Sport - Essay Example Columbia Sportswear: Columbia sportswear founded in 1938 is an American company that mainly deals with manufacture and distribution of adventure wear, sportswear, outerwear and respective accessories. The company has its headquarters in Washington County, Oregon. Over the decades, the company has been able to establish a niche market for itself with great products of highest quality and service. The various products of the company are jackets, shirts, fleece, vests, shorts, bottoms, footwear and other accessories such as backpacks, gloves, scarfs, caps, etc. The company has its presence mainly in America and Europe. Umbro, Ltd.: Umbro is England Company based in Greater Manchester. It is now a subsidiary of Nike. Umbros is also a sports oriented company with its niche being sports related products. Its main activities involve designing of spots related apparels and equipments. It also sources and markets its products. Even though the company’s products involve all sports related products, its niche has been football. The company is known of its products for football. Umbro owned majority stakes in the United Soccer leagues. The company’s products are sold in over 90 countries across the world. Lotto Sport: Lotto Sports is again a sports apparel manufacture established in 1973 and based in Italy. It started out as a footwear manufacturer and has today branched out to manufacturing and selling of other apparel and equipments. Today, Lotto distributes its products around the world in more than 70 countries. It also is an active sponsor of various teams and sportspersons around the world (Lotto, 2011). Marketing Opportunities The various marketing opportunities that the above firms can use to gain a competitive advantage and increase their market share are: Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is a tool that helps a business to reach the masses on the internet without actually making a major commitment towards marketing expenses. It is a web-based marketing practice that will generate a sale or a lead for the business with the help of an affiliate’s business or a website. The affiliate will be rewarded if a lead or a sale is generated from the affiliate’s eff orts (Ryan & Jones, 2009). Even though this is a common practise it is an effective one and can drive traffic to the website. None of the above companies use this and it is highly recommended for all the three companies. Best example of affiliate marketing on business is Amazon.com. Amazon.com has used affiliate marketing to boost its sales and at the same time reach a greater audience worldwide with an internet presence that is rivalled by very few. Affiliate marketing can be categorised into low-hanging fruit as it is not very difficult to achieve and does not need a lot of effort. It is used by many and is also affordable which can be generate consistent sales even if it fewer in number. One of the main risks with affiliate marketing is the negative perception among consumers about the numerous online tracking technologies and also affiliates who are unethical and create a negative impression for the company. This has to be countered before going forward with implementation. This strategy will result in minor financial improvements for the company and will have a public relations effect on the firm. Social Media Marketing:

Amidst stiff resistance from most actors, the Indian government Essay

Amidst stiff resistance from most actors, the Indian government approved Foreign Direct Investment in retail last year. Discuss how this will impact the development in the country - Essay Example well as implementation of pioneering technological advancements and internationalisation have compelled the respective governments of dissimilar nations to formulate along with execute effectual policies for progressing the economies (Hirst et al., 2009). With regard to this aspect, it has been viewed that the government of India felt the urgent need of progressing its economy through approving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years particularly in the retail sector. By taking into consideration the aforementioned decisive factors, the government of India has decided to implement such a significant approach with the sole motive of developing its economy at large. In this similar concern, the Indian government previously adopted this significant approach but failed to implement owing to the reason of facing stiff resistance from both the allies and the opposition parties by a greater level. The government strongly believes that the introduction and the implementation of this important approach i.e. FDI would certainly help in advancing Indian economy by a significant extent (Nexia International, n.d.). FDI is fundamentally regarded as an invaluable source of private capital especially for developing nations which plays a decisive role in making deliberate efforts towards both national along with international development. Generally, FDI is typically described as a cross-border investment which is made by an organisation based in one particular nation into a business entity based in another country with the motive of strengthening its financial position by a greater level (Peng, 2009). The approach of FDI is principally regarded to be an imperative tool for the financial development of any particular nation through standardising advanced technologies, effectively utilising valuable resources and developing innovative techniques (Moghe, 2008). It has been apparently observed that the governments of various countries desire to adopt and execute this

Poetry Analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poetry Analyze - Essay Example The poem has a whole bunch of ideas concerning parenthood and the roles of both the parents in bringing up a home. It tells a story of a complete family comprising a father, a mother and children. The mother is a homemaker and takes care of her family by doing home chores such as cleaning the diapers and ensuring her children are safe. The dad on the other hand works to provide for the family, it be evidenced by the fact that it is in the evening that we are introduced to her husband who probably is from work. She tends to the needs of her husband as said in the second last stanza of the poem, â€Å"later that night when Thomas rolled over and lurched into her.† From the last two stanzas, the poem introduces the relationship of a couple in parenthood. These two people are in very different situations. One goes to work to provide for the family, the other takes care of the family by looking after the kids. In all these occurrences, we see the way roles are divided in the running of family affairs. The situation of the woman is that which makes her selflessly dedicate herself to her roles as a mother. Despite the fact that she needs time for herself, she has no freedom at all to be herself in the family; she puts her family first in line and only gets the pleasure of resting for an hour. The rest of the time, she is a mother and a wife. This shows her dedication to parenthood. From the last two stanzas, we see the way the woman is submissive to Thomas by taking care of his needs as a husband. Thomas does not notice how tired the wife has been from the day’s activities. She does not complain about it to her husband instead she does what she wants her to do. This portrays Thomas as a man who is not caring about his wife because we are shown from the last stanza that â€Å"Thomas rolled and lurched into into her, she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour.† This means that as a wife she is withdrawn

Hypothesis and Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hypothesis and Conclusion - Essay Example The antiterrorism measures taken by security agencies following the September 11 attacks, discourages the citizens from volunteering relevant security information to security agencies (Hardin, 2003). This hypothesis will enable me define the scope of my investigation and method of conducting investigations through interviews. Although conducting interviews is an expensive research methodology, it the most appropriate in qualitative studies. This is because the method enables a researchers to answer several questions such as why certain occurrences or phenomenon occurs the way they do (Silverman, 2009). Interviews are conducted on a one-to-one basis and, this stand out as the main limitation of this research method. To utilize this method a researcher requires a set of questions and a means of recording information obtained from a respondent. Information or response of a respondent can be recorded through note taking, personal memory or using audio recording devices such as audio tapes. Questioners are the most important tool in research or investigations using interviews (Palgrave, 2011). Questionnaires have either open-ended questions or closed questions and the choice of question depends on the expected response. The first step towards achieving a successful investigation through interviews is identifying a sample. This is important since it is difficult or impossible to conduct an investigation using the entire population. The second step involves designing of questionnaires that involves setting a set of question that the researcher considers appropriate. The question should be tested before a researcher goes to the field in order to ensure that they are sensitive to the society. A pilot study is then conducted to establish the expectation of the actual study. Pilot studies also enable the researchers to refine the questionnaire and estimate budgetary requirements (Palgrave, 2011). A pilot study

Unique Properties of Money Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unique Properties of Money - Case Study Example Pouches of mackerel acted as money in prisons after cigarettes were banned by the prison authorities Pouches of mackerel were easily transferable from one place to another meaning they were portable. Cans were banned by wardens as a means of exchange, so prisoners turned to plastic pouches of mackerel. These were easily transferable around prison walls. Just like ideal money, the pouches of mackerel, plastic or can, were durable. They could be used for a long period without diminishing in value and quality. The pouches of mackerel cost about $ 1 at the commissary. Rather than, eat them, prisoners preferred to use them as money for trade. This means that their opportunity cost is low just like ideal money. Instead of eating them, prisoners derived a greater satisfaction in using them as a means, to trade for goods and services they needed much more. Their uniform value also made them as the preferred means of exchange in prison where ideal money was not available (McEachern, 2012). Money is characterized by almost non-existent fluctuation in value. The pouches of mackerel acted simil arly as their value remained uniform over a length of time. Similar to ideal money, the pouches of mackerel did not wear out quickly, were easy to carry and move around. They could be exchanged easily to support a range of prices and had uniform quality. There were few resources tied in creating the pouches and people were willing to accept them in believe that they would hold their  value.  

Article Critique Union Labor Relations Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Critique Union Labor Relations - Article Example The increase in employees who join labor unions results in a subsequent rise in, their average income and a rise in the wage flow into the economical domain (Madland, 2009). His conclusion is that by all means, employees should join labor unions as it serves both economic and moral purposes. A couple of points in the author’s argument cannot be debated. They are logical, accurate, and reasonable. The assertion that sustainability can only occur if workers receive adequate rewards and get the freedom to buy their goods is correct. In a situation where the reverse occurs, workers feel cheated resulting in constant strikes, boycotts and go slows. This stalls economic development in the long term. Furthermore, the moral aspect of working ought to be fulfilled; it is not fair for those that build an economy to receive the least of its profits (Madland, 2009). The assertion that should the Employee Free Choice Act become legalized, union membership will have an increase is also of certainty. This validates union membership and strengthens their function, hence attracting membership. However, the author makes a point that cannot be validated. The assumption that unions always work to the good of an economy is the most doubtful of them all. If an economy becomes corrupted, then every sector in it malfunctions. Unions cannot be set aside from the malfunction that is within the United States economy. Unions in the modern day have become less accountable to the employees. There are certain moves and strategies made by labor unions that union members are not aware of and yet they are meant to protect their interests. The reason the number of unionized workers is much lower in the 21st century than it was in the 1950s is the lack of transparency. Union membership can be beneficial, but the author has exaggerated the impact it has on an economy. While unions benefit individual growth, their impact on the economy

Financial Accounting assignment Speech or Presentation

Financial Accounting assignment - Speech or Presentation Example payment of dividend to the preference shareholders is under the discretion of the board of directors of a company, whereas the interest payment for debentures is not under their control. Interests on debentures are tax deductible whereas dividend payments are not. In the case of a company going insolvent, debentures get preference over the preference shares (Harvard, 2009). A stock exchange placing will enable the company to raise the additional funds very rapidly. However the company has to also satisfy the demands of the common shareholders and a number of changes have to be brought in terms of the management and policies. There is also a possibility of another company placing a bid to acquire the company through the stock exchange. A stock exchange placing can also act an effective marketing for the company, as the more people will become aware of the business (Hobson, 2007). A rights issue is offered to all exiting shareholders, as opposed to stock exchange placing where the stocks are open to common public. The shares are issued based on a ratio, for instance, every share qualifies to buy another four shares, for a specified period of time. The shareholders can either accept or reject the offering. There is a possibility that the required capital may not be raised, as the shareholders may not accept the offering. However, the company does not run the risk of adding more shareholders and also taking the risk of mergers and acquisitions (Hobson, 2007 and Keef, 1992). The additional capital required can also be raised by not paying the dividends to the shareholders for the financial year. The main advantage of this method is that there are no additional costs involved in raising capital. However, it is to be noted that the shareholders may not be happy with this decision and it might have a negative effect on the potential investors (Frankfurter, Wood and Wansley, 2003). The net present value is computed by discounting the future savings to present values at

Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by LaRay Barna Article

Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by LaRay Barna - Article Example On the other hand, I do not agree with Barna’s argument that high anxiety should act as a communication stumbling block since I believe that it promotes interaction in different people in order for people to overcome high anxiety, which makes them learn other languages. It is evident that Barna’s article expounds on a challenge that every individual has faced in their life. In this case, it is evident that we have all experienced intercultural communication barriers at one point of our life by interacting with people who were different from us in our daily activities. While supporting his arguments, Barna uses real-life experiences to highlight the challenges that intercultural communication posted on the interaction of people in a society that is increasingly becoming both multicultural and multiracial. In an approach that highlights different perceptions of people on other cultures, Barna starts by highlighting the problem of intercultural communication in the United States by carrying out a review of the perceptions of students from other cultures on the American cultural way of communicating. In this regard, Barna identifies reservations present in people from different backgrounds regarding the way they perceived a different culture’s approach to communication. Case in point, Americans smile all the time when communicating, even to total strangers while a foreigner plays along with the American and smiles while nodding, which to the American is indicative of effective communication although the foreigner confirms their stereotypes regarding Americans’ insensitivity and ethnocentrism (Barna 68). Misunderstandings and misconceptions during communication may have disastrous effects with people resulting to hate each other since they cannot understand the point the other was passing. In line with this, it is common knowledge that effective communication is an essential way that people understood others, which means that its ineffect iveness posed a challenge. In the course of my life, I have experienced challenges that are related to intercultural communication.

Welcome Remarks Essay Example for Free

Welcome Remarks Essay In behalf of the graduating class, it is my honour/pleasure to welcome all of you this afternoon to this solemn and joyous occasion. To our parents, guardians, friends and family, I express the deepest appreciation to you not only for your presence today but also for your endless love and support to us. I also like to extend our gratitude to our beloved teachers, faculty, and members of the ASIST for the patience and guidance you have shown to us which we will carry to face the upcoming chapters of our life. The next stage of our life is about to begin but without the supports from you, we may not have made it to this day. So again, thank you and welcome. To my fellow graduates, congratulation, I am honour to be here today graduating with all of you. These past four years has been an unforgettable journey which prepared us for what the future holds. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the bonds we developed during our time. Many of us will surely miss these years, on how we survived here together at ASIST, and the memorable and influential moments of our lives. We began high school as children and today we leave and say good bye as adults. Remember, four years ago we walked into this halls as nervous as we were on the first day of school we were so called the freshmen before and now here we are we’re leaving the school behind. We say good bye to our four sided classroom which we have known too well, to our 30 minutes lunches, to our teachers and for those who become part of it. The most important good bye we will say is to each other and the past we created as a class, and now we welcome the opportunities of the future. Today, it’s not only does this class graduate, but we also leave behind significant talents, wisdom and legacy. The skills and talents that once roamed these halls will be set out into this world, and I am confident they will be put to good use. We owe all of these to our beloved alma mater. Thanks to ASIST for providing us a high quality education, for helping us enhance these abilities. We are privileged to have attended this school. I am sure that the fine education that we received will stand us in good stead time and again. Thus I say so my dear friends let us not stop gaining knowledge. If we have done all that we could in high school, let us further our study by putting even more effort into our own chosen paths. For our knowledge is yet to grow  into true maturity. But for now, let us sit back, think and reflect. As we go on with our graduation rites today, it is time to gather all that we have learned and think about them. And celebrate for all our efforts in making it into this level. For surely, we would not have achieved a great feat such as this without the wits, the power, the strength, the brains and the dedication that would usher us into further development. Before I let my emotion sweep me away I would like to tell all my classmates who are sitting here with a square piece of cardboard on their head just one little thing. Thank you for all the memories. The fights, the team efforts, the assignments, the laughter, the tears, the prom, the photos; all of them. Wherever we go and whatever we do, may we always be friends when we meet again. We might have ended up today another chapter of our life, and soon to travel our own path but always remember that, â€Å"Every ending is just a new beginning†. Good luck and Congratulations my fellow graduates of the class of Fourth Year Emerald batch 2015. ASEAN 5-Year Work Plan on Education (2011-2015): 4 priorities 1. ASEAN Awareness; 2. (a) Increasing Access to, and increasing Quality Primary and Secondary Education; (b) Increasing Access to, and Quality of Education-Performance Standards, Lifelong Learning and Professional Development; 3. Strengthening Cross-Border Mobility and Internationalization of Education; 4. Support for other ASEAN Sectoral Bodies with an Interest in Education †¢ Many actions are consistent with targets expressed in the MDGs Brief Introduction †¢ â€Å"develop human resources through closer cooperation in education and life-long learning, and in science and technology, for the empowerment of the peoples of ASEAN and for the strengthening of the ASEAN Community† (ASEAN Charter) †¢ Social dimensions of development in ASEAN: promote greater educational cooperation among ASEAN Member States and strengthen education within them: (1) to narrow the development gaps, (2) to prepare youth for re gional leadership, (3) to increase the competitiveness of the people.

Ancient Egypt Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egypt Essay Ancient Egypt was a civilization that emerged in eastern North Africa, and was centered along the banks of the lower part of the Nile River. Beginning around 3100 B. C. , this dynamic civilization would exist for over 3,000 years, only ending with its fall to the Roman Empire. Yet, during its existence, ancient Egypt developed a rich history, as well as a rich culture that greatly influenced the rest of the ancient world and the modern world. Ancient Egyptian culture encompassed many things, but the most important was the spiritual aspect. Ancient Egyptians had no separate word to describe what modern society now calls religion, mainly because their spirituality was an integral part of their life. Therefore, it was believed that Egypt was part of a â€Å"universal cosmic scheme†, and on Earth, it was the responsibility of the pharaoh to maintain stability within that cosmic scheme (19). Another aspect of this cosmic scheme was the multitude of gods that ancient Egyptians worshipped. All the gods were associated with either heavenly bodies or natural forces. However, two groups of gods came to have particular importance. They were the sun gods and the land gods, and considering the fact that nature played such a vital role in the survival of ancient Egypt, it makes perfect sense that these groups would take precedence over the rest of the gods. The sun god commanded the greatest respect and devotion of all the gods because it was the sun that served as the source of life. He also had the ability to take on different forms and names. Thus, he was worshiped in human form as Atum, and in half man-half falcon form as Re (19). Land gods included Osiris, Isis, and Horus, all of whom represented some particular aspect of nature, as well as aspects of the afterlife. Such was the case with Osiris, who represented resurrection and judgment of the dead. The next main aspect of ancient Egyptian culture was its architecture. As proven from the ruins that exist today, ancient Egyptian rulers built large-scale monuments to demonstrate their power and strength, both militarily and politically. Yet, of all the architecture that remains from this civilization, it is the pyramids that still evoke awe in all. Built during the Old Kingdom period, the pyramids were often part of a large complex that was dedicated to the dead. The complex would include not only the pyramid for the burial of the pharaoh, but also smaller pyramids for his family, and rectangular structures called mastabas for his noble officials. Within these pyramids, everything that one needed for the afterlife was there. This was done because it was believed by ancient Egyptians that humans had two bodies: a physical one and a spiritual one, called the ka. The items placed in the pyramid with the physically dead pharaoh were meant to his ka to live on in the afterlife as it had in its earthly life (20-21). Naturally, pyramids cannot be talked about without referring to the process of mummification, which can be considered to be part of the spiritual aspect of ancient Egyptian life. A 70-day long process, mummification involved emptying the dead body of its internal organs, of which the lungs, liver, stomach, intestines, and heart were placed into special jars to be buried alongside the body. The body was then covered in salt, to draw out all the water from the body. Once this was done, the body was then filled with spices and wrapped in layers of linen that had been soaked with resin. The final step was the placing of a mask over the head of the mummy, and then its burial. Through this process, the pharaoh, his family, and his officials were all preserved, with the ultimate goal being they would reunite again in the afterworld (21). The final main aspect of ancient Egyptian culture was its art and writing. Egyptian art was largely functional, often being commissioned by kings and nobles for use in the temples and tombs of Egypt. With regard to the temples, wall paintings and statues of the gods and the pharaohs were meant for spiritual purposes only, in that they played integral roles in the performance of various rituals done by the temple priests. With regard to the tombs, wall paintings and statues were meant to aid the deceased along into the afterworld, serving as a type of guide for the person (21). Egyptian art was also extremely formulaic, meaning artists and sculptors had to follow a strict set of rules regarding proportions for the form and presentation of their works. As a result, Egyptian art had a distinctive appearance that would span the entire existence of ancient Egyptian civilization. One particular characteristic was the technique implemented by artists and sculptors alike, in which profile, semi-profile, and frontal views of the human body were combined to represent the whole image of the body accurately (21). Egyptian writing emerged during the first two dynasties, but did not have a name until given one by the Greeks, who called it hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics, meaning ‘priest carvings’ or sacred writings, were signs that depicted objects. Eventually, they were simplified into two scripts to make them easier to write, but were never developed into an actual alphabet. Initially carved into stone tablets, but the more simplified versions were written on papyrus. As a result, most of the Egyptian literature that exists today is either on stone tablets or papyrus rolls (22) As previously stated, ancient Egyptian culture was quite unique and vibrant. It was also greatly influential, as various aspects of it were adopted by other civilizations. Ancient Egypt served as an early example of how great a culture and civilization could be, and those that followed after it would not have been as successful were it not for the existence of ancient Egypt. Source: Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. Belmont: Thomson-Wadsworth, 2006.

The Last of the Mohicans and Hope Leslie Comparison

The Last of the Mohicans and Hope Leslie Comparison Introduction Racial issues occupy the principal place in American Literature due to the prolonged racial relations between Native Americans and European colonizers. The aim of this dissertation is to compare and contrast the issue of miscegenation through the principal characters of James Fenimore Coopers The Last of the Mohicans and Catharine Maria Sedgwicks Hope Leslie. The word miscegenation, which consists of two parts miscere and genus and means a sexual racial mixture, appeared only at the end of the nineteenth century; however, this word is usually utilised in the analysis of earlier literary works. Applying to a profound and realistic portrayal of gender and racial relations between Native Americans and white people in the period of Indian and French Wars, Cooper and Sedgwick introduce their own vision of Indians, implicitly maintaining the idea that miscegenation should be prohibited. In this regard, these writers reflect the existing political and social issues that shaped the attitude of white people towards Native Americans. In particular, at the end of the seventeenth century some American states passed specific laws that were aimed at forbidding miscegenation and depriving people of different races, except white population, of their political rights, violating the principles of equality. On the one hand, miscegenation might decrease the differences between two races, but, on the other hand, it was thought to aggravate these dissimilarities by removing people from their usual background and by preventing them to integrate into the new environment. According to Robert Clark (1984), Americas â€Å"vision of itself was in large measure the projection of an ideal and about-to-be-realized condition, rather than an appropriation of the past in the name of reason† (p.46). As a result, America became involved in complex racial tensions and conflicts that were especially negative for Native Americans. This was the main reason for Coopers and Sedgwicks rejection of miscegenation. But in the process of colonization Europeans continued to interact with Native Americans, and these interactions usually resulted in race mixtures that were further reflected in American literature. Some people made attempts to support miscegenation by pointing at the fact that such interracial relations could provide both races with necessary freedom and would allow white females to reveal their sexual desires towards males of different races. However, the existing racial prejudices and social stereotypes against miscegenation not only prevented the spread of such vision among the majority of American population, but also greatly influenced the representation of Native Americans in the nineteenth-century fiction. Being closely connected with political and social ideologies, this fiction was divided into two parts: some novels tried to maintain the status quo, as is just the case with the narrations of Sedgwick and Cooper, while other literary works pointed at the necessity of social changes. Gender relations and miscegenation in the novels America is the country that has united people of different races since the period of colonization. However, in the process of interaction colonizers made constant attempts to destroy cultural and religious beliefs of Native Americans. According to Arthur M. Schlesinger (1992), â€Å"when people of different ethnic origins, speaking different languages and professing different religions, settle in the same geographic locality†¦ tribal hostilities will drive them apart† (p.10). The indigenous population of the country wanted to preserve their cultural identity and opposed to the ideals of white people. Such refusal resulted in many racial conflicts and had a great impact on the attitude of White Americans towards the issue of miscegenation. In patriarchal America any relations between a white woman and a Native American were strongly prohibited, and, as Martin Barker (1993) states, â€Å"it is this running concern about miscegenation with its connected fears about interracial sexual attraction that leads to death† (p.27). In those times it was thought that if a person was engaged in sexual relations with a person of a different race, then both people should be killed in order to prevent the spread of miscegenation. Such complex racial relations and rejection of miscegenation are especially reflected in the novels of James Fenimore Cooper The Last of the Mohicans and Catharine Maria Sedgwick Hope Leslie. As Stephanie Wardrop (1997) puts it, Coopers The Last of the Mohicans â€Å"presents a world in which the mixing of races is morally repugnant and anathema to the American project of nation building† (p.61). Throughout the narration Fenimore Cooper contrasts people with mixed and unmixed blood, as if wishing to reveal the differences between the characters of various races. Despite the fact that Hawkeye is culturally connected with both white people and Indians, he is presented as a person â€Å"without a cross† (Cooper, 1984 p.4). The same regards Alice Munro who is â€Å"surprisingly fair† (Cooper, 1984 p.378) and Chingachgook who is an unmixed Mohican. Contrary to these characters, Cora, the elder sister of Alice, is of mixed race, and it is she who protects her sister at the cost of her life. Belonging to the race of West Indians, Cora comes from â€Å"that unfortunate class who are so basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people† (Cooper, 1984 p.310), and thus, she is prohibited to marry a person from the South. In this regard, miscegenation was treated as blameworthy in those times, and when Magua proposes Cora to marry him, she claims that â€Å"the thought itself is worse than a thousand deaths† (Cooper, 1984 p.124). These words prove that only Uncas and Chingachgook are presented as noble people, while all other Native Americans are regarded as cruel savages. Thats why miscegenation between a white person and an Indian was widely restricted. Although Catharine Sedgwicks Hope Leslie also reveals this restriction, she points at the possibility of miscegenation between some secondary characters. Contrary to Cooper, the writer provides a rather humane vision of Native Americans. Faith, the sister of Leslie Hope, manages to marry Oneco, the brother of a Pequoud princess Magawisca. According to Leland Person (1985), Sedgwick belongs to those American female authors who in their novels reflect how an â€Å"Indian male, reverential and loving rather than possessive and authoritarian, offers a romantic contrast to the arbitrary authority of Puritan society† (p.683). This can be also true in regard to Coopers narration, where the writer introduces such Indian character as Uncas with noble features and attractiveness. However, similar to Magawisca who is not able to become a wife of Everell and instead she has to regard him â€Å"as her brother† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.30), Uncas is also prohibited to marry Cora. Due to serious racial prejudices, Magawisca is an inappropriate match to Everell, while Hope Leslie suits for the position of Everells wife. By the end of the narration the writer shows that any marriage should be based on love, as Magawisca claims, â€Å"Ye need not the lesson, ye will each be to the other a full stream of happiness. May it be fed from the fountain of love, and grow broader and deeper through all the passage of life† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.333). Thus, the writer proves that some Native Americans possess wisdom and nobility; however, they are not able to unite with European Americans. Magawisca is rejected by both societies, as Wardrop (1997) claims, â€Å"from the white for her association by blood with savages and from the Pequod for her association with the whites that leads her to rescue Everell† (p.64). Magawisca saves the person she loves at the cost of her own rejection and isolation, but she is not able to marry him. Similar to Sedgwicks women, female characters of Cooper are divided into â€Å"those who can be married and those who cannot† (Baym, 1992 p.20). In this regard, racial and cultural differences are aggravated by gender stereotypes that put women in subordinate positions and make them act in accordance with the existing social and moral norms. On the example of their female characters Sedgwick and Cooper reveal that women are prohibited any freedom and equality, especially concerning their choice of marital partners. Those women, who prefer to ignore racial prejudices and assigned roles, are either rejected by society or die. This is especially true in regard to Magawisca and Cora who try to act, according to their moral values, but their attempts result in negative consequences for both women. But, above all, these women are appreciated for their racial characteristics. Alices racial purity is explained by her pure unmixed blood, while Cora, being a daughter of a Creole woman and a British soldier, is regarded as sinful. Implicitly opposing to miscegenation, Cooper prefers to kill Uncas, Cora and Magua in order to prevent an unsuitable marriage. As Terence Martin (1992) states, Fenimore Cooper â€Å"cannot conceive of a marriage between the daughter of Major Munro, no matter her background, and an Indian, no matter how noble† (p.63). The writer eliminates these relations, thus revealing his support for pure, unmixed marriages. As a child of miscegenation, Cora is unsuitable for both white and Indian worlds. According to Wardrop (1997), â€Å"Earlier Indian romances seem to present the hero more often as half-blood, perhaps mitigating the taboo of miscegenation somewhat by presenting a hero who is at least half white† (p.73). But it is the character with unmixed blood that becomes popular in further romantic literature. Although Maria Sedgwick points at the possibility of miscegenation, she still considers it inappropriate in the majority of cases. Similar to Cora, Sedgwicks character Magawisca appears to be banished from both societies, but the writer presents â€Å"a more sympathetic view of both Native Americans and women†¦ concentrate[ing] more on the domestic and interpersonal than the martial [issues]† (Wardrop, 1997 p.63). Cora and Magawisca are powerful and unusual women with many virtues; however, they suffer as a result of their parents miscegenation. According to John McWilliams (1995), â€Å"Cora is one of those characters who show us both the limitations of societys racial and gender boundaries and the dangers of stepping over them† (p.74). Cooper considers that Coras marriage to Uncas would be a threat to the existence of both societies, therefore the writer â€Å"appears to have believed in the purity of the races† (Barker Sabin, 1995, p.21). Their deaths are presented by Cooper as the only possible outcome, because it is better for them to die than to be rejected by their own societies. As Barker (1993) reveals, in this novel â€Å"the twin deaths of Uncas and Cora prevent the reality of interracial sex with the disappearance of the Mohicans† (p.27). Applying to these characters, Cooper points at the fact that miscegenation between White Americans and Native Americans is impossible, until the indigenous population adheres to the cultural and social norms of the colonizers and destroys their culture. On the other hand, the writer suggests that Cora and Uncas will be connected with each other after death, while Hawkeye opposes to this view by claiming that â€Å"the spirit of the paleface has no need of food or raiment – their gifts being according to the heaven of their colour† (Cooper, 1984 p.346). Contrary to some other characters, Hawkeye rises against miscegenation and considers that there is â€Å"no ideal bond of union† (Cooper, 1984 p.348) that would result in mutual cooperation between different races. The marriage of Alice and Duncan, persons with pure blood, symbolises the subsequent spread of unmixed marriages, while the death of Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, reveals the gradual disappearance of Native Americans and the power of civilised society. As sagamore Tamenund claims at the end of the narration, â€Å"The pale-faces are masters of the earth, and the time of the red-men has not yet come again† (Cooper, 1984 p.350). The inability of Cora and Uncas to marry because of racial prejudices points at moral disintegration of American population. Their deaths reveal that miscegenation is considered wrong by both white people and Indians, resulting in the impossibility to achieve peace and mutual support. However, love between Uncas and Cora shows that racial prejudices are able to separate people, but they are unable to eliminate powerful feelings. The same regards Everell and Magawisca who experience certain attraction to each other, but who realise that their desires should be eliminated because of cultural and racial differences. Therefore, Sedgwick reveals that cultures control peoples lives, depriving them of the possibility to follow their own paths, because culture is connected with both private and public spheres. As a result, both Cooper and Sedgwick discuss miscegenation through political and social contexts, pointing at the fact that the relations between two races are considerably complicated by the occurred events and the established standards. As a result, such character as Hawkeye opposes to both races, claiming that â€Å"to me every native, who speaks a foreign tongue, is accounted an enemy, though he may pretend to serve the king!† (Cooper, 1984 p.50). He doesnt belong to either society and he doesnt believe in the possibility of miscegenation. To some extent, such viewpoint can be explained by the fact that when a person of one race integrates with a person of another race, he/she takes part in either assimilation or acculturation. However, in many cases miscegenation is mainly based on sexual mixture between people of different races, but not on cultural mixture. As a result, people are rejected by their own society and are not accepted by another society. This is just the case with Cora and Magawisca who are not allowed to be engaged in sexual relations with males of different races, because their cultures prevent them from the mixture with each other. Both Sedgwick and Cooper demonstrate that the existing stereotypes reflect the ideas of cultural purity that are closely connected with racial purity. Such vision is rather paradoxical, because even the purest race is certainly a mixture race, but White Americans prefer to ignore this particular fact, making constant attempts to achieve dominance over Native Americans. In this regard, it is easier to understand Sedgwicks and Coopers attitude towards miscegenation. Cora, as a child of two races, is considered less pure in comparison with Alice, because Cora is an embodiment of two bloods and two cultures, and it is this particular mixture that White Americans tried to prevent. They did not want to be assimilated with another culture, because in that case they would lose their dominant position over the indigenous population. In addition, such attitude was considerable shaped by political ideologies of those times; opposing to miscegenation, American rulers tried to prohibit any social changes within the country and simultaneously they utilized racial tensions and conflicts for their own benefits. It is obvious that miscegenation was a threat to the existence of white supremacy, because it eliminated specifically inspired differences between two races. The attitude towards miscegenation was also aggravated by the fact that it provided people of mixing blood with those features that were prohibited by American society. Cora greatly differs from her half-sister Alice; Cora is more powerful and independent than Alice. The same concerns Magawisca, a rather strong and wise female who takes her own decisions, which are consistent with her moral values. In this regard, women began to occupy an equal position with men or were even superior to them, and such changes couldnt be easily accepted in the patriarchal world. Miscegenation allowed women to reveal their sexual desires towards males of another race and become more independent; however, natural instincts were a norm only for men, while women were not considered to experience powerful sexual desires. It was thought unnatural for a white woman to feel compassion or love towards an Indian or a black person, and vice versa. Despite the fact that Cora is a half-Indian, she is brought up among people of white culture, thus she is prohibited to marry an Indian Uncas. Magawisca is also deprived of the opportunity to marry Everell, as Sedgwick points out that love relations between Magawisca and Everall are impossible and unnatural because of their cultural and racial differences, while the relations between Hope Leslie and Everall are natural. Miscegenation reflects the mixture of two races, of two cultures, one of which is the culture of the colonizer and another is the culture of the indigene. Thus, miscegenation was especially connected with female sexuality that was widely controlled by the state to prevent undesirable inheritance. However, women who couldnt achieve equal positions with men in political and social spheres began to readily support miscegenation. But in their novels Cooper and Sedgwick reveal that their attempts are vain; almost all female characters that interact with people of different races lose at the end. Many females understood people of other races, because their positions were similar; women, like Indians and black people, were regarded as inferior to men and they usually experienced suppression and humiliation. For women, miscegenation was the way to destroy subjugation and overcome social stereotypes. Although Magawisca is prohibited to marry Everall, her attraction towards him helps Magawisca to understand many important things and save this character at the cost of her own reputation. Cora prefers to die rather than marry a person whom she abhors. But despite such courage and independence, these female characters continue to experience social and cultural pressure that deprives them of the opportunity to choose their own path. However, the situation is different in regard to Alice, who not only survives at the end of the narration, but she is also going to marry Duncan and create another family with pure blood. The same regards Everall and Hope Leslie who finally unite with each other. Although initially Hope finds it difficult to accept a marriage of her sister Faith with a person of a different race, because she doesnt believe that Faith loves Oneco, she soon realises her mistake and agrees with her sisters choice of a marriage partner. In fact, Hope Leslie is a female character who rejects the existing social, cultural and religious norms and who is constantly blamed for her lack of â€Å"passiveness, that, next to godliness, is a womans best virtue† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.153). People with whom Hope Leslie interacts are not able to understand her independence, including Everell. As one female character tells Hope, â€Å"you do allow yourself too much liberty of thought and word: you certainly know that we owe implicit deference to our elders and superiors; we ought to be guided by their advice, and governed by their authority† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.180). However, Hope proves to be the best Christian who is able to follow her heart, even if she has to reject some religious principles to save her family and friends. Destroying certain social norms, Magawisca and Hope simultaneously ignore oversimplified assumptions in regard to people of different race. As McWilliams (1995) puts it, white culture was regarded as civilized in those times, while the culture of Native Americans was considered as savage (52-53). Thus, according to this particular viewpoint, two cultures could hardly successfully interact with each other. However, Sedgwick rises against this stereotypic vision. Close relations between Magawisca and Hope, women of different races and cultures, point at the possibility of one culture to exist with another culture. Despite the fact that Magawiscas race and religious faith differ from her own beliefs and culture, Hope is unaffected by the existing stereotypes of the seventeenth century and is able to overcome them, if she has to do so for the sake of her family. But the writer reveals that Hope still finds it difficult to interact with other Indians. The situation is different with Hopes sister Faith who is captured by indigenous people and is brought up with them. As a result, she marries an Indian Oneco and becomes greatly involved in the Indian culture. In this regard, miscegenation of these secondary characters is rather successful, because Faith changes her white culture and Christian religion into Indian culture and Catholic religion. She rejects her people and decides to live with Indians. However, other characters of the novel refuse to accept another culture and strongly oppose to miscegenation. Mrs. Grafton represents a stereotypic female who acts precisely, according to the established social norms, and who avoids any interactions with different races. For her, miscegenation is unnatural and wrong. Esther Downing is obsessed with her religion and is very subordinate to males, but she rightfully considers that â€Å"marriage is not essential to the contentment, the dignity, or the happiness of a woman† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.371). Similar to Mrs. Grafton, Esther avoids any contacts with people of different races and she meets Magawisca only when she attempts to convert this Indian female into Christianity. Esther opposes to any race mixture and doesnt believe that two different cultures can exist together. Opposite to these docile female characters, Magawisca is presented as a woman that rises against any cultural and racial prejudices of the seventeenth century. She possesses many virtues and tries to achieve equal position with males. Although Magawisca realises that miscegenation and racial relations are rejected by white people, she reveals devotion to some members of white culture. Nelema is another female character who, despite her anger towards the Puritans, provides help to Cradock at the cost of her life. Unlike other characters, Everell manages to maintain good relations with both Indians and his own people, but he is especially devoted to Magawisca. Though they belong to different cultures, they are very close to each other, because they ignore their racial differences. Unfortunately, miscegenation between these characters is still impossible because of the social pressure and the existing stereotypes that prevail in their societies. In Sedgwicks Hope Leslie miscegenation appears to be a powerful obstacle for the characters. Throughout the narration Everell interacts with three women – Hope Leslie, Magawisca and Esther. Two of them are white, and the third woman is an Indian princess. Although Hope and Magawisca are similar in their views and values, although Magawisca saves Everell and is admired by this white male, Everell chooses Hope Leslie as his wife, being unable to perceive Magawisca as an appropriate marriage partner. Everells nature rejects her; despite admiration and desires, he is not able to establish close relations with a woman of a different race. As he claims, â€Å"I might have loved her – might have forgotten that nature had put barriers between us† (Sedgwick, 1987 p.214). However, Everell is not able to overcome his own prejudices towards a person of another culture; these prejudices are too powerful and they continue to implicitly create barriers between Everell and Magawisca. Thus, racial mixture in Sedgwicks narration greatly depends on the possibility or impossibility of people to destroy the natural barriers. According to Person (1985), for a person who is brought up in a civilized society, it is rather difficult, even impossible, to get accustomed to the uncivilized culture of Indians, and vice versa (pp.680-682). In this regard, biological differences are not as important as cultural differences. Although Cora is half-Indian and Uncas is Indian, they are brought in different cultural environments and they are not able to marry because of these differences. Despite the fact that Hope and Faith are sisters and belong to one race, they appear to be separated by various conditions of their upbringing. The same concerns Magawisca and Everell who understand that their marriage is impossible. The marriage between Everell and Hope or Alice and Duncan is considered normal, because in these relations the characters are equal to each other. However, there is a great difference between the relations of these two pairs of white people. In the case of Alice and Duncan, the characters adhere to the traditional representation of a family, where a wife is inferior to her husband, while in the case of Hope and Everell, their union is based on the principles of equality and freedom. On the other hand, both pairs are culturally identical to each other, while miscegenation was considered as a sexual mixture of two people with different cultures. It was thought that it was impossible to create a strong family only on sexual relations; in those times cultural and religious similarities were regarded more crucial for a normal family than sex. As Calloway (1987) claims, any mixed relations were exposed to the threat of becoming â€Å"degenerated† (p.117). And children who appeared as a result of such relations couldnt live in the world of white people. However, if a person of different race agreed to convert to Christianity, a marriage between a white person and an Indian could be accepted by American society. Under these complex conditions, such characters as Magawisca and Everell, Cora and Uncas understand that their relations with each other will fail as soon as they interact with the rest of the world. Conclusion Analysing the issue of miscegenation through the characters of James Fenimore Coopers The Last of the Mohicans and Catharine Maria Sedgwicks Hope Leslie, the dissertation compares and contrasts the representation of racial relations between Native Americans and European Americans. Although both writers oppose to miscegenation in their novels and maintain the idea of racial purity, Sedgwick mentions the possibility of relations between white people and Indians on the example of her secondary characters. Such rejection of miscegenation responds to the existing social and cultural standards that inspired inequality between the indigenous population and European colonizers, depriving both races of freedom. Dividing their characters on mixed and unmixed people, Cooper and Sedgwick reveal that persons with pure blood were more easily accepted by American society, and thus had more possibilities to survive. However, persons with mixed blood couldnt find their places either in the world of white people or in the world of Native Americans. Such attitude can be explained by the wish of White Americans to control people of other races and prevent any social changes, while miscegenation erased any differences between two races, taking away their power and superiority. As racial relations were closely connected with gender issues in those times, miscegenation could provide females with freedom that they were deprived of. As White Americans wanted the indigenous population to conform to their own culture and religion, they were not allowed white females to be involved in sexual relations with the Native Americans, applying to different measures to prevent miscegenation. Bibliography Barker, M. (1993) First and Last Mohicans. Sight and Sound 3.8, 26-29. Barker, M. and Sabin, R. (1995) The Lasting of the Mohicans: History of an American Myth. Jackson, University Press of Mississippi. Baym, N. (1992) Feminism and American Literary History. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press. Calloway, C. G. (1987) Crown and Calumet: British Indian Relations, 1783-1815. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press. Clark, R. (1984) History and Myth in American Fiction, 1823-52. New York, St. Martins Press. Cooper, J. F. (1984) The Last of the Mohicans. 1826. New York, Lightyear. Martin, T. (1992) From Atrocity to Requiem: History in The Last of the Mohicans. In: H. Daniel Peck (ed.) New dissertations on The Last of the Mohicans. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp.60-67. McWilliams, J. (1995) The Last of the Mohicans: Civil Savagery and Savage Civility. New York, Twayne. Person, L. S. (1985) The American Eve: Miscegenation and a Feminist Frontier Fiction. American Quarterly 37.5, Winter, 668-685. Schlesinger, A. M. (1992) The Disuniting of America. New York, Norton. Sedgwick, C. M. (1987) Hope Leslie, or Early Times in the Massachusetts Colony. 1827. New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press. Wardrop, S. (1997) Last of the Red Hot Mohicans: Miscegenation in the Popular American Romance. MELUS 22.2 Popular Literature and Film, Summer, 61-74.

Evolution- Should You Believe in It? :: essays research papers

-This essay is not mine- THE question â€Å"Do you believe in evolution or in creation?† is more than a matter of idle curiosity. The answer that one gives will be deeply reflected in his attitude toward his fellowman, his moral values and his outlook on the future. 2 Belief in evolution is not new; it did not originate with Charles Darwin. But, following publication, in 1859, of his book The Origin of Species, the supporters of the idea have greatly increased in number. In those lands where considerable emphasis is placed on â€Å"science,† the teaching of evolution holds a prominent place in school textbooks. It is introduced in the early grades, and repeated and enlarged upon year after year. 3 It is the desire to find more evidence for this teaching that has also been a prime moving force in the exorbitantly expensive space exploits of the nations. To NASA’s planning chief, Wernher von Braun, the flight of Apollo 11 was â€Å"nothing less than a step in human evolution comparable to the time when life on earth emerged from the sea and established itself on land.† And Science magazine, in its special issue of January 30, 1970, revealed: â€Å"The search for carbon-containing material on the lunar surface is not only a component part of the study of the origin and history of the moon, but an important step in our understanding of the early stages of chemical evolution leading to the origin of life.† So it was with keen anticipation that rock samples were brought back to the earth and carefully analyzed for any traces of life, present or past, but the lack of publicity given to the results was a reflection of the disappointment felt by advocates of evol ution. Still they push on farther, and at even greater expense. Why? In an article entitled â€Å"Future in Space—From Moon to Mars,† U.S. News & World Report announced: â€Å"One of the main goals of such an expedition is to search for evidence of life on the planet.† 4 The basic idea of evolution is that all the plant, animal and human life on this earth had its origin in one-celled life forms that developed in the sea hundreds of millions of years ago. Though some profess to believe that a Creator began the process, this is not true of the majority. Evolutionists contend that the ancestors of man included both apelike beasts and fish.

The Word of God Does Not to Turn Evil into Good Essay -- Religious Arg

The Word of God Does Not to Turn Evil into Good Conscience is sometimes spoken of as the voice of God within. To many this seems a rather unsophisticated thing to say. It may seem the sort of thing a non-intellectual theist might casually affirm, perhaps in a well-intentioned effort to encourage conscientiousness in himself and others. But the idea that men have a sort of inner guiding light which is a reflection of the mind of God is far from being simple-minded. True or false, it is a basic concept with wide ramifications. For a theist, it is altogether natural to suppose that in some way the human moral sensitivity derives from God. The Bible starts off with the story of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of ``the tree of knowledge of good and evil''. Whereupon their ``eyes were opened'' and they became ``as gods'' knowing good from evil (Genesis 3:5,7,22). Paul in Romans (2:14-15) speaks of a natural understanding (``conscience'', ``by nature'', ``written on the heart'') present in all men, which he assumes to be authoritative. Most Christian theologians (Calvinists excepted) have held that human moral awareness reflects in some way and to some degree God's own judgment of good and evil. We are said to be made in the image of God. Sophisticated philosophers such as Whitehead and Peirce have held that men live under the inflowing radiance of God's beauty and goodness, men recognizing these values and being attracted to them. Even Plato and Aristotle have an understanding of these issues remarkabl y compatible with the statement that conscience is the voice of God. Atheists of course cannot accept the phrase in any but the most poetic sense, as Dewey permits use of the word ``God'' in his book, A Common Faith... ...onscience. Under some circumstances I have a duty to stick a needle into my child.) So we see that in the end the only morally compelling reason even to obey God is that, all things considered, we feel a conscientious duty to do so. If God's will were to turn out to be in fundamental conflict with our sense of right and wrong, and we had no reason to suppose that we would ever find his apparent evil to be really good, then for what reason at all could a man justify the violation of his own integrity for the sake of a being with fundamentally different values? Nothing about the word God is magic to turn evil into good. Thus Abraham can only be commended for what he decided to do if we suppose he felt a conscien tious compulsion to do so, a compulsion that was either felt directly or resulted from his belief that God's will would finally be revealed as good.

What influences demand for housing? :: Economics

What influences demand for housing? There are many key factors that will affect the demand for housing some of the easy ones to notice are population and price. These factors effect lots of goods as the larger amount of people the more consumers there will be. With price a consumer will always wish to pay the lowest amount for a good. If the price gets to high then they will find a substitute. Looking at population in more detail it isn't as simple as it would first appear. You could just say the public will buy a house and the more public there is there is more demand for the good. This in turn would allow housing companies to charge larger prices and so only the rich can afford it. The problem is that people don't have to buy a house they can rent one or share one. As well as these factors they can take out a loan to buy the house and pay it back over a period of time. Loan companies charge interest and when interest rates are low more people take out loans as they don't have to pay back such a large sum of money. With lots of loans companies coming up, it has become very easy for anyone to get loan whatever their background is like. Renting a house can be done in lots of ways. Some people make their career in it they buy lots of houses and rent them to people who are unable to buy a house. This is good for people who are only in the country for a short period of time, as you can charge them large amounts because of the location of your house. Some people don't have any money at all and are in a bad economic state and are given a house/flat by the council. They still have to pay money to live in the house but less than from private rent business. Private rent businesses are there to make a profit and will charge higher prices and have better quality goods to match. When looking at price it normally goes on a set pattern that as high prices means less demand and vis versa. The problem was this didn't happen and looking at figure 4.8. This is due to the low interest rates charged by loan companies mentioned above. When addressing others factors you need to look at the country and is it going through some sort of event. During a depression people are find it hard to get a job due to high unemployment. With this the demand for new house with the public wouldn't become a luxury that

5 Bases of Power and Leadership Essay

When we mention the word â€Å"Power† most of the people will think that power is evil, corrupt, self-serving, manipulative and hurtful. However, there is a positive face to addressing power acquisition, power-base development, and power use. When power is used in an ethical and purposeful way, there is nothing evil about it. Leadership is â€Å"interpersonal influence, exercised in a situation, and directed, through communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals. (Tannenbaum, Weschler, & Massarik, 1961, p. 24). Sales Leadership regularly acquires and uses power to accomplish specific work goals and to strengthen their own positions to empower salesperson rather than dominate them. There are five different powers that affect leadership which include expert power, referent power, legitimate power, reward power and coercive power. Expert power is define as a major source f personal power is expertise in solving problems and performing important task. (French & Raven, 1959) Expert power is needed for those employees who need task direction. It also builds confidence in the leader’s ability to teach and delegate tasks that the team needs to accomplish. The more important problem is to the target person, the greater the power derived by the agent from the possessing the necessary expertise to solve it. With the expert power it helps the leaders to develop and maintain a reputation for technical expertise and strong credibility. Moreover, Charisma leader have the expert power and also have insight into the needs, hopes, and values of followers and are able to motivate commitment to proposals and strategies change.

Health care Lecture Essay

SummaryDr. Curtis welt was one of healthc ar and how it relates to his profession, chiropractic medicine. He in jibeition hit on health in general and medications. Dr. Curtis started rather sort of curtly with his self-importance helping theories as to what he does as a profession and in like manner what other medical exam fields atomic number 18 doing to help him become rich, yet nurse the healthc atomic number 18 level of the United States subject to the lower levels it has been hovering at for yrs. This may be in direct contradiction to the particular that even though the United States provided has three part of the worlds population, it noneffervescent consumes more than half of the drugs produced in the world. What does this divide the reader? Dr. Curtis excuseed that a cumulus of these drugs are non needed, and in particular corroborate in reality hurt the patients.As proof, he stated some floor facts from the American Journal of Medicine and the untest ed England Journal of Medicine, perhaps the ii pourboire most medical specialised journals in the world. Some of these facts include that one ampere-second and sox thousand lot die both year from prissyly vetod drugs. Per year, on that superlative are seven thousand medical errors resulting in someone dying. One point five million people seduce Introgenic diseases, or physician caused diseases. It is estimated that the United States as a whole is go bying lxx seven billion dollars a year fixing these problems. These indeed are very troublesome statistics.Dr. Curtis also goes on to explain that the reason why the United States continues to spend excess amounts of money for drugs and procedures they do not need is because of mainly one thing, advertising. Billions of dollars are spent on advertising for drugs any year. Over one c and xxxtwo dollars were spent last years on advertising alone. Often companies run kickbacks like trips or bonuses to doctors that proscri be a certain number prescriptions of a specific drug. This practice, which should be illegal, is what is kn hold as false Label Promoting. The United States populace continues to rely advertising of drugs. The advertisements dont tell the truth most of the time.For example, cardinal percent of antibiotic prescriptions are useless. What is bad is that when people take unneeded antibiotics, they raise their right to them, and they will not work succeeding(a) time, or people will work to up the dosage to get it to work. This is highly bad for health reasons, considering that if patients were to mix two or more drugs, there is an lxxx eight percent change of unseemly side effects, even more disorder and injury.The Food and Drug Administration mental representation is not helping matters either. The practice of race promising drugs like Fen-Fen to the market without proper timed tests has added to the health problems of the United States. Dr. Curtis is not look do not go to th e doctor, he is just saying to switch sure you are doing the correct thing, which included getting second opinions, and doing your own inquiry on drugs and what they can and cannot in reality do. sometimes Doctors can not be certain because of the one hundred and sixty drugs label by the FDA as do not use, people still proscribe them. With only a selection of twenty three out of those one hundred and sixty drugs, there are still one hundred million prescriptions cosmos filled. These are drugs have a go at itn to do harm, and they are still being prescribed. One mustiness be vigilant in his own healthcare is the message of the day.ReflectionsAt head start I didnt even realise what Dr. Curtis was a doctor in, however collectable to time constraints I understand that the form introduction and background destination has to be deoxidise. I have listened to many doctors chatter and lecture, not nearly enough as professors and other professionals of course, but enough to know that normally there is at least(prenominal) five minutes of talking almost oneself before the actual lecture begins. Also, he being young did not add to me rattling listening to his opinions that well. However, Dr. Curtis did not beget many opinions and his statements were backed up quite well and documented quite nicely as well. He obviously ready in the needed time to give the lecture. Time constraints not only cut up his lecture, but also his speech pattern as well.Normally lectures should be flowing, his statements were extremely choppy. He states many things that were actually surprising to me. Not the fact of advertising, I already knew that, but I didnt realize the actual statistics of these healthcare problems, and that a lot were caused by those in the healthcare field. His explanations as to how his field fitted into his lecture were actually quite easy to understand. The fact that form messes up your skittish system, which in turns messes up the rest of you, is b asically what he was saying without stating his words verbatim.He explains that even though the United States is third best in the world in what we eat, we still have one of the lowest life expectancies. I enjoyed his explanation as to how posture really controls a lot of health problems. He explains that proper diet, mental attitude, exercise, a non-stressed nervous system, and plenty of rest and relaxation are the keys to keeping the body as self healing as it is designed to do. general I enjoyed the lecture and learned quite a lot out of it.