Literature history Essay

Wales is one of the most attractive tourism centres in the United Kingdom. The lush green countryside, the hills and the meadows, peaceful towns and neighbourhoods, more over the Welsh language are the important attracting features of this region. The Welsh language quite distinguished from the English language is very intriguing for the tourists. They feel strange to find such a fairytale language spoken in the homeland of English, though it is because of the common misconception that English is the native language of the entire British Isles. The Welsh people are a Celtic people who were predominant in the region before the Anglo-Saxon invasion. So there language and culture is quite different from the Anglo-Saxon language and culture. Many Welsh language adhering families through out the history have preserved Welsh literature. Recently a large and valuable collection of Welsh books has been disclosed for the first time for the public. The Myddleton family, which lived in the Chirk Castle, near Wrexham, had a large collection of Welsh books held away from the public eyes for centuries. The collection, which originally constituted 3,000 books currently, has 1827 books. The Chirk Castle has been opened for tourists for more than 30 years but these books were located in the private East wing of the castle. In the year 2004 the Myddleton family left the castle and the East wing of the castle was opened for the public for the first time thus making the book collection also public. One of the most remarkable books in the collection is a miniaturised copy of the first Welsh translation of the Bible. This book according to the historians has played a pivotal role in preserving the Welsh language throughout the centuries of English dominion. The books in the collection are dated back as far as early 16th Century. Many books have been well preserved and have their original bindings. The National Trust has started a campaign to show and interpret these books to tourist visiting the Chirk Castle and other stately tourist attraction. The trust hopes that this campaign will turn these valuable books into a constant tourist attraction.

Rei Sustainability Case

To: Council of Executive Vice Presidents Date: 1th of November, 2012 From: Anders F? dder Subject: Evaluation of REI’s sustainability goals I am writing in response to your inquiry regarding the plausibility of maintaining the continuous growth of the company as well as satisfying its sustainability goals. The following sections will address the three issues, mentioned by top management, by first describing them, then interpreting them and lastly they will be evaluated.Conclusion and recommendations will be based on this. REI focus greatly on the impact that their business has on the environment. They continuously work on finding new and innovative solution that will help reduce these negative effects. Their corporate mission emphasises this commitment: â€Å"At REI, we inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship† REI’s stewardship priorities: * Encourage the active conservation of nature Inspire the responsible use and enjoyme nt of the outdoors * Enhance the natural world and our communities through responsible business practices * Foster opportunities to increase participation in human-powered outdoor recreation * Maintain REI as an employer of choice, where employees are highly engaged in the vision of the company and are representative of our communities The CEO, Kevin Hagen, also stated that these financial and environmental goals and aspiration must be met without sacrificing either. Hagen advocated shifting to a framework of â€Å"no tradeoffs† thus making a paradigm shift; Innovation over compromise.Issue 1 First issue is whether the company’s stated sustainability goals and aspirations are consistent with its corporate mission and its stated stewardship objectives that are listed above. REI sustainability goals focus on three areas; energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission (carbon footprint) and reduction of waster to landfills. The company plans to add water, toxics, land use an d social impact to this list in near future. Each of these areas has an aspiration for 2020, a goal for 2015 and a budget for the current year. Energy consumptionREI has taken different initiatives to increase their energy efficiency by switching to new renewable power sources wherever possible. They mission is to keep their energy consumption at a fixed level despite opening new stores. One the ways they do this is by investing in self-generation options such as solar technology. Their ways of managing their energy use and increasing efficiency include: * Solar technology in many of our stores * Lighting: * Elimination of all incandescent bulbs from our retail stores * Installation of highly energy-efficient bulbs and fixtures * Greater reliance on skylights and natural lighting Heating & cooling (HVAC): * Aggressive retrofitting and replacement of outdated HVAC equipment with sophisticated new models * Centralized monitoring * Energy-saving techniques such as on-demand ventilation and airflow * Measurement of our stores' energy efficiency against similar buildings nationwide with the ENERGY STAR benchmarking tool Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) The aspiration for 2020 concerning GHG was to be climate neutral. Their goal for 2015 was to cut GHG by 50 percent compared to 2010 emissions. The budget for each year was a specific target in tons of CO2 that was defined by the 2015 goal.REI looked at many aspects of their business in order to reach this goal. These were not limited by their own specific action within REI. They look beyond themselves and try to change the way their employees and suppliers act to. The list include: employee commuting and travel, travel by customers participating in REI Adventures programs from their homes to the site of program, transportation of products from vendors to the company and shipments to customers. However, they have not included customer transportation to and from the stores.REI provides meaningful incentives for their empl oyees to reduce the environmental impacts of commuting and corporate travel. These include: * A 50 percent transit subsidy * Showers and secure bike storage at every REI facility * Telecommuting options at our headquarters location * Web conferencing and other technology tools In 2011, REI partnered with The Nature Conservancy to implement an afforestation project on the Bayou Bartholomew property in Louisiana, which will restore forest continuity with the adjacent Chemin-a-Haut State Park.Funding provided voluntarily by REI Adventures will finance the future retirement of carbon offsets from this project. Through this effort, REI supported The Nature Conservancy's restoration of this forest ecosystem, as well as the design of a carbon project. This carbon project has been validated and registered through a credible third-party certification system (the Verified Carbon Standard). The effort will contribute to long-term systemic change, benefitting the atmosphere and the forest ecosy stem, and has been designed to produce verifiable carbon offsets in the future.Though REI would seek new and innovative solutions to all aspects within the company, there is at least one were they could only offset rather than reduce. REI’s largest source of GHG emissions was REI Adventures which generated 31 percent of its total, namely flying members to adventure destinations. This exception was dealt with by purchasing carbon offsets as a part of the travel package, paid by REI. Reduction of waste to landfills REI aspiration for 2020 was to have no waste to landfills and cut waste to landfills by half between 2010 and 2015.In order to achieve this, they strive to make their packaging shipping operations as efficient as possible. They work with vendors, shipping companies and industry colleagues to pioneer new approaches to this complex situation. One example of this is how they reinvented the way bicycles were packaged and shipped. The bikes, shipped in cardboard boxes fro m china, was packaged in parts and assembled at one location in the US from where they were sent to the stores. The extensive packing, taped and stapled together, held the parts and assembled bikes securely but was difficult to assemble and disassemble.REI revised this process in way that allowed them to reuse the carton over and over again. Essentially, the same cartons that was used from the manufacturer in China, was used throughout the supply chain and returned to China, to once again be use. Thereby recycling all the materials rather than sending it to landfills. This decreased the cardboard consumption by more than 60 percent. Additionally they saved more than $1 million in annual labour hours due to reduced time required to pack and unpack bikes. Recap REI saw a rise in its net carbon impact during 2010.But the increase was smaller than overall company growth during the year, as measured by sales. Overall, the company used 2. 4% less energy in its facilities, despite adding f our new stores and relocating two retail locations to larger spaces. Other sustainability efforts include purchasing 58. 4% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper fiber, and recycling 74% of total operational waste, including more than 95% at REI’s two distribution centers. Community efforts included 109,785 volunteer hours committed through 541 REI-hosted conservation projects to plant trees, restore trails, and clean parks and streams.The company also funded $3. 7 million in grants provided to 330 nonprofit partners with a focus on conservation and outdoor recreation. However, REI is transferring renewable energy certificates generated by their solar panels. Since they do not claim credit for reducing carbon when doing so, this is creating a problem in terms of reaching carbon zero. A challenge they must overcome if they intend to reach their aspirations. REI could further reduce their GHG by reevaluating the use of New Zealand as a destination. Many locations on North American (e. g.Alaska, Canada, and the Rocky Mountains) continent have similar location to offer, and seeing that New Zealand is half away around the world, this could be an effective substitution. Exhibit three displays the progress of reaching the 2015 goals. Is shows the actual status of all three areas in e. g. the first quarter of 2011, the plan for 2011, the trajectory for 2015 and the goal for 2015. Though the trajectories for 2015 for all three are above the goal, one can see from the actual status for 2011, that they are all fairly close if not under the plan for the same year.So despite the gloom trajectory for 2015 REI is indeed on the right path. Issue 2 The second issue was identifying the potential risks with REI adopting the â€Å"No Trade-offs† approach articulated by the corporate social responsibility group, seen from a managerial performance measurement perspective. The â€Å"No trade-offs† approach presents several risks. It can prove be expen sive, not only in the solutions required to fulfil but also the hours it take to reach them. As the CEO aspires innovation over comprise, the employees will always have to look for new ways of performing tasks.This takes time and time is money. This is also a very black and white approach leaving none or very little wiggle room. The employees need to stay within the parameters and in some cases they might be looking for solutions that are simply not there. Again, this is time consuming and will undoubtedly make REI miss out on additional earnings lost by looking in other fixed directions. REI has set the bar high and this might also have a negative effect on the people working to find the solutions. If the goals seem too impossible, it might demotivate rather than inspire thus lowering the morale among the workforce.However, by setting a more reasonable goal for 2015 this is somewhat counteracted. Recap So there are several risks by the â€Å"No trade-off† approach, but REI s eems to get around them. The company is still growing and still finding ways to lower their influence on the environment. The Workplace section also notes that REI has been included on Fortune magazine’s â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for† list for 14 consecutive years. The company has a 79% employee retention rate. Issue 3 The third issue was to evaluate the validity of the company’s approach to measuring its carbon emission.The goals for environmental sustainability were set by the office of CEO. They were included in the company’s non-financial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). The CSR group is tasked to carry them out, however they also make the recommendation to the office of the CEO on which the goals are based. This could create internal problematic situation as it is the same people who make the recommendations for the goals as well as carrying them, though some tasks are overseen by other departments than CSR.However, REI take a comprehensive view of their environmental impact using a framework that reflects the work of the Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco Working Group. They have established key performance metrics for e. g. the three before mentioned areas, and in 2011, they implemented measurement and reporting tools that enables them to forecast, budget and review their progress in these areas. These metrics tie directly into strategic and financial planning for key REI divisions, and results are assessed quarterly by company leadership.REI also became a member of bluesign technologies in 2008. The program requires tight manufacturing controls in mills and factories in order to be certified. This approach will provide greater supply chain transparency in support of REI's goal of reducing the environmental impact of its products. The transparency will also allow them to make a more precise assessment of their impact, as they will have greater access to their suppliers’ information regarding manufacturi ng. Recap Based on this I deem the validity of the company’s approach to measuring its carbon emission as high.

Part Two Chapter VII

VII Once the first impulse of spite had worn off, Samantha bitterly regretted inviting Gavin and Kay to dinner. She spent Friday morning joking with her assistant about the dreadful evening she was bound to have, but her mood plummeted once she had left Carly in charge of Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders (a name that had made Howard laugh so hard the first time he had heard it that it had brought on an asthma attack, and which made Shirley scowl whenever it was spoken in her presence). Driving back to Pagford ahead of the rush hour, so that she could shop for ingredients and start cooking, Samantha tried to cheer herself up by thinking of nasty questions to ask Gavin. Perhaps she might wonder aloud why Kay had not moved in with him: that would be a good one. Walking home from the Square with bulging Mollison and Lowe carrier bags in each hand, she came across Mary Fairbrother beside the cash-point machine in the wall of Barry's bank. ‘Mary, hi †¦ how are you?' Mary was thin and pale, with grey patches around her eyes. Their conversation was stilted and strange. They had not spoken since the journey in the ambulance, barring brief, awkward condolences at the funeral. ‘I've been meaning to drop in,' Mary said, ‘you were so kind – and I wanted to thank Miles – ‘ ‘No need,' Samantha said awkwardly. ‘Oh, but I'd like – ‘ ‘Oh, but then, please do – ‘ After Mary had walked away, Samantha had the awful feeling that she might have given the impression that that evening would be a perfect time for Mary to come round. Once home, she dropped the bags in the hall and telephoned Miles at work to tell him what she had done, but he displayed an infuriating equanimity about the prospect of adding a newly widowed woman to their foursome. ‘I can't see what the problem is, really,' he said. ‘Nice for Mary to get out.' ‘But I didn't say we were having Gavin and Kay over – ‘ ‘Mary likes Gav,' said Miles. ‘I wouldn't worry about it.' He was, Samantha thought, being deliberately obtuse, no doubt in retaliation for her refusal to go to Sweetlove House. After she had hung up, she wondered whether to call Mary to tell her not to come that evening, but she was afraid of sounding rude, and settled for hoping that Mary would find herself unequal to calling in after all. Stalking into the sitting room, she put on Libby's boy band DVD at full volume so that she would be able to hear it in the kitchen, then carried the bags through and set to work preparing a casserole and her fall-back pudding, Mississippi mud pie. She would have liked to buy one of Mollison and Lowe's large gateaux, to save herself some work, but it would have got straight back to Shirley, who frequently intimated that Samantha was over-reliant on frozen food and ready meals. Samantha knew the boy band DVD so well by now that she was able to visualize the images matching the music blaring through to the kitchen. Several times that week, while Miles was upstairs in his home study or on the telephone to Howard, she had watched it again. When she heard the opening bars of the track where the muscular boy walked, with his shirt flapping open, along the beach, she went through to watch in her apron, absent-mindedly sucking her chocolatey fingers. She had planned on having a long shower while Miles laid the table, forgetting that he would be late home, because he had to drive into Yarvil to pick up the girls from St Anne's. When Samantha realized why he had not returned, and that their daughters would be with him when he did, she had to fly around to organize the dining room herself, then find something to feed Lexie and Libby before the guests arrived. Miles found his wife in her work clothes at half-past seven, sweaty, cross and inclined to blame him for what had been her own idea. Fourteen-year-old Libby marched into the sitting room without greeting Samantha and removed the disc from the DVD player. ‘Oh, good, I was wondering what I'd done with that,' she said. ‘Why's the TV on? Have you been playing it?' Sometimes, Samantha thought that her younger daughter had a look of Shirley about her. ‘I was watching the news, Libby. I haven't got time to watch DVDs. Come through, your pizza's ready. We've got people coming round.' ‘Frozen pizza again?' ‘Miles! I need to change. Can you mash the potatoes for me? Miles?' But he had disappeared upstairs, so Samantha pounded the potatoes herself, while her daughters ate at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Libby had propped the DVD cover against her glass of Diet Pepsi, and was ogling it. ‘Mikey's so lush,' she said, with a carnal groan that took Samantha aback; but the muscular boy was called Jake. Samantha was glad they did not like the same one. Loud and confident Lexie was jabbering about school; a machine-gun torrent of information about girls whom Samantha did not know, with whose antics and feuds and regroupings she could not keep up. ‘All right, you two, I've got to change. Clear away when you're done, all right?' She turned down the heat under the casserole and hurried upstairs. Miles was buttoning up his shirt in the bedroom, watching himself in the wardrobe mirror. The whole room smelt of soap and aftershave. ‘Everything under control, hon?' ‘Yes, thanks. So glad you've had time to shower,' spat Samantha, pulling out her favourite long skirt and top, slamming the wardrobe door. ‘You could have one now.' ‘They'll be here in ten minutes; I won't have time to dry my hair and put on make-up.' She kicked off her shoes; one of them hit the radiator with a loud clang. ‘When you've finished preening, could you please go downstairs and sort out drinks?' After Miles had left the room, she tried to untangle her thick hair and repair her make-up. She looked awful. Only when she had changed did she realize that she was wearing the wrong bra for her clinging top. After a frantic search, she remembered that the right one was drying in the utility room; she hurried out onto the landing but the doorbell rang. Swearing, she scuttled back to the bedroom. The boy band's music was blaring out of Libby's room. Gavin and Kay had arrived on the dot of eight because Gavin was afraid of what Samantha might say if they turned up late; he could imagine her suggesting that they had lost track of time because they were shagging or that they must have had a row. She seemed to think that one of the perks of marriage was that it gave you rights of comment and intrusion over single people's love lives. She also thought that her crass, uninhibited way of talking, especially when drunk, constituted trenchant humour. ‘Hello-ello-ello,' said Miles, moving back to let Gavin and Kay inside. ‘Come in, come in. Welcome to Casa Mollison.' He kissed Kay on both cheeks and relieved her of the chocolates she was holding. ‘For us? Thanks very much. Lovely to meet you properly at last. Gav's been keeping you under wraps for far too long.' Miles shook the wine out of Gavin's hand, then clapped him on the back, which Gavin resented. ‘Come on through, Sam'll be down in a mo. What'll you have to drink?' Kay would ordinarily have found Miles rather smooth and over-familiar, but she was determined to suspend judgement. Couples had to mix with each other's circles, and manage to get along in them. This evening represented significant progress in her quest to infiltrate the layers of his life to which Gavin had never admitted her, and she wanted to show him that she was at home in the Mollisons' big, smug house, that there was no need to exclude her any more. So she smiled at Miles, asked for a red wine, and admired the spacious room with its stripped pine floorboards, its over-cushioned sofa and its framed prints. ‘Been here for, ooh, getting on for fourteen years,' said Miles, busy with the corkscrew. ‘You're down in Hope Street, aren't you? Nice little houses, some great fixer-upper opportunities down there.' Samantha appeared, smiling without warmth. Kay, who had previously seen her only in an overcoat, noted the tightness of her orange top, beneath which every detail of her lacy bra was clearly visible. Her face was even darker than her leathery chest; her eye make-up was thick and unflattering and her jangling gold earrings and high-heeled golden mules were, in Kay's opinion, tarty. Samantha struck her as the kind of woman who would have raucous girls' nights out, and find stripograms hilarious, and flirt drunkenly with everyone else's partner at parties. ‘Hi there,' said Samantha. She kissed Gavin and smiled at Kay. ‘Great, you've got drinks. I'll have the same as Kay, Miles.' She turned away to sit down, having already taken stock of the other woman's appearance: Kay was small-breasted and heavy-hipped, and had certainly chosen her black trousers to minimize the size of her bottom. She would have done better, in Samantha's opinion, to wear heels, given the shortness of her legs. Her face was attractive enough, with even-toned olive skin, large dark eyes and a generous mouth; but the closely cropped boy's hair and the resolutely flat shoes were undoubtedly pointers to certain sacrosanct Beliefs. Gavin had done it again: he had gone and picked another humourless, domineering woman who would make his life a misery. ‘So!' said Samantha brightly, raising her glass. ‘Gavin-and-Kay!' She saw, with satisfaction, Gavin's hangdog wince of a smile; but before she could make him squirm more or weasel private information out of them both to dangle over Shirley's and Maureen's heads, the doorbell rang again. Mary appeared fragile and angular, especially beside Miles, who ushered her into the room. Her T-shirt hung from protruding collarbones. ‘Oh,' she said, coming to a startled halt on the threshold. ‘I didn't realize you were having – ‘ ‘Gavin and Kay just dropped in,' said Samantha a little wildly. ‘Come in, Mary, please †¦ have a drink †¦' ‘Mary, this is Kay,' said Miles. ‘Kay, this is Mary Fairbrother.' ‘Oh,' said Kay, thrown; she had thought that it would only be the four of them. ‘Yes, hello.' Gavin, who could tell that Mary had not meant to drop in on a dinner party and was on the point of walking straight back out again, patted the sofa beside him; Mary sat down with a weak smile. He was overjoyed to see her. Here was his buffer; even Samantha must realize that her particular brand of prurience would be inappropriate in front of a bereaved woman; plus, the constrictive symmetry of a foursome had been broken up. ‘How are you?' he said quietly. ‘I was going to give you a ring, actually †¦ there've been developments with the insurance †¦' ‘Haven't we got any nibbles, Sam?' asked Miles. Samantha walked from the room, seething at Miles. The smell of scorched meat met her as she opened the kitchen door. ‘Oh shit, shit, shit †¦' She had completely forgotten the casserole, which had dried out. Desiccated chunks of meat and vegetables sat, forlorn survivors of the catastrophe, on the singed bottom of the pot. Samantha sloshed in wine and stock, chiselling the adhering bits off the pan with her spoon, stirring vigorously, sweating in the heat. Miles' high-pitched laugh rang out from the sitting room. Samantha put on long-stemmed broccoli to steam, drained her glass of wine, ripped open a bag of tortilla chips and a tub of hummus, and upended them into bowls. Mary and Gavin were still conversing quietly on the sofa when she returned to the sitting room, while Miles was showing Kay a framed aerial photograph of Pagford, and giving her a lesson in the town's history. Samantha set down the bowls on the coffee table, poured herself another drink and settled into the armchair, making no effort to join either conversation. It was awfully uncomfortable to have Mary there; with her grief hanging so heavily around her she might as well have walked in trailing a shroud. Surely, though, she would leave before dinner. Gavin was determined that Mary should stay. As they discussed the latest developments in their ongoing battle with the insurance company, he felt much more relaxed and in control than he usually did in Miles and Samantha's presence. Nobody was chipping away at him, or patronizing him, and Miles was absolving him temporarily of all responsibility for Kay. ‘†¦ and just here, just out of sight,' Miles was saying, pointing to a spot two inches past the frame of the picture, ‘you've got Sweetlove House, the Fawley place. Big Queen Anne manor house, dormers, stone quoins †¦ stunning, you should visit, it's open to the public on Sundays in the summer. Important family locally, the Fawleys.' ‘Stone quoins?' ‘Important family, locally?' God, you are an arse, Miles. Samantha hoisted herself out of her armchair and returned to the kitchen. Though the casserole was watery, the burnt flavour dominated. The broccoli was flaccid and tasteless; the mashed potato cool and dry. Past caring, she decanted it all into dishes and slammed it down on the circular dining-room table. ‘Dinner's ready!' she called at the sitting-room door. ‘Oh, I must go,' said Mary, jumping up. ‘I didn't mean – ‘ ‘No, no, no!' said Gavin, in a tone that Kay had never heard before: kindly and cajoling. ‘It'll do you good to eat – kids'll be all right for an hour.' Miles added his support and Mary looked uncertainly towards Samantha, who was forced to add her voice to theirs, then dashed back through into the dining room to lay another setting. She invited Mary to sit between Gavin and Miles, because placing her next to a woman seemed to emphasize her husband's absence. Kay and Miles had moved on to discussing social work. ‘I don't envy you,' he said, serving Kay a large ladle full of casserole; Samantha could see black, scorched flecks in the sauce spreading across the white plate. ‘Bloody difficult job.' ‘Well, we're perennially under-resourced,' said Kay, ‘but it can be satisfying, especially when you can feel you're making a difference.' And she thought of the Weedons. Terri's urine sample had tested negative at the clinic yesterday and Robbie had had a full week in nursery. The recollection cheered her, counterbalancing her slight irritation that Gavin's attention was still focused entirely on Mary; that he was doing nothing to help ease her conversation with his friends. ‘You've got a daughter, haven't you, Kay?' ‘That's right: Gaia. She's sixteen.' ‘Same age as Lexie; we should get them together,' said Miles. ‘Divorced?' asked Samantha delicately. ‘No,' said Kay. ‘We weren't married. He was a university boyfriend and we split up not long after she was born.' ‘Yeah, Miles and I had barely left university ourselves,' said Samantha. Kay did not know whether Samantha meant to draw a distinction between herself, who had married the big smug father of her children, and Kay, who had been left †¦ not that Samantha could know that Brendan had left her †¦ ‘Gaia's taken a Saturday job with your father, actually,' Kay told Miles. ‘At the new cafe.' Miles was delighted. He took enormous pleasure in the idea that he and Howard were so much part of the fabric of the place that everybody in Pagford was connected to them, whether as friend or client, customer or employee. Gavin, who was chewing and chewing on a bit of rubbery meat that was refusing to yield to his teeth, experienced a further lowering in the pit of his stomach. It was news to him that Gaia had taken a job with Miles' father. Somehow he had forgotten that Kay possessed in Gaia another powerful device for anchoring herself to Pagford. When not in the immediate vicinity of her slamming doors, her vicious looks and caustic asides, Gavin tended to forget that Gaia had any independent existence at all; that she was not simply part of the uncomfortable backdrop of stale sheets, bad cooking and festering grudges against which his relationship with Kay staggered on. ‘Does Gaia like Pagford?' Samantha asked. ‘Well, it's a bit quiet compared to Hackney,' said Kay, ‘but she's settling in well.' She took a large gulp of wine to wash out her mouth after disgorging the enormous lie. There had been yet another row before leaving tonight. (‘What's the matter with you?' Kay had asked, while Gaia sat at the kitchen table, hunched over her laptop, wearing a dressing gown over her clothes. Four or five boxes of dialogue were open on the screen. Kay knew that Gaia was communicating online with the friends she had left behind in Hackney, friends she had had, in most cases, since she had been in primary school. ‘Gaia?' Refusal to answer was new and ominous. Kay was used to explosions of bile and rage against herself and, particularly, Gavin. ‘Gaia, I'm talking to you.' ‘I know, I can hear you.' ‘Then kindly have the courtesy to answer me back.' Black dialogue jerked upwards in the boxes on the screen, funny little icons, blinking and waggling. ‘Gaia, please will you answer me?' ‘What? What do you want?' ‘I'm trying to ask about your day.' ‘My day was shit. Yesterday was shit. Tomorrow will be shit as well.' ‘When did you get home?' ‘The same time I always get home.' Sometimes, even after all these years, Gaia displayed resentment at having to let herself in, at Kay not being at home to meet her like a storybook mother. ‘Do you want to tell me why your day was shit?' ‘Because you dragged me to live in a shithole.' Kay willed herself not to shout. Lately there had been screaming matches that she was sure the whole street had heard. ‘You know that I'm going out with Gavin tonight?' Gaia muttered something Kay did not catch. ‘What?' ‘I said, I didn't think he liked taking you out.' ‘What's that supposed to mean?' But Gaia did not answer; she simply typed a response into one of the scrolling conversations on the screen. Kay vacillated, both wanting to press her and afraid of what she might hear. ‘We'll be back around midnight, I expect.' Gaia had not responded. Kay had gone to wait for Gavin in the hall.) ‘Gaia's made friends,' Kay told Miles, ‘with a girl who lives in this street; what's her name – Narinder?' ‘Sukhvinder,' said Miles and Samantha together. ‘She's a nice girl,' said Mary. ‘Have you met her father?' Samantha asked Kay. ‘No,' said Kay. ‘He's a heart surgeon,' said Samantha, who was on her fourth glass of wine. ‘Absolutely bloody gorgeous.' ‘Oh,' said Kay. ‘Like a Bollywood film star.' None of them, Samantha reflected, had bothered to tell her that dinner was tasty, which would have been simple politeness, even though it was awful. If she wasn't allowed to torment Gavin, she ought at least to be able to needle Miles. ‘Vikram's the only good thing about living in this godforsaken town, I can tell you,' said Samantha. ‘Sex on legs.' ‘And his wife's our local GP,' said Miles, ‘and a parish councillor. You'll be employed by Yarvil District Council, Kay, are you?' ‘That's right,' said Kay. ‘But I spend most of my time in the Fields. They're technically in Pagford Parish, aren't they?' Not the Fields, thought Samantha, Oh, don't mention the bloody Fields. ‘Ah,' said Miles, with a meaningful smile. ‘Yes, well, the Fields do belong to Pagford, technically. Technically, they do. Painful subject, Kay.' ‘Really? Why?' asked Kay, hoping to make conversation general, because Gavin was still talking in an undertone to the widow. ‘Well, you see – this is back in the fifties.' Miles seemed to be embarking on a well-rehearsed speech. ‘Yarvil wanted to expand the Cantermill Estate, and instead of building out to the west, where the bypass is now – ‘ ‘Gavin? Mary? More wine?' Samantha called over Miles. ‘ – they were a little bit duplicitous; land was bought without it being very clear what they wanted it for, and then they went and expanded the estate over the border into Pagford Parish.' ‘Why aren't you mentioning Old Aubrey Fawley, Miles?' asked Samantha. She had, at last, reached that delicious point of intoxication where her tongue became wicked and she became disengaged from fear of consequences, eager to provoke and to irritate, seeking nothing but her own amusement. ‘The truth is that Old Aubrey Fawley, who used to own all those lovely stone quoits, or whatever Miles was telling you about, did a deal behind everyone's backs – ‘ ‘That's not fair, Sam,' said Miles, but she talked over him again. ‘ – he flogged off the land where the Fields are built, pocketed, I don't know, must have been a quarter of a mill or so – ‘ ‘Don't talk rubbish, Sam, back in the fifties?' ‘ – but then, once he realized everyone was pissed off with him, he pretended he hadn't known it would cause trouble. Upper-class twit. And a drunk,' added Samantha. ‘Simply not true, I'm afraid,' Miles said firmly. ‘To fully understand the problem, Kay, you need to appreciate a bit of local history.' Samantha, holding her chin in her hand, pretended to slide her elbow off the table in boredom. Though she could not like Samantha, Kay laughed, and Gavin and Mary broke off their quiet conversation. ‘We're talking about the Fields,' said Kay, in a tone intended to remind Gavin that she was there; that he ought to be giving her moral support. Miles, Samantha and Gavin realized simultaneously that the Fields was a most tactless subject to raise in front of Mary, when they had been such a bone of contention between Barry and Howard. ‘Apparently they're a bit of a sore subject locally,' said Kay, wanting to force Gavin to express a view, to rope him in. ‘Mmm,' he replied, and turning back to Mary, he said, ‘So how's Declan's football coming on?' Kay experienced a powerful stab of fury: Mary might be recently bereaved, but Gavin's solicitousness seemed unnecessarily pointed. She had imagined this evening quite differently: a foursome in which Gavin would have to acknowledge that they really were a couple; yet nobody looking on would imagine that they enjoyed a closer relationship than acquaintanceship. Also, the food was horrible. Kay put her knife and fork together with three-quarters of her helping untouched – an act that was not lost on Samantha – and addressed Miles again. ‘Did you grow up in Pagford?' ‘Afraid so,' said Miles, smiling complacently. ‘Born in the old Kelland Hospital along the road. They closed it in the eighties.' ‘And you? – ‘ Kay asked Samantha, who cut across her. ‘God, no. I'm here by accident.' ‘Sorry, I don't know what you do, Samantha?' asked Kay. ‘I've got my own busi – ‘ ‘She sells outsize bras,' said Miles. Samantha got up abruptly and went to fetch another bottle of wine. When she returned to the table, Miles was telling Kay the humorous anecdote, doubtless intended to illustrate how everyone knew everyone in Pagford, of how he had been pulled over in the car one night by a policeman who turned out to be a friend he had known since primary school. The blow-by-blow re-enactment of the banter between himself and Steve Edwards was tediously familiar to Samantha. As she moved around the table replenishing all the glasses, she watched Kay's austere expression; evidently, Kay did not find drink-driving a laughing matter. ‘†¦ so Steve's holding out the breathalyser, and I'm about to blow in it, and out of nowhere we both start cracking up. His partner's got no idea what the hell's going on; he's like this' – Miles mimed a man turning his head from side to side in astonishment – ‘and Steve's bent double, pissing himself, because all we can think of is the last time he was holding something steady for me to blow into, which was nigh on twenty years ago, and – ‘ ‘It was a blow-up doll,' said Samantha, unsmiling, dropping back into her seat beside Miles. ‘Miles and Steve put it in their friend Ian's parents' bed, during Ian's eighteenth-birthday party. Anyway, in the end Miles was fined a grand and got three points on his licence, because it was the second time he'd been caught over the limit. So that was hysterically funny.' Miles' grin remained foolishly in place, like a limp balloon forgotten after a party. A stiff little chill seemed to blow through the temporarily silent room. Though Miles struck her as an almighty bore, Kay was on his side: he was the only one at the table who seemed remotely inclined to ease her passage into Pagford social life. ‘I must say, the Fields are pretty rough,' she said, reverting to the subject with which Miles seemed most comfortable, and still ignorant that it was in any way inauspicious within Mary's vicinity. ‘I've worked in the inner cities; I didn't expect to see that kind of deprivation in a rural area, but it's not all that different from London. Less of an ethnic mix, of course.' ‘Oh, yes, we've got our share of addicts and wasters,' said Miles. ‘I think that's about all I can manage, Sam,' he added, pushing his plate away from him with a sizeable amount of food still on it. Samantha started to clear the table; Mary got up to help. ‘No, no, it's fine, Mary, you relax,' Samantha said. To Kay's annoyance, Gavin jumped up too, chivalrously insisting on Mary's sitting back down, but Mary insisted too. ‘That was lovely, Sam,' said Mary, in the kitchen, as they scraped most of the food into the bin. ‘No, it wasn't, it was horrible,' said Samantha, who was only appreciating how drunk she was now that she was on her feet. ‘What do you think of Kay?' ‘I don't know. She's not what I expected,' said Mary. ‘She's exactly what I expected,' said Samantha, taking out plates for pudding. ‘She's another Lisa, if you ask me.' ‘Oh, no, don't say that,' said Mary. ‘He deserves someone nice this time.' This was a most novel point of view to Samantha, who was of the opinion that Gavin's wetness merited constant punishment. They returned to the dining room to find an animated conversation in progress between Kay and Miles, while Gavin sat in silence. ‘†¦ offload responsibility for them, which seems to me to be a pretty self-centred and self-satisfied – ‘ ‘Well, I think it's interesting that you use the word â€Å"responsibility†,' said Miles, ‘because I think that goes to the very heart of the problem, doesn't it? The question is, where exactly do we draw the line?' ‘Beyond the Fields, apparently.' Kay laughed, with condescension. ‘You want to draw a line neatly between the home-owning middle classes and the lower – ‘ ‘Pagford's full of working-class people, Kay; the difference is, most of them work. D'you know what proportion of the Fields lives off benefits? Responsibility, you say: what happened to personal responsibility? We've had them through the local school for years: kids who haven't got a single worker in the family; the concept of earning a living is completely foreign to them; generations of non-workers, and we're expected to subsidize them – ‘ ‘So your solution is to shunt off the problem onto Yarvil,' said Kay, ‘not to engage with any of the underlying – ‘ ‘Mississippi mud pie?' called Samantha. Gavin and Mary took slices with thanks; Kay, to Samantha's fury, simply held out her plate as though Samantha were a waitress, her attention all on Miles. ‘†¦ the addiction clinic, which is absolutely crucial, and which certain people are apparently lobbying to close – ‘ ‘Oh, well, if you're talking about Bellchapel,' said Miles, shaking his head and smirking, ‘I hope you've mugged up on what the success rates are, Kay. Pathetic, frankly, absolutely pathetic. I've seen the figures, I was going through them this morning, and I won't lie to you, the sooner they close – ‘ ‘And the figures you're talking about are †¦?' ‘Success rates, Kay, exactly what I said: the number of people who have actually stopped using drugs, gone clean – ‘ ‘I'm sorry, but that's a very naive point of view; if you're going to judge success purely – ‘ ‘But how on earth else are we supposed to judge an addiction clinic's success?' demanded Miles, incredulous. ‘As far as I can tell, all they do at Bellchapel is dole out methadone, which half of their clients use alongside heroin anyway.' ‘The whole problem of addiction is immensely complicated,' said Kay, ‘and it's naive and simplistic to put the problem purely in terms of users and non †¦' But Miles was shaking his head, smiling; Kay, who had been enjoying her verbal duel with this self-satisfied lawyer, was suddenly angry. ‘Well, I can give you a very concrete example of what Bellchapel's doing: one family I'm working with – mother, teenage daughter and small son – if the mother wasn't on methadone, she'd be on the streets trying to pay for her habit; the kids are immeasurably better off – ‘ ‘They'd be better off away from their mother, by the sound of it,' said Miles. ‘And where exactly would you propose they go?' ‘A decent foster home would be a good start,' said Miles. ‘Do you know how many foster homes there are, against how many kids needing them?' asked Kay. ‘The best solution would have been to have them adopted at birth – ‘ ‘Fabulous. I'll hop in my time machine,' retorted Kay. ‘Well, we know a couple who were desperate to adopt,' said Samantha, unexpectedly throwing her weight behind Miles. She would not forgive Kay for the rude outstretched plate; the woman was bolshy and patronizing, exactly like Lisa, who had monopolized every get-together with her political views and her job in family law, despising Samantha for owning a bra shop. ‘Adam and Janice,' she reminded Miles in parenthesis, who nodded; ‘and they couldn't get a baby for love nor money, could they?' ‘Yes, a baby,' said Kay, rolling her eyes, ‘everybody wants a baby. Robbie's nearly four. He's not potty-trained, he's developmentally behind for his age and he's almost certainly had inappropriate exposure to sexual behaviour. Would your friends like to adopt him?' ‘But the point is, if he'd been taken from his mother at birth – ‘ ‘She was off the drugs when he was born, and making good progress,' said Kay. ‘She loved him and wanted to keep him, and she was meeting his needs at the time. She'd already raised Krystal, with some family support – ‘ ‘Krystal!' shrieked Samantha. ‘Oh my God, are we talking about the Weedons?' Kay was horrified that she had used names; it had never mattered in London, but everyone truly did know everyone in Pagford, it seemed. ‘I shouldn't have – ‘ But Miles and Samantha were laughing, and Mary looked tense. Kay, who had not touched her pie, and had managed very little of the first course, realized that she had drunk too much; she had been sipping wine steadily out of nerves, and now she had committed a prime indiscretion. Still, it was too late to undo that; anger overrode every other consideration. ‘Krystal Weedon is no advert for that woman's mothering skills,' said Miles. ‘Krystal's trying her damnedest to hold her family together,' said Kay. ‘She loves her little brother very much; she's terrified he'll be taken away – ‘ ‘I wouldn't trust Krystal Weedon to look after a boiling egg,' said Miles, and Samantha laughed again. ‘Oh, look, it's to her credit she loves her brother, but he isn't a cuddly toy – ‘ ‘Yes, I know that,' snapped Kay, remembering Robbie's shitty, crusted bottom, ‘but he's still loved.' ‘Krystal bullied our daughter Lexie,' said Samantha, ‘so we've seen a different side of her to the one I'm sure she shows you.' ‘Look, we all know Krystal's had a rough deal,' said Miles, ‘nobody's denying that. It's the drug-addled mother I've got an issue with.' ‘As a matter of fact, she's doing very well on the Bellchapel programme at the moment.' ‘But with her history,' said Miles, ‘it isn't rocket science, is it, to guess that she'll relapse?' ‘If you apply that rule across the board, you ought not to have a driving licence, because with your history you're bound to drink and drive again.' Miles was temporarily baffled, but Samantha said coldly, ‘I think that's a rather different thing.' ‘Do you?' said Kay. ‘It's the same principle.' ‘Yes, well, principles are sometimes the problem, if you ask me,' said Miles. ‘Often what's needed is a bit of common sense.' ‘Which is the name people usually give to their prejudices,' rejoined Kay. ‘According to Nietzsche,' said a sharp new voice, making them all jump, ‘philosophy is the biography of the philosopher.' A miniature Samantha stood at the door into the hall, a busty girl of around sixteen in tight jeans and a T-shirt; she was eating a handful of grapes and looking rather pleased with herself. ‘Everyone meet Lexie,' said Miles proudly. ‘Thank you for that, genius.' ‘You're welcome,' said Lexie pertly, and she swept off upstairs. A heavy silence sank over the table. Without really knowing why, Samantha, Miles and Kay all glanced towards Mary, who looked as though she might be on the verge of tears. ‘Coffee,' said Samantha, lurching to her feet. Mary disappeared into the bathroom. ‘Let's go and sit through,' said Miles, conscious that the atmosphere was somewhat charged, but confident that he could, with a few jokes and his habitual bonhomie, steer everyone back into charity with each other. ‘Bring your glasses.' His inner certainties had been no more rearranged by Kay's arguments than a breeze can move a boulder; yet his feeling towards her was not unkind, but rather pitying. He was the least intoxicated by the constant refilling of glasses, but on reaching the sitting room he realized how very full his bladder was. ‘Whack on some music, Gav, and I'll go and get those choccies.' But Gavin made no move towards the vertical stacks of CDs in their sleek Perspex stands. He seemed to be waiting for Kay to start on him. Sure enough, as soon as Miles had vanished from sight, Kay said, ‘Well, thank you very much, Gav. Thanks for all the support.' Gavin had drunk even more greedily than Kay throughout dinner, enjoying his own private celebration that he had not, after all, been offered up as a sacrifice to Samantha's gladiatorial bullying. He faced Kay squarely, full of a courage born not only of wine but because he had been treated for an hour as somebody important, knowledgeable and supportive, by Mary. ‘You seemed to be doing OK on your own,' he said. Indeed, the little he had permitted himself to hear of Kay and Miles' argument had given him a pronounced sense of deja vu; if he had not had Mary to distract him, he might have fancied himself back on that famous evening, in the identical dining room, when Lisa had told Miles that he epitomized all that was wrong with society, and Miles had laughed in her face, and Lisa had lost her temper and refused to stay for coffee. It was not very long after, that Lisa had admitted that she was sleeping with an associate partner at her firm and advised Gavin to get tested for chlamydia. ‘I don't know any of these people,' said Kay, ‘and you haven't done one damn thing to make it any easier for me, have you?' ‘What did you want me to do?' asked Gavin. He was wonderfully calm, insulated by the imminent returns of the Mollisons and Mary, and by the copious amounts of Chianti he had consumed. ‘I didn't want an argument about the Fields. I don't give a monkey's about the Fields. Plus,' he added, ‘it's a touchy subject around Mary; Barry was fighting on the council to keep the Fields part of Pagford.' ‘Well, then, why couldn't you have told me – given me a hint?' He laughed, exactly as Miles had laughed at her. Before she could retort, the others returned like the Magi bearing gifts: Samantha carrying a tray of cups, followed by Mary holding the cafetiere, and Miles, with Kay's chocolates. Kay saw the flamboyant gold ribbon on the box and remembered how optimistic she had been about tonight when she had bought them. She turned her face away, trying to hide her anger, frantic with the desire to shout at Gavin, and also with a sudden, shocking urge to cry. ‘It's been so nice,' she heard Mary say, in a thick voice that suggested she, too, might have been crying, ‘but I won't stay for coffee, I don't want to be late back; Declan's a bit †¦ a bit unsettled at the moment. Thanks so much, Sam, Miles, it's been good to, you know †¦ well, get out for a bit.' ‘I'll walk you up the – ‘ Miles began, but Gavin was talking firmly over him. ‘You stay here, Miles; I'll see Mary back. I'll walk you up the road, Mary. It'll only take five minutes. It's dark up the top there.' Kay was barely breathing; all her being was concentrated in loathing of complacent Miles, tarty Samantha and fragile, drooping Mary, but most of all of Gavin himself. ‘Oh, yes,' she heard herself saying, as everybody seemed to look towards her for permission, ‘yep, you see Mary home, Gav.' She heard the front door close and Gavin had gone. Miles was pouring Kay's coffee. She watched the stream of hot black liquid fall, and felt suddenly, painfully alive to what she had risked in overthrowing her life for the man walking away into the night with another woman.

Air shippers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Air shippers - Essay Example The manufacturers are thus faced by with the challenges of the fluctuations of the market making the manufacturers to improve and change their production schedules. Similarly, they have been compelled to increase the amount and level of inventory while at the same time lower and limit the unforeseen expenses or expenditures. The miscellaneous expenditure which may not have been factored in during the initial cost budgeting. A specific attention and focus is given to producers in the electrical and electronic companies. The air transport has come as a remedy in this case and instance because it is critical to ensure that the goods are transported from one part to another. For instance, the goods which would otherwise take weeks from China would now take lesser times in terms of days. This is to say that the air shippers have made the delivery of products to the final consumers to be relatively faster. For instance, a product from an American factory would faster reach its final consum ers in faraway country, due to air transport-or the air shippers(Chatfield & Bjà ¸rn, 1997). The airship owners are strategically positioned in terms of ownership of the vital connection points, thus by fact and extension reducing the supply chain in terms of time and cost.   

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Homework - Essay Example (Lougheed 2005) This seems as if this could be the solution for many medical problems as scientist are able to somewhat repair damaged cells, and although this can save the lives of many, the lives lost through abortion will never make up for the ones saved. Until stem cells can be collected in a more ethical manner, they should not be used for medical advancement. Many supporters of stem cell research agree that the stem cells obtained from abortions would be destroyed anyway. Whether this is the case or not, the parents are choosing to allow the unborn fetus to die. This means that the cells also should die and it is not ethically correct to use them as they were chosen to be left dead. Hopefully this information is helpful and informative as to what types of stem cells should be used and why stem cell research can be unethical. Until another way is found to collect stem cells, I and many others will remain

Take a position as to why kids join gangs Essay

Take a position as to why kids join gangs - Essay Example Some of them will still join the gangs even after being warned and having enough exposure to the appropriate advice against such behaviours. It therefore follows that there are some very pressing challenges that these children who join the gangs face, under the blanket of identity crisis during adolescence. The most potent of all factors leading to the stubborn insistence on social vices by adolescents and youths are internal factors that the developing personality tries to come to terms with. At such a time, these children require the appropriate conditioning that will encourage them to make the correct decision for instance in joining helpful friendships. In this paper, there are certain factors that appear to have the most determining forces that these children face leading to joining the wrong groups. Academic research shows that while some children find difficulties in cultivating the appropriate friendship patterns due to the environment that they are brought up in, there are chances that they would still behave the same if the environment was changed. Likewise, there are chances that environment would not affect yet another section of the youths’ population. The important thing is the realization that various factors contribute to marked differences in the life of the children. Kids join gangs for a number of reasons, among which are for protection, to gain of sense of belonging, or to get into illegal activities. Firstly, according to the Juvenile Justice Bulletin (1), children who are brought up in a neighbourhood where the environment for the cultivation of a positive social integration is poor always find the wrong footing into social life. The Bulletin finds strong links in the presence of gangs in such neighbourhoods to the lack of the appropriate positioning and empowerment for making social decisions in the youths. Poor neighbourhoods present challenging development factors for

African american history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African american history - Essay Example They believed this was the only way Americans could live their lives in according to its ethical values (Delany 32). On the other hand, Southerners did not consider Slavery as immoral. They had a different belief that such types of practices are lighted upon in Bible and many societies have practiced them in the history. In addition to this, Southern economy was hugely based open the cotton industry, which was completely labour-oriented. So for them, Slavery was a God gift to the masters. Many Southerners had this concept that it is God’s will that the black people serve as labour to white civilized societies. During the mid-19th century, the economy of North was largely dependent on shipping/naval, manufacturing and factory businesses which did not create any need of black slaves, moreover the immigrants approaching from European Countries were providing cheap labours. So, it will not be wrong to say that the North people had their â€Å"slaves† in form of cheap labours from immigrants. However, this was a total opposite to the case in South, where economy was mainly agricultural based demanding more and more farm workers. Thus the Southerners tend to use Slaves. Surprisingly, for Southerners slaves were at times too highly valued to do few dreadful jobs. For them a slave was not less than an asset with a great value to money, so alternatively they used to hire Irish workers for such jobs. Towards the end of Slavery or Abolishment, what it really is called, Mr. Frederick Douglas had tremendous of efforts involved. He strongly argued against Slavery proving it to be cruel, unjust and immoral. He worked hard to uncover the evilness of slavery. Douglas argued against the claims that blacks were beasts; he proved how slavery had assaulted them and that that they were just as rational humans as whites. With this argument, he argued they were eligible to all the rights that natural law authorized and the United States documented in its

Are you a regular smoker Within the context of your own experiences, Research Paper

Are you a regular smoker Within the context of your own experiences, discuss why anti-smoking campaigns have been largely ineff - Research Paper Example However, these strategies remain ineffective since teenagers continue to smoke irrespective of the numerous antismoking campaigns. Additionally, teenagers continue to be influenced to start smoking through marketing strategies used by tobacco industry. There are several reasons why antismoking advertisements remain ineffective in curbing teen smoking. This paper focuses on these reasons. The paper will entail use of introspection, data collection, and analysis and make recommendations on how the advertisements could be improved. Overview of the Topic Although, I am not a smoker, I have several young friends who started smoking at very young stages. Additionally, I have always had great concern on why anti-smoking campaigns have not eliminated teen smoking. Most young people engage in smoking at a very tender age. Some end up becoming addicted, which makes them vulnerable to the numerous smoking related diseases. To prevent addiction and such ailments, there have been several campaign s and funds set aside to curb smoking among the teenagers. This is because this is the stage at which quitting would be easier since continuous smoking leads to addiction making it hard for smokers to quit. From as early as in the 1960’s, several antismoking advertisements were adopted. ... In other cases, the government uses funds to finance airing of information aimed at alerting young people of the dangers of smoking. Although there has been great focus on antismoking campaigns through different media, several young people continue smoking. Moreover, there is no evidence to show that any campaigns convince the teens to quit smoking. Some studies show that the campaigns are ineffective and could have at times encouraged the young people to smoke. Some of these campaigns are conducted by the tobacco industry itself. It is illogical how a company manufacturing a product would be able to convince the users that the product is dangerous. Therefore, most of the advertisements are just a protocol used by the tobacco industry to convince the policy makers that the industry is following the regulations (Wakefield, Flay and Giovino 233-237). Additionally, cigarettes are sold at extremely low prices, which make them affordable to the teens wanting to experiment. Introspection a nd Data Collection Whenever I listen or watch anti-smoking advertisement, the first thing I try to figure out is the persons behind the advertisement. In case the advertisement is designed by the tobacco industry, I always ask myself how someone would make a product and then try to convince the users not to use the product. This makes me think that the campaigns could be untruthful and carried out ineffectively since they condemn the use of a product that they manufacture and export greatly for the benefit of the nation. Another aspect that makes me to consider the antismoking campaigns unbelievable is their nature. Most used antismoking campaign strategy is advertisements. The advertisements appear unrealistic to me. The

Write a summary of chapter 13 and 14 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write a summary of chapter 13 and 14 - Essay Example This ensures its effectivity as it creates a sense of ownership and responsibility within the members of the committee and transferred to the entire organization. Committee management does not only mean chairing meetings but also following up on the action items that have been closed within meetings. Another aspect of aviation safety that is important in ensuring safety within the organization is inspection. Though pretty unpopular as it is viewed as fault-finding, inspection is crucial in order to determine if the organization is working towards the goal of the management, and that is to promote and guarantee safety within the organization. There are different types of inspection which leads to varying results. These are formal inspection, informal or daily inspections and spot inspections. Making sure that this is done regularly establishes the importance of meeting expectations and standards of safety. Also, this will enable the organization to gather additional information on how the organization is keeping its house. The inspection does not end in the inspection itself but in a follow up which focuses on areas that are needed to be improved. The FAA’s inspection program serves as part of an early warning system to identify possible hazardous incidents and to prevent these situations from happening. However, there are some loopholes in their program. It did not have adequate guidance in classifying problems and determining whether these problems have been addressed or resolved. The problem lies in the information management from the inspection program. Inspectors were not provided with adequate definitions of comment codes. And this results to a difficulty in classifying the recorded problems. Thus, it is suggested that a clear and distinctive definition of these codes must be provided in order to clearly identify the category it belongs to. This is important in forming resolutions

Authoritarian Rule in Latin America Essay Example for Free

Authoritarian Rule in Latin America Essay â€Å"Latin American politics since independence have been characterized by instability, authoritarianism, and violence. In a three page essay please discuss the role of the military in creating such problems using the chapter in the course reader entitled â€Å"The Good Sailor. † Also, discuss whether or not the Argentinean case is typical or unique to Latin America. Provide explanations and analysis from â€Å"The Good Sailor,† lecture, and the textbook. An â€Å"A† paper will use all three. Use size 12 Times New Roman font. The paper must be typed (or word-processed) on standard size paper (8 ? y 11) and double spaced with appropriate margins. Use MLA format with parenthetical citations-i. e. (Rosenberg, 84). † Violence in Latin America is a significant part because so much of it is political: planned, deliberate, and carried out by organized groups of society. It is used to make a point. The above quote supports that the violence and military is interrelated and it is used as tool by the military to instill fear and dominate people of the Latin America. Ranked as the third most unstable region in the world in the post-war era, political instability has been a pervasive problem in Latin America. Whether it is a caudillo, a charismatic boss with an armed following, or a general leading a golpe de estado or an authoritarian institution, Latin America is conceived as an authoritarian region always ruled by either military or civilian leaders. Only three Latin American countries were consistently democratic over the thirty year period from 1935 to 1964: Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela. During this time, there were 56 changes of government by military coups in 20 Latin American nations. In sum, political instability is a persistent and pernicious problem in the region. The question arises how military insurrection remained instrument of ruling in Latin America. It might be because since the time of caudillos, violence when used as a method to rule has brought desired results and authority. So it has become a used and proven instrument in the ruler’s toolbox. Also, it might be possible that the institutional inertia of the violent politics as inherited from predecessor’s success is deep rooted in the psychic of the rulers. Brazil was the first of these Institutional dictatorships. When military rule began in 1964 after the overthrow of Joan Goulart, it was not a long project but hard liners in military demanded more and more until soft liners came into action in 1974 to loosen up the political rein. This military regime was institutionalized and created two political parties to channel political activity [Skidmore, Thomas Pg 358-360]. While in Chile, you will see the example to an institutional regime changing into personalistic one with emerging of a dictator Augustus Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1989. Pinochet staged a very bloody coup in which probably 2,000 people were killed in the coup and in the years immediately afterwards. Most Chileans supported some sort of army intervention, in part ironically because of their democratic history. They felt, It cant happen here. Our military isnt like the other militaries. They meant that the Chilean military cannot be as brutal as Argentinean military was. Our military will come in and restore order and clean house for six months and then leave. Seventeen years later, the military left after carrying on one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in Latin America and becoming a symbol of state terrorism. Argentina presents one of the most acute cases in the period after 1955. In this country during this period there occurred 12 military coups. While Colombias violence had its roots because of the lack of social order and the Government’s inability to place rules on a most chaotic society, in Argentina, the junta that came in power in military created exactly the opposite situation. When the military coup came into power in 1976; it suffocated Argentina with social order. It took over the educational institutions, changed the life style of people even their appearance. [Article â€Å"The Good Sailor† Pg. 13] Alfredo Astiz, a lieutenant general for the Navy who was active in it from 1970 to 1995. [Article â€Å"The Good Sailor† Pg. 24] Astiz was in Task Force 3. 2. 2 which killed more people during the Dirty War than any other group. The Dirty War lasted from 1976 until 1983 and involved people getting disappeared. The term disappeared describes those who vanished during this period and were probably killed by the military before being tortured in inhumanely ways. It is these trocities and the new and brutally creative ways to torture people that made the Argentinean military different from the other regimes in Latin America. The term Dirty War originates in the military junta itself, which claimed that a war, albeit with different methods was necessary to maintain social order and eradicate political subversives. Although the junta claimed its objective to be the eradication of guerrilla activity, the repression struck mostly the general population, and specifically all political opposition, trade unionists (half of the victims), students, and other civilians. Many others were forced to go into exile, and many remain in exile today. When the Dirty War was a year and a half old, it had disappeared more than 6,500 Argentines. [Article â€Å"The Good Sailor† Pg. 12. ] Even though the military knew in 1978 that 90% of the left was eradicated, they kept on fighting against imaginary subversives for 5 more years. Human rights were not important to the Argentines. Despite contrary opinion from the military, the article â€Å"The Good Sailor† by Tina Rosenberg proves that excessive torture occurred. It is evident from testimonies in the article and the experience of Vilerinos. Article â€Å"The Good Sailor† Pg. 15, 16. ] He talked about a torture chamber with an electric shock machine, torturing instruments and sand bags to hit people so no marks would show up. The military General and even the low rank officers believed that they have godlike powers instilled in them and it is their duty to clear all the dirt from the society by killing people they see fit. They had no shame in executing horrendous tortures instead they took pride and enjoyed the process. As compared to Argentina, Mexico had one part rule (PRI ruled since 1929 to 2000) rather than military wars but still there was colossal bloodshed. It is not that only military intervention brings in political instability and violence as Mexico is a live example of both. However, after the study of the article â€Å"The Good Sailor† and reading the book â€Å"Modern Latin America† it seems to me that the extent of atrocities military regimes brought is incomparable to civil dictatorship. It is their hunger for power and vehemence to rule that make them feel they are god and have right to â€Å"punish† people. â€Å"Here we are the only gods† said by a torturer in a chamber after brutally torturing a 52 year old women.

Sale of Goods Act 1979 Summary

Sale of Goods Act 1979 Summary INTRODUCTION The Sale of Goods Act 1979, is the law that protects consumers. The purpose of this Act is that it requires goods to be as described, of acceptable standards and fit for purpose, for their essential use. All goods that a sold, must match that of the sample shown in that of brochures, stores or showrooms. It is only not required to be acceptable quality if the consumer noticed any deformity or issue with the product before he/she made a purchase. So if the consumer was to analyse the merchandise, but neglected the opportunity to examine for any faults, and that they were not of acceptable quality; the absence of value would have been evident on a sensible examination of the product(s), the consumer will not have the capacity to contend that the products were not of a sufficient value. Section 12 the Act On the 1st of October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act enforced to supplant the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Any consumer who made a faulty product(s) purchase prior to this Act coming into action, can still make a claim under the Sales of Goods Act 1979. The Consumer Rights Acts has made significant amendments to the consumers rights to return any faulty products purchased and the right to return, repair or request a replacement on faulty purchases, as well as giving the right when buying any digital merchandise.[1] S.12 of the Sales of Goods Act states that, In a contract of sale, there is an implied term on the part of the seller that in the case of a sale he has a right to sell the goods, and in the case an agreement to sell he will have such a right at the time when the property is to pass.[2] What this quote is implying is that the vendor is not required to be the legitimate proprietor of the products, as long as he has the specialty to offer the service, as he has the right to sell and not the modification of the product. Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, S.12 cannot be subject to an exclusion clause comparable to the other implied terms that can. S6 (1a) obligation for rupture of the commitments emerging under S.12 cant be avoided or confined by reference to any agreement term, subject to the agreements excepted in that Act. As under S.12 (5A), it affirms that the commitment under S.12 is a legally binding condition, and the lawful premise of which is that there has been a cumulative dissatisfaction of thought or, all the more particularly, as the supplier did not have the right to sell. In Rowland v Divall, even if the seller had the right to/not to sell at the time the contract was made, it may still contain an implied or express term that will require the seller at the time of the contract to have the right to sell, as demonstrated in the case of Barber v NWS Bank Ltd [1996]. Unlike the other implied terms, in Rowland v Divall; a breach of S.12 and S.11 doesnt have an application and the consumer doesnt lose the right to reject the goods by accepting them. The reason being, it is viewed as a complete failure of not taking into account of any thoughts. It is only acceptable and right that a person shouldnt have a right to sell. The Court of Appeal concluded that there has been a failure of consideration. LJ Scrutton discarded the vendors protest, so far as it identified with dismissal as contradict to rescission ab initio, by declaring that it scarcely lay in the dealers mouth, to grumble of the purchasers powerlessness to give back the merchandise, when this very breach originated from the vendors breach of S.12(1).[3] The claimant had anticipated proprietorship, not usage. The four months usage was viewed as unessential and wasnt taken into consideration during this time. S.12(1) may be interpreted as implying that the vendor must have the ability to give responsibility for products to the purchaser, yet in the event that the merchandise must be sold by encroaching an exchange stamp, the dealer has no privilege to offer for the reasons for S.12(1). In Niblett v Confectioners Materials Co Ltd, the seller had no right to sell the goods that they owned as it infringed on Nestles trademark. It was held that they had no right to sell the goods, even though they had the absolute legal interests in the goods. An agent doesnt own the product, however, derives associate authority or right to sell. Possession could also be loaded down by third party rights, by any means of opposing a right to sell. As established in the case of J Barry Winsor Associates Ltd v Belgo Canadian Manufacturing Co Ltd to necessarily have to be that they may or may not have a legal interest in that of the goods they are selling. It is infringed if the seller doesnt have the right to sell, at the time the property passed. So there wouldnt be a breach of S12. Basically, this would seem to face the privilege to the broad free utilisation of the merchandise without the purchaser making recompense for the frequently broad use he has gotten, regardless of such instituting thoughts inside most acknowledged definitions. The Law Reform Act 1943 S.1(3), empowers a gathering to recuperate a sum for a valuable benefit presented before release as a special case to the full recuperation standard, and there would appear to be a further irregularity with different arrangements of the Sale of Goods Act.[4] While there have been talks on improving the regulation, it is said that it is hard to change the law since evaluating the purchasers advantage through ownership would be troublesome and questionable. Diminishing any claims will add up to the purchaser paying the merchant for utilisation of another persons products. The Law Reform Committee contended that a remittance ought to be made for use by the pure purchaser in such circumstances. CONCLUSION S.12 of the Act demonstrates the connection between the purchaser and dealer and covers issues, such as the right and obligations and the genuine accentuation ought to be centred on the injustice of the consumer having the pleasure to use products, with the handy ramifications being that they acquire full compensation in case of a breach. This has proven to be more difficult for a consumer to prove their case, especially if the product has been in their possession for a long period of time. BIBILIOGRAPHY Genie T, Consumer Law In A Nutshell (Consumer Genie, 2017) accessed 26 February 2017 Poole J, Casebook On Contract Law (1st edn, Oxford Univ Press 2016) Bridge M, The Sale Of Goods (1st edn, Oxford University Press 1998) Collins D, Rowland V. Divall: Logical Fallacy? The Courts Interpretation Of Consumer Protection Is Both Confusing And Unfair (2014) 158 Solicitors Journal accessed 5 March 2017 Atiyah P, Adams J and MacQueen H, Atiyahs Sale Of Goods (12th edn, Longman 2010) Rowland V Divall (2017) accessed 5 March 2017 [1] The Genie, Consumer Law In A Nutshell (Consumer Genie, 2017) accessed 26 February 2017. [2] Jill Poole, Casebook On Contract Law (1st edn, Oxford Univ Press 2016). [3] Michael Bridge, The Sale Of Goods (1st edn, Oxford University Press 1998). [4] Daniel M Collins, Rowland V. Divall: Logical Fallacy? The Courts Interpretation Of Consumer Protection Is Both Confusing And Unfair (2014) 158 Solicitors Journal accessed 5 March 2017.

Full Play To The Positive Backwash Effect

Full Play To The Positive Backwash Effect Abstract: Backwash has usually been described in terms of the effect of testing on language teaching and learning. Backwash can be harmful or beneficial, as Arthur Hughes states. (Hughes: 1989) This paper set out to see how far this term can be applied to the ways in which both the students and teachers can benefit from language testing. Key words: positive backwash beneficial testing motivation validity and reliability I. The Backwash Effect and the Learners In language learning, two terms are often mentioned, instrumental motivation and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation refers to the utility value of the language itselfthe usefulness of English as a tool in learning, commerce or international communication. Testing process instrumental motivationcandidates usually take test to further their educational or career prospects. If the testing brings the positive backwash effect into full play, it will motivate the candidates to learn better after they know what they have achieved and what they need to catch up with. But if the result of the testing is simply given as pass, fail, or a mark, the candidates will surely be demotivatedthey do not know what they have to remedy. Another serious situation is that the tests are set by outside bodies which establish their own syllabuses, standards and criteriathe language learners are trained some skills which are necessary for their future learning but the tests do not provide the corre sponding item to measure the learners ability. That is the extent to which the learning required for the testing is apparently relevant to classroom learning or the need of the learner has been limited. As Hughes pointed out, If a test is regarded as important then preparation for it can come to dominate all teaching and learning activitieslearners are misled to strain every nerve to get by it. Which thus hinder the normal sequence in both learning and teaching? II. The Backwash Effect and the Teachers All teachers are motivated by the testing and angle their teaching to what is being tested. Because they believe: Motivation of the students is one of the most important factors influencing their success or failure in learning the language. (McDonough, 1986) They also consider that the influence that the testing has on teaching is either positive or negative. The negative backwash effect is likely to be greatest where teachers are inexperienced or lack of confidence. If the teachers do not know how they can teach under the binding force of the testing and do not know well to develop the materials arranged according to the subject, the teachers will be de-motivated and puzzle over the direction which they should head for. But if the teachers know how to make the testing an impetus to promote their future teaching, by identification with the other teachers outside the college they know what success they have made .It will even drive them to put double effort into the future job. Theref ore, it is important that testing should reflect the skills and approaches of the progressive language teachers and make better use of the testing to encourage teachers in their training. The greater positive backwash effect, the more teachers are likely to be motivated by the testing. III. The Development in the Testing In the past few years, with the development of the training projects, the research in this field is on its way to the progress. Instrumental motivation in language testing has been retained (learning is still connected to promoting, enrolling and earning) but testing is acquired an integrative dimension. So many changes taking place in the testing have been contributed to this dimension: 1. A change in the underlying theory of language learning. 2. A change in the approaches to language teaching. 3. A change in the purposes or testing. 4. A change in the criterion for evaluating a language testing. 5. A change in the testing concerning all the aspects of language teaching. When we set language tests, do we really test the candidates language ability? Are we really trying to test what can enable candidates to use a language effectively? Language teachers we have been told, when act as a tester, must concern with a whole host of different validity and reliability factors. Certainly, in language testing just as much as elsewhere, validity and reliability are important. But a valid and reliable test is of little use if it does not prove to be a practical one as Weir stated, This involves questions of economy, ease of administration, scoring and interpretation of results. The longer it takes to construct, administer and score, and the more skilled personnel and equipment that are involved, the higher the costs are likely to be.(1990) So how to achieve satisfactory reliability tests, how to enhance validity of the testing and how to make the tests more practical have become language teachers major concern. IV. Practical Concerns in Evaluating Tests Tests are means of gathering information. They are constructed according to certain criteria which are intended to safeguard the quality of this information. as Nunan once said, and it is easy to reach the agreement that the teachers should test what they require the learners to do. Nunan. D also said, It is important that, in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a given curriculum, all elements be inter-grated, so that decisions made at one level are not in conflict with those made at another. For instance, in courses based on principles of communicative language teaching, it is important that these principles are reflected, not only in curriculum documents and syllabus plans, but also in classroom activities, patterns of classroom interaction and in tests of communicative performance. (Nunan, 1987) In China a criterion-referenced test which is named TEM 8 (Test for English Majors Grade Eight) is discussed here for us to assess and discuss in detail whether this test can achieve beneficial backwash and how we can improve the backwash effect of the test. According to Hughes, there are eight steps to make our ideal into realities: 1. Test the abilities whose development you want to encourage. 2. Sample widely and unpredictably. 3. Use direct testing. 4. Make testing criterion referenced. 5. Base achievement tests on objectives. 6. Ensure test is known and understood by students and teachers. 7. Where necessary, provide assistance to teachers. 8. Count the cost. Lets look at the diagram below which collates the difference between the syllabus designed for Language teaching and that designed for tests (TEM8) Syllabus designed for language teaching Syllabus designed for test TEM 8 Listening: Listening: To understand VOA and BBC program from on -the -spot reporting concerning about the politics, economy, culture and education technology, etc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 1. To understand all kinds of English conversation and speech, or interview, or special topic debate on the communicative occasion. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ According to the editors Messina and Feng Qinghua, the practice test chosen here is entirely based on the teaching syllabus of English major and TEM8 syllabus in higher education. From the diagram, we can draw a conclusion that the TEM8 test is basically based on the principle that language should be test in the same way as it is taught. The listening task is divided into two parts. The former part contains: (1) talk; (2) conversation; (3) news broadcast. There are fifteen multiple-choice questions as a whole. The latter part contained: (1) note-taking; (2) gap-filling. In writers opinion the structure of the test accords with Weirs theory. The advantages of employing multiple-choice format largely are that scoring can be perfectly reliable and scoring can be rapid and economical. The advantage of not employing multiple-choice format largely is that it prevents the learners from getting the harmful backwash. Hughes also has a comment on it: It should hardly be necessary to point out that where a test which is important to students is multiple choices in nature, there is a danger that practice for the test will have a harmful effect on learning and teaching. Practice at multiple choice items (especially when, as happens, as much attention is paid to improving ones educated guessing as to the content of the items) will not usually be the best way for students to improve their command of a language. (Hughes, 1989) For the note-taking, as we have no listening recording of the test in hand, however, having carefully examined the tape-script and the key answers to it, we notice that although the test focuses on whether the students have received the massage that was intended to, the material is not spoken test. In real life situation, the listeners mostly have contextual clues to facilitate understanding, it is extremely difficult for students to backtrack and focus on very specific feature of discourse while listening to and attempting to understand a non-interactive, uninterrupted monologue. (Weir, 1990) Therefore, preserving the spoken text should be in the testers consideration. In TAKE NOTE written by Michael Berman, he points out that the note-taking materials should be suitable for the study of styles and registers in contemporary English; during the process of listening, it is very important to be possibly assisted by questions from the speaker and the candidates should be encouraged to write in their own words, to centralize on elements of major importance and use key words abbreviations or symbols; they should be reminded that there is rarely time or need for direct quotation. (Berman, 1980) Look at the criterion of the scoring and the key to the note taking of this test; it does not have this attempt. Should it be improved later on? It is still a question as far as the beneficial backwash concerns. Having consulted the sources of the reading materials of the test, they are seen that native speakers wrote them all. It is in accordance with Hughes theory that the direct testing implies the testing of performance skills, with texts and tasks as authentic as possible. (Hughes, 1989) So one thing also deserves our attention, that is, both syllabuses in above diagrams are widely arranged for the requirement of the learners. The likely outcome is that much preparation for the test will be limited to it. The positive backwash effect will be hence in full play. V. Conclusion As Hughes says that the best way to test peoples writing ability is to get them to write. Hughes makes further his theory by saying that (1) We have to set writing tasks that are properly representative of the population of tasks that we should expect the students to be able to perform. (2) The tasks should elicit samples of writing which truly represent the students ability. (3) It is essential that the samples of writing can and will be scored reliably. TEM8 test is basically based on this theory. Only when we fully realized that the students and those responsible for teaching know and understand what the test demands of them, and the sample items made available to everyone concerned with preparation for it, the test can increase its reliability. (Hughes, 1989) Different attitudes and approaches to syllabus design and testing can be put on a continuum. (Hu, 1988) Tests exist to enable learners to make retrospective statements about the effectiveness of learning. If we are really trying to test what it is that enables a person to sue a language effectively, as a language teacher we have to take into account a multiplicity of factors that involved in the testing. Thus the teaching was tied very closely, right from the start, to learners real needs. A test designed to meet these needs. A test designed to test effectively both language knowledge and language skills. The most important of all is that it has been possible for the authorities to practice TEM for about three years, then the test can be further developed into a more satisfying one based on the linguistic fundamental criteria and the test can create more positives for the learners. It is up to us language teachers future effort.

Beckett :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  BECKETT   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   King Henry II was a very extreme and shallow ruler. The king had a harsh method that only aided himself. He was not the best family man, king, or friend. He was he was surrounded by an obsession of one person, his best friend, Beckett. King Henry reigned with a tyrannical attitude, manipulative persona, and had a severe obsession for Beckett.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  King Henry II ruled his country to an unnecessary extreme. The majority of the king's time was spent benefiting his own welfare. Only close family, friends, and nobility were taken care of. The king blatantly took care of himself and his supporters, overlooking the people who needed the most help. Henry spent too much of his time waiting for Beckett's consent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  King Henry possesses a manipulative mind-set. Henry attempts to manipulate Beckett, but does not succeed. Beckett is too intelligent to be controlled by the king. Unfortunately King Henry's family is manipulated by him. The King's family is aware of his manipulation, but attempting to do anything about it will only result negatively. The queen tried this at supper, but she was yelled at and sent out of the room by the king.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2 King Henry has an intense obsession with Beckett. The king desires Beckett's love and approval. Without Beckett's direction and care for King Henry, the King will not even bathe. After Beckett devoted his life to God, King Henry's obsession grew stronger. King Henry exiled his best friend out of his country. Beckett was not supposed to leave the country, but secretly did. Henry indirectly told his guards that he did not want Beckett leaving. After reuniting on a French beach, they argued, and went their separate ways. But before the King headed back, he yelled Beckett's name one last time with no reply.

The Creation of Disneyland Essay -- Walt Disney 1950s

The Creation of Disneyland Walt Disney: The Early Years Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901. He was the fourth of five children born to Elias and Flora Disney. Elias was a fairly unsuccessful businessman, who moved the family from city to city in search of financial success. When Walt was four, they moved from their home in Chicago to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. Walt's time in Marceline provided him with the vision for Main Street USA (Francavigilia, 1981). His frequent associations with animals would also become evident in his later cartoons (Bryman, 4). In 1910, the family left Marceline and moved to Kansas City. Elias was a strict taskmaster who often beat his children. This led to Walt's two oldest brothers deserting the family. Another brother, Roy, left to go help an uncle on a farm. Although they were no longer living together, Roy and Walt remained close. In 1919, Walt got a job as a cartoonist at a commercial art studio in Kansas City. That job did not last long, and following a failed attempt at starting his own business, Walt began to work for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. During this time, he seriously explored the world of animation. Success, however, did not come easily to Walt, and he soon decided that he had to leave Kansas City. In 1923, he carried just $40 in his pocket and left for Hollywood. Walt's brother Roy, who was already living in Los Angeles, provided Walt with some financial backing and contacted a distributor about Walt's first animation Alice's Wonderland. Working together with Roy, the brothers opened "Disney Bros. Studio" (It would later be known as Walt Disney Studio). Roy handled the business operations and Walt specialized in the animated productions. Although produ... ...jects. James Rouse, an accomplished architect has credited Walt Disney for providing much of his inspiration. In addition to suburban malls, Rouse has created Baltimore's Harborplace and Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace (Hine, 152). Although Walt Disney died in 1966, his ideas can still be found across the globe. Works Cited Adams, Judith A. The American Amusement Park Industry. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Bryman, Alan. Disney and his Worlds. New York: Routledge, 1995 Francavigilia, R.V. (1981) "Main Street USA: a comparison / contrast of streetscapes in Disneyland and Walt Disney World", Journal of Popular Culture, 15: 141-156 Justdisney.com. 18 Apr. 2004 http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html Thomas Hine, Populuxe (New York: Knopf, 1986), 152. Works Consulted Marling, Karal Ann. Designing Disney's Theme Parks. New York: Flammario, 1997.

How typical is England to Her Sons Essay

How typical is â€Å"England to Her Sons† of the poems in this section of the anthology. Happy is England in the brave that die. This is a line from â€Å"Happy is England now†. In my opinion it sums up the section as a whole because it is stating that the people of England wanted the soldiers to fight and they respect the sacrifices the men have made. The whole section revolves about the acknowledgment of the deaths of the soldiers and also the acceptance of it. Personification is used in England to her Sons and Happy is England Now about England itself. It conjures u a motherly and maternal image of the Motherland towards the soldiers going out to fight. Moreover, it unites England and makes it seem everyone had a positive attitude towards the war when it is mentioned that â€Å"happy is England now as never yet†, which implies that the whole of England is proud and glad that the soldiers are going to war. Happy is England Now projects a very strong and patriotic message of making sacrifices and protecting this picturesque England with â€Å"her hills, rivers and her chafing sea†. It uses natural imagery to stir up a desire to protect the land where these soldiers were born and raised. Moreover, a sense of experiencing this â€Å"Happy England† caused by the sacrifice of war, is created by the intensified senses created in the last stanza where birds â€Å"sing the sweeter in our English ears† and nobleness that â€Å"shines the purer† in their English hearts. It would have created a longing for people to be part of this wonderful land, and therefore they would have wanted to have protected it. Symbolism also has a large presence in these poems and it gives the poems depth and more complexity. England to her Sons uses symbolism to create a sense of ownership of the soldiers, â€Å"Sons of mine I hear you thrilling† and it is also implied that she â€Å"bore† the children† which the Motherland then sends to war. In Fourth of August, the symbolism is used to make the soldiers seem very young and naive, â€Å"Spirit of England, ardent eyed† which makes the soldiers seem very keen and apprehensive, but also innocent and defenceless. Finally, symbolism is used to create a religious link between the War and the â€Å"destroying dragon† which Saint George, who represents England and her Soldiers, slays to protect his people. The soldiers in this section are made heroes for being martyrs. This is shown especially in Fourth of August on the last two lines, â€Å"We step from the days of sour division into the grandeur of our fate†, which shows that the soldiers and people believed that it was a good thing to die for ones country. This is also emphasised again in England to her Sons, where it creates a great sense for the soldiers and England, as they accept the death of their â€Å"sons†, â€Å"save a little space to weep†. â€Å"And the worst friend and enemy is but Death†, is a reference to Peace, and it just emphasises that even though â€Å"Death† reaps them of their lives, it also enables them to come closer with their Maker, God. Overall, England to her Sons represent this section of the anthology very well, because it includes everything that this section is trying to convey to the reader. It shows the sacrifice of England and the soldiers who give their life, and it projects the religious message of God, who will send them to heaven for their good deeds. Moreover it glorifies death by using euphemism, â€Å"And if He in wisdom giveth Unto His beloved sleep†, to acquire an acceptance of the soldiers. Lastly, it also shows the undoubting faith that the people of England had at that time, as they all believed that God would protect them and guide them to winning the War.