Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Harley Davidson Driving Influence On Saudi Arabia And Arab...

INTRODUCTION In my paper I decided to write about Harley Davidson Motorcycles influence in Saudi Arabia and the Arab nations in general. I selected this topic in regards to a comment that my professor, Dr. Thomas Coyle, for MTML 4330 mention during one of his lectures. During Dr. Coyle lecture he mention that Saudi Arabia woman used to dress as men to drive Harley Davidson motorcycles. According to Dr. Coyle Arab woman used to dress as men to be able to be on their own since it is customary for woman to be escorted by a man of her family at all times. Arab woman used to dress as men so they couldn’t be recognize as woman while riding and feeling free. Although, I couldn’t find any specific source about Arab woman riding Harley Davidsons motorcycles it did brought up allot of questions. First of all, it brought up to my attention how Harley Davidson has been a brand that impacted the global community. Especially, since I couldn’t imagine an American product being sold in the part of the world where is presume most countries hate Americas beliefs and lifestyle. It was even harder to imagine Harley Davidson being sold in Saudi Arabia which represent freedom, adventure, and individuality. Totally opposite to what I imagine the Arab culture beliefs towards American products would stand for. During my research I discovered that Harley Davidson it’s a very popular commodity in the Arab nation and the world not only the United States. I honestly imagine that Harley Davidson wasShow MoreRelatedReed Supermarket Case32354 Words   |  130 Pagesthe collaboration with customers on product decisions 14.12 ‘Long tail’ strategies 14.13 Green marketing strategies 14.14 Brand piracy and anti-counterfeiting strategies 14.15 Summary Case studies 14.1 Danish Klassic: launch of a cream cheese in Saudi Arabia 14.2 Zippo Manufacturing Company: has product diversiï ¬ cation beyond the lighter gone too far? 14.3 Video case study: Swiss Army Questions for discussion References 453 459 459 460 460 460 465 471 477 480 481 490 493 495 501 502 507 508 508

Monday, December 16, 2019

The theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad Free Essays

string(218) " heart away from such devices as feeling too much as Jake does, as it best exemplified with Jake stating, â€Å"Couldn’t we live together, Brett\? Couldn’t we just live together\?† \[Brett:\] â€Å"I don’t think so\." This essay will compare the theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad, and Kafka in the novels, The Sun Also Rises, Heart of Darkness and The Trial.   The characters in the novels will be presented as hoping against the odds of love and either fulfilling their desire or running away from them, thus either gaining hope or the lack of hope.   The different avenues of hope will also be examined in that hope may turn into acts of desperation from a different point of view, and the narrator of some of the novels will be given consideration in presenting facts to the reader in their own point of view. We will write a custom essay sample on The theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad or any similar topic only for you Order Now Finally, this essay will discuss the nature of hope, and how the characters throughout the novels may either accept a hopeless state and be transformed from it, or accept hope as a gift despite the fact that reality and circumstances may deny them their desires.   The theme of each novel will ultimately coincide with transformations or realizations through hope. In Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises the narrator Jake travels through a myriad of landscapes from Paris, to Madrid and even San Sebastian.   It is through these landscapes that the reader may witness the rising hope that Jake has, or the desperation, and even at times, of the peace he has or longs for in such scenery.   The cast of characters suggests a spectrum of different avenues of hope: with Jake, his hope is to be with Brett, despite the consequences and the treatment he receives from her, uttering in the novel’s last line, â€Å"Yes, isn’t it pretty to think so† after Brett states that she and Jake would have had a wonderful time together. In this statement Jake reveals to Brett, and to the audience that although he and Brett do not manage to come together as a couple, that in Jake’s view of events they are joined together through consequences and circumstances.   This is not a fulfillment by the measure of typical novels involving relationships but for Hemingway, the stunted acceptance of fate in the character Jake allows for imagination and realism to coexist.   This means that hope cannot come to fruition but that to still think, and in Jake’s mind to know, that to have been with Brett would have been his greatest adventure expresses not his lament that it never happened but that it could have happened and it would have been wonderful.   This un-fulfillment is Jake’s hope realized. With the character Cohn however, hope is a desperate emotion.   His hope is overpowering; it lies with being madly in love, or infatuation with Brett and the unrequited love of Brett drives Cohn into a furious temper for any man who is with her, or desires her.   Cohn repeated follows Brett around, which conjures up images of puppy love, and blind obedience, and when Brett’s fiancà © Mike tells Cohn again and again to lay off, Cohn refuses and tensions rise during the fiesta in Madrid. Cohn ignores rationality and knocks out Jake, Mike, and Brett’s new lover, the bullfighter Romero.   Recognizing his actions, Cohn insists on having Jake forgive him, which Jake does with reluctance and even wants Romero to shake his hand, which Romero refuses.   Here, then is Cohn’s ultimate slight; that hope, at least the kind that is desperate is unforgiving. Brett rebukes her fiancà © Mike for her new lover Romero.   An interesting scene in the book is when Brett receives Romero’s gift of a bull’s ear he had slain, a bull which had earlier slaughtered another man.   This ear signifies that Brett had to cut off a piece of herself in order to live the life she does, traveling and falling in love over and over and changing her mind and following a different lover around until regret or a new love shows up.   This ear resembles Brett’s hope – her hope of love in constant fury. She must not leave too much of herself with one man leastwise she become completely attached and dependent, thus, the vivisected ear is Brett’s heart, torn off from its owner, and kept in a distant spot.   Brett does not hope with commitment, but with transitory lust for new things, places, and men.   Although Jake tells these words to Cohn about traveling to South America this following quote may be applicable to each character in the novel and the theme of hope, â€Å"You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.† (Hemingway 11). Hemingway’s characters in the novel suggest constant movement in order to escape something; to escape constancy in setting and environment, it is as though the characters feel that if they move enough their desires and regrets won’t be able to catch up. This is true especially for Brett and is true for Jake as well.   For Cohn, it is his outdated lifestyle which is anachronistic in the lifestyle of the age in which he is living that he is trying to escape but for Brett and perhaps Jake as well, it is regret that they do want to overcome them, â€Å"I thought I had paid for everything. Not like the woman pays and pays and pays. No idea of retribution or punishment. Just exchange of values. You gave something up and got something else. Or you worked for something. You paid some way for everything that was any good.† (Hemingway 148).   In final scene in the car when the two are alone together and Jake says it’s pretty to think so, this is the only acknowledgement of truth the reader receives from Jake concerning his desire for Brett.   Beyond the tomfoolery, bullfighting and fishing, when he is quite within himself, the mantra which pulses through him is regret.   He may hope beyond it, but it is all-consuming as it would have been for Brett if she had not hidden her heart away from such devices as feeling too much as Jake does, as it best exemplified with Jake stating, â€Å"Couldn’t we live together, Brett? Couldn’t we just live together?† [Brett:] â€Å"I don’t think so. You read "The theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad" in category "Essay exam ples" I’d just tromper you with everybody.† In Jake’s final line to Brett, hope is dashed and cynicism is revealed.   Jake has no illusions as to how his and Brett’s relationship would have been since Brett has no heart to give, or it is kept at such a distance, even Jake’s love could not call it into being.   This is the lack of hope of them, realism, cynicism, and love dashed. In Kafka’s novel The Trial, the main character Joseph K, or simply K lives through a series of unfortunate events of which the first he is accused of some ambiguous crime on his 30th birthday.   One year later he is killed in the name of the law and K, for his part does not object to the killing.   The absurd as a theme in this event is very overtly portrayed.   The ambiguous nature of the actions of the other characters in the novel prove to be ridiculous and a definite parody of real life trial situations. The trial itself is a charade because everyone in the courtroom including K already know the outcome; they are merely going through the actions because it is something of a tradition to do so.   Thus, the characters are focused, not on the truth of the matter, did K commit a crime, but merely on the trial itself and their part in the faà §ade. K’s looming fate is indistinguishable during the trial but when he is killed in the name of the law at the end of the novel he gives no protest.   The absurd as a theme is best translated in this action by Kafka’s character K.   K does not protect his own interest but does blindly what he is told to do because it is the law.   K does not question the intent of the actions, him being killed or at times even during the trial.   During the novel, K is increasingly not in control of his own fate.   This is shown when he kisses his neighbor after his landlady told him indirectly that he was perhaps having an affair with her.   It seems that the absurd grows into its own identity in Kafka’s The Trial through the way in which K is a definite pawn, adhering to other people’s wishes instead of examining his own wants. The absurd takes further shape in Kafka’s novel through the inability of the other defendant’s awaiting news of their fate when K is given a tour of the offices by Law-Court Attendant.   Almost everyone in the book is ignorant about their surroundings, their own actions, their fate.   Kafka deals well with disguising characters or scenes (when K goes into the Law-Court Attendant’s office he glances at law books that are in fact pornography) and leading the reader to believe one thing before he switches and tells the reader the truth behind the scene. Kafka was a master at leading the audience down one path only to change course right when the reader has a glimmer of understanding about the plot or the character’s intentions.   To emphasize this point K’s last words before he dies are â€Å"Like a dog† which describe how he dies.   In essence these words state that K was expecting to die, perhaps wanted it after the previous misleading year of his life during the trial and the ridiculous events in his life while the trial was persisting.   His words describe his death, but also his life.   He lived obediently, and as the clichà © goes, he licked the master’s hand that beat him. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the audience is presented with the character Marlow whose hope overwhelms his morality in the search for Mr. Kurtz.   Marlow appears to be a Buddha type image (at least the early Buddha, Siddhartha) in that he is searching for hope through Mr. Kurtz.   Thus, Marlow is a character whose hope is tied up with a sense of adventure and courage mixed with either ignorance or just unawareness.   Marlow seems to have created an acceptance of people and in return expects them to show the same regard of acceptance in silence. The company seems to think Marlow’s stories are elusive to a point because, â€Å"†¦to hear about one of Marlow’s inconclusive experiences.†Ã‚   (pg 10).   The company appears to discourage his story telling because of his disregard to the audiences wants.   At the beginning of his journey into Africa, Marlow appears to be the whimsical sailor.   An insightful sailor with thought patterns which reveal his character, â€Å"Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma† (pg 19).   Marlow presents himself to be a truth teller.   Being always ‘appalled’ by a lie.   Marlow becomes obsessed with the idea of Mr. Kurtz.   Only the want of a conversation with him led Marlow on hi journey. Marlow associated himself with Kurtz by becoming an outcaste in the eyes of the managers and the dark of his mindset comes out, â€Å"†¦but it was something to have at least a choice of nightmares.† (pg 105).   Then coming to base with reality when   meeting Kurtz’s Intended, Marlow says that, â€Å"His end †¦ was in every way worthy of his life† (pg 130). Following into Mr. Kurtz’s character, it is discovered that he is not fully developed, especially in regards to hope.   He is described as a misfit showing everybody up.   The ivory king so to speak.   An elusive devil with a charmed life.   Referred to as ‘that man’.   A genius of a man not forgotten only because of outrageous speeches and stunts, not for any significant contribution to humanity, nor for his character development or change towards hope.   Kurtz is a hard man to please and only a friend when he was in the whim of being a friends. Perhaps the darkness drove Kurtz crazy and thus the audience is forces to recognize how his lack of hope twisted his character development, â€Å"†¦it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with his great solitude-†¦(whisper) echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core†Ã‚   (pg 98).   Kurtz then was the abyss through which hope was lost.   He sucked away ideas, morality, self-preservation of an idea and the act of being a taking of hope filled Kurtz because he had no other thoughts of his own.   Solitude does strange things to a man as is witnessed by Kurtz’s character. Kurtz left behind him a ‘last disciple.’   A short but well formed character in the way of his obsession with Mr. Kurtz.   In the concept of hope, and the loss or lack of hope, Kurtz epitomizes this concept through is treatment of his lady.   She was in constant mourning and tears.   However, despite his treatment of her, she adored him.   Her life was with him. Conrad’s treatment of the novel, in his setting of the scene also suggests the lack of hope which prevails as a theme in Heart of Darkness.   Conrad creates the setting of the sea in the beginning of the book as a painting with souls included; lost souls.   He sets the mood by the setting by calming words and eloquent simplicity.   After this imagery the reader is taken into the journey of Marlow. The city is the first step in the path of discovering lack of hope in Conrad’s work.   The city is the first step in this and right away the reader is filled with the complexity and confusion of Marlow’s story as the setting of the company’s offices harbors a feeling of conspiracy.   A setting of foreboding, or darkness with two black barbed guardians is presented in the text, which further allude to the lack of hope in the novel. In the first introduction of the idea of Mr. Kurtz, the person taking praises him but eh scene leads the reader to conclude that the man brings a feeling of wickedness, and a lack of morality.   Perhaps Mr. Kurtz is the sea personified.   In fact the feeling of hope, or lack of hope can very simply be seen in the treatment of the females in the novel.   Just as in the character of Jake in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises Mr. Kurtz’s character finds a reflection of himself in his female counterpart and how he treats that counterpart. There are only three somewhat minor female characters in Heart of Darkness: Marlow’s aunt, Kurtz’s mistress, and Kurtz’s â€Å"Intended.† Marlow mentions these female characters in order to give the literal aspect of his  tale more substance.  Towards the beginning of Marlow’s story he tells how he, â€Å"Charlie Marlow, set the women to work–to get a job.† He tells this in the context that he desperately wanted to travel in  the trade industry that he did what the unthinkable (in those times).   He asked a woman for financial assistance! The woman, his aunt, also surpassed the traditional role of women in those times by telling Marlow that she would be delighted to help him and to ask her for help whenever he needed it. This incident did not have much to do with the symbolic theme of the story; it simply served to tell the reader how Marlow managed to be able to travel to the Congo (with a little help). On another note, Conrad intended to illustrate Marlow’s opinion of women’s inferior role in society, which embodied traditional 19th century society. The two remaining female characters were acknowledged later in the story.   When Marlow reaches the Inner Station, he jumps ahead and tells a little about The Intended, Kurtz’s fiancà ©e (to say â€Å"I do† when he returned). The Intended woman does not appear until the very end of the story, in which Marlow visits her and lies to her about Kurtz’s dying words.   The last female character, Kurtz’s African mistress, was presented near the end of the novel. Her first appearance took place in the scene with Marlow talking to the Russian. She appears later when Marlow and Kurtz depart on the steamboat.   After Marlow blows the whistle, she stretches her arms out towards the steamer, and that was the last time she appears. The limited depiction of female characters in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and the way in which the three female characters are referred to by Marlow reflect Marlow’s view of women as inferior. Marlow’s opinion of women manifests the typical 19th century views of women. Perhaps his choice to lie to the Intended was because of a similar female  influence on his life†¦his Aunt.   In a way Marlow compares the Intended to his Aunt in  which both women are weaker than him.   For a man in the early 19th century, he believes  that they are delicate  and â€Å"something† that needs to be tenderly cared for.   He says, â€Å"It is  queer how out of touch with the truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and  there had never been anything like it, and can never be.   It is too beautiful altogether, and  if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset.†Ã‚   This he says before  ever meeting Kurtz or hearing of the Intended.   Upon lying to her (the Intended) he says,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"But I couldn’t.   I could not tell her.   It would have been too dark  too dark altogether†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  Marlow protected her,  he allowed her to remain innocent of Kurtz and his actions and in  so doing enabled her sun to remain high rather than setting and forever engulfing her in  darkness. Through the characters of each of these three novels different aspects of hope and different ways in which hope is revealed, lost, gained, or ignored the truth is that each character in one way had the chance to hope.   Marlow’s hope and Kurtz’s hope was desperation out of the thing they could not own, a woman’s love.   K’s hope and Jake’s hope both began with cynicism, and K’s hope does not change at the end of Kafka’s novel, with the phrase pertaining to ‘like a dog’ while Jake also remains in the state of cynicism knowing that Brett could never love anyone because she was prepared to hope so high. Each novel had a point of revelation for the characters in which they must make a choice to continue to hope, to change, or to ignore hope and falter in the evolution of their own character.   Thus, when a character lost hope, they were doomed just as Marlow and Kurtz lost hope, or lost the illusion of their life and realized they never had hope for themselves, and just as Jake realizes that perhaps he never had hope for himself and Brett after all. WORK CITED Conrad, J.   Heart of Darkness.   Bentley Pub, New York.   2002. Hemingway, E.   The Sun Also Rises.   Scribner, New York, 1996. Kafka, Franz.   The Trial.   Trans.   Willa Edwin Muir.   Shocken.   New York.   1995. How to cite The theme of hope in the writings of Hemingway, Conrad, Essay examples

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Priestley present Mr. Birling Essay Example For Students

Priestley present Mr. Birling Essay Look again at the engagement party at the beginning of the party, up to the point where the Inspector first enters. In what ways does Priestley present Mr. Birling to us here so that we are prepared for his attitudes and behaviour in the rest of the play? (Refer in detail to language and events) At the very start of the play, it has already showed that Authur Birling is in charge of everything, even the port they are drinking. Now then, Sybil, you must take a little tonight. He is the head of the family. He is a successful businessman. He is always looking forward that the two companies (belong to him and Geralds dad) will merge sometime in the future. and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together for lower costs and higher prices. He is confident that his success as he mentions that and I speak as a hard-headed business man, who has to take risks and know what hes about He is also confident that strikes and labour troubles will not be a problem. He says conflicts between workers and their bosses will come to nothing. Dont worry. Weve passed the worst of it. We employers at last are coming together to see that our interests and the interests of Capital are properly protected. However, in 1912, there was the Lawrence textile strike. He says technological progress will continue and gives the Titanic as an example. He says it is and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable. However, the audience would have known that the Titanic had sunk. When Eric asks whether there is going to be a war. He says And to that I say fiddlesticks! The Germans dont want war. However, the audience also knows that two years later, there was World War One. These situations show that he is overconfident and a bit stupid. The play is set at a time of great change and great conflict. Everywhere workers are demanding more pay and better conditions. However, the Birlings and Crofts are owners and managers; they are not interested in equality or change. The world was changing, the bosses of the world needed to face up to their responsibilities. They could not just go on and on exploiting the workers. Mr. Birling thinks he can. a man has to make his own way He is a public figure in Brumley and is obsessed with his status in the community. You see, I was Lord Mayor here two years ago when Royalty visited us. And Ive always been regarded as a sound useful party man. So well I gather theres a very good chance of a knighthood Arthur Birlings life is all about money and power. He is trapped in a limited world where business is more important than people are and men in authority and business stick together to unite in making money. He is very traditional in his views. He always thinks of himself first and believes that is the only way to get through life. Priestley presents Mr. Birling to us in these ways before the Inspector first enters so that we are prepared for his attitudes and behaviour in the rest of the play.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Will Essay Example For Students

Will Essay About a Boy by Nick HornbyWill Freeman is the main character of About a Boy, even though he isalready far from being a boy. In fact, he is 38-year-old single Londoner. Will lives in his own world which appropriately refers to as anisland where owning an expensive car and designer clothes fulfill hissatisfaction. He is ecstatically childfree and against marriage, heactually feels sorry for married people with children. He wants to live hisown life and does not want to think of other peoples problems or beresponsible for them. His philosophy is to mean nothing, about anything toanyone and he thinks this will guarantee him a long, depression-free life. We will write a custom essay on Will specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now His nights, whenever possible, are devoted to beautiful women, withwhom he deliberately never starts a serious relationship. He likes the ideaof having a girlfriend, but plots his escape from them as soon as thingsget too serious or complicated. He is very proud of his way of life and of what he is doing. He ishandsome, self-observed, rich, yet shallow and women find his appearanceirresistible. Will spends his days buying new CDs, shopping for designerclothes and worrying about his up-to-the-second hairstyle on which hespends a fortune. How he finds time for all that is simply due to his lack of aprofessional life. Thanks to a ubiquitous Christmas song written by hisfather and recorded by everyone from Elvis to the Muppets, Will does nothave to work like the rest of the world. The royalties rolling in haveenabled him to make a profession an art, really out of avoidingresponsibility and filling his days with tasks of ease and fundamentallyunproductive actions. Nevertheless, he occasionally volunteers toparticipate in minor jobs such as work in soup kitchens, volunteer work,for which he fills in forms yet never reports for duty. A brief encounter with a single mother sets Will off on his newcareer, that of serial nice guy. As far as he is concerned, he is theperfect catch for the young mother on the go. After an interlude of sexualbliss, she will realize that her child is not ready for a man in theirlife. Will, having searched for a way out of the relationship with his lastvictim, happily rides off to the sunset where more single mothersapparently await. The only catch is that the best way to meet these womenis at single-parent get-togethers. That is when the lies begin. He joinsSPAT Single Parents Alone Together and all of a sudden, he is a singlefather of an imaginary child among many single mothers who all feel sorryfor him because the mother of his son took off and left him with all theresponsibility. As Will feels comfortable with telling lies, he createsthe illusion of his son by buying all sorts of child accessories to accountfor his always-absent child. What interferes with Wills well thought-through strategy, of course,is reality in the shape of a 12-year-old boy who is in many ways hispolar opposite. Having to put up with this child, who happens to beannoying, weird and entirely unaccustomed to fashion, for a long time findsa new view to life and himself. He even falls in love, which is a firsttime ever for him. In just a few weeks, he turns his philosophy from beingselfish and egocentric to being somewhat responsible and even caring. Tiina Thnas

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Service User Participation Myth Or Reality Social Work Essay Essays

Service User Participation Myth Or Reality Social Work Essay Essays Service User Participation Myth Or Reality Social Work Essay Essay Service User Participation Myth Or Reality Social Work Essay Essay As with all my past assignments, I have been aware non to utilize any names of service users or so the name of the administration I am employed by to keep namelessness and protect the confidentiality of the service users who avail of the service. This assignment has non required the aid of any service users or information from the bureau, hence, namelessness is non of issue in this piece of work, and I have non needed to inquire for their consent. The past 10 old ages have seen more acknowledgment and credence of the right of service users to take part in developing societal attention, particularly given the new duties that cardinal authorities legislative and policy enterprises have placed on administrations to confer with service users. As a consequence, service users are progressively asked to take portion in the planning, proviso and rating of services. This has created involvement in what works in engagement and why. Therefore, this assignment will look at issues around service user engagement, in peculiar, I will specify the footings participation , and service user , expression at the history of engagement, analyse Arnsteins ladder and its utilizations for engagement, good pattern and barriers to engagement, which shall include theory and research, to complete one shall discourse what is the deduction of engagement to societal work pattern. Service user engagement has emerged more so in the last 30 old ages as a cardinal characteristic in societal work policy, pattern, research and instruction. The accent on democracy in the UK over the past century has implied that members of society have a right to take part in civil life, and this accent on engagement has bit by bit been extended to public services ( Taylor et al 2004 ) . Service user engagement has been a cardinal subject in the modernization docket when defining and development services, it has besides been highlighted within recent statute law to affect service users in every facet of attention planning, bringing and reappraisal, besides in the engagement of service users and carers in the reform of societal work instruction ( Warren, 2009 ) . Service user engagement has been influenced by a figure of societal policy theories including consumerism, citizenship, human rights based theories and societal justness attacks, all have helped to organize a model for current pattern in service user engagement ( Abel et al, 2007 ) . However this country is a extremely complex and contested country with small research into how engagement really works in pattern, although there are many published plants on how engagement should be achieved but non how the result of engagement has been achieved. This is because the specifying the footings participation and service user can be hard to specify because of linguistic communication used and are subjective, for illustration, one person may depict themselves as something different to another. What is a service user? Beresford ( 2005, p471 ) states that Service user has tended to develop as a generic term to depict people who receive, have received or are eligible for wellness and societal attention services, peculiarly on a longer term footing . Beresford ( 2000, P489 ) besides highlights the term service user as debatable because it views people chiefly in footings of their usage of services, which may non be how they would specify themselves . A service user Tyler ( 2006 ) states that Being termed a service user is meaningless to anyone if it does non see the individual behind the label. Although I am proud of whom I am, what I have achieved and bask being me, it is of import that people see the bigger image of who I am . The label service user applies to us all, we all use services, some persons more than others which allow them to portion their single ideas and experiences to profit others. Determining our lives ( 2003 ) give their ain definition and depict this as the term service user can be used to curtail their individuality as if all they are is a inactive receiver of wellness and public assistance services they go to state that this do it look that the most of import thing about them is that they use or have used services and ignores other things that make a individual who they are . This definition indicates that persons are people foremost and thier commonalty of utilizing services and their shared experiences can assist to do betterments to services. However, each person s positions are different to each other s depending on their experiences and hence are non a homogeneous group. What is Participation? The Oxford lexicon ( 2010 ) defines engagement as the act of taking portion in something. However, ( Braye 2000, p9 ) states that the linguistic communication of engagement is complex ; the same term means different things to different people, and the same construct may be known as a figure of footings , such as partnership, engagement, and working together and coaction. Karen Healey ( 2000 ) has, for case, claimed that there is no cosmopolitan definition of user engagement or user engagement. The construct must ever be placed in a context. User engagement is therefore construed and perceived otherwise in different contexts. Public, societal and single. Involve understanding engagement. Engagement can include affecting the service user in the appraisal of their demands ; guaranting that their wants and feelings are taken into history, besides in the planning of services required, an illustration of this can be seen in direct payment and single budgets, and besides in the reviewing of attention programs and within meetings where determinations are to be made, this is specifically true in kids s services. The UN Convention ( 1989 ) on the right of the kid states Child engagement is the right of the every kid , and article twelve provinces Children have the right to be heard and considered in determinations impacting them ( unicef, 2009 ) . In this context partnership does non merely mention to working with other professionals and bureaus but besides working aboard service users and carers as equal spouses. Thompson ( 2000 ) high spots, societal work intercession involves the exercising of power, which if used negatively can reenforce the disadvantages that service u sers experience. Used positively nevertheless power can assist to heighten the working relationship, the results, and authorise the service user. Finally, engagement in strategic planning and service development, research and in the design and execution of statute law, for illustration, our wellness, our attention, our say ( Department of Health ( 2005 ) . Warren ( 2009, p6 ) states that participation, partnership, engagement, and working together are frequently used to encapsulate a broad scope of different thoughts and activities. These footings may sometimes be used interchangeably or can hold different significances for different people, there being no universally accepted definition . This besides states that this is a postmodernist position and that linguistic communication shapes our positions of world. If it is true that there is no understanding in how to specify engagement and it is subjective, comparative and is socially constructed, so engagement could be seen as a procedure instead than an result of intercession which so informs of the ground why there is small research into engagement and measuring results. For illustration, if the research is assessed in quantitative, numeral signifiers, such as inquiring how many persons have turned up to a meeting and got involved, it does non take into history that presence does non intend engagement, engagement can be done in so many other ways. For old ages now Arnstein s ladder ( 1969 ) has informed the pattern of engagement, and has been a cardinal papers in this country. Arnsteins ladder consists of 8 rounds arranged in a ladder form with each round matching to the extent of citizens power in finding the terminal merchandise ; hence, it focuses on the redistribution of power in citizen engagement in a hierarchical society. ( Arnstein, 1969 ) The purpose to engagement is to accomplish a echt partnership between the service user and bureau and although the ladder is a utile tool to find if the results are being achieved and that the bureau is non take parting in the rounds of tokenism or non engagement ( Dungey et al, 2007 ) . However, the undermentioned position of engagement suggest that Arnsteins ladder has for a long clip now gone uncontested and when looking at engagement we should take a critical stance on Arnsteins ladders and seek out other methods in order to be better informed. Tritter and McCallum ( 2006, p156 ) province that despite its importance in determining thought, this theoretical account continues to be applied uncritically , and argues that for Arnstein, the exclusive step of engagement is power to do determinations and prehending this control is the true purpose of citizen battle . Thus, the different rounds on the ladder relate straight to the grade to which citizens have attained determination doing power with complete citizen control being defined as the highest point ( Tritter and McCallum 2006, p157 ) . However, the battle of user engagement is complex and persons will explicate their ain significances and action that reflect in their ain positions of what engagement is and how they want to affect themselves. For illustration, a service user can take part and consequence determinations without really holding to hold the power to do a determination, and hence, Arnsteins ladder is constrained by a specific conceptualization of activism, su ch as hierarchies of power and that engagement should be procedures that are authorising and enabling at four degrees: system, administration, community, and single ( Tritter and McCallum, 2006 ) . Collins et Al ( 2006 ) besides agrees with this and suggests that Arnstein s ladder, with its focal point on power, is deficient for doing sense of engagement at a conceptual or pattern degree. Warren ( 2009, p50 ) states that different degrees of engagement of may be appropriate for different persons and groups of service users and carers at different times and contexts . Therefore, the ladder does non recognize the diversity of services users who may seek different degree of engagement in relation to different issues and at different times, it merely recognises the hierarchy of power which assumes that service users have a end and a step of this is non accomplishing full power and small chance to measure the person or groups engagement. Thompson ( 2000 ) discusses that power can be a complex issue that operates on different degrees. Quinney ( 2009, p33 ) states that shared power is a non hierarchal construction where power is shared but duty and answerability demands to be clear. Power sharing can be hard to negociate and is complicated by power being located and experienced at the personal, professional, and social degree . When service suppliers seek to affect service users, they frequently do so in order to derive feedback so that they can do alterations and betterments to their services. What this rule asserts is that attacks to engagement should besides be designed so that service users are personally empowered by the experience. In other words, there should be a bipartisan, instead than a one-way benefit. A good illustration of where things can travel incorrect in footings of engagement is when service users feel that their positions have non been listened to or taken earnestly, which can hold the consequence of doing people experience disempowered instead than empowered. Adams et Al ( 2002 ) states that In order to accomplish meaningful communicating, the societal worker demands to be able to construct a relationship with trust ; the kernel of partnership is sharing. It is marked by regard for one another, function divisions, and rights to information, answerability, competency and value accorded to single input. Each spouse is seen as holding something to lend, power is shared, determinations are made jointly and functions are non merely respected but are besides backed by legal and moral rights ( Tunnard, 1991 ) . In an overview of research from SCIE, Carr ( 2004 ) suggests that people are being involved and take parting, nevertheless, this research shows that it is ill-defined to what degree and impact that persons have on result, which suggests that better monitoring and rating demand to be addressed with service user which integrates function and feedback in the whole engagement procedure. Crawford et Al ( 2002 ) point out that the ultimate end of service user engagement should be the publicity of wellness, quality of life, or overall user satisfaction with services. However, these results are frequently hard to mensurate, they can take a significant sum of clip to go apparent, and the nexus with the engagement of services users and carers can be hard to turn out . Overall, the grounds base is by and large weak in the country of rating of user and carer engagement. Few documents examine the results of user engagement for the assorted stakeholders and the existent result steps are ill conce ptualised ( Carroll et al, 2007 ) . The issues involved with researching service user engagement are complex and sentiments are frequently polarized as it is in its babyhood, with many practical, ethical, moral, methodological, and philosophical inquiry unanswered ( Grant et Al, 2007 ) . No set theoretical account of how to take part Although there are expressed demands to measure how commissioners and suppliers are affecting their users, nevertheless there are fewer centrally set marks to asses this. Truman and Raine ( 2002 ) claim that there has been a long tradition within the voluntary sector of centering the planning and bringing of services on the demands of users. However, how this is managed can take to tokenism, for illustration, a service may name themselves user led, but in fact when the information from service users is interpreted by workers/ directors this reading can be lost in linguistic communication ; A service may affect service users in planning meetings but when implemented in pattern the workers can utilize their ain reading of this. Tokenism occurs when an administration feels satisfied that it has ticked the boxes, yet the world is experient really otherwise by service users and carers. Heikkila and Julkunen ( 2003 ) province that user particiaption and user engagement have two really different significances and that engagement is implicative that service user activity has an impact on the service procedure in some manner, whereas, engagement suggests that service user are engagement in a activity merely as sources. INVOLVE WEBSITE PUBS 3 theoretical account societal single and social. Put this and what its about as a presentation to particaption. Look at all three and analyse. Research Barriers to engagement As Is have already discussed above power is the biggest barrier to engagement, there are many more barriers which need to be discussed. Barriers are historical, fiscal, physical and attitudinal. Kenyon Et Al, ( 2002 ) specify entree as the procedures by which people are prevented from take parting in the economic, political and societal life of the community because of decreased handiness to chances, services and societal webs, due in whole or in portion to deficient mobility in a society and environment built around the premise of high mobility. The reappraisals indicate that organizational civilization and construction besides needs to react and alter in order to suit new partnerships and new ways of working with people who have frequently been oppressed and marginalised. There are things to larn about advanced and corporate attacks to engagement and alteration from user-controlled administrations such as Centres for independent/inclusive life and self protagonism strategies. Administrations require policies and processs ( formulated with service users ) that engender positive political committedness and minimise opposition to user led alteration. User-led research could usefully uncover more about the function of professional Alliess in advancing alteration. Healey ( 2000 ) highlights the demand for us to recognize the productiveness of power, and argues that by concentrating on power as merely being oppressive ignores the positive dimensions of power. to be sensitive to the issues of power and instabilities to recognize the power instabilities Healey ( 2005 ) discusses the pattern rules and how the societal worker should follow a positive and optimistic attitude towards service users, working in partnership with them so solutions to jobs are developed collaboratively. Tokenism occurs when an administration feels satisfied that it has ticked the boxes, yet the world is experient really otherwise by service users and carers. It is besides indispensable to observe that user engagement takes topographic point on different degrees ( Truman A ; Raine 2002 ) , 1 ) at a national and local degree ; 2 ) in the planning, organizing and pull offing services ; and 3 ) in organizing single attention Barriers to engagement Good pattern Deductions for sw authorization, info sharing ECT Policy and statute law

Friday, November 22, 2019

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Innovation for the 21st Century

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Innovation for the 21st Century In 1839, the first fuel cell was conceived by Sir William Robert Grove, a Welsh judge, inventor, and physicist. He mixed hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of an electrolyte and produced electricity and water. The invention, which later became known as a fuel cell, didnt produce enough electricity to be useful. Early Stages of the Fuel Cell   In 1889, the term â€Å"fuel cell† was first coined by Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer, who attempted to build a working fuel cell using air and industrial coal gas. Another source states that it was William White Jaques who first coined the term fuel cell. Jaques was also the first researcher to use phosphoric acid in the electrolyte bath. In the 1920s, fuel cell research in Germany paved the way for the development of the carbonate cycle and solid oxide fuel cells of today. In 1932, engineer Francis T Bacon began his vital research into fuels cells. Early cell designers used porous platinum electrodes and sulfuric acid as the electrolyte bath. Using platinum was expensive and using sulfuric acid was corrosive. Bacon improved on the expensive platinum catalysts with a hydrogen and oxygen cell using a less corrosive alkaline electrolyte and inexpensive nickel electrodes. It took Bacon until 1959 to perfect his design when he demonstrated a five-kilowatt fuel cell that could power a welding machine. Francis T. Bacon, a direct descendant of the other well known Francis Bacon, named his famous fuel cell design the Bacon Cell. Fuel Cells in Vehicles In October of 1959, Harry Karl Ihrig, an engineer for the Allis - Chalmers Manufacturing Company, demonstrated a 20-horsepower tractor that was the first vehicle ever powered by a fuel cell. During the early 1960s, General Electric produced the fuel-cell-based electrical power system for NASAs Gemini and Apollo space capsules. General Electric used the principles found in the Bacon Cell as the basis of its design. Today, the Space Shuttles electricity is provided by fuel cells, and the same fuel cells provide drinking water for the crew. NASA decided that using nuclear reactors was too high a risk, and using batteries or solar power was too bulky to use in space vehicles. NASA has funded more than 200 research contracts exploring fuel-cell technology, bringing the technology to a level now viable for the private sector. The first bus powered by a fuel cell was completed in 1993, and several fuel-cell cars are now being built in Europe and in the United States. Daimler-Benz and Toyota launched prototype fuel-cell powered cars in 1997. Fuel Cells the Superior Energy Source Maybe the answer to Whats so great about fuel cells? should be the question Whats so great about pollution,  changing the climate  or running out of oil, natural gas, and coal? As we head into the next millennium, it is time to put renewable energy and planet-friendly technology at the top of our priorities. Fuel cells have been around for over 150 years and offer a source of energy that is inexhaustible, environmentally safe and always available. So why arent they being used everywhere already? Until recently, it has been because of the cost. The cells were too expensive to make. That has now changed. In the United States, several pieces of legislation have promoted the current explosion in hydrogen fuel cell development: namely, the congressional Hydrogen Future Act of 1996 and several state laws promoting zero emission levels for cars. Worldwide, different types of fuel cells have been developed with extensive public funding. The United States alone has sunk more than one billion dollars into fuel-cell research in the last thirty years. In 1998, Iceland announced plans to create a hydrogen economy in cooperation with German carmaker Daimler-Benz and Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems. The 10-year plan would convert all transportation vehicles, including Icelands fishing fleet, over to fuel-cell-powered vehicles. In March 1999, Iceland, Shell Oil, Daimler Chrysler, and Norsk Hydroformed a company to further develop Icelands hydrogen economy. In February 1999, Europes first public commercial hydrogen fuel station for cars and trucks opened for business in Hamburg, Germany. In April 1999, Daimler Chrysler unveiled the liquid hydrogen vehicle NECAR 4. With a top speed of 90 mph and a 280-mile tank capacity, the car wowed the press. The company plans to have fuel-cell vehicles in limited production by the year 2004. By that time, Daimler Chrysler will have spent $1.4 billion more on fuel-cell technology development. In August 1999, Singapore physicists announced a new hydrogen storage method of alkali doped carbon nanotubes that would increase hydrogen storage and safety. A Taiwanese company, San Yang, is developing the first  fuel cell  powered motorcycle. Where Do We Go From Here? There are still issues with hydrogen-fueled engines and power plants. Transport, storage and safety problems need to be addressed. Greenpeace has promoted the development of a fuel cell operated with regeneratively produced hydrogen. European car makers have so far ignored a Greenpeace project for a super-efficient car consuming only 3 liters of gasoline per 100 km. Special Thanks goes to H-Power, The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Letter, and Fuel Cell 2000

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Forex risk management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Forex risk management - Dissertation Example ...6 Evidence and Valuation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 Learning form Cases of Companies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.....7 Presentations/Findings..........................................................................................8 Forex Risk Management.......................................................................................9 Other Tools for Forex Risk Management †¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....12 Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.13 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦...16 Bibliography Introduction A billionaire once related that with worrying trend of their national economy which is characterized by burgeoning debt, increasing unemployment rate, spiraling number of foreclosures of mortgage properties, there is one option to earn substantially—and, this is to trade currency. ... But how are they influenced and controlled by the market? Forex is a huge trading market that is geographically dispersed and exchanges could either be favorable or not, depending on the measures of risk management employed by limiting â€Å"trade lot size, hedging, trading only during certain hours or days, or knowing when to take losses†(Milton, 2011). Forex trading may seem easy, but in all honesty so difficult, indeed. Traders would either experience sudden corrections in currency exchange rates; bewildering variations in exchange rates; susceptibility to market’s rapid change for profit opportunities; lost payments; delay in the confirmation of receivables and fees; discrepancy of bank drafts received and the contract price† (Milton, 2011). Forex has four interdependent spot markets where currencies are traded. These are the spot market, futures market, option market and derivatives market. Most of the time, these markets are availed by key actors in direct a nd indirect investments, such as, exporters, importers, investors, speculators, and governments. Trading is often done at interbank markets and financial institutions although the most common currency traded is the US dollars. Exchange rates are managed either in fixed rate, semi-fixed systems, and floating rates. People trade to profit and such made the trading attractive to gain regardless where the market is going. Purpose of the study But Forex trading is not at all positively experienced. Many experienced problems too and were exposed to risks. Forex trading can make you rich or make you poor. It is about buying and selling currencies. If the value of the currency brought rise up, there is assured profit. But if it goes down, one’s loses. It is indeed risky. It is in this context that this

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Technology and beck's concept of world risk society Essay

Technology and beck's concept of world risk society - Essay Example Using this definition as the starting point, we get the subsequent argument that ‘Systemic events’ showed that industrial societies were generating hazards ‘that they could not control’ (Beck, 1999, 51, 44, 72). ‘Compounded risk’ had become the new meta-norm in a networked society (Daniell, 2000, 18). Hence, the thinking here is that the world is spinning out of control with people in the grip of â€Å"blind and impersonal† forces that they can neither control nor comprehend. In this context (Obama, 2006), the development of contraceptive pills and their widespread use has to be seen as a valiant effort at providing â€Å"space† to the marginalized (ethnic minorities, women) as a means of empowering them and providing them with reproductive choices. Ulrich Beck’s World Risk Society (1999) was a sociological meditation on the interlinked forces of ‘globalization, individualization, gender revolution, underemployment, and global risks (as ecological crisis and the crash of global financial markets)’ (Beck, 2000, 2). Beck examined the ‘risk calculus’ concept, the power dynamics and sociology of risk (why groups profit from ‘manufactured uncertainty’), the ‘sub-politics’ of global dissent (anti-globalist and environmental campaigns), and how reflexive modernity uses conjecture in response to crises. Beck’s work was essentially a treatise on the chaos that the processes that we shall talk about subsequently were unleashing on the world. In this context, Beck was in consonance with other social scientists that foresaw a dystopian vision for humanity and tried to warn us to the inherent dangers. In such a bleak scenario, it is worthwhile to consider the fact that the development of contraceptive pills is indeed a bright spot in an otherwise anarchical situation. For instance, Kaplan in his book The

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Macbeth was one of the first plays written during the reign of James I Essay Example for Free

Macbeth was one of the first plays written during the reign of James I Essay Macbeth was one of the first plays written during the reign of James I. Shakespeare intended to honour the King by glorifying Banquo, the legendary founder of the Stuart line. Hence the play also serves as a mirror for magistrates, a dramatization of the theme of kingship. James I strongly believed in the Divine Right of kings. He believed that the lord of the heavens had placed kings to rule over people in the world, thus Kings had a god-given right to rule and treachery was like turning away from God and not only the king. In actually fact, if you went against your own king, you were indeed challenging God. James I had ruled the Scottish Parliament more or less how he liked using the concept of Divine Right but when he came to rule over England, he found the English parliament far less easy to handle, insisting that the king could only rule by its consent. In Macbeth the common theme is based on the natural order of things. Macbeths lawless act destroys all law: it occasions confusion and disorder in the world of men and animals as well as in the heavens above. Everywhere there is upheaval: on the night when the murder is done, chimneys are blown down, lamentations and strange screams of death are heard in the air, and some say the earth was feverous and did shake (2,3,53-59). All this confirms the interdependency of man and nature. The natural elements, following the death of Duncan, are in strange disorder and there is the further recounting of other amazing violations of nature, the unnatural behaviour of animals no longer acting according to their ways. A falcon towering in her pride of place was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed (2,4,13). As you can probably guess the owl is supposed to represent King Duncan, on top of the chain, and mousing owl is supposed to be Macbeth, the person who broke this chain and disordered everything, to the tiniest atom. Macbeth, at the time would have been exceptionally, politically advantageous to James because it would have greatly increased the publics view that James I was Gods so-called Sergeant on earth, and so had the right to do or change whatever he pleased. The easiest way to attack a political rival was to accuse him of treachery and the easiest way to prove his treachery was to link him with one of the proscribed religious groups. In 1605 James dealt with some troublesome rivals by claiming to have detected a Catholic plot to blow up the parliament. In Scotland, even more than in England at the time, political troublemakers were accused of witchcraft and heresy. James himself was an authority on witchcraft and the London edition of his Demonology was published in 1603, the year of his accession to the throne of Great Britain. Certainly most people believed in the existence and power of witches, devils and ghosts and the religiously orthodox stressed that the devil could take many shapes. According to the teaching of the Church, Heaven and Hell were actual places and the central teaching of Christianity was the sinful (fallen) nature of man and the necessity of a sense of guilt to bring the sinner to accept the salvation from sinfulness offered by Christ. The reason of man was not foolproof and the Church urged the faithful to be on their guard against any suggestion of communication with the Devil. In Act I, Scene 3 of Macbeth Baquo expresses similar fears concerning the witches: Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner? (Lines 82-84) And And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betrays In deepest consequence (Lines 122-125 At the start of the play there surrounds two conflicting views of the hero, Macbeth. In scene 1, when the audience have already found out that the witches have met in order to meet Macbeth, a big question mark surrounds Macbeth. The audience is forced to ask themselves who is this Macbeth and what business does he have with these foul witches. In scene 2 the audience finds out the true identity of Macbeth. He is indeed a Hero! We learn that a battle between King Duncans army and the rebels is raging nearby. The scene starts of with King Duncan being given the latest news of the rebellion by the sergeant. The sergeant reports, with great enthusiasm, how the battle was at first, in balance. That is until, gallant and brave Macbeth, ignoring all the odds, slashing in and out with his bloody sword reached the traitor Macdowald and with no pity, ripped the traitor from head to toe. After hearing how the battle went, King Duncan has nothing but praise for the heroic deed of Macbeth and announces that Macbeth is to be given the title of Thane of Cawdor and the treacherous Cawdor is to be executed immediately. The battle is given a size and importance that magnify the qualities of Macbeth and our curiosity and anticipation are aroused to meet this might champion so praised by all who have seen him. But our memories still hold the mention of his name by the witches and the finale line of the scene (What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won) reminds us of line 4 in scene 1 (When the battles lost and one) and this connexion is consolidated in Scene 3. Macbeths first words echo the witches so foul is fair a day I have not seen. This suggests Macbeth is already in tune with the way the witches think. Banquo believes that these witches are in league with the devil and thus should not be trusted, Can the devil speak truth? However Macbeth wants to hear more of this strange intelligence, upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. The witches predict two things:- that Macbeth will become the thane of Cawdor, and the king hereafter. They also predict two things for Banquo that he will be lesser than Macbeth, and his children will be the kings after Macbeth. The witches second prediction of Macbeth (All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter) is exactly what Macbeth wants to hear because it is his greatest ambition to be king, the ultimate prize is his for grabs. The soliloquy beginning Two truths are told which shows that the witches second prediction has come true about Mabeth earning the title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth then begins thinking about the witches third prophecy the greatest is behind and what he needs to do now to become king. It is at this point that he starts to consider murder but he feels very uneasy about the word even though he is renown around Scotland as a ruthless soldier, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs (1,3,134-136). Macbeth is confused but still very ambitious. Macbeth shows signs of having a good heart and good intentions, but he also shows that he has a weak mind that ignores and disobeys what he knows is right. You can straight away see that Macbeth has got a powerful conscious when Lady Macbeth has a torrid time trying to convince him to kill King Duncan. At first he absolutely refuses to do such a horrible deed to such a noble person. He knows in his heart that to kill Duncan is wrong and deceitful. The reader can tell that Macbeth is trying is utmost best to resist the misgivings of his wife. We will proceed no further. He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon (1,7,31-35). Although he knows that this deed will have profound consequences he allows Lady Macbeth to persuade him into doing what he knows is wrong. Macbeth knows he has chosen the wrong path when he says, Ill go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look ont again, I dare not (2,3,46-48). Therefore Macbeth is disobeying what his own heart is telling him. In fact, Macbeth speaks of the distrust he has for his own heart when he says False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to do the murder by telling him that, all he is doing, is fulfilling his own lofty ambition and that surely he is not a coward. If he is a man, he should act like one. The fact that Macbeth is so easily persuaded to kill a man, proves that he must have considered murder before. It is also the sign of a person who has a weak mind and who does not stand up for himself. Lady Macbeth feeds on this weakness. Macbeth is tempted to do evil and Lady Macbeth is the key human agent the one Macbeth trusts and loves- who ensures his temptation is through and complete. Lady Macbeth, when we first encounter her is, dominant, determined, powerful, and even perhaps frightening in the intensity of her uncompromising desire for her husband to ascend the throne. Be it, the price of murder. We understand that Macbeth has his own deep desires, but this seems tame compared with Lady Macbeths unquenchable aspirations (she summons evil itself into her body and soul to unsex her and remove any doubts she might have). Further, we see in her actions, a cool, self-assured person, unlike her husband. When Macbeth falters, she is there and she also has the courage to return the daggers and to faint at the news of King Duncans murder, and so distract any attention from her husband. She plans the details of the murder; she has the future worked out. She is also pre-eminently cunning and shows no fear of the supernatural and death itself. That is why she can say, a little water clears us of this deed (2,2,67), because there is nothing to fear from God and old-fashioned ideas of retribution. She can happily envisage hypocrisy and falsehood. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth fates are inextricably joined, but her role and character support Macbeths destiny. However like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows moments of humanity she would have killed Duncan herself only he reminded her of her own father. It is these small details that perhaps indicate that she is not as cold and inhuman as she makes herself to be. It could actual, all be an act just to persuade Macbeth to do the final deed. This of course makes her breakdown seem the more inevitable as she is bound to blame herself in some way for the murder. Ultimately she finds out that water will not wash away the stain of blood. It is then ironic that Macduff on first meeting Lady Macbeth refers to her as gentle lady and one too sensitive to even hear the word murder. By the end of the play she is recognized for what she is, a fiend-like queen (5,6,108). Macbeth, in the final analysis, is too preoccupied with his own role to give support to her. Once he has done his first major murder he needs no help from her to do the others. Macbeth is a man of action: the play proves this in more ways then others. He is a fearless warrior and an important lord who defends his king against treachery. However, ambition is his finale weakness. He allows, first the witches prophesy and then his wifes ambition for him, to undermine his integrity. It is clear that he is not easily won over to evil. His conscience is strong and throws up many objections to his doing the deed. However, he is also too easily influenced in the direction that he secretly desires to go. Once he has decided, he does not deviate, and each step subsequently reaffirms his initial choice. Macbeth, then, is determined, and with this determination turns to a violent and ruthless path, full of chaos. So how does Macbeth a peerless kinsman, develops into King Duncans murderer? Is Macbeths mistake in killing gracious king Duncan, his entire fault? Is he to blame for his own doing or were they any other factors that bade him to do this terrible deed? Is Macbeth still the hero at the end of this play and does he deserve what he gets? For these Questions to be answered we need to look at the fundamental theme of the play, Ambition. Partly because it is the driving force of Macbeths life. Macbeth is a deep sentimental tragedy. Tragedy, in Shakespeare usually concerns a great person, the hero, who through some weakness of his character falls from grace, endures intense sufferings (which fascinate the audience), and who inevitable dies a tragic death. In fact, who must die as a consequence of their weakness. Thus if you look at The Tragedy of Macbeth, we find all these ingredients; and if we consider what is the heros weakness, it must and can only be ambition. Macbeth says this specifically when he is attempting to resist the murder of Duncan: I have no spur.but only/Vaulting ambition which oerleaps itself (1,7,25-7).This acknowledgement comes after he has considered all the good reasons for not murdering Duncan. Only ambition is left to overrule his troubled conscience. Furthermore, whilst the influence of both Lady Macbeth and the witches is strong, their power over Macbeth is only possible because the ambition is already there. Macbeth ,then, is a hero but one who is fatally undermined by his ambition, that are the fabric of the play. Put in another way: it is his ambition that leads Macbeth to murder, treason, hypocrisy, corruption and deepest evil.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Elie Wiesel Essay -- essays research papers fc

Elie Wiesel The book Night opens in the town of Signet where Elie Wiesel, the author , was born . He lived his child hood in the Signet, Transylvania . He had three sisters Hilda, Bea, and Tzipora. His father was an honored member of the Jewish community. He was a cultured man concerned about his community yet, he was not an emotional man. His parents were owners of a shop and his two oldest sisters worked for his parents. Elie was a school boy and interested in studying the Zohar â€Å"the cabbalistic books, the secrets of Jewish mysticism†(Wiesel 3). His teacher was a foreigner, Moshe the Beadle, a â€Å"poor barefoot of Signet†(Wiesel 3). He was Elie's teacher until he was forced to leave Signet by the Hungarians because he was a foreign Jew. After several months Elie saw Moshe the Beadle once again. Moshe the Beadle told his story about his journey that the Jews were forced to get out and dig grave which would become final resting places for prisoners who were killed. Luckily, Moshe the Beadle was able to escape. He pretended that he was dead in order to escape being killed. Not only did Moshe tell his story to Elie, he wanted to warn the Jews of Signet of what could happen to them. However, they only thought it was a vivid imagination speaking from his lips. No one wanted to believe his story and people lived life as usual. It was not until German troops would enter Hungarian territory that life would change for the Jews of Signet. At first the German soldiers did not seem like a threat. During the week of Passover things seemed to be going well. People were celebrating yet, it was not a complete celebration. On the seventh day of the Passover Jewish leaders of the community were arrested. After that rules were set by the Germans. Jews were confined to their homes for three days and they could no longer keep valuables such as gold, jewelry and other objects. The Germans took it all. Elie's father managed to bury the family's savings in the cellar. After the three days Jews had to wear a yellow star. After this more rules were set. Jews could not go to restaurants, travel on railways, go to synagogues, or go out after six o'clock. As if the rules and restrictions were not enough. Soon Jews would be placed in Ghettos. There were two gettos set up in Signet. These ghettos were fenced in with barbed wire and the windows of the houses facing the street were boarded... ...last moments of his life. On January 28, 1945 Elie went to sleep and his father was still alive. When he woke up the next day his father was gone(Wiesel 106). On April 11,1945 Elie was free. The Americans moved in on Buchenwald and took over the camp. The first thing the free men wanted was food. They could not think of revenge or their families â€Å"Nothing but bread†(Wiesel 109). Elie was sick from food poisoning after the liberation, he almost died. However, when he was finally able to get up and look in the mirror after so many years he did not even recognize himself. All he could see was a â€Å"corpse† staring back at him. Elie Wiesel now lives in the United Stated under the name of Andrew Mellon. He is the Professor of Humanities at Boston University. He is also Chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Council. This organization is a nonpolitical organization that was formed to educate people of the crimes put forth on the Jewish people during the Holocaust (Chaimberlin 14). Works Cited Chamberlin, Brewster, and Marcia Feldman eds. The Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps 1945. Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C, 1987. Wiesel, Elie. Night . Bantam Books: New York, 1989 .

Monday, November 11, 2019

Definition of Nursing

â€Å"Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through diagnosis and treatment of human responses, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations,† defines the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2003, p. 6). The six main features of nursing are: provision of caring relationship to promote health; the different human experiences and responses to health and illnesses; assessment of data and knowledge to understand each age group; application of knowledge, judgment, and critical thinking to diagnosis and treatment; advancement of professional nursing knowledge; influences on social and public policy to promote social justice; and the assurance of safe, quality, and evidence based practice (ANA, 2010, p. 9). Discussed will be the definitions and examples of human responses, nursing application, nursing actions, and nursing outcomes. Human Responses According to the ANA (2010), a human response is defined as, â€Å"the responses of individuals to actual or potential health problems, and which are the phenomena of concern to nurses† (p. 10). Human responses are basically the problems that nurses want to work on or solve. â€Å"Human responses include any observable need, concern, condition, event or fact of interest to nurses that may be the target of evidence-based nursing practice,† states the ANA (2010, p. 0). Human responses are the target of evidence-based practice in relation to birth, health, illness, and death (ANA, 2003, p. 71). An example is the care processes, which is seen in a patient who is unable to care for themselves where the nurse assumes this role to care for the patient (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Another example is physiological and pathophysiological processes such as respiration, circulation, and elimination (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Research is continuously investigating the best practice in caring for the body’s physiological process. For example, if a patient cannot urinate, a catheter is place to aid elimination. A protocol for insertion and how often the catheter should be changed has been determined from research making it evidence-based practice. Another example of human responses is physical and emotional comfort, discomfort, and pain (ANA, 2003, p. 71). Pain medications and interventions to relieve pain are researched to find the best method to reduce pain and promote comfort. The last example of human responses is decision and choice making abilities (ANA, 2003, p. 1). Through evidence-based practice, the nurse is able to use knowledge about the best standards of practice to critically think when caring for a patient. Nursing Theory According to the ANA (2010), nursing theory is defined as, â€Å"a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, or propositions used to systematically describe, explain, predict, or control human responses or phenomena of interest to nurses† (p. 10). Nursing theory is main ly the science and reason behind what evidence-based practice is founded on. Jean Watson was a mid-range theorist who focused on the theory of human caring (Cherry, 2011, p. 98). Her theory was summarized as, â€Å"philosophy and science of caring and humanistic nursing; this holistic outlook addresses the impact and importance of altruism, sensitivity, trust, and interpersonal skills† (Cherry, 2011, p. 95). This theory serves as a basis for evidence-based practice because caring for others is basis of nursing. Also, trust and rapport has to be evident in the nurse-patient relationship to provide adequate care in healing others. Caring promotes the notion that every human being strives for interconnectedness with other humans and with nature,† explains Cherry (2011, p. 98). The goal is for the patient to experience balance and harmony in mind, body, and soul to overcome illness (Cherry, 2011, p. 98). Nursing Actions According to the ANA (2010), nursing actions are defined as the aims to, â€Å"protect, promote, and optimize health; to prevent il lness and injury; to alleviate suffering; and to advocate for individuals, families, communities, and populations. † (p. 11). The ANA (2010) continues by stating, â€Å"nursing actions are theoretically derived, evidence-based, and require well-developed intellectual competencies† (p. 11). For example, one nursing action/intervention to promote health is good hand hygiene by nurses to prevent the spread of infection to patients. A nursing action/intervention to prevent injury is assessing a patient’s surroundings to help prevent falls such as keeping the bed in a low position, the room uncluttered, and having the patient ask for help before trying to get out of bed. Another xample of a nursing action/intervention to promote safety for the patient and aid in the prevention of medication errors is the five rights of medication administration which are the right patient, right dose, right route, right time, and right documentation. A nursing action/intervention to prevent needle stick injury in nursing is going to the needleless system by using retractable needles, not recapping needles, and alwa ys disposing needles in the â€Å"sharps† container. Most of the tasks and procedure have a protocol and has been researched. They have been proven as the best practice method, so it is known as evidence-based practice. Nursing Outcomes Nursing outcomes are basically the last part of the process and the final effects. The ANA (2010) explains this as: The purpose of nursing action is to produce beneficial outcomes in relation to identify human responses. Evaluation of outcomes of nursing actions determines whether the actions have been effective. Findings from nursing research provide rigorous scientific evidence of beneficial outcomes of specific nursing actions (p. 11). Human responses are the initial situation or problem. Nursing outcomes are the final effects after the nursing theories and actions have been implemented. The outcomes are reviewed to see if it should be implemented into practice or not. The combination of the two is what defines evidence-based practice and if it is implemented then that has been found to be the best result to be put into practice. Conclusion Human responses, nursing theory, nursing actions, and nursing outcomes are essential characteristics in defining the nursing practice. Nurses are valued for their knowledge, skills, and caring to aid in improving the health of the public (ANA, 2003, p. ). Nurses are responsible for providing safe, effective, and quality care (ANA, 2003, p. 1). Nurses use human responses to anticipate actual or potential problems. They use nursing theories to assist in working on the actual or potential problem. They then implement an action to see if that will help to solve the problem. Then finally, the nurse will see if the outcome has been effec tive and if so they are helping to bring it into practice. Nursing will continue to be defined in the future using these characteristics of evidence-based practice.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

General Trends of English Politics Before The Viking Invasions Essay

Do you detect any general trend or trends in the pattern of English politics before the Viking invasions? Although there were sporadic Viking attacks on the coasts of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from 793 onwards, the Viking invasions, when large forces started to appear for sustained campaigns, should probably be seen as beginning in 865, when a â€Å"heathen army† encamped on Thanet.1 Before this time, we see a trend in English politics of increasingly extensive overlordship of some kings over others. There is debate about the extent of these overlordships, but it seems reasonable to suggest that certain kings at certain times were able to dominate other kingdoms, and also that there was some increase in the area a king might aspire to control. However, there is more argument about what this trend might mean, and particularly whether it can be seen as part of an inexorable progression towards the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the ninth and tenth centuries. I shall argue that the pattern tended to a limit, and that there is no reason to see unification as its inevitable result, for three main reasons. Firstly, we see another trend that, as kingdoms grew both in size and strength, it became harder to convert overlordship into amalgamation, although this is seen in some cases. Secondly, I shall contend that the overlordship seen was based upon opportunism, with little or no institutional continuity between different overlords. Thirdly, the nature of Anglo-Saxon politics was such that no kingdom before the Viking invasions could sustain its ascendancy sufficiently for the trends to represent long-term moves towards unification. The best way to explain the eventual unification is not as a result of long-term trends, but as West Saxon opportunism at a time when the other kingdoms were weak, buttressed by a latent sense of united ecclesiastical identity, which the Viking threat brought to the surface. The main trend that we see in the pre-Viking Anglo-Saxon kingdoms is the growth of overlordship, whereby one political unit, while retaining a degree of separate identity, and quite possibly its own ruler, was dominated by another. Bede uses a variety of terms to refer to different rulers, including rex, princeps and subregulus. The impression that one gets from this is a complex patchwork of kings, with some subordinate to others: Dumville and Campbell both justifiably point out that the terminological variety suggests that there was no universal pattern, but a web of dependent relationships; this is similar to the situation in Ireland at the same time. It is likely that such relationships go back to the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period; Kirby points out that this would hardly be surprising, since Tacitus describes similar hierarchies in Germany. However, we do see overlordship being exercised over increasingly large areas: the traditional starting point here is Bede’s lis t of seven kings who ruled â€Å"over all the southern kingdoms†. 2 The evidence does generally support the view that these kings exercised considerable power over large parts of England. Keynes asserts that it is inconceivable that Aelle of Sussex and Ceawlin of Wessex, the first two rulers, could have wide ranging power. We know little about them, but the Chronicle entries do suggest that they were significant and had successes, particularly against the Britons.3 Furthermore, Myres’ studies of the distribution of pottery fragments suggest that both rulers exercised some authority in the Midlands and East Anglia, since pottery finds match those in their native kingdoms. The evidence is not sufficient to suggest that they had control as far north as the Humber, but we would be unwise to dismiss the idea that these kings had some form of overlordship over much of southern England. Furthermore, Keynes is sceptical about Aethelbert of Kent’s power, suggesting that Bede’s reiteration of the claim that he was king of all the land south of the Humber4 shows that this was dubious, requiring repetition to convince readers. However, the papal appeal that Aethelbert should spread the Word to his subjects suggests that he had considerable power, as Higham argues, even if he was not literally â€Å"king of the English†, the style accorded to him by the appeal.5 It is less easy to rebut Keynes’ diminution of Raedwald of East Anglia, since we know very little about him. If we could be more certain that the person buried at Sutton Hoo is indeed Raedwald (as many historians posit), we could assume that he was a very rich and powerful king; however, Keynes does not give us any positive reason to doubt Bede’s claim regarding Raedwald’s wide overlordship. Although Keynes asserts that Bede makes inflated claims about the scope of the influence of Edwin, Oswald and Oswiu of Northumbria, there is no strong evidence to support this: Bede’s account is internally consistent, giving examples of these kings intervening in the Mevanian Islands (Angelsey and Man),6 Wessex,7 East Anglia,8 and Mercia9 at various times. These interventions could be entirely military (as is implied for the islands) or could involve peaceful shows of power, such as Oswald’s participation in the baptism of Cynigils of Wessex. It seems reasonable to conclude that these kings did exert influence across large parts of Southumbria and it appears that the areas they could control increased; Keynes’ attempt to deny extensive overlordship in this period to strengthen his (already strong) case against a formal Bretwaldic institution is not particularly convincing. Furthermore, overlordship did not end with Oswiu: indeed, the later Mercian kings were possibly even more successful in securing practical overlordship across much of Southumbria. Bede acknowledges that the southern kingdoms were subject to Aethelbald at the time he was writing,10 supporting Dumville’s conclusion that the omission of the Mercian kings from the earlier list was prompted by concern to curtail the digression from Aethelbert’s death, rather than Northumbrian bias. There is evidence of Mercian hegemony in the south before Aethelbald: Bede explicitly states that the South Saxons were subject to Wulfhere11 and Eddius refers to Wulfhere’s ability to draw forces from all the southern kingdoms.12 Furthermore, charters give us evidence that Mercian kings were overlords in Southumbria: in the Ismere Diploma, Aethelbald is styled â€Å"king not only of the Mercians but also of all provinces which are called by the general name ‘South English'†;13 Offa could confirm a land grant by an ealdorman of the South Saxons;14 Offa was apparently the â€Å"most beloved lord† of the Hwicce;15 Offa was in a position to revoke a grant of land by the King Egbert of Kent;16 Wiglaf could grant land in Worcestershire;17 and Brihtwulf could do the same in Berkshire.18 This charter evidence is very important: it demonstrates that the kings of Mercia in this period claimed authority over other southern kingdoms and also implies that this authorit y could have practical manifestations, such as the right to grant land or at least to confirm grants made by their underkings. The extent of their authority seems to decline after Offa, but the principle of overlordship, in a more limited sense, continued. One of the most debated possible indicators of widespread Mercian overlordship is the document known as the Tribal Hidage. The difficulties and ambiguities of this text are such that the charter evidence cited is a far stronger sign of extensive Mercian overlordship, but there is a significant possibility that the Tribal Hidage is a Mercian tribute list, estimating the tribute that the Mercian kings hoped to collect from southern kingdoms. Higham’s bold self-confidence in dismissing a Mercian origin is unwise, in that such levels of certainty are wholly inappropriate in this context: all we can do is suggest hypotheses, while accepting that other hypotheses may be valid. As Featherstone and Sawyer point out, the methodical arrangement, with the kingdoms being arranged in an approximately clockwise order around Mercia, hints at a Mercian origin. The inclusion of a figure for Mercia, which Higham sees as evidence that the document is a Northumbrian tribute list, might be an assessment of internal food renders, Featherstone suggests. The preservation and copying of the Tribal Hidage imply that there was some practical purpose in estimating the hidation of Southumbria: it is still possible to accept tentatively the claims of Davies and Vierck that the Tribal Hidage is an indicator of widespread Mercian overlordship. There is some agreement that Egbert of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle appends to Bede’s list of overlords and styles Bretwalda (Manuscript A – ‘ruler of Britain’) or Brytenwalda (other Manuscripts – ‘wide ruler’), was overlord of extensive territories. Keynes accepts the Chronicle’s claim that Egbert â€Å"conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and everything south of the Humber†;19 this statement must cast doubt upon Stenton’s assertion that the extent of Egbert’s overlordship was not comparable to Offa’s. Nevertheless, Keynes’ claim that Egbert was the first, not the eighth, wide ruler is dubious: the evidence very strongly suggests that overlordship had been an aspect of Anglo-Saxon politics for centuries. However, the territories being brought under a single overlord were tending to increase in scale: the archaeological record suggests that the early great kings, like Aelle and Ceawlin, could aspire to rule much of the land south of the Humber, but nothing like as much as the later Mercians and Egbert. This trend was not relentless: in the period between Offa and Egbert, there is little evidence of comprehensive overlordship on the scale of either of these rulers. Although we observe this trend towards the formation of more extensive overlordships, we should not conclude, as Stenton and John do, that this trend could be extrapolated to encompass the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the first place, it seems to have been increasingly difficult to convert overlordship into the actual amalgamation of kingdoms. Initially, with small kingdoms, it may not have been unduly difficult to effect such assimilation: Yorke points out that East Kent seems to have consumed West Kent sometime during the sixth century. Indeed, much amalgamation probably occurred in the sixth century, before the various kingdoms that we see emerged. Furthermore, it was often possible for a larger kingdom to digest a smaller one: this is seen in the cases of Deira (eventually subsumed into Bernicia after 651) and the Hwicce (gradually divested of independence by Mercia in the eighth century). However, integration was not always smooth: despite being united under Aethelfrith and Edwin, Deira was ruled separately under Oswine from 642 until 651. In the latter part of the pre-Viking period, it would have been very difficult for one of the greater kingdoms to consume another permanently: this is suggested by the fact that, despite their struggles and periods of subjection to one another, Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex all survived until the Viking onslaught. An illustration of this difficulty is the case of Mercia: Oswiu of Northumbria was only able to rule Mercia directly for three years after his victory in 655; he was driven out by the Mercian ealdormen in 658. Similarly, Egbert’s domination of Mercia was not secure: he was recognised as king by the Mercians in 829 but Wiglaf was restored in 830. Indeed, it would seem that political union was most successful when it was pursued gently: unlike Offa’s aggressive attempts to dominate Kent from 764 until 785, Wessex’s absorption of Kent and Sussex was done with sensitivity to the local nobles; this did, however, mean that the sense of union was perhaps not cemented, as is suggested by Aethelwulf’s proposed division of Greater Wessex, with Aethelbert succeeding in the East and his other sons taking Wessex itself in turn. However, unification in the ninth and tenth centuries can be explained in that the situation after the coming of the Vikings was different, since Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria were seriously weakened by the attacks, aiding Wessex’s expansion. Moreover, the overlordship that we see was probably highly opportunistic, without institutional underpinnings. Yorke is probably right that the principal motivation for overlordship was the collection of tribute: Bede mentions tribute in connection with overlordship20 and Eddius says that Wulfhere’s purpose in attacking Northumbria was to gain tribute.21 Furthermore, the Mercians could presumably have conquered a tribe like the Hicca (assessed at a mere 300 hides in the Tribal Hidage), had they wished to do so; that such tribes existed as notionally independent entities suggests that, if the Tribal Hidage is a Mercian tribute list, the Mercians were content with tribute rather than political union. However, John argues that there was some kind of institutional framework and that overlordship was being gradually translated into unification. Key to this argument is the adoption of formal titles by kings: John contends that the ideal of a united Britain was a real one in kings’ minds, citing the use of various titles. The most famous of these is Bretwalda or, as John prefers, Brytenwalda, which appear in different versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;22 I shall not become drawn into an argument about which style is the original, because the ambiguity and confusion is sufficient of itself, as Wormald argues, to cast doubt upon the existence of such an institution in reality. Clearly, whoever was copying the manuscripts was not familiar with the term, which suggests that it was a literary construct devised retrospectively to describe Egbert; its frequent application to kings like Aelle and Raedwald is therefore probably anachronistic and Kirby’s vision of kings â€Å"striving to become Bretwalda†23 is most likely to be fanciful. John also argues that other titles imply the existence of some kind of abstract concept of overlordship separate from the individual kings who happened to be overlords. For example, he highlights that Adomnan says that Oswald was â€Å"ordained by God as emperor of all of Britain†24 and that Boniface refers to Aethelbald â€Å"wielding the glorious sceptre of imperial rule over the English†.25 This evidence, combined with the point about Bretwaldas, is a rather thin basis for a case: it is quite possible that the titles were simply being used for flattery; the fact that Boniface calls Aethelbald â€Å"king of the Mercians† in his letter asking Herefrith to deliver the previous communication suggests that the imperial title used in the letter to Aethelbald was unofficial.26 Moreover, Offa is also generally styled â€Å"king of the Mercians†,27 as is Cenwulf.28 In their charters, they tend to claim to be kings of various kingdoms, rather than stressing title s of institutional overlordship. If there was no institution of overlordship, each de facto overlordship would have to start afresh in trying to create cohesion: the trend of increasingly extensive overlordship was not therefore destined to result in the formation of England, since there was often little continuity between the different overlords. The sense of common identity that began to emerge by the later ninth century (Alfred could speak of Angelkynn and Englisc) probably had far more to do with religious unity in the face of the pagan Viking threat. As Wormald argues, the Church, rather than the so-called Bretwaldas, was the institution that provided a common reference point for the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, by stressing that the Gens Anglorum was a chosen people, selected to receive the Word. Given that there were most probably no institutions to produce continuity in overlordship, momentum towards unification could only be maintained as long as a particular kingdom was in the ascendant; however, the nature of Anglo-Saxon politics in this period was such that success tended to be transient. We see this is Northumbria, whose hegemony collapsed very quickly after defeats at the Battle of the Trent (679) and Nechtansmere (685). Likewise, Mercian hegemony seems to have declined gradually after Offa. There was, to a significant extent, a natural instability in the pattern of politics: kings required land to grant to warriors (to secure their support), which required the conquest of land, which required more warriors; this pattern was clearly unsustainable in the longer term. The importance of giving gifts to warriors is seen in â€Å"Beowulf†, where Hrothgar says that he will â€Å"dispense / his God-given goods to young and old†;29 Bede shows that such gifts were necessary in the real world, expressing concern that excessive endowment of secularised monasteries had left Northumbria with insufficient land to grant to warriors. 30 There is evidence to suggest that warriors would desert their lord, if he ceased to provide them with treasure and land: Aldhelm expresses disapproval of those who do this in his letter to the clergy of Bishop Wilfrid.31 Probably, the importance of conquering new lands explains why the initiative shifted away from the south-east to Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex: these kingdoms could, at least for a while, conquer land from Britons, in a way that kingdoms like Kent could not. A notable feature of both â€Å"Beowulf† and Anglo-Saxon politics is that kingdoms tended to come to grief sooner or later; success was rarely lasting. Another source of instability was internal dynastic politics: there seem to have been frequent civil wars. This is hardly surprising given that, according to Dumville, any aetheling could claim the throne through descent in the male line from the founder of the kingdom: the â€Å"multiplicity of aethelings†32 would not infrequently compete for the kingship. The Historia Regum attributed to Simeon of Durham demonstrates that four different dynasties competed for the Northumbrian throne between 759 and 796, with murders, exiles and (probably forced) tonsures being common.33 Similarly, there is evidence of the threat of dynastic instability in Mercia, in that Offa decided to eliminate his son Cenwulf’s potential competitors; Alcuin attributes conflict in Cenwulf’s reign to this policy and says that â€Å"this was not the strengthening of his kingdom, but its ruin†. 34 Given that there were such internal problems, it is hardly surprising that kingdoms could lose overlordship quickly, as dynastic politics came to predominate. The importance of dynastic stability is seen in the eventual rise of Wessex: Egbert’s successes against Mercia came when the latter was probably engaged in dynastic wrangles; Campbell suspects that neither Ludeca (825-7) nor Wiglaf (827-40) were related to their predecessors. On the other hand, the West Saxon succession was more stable, as Dumville points out: this is seen in the succession in turn of Aethelwulf’s sons, even if it did not conform entirely to Aethelwulf’s intentions. However, dynastic tension was generally a feature of the pre-Viking period: this contributed to the rapid rise and fall of kingdoms, meaning that overlordship could not consolidate into unification. We do therefore see a trend towards greater overlordships in this period, though it must be noted that this trend was gradual and not entirely linear. Nevertheless, it is clear that certain kings were able to exert influence over far larger areas just before the Viking invasions than others could at the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period. However, it would be unwise to extrapolate this trend and interpret it as some kind of progression towards the eventual unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms under the West Saxons. It became harder to translate overlordship into political amalgamation as kingdoms grew, and overlordship was not itself stable, given the internal vicissitudes of kingdoms. We see that, before the later ninth and tenth centuries, no kingdom could sustain overlordship for long and, in the absence of recognised institutions of overlordship, this meant that whatever progress might conceivably have been made towards unification under one overlord was lost when his kingdom’s power waned. The rise of Wessex was predicated upon factors that mostly could not have been foreseen: it was able to take advantage of the weakness of the other English kingdoms in the wake of the Viking attacks and could exploit the latent sense of religious unity, which was probably made stronger by the common, external, pagan threat. Bassett’s extended metaphor of a knockout football competition, which inevitably produces a single winner, is not particularly apposite; while we might nowadays modify Kemble’s nineteenth century allusions (he described overlordship as â€Å"a mere fluctuating superiority such as we may find in Hawaii, Tahiti or New Zealand, due to success in war and lost in turn by defeat†35), his basic conclusion, that the overlordships that we see in the pre-Viking Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were not leading inexorably towards unification, still seems entirely reasonable. Bibliography Sources: Adomnan, Life of Columba, ed. and trans. R. Sharpe (1995) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 1, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Beowulf, trans. S. Heaney (1999) Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ed. and trans. B. Colgrave and R.A.B. Mynors (1969) Bede, Letter to Egbert, in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 170, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Eddius, Life of St Wilfred, in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 154, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Simeon of Durham, Historia Regum, in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 3, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Charters: in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 54, 66-7, 76-7, 79-80, 85-7 Letters: in ‘English Historical Documents’, i, 165-6, 177-9, 191-3, 195, 197-200, 202, 204-5, 208-10, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Secondary works: S. Bassett (ed.), The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (1989) M.P. Brown and C.A. Farr (eds.), Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe (2001) J. Campbell, Bede’s Reges and Principes (Jarrow Lecture 1979), in J. Campbell, Essays in Anglo-Saxon History (1986) J. Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (1982) J. Campbell, The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery on the Study of Anglo-Saxon History, in J. Campbell, The Anglo-Saxon State (2000) W. Davies and H. 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