Company analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company analysis - Essay Example Safety While on plant tour, it could be observed that Gretchen’s manifests genuine care for the employee’s safety. A few first aid kit boxes were strategically located and some fire extinguishers in every room are positioned in easy to reach places. As part of the safety regulations, company policies encourage every employee to undergo the proper training on how to handle the machines to be used. Concurrently, employees receive proper information on the product itself to enhance awareness on the best quality of the foods provided to the customers. Security and theft protection are definitely entrenched for both the employees and the facility, especially for the employees working at night. The company is equipped with restricted entry and security cameras around the facility. Each different door is color coded so that the employees will avoid bumping onto one another and different rooms are appropriately labeled. Diverse work stations in the facility have personnel donni ng respective uniforms: such as, white coats for those who handled the foods or prepping the raw materials. The pathways are clear so that employees can move freely without cramping or bumping onto shelves and other office equipments.

David Ortan Plc Case Study Essay Example for Free

David Ortan Plc Case Study Essay 1.1.David Orton Plc: A brief overview of merger of Orton group and Costwise David Orton Plc was a result of merger when Orton group, distinguish British Food Retailer Company, acquired Costwise Company in 2005. British CC (competition commission) had reservations at this mighty onset of merger as companies were independently huge retailers already and their reservation was somewhat genuine. The outcome of merger could obviously be a huge monopolize and was evidently aimed at controlling the large market share. The fear laid in commission’s stance that the result of merger will ultimately monopolize certain areas of the region. Nevertheless, it took substantial time to achieve this target as costwise had recognised since very beginning that two companies differ in structure and size therefore it will take quite a while to feel the impact physically. The impression of this merger let staff members of both companies to feel uncertain and uncomfortable, especially of costwise organisation and they feared that each company will be swallowed by the other. Motivational problems related with finance were of major importance to employees of both companies and here too, employees of costwise tended to complain more. The senior management and executive members of costwise company sought to gather and discuss at large weaknesses and strengths of the organisation on realizing that employees’ attitude and perception toward merger could have substantial impact on company’s performance. This meeting cleared company and its employees’ view of the desired merger and future of company was discussed by management personnel (Huczynski, A. Buchanan, D., 2007). 1.2.Motivational state of employees The staff at costwise was more inadequately motivated towards the merger for the most part as capacity is intricately linked with the question of motivation. Some of the employees’ concerns were included salaries issues, intangible rewards, apprehensions, secondary benefits and recognition etc which were being abandoned by the higher management. Employees were also of the view that costwise company didn’t give them a chance to flourish and  grow. They weren’t given deserving opportunities including measures and promotion which otherwise would help them to grow tithing the framework of the organisation. Conversely, management thought that employee’s reduced performance has affected the overall performance of the organisation as a whole. The organisation gave much quality of supervision, interpersonal relations, and efficient administration of regulation and policies of the company. Recognition for outstanding performances, advancement to upper level of tasks and some other general interests of employees were kept low on the other hand. Employees were bound to grow at slow pace as limited or no training programs were carried out by company’s management thus affecting the overall performance of the employees (Mullins, L., 2007). There were, nevertheless some factors which were being appreciated by the employees and which had a direct, progressive affect on employees motivation level. Those factors include sense of interaction, loyalty and trust and chemistry between employees and management which led each party to realise organisational problems occurring within the organisation. The sense of interaction and utmost respect of work were responsible to increase employees’ moral and a practice of trust and loyalty among them could be seen through observation (Kelley, H.H., 1999) 1.3.Attitudes and Perception of the employees In any such situation, there are probable situations where attitudes and perceptions of the associated employees change drastically. One of the obvious attitudes that could be expected from employees is their felling of low self worth. This feeling is probable and any person associated with a company which is going to merge up with another company of twice its size can have it. This circumstance, however, could result in employees’ reduced level of efforts and sometimes deliberately withholding efforts. Poor performance and uncertainty can be suspected in this case which organisations are required to reduce or get ready for the aftermath. Employees’ withdrawal of their commitment to work can seriously damage the stability and competitive advantage it earned during the time therefore managers have to take the responsibility and devise action plan to waive off such situations (Myers, D., 2005) The employees are supposed to have alarming beliefs and questionable attitudes toward the merger and if those attitudes do not get properly managed, it will badly affect the company’s performance. The most questionable attitude in this case could be employee’s perception toward management decisions as it could a sense of uncertainty within them. They become more sensitive to their future as any uncertain thought about company’s decisions and actions could let them thin that their job is at stake. Thus staff turnover is quite probable as no employee could thrive in uncertain work environments. Differences in opinions, either professional or technical could also result in employees’ frustration and developing angry attitude resulted by genuine work complaints (Nelson, D. Quick, J., 2006) 1.4.Resultant effects Resultant effects which such attitudes can have may include employees’ self-centeredness, their insensitivity to other people, their constant attention and affirmation seeking behaviour which could confront to abrupt in some cases. Lack of cooperation, failure to follow regulations and rules at work and absenteeism could be some results and forms of attitudes which costwise company can expect from its employees. It will be of utmost responsibility of new management to reassure the employees of costwise that they are fundamental assets of the organisation and they have to adequately motivate the employees in best possible manner. It is quite obvious that employees will act in circumstances which dictate their perception of situations. In this scenario, motivation will dictate their perception of jobs. It is also probable that employees of any company compare themselves and their positions with their counterparts and feel a sense of inferiority. Supervisory perception could also be expected for example costwise managers will feel uncomfortable to work under supervision of Orton’s management if any such scenario happens. This will only increase the problem for the costwise organisation and it will also account for bad perception of merger in vicinity of strong factors arousing uncertainty among costwise employees (Buchanan, D. Huczynski, A., 2004) Self-perceived insufficiencies in comparison to former Ortan organisation are resultant from reasons of differences in development and capacity and the suspicion that ultimately  results in lack of equity. Competition of resources is another perception that has strong effect on employees’ attitudes of both companies as it will cause discrimination since Ortan employees are in better positions than costwise’ thus they are more likely to obtain benefits and resources such as salary increments and training programs . In this case, employees of costwise will obviously feel inadequately compensated and benefited even before the merger. This threat, either real or illusionary, is suppose to cause deep-rooted problems as all such scenarios are directly related with human psychology (Daus, 1997). 1.5.Main issues faced by senior managers Complex work environments and due to some other demographic and technological changes and innovations, senior managers have now augmented responsibility of supervising staff and employees of any organisation. Obviously the most important task is to increase the employees’ performance thus increasing overall performance of the organisation. In a case where employee’s attitudes toward work have been exacerbated by above mentioned factors and attributes, senior managers have to work hard in order to obtain their objective. They need to get employees back to work with full enthusiasm which will help them in scoring tasks and meeting deadlines. There are those employees who want to be supervised, some of them feel certain insecurities, and some feel company’s decisions as threatening their future. Managers are therefore needed to address such issues within the organisation and propose sustainable solutions (Kanigel, R., 1997) Employees’ unethical behaviour is another serious issue which requires mangers to taken care of. Some employees, who are satisfied by the policies and decisions of the organisation, tend to ignore rules and regulations set by the management. They compromise on the delivery and quality of work thus affecting organisation and its outer world relationships. The challenge of such employees’ commitment and motivation is one difficult task which managers at both organisations have to carry out. This can, however, be solved by taking simple steps which first include assessment of the behaviours and attitudes of such employees and of those factors which are responsible for such behaviours and attitudes. For example, a clear observation of the case study  suggests that employees at both organisations weren’t happy for their salary compensations. They in fact found it unsatisfactory that some employees of some departments are getting higher wages whereas some other deserving staff members have not been compensated by the organisation adequately. They had another concern that organisations failed to address their social, emotional, psychological and esteem concerns. Obviously mangers do have the responsibility to take care of such issues if organisations want to increase the motivation of employees (Kinicki, A. Kreitner, R., 2006) Culture, gender, sexual orientation and religion etc. are dominated by the diverse workforce by whom both organisations operate. This diverse workforce thus engenders complexities and challenges for the management as minds of employees are naturally discriminated. These employees do have strong impact on other staff members thus senior managers are more likely to deal with challenging circumstances. Rewards, appreciation, recognition and especially balancing and equal treatment are such tools which can be highly useful in fighting similar challenges. Employees’ interaction has to be monitored by the management and with advancement of telecommunication; the challenge has become strong and important. They have to devise solutions that effectively control this challenging situation since employee privacy has already been restricted in several sectors (Gentile, M. C., 1996). 2.Critical analysis of the study Effective management of organisational behaviour is somewhat critical and requires the management to effectively examine the sources of motivation, group influence and job design among other things. It needs to define behaviour modification procedures which will help the learner to realise and appreciate the direct connection between organisational behaviour and possible consequences of it. Positive reinforcement is an effective tool which includes administrating sentencing on bad or negative behaviour and rewarding good or positive behaviour. The X and Y theories of Douglas McGregor play vital role in effective management of behaviours. Theory X involves the style of rather authoritarian management which recommends that coercion with help of application of threats upon individual is effective as an average individual detests work. The theory also argues about achievement  of organisational objectives through letting individuals concerned about it as an average individual doesnâ₠¬â„¢t like to have responsibility and rather prefer to be secure at all cost. Participative management theory or Theory Y stipulates that individuals are mainly self-directed thus they will have to take the responsibility. According to Douglas McGregor, The capacity to employ creative thinking and imagination is widely spread throughout individuals thus capacity and intelligence is partly utilised by the industry. Ability to possess responsibility and self-direction drives individuals to obtain organisational objectives (Robinson, G., and K. Dechant, 1997) The above discussed theory can be utilised in developing reward schemes and policies for staff members by rewarding those employees with benefits who perform well and grueling those who show bad behaviour and retain poor performances. By implementing this model, employees at David Orton Plc will be more obliged to work hard and return considerable benefits for the organisation in their quest to rewards, promotions, incentives and other forms of recognitions. Another effective methodology in this regard could be the Content theory which deals mainly n the area of individuals’ requirements and demands. These requirements can be broken down further into their primary requirements such as food, clothing, shelter etc. and their secondary requirements such as desire of power, achievement among colleagues, approval and love etc. It is however critical to locate the influence over behaviour by these requirements. The influence by primary needs is easy to understand and identify but influence by secondary requirements on behaviour varies by certain factors and is difficult o understand. The hierarchy of needs theory by Abraham Maslow tends to explain the requirements which could possibly affect the attitudes and behaviours of individuals working under the organisational framework (Larbi, G., 2006) Self-actualisation is needed to get managed against above mentioned background by investing in an effective, creative and challenging work place environment. Promotions, independence, flexibility and providence of bigger responsibilities are among some factors which can be employed to boost esteem if managed well. Lower level requirements including social, psychological and security requirements can be efficaciously managed by procuring safe working conditions, friendly work atmosphere and reasonable  and suitable work hours. Therefore the theory of Maslow or theory of hierarchy of needs can be applied to the case of merger, David Orton Plc which observes dissatisfaction among its employees over inadequate pay structure, lack of recognition and other social, emotional and psychological wants. This theory can be effectively applied by management by sufficiently increasing employees allowances, rewards, salaries and give them an overall well being in their areas of complaints (Larbi, G., 2006) 3.Conclusion Concluding, organisational behaviour seems to resolve around people’s perception, their power to act feel under organised settings. The organisational complexities occurring within the framework of an organisation need associated management and senior executives to evaluate key behavioral factors which dominate the system. They have to examine the reasons behind such factors and once they succeeded in identification, they got to develop sustainable strategies and plans to tackle organisational behaviour problems. Any solution aiming at increased performance by the employee will result in increased performance of the organisation. For this, management needs to realize employees that their talents are being recognized and to compensate them with adequate resources, pays and secondary benefits so that they could overcome the sense of terrifying uncertainty and work hard for the goodness of their own and the organisation. Ensuring sufficient motivation among employees is one thing but managing this motivation all along is another yet a difficult challenge for the organisation. Strategies aimed at actively fostering the development and growth of the employees will only make sure that their capacity and motivation is developed. An organisation flourishes when management succeeds in developing and establishing a strategy which ensures employees that their received salary is linked with their performance and that their expectations towards their compensation against work done will be adequately rewarded. If employees lost interest in work and what they do at the organisation, nothing could prevent organisation from failure and economic devastation therefore enriching jobs will help greatly in developing employees’ interest in their jobs they will feel enchanted to have something more than a job  which rewards them with a paycheck and it surly is a great thing. To instill such strategies into organisational framework, organisations are needed to assess behaviours and issues related with employees and propose better solutions for them. References Buchanan, D. Huczynski, A. (2004) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, 5th ed., Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall Daus (1997). Challenges of leading a diverse workforce. Academy of Management Executive, 11, 32–47. Gentile, M. C. (1996). Managerial excellence through diversity, Chicago, IL: Irwin; and Joplin, J. R. W., and C. S. Huczynski, A. Buchanan, D. (2007) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, 6th ed., Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall Kanigel, R. (1997). The one best way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the enigma of efficiency. New York: Viking. Kelley, H.H. (1999) â€Å"Attribution in Social Interaction.† In Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior. E.E. Jones, et al. Morristown, MJ: General Learning Press. Kinicki, A. Kreitner, R. (2006) Organizational Behavior: key concepts, skills, best practices. 2nd ed. McGraw Hill Larbi, G. (2006). â€Å"Applying the new public management in developing countries,† in Y. Bangura and G. Larbi. Public sector reform in developing countries: capacity challenges to improve services. Basingstroke, Palgrave. Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organizational Behaviour. 8th ed. FT/Prentice Hall Myers, D. (2005) Social Psychology. 8th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Nelson, D. Quick, J. (2006) Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Realities Challenges. 5th ed. Thomson South-Western Robinson, G., and K. Dechant (1997). Building a business case for diversity. Academy of Management Executive, 11, 21–31.

Advertising Education or Condemnation :: essays papers

Advertising Education or Condemnation Lets talk about images for example, most advertisements for clothing (i.e. bathing suits etc), show shapely thin women and men. This has led our country to think that fat is demeaning and not socially accepted. This type of advertising has caused everyone to want to look like the people in the ads. Diets of all sorts have been developed to try to meet these expectations. But when their goals are not reached it causes depression, low self-esteem that in turn causes a poor image is developed. In my opinion these advertisements have a negative outreach. Who is to say only thin people look great? Advertisements do! These ads also have created anorexic teenagers, which has lead to serious health problems and even death. Advertisements often do not explicitly urge the consumer to buy a given product; rather they promise that the products will enhance a person^s life. Opening a whole range of desiderata including youthfulness, attractiveness, social grace, security, success, c! onviviality, sex, romance and the admiration of others. (Parenti page 204) Advertising can also be educational and rewarding with regards to prices and who offers the best deal. One such publication that informs consumers of the best-tested and best-priced items is Consumers Magazine. This magazine has a test facility that tests various items of same kind without bias and reports to the consumer via there magazine. Advertising is not created and used just to provide a smug example of public morality, advertising is honest because it has to be. (Wood page 225). What I mean by honesty is the product information is not all ways how it is displayed. Lets address the issues of ^What we care about^, the way we raise our children, our ideas of right and wrong conduct, these in my view are all together. Let^s take a look at liquor and tobacco advertising. The image of the Marlboro Man is one example. This type of advertisement depicts a buff, handsome, cool man smoking a cigarette. What message is this conveying to our young people? That it is cool to smoke. We all know it has been proven that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer. I would now like to address all the violence, sex and bad language that is seen and heard on television and radio (i.e. talk shows, MTV, etc.). This type of media attracts all various kinds of Advertising Education or Condemnation :: essays papers Advertising Education or Condemnation Lets talk about images for example, most advertisements for clothing (i.e. bathing suits etc), show shapely thin women and men. This has led our country to think that fat is demeaning and not socially accepted. This type of advertising has caused everyone to want to look like the people in the ads. Diets of all sorts have been developed to try to meet these expectations. But when their goals are not reached it causes depression, low self-esteem that in turn causes a poor image is developed. In my opinion these advertisements have a negative outreach. Who is to say only thin people look great? Advertisements do! These ads also have created anorexic teenagers, which has lead to serious health problems and even death. Advertisements often do not explicitly urge the consumer to buy a given product; rather they promise that the products will enhance a person^s life. Opening a whole range of desiderata including youthfulness, attractiveness, social grace, security, success, c! onviviality, sex, romance and the admiration of others. (Parenti page 204) Advertising can also be educational and rewarding with regards to prices and who offers the best deal. One such publication that informs consumers of the best-tested and best-priced items is Consumers Magazine. This magazine has a test facility that tests various items of same kind without bias and reports to the consumer via there magazine. Advertising is not created and used just to provide a smug example of public morality, advertising is honest because it has to be. (Wood page 225). What I mean by honesty is the product information is not all ways how it is displayed. Lets address the issues of ^What we care about^, the way we raise our children, our ideas of right and wrong conduct, these in my view are all together. Let^s take a look at liquor and tobacco advertising. The image of the Marlboro Man is one example. This type of advertisement depicts a buff, handsome, cool man smoking a cigarette. What message is this conveying to our young people? That it is cool to smoke. We all know it has been proven that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer. I would now like to address all the violence, sex and bad language that is seen and heard on television and radio (i.e. talk shows, MTV, etc.). This type of media attracts all various kinds of

Ap European History Chapter 12 Review

Week 6 Chapter Review Important People: Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality. He is well-known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain, and Charles I, King of England. In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de' Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband, Henry IV, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The Marie de' Medici cycle (now in the Louvre) was installed in 1625, and although he began work on the second series it was never completed. Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son, Louis XIII, and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child. After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions. In 1624 the French ambassador wrote from Brussels: â€Å"Rubens is here to take the likeness of the prince of Poland, by order of the infanta. † Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens's diplomatic career was particularly active, and he moved between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring peace between the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces. He also made several trips to the northern Netherlands as both an artist and a diplomat. At the courts he sometimes encountered the attitude that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as a gentleman by many. It was during this period that Rubens was twice knighted, first by Philip IV of Spain in 1624, and then by Charles I of England in 1630. He was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629. Rubens was in Madrid for eight months in 1628–1629. In addition to diplomatic negotiations, he executed several important works for Philip IV and private patrons. He also began a renewed study of Titian's paintings, copying numerous works including the Madrid Fall of Man. During this stay, he befriended the court painter Diego Velazquez and the two planned to travel to Italy together the following year. Rubens, however, returned to Antwerp and Velazquez made the journey without him. His stay in Antwerp was brief, and he soon travelled on to London where he remained until April 1630. An important work from this period is the Allegory of Peace and War. It illustrates the artist's strong concern for peace, and was given to Charles I as a gift. While Rubens's international reputation with collectors and nobility abroad continued to grow during this decade, he and his workshop also continued to paint monumental paintings for local patrons in Antwerp. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary for the Cathedral of Antwerp is one prominent example. Rubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him, such as the ceiling paintings for the Banqueting House at Inigo Jones's Palace of Whitehall, but he also explored more personal artistic directions. In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife, the 53-year-old painter married 16-year-old Helene Fourment. Helene inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s, including The Feast of Venus, The Three Graces and The Judgment of Paris. In the latter painting, which was made for the Spanish court, the artist's young wife was recognized by viewers in the figure of Venus. In an intimate portrait of her, Helene Fourment in a Fur Wrap, also known as Het Pelsken, Rubens's wife is even partially modelled after classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica, such as the Medici Venus. In 1635, Rubens bought an estate outside of Antwerp, the Steen, where he spent much of his time. Landscapes, such as his Chateau de Steen with Hunter and Farmers Returning from the Fields, reflect the more personal nature of many of his later works. He also drew upon the Netherlandish traditions of Pieter Bruegel the Elder for inspiration in later works like Flemish Kermis. Rubens died from gout on 30 May 1640. He was interred in Saint Jacob's church, Antwerp. Lord Michel Eyquem de was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as â€Å"Attempts†) contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, including Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Stefan Zweig, Eric Hoffer, Isaac Asimov, and perhaps William Shakespeare. In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman than as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, ‘I am myself the matter of my book', was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, ‘Que sais-je? ‘ (‘What do I know? ‘). Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary non-fiction has found inspiration in Montaigne and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling. His fame rests on the Essais, a collection of a large number of short subjective treatments of various topics published in 1580, inspired by his studies in the classics, especially Plutarch. Montaigne's stated goal is to describe humans, and especially himself, with utter frankness. Montaigne's writings are studied within literary studies, as literature and philosophy. Inspired by his consideration of the lives and ideals of the leading figures of his age, he finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features. He describes his own poor memory, his ability to solve problems and mediate conflicts without truly getting emotionally involved, his disdain for the human pursuit of lasting fame, and his attempts to detach himself from worldly things to prepare for his timely death. He writes about his disgust with the religious conflicts of his time, reflecting a spirit of skepticism and belief that humans are not able to attain true certainty. The longest of his essays, Apology for Raymond Sebond, contains his famous motto, â€Å"What do I know? † Montaigne considered marriage necessary for the raising of children, but disliked strong feelings of passionate love because he saw them as detrimental to freedom. In education, he favored concrete examples and experience over the teaching of abstract knowledge that has to be accepted uncritically. His essay â€Å"On the Education of Children† is dedicated to Diana of Foix. The Essais exercised important influence on both French and English literature, in thought and style. Thinkers exploring similar ideas include Erasmus, Thomas More, and Guillaume Bude, who all worked about fifty years before Montaigne. Since Edward Capell first made the suggestion in 1780, some scholars believe that Shakespeare was familiar with Montaigne's essays. John Florio's translation of Montaigne's Essais became available to Shakespeare in English in 1603. It is suggested that Montaigne's influence is especially noticeable in â€Å"Hamlet† and â€Å"King Lear†, both in language and in the skepticism present in both plays. For an example, compare Shakespeare's Hamlet to Rosencrantz, at Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, about line 240, with an earlier quote of Montaigne. â€Å"†¦ for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison. â€Å". â€Å"Whether the events in our life are good or bad greatly depends on the way we perceive them. † Much of Blaise Pascal's skepticism in his Pensees was a result of reading Montaigne. Ralph Waldo Emerson chose â€Å"Montaigne; or, the Skeptic† as a subject of one of his series of lectures entitled Representative Men, along side other subjects such as Shakespeare and Plato. Friedrich Nietzsche judged of Montaigne: â€Å"That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth† Valentin Weigel was a German theologian, philosopher and mystical writer, from Saxony, and an important precursor of later theosophy. In English he is often called Valentine Weigel. He was born at Hayn, near Dresden, into a Catholic family. He studied at Meissen, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. In 1567 he became a pastor at Zschopau, near Chemnitz. There, he lived out a quiet life, engaged in his writings. Weigel was best known for his belief that the Virgin Mary was herself the product of a virgin birth. He based his belief on the idea of the immaculate conception, which required that Mary must also be sinless in order to bear God in the flesh. He kept his ideas secret, entrusting them only to personal friends (in contrast to Jakob Bohme). He carried out his parishioner duties and kept a low profile. He left around 6000 pages in printed or manuscript works. His ideas on human nature were only gradually and posthumously published. Johann Arndt, Gottfried Arnold, and Gottfried Leibniz helped to spread Weigel's ideas. His mysticism was marked by that of Johannes Tauler and by doctrines of Paracelsus; he was also a follower of Sebastian Franck and Caspar Schwenckfeldt. Like these two latter, he emphasized the inner life. John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of his seminal work The Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536. In that year, Calvin was recruited by William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva. The city council resisted the implementation of Calvin and Farel's ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees. He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and was eventually invited back to lead its church. Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, despite the opposition of several powerful families in the city who tried to curb his authority. During this time, the trial of Michael Servetus was extended by libertines in an attempt to harass Calvin. However, since Servetus was also condemned and wanted by the Inquisition, outside pressure from all over Europe forced the trial to continue. Following an influx of supportive refugees and new elections to the city council, Calvin's opponents were forced out. Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe. Calvin was a tireless polemic and apologetic writer who generated much controversy. He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In addition to the Institutes, he wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, as well as theological treatises and confessional documents. He regularly preached sermons throughout the week in Geneva. Calvin was influenced by the Augustinian tradition, which led him to expound the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. Calvin's writing and preachings provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears his name. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. After the deaths of Calvin and his successor, Beza, the Geneva city council gradually gained control over areas of life that were previously in the ecclesiastical domain. Increasing secularisation was accompanied by the decline of the church. Even the Geneva academie was eclipsed by universities in Leiden and Heidelberg, which became the new strongholds of Calvin's ideas, first identified as â€Å"Calvinism† by Joachim Westphal in 1552. By 1585, Geneva, once the wellspring of the reform movement, had become merely its symbol. However, Calvin had always warned against describing him as an â€Å"idol† and Geneva as a new â€Å"Jerusalem†. He encouraged people to adapt to the environments in which they found themselves. Even during his polemical exchange with Westphal, he advised a group of French-speaking refugees, who had settled in Wesel, Germany, to integrate with the local Lutheran churches. Despite his differences with the Lutherans, he did not deny that they were members of the true Church. Calvin’s recognition of the need to adapt to local conditions became an important characteristic of the reformation movement as it spread across Europe. Due to Calvin's missionary work in France, his programme of reform eventually reached the French-speaking provinces of the Netherlands. Calvinism was adopted in the Palatinate under Frederick III, which led to the formulation of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. This and the Belgic Confession were adopted as confessional standards in the first synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571. Leading divines, either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism, settled in England (Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and Jan Laski) and Scotland (John Knox). During the English Civil War, the Calvinistic Puritans produced the Westminster Confession, which became the confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English-speaking world. Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to other parts of the world including North America, South Africa, and Korea. Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their city of origin, to succeed far beyond their borders, and to establish their own distinct character. Theodore Beza (Theodore de Beze or de Besze) was a French Protestant Christian theologian and scholar who played an important role in the Reformation. A member of the monarchomaque movement who opposed absolute monarchy, he was a disciple of John Calvin and lived most of his life in Switzerland. As Calvin's successor, Beza was very successful, not only in carrying on his work but also in giving peace to the Church at Geneva. The magistrates had fully appropriated the ideas of Calvin, and the direction of spiritual affairs, the organs of which were the â€Å"ministers of the word† and â€Å"the consistory†, was founded on a solid basis. No doctrinal controversy arose after 1564. The discussions concerned questions of a practical, social, or ecclesiastical nature, such as the supremacy of the magistrates over the pastors, freedom in preaching, and the obligation of the pastors to submit to the majority of the campagnie des pasteurs. Beza obtruded his will in no way upon his associates, and took no harsh measures against injudicious or hot-headed colleagues, though sometimes he took their cases in hand and acted as mediator; and yet he often experienced an opposition so extreme that he threatened to resign. Although he was inclined to take the part of the magistrates, he knew how to defend the rights and independence of the spiritual power when occasion arose, without, however, conceding to it such a preponderating influence as did Calvin. His activity was great. He mediated between the compagnie and the magistracy; the latter continually asked his advice even in political questions. He corresponded with all the leaders of the Reformed party in Europe. After the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572), he used his influence to give to the refugees a hospitable reception at Geneva. In 1574 he wrote his De jure magistratuum (Right of Magistrates), in which he emphatically protested against tyranny in religious matters, and affirmed that it is legitimate for a people to oppose an unworthy magistracy in a practical manner and if necessary to use weapons and depose them. Without being a great dogmatician like his master, nor a creative genius in the ecclesiastical realm, Beza had qualities which made him famous as humanist, exegete, orator, and leader in religious and political affairs, and qualified him to be the guide of the Calvinists in all Europe. In the various controversies into which he was drawn, Beza often showed an excess of irritation and intolerance, from which Bernardino Ochino, pastor of the Italian congregation at Zurich (on account of a treatise which contained some objectionable points on polygamy), and Sebastian Castellio at Basel (on account of his Latin and French translations of the Bible) had especially to suffer. With Reformed France Beza continued to maintain the closest relations. He was the moderator of the general synod which met in April, 1571, at La Rochelle and decided not to abolish church discipline or to acknowledge the civil government as head of the Church, as the Paris minister Jean Morel and the philosopher Pierre Ramus demanded; it also decided to confirm anew the Calvinistic doctrine of the Lord's Supper (by the expression: â€Å"substance of the body of Christ†) against Zwinglianism, which caused a very unpleasant discussion between Beza and Ramus and Heinrich Bullinger. In the following year (May, 1572) he took an important part in the national synod at Nimes. He was also interested in the ontroversies which concerned the Augsburg Confession in Germany, especially after 1564, on the doctrine of the Person of Christ and the sacrament, and published several works against Westphal, Hesshusen, Selnecker, Johannes Brenz, and Jakob Andrea. This made him, especially after 1571, hated by all those who adhered to Lutheranism in opposition to Mela nchthon Jeanne d'Albret, also known as Jeanne III or Joan III, was the queen regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. She married Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, and was the mother of Henry of Bourbon, who became King of Navarre and of France as Henry IV, the first Bourbon king. She became the Duchess of Vendome by marriage. She was the acknowledged spiritual and political leader of the French Huguenot movement, and a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. The power struggle between Catholics and Huguenots for control of the French court and France as a whole, led to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in 1562. Jeanne and Antoine were at court, when the latter made the decision to support the Catholic faction, which was headed by the House of Guise; and in consequence, threatened to repudiate Jeanne when she refused to attend Mass. Catherine de' Medici, in an attempt to steer a middle course between the two warring factions, also pleaded with Jeanne to obey her husband for the sake of peace but to no avail. Jeanne stood her ground and staunchly refused to abandon the Calvinist religion, and continued to have Protestant services conducted in her apartments. When many of the other nobles also joined the Catholic camp, Catherine had no choice but to support the Catholic faction. Fearing both her husband's and Catherine's anger, Jeanne left Paris in March 1562 and made her way south to seek refuge in Bearn. When Jeanne had stopped for a brief sojourn at her husband's ancestral chateau in Vendome on 14 May to break her lengthy homeward journey, she failed to prevent a 400-strong Huguenot force from invading the town. The soldiers marauded through the streets of Vendome, ransacked all the churches, maltreated the inhabitants, and pillaged the ducal chapel, which housed the tombs of Antoine's ancestors. In consequence, her husband adopted a belligerent stance with her. He issued orders to Blaise de Lasseran-Massencome, seigneur de Montluc to have her arrested and returned o Paris where she would subsequently be sent to a Catholic convent. She resumed her journey after quitting Vendome and managed to elude her captors, safely passing over the frontier into Bearn before she could be intercepted by the seigneur de Montluc and his troops. At the end of the year, Antoine was fatally wounded at the siege of Rouen and died before Jeanne could obtain the necessary permission to cross over enemy li nes, in order to be at his bedside where she had wished nurse him. His mistress instead was summoned to his deathbed. Jeanne henceforth ruled Navarre as the sole queen regnant; her sex being no impediment to her sovereignity. Her son Henry subsequently became â€Å"first prince of the blood†. Jeanne often brought him along on her many progresses through her domains to oversee administrative affairs. Jeanne haughtily refused an offer of matrimony issued by King Philip II of Spain who had hoped to marry her to his son, on the condition that she return to the Catholic faith. Jeanne's position in the conflicts remained relatively neutral in the beginning, being mainly preoccupied with military defences, given Navarre's geographic location beside Catholic Spain. Papal envoys arrived and tried to coerce and threaten her into returning to Catholicism and abolishing heresy within her kingdom. Her response was to coldly reply that â€Å"the authority of the Pope's legate is not recognised in Bearn†. At one stage there was a papal plot led by Pope Pius IV to have her kidnapped and turned over to the Spanish Inquistion. Jeanne was summoned to Rome to be examined for heresy under the triple penalty of excommunication, the confiscation of her property, and a declaration that her kingdom was available to any ruler who wished to invade it. This last threat alarmed King Philip, and the blatant interference by the Papacy in French affairs also enraged Catherine de' Medici who, on behalf of Charles IX, sent angry letters of protest to the Pope. The papal threats never materialised. During the French Court's royal progress between January 1564 and May 1565, Jeanne met and held talks with Catherine de' Medici at Macon and Nerac. When the third religious war broke out in 1568, however, she decided to actively support the Huguenot cause. Feeling that their lives were in danger from encroaching French Catholic and Spanish troops, Jeanne and Henry sought efuge in the Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle. As Minister of Propaganda, Jeanne wrote manifestos and composed letters to sympathetic foreign rulers, requesting their assistance. Jeanne had visualised the province of Guyenne as a â€Å"Protestant homeland† and played a leading role in the military actions from 1569 to 1570 with the aim of seeing her dream come to fru ition. Whilst at La Rochelle, she assumed control of the fortifications, finances, Intelligence gathering, and the maintaining of discipline amongst the civilian populace. She used her own jewellery as security in a loan obtained from Queen Elizabeth I of England, and oversaw the well-being of the numerous refugees who sought shelter within La Rochelle. She often accompanied Admiral de Coligny to the battlefield where the fighting was at its most intense; together they inspected the defences and rallied the Huguenot forces. Jeanne also established a religious seminary in La Rochelle, drawing the most learned Huguenot men in France within its walls. Following the Huguenot defeat on 16 March 1569 at the Battle of Jarnac where Jeanne's brother-in-law, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Conde was killed, Gaspard de Coligny assumed command of the Huguenot forces nominally on behalf of her son Henry and Conde's son, Henri I de Bourbon, Prince de Conde. Jeanne had established them as the legitimate leaders of the Huguenot cause. After her funeral, which was conducted according to the rites of the Protestant Church, a cortege bearing her body travelled through the streets of Vendome. She was buried beside her husband at Ducal Church of collegiale Saint-Georges. The tombs were destroyed when the church was sacked in 1793 during the French Revolution. Her son Henry succeeded her, becoming King Henry III of Navarre. In 1589, he ascended the French throne as Henry IV; founding the Bourbon line of kings. Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, nicknamed â€Å"the Iron Duke† in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several cities. In 1567, Philip, who was a zealous opponent of Protestantism, sent Alba into the Netherlands at the head of an army of 10,000 men, with unlimited powers for the extirpation of the heretics. Alba quickly erected a tribunal, the Council of Troubles, which soon became known to the Calvinists as the â€Å"Council of Blood,† to try all persons who had been engaged in the late commotions that the rule of Philip had excited. During the ten years it operated, thousands of people were executed. The precise number is disputed: Dutch sources cite 18,000 victims, while Spanish accounts mention only a few hundred. About 12,000 casualties can be considered as the most accurate estimate, of which 1,083 were executed. Alba imprisoned the Count of Egmont and the Count of Hoorn, the two popular leaders of the dissatisfied Dutch nobles, and had them condemned to death even though they were Catholics. Alba attempted to raise money by imposing the Spanish alcabala, a tax of 10% on all sales (â€Å"tenth penny† tax) on the Low Countries, and this aroused the opposition of many Catholic residents as well. The exiles from the Low Countries, who called themselves Geuzen (French gueux, â€Å"beggars†), encouraged by the general resistance to his government, fitted out a fleet of privateers, and after strengthening themselves by successful depredations, seized the town of Den Briel (Brielle). Thus Alba, by his unrelenting harshness, became the unwitting instrument of the future independence of the seven Dutch provinces. On 22 August, Alba, accompanied by a body of select Spanish troops, made his entry into Brussels. He immediately appointed a council to condemn without trial those suspected of heresy and rebellion. On 1 June 1568, Brussels witnessed the simultaneous decapitation of twenty-two noblemen; on 6 June followed the execution of the Counts of Egmond and Hoorne. The fleet of the exiles, having met the Spanish fleet, defeated it and reduced Holland and Mons. The States of Holland, assembling at Dordrecht in 1572, openly declared against Alba's government, and marshaled under the banners of the prince of Orange. Alba's preparations to defeat the gathering storm were made with his usual rapidity and vigour, and he succeeded in recovering Mons, Mechelen and Zutphen, under the conduct of his son Don Fadrique. All three cities were sacked and many civilians killed. With the exception of Zeeland and Holland, he regained all the provinces; and at last his son stormed Naarden, massacring every man, woman and child, proceeded to invest the city of Haarlem, which, after standing an obstinate siege, was taken and pillaged. Their next attack was upon Alkmaar; but there they were met with such desperate resistance that Alba was forced to retire. William II, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three years later. William II, Prince of Orange, was the son of stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. William the Silent had been succeeded in the position of stadtholder and as commander of the Dutch States Army by his son Maurits of Nassau, who in turn was followed by his brother Frederick Henry. William II’s ancestors governed in conjunction with the States-General, an assembly made up of representatives of each of the seven provinces but usually dominated by the largest and wealthiest province, Holland. On May 2, 1641, William married Mary Henrietta Stuart, the Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London. In 1648 he opposed acceptance of the Treaty of Munster, despite the fact that it recognized the independence of the Netherlands. Secretly, William opened his own negotiations with France with the goal of extending his own territory under a centralized government. In addition, he worked for the restoration of his brother-in-law, Charles II, to the throne of England. In 1650 William II became involved in a bitter quarrel with the province of Holland and the powerful regents of Amsterdam, like Andries Bicker and his cousin Cornelis de Graeff over troop reduction following the Treaty of Munster. William opposed the reduction in the size of the army which would diminish his powerbase. This resulted in William putting eight members (oa. Jacob de Witt) of the provincial assembly in prison in the castle of Loevestein. In addition he sent his cousin Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz with an army of 10 thousand troops with the aim of taking Amsterdam by force. Bad weather foiled this campaign. After having served as stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel for only three years, he died of smallpox in 1650. His son William was born one week after his death. This was the beginning of the First Stadtholderless Period for the provinces Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel. His son succeeded him in 1672 as stadtholder and later, in 1689, also became king of England. Pope Saint Pius V, born Antonio Ghislieri, was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church. Pius V declared saint Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and patronized prominent sacred music composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. As Cardinal Ghislieri he gained a reputation for putting orthodoxy before personalities, prosecuting eight French Bishops for heresy. He also stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face when he wanted to make a 13-year old member of his family a cardinal and subsidise a nephew from the Papal treasury. In affairs of state, Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth I of England for schism and persecutions of English Catholics during her reign. He also arranged the formation of the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic states. Although outnumbered, the Holy League famously defeated the Ottomans, who had threatened to overrun Europe, at the Battle of Lepanto. This victory Pius V attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and instituted the feast, Our Lady of Victory. St Pius V recognized attacks on papal supremacy in the Catholic Church and was desirous of limiting their advancement. In France, where his influence was stronger, he took several measures to oppose the Protestant Huguenots. He directed the dismissal of Cardinal Odet de Coligny and seven bishops, nullified the royal edict tolerating the extramural services of the Reformers, introduced the Roman catechism, restored papal discipline, and strenuously opposed all compromise with the Huguenot nobility. Pius V died on 1 May 1572. He was succeeded by Pope Gregory XIII. In 1696, the process of Pius's canonisation was started through the efforts of the Master of the Order of Preachers, Antonin Cloche. He also immediately commissioned a representative tomb from the sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger to be erected in the Sistine Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The pope's body was placed in it in 1698. St Pius V was beatified by Pope Clement X in the year 1672, and was later canonized by Pope Clement XI on 24 May 1712. Pope St Pius V also helped financially in the construction of the city of Valletta, Malta's capital city by sending his military engineer Francesco Laparelli to design the fortification walls. Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War, to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and one of the major figures of the Thirty Years' War. A successful generalissimo who had made himself ruler of the lands of the Duchy of Friedland in northern Bohemia, Wallenstein found himself released from service in 1630 after Ferdinand grew wary of his ambition. Several Protestant victories over Catholic armies induced Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein, who again turned the war in favor of the Imperial cause. Dissatisfied with the Emperor's treatment of him, Wallenstein considered allying with the Protestants. However, Ferdinand had the general assassinated at Eger (Cheb) in Egerland by one of the army's officials, Walter Devereux. Wallenstein's particular genius lay in recognizing a new way for funding war: instead of merely plundering enemies, he called for a new method of systematic â€Å"war taxes†. Even a city or a prince on the side of the Emperor had to pay taxes towards the war. He understood the enormous wastage of resources that resulted from tax exactions on princes and cities of defeated enemies only, and desired to replace this with a â€Å"balanced† system of taxation; wherein both sides bore the cost of a war. He was unable to fully realize this ambition; and in fact his idea led to the random exploitation of whole populations on either side, until finally, almost fifteen years after his death, the war had become so expensive that the warring parties were forced to make peace. In any case, Wallenstein's idea inspired many, among them, Colbert, to â€Å"pluck the goose with a minimum of screeching†. Chapter Review Questions: 1)During the Wars of Religion, politics played an important role in the stances of French leaders. French leaders were persuaded to stand by the religion that would give them the most powerful political stance; they had no interest in the true goals of the religions. Catherine de' Medici, a relative of Pope Clement VII, married the duke of Orleans at age 14; he would become King Henry II of France. But Henry died after about six years of rule, and his successor, Francis II, died the year after that, leaving Catherine as regent for the 10-year-old Charles IX. Catherine let the Jesuits back into France and, seeing the alarming probability that the Reformation might gain a toehold in France, the Jesuits began circulating provocative rumors (1567) of a Huguenot plot to sack and burn Paris. The Huguenot leader, Admiral Coligny, began to exercise more influence over Charles in matters of state than Catherine, so she used the occasion of a political marriage designed to make peace between Protestants and Catholics — the marriage of Henry of Navarre to Marguerite de Valois — to have Coligny assassinated. The plot failed and Coligny was only wounded, but the Huguenot leaders, assembled in Paris in great numbers for the wedding, were infuriated. Charles vowed punishments for the plotters, but with all the important heretics in one place, Catherine saw her final solution to the Huguenot problem: She browbeat the young King into approving a massacre — for reasons of national security. On Sunday, 24 August 1572, at daybreak, French Catholic troops and Catholic citizens drew blood. An eyewitness described the scene: The slaughter in Paris lasted until 17 September, but spread to the provinces, where it continued until 3 October. Admiral Coligny was among the dead. In all of France about 50,000 were slain — more than twice as many people killed over religion in 40 days, as French revolutionaries killed over politics in three years! When news of this holocaust of French Protestants reached the world, Catherine de' Medici received the congratulations of all the Catholic powers, and Pope Gregory XIII ordered bonfires lighted and the singing of the Te Deum. Indeed, the Pope's joy was so great that he commanded a gold medal to be minted, with the inscription, â€Å"Slaughter [strages] of the Huguenots. He then had Giorgio Vasari paint pictures in the Vatican of â€Å"the glorious triumph over a perfidious race. † An ecclesiastical annalist named Strype suggested that the comet of 1572 was a token of Divine wrath provoked by the massacre. But if God was watching, he made no move to turn the events begun on St. Bartholomew's Day, 1572. The realization that a solution was needed was finally realised. 2 )Spain became the dominant power in Europe in the 16th century because of the countless gold and treasure from its New World territories. This era is known by the Spanish as El siglo de oro, â€Å"the golden century†. All this money allowed Spain to purchase and develop the best military technology of the time. However Spain's greatest weakness with all this money was how it ran its very society. Spain had a very feudal society. One's place in it was determined by your birth. Spain's nobilty looked down on any labour as beneath them. Any labour or business was viewed as tasks for commoners. As a result, Spanish nobility was expected to live a life of leisure. When the highest and wealthiest portion of your society doesn't work, all they're doing is spending money, but not generating any new funds. It was only a matter of time before Spain burned through all its wealth. Spain was also exceedingly intolerant towards other religions. Spain's period of wealth and dominance corresponded with the Protestant reformation in Europe. The Spanish king Philp II was a very devout Catholic, who viewed the Reformation as heresy and the work of the Devil. Philp made it the goal of his entire reign to suppress the spread of Protestantism. He was only successful with this goal somewhat. Under Philip's reign Spain became its most powerful, but also started its decline. During his reign the Netherlands revolted against the Spanish Hapsburg crown, Spain experienced costly wars against France and England, and Portugal gained its independence from Spain. Philip II was also successful in that he consolidated Spain's overseas empire, succeeded in massively increasing the importation of silver in the face of English, Dutch and French privateering, and ended the major threat posed to Europe by the Ottoman navy. During his reign, Spain became the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean. 3)A politique is a ruler who focuses more on what is good for their country than on religion. Also, I don't know if Henry of Navarre can be called a politique, because the entire reason he became king came from a power struggle between the Huguenots(french protestants) and french Catholics. The same goes for William of Orange, as he was significant as a result of the revolt in the Netherlands against their Spanish rulers. The Spanish attempted to convert the Netherlands, which were largely Protestant, to Catholicism, which was the established religion in Spain. Elizabeth I, on the other hand, was definitely a politique. Elizabeth took the throne after her sister, Mary I died in 1558. Mary had been a staunch Catholic like her mother, Catherine of Aragon, who originally came from Spain. Mary herself took the throne after their younger brother Edward VI died young due to lifelong poor health. Their father, Henry VIII, had established the Church of England, in order to no longer have to answer to the Pope so that he could divorce Catherine and marry Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn. Mary did not like the Church of England, and so when she took the throne in 1553, she reinstated the Catholic church and had those who refused to convert executed. Elizabeth, by comparison, concentrated more on her foreign relations than on religion, although she did make the Church of England the official religion of England. 4)In 1534 King Henry VIII separated the English Church from Rome. A theological separation had been foreshadowed by various movements within the English church such as Lollardy, but the English Reformation gained political support when Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Pope Clement VII, considering that the earlier marriage had been entered under a papal dispensation and how Catherine's nephew, Emperor Charles V, might react do such a move, refused the annulment. Eventually, Henry, although theologically opposed to Protestantism, took the position of Supreme Head of the Church of England to ensure the annulment of his marriage. He was excommunicated by Pope Paul III. Henry maintained a strong preference for traditional Catholic practices and, during his reign, Protestant reformers ere unable to make many changes to the practices of the Church of England. Indeed, this part of Henry's reign saw the trial for heresy of Protestants as well as Roman Catholics. Under his son, Edward VI, more Protestant-influenced forms of worship were adopted. Under the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, a more radical reformation proceeded. A new pattern of worship was set out in the Book of Common Prayer (1549 and 1552). These were based on the older liturgy but influenced by Protestant principles. The confession of the reformed Church of England was set out in the Forty-two Articles (later revised to thirty-nine). The reformation however was cut short by the death of the king. Queen Mary I, who succeeded him, returned England again to the authority of the Pope, thereby ending the first attempt at an independent Church of England. During Mary's reign, many leaders and common people were burnt for their refusal to recant of their reformed faith. These are known as the Marian martyrs and the persecution has led to her nickname of â€Å"Bloody Mary†. Mary also died childless and so it was left to the new regime of her half-sister Elizabeth to resolve the direction of the church. The settlement under Elizabeth I (from 1558), known as the Elizabethan settlement, developed the via media (middle way) character of the Church of England, a church moderately Reformed in doctrine, as expressed in the Thirty-nine Articles, but also emphasising continuity with the Catholic and Apostolic traditions of the Church Fathers. It was also an established church (constitutionally established by the state with the head of state as its supreme governor). The exact nature of the relationship between church and state would be a source of continued friction into the next century. 5)Thirty Years' War , a series of European conflicts from 1618 to 1648, fought primarily in Germany. The war started in Bohemia with a Protestant revolt against the Holy Roman Empire and eventually involved almost all of the countries of Europe. By its final years, religious issues had been submerged and it had become a struggle for power between Austria and Spain on one side and France on the other. Politics determined the outcome of the ar greatly. The Thirty Years' War rearranged the European power structure. The last decade of the conflict saw clear signs of Spain weakening. While Spain was fighting in France, Portugal — which had been under personal union with Spain for 60 years — acclaimed John IV of Braganza as king in 1640, and the House of Braganza became the new dynasty of Portugal (see Portuguese Restoration War, for further information ). Meanwhile, Spain was forced to accept the independence of the Dutch Republic in 1648, ending the Eighty Years' War. Bourbon France challenged Habsburg Spain's supremacy in the Franco-Spanish War (1635-59); gaining definitive ascendancy in the War of Devolution (1667–68), and the Franco-Dutch War (1672–78), under the leadership of Louis XIV. The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in Osnabruck and Munster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic. The Peace of Westphalia treaties involved the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand III, of the House of Habsburg, the Kingdoms of Spain, France, Sweden, the Dutch Republic, the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and sovereigns of the free imperial cities. The war needed to reach the point of great unrest before it could be resolved with a treaty. 6)It seems â€Å"meaningless† only because the European conflagration lacked a clear point of dispute, not that it lacked any purpose. On the contrary, there were too many points of contention or flash points, far too numerous to even list in a short essay. Once the breaking point was reached on one or some of them, it set off a chain reaction of other open conflicts of long simmering divisions, mostly religious, but those caused by changing balance of powers. This is far from unusual. World War II ended up being a war between two major European alliances for complicated broken treaties and border violations, but was started by a single assassination of an Austro-Hungarian archduke. There was no single principle or cause being fought for in either case. World War II has a simpler narrative, totalitarian states like Germany and Japan attempted to conquer the world, and the good guys resisted and beat them back, but even that belies a deeper complexity in the reasons and chain of events that led to it. The Thirty Years War was fought not for any simple cause, but for too many different reasons, so that for the modern generations, it seems altogether too obscure and frivolous. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was in fact a major realignment of European powers in the aftermath of the battles of the Reformation movement as well as the decline of Spanish Power and the eventual breakup of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. In fact, the consequences of this breakup has historically lead to both World War I and World War II. In order to fully understand the causes of those major world wars, a thorough understanding of the Thirty Years War is a must.

Despite Criticisms Essay

1. Despite criticisms, the classical approach to business management is still relevant today. Discuss one example to support this statement. (25%) Classical approach on management can be in terms of three major perspective: scientific management, Bureaucracy and administrative principles, which are emphasis on purpose and formal structure, for instance, planing of work, technical requirements of organisation, principles of management, etc. Although this idea was emerged at 19th century, it does influence the management style today and some of it’s ideas are still relevant. UPS, a well-known shipping, freight and logistics company globally, which is a very good example of using classical approach to their management in nowadays business, especially in the bureaucracy aspect. UPS is not only follow the idea of Max Weber (1864 – 1920), the advocate of the idea of bureaucracy and also a sociologist, that the separation of management and ownership like many companies today, but also focus on the impersonal and rational management. UPS set out a huge amount of rules, procedures and regulations on every departments, for example, They teach their drivers 340 steps for how to deliver a package correctly, such as how to load the truck, fasten their seat belt, walk, carry their keys, etc. Strict dress code is a must: clean uniform, black or brown polished shoes with nonslip soles, no beard, no hair below the collar, no tattoo visible during deliveries, and so on. They also has well division of labour: specialized drivers, loaders, clerks, washers, sorters and maintenance personnel. All of them have to do formal record keeping, like, drivers have daily worksheets that specify performance goals and work output. When UPS want to hiring or promote employees, technical qualification is the main criterion. UPS use those impersonal management style to avoid irrationality in order to be more efficient and adaptable to change, because continuity is related to formal structure and positions rather then particular person who may leave or even die. Also, those rules and procedures provide a standard way of dealing with employees. Hence, everyone gets equal treatment, and everyone knows what the rules are, this has enabled them to become efficient as well. Although, classical approach contribute a lot in today’s management, it ignore the humanistic factory and psychological need. It may cause other problems, for instance, over relying on technical qualification ignore the human aspect, since working ability cannot only be measured by technical qualification. Moreover, If organisations lose the balance, employees may be frustrated by endless rules and red tape which may eventually lower the effectiveness. And it makes work become boring and repetitive, employees become a cog of a big machines, that would lead to high levels of absenteeism and labour turnover. That the reason why classical approach is not the mainstream of today’s management, although it’s still relevant.

Free Essays on A Letter About Trust

A Letter about Trust The Narcissistic condition emanates from a seismic break of trust, a tectonic shift of what should have been a healthy relationship with his "primary objects" and the transformation of his self into the subject of love. Some of these bad feelings are the result of deeply entrenched misunderstandings regarding the nature of trust and the continuous act of trusting. For millions of years nature embedded in us the notion that the past can teach us a lot about the future. This is very useful for survival. And it is also mostly true with inanimate objects. With humans the story is somewhat different: it is reasonable to learn from someone's past behaviour about his future behaviour (even though this proves erroneous most of the time). But it is mistaken to learn from someone's behaviour about other people's. Actually, most psychotherapy is nothing but the effort to disentangle past from present, to teach the patient that the past is gone and has no reign over him anymore, unless the patient lets it to. Our natural tendency is to trust, because we trust our parents. It feels good to really trust. It is also an essential component of love and an important test. Love without trust is dependence masquerading as love. We must trust, it is almost biological. Most of the time, we do trust. We trust the Universe to behave itself according to the laws of physics, our army not to go mad and shoot us all, our nearest and dearest not to betray us. When trust is broken, the feeling is that a part of us dies, is hollowed out. Not to trust is abnormal and is the natural result of bitter or even traumatic life experiences. Mistrust or distrust are induced not by our own thoughts, nor by some device or machination of ours - but by life's sad circumstances. To continue not to trust is to reward the people who wronged us and made us distrustful in the first place. These people have long abandoned us and still they have a great, ... Free Essays on A Letter About Trust Free Essays on A Letter About Trust A Letter about Trust The Narcissistic condition emanates from a seismic break of trust, a tectonic shift of what should have been a healthy relationship with his "primary objects" and the transformation of his self into the subject of love. Some of these bad feelings are the result of deeply entrenched misunderstandings regarding the nature of trust and the continuous act of trusting. For millions of years nature embedded in us the notion that the past can teach us a lot about the future. This is very useful for survival. And it is also mostly true with inanimate objects. With humans the story is somewhat different: it is reasonable to learn from someone's past behaviour about his future behaviour (even though this proves erroneous most of the time). But it is mistaken to learn from someone's behaviour about other people's. Actually, most psychotherapy is nothing but the effort to disentangle past from present, to teach the patient that the past is gone and has no reign over him anymore, unless the patient lets it to. Our natural tendency is to trust, because we trust our parents. It feels good to really trust. It is also an essential component of love and an important test. Love without trust is dependence masquerading as love. We must trust, it is almost biological. Most of the time, we do trust. We trust the Universe to behave itself according to the laws of physics, our army not to go mad and shoot us all, our nearest and dearest not to betray us. When trust is broken, the feeling is that a part of us dies, is hollowed out. Not to trust is abnormal and is the natural result of bitter or even traumatic life experiences. Mistrust or distrust are induced not by our own thoughts, nor by some device or machination of ours - but by life's sad circumstances. To continue not to trust is to reward the people who wronged us and made us distrustful in the first place. These people have long abandoned us and still they have a great, ...

F-8 Crusader in the Vietnam War

F-8 Crusader in the Vietnam War The F-8 Crusader was the last fighter designed for the US Navy that utilized guns as its primary weapon. Entering service in 1957, it saw combat during the Vietnam War both as a fighter and ground attack aircraft. Variants of the F-8 remained in use with the worlds air forces and navies into the 1990s. Background In 1952, the US Navy issued a call for a new fighter to replace its existing aircraft such as the Grumman F-9 Cougar. Requiring a top speed of Mach 1.2 and landing speed of 100 mph or lower, the new fighter was to utilize 20 mm cannons in lieu of the traditional .50 cal. machine guns. This change was made as studies during the Korean War found that .50 cal. machine guns caused insufficient damage. Among the companies to take up the US Navys challenge was Vought. Design Development Led by John Russell Clark, the Vought team created a new design which was designated the V-383. The aircraft incorporated a variable-incidence wing which rotated 7 degrees during take-off and landing. This allowed the aircraft to achieve a higher angle of attack without affecting the pilots visibility. For this innovation, the design team won the 1956 Collier Trophy for achievement in aeronautics. Clarks variable-incidence wing was mounted high on the aircraft which required the use of light, short landing gear that were housed in the V-383s fuselage.   The V-383 was powered by a single Pratt Whitney J57 afterburning turbojet capable of 18,000 lbs. of thrust at full power. This gave the aircraft a top speed in excess of 1,000 mph and the type would become the first American fighter to achieve such speeds. Unlike future fighters, the V-383s afterburner lacked zones and could only be employed at full power. Responding to the Navys armament requirements, Clark armed the new fighter with four 20 mm cannons. To supplement the guns, he added cheek pylons for two AIM-9 Sidewinder missile  and a retractable tray for 32 Mighty Mouse FFARs (unguided folding fin aerial rockets). This initial emphasis on guns made the F-8 the last American fighter to have guns as its principal weapons system. Competition Entering the Navys competition, Vought faced challenges from the Grumman F-11 Tiger, the McDonnell F3H Demon (a precursor of the F-4 Phantom II), and the North American Super Fury (a carrier version of the F-100 Super Sabre).  Through the spring of 1953, the Vought design proved its superiority and the V-383 was named the winner in May. The F-11 Tiger also moved ahead to production though its career proved short due to issues with its J56 engines and the Vought aircrafts superior performance. The following month, the Navy placed a contract for three prototypes under the designation XF8U-1 Crusader. First taking to the skies on March 25, 1955, with John Konrad at the controls, the XF8U-1, the new type performed flawlessly and development progressed rapidly.  As a result the second prototype and the first production model had their inaugural flights on the same day in September 1955. Continuing the accelerated development process, the XF8U-1 began carrier testing on April 4, 1956. Later that year, the aircraft underwent weapons testing and became the first American fighter to break 1,000 mph.   This was the first of several speed records set by the aircraft during its final evaluations. F-8 Crusader - Specifications (F-8E): General Length: 54 ft. 3 in.Wingspan: 35 ft. 8 in.Height: 15 ft. 9 in.Wing Area: 375 sq. ft.Empty Weight: 17,541 lbs.Loaded Weight: 29,000 lbs.Crew: 1 Performance Power Plant: 1 Ãâ€" Pratt Whitney J57-P-20A afterburning turbojetCombat Radius: 450 milesMax Speed: Mach 1.86 (1,225 mph)Ceiling: 58,000 ft. Armament Guns: 4 Ãâ€" 20 mm (0.787 in) Colt Mk 12 cannonsRockets: 8 Ãâ€" Zuni rockets in four twin podsMissiles: 4 Ãâ€" AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, 2 x AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-ground guided missilesBombs: 12 Ãâ€" 250 lb bombs or 4 Ãâ€" 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs or 2Ãâ€" 2,000 lb bombs Operational History In 1957, the F8U entered fleet service with VF-32 at NAS Cecil Field (Florida) and served with the squadron when it deployed to the Mediterranean aboard USS  Saratoga  later that year. Quickly becoming the US Navys top daytime fighter, the F8U proved a difficult aircraft for pilots to master as it suffered from some instability and was unforgiving during landing. Regardless, in a time of rapidly advancing technology, the F8U enjoyed a long career by fighter standards. In September 1962, following the adoption of a unified designation system, the Crusader was re-designated the F-8. The next month, photo reconnaissance variants of the Crusader (RF-8s) flew several dangerous missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. These began on October 23, 1962 and saw RF-8s fly from Key West to Cuba and then back to Jacksonville. The intelligence collected during these flights confirmed the presence of Soviet missiles on the island.   Flights continued for six weeks and recorded over 160,000 photographs.  On September 3, 1964, the final F-8 fighter was delivered to VF-124 and the Crusaders production run ended. All told, 1,219 F-8s of all variants were built. Vietnam War With the US entry into the Vietnam War, the F-8 became the first US Navy aircraft to routinely battle North Vietnamese MiGs.  Entering combat in April 1965, the F-8s from USS Hancock  (CV-19)  quickly established the aircraft as an agile dogfighter, though despite its last gunfighter moniker, most of its kills came through the use of air-to-air missiles.  This was partly due to the high jam rate of the F-8s Colt Mark 12 cannons. During the conflict, the F-8 achieved a kill ratio of 19:3, as the type downed 16 MiG-17s and 3 MiG-21s. Flying from smaller Essex-class carriers, the F-8 was used in fewer numbers than the larger F-4 Phantom II. The US Marine Corps also operated the Crusader, flying from airfields in South Vietnam.   Though primarily a fighter, F-8s also saw duty in ground attack roles during the conflict. Later Service With the end of the US involvement in Southeast Asia, the F-8 was retained in frontline use by the Navy. In 1976, the last active duty F-8s fighters were retired from VF-191 and VF-194 after nearly two decades of service. The RF-8 photo reconnaissance variant remained in use until 1982, and flew with the Naval Reserve until 1987. In addition to the United States, the F-8 was operated by the French Navy which flew the type from 1964 to 2000, and by the Philippine Air Force from 1977 until 1991.

11 Things You Should Put in a College Roommate Agreement

11 Things You Should Put in a College Roommate Agreement When you first move in with your college roommate (either in an apartment or in the residence halls), you may want- or have- to set up a roommate agreement or roommate contract. While not usually legally binding, roommate agreements are an excellent way to make sure that you and your college roommate are on the same page about the everyday details of living with someone else. And while they may seem like a pain to put together, roommate agreements are a smart idea. There are a variety of ways you can approach a roommate agreement. Many agreements come as a template and can provide you with general areas and suggested rules. In general, though, you should cover the following topics: 1. Sharing Is it okay to use each others stuff? If so, are some things off limits? What happens if something breaks? If both people are using the same printer, for example, who pays to replace the paper? The ink cartridges? The batteries? What happens if something gets broken or stolen on somebody elses watch? 2. Schedules What are your schedules like? Is one person a night owl? An early bird? And whats the process for someones schedule, especially in the morning and late at night? Do you want some quiet time when you get done with class after lunch? Or time to hang out with friends in the room? 3. Study Time When does each person study? How do they study? (Quietly? With music? With the TV on?) Alone? With headphones? With people in the room? What does each person need from the other to make sure they get adequate study time and can keep up in their classes? 4. Private Time Its college. You and/or your roommate might very well be dating someone - and want time alone with him or her. Whats the deal with getting time alone in the room? How much is OK? How much advance notice do you need to give a roommate? Are there times when its not OK (like finals week)? How will you let each other know when not to come in? 5. Borrowing, Taking or Replacing Something   Borrowing or taking something from your roommate is practically inevitable over the course of the year. So who pays for it? Are there rules about borrowing/taking? For example, its OK to eat some of my food as long as you leave some for me.   6. Space This may sound silly, but think - and talk - about space. Do you want your roommates friends hanging out on your bed while youre gone? At your desk? Do you like your space neat? Clean? Messy? How would you feel if your roommates clothes started sneaking over to your side of the room? 7. Visitors When is it OK to have people hanging out in the room? People staying over? How many people are OK? Think about when it would or wouldnt be all right to have others in your room. For example, is a quiet study group OK late at night, or should no one be allowed in the room after, say 1 a.m.? 8. Noise Do both of you like the default to be quiet in the room? Music? The TV on as background? What do you need to study? What do you need to sleep? Can someone use earplugs or headphones? How much noise is too much? 9. Food Can you eat each others food? Will you share? If so, who buys what? What happens if someone eats the last of an item? Who cleans it? What kinds of food are OK to keep in the room? 10. Alcohol   If youre under 21 and get caught with alcohol in the room, there can be problems. How do you feel about keeping alcohol in the room? If youre over 21, who buys the alcohol? When, if at all, is it OK to have people drinking in the room? 11. Clothes This ones a biggie for women. Can you borrow each others clothes? How much notice is needed? Who has to wash them? How often can you borrow things? What kinds of things cant be borrowed? If you and your roommate cant quite figure out where to get started or how to come to an agreement on many of these things, dont be afraid to talk to your RA or someone else to make sure things are clear from the beginning. Roommate relationships can be one of the highlights of college, so starting strongly from the beginning is a great way to eliminate problems in the future.

Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Terrorism - Essay Example As explained earlier, Terrorism have different meanings in different societies, some regard terrorism as mere political assassinations, some consider it as religious and political terror. Some think this as mere killings by anti socials who are fighting for a lost cause as in the case of religious fundamentals. But all these thoughts point out the fact that terrorism just has no moral insights and thinking to support it. It is agreeable that the word terrorism has emerged from the word terror. Terror is denoted as a system or regime of terror. However single minded efforts other than group efforts that instigate terror in the minds of peace loving citizens can also be brought under this category. The definitions of terrorism related to terror has gained wide acceptance among our modern society. Today we all agree that terrorism is a type of negative attitude. The term is associated to any policy or regime that creates problems. While connecting each and every activity that causes fear in the minds of people with terrorism, it has to be noted that activities that are done to create panic just for the consideration of making fun cannot be depicted as pure terrorism. In the same way, saying that all activites that are done without any aim, cannot be labeled as terrorism is also not agreeable. No one can clearly say that all terrorists have definite aims. As pointed out in the beginning most of the terrorists are fighting for lost causes or causes that are totally rejected by the modern civilized society. Therefore how can we say that all terrorists’ activities have definite aim? Terrorism merely does not mean as engaging into violence directly but it also represents slow intimidation and persuasion to begin violent activities. Molding a person or group of persons to do anti social practices is also terrorism. Terrorism is a type of coercive

Block 7 (Week 13&14) Exercise 7 (Respiratory System Mechanics) Coursework

Block 7 (Week 13) Exercise 7 (Respiratory System Mechanics) assigned from pages 85-95 - Coursework Example narrowing of the airways due to bronchial smooth muscle contraction as in Asthma; inflammation of the bronchial mucosa and hypertrophy of bronchial glands as happens in Bronchitis. 2. As a result of the tidal volume change, what happens to the flow into each lung and total air flow? Air flow into each lung is also increased resulting in increase in increased total flow into the lungs. The puncture in the lungs causes the air to flow into the intrapleural cavity of the lungs through the puncture equating the pressure inside with that of the atmosphere. The elasticity (surface tension) of the lung aleoli compresses the aleoli resulting in the collapse. There is minimum airflow to the left lung. The pressure in the left lung is still the same (zero), the air flow in the left lung ecomes zero. The lungs are only using right lung for respiration. The total air flow is equal to that to the right lung (69.56 ml). The diaphragm descends and the ribcage elevates (expands) – the increased intrathoracic volume results in decreased intrathoracic pressure compared to the atmospheric pressure. Air flows from the high atmospheric pressure to the low intrathoracic pressure filling the lungs. Rapid respiration (hyperventilation) results in the expulsion of more CO2 from the lungs. The CO2 is drawn from the bicarbonate buffer system of the blood. The concentration of CO2 in blood decreases resulting in increase in blood pH (alkalosis). The two values are used to assess the pulmonary function. They tell the clinician about the health of the lungs, any comression or obstruction to tht airflow as well as the extent of the pulmonary dieases (e.g. COPD). They reflect how much the lung function ahs been compromised due to the disease. Emphysema is a disease characterized by dilation f the alveolar spaces and destruction of the alveolar walls. The reoil function of the lungs is also compromised causing a decrease in expiratory flow. Therefore FEV1 is decreased. The lungs become

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Drama - Essay Example Much can be discerned about the nature of average lifestyles in post-World War II America through an examination of the play’s plot structure, other sensual elements, language, contextualization and form. Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire is based in post World War II New Orleans, specifically the French Quarter, where a mixed ethnic and social working class group attempt to live in close proximity to each other without coming to blows. It is a noisy, sometimes violent and always busy neighborhood that opens up to Blanche Dubois at the opening of the play. Blanche is a retiring former Southern Belle now attempting to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and shattered psyche to make a new start. She arrives at her sister’s tiny apartment, consisting only of two rooms separated by a flimsy curtain, explaining how she has been given a lengthy leave of absence from her teaching position in Laurel, Mississippi in an effort to provide her the time she needs to restore her nerves. From here, Blanche only becomes more complicated, complicating the lives of her sister and Stanley Kowalski, her sister’s husband, as she attempts to secure a small, quiet place on earth to call her own. From this mystifying opening, the play begins to illustrate how the two women and the man interact as they attempt to find a peaceful means of co-existence. This is made exceedingly difficult as Blanche cannot accept or understand how Stella might possibly be happy in such surroundings and married to such a ‘common’ brute man. Shortly after her arrival, she is attempting to encourage Stella to run away with her to somewhere nicer, perhaps to the home of an old beau of hers by the name of Shep Huntleigh, who is now a millionaire. It is never determined whether this individual actually existed or would have recognized Blanche had

434Mod3Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

434Mod3Case - Essay Example According to the U.S Supreme Court, the video games provide various conflicting situations and conditions to a number of children globally (Totilo, 2010). This also affects their parentage ability as parents are also influenced in this video gaming system. There are many cases involving video games especially in U.S Supreme Court where the offenders claim that video games affects their children upbringing and also leads to violence among them (Totilo, 2010). For example, in mid June the year 2011, the U.S Supreme Court wanted to ban the sale of various video games. However, the first amendment procedures stop them from doing so and later the California Supreme Court decided to ban some violent video games that were considered destructive to children. There are various video game designers in the country including the Nintendo toy games company that was founded in 1889 (Anderson, & Sakamoto, 2008). The firm developed their first video game in 1979 including the first portable video game for children that was designed later in 1980 (Totilo, 2010). The designers of these video games should and must be forced to take the responsibility of various depictions of violent and interpersonal conflicts especially on children of various age groups. The court should properly analyze the effects of video games on children and come out with the best strategy to control this violent act among the children (Anderson, & Sakamoto, 2008). Video games have been available in the global entertainment industry for around thirty years (Totilo, 2011). The recent video games mostly involve the players emotional as well as physically feelings and this makes them have profound impact on children (Totilo, 2010). Currently, around eighty percent of children in the U.S play video games daily and this promote the sales of video games globally (Totilo, 2011). One of major positive impact that video games have on

Education lesson plan design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Education lesson plan design - Essay Example However, imparting knowledge of sex and reproduction early on helps the children to understand that this is all a normal part of life and helps them to develop a more healthy attitude about it. Since babies are a part of every family, especially in the case of extended families, and since the children have been babies themselves, it is only natural that such questions will arise. However, it is also true that in many instances, teachers, especially female teachers, are reluctant or hesitant to teach reproduction and often skim over this topic, imparting a very sketchy understanding. Therefore, the â€Å"Birth of Life† was selected as the topic for this assignment, in order to take up the challenge of presenting this information to the children in a relevant and easily understandable manner. Teaching about reproduction presents a paradox – it is easy in the sense that offspring can be observed openly, yet the mystery surrounding the reproduction process as a result of the unhealthy stigma attached to sex makes it difficult to teach. Moreover, teaching about reproduction also involves imparting knowledge about cells, which in itself is abstract and difficult to communicate to children. Many teachers have found that students have problems with abstract concepts such as cells (www.sedl.org, n.d.) and its constituent parts. Therefore, we had to devise a way in which to make the concept of cells come alive for the children. The second challenge lay in the fact that we were communicating with young children in the second grade and many of the terms used, such as sperm, fallopian tube, embryo, labium minus, vagina and other such words had to be explained in a way that the young children would understand, so we had to think about how we could graphically represent the reproduction process for the children to understand these