How Corporate Governance Practice Is Disclosed In Retail Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2959 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The topic of corporate governance is vital to every corporation, especially the listed corporation, because the related principles guide the business practice and provide higher values with higher profitability for the corporation, (Aksu and Kosedag 2005). Corporate governance is about rules and regulations and also a matter of ethics, therefore failure to comply with it has an unfavorable impact on the capital market and their investors, (International Federation of Accountants 2008). The lack of effective corporate governance in a corporation results in huge amount of financial losses, like the Hong Kong listed company: CITIC Pacific Limiteds incident in 2008. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "How Corporate Governance Practice Is Disclosed In Retail Finance Essay" essay for you Create order This signals corporations that good corporate governance practice is fundamental to corporations success. This study is to find out the relationship between corporate governance practice and financial performance of corporations. More importantly, the Code of Corporate Governance Practice has become effective from 1 January 2005 onwards and listed corporations in Hong Kong must comply with the mandatory provisions. Corporations are also encouraged to comply with the voluntarily guidelines for best practices. Judges Report of the Hong Kong Management Association Best Annual Report Award 1994 pointed out that prior research shows that corporations only comply with minimum disclosure requirements of corporate governance standards. This study is going to assess the level of compliance of corporations with both mandatory provisions and voluntarily practices. It is commonly agreed that corporations in industry other than retail, especially the banking, public utility service, and property development industry, have better performance in corporate governance since 1990s when the corporate governance standards have evolved significantly. For example, HSBC Holdings plc won the Best Corporate Governance Disclosure Award 2009 from Hong Kong Institutes of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA); CLP Power Hong Kong Limited won the top award from the HKICPA for the seventh successive year; and Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited obtained the Corporate Governance Asia Recognition Award in 2009 from the Corporate Governance Asia Magazine. But for the retail industry, there is less prior research for investigating the corporate governance disclosure of these companies. Therefore this study is going to investigate the practice in the retail industry. 1.2 Research Aims and Objectives 1.2.1 Research Aims The research aims of this study are to examine how corporate governance practice is disclosed in the retail industry and how it contributes to the corporations by looking at its impact on firms performance in operating, financial and stock market aspects. 1.2.2 Research Objectives The objectives of this study are: To critically examine the importance of corporate governance to corporations and identify the contributions of corporate governance framework. To evaluate the disclosure behavior of listed firms in retail industry of Hong Kong. To compare corporate governance practice of the listed firms in retail industry of Hong Kong. To investigate whether or not companies with good governance would have better performance in operating, financial and stock market aspects by conducting ratio analysis. 1.3 Research Outline The remainder of the research is set as follows. Chapter 2 reviews prior research and literature about theoretical framework, importance and contribution of corporate governance, development of governance disclosure, measurement of corporate governance, and hypotheses development. Chapter 3 describes the methodologies of the research. Chapter 4 shows the empirical findings: (1) corporations ranking for governance disclosure, and (2) relationship between corporate governance and performance. Chapter 5 concludes the research. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Definition There is no single definition for corporate governance as it varies from countries by countries and firms by firms and depends on how one view this (Craig et al. 2007; Salehi 2008). Salehi (2008) summarized the studies of prior researchers and grouped corporate governance into four views: accountability, integrity, efficiency and transparency. For the purpose of measuring corporate governance, corporate governance is defined as the reciprocal actions and influence of agents (managers and directors) and principal (shareholders) to manage the corporation in which the actions enable stakeholders to obtain certain returns from that corporation (Standard Poors Governance Service 2004). The Hong Kong Institutes of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA 2004) and Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD 2004) provided a similar definition that corporate governance is coordination process between manager, board members, shareholders and stakeholders, and the organizational structures which drive the direction, operation and the monitoring the corporation for achieving the organizational objectives. Abdullah and Valentine (2009) provided a boarder definition for corporate governance and defined it as processes of managerial decisions making and a set of rules of management for both economic and non-economic activities carried out by the corporation. 2.2 Models of Corporate Governance The efficacy of corporate governance depends on the four major types of governance practice models adopted by corporations worldwide (Bhasa 2004): Market-centric governance model Under the market-centric governance style, scattered shareholders cannot control the firm. They are distanced from the management due to their equity ownership diffusion. There is strong and liquid capital market with good protection for shareholders. While this model benefits the collection of capital and spreads out risks of shareholders, scandals in worldwide companies show the deficiency of such a model. Relationship-based governance model Under the relationship-based governance model, banks are the dominant shares owner of a corporation. The banks have long term contractual relationship with the firms and directly control the daily managerial functions. The model is further characterized by weak and illiquid capital markets and excessive government intervention. Transition governance model The transition governance model is applied in corporation which is previously state-owned but now becomes a private corporation. Therefore the ownership structure of that corporation becomes fractioned. Unless retail investor can hold any shares ownership, the capital market is still weak and illiquid. Emerging governance model There is less researchers who study for the emerging governance model. It is only certain that this type of governance model is replicating the governance models of successful economies. 2.3 Theoretical framework There had been wide discussion on the issue of separation of ownership and control of corporation in prior research (Boubakri et al. 2008). Two major theories were used to explain this issue. Where the agency theory on one hand presented a divergence of interests of agent and principal, and stewardship theory on the other hand demonstrated alignment of those interests (Davis et al 1997). Mallin (2007) suggested several theories would influence the development of corporate governance, namely agency theory, stakeholder theory and stewardship theory. 2.3.1 Agency Theory Jensen and Meckling (1976) famously described the relationship between shareholders and managers as pure agency relationship. The shareholders (principal) owned and acquired ownership of the corporation and maximized their returns with the assist of agents, who serve the shareholder interests and control the corporation. According to the idea of Walsh and Seward (1990), organization would lose competitive advantages and would be unable to continue if managers act adversely with the shareholders aspiration (Davis et al. 1997). The agency problem occurred when there is a lack of attention to maximize shareholder returns, i.e. self-interested opportunism, where the principal is affected by the self-interest of their agents (Davis et al. 1997). Prior research has suggested two control mechanisms to solve the agency problem. They are the alternative executive compensation schemes and governance structures that can maximize shareholders wealth and guide the agents behavior (Demsetz and Lehn 1985; Jensen and Meckling 1976; and Davis et al. 1997). It is proved that agency costs have affected the means and mechanisms of corporation governance (Hutchinson and Gul 2003). They are incurred for providing incentives and compensations for managers and monitoring their conducts in order to prohibit individualism of managers (Roberts 2005). Researchers had suggested that there are limitations associated with agency theory. It assumed divergence of interests resulted from individualism of managers which in reality may not be appropriate to be applied to all agents (Doucouliagos 1994 and Davis et al. 1997). Moreover, Jensen and Meckling (1976) stated that controls of agency only provide potential profits that please shareholders, instead of ensuring the shareholders wealth are maximized. According to Donaldson and Dais (1991), Psychologist Douglas McGregors Theory Y can be applied to agents (Roberts 2005). Under the Theory Y, agents can exercise self control and are willing to act upon their principals interests. Therefore it shows the agency theory deficiency that managers are assumed to be self-serving. 2.3.2 Stewardship Theory According to Donaldson and Davis (1989, 1991), stewardship theory is introduced as a means of defining relationships based upon other behavior premises which is opposed to the agency theory (Davis et al. 1997). Mallin (2007) explains that stewardship theory draws on the assumptions underlying agency theory. The agency theory assumes that both agent and principals enjoy maximize their own utility. Therefore corporation is controlled by independent board and various committees. However under stewardship theory, the manager behaviors are assumed collective that they act upon principals interest. Therefore managers are given autonomy to attain the objectives of the corporation without intense control from owners. With regard to the stewardship theory, organizational structure is supposed to facilitate effective action by the managers and directors and to help them to formulate and implement plans for better corporate performance. However, the theory has never been used empirically to directly explain agents compensation or as an underlying theory (Hengarrtner 2006). 2.3.3 Stakeholder Theory Different from the agency theory and the stewardship theory, the stakeholder theory applies to a wider context that give thought to a group of people such as employees, customers, government, creditors and general public, other than just the shareholders. Moreover, corporations strive to maximize shareholders value together with the aim to care about the interests of stakeholders (Mallin 2007). Jensen (2001) stated there are theorists oppose to stakeholder theory because it aims to address the interests of all stakeholders which may not be logically possible and theorists provided no explanations of how to trade-off against those interests. To solve problems that arise from multiple objectives that accompany traditional stakeholder theory, value maximization becomes the most important interest of a corporation (Jensen 2001). 2.4 Importance and Contributions of Corporate Governance Even many of the corporate failures are the results of managerial fraud or accounting problems, corporation and regulator are focused on the corporate governance issue rather than the accounting standards and audit procedures (Green and Graham 2005). Corporate governance contributes to the well-governed corporation: increase in firms value with higher profitability and lower cost of investment of shareholders (Brown and Caylor 2005; Ashbaugh et al. 2004). Corporate governance is important because it can enhance accountability and transparency for stakeholders and can ensure corporations meet the needs of the general public (Tze and Chi 2006; Baker and Powell 2009). Furthermore, the corporate governance mechanism can minimize agency cost and avoid reduction of firms market value resulted from managers opportunism (yvind et al. 2004). One potential addition is that corporate governance can protect minority interest as it prevents manipulation of dominant shareholders (Merson 2010). Prior researcher had designed methodology and carried out empirical analysis in 30 countries for investigating the contribution of corporate governance, and it is found that better governance report enhance productivity of factors of production and economic growth (Aksu and Kosedag 2005; Sadka 2004). At the national level, good corporate governance practices attract more worldwide investors (Cheung and Jang 2008). 2.5 Relationship to research questions 2.5.1 Corporate Governance Disclosure Over the last decade, most economies require mandatory corporate governance disclosure while public organizations encourage a certain degree of voluntary disclosures (Ho and Wong 2001). For example, the Hong Kong Society of Accountant, Hong Kong Institutes of Certified Public Accountants and Corporate Governance Asia Magazine provided the best corporate governance disclosure awards to recognize the effort put on governance disclosures. To disclose useful and adequate corporate information to investors is important for all corporations as this is socially desirable. However, the extent of corporate governance disclosure is subject to the benefits and costs associated (Ho and Wong 2001; Green and Graham 2005; Hossain 2008). Another governance disclosure problem is that disclosures are ritualistic and opportunistic (Neu et al. 1998; Eng and Mak 2003; Young 2003; Green Graham 2005). Nevertheless, Green and Graham (2005) suggested that governance disclosure is important because corporations can be benefited by improving market valuation, increasing market liquidity, obtaining shareholders support and avoiding government intervention. For shareholders and investors, adequate disclosures ensure they can access the stewardship of management and make appropriate decisions. Also for the community, adequate governance disclosures assist public to understand the structure, activities, and both financial and social performance of corporations (Hong Kong Society of Accountant 2001). 2.5.2 Development of Corporate Governance in Hong Kong Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Asian government including Hong Kong became awareness of the important of corporate governance issue (Ho and Wong 2001). For public companies, there is not any governance rule. But for listed corporation, there are governance code and legal rules which requires a serious of governance practices. They include the needs to appoint non-executive directors, form board of directors and various committees, separate the role of chairman of board and the CEO (Lau and Young 2006). Listed companies are regulated by three-tier: namely (1) Companies Ordinance, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Ordinance and the Listing Rules administered by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited 2008). More importantly, from January 2005 onwards, the Code on Corporate Governance Practices has become effective. A listed corporation is required to act upon the Code Provisions on five aspects: directors; remuneration of directors and senior management; accountability and audit; delegation by the board; and communication with shareholders (Lau and Young 2006). According to the Appendix 14 Code on Corporate Governance Practices of the Listing Rules, listed corporations are responsible for disclosing in the interim and the annual report whether or not they complied with the Code of Provisions. Apart from this, there is guidance from corporation to exercise the recommended best practices. Even there is recommended best practices, many Hong Kong listed companies only comply with minimum corporate governance disclosure requirements of Listing Rules and accounting standards (Ho and Wong 2001). There are also irregular disclosure of governance information in the annual reports and publications (Green and Graham 2005). 2.5.3 Measuring Mandatory Governance Disclosure To measure the disclosure behavior of companies, there are three rating methods: (1) Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), (2) Standard Poors (SP), and (3) FTSE ISS (ISS) (Doidge et al. 2007). Prior researchers showed that these ratings analyze objectively and without bias information of companies governance practices, but CLSA only focused on less-developed and newly emerging countries and ISS on the other hand covered developed countries (Doidge et al. 2007). 2.5.4 Measuring Voluntary Governance Disclosure Prior researchers measured voluntary corporate governance disclosures by creating a system of calculating disclosure score for each company (Eng and Mak 2003). The extent of voluntary disclosures can be also found out by using relative disclosure index together with the disclosure checklists suggested by Ernst Young (Ho and Wong 2001). 2.5.5 Corporate Governance Relationship with Firm Performance Over the last decade, there is great increasing number of studies concerning the impacts of corporate governance. The question of whether or not corporate governance brings about the problems of managerial fraud and misconduct, misuse of powers, negligence, corporate failure, corporate collapse, losses of shareholder wealth and social irresponsibility, has been concerned by the public (Baker and Powell 2009; Merson 2010). The Asian financial crisis of 1997 was the result of poor corporate governance and low transparency of corporations (Ho and Wong 2001). The weak corporate governance regulation, useless governance principles and ineffective board and internal control have a deep impact on financial crisis. These lead to several corporate collapse, especially the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 (Kirkpatrick 2009). According to Cheung, Connelly, Limpaphayom, and Zhou (2007), firm value is higher in the better governed firm (Cheung and Jang 2008). Klapper and Love (2003) concluded that good governance produced better operating performance as measured by return on assets and higher market valuation as measured by Tobins Q. Apart from these, according to Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003) and Bebchuk, Cohen and Ferrell (2004), it is found that the better corporate governance is, the better the corporate performance (Bhagat and Bolton 2008). However this is not the only finding. There are different views about the relationship between corporate governance and corporate performance: First, there is lack of evidence which proved a linkage between governance practices and subsequent performance of corporation (Nelson 2004; Bhagat and Bolton 2009). Second, there is only positive relationship in theory, but in fact researchers found reverse result because these researchers did not consider the unique organizational environment of corporations (Hutchinson and Gul 2003). For example, in case a firm has high growth potential, better performance will be resulted even if there are poor corporate governance practices. Besides, Hutchinson and Gul (2003) demonstrated that not only corporate governance practices can significantly affect the corporate performance, but in fact performance can affect the governance practices. Third, prior to 2002, Bhagat and Bolton (2009) suggested even there are good governance practices; there may not good corporate performance. This is the same result of the study of Young (2003). But Bhagat and Bolton (2009) have found a positive relationship between board independence and operating performance after year 2002. Besides, it was found by Daily and Dalton (1994) that fewer number of independent non-executive directors in board causes bankruptcy and failure of a corporation (Elloumi and Gueyie 2001) although Young (2003) suggested there is no relation between board independence and four measures of firm performance. Also, the combined role of the CEO and the board chairman causes a greater chance of financial distress (Elloumi and Gueyie 2001). Furthermore, the relationship may be subject to the factor of investment opportunities. If a corporation has more investment opportunities, managers opportunistic behavior is more difficult to monitor and thus poor performance may be resulted (Hutchinson and Gul 2003). Hypotheses setting An objective of this study is to investigate whether or not companies with good governance would have better performance. Three variables are examined in this study, including operating performance, financial performance and stock market performance. Hypothesis 1: Corporations with higher corporate governance score are more likely to have better operating performance as measured by accounting indicators (financial risk and operating risk). Hypothesis 2: Corporations with higher corporate governance score are more likely to have higher financial performance as measured by accounting indicators (liquidity, and profitability). Hypothesis 3: Corporations with higher corporate governance score are more likely to have better market performance as measured by market capitalization.

The Tower Of Babel- An Etiological Myth - 2373 Words

1. The Tower of Babel- At the beginning of this story, all the people of the earth were united; they all spoke one language. Since they could all communicate with each other and happened to be skilled builders, the people decided to build a tower, one that would be tall enough to reach heaven. God heard of their plan, and knowing that they built this tower to further unite all the people and to have something to be proud of, so he stopped their plan. He confused their language, and scattered the people all throughout the globe. This story is an etiological myth; it explains how things in nature came to be. It is also important because it is a story that frowns upon arrogance; God punished the people because they were too focused on themselves and their own accomplishments instead of paying their praise to God. 2. Cain and Abel-After Adam and Eve had committed the first sin, God told them that they could make up for it by sacrificing a lamb to him. Later, Adam and Eve had their first sons. Cain, the older one, was a farmer, while Abel, the younger one was a shepherd. Adam and Eve told them about God’s request, and Abel reluctantly sacrificed his lamb. Cain thought it was silly to sacrifice a perfectly good lamb, so he decided to sacrifice some dry straw to God too. But when they set fire to both the lamb and the straw to be sacrifice, only the lamb caught fire. Cain became jealous of his brother since God took Abel’s sacrifice and not his, and eventually his jealousy overcame

Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society Free Essays

Ibsen use of humor to present the superficiality of the 19th Norwegian Century Society. â€Å"I want to feel that I control a human destiny† The Norwegian society of the 19th century forced individuals to follow a â€Å"social code† eradicating to express themselves, as the dramaturg Michael Paller in â€Å"Worlds of Plays† (2007) stated how â€Å"there was one correct way to behave (†¦) and any antisocial behavior would be punished†. Through this, the play, Hedda Gabler, written in 1890 by Henrik Ibsen, was masked by controversy and criticism by the public’s eye since it was first performed in 1891, entitled as â€Å"motiveless† and â€Å"meaningless as this play presents humor as a crucial device to reinforce the main challenge for individuals to succeed in a faà §ade society. We will write a custom essay sample on Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now Likewise, Robert M.Adams (1957) declared that humor is configured to â€Å"present a radically critical commentary on the human condition†, to demonstrate the ludicrous society by undermining Hedda’s final act to mock both, society and the audiences themselves for follow this ridiculous â€Å"social code†. In Hedda Gabler, one of the ways that Ibsen displays the effect of humor to address the superficiality of the Norwegian society is by presenting the faà §ade of marriage. Humor is created in the beginning of Act I through the conversation of Hedda’s husband, George Tesman, and his aunt, Ms.Tesman, to emphasize the only importance for Tesman as any middle-class man was to increase his social image by focusing only in his â€Å"academic subject†, which Hedda found extremely boring: â€Å"Miss Tesman- Haven’t you any†¦ as it were†¦any prospects of†¦? Tesman-Prospects? Miss Tesman- Oh, good heaven, Jorgen†¦after all I’m your old aunt! Tesman-Why certainly I can talk about prospects. Miss Tesman-Oh! Tesman-I have the best prospect in the world of becoming a professor Miss Tesman-Oh, yes, professor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As it is stated, Tesman proves himself to be inept socially, self-absorbed and single-mindedly focused on his work by his inability to detect his aunt’s allusions to Hedda’s pregnancy which results in the audience laughter for how socially concern Tesman is for his job that he didn’t even care for her wife in their honeymoon. Therefore, Ibsen is mocking how the people’s superficial, main worry was to have intellectual and not interest in the love union addressing the reality of society. This makes the audience empathize with Hedda for this unequal match that the social oppression forced her to live with to maintain her reputation and avoid â€Å"scandal†. Furthermore, humor rises by the way Hedda teases his rather â€Å"boyish and ridiculous† husband for his enthusiasm for his â€Å"academic subject†. In a conversation with Brack in Act II, Hedda declares Tesman’s company as unbearable induced through comments such as, â€Å"Ah yes, right enough! Here comes the professor†, â€Å"Just you stay as long as†¦ever you like†, making the audience find these amusing and recognize how truly bored, miserably and trapped Hedda feels in her marriage. Likewise, as Eugene Webb (p.56) states how Hedda’s marriage â€Å"became a permanent condemnation to a trivial bourgeois milieu†, representing how people felt in terms of social oppression and how society destroyed whatever faith life could bring for them. Indeed, the audience is complicit in the teasing of Tesman by the way he is presented by using exaggerated futile articulations such as, â€Å"Think of that†, â€Å"Good Heavens† or even his immature reaction at the reunion with his slippers, â€Å"My old house shoes Hedda!†. This gift of the slippers which Hedda states that â€Å"they won’t appeal to me† represents everything she loathes, women providing for men, humble domesticity and vulgar sentimentality. Therefore, Ibsen uses the character of Tesman to as an easy target of laughter to reinforce the superficiality of the nineteenth Norwegian century society of how many times individuals were forced to marry others although they were unequal match, seen through the marriage of Hedda and Tesman, who he neither had the smartness nor the social class to provide a satisfying conversation with her and how his foolishness makes it easier to understand Hedda’s acts and see her as a human rather than as a â€Å"monstrous specimen† (Franc, M.A, 1919, p.40). Moreover, Ibsen introduces humor by exploiting the thin line between tragedy and comedy to illustrate the â€Å"critical human condition† of the 19th century. It is firstly presented in a conversation between Là ¶vborg and Hedda in Act III how he had lost his manuscript and wouldn’t support the idea of being scorn by society again: â€Å"Hedda-And what are you going to do, then? Là ¶vborg-Just put an end to it all. Hedda-†¦Couldn’t you let it happen beautifully?† By this, Hedda sees suicide as a â€Å"courageous† and â€Å"honorable† act for Là ¶vborg to reclaim control of his own life and because she can finally attain power over a â€Å"human destiny†, to retreat to her aesthetic world to avoid dealing with the harsh realities of her life. This evidences how Ibsen uses Hedda’s way of thinking to address the need to attain control over her own fate and those who surrounds her, trying to demonstrate the desire to grasp such control and power to mask the failure to recognize one’s own frailty and oppression to social forces. That is why the discovery of Là ¶vborg’s death being shoot in the â€Å"breast† and not in the â€Å"temple† caused â€Å"an expression of revulsion† in Hedda, as the only control that she could apply over someone was completely failed and therefore, her own existence seemed meaningless. What causes vulgar humor is Hedda’s exaggerated disgust, â€Å"Oh! Everything I touch seems destined to turn into something mean and farcical†, Là ¶vborg’s death is not tragic nor â€Å"beautiful†, it’s ludicrously futile and hollow. The audience realizes that the â€Å"lovely Hedda Gabler† without â€Å"beauty†, her own life has become senseless because through â€Å"beauty† she yearns for freedom, an expression of a radical Romantic and Schillerian Utopia, therefore, the loss of power is a symbol of mocking her noble purpose in life and how universally condemned she is by the futile society. Lastly, humor is presented in the last scene of the play to make the audience understand Ibsen’s message. It is the disillusionment of her purpose in life and the recognition that Judge Brack has control (sexual blackmail) over her, being â€Å"No longer free!†, that compel Hedda that the only way out of this social oppression and â€Å"scandal† is doing something â€Å"beautiful† with her life, and that is the act of killing herself â€Å"beautifully†. Likewise, Hedda’s suicide is a way to prove herself and society that she is brave enough to do things that are considered untypical in society, rebelling against social expectations to endure her name in history. Hedda’s act of committing suicide goes alongside Jean-Paul Sartre thought. He stated that Hedda is a â€Å"character creating herself, the moment of choice, of the free decision which commits her to a moral code and a whole way of life†, he introduces the definition of â€Å"moral code†, the sense that we are responsible for creating our ethical structure of life, thus Hedda has the imagination to make other choices, yet, she doesn’t take them as she lacks courage to become authentic-self by the community’s narrowness and lack of imagination, that is why she married Tesman to achieve her role as a woman, although it implied misery and suffer. Therefore, the act of taking her life implies Ibsen own revolutionary ideology to break free from the convention of moral thoughts, Hedda aspires for a life beyond the values of the cold conventions and narrow social aspiration. Furthermore, the reaction of Brack by Hedda’s suicide results in laughter of the audience and reveals the superficiality of the Norwegian society. Brack is shocked by her suicide saying that â€Å"People don’t do such things!† Suggesting that Hedda’s action is outside of the social behavior boundaries. By creating humor in this scene, Ibsen makes the audience realize the noble response of society, how in the â€Å"real and ideal world† people are concerned with keeping up appearances, and how in reality the audience is laughing to themselves for their pointless actions. Ibsen is wanting to depict human beings, destinies and emotions to illustrate the criticism of society. In conclusion, in Hedda Gabler, Ibsen use of humor rises due to the difficulty of the audience to accept Hedda’s acts for being blinded by the rigorous 19th century society. He presents humor to demonstrate the ludicrousness and indifference of society which despises the ones that don’t follow the â€Å"social norms†. Ibsen aspired to reveal to the audience the oppression of the 19th century Norwegian society by presenting Hedda as a â€Å"human†, to feel sympathy for the life that she was forced to live in. Robert M.Adams (1957) stated how actually Ibsen was â€Å"a perfectly destructive author† who expressed a â€Å"discontent with the human condition itself†, presenting Hedda Gabler as an ironic work, bitter criticism of life itself and society. Bibliography B., ; J. (n.d.). Hedda Gabler Act 1 Summary ; Analysis. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://www.litcharts.com/lit/hedda-gabler/act-1 Franc, M. A. (1919). Ibsen in England. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007126715 Henrik Ibsen Hedda Gabler. (2009, April 22). Retrieved May 20, 2018, from http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/ibsen.html Huang, J. (2016, November 17). IB English Paper 1 completely explained. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://litlearn.com/ib-english-paper-1-explained/Ibsen, H. (2008).  Four major plays: A doll’s house, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, the master builder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Theatre, A. C., Brodersen, E., Paller, M., Melcon, M. (2007). Hedda Gabler Words on Plays. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from http://www.actsf.org/content/dam/act/education_department/words_on_plays/Hedda Gabler Words on Plays (2007).pdf Webb, E., University of Washington. (n.d.). The Radical Irony of Hedda Gabler. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://www.academia.edu/10400120/The_Radical_Irony_of_Hedda_Gabler How to cite Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society, Papers

Creativity or Conformity Building Cultures of Creativity in Higher Education free essay sample

Permission is granted to reproduce copies of these works for purposes relevant to the above conference, provided that the author(s), source and copyright notice are included on each copy. For other uses, including extended quotation, please contact the author(s). Abstract Whatever else it may be, creativity is intriguing; this view appears to be shared by the literature on the subject and by popular culture. While there is little agreement about the exact nature, processes and products of creativity, there seems to be a fascination both with its complexity and the sheer impossibility of providing clear explanations for it. This paper does not attempt to generate yet another explanation, but instead offers a framework for exploring creativity in the context of teaching and teacher education. The nature of creativity in teaching is usually evidenced by its products: innovative curriculum design or original students’ work. The focus of this paper, however, is on developing opportunities for teachers to understand, explore and express their identities as creative practitioners. These opportunities are offered in the form of â€Å"creative reflection†, a framework of creative methodologies for engaging teachers individually and collectively in identifying and expanding their creativity practices. The notion of creative reflection challenges the action-reflection dichotomy of reflective practice and extends reflection beyond cognitive, retrospective models to encompass the exploration of possibility through play, image-making, writing, action methods and storytelling. The paper offers examples of and reflections on these methods from the author’s use of creative methodologies in a teacher education programme at Queen’s University Belfast. Creative Reflection, Creative Practice: Expressing the Inexpressible The concept and practices of creative reflection have been developed in a teacher education programme at Queen’s University Belfast to enhance the model of reflective practice on which the programme is based. Creative reflection is a framework of creative methodologies whereby teachers explore their practice and the liminal spaces between action and reflection. This work is a response to the need in teacher education for â€Å"the development of more complex models of reflection, related to purpose, which take greater cognisance of existing knowledge from other disciplines, particularly those aspects of psychology concerned with cognitive processes including problem-finding, insight, wisdom, creativity† Leitch and Day (2000: 186-187). Creativity itself is an elusive concept; the literature on the subject incorporates a range of perspectives and dichotomies, raising a number of questions. Those pertinent to this paper include: is creativity a cognitive process, or is it socially constructed? is creativity to do with outcomes, or with processes and qualities such as fluency, imagination and originality? what are the conditions which support the development of creativity? what is the nature of creativity in education, and does it have a place in teacher education? One of the assumptions on which this paper is based is that teachers are creative; by extension, teacher education should therefore provide them with opportunities to identify themselves as creative and to enhance their creativity. Craft (2001: 48) suggests that teachers are highly creative: Certainly some of the characteristics of high creators (childlike qualities, feeling under siege, being on the edge, high energy and productivity) which Gardner identifies in Creating Minds (1993), also emerged as a characteristic of ‘ordinary’ educators in one of my research projects (Craft, 1996a; Craft and Lyons, 1996). Craft’s allusion to productivity is complemented by Eisner’s exploration of the processes, the â€Å"artistry† and the â€Å"craft† involved in teaching (2002). Both facets of creativity, product and process, are incorporated into the framework for creative reflection. Details follow as to how participants engage in process activities as well as in deliberation on the outcomes of these processes. The process of creativity, mysterious as it is, has long been a source of fascination and speculation. Helmholtz’s classical model, developed in 1826, includes the stages of saturation, exploration and incubation; Poincare added to these the aspect of verification (Balzac, 2006). The four-phase model developed for this study incorporates and elaborates on these stages: Model for Creative Reflection Phase 1: Preparation This aspect of creative reflection recognises that the creative process involves uncertainty and possibility and that participants need preparation to access that state of receptivity, or Keatsian Negative Capability, which Keats defines as â€Å"when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason† (Buxton Foreman, 1895). In this phase of creative reflection, threshold activities are offered to enhance possibility and to free the imagination. One of the most successful of these threshold activities has been the invitation to participants to select images and quotations on a relevant theme: teaching, learning or creativity itself. This activity is based on the notion of â€Å"stepping stones† into a liminal world of exploration, as in Progoff’s system for entering the â€Å"twilight world† of process meditation (Progoff, 1980). While participants are in the process of choosing images and quotations which engage them, music is played in the background to enhance relaxation and stimulate intuitive rather than rational decision-making. The activity is conducted without discussion to encourage focus and a connection with the unconscious. Another threshold activity is that of visualisation: for example, individuals are asked to imagine their learning about their practice as a journey and to articulate this in the form of images or writing. The sharing of the results is part of the process of synthesis described in the final phase of this model. Threshold activities are directed at the group as a whole as well as at individuals: for example, participants are asked to imagine an ideal space for teaching and learning and to suggest in turn something which they might like to include in this space. Offerings range from comfortable chairs to the location of this space at the seaside and the presence of flowers and music centres. This activity generates ideas about inclusiveness and introduces into the discussion metaphors and symbols which enhance the learning process. The idea of bringing an ideal situation or world into the realms of possibility through group visualisation is based on the process of reflective meditation in psychosynthesis (Ferrucci, 1982; Assagioli, 1999). Phase 2: Play This phase is based on the assumptions that a good deal of learning happens through play, that play is an essential aspect of cultural development (Huizinga, 1970), and that a group can create meaning, possibility and new insights through the processes of play. Play is also important because it has the potential to free participants from external concerns so that they may enter the state of â€Å"flow†. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1991, 1997) this is an optimum state in which the person is fully focused and immersed in what he or she is doing, usually with a successful outcome. The activities in this phase are conducted quickly; their purpose is to generate energy, enjoyment of the group process and a range of new ideas. The processes involved provide opportunities for divergent thinking; they include mind mapping, creative thinking and brainstorming. The brainstorming methods in this model of the creative reflection are informed by Kelley and Littmann’s (2002) methods for enhancing fluency of ideas and innovation within the context of team-building. Phase 3: Exploration This aspect of creative reflection is active, with the purpose of creating a product. The processes involved may include creative writing, storytelling, or the use of art materials, or action methods based on psychodrama to concretize the experience (Moreno, 1994). The exploration phase may be individual or collective: it may take place in pairs or small groups. In one particular activity, an individual selects one of his or her identities as a teacher from a list; this list includes the more obvious identities such as mentor, helper and instructor, as well as more metaphorical ones as foot soldier, sower or bridge. The individual then elaborates this identity through writing and art, imagining in detail, for example, what this identity might look like, its voice, its tools and how it engages in relationship. The image below depicts the process of exploration on both individual and group levels. Participants, given the task of expressing their understandings of themselves as reflective practitioners, arranged together the quotations, images and artefacts which they had chosen as individuals to express this notion. The circle of people made from tissue paper was created as a collective piece for the final image; this suggests that the group product extended beyond that of a loose arrangement of individual ideas to a creative collaboration of knowledge and understanding. [pic] Phase 4 Synthesis In the final phase of creative reflection, which is akin to the verification tage of the Helmholtz/Poincare model, participants present and reflect on their ideas, stories and collective images. In this phase, which is adapted from McNiff’s process of â€Å"dialoguing with the image†, participants engage with and reflect on the artefact engendered by the creative process (McNiff, 1992). Through this process, the experience and learning are synthesised into new understandin gs, or the identification of new questions which might be raised about professional practice. The image below represents the world of reflective practice as created by a group of practitioners through the use of props. pic] Discussion about this image revealed that each of the scarves, which are circumscribing and containing the world of reflective practice, represents a strength owned by one of the practitioners, while the Russian dolls and the teddy bear on the edge of the circle symbolise those learners who exclude themselves from learning. The act of dialoguing with the image engendered ideas amongst the participants for engaging those who are currently on the outside and who have not yet found a satisfactory means of expression. In many ways, the process of writing this paper has been a struggle to express that which is inexpressible; it is challenging to articulate the complexity of the spaces between reflection and practice, as well as the complexity of creativity itself. It is hoped that further research will indicate whether the processes of creative reflection can take sufficient cognisance of these complexities to support teachers in recognising and expressing their creativity. References Assagioli, R. (1999) The Act of Will: A Guide to Self-Actualization and Self-Realization, Knaphill, David Platts Publishing Company Balzac, F. (2006) ‘Exploring the Brain’s Role in Creativity’,Neuropsychiatry Reviews, Vol. 7, no. 5, May 2006. http://www. neuropsychiatryreviews. com/may06/einstein. html Accessed 14/11/2006 Buxton Foreman, H. (1895, Complete revised edition) The Letters of John Keats, London : Reeves Turner Craft, A. (2001)’ â€Å"Little c Creativity†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, Craft, A. Jeffrey, B, and Leibling, M. (eds. ), Creativity in Education, London and New York, Continuum, pp 45-61 Craft, A. (1996a) ‘Nourishing educator creativity: a holistic approach to CPD’, British Journal of In-Service Education, 22 (3), 309-322. Craft, A. and Lyons, T. (1996) Nourishing the Educator, Milton Keynes: The Open University Seminar Network Occasional Paper Series Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997) Creativity. Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York, HarperPerennial. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991) Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York : HarperPerennial Eisner (2002) ’From episteme to phronesis to artistry in the study and improvement of teaching’, Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 18,  Number 4, May 2002, pp. 375-385 Ferrucci, P. 1982) What we may be: techniques for psychological and spiritual growth. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Gardner, H. (1997) Extraordinary minds: portraits of exceptional individuals and an examination of our extraordinariness New York : BasicBooks Huizinga, J. (1970) Homo Ludens: a study of the play element in culture, London : Maurice Temple Smith Kelley, T and Littman, J. (2002) The Ten Faces of Innovation: Ideos Strategies for Beating th e Devils Advocate Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization London: Profile Leitch, R. and Day, C. (2000) ‘Action research and reflective practice: towards a holistic view’, Educational Action Research, Vol 8, 1 pp179-193. McNiff, S. (1992) Art as medicine: creating a therapy of the imagination Boston, MA. : London: Shambhala Moreno, J. L. (1994, Fourth Edition) Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy, Mental Health Resources. Progoff, I (1980) The Practice of Process Meditation: The Intensive Journal Way to Spiritual Experience, New York: Dialogue House Library.

The Lottery Essays (1156 words) - A Good Man Is Hard To Find

The Lottery Mario Cruz M. Seiferth Eng 1302 Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Flannery O'Connnors A Good Man Is Hard To Find are stories that deal with mans inhumanity to man by illastrating different situation, but lead to the same conclusion and with no thought of the consequences. Jackson and O'Connor use central characters to show how man has the power to distort reality into something the people accept into everyday life. Jackson uses tradition in The Lottery when she uses Mr. Summers as the announcer of the lottery every year. Mr. Summers was a person who believed in the lottery and never thought of ending this tradition. Every year Mr. Summers spoke about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. When the people were asked to get in like to pick a paper, they had done it so many times, they half listened to the directions, (Jackson 235). For generations the lottery was always performed on the twenty-seventh of June, but the orginal box was lost, the rituals were forgotten, but the villagers did remember to use stones. Tradition in A Good Man Is Hard To Find O'Connor goes a different path of traditon but lead to same consequences. The Misfit like Mr. Summers is messanger of death, but for different reasons. Like the people of The Lottery the family in A Good Man Is Hard To Find both have a destination and a purpose and that is to meet their maker. The person in The Lottery is killed for being unlucky, and in A Good Man Is Hard To Find the Misfit was inprisoned for a reason he does not remember. It was in the best way to keep up his reputation as a killer, to go ahead and kill the entire family, and in this way in his mind he is saving them from sinning again. These stories were of manupalation of the mind. Jackson used two main characters to make the people go along and continue the lottery. The people of the village had been so brainwashed by Mr. Summers and Old Man Warner that they did whatever they said to do. When Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, Adams. A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward(Jackson 235) Old Man Warner was the oldest person in town and always talked about the lottery in that it was a good thing because when the lottery is performed corn be heavy soon. (Jackson 236). The people have lack of independent thought when they follow Mr. Summers, and Old Man Warner tells the villagers to finish Mrs. Hutchinson quickly. Without hesatation the crowd picks up stones and start stoning Mrs.Hutchinson with no thought of why or if it's even right to do this act. When O'Connor had her characters manupalate the rest, the grandmother was loudmouth, know it all, always giving her son Bailey suggestion on how to go about the vaction they planned. When she suggested to her son to go to the house with the secret panel, she told him that it would be a good educational trip for the children. Bailey was not thinking for himself when he was following his mothers directions to the secret panel house. If it weren't for the grandmothers cat Pitty Sing they would have never come across the Misfit. When the Misfit did arrive on the scene he was in total control of his men, Bobby Lee and Hiram. The Misfit was in charge of everything that went on from that moment on. The only time in the story that he was a follower or lacked the indepence to question, was when he was inprisoned for something he could not remember. The only thing he was told was that he killed his father and that prison had papers on him. The Misfit blames the penatentary for the way he acts and his actions. The Lottery is a story that was about self-preservation of ones self. Old Man Warner had lived seventy-seven years and had never been the chosen one, so he was always for the lottery. To him the lottery was not bad because he was never the one

Free Essays on Religious Symbolism In The Middle Ages

Literature can influence people’s lives, tell a story, and teach a history lesson all at once. The time in which an author lives, the people he surrounds himself with, and his or her upbringing, all affect their personal style of writing. Authors do not simply grab ideas out of thin air or from the sky. Author’s stories come from their experiences and from their elder’s experiences-stories that were retold and past on to them. Authors of the middle ages were one of the first to put story to paper. Popular topics for the first early works were the current topics of the day, whether it was a war, peacetime, or a time of transition. Religion ruled the land and people, in the early centuries. In reading the literature from these times, it is highly evident that religion played a major influence in these early works. Almost all of the stories/poems in class so far has contained some kind of religious reference. Two stories that have strong evidence of the role a nd impact of religion in society is shown in the epic poem Beowulf of the eighth century and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales of the fourteenth century. Geoffrey Chaucer lived in one of the darkest ages in history. Due to poor medical conditions, the plague would kill thousands of people at a time. When sickness was spreading rapidly, many people turned to the church for help and looked to God for answers. Geoffrey Chaucer, was born between the years 1340 and 1344. He wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century in England. Religion dominated this time period in history; so therefore, it played a major role in literary work of the time. The Canterbury Tale's storyline is based on a very religious practice, a pilgrimage. Chaucer uses a narrator to tell the tale. The narrator of the tales starts out by saying that he is "Bifel that in that seson on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Canterbury with ful devout... Free Essays on Religious Symbolism In The Middle Ages Free Essays on Religious Symbolism In The Middle Ages Literature can influence people’s lives, tell a story, and teach a history lesson all at once. The time in which an author lives, the people he surrounds himself with, and his or her upbringing, all affect their personal style of writing. Authors do not simply grab ideas out of thin air or from the sky. Author’s stories come from their experiences and from their elder’s experiences-stories that were retold and past on to them. Authors of the middle ages were one of the first to put story to paper. Popular topics for the first early works were the current topics of the day, whether it was a war, peacetime, or a time of transition. Religion ruled the land and people, in the early centuries. In reading the literature from these times, it is highly evident that religion played a major influence in these early works. Almost all of the stories/poems in class so far has contained some kind of religious reference. Two stories that have strong evidence of the role a nd impact of religion in society is shown in the epic poem Beowulf of the eighth century and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales of the fourteenth century. Geoffrey Chaucer lived in one of the darkest ages in history. Due to poor medical conditions, the plague would kill thousands of people at a time. When sickness was spreading rapidly, many people turned to the church for help and looked to God for answers. Geoffrey Chaucer, was born between the years 1340 and 1344. He wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century in England. Religion dominated this time period in history; so therefore, it played a major role in literary work of the time. The Canterbury Tale's storyline is based on a very religious practice, a pilgrimage. Chaucer uses a narrator to tell the tale. The narrator of the tales starts out by saying that he is "Bifel that in that seson on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay, Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage To Canterbury with ful devout...

A Critical Evaluation of the Inside Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Critical Evaluation of the Inside Job - Essay Example These people have commented on the reasons of the global economic crisis, their role in the crisis and about their reaction when the financial meltdown began. The Inside Job basically means that there are behind the door interactions among the banks, governments and the academia to a certain extent, which triggered the global financial crisis in 2008 (Bradshaw). The documentary shows how the concepts of keeping a balance in the economy for the safety and financial soundness of the nation were violated by the capitalists who destroyed the economic stability in the country with the help of various influential people (Bradshaw). These were government officials, who had once been bankers and were now making liberal policies in which bankers could make money, on the expense of risking the financial stability of the region. They used political appointees and people from academia who provided forged evidence of the advantages of excessive deregulation. Some people in the government, like Ba rney Frank, tried to regulate this process in order to prevent the economy from breaking down, but their efforts went in vain in face of the high influence of the supporters of deregulation. This process still exists and continues to prevail today, but at a slower pace (Bradshaw). The documentary has been first of its kind, highlighting the change in the banking system after the deregulation of banks in 1980’s. It clearly describes how the risk of the loans previously lived with the lender, which was the bank which made the bank responsible in granting the amount of loans. Gradually, the process of securitization started whereby, the high risk loans were bundled together and were offered to risk taking borrowers on high interest rates. The loans were securitized, and the banks no longer held the responsibility to collect the loan back. This subprime market offered high returns for the banks; therefore, the banks lent large sums of money without anticipating that they could de fault by providing such risky assets. On the other hand, securitization itself is not as harmful as shown in the documentary (Epstein). The securitization process allows the investors to diversify their portfolios by holding a large pool of credit card debt. In this way, investors are not exposed to a single debt risk. It is also a flexible process whereby, the securitizers customize the pools of debt according to the preferences of the investor (Lee). The risk of default lies on the assets on which the securities are formed (Epstein). If those assets are high risk subprime mortgages, there is a high risk of default, which is exactly what happened with the banks in the United States. After the deregulation, in the period from 1987 to 2006, the movie shows how banks and its employees enjoyed a favorable time. Bankers became drastically rich and thought of their richness as a result of their smartness. The perception prevailing among the bankers has been clearly portrayed in the movie , as the Bankers thought of themselves as clever providers of prosperity to the nation and that they deserved to be rich (Bradshaw). However, this led to the concentration of huge sums of money amongst a handful of CEO’s, economists and members from the government. One of the most excruciating realities of the financial world came to the forefront when Charles Fergusons’s documentary highlighted that not only banks and government officials were involved in the excessive deregulation of the banking system, but members from the academia had a vital role in promoting the liberalization process (Bradshaw). The greed of bankers and government o

EM670 Week 1 Conf Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EM670 Week 1 Conf - Assignment Example Again, this is because the positions are at a point where the holder will have to provide leadership to other people who are below them. The other common trait among the jobs was the coordination skills of the holder. This shows that the positions will require the holder to have good coordination skills to be able to carry out the functions of the office that the holder is managing. Together with this trait, the jobs also required that the aspiring candidate be able to have very good independent decision making skills that will make it possible for the person to make sound and strategic decisions alone, without having to consult all the time. This trait and that of coordination skills seemed to complement each other in that they both have to be there for each to benefit the job holder. According to Jacobson (2001), it is important to match traits and skill because having the right trait may not automatically mean that the person will manage the job. The skills required for the jobs were also common in that they all revolved around the management of human resource. However, for the different counties, job descriptions differed in terms of the level at which the candidates skills in personnel management were. For instance, some of the job descriptions in other places required that the aspiring job holder will have to have skills at the executive level while others required the skill to be at the management and operational level such as recruitment. The other common trait between the job descriptions is development of policies and procedures. The job descriptions all seemed to have this skill as a central requirement for the candidates who will hold the position. This means that all EM jobs may need a person who not only has the ability to conceptualize ideas and policies, but whose knowledge of federal law and regulations are very high (James, 2006). This is because policy development is very much dependent on this knowledge of federal laws

Should central banks be independent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should central banks be independent - Essay Example They all have different origins hence the difference in the roles and functions that they are expected to play. While some of them were established as a special purpose upon which the government banks were brought up to bring about order in the way that bank notes are issued, others were developed to act as sources of funding for the governments (Downes & Vaez-Zadeh 92). There are other central banks that started off as large commercial banks that dominated and subsequently were able to boost the economy by offering the monopoly rights to provide bank notes. Most of the central banks started their operation during the 20th century as central banks that held the public policy agencies to conduct the functions related to central banking. However, the bundles of functions associated with the central bank have always differed in a substantial way from one country to the other. In this paper the main functions and roles of the central banks will be analyzed and an evaluation performed o w hether the central banks should be made independent (Touffut 52). The key functions of the central bank revolve around the fact that the central bank is an agency that is expected to perform the conducts of monetary policy and provide the means through which it can be settled. In the past, they functioned as the government’s bankers, the monopoly of issuing notes, the banker’s bank, the last resort lender, controller and regulator of credit and the maintenance of external stability (Goodhart xiii). The most important function of the central bank has been linked to the role of financial stability. However, it is considered as the objective that extends or goes beyond the objectives of functions, which contribute towards financial stability. Nonetheless, it is still applicable in many countries where for example in China, it is the role of the People’s bank to ensure that financial risks are mitigated with the effort to provide financial stability

Analysis of the Penan Culture in Malaysia

Analysis of the Penan Culture in Malaysia Introduction: The Penan is one of the groups in South East Asia and they are live in Sarawak, Malaysia. There are about ten thousands Penan live in Sarawak and only about two hundred of them are nomadic Penan people left. The nomadic Penan is the people who are move from one place to other new place in every month to get new places to stay and food. The most important in Penan community make me feel proud is they are not discriminate toward female and children. All the people are equal in dividing food and sharing food. They are fair in distributing item and especially in food. The hunters hunt animals and divided meat equality to each family. The most unique I think that in Penan community is their forest sign language. Forest sign language is very important to Penan people in the forest. The Penan has their forest sign language in the forest and it is a complex forest sign language. For instance, the sign like they hunting in the forest and went to this way. So, the other Penan people will know that they went to that way. In addition, there is also a sign can know that whether the person leaving the sign is in the good mood or not. Culture in Penan community: Culture mean learned behavior in any particular society includes those ideas, techniques and habits which are passed on by one generation to another. This learned behavior or social inheritance, of any society is called its culture. It is the possession of a common culture and the ability to communicate and pass it on to others that distinguishes the human being from other animals. Human are human because they share with others a common culture, a culture which includes not only the artifacts of its living members but also those of members of past generations. Human beings are able to develop and pass on their culture by means of language. (Tony Biton, Kevin Bonnett, Philip Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard and Andrew Webster, 1987, pg 11 and 12). Culture in Penan has already changed especially in materials culture. They have influence by western country materials like they have wearing jeans, t-shirt, shoes, and using plastic. The Penan can get the western materials when they ex change item with the loggers. The processes lead to culture change is diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of things and ideas from one culture to another. The logging companies are the cause of the culture change in Penans culture. Loggers influence the Penan people by change item with them. The item usually change are knifes, cloths, cooking item and so on. Most of the youngest are influence by the western culture. But the eldest not really influenced by western culture, they wear traditional cloths and traditional tattoos. Besides that, they have using traditional hunting like using blowpipes. The Penan hunters usually use blowpipes to hunt wild animals. Blowpipes are the weapon that can use by them efficiency to kill wild animals. Blowpipes are made by hard wood and it got two holes at the beginning and the end of the blowpipes. The Penan hunters also have shotgun but they not often use it, because shotgun is very expensive to own one and hard to get shotgun. Short blowpipes are usually use in the short range in the forest. Blowpipes are use with the poison dart in order to kill the wild animals. Poison darts make from the milky latex in the tajem tress and warmed by fire to produce the darts. Specious darts are use to kill big animals while simple darts are use to hunt small animals. During hunting, the Penan hunters usually carry two knifes. One is long knife and the other is the shorter knife. These knifes are use to cut meat, blowpipe darts and so on. In religion, Penan people are belief in Christian since many years ago. Christian has brought into Penan communities by British since colonial time. The definitions religion includes beliefs about the existence of superhuman beings or forces, the practice of rites and rituals, the institutional forms that religion takes and the power relationships believed to be involved between human being and suprahuman beings. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos and Martin Holborn, 2006, pg 390). But, they still strong believe in myths and spirits in some place. For example, some rituals can expel bad luck in hunting and unsuccessful in hunting. By doing the ritual the hunters can change their hunting bad luck become good luck in hunting. Besides that, blood pacts are one of the cultures in Penan community and usually happen between the Penan leaders and neighboring tribes. In some of the cases, the leaders would shed blood onto tobacco and then it smoke together, and then consuming each other blood and preventing future conflicts. If got a breach of this pact was believed causing vomiting blood and violent death. Economy in Penan Community: The term economy, from which we get economics, comes most directly from the Old French word economie, meaning management of a household. The French adopted the term from the Latin word oeconomia, which was in turn derived from the Greek word oikonomia. Oikonomia came from the word oikonomos, which separates into oikos, meaning house, and -nomos meaning managing. (Mankiw, 2008, page 4). Economy in Penan community is based on the animals meat that they hunted, rattan make by themselves, sago and so on. Most of the item they sold is meat that their hunted in the forest to the loggers. The Penan people get their profit by selling these items to the companies. The Penan people were trade for manufactured goods like knifes, cooking item, cloths and so on. Gaharu is the one of the goods sell to other country like China, Taiwan and Japan to get more profit from it. Gaharu is for medicinal, religious purposes and making perfume. The patterns of economic subsistence are foraging and horticulture in the Penan community. Foraging is the most ancient of human subsistence patterns in foraging for wild plants and hunting wild animals. Most of the Penan hunters are hunting in a small group of relatives and friends. They have their own settlements that are not permanent which they can live in there while hunting. There are three major variations of the foraging subsistence pattern that is pedestrian, equestrian and aquatic. Penan hunters are using pedestrian while hunting wild animals. Pedestrian is diversified hunting gathering on their foot. Hunting is the common activity in Penan to obtain meat from wild animals. Government has give permit to Penan for hunting in the forest. Male are taking part in the hunting activity. Most of the animals hunt by the hunters is wild pigs. They also hunt small animals like birds, squirrels and so on. Before logging begins, many wild animals can be hunted by hunters. After logging started in their forest, wild animals become less and the animals loss their habitant. Trees are chopping down and animals are decrease. So, the hunters become harder to hunt animals where animals are becoming less. The Penan people have involved in the horticulture. Horticulture is the small scale and low intensity of farming. This subsistence pattern involved at least part time planting and tending of domesticated food plants. They have grown their own plants for food and they also keep the chickens and other relatively small domesticated animals are raised for food. Most of the foods are used by them and the surplus of meats will be sold to the loggers. They will gain profit when they sell their own meats to the logging camps. Family and Gender in Penan community: The family may then be defined as a small group of closely related people who share a distinct sense of identity and a responsibility for each other that outweighs their commitments to others, this group is commonly, but not necessarily, based on marriage, biological descent, or adoption. (James Fulcher and John Scott, 2007, pg 447). In Penan community, most common forms of the family distinguished in the literature are nuclear families and extended families. The nuclear family is usually defined as two generation unit consisting of parents and unmarried children. A distinction is generally made here between the family of origin and the family of destination. (James Fulcher and John Scott, 2007, pg 448 and 449). Nuclear families in Penan community are less if comparing to the extended family. They usually live with their parents and their children in their own hut in the forest. The extended family includes other family members. It extends vertically to include at least three generat ions that is at least grandfather and grandmothers. It extends horizontally to include in law, cousins, aunts, uncles, though how far it extends will vary and depends upon perception of the composition and boundaries of the family. (James Fulcher and John Scott, 2007, pg 448). Most of the families in Penan community are extended family. They live together in a big family with their relative. Most extended family live in bigger huts in the forest. Gender refers to differences in the way that men and women in a particular society are expected to feel, think, and behave. Thus, males are typically expected to feel, think, and behave in a masculine way, and females in a feminine way. (James Fulcher and John Scott, 2007, pg 156). There are some differences in gender roles in Penan community. For instance, males are taking part in hunting activity and rough activity. Females are most likely doing soft works like taking care their children, making rattan, finding firewood and so on. Gender roles are that specify the ways in which men and women are expected to feel, think, and behave. These prescribe not only the kinds of work that men and women are expected to do but the feelings they can express and everyday aspects of their behaviour , such as the way that they speak and dress. (James Fulcher and John Scott, 2007, pg 159). But, in Penan community, females, males and children are taking parts in making sago flour. There is no gender stratification in making sago. Logging: Sarawak forest has been logging seen 1970 years. The purpose of logging is to processed timber. The government of Sarawak has given permit to logging companies to log in the forest. It can enhance the local profits and become the first world in 2020. Most of the timber export to other country like Japan, India and Europe. The logging companies using bulldozers to clear up the forest and cutting down trees. The logging companies which include Shin Yang, Samling and Interhill are logging in Sarawak. The company workers usually live in the houses that they have build when they logging. The problem face by Penan is logging in the jungle where they live. Logging can cause many problems toward Penan people. Penan are very hard to live in the jungle where are many logger are logging in their habitant. The changes in the jungle will make them fill difficult to stay at the jungle. The change in the sound of the machines chop trees, the light in the jungle become brighter because of less trees and the temperature become higher than before. Besides that, Penan also facing problems like hard to hunt animals in the jungle where logging activities are started. All the animals run away from the jungle and animals are dying during logging. Penan also hard to get medical plants and food when many trees are destroys by the logging companies. The fruits tress and the sago palm become less after logging has started in Penans forest. So, Penan people feel difficulty in getting the food and sago. The water in the river become mudding when raining. The mud from the trees has been chop ping down. The Penan people cannot get clean water from the river. Social change and development: Social change is about change in the nature, social institution, social behaviour or social relations of a society, or other social structures. It also can also be said as any event or action affects a group of individuals that have shared values or characteristics. The factors that lead to social change are physical environment and poverty. Physical environment refers to the trees in the forest have been cut down by logging companies and the Penan people have to face the new change in their habitants. They are not able to adapt the new life. This is because some of the changes like temperature, light and sound in the jungle have been changes. The dirty water in the river is also one of the social changes. They have to get use to it. Poverty is also one of the factors that lead to social changes. Logging can cause them into poverty. This is because they have less wild animals to hunt and less meat to sell to people. Less trees in the forest making them hard to find fruits in the fore st and it is hard to make rattan when logging started. Furthermore, oil palm plantations have forced them into poverty. There is nothing left for them anymore. The loss of their forests, the Penan is force to poverty and suffers illness because of not enough foods and polluted water. The government has promises to give development to Penan but until now there is no development in their community. Besides that, the Penan also not trust the government and they also do not want development. The government also does not understand why Penan does not want development. The logging companies have given the Penan people the broken and abundant house that the logger had made during logging. So, the Penan people do not feel there has been development in their community. According to Wallerstein (1991), development simply means more, which is a capitalist definition referring to the accumulation of wealth and as a result of this accumulation, one area will remain poor as a result of exploitation by the rich (powerful). Conclusion: The Penan was live in Sarawak since many years ago and there are no troubles in their community. After logging companies come to their forest cutting down the trees and making the Penan suffer from many problems. Logging makes changes in Penans culture, their social, development, economy and so on. In my opinion, the companies should stop logging from destroying the forest and the Penan habitant. Logging will also cause to global warming and it will create disaster toward Penan people. The government also should be more careful in making decision in timber industry. The government must be more consider about the Penan feeling when logging in their forest. Reference: Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philip Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard and Andrew Webster (1987), Introductory sociology, second edition, The Macmillan Press LTD, London. James Fulcher, John Scott (2007), Sociology, third edition, Oxford. N. Gregory Mankiw (2008), Principles of Economics, Fifth edition, South Western Cengage Learning. Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos and Martin Holborn (2006), Sociology Themes and Perspectives, third edition, Longman. James H. McDonald (2002), The Applied Anthropology Reader, Allyn And Bacon.

Langston Hughes The Weary Blues Essay examples -- Music Blues Jazz Mu

Langston Hughes' The Weary Blues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jazz music is often associated with long, lazy melodies and ornate rhythmical patterns. The Blues, a type of jazz, also follows this similar style. Langston Hughes' poem, "The Weary Blues," is no exception. The sound qualities that make up Hughes' work are intricate, yet quite apparent. Hughes' use of consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in "The Weary Blues" gives the poem a deep feeling of sorrow while, at the same time, allows the reader to feel as if he or she is actually listening to the blues sung by the poem's character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Blues musical move was prominent during the 1920s and '30s, a time known as the Harlem Renaissance. Blues music characteristically told the story of someone's anguish, the key factors, and the resolution of the situation. This is precisely what Hughes' poem, "The Weary Blues," describes. Hughes uses the rhythmic structure of blues music and the improvisational rhythms of jazz in his innovative development of "The Weary Blues." The poem opens by first setting the scene. "Down on Lenox Avenue" the speaker heard a "mellow croon" (lines 2 and 4). The tune was played on a piano and sung by a man with the emotions coming from the "black man's soul" (15). The piano man expresses his feelings of loneliness and dissatisfaction with his life in lines 19-22 and 25-30: "Ain't got nobody in all this world,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ain't got nobody but ma self.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I's gwine to quite ma frownin'   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And put my troubles on the shelf."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "I got the Weary Blues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And I can't be satisfied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Got the Weary Blues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And can't be satisfied-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I ain't happy no mo'   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  And I wish that I had died." The piano man, in a slightly backward order, tells how he wished that he had died because he feels so alone. But, instead of an ultimate end, the piano man decides to "put his troubles on the shelf," or rather, push them aside and continue living without the distraction of those pains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The tone of "The Weary Blues" is quite dark and melancholy. This matches the sorrowful theme of the poem. Sound patterns play a key role in this poem. They enhance the already somber mood by way of consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme patterns. Consonance is found within the first line of the poem. "Droning a drowsy?" brings a hard 'd' sound to... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  O Blues! The end of each of the above lines has the long 'u' or 'oo' sound but doesn't exactly rhyme with the preceding line or lines. This off-rhyme gives this blues poem more dimension. With precise rhyme, the poem would seem too forced but with this off-rhyme, the true flow of the blues is apparent and works very well. Additionally, the near rhyme of the long 'u' or 'oo' sound reinforces, once again, the sorrowful and melancholy theme of the poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the consistent use of consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme patterns of "The Weary Blues," Langston Hughes produces a poem with a great deal of emotion. The feelings of sadness and loneliness resonate throughout the poem. The long, lazy melodies and ornate rhythmical patterns of jazz music and the blues are really brought to life in "The Weary Blues" via Hughes' intricate workings of sound patterns that are cleverly implemented in every nook of the poem. Because of these descriptive sound words, I can almost picture myself walking down Lenox Avenue and hearing the old piano man and his "Weary Blues." Bibliography: Hughes, Langston. Selected Poems. New York: Random House/Vintage Books, 1987.

The Effect of Exercise

For whatever reason people exercise the benefits are worth the pain. The first thing exercise can effect, is your state of mind. Everyone can benefit from this. Someone that has a better state of mind will become less likely to suffer from depression. Another benefit would be to boost one's self esteem. If you look good you'll feel good. The mind is a powerful thing it controls everything, and those who aren't at peace create unmanaged stress. Most people are unaware of the emotional, and physical consequences of unmanaged stress. The second effect exercise can change is one's lifestyle.Exercising can boost your energy. It can improve muscle strength. Muscle strength can help when it comes to doing just the simple daily shores. Laundry, mopping and doing dishes can all become easier to complete after one starts to exercise on a regular. Another great benefit of having a better life style is that your social life will become more active. From dating to parting with friends, you will f ind yourself having the time of your life all from working out. The last but the most important effect exercise would change is your health.Being overweight can cause troubling health problems. Diabetes, and high blood pressure are just two of the main problems overweight people have. Exercising can lessen your chances of becoming ill. Becoming healthier can help a diabetic lower their needs for insulin and can cause one with high blood pressure to have a more stable vital sign. Daily exercise is one of the best medicines out there. It can have you feeling wide awake. Instead of drinking coffee (which can prevent you from falling asleep later, causing drowsiness again the next day) you should walk and keep moving.In conclusion a lot of things can happen because of exercise. Exercise is a benefit that everyone at any age can participate in. Rather it's just going to the gym, walking around the neighborhood, or simply just taking the stairs, you will reap the benefits. I just named a few things that exercise can change but there is a lot a great things that can change after one Starts to exercise. I personally feel completely better after started to exercise. Feel like have more energy, I feel like I can take on the world. So I will continue to exercise and I would encourage everyone to do the same.

How Content Marketing Can Build Your Personal Brand

How Content Marketing Can Build Your Personal Brand Its easy to think that content marketing is just for the big startups and web app companies, but the truth is, a huge part of the content marketing community is made up of  solo bloggers. They are writing in the niche they are passionate about, but they have a peculiar challenge that an agency or web app startup doesnt have: what are they selling? Solo bloggers are often selling their expertise, and building a platform to do it. Their name is their brand. They might rely on freelancing gigs, affiliate and ad revenue, or sales of services they can provide. Their blog provides the proof of their skills. They have no one but themselves to do all of the heavy lifting, whether that means getting their content out onto social media, taking photos, brainstorming blog post ideas, editing their own work, managing their website, and publishing. Lindsay Livingston is a great example of a solo blogger who is hard at work establishing a trusted platform and loyal fan base. Tell us about yourself, Lindsay. Im a Registered Dietitian from Columbus, OH. I work in nutrition communications and am the author behind the healthy living blog, The Lean Green Bean. My husband and I are expecting our first child in October and in my free time I enjoy doing Crossfit and spending time outdoors with our two dogs. When did you start content marketing? Ive been blogging for 4 years. I started because I was looking for a place to store all the recipes I was making for dinner. I started on Blogger and after about 6 months, I made the switch to WordPress. After about a year, I really started focusing on increasing my readership and growing the blog. Do you have a personal blog outside of your work blog? Im lucky that my personal blog has grown enough that its now part of my job as a self-employed RD! What tools and platforms do you use to help you with your content marketing and social media? Im self-hosted. Dreamhost is my host and I blog with WordPress. I use as my editorial calendar and also use it to schedule my blog posts and social media posts. I use Buffer and Hootsuite to schedule the tweets I create to share blog posts of others, news articles, etc. I use Pinterest to pin and promote my own content as well as building boards to gather recipes, tips/tricks etc for my followers to use. I have a blog Facebook page where I share my blog posts and Instagram photos. I use Instagram to share pictures of the food I eat, workouts and snapshots of life. I also use Google+. How big is your content marketing team? Just me! What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to content creation? The biggest challenge is finding time to do it all. There are so many social media platforms that its impossible to excel at all of them. Im working to figure out which are best for promoting my content and engaging my readers. What changes have you noticed in content marketing over the past year or so? Pinterest has exploded. It can be a huge traffic driver if you use it correctly. Instagram has also become really big as a way to market your content. I dont think either of these will go away anytime soon. Visual content is what people like and want more of. What are the most common mistakes you see people making when it comes to content marketing? Some people struggle to find a balance between self-promotion and promoting others. Its a delicate balance but Ive found that if you spread the love, the love comes back to you. People struggle to find a balance between self-promotion and promoting others. What were you hoping would happen once you began content marketing? I was hoping to drive more traffic to my blog. Yes it has happened, slowly. Now that Im more established, I can definitely see the general dips in traffic that bloggers experience across the board i.e. lower traffic in the summer, more in the fall and winter. It took several years to grow my audience to where it is now. Im still working on ways to capture the one-time visitors that come from sites like Pinterest and make them returning visitors.

Free Essays on Rumor Of War

Philip Caputo was a young man caught up in one of the most troubled times in our nation’s history. He was born in Chicago and seemed to have a good life. He wanted to get out and see the world though, so he decided to join the United States Marines. He thought he was the only twenty-two year in the world still living at home. He was confused and trying to be somebody. He did not what lied ahead of him in the Vietnam Conflict, but he would soon find out. In his autobiography, Rumor of War we begin to learn the horror and tragedies of the war and what impact the war had on his life. When he was first sent to the war he thought that he was doing the right thing. He saw the war as a chance to prove himself. His background had taught him that whatever the cause we must protect the country. He had great pride when he first entered the war and wanted his whole family to be proud of him. In the marines he became a lieutenant and was put in command of the second platoon in Vietnam. They were sent to an MOR, at a communist stronghold. There they started patrols, but could not find the enemy. He lost his first casualty to a land mine while patrolling. The man had to have his foot amputated and was sent home. As the war went on he lost another man while feeling his canteen at the edge of the MOR. He was feeling his canteen and was shot by a sniper while Caputo was gone for some R and R. he thought he should have been there and was very upset. His views began to change about the war. He could not understand why he was loosing men when they could not even find the enemy. He was beginning to be confused, the war had changed and so were he and his platoon. The war confused him and he got to the point where he did not want to even be there. Later on he was transferred out of the field and sent o handle paperwork at a different base. His job was to keep the ratio of how many United States me they lost compared to how many NVA that the army kille... Free Essays on Rumor Of War Free Essays on Rumor Of War Philip Caputo was a young man caught up in one of the most troubled times in our nation’s history. He was born in Chicago and seemed to have a good life. He wanted to get out and see the world though, so he decided to join the United States Marines. He thought he was the only twenty-two year in the world still living at home. He was confused and trying to be somebody. He did not what lied ahead of him in the Vietnam Conflict, but he would soon find out. In his autobiography, Rumor of War we begin to learn the horror and tragedies of the war and what impact the war had on his life. When he was first sent to the war he thought that he was doing the right thing. He saw the war as a chance to prove himself. His background had taught him that whatever the cause we must protect the country. He had great pride when he first entered the war and wanted his whole family to be proud of him. In the marines he became a lieutenant and was put in command of the second platoon in Vietnam. They were sent to an MOR, at a communist stronghold. There they started patrols, but could not find the enemy. He lost his first casualty to a land mine while patrolling. The man had to have his foot amputated and was sent home. As the war went on he lost another man while feeling his canteen at the edge of the MOR. He was feeling his canteen and was shot by a sniper while Caputo was gone for some R and R. he thought he should have been there and was very upset. His views began to change about the war. He could not understand why he was loosing men when they could not even find the enemy. He was beginning to be confused, the war had changed and so were he and his platoon. The war confused him and he got to the point where he did not want to even be there. Later on he was transferred out of the field and sent o handle paperwork at a different base. His job was to keep the ratio of how many United States me they lost compared to how many NVA that the army kille...

Why Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why Technology - Essay Example odern age. Laptops, tablets, PCs, mobile devices are creating new economic and business opportunities and students need these skills to compete effectively in the economy for career placement. 2- Reflections on what you learned about teaching, learning and technology? Teaching, learning, and technology are all joined by the common denominator that what one does with a tool is more important than any other aspect of learning. There are many situations where a person may have many resources – academic, economic, and social – but fails to produce anything with the opportunity. Therefore, it is not only providing options but also action that should define aspects of technology, learning, and education. This means class participation, projects, and hands-on building activities to generate new projects and practical experience. 3- Statements of how or why this is important to you and your class and students.

Schopenhauer's will Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Schopenhauer's will - Essay Example The World as Representation or Idea: Platonic Idea - only adequate objectification of the will. It is the object of art and hence knowable as an object of perception. The platonic idea is an independent idea and independent of the principle of sufficient reason. Idealism is a theory of the ultimate reality. Knowledge may either be intuitive or abstract. Intuitive knowledge is derived from primary idea; abstract knowledge from secondary idea. We may know ourselves as willing, but we cannot know ourselves as knowing. A knowing subject cannot become a known subject. The act of willing arises from a need or desire for something and is therefore a manifestation of deprivation or suffering. The fulfillment of a wish terminates the act of willing. The gratification of a desire or wish is a negative condition. It provides only temporary deliverance from the need of suffering. The will cannot be guided by the intellect but the intellect can be guided by the will. The freedom of the will is negative. It is only a denial of necessity. The will wants everything for itself. Egoism concentrates the self interest of each one. Voluntary renunciation of egoism is achieved by a denial of the will to live. Justice is achieved when the affirmation of the will to live by one individual does not conflict with the will to live of another individual. Conscience constitutes our self-knowledge of how our action may manifest the reality of the will. Virtue may proceed from the intuitive knowledge. Denial of the will is seen in asceticism. Suicide is not a denial of the will to live because it is not a rejection of personal well-being. The will is free to deny itself or suspend. The denial of the will does not produce nothingness which is a negative of being....Known and unknown forces act to form sensations. In our mental state we encounter some thing phenomenal-that is our will. The will inner side is for immediate consciousness or willing and the outer for intelligence or bodily motion. The will is beyond the realm of space, time and causality. It is a blind incessant impulse independent of our perception-an inner consciousness of our own existence, our feelings and desires. It is a reality. According to Schopenhauer, reason is the faculty of producing or comparing concepts, understanding is the faculty for comparing perception. Concepts maybe thought of but not perceived. The effects of concepts are language, action and science. Platonic Idea - only adequate objectification of the will. It is the object of art and hence knowable as an object of perception. The platonic idea is an independent idea and independent of the principle of sufficient reason. Suicide is not a denial of the will to live because it is not a rejection of personal well-being. The will is free to deny itself or suspend. The denial of the will does not produce nothingness which is a negative of being. Ethical conduct is negative and requires a denial of the will to live. Concern for others is contrary to self-interest. Schopenhauer's views are pessimistic. His pessimistic pervades almost all areas of his work.

Research paperessay of Paul Robeson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research paperessay of Paul Robeson - Essay Example In 1915 he won a scholarship to Rutgers College, New Jersey, and was also educated at Columbia University law school, where he graduated in 1923. An outstanding athlete as well as scholar, Robeson was selected for the All-American college football team as the finest player in his position. For a short time thereafter he played professional football and semi-professional basketball. In 1921 he married his lifelong partner, Eslanda Cordozo Goode (1896-1965), an analytical chemist in a hospital pathology laboratory. She would later manage Robeson's career, and even though their relationship was often stormy and included periods of separation, she was initially a major influence in his life and the author of an early biography, Paul Robeson, Negro (1930). Robeson began his acting career in 1920, appearing in Simon the Cyrenian in Harlem, New York, and played his first professional part in 1922 in Taboo. It was in 1922 as a member of the cast of this play, now renamed Voodoo, that Robeson made his dbut in Britain. In later years he recalled that it was during his performances in Voodoo at the Blackpool Opera House in 1922 that he first realized he had the talent to make a career as a singer. In 1923 he briefly worked at a law firm in New York, but his experiences of racism in the USA persuaded Robeson that he might have more success as an actor than by attempting to practise as a lawyer. In the United States, Robeson continued to develop his singing career, and with Lawrence Brown, who was to be his accompanist for many years, he performed the first ever concert comprising entirely African-American secular songs and spirituals in New York in 1925. Later that year he began his legendary recording career, and during the next thirty-five years made over 450 recordings, mainly in Britain and the United States. The previous year he had made his first film, Body and Soul, directed by Oscar Micheaux. During the next twenty-five years he starred in ten films and twelve plays and musicals. As an actor he always strove to break away from the demeaning roles often played by black actors.(Boyle ,79) By 1947 he had decided to leave the professional stage in the United States altogether; he had already ended his film career because of his dissatisfaction with the roles he was offered. Robeson made numerous recordings and some of his most memorable films in Britain, including Song of Freedom (1936) and The Proud Valley (1939). In the latter he played a black American stoker who helped Welsh unemployed miners reopen their pits. In retrospect Robeson believed that his time in Britain had a profound influence on his personal and political development. As a result of his many contacts with students and other African residents, his serious interest in African cultures and languages developed. It was during this period that Robeson became patron of the West African Students' Union and, as he put it, 'discovered Africa' in London. He also began his comparative study of African, African-American, and other folk cultures, and in 1934 enrolled as a student of linguistics and African languages at London University.