Topic of the paper will focus on a criminal case that has been Essay - 1

Topic of the paper will focus on a criminal case that has been adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court and has implications on the criminal justice system - Essay Example The court thus proceeded to assign him one by the name of Kirk McAllister who was a veteran defense lawyer. As the case proceeded, however, Scott Peterson later stated that he would be able to afford a private attorney after all and hired the services of Mark Geragos who had handled other high profile cases similar to his (Crier & Thompson, 2005). The judge appointed to the case later on moved the trial from Modesto, California where the crime had been committed to Redwood City in the year 2004 due an increase in hostility towards the defendant (Scott Peterson). The judge felt that due to this hostility, the judge felt that Scott would not be able to receive a fair trial in Modesto as individuals in that region had already perceived him as guilty and it would have been impossible to get a non bias jury in that area (Beratlis et al, 2007). The hostility was due to the type of coverage that the case received from the media. (Bird, 2005) The news had already portrayed Scott Peterson as an inhumane individual who was accountable for the death of an innocent woman and an unborn child. They covered the story as if the defendant was guilty, and the process of the trial was just a preliminary to the inevitable end result of a guilty verdict. In order to ensure that Scott Peterson would be able to get a fair trial, the judged moved the case to another area away from Modesto, where the residents felt bereaved as they had lost one of their own. It should b noted, however, that the coverage of the country was country wide, and thus it cannot be said how much the move changed matters in terms of the defendants portrayal (Beratlis et al, 2007). The main witness of the prosecution also hired her own attorney who played a big role as a sympathizer to the prosecution as she was not bound by the gag order that prohibited the others who were involved

Leopards and Humans Conflict in india Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leopards and Humans Conflict in india - Essay Example Apart from the encroachment of humans into protected regions, another reason why wild animals cross over to human landscape is food shortage in protected regions. This is due to high competition between carnivores such as leopards and tigers. This usually prompts wild animals such as the leopards to move onto human land in search of food where they normally target human livestock, dogs and chicken. In the republic of India, conflicts between human beings and wildlife are a common occurrence. One common wild animal that humans are ever having conflicts with is the leopard. According to Ramesh [1], leopards are adaptable animals that are capable of living not only in but also around human dominated landscapes. Conflicts between humans and wild animals such as the leopards normally occur when humans cross into protected areas or wild animals crossing over to human territory. Wild animals such as the leopard and other carnivores normally cross to human territory in search for food, whereby they usually target livestock [2]. In most cases when human beings interact with wild animals, a conflict ensues and apart from injuries, this results to loss of lives on both sides. It is because of this that the Indian government is ever on the move to ensure that the rate of human-wildlife conflicts are minimized since if left to prevail could eventually result to extinction of endangered spe cies. The paper will relay information on how human-wildlife conflicts are a major problem in India in addition some of the most appropriate measures that ought to be enacted in order to minimize the conflicts. In a move to determine how adverse the conflict between human beings and wildlife has become, a number of researches were conducted in various protected regions and its environs. One study was in Akole Tahsil, a densely populated region located in Ahmednagar district. In the western regions of Akole

Function of Water in the Human Body

Function of Water in the Human Body Water mainly enters the human body through the food and drink we consume. A small proportion of water is obtained from oxidative metabolism e.g. in respiration. Human beings mainly lose water by excretion in urine and faeces. Water is also lost through evaporation e.g. as sweat (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006) The kidneys are highly specialised organs of the body and play an important role in homeostasis. The kidney maintains homeostasis by regulating water balance, waste removal and blood composition and pressure. The kidneys dispose of waste by-products of metabolism and hence prevent the build up of toxic products in the body and to regulate the chemical components of the bodys fluids by responding to any imbalances of body fluids. These functions are fulfilled by a process of filtration of blood, which mainly includes the movement of solutes between the internal fluid and external environment. The movement of solutes is normally through a transport epithelium, in the case of the kidney it is in the form of a tubular channel; this tubular channel gives the kidney a large surface area. The kidneys weigh less than 1% of the human body, they receive approximately 2 % of blood pumped with each heartbeat. Urine exits the kidney through a duct called the ureter. The ureters of both kidneys drain into a common urinary bladder. Urine leaves the body from the urinary bladder to the urethra which empties near the vagina in females or through the penis in males. (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Michael F. et al. 2001) At one end the nephron forms a cup-shaped structure called glomerulus From the glomerulus a tube runs towards the centre of the kidney first forming a twisted region called the proximal convoluted tubule and then a long hair-pin loop in the medulla, it runs back upwards into the cortex where it forms another twisted region called the distal convoluted tubule, this then joins a collecting duct which leads down the medulla and into the renal pelvis The functional unit of the kidney is a nephron. Microscopic sections of the kidney show that the kidney is made up of thousands of nephrons. Fig1b shows the location of a nephron and Fig2 shows the detailed structure of a nephron. Each renal capsule is supplied with blood by the afferent arteriole a branch of the renal artery this splits into many capillaries in the capsule which then rejoin to form the afferent arteriole. The nephrons structure is closely related to its function of regulating solutes Osmoregulation is maintaining constant levels of water in the body. Cells cannot survive a huge deviation from its osmolality. Hence, cells have a continuous movement of water across their plasma membranes. A net gain of water will cause the cell to swell up and burst, while a net loss of water will cause the cell to shrivel up and die. Water is transported by osmosis around the body. Osmoregulation is accomplished by creating an osmotic gradient; this requires lots of energy and is done by maintaining solute concentrations in the body fluids. The osmolality of the body is fixed at a mean of 2905 mosmos/g. The kidney is able to maintain a constant osmolality as its able to adjust the rate of water excretion over a wide range. The volume of the extra-cellular fluid is mainly determined by the concentration of sodium ions, hence slight adjustments to the renal excretion rate have a major impact on the extracellular fluid volume. Changes in tubular sodium transport is accompanied by parallel movements of water, this results in no net change in body fluid osmolality (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) The loop of Henle creates a longitudinal osmotic gradient across the medulla; this aids the reabsorption of water and other important solutes. Ascending and descending limb are parallel and adjacent to each other with a layer of tissue fluid in between. Fluid enters from the proximal convoluted tubules flows down the descending limb and then up the ascending limb. This is known as a counter-current flow. Thewalls of the descending limb are permeable to water, while the walls of the ascending limb are impermeable to water. The ascending limb of the Loop of Henle is made up of a thick walled tubule which is impermeable to the outward movement of water but not salt. The red arrows on fig3 show the movement of water amd solutes along the loop of Henle and the collecting duct. Also, the walls of the ascending limb contain pumps to remove sodium chloride from the lumen and add it to the surrounding interstitial fluid. Hence sodium and chloride ions are actively transported out of the ascen ding limb. This is the site of reabsorption in the kidney, here fluid from theenters and the kidney reabsorbs all the useful solutes and water. The permeability of the loop and the collecting duct depends on the osmolality of the blood and is controlled by a negative feedback mechanism by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus A high concentration of salt builds up in the medullary tissue, this together with urea retention by these tissues, helps build up a high osmotic pressure in the medullary tissue. This creates a gradient of 200 mosm/g across the tubular wall at any point and causes a loss of water from the descending limb. The loss of water concentrates sodium and chloride ions in the descending limb. Salt concentration in the medullary tissue is highest at the apex of the loop, the tissue in the deeper layers of the medulla contain a very concentrated solution of sodium ions, chloride ions and urea. The fluid leaving the ascending limb is hypo-osmolar as compared to the fluid that enters and has a osmolality of approximately 100 mosm/g .Sodium and chloride ions diffuse out in the lower part of the ascending limb. Fluid passes down the collecting duct through the medullary tissue of increasing salt concentration, water can pass out of it by osmosis. The reabsorbed water is carried away by blood capil laries (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) Control of water regulation Osmoregulation by the kidney involves a negative feedback mechanism. The osmoreceptors are in the hypothalamus and the effectors are the pituitary gland and the walls of the distal convoluted tubules. Osmoreceptors detect alterations of water levels and send impulses to the pituitary gland which then increase or decrease the production of antidiuretic hormone (ADH). In the case of a low osmolality,when the nerve cells are stimulated by osmoreceptors action potentials travel down them, this causes ADH to be released from their endings into the blood capillaries in the posterior pituitary gland from here it is distributed throughout the body. ADH acts on the plasma membranes of the cells of the collecting ducts. ADH is picked up by a receptor on the plasma membrane which then activates an enzyme. This causes vesicles with water permeable channels to fuse with the plasma membrane hence ADH makes the membrane more permeable to water than usual. Hence more water will be reabsorbed by the collecting duct and more concentrated urine will be produced. On the other hand, when the blood water content rises the osmoreceptors are no longer stimulated and hence do not lead to the secretion of ADH. Hence, ADH secretion slows down and the collecting duct cells become less permeable to water, so less water is reabsorbed and more diluted urine is produced  (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) In conclusion, the regulation of water is essential for the survival of human beings and is carried out by the kidneys and monitored by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus and controlled by the pituitary gland. Each of these plays an equally important role in the regulation of water and without any one of them the body will not be able to function in a normal manner. [Words: 1328]

Voting :: Politics Political

Voting Voting is when a group of people makes a decision on a subject that concerns them as a whole. In many countries, people vote to choose their leaders and to decide public issues. People also vote to make decisions in such groups as juries, labor unions, corporations, and social clubs. There are many different ways of voting and counting votes. No single voting method is either universally applicable or the best overall. Some major voting methods are majority rules, plurality wins, elimination and runoffs, sequential pairwise comparisons, various weighted or scoring schemes, approval voting, and a host of various other partitioning schemes that choose successively between subsets of potential outcomes. The three ways of counting votes are Plurality, Condorcet, and Borda count. In the Plurality method of voting, the candidate with the most votes wins. It is not necessary to have the majority. Strategic or insincere voting is not uncommon when a group knows the distribution of potential votes in advance. Lets say there are 3 choices to vote on, a, b, and c. If c knows that they have the least amount of votes, they will vote for the one that they definitely do not want to win. Group c does not want a to win so everyone votes for b so a doesn’t win over b. When everyone votes for exactly who they want to win, that is called sincere voting. In order to make sure that the ultimate decision receives a majority vote, it may be necessary to resort to a runoff election, or to some other type of sequential voting. This is a procedure that requires a majority vote at each step. A candidate who wins over every other candidate in a head to head ballot is called a condorcet winner. Many elections ask for a preference schedule of everything. This is to arrive at a final group rank ordering of all the contestants that best express the desires of the electorate. You can also vote insincerely in this method also by changing the order of your preference schedule.. A Borda count assigns points in a descending manner to the way each voter put the choices in order and sums them up to come up with the most popular ranking.

Apush Notes

1. The Shaping of North America 1. Recorded history began 6,000 years ago. It was 500 years ago that Europeans set foot on the Americas to begin the era of accurately recorded history on the continent. 2. The theory of â€Å"Pangaea† exists suggesting that the continents were once nestled together into one mega-continent. The continents then spread out as drifting islands. 3. Geologic forces of continental plates created the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. 4. The Great Ice Age thrust down over North America and scoured the present day American Midwest. 2. Peopling the Americas 1.The â€Å"Land Bridge† theory†¦ 1. As the Great Ice Age diminished, so did the glaciers over North America. 2. The theory holds that a â€Å"Land Bridge† emerged linking Asia & North America across what’s today the Bering Sea. People were said to have walked across the â€Å"bridge† before the sea level rose and sealed it off and thus populated the Americas. 2. The Lan d Bridge is suggested as occurring an estimated 35,000 years ago. 3. Many peoples emerged†¦ 1. Those groups that traversed the land bridge spread across North, Central, and South America. 2. Countless tribes emerged with an estimated 2,000 languages.Notably†¦ 1. Incas – Peru, with elaborate network of roads and bridges linking their empire. 2. Mayas – Yucatan Peninsula, with their step pyramids. 3. Aztecs – Mexico, with step pyramids and huge sacrifices of conquered peoples. 3. The Earliest Americans 1. Development of corn or â€Å"maize† around 5,000 B. C. in Mexico was revolutionary in that†¦ 1. Then, people didn’t have to be hunter-gatherers, they could settle down and be farmers. 2. This fact gave rise to towns and then cities. 3. Corn arrived in the present day U. S. around 1,200 B. C. 2. Pueblo Indians 1.The Pueblos were the 1st American corn growers. 2. They lived in adobe houses (dried mud) and pueblos (â€Å"villages† in Spanish). Pueblos are villages of cubicle shaped adobe houses, stacked one on top the other and often beneath cliffs. 3. They had elaborate irrigation systems to draw water away from rivers to grown corn. 3. Mound Builders 1. These people built huge ceremonial and burial mounds and were located in the Ohio Valley. 2. Cahokia, near East St. Louis today, held 40,000 people. 4. Eastern Indians 1. Eastern Indians grew corn, beans, and squash in â€Å"three sister† farming†¦ 1.Corn grew in a stalk providing a trellis for beans, beans grew up the stalk, squash’s broad leaves kept the sun off the ground and thus kept the moisture in the soil. 2. This group likely had the best (most diverse) diet of all North American Indians and is typified by the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw (South) and Iroquois (North). 5. Iroquois Confederation 1. Hiawatha was the legendary leader of the group. 2. The Iroquois Confederation was a group of 5 tribes in New York state. 3. They were matri lineal as authority and possessions passed down through the female line. 4.Each tribe kept their independence, but met occasionally to discuss matters of common interest, like war/defense. 5. This was not the norm. Usually, Indians were scattered and separated (and thus weak). 6. Native Americans had a very different view of things as compared to Europeans. 1. Native Americans felt no man owned the land, the tribe died. (Europeans liked private property) 2. Indians felt nature was mixed with many spirits. (Europeans were Christian and monotheistic) 3. Indians felt nature was sacred. (Europeans believed nature and land was given to man by God in Genesis to be subdued and put to use). . Indians had little or no concept or interest in money. (Europeans loved money or gold) 4. Indirect Discoverers of the New World1. The 1st Europeans to come to America were the Norse (Vikings from Norway). 1. Around 1,000 A. D. , the Vikings landed, led by Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. 2. They landed i n â€Å"Newfoundland† or â€Å"Vinland† (due to all of the vines). 3. However, these men left America and left no written record and therefore didn’t get the credit. 4. The only record is found in Viking sagas or songs. 2. The Christian Crusaders of Middle Ages fought in Palestine to regain the Holy Land from Muslims.This mixing of East and West created a sweet-tooth where Europeans wanted the spices of the exotic East. 5. Europeans Enter Africa This content copyright  © 2010 by WikiNotes. wikidot. com 1. Marco Polo traveled to China and stirred up a storm of European interest. 2. Mixed with desire for spices, an East to West (Asia to Europe) trade flourished but had to be overland, at least in part. This initiated new exploration down around Africa in hopes of an easier (all water) route.3. Portugal literally started a sailing school to find better ways to get to the â€Å"Spice Islands,† eventually rounding Africa’s southern Cape of Good Hope. . New developments emerged†¦ 1. caravel – a ship with triangular sail that could better tack (zig-zag) ahead into the wind and thus return to Europe from the Africa coast. 2. compass – to determine direction. 3. astrolabe – a sextant gizmo that could tell a ship’s latitude. 5. Slave trade begins 1. Slavery was initially race-independent. A slave was whoever lost in battle. Usually, slaves came from the Slavic regions of Europe, hence the name. 2. The first African slave trade was across the Sahara Desert. 3. Later, it was along the West African coast.Slave traders purposely busted up tribes and families in order to squelch any possible uprising. 4. Slaves wound up on sugar plantations the Portuguese had set up on the tropical islands off of Africa’s coast. 5. Spain watched Portugal’s success with exploration and slaving with envy and wanted a piece of the pie. 6. Columbus Comes upon a New World 1. Columbus convinced Isabella and Ferdina nd to fund his expedition. 2. His goal was to reach the East (East Indies) by sailing west, thus bypassing the around-Africa route that Portugal monopolized. 3.He misjudged the size of the Earth though, thinking it 1/3 the size of what it was. 4. So, after 30 days or so at sea, when he struck land, he assumed he’d made it to the East Indies and therefore mistook the people as â€Å"Indians. † 5. This spawned the following system†¦ 1. Europe would provide the market, capital, technology. 2. Africa would provide the labor. 3. The New World would provide the raw materials of gold, soil, and lumber.7. When Worlds Collide 1. Of huge importance was the biological flip-flop of Old and New Worlds. Simply put, it was a trade of life such as plants, foods, animals, germs. . From the New World (America) to the Old 1. corn, potatoes, tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc. 2. also, syphilis 3. From Old World to the New 1. cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots, Kentucky bluegrass, etc. 2. devastating diseases – smallpox, yellow fever, malaria as Indians had no immunities. 1. The Indians had no immunities in their systems built up over generations. 2. An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease. 8. The Spanish Conquistadores 1.Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 – Portugal and Spain feuded over who got what land. The Pope drew this line as he was respected by both. 1. The line ran North-South, and chopped off the Brazilian coast of South America 2. Portugal got everything east of the line (Brazil and land around/under Africa) 3. Spain got everything west of the line (which turned out to be much more, though they didn’t know it at the time) 2. Conquistadores is Spanish â€Å"conquerors†. 1. Vasco Balboa – â€Å"discovered† the Pacific Ocean across the isthmus of Panama.2. Ferdinand Magellan – circumnavigated the globe (h e was the first to do so). . Ponce de Leon – touches and names Florida looking for legendary â€Å"Fountain of Youth†. 4. Hernando Cortes – enters Florida, travels up into present day Southeastern U. S. , dies and is â€Å"buried† in Mississippi River, 5. Francisco Pizarro – conquers Incan Empire of Peru and begins shipping tons of gold/silver back to Spain. This huge influx of precious metals made European prices skyrocket (inflation). 6. Francisco Coronado – ventured into current Southwest U. S. looking for legendary Cibola, city of gold. He found the Pueblo Indians. 3. Encomienda system established 1.Indians were â€Å"commended† or given to Spanish landlords 2. The idealistic theory of the encomienda was that Indians would work on the farm and be converted to Christianity. But it was basically just slavery on a sugar plantation guised as missionary work. 9. The Conquest of Mexico 1. Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs at Tenochti tlan. 2. Cortez went from Cuba to present day Vera Cruz, then marched over mountains to the Aztec capital. 3. Montezuma, the Aztec king, thought Cortez might be the god Quetzalcoatl who was due to re-appear that very year. Montezuma welcomed Cortez into Tenochtitlan. . The Spanish lust for gold led Montezuma to attack on the noche triste, sad night. Cortez and men fought their way out, but it was smallpox that eventually beat the Indians. 5. The Spanish then destroyed Tenochtitlan, building the Spanish capital (Mexico City) exactly on top of the Aztec city. 6. A new race of people emerged, mestizos, a mix of Spanish and Indian blood. 10. The Spread of Spanish America 1. Spanish society quickly spread through Peru and Mexico 2. A threat came from neighbors†¦ 1. English – John Cabot (an Italian who sailed for England) touched the coast of the current U.S. 2. Italy – Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on the North American seaboard. 3. France – Jacques Cartier went into mouth of St. Lawrence River (Canada). 3. To oppose this, Spain set up forts (presidios) all over the California coast. Also cities, like St. Augustine in Florid # 4. Don Juan de Onate followed Coronado’s old path into present day New Mexico. He conquered the Indians ruthlessly, maiming them by cutting off one foot of survivors just so they’d remember. 5. Despite mission efforts, the Pueblo Indians revolted in Pope’s Rebellion. 6.Robert de LaSalle sailed down the Mississippi River for France claiming the whole region for their King Louis and naming the area â€Å"Louisiana† after his king. This started a slew of place-names for that area, from LaSalle, Illinois to â€Å"Louisville† and then on down to New Orleans (the American counter of Joan of Arc’s famous victory at Orleans). 7. â€Å"Black Legend† – The Black Legend was the notion that Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though true, they also brought good things such as law systems, architecture, Christianity, language, and civilization, so that the Black Legend is partly, but not entirely, accurate.

Leaders Are Born Not Made

ESSAY TITLE: LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE AUTHOR: AYODELE OLATOYE SUMMARY: The essay refutes the viewpoint that leaders are born not made, and seeks to establish through valid arguments, illustrations and documented evidence that leaders are actually made and not born WORD COUNT: 1920 LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE Folklore has lulled us into believing that some people are born leaders while others are not.Regardless of tribe, ethnicity or race, most people can trace their origins back to a monarchical or feudal system where the offspring of the reigning family found themselves thrust into leadership positions regardless of their inclinations to rule or not. To further impress this upon our collective psyches, the legends of such royal ancestors are interwoven with thrilling notions of romantic adventure and grandeur, and we unwittingly find ourselves mentally acquiescing to the untruth that some people are born to lead while others are destined to merely follow.History has however proven ot herwise; leaders are made not born. The fall of monarchical systems of government occurred slowly but surely over centuries, as it became apparent to all that leadership is to be earned, and is not a birthright. Nobility was no longer a question of bloodline but of courage, strength of character and the ability to motivate your peers to follow you in achieving a common goal. Some critics would argue that the most prominent features of leaders such as courage, charisma and strength are personality traits which are inherited and cannot be taught (Colleen 2012).Research has however shown that the human personality is extremely malleable, and under the right tutelage and exposure to carefully calibrated exercises, leadership attributes can be developed by anyone who is willing to invest the required amount of time and energy to achieve these results (Parks 2005). It has also been argued that another key requirement for leadership is pleasant good looks which are an inherited feature (Co lleen 2012).This is however an unsubstantiated assumption and perhaps is only relevant in the realm of politics where the ability to assume an office is often indicative of a strong political machinery backing you, and not your ability to lead and motivate. True leadership is not an office but a lifestyle. Mahatma Ghandi may not have qualified as a prospect for GQ’s cover page but he is undisputedly one of the most influential leaders in modern history. Perhaps it would be instructive to clarify who a leader is before proceeding further. ‘A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a certain goal’ (Merriam-Webster n. . ). Leaders exist in almost every facet and sphere of life we may choose to examine; the family unit, schools, religious organisations, business institutions and states. The manner in which they influence people varies from individual to individual. One of the areas which has witnessed the most review and analysi s is the business environment, where the efficacy of a leader could determine whether an organisation thrives or goes under, and with it the fates of staff, shareholders and other stakeholders whose livelihoods are inexorably linked to the business.We will therefore restrict our review to the attributes of a successful business leader and an analysis of whether such traits are inherited or cultivated. One key trait which most of the literature written on great business leaders agree on as a required characteristic is excellent communication skills. A leader must be able to clearly communicate his vision in compelling terms that will motivate his team to follow him into the thick of the fray, be it the floor of the New York Stock exchange or into the last quarter of the year where the sales figures will determine whether the organisation sinks or swims.Is the ability to communicate convincingly an inborn trait? History would lead us to believe otherwise. According to folklore, Demost henes was the most famed of Greek orators whose first attempt at public speaking earned him the derision of his peers for his efforts (Horne 2007). Through dedication and the proper tutelage, he overcame a speech handicap and eventually became a voice that all of Greece respected. In the modern world, the abundance of voice coaches and public speaking training material points to the fact that excellent communication skills can be learnt.In addition, as organisations continue to grow in size and staffing, an increasing amount of the intra-organisational communication is written and no longer verbal. CEOs communicate their vision and the company’s direction to the entire staff via written emails. Though some critics may maintain that good communication skills are inherited, it is unlikely that even the strongest proponents of this view will believe that the ability to type concise emails is an inborn talent. Another important leadership trait is passion; passion is infectious n d galvanises those around you into pouring their energy into the goals you have set. It is obviously apparent that some people are naturally more passionate than others and this is inarguably an inborn personality trait. As a leader however, you are not required to be passionate about every single thing; you however must be passionate about your job, your organisation and the objectives you have set. In the book ‘Who Am I; The Quest for Entrepreneurial Identity’, Charles Y. Murnieks states ‘†¦ ntrepreneurial passion is significantly related to the setting of proximal goals’ (Murnieks 2008). This suggests that any leader who is fiercely committed to a goal inadvertently becomes passionate about it. Goal setting and focus is a trait which can definitely be taught and are the precursors to the passion that a great leader needs. On the other hand, being a passionate person in a general sense is no guarantee of great leadership. On the contrary, passion tha t is not built on predetermined goals may lead to emotional decisions which could destroy an organisation.A third important leadership trait is courage. In the course of running an organisation, a leader must have the courage to take decisions which could either make or break that organisation. Whether it is choosing the sectors to invest businesses capital in or selling off an ailing subsidiary, his courage will constantly be put to test. He must also have the courage to face his staff with candour and give unpleasant feedback to an employee who may not be pulling his weight.A study by Daniel Goleman surprisingly revealed that fearlessness, amongst others, is often an inherited trait (Goleman 1986). It appears that some children are born with a higher threshold of fear and risk aversion than others. An insensitivity to fear however does not necessarily make a courageous leader. In the article ‘The Meaning of Courage’, Richard Zinbarg states ‘In my view, however, we cannot be courageous or strong in situations in which we have no fear or anxiety whatsoever’ (Zinbarg 2010). Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. despite anxiety or fear’ (Rachman 1978). This thus means that the quality of courage which one needs to have to be an effective leader is not ingrained at birth, but rather is developed over time by the habit of constantly facing ones fears. Many leadership training organisations teach this trait with rock climbing or mountain climbing exercises, which will gradually help the students face down their fears and take challenges head on.The military also recruit young men and women into their ranks and through trainings, exercises and exposure to real armed conflict situations, gradually shape them into courageous combat ready soldiers. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the American people had until recently only voted ex-military political candidates into office; they naturally believed that these men would have cultivated the traits of strength and fearlessness during their time in the military. Integrity is another important attribute of a good leader.The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines integrity as the ‘firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values (Merriam-Webster n. d. ). Are some people born with integrity whilst others are born with a propensity for deceit and inconsistency? Research shows that children growing up are prone to adopt the moral code and values which their models exhibit from birth to about the age of 7, when they begin to observe and appraise the results of actions on subjects as well as the attendant repercussions.They then begin to form their own value system which continues to be shaped throughout their lives (Thomas 1993). Integrity is a learned attribute and leaders can therefore not be born with it; it is an acquired trait. A review of the biographies of great leaders often refer to defining moments in their lives where experiences occurred that shaped and defined their moral codes for the rest of their lives. One of the greatest examples of this is the story of President Abraham Lincoln, fondly known as ‘Honest Abe’ by the people of America.He exposed himself at a very early age to character moulding literature that extolled the virtues of integrity and individual struggle, thereby internalising the accounts of other great men and consciously adopting their moral codes (Carwardine 2003). The mere fact that peer pressure, lack of a proper family structure and environmental/ community factors have been identified as three of the main contributing factors to teen crime (Muhammad 2008) establish that integrity or the lack of it is a learned behaviour and not an inherited trait.This is one of the reasons why juvenile corrective authorities always seek foster parents for adolescents whom they perceive to be in danger of being corrupted by their soci ety. The human race has made exceptional leaps in the past century on numerous frontiers; medicine, law, science, technology, and most of the other endeavours we have focused our mental energy and resources on. In the business world, the number of registered companies (either with physical or virtual offices) is rising quickly and with it the portfolio and profile of its owners and managers.The leaders of these advancements and breakthroughs did not let questions of their genetic predisposition to leadership deter them from achieving the feats they have accomplished. Proposing that leadership is a birthright and therefore the exclusive right of a privileged few would be encouraging scores of people to abdicate their natural duty of being the best version of themselves they possibly can, encouraging them to ignore the plethora of opportunities to lead and make a difference, encouraging them to give up at the first sign of difficulty.The last and arguably the most important trait of a great leader is faith; faith in his ability to lead his team and actually make a difference. It is only by understanding that great leaders are made and not born that we can have the faith to put ourselves through the gruelling process it takes to shape our minds and bodies, and thereby become the exceptional leaders that we all can be.Bibliography Carwardine, Richard. Lincoln. London, 2003. Colleen, Sharen. â€Å"Leaders are Born not Made. † Thinking is Hard Work, 2012. Goleman, Daniel. â€Å"New York Times. † New York Times, 2 December 1986. Horne, C. F. Heritage History. History Curriculum Homeschool, 2007. Merriam-Webster. â€Å"Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. † http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/integrity. Muhammad, Ali. Youth Crime; Causes and Remedies. 2008. Murnieks, Charles Y. Whom Am I; The Quest for Entrepreneural Identity. 2008. Parks, Sharon Daloz. â€Å"Leadership Can Be Taught: A Bold Approach for a Complex World. † 2005: 5-6. Rachman, Stanley. Fear and Courage. 1978. Thomas, Laurence. Morality and Psychological Development. Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1993. Zinbarg, Richard. The Meaning of Courage. 2010. Leaders Are Born Not Made ESSAY TITLE: LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE AUTHOR: AYODELE OLATOYE SUMMARY: The essay refutes the viewpoint that leaders are born not made, and seeks to establish through valid arguments, illustrations and documented evidence that leaders are actually made and not born WORD COUNT: 1920 LEADERS ARE BORN NOT MADE Folklore has lulled us into believing that some people are born leaders while others are not.Regardless of tribe, ethnicity or race, most people can trace their origins back to a monarchical or feudal system where the offspring of the reigning family found themselves thrust into leadership positions regardless of their inclinations to rule or not. To further impress this upon our collective psyches, the legends of such royal ancestors are interwoven with thrilling notions of romantic adventure and grandeur, and we unwittingly find ourselves mentally acquiescing to the untruth that some people are born to lead while others are destined to merely follow.History has however proven ot herwise; leaders are made not born. The fall of monarchical systems of government occurred slowly but surely over centuries, as it became apparent to all that leadership is to be earned, and is not a birthright. Nobility was no longer a question of bloodline but of courage, strength of character and the ability to motivate your peers to follow you in achieving a common goal. Some critics would argue that the most prominent features of leaders such as courage, charisma and strength are personality traits which are inherited and cannot be taught (Colleen 2012).Research has however shown that the human personality is extremely malleable, and under the right tutelage and exposure to carefully calibrated exercises, leadership attributes can be developed by anyone who is willing to invest the required amount of time and energy to achieve these results (Parks 2005). It has also been argued that another key requirement for leadership is pleasant good looks which are an inherited feature (Co lleen 2012).This is however an unsubstantiated assumption and perhaps is only relevant in the realm of politics where the ability to assume an office is often indicative of a strong political machinery backing you, and not your ability to lead and motivate. True leadership is not an office but a lifestyle. Mahatma Ghandi may not have qualified as a prospect for GQ’s cover page but he is undisputedly one of the most influential leaders in modern history. Perhaps it would be instructive to clarify who a leader is before proceeding further. ‘A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a certain goal’ (Merriam-Webster n. . ). Leaders exist in almost every facet and sphere of life we may choose to examine; the family unit, schools, religious organisations, business institutions and states. The manner in which they influence people varies from individual to individual. One of the areas which has witnessed the most review and analysi s is the business environment, where the efficacy of a leader could determine whether an organisation thrives or goes under, and with it the fates of staff, shareholders and other stakeholders whose livelihoods are inexorably linked to the business.We will therefore restrict our review to the attributes of a successful business leader and an analysis of whether such traits are inherited or cultivated. One key trait which most of the literature written on great business leaders agree on as a required characteristic is excellent communication skills. A leader must be able to clearly communicate his vision in compelling terms that will motivate his team to follow him into the thick of the fray, be it the floor of the New York Stock exchange or into the last quarter of the year where the sales figures will determine whether the organisation sinks or swims.Is the ability to communicate convincingly an inborn trait? History would lead us to believe otherwise. According to folklore, Demost henes was the most famed of Greek orators whose first attempt at public speaking earned him the derision of his peers for his efforts (Horne 2007). Through dedication and the proper tutelage, he overcame a speech handicap and eventually became a voice that all of Greece respected. In the modern world, the abundance of voice coaches and public speaking training material points to the fact that excellent communication skills can be learnt.In addition, as organisations continue to grow in size and staffing, an increasing amount of the intra-organisational communication is written and no longer verbal. CEOs communicate their vision and the company’s direction to the entire staff via written emails. Though some critics may maintain that good communication skills are inherited, it is unlikely that even the strongest proponents of this view will believe that the ability to type concise emails is an inborn talent. Another important leadership trait is passion; passion is infectious n d galvanises those around you into pouring their energy into the goals you have set. It is obviously apparent that some people are naturally more passionate than others and this is inarguably an inborn personality trait. As a leader however, you are not required to be passionate about every single thing; you however must be passionate about your job, your organisation and the objectives you have set. In the book ‘Who Am I; The Quest for Entrepreneurial Identity’, Charles Y. Murnieks states ‘†¦ ntrepreneurial passion is significantly related to the setting of proximal goals’ (Murnieks 2008). This suggests that any leader who is fiercely committed to a goal inadvertently becomes passionate about it. Goal setting and focus is a trait which can definitely be taught and are the precursors to the passion that a great leader needs. On the other hand, being a passionate person in a general sense is no guarantee of great leadership. On the contrary, passion tha t is not built on predetermined goals may lead to emotional decisions which could destroy an organisation.A third important leadership trait is courage. In the course of running an organisation, a leader must have the courage to take decisions which could either make or break that organisation. Whether it is choosing the sectors to invest businesses capital in or selling off an ailing subsidiary, his courage will constantly be put to test. He must also have the courage to face his staff with candour and give unpleasant feedback to an employee who may not be pulling his weight.A study by Daniel Goleman surprisingly revealed that fearlessness, amongst others, is often an inherited trait (Goleman 1986). It appears that some children are born with a higher threshold of fear and risk aversion than others. An insensitivity to fear however does not necessarily make a courageous leader. In the article ‘The Meaning of Courage’, Richard Zinbarg states ‘In my view, however, we cannot be courageous or strong in situations in which we have no fear or anxiety whatsoever’ (Zinbarg 2010). Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. despite anxiety or fear’ (Rachman 1978). This thus means that the quality of courage which one needs to have to be an effective leader is not ingrained at birth, but rather is developed over time by the habit of constantly facing ones fears. Many leadership training organisations teach this trait with rock climbing or mountain climbing exercises, which will gradually help the students face down their fears and take challenges head on.The military also recruit young men and women into their ranks and through trainings, exercises and exposure to real armed conflict situations, gradually shape them into courageous combat ready soldiers. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the American people had until recently only voted ex-military political candidates into office; they naturally believed that these men would have cultivated the traits of strength and fearlessness during their time in the military. Integrity is another important attribute of a good leader.The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines integrity as the ‘firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values (Merriam-Webster n. d. ). Are some people born with integrity whilst others are born with a propensity for deceit and inconsistency? Research shows that children growing up are prone to adopt the moral code and values which their models exhibit from birth to about the age of 7, when they begin to observe and appraise the results of actions on subjects as well as the attendant repercussions.They then begin to form their own value system which continues to be shaped throughout their lives (Thomas 1993). Integrity is a learned attribute and leaders can therefore not be born with it; it is an acquired trait. A review of the biographies of great leaders often refer to defining moments in their lives where experiences occurred that shaped and defined their moral codes for the rest of their lives. One of the greatest examples of this is the story of President Abraham Lincoln, fondly known as ‘Honest Abe’ by the people of America.He exposed himself at a very early age to character moulding literature that extolled the virtues of integrity and individual struggle, thereby internalising the accounts of other great men and consciously adopting their moral codes (Carwardine 2003). The mere fact that peer pressure, lack of a proper family structure and environmental/ community factors have been identified as three of the main contributing factors to teen crime (Muhammad 2008) establish that integrity or the lack of it is a learned behaviour and not an inherited trait.This is one of the reasons why juvenile corrective authorities always seek foster parents for adolescents whom they perceive to be in danger of being corrupted by their soci ety. The human race has made exceptional leaps in the past century on numerous frontiers; medicine, law, science, technology, and most of the other endeavours we have focused our mental energy and resources on. In the business world, the number of registered companies (either with physical or virtual offices) is rising quickly and with it the portfolio and profile of its owners and managers.The leaders of these advancements and breakthroughs did not let questions of their genetic predisposition to leadership deter them from achieving the feats they have accomplished. Proposing that leadership is a birthright and therefore the exclusive right of a privileged few would be encouraging scores of people to abdicate their natural duty of being the best version of themselves they possibly can, encouraging them to ignore the plethora of opportunities to lead and make a difference, encouraging them to give up at the first sign of difficulty.The last and arguably the most important trait of a great leader is faith; faith in his ability to lead his team and actually make a difference. It is only by understanding that great leaders are made and not born that we can have the faith to put ourselves through the gruelling process it takes to shape our minds and bodies, and thereby become the exceptional leaders that we all can be.Bibliography Carwardine, Richard. Lincoln. London, 2003. Colleen, Sharen. â€Å"Leaders are Born not Made. † Thinking is Hard Work, 2012. Goleman, Daniel. â€Å"New York Times. † New York Times, 2 December 1986. Horne, C. F. Heritage History. History Curriculum Homeschool, 2007. Merriam-Webster. â€Å"Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. † http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/integrity. Muhammad, Ali. Youth Crime; Causes and Remedies. 2008. Murnieks, Charles Y. Whom Am I; The Quest for Entrepreneural Identity. 2008. Parks, Sharon Daloz. â€Å"Leadership Can Be Taught: A Bold Approach for a Complex World. † 2005: 5-6. Rachman, Stanley. Fear and Courage. 1978. Thomas, Laurence. Morality and Psychological Development. Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1993. Zinbarg, Richard. The Meaning of Courage. 2010.

Free Essays on Gender Inequality

In recent 14th Census 2001, the states with lowest decadal growth recorded are Kerala (9.42 per cent), Tamil Nadu (11.19 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (13.86 per cent), and Goa (14.89 per cent). Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu show a better rate of literacy than Andhra Pradesh. In Goa, the majority of population consists of Christians and so women enjoy a higher degree of liberty than those of other states. But the case of Andhra Pradesh is unique. It is less industrialized and has less literary rate than Tamil Nadu. Yet it has shown the sharpest decline in population growth rate among all the states (10.34 per cent). The average annual exponential growth rate has declined to 1.93 per cent in 1991-2001 from 2.14 per cent in 1981-1991. The total population of Andhra Pradesh as at 00:00 hrs of 1st March, 2001 stood at 75,727,541 as per Provincial Census of India, 2001. A radical change has taken place in the family life of the women of rural Andhra Pradesh because of the scheme of DWCRA, which empowered them. Andhra Pradesh occupies the fifth place in population as against the fourth in the previous Census of India. During 1981-1991, this state witnessed an increase of 24.20 per cent in population, which came down to 13.86 per cent during 1991-2001 while the country’s decadal growth rate is 21.34 per cent. This achievement of Andhra Pradesh is spectacular. The State of Andhra Pradesh has every right to claim the credits of the statistics of Census of India, 2001 for its performance regarding the population control in India as it is in the forefront of empowering women in the state by means of DWCRA. Presently, 4,20,000 DWCRA groups are working only in Andhra Pradesh, which is more than 40 percent of the total DWCRA groups in India. The main highlights of the DWCRA are: the women members of DWCRA form a group of 10 to 15 women at the village level for delivery of services like credit and skill training, cash and infrastructure supp... Free Essays on Gender Inequality Free Essays on Gender Inequality In recent 14th Census 2001, the states with lowest decadal growth recorded are Kerala (9.42 per cent), Tamil Nadu (11.19 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (13.86 per cent), and Goa (14.89 per cent). Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu show a better rate of literacy than Andhra Pradesh. In Goa, the majority of population consists of Christians and so women enjoy a higher degree of liberty than those of other states. But the case of Andhra Pradesh is unique. It is less industrialized and has less literary rate than Tamil Nadu. Yet it has shown the sharpest decline in population growth rate among all the states (10.34 per cent). The average annual exponential growth rate has declined to 1.93 per cent in 1991-2001 from 2.14 per cent in 1981-1991. The total population of Andhra Pradesh as at 00:00 hrs of 1st March, 2001 stood at 75,727,541 as per Provincial Census of India, 2001. A radical change has taken place in the family life of the women of rural Andhra Pradesh because of the scheme of DWCRA, which empowered them. Andhra Pradesh occupies the fifth place in population as against the fourth in the previous Census of India. During 1981-1991, this state witnessed an increase of 24.20 per cent in population, which came down to 13.86 per cent during 1991-2001 while the country’s decadal growth rate is 21.34 per cent. This achievement of Andhra Pradesh is spectacular. The State of Andhra Pradesh has every right to claim the credits of the statistics of Census of India, 2001 for its performance regarding the population control in India as it is in the forefront of empowering women in the state by means of DWCRA. Presently, 4,20,000 DWCRA groups are working only in Andhra Pradesh, which is more than 40 percent of the total DWCRA groups in India. The main highlights of the DWCRA are: the women members of DWCRA form a group of 10 to 15 women at the village level for delivery of services like credit and skill training, cash and infrastructure supp... Free Essays on Gender Inequality Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 at Porbandar on the north-west coast of India. He was the third son and the last of four children of well-to-do Hindu parents. The Gandhis belonged to the Modh Bania subdivision of the Vaisya caste, representing the trader class in the traditional Hindu caste system and were originally grocers. Gandhi’s grandfather, father and uncle were dewan, or prime minister, to ruler of Porbandar; and his father was later prime minister of two other similar tiny states. None of these states was subject to direct British rule, and consequently old Indian customs and traditions were much more in evidence there than in most parts of British India. Gandhi grew up in a traditional Hindu family. He inherited his father’s stubbornness, incorruptibility and practical sense and his mother’s life of religion, devotion and abstinence. Growing up Gandhi often listened to the religious discussions of his father and his friends who practiced the Muslim and Parsi religions. Young Gandhi’s exposure to these teachings does not mean that he had developed a deep faith in religion or in ahimsa (nonviolence) at an early age. Gandhi says, â€Å"But one thing took deep root in me- the conviction that morality is the basis of things, and that truth is the substance of all morality.† He learned then the guiding principle: â€Å"Return good for evil.† And he began to make everything he did an experiment with truth. Gandhi started school in Porbandar, where he probably attended the local Dhoolishala, or Dust school, where the school teacher taught the children how to write letters of the Gujarati alphabet in the dust on the floor. He had no difficulty in composing, along with other children, Gujarati rhymed couplets ridiculing the lame teacher, but encountered some problem in mastering the multiplication table. â€Å"My intellect must have been sluggish, and my memory raw,† says the adult Mohandas about his schoolday...

NO IRISH NEED APPLY †History Essay

NO IRISH NEED APPLY – History Essay Free Online Research Papers One of the worst things to happen in the eighteenth century caused by the failure of the potato crop was the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Potatoes were the food of the poor in Ireland and the entire country depended on them. The cause for the failure was the fungus called the potato blight. Between 1845 and 1850 around an eighth of the population died from the Famine. The Irish were affected so greatly because of rapid population growth. Because there were so many people there were more people who suffered from it. Have you ever wondered why there is so many people of Irish descent on the east coast and how they got hear? Well, most came around the same time period and for the same reason, jobs. Millions of Irish people came here because they heard of how great it is and they had nowhere else to go. Most Irish where catholic and Catholics and were not accepted anywhere else. In Ireland thousands were dieing a day from what we know today as the Great Potato Famine. When they came to America they were treated cruelty because so many of them had come with no money. They were considered bums that didn’t deserve jobs. Thousands of Irish immigrants were treated unfairly and with extreme cruelty. Imagine this Life Imagine you’ve been living off of basically one food for your entire life, every day you farm this food, you eat this food and you sell this food, not much else can grow on the land you live on which isn’t even yours, the owners let u live there if u grow enough food, it’s the same for everyone in your country; than one day your plants start rotting and eventually stop growing at all. You find out your neighbor cant grow any either and that a virus is killing all your plants and everyone else’s plants stop growing too. Pretty soon your landowner kicks you off his land, you have no food and no shelter, and your friends and family start dieing daily. What would you do? The only thing there is to do, get on a boat and sail to America. 1, 2 This was the life of thousands of Irish men and women, when they could no longer grow potatoes they could no longer survive in Ireland. Taking the risk of sailing to America was almost a bigger risk than staying in Ireland. Thousands died on the trip over. They started calling the over packed ship filled with sick men and women â€Å"coffin ships.† They had a choice between staying in Ireland and living longer than most did that went on the ships but surely dieing sooner than the ones that made it to America, or taking the risk of dieing on the ship but living what they thought would be a great life and becoming rich. Most took the second choice. 2 From 1846 to 1855 an estimated 2.1 million men women and children fled Ireland. Out of that 2.1 million people who fled 1.8 million went to North America and 1.5 million of them came to the United States of America. Thousands of the people who ended up in Canada soon made their way to the United States.2 In America The Irish immigrants in the United States were described as â€Å"urban pioneers.† The cities in America with the biggest Irish populations were Boston, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco and Chicago. By 1860, nearly one fourth of the population in Boston and New York were Irish born. The poorest of the Irish lived on the rim of the cities in small dumpy towns. During the 1850’s at least thirty thousand Irish families were living in basements in cellars in New York City with no light and with their homes slightly flooding. 2 Living in these conditions many of the Irish were catching diseases like pneumonia, yellow fever, and tuberculosis. Irish made up sixty percent of the people living in homeless housing. Because of the suffering these people went through many came down with mental illnesses. In New York fifty percent of the people in insane asylums from 1849 to 1859 were Irish refugees or kids of the Irish refugees. The amount of Irish arrested or in jail was extremely higher than any other group of people. 1 By the 1870’s The Irish were the most publicly underprivileged of the Americans of European descent. The Irish had made bad names for themselves early in their immigration here. Because there were so many of the Irish people they were not liked by the American citizens because they were taking many jobs and homes in the areas.1 Discrimination Discrimination against the Irish Catholics reached its worst when the Know Nothing Movement was made in the 1850’s. This movement tried to keep Catholics from running for office. The Irish Protestants opposed this because with most of the citizens in their town being both Catholic and Irish, they wanted a good chance of having an Irishman in office.1 In some areas riots broke out between rival laborers from different parts of Ireland and American laborers over building jobs. It was not out of the ordinary for the Irish men, women and children to be discriminated against in social events. But it was out of the ordinary for a Catholic to marry a Protestant and was looked down upon in the community. Neither priests nor ministers believed that they should intermarry. Religious schools were created to keep Catholics and Protestants from mixing. These schools kept almost fifty percent of the Irish children and young adults out of public schools. Around 1860 signs were being put up saying â€Å"HELP WANTED- NO IRISH NEED APPLY.† Soon to be called â€Å"the NINA signs.† A song had been written called â€Å"No Irish Need Apply† by John F. Poole and had a huge impact on the Irish and sparked a slight rebellion. They held tight to the jobs they had and refused to let any other immigrant groups or African Americans to work those jobs. 1 The Irish Catholics were stereotyped many times. George Potter (an Irish historian) said the Irish were stereotyped as violent (even among themselves), alcoholics, voted illegally, and relied on violent or criminal gangs. George Potter quoted newspapers from the time: You will scarcely ever find an Irishman dabbling in counterfeit money, or breaking into houses, or swindling; but if there is any fighting to be done, he is very apt to have a hand in it. Even though Pat might meet with a friend and for love knock him down,' noted a Montreal paper, the fighting usually resulted from a sudden excitement, allowing there was but little malice prepense in his whole composition. The Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati in 1853, saying that the name of Irish has become identified in the minds of many, with almost every species of outlawry, distinguished the Irish vices as not of a deep malignant nature, arising rather from the transient burst of undisciplined passion, like drunk, disorderly, fighting, etc., not like robbery, cheating, swindling, counterfeiting, slandering, calumniating, blasphemy, using obscene language, c.1 They were discriminated against in local newspapers and in various other types of media. The picture to the right was drawn by German cartoonist Thomas Nast and published in an 1876 Harpers Weekly Magazine. The picture is showing bishops in the form of an alligator attacking public schools.1, 5 Religion Another reason the Irish were hated was because of their religions. The Irish were Catholic and even though America was supposed to be free and not segregated or prejudice, there was on exception, Catholics. From the 1820’s through the 1860’s two thirds of the Irish refugees were Catholic, the rest were mostly Protestant. The Protestants obviously not hated against as bad as the Catholics. Irish Catholic is a expression used to say a person is Irish and practices the Roman catholic Religion.3 Southern Irish Families The Irish made up a very small percentage of the southern population, so most of them stuck together in cities like New Orleans. They were not as discriminated against their, they became political leaders in the Democratic Party and supported slavery. Beginning as manual laborers they worked their way up the economic ladder and were granted over the usual financial rank. 1 The religion of the Irish concerned the local southerners very little. The native southerners knew how important they Irish were to the protection of slavery. The Protestant Irish had a big part in the making of the development of this country, the United States of America seal of approval was designed by Charles Thomson, an Irishman. 1 Irish in the Government Irish Catholics became a big part of law enforcement very quickly. In 1855 in New York City, three hundred and five out of one thousand one hundred and forty nine policemen were Irish natives. In 1860 in Chicago forty-nine out of one hundred and seven police were Irish natives. The Irish have been known for being very organized and many of the catholic leaders in the United States of America have been Irish. 1 They have also been known to lead labor unions and the Democratic Party in some regions. Irish men usually voted eighty to ninety-five percent Democratic. In 1928 an Irishman by the name of Al Smith was the first Irish Catholic to run in the presidential elections but lost to Herbert Hoover.1 Closing The Irish suffered more than any other group of immigrants from Europe. They suffered harsh times and had to work hard to gain respect. Even though some Irish were out of hand and violent, many helped shape the country into what it is today. Millions died, thousands went insane, and thousands made it and brought themselves up from nothing. They had to fight to keep their jobs and that is what they did, and even though they wee harassed and hated, they still made it in the end. Bibliography 1) Wikipedia â€Å"Irish American†. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish-American#Catholics 2) Lalor, Brian: The Encyclopedia of Ireland. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 3) Wikipedia â€Å"Irish Catholics† http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Catholic 4) Gorman, Michael: Ireland by the Irish. Galley Press, 1963. 5) Wikipedia â€Å"Thomas Nast†. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast Research Papers on NO IRISH NEED APPLY - History EssayThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraGenetic EngineeringLifes What IfsWhere Wild and West MeetTwilight of the UAWNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeQuebec and CanadaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2

How to Use Pickle to Save Objects in Python

How to Use Pickle to Save Objects in Python Pickle, which is part of the Python library by default, is an important module whenever you need persistence between user sessions. As a module, pickle provides for the saving of Python objects between processes. Whether you  are programming for a database, game, forum, or some other application that must save information between sessions, pickle is useful for saving identifiers and settings. The pickle module can store things such as data types such as booleans, strings, and byte arrays, lists, dictionaries, functions, and more. Note:  The concept of pickling is also known as serialization, marshaling, and  flattening. However, the point is always the same- to save an object to a file for later retrieval. Pickling accomplishes this by writing the object as one long stream of bytes.   Pickle Example Code in Python To write an object to a file, you  use a code in the following syntax: import pickle object Object() filehandler open(filename, w) pickle.dump(object, filehandler) Heres how a real-world example  looks: import pickle import math object_pi math.pi file_pi open(filename_pi.obj, w) pickle.dump(object_pi, file_pi) This snippet writes the contents of object_pi to the file handler file_pi, which in turn is bound to the file filename_pi.obj in the directory of execution. To restore the value of the object to memory, load the object from the file. Assuming that pickle has not yet been imported for use, start by importing it: import pickle filehandler open(filename, r) object pickle.load(filehandler) The following code restores the value of pi: import pickle file_pi2 open(filename_pi.obj, r) object_pi2 pickle.load(file_pi2) The object is then ready for use once again, this time as object_pi2. You can, of course, reuse the original names, if you prefer. This example uses distinct names for clarity. Things to Remember About Pickle Keep these things in mind when using the pickle module: The pickle protocol is specific to Python – its not guaranteed to be cross-language compatible. You most likely cannot transfer the information to make it useful in Perl, PHP, Java, or other languages.There is also no guarantee of compatibility between different versions of Python. IThe incompatibility exists because not every Python data structure can be serialized by the module.By default, the latest version of the pickle protocol is used. It remains that way unless you manually change it. Tip:  Also find out  how to use shelve to save objects in Python  for another method of maintaining object continuity.

Sex and Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sex and Gender - Essay Example les of bias will likely always occur in one form or another, but the suggestion that there has somehow been a concerted, secretive international conspiracy by evil corporations directed against women is ridiculous. This paper debunks the glass ceiling myth by examining the arguments by those who would defend its existence and by injecting context and perspective into the discussion. Prior to delving into the multiple facets of the supposed wage gap between men and women in the workplace, one indisputable aspect should be addressed. This nation operates on a capitalistic system. Companies large and small, in every industry and service, have one main goal which is to make a profit, the bigger the better. Therefore, it is an economic reality that if a company could hire women who would accept 25 percent less compensation than a man to perform the same job, as is popularly claimed, they would hire only women. Since this phenomenon hasn’t occurred either locally or nationally, it can be safely assumed that there is no gender-based disparity in wages, no unspoken conspiracy to discriminate against women, no glass ceiling. A recent study which surveyed nearly 900 companies of various sizes found that about half reported that it was at least somewhat likely its next CEO would be of the female gender. This would not have been the case 30 years ago when women, driven by economic necessity, began to enter the workforce in larger numbers. Business analysts have estimated that â€Å"it takes the average man 20 years to become general manager, 25 years to become president, and 30 years to become CEO assuming he has the personal and professional qualities to make it in the first place† (Larson, 2005). Thirty years after women on the whole became more career oriented, they are today as likely as men to assume the head position of businesses, right on schedule. It is only reasonable to expect that there was a gender discrepancy among the top jobs in the beginning years

Owens Corning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Owens Corning - Essay Example This meant the company had to develop new IS capabilities and also to plan for a strong IS human resources management. It was also found that when the staffs were getting trained in SAP their requirements outside was very attractive and people were moving out of the company. At the planned implementation time, the first release was done - October 1995. Second and third releases identified training as a major lacuna during the implementation phase which cost them quite some time and efforts. Not just teaching the computers and PC operation but also processes that are being adopted in the company. Release 4 was the SAP R/3 roll out at the Roof and Asphalt plants a total of 140 units where this was to be switched on by Mar 1997. This was to be followed closely by the other units of insulation and composites of North America. But then there were lots of issues relating to bugs in SAP, attrition among people and a swift implementation of switching it all on at the same time. From our analysis we find that the issue is one of staged implementation and now they need to take a measure of putting unit after unit in order and lessons learnt in one place could go on to help the rest. A plan to put all these in a phased manner needs to be worked out and implemented with the same vigor when it was started in 1994. Owens Corning was swiftly growing with its new acquisitions and there was an ongoing incorpor

Assessment techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Assessment techniques - Essay Example Critical thinking plays a big role in the whole concept of the consideration of new ideas, the subsequent choosing of the best options and the decision whether or not to modify them further. The Use of Critical Thinking Skills in Teaching Critical thinking skills are a challenge in both face-to-face teaching settings as well as in the provision of online courses because there is a need for students to be completely present in the moment during the lesson. It is much easier for students to merely cram information into their memories without necessarily understanding it and then restate it when they are required to during examinations or tests (Dobrovolny, 2006). Cramming information into memory is the easier way of retaining information without being fully involved in the learning process. It is something that is done in many educational institutions today. However, it is harmful to students in the final analysis because they are left in a situation where they have no skills in fully assessing different subjects or forming their own opinions about them. Reiterating information only calls for a student to sit in the lecture and pretend to understand what is being taught even though his or her mind may be thinking about something else. As long as the student has memorized various meanings, he is content because he can repeat this material to himself later until it is ingrained in his memory. It will then be easy to restate it just as he remembers it in any examinations where it may be required. The use of critical thinking skills, on the other hand, calls for the student to be fully engaged in associative or active learning. Critical thinking entails the use of various skills in the consideration of a given subject. These skills include interpretation, observation, inference, analysis, explanation, and evaluation. The student engaged in critical thinking also takes into account the context in which the material is presented, theoretical constructs for comprehendin g the subject matter, and the techniques used to come to a decision about the final answer. The use of critical thinking skills does not just entail the use of logic, but also the consideration of credibility, relevance, accuracy, significance, and precision. When a teacher wishes to engage her students towards thinking critically about a subject, she encourages them to use their reason to determine the next steps in finding the real answer; even if this might result in disparities in the findings. She will also encourage inquisitiveness among the students, and direct them towards using a systematic approach to finding solutions for different problems. Naturally, it is easier for teachers to encourage students in bricks-and-mortar institutions to adopt these methods of problem solving than it is for them to encourage students in their online classrooms or hybrid environments. Hybrid settings describe a situation where the teacher uses a combination of traditional classroom as well a s online instruction to disseminate lessons to students. In traditional classrooms, teachers are able to monitor students on a personal basis and some can even determine which students are ‘present’ and which are not. This means that they will be able to call the attention of

E-commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 4

E-commerce - Essay Example It is also based on the premise that competition is relentless and people are the most important raw materials (Morrison Institute). Today the internet is aggressively used as a channel for businesses both new and established ones; through entrepreneurial start-ups and corporate ventures. E-commerce firms are defined as those that derive a significant or rapidly growing proportion of their revenues from transactions over the internet but organizational and market phenomena have been just as influential as technology developments in the growth of e-commerce (Stace, Holtham & Courtney, 2001). Internet exchanges are beneficial not just for the customers or end users but it helps businesses to exchange and grow together. It is a platform to transact business, known as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C) and customer-to-customer (C2C) and has definite advantages over the traditional way of transacting business (Amit & Zott, 2000). Many firms have failed to harness the benefits of online business even though the retail segment has picked up rapidly in the last few years. The debate continues whether ecommerce complements fixed store retailing or replaces existing channels, namely the clicks and bricks channels. E-retailing has been constantly undergoing a process of innovation which has caused a threat to the established retail and distribution channels. This new form of commerce is laden with information and enables companies to speed up activities and increase their scope. The external and internal factors influence the firm’s behavior and companies can differentially obtain advantage depending upon their ability to conduct business (Burt & Sparks, 2003). A failure to operate would allow competitors to surge ahead. E-commerce can help to transform the traditional tasks and activities and the associated costs within the retain channel. The activities that are affected are the sourcing of products, stoc kholding, inventory

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Government - Essay Example We have always believed that the Democratic Party government is the only one that could take USA back to where it used to be and make it even better (Lantis 43). Constitutionally, parties represent people. People usually have views and opinions for what their government should represent. In the paper, I will be discussing some of the major policies presented by the Democratic Party government to its citizens. Democratic Party has good economic policies which will be able to create a positive economic growth for the country. First of all, DP had hoped to introduce to reduce taxes on essential goods and even basic salaries of people (Lantis 67). The main reason for this was to ensure that people remained with more money instead of the government taking most of it. Disposable income is basically what gives people purchasing power, and ability to invests and make certain goods and services. The party argues that high disposable income equals to a country’s GDP. Another way which USA was going to boost the economy was through attracting investors through having good policies. The government hence introduced low taxes on foreigners and some cases, provided tax free periods so as to attract more foreign people to invest in their country (Lantis 73). I believe the policy has been effective since the county managed to pull from the economic depression of 2008-2010 and seems to be recording a positive movement. I have confidence in the party, that if given another 20 years, the USA economy will be very powerful. I have personally appreciated this policy when my parents who got unemployed back in 2010, got their jobs back in the respective companies. Another great policy which the Democratic Party had in place was the move to increase job opportunities. USA had been having a problem of unemployment ever since its economy plunged in 2008. Many people lost their careers and livelihood. In their policy, they had

Personal Finance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Personal Finance - Research Paper Example The investment period is one month starting on Thursday 1st May 2014 to Saturday 31st May 2014. It is mandatory that we return the funded amount at the end of the investment period and hence as a group we have to select a portfolio of assets to invest in that will enable us to earn income that is above the inflation rate at the end of the period. We have an option of investing on either or all of the available investment options which are; Stock Market Investment (National/International), Bank deposits (Only Non-Islamic Qatari Banks), Gold & Other Metals, Bond / Debenture Investment International Market) or Forex Market (Currencies). In selecting among the options we consider the tradeoff between risks faced and the potential returns. This paper focuses on the major investment portfolios and their returns with an aim of determining the profitability of the various investments. It will be useful to the group members to identify the significance of investing in case the returns are positive. The main aim of investing this amount is to for capital growth. Our wish is for the amount to grow at a higher rate than the inflation rate within the month of May. From the returns we can buy more assets in the future and also use the incomes to support our lifestyles. We therefore are to consider investments with stable incomes and low risks on our original investment. We need to select the best mix of the available investment opportunities that will give us maximum returns and expose us to minimum risks. A higher percentage of the amount should be invested in less risky investments which in most cases result to lower returns. It is also important to invest in risky investments which result to higher returns. A stock is a certificate of ownership that shows partial ownership of a Company. Purchase of stock will make us part owner of the company. In investing in stocks we consider major factors to

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Government - Essay Example We have always believed that the Democratic Party government is the only one that could take USA back to where it used to be and make it even better (Lantis 43). Constitutionally, parties represent people. People usually have views and opinions for what their government should represent. In the paper, I will be discussing some of the major policies presented by the Democratic Party government to its citizens. Democratic Party has good economic policies which will be able to create a positive economic growth for the country. First of all, DP had hoped to introduce to reduce taxes on essential goods and even basic salaries of people (Lantis 67). The main reason for this was to ensure that people remained with more money instead of the government taking most of it. Disposable income is basically what gives people purchasing power, and ability to invests and make certain goods and services. The party argues that high disposable income equals to a country’s GDP. Another way which USA was going to boost the economy was through attracting investors through having good policies. The government hence introduced low taxes on foreigners and some cases, provided tax free periods so as to attract more foreign people to invest in their country (Lantis 73). I believe the policy has been effective since the county managed to pull from the economic depression of 2008-2010 and seems to be recording a positive movement. I have confidence in the party, that if given another 20 years, the USA economy will be very powerful. I have personally appreciated this policy when my parents who got unemployed back in 2010, got their jobs back in the respective companies. Another great policy which the Democratic Party had in place was the move to increase job opportunities. USA had been having a problem of unemployment ever since its economy plunged in 2008. Many people lost their careers and livelihood. In their policy, they had

Cognitive science Essay Example for Free

Cognitive science Essay Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own. [1][2] The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature, but not exclusively high literature but also other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising, pop culture, politics or religion. [3] Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism. Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and people’s dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, etc. In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals. * | Early twentieth century The analysis of literary style goes back to Classical rhetoric, but modern stylistics has its roots in Russian Formalism,[4] and the related Prague School, in the early twentieth century. In 1909, Charles Ballys Traite de stylistique francaise had proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Saussurean linguistics. For Bally, Saussures linguistics by itself couldnt fully describe the language of personal expression. [5] Ballys programme fitted well with the aims of the Prague School. [6] Building on the ideas of the Russian Formalists, the Prague School developed the concept of foregrounding, whereby poetic language stands out from the background of non-literary language by means of deviation (from the norms of everyday language) or parallelism. [7] According to the Prague School, the background language isnt fixed, and the relationship between poetic and everyday language is always shifting. [8] Late twentieth century Roman Jakobson had been an active member of the Russian Formalists and the Prague School, before emigrating to America in the 1940s. He brought together Russian Formalism and American New Criticism in his Closing Statement at a conference on stylistics at Indiana University in 1958. [9] Published as Linguistics and Poetics in 1960, Jakobsons lecture is often credited with being the first coherent formulation of stylistics, and his argument was that the study of poetic language should be a sub-branch of linguistics. [10] The poetic function was one of six general functions of language he described in the lecture. Michael Halliday is an important figure in the development of British stylistics. [11] His 1971 study Linguistic Function and Literary Style: An Inquiry into the Language of William Goldings The Inheritors is a key essay. [12] One of Hallidays contributions has been the use of the term register to explain the connections between language and its context. [13] For Halliday register is distinct from dialect. Dialect refers to the habitual language of a particular user in a specific geographical or social context. Register describes the choices made by the user,[14] choices which depend on three variables: field (what the participants are actually engaged in doing, for instance, discussing a specific subject or topic),[15] tenor (who is taking part in the exchange) and mode (the use to which the language is being put). Fowler comments that different fields produce different language, most obviously at the level of vocabulary (Fowler. 1996, 192) The linguist David Crystal points out that Halliday’s ‘tenor’ stands as a roughly equivalent term for ‘style’, which is a more specific alternative used by linguists to avoid ambiguity. (Crystal. 1985, 292) Halliday’s third category, mode, is what he refers to as the symbolic organisation of the situation. Downes recognises two distinct aspects within the category of mode and suggests that not only does it describe the relation to the medium: written, spoken, and so on, but also describes the genre of the text. (Downes. 1998, 316) Halliday refers to genre as pre-coded language, language that has not simply been used before, but that predetermines the selection of textual meanings. The linguist William Downes makes the point that the principal characteristic of register, no matter how peculiar or diverse, is that it is obvious and immediately recognisable. (Downes. 1998, 309) Literary stylistics In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Crystal observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to deal with the complex and ‘valued’ language within literature, i. e.  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœliterary stylistics’. He goes on to say that in such examination the scope is sometimes narrowed to concentrate on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its ‘deviant’ and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses. For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels. (Crystal. 1987, 71). Poetry As well as conventional styles of language there are the unconventional – the most obvious of which is poetry. In Practical Stylistics, HG Widdowson examines the traditional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones in a cemetery. For example: His memory is dear today As in the hour he passed away. (Ernest C. Draper ‘Ern’. Died 4. 1. 38) (Widdowson. 1992, 6) Widdowson makes the point that such sentiments are usually not very interesting and suggests that they may even be dismissed as ‘crude verbal carvings’ and crude verbal disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they are a very real attempt to convey feelings of human loss and preserve affectionate recollections of a beloved friend or family member. However, what may be seen as poetic in this language is not so much in the formulaic phraseology but in where it appears. The verse may be given undue reverence precisely because of the sombre situation in which it is placed. Widdowson suggests that, unlike words set in stone in a graveyard, poetry is unorthodox language that vibrates with inter-textual implications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a stylistic analysis of poetry are noted by PM Wetherill in Literary Text: An Examination of Critical Methods. The first is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one particular feature that may well minimise the significance of others that are equally important. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The second is that any attempt to see a text as simply a collection of stylistic elements will tend to ignore other ways whereby meaning is produced. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) Implicature In ‘Poetic Effects’ from Literary Pragmatics, the linguist Adrian Pilkington analyses the idea of ‘implicature’, as instigated in the previous work of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two categories: ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ implicature, yet between the two extremes there are a variety of other alternatives. The strongest implicature is what is emphatically implied by the speaker or writer, while weaker implicatures are the wider possibilities of meaning that the hearer or reader may conclude. Pilkington’s ‘poetic effects’, as he terms the concept, are those that achieve most relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures and not those meanings that are simply ‘read in’ by the hearer or reader. Yet the distinguishing instant at which weak implicatures and the hearer or reader’s conjecture of meaning diverge remains highly subjective. As Pilkington says: ‘there is no clear cut-off point between assumptions which the speaker certainly endorses and assumptions derived purely on the hearer’s responsibility. ’ (Pilkington. 1991, 53) In addition, the stylistic qualities of poetry can be seen as an accompaniment to Pilkington’s poetic effects in understanding a poems meaning. Stylistics is a valuable if long-winded approach to criticism, and compels attention to the poems details. Two of the three simple exercises performed here show that the poem is deficient in structure, and needs to be radically recast. The third sheds light on its content. Introduction Stylistics applies linguistics to literature in the hope of arriving at analyses which are more broadly based, rigorous and objective. {1} The pioneers were the Prague and Russian schools, but their approaches have been appropriated and extended in recent years by radical theory. Stylistics can be evaluative (i. e.judge the literary worth on stylistic criteria), but more commonly attempts to simply analyze and describe the workings of texts which have already been selected as noteworthy on other grounds. Analyses can appear objective, detailed and technical, even requiring computer assistance, but some caution is needed. Linguistics is currently a battlefield of contending theories, with no settlement in sight. Many critics have no formal training in linguistics, or even proper reading, and are apt to build on theories (commonly those of Saussure or Jacobson) that are inappropriate and/or no longer accepted. Some of the commonest terms, e. g. deep structure, foregrounding, have little or no experimental support. {2} Linguistics has rather different objectives, moreover: to study languages in their entirety and generality, not their use in art forms. Stylistic excellence — intelligence, originality, density and variety of verbal devices — play their part in literature, but aesthetics has long recognized that other aspects are equally important: fidelity to experience, emotional shaping, significant content. Stylistics may well be popular because it regards literature as simply part of language and therefore (neglecting the aesthetic dimension) without a privileged status, which allows the literary canon to be replaced by one more politically or sociologically acceptable. {3} Why then employ stylistics at all? Because form is important in poetry, and stylistics has the largest armoury of analytical weapons. Moreover, stylistics need not be reductive and simplistic. There is no need to embrace Jacobsons theory that poetry is characterized by the projection of the paradigmatic axis onto the syntagmatic one. {4} Nor accept Bradfords theory of a double spiral: {5} literature has too richly varied a history to be fitted into such a straitjacket. Stylistics suggests why certain devices are effective, but does not offer recipes, any more than theories of musical harmony explains away the gifts of individual composers. Some stylistic analysis is to be found in most types of literary criticism, and differences between the traditional, New Criticism and Stylistics approaches are often matters of emphasis. Style is a term of approbation in everyday use (that woman has style, etc.), and may be so for traditional and New Criticism. But where the first would judge a poem by reference to typical work of the period (Jacobean, Romantic, Modernist, etc. ), or according to genre, the New Criticism would probably simply note the conventions, explain what was unclear to a modern audience, and then pass on to a detailed analysis in terms of verbal density, complexity, ambiguity, etc. To the Stylistic critic, however, style means simply how something is expressed, which can be studied in all language, aesthetic and non-aesthetic. {6} Stylistics is a  very technical subject, which hardly makes for engrossing, or indeed uncontentious, {7} reading. The treatment here is very simple: just the bare bones, with some references cited. Under various categories the poem is analyzed in a dry manner, the more salient indications noted, and some recommendations made in Conclusions. Published Examples of Stylistic Literary Criticism G. N. Leechs A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (1969) Laura Browns Alexander Pope (1985) Roy Lewiss On Reading French Verse: A Study in Poetic Form (1982) George Wrights Shakespeares Metrical Art. (1988) Richard Bradfords A Linguistic History of English Poetry (1993) Poem The Architects But, as youd expect, they are very Impatient, the buildings, having much in them Of the heavy surf of the North Sea, flurrying The grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them With a hoarse roar against the aggregate They are composed of — the cliffs higher of course, More burdensome, underwritten as It were with past days overcast And glinting, obdurate, part of the Silicate of tough lives, distant and intricate As the whirring bureaucrats let in And settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, Awaiting the post and the department meeting — Except that these do not know it, at least do not Seem to, being busy, generally. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost Vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier Of concrete like rib-bones packed above them, And they light-headed with the blue airiness Spinning around, and muzzy, a neuralgia Calling at random like frail relations, a phone Ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, That they become attentive, or we do — these Divisions persisting, indeed what we talk about, We, constructing these webs of buildings which, Caulked like great whales about us, are always. Aware that some trick of the light or weather Will dress them as friends, pleading and flailing — And fill with placid but unbearable melodies Us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass.  © C. John Holcombe 1997 Metre Though apparently iambic, with five stresses to the line, the metre shows many reversals and substitutions. Put at its simplest, with: / representing a strong stress \ representing a weak stress x representing no stress, and trying to fit lines into a pentameters, we have -| /| x| x| x| /| -| \| x| /| x| | But| as| youd| ex| pect| | they| are| ve| ry| x| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| x| x| Im| pat| ient| the| build| ings,| hav| ing| much| in| them| x| x| \| x| /| x| x| \| /| /| x x| Of| the| heav| y| surf| of| the| North| Sea,| flurr| ying| x| /| -| /| x| x| /| x| /| x| \| The| grit,| | lift| ing| the| pebbl| es,| fling| ing| them| \| x| /| -| /| x| \| x| /| x| \| With| a| hoarse| | roar| a| gainst| the| agg| re| gate| x| \| x| /| \| x| /| /| x| x| /| They| are| com| posed| of,| the| cliffs| high| er| of| course| \| /| x| \| -| /| x| / | x| \| | More| burd| en| some,| | un| der| writ| ten| as| | x| /| x| /| -| /| -| /| x| /| | It| were| with| past| | days| | o| ver| cast| | x| /| x| \| /| x| \| -| /| x| x| And | glit| ter| ing,| ob| du| rate,| | part| of| the| -| /| x x x| /| -| /| -| /| x x| /| x x| | Sil| icate of| tough| | lives| | dist| ant and| in| tricate| -| \| x| /| x| /| x| \| -| /| x| | As| the| whir| ring| bu| reau| crats| | let| in| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| And | set| tled with| cof| fee| in| the| con| crete| pal| lets| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| A| wait| ing the| post| and| the| de| part| ment| meet| ing| x| \| x| /| \ x | /| x| x| \| /| x| Ex| cept| that| these| do not| know| it, | at| least| do| not| -| /| x| /| x| /| x| /| x| \| x| | Seem| to| be| ing| bus| y| gen| ER| all| y| \| x| /| x x| /| x| \| x| /| x| /| x| So| per| haps| it is| on| ly| on| those| cloud| less| al| most| -| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| \| /| x| | Vac| uumed| af| ter| noons| with| ti| ER u| pon| ti| ER| x| /| x| \| /| /| -| /| x| /| x| | Of| con| Crete| like| rib| bones| | packed| a| bove| them| | x| /| \| /| x| \| x| /| /| x| \| | And | they| light| head| ed,| with| the| blue| air| i| ness| | -| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| | | Spin| ning a| round| and| muz| zy,| a| neu| ral| gia| | -| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x x| /| | | Cal| ling at| ran| dom like| frail| re| lat| ions a| phone| | -| /| x x x| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | Ring| ing in a| dist| ant| of| fice they| can| not| get| to| x| /| x| /| x| /| x x| /| /-| \| | That| they| be| come| at| ten| tive, or| we| do| these| | x| /| x x| /| x x| /| \| x| /| x| /| Di| vis| ions per| sist| ing, in| deed| what| we| talk| a| bout| -| /| x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| \| | | We,| con| struct| ing these| webs| of| build| ings| which| | -| /| x| /| \| /| x| /| x x| /| x| | Caulk| Ed | like| great| whales| a| bout| us are| al| ways| x| /| x x| /| x x| /| x| /| x| | | A| ware| that some| trick| of the| light| or| weath| ER| | | \| /| x x| /| -| /| x x| /| x| | | Will| dress| them as| friends| | plead| ing and| flail| ing| | | x| /| x| /| x| \| x| /| x x| /| x x| And| fill| with| plac| id| but | UN| bear| able | mel| odies| -| /| x| \| -| /| x x x| /| \| /| | | Us | in| deep| | hint| erlands of| in| curved| glass| | Poets learn to trust their senses, but even to the experienced writer these (tedious) exercises can pinpoint what the ear suspects is faulty, suggest where improvements lie, and show how the metre is making for variety, broad consistency, shaping of the argument and emotive appeal. Though other scansions are certainly possible in the lines above, the most striking feature will remain their irregularity. Many lines can only roughly be called pentameters; Lines 16 and 17 are strictly hexameters; and lines 27 and 28 are tetrameters. In fact, the lines do not read like blank verse. The rhythm is not iambic in many areas, but trochaic, and indeed insistently dactylic in lines 9 and 10, 21 and 22 and 28. Line 27 is predominantly anapaestic, and line 3 could (just) be scanned: x x| / x| /| x x \| /| | /| x x | Of the| heavy| surf| of the North| Sea| | flurr| ying| Reflective or meditative verse is generally written in the iambic pentameter, and for good reason — the benefit of past examples, readers expectations, and because the iambic is the closest to everyday speech: flexible, unemphatic, expressing a wide range of social registers. Blank verse for the stage may be very irregular but this, predominantly, is a quiet poem, with the falling rhythms inducing a mood of reflection if not melancholy. What is being attempted? Suppose we set out the argument (refer to rhetorical and other analyses), tabbing and reverse tabbing as the reflections as they seem more or less private: {8} 1. But, as youd expect, 2. they are very impatient, the buildings, 3. having much in them of the heavy surf of the North Sea, 4. flurrying the grit, 5. lifting the pebbles, 6. flinging them with a hoarse roar against the aggregate they are composed of — the 7. cliffs higher of course, more 8. burdensome, 9. underwritten as it were with past days 10. overcast and glinting, 11. obdurate, 12. part of the silicate of tough lives, 13. distant and intricate as 14. the whirring bureaucrats 15. let in and settled with coffee in the concrete pallets, awaiting the post and the department meeting — 16. except that these do not know it, 17. at least do not seem to, being busy, 18. generally. 19. So perhaps it is only on those cloudless, almost vacuumed afternoons with tier upon tier of concrete like rib — bones packed above them, and 20. they light-headed 21. with the blue airiness spinning around, and 22. muzzy, a 23. neuralgia calling at random like 24. frail relations, a 25. phone ringing in a distant office they cannot get to, that 26. They become attentive, 27. or we do — 28. these divisions persisting, 29. indeed what we talk about, 30. we, constructing these webs of buildings which 31. caulked like great whales about us, are 32. always aware that some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends, 33. pleading and flailing — and 34. fill with placid but unbearable melodies 35. us in deep hinterlands of incurved glass. The structure should now be clear. Where Eliot created new forms by stringing together unremarkable pentameters, {8} this poem attempts the reverse: to recast an irregular ode-like structure as pentameters. And not over-successfully: many of the rhythms seemed unduly confined. But once returned to the form of an eighteenth century Pindaric ode, however unfashionable today, the lines regain a structure and integrity. Each starts with a marked stress and then tails away, a feature emphasized by the sound patterns. {9} Sound Patterning To these sound patterns we now turn, adapting the International Phonetic Alphabet to HTML restrictions: 1. But | as | youd | expect | u | a | U | e e | b t | z | y d | ksp kt | 2. They | are | very | impatient | the | buildings | A | a(r) | e E | i A e | e | i i | th | | v r | mp sh nt | th | b ld ngz | 3. Having | much | in | them | of | the | heavy | surf | of | the | North | Sea | a i | u | i | e | o | e | e | e(r) | o | e | aw | E | h v ng | m ch | n | th m | v | th | h v | s f | v | th | n th | s | 4. flurrying | the | grit | u E i | e | i | fl r ng | th | gr t | 5. lifting | the | pebbles | i i | e | e | l ft ng | th | p b lz | 6. flinging | them | with | a | hoarse | roar | against | the | aggregate | they | are | composed | of | i i | e | i | e | aw | aw | e A | e | a E A | A | a(r) | o O | o | fl ng ng | th m | w th | | h s | r | g nst | th | gr g t | th | | k MP zd | v | 7. the | cliffs | higher | of | course | more | e | i | I e | o | aw | aw | th | kl fs | h | v | s | m | 8. burdensome | u(r) e e | b d ns m | 9. underwritten | as | it | were | with | past | days | u e i e | a | i | (e)r | i | a(r) | A | nd r t n | z | t | w | w | p st | d z | 10. overcast | and | glinting | O e(r) a(r) | a | i i | v k St | nd | gl NT ng | 11. obdurate | o U A | bd r t | 12. part | of | the | silicate | of | tough | lives | (a)r | o | e | i i A | o | u | I | p t | f | th | s l k t | v | t f | l vz | 13. distant | and | intricate | i a | a | i i e | d St NT | nd | NT r k t | 14. as | the | whirring | bureaucrats | a | e | e(r) i | U O a | z | th | w r ng | b r kr ts | 15. let | in | and | settled | with | coffee | in | the | concrete | pallets | e | i | a | e ie | i | o E | i | e | o E | a e | l t | n | nd | s tl d | w th | k f | n | th | k Kr t | p l Ts | awaiting | the | post | and | the | department | meeting | e A i | e | O | a | e | E e | E i | w t ng | th | p St | nd | th | d p tm NT | m t ng | 16. except | that | these | do | not | know | it | e e | a | E | U | o | O | i | ks pt | th | th z | d | n t | n | t | 17. at | least | do | not | seem | to | being | busy | a | E | U | o | E | U | E i | i E | t | l St | d | n t | s m | t | b ng | b z /td | 18.generally | e e a E | j nr l | 19. so | perhaps | it | is | only | on | those | cloudless | almost | vacuumed | afternoons | O | e(r) a | i | i | O | o | O | ou e | aw O | a U | a(r) e oo | s | p h ps | t | z | nl | n | th z | kl dl s | lm St | v k md | ft n nz | with | tier | upon | tier | of | concrete | like | rib | bones | packed | above | them | and | i | E e(r) | e o | E e(r) | o | o E | I | i | O | a | e u | e | a | w th | t | p n | t | v | k nkr t | l k | r b | b nz | p Kt | b v | th m | nd | 20. they | light | headed | A | I | e e | th | l t | h d d | 21. with | the | blue | airiness | spinning | around | and | i | e | U | (A)r i e | i i | e ou | a | w th | th | bl | r n s | sp n ng | r nd | nd | 22. muzzy | a | u E | e | m z | | 23. neuralgia | calling | at | random | like | U a E a | aw i | a | a o | I | n r lj | k l ng | t | r nd m | l k | 24. frail | relations | a | A | e A e | e | fr l | r l zh nz | | 25. phone | ringing | in | a | distant | office | they | cannot | get | to | that | O | i i | i | e | i a | o i | A | a o | e | oo | a | | f n | r ng ng | n | | d St NT | f s | th | k n t | g t | t | th | | 26. they | become | attentive | A | E u | a e i | th | b k m | t NT v | 27. or | we | do | aw | E | oo | | w | d | 28. these | divisions | persisting | E | i i e | e(r) i i | th z | d v zh nz | p s St ng | 29. indeed | what | we | talk | about | i E | o | E | aw | e ou | in d | wh t | w | t k | b t | 30. we | constructing | these | webs | of | buildings | which | E | o u i | E | e | o | i i | i | w | k nz str Kt ng | th z | w bs | v | b ld ngz | wh Ch | 31. caulked | like | great | whales | about | us | are | aw | I | A | A | e ou | u | a(r) | k kd | l k | gr t | w lz | b t | s | | 32. always | aware | that | some | trick | of | the | light | or | weather | will | dress | them | as | friends | aw A | e (A)r | a | u | i | o | e | I | aw | e e(r) | i | e | e | a | e | lw z | w | th t | s m | tr k | v | th | l t | | w th | w l | dr s | th m | z | Fr ndz | 33. pleading | and | flailing | E i | a | A i | pl d ng | nd | fl l ng | 34. will | fill | with | placid | but | unbearable | melodies | i | i | i | a i | u | u A(r) a e | e O E | f l | w th | PL s d | b t | n b r b l | m l d z | | 35. us | in | deep | hinterlands | of | incurved | glass | u | i | E | i e a | o | i e(r) | a(r) | s | n | d p | h NT l ndz | v | nk v d | GL s | Sound in poetry is an immensely complicated and contentious subject. Of the seventeen different employments listed by Masson {10} we consider seven: 1. Structural emphasis All sections are structurally emphasized to some extent, but note the use (in decreasing hardness) of * plosive consonants in sections 1, 5, 6, 7, 10-13, 19, 28-50; 31 and 35. * fricative and aspirate consonants in sections 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 19, 25, 28, 32, 35. * liquid and nasal consonants in sections 3, 4, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 31-35. Also: * predominance of front vowels — in all sections but 6, 7, 11, 16, 17, 19 and 31. * predominance of vowels in intermediate positions — only sections 16 and 17 having several high vowels and section 3 low vowels. 2. Tagging of sections Note sections 1, 7, 13 and 15. 3. Indirect support of argument by related echoes * Widely used, most obviously in sections 3-7, 12-13, and 15. 4. Illustrative mime: mouth movements apes expression * Sections 2, 6, 11-13, 19, 31 and 35. 5. Illustrative painting * Sections 3-6, 10-13, 15, 19 and 33. Most sections are closely patterned in consonants. Those which arent (and therefore need attention if consistency is to be maintained) are perhaps 8, 9, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 and 27. Originally the poem was cast in the form of irregular pentameters. But if this is set aside in favour of the 35 sections listed above, how are these sections to be linked in a self-evident and pleasing form? A little is accomplished by alliteration: * f in sections 3 to 7. * s and t in sections 12 to 15 * w in sections 29 to 32 And also by the predominance of front and intermediate level vowels, but these do not amount to much. Certainly we do not find that the overall shaping of the poem emphasizes the argument or content. Sociolinguistics Language is not a neutral medium but comes with the contexts, ideologies and social intentions of its speakers written in. Words are living entities, things which are constantly being employed and only half taken over: carrying opinions, assertions, beliefs, information, emotions and intentions of others, which we partially accept and modify. In this sense speech is dialogic, has an internal polemic, and Bakhtins insights into the multi-layered nature of language (heteroglossia) can be extended to poetry. {11} Much of Postmodernist writing tries to be very unliterary, incorporating the raw material of everyday speech and writing into its creations. This poem seems rather different, a somewhat remote tone and elevated diction applying throughout. Let us see whats achieved by grouping under the various inflections of the speaking voice. * urgently confidential But, as youd expect, cliffs higher, of course, that they become attentive or we do * obsessively repetitious flurrying the grit, lifting the pebbles, flinging them burdensome, underwritten overcast and glinting, obdurate * over-clever silicate of tough lives  distant and intricate constructing these webs of buildings distracted and/or light-headed except that these do not know it at least do not seem to with the blue airiness spinning around calling at random like frail relations * melancholic and/or reflective some trick of the light or weather will dress them as friends pleading and flailing and fill with placid but unbearable melodies. The exercise hardly provides revelation. Heteroglossia is an interweaving of voices, moreover, not shifts of tone or reference. And yet there is something very odd about the opening line. Why should we expect the buildings to be very impatient? This is more than the orators trick of attracting attention, since the animate nature of buildings and their constituents is referred to throughout the poem. To be more exact, the attitude of the inhabitants — observers, bureaucrats, architects — to the buildings is developed by the poem, and is paralleled by the tone. But why the confidential and repetitious attitude at the beginning. Why should we be buttonholed in this manner? Why the But, which seems to point to an earlier conversation, and the urgency with which that earlier conversation is being refuted or covered up? Because the blame for something is being shifted to the buildings. What error has been committed we do not know, but in mitigation we are shown the effect of the buildings on other inhabitants. Or perhaps we are. In fact the whirring bureaucrats seem to grow out of the fabric of buildings, and we do not really know if the we, constructing these webs of buildings is meant literally or metaphorically. The poems title suggests literally, but perhaps these constructions are only of the mind: sections 17, 20-29, 32 and 34 refer to attitudes rather than actions, and there is an ethereal or otherworldly atmosphere to the later section of the poem. So we return to heteroglossia, which is not simply borrowed voices, but involves an internal polemic, {12} that private dialogue we conduct between our private thoughts and their acceptable public expression. The dialogue is surely here between the brute physicality of a nature made overpoweringly real and the fail brevity of human lives. That physicality is threatening and unnerving. If the we of the later section of the poem is indeed architects then that physicality is harnessed to practical ends. If the constructing is purely mental then the treatment is through attitudes, mindsets, philosophies. But in neither case does it emasculate the energy of the physical world. Architects may leave monuments behind them, but they are also imprisoned in those monuments (us in deep hinterlands) and hearing all the time the homesick voice of their constituents. Conclusions: Suggested Improvements The greatest difficulty lies in the poems structure. An pentameter form has been used to give a superficial unity, but this wrenches the rhythm, obscures the sound patterns and does nothing for the argument. If recast in sections defined by rhythm and sound pattern the form is too irregular to have artistic autonomy. A return could be made to the eighteenth century Pindaric ode in strict metre and rhyme, but would require extensive and skilful rewriting, and probably appear artificial. A prose poem might be the answer, but the rhythms would need to be more fluid and subtly syncopated. Otherwise, blank verse should be attempted, and the metre adjusted accordingly. The internal polemic is a valuable dimension of the poem, but more could be done to make the voices distinct. http://www. textetc. com/criticism/stylistics. html1. On StylisticsIs cognitive stylistics the future of stylistics? To answer this question in the essay that follows, I will briefly discuss Elena Semino and Jonathan Culpeper’s Cognitive Stylistics (2003), Paul Simpson’s Stylistics (2004), and a recent essay by Michael Burke (2005). However, because questions are like trains – one may hide another – any discussion of the future of stylistics raises intractable questions about stylistics itself. French students of stylistics, for example, will come across definitions of the discipline like the following. According to Brigitte Buffard-Moret, â€Å"si les definitions de [la stylistique] – que certains refusent de considerer comme une scien