News Analysis

This article by Caren Bohan is entitled â€Å"Clinton, Obama prepare for battle in Wisconsin.† The newsworthiness of the piece has been determined by the fact that it immediately concerns the American people. It also involves proximate issues that have to do with the up-coming presidential elections and is concerned with the selection of the two persons who will vie for the presidency later in this year. The conflict level of the situation is high. Hilary Clinton, who had been in the lead for the democratic candidacy, has now lost that lead as Obama has recently won in eight states in a row (Bohan 2008). The story, found on a Canadian website (Canada.com) is placed in the world news section as a high-priority story. This has been determined by the fact that as a close neighbor who shares a border, the political news that highly concerns United States citizens is also of great concern to the readers of this news site. The headline is clear and to the point, depicting precisely the next step in the battle between the two candidates. The image of Barack Obama is found within the article, and is well-placed at the top. Another image, one of Hilary Clinton, is also readily accessible by clicking on links associated with â€Å"more pictures† (Bohan, 2008). The candidates’ business in Wisconsin is given in detail, but only Hilary Clinton is strictly quoted in the article, as it was indicated that Obama tried to avoid the press. However, quotations are given concerning Obama’s business as identified by his spokesman Bill Burton. The overall impact of the story is that Obama’s popularity in the United States is strengthening, leaving Hilary Clinton feeling threatened. The reporters refer to her strongly appealing for the help of some of her supporters, and imply that her statement â€Å"I’m feeling good today† represents a concealment of her anxiety. Because this democratic race represents a major political event, it can be noticed that care is taken to provide in-depth analysis of the candidates’ positions and what that might mean for their prospects. The story also had an eye to the future, with predictions made (or suggested) about up-coming and related political events. This demonstrates the impact that the outcome of this important political event is likely to have on the future of America. Reference Bohan, Caren. â€Å"Clinton, Obama prepare for battle in Wisconsin.† Canada.com: where   Ã‚   perspectives connect. Canwest Publishing.

My School Essay

School is a temple of learning and a training ground for future citizens. The name of my school is Penang Chinese Girls High School. It was set up in 19-an by a land-lord in our area. He donated land and money for the school. The atmosphere in which our school is situated is very pleasant. It is surrounded by a big field on one side and a small garden with flowers on the other. The school has three rows of big buildings. The name of the school is written on the front building. There are many classrooms in the front building. Other rooms in the back building are used for different purposes such as the Head Master’s Office, Library, the Clerk’s Office, the Science Laboratory, the Teachers’ Common-room, the N. C. C. and etc. There are 80 teacher, a specific teacher for librarians, a clerk and several peons in our school. All the teachers are qualified and experienced. The Head Master is a learned woman,she solved problems of the pupils efficiently. The total number of students of our school is about 20thousand hundred. We go to school in uniform,our school consisits of girls only,therefore girls wear blue skirt and white blouse. The school functions from for 2 sessions. During the recess hour we go to the canteen to relax and savour some mouth-watering food. Some students also go to library and read newspaper there. In games period we play badminton, volley ball, etc. Girl students play ring ball too. The library of our school is a medium one. There are about two thousand books on different subjects; we did not have a library period in our weekly routine,so we borrow books from our library and refund them after a week in our free time. We observe the Republic Day, the Independence Day, the Teacher’s Day in our school. We also hold debate competitions and games and sports every year. The school magazine is published every year. In annual examinations the students from our school show brilliant performance. Many students from this school have occupied glorious position in our state. Our school always holds book fair for students to have a chance to explore the advantages of reading. This year a classical teacher from our school retired formally. The discipline, the study atmosphere and the brilliant academic result of our school attract many meritorious students from distant parts of our state. It is an ideal school in all respects.

Yeast Pre-Lab

Yeasts’ capability of undergoing ethanol fermentation, its ability to ferment other sugars and artificial sweeteners, and how lactase influences yeasts ability to use lactose as a food source Kristina Naydenova Father Michael Goetz Purpose Part A: To investigate whether yeast has the ability to ferment glucose to produce carbon dioxide gas and ethanol. Part B: To investigate whether yeast has the ability to ferment other sugars and artificial sweeteners and how lactase influences their ability to use lactose as a food source. QuestionPart A: Does yeast have the ability of undergoing ethanol fermentation? Part B: Does yeast have the ability to ferment other sugars and artificial sweeteners? Does lactase influence the ability of yeast to use lactose as a food source? Hypothesis Part A: If yeast produces carbon dioxide gas (the solution will turn cloudy due to carbon dioxide presence) and ethanol after fermenting glucose then it has the ability to undergo ethanol fermentation bec ause ethanol fermentations reactants consist of glucose and the products consist of carbon dioxide gas and ethanol.Part B: If yeast has the ability to ferment other sugars and artificial sweeteners then the products of the solution will consist of carbon dioxide gas and ethanol because the products of ethanol fermentation are carbon dioxide gas and ethanol. If lactase influences the ability of yeast to use lactose as a food source then the yeast will be able to use lactose to produce carbon dioxide gas and ethanol because the yeast will be capable of breaking down lactose into glucose and galactose. Materials * Safety goggles| * Lab apron| 4 flasks (100 mL) and 1 stopper| * Wax pencil (for making test tubes)| * Ruler| * 6 large beakers (400 mL)| * Thermometer| * Stopwatch| * 50 mL glucose suspension (10%)| * 50 mL yeast suspension (I package per 100 mL of water)| * Cotton batting| * Limewater| * Warm water (35  °C)| * 10 mL of each of the following solutions: glucose, sucrose, lac tose, and artificial sweetener (10%)| * 10 mL of a suspension of lactose (10%) with a pinch of lactase| * 10 mL of distilled water| * Graduated cylinder| * 6 test tubes (15 mL) with 1 hole rubber stoppers|Variables Procedure 1. The safety goggles and lab apron were put on. 2. Three flasks were labeled as â€Å"yeast and glucose,† â€Å"yeast,† and â€Å"glucose. † 3. 10 mL of glucose solution and 5 mL of yeast suspension were added to the â€Å"yeast and glucose† flask. 4. 10 mL of distilled water with 5 mL of yeast suspension to the â€Å"yeast and glucose† flask as a control. 5. 5 mL of distilled water with 10 mL of glucose solution were added to the â€Å"glucose† flask as a second control. 6. Cotton batting was placed in the mouth of the flasks to reduce air turbulence. . The cotton batting was removed carefully after 24 hours and the contents of each flask were smelled. A slight alcohol odour was detected. 8. Each flask was tested for t he presence of carbon dioxide.The invisible gas mixture was slowly poured into a flask that contains 25 mL of limewater. The limewater flask was stoppered and the contents were swirled to mix the limewater with the gas. Observations were recorded. The flask was rinsed. 25 mL of fresh limewater was added before testing the next gas sample. . A ruler was used to place graduation marks at 0. 5 cm intervals along the sides of the test tubes. 10. Six beakers of warm water (35  °C) were prepared. The beakers were two-thirds full of warm water. 11. The six test tubes were labeled as â€Å"glucose,† â€Å"sucrose,† â€Å"lactose free milk,† â€Å"artificial sweetener (Splenda),†lactose free milk and lactase,† and â€Å"distilled water†. 12. 10 mL of the appropriate solutions to each test tube were added. 13. 5 mL of yeast suspension to each test tube were added.The test tubes were filled. 14. The test tubes were scaled with one-hole stoppers after the mixtures are placed in the test tubes. 15. One test tube was held. The holes in the stopper were covered, and the test tube was inverted and placed into a beaker of warm water. The process was repeated for all six solutions, using a different beaker for each solution. 16. The amount of gas produced after 1, 5 and 10 minutes was recorded using the graduation marks on the test tubes. Observations Table 1.Before and after observations of yeast and glucose, yeast and glucose Solution| Before| After| Yeast and glucose| | | Yeast| | | Glucose | | | Table 2. The amount of gas produced by glucose, sucrose, lactose free milk, artificial sweetener, lactose free milk and lactase, and distilled water after 1, 5 and 10 minutes Solution| Time (1 minute)| Amount of gas| Time (5 minutes)| Amount of Gas| Time (10 minutes)| Amount of Gas| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Advertising Campaign Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Advertising Campaign - Case Study Example This advertising campaign cost the network about $20 million and was supposed to be one of the best advertising campaigns of the year 2006. The aim of this campaign was to use emotions as the means of attracting new clients and visitors; the campaign implied the use of emotion of experience and not physical experience as the basis for the development of the new global instrument of expanding the range of clients. The use of the core human values as the values which are peculiar of the personnel and the creators of the Sheraton hotels network, and thus provide their visitors with homelike warmth and comfort, has become the central theme of the 15: and 30: second TV spots. The development of the campaign was ruled by the Duo Rene Villar-Rios and Jan Vogel, who had become well-known for the development of successful ad campaigns for Coca-Cola and Nike. The central slogan of the advertising campaign 'we belong' was meant to make people understand they 'belong' to any hotel they decide to visit within the Sheraton network, and as people need to belong, hotels become the means of making people feel at home while in reality they are far away from it. (http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_2nd/Apr06_SheratonCampaign.html) The aim of providing people with all homelike options possible has also been achieved through provision of the clients with 10-minutes free telephone card to call those 'who matter'; Sheraton has also created new Internet site for the promotion of its services online. Now let's analyze this advertising campaign from the viewpoint of how it should look and be conducted with the account of the principal theoretical notions which have been given through lectures. The first interesting aspect to analyze in the advertising campaign is the two way communicative models. It is interesting to note, that this model has been used as the basic one for the creation of the Sheraton's ad campaign. I have come to the conclusion that this model has made this campaign very successful. What is seen here in more detail is that the coded message which appears as a slogan in each TV spot, namely 'we belong', is the coded message which each of those who see it interpret in his (her) own way. However, it is also important to note that interpretation should also be directed, because the consumers of the advertising products should decode the message the way the seller (advertiser wants it), thus it is not a simple process here. (Mittal, 2004) While the message is 'interpreted in different ways', the advertiser should care for these ways to be limited within the desired range. Thus, the message 'we belong' should first of all carry meaning of belonging to the hote l network, becoming its permanent clients and show the way the visitors will be treated during their stay there. This is why the core message here 'you don't just stay there - you belong'. Probably it would sound better is this message were made fuller and used in a wider form, but as the campaign has mostly been aimed at TV channels, thus capturing both visual and hearing attention of people (potential consumers) it is possible to say, that the decoded message has reached the targeted audience, but the message 'we belong' should be very brightly depicted, so that the audience interprets it in the necessary way through additional visual effects. (James & Kover, 1992) In this advertisement the source was the Advertiser, carrying the coded message 'we belon

Mrs. Fields Write Up... ISMG 3000 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mrs. Fields Write Up... ISMG 3000 - Case Study Example This was followed by the creation of Combination Stores that were not merely Cookie Selling Stores but also offered a wide range of other bakery products like Croissants, Bread, Hot Soups and sandwiches etc that were all being sold initially under the brand name of La Petite Boulangerie separately that had now been purchased by the Fields’. Moreover, these were not only store outlets but were sit-down cafes as well. The Field’s took these actions because they wanted to expand on their existing business. They were afraid that their name was well established in the present times but this may not be persistent and the monotony in their products and sales outlets may lead to the drifting away of their trusted customers as well. Since they were earning stable benefits and all their business processes were running smoothly Mr. Field thought that the merging of one or more companies into their existing setup would bring the well hailed boost to their product line. Mr. Field was primarily eyeing the revenue that he expected would be generated when the merger of the purchased companies would eventually be complete. Mr. Field was foreseeing the purchasing over even more new stores as a result of the revenue he expected to earn after this practical merger. His main motive was that he will have enough profits to make future payments by them. The demographical strength of the fields’ store, he thought would not effect any slight fluctuations in the economy that might take place during the transitional process of incorporating new companies and earning profits for the further new companies that were expected to be added to the combinational Stores’ Chain. Being an LPB store manager I wouldn’t be the happiest person on Earth. The company thatwas managed by me was being sold to another owner and rather than being downsized. Thus the

The Four Service Marketing Myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Four Service Marketing Myths - Essay Example The essay "The Four Service Marketing Myths" talks about the line between services marketing and goods marketing and depicts that both need various types of marketing strategies to be applied to them. Early marketing concepts are discussed and what views were for separating goods from services. Services marketing have their own divisions. Authors have made a line between services marketing and goods marketing and depict that both need various types of marketing strategies to be applied to them. The bottom line is that services should not be kept apart from goods, the definition of goods and services are being revamped. The myths of manufacturing based perspective from the marketing based perspective are being discussed in the case considering the four characteristics; intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability. The focus is towards investing their normative implications from a negative perspective towards a positive one. A more unified knowledge of exchange can b e formed without separating goods from services and only focus on the central role in the exchange. The different definitions given by the various authors in defining the goods and services separately have been discussed in the case on the basis of their tangibility and intangibility features in most cases. The end result that these definitions can be misleading because both goods and services are nested into each other and they don’t come up to be valid when dealing with the manufacturing and the marketing perspective.

Mgmt theory Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mgmt theory - Article Example Many government-sponsored enterprises came into operation for the expansion of lending in order to give rise to the people owning properties. US basically wanted to increase the percentage of home owners which is why the policy by FED of issuing subprime loans was relaxed, also as there were many competitors in the market issuing loans, the competition also gave rise to the issuance of loans without proper risk identification. It is therefore clear from the background of the years that lead to the crises, that the commonality among the Fed policy-makers and outside interest groups made FED relax the loan-based policies and in turn, the public interest was compromised along with proper accountability of the process. There were many incidents of the courts interfering with the rise in improper lending practices but FED ignored all these acquisitions and disregarded any amendments by the courts. This response of FED was of course due to its inclination towards the housing authority of US. Another reason of FED giving support to mortgages was that as there were many innovations in scrutinization, there was a huge amount of money available for mortgage lending. The fundamental statutory charge of FED indicates that it is only responsible for providing stable prices, providing maximum employment and moderate long-term interest rates. This makes it evident that the role of FED is not to direct the residential mortgage markets or to provide supervision to the lenders outside the banking system therefore; FED is not even well suited for policing the mortgage practices in the country. The main reason of the credit crunch of 2008 is the affect of the environment of the policy process on FED, if this not had been so, this financial setup could have been foreseen, and if not eliminated, it could at least have been to a lesser extent. FED is capable of prudential oversight

Deductive and inductive criminal profiling Coursework

Deductive and inductive criminal profiling - Coursework Example Profiling methodologies differ mainly because all profilers are not trained uniformly and they have varying abilities. Basically, there are two kinds of profiling. Each describes different methodologies to this field of study. Inductive Criminal Profiling is hypothetically associated with the formation of a psychological model of symptoms and the ensuing evidence of symptoms. This method essentially entails racial generalizations based on statistics. Deductive Criminal Profiling is the less common technique of profiling. It can be thought of as, very broadly speaking, the Sherlock Holmes process where the profiler retains an open mind and examines all ideas, opinions and assumptions put forth regardless of how prominent the supplier of the information might be. Decisions concerning which person to stop, question and detain based on characteristic generalizations that are either perceived or observable such as race is founded on the inductive profiling method. However, â€Å"even whe n generalizations are statistically legitimate, they can be very erroneous in particular cases.† (Turvey, 1998). If law enforcement agencies implement the inductive profiling method, it serves to mislead the investigative process and adds the factor of pseudo-credibility to the method.

Strategic delimma, the quality improvement , equal work load and Case Study

Strategic delimma, the quality improvement , equal work load and quality and patient safety - Case Study Example gaged throughout the project by striving to build trust among team members through team building, strengthening interpersonal relationships and motivating team members by recognizing their contribution to the team (Allio, 2006). I order to get the team underway, Jeff should personally communicate with the expected team members and discuss with them the mission and objectives of the project for them to buy in. After that, he should organize another meeting where they will discuss in detail about the project and progress working on the project with interested members. The committee could have avoided the last minute rush on its project thereby avoiding the conflict on the deadline day of the project. The workload could have been managed easily through cooperation taking in to account the request by one of the team members to be absent for some time at a crucial stage in the project. The committee could work a little bit harder and faster to avoid this scenario. AT the very beginning of the committee’s life, the leader should have come up with a detailed pan on how the workload will be managed. This plan would take in to account significant issues such as the departure by some members at crucial points in the project, including Mariana’s request. The team should include Mariana’s name on the report because of the contribution she has made so far and her desire to do more work to cater for her time off. It was not Marian’s choice to quit the committee at such a point since it was a leadership failure to plan for her absence despite being forewarned. Kyle should reorganize the remaining members in the committee and device a plan for working out the remaining part of the project without Mariana’s contribution. This will facilitate completion of the project within the desired time despite encountering planning problems in the initial strategy of the project. In order to foster strategic thinking in this situation, I will devise an action plan with details

Desert Exile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Desert Exile - Essay Example She describes the hard life of the Japanese Americans during the Depression and after they were forced to live in the internment camp The author’s father came to the United States in 1906, and her mother came later to marry him. Belonging to a fairly well-off family, Uchida did not experience the hardships her friends did during the Depression .She describes her angst during her childhood and her mother’s sensitivity and her father’s kindness and hospitality. The book throws light on some of the customs and ways of life of the first generation Japanese Americans. Although the book is well written and is full of insights, Yoshiko Uchida who belongs to the community of Japanese Americans herself, does not seem to give a balanced view of the experiences of her community .According to a critic, Uchida â€Å"is too close to her subjects and does not have enough critical distance to give a balanced and accurate account of the internment and experience of Japanese Amer icans in the years before the internment.† Writing about the deluge of Japanese visitors they had when she was a child, Uchida writes, â€Å"I felt as though our house was the unofficial alumni headquarters of Doshisha, and I one of its most reluctant members.†(Uchida p. 11) As the author was but a young child at the time, the number of visitors must have seemed enormous to her. In chapter 2, the author speaks about her insecurities which continued into her adult life. According to her, the insecurity was probably caused by the feeling of being different. â€Å"Perhaps it was the constant sense of not being as good as the hakujin(white people)† (Uchida 27) She concedes that although they spoke Japanese at home and observed Japanese customs, her family was more liberal than many of the other Japanese families. â€Å"As a result, our upbringing was less strict than that of some of my Nesei

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Literature review - Essay Example The next part, talks about the business structure and the major products and services offered by the company. The company history has been also reviewed highlighting the major achievements of the company over the past years of its business operations. The existing management structure and the corporate governance mechanisms followed by the organisation have also been studied. The business strategies followed by the company and its financial performance in the recent years have also been reviewed in this report. Company Overview EasyJet plc is a UK based organisation which operates its business in the airlines industry. The company is headquartered at Luton, UK and was founded in the year 1995. The airlines operations of the company includes 600 routes and offers its services to around 130 airports located in 30 countries all around the world (easyJet plc, 2012). Apart from carrying passengers the company is also engaged in the business of leasing and trading aircrafts. It has been es timated that the total fleet of aircrafts of the company included around 200 aircrafts as on 24 August 2012. The shares of EasyJet are publicly traded in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with the ticker symbol â€Å"EZJ† (Yahoo Finance, 2012). Business Description Airlines services are offered by EasyJet plc within Europe. The company runs its business along with its subsidiaries at point-to-point routes on short-haul basis. The company is found to operate across 130 airports spread over 130 countries and has more than 580 routes at present. The company operated fleet mainly consists of Airbus aircraft and some Boeing aircrafts as well. The engines of the aircrafts flown by EasyJet plc are supplied by (International Aero Engines) IAE and CFM international. The maintenance of engines and the aircrafts are mostly undertaken by Virgin, SRT, GE, Aeroton, MTU, Lufthansa Technik, and BF Goodrich. Aircrafts are also obtained on lease by EasyJet provided by various organisations like BOC Aviation, AWAS, GECAS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nomura Babcock & Brown, Santander, and Sumisho. Purchase of aircrafts by EasyJet plc is mainly financed by the financial institutions like Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Alliance & Leicester, BNP Paribas, HSH Nordbank, Caylon, KfW, PK AirFinance, Natixis, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Royal Bank of Scotland, and WestLB. The major insurers of the company include La Reunion, Global, Canada Life, AIG, QBE, Houston Casualty, and Chubb. EasyJet Switzerland and EasyJet Airline Company Ltd. are the two subsidiary companies of EasyJet plc who are engaged in airlines operations. The aircraft leasing and trading activities are carried on by the other subsidiaries of the company like EasyJet Sterling Ltd., EasyJet Aircraft Co. Ltd., and EasyJet Leasing Ltd. Apart from scheduled airline and in-flight services, the other associated services offered by EasyJet includes online reservations, hotel rooms and car hire facilities. Company History St elios Haji-Ioannou is attributed to be the founder member of EasyJet and his objective of setting up this company was to offer low cost scheduled airlines within Europe. The first aircraft that was wholly owned by the company was provided in the year 1996. The company’s website was launched in the year 1997. Since its inception the company continued to expand its operations all over Europe and started implementing various acquisitions

Goal Essay Example for Free

Goal Essay â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world† (Nelson Mandela) what are my intension to come to college? Nowadays, medical assistant is rapidly increasing. I’m attending college to earn my Associate degree in Medical Assistant. Before attending college, I’ve had too many problems such as the grammar problems and writing in the English forms. I realized that I wasn’t going to get far without education. With my familys support and advises, I decided to go on further with my education to have a better future and a long time career working as a medical assistant. This year, I am enrolled at Kauai Community College since the fall 2012 semester. When I started college, I was majoring Liberal Arts because Im still undecided what career I wanted to pursue in. November 2012, after talking to my counselor I was able to choose what Im pursuing; I choose medical assistant. Their are couple reasons why I choose medical assistant. One reason is that I have the passion to work with other people. And the other reason is that I have a single mother who supported me since I was born and I want to find a career that would pay enough to support me and my family. Receiving my associate degree and becoming a medical assistant will improve my life. I am 18 years old, employed at brick oven (Kalaheo), and still living with my parents. In the past I made a lot of bad choices that made my mother disappointment. Accomplishing my educational goals and pursuing in the medical field will make my family and my mother proud, and it will also help me live independently. My estimated date of graduating the medical field is spring 2015, in order for me to complete my goal; I will set up a meeting with my counselor to organize what I should take each semester. By doing this, so I would know what to expect and not to overload my schedule. Other things that will also help me to achieve my goal is to attend class regularly, take notes, turn in all assignments on time, and do not procrastinate. In conclusion, my purpose for being in college is to have a better future and be able to live independently and support my family.

Performance Measurement Of Financial And Non Financial Results Accounting Essay

Performance Measurement Of Financial And Non Financial Results Accounting Essay Every organisation strive for good performance. Performance improvement considers organisational change where management of the organisation puts in place some projects to help boost the current level of performance. In this respect the programmes may completely change the organisation behaviour and conducts to allow the changes to take effect. Management aims to increase the organisational effectiveness and efficiency in delivering its products and services. As the matter of fact performance requires performance measures to evaluate the financial and non financial results. Thereafter performance gaps and future improvement actions are planned considering ethical aspects. Most organisations use performance indicators which serve as powerful approach to monitor and improve performance. Organisations use different methods and techniques they have developed to process changes for improvement purposes. Most of people measure companys performance by looking at amount of money the company has just made. They consider profit, ROI, revenues to be the measure for performance. The main problem of considering only financial aspects of the business is that these measures report the past actions that the company may have no immediate control. Taking an example of customer aspects, they are not directly covered under financial aspects. Focusing only on financial aspects may in the long run jeopardise the companys relationship with the customers and may look for their needs with the competitor company. In view of the above a more comprehensive and clear approach is needed that put equal weight and emphasis to both financial and non financial aspects. An approach that not only considers lagging indicators but also looks forward and consider leading indicators. This prompted the researcher to consider using the Balanced scorecard framework in evaluating the performance of the Local Authorities Pensions Fund (LAPF) and to recommend actions to improve the current level of performance. The research topic explains by itself, and aims to find out the performance improvements that could be achieved when LAPF opts to implement the BSC approach. Thus the topic covers two aspects; performance improvement and the Balanced Scorecard. Balanced Scorecard ( BSC) Approach As it is mostly known, the BSC strikes the balance between the financial and non financial measures of performance. In short BSC is a framework used for evaluating business performance of a company. Kaplan and Norton consider BSC as Organisational performance management tool. As will be reviewed in Chapter two,( section 2.3) BSC involves defining company mission, strategy and measures. These should be clear and agreed upon by the interested stakeholders. After the BSC is set management should try to understand the factors that cause change and fluctuations of the BSC. These factors are very important as will lead the organisation to fully understand where and when to spend to cover the performance gaps. The following diagram ( figure 1.1) shows a simple balanced scorecard template.( adopted from Kaplan and Norton,1992.) Financial perspective Internal process perspective Vision strategy Customer perspective Learning growth perspective Figure 1.1 Balanced scorecard template For each of the four perspectives, strategic goals that link with the vision and strategy are established together with the relevant measures. For a beginner like LAPF this simple structure is recommended to maximise the chances for successful implementation. As the BSC is a continuous approach, management may later wish to adjust the objectives and measures to reflect the current operating and economic conditions. Performance improvement cycle Performance improvement is a continuous process. It can be thought of as a cycle. Consider the following diagram ( figure 2) with the explanations below. Figure 1. 2 Performance Improvement Cycle Explanations Plan: The organisation needs to know what should be accomplished and plans strategically. Plans should be integrated and aligned with the corporate strategy. Management also should set the objectives and goals to achieve the corporate strategy. The process also involves defining responsibilities and communication means, identifying talented personnel to lead the execution process. Execute: The process involves putting the plans into actions. This entails the execution of the planned activities to achieve the budgeted profit and loss account, forecasted balance sheet and cash flow statement. Normally the plans are for a short time period covering one financial year. In most cases it is done in operational level. In this study the performance will be evaluated considering 2009/10 plan budget. Check ( measure): The organisation then measures the performance using the indicators already established. This involves comparing the realised performance with the budgeted plans. Without measuring the performance ,the organisation does not know whether changes need be applied to reach the budgeted goals or to change the goals for the year. Act: At this stage ,the organisation should think and decide on new ways that may result in improvement. Here changes are important but should be carefully considered if when implemented the results will be improvements. Brain storming takes place at this stage. It is also from this stage where management should find out the root causes of bad or unsatisfactory performance and identifies hurdles to success. As will be explained in chapter three (section 2.5) implementing changes pose a challenge to many managers. It is therefore recommended that a clear and systematic process be adopted to make changes successful. Performance improvement needs changes. In another words, this is the improvement methodology stage where management can think of improvement approaches such as BSC, Six Sigma, TQM, etc. 1.2 SPONSOR COMPANY PROFILE- The Local Authorities Pensions Fund( LAPF) The Local Authorities Pensions Fund (LAPF) is a social security institution established under the LAPF Act No 9 of 2006. This Act repealed the Local Authorities Provident Act No.6 of 2000.The difference is that the former Act no 6 of 2000 was meant only for Defined Contribution Plan while the existing Act No.9 of 2006 is for Defined Benefit Plan. LAPF as one of the six social security institutions in Tanzania was established with the objective of providing social security cover to the employees of the local government authorities, agencies and Institution owned by Local Authorities. As per the Tanzanian government regulation each of these six schemes was established by different legislation and covers a defined category of people or sector. LAPF has more than 70,000 members each contributing (on a monthly basis) a total of 20% of members basic salary (an employees basic salary), of which the employers share is 15% and 5% is contributed by the employee (member). Apart from the Head Of fice (in Dodoma region) the Institution has five Zone Offices throughout the country covering 4 to 5 regions for each Zone. Vision, To become one of the best provider of social security cover in Tanzania (LAPF Act) Mission Statement, To provide social security benefits with related services to its members. (LAPF Act). In summary, the following are the main functions of the Fund: Pay benefits to insured person Improve benefits payable under the Act Register persons required by the law to contribute to the Fund Safeguard members contributions and other Funds resources Invest contributions in less risk and high returns yielding investments 1.3 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION For years now LAPF uses financial measures in evaluating the success of the Fund. As the competition in social security markets becomes an intense and rapid development in business, reliance on financial measures becomes questionable. This results to some of the financial measures to be ineffective and inefficient in evaluating the Funds performance from its operations, e.g. how to measure customer satisfaction. Through the performance measurement system any Organisation gets a comprehensive view of how it is performing. LAPF as a performance-driven and achievement-oriented in a competitive social security industry, needs to maintain an efficient performance measurement system. The system is used to track the changes in overall performance. Thus, the researcher aims to propose the use of BSC framework as the approach that will be applied in evaluating and improving the performance of the Fund. LAPF may wish to adopt the BSC system in measuring its performance to solve the problem of ineffective measures of performance recently adopted. Thus at this initial stage the aim of the study is not to implement the BSC approach. Balanced Scorecard involves both financial and non financial performance measures. In 1990, BSC was established by Robert Kaplan and David Norton to complement financial measures.The technique has recently become famous and widely adopted by some Organisations due to the benefits derived from its implementation. The application of only financial measures to evaluate performance may not give a real picture on how the Organisation performs. This prompted these Organisations to switch their strategies in assessing their performance applying critical measures (both financial and non financial) in each of the four BSC perspectives. Thus balance scorecard helps management to understand a comprehensive picture of the business operations grouped into these four categories i.e. Financial, Customers, learning and growth, and internal process. LAPF as the first time user of BSC will have to choose relevant performance measures for each of the above categories keeping in mind the nature of its business. The adoption of BSC as a set of measures will help management in formulating strategy to achieve the Funds objectives. It is believed that BSC will bring about management revolution and will provide real insight in the operations of the Fund as both financial and non financial performance measures will be employed in evaluating the success of its operations. 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main objective of the research is to find ways of improving LAPF performance. To achieve this, the researcher will adopt the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework to evaluate the performance of the Local Authorities Pensions Fund (LAPF) .The performance will be evaluated in each of the four BSC perspective i.e. financial, customers (members), internal process, and Learning growth. In this respect the researcher will compare the expected planned performance (as per the LAPF policy, budget etc) with the current performance as perceived by employees and management (resulted from questionnaires and interviews). It should be noted that the researcher DOES NOT aim or plan for BSC implementation. Other objectives are as outlined below: To assess the level of BSC understanding among employees To build positive image of BSC in the eyes of LAPF management and staff To persuade the Organisation to adopt the BSC approach To propose a BSC structure relevant to the LAPF needs, objectives and operations To find out whether the Fund has another alternative method for improving the performance besides using BSC approach Lay down foundations for further research on improving performance measurement system. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.5.1 Main Research Question What can be the performance improvement by implementation of the Balanced Scorecard(BSC)?The case of Local Authorities Pensions Fund in Tanzania (LAPF) 1.5.2 Theoretical research questions What is Performance Measurement? How can it be improved? What is Balanced Scorecard? How widely is Balanced Scorecard used? What are the benefits of using Balanced Scorecard? What are the problems and /or challenges in implementing the BSC? How to reduce the chances of BSC failure? What are the metrics for measuring performance? Are there any other tools for improving performance measurement besides BSC? How do they differ from Balances Scorecard? 1.5.3 Empirical research questions How does LAPF measure its performance? What does LAPF understand about the BSC? Is the approach known? To what extent? Is the proposed BSC relevant to LAPF operating environment? Will the LAPF management accept changes? How does employees and management evaluate the current performance of the Fund? (As per the proposed BSC framework) What are the benefits expected to LAPF from the proposed approach? What are the challenges in the process of improving the Funds performance? What are the efforts being adopted to improve the Funds performance? Any other alternative besides the proposed approach? 1.6 PROPOSED BALANCED SCORECARD FOR LAPF Table 1 below is a proposed BSC framework for LAPF as designed by the researcher. This framework stands as the main research area as it was used to evaluate the Funds performance. The questionnaire and interview questions were based on this framework to find out what should be the level of performance ( as planned by management), what is the current level ,and what should be done to improve the current level of performance. It is expected that the contents of the BSC ( goals and measures) may be adjusted after accommodating comments from the LAPF management and staff .This research does not cover implementation of the BSC, the decision on whether to fully implement the BSC approach lies with the LAPF management ,where the Fund will have to study and plan for the implementation process. THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES PENSIONS FUND PROPOSED BALANCED SCORECARD VISION: To become the best and most preferred provider of social security in Tanzania 1 Financial Perspective Actions ( Critical Success factors) Measures Invest the contributions received in a highly and secure yield investment ( Accurate investment decision making) -Return on Investment (ROI) Survive -Increase in premium Growth -Percent increase in Cash Flows Profitability -Return on Assets Effective cost reduction -Percent reduction in cost Risk Mitigation -Percent reduction in risk occurrence -Percent of loss due to risk Budget accuracy -Percent error in forecasts 2 Members Perspective Actions ( Critical Success factors) Measures Increase membership base -Number of new members registered Members satisfaction -Frequency of members complaints -Members Survey rating -Complaints response time -Timeliness of service -Service accessibility Provide seminar and education to members -Number of seminars conducted -Market share Attract more members and retain members -Number of new members -Increase in premium -Retention rate Increase Benefits Packages -Number of new packages -Lead time (time taken to introduce new package) Marketing LAPF and its products and services -Market share 3 Internal process Perspective Actions ( Critical Success factors) Measures Process capabilities -Percent reduction in payment cycle time Provide benefit package on time -Claim processing time Service improvement -Number of customer problems reported over a period of time Quality -Percent reduction in rework -Industry quality rating Effective reporting/information system -Average time for circulation information -System availability Percent of late reports -Percent of errors in reports Maintain inter departmental team work -Number of days to communicate feedback -Information circulation time 4 Learning and Growth Perspective Actions ( Critical Success factors) Measures Training to employees -Training time per employee -Number of employees trained Employee satisfaction -Employee turnover rate -Chances for empowerment and promotions -Level of freedom of opinion and suggestions -Percent of employees suggestions and recommendations put in action -Percent of complains about salary and incentives -Response time to employees complaints Continuous innovations -New products /service Opportunity level to show creativity Team building and effectiveness -Percentage of empathy level -Percentage achievement of goals Table 1.1 LAPF proposed BSC 1.6 .1 Strategic Mapping Strategic map shows the cause-and-effect relationship. Applying the four BSC perspectives, we are able to draw a cause -and -effect logic flow to show the relationship between them. In simple words it depicts the link that exists between the perspectives. It therefore outlines what a company wants to accomplish (financially and to members) and how to accomplish it ( through effective and efficient internal processes ,supported by competent, motivated and creative employees). Figure 1.3 below shows an example of strategic map relevant to LAPF operations. Revenue (Contributions) Cash flowFinancial Operating Costs Contribution Arrears Members complaints Members satisfaction Members Claim reprocessing Payment cycle timeInternal process Employees suggestions Employees competenceLearning Employees moraleGrowth Figure 1.3 LAPF Strategic Map Explanations: If LAPF employees lack incentives to boost their morale to work, it negatively affects the time taken to process members claims. In turn this brings members complaints that cause delay in submitting contributions in time. The ultimate effect of it is insufficient cash to operate,invest and pay other beneficiaries. Incompetency employees make errors in processing the claims that necessitate reworking the claims. This increases the operating costs that reduce the cash flow status. High employees morale, shorter payment cycle time lead to members satisfaction. In turn increases contributions that boost the cash flow. Low morale, ignoring employees suggestions and incompetent employees all together result to employees dissatisfaction. This may in turn prolong the payment cycle time, which results to members dissatisfaction. Eventually this results to delay in contributions which at the end affect the Funds cash flow. Note: Figure 3 shows only some few measures as indicated in the balanced scorecard. More measures can be added and a link with a logic flow be established to show the cause and effect relationship between the BSC perspectives. 1.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS The research was conducted as per the LAPFs code of ethics. Participants were free, to control their own willingness to participate, contribute or even to withdrawal. Where confidentiality and anonymity was demanded the study adhered to this and make sure no harm, pain or discomfort is caused to any participant. Adherence of ethical issues in each stage of the research process from, data collection, analysis and reporting is my priority consideration. The Fund will be briefed of the research findings. 1.8 ROAD MAP This thesis comprises of five chapters. Chapter one: Consists of general introduction and the topic to be researched. It also contains brief explanations of the concepts found in the main research topic, i.e. Performance improvement and the balanced scorecard. Chapter two: Consists of all relevant literature concerning the balanced scorecard, performance improvement, and change management which is very important to consider before undertaking any programme to improve performance. I personally consider change management to be very critical and is influenced by several internal and external factors. From this chapter we will have an opportunity to understand stages that lead to successful changes. The common mistakes/errors done by the organisation when adopting changes ( which are the main causes of failure) as explained by John Kotter ,1996 are also found in this chapter. Moreover the chapter contains other performance management approaches beside the balanced scorecard and a review on how they relate or differ with the BSC. Chapter three: Comprises of methodological section. In short questionnaire and interview are the main sources of data collection for this research. In addition to this, it also includes sampling and respondents information. Chapter four: Includes the results and discussion thereof. It also includes analysis of data collected through questionnaire and interview. Chapter five: Explains the conclusions and recommendations based on the data collected. 1.9 LIMITATIONS This study has the following limitations; This research does not cover implementation of the BSC in LAPF. It is limited to the use of the proposed BSC framework to evaluate LAPF performance, where by the Funds objectives and their related measures are more specific. It is from the findings , conclusions and recommendations LAPF management may think and plan the implementation of this approach. The study is limited only to the Local Authorities Pensions Fund due to time and financial constraints. It does not cover any other firm in the social security industry in Tanzania, neither LAPF performance will be compared to preceding years performance The planned number of interviews to be conducted could not be reached as the targeted staff were out of the office for different reasons. In this regard the researcher decided to increase the number of questionnaires to be supplied from 30 to 40 in order to collect as many data as possible. The indicators and measurement tools in this study make use of secondary data in measuring performance. Secondary data may have inaccuracies. Inaccuracies in data could result in results which are unreliable and unsuitable for measuring performance and in achieving targets. Weights have not been placed on any particular dimension or goal area. LAPF priorities change with changing national Social Security needs and it may be necessary to accurately place additional weights on some dimensions to achieve the desired outcome.

The Culture Of Vietnam English Language Essay

The Culture Of Vietnam English Language Essay The Culture of Vietnam which is the agricultural civilization based on the wet rice cultivating is one of the oldest of such in the Asia Pacific region. In terms of prehistory, most Vietnamese historians consider the ancient Dong Son culture to be one of the defining aspects of early Vietnamese civilization. There are some other characteristics that comprise Vietnamese culture: betel- areca nut chewing, teeth darkening, bamboo, respect for community and family value, hardworking and devotion to study. Long periods of domination and interaction with its northern neighbor, China, has resulted in Vietnams historic inclusion as part of the East Asian Cultural Sphere, known widely as Chinese Cultural Sphere with the accepting Confucianism as the philosophy of Mandarin class. However, the major stimulation of Vietnamese cultures development comes from indigenous factors. That is, Vietnamese culture with village culture as its representation is foundation that belongs to Austro-Asiatic culture and Chinese influence and Indian have just only been enrichment. Following independence from China in the 10th century AD, Vietnam began a southward expansion that saw the annexation of territories formerly belonging to the Chapman civilization (now Central Vietnam) and parts of the Khmer empire (today southern Vietnam) which resulted in minor regional variances in Vietnams culture due to exposure to these different groups. During French colonial period, Vietnamese culture received merchant influences from the Europeans, including the spread of Catholicism and the adoption of Latin alphabet-to this day, Vietnam is the only non-island nation of Indochina which uses the Latin alphabet to write the national language. In the socialist era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media and the cultural influences of socialist programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences were shunned and emphasis placed on appreciating and sharing the culture of communist nations such as the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and others. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen a greater re-exposure to Asian, European and American culture and media. Pod dwellers accounted for 29.6% of the population, their numbers rising 3.4% a year on average, while the head count of rural folks edged up by only 0.4% a year. About 70.4% of Vietnamese citizens currently live in bad areas, and although many are being influenced by the process of a growing economy, rural tradition and customs still play a vital role in shaping the stomping culture. Vietnamese give much to protecting their money, such that traveling to Vietnam means going to an older world for all Asian tourists In terms of societal levels of organization, the two most important units are là  ng (village) and nu?c (country). Vietnamese people usually say that là  ng goes hand in hand with nu?c. Intermediate organizational units like the huy?n (district) and t?nh (province) are not as important. The culture is like a vast ocean of people In rural Vietnam, kinship plays an important role. If it can be said that Western cultures value individualism, then it can also be said that Eastern cultures value the roles of family and clan. Comparing with Eastern cultures, Chinese culture values family over clan while Vietnamese culture values clan over family. Each clan has a patriarch, clan altar, and death commemorations attended by the whole clan. Most inhabitants are related by blood. That fact is still seen in village names such as à ?ng Xà ¡ (place for the à ?ng clan), Chà ¢u Xà ¡, Là ª Xà ¡, and so on so forth. In the Western highlands the tradition of many families in a clan residing in a longhouse is still popular. In the majority of rural Vietnam today one can still see three or four generations living under one roof. Because kinship has an important role in society, there is a complex hierarchy of relationships. In Vietnamese society, there are nine distinct generations. Virtually all commemorations and celebrations within a clan follow the principles of these nine generations. Younger persons might have a higher position in the family hierarchy than an older person and still must be respected as an elder. This complex system of relationships, a result of both Confucianism and societal norms is conveyed particularly through the extensive use of varying pronouns in Vietnamese language, which has an extensive array of honorifics to signify the status of the speaker in regards to the person they are speaking to. In the past, both men and women were expected to be married at quite young ages (by todays standards). Marriages were generally arranged by the parents and extended family, with the children having limited right to say no in the matter. In modern Vietnam, this has changed completely as people choose their own marriage-partners based on love, and in consideration primarily to their own needs and wants. The traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most important of traditional Vietnamese occasions. Regardless of Westernization, many of the age-old customs practiced in a traditional Vietnamese wedding continue to be celebrated by both Vietnamese in Vietnam and overseas, often combining both Western and Eastern elements. Depending on habits of specific ethnic groups, marriage includes various steps and related procedures, but generally there are two main ceremonies: Le an hoi (betrothal ceremony): Some time before the wedding, the groom and his family visit the bride and her family with round lacquered boxes known as betrothal presents composed of gifts of areca nuts and betel leaves, tea, cake, fruits, wines and other delicacies covered with red cloth and carried by unmarried girls or boys. Both families agree to pick a good day for wedding. Wedding ceremony: Guests would be invited to come to join a party and celebrate the couples happiness. The couple should pray before the altar asking their ancestors for permission for their marriage, then to express their gratitude to both grooms and brides parents for raising and protecting them. Guests will share their joy at a party later Formerly funeral ceremonies went as following: the body was washed and dressed; chopstick was laid between the teeth and a pinch of rice and three coins were dropped in the mouth. Then the body was put on a grass mat laid on the ground according to the saying being born from the earth, one must return back to the earth. The dead body was enveloped with white cloth, and put into the coffin. Finally, the funeral ceremony was officially performed. The deceased persons sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law had to wear coarse gauze turbans and tunics, and hats made of straw or of dry banana fiber. The deceased persons grandchildren and relatives also had to wear mourning turbans. During the days when the dead were still laid out at home, the mourning went on with worshipping meals and mourning music. Relatives, neighbors, and friends came to offer their condolences. The date and time for the funeral processio, must be carefully selected. Relatives, friends, and descendants take part in the funeral procession to accompany the dead along the way to the burial ground. Votive papers were dropped along the way. At the grave site, the coffin is buried and covered. After three days of mourning, the family visits the tomb again, or worship the opening the grave; after 49 days, the family stops bringing rice for the dead to the altar. And finally, after 100 days, the family celebrates the end of the tears. After one year is the ceremony of the first anniversary of the relatives death and after two years is the ceremony of the end of mourning. Nowadays, mourning ceremonies follow new rituals which are simplified; they consist of covering and putting the dead body into the coffin, the funeral procession, the burial of the coffin into the grave, and the visits to the tomb. The deceased persons family members wear a white turban or a black mourning band Religion in Vietnam has historically been largely defined by the East Asian mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, the so-called Tam Già ¡o, or triple religion, but today it has become more diverse including other religions such as cat holism, etc. Vietnamese Buddhism has typically been the most popular. The country also has a strong cultural norm of ancestor worship as well as animism. This fits perfectly with the triple religion, making it difficult for many Vietnamese to express exactly which religion they practice.[1] Of the three, Vietnamese Buddhism has always been the most popular with commoners Buddhism came to Vietnam as early as the second century CE through the North from central Asia and via Southern routes from India. Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana school, although some ethnic minorities (such as the Khmer Krum) adhere to the Theravada school. Buddhism in Vietnam has had a symbiotic relationship with Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and the indigenous Vietnamese religion. The majority of Buddhist practitioners focus on devotional rituals rather than meditation. Buddhism is not practiced the same as in other Asian countries and does not contain the institutional structures, hierarchy, or sang has that exist in other traditional Buddhist settings. Due to this observation the estimate that 80% of the Vietnamese population is Buddhist is questionable, but does however show that many Vietnamese define their spiritual needs using a Buddhist worldview Besides the triple religion, Vietnamese life was also profoundly influenced by the practice of ancestor worship as well as native animism. Most Vietnamese people, regardless of religious denomination, practice ancestor worship and have an ancestor altar at their home or business, a testament to the emphasis Vietnamese culture places on filial duty. Along with obligations to clan and family, education has always played a vital role in Vietnamese culture. In the old days, scholars were placed at the top of society. Men not born of noble blood could only wish to elevate their status by means of studying for a rigorous Imperial examination which could potentially open doors to a position in the government, granting them power and prestige as Mandarin officials Vietnamese cuisine is extremely diverse, often divided into three main categories, each pertaining to Vietnams three main regions (north, central and south). It uses very little oil and many vegetables, and is mainly based on rice, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Its characteristic flavors are sweet (sugar), spicy (Serrano peppers), sour (lime), fish sauce, and flavored by a variety of mint and basil. Vietnam also has a large variety of noodles and noodle soups. Different regions invented different types of noodles, varying in shapes, tastes, colors, etc. One of the nations most famous type of noodles is pronounced fuh, a type of noodle soup originating in North Vietnam, which consists of rice noodles and beef soup (sometimes chicken soup) with several other ingredients such as bean sprouts and scallions (spring onions). It is often eaten for breakfast, but also makes a satisfying lunch or light dinner. The boiling stock, fragrant with spices and sauces, is poured over the noodles and vegetables, poaching the paper-thin slices of raw beef just before serving. Ph? is meant to be savored, incorporating several different flavors: the sweet flavor of beef, sour lemons, salty fish sauce, and fresh vegetables. In feudal Vietnam, clothing was one of the most important marks of social status and strict dress codes were enforced. Commoners had a limited choice of similarly plain and simple clothes for every day use, as well as being limited in the colors they were allowed to use. For a period, commoners were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white (with the exception of special occasions such as festivals), but in actuality these rules could change often based upon the whims of the current ruler. The à o t? thà ¢n or four-part dress is one such example of an ancient dress widely worn by commoner women, along with the à o y?m bodice which accompanied it. Peasants across the country also gradually came to wear silk pajama-like costumes, known as à o cà ¡nh in the north and à o bà   ba in the south. Monarchs had the exclusive right to wear the color gold, while nobles wore red or purple. Each member of the royal court had an assortment of different formal gowns they would wear at a particular ceremony, or for a particular occasion. The rules governing the fashion of the royal court could change dynasty by dynasty, thus Costumes of the Vietnamese court were quite diverse. The most popular and widely-recognized Vietnamese national costume is the à o Dà  i, which is worn nowadays mostly by women, although men do wear à o dà  i on special occasions such as weddings and funerals. à o dà  i is derived from the Chinese Xiao, although it consists of a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over cotton or silk trousers. It is elegant in style and comfortable to wear, and likely derived in the 18th century or in the royal court of Hu?. White à o dà  i is the required uniform for girls in many high schools across Vietnam. Some female office workers (e.g. receptionists, secretaries, tour guides) are also required to wear à o dà  i. à o dà  i was once worn by both genders but today it is worn mainly by females, except for certain important traditional culture-related occasions where some men do wear it. In daily life, the traditional Vietnamese styles are now replaced by Western styles. Traditional clothing is worn instead on special occasions, with the exception of the white à o dà  i commonly seen with high school girls in Vietnam Traditional Vietnamese art is art practiced in Vietnam or by Vietnamese artists, from ancient times (including the elaborate Dong Son drums) to post-Chinese domination art which was strongly influenced by Chinese Buddhist art, among other philosophies such as Taoism and Confucianism. The art of Champ and France also played a smaller role later on. The Chinese influence on Vietnamese art extends into Vietnamese pottery and ceramics, calligraphy, and traditional architecture. Currently, Vietnamese lacquer paintings have proven to be quite popular Calligraphy has had a long history in Vietnam, previously using Chinese characters along with Ch? Nà ´m. However, most modern Vietnamese calligraphy instead uses the Roman-character based Qu?c Ng?, which has proven to be very popular. In the past, with literacy in the old character-based writing systems of Vietnam being restricted to scholars and elites, calligraphy nevertheless still played an important part in Vietnamese life. On special occasions such as the Lunar New Year, people would go to the village teacher or scholar to make them a calligraphy hanging (often poetry, folk sayings or even single words). People who could not read or write also often commissioned scholars to write prayers which they would burn at temple shrines. Vietnamese music varies slightly in the three regions: B?c or North, Trung or Central, and Nam or South. Northern classical music is Vietnams oldest and is traditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese opera troupe. Central classical music shows the influences of Champa culture with its melancholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively laissez-faire attitude. Vietnam has got some 50 national music instruments, in which the set of percussion instruments is the most popular, diverse and long-lasting such as copper drums, gongs, lithopone, Dan to rung The set of blowing instruments is represented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string instruments is specified. The Vietnamese folksongs are rich in forms and melodies of regions across the country, ranging from reciting poems, lullaby, chantey In the 20th century, in contact with the Western culture, especially after the national independence, many new categories of arts like plays, photography, cinemas, and modern art had taken shape and developed strongly, obtaining huge achievements with the contents reflecting the social and revolutionary realities. Up to 1997, there have been 44 people operating in cultural and artistic fields honored with the Ho Chi Minh Award, 130 others conferred with Peoples Artist Honor, and 1011 people awarded with the Excellent Artist Honor. At the start of 1997, there were 191 professional artistic organizations and 26 film studios (including central and local ones). There have been 28 movies, 49 scientific and documentary films receiving international motion picture awards in many countries Hà ¡t tu?ng (also known as Hà ¡t b?i): A theatre form strongly influenced by Chinese opera, it transitioned from being entertainment for the royal court to travelling troupes who performed for commoners and peasants, featuring many well-known stock characters. C?i luong: A kind of modern folk opera originating in South Vietnam, which utilizes extensive vibrato techniques. It remains very popular in modern Vietnam when compared to other folk styles. Hà ¡t chà ¨o: The most mainstream of theatre/music forms in the past, enjoyed widely by the public rather than the more obscure Ca trà ¹ which was favored more by scholars and elites. Water puppetry Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi: Water is a distinct Vietnamese art which had its origins in the 10th century. In Water Puppetry a split-bamboo screen obscures puppets which stand in water, and are manipulated using long poles hidden beneath the water. Epic story lines are played out with many different puppets, often using traditional scenes of Vietnamese life. The puppets are made from quality wood, such as the South East Asian Jackfruit tree. Each puppet is carefully carved, and then painted with numerous successive layers of paint to protect the puppets. Despite nearly dying out in the 20th century, Water Puppetry has been recognized by the Vietnamese Government as an important part of Vietnams cultural heritage. Today, puppetry is commonly performed by professional puppeteers, who typically are taught by their elders in rural areas of Vietnam. It is now extremely popular with tourists, and is performed at the National Museum in Ho Chi Minh city and in specialist theatres. In 2007 a Water Puppet troupe toured the USA to acclaim Vietnam has 54 different ethnics, each with their own traditional dance. Among the ethnic Vietnamese majority, there are several traditional dances performed widely at festivals and other special occasions, such as the lion dance. In the imperial court there also developed throughout the centuries a series of complex court dances which require great skill. Some of the more widely known are the imperial lantern dance, fan dance, and platter dance, among others Vietnamese martial art is highly developed from the countrys long history of warfare and attempts to defend itself from foreign occupation. Although most heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts, it has developed its own characteristics throughout the millennia in combination with other influences from its neighbors. Vietnamese martial art is deeply spiritual due to the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and is strongly reliant on the Viet Vo Dao (philosophy of Vietnamese martial arts). It is probably most famous for its scissor kicks. The general Vietnamese term for martial arts is Và µ-Thu?t, which encompasses all of the countless styles. Some of the more popular include: Vovinam Và µ Bà ¬nh à ?nh Quan Khi Dao Vietnamese martial art remains relatively unknown in the world today when compared to its counterparts from China, Japan, Korea or Thailand. However, this is seeing a definite change as schools teaching various styles of Vietnamese martial arts are starting to pop up all over the world, notably in countries such as Spain Vietnamese martial art is highly developed from the countrys long history of warfare and attempts to defend itself from foreign occupation. Although most heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts, it has developed its own characteristics throughout the millennia in combination with other influences from its neighbors. Vietnamese martial art is deeply spiritual due to the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and is strongly reliant on the Viet Vo Dao (philosophy of Vietnamese martial arts). It is probably most famous for its scissor kicks. Literature Vietnamese literature includes two major components which have developed simultaneously and are profoundly interrelated: Folk literature and written literature. Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early and had a profound effect on the spiritual life of the Viet. The folk literature always praised beauty, humanism, and the love of goodness, and contributed to the formation of a national sense. Legends, fairy tales, humorous stories, folk songs, epics and so on, have a tremendous vitality and have lived on until today. Written literature was born roughly in the 10th century. Up to the 20th century, there had been two components existing at the same time: works written in the Han characters (with poems and prose demonstrating the Vietnamese soul and realities; thus, they were still regarded as Vietnamese literature) and works written in the Nom character (mostly poems; many great works were handed down to the later generations). Since the 1920s , written literature has been mainly composed in the National language with profound renovations in form and category such as novels, new-style poems, short stories and dramas, and with diversity in artistic tendency. Written literature attained speedy development after the August Revolution, when it was directed by the Vietnamese Communist Partys guideline and focused on the peoples fighting and work life. Modern Vietnamese literature has developed from romanticism to realism, from heroism in wartime to all aspects of life, and soared into ordinary life to discover the genuine values of the Vietnamese people. Classical literature generated such masterpieces as Truyen Kieu (Nguyen Du), Cung oan ngam khuc (Nguyen Gia Thieu), Chinh phu ngam (Dang Tran Con), and Quoc am thi tap (Nguyen Trai). The Vietnamese had brilliant female poets such as: Ho Xuan Huong, Doan Thi Diem, and Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, centuries ago. In Vietnamese modern prose, there were authors who could emulate whomever in the world, namely, Nguyen Cong Hoan, Vu Trong Phung, Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Hong, Nguyen Tuan, and Nam Cao. They were joined by excellent poets: Xuan Dieu, Huy Can, Han Mac Tu, and Nguyen Binh. Regrettably, their great works that faithfully reflected the country and the times have yet to appear Vietnam has a number of UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites, as well as cultural relics deemed as Intangible heritage. These are split into specific categories: Cultural heritage sites Hoi An: An ancient city and trading center. Imperial city of Hu?: Complex of monuments in the former imperial capital. My Son: Ancient temple complex of the former Champa civilization in Quang Nam province. Natural heritage sites Phong Nha cave, Quang Binh province. Ha Long Bay Intangible Cultural Heritage Nhà £ nh?c: A form of Vietnamese court music. Space of Gong culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam Ca trà ¹ Quan h? There are a number of other potential world heritage sites, as well as intangible cultural heritages which Vietnam has completed documents on for UNESCOs recognition in the future. Vietnam celebrates many holidays, including traditional holidays which have been celebrated in Vietnam for thousands of years, along with modern holidays imported predominantly from western countries. Among the traditional holidays, the two most important and widely celebrated are the New Year although the latter has been losing ground in recent years With the adoption of your child from Vietnam comes a whole new Vietnamese culture that you will want to share with your family. Our articles introduce you to Vietnam and to the Vietnamese culture, including Vietnamese holidays, Vietnamese cooking, Vietnamese names, Vietnamese culture camps, craft projects, humanitarian aid projects, and more Vietnamese culture, including holidays and celebrations, Vietnamese names, Vietnamese food and recipes, Vietnamese language and more

The Attitudes to the First World War in Poetry :: Poetry World War Poems Poets Essays

The Attitudes to the First World War in Poetry Compare and contrast the attitudes to the First World War in the poetry you have read. Focus in detail on four poems, two of which should be by the same author. When the war started the general feeling of the English was that the war was great and would be over before Christmas. This is evident in much of the early war poetry. As the war progressed, however, people began to feel disillusioned and eventually had an overwhelming feeling of futility in that so many lives were wasted for such little gain. The people back home were left feeling bitter as they gained knowledge about the suffering these young men had endured. The poetry I am going to analyse ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke, ‘Cricket’ by Jessie Pope, ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen reflects these changing views. Rupert Brooke was born in 1887. He joined the Navy at the start of the war, but died in 1915 whilst going to take part in the Dardenelles campaign. In 1914, Brooke composed his poem ‘The Soldier’ which is the fifth poem in a collection of five which displays the glory of war. As he saw little action in the Great War, Rupert Brooke was unaware of the terrible conditions in the trenches. This was because he never fought on the battlefields and due to this Brooke holds a much more glorified view of war. Brooke describes his death in ‘The Soldier’. He talks about how he is not scared of dying; describing the way in which he will rest in peace â€Å"under an English heaven.† Rupert Brooke sees England as idyllic and tranquil and talks about his love for his motherland. Brooke feels by fighting for England he is giving something back. Brooke uses many language techniques to portray his feelings. He uses repetition of the word â€Å"England† to show his patriotism. He refers to the English country as a female; â€Å"Gave once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam† This makes highly effective use of personification. It shows Brooke's romantic view towards his country, making the reader feel proud for his country as well. Religious overtones such as â€Å"evil shed away†, â€Å"eternal mind†, â€Å"blessed† and â€Å"English heaven† are used throughout ‘The Soldier’ to show purity and to portray the typical views of a Christian country. To make the poem calm and poetic, Brooke uses natural imagery such as â€Å"air†, â€Å"river† and â€Å"flowers†. The effects of these words make the reader feel happy and calm. Sibilance is used with; â€Å"Sights and sound†. This soft sounding alliteration slows the pace which makes the The Attitudes to the First World War in Poetry :: Poetry World War Poems Poets Essays The Attitudes to the First World War in Poetry Compare and contrast the attitudes to the First World War in the poetry you have read. Focus in detail on four poems, two of which should be by the same author. When the war started the general feeling of the English was that the war was great and would be over before Christmas. This is evident in much of the early war poetry. As the war progressed, however, people began to feel disillusioned and eventually had an overwhelming feeling of futility in that so many lives were wasted for such little gain. The people back home were left feeling bitter as they gained knowledge about the suffering these young men had endured. The poetry I am going to analyse ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke, ‘Cricket’ by Jessie Pope, ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen reflects these changing views. Rupert Brooke was born in 1887. He joined the Navy at the start of the war, but died in 1915 whilst going to take part in the Dardenelles campaign. In 1914, Brooke composed his poem ‘The Soldier’ which is the fifth poem in a collection of five which displays the glory of war. As he saw little action in the Great War, Rupert Brooke was unaware of the terrible conditions in the trenches. This was because he never fought on the battlefields and due to this Brooke holds a much more glorified view of war. Brooke describes his death in ‘The Soldier’. He talks about how he is not scared of dying; describing the way in which he will rest in peace â€Å"under an English heaven.† Rupert Brooke sees England as idyllic and tranquil and talks about his love for his motherland. Brooke feels by fighting for England he is giving something back. Brooke uses many language techniques to portray his feelings. He uses repetition of the word â€Å"England† to show his patriotism. He refers to the English country as a female; â€Å"Gave once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam† This makes highly effective use of personification. It shows Brooke's romantic view towards his country, making the reader feel proud for his country as well. Religious overtones such as â€Å"evil shed away†, â€Å"eternal mind†, â€Å"blessed† and â€Å"English heaven† are used throughout ‘The Soldier’ to show purity and to portray the typical views of a Christian country. To make the poem calm and poetic, Brooke uses natural imagery such as â€Å"air†, â€Å"river† and â€Å"flowers†. The effects of these words make the reader feel happy and calm. Sibilance is used with; â€Å"Sights and sound†. This soft sounding alliteration slows the pace which makes the

Frankenstein :: essays papers

Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein as a Child Abuser In today's court I am going to convict Victor Frankenstein in many murders. He created a being that destroyed the lives of innocent people. Frankenstein never considered how such a creature with a horrifying appearance would be able to exist with humans. He didn't take responsibility for his creature; instead Frankenstein abandoned, neglected, and abused his creature. He never realized that the lack of parental love and guidance would lead the creature to a murderous path. Moreover, Frankenstein kept in secret his creature's existence and chose not to reveal it to his family and friends. By doing so, he jeopardized the lives of his loved ones and put them in danger. With my evidence and supports, I am going to prove that Victor Frankenstein, as a parent, is responsible for the creature's actions causing the deaths of his friends and family. By violating the laws of nature, Victor Frankenstein tried to discover "the cause of generation and life," and "became . . .capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter" (Shelley 68). Days and nights Victor was occupied with his experiment. He forgot about his family and could not see anything beyond his experiment. Victor said that he had "lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit" (70). He had "worked nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body" (72). During these two years Victor became selfish and had no contact with his parents, Elizabeth and William, who were impatiently waiting for a letter from there loved one. In her letter to Victor, Elizabeth writes; â€Å"Yet one word from you, dear Victor, is necessary to calm our apprehensions" (68). Victor made the decision to give life to a being without considering the possible consequences of creating life. After "incredible labor and fatigue" Victor finally accomplished his goal. He created a life without any consideration and the only purpose for him was to have supreme power. Victor brought the creature into the world and did not accept his creation. Horrified by his creature, Victor abandoned him. Victor said: "Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I escaped" (85). At this point we see how Victor rejected his responsibilities for his child.

Discuss the effectiveness of the opening three scenes of Macbeth Essay

Macbeth is a thrilling tragedy based on a mans lack of control over greed. A play that shows his downfall from being a noble lord who was in a close circle with the king, to losing all his morals. This escalated into his death. Its set in Scotland as it is somewhat known to be a nation of things such as blood feuds. Macbeth is a play associated with the supernatural. It is a theme throughout the play because it has reoccurrences from beginning to end. Examples of this would be the three witches. They appear right at the start where Macbeth is first mentioned. They have visions and further on tell Macbeth he will become thane of Cawdor and then king. This triggers off his arrogance. They then reappear to tell him that he will not die from anything human. The audience are repeatedly getting reminded that the play has a supernatural theme to it. A flying dagger also appears along with all of Macbeths strange hallucinations. Macbeth was written during the Elizabethan era. At that period of time the society had a very strong belief that witches and witchcraft was in existence. People would blame unexplainable events on witchcraft. These things would often include when people died from terrible diseases, an animals death, bad harvesting, and houses burnt down in fires. They didn’t have any knowledge on what was really happening so witches were an easy target to use. There were 270 witch trials during the Elizabethan times. 247 of those people were all women and only a mere 23 were men and I think this is mainly because men were known as being ‘all powerful’. The people that were normally accused for being witches were the old, the unprotected, the poor and single women or widows. Elizabethan women relied on the male members of their family. They didn’t have many rights and for that reason they were belittled by men and expected to obey them. The number of poorer people was increasing and old, poor and unprotected women needed to have some kind of support. Access to doctors and medicines was minimal. Women were expected to produce cures. ‘Wise women’ used herbs. The use of herbs and plants such as mandrake, datura, monkshood, cannabis, belladonna, henbane and hemlock were common ingredients in brews and ointments for medical purposes. As the fear of witches and witchcraft increased anyone with knowledge of herbs were thought to be having a pact with the devil. This would be resulted in execution. In act one scene one a dramatic atmosphere is automatically created. As Macbeth is a play, when the audience is watching this, the setting will set the mood to the scene. It’s set on a moor. This is telling us that it’s in a very quite, almost disturbing place as it’s a wasteland area. There’s thunder and lightning as the three witches enter. This allows the audience to have suspicions that something mysterious is about to happen. Thunder and lightning are also perceived as ghastly things which are associated with things that are awful or scary. This might set a tense atmosphere because the audience will now expect the witches to be like the thunder and lightning, something that will turn out to become awful or scary. In addition to this because the weather is unusual, its not like rain or clouds that we see near enough every day, it can let us acknowledge that something unusual will be at the entrance of the play. In this scene the witches are planning to meet again once the fighting is over to meet Macbeth. This would have made the Elizabethan audience a lot more frightened than our modern audience would ever be because back in that time there was a strong belief in witchcraft. They could have been alarmed and anxious to find out how the witches can be. But on the other hand they might think of the play as a re-enactment of things that have happened therefore being startled as the witches were a big fear in their lives. This is a peculiar scene because the witches saying things which are not normally supposed to happen. Things such as ‘when the battles lost and won’. We know that after a battle is either one or the other when it’s over. So saying that neither will happen makes the audience start to wonder. It gives the audience curiosity as they analyze what the witches words mean. It doesn’t seem to make sense, so why are they saying it is a question that runs through my mind. At the end of this scene the all three witches say a line together. ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair: hover through the filthy air.’ The language the witches use is often rhymes and riddles. This gives me several different interpretations of them. Either they want the audience to guess and attempt to solve the riddles in order to understand what they are talking about. They want us to be involved in the play by thinking of this as a game. Whoever solves the riddles will find their way to the plot the quickest. Or I think the witches are talking to the audience because they want us to wonder but they don’t want us to understand what they are talking about. Exactly like when a parents talks by spelling out words so that a young child does not understand. This is the witches’ way of communicating by making sure that no-one will understand what they are talking about and we are not like them so we don’t grasp their way of talking. It could also be a way of stating that they are witches in the play. Talking in a different sort of language to us means they are not from the same place as we are. In the Polanski film the witches are represented to be very mysterious creatures. They give off an eerie sense to them, with their old, haggered faces surrounding a human arm buried in the sand. The images alone tell us that the witches are nothing like the majority of the society. They are portrayed to look like outcasts as they appear on the moor when no-one is around to be seen. They look as if they’ve been washed up from the sea from a whole other world. In Act one Scene two there is a dramatic contrast to the opening scene. In the first scene there is a mysterious and quite a scary theme but in scene two it turns cheerful. The witches are gone and no elements of the supernatural are now presented. It seems like they have skipped a few scenes as it goes from the three witches riddle to then after the battle. There is no information about the battle except from this scene where they are only talking about its past events. The good king Duncan hears the news on how the battle went in this scene. He gets told how heroically Macbeth and Banquo have fought against Macdonwald and his band of rebels; and then against the Norwegians and the Scottish traitor. King Duncan, Sergeant and Ross now views Macbeth as a brave warrior. ‘For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name’ is how the sergeant describes him to be. This shows the respect and appreciation they have for him. They now portray Macbeth to be a noble gentleman and an idol that should be looked up to. At this point in the play the audience will also think highly of Macbeth by his description without even laying eyes on him yet. Whilst the sergeant carries on talking about Macbeth he then says ‘Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, till he unseam’d him from nave to the chaps’. He was basically saying that Macbeth didn’t give up the battle, he didn’t leave until he had fully destroyed Macdonwald ‘from nave to the chaps’ meaning from his nose to his jaws. This is showing Macbeths inner strength as well as outer strength by not giving up until he was done. In addition, it is showing their lifestyle and how it was a good thing to be able to fight so savagely. This might make an Elizabethan audience idolize Macbeth. Macbeth is then given the honour of ‘Thane of Cawdor’ by King Duncan. He earns this by his courageous bat tle and has therefore made the Norwegian king beg for peace. Scene three is again dramatically different from the first two scenes. The first scene has a purely supernatural theme to it and the second scene has none whatsoever. Then the third scene comes in and this is where the two worlds collide. Supernatural versus normality. The audience find themselves back at the moor again with more thunder as the witches open the scene. This is like a flashback from the first scene. From the witches interactions at the start of the scene we find out that they are not in the least bit kind but instead they are rather malicious. At the start of their conversation after the first witch asks ‘where hast thou been, sister?’ the second witch replied with ‘killing swine’. This is a simple but effective quote. It tells the audience that the witches stir up trouble. But it also gives them the tension of wanting to know the plans they have got for Macbeth. It is a forceful quote because where the witches are usually talking in riddles; instead she gives a heartless answer with no riddles as we know exactly what killing is. Generally most people would have been a little more shaken up by the thought of killing but not her. Then having no regrets whatsoever because she names the person she has just killed ‘swine’. Once Macbeth and Banquo enter the scene Macbeths firsts words into the play are ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’. This links him to the witches because right at the end of the first scene all three of the witches recite ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air’. Macbeth and Banquo describe the witches as ‘so wither’d and so wild in their attire, that look not like th’ inhabitants o’ the earth, and yet are on ‘t?’. They are describing the witches to be barbarians. He is questioning whether they should be on this world or not. This shows that he instantly knows that they are not entirely human. The appearance of the witches gives the audience a judgement to what their going to be like. The appearance of a character is supposed to be there in a play to show off the characters personality traits in it too. The predictions that are given to Macbeth and Banquo are that Macbeth will be the thane of Cawdor and then the king soon after and that Macbeth and Banquo will both be fathers of kings but they won’t become them. Banquo questions the witches along with Macbeth shortly after. They are confused as to what had just happened. When they are about to leave Macbeth says ‘stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more’. This is telling the audience that Macbeth is anxious to find out where they have gathered this knowledge. They seemed to have been stunned by the news. It is weird that the witches already knew that he was thane of Glamis without anyone telling them so they must have some form of power. In addition, the Elizabethan audience thought that witches could tell the future so they would know that what they are saying is true. Plus, the audience now know that Macbeth has become thane of Cawdor already so the rest of their speech is likely to be true too. Afterwards Ross and Angus enter the scene once the witches have vanished and announce that Macbeth is now the thane of Cawdor. This is a really dramatic point in the play because after the witches telling them that Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor it suddenly happens. However the audience can judge the witches better than what Macbeth can because they know what happened in the previous scene. The audience knows that it’s due to Macbeth’s bravery that he has been given the honour of thane of Cawdor. It is dramatic because Macbeth and Banquo now think that its not because of courage it is because of the witches ‘magic’ that got him there. From these opening scenes of the play it is dropping the audience some clues of what is about to happen. They know that something is going to happen to make Macbeth to become king but then he is going to lose that position. They know that Banquo and Macbeth’s sons are going to be kings and they know that king Duncan has to be killed if Macbeth is going to be king. In my opinion the first three scenes of Macbeth are very effective as an opening to the play. It has already showcased the main points of the play with not giving away too much information to make it predictable. It leaves the audience to ask questions to themselves to query what is going to happen next. The theme has been shown in the play by mixing the supernatural and the not. It is also showing how the play is all about power and the hierarchy that Macbeth is climbing up on. Then telling the audience that battles are something that’s going to occur throughout this play by having the first three scenes based around one. The opening would have been more effective to an Elizabethan audience as opposed to a modern audience. The modern audience would find it a lot harder to understand the language that’s being used as it has changed from when the play was written. The Elizabethan audience believed in the supernatural so it would have been more intense to watch. The play is based around things that might of happened around the Elizabethan era. They can relate the play more to their real lives. Whereas for a modern day audience, witches are not something that we talk about in our everyday lives so we cannot relate the play to our own experience. This might make the Elizabethan audience understand the play more.

English Literature-Gullivers Travels, Jonathan Swift

Gullivers Travels- Jonathan western fence lizard * By P. Baburaj, aged(a) Lecturer, Dept. of side of meat, Sherubtse college, Bhutan Author of Langu geezerhood and indite, DSB progeny Thimphu Communicative English, P. K. Books, Cali shorten A perception on Literary Criticism, P. K. Books, Calicut The eighteenth cyto helle was an age of sarcasm.Dryden and pope immortalized themselves by their verse spot Jonathan nimble was undoubtedly the with child(p)est British ridiculer in p arise. The g e genuinelyw presentnwork forcetal and sacred contr exclusively oversies of the time were conducive to the promotion of sarcasm in an age of urbanity and re prettyment which non gain ground tole prescribed just nowadays delighted in jeering, provided, it was imaginationous and witty it has been remarked that irony is the fine art of c al whizzing names. In capital of Italy Horace and Juvenal used satire for the endeavor of ridiculing merciful affectations, follies and vices with a opinion of reforming society. whole when the satire is too general it stands in danger of move wide of its target and when it is say against individuals it is wish wellly to be weakened in to person-to-person lampoons. active wrote personal satires unless(prenominal) his attacks were largely directed against common abuses and his main pattern was to reform society. Jonathan alert was born of English p bents in Dublin in 1667. He was a distant cousin of Dryden who happened to come the stopping rouseing displeasure of blue-belly by his remarks cousin prompt you will neer be a poet.Distantly related to Sir William Temple, a retired politician and an elegant writer of the menses Swift came to London and stayed with his wealthy sex act as a poor aquiline and confidential secretary. He graduated from common chord College Dublin and was well analyse in the cl lowlifeics. Later he stu move overd devotion and was ordained priest . champion of his squibs on incorruptity offended Queen Anne and he was baulked of his promotion in the church entirely after her death he blush to be the Dean of St. Patricks in Dublin towards the close of the century.Temple happened to dabble in literature. The brawl regarding the relative merits of the ancient and novel pens roused to a greater extent heat than light for well-nigh time in France and Temple do some references to it in ace(a) of his essays. pungent attacks and counter attacks push by dint ofed in the press. It was a veritable(prenominal) storm in a afternoon tea cup. Swift was neither c at a timerned with the controversy nor qualified to defer an effective weaken in it. Nevertheless he entered in to the fray with to marvelousy the weapon in his arrows satire, humour, irony, sarcasm, laugh at and invective.In his the battle of the obtains he support Temple and ridiculed his opp binglents. In the famous emblem of the bee and spider, he praised the ancients as furnishing h bingley and wax, sweetness and light, and ridiculed the in advance(p)s as weaving weak webs, c be the spider , with the poisonous cloth that flowered from themselves. In the tale of a tub, prompt set out to ridicule the extremist in Catholicism and the passionate dissenters and to advocate the middle course as represented by the Angli throw out church.For this purpose he invented an allegorical fable of iii br other(a)s who inherited a coat of a piece from their father with strict instructions regarding its use. The coat, of course, is the Christian theology. The three brothers Peter, Martin and Jack stage respectively Ro usual Catholicism, the Angli suffer church expediency and the dissenters. It is a professional person piece of satire, plainly the ultimate result of swifts satire was to bring all religion in to contempt, though that was non his really aim. Swifts irony batch best illustrated by his short nerve tract entitled a modest proposal.He was roused to worthy indignation at the ruthless exploitation of the Irish peasantry by their absentee tearlords in England. unless swift opens his proposal with a lightly deceptive tone of seriousness. He sends forrard his modest proposal for the economic gain vigor of the poor Irish peasants e genuinely(prenominal) woman of child-bearing age is to produce as galore(postnominal) children as possible and bring them to the grocery when they are one class overage varlet 1 children aged one year are al nigh intimately attractive according to the best authorities and so they would be in massive take in at an English noble mans table.It is not voiceless to bump the righteous indignation beneath the pa camp downly c doddering-blooded argument, the irony is devastation. Swift is the author of the pamphlets, political, religious and literary in which he sought the reform of the society of its abuses and affections. But his magnum opus is Gullivers travels (1726). It is at erstwhile childrens classics as well as a serious treatise in which satirical pours corrosive ridicules of he on what Swift considers to be the abuse of his age. As childrens classic it can be read as a marvelous embark in wonderland. With an abundance of circumstantial details. e are told how a certain Gulliver happened to diagnose some(prenominal) journeys into strange undiscovered countries. Swift makes certain preposterous assumptions besides once the initial premise is granted what follows conforms it with numeral precision. in his head start ocean trip, A ocean trip to Lilliput Gulliver was driven. Far away from his course he was cast ashore on an island called Lilliput, where the inhabitants were almost six inches tall and all the surroundings of animate and inanimate conformed exactly to those merciful dimensions. They were equipped with bows and arrows in which they were adepts.It was mathematically mensural that Gulliver would require food for thought which 1728 Lilliput ians would consume. The nance was a patron of learning, he was gravid and majestic. Gulliver was tendingfully searched and dispossessed of his pistols and ammunitions. The courtier practiced closelipped rope walking and official preferment went to those who excelled in this turn. The most obliging of them was the filmnap, the treasurer. (the king vatical to stand for the George l and filmnap, the Whig prime subgenus Pastor Robert Walpole). The Lilliputians were engaged in war with the contiguous country, Belfuscu.It was easy for the Lilliputians to win with the help of their gigantically, moreover as short as they accomplished they turn against him in ingratitude. Filmnap continued to be his honcho enemy. Gulliver knew that he ws signifierredly to be unjustly accused of high cheat and therefore he secretly grossed over to Belfuscu and ranged from eminent danger. He returned space and stayed with his wife and family for cardinal months. A voyage to Brobdingnag. He was again possessed of an insatiate desire to go on another(prenominal)(prenominal) voyage. This time he was bound for India. This piece voyage proved to be equally evetful and strange.All alone he happened to be cast ashore on a strange land where corn was at least forty feet high and the head start person he saw appeared as tall as an ordinary spire steeple. He was farmers digmaid who head start looked at Gulliver as a curious creature and took him to his master. This country was Brobdingnag, where the citizenry were sixty feet in height. The skin of these giants was atrociously hard and ugly, freckled and covered all over with wrat and moles and rough hair. When one of the nurses was nursling the child entrusted to her Guilllver saw her revoltingly capacious breasts, which cold not be less than ixteen feet in circumference. The nipple was well-nigh one-half of my head and the hue both of that and delve so verified with spots, pimples and freckles that nothing could a ppear more nauseous . M either multiplication he was in the danger of cosmos killed by gigantic creatures of Brobdingnag just now luckily for him he had nine year old nurse ,the farmers miss called Glumdalclitch, who took care of him and protected him from dangers. In his avariciousness the farmer exhibited Gulliver in market places and last brought to Metropolis where the king and the queen took a fancy to him and took him under their special protection.But Gullivers cast nurse was asked to stay in the castle to take care of him. though the Brobdingnag were physically gross and execrable they were kind and sensible. The king observed how contemptible a thing was human beingity grandeur which could be mimicked by such diminutive insects like I. the queens maids of award always invited Glumdalclitch to visit them in their fashion with Gulliver whom they thought to be as assort of pet. They would often strip me naked from flower to toe and lay me in their bosoms, where I was offenseed because.. very offensive perceive came from their skins. Gulliver had the most dangerous experience of his flavour when a monkey took him in his mitt and fliited from one building to another with Gulliver intermission from his paw. From that day onwards Glumdiltich took colossaler care of Gulliver. Page 2 A trip to Brobdingnag The king used to enquire of the political and religious conditions of the atomic number 63. Gulliver ironically expatiated upon the wonderful parliamentary system and elections in europiuman nations, their standing(a) armies and their institutions.Far from admiring these, the Brobdingnagian king was astonished, and he protested that it was only a heap of conspiracies rebellions massacres, revolutions and banishments. The very beat out effects that edacity, factions, hypocrisy, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, envy, lust, malice and ambition could produce. eventually the king concluded with the most maddened attack on the state of r outine in con temporary Europe, I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be most pernicious race of little wretched vermin that ever fulfiled to pussyfoot upon the break by dint of of the earth. Further Gulliver informed the king approximately the invention and use of artillery gunpowder which could destroy all batteries of an army. The kings ingenious remark was certainly an recur of Swifts confess sentiment he gave it for his opinion that whoever could make devil ears of corn or two blades of glom to grow upon a spot of consideration where only one grew before would deserve better of human race, and more essential service to his country than the unscathed race of politicians put together.Gulliver speaks with approval of Brobdingnagians learning which consist only immortality, history, poetry, math to write a command upon any law is a capital villainy their style is clear, masculine and smooth, but not florid. This is Gullivers and (Swifts) criticism of European nuance in his possess age. When he returned family line at first Gulliver had a estimable deal of difficulty in adjusting to himself to his wife and friends he tangle that they were all pygmies and he a giant he felt for some time that he had disjointed his wife.A Voyage to Laputa Gullivers third voyage was to East Indies he travel the mantelpiece of Good Hope and r to each oneed fort St. George, Madras where he stayed for three weeks. He resumed his journey but was captured by pirates and left alone in a separate of islands called Laputa. Here the fundamental persons were so much absorbed in speculation, scientific and political that they had to have flappers who brought them backside to their sense by flapping their ears and mouths. An turbid flying island often hovered over the islands when they were cut off from the suns light.Here Gulliver visited several islands and in the grand academy located in Lagado he found great deal engrossed in various range s. one and only(a) was exhausting to extract sun beams from cuke another was working trying on an operation to reduce human excreting to its original food. Yet another was trying to calcine ice into gun powder and so on. Most of them begged Gulliver for monetary assistance, in one of these islands there were magicians and conjurers in another there were a group of passel called Struldburgs, mess who would not die was a curse rather than a blessing.Afterwards Gulliver sailed towards Japan and from there returned to England. Voyage to Houyhnhnms Gullivers quaternionth voyage took him to the land of the Houyhnhnms( pronounce as hou-inem), a strange species of sagacious number horses. By a curious happening he landed on Houyhnhnm land, where the first object he saw was a physically repulsive creature. Gulliver was disgusted for upon the whole I never beheld in all my travels so disagreeable an animal, or one against which I naturally conceived so besotted an antipathy. And yet he could recognize in him a man like himself.The horses were the master of these debased human creatures called Yahoos. Gulliver was amazed to regulate the most urbane conduct in the Horses (though they were beasts) and the most bestial behavior among the human-looking Yahoos. These Horses were enable with a fine stratum of resolve their behavior was so orderly and rational, so acute and judicious that Gulliver at last concluded that they must needs be magicians who had thus Page 3 metamorphosed themselves. In a few months Gulliver was able to pass by in the manner of speaking of the Honyhuhums.Curiously enough their language did not have words to press out lies and other similar concepts they were dignified and handsome, and their potence and speed were marvelous. On some make Gulliver discussed to the King that in Europe, human universes teach the horses and rode on their back and naturally roused great indignation in the king. When he went on to describe the madd ened wars in Europe the king of Honyhuhums was greatly amazed at the perversion of human reason, but he consoled himself with the thought that these petty creatures could not do much mischief even if they cherished to.His amazement grew when he was told how many people in Europe were ruined by law and all advocates without exception were so accustomed to lying that they would never take up a true case. Gulliver further informed the king how in his own country a man rose to power with prudence to dispose of a wife, a daughter or a sister by betraying a predecessor or by pretending to a furious zeal in public assemblies against the corruptions of the court. The chief ministers palace was a seminary to breed others in his own trade, and they excelled in insolence, lying and bribery.The yahoo in Houyhuhums land has to lick his masters feet and posteriors and drive the female person yahoos to his kennel, for which he was now and then rewarded with a piece of asss flesh The houyhuhums w ere endowed by nature with a genial zest to all virtuestheir grand maxim is to act reason. Their convictions were never discolored by passion and self-interest. A ecumenic friendship and benevolence governed all their conduct, but they had no fond nesses or pets. They practiced a control of their macrocosm by restricting the progeny of each couple to one male and one female colt.It was again, reason and not passion, which governed propagation. The four lessons of their bringing up were Temperature industry, Exercise and Cleanliness. They trained up their youth to strength, speed and hardness. On the whole Houyhuhums maintained a high degree of decency and dignity. If they were not able to rise to great glories of the spirit, they were also incapable of descending into the depths of bestiality. both(prenominal) of the Houyhuhums were afraid that because Gulliver possessed some fundamental principle of reasons he might try to constitute the yahoos of the land so it was decid ed that he must be expelled from the country.So he had a vessel constructed and he resumed his voyage. He brutish into the hands of very cruel people but eventually a very kind-hearted Portuguese captain took him and put him safely on the shore of Byland, where he soon joined his wife and children. But he shuddered at the sight of them as they resembled the foul-smelling yahoos. As soon as I entered my house. Gulliver tells us, my wife took me in her gird and kissed me at which, having not been used to the touch of the painful animal for so many years. I fell in a fainting for almost an hour. During the first year (of my return) I could not endure my wife or children in my carriage.The very smell of them was unsupportable much less could I suffer them to eat in the room. So great was his admiration for Houyhuhumn that for some time he used to walk like a horse and neigh like a horse. The tragic denunciation of man is rounded off with comic laughter. The take for concludes with an self-reliance that a travelers chief aim should be to make men wise and better, and to improve their minds by the full-grown as well as the respectable example of what they deliver concerning foreign places. And Swift seems to feel that the most intolerable vice among the yahoo kind is self-conceit.In one of his earn to Alxander Pope, Swift explained his aim in writing Gulliver Travels the chief end I get to myself in all my labours is to contract the serviceman rather than divert it. Nevertheless the book has been interminably diverting and has established itself as a childrens classic. it is a universal favorite not because it is sought to vex the readers into a actualisation of their individual and social follies and vices, but because the shaft conceived a series of diverting situations and episodes and exposit them with plenty of imaginative and humorous details.In the first voyage, the diminutive Lilliputians, providing themselves on their destructive arm s mere bows and arrows and their stratagems of war are ridiculous. And Gulliver could easily capture dozens of the enemy ships disregardful of the arrows which fringe him. Page 4 The factions between the adult Enders and the Little_Enders been the High_heels and Low_heels, are ludicrous in the extreme. In the land of the Brobdingnagians the gigantic creatures as tall as church_steeples are equally amusing, in particular to children.The account of Gullivers fall through the fingers of one of the two men and his terrific escape from death by being stuck up on the pin of her stomacher, his fortuity with the monstrous monkey, which took him all over the house-tops and tree-tops with the conniption of imminent death for Gulliver, the diversion of one of the maids of honour who stretched Gulliver on her breast, and a dozen similar episodes cannot fail to fascinate the reader. It is to be admitted that the third voyage, a voyage to Laputa is not half as successful as the one before it or the one that comes after it.It is episodic and confused. But the scientific and political projects such as trying to extract sun beams out of cucumbers, food out of human excreta, and gun powder out of ice are travesties of what Swift considers to the unprofitable research-projects in his own time. The tempo rises once again when we follow Gulliver through his last voyage. This time into the land of the rational Honyhuhmns. Apart from its satiric purpose, the fourth book describes with humor and imagination the debased mankind and the rational noble Horses, who was Gullivers illimitable admiration for them.Since his return to England Gulliver found it difficult to adapt himself to his own species he was repulsed, by his wifes embraces and kisses he walked like a horse and neighed like a horse he built his tent in the stables and chose horses rather than human as his companions. Swifts satire is directed as much against the Yahoos and the Honyhuhmns as against Gulliver himsel f. Certainly we shall be committing a gross mistake if we, like the nineteenth century critics of Swift, identify Gulliver with Swift himself, though it is true that in general places the assignment is unmistakable.If we could ignore for the moment the political and moral allegory of Gullivers travel we can enjoy it as a matter to narrative of adventures in which the imaginative mannequin work is amazingly filled with plainly realistic details. It is at once an fake and a parody of the travellers accounts and imaginary utopias which enchanted the Elizabethans and their successors. But Gullivers Travels is much more than a childrens classic. It is a merciless satire on the political and moral conditions of Europe in eneral and of England in particular. Swift intend to vex his present-day(a) into a realization of their slimness and pride, their avarice and manners, the enormity of their follies and vices, the degradation of their institution and their free wars of destruction. Swift did not care to point out human follies and vices with gentle humor as did Addison and Steele on the other hand his righteous indignation burnt ferociously in him, he fretted and fume at the mouth he quashed his teething and poured out satire and sarcasm and invective.So fierce was the onslaught and so great the disgust that he has often been branded as a misanthrope and a cynic, but as we have already seen his meek proposal should put us on our guard. In one of his letters to his friends, black lovage Pope, he said, I hate and dislike that animal called man, although I heartily chicane John, Peter Thomas and so forth. In the first book, the political satire is transparently clear. After his disillusionment with the Whigs, Swift went over to the Torries. Ever since he stood firm as a conservative and an ardent piece of the Anglican church.He was indignant at the undeserved fall and exile of oxford and Bolingbroke (with whom Gulliver often identifies himself). The Lillip utians are the English the Blefuscudians are the French, who were often at war with each other. Bolingbroke and rescue England can Gulliver had saved the Lilliputians, but ingratitude and perfidy drove the benefactor out of the country. The sexual promiscuity, the political machinations and the pettiness (as represented by their size) and pride of the Lilliputians are a satire on contemporary English society. Lilliput is sometimes utopia sometimes 18th century England make utterly contemptible by the delicate size of the people who exhibit the aforementioned(prenominal) vices and follies as the English. The account of Lilliputians politics with the row between the high- heels and the low-heels and between the big-enders and the little-enders, is clearly a parody of English politics, on the other hand, this chapter on Lilliputian law and education is almost wholly utopian (David Daichas). Page 5 In the second book, the satire is more complex.If in the first book, Swift satirized the pettiness of man and disproportionate pride and sense of importance, here Swift applies the magnifying crackpot to mans disgustingly bloated vices, his repulsive physical features and bodily odour. Even the fairest of the female Brobdingnagians had disgustingly big blotches, pimples and freckles all over their skin and the offensive smell which emanated from their automobile trunk indicated that man had no reason to be proud. But, the satire here is two edged.When Gulliver expatiated upon the conditions of Europe in ironic admiration of its institutions and its warfare. The double-dyed(a) king of Brobdingnag was moved to exclaim-I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth for their history revealed. zippo but a heap of conspiracies, rebellions, murders, massacres, revolutions, banishments, the very affects that avarice fraction, hypocrisy, perfidiousne ss, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, envy, just, malice and ambition could produce. It is to be admitted that this type of general satire the intended affect because everyone lays the blame at the ingress of others and never applies it to himself The voyage of Laputa satirises Englands monocracy over Ireland . It is easy to see in the flying island the oppressive role of England on the life of Ireland. Lindalino is anagram of Dublin. Swift ridicules the activities of the scientific experiments under taken by the imperial Society. Which is represented here by the academy of projectors in Lagado?Swift was concerned only with the ethics of life and the experiments in lore and politics appeared to him as needless use of time in the innumerable cells of the academy, one has been working at the ridiculous project of extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers another has been encaged for long in the project of turning human excreting in to human food and yet another has been trying to conve rt it in to gun powder here at any rate swift satire mysteries, for if science had been discouraged by this sardonic attack on them the present marvels of scientific discovery would have been impossible.The last voyageto houyhnhnm land take us into deeper waters. Critics of swift in the 18th and 19th centuries were misled into thinking that here swift was extolling the sensible animals and branding human beings irredeemably vicious and intolerably disgusting like the yahoos. it is true that swift scorn of debased man is terrible but Gulliver is not swift the ardent Anglican dean could not have held up to our un bound admiration the houyhnhnms who were of course rational, decent, benevolent and friendly. They limited their families to two colts- one male and the other female.They imparted instruction to their youth intemperance, industry exercise and cleanliness. The praise of these animals is intended to show how very debased man can be when he perverts his reason and yields to hi s passions but if the houyhnhnms escape the depths of human depravity, they also miss the glorification of the human life, certainly the modern view that swift is not to be set with Gulliver does not admit of further dispute. 3. Swift is often accused of being a pessimist, a cynical gloomy misanthrope, a seventeenth century Timon of Athens.At any rate this was the view of swift which 18 th and 19th century critics of swift had systematically maintained This view has been stoutly challenged by modern critics who have examined the book from a variety of angles. In the first two books of Gullivers travels in Gulliver s voyage to Lilliput and Brobdingnag, there is obvious gentility though the narrator shows his disgust at the pettiness and the squabbles of the pygmies and the grossness of the Brobdingnaginas physical features.In Brodingnaginas, the nine year old Glumdaiclits is full of tender dread for his safety, and is almost in tears at her fathers greed in intending to amass fun ds buy exhibiting Gulliver at the market place. The educational system of the Lilliputians and the Brodingnaginas view of life are almost utopian. The clap of pessimism and misanthropy cannot be bear on on the basis of these two voyages. In the third book the voyage to Laputta swift seems to ridicule with unspairing the severity the scientific experiments and philosophic speculations of his time, but ridicule is not misanthropy.The charge then is made mainly on the four book. The Yahoos are undoubted caricature of human beings they lick the feet of the horse and are beaming when some piece of asss flesh is thrown to them. The human kind seems Page 6 to be infinitely debased when contrasted with the Horses, which, by comparison, are governed by reason. There seems to be no redeem quality in the Yahoos and the nineteenth century critics had no hesitation to brand the satirist as a misanthrope who dislike man, a pessimist who saw in him not one redeeming virtue.The voyage to the Houyhnhnms was even considered more or less symptomatic of mental disease. But Gulliver was saved by a Portuguese captain, who showed him great kindness and refused to accept from him his passage money. The presence of Don Pedro is alone enough to confute the charge of misanthropy. Besides are we justify in identifying Gulliver with swift? Gulliver himself is often the victim of comic humour, when he returns home he feels disgusted with his own wife and family, he erects his residence in stables, and neighs like a horse.He is here the victim of the comic formulate rather than the serious reformer of society. In this book, the Anglican clergyman appears as a preacher who believes in original sin and ridicules the eighteenth century clad about the perfectibility of man. Louis A. Landa has substantiated the view that Swifts pessimism is preferably consonant with the pessimism at the heart of Christianity. She has quoted in support of this view several passages from contemporary se rmons. in my opinion, says another modern critic, the work is that of a Christian human-centred and a moralist who no more blasphemes against the dignity of human nature than do St. Paul and some of the angrier prophets of the Old volition. It has been truly observed that his savage bill of indictment of man arises from philanthropy, not misanthropy, from idealism on what man might be, not from hopelessness at what he is. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan Page 7