Thursday, September 19, 2019

C. Vann Woodwards The Strange Career of Jim Crow Essay example -- Str

C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow In the months following the Brown v. Board of Education decision C. Vann Woodward wrote a series of lectures that would provide the basis for one of the most historically significant pieces of nonfiction literature written in the 20th century. Originally, Woodward’s lectures were directed to a local and predominantly southern audience, but as his lectures matured into a comprehensive text they gained national recognition. In 1955 Woodward published the first version of The Strange Career of Jim Crow, a novel that would spark a fluid historical dialogue that would continue for the next twenty years. Woodward foresaw this possibility as he included in the first edition, â€Å"Since I am†¦dealing with a period of the past that has not been adequately investigated, and also with events of the present that have come too rapidly and recently to have been properly digested and understood, it is rather inevitable that I shall make some mistakes. I shall expect and hope to be corrected.† Over this time period Woodward released four separate editions, in chapter form, that modified, corrected, and responded to contemporary criticisms. Although some of Woodward’s peripheral ideas may have been amended in varying capacities his central and driving theme, often referred to as the â€Å"Woodward Thesis,† still remains intact. This thesis states that racial segregation (also known as Jim Crow) in the South in the rigid and universal form that it had taken by 1954 did not begin right after the end of the Civil War, but instead towards the end of the century, and that before Jim Crow appeared there was a distinct period of experimentation in race relations in the South. Woodward’s seminal his... ...tional level, and articulates a distinctive view of the Civil Rights Movement and the federal government's renewed and expanded commitment to the integration and the protection of the rights of African-Americans as a Second Reconstruction. The only flaw that I can find in this highly regarded and seemingly impenetrable work is that Woodward treats African Americans as passive agents in a rapidly changing environment. He gives the impression that African Americans were less participants and more like pawns in a large chess match controlled and governed by these competing ideologies. Although he does make concessions on this point in the final chapter, which was a later addition, throughout the book he consistently describes how external forces were acting on freed slaves and what little role they played as actors in the racial struggles of the Jim Crow era.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Escalation of Piracy :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Escalation of Piracy    Copyright laws were created in the late 1700s to protect authors from having their work reproduced without their consent. These laws have been in effect ever since in most parts of the world and have done little changing to keep up with the times. Piracy is the unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material. Piracy has been an issue for many years, but is gaining more and more press recently because it is getting out of control. Everything from books to video games are being pirated and it is costing their respective industries billions of dollars. There are varying degrees of piracy, and can be considered anything form downloading an artist’s song form KaZaA or mass distributing illegal copies of expensive business software.I will first discuss the casual pirate. This can be defined as anyone who violates copyright laws and steals intellectual property for their own use. This includes downloading music, movies, or software, or burning copies of these. The second form of piracy is the pirate that distributes this material for a profit. These pirates will buy or steal a copy of a program, and sell it on the internet for a fraction of the actual selling cost. The thing with digital reproduction is that a copy is exactly the same as the original, no quality loss. On top of that it costs the pirate nothing to produce, max 40 cents. That way he can sell the pirated software for whatever he wants. A 6000 dollar program can sell for anywhere between 100-500 dollars. The latter of the two of these forms of pirates have historically been the target the industries and government have been trying to stop. But recently most of the press has been going to the causal pirate. Peer to peer networks and the increasing popularity of faster broadband connections have led to a dramatic increase in illegal downloads. Anyone with an internet connection has instant access to music, movies, software, even video games to download for free. The most popular of these downloads however is by far music downloads. According to a February 2004 article form Wired Magazine’s website on a Monday morning at 10:00 there were about 3.1 million people sharing on KaZaA. And that is not peak time. This number far surpasses Napster’s numbers in its hay day. The fact is that peer to peer sharing is here to stay and there is vary little the RIAA can do to stop it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walkers Everyday Use

Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walker's Everyday Use In a critique titled â€Å"Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’† (Short Story Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers, 1990), the authors reveal that tradition and the explanation of holiness were key elements throughout the story. The writers began the analysis by discussing the significance of a quilt; a quilt is a complete piece of artwork that is essentially made up of fragments. These patchwork quilts, when effectively put together, exposed a way of life. The Africans traditional way of life was one of sacredness and usefulness. By using scraps from old clothes they were able to create a masterpiece that could be passed down from one generation to the next. The title â€Å"Everyday Use† implies that quilts, while they may be priceless heirlooms, are also made to function. The Johnson’s are a typical African family that has settled in America. The mother, and narrator of the story, is a working woman who often imagines herself as someone else, someone who her children would not be ashamed to be seen with. While awaiting the arrival of Dee, her eldest daughter and a â€Å"goddess† (415) in the eyes of her family, she dreams of being on a TV program where a host reunites long lost family members. As she greets her daughter who has been away at college, she is not only one hundred pounds thinner but is beautiful in the eyes of her children. Howeve...

Build-a-Bear Summary Analysis Essay

Build-A-Bear workshop stores were first established in 1996 by Maxine Clark whose influence came from former CEO of May Department Stores who had stated, â€Å"Retailing is entertainment and the store is a stage – when customers are happy, they spend more money† ( Dess, c261). Build-A-Bear’s intentions were to differentiate themselves by giving people the feeling of bringing their teddy bear to life. You could give it a heart, a name, a wardrobe and many other personal touches. Build-A-Bear is about two things, â€Å"entertainment and customization† (c261). At the time of its introduction, following their differentiation strategy, there was not much competition for customized children’s toys. However, after the concept of customization caught on they faced competition from companies such as American Girl and Vermont Teddy Bear. American Girl was marketed to young girls who could make dolls that look like them and even buy matching clothes that the girls and the dolls could both wear. One advantage that Build-A-Bear had against American Girl was the fact that they marketed to all genders and appealed to a wide variety of ages. Parents would bring their young children, both boys and girls in to make dolls and teenagers would bring their boyfriend or girlfriends in to make customized bears as presents. You could even build a bear for your parent or grandparent. As the Build-A-Bear company grew they faced problems, such as a changing industry and a changing market which left them losing edge in their financials. Environmental Analysis. Build-A-Bear started with a handful of stores and it grew to 150 by the end of 2003. They capitalized on the upward trending consumer demand around the holidays when they would rent space in busy malls for their pop up stores. These temporary stores brought increased revenue and gave the company the idea for its current corporate strategies of expanding to more permanent stores. They had 344 stores in the US, UK, and Canada by 2010. They set goals that would allow a Build-A-Bear store to be within 30 miles of 75% of the US population. Though these new permanent stores usually paid for themselves within the first year their â€Å"wow factor† and financial performance quickly diminished time and time again. This no loss expansion worked while saturating the market but was not cutting it when their market further matured. A main reason for the growth is because new stores brought in greater profits which gave the impression that rapid expansion was a wise strategy. They may have expanded too fast though. They lacked the necessary ingredient in producing repeat customers and this was becoming a major problem while strict reliance on overexpansion seemed to be clouding the fact they needed another competitive advantage in the quickly changing toy industry to stay competitive. The real question was how to increase repeat customers and/or increase profitability of their current operating stores. We devised two solutions that could help BearFinancials alleviate the problem of their not so attractive earnings beyond the first years. Strategic Alternatives Alternative Solution #1. One option to get the finances in line would be a retrenchment/turnaround strategy in which the underperforming stores would be closed freeing up resources to explore other options for expansion into different markets. Very similar to Subway and Starbucks, Build-a-Bear wanted a store close to a large percentage of the population and expanded too far and the companies saw it hurt their finances. Build-A-Bear has the unique features to be a thriving, profitable company for a long time but it needs to be careful not to expand too far where it cannot maintain its current culture and core competencies and this can be done by reducing costs through restructuring. Closing underperforming stores and exploring destinations like international airports where people from all over the world will see their product would be a good starting place. Since people do not frequent the airport so much as other retail establishments they could continuously capitalize on the â€Å"wow factor† because new people would be subjected to their stores every day. By reducing fixed costs and exploring new marketplaces Build-a-Bear should be able to boost financials immediately with little investment. Alternative Solution #2. The next solution would be to fashion a new line of accessories and programs that promote repeat consumer visits. Build-A-Bear needs to be viewed as a collectible and something worth traveling for. This was not the case which was why stores started to lacking performance after being open a certain amount of time. Accessories and maintenance programs could be a way to get people to continue to give Build-A-Bear business even f they are not actually purchasing a new bear. Implementing new programs such as wardrobe changes, where people would come back to get Bear-makeover, would bring repeat customers. These programs could offer matching apparel for the bears and the kids who own them. Children and their bears could then wear matching t-shirts which could also first time sales from consumers ‘marketing’ the product. Another idea would be a BearWash. Children can be hard on their stuffed animals and sometimes they end up getting dirty. They could set up a â€Å"bear wash† where people would bring their furry friends in for a fur-flush and get it back all nice and clean. All of which would be geared at upselling the consumer upon return in order to maximize on that repeat visit. Initial investment would be substantial due to acquiring clothing line and additional costs to provide repeat programs. Recommendation Alternative solution #1 would be the best choice for Build-A-Bear at this time. By cutting underperformers they will save millions in fixed costs alone. They could then use this money to expand into locations such as airports and hospitals where it will be easier to maintain that ‘new’ appeal that made the company so much money in the first place. This solution requires the least investment in a monetary sense. Underperforming stores should be closed immediately upon identification and new stores should be in operating order by the end of this calendar year. Build-a-Bear has the right ingredients for continued success they just have to strategically place themselves in markets with the most exposure to non-repeat customers in order to maintain high operating margins beyond the first years. By reducing number of stores in operation they can concentrate on staying profitable and advancing into the future where they will then have the means to pursue other avenues such as improving repeat customer sales described in alternative #2. The focus now should be to stop wasteful spending on underperforming stores as soon as possible in order to open up more possibilities and greater flexibility in the future.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Lord of the Flies by William Goldings: Keywords Essay

Lord of the Flies was written in 1954 as William Goldings debut novel. It was written and set around the time of the Second World War. The keywords in the essay title are ‘order’ and ‘deteriorates, therefore in this essay I intend to look at first how order is established and will then show how order deteriorates. I will do this by looking at the individual episodes and themes throughout the book that I believe show law and order. Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys aged between five and twelve, who survived a plane crash during their evacuation from England. They crash on a small tropical island. The story begins with Ralph and Piggy getting to know each other. The topic of class then becomes apparent, Piggy is very ‘working class’ and has a strong cockney accent, and whereas Ralph is middle class and uses more sophisticated language but they are both of similar intelligence. Ralph begins to think of what may lie ahead of them and says, ‘No grown ups!’ (P12), this is the boy’s first realisation that they are alone and have complete freedom, however what will happen now that there are no adults? After a while a large group is formed, off all the boys from the plane, the choir all in black capes led by Jack come across the beach all marching together. This symbolises order, they are all wearing the same outfit of the same colour and mimicking each other and there is an obvious and strong leader whom they are following and obeying. The choir could also represent a presence of danger on the island as they have a sinister uniform and the contrast o f the black uniforms against the white sands is strong. Ralph finds a conch, which to the group means whoever has the conch may speak this shows that leaders and order are trying to be created. Ralph uses the conch to assemble the boys for a meeting to decide who will be leader. Jack, the head boy, feels he should be chief as he is older and has a position of responsibility within the choir, ‘I’m chapter chorister and head boy, I can sing a C sharp’ (pg 29) jack seems arrogant and immediately assumes he will be leader. There is a democratic vote and Ralph is made leader. Ralph however realises he needs to work together with Jack not against him and says, ‘Jacks in charge of the choir, they can be†¦what do you want them to be?’ (Pg 31), jack decides they will be hunters. The whole process is very democratic and mature, and with the absence of parents the boys are trying to bring in order and discipline and by choosing a leader they are creating a parental figure that they can look up to. The conch has by this point become a symbol of order and to speak at a meeting one must hold the conch. Ralph then selects jack to go and explore the island with him, this is an attempt at sharing the role of leader and is a friendly gesture to try and remove any bad feelings for each other. Ralph also chooses Simon to take with him, Simon is a member of the choir and earlier in the novel fainted, Ralph chooses Simon to show he is fair and sympathetic. Ralph leaves Piggy to collect the names of the other boys. As the bots explore the island there are many subtle references to the outside world, ‘Like a bomb!’ (Pg 37) this is an ironic reference to the real atomic bomb, which occurred in 1945. They also give a hint of religion or god, ‘The coral was scribbled into the sea as though a giant had bent down†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Pg 38) this is like god being the creator of nature and moulding the land it also poses the question, how long will this paradise last after the arrival of the boys. It was mentioned earlier that Jack chose to make the choir the hunters, the hunting brings the boys together in a positive and constructive way, it relieves boredom and it is a focus for the boys. It also brings a stable food supply to the boys, and makes everyone feel they have a role to play on the island. But why are they hunting? There are plenty of berries to keep everyone happy and healthy, it may possibly be due to freedom from parents and rules that makes them want to hunt for the pigs or maybe because its what they have read in books or heard stories of and hunting is what they believe they should do. The next theme that represents order on the island is the fire on the mountain. The group assemble at the end of the day, ‘the choir, noticeably less of a group had discarded their cloaks’ (pg 42) this represents the group working together and order being present now within the whole group and them becoming equals. Ralph starts to develop their plans for rescue and takes on well his role of leader, he also boasts about his father, ‘My fathers in the navy. He said there aren’t any unknown islands left†¦and sooner or later a ship will put in here. It might even be daddy’s ship,’ (pg 49), he is showing off to the other boys that are mostly younger than him, he is trying to earn their respect and be seen by them as a good and strong leader. He is obviously quite intelligent as he decides they need to build a fire on the mountain so that passing ships will see the smoke. The boys were really keen, there was riot and noise, the novelty and rules with the conch had been forgotten and now the idea of building the fire. They worked as a team to collect leaves and logs and completed the fire. I am now going to talk about how order first starts to deteriorate, and what first starts the breakdown of order on the island. After the fire has been made, it was figured out then that they could use Piggy’s glasses to light the it, they wrestled him for them, ‘Here let me go! His voice rose to a shriek of terror’ (pg 53) this incident shows possibly a mob nature emerging, they have become so obsessed with the fire now that they have lost all sense of order. Ralph holds the conch and says, ‘ We need special people for looking after the fire,’ (pg 55), and this shows that there is a hierarchy or ‘pecking order’ beginning to develop on the island; Ralph is taking control by deciding who is special and who is not. The fire rages out of control, it spreads and sets light to the trees and creepers on the island, ‘Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a mile square of forest was savage with smoke and flame’ (pg 57). One of the small boys dies, Golding never named him he is only ever referred to as ‘the boy with the birthmark’ the boys reflect on the boys death, ‘The crowd was as silent as death,’ (pg 60) this is using strong irony because of course there had actually been a death. I think the boy is never named so that he isn’t seen as a real person and therefore is almost seen as a symbol, a symbol of control and order he dies, therefore control is seen to die with him. The fire also symbolises control, and it raging out of control represents the feeling of order on the island raging out of control. Its almost as if the fire and order on the island mirror each other throughout the book, order is built up, the fire is built, order begins to lose control, the fire rages out of control; the fire is an extended metaphor. The beast is discussed at a meeting at it unsettles a lot of the boys and is the, the beast is seen as something beyond their control and therefore Jack and Ralph really don’t want to believe its real. The boys reassure each other that it’s not real, but inside every one of them there is doubt. Following this meeting and the fire incident shelters are built on the beach, I think they symbolise the boys protecting themselves from the fire and the beast. It also shows them trying to create a civilisation, and trying to create home. Jack becomes obsessed with hunting; he desperately wants to catch a pig so that he can be seen as fulfilling and being successful in his role on the island as leader of the hunters. He also wants to succeed in hunting to show Ralph that he is a success and earn respect from the boys and possibly even take their attention from Ralph and make them see him as being the natural leader. Jack fails to catch a pig for the second time he is not used to dealing with animals and definitely not used to killing them. Him and Ralph argue as they both have different priorities on the island Jack’s is hunting and meat, ‘We Want Meat’ (pg 65), and Jacks priorities are the shelters and keeping the fire alight, ‘We need shelters’, (pg 65). Ralph’s ultimate goal is rescue and to do this they need the fire so Ralph’s idea is definitely the better one. The argument they have over this shows that there is fierce competition between the boys, and while they are busy fighting and competing for control, order and control is actually being lost. Jack takes all of the choir or the hunters as they are now known off on a hunt; he is determined to catch a pig. Therefore while they are hunting there is no one tending the fire. Ralph checked the fire from the beach, its almost as if he was checking up on Jack, and he realises it is producing almost no smoke. He tells Jack but he is distracted by his plans for catching a pig Ralph gets annoyed, ‘I was talking about the smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’ (Pg 68). Hunting gives the boys power over life and death, and as their lives are out of their hands it gives them back a feeling of control. Jack introduces camouflage to his team of hunters, they paint their faces with mud, charcoal and clay they go off to hunt with Jack’s plan. Painting their faces represents them going feral and going back to nature, ‘For hunting like in the war – like things trying to look like something else’ (pg 79). It creates the feeling of a gang or tribe, all working together and it makes them quite aggressive. The paint hides their faces but it also hides their individuality and identity and gives them an excuse to kill, they mould into one great gang. A while later they return from the hunt and it was a success they killed a pig, ‘We hit the pig – I fell on top, there were lashings of blood,’ (pg 87). Jack is so proud of the result and boasts to Ralph and the boys expecting a positive response, Ralph is angry and really doesn’t want to talk about the hunt all he wants to talk about is the fire going out. A ship had sailed past without stopping on the island, due to the fire going out Jack had taken all of the boys on the hunt, ‘We had to have them for the hunt, or there wouldn’t have been enough for the ring,’ (pg 87). The boys see it as that was their only chance for rescue and all hope is lost. Piggy is really frustrated and angry with Jack, ‘You didn’t ought to have let that fire go out, You said you would keep the smoke going,’ (pg 89), Jack got angry and lifted Piggys glasses ff his face and threw them on the rocks. Piggy has been the main source of intelligence on the island and is the one staying very controlled and organised, but without his glasses he cannot use his intelligence. The group is slowly splitting into two the hunters, which are Jack and the choir, and the others which still go by the rules of the conch, which are Piggy, Ralph and the younger boys who build the shelters and try and manage the fire. Ralph calls for a meeting, he outlined all the concerns he has been having, he doesn’t really want to direct this at the whole group I think he is just trying to get his point across to Jack and by holding a meeting he is showing that he is the leader and he makes the decisions. His five issues he brings up at the meeting are, fresh water, shelter, lavatory area, fire to burn constantly and to deal with the beast. Ralph tells the group that the fire is the key to being rescued, ‘How can we ever be except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make?’ (Pg 101) throughout his time on the island he has remained focused and not got carried away by hunting or another pointless craze, he is intelligent and knows the fire is their only chance, ‘You’ve got to make fire up there or die,’ (pg 101). He then moves on talk about the beast at which point Jack joins in, Jack believes that the beast is just in peoples minds and that they’ve created it. Maybe with absence of secure homes and adult figures to look after the children they fear that they are not protected and so they create scenarios in their heads. Ralph is unsure about the beast but he cannot let the group be scared he tries to convince them that there is no beast on the island, ‘Course there isn’t a beast in the forest. How could there be?’ (Pg 104). The beast is still on the minds of everyone and when the twins Sam and Eric are tending the fire, they catch sight of what they believe is the beast. ‘They became motionless gripped in each others arms, four unwinking eyes aimed and two mouths open,’ (pg 122). Everyone is thinking about the beast and their minds are probably playing tricks on them and with the heat, lack of water and pure insanity of the situation its no surprise that they aren’t going to be thinking straight or logically. The twins alert the group and Ralph calls an assembly immediately and it is decided that Jack is going to hunt the beast, ‘This’ll be a real hunt, who’ll come?’ (Pg 125). Jack, Ralph and the hunters went to search for the beast, they don’t find it, but while searching the island Jack finds a spot which he thinks would be great for a for fort. Him and the hunters move away from the rest of the group and live on the other side of the island; this is where order is absolutely destroyed. The two natural leaders are now enemies; one is focused on rescue the other turning savage. Jacks and his group of hunters form into a tribe and tempted by hunting and feasting and not having to work many of Ralph’s group join Jack’s. Ralph’s group are still aiming towards rescue and stand for order and fairness but being the smaller less powerful group they are at a huge disadvantage. Its becoming war between two armies and Jack is still trying to prove that he is leader, and trying to take the control and power. The newly formed tribe spend the evening doing a ritualistic tribal dance, they paint their faces and its like a re-enactment of the time when they succeeded in killing the pig, and its also like a build up to the war between the two sides and a build up to the killing of the beast. Ralph approached Jack and his tribe and asked him to hunt for the beast with him, ‘I’m going up the mountain to look for the beast, coming?’ (Pg 148). This is a huge test and Ralph’s desperately trying to keep the group together because he knows that he cant make any changes or achieve any of his goals on his own, such as keeping the fire alight and building shelters. Jack agrees to go with Ralph, Roger went with them too as they walked through the forest they were picking up on every sound and every thing they saw, which shows they were on edge and frightened. They crawled on there hands and knees towards a figure, ‘there was confusion in the darkness and the creature lifted its head, holding towards them a ruin of a face,’ (pg 153), throughout the hunt Jack and Ralph are competing for power and control, courage and leadership, ‘if you don’t want to go on,† said the voice sarcastically â€Å"I’ll go on my own’ (pg 149) this is what Jack said to Ralph, neither of them wanted to make fools out of themselves or give the other any clue of how scared they were. They call what they found a beast and it was actually the pilot from the plane that crashed on the island, he was wearing a parachute and when the wind blew it pulled the figure making it seem like it was moving. They were terrified and fled from the figure almost immediately. War is now declared between Jack and Ralph after an argument they had after they found the ‘beast’, ‘I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too,’ (pg 158). After this the divide is definite and there is no going back. Along with the hunters Roger and Bill go onto Jack’s side, Ralph’s group concentrated on the fire and didn’t notice Simon wandering off into the vegetation. Simon is seen as a Christ like image in this part he has gone into the quiet and tried to get away and reflect on the situation. I really don’t think he wants to take anyone’s side and doesn’t want all the violence and bitterness. Jack’s side concentrate mostly on hunting but they do make a fire, only their fire is purely for dancing around and showing their tribal nature whereas Ralph’s fire is for purely practical and even life saving reasons. Jack plans to kill a pig and leave some for the beast to eat so that it won’t bother them; this is a very primitive and pagan ritual. Jack puts the head of the pig on a stick; it is elevated and treated as a god like creature. ‘They listened and the loudest noise was the buzzing of flies over the spilled guts,’ (pg 169) this is why the book is named ‘Lord of the Flies’ the lord is the pig. To the boys the lord of the Flies represents their whole reasons and achievements on the island, which is the hunting. The use of the animal a pig is to mirror Piggy, they are both exploited for the groups own needs and the group see both the animal and the boy as dirty, common and coarse. Golding also uses pigs because they are mammals and therefore are similar to humans and hunting pigs is linked and similar to killing humans. Simon is still alone in the forest and he comes across the ‘Lord of the Flies’ he hallucinates it may possibly have been an epileptic fit or maybe a spiritual awakening. In Simon’s hallucination the ‘lord of the Flies’ talks to him, ‘There isn’t anyone to help you, only me, and I’m the beast,’ (pg177), the links between the beast and the pig is, they have both distracted the boys and therefore affected the rescue attempt with the fire and they are both hunted by the boys and when Simon becomes conscious he finds the parachutist they both are covered in flies. Simon realises it’s the dead pilot and realises there is nothing to fear. Simon walks towards where Jack’s camp is; he wants to tell them that the beast isn’t real. Jack and his tribe had painted their bodies and were re-enacting the murder of ‘Lord of the Flies’ they were shouting, acting dancing and were really carried away, ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’ (Pg 88). They had made a chant which they bellowed as they danced, ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ (Pg 188). Jack spotted Simon and the whole grouped moved in on him thinking he was the beast they crowded round him with sticks and spears and stones, ‘the beast was on its knees in the centre, its arms folded over its face’ (pg 188) it wasn’t the beast it was Simon they continued to beat the ‘beast’ until there was no movement. The hunters killed Simon, they were so carried away with the tribal or mob nature they let it take over them and made them murderers. In the book Simon was always neutral he ne ver took sides and was the only person who didn’t get swept away with all the conflict, he was like the small bit of purity on the island, and this made him the Christ like character. Now on Ralph’s side there is just Piggy, Sam and Eric, Piggy and Ralph speak about the occurrences of the night before, Piggy says, ‘there was that – that bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain we was scared,’ (pg 193). Only Piggy recognises what really happened and that was murder. Jack and his hunters attack Ralph and Piggy in there own shelter, it was all quite violent but it ended quite quickly, but Piggy’s glasses were broken and taken by Jack. I think Jack does regret what happened but he’s not going to give up the war between him and Ralph, he wants to keep control and he’s not going to back down. Ralph and Piggy sum up all the crimes that Jack has committed, ‘at night and in darkness, and stole our fire, they stole it,’ (pg 209). He has also killed pigs unnecessarily, killed Simon and stolen Piggy’s glasses. Ralph and Piggy decide to go to Jack’s side of the island with Sam and Eric too, when they reached Jack’s area Ralph called for an assembly obviously with no results because Jack is their leader they don’t take orders from Ralph any more. Roger begins the attack he throws stones from above Ralph’s group, but aims to miss. ‘I’ve come to see about the fire and about Piggy’s specs Ralph said,’ (pg 216) all he received was laughter. Ralph confronted Jack and left Piggy below near the bottom of the cliff. Ralph and Jacks argument gets quite physical but Ralph defends himself well, he is trying to be strong but he is now the minority and although he carries the name of leader he really isn’t any more. Piggy tried to speak but he was being aimed at with stones, ‘which is better law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up’ (pg222) I think this statement sums up the book, Piggy is really quite intelligent and even with all the panic, excitement and hysteria he can see through that and spot the underlying point. This statement enrages Roger and he levers a huge boulder off of the top of the cliff and it hits Piggy, he was killed. By this point Jack is used to seeing death he has no reaction to this, his compassion for people has gone consumed by his tribal nature and devoted to hunting. With Piggy the conch was also smashed and so have Piggy’s glasses been broken, the conch represented purity, control and order and now that Piggy has gone those things have gone too. Now that Piggy is dead, Ralph hasn’t got his intelligent partner and the glasses represented his intelligence and they have been smashed too, will Sam and Eric stand by him or will he be on his own? Both the deaths of Piggy and all of the pigs have been pointless and the victims have all been helpless this shows strong irony. Sam and Eric do join the savages because they know that is their only chance of survival if they stayed with Ralph they would be hunted down and killed too, Ralph is now alone. All that awaits him is to be hunted like one of the pigs, hunted down and killed like an animal. It would be another pointless murder of an innocent and helpless victim. He is no threat to Jack now; he is alone so Jack is only hunting him to show that he is leader now and that he holds all the power and control. He goes to try and talk to Sam and Eric he finds them and they tell him to hide, get away and hide because they are going to hunt him down tomorrow. He goes to Castle Rock where Jacks tribe are the next day, they hurl a boulder off the cliff at him in an attempt to kill him, and they try again with another stone it misses again but only by inches. Jack and the hunters made a fire now in an attempt to smoke him out, the metaphor of the fire is used again, and the fire gets out of control just like the order on the island has. The fire rages out of control, Ralph escapes and runs as fast as he can to the beach where he stumbles upon a naval officer. Ralph is a strong person and he survived being hunted, his only goal all the way through was rescue and close to his last minutes of life his wish comes true. In conclusion, in the beginning of the story the boys try to mimic the order the experienced at home with parents and school, partly because of their immaturity and inexperience and partly due to Jack and Ralph’s fight for control order is not kept and this is symbolised by the conch and the fire. Jack becomes the dominant force on the island purely due to his brutality and violence, in the end they are even prepared to kill jack, the only remaining sign of order on the island.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

How Does Globalization Impact Consumers? Essay

How does globalization impact consumers? This question has been highly debated by economists. Some believe consumers will be negatively affected by globalization with greater economic instability and multiple financial crisis’ while corporations receive record profits. Other experts are of the opinion that globalization will provide customers with more wealth, more goods at lower costs, and will end poverty. Globalization gives customers the advantage of getting the best products at the best prices, per many economists and theorists. Each country, in a global market, manufacturers a product (or products) that they are best and most efficient at producing. As a result, consumers have affordable products that were previously out of their price range in some cultures (i.e. cars). Thus, the standard of living in each country is raised due to the positive effects of globalization. According to this perspective, the new global economy will shift millions of people from absolute poverty to the middle class. Another predicted benefit of globalization is that it will increase global salaries of managers and professionals and provide an increased market for international positions. Consumer access to disposable income will increase demand for technological advancement and new and improved goods. Further, lower prices give consumers the benefit of being able to save money or spend money on things they want instead of only things they need. In the article â€Å"Global Marketing and Advertising,† de Mooij suggests (Sage, 2005) that â€Å"wealth brings choice† and she believes consumers will choose to bring back old values to contain or in an effort to halt the westernizing of their culture. Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington agrees that globalization will cause a renewed interest in local traditions. In his article, â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations and Remaking of World Order† (Simon & Schuster, 1997), he opined that modernization encourages local social confidence and a resurgence of faith in local traditions and customs. Some see many disadvantages of globalization. Opponents of globalization state that it makes the rich more wealthy and the poor even poorer, particularly in cultures without ethical protections of its workforce. The opponents believe poor cultures will become too dependent upon other cultures because they cannot keep up. For example, India’s poverty in factions could worsen due to becoming more dependent on imports from other countries that could lead to high inflation. Instead of India’s  manufacturing sector expanding it could cause India’s people greater disadvantage due to not being able to complete with other nations technologically or scientifically. Another opponent of globalization stated that growth in Third World exports will create more oppression of workers because cheap labor will be more common and in more demand. Thus, common people in Indonesia and Bangladesh will suffer more harshly. Put in another way, cheap labor will be the demand, not efficiency of industry, and will be the new â€Å"cotton†.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Why Do I Want to Teach

I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. I attended NYC Public School 77, JHS 127 & Alfred E Smith Technical & Vocational HS. The Glee Club under the direction of Edna Floyd was my first step in to the world of music. It was in elementary school, that I received valuable training in singing as well as music theory and history. I marched in the drum line as a member of the New York Lancers Jr. Drum & Bugle Corps based in the Bronx where many of my instructors where themselves, public school educators. After 3 years with the Lancers, I decided to Audition for the Garfield Cadets, a drum corps from Garfield, NJ. Garfield competed on a national level where the competition level was very high. We captured the world championship title four out of six years as a marching member and one of two years as an instructor. We won the best percussion trophy twice scoring a perfect score for one of the wins. It was at Garfield where I began to develop very valuable teaching skills under the direction and guidance of some of the best educators in the activity. I have taught many young people in various places of different ages, races and economic position. Young people want to be challenged and they love to develop skills they never knew they had. Most of all, they love to play music. The benefits conveyed by music education can be grouped in four categories: * Success in society * Success in school * Success in developing intelligence * Success in life I can teach & train your percussion ensemble if one already exist, or we can start one up, either way the students get great training and information but most of all we have fun. We can have the group training culminate with a recital where the musicians get to perform live. Students learn a combination of marching and hand percussion techniques. It’s fun for those looking for a musical outlet as well as those who desire to study music in college. I believe that music education is a very important element to the development of a young mind. Scientific evidence proves that an education in the arts makes for better math and science students and enhances spatial intelligence.