World Politics Trend and Transformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

World Politics Trend and Transformation - Essay Example Waltz on expressing his neorealist conceptualization of the determinants of international behavior claims: "international structure emerges from the interaction of states and then constrains them from taking certain actions while propelling them toward others"1. The analysis of modern economic and integration processes occurring in it allows to allocate two basic tendencies. One of them is quantitative growth of the countries incorporated in the various international economic unions and other international economic alliances that is the evidence of increase of globalization of economy. The other tendency is continuous perfection of forms and methods of realization of world economic integration that speaks about deep qualitative changes occurring in this process. At the present stage the international economic integration has reached global scales. Globalization of economy represents the maximum form of the international economic integration. ...ic integration have had only one form of its realization - the international trade, the stage of globalization alongside with it assumes moving of labor, capital, scientific and technical knowledge, and information in planetary scale. Thus, at a stage of globalization the international economic integration gets not only more significant quantitative characteristics, but also new more developed forms. Globalization is a complex and developing process, which present stage represents only its initial level of development. Today within the limits of globalization there is a formation and organization of the international economic alliances, and alongside with it is creation of the international (transnational) corporations and financial centers. Let us try to summarize the reasons for the rapid development of integration processes in economy on a boundary the 20th and 21st centuries. From a number of the reasons and factors it is possible to allocate three core reasons: 1. The amplified competitive struggle caused by essential growth of scales of manufacture compels business to "cross" its national borders in searches of the best conditions of activity. 2. The favorable political circumstances, which have developed in second half 20th century: the disintegration of the colonial system, which have caused necessity of an establishment in the world of the new economic order, and the termination of Cold War, the period of opposition of two social and economic systems, allowed to consolidate the world community and to consider the world as complete system. Â  

Prejudice - Montan 1948 & Snow Falling on Cedars Essay Example for Free

Prejudice Montan 1948 Snow Falling on Cedars Essay The conventions of the concept, ‘prejudice and hatred are never right in a just society’ are explored in Larry Watson’s 1993 fictional novel, ‘Montana 1948’ and also in the film, ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’, directed by Scott Hicks. Specifically, the two compositions delve into this notion by mainly focusing on the prejudices that are placed on those who are not of the Caucasian race. For example, in ‘Montana 1948’ the Indians are discriminated against and American-Japanese citizens are victimized in ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’. These prejudices are similarly portrayed in both texts; however there are also some contrasting features. Varying techniques such as changing from present to past text to emphasise the continuous use of memory, various panning shots and most importantly, dialogue, are all used to convey that prejudice and hatred are never right in a just society. In ‘Montana 1948’, written by Larry Watson, we are instantly introduced to David, the narrator of the story. David immediately reveals that the story will be told as a memory; he establishes this in the first sentence of the prologue, â€Å"From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them†. This is written in past tense which instantly shows the audience that story is a memory of David’s. The sentence also creates an element of mystery as David mentions he has attempted to forget the summer of his twelfth year. After instantaneously establishing the importance of memory in this novel, Watson then begins to weave racial prejudices which are the other key feature in the composition. â€Å"A young Sioux woman lies on a bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is the second sentence of the prologue and by using the word ‘Sioux’ makes the audience aware of the underlying racial issues about to become apparent. As the story continues, we are made aware. We find that the story is set in a small community, Bedrock, which has a nearby reservation filled with Sioux Native Americans. The story is set in 1948 and is told from David’s perspective; however this constantly changes from present to past tense, which emphasises that the composition is a memory. With this fluid, constant conversion, the story is given more depth and the audience is provided with more information to truly understand every aspect of the focal story. Language used in the text; mainly colloquial within the characters’ dialogue portray the issues of prejudice. We are given the impression that David likes the Indians and thinks of them as equals; especially since David talks of his love for Marie and his fondness of Ollie. However, not everybody feels this way. **We are also made aware of the Indians status within society due to the language and dialogue used throughout the text. â€Å"My father did not like Indians†, â€Å"We want them white† and â€Å"little squaw† highlight such language conventions.

Live Together Before Marriage?

Live Together Before Marriage? Now-a-days it is the trend among the people that they move in before marriage. Either love or attachment plays a vital role in it. But the main concept of men and women living together before marriage is considered as a sin in some religions, or most religions. But as the world is making progress so are the minds of people, changing according with the time. Now an individual before even engagement or marriage moves in and then tries to understand the other person. Sometimes, this is the reason and sometimes it is not depending on the thinking and mentality of people. But it can be a problem for women as well as for men. Now the basic problem is that what a person should do? Whether he should let the change happen, or he shouldnt. A New Woman magazine study by Columbia University discovered that twenty six percent of women reviewed and a slight nineteen percent of men wed the individual with whom they were co-habiting. The mean cohabitant has several partners in a lifetime. Cohabitati on involves no public firm promise, no promise for the future, no authorized statement of love and blame. There is essentially a personal placement founded on an emotional bond. The commitment of dwelling simultaneously is easily a month-to-month rental agreement. There is a statement in The Future Of Marriage by Jessie Bernard in which he stated, One fundamental fact underlies the conception of marriage itself. Some kind of firm pledge should be involved. Merely fly-by-night, feel and go relationships do not specify. According to him the people who get married with a condition of dying with each other possess a reasonably distinct level of firm pledge, thus a quite distinct grade of security, therefore a rather distinct grade of freedom, and as an outcome a rather different grade of joyfulness than those who wed with a condition in their mind that they will last together till their love last. These types of people habitually anticipate the instant when they or their partner gets up one sunrise and discovers the fine emotion that retains them afloat has disintegrated under them. Cohabitation is a dangerous trend that has recently been too readily accepted without much resistance or criticism from society Is cohabitation a sin or not depends on what one means by the word moving in together, in the Bible it is clearly stated that having a sexual relationship before marriage is a sin and in the Bible the word fornication has been used to explain the forbidden deed of living together before marriage and how sexually immoral such an act is. In most of the religions practiced all over the world the concept of cohabitation is prohibited and is considered as a sin for which one cannot be forgiven. Many couples living together are happy internally but due to the guilt inside of committing a sin and the social not acceptance of their relationship disturb their bond and they are in a constant insecure state. America is a State where the society has widely accepted this socially constructed concept of living in together although Christianity does not allow that a man and women should live together before marriage as it results in temptation that leads them to cross every limit and turn into an e nemy of God. Living together means two people with consensus making a decision to go against the will of God for the sake of love or sexual temptation, which can be definitely called a sin. Why a sin? Well because the whole approach undermines the value of a family structure and mainly because almost all the religions do not accept it as a moral deed. Body: A: Is living together before marriage wrong? Cohabitation takes away the charm of marriage and turns it into a compromise if children are involved. Couples that move in together to try out if they can have a happy married life end up in a broken relationship which leaves a long lasting effect on their lifes. The growing trend of living together is wrong because according to various surveys and research reports the cohabitant couples are most likely not interested in marrying each other and even if they do there is a high rate of separation, sexual abuse and mental torture not only for the couple but for the children as well. How would a parent stop his/her daughter from living in with another guy if they have practiced the same act? Children of cohabitant couples have a high tendency of indulging in immoral activities in their young teenage and suffer from physical violence. The people who move in together before marriage are also expected to have extramarital affairs and are not good at commitments. Most importantly it is a re ligious sin and is an act if practiced pushes Gods blessing away from you. It is a physical attraction that leads to instability in life; even many satisfied live in partners end up in the torturing break ups and a constant feeling of fear and resentment. (Don Weston) Some say cohabitation is not wrong, what is the big deal if two people want to live together and share their expenses and responsibilities? The younger generation of today finds living together a very attractive package, one gets to enjoy all the desires without any legality. There is no risk of divorce, many justify it by claiming that moving in together before marriage gives them an opportunity to know each other more closely and decide whether to get involved in a legal relationship or not. With the rapid increase in modernization this trend has been now accepted as a culture in many parts of the United State. B: Why do the Cons outweigh the Pros of living together before marriage? Living in together before marriage for the new generation is like a roller coaster ride for free! Whereas they dont see the side effects of availing this package, the cons are enough for the critics to justify their criticism on living in together. Though many couples prefer moving in together rather than getting into a serious marital relationship which actually shows the level of commitment they share, and the sacred relation of marriage they are scared to get involved in. The more a couple is sexually active before marriage the greater they have a chance to get divorced, because they get over with all the temptation and craze as much as they prolong their living together time period. (Fowler, 2005) Conclusion: Cohabitation is forbidden: The couples who favor cohabitation even if are in majority cannot deny that religiously as well as morally the concept of as a Bible calls it fornication is forbidden by God in nature. The word pornography had been originated from this same word and as it is seen the society considers such websites and acts highly immoral and against their beliefs and religion. The acceptance of this concept by society means they are accepting a trend which will destroy the institution of marriage as well as the responsibility of parents will be questioned as well due to getting involved multiply in such a deed. Although this concept has been growing in Christ but Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and many other religions are strictly forbidden from committing any such deed and if they do so they believe that they will be answerable to God Almighty and even if God forgives; it is not easy to be forgiven by the society for something that is sinful and is forbidden in nature. Work Cited: Grinberg, Emanuella. Report: More women moving in before marriage. 4 April 2013. CNN. 2013 . Gueren, Casey. Are You Ready to Move in Together? 11 April 2013. The Scoop. 2013 . Kaplan, Karen. More Americans are living together before marriage, study finds. 03 April 2013. L.ATimes. 2013 . Murray, Rheana. Half of couples move in before marriage, stay there longer: CDC. 5 May 2013. NYDailyNews. 2013 . Staff, Patch. Study Reported by CDC Reveals More People Now Live Together Before Marriage. 5 April 2013. DuluthPatch. 2013 . Don Weston, L. M. Twenty Good Reasons why not to cohabitant Before Marriage. Kansas City, Missouri: Family Life Ministries- Church of the Nazarene Jim Pettit, PhD coordinator. Fowler, R. (2005) Scriptures on Living Together Before Marriage

Queen Victorias Effect on Britain

Queen Victorias Effect on Britain Did Queen Victoria leave her subjects in a better condition in 1901 than when she found them in 1837? The Victorian era was principally a time of change, of transience: the translocation of a people, challenged morally, socially and in their religious beliefs, as never before. Standing majestically above all this was the image of stability which Queen Victoria symbolised. The shift from the rural life of the eighteenth century and the Romantic Movement in the Arts which accompanied it was displaced and the population in the industrial towns and cities swelled to the point of overflowing, producing slums and sweatshops rather than the wealth and security that had been sought, with ‘the Age of the Novel’ involved with social issues as well as establishing a new literary genre. In 1837, when Victoria came to the throne, these changes had already begun and by the time her reign ended, in 1901, more was ahead particularly if one considers the ‘long nineteenth century’ which encompasses the pre-war years up to 1914. How far her people were in a ‘better condi tion’ by the end of Victoria’s reign will be the subject of this essay, looking at the idea via the different media of change evidenced in religion, literature, politics and related social issues as well as the Imperialism which the establishment of the British monarch as the first Empress of India established. In many ways, it is true to say that Victoria presided over a Renaissance which had not been seen since her antecedent, Elizabeth, had been on the throne. The coincidence that a female monarch should have been in place at both times of regeneration does not, however, imply a connective: conditions were very different during Elizabeth’s reign, particularly in the area of social mobility and religious imperatives. The Victorian era saw the greatest challenges to both of these that had ever been seen. The movement of the peasantry to the towns saw an enormous shift in both the physical location of the population and its imperatives. Much was lost, in terms of tradition and permanence when the move to the cities occurred because most of those who did relocate in the hope of increasing their meagre incomes had never been farther than the next village before they moved and this had been the case for generations. Indeed, as early as the mid-nineteenth century novelists were using the idea of the rural idyll to exemplify an ideal existence now lost[1]. This is evident in novels such as George Eliot’s Adam Bede (1859) which was set some fifty years before it was written: As he reached the foot of the slope, an elderly horseman, with his portmanteau strapped behind him, stopped his horse when Adam had passed him, and turned round to have another long look at the stalwart workman in paper cap, leather breeches, and dark-blue worsted stockings.[2] The mounted, unidentified and detached observer (a connective with the contemporary reader) takes a ‘long look at the ‘stalwart workman’ in an elegiac emblem of the author’s intent within the novel to show a time now lost and the changes that were about to take place. Adam as a type of workman has been displaced and is no longer to be found and which represents a longing for a return to old times and old days associated with the countryside which can be traced to the present day and certainly becomes a primary informative, present in works such as Flora Thompson’s enduringly popular Larkrise to Candleford (1945) and further evidenced even in the work of such ‘scientific’ novelists as H.G. Wells in his novel, The History of Mr Polly, and the character of Leonard Bast as well as the evocative, mystical rural setting in E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End, both written in 1910. The novel also introduces the character of a female preacher, a ‘Dissenter’, in other words a Methodist, and by combining the two, Eliot shows that despite the loss of the life portrayed in her novel, there were positive challenges which changes such as the growing desire for the emancipation of women, at the forefront of which was J.S. Mill[3], and the need to find new ways of expressing religious sensibility. The ultimate challenge to religion, of course, was presented by the theories of evolution which were being formulated in the 1860s. Although Charles Darwin is credited with having discovered this, the work of such as Herbert Spencer, who actually coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’ in his Principles of Biology (1864) which Darwin incorporated into a later edition of his own work, were also significant. Within his seminal The Origin of Species, first published in 1859, Darwin introduced to the wider public the then profoundly disturbing notion that man was not created entire and complete as the Bible relates but evolved and thus dispossessed an entire generation who had previously felt secure in the knowledge of God as their Creator (though Darwin uses this term himself many times within the work and does not deny the idea of a Creator directly[4]). It is a mistake, however, to assume that Darwin’s ideas had much immediate effect on the population at large. R ather, its immediate aftermath may be discerned in the literature of the time, George Eliot, a close friend of Spencer, amongst these. Moreover, his published theories were simply an affirmation for many of a growing generic scepticism, such as Thomas Hardy shows: On the last day of the year [1901] he makes the following reflection: ‘After reading various philosophic systems, and being struck with their contradictions and futilities, I have come to this: Let every man make a philosophy for himself out of his own experience. He will not be able to escape using terms and phraseology from earlier philosophers, but let him avoid adopting their theories if he values his own mental life. Let him remember the fate of Coleridge, and save years of labour by working out his own views as given him by his surroundings.’[5] However, just as the move from the towns to the cities subsequently produced a sense of loss, the disconnection with the certainty of divine creation also saw the longing for a mystical element to life once ‘the divine’ had, in a sense, been removed from it: seeking ‘an oasis of mystery in the dreary desert of knowledge’[6]. The disconnection resulted in the burgeoning of interest in Spiritualism which was witnessed at the end of the century, with personages as eminent and respected as Rudyard Kipling not only interested and involved with this but also writing about it in stories such as the mysterious ‘They’[7] and imagination came to be seen as connected to the divine and dislocated by Darwin’s discoveries, Forster wrote in 1910: ‘They collect facts and facts and empires of facts. But which of them will re-kindle the light within?’[8] However, the connection of facts with the denial of imagination had been discussed much earlier by the man who is above anyone the voice of the nineteenth century, Charles Dickens. In his novel of 1854, Hard Times, he demonstrates the denial of the importance of ‘fancy’ in Utilitarian educational methods and the pre-eminence of ‘facts’[9]. This he extends to the teaching methods used to train the teachers themselves: He and some one hundred and forty other schoolmasters had been lately turned at the same time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many pianoforte legs. He had been put through an immense variety of paces, and had answered volumes of head-breaking questions. [†¦] He had worked his stony way into Her Majestys most Honourable Privy Councils Schedule B, and had taken the bloom off the higher branches of mathematics and physical science, French, German, Latin and Greek. [†¦] Ah, rather overdone, MChoakumchild. If he had only learnt a little less, how infinitely better he might have taught much more![10] Dickens the radical is less appreciated now than in his own time, as in subsequent centuries he has come to be seen simply as a master-story teller, which of course he was. However, this is to deny the way that Dickens, as evidenced in this satirical swipe at the Utilitarian movement, used his immense popularity in the cause of social reform. Indeed, in the early years of Victoria’s reign, he published his second and third novels, Oliver Twist (1837-9) and Nicholas Nickleby (1838-9). The first of these was concerned with the effects of the infamous ‘Poor Law’ and the 1834 amendment. It was widely believed that the abuse of this injured rather than helped the poor and Dickens’ novel was intended to bring that to the notice of those who had the power to do something about it, as well as reaching the newly literate lower echelons and letting them know they had someone who would speak for them, that their story, as Dickens remarked in his Preface to the 1867 ed ition, from thieves to prostitutes, was a ‘TRUTH’ that ‘needed to be told’[11]. As his friend and first biographer remarked: His qualities could be appreciated as well as felt in an almost equal degree by all classes of his various readers.[12] Thus, as the novelist is known to have said, by making people care about one child, he might make them care about the many and this emanated from his own sufferings as a child alone in London when his father was imprisoned for debt in the infamous Marshalsea (which was to provide the setting for his later novel, Little Dorrit, 1857, though the six hundred year old prison closed in 1842) whence he was accompanied by his wife and younger children[13]. Dickens never spoke of the experience, save through his fiction, nor did he ever forget it. In Nicholas Nickleby and the creation of Dotheboys Hall, Dickens continued to exercise his creative power to bring to the attention of his readers the appalling social evil of the Yorkshire schools, whose abuses he remembered hearing of as a child and then investigated (whilst wearing a disguise) as part of his research for the novel. As the author said in his fragment of autobiography, ‘we should be devilish careful what we do to children’[14]. Dickens had a long memory and an acute social awareness and both are evident in Nickleby, as is the sheer exhilaration and appetite for life which had proved so popular in his first novel Pickwick Papers (1836-7). Moreover, Dickens was a successful reformer, commenting in his preface to the 1848 edition: This story was begun, within a few months after the publication of the completed Pickwick Papers. There were, then, a good many cheap Yorkshire schools in existence. There are very few now.[15] The fact is stated simply but the achievement was immense. The obverse of these schools, of course, was seen in Arnold’s pioneering work in reforming the public schools, as evidenced in Thomas Hughes’, Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857). The issue of social and educational reform was one with which many novelists were concerned at this time, engaging with both the needs and desires of the weakest in society. Engels had identified this as ‘the social war, the war of each against all’[16] and he applied this as a generic to the multiplicity of industrial towns and cities: What is true of London, is true of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, is true of all great towns. Everywhere barbarous indifference, hard egotism on one hand, and nameless misery on the other, everywhere social warfare, every mans house in a state of siege, everywhere reciprocal plundering under the protection of the law, and all so shameless, so openly avowed that one shrinks before the consequences of our social state as they manifest themselves here undisguised, and can only wonder that the whole crazy fabric still hangs together.[17] Engels’ work was published between September 1844 and March 1845 and had an immediate effect on not just those who were, if one may term it so, ‘declared radicals’, like himself, but also those like the deeply ‘respectable’ and widely respected writer Elizabeth Gaskell, whose first novel, Mary Barton, written in 1848, partly to assuage the pain of losing her child, deals largely with the poverty experienced by the poor in Manchester. Gaskell, encouraged by both her husband, the Ereverend William Gaskell, and Dickens, researched the conditions of the city in which she and William were then living. What she found horrified her and the reality of expression present within the novel can be seen in her powerful descriptions of the slum dwellings she had seen: Our friends were not dainty, but even they picked their way, till they got to some steps leading down to a small area, where a person standing would have his head about one foot below the level of the street, and might at the same time, without the least motion of his body, touch the window of the cellar and the damp muddy wall right opposite. You went down one step even from the foul area into the cellar in which a family of human beings lived. It was very dark inside. The window-panes many of them were broken and stuffed with rags, which was reason enough for the dusky light that pervaded the place even at mid-day. After the account I have given of the state of the street, no one can be surprised that on going into the cellar inhabited by Davenport, the smell was so foetid as almost to knock the two men down.[18] The importance of setting such descriptions in the context of fiction might be thought possibly to lessen its reality in the eyes of contemporary readers but nothing could be farther from the truth, as though few would be drawn to the admirable tracts of Engels, many were attracted to the vivid stories of such as Dickens and Gaskell. Indeed, Gaskell was careful always to ensure that her work did not offend those in power to the extent that she will qualify a passage on the uncaring attitude of the rich as perceived by the poor by adding placatory comments such as: I know that this is not really the case; and I know what is the truth in such matters: but what I wish to impress is what the workman feels and thinks.[19] The implied separation in comprehension may appear patronising by today’s standards but it must be remembered that Gaskell was truly attempting to do as she proclaimed, ‘impress’ the thoughts and feelings of ‘the workman’ on those in power in the hope it would aid reform. If she had been too directly challenging, they would simply not have read her works which would have defeated the object. Gaskell faced similar opposition in her second novel, Ruth, published in 1853, when she addressed the topic of an unmarried mother sympathetically, much too sympathetically for the liking of many, who felt she was undermining the perceived moral and religious mores of the time. The novel was thought to be based upon the true story of a girl called Pasley: In 1850 she took up the cause of a girl called Pasley whom she had come across in the New Bayley prison. In a long letter to Dickens, at that time involved in his emigration project for fallen women, she gives details of the case. Pasleys career exemplifies the dangers facing even a girl of respectable parentage who was neglected. The daughter of an Irish clergyman who had died when she was two, she had been neglected by an indifferent mother, and then placed in an orphanage, before becoming a dressmakers apprentice. Following a series of misfortunes for which she had not herself been responsible she had been seduced by her own doctor. The consequence had been first the Penitentiary and then a career of petty crime; finally, by an appalling stroke of coincidence, the poor girl had been confronted when in prison by her very seducer, now acting as prison surgeon.[20] Certainly, there are many similarities between the case of Pasley and that of Ruth and Gaskell’s clear intent is to show how difficult was the plight of girls in Ruth’s and Pasley’s situation. Gaskell successfully persuaded Dickens to intervene for Pasley and she emigrated but clearly the case was not forgotten by her as emblematic of the vulnerability of young girls in nineteenth century society. Indeed, she had already addressed the idea that prostitution was the usual fate of such girls in Mary Barton and the ‘petty crime’ to which she refers might certainly be euphemistically describing prostitution. Attitudes towards prostitution were far from sympathetic and much of the reforming work done at the time concerned not only changing conditions for prostitutes but also in improving the notorious double-standard which operated towards it, both then and now. The Contagious Diseases Acts of 1864, 1866, and 1869 to some extent reflect this. The Act was established to protect soldiers but had the coincidental effect of advancing the cause of women’s liberation: [†¦] legislation intended to protect members of the British armed forces from sexually transmitted diseases ended up galvanizing a major Victorian feminist movement in which working- and middle-class women worked together for a common cause.[21] Thus, it can be seen that Gaskell’s pre-emptive strike truly reflected the feelings of many that Victorian laws operated for the protection of men rather than women and that even though there were exceptions, such as Mill and Dickens, the latter of whom set up Urania Cottage as a refuge for ‘fallen women’, the vast majority of the population preferred simply to ignore the suffering and anguish of girls on the streets. Somewhat ironically, compassion towards prostitutes was stirred by the infamous ‘Whitechapel Murders’ of 1888-91, perpetrated by the still unidentified ‘Jack the Ripper’. Even for the so called ‘respectable’ working classes, indeed, in general conditions were appallingly bad, especially in the factories and sweatshops[22] which abounded both in London and elsewhere in the country: ‘The nineteenth century saw the Englishman turn town dweller and by 1900 three-quarters of the nation lived in towns’[23]. Bearing this in mind, it seems inevitable that conditions in these towns would be at best difficult and at worst unbearable (the infamous employment of children as, for example, chimney-sweeps, being evident in the work of such as the reformer Charles Kingsley who wrote The Water Babies in 1863 to expose this abuse). Thus, approaching the end of Victoria’s reign, the population was generally in a state of crisis. However, there was a discernable exception to this, in part, in the beginning of what we would now take to be an upwardly mobile meritocracy. Consisting largely of those persons concerned with ‘white-collar work’, the clerk for example, this section of society knew a growth and freedom such as never before. Possibly the best example of this is to be found in George and Weedon Grossmith’s The Diary of a Nobody, first published in Punch as a series of articles during 1888-9, in the form of a diary of the fictional Mr. Pooter. The highly amusing work is also an invaluable record of a new type of man emerging in Victorian society: My clear wife Carrie and I have just been a week in our new house, â€Å"The Laurels,† Brickfield Terrace, Holloway—a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement, with a front breakfast-parlour. We have a little front garden; and there is a flight of ten steps up to the front door, which, by-the-by, we keep locked with the chain up. Cummings, Gowing, and our other intimate friends always come to the little side entrance, which saves the servant the trouble of going up to the front door, thereby taking her from her work. We have a nice little back garden which runs down to the railway. We were rather afraid of the noise of the trains at first, but the landlord said we should not notice them after a bit, and took  £2 off the rent. He was certainly right; and beyond the cracking of the garden wall at the bottom, we have suffered no inconvenience.[24] The Pooters encapsulate the image of a new class, living in their own home, employing a servant, having a garden and yet still retaining their parsimonious connective with their humbler origins; in many ways, the Pooters are the future. In conclusion, it may be remarked that the Victorian era saw the greatest period of change that had ever been seen. Industrial development saw riches and poverty in unequal measure; improvements were made in nursing and social concerns but the population mostly remained in poverty and both ill-nourished and inadequately cared for in terms of health; the trains united the country but the rural population was fragmented and the urban largely in dire circumstances; schooling was expanded and literacy improved but the standard of education was at best questionable; the Empire flourished but its members across the seas were mostly downtrodden, subjugated and rebellious: in short, to quote Dickens’ famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities (1859), ‘it was the best of times and the worst of times’. It is extremely difficult to assess, in the final analysis, whether the end of Victoria’s reign saw her people in a better or worse condition than when her reign began but certainly, the single most important development seen was the opportunity for change. In this sense if no other, the population was better off at the end of the long nineteenth century than at the beginning of it. However, the war that was about to devastate Europe brought apocalyptic changes which could never have been envisaged and certainly Tennyson’s famous reference in ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1854) to the fact that ‘Some one had blunderd’ would take on a profoundly disturbing resonance from which the world over which Victoria presided would never recover. Truly, 1914 brought more than just the end of an era it brought the end of Victorian mores and the expectations of the population would alter radically, with revolution, such as occurred in Russia in 1917, a perpetual possibility, especially with the growth of the unions and the Socialist Party, which wiped out the Liberals. Victoria’s reign was not just one age but many and as such, like most eras, was both good and bad. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. London: Guild Publishing, 1990. Beer, Gillian. Darwin’s Plots. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Davis, Philip. The Victorians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Cobbet, William. Rural Rides. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2004. Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Dickens, C. Oliver Twist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999 Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Eliot, George. The Lifted Veil. London: Virago Press, 1985, Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844) http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> Forster, E.M. Howards End. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987. Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. Hardy, F.E. The Life of Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan, 1962. Hughes, Thomas. Tom Browns School Days. New York: Harper Brothers,1911. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Ruth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Grossmith, G M. The Diary of a Nobody. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1918. Kipling, Rudyard. Traffics and Dicoveries. New York: Charles Scribner Sons. Langland, Elizabeth. Nobodys Angels: Middle-Class Women and Domestic Ideology in Victorian Culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995. Lawrence, D.H. The Rainbow. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Lightman, Bernard, ed. Victorian Science in context. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Maltus, Thomas. Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/malthus/index.htm> Mathias, P. The first Industrial Nation. London: Routledge, 2001. Mayhew, Henry. The Unknown Mayhew. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971. Mill, J.S. The Subjection of Women. New York: Prometheus, 1986. Roberts, F. David. The Social Conscience of the Early Victorians. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002. Smiles, Samuel, Self Help. 29.11.08 http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/selfh10h.htm> Smiles, Samuel. Industrial Biography: Iron-Workers and Tool-Makers. Boston: Ticknor and Fields,1864. Sturt, George. Change in the Village. London: Caliban Books, 1984. Thompson, Flora. Lark Rise to Candleford. London: Penguin, 2008. The Victorian Web. accessed 30.11.08. http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/contagious.html> Worthen, John. D H Lawrence. The Early Years 1885-1912. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 1 Footnotes [1] For more on the idea of changes and loss of traditions see: Sturt, George. Change in the Village. London: Caliban Books, 1984. (First published in 1912.) [2] Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 12. [3] See: Mill, J.S. The Subjection of Women. New York: Prometheus, 1986. [4] Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. [5] Hardy, F.E. The Life of Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan, 1962, p. 310. [6] Eliot, George. The Lifted Veil. 1878. London: Virago Press, 1985, p. 26. [7] Kipling, Rudyard. Traffics and Dicoveries. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1904, p. 337. [8] Forster, E.M. Howards End. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1987, p. 43. [9] Dickens, C. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 8-9. [10] Dickens, C. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, p. 10. [11] Dickens, C. Oliver Twist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, Preface, p. xx. [12] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980, vol. I, p. 83. [13] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. [14] Forster, J. The Life of Charles Dickens in Two Volumes. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. [15] Dickens, C. Nicholas Nickleby. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990, Preface to the 1848 Edition, Lii. [16] Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844): 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> [17] Englels, F. The Condition of the Working class in England (1844): 29.11.08. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/index.htm> [18] Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, pp. 79-80. [19] Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 49. [20] See Alan Shelston’s introduction to: Gaskell, Elizabeth. Ruth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. vii-viii. [21] See: ‘The Contagious Diseases Act’, accessed 30.11.08. http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/contagious.html> [22] See: Mayhew, Henry. The Unknown Mayhew. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971. [23] Mathias, P. The First Industrial Nation. London: Routledge, 2001, p. 226. [24] Grossmith, G M. The Diary of a Nobody. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 3.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez Essay

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez Works Cited Not Included Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, is a story that brings one to question the code of honor that exists in the Columbian town. Marquez' paints a picture that shows how societal values, such as honor, have become more important than the inherent good of human life. The Vicario brothers' belief that their sister was done wrong was brought upon by this honor, along with racial and social tension. The dangerous path of both honor and religious faith caused Santiago's untimely death. "'Before God and before men,' Pablo Vicario said. 'It was a matter of honor'" (Marquez 56). In the town honor is taken very seriously and any action taken to protect one's own honor or family's honor is never questioned. If someone loses their honor, they automatically become an outcast in the society. Angela Vicario's father had "lost his sight from doing so much fine work in gold in order to maintain the honor of the house" (33). When Angela Vicario explained she lost her virginity to Santiago Nasar, the honor and respect of the family was lost. The Vicario brothers felt it was their purpose to keep some sort of semblance of honor to their family name. Angela's supposed premarital relations with Santiago Nasar were enough in this culture to warrant death. The idea that honor can cross the boundaries of religion is considered to be very powerful. It is an action in which one can take the life of someone else. The act of killing someone becomes a powerful and almost godlike statement. Honor can extend beyond the reaches of religion, as shown in this story. Angela Vicario could have been beaten to death because she infring... ...d the bishop does not get off his ship that he is traveling on and instead asks to eat cock-comb soup, one that is costly to make and considered to be a sexual innuendo. He only offers his blessing on the boat nearly a few hundred yards off shore. The people take pride in how they are of religious faith, yet a whorehouse and constant sexual relations saturates everyone in the town. Marquez in Chronicle of a Death Foretold attempts to show that people naturally blur the interpretation of their own beliefs. The honor code that exists in the town is merely outdated. The hypocritical system of honor and religion breeds infidelity, murder, and deceit. The Vicario brothers abused honor and God's repentance as reasons for their act. In this town, religion and honor can be a dangerous force to merge, and Santiago Nasar was an innocent victim right in the way.

John Marshalls Court :: essays research papers

By the early 1800s, the debate over Federal power which had been so tactfully postponed when it surfaced in previous efforts at unification (i.e., the Constitutional Convention) had again inevitably reared its head once the government was established and the neutral greatness of Washington's reign had ended. As the major issue of the day, the controversy of States' rights versus big government permeated politics in a profound depth and completeness: it was reflected in the core beliefs and platforms of the major political parties of the day, and most issues were at unobtrusive levels reflections of this central conflict. Prominent politicians of the day, such as John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson, were also outstanding thinkers with very strong opinions on this issue. Several Acts of Congress proved the Legislature to be an effective battleground for the issue of federal power. In the end of the 18c, the Federalist Party enjoyed great political influence. Presidents and many congressmen represented the party's goals and served as opponents to those who sang too loudly the praises of "States' rights". Thus, Congress succeeded in passing legislature that seriously challenged individual rights. The Alien Act made assimilation and naturalization more difficult for immigrants, and the Sedition Act posed a substantial threat to First Amendment rights, as it specified punishment for "writing, printing, uttering, or publishing any false, scandalous, or malicious writings" about virtually any branch or aspect of the U.S. government. Such a clear subordination of individual rights to Federal power evoked a strong Republican backlash, in both State Assemblies and ballot boxes. The Kentucky Resolutions were passed in State legislature atta cking the Sedition Act, stating that "whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthorized, void, and of no force†¦" (D) Two years later, Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson was elected President and Congressional elections followed similar trends, ending the long-time Federalist dominance. A second issue touched upon by the Kentucky resolutions was that of judicial review. The Resolutions asserted that "the government created by this compact" (i.e., the Constitution) "was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself†¦" (D) This attacked the power of the Supreme Court to decide the constitutional validity of law and thus posed a threat to an important check on Legislative power. This document would not, however, dictate the future role of the Supreme Court; that precedent was instead set by Chief Justice John Marshall, in practice as well as in his 1803 Marbury v.

Motivation in Economic Downturn for Surviving Employees

| Motivation in Economic Downturn for Surviving Employees| Awesome| Julia Gao Helen HuHannah Hung Chimeme Pan Johnson SunMandy WongYidi YuElaine Zhu| | 4/15/2013| | Motivation in Economic Downturn for Surviving Employees 1. Executive summary The global economy experiences a downturn every five to ten years nowadays. During such financial crises, organizations might have to face the issue of lay-off in order to reduce cost and survive from the downturn. Apart from the negative effects on the unemployed, those survivors also go through a hard time.This report has firstly investigated possible negative effects on remaining employees. It is found that survivor syndrome, including five major types, occurs among survivors. Besides, four relevant solutions for managers are provided to minimize the negative influence on remaining employees and to support future development of the company. Lastly, current issues and concerns with respect to motivation maintenance are also discussed for feasib ility. 2. Introduction During the financial crisis, many organizations are downsizing and laying off their employees.A major factor that contributes to the failure of most organizations to achieve their objectives after downsizing is that they do not adequately and effectively address the â€Å"people factor† related to surviving employees throughout the process. In other words, most companies focus on comforting the leavers instead of concerning the negative effects on the survivors. Survivor Syndrome is a mental condition that occurs when people perceives themselves to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not.In the field of management, it refers to the negative psychological and physical impact that originations’ layoffs bring to the remaining workers (Cascio, 1993). In this report, we identified 5 major negative effects on survived employees and provide possible solutions to the managers. 3. Major negative effects 3. 1 Psychological effect s 1. Job insecurity. Survivors wonder how long they will be able to keep their jobs, and they worry that they are not prepared to find work elsewhere, or that there are no comparable outside jobs.Since survivors are at the risk of losing jobs, they no longer regard themselves as an integral organization member, as which they are responsible for the future of organization. 2. Depression, anxiety and fatigue. The process is demoralizing and stressful for the managers who must lay off employees, as well as for employees who lose friends and colleagues. After the layoffs, more work and more pressure to perform, mentally and emotionally drained after survival. 3. Reduced risk-taking and creativity.Many survivors are afraid to face challenging jobs, accept a new task, or discuss a work-related problem for fear that they expose themselves to criticism or poor performance appraisals and become the target of future layoff. As a result, they are receptive to their status quo as being â€Å"s afe† instead of taking initiative. 4. Distrust and betrayal. Doubts may arise about the wisdom of the layoff choices when survivors believe that someone laid off is more capable than a remaining one.The feeling of unfairness can lead to worries about the transparency of organization operation thus causing distrust and possible job-hopping. 3. 2 Physical effect Apart from the psychological negative effects, layoffs may also influence the physical health of the survivors. Great pressure and heavy workload can have a bad impact on employees’ immune system. Under this situation, people are probably to have more physical symptoms, like stomachache, headache and cold. 4. Solutions for managers The following are four solutions provided to minimize negative effects on survivors. . 1 Open Communication Research has proposed that procedural justice, which is the perceived fairness of the process used to determine distribution of rewards, has a critical role to play in the managem ent of employee organizational commitment, trust in the corporations and turnover intentions. Hence in times of uncertainty and fear, increasing the perception of procedural justice is the key to rebuild trust and confidence among the employees and hence combat the Layoff Survivor Syndrome. This could be achieved through open communication. . 1. 1 Communicate about the downsizing Managers could pursue promoting perceived fairness and transparency through openly addressing the downsizing event, explaining explicitly and honestly the rationale as well as procedure for the layoffs and illustrating how the action of downsizing will lead to future organizational success. Open-book management, a strategy that is designed to help facilitate the communication process, is widely adopted by many recognizable corporations such as the HSBC Group and Cathay Pacific during downsizing.Through disclosure of the detailed business and financial information, the practice provides employees with insigh ts into the company’s situation and hence the rationale for layoffs. Moreover, the approach empowers employees to take ownership of their work as they are now fully aware of the implications of their actions on the company’s performance. As a result, they are motivated to take the initiative to help reduce cost. Furthermore, managers should be candid about the potential drawbacks of the policy.For instance, while downsizing inevitably leads to increased workload and prolonged working hours that create an overwhelming stress for the survivors, timely and quality communication with the employees about their new roles and responsibilities is hence imperative to help them better manage the pressure and maintain employee morale and productivity. 4. 1. 2 Communicate about the future Goal Setting Theory clearly demonstrates that working towards a goal is a major source of job motivation.Effective communication about the organization’s post-layoff goals and visions is t herefore important in maintaining and strengthening employee commitment. Regular update on the organization’s long term strategies will further reinforce trust and confidence among the employees, as not only does the action assure them that the leadership is actively solving the problems, but also conveys a clear message that they are being valued and respected by the company. While open ommunication should be encouraged at all levels, special attention should be devoted to the group of employees who are highly skilled and professional in their field due to their great inclination to leave for greener pastures in times of uncertainty, as well as those who are personally affiliated with the laid off as they tend to experience the greatest emotional toll from loss of their co-workers. 4. 2 Job reassignment Job reassignment means to redesign individual roles according to their talents and background.Job reassignment is essential in clarifying everyone’s duty in order to a ssure that the company can still function normally. And in another aspect, proper job reassignments may also to some extent reduce the negative effects on survivors such as job insecurity and anxiety. 4. 2. 1 Job design Here are some suggested actions for job redesign, including combining tasks, creating natural work units, establishing internal or external client relationships, expanding jobs vertically, and opening feedback channels.The actions mentioned above provide the survivors with more and better opportunities to develop their skills and to take the responsibility. Since the workload of individual survivor usually becomes heavier, what managers can do might be making the job more motivating for the survivors. They will help the survivors to experience the meaningfulness of their work, and also have higher working satisfaction. It will also be able to keep survivors from feeling passed over during the downsizing; they must be assured of their value, which will reduce their jo b insecurity. 4. 2. Training and supporting programs Besides job design, managers should do a lot more work in order to assure that job reassignment is being carried out successfully, in which training and supporting programs should be offered. Sometimes in the haste of layoffs, employees are shifted to new assignments without appropriate preparation such as job insecurity and lack of confidence in competency. It is found that â€Å"people are uneasy because they are not sure what they are supposed to be doing, who they should be accountable to, or if they are doing a good job†(Wexley & Silverman, 1993).In the wake of a downsizing, managers are suggested to sit down with each employee to help clarify his or her new role. Employees need to know what expectations have changed and how those changes may have an impact on their daily work. Research shows that most employees find great comfort in knowing exactly what they're working toward and exactly what's expected of them. Addit ionally, a large portion of anxiety is caused by lacking confidence in competency. Survivors worry that they will not be competent in their newly restructured job functions that the survivors do not ever possess.So immediately after layoffs, employees should be trained on how to handle new tasks or responsibilities. 4. 3 Pay-for-performance As the expectancy theory states motivation= expectation *instrumentality * valance, in relation to effort, performance and rewards. Therefore, we suggest the pay-for-performance scheme to work alongside this theory. The general idea is rewarding through the recognition of work done by overachievers, thus encouraging performance levels. There are, however, several takes to this approach according to Stephen O’Bryne. . 3. 1 Pay versus target pay is tied to performance Some companies believe that pay-for-performance is best reached by awarding compensation when the performance level is above a target level, thus a decrease if it is below targ et level. Companies such as Procter and Gamble are known to use this method. For example, in its 2010 proxy statement, P&G describes pay for performance this way: â€Å"We pay above target when goals are exceeded and below target when goals are not met. † 4. 3. 2 Pay doesn’t go up when performance is poorThis method defines pay for performance in terms of performance and pay changes. In its 2008 U. S. proxy voting guidelines, ISS said it would vote against compensation committee members when â€Å"the company has a pay ­for ­performance disconnect,† defined as an increase in pay coupled with a decrease in performance. 4. 3. 3 Pay versus market pay is tied to performance Adopting target pay/prior year pay as a benchmark for assessing pay-for-performance has led some companies to focus on market pay instead.Companies such as Dow Chemical and CSX agree that superior performance should lead to above market pay and poor performance should lead to below market pay . 4. 3. 4 Pay percentile equals Performance percentile If a company provides target levels of pay at or above a particular percentile but the performance does not meet the percentile of peer companies, the firm should redesign its compensation strategy to align it with the organization’s compensation. This can help the situation as it recognizes the efforts of individuals and thus boosting the general morale of the employees.Limitation in this approach lies in deciding the target levels. For example, some companies may adopt a needlessly high target pay level which may result in the rewarding of poorly behaved executives with pay levels that, albeit lower than those for well performing executives, remain above the market. 4. 4 Individualized recognition and reassurance People have social esteem needs such as recognition and belongingness. Employee recognition and reassurance is a critical issue especially when a company is dealing with downsizing, where the survivors are both physically and psychologically affected.Here are 4 detailed ways to raise employee recognition. 4. 4. 1 Offer reassurance whenever possible Recognition is the essentially positive feedback that lets employees know they are valued and appreciated by their  co-workers, supervisors and the organization. Employee recognition could be raised from daily works to formal events. Certainly, special tasks, important meetings and awards presentation are good chances for creating employees’ sense of belongings and self-actualization. Apart from those formal situations, bonuses and prizes, daily appreciation and reassurance are also important.By sending thank-you email or a handwritten note of praise, employees would feel that their hard work is being rewarded. Then, they will be more motivated and continue to work harder (Murdock, 2010). 4. 4. 2 Provide counseling for survivors for further development Counseling can take the format of buddy program in which manager acts as mentor and employee as mentee. Manager may meet with employees on an individual or small-group basis to devise a personal plan for goal achievement. By doing this, the survivors will be aware of the opportunities they still have remaining in the company.Besides, a feedback system can also be established where the employees give feedback about their progress in achieving individualized goals and managers help to evaluate and make improvement on their plan at the same time (Boyd, 2013). The program serves as a channel for mutual communication in the company. Therefore, remaining employees can release the distress brought about by downsizing. 4. 4. 3 Continue to communicate, especially one-to-one Individualized communication would be a modified way to boost morale based on different personality type of employees.By communicating with employees individually, managers are able to understand their feelings and problems and offer helps to improve the situations (jobsDB HK, 2007). Also, they could rea lize employees’ personalities and take them into account when designing plans for reducing negative effects from lay-off. For instance, for an employee with need for affiliation according to the Three-Needs Theory, he/she probably prefers a social event to renew his/her personal network. As a result, surviving employees could be easily motivated. 5. ConclusionThis report discusses 5 negative effects on employees who have survived organization’s layoff and the corresponding solutions. Layoffs due to the financial crisis can lead to physical problems and a series of negative psychological effects including job insecurity, depression, anxiety and fatigue, reduced risk-taking and creativity, distrust and betrayal. Facing such a situation, open communication, job reassignment, pay for performance, and individualized recognition & reassurance are the four corresponding solutions suggested. However, the real situation is much more complicated, where more issues should be take n into consideration.One concern is the diversity of workforce. Different employees have different values, backgrounds, making it challenging for managers to identify and satisfy their needs. Another concern is the culture difference. Most current motivation theories are based on the situation in the United States and managers cannot assume that motivational programs well fit in their own case. Therefore, it is suggested that managers should incorporate local cultural factors and personal characteristics when dealing with the downsizing negative effects. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Cascio, W. F. (1993).Downsizing: what do we know? What have we learned. Academy of Management Executive, 7(1), 95-104. [ 2 ]. Wexley, K. N. , & Silverman, S. B. (1993). Working Scared: Achieving Success in Trying Times Jossey-Bass. [ 3 ]. Murdock, K. (2010). Boosting Morale of Employees Important During Tou gh Times: How You Can Do It in Three Easy Steps. The Washington Post. [ 4 ]. Boyd, J. (2013). How to Motivate Employee Performance. eHow. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/how_5996416_motivate-employee-performance. html [ 5 ]. JobsDB HK. (2007). Boost Staff Morale. Retrieved from http://hk. jobsdb. com/HK/EN/Resources/EmployerArticle/morale? ID=500