Literature from or about world war Essay

By comparing the extracts from testament of youth, the ghost road and Binyon’s for the fallen and referring to your wider reading examine how typical in both style and treatment of subject matter these writings are of literature from or about world war one. Timing has a significant effect when war literature is written as does whether the source was a first hand account or a work written from others sources. Laurence Binyon wrote ‘For the Fallen’ in 1914 when war had just broke out and at this time people were joyous and glad of the excitement of war, Binyon reflects this view as he personifies England as a ‘mother for her children’ describing England as a caring character unwillingly sending her children to their deaths for ‘the cause of the free’. This patriotism and duty seen by ‘death august and royal’ were wide spread, and although there were deaths the full extent of the trench warfare horrors had been censored, so was only experienced by those at the front. Binyon himself only visited the front at one point so perhaps did not experience horrors as did other writers such as owen, yet he had more first hand Pat barker’s writing ‘Ghost Road’ in 1999. Despite this Pat Barker and Vera Britain’s biography written n 1933 are able to have a wider perspective on the events and Vera Britain in particular is able to look back in hindsight in a way in which Binyon could not and have time to consider events that passed and analyse them . Ghost road contains horrific, graphic images of ‘dismembered bodies hurtling’ and ‘eyelids eaten away’ which although designed to shock a reader so as they are eager to read more are also researched so are true of events which took place during the war. Barker doesn’t hold back from the extreme physicality of the imagery similar to Sebastian Faulke’s ‘Birdsong’ where horrendous images of ‘only a hole remaining between his shoulders’ are common, Faulke’s also uses loves and sex to link in with the physicality of the war wounds. Britain also uses her emotional relationship with Roland for a stark contrast with the vast sense of loss of the last line. This could be authors having to modernise for present-day readers or the lack of patriotism of today’s society which allows or even needs brutally truthful accounts to entertain the reader. The author’s opinion of the war also needs consideration as Binyon was pro- war and felt the personal experience of honour and duty as many young men of 1914 did. Because of this he will have experienced the excitement at the beginning of war and this reflects in his writing such as the ‘glory that shines upon our tears’. ‘For the Fallen’ also gives a sense of respect and waste for the men who ‘shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,’ particularly emphasising the youthfulness of the dead. The funeral imagery that is run throughout gives the poem a idea of a funeral for all those lost, missing or presumed dead in battle, so no ennobled soldiers are left unhonoured. Binyon focuses on this lament for the dead, they ‘are marching upon the heavenly plains’ giving the impression those who die for their country are viewed more worthy in god’s eyes. Unlike Pat Barkers description of a ‘severed head’ which could be considered disrespectful toward the dead. Binyon uses euphemisms telling of the young men who now ‘sleep beyond England’s foam’ this attitude towards death is mirrored by Vera Britain as she chooses to believe her fianci ‘drifted unconsciously into death’ so as to relieve herself of the pain and loss of her loved one. Vera invites the reader to have empathy towards her as they know her anticipation is an anticlimax and Roland in the end ‘had died of wounds at a casualty clearing station. ‘ The romantic sense in which she describes him and their ‘love that had arisen so swiftly’ is discredited by the matter of fact way she declares his death adding pathos to the extract. This statement is given as if in shock or simply immune to the pain similar to the immunity soldiers gained towards death at the front, they got to the point where as Hulme described, ‘men walked as on Piccadilly over a dead Belgian’s belly. ‘ This immunity does not stretch to every situation however, Barker talks of ‘a friends death precipitating a total collapse’ and ‘nausea, vomiting, spell of forgetfulness’ as if the war not only affect the men physically but also mentally, their whole being with nothing left untouched. Barker’s character Rivers even sees the war torment Craigloackhart’s sleep giving him endless hypnagogic hallucinations of ‘lips eaten away’. Binyon also shows the war affecting the whole being as he talks of the passion and duty of how the men were ‘staunch to the end against odds uncounted. ‘ This sense of duty is elaborated on in war literature, Barker talks of Craiglockhart ‘behaving with exemplary courage and loyalty. ‘ Sebastian Faulke’s hard metal like character Stephen is willing to die due to love for his men by the end. ‘Testament of Youth’ is written as a biography in prose as is the fictional work of Pat Barker’s ‘Ghost Road’, while ‘For the Fallen’ is a poem written in iambic pentameter form. The Iambic is used to give a rhythmical tone reflecting a procession of the marching men, and is perhaps used to imitate the ‘solemn drums. ‘ The rhythm enables the poem to be read slowly and set a tone of pride and respect, the biblical tones throughout the poem such as ‘flesh of her flesh’ serve to give the poem a more serious theme as those lamenting the dead often need religious support. This is true of agnostic Vera Britain who thanks ‘whatever God might exist’ for Roland but when worry sets in she turns to religion ironically praying ‘whosoever liveth in me shall never die’. Death is the major theme running through all the sources, with ‘Ghost Road’ using horrific adjectives to show how the soldiers were degraded even in death but this death left an impact on the friends and relatives who were left behind such as Craiglockhart. Binyon is also assertive to the dead being remembered with him shortening the last line so forth disrupting the steady pattern and emphasizing last lines such as the imperative ‘we will remember them’, and the very last line having further emphasis with repetition of ‘to the end, to the end, they remain. ‘ Other immortalising imagery such as ‘stars’ give a comfort to the reader which they do not achieve from Ghost Road or Vera Britain as the matter of fact death is left without a sense of the soul being at rest as they do as they ‘march upon the heavenly plain’ in For the Fallen. This shows the views of the authors as Binyon is very pro-war and patriotism for the country whilst Britain and Barker show the extremity of the loss and give an anti-war vision to their work as does Wilfred Owen as he opens with a harsh question of ‘what passing bells for those who die as cattle. ‘ This question probes the reader into asking themselves why the war occurred, and with Owens imagery of ‘stuttering rifles’ and ‘sad shires’ it is tough for a reader to think pro-war. Sibilance is frequent in For the Fallen as ‘stars that are starry’ allows for the poem with its harsh theme of death to be softened having a soothing effect upon the reader. To add to this calming flowing effect fricative sounds are added such as ‘flesh of flesh. ‘ This enables a harmonious sound for the dead who died for a cause which is often why the poem is read at remembrance services to put those who have lost loved ones at peace.

A comparison of American and Japanese Animation

The origin of the modern day term ‘Animation’ derives from the Latin word   ‘Animatus’, meaning simply ‘ to give life’ yet perhaps the earliest known form of animation, the phenakistoscope, derives it name not from Latin but from a Greek term meaning â€Å"deceiving viewer†.The phenakistoscope, invented in 1833 by the Belgian Joseph Plateau was the forerunner of the more famous (and more commercially available) Zoetrope (Greek: Zoe – life / trope – wheel) invented in 1834 by George Horner,The earliest fully animated cartoon (as they were then more widely known) was produced by a French strip cartoonist Emile Courtet, who, working under the name Emile Cohl used individually drawn images to create the 1908 two – minute long cartoon named Fantasmagorie which subsequently received release in Britain under the title Black and White.The world’s first ‘Cartoon Star’ Felix the Cat â€Å"walked† in to the picture and onto the screen in 1919, the creation of already successful comic strip artist Pat Sullivan, Felix was to both revolutionise cartoon making and introduce manyclichà ©s that are still in effect today. Sullivan utilized all the aspects of the comicstrip such as speech bubbles, ‘idea’ light bulbs and the quite literal use of items such as the humble question mark, in order to bring Felix to life. As Denis Gifford explains:†¦[I]f a question mark could be drawn popping out of Felix’s head, then it could just as easily be plucked physically from the sky and used as a handy hook, especially if a milk bottle stood just out of reach. (The Great Cartoon Stars, a Who’s Who!)While the first cartoon hero may have been a cat, arguably the most famous of all animated stars however, is Mickey Mouse. Featured in â€Å"Steamboat Willie† (1928) the first commercial cartoon film to ever include sound, Mickey Mouse, looks quite different from th e incarnation familiar to the children of todayIndeed, the ever-changing appearance of animated characters, due mainly to increased improvements in technology has undoubtedly led a much more demanding audience.picture from IMDb  Where we were once charmed by the grainy black and white image of a happily whistling mouse, more sophisticated techniques and the introduction of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) has opened the door to such astonishing animated films as the Disney-Pixar release â€Å"Shrek†, the visually stunning â€Å"FinalFantasy- The Spirits Within† (the first animated feature to ever attempt toproduce photo-realistic CGI humans) and the deservedly Oscarâ„ ¢ winning Miyazaki Hayao creation â€Å"The Spiriting Away of Sen and Chihiro†.Today, animation is everywhere, from televised adverts, children’s shows, video games and cinema, animation is no longer simply an art form, but a cultural icon embraced by almost all and guaranteed to instil a childish air of wonder even in the most jaded and cynical of adult hearts.The application of animation in feature films is by no means a new occurrence – yet the scope of creativity and imagination shown by today’s innovators is undeniably impressive and has also been shown to influence more ‘mainstream’ movie directors such as Quentin Tarantino choosing to add an entire â€Å"Animà ©Ã¢â‚¬  sequence to his movie â€Å"Kill Bill†, to Richard Linklater’s decision to make his version of Philip K Dick’s â€Å"A Scanner Darkly† a wholly animated affair.The kings however of the art could only be considered American Disney Studio and Studio Ghibli of Japan.   The purpose in essence of this essay is to conduct a comparison between these two very different innovators of animatic design.   

Organisational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organisational Analysis - Essay Example This is due to the change in thoughts and way of thinking of the persons. The consequences they face bring changes in thinking of the individuals resulting in the changes in strategies of the group or department. This in turn affects the way of working of the organisation. The way the changes occur and the reasons for the changes are interlinked. When a reason causes a consequence, and if that is unwanted or not anticipated, should result in the change of the reason. The changes in planning, strategies, environment, nature of working depends upon the extent the individuals in the company maintain congruence between the theory they have to follow and the theory they trust. When the difference is large the unwanted consequences were capable of narrowing the difference in the course of time. The way of correcting the problem to avoid unwanted and negative consequences is termed as I order change and II order change or single loop and double loop by different authors. The loop terminolog y is of Argyris and Schon's. In this paper the double loop learning is stressed and all the case studies and analyses were done on that basis. Introduction: According to Argyris and Schon there are two types of ways in which the individuals in the organisation react. ... All the theories which analyse the organisational behaviour will be according to these above two ways of reacting and analysing the differences between them. Structural organisational leadership: The leadership qualities in the structure of an organisational can be considered as complex. They range from time tested methods to technology involving strategies to the way of changing the thoughts and strategies according to the need and the time. So the stability cannot be taken as granted as the change is inevitable in the processes which should maintain sustainability of the organisation. Structure can be considered for the organisation as what is skeleton for any human body. The structure supports the organisation as the skeleton supports the body. As the skeleton develops in the course of the growth of the body, the development in the organisation demands the change in its structure. This can be termed as flexibility in organisational language. That is the structure of an organisation must change according to the growing and changing needs of the organisation. The leadership must be ready to adopt change. If the leader ship is adopting th e standard I changes, then they bring change only in processes but not in the cause which make the processes to be carried on. Here the leaders by observing the consequences try to bring a change in processes and try to conserve the values or theories they believe. This makes the individuals involved in the processes to be defensive and these delay the inevitable change which is a prerequisite for the flexibility in the structure. So it can be termed that the leadership following the standard I learning is not flexible enough to bring the changes in the structure demanded by growth of the organisation. The reason is any

Google docs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Google docs - Assignment Example Along with these tools, Google Docs also allows us to store documents created using these applications over the Internet. For this purpose, it currently offers a disk space of 1GB. However, this storage space is offered free of cost and there are no additional charges involved in its upgrading. Moreover, Google Corporation is always trying to implement ways to improve the performance and capabilities of its applications, services and capabilities. In this scenario, it has implemented a service for its users through which they can upload documents or files of any type to available storage space. This service allows its users to effectively backup files online. Furthermore, the use of Google Docs and its support for application storage through cloud environment allow its users to access these applications and documents developed through these applications from anywhere and anytime (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Ragupathi, 2013; Meloni, 2010; Zhou, Simpson, & Domizi, 2012). Without a doubt, this suite can be used by the students a number of ways. For instance, one of the most important use of Google Docs is to improve collaboration among students while working in teams. It is an admitted fact that students at university level work in groups. So using this suite they can be able to create documents that are available online for all the team members and changes made in these documents will become visible immediately (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Meloni, 2010). Along with improved collaboration, Google Docs also provides an excellent platform for documents sharing. For instance, a student working on a specific task can share their work with their group fellows without sending individual emails (Firth & Mesureur, 2010; Meloni, 2010). It is an affordable way to share documents. In fact, it is a secure and cost-effective mechanism for data backup. It provides a considerable

Strategic Planning for International Travel Essay

Strategic Planning for International Travel - Essay Example In the "Strategic planning for international travel" essay, the author describes the prevailing situation in the travel industry in the United Kingdom. The importance of International travel, infrastructure and public-private partnership for UK International Travel are described. Most of the European countries belong to the category of developed nation, and the countries like United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, Italy etc are the major economic powers. As this paper deals with the international travel of UK, the focus will be on this country. European nations are economically and technically developed and hence, their transportation and travel system are quite advanced. UK is one of the leading financial powers of Europe. Its GDP as per purchasing power is nearly $2.189 trillion and per capita GDP is recorded $35,100 during 2010 (CIA, 2011). After the financial crisis of 2007-2008, its economic growth has experienced a steep downfall. However, UK’s economy is now at its recov ering stage and government is trying to bring further developments by encouraging trade and business. Tours and travels is an important aspect for the growth of trade and business and hence, the government is trying to improve its infrastructure and technology for availing better transportation system. The services industries are playing very crucial role in UK as 75% of its GDP is contributed by these services sectors. UK’s services industries include a number of sectors like transport, communication, financial, distribution, distribution, tourism etc. (U.S. Department of State, 2010). Increases trade and business activities in UK have necessitated major infrastructural and

There are limitations, but financial management accounting perform a Essay - 1

There are limitations, but financial management accounting perform a fundamental role in the measurement of performance within the organisation'' Critically evaluate the statement - Essay Example Financial accounting on the other hand is the use of financial data within a company to analyse the performance of the company. Financial accounting encompasses the use of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to produce financial statements that critically evaluate the financial performance of a given company over a certain period of time (usually a year). During the course of financial accounting, a record is kept for all the business transaction of a company and that record is formally produced in the form of formal statements. These financial statements are used by to facilitate external users such as the shareholders, lenders and suppliers of an organisation (Bushman et al, 2001). Both these methods of performance management and evaluation may seem identical as per their definitions but in reality they both are quite different from each other. Management accounting is basically information generated and used by the employees and the management of that company, the information and the data generated within the management accounting scope is future oriented and carries forecasting value to the management of the organisation. Financial accounting on the other hand involves the use of Accounting Standards (mainly IASs); which are a set of principle issued by different countries. Financial accounting information is generally used by many different people such as the lenders, shareholders, employees, etc. This information is easily available to everyone, in contrast, the managerial accounting information is not that easily available. The nature of management accounting is forward looking i.e. it tends to focus on future issues and the reports are generally produced whenever they are needed whilst the financial accounting nature is concerned with the past performance of the company and the reports involved are usually time bound i.e. they are usually produced yearly, half yearly, quarterly, etc. (Bacidore et al, 1999;

Jesus Leadership Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jesus Leadership Principles - Essay Example In the gospel books of the bible, one finds the fundamental teachings and leadership principles that Jesus promoted. According to Maxwell and Blackaby, the principles of leadership outlined and applied by Jesus can transform the kind of leadership in the globe today. Maxwell has identified ten of these leadership principles. This paper will discuss the relevance of these principles to secular leadership. According to Matthew chapter 20 verses twenty five to twenty eight, Jesus designed an intriguing model that implied a critical principle in leadership. The act of washing the feet of his disciples implied that servant-hood is a defining aspect of leadership. The account reveals that Jesus washed the feet of all disciples including his betrayer Judas Iscariot. Although he held the position of master, with the disciples working under his instruction, he chose to assume the level of servant. Leaders in the globe today can benefit from this principle by realizing that they have the duty to serve the people they lead. This principle can transform global leadership immensely if the leaders realized the crucial servitude role that they have to play. According to Luke chapter seven verse twenty two and John fourteen verses eleven, it becomes evident that Jesus urged his disciples to live according to the standards they preached even before expecting others to adopt them.... to guide their daily activities, it would prove easier for a leader’s followers to demonstrate a commitment to the organizational goals, because the leaders exhibit exemplary commitment (Maxwell, & Elmore, 2007). Matthew chapter six verse thirty three highlights an additional principle that Jesus advised his followers to consider. Setting priorities is a critical aspect for a nay leader, especially with the current dynamism that presents leaders with overwhelming responsibilities. The emphasis that Jesus gave in the verse mentioned highlights the importance of putting each activity in its right place, and avoiding distraction. The benefits of setting priorities may have received too much emphasis, but the emphasis only indicates the centrality of the matter to effective leadership. Global leaders have realized the significance of this aspect, and global leadership forums seek to empower leaders to exhibit the capacity of setting priorities. Jesus Christ made it clear that impa cts in leadership were the results of relationships and not positions. Since Jesus realized the significance of establishing relationships with people, he made efforts of reaching out to them. He took the initiative of going to all the places where he could find peoples. John chapter five verses five to thirty illustrate his encounter with the Samaritan woman after his ministry. Moreover, chapter eight and verses one to eleven of the same book indicate that he went to the synagogue. Apparently, Jesus sought people, and showed great interest in them. Demonstrating personal interest in people moved them to listen to his message. It is unfortunate that some leaders today have no impact on the people because the leaders have focussed on their positions instead of exhibiting interest in the people

The Dark Side of Online Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Dark Side of Online Education - Essay Example The OU of United Kingdom, Indhira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) of India etc are some famous open universities in which internet is the principal medium of delivering educational materials. Online education provides a capacious range of courses and learning centers for the students to choose from, which in turn provides them with the opportunity to learn according to their tastes and visions. The convenience of learning right from their homes is yet another feature of online education. It provides an environment just congruous to that of a social networking website where they can discuss the stuff regarding their subject with peers from diverse regions. Students can fix the schedule and pace of their learning. This imparts a great liberty for professionals and people who have other commitments. It gives them an international exposure and connections with experts in the subjects of study from all over the globe. However, one cannot disregard the disadvantages of online educa tion while planning to step into it. The portal of the Montgomery College, Maryland which is a famous online education center describes the demerits of online education. According to them, online courses are more time-consuming than on-campus classes. Here the interaction with the instructor is virtual in the practical sense. The communication takes place either through fingers, that is, by typing or through webcams. Both increase the time required for learning procedures. There is a possibility for students to procrastinate learning if they are pursuing online courses because the schedules are flexible. This puts the very concept of ‘proper learning’ at doubt. Such courses appeal for time-management skills of the students deeply and may invoke a sense of isolation in them. There are no restrictions posed on the learner, which in one sense may sound as a positive aspect, but it can eventually turn out to be an ill-effect because there is a chance that the learner drop o ff from the learning and concentrate on other activities which can adversely affect his/her results. The service that students receive from their instructors ends in gaining the subject knowledge wherein lack of guidance, methods of study, planning etc. occur (Montgomery College). There are various technical requirements also that one has to consider while going for online education. The unavailability of any of these resources can badly affect the progress in learning. Gary W. James, a corporate trainer at Allen Communication describes this aspect. According to James, limited formatting of content in most of the browsers of today is a menace in online learning. Limitations in bandwidth, web browser and even the system configuration can inversely affect learning as graphics; videos, sounds etc form an important part of online learning. Time required for downloading the course materials sometimes goes to large extents. Assessment and feedback regarding students take place rather rare ly. According to James, most of the online courses of today are comparatively less interactive (2-3). Lisa Kirtman of California State University, Fullerton conducted a deep comparative study regarding the learning outcomes of online education as well as in campus education. She says that there had been a steadfast increment in the number of students

Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Pride and Prejudice Essay Elizabeth seems to represent something of a departure form the conventional image of women of her time By Comparing Jane Austens characterisation of Elizabeth with that of the other female characters in the novel, and by examining its social context, discuss this verdict in the heroine of Pride and Prejudice. The novel Pride and Prejudice is about a fascinating love between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy who have to overcome a lot of difficulties and social prejudices to be together. Some readers may be amazed by the way Jane Austen builds her female characters, especially the main heroine Elizabeth Bennet who is an energetic, quick-witted, sharp- tongued, bold and intelligent girl. Everyone soon realizes that she is the most distinguished and unique character in the novel because of her strong-willed and eager mind. Jane Austen lived in a historical time of social and political changes all over the world but she focused on the middle-class, narrow-minded life in England in which womens social status was established by marrying a prosperous man who would be able to provide them and their family with good security for life, very similar to Mrs. Bennets desires. However a majority of central female characters in Austens works are strong-natured and they promote womens freedom on marriage. Elizabeth is a highly unconventional woman of her time. Her mannerisms and thoughts seem to be different to other characters in the novel. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters in the Bennet family. However, unlike her mother and her siblings whose childishness and narrow-mindedness always showed themselves poorly in public, Elizabeth is quite smart and has a fast tongue. This is the reason for her being the most favourite daughter of her father and the least one of her mother. Mr. Bennet, an intelligent man with a cynical sense of humour, has made an unwise marriage with a simple minded and ill-mannered woman, Mrs. Bennet, and when he realizes this, he has a tendency to hide in his study rather than take part in the social and family activities with his wife. Being her fathers confidante almost portrays Elizabeth as the son of the family. Throughout the novel, it is recognizable that Mr. Bennet always gives Elizabeth a unique interest as he sees in her in a different way from her sisters and other girls. While Mrs. Bennet has little value for Elizabeths intelligence and wit: Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia, Mr. Bennet has a high regard for these qualities: They have none of them much to recommend them, they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters. (Chapter 1) Mr. B. believes that his Elizabeth is more sensible and shrewd than her sisters so he frequently offers her advice, supports her and trusts her in all that she does. For example when Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collinss proposal due to the fact that she does not want to marry such a pompous man, Mrs Bennet is outraged however Mr. Bennet is not livid about her decision at all and instead he supports her. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do. (Chapter 20). This shows that Mr Bennet is humouring his wife and is joking with Elizabeth. Refusing this marriage with Mr. Collins, which would highly benefit the Bennet family, seems unusual in Elizabeths time. Any other women would be delighted to marry a man of Mr. Collins standard. In addition to the quickness of her mind, Elizabeth also shares good humour with her father. She likes taking ironic enjoyment at others silliness and hypocrisies and is quick to mock them exclusive of her mother and her younger sisters though she is sometimes humiliated by their ludicrous behaviour. In the novel, she is portrayed as having a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. (Chapter 3). Elizabeth does not care to join her family in the balls and finds her familys behaviour unusual. In fact she finds humour in the way her family conducts themselves. She is completely in contrast to Lydia one of her younger sisters. This is uncommon in females in that society, partaking in balls and getting excited about them was one of the many things women were expected to do. Again this shows Elizabeths uniqueness. At the first encounter between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy at the Meryton ball, Darcy callously turns down the offer to dance with Elizabeth and insults her by saying she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me (Chapter3). Such a remark on a girl, particularly in a dance party is very impolite and offensive and it makes Elizabeth slightly annoyed. However, rather than being humiliated and hiding her embarrassment, she retells this incident to her friends in a teasing and sardonic way. I think that her reaction is wise and rare as not often can a woman behave as calmly as her in a situation like this. She laughs at what Mr. Darcy says about her appearance and changes the fact of being insulted from her to Mr. Darcy. Furthermore, in her discussions with Miss. Bingley and Mr. Darcy at Netherfield Park, Elizabeth herself admits that I dearly love a laugh but I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. (Chapter11). Being a person who has an exceptional mind, Elizabeth knows what she should or shouldnt make a joke about and she states this point of view clearly and frankly. In other words, only follies and vanities of others can delight her and she is good at creating laughter from these enough to make her conversation become attracting and amusing. Everybody is drawn towards her because of her quick mind and excellent sense of humour. Finding humour in things that would seem rude at the time seems eccentric of women of that time. Elizabeth should be insulted and angry at Mr. Darcy, yet she seems to laugh at how ridiculous his thoughts. This shows that Elizabeth does not care about her appearance to people in society and she is content with being herself. Elizabeth shows that she is unconventional, when she meets Lady Catherine De Bough. During the conversation, Lady Catherine puts a series of questions to Elizabeth concerning the upbringing of her sisters and expects to receive the normative and easy on the ear answers from her. Yet, Elizabeths responses cannot make the Lady satisfied as she thinks. Why did not you all learn? (Chapter 29 )Elizabeth is open in expressing her own ideas and her replies to the impolite and rude questions of Lady Catherine are quite cold and frank. For example, when being asked about personal information, Elizabeth does not hesitate to hold back the answer regardless of the old womans feelings. In other words, it is a signal of rebellion against the social principals that an inferior such as herself should challenge a very wealthy and important woman like Lady Catherine. Her brave and admirable reaction to this situation impresses me and I respect her for being able to do that. It is irregular for someone of Elizabeths position to talk and conduct herself in the way she did to someone like Lady Catherine who was inferior to her in both age and wealth. She should have respected her and agreed with everything she said. She should have said very little as Mrs Jenkinson and Sir William said. Others such as Mr. Collins, who had been much acquainted with Lady Catherine De Bourgh, behaved in a more appropriate way, as it would have been expected. When playing Cards with Lady Catherine he would agreeing to everything her Ladyship said, thanking her for every fish he won, and apologising if he thought he won too many. Unlike most of the other characters in the novel and the conventional women of her time, Elizabeth is a strong woman who is capable of harmoniously balancing reason and emotion in dealing with every incident. She does and says whatever she believes to be right without paying attention to the external forces. The determination in her character really makes her become the most admired and praiseworthy woman. For example when Jane becomes ill, Elizabeth is determined to go meet her. She is also stubborn about walking there rather than taking horse and carriage. Mrs. Bennet is afraid that Elizabeths visiting to Netherfield would make Jane recover from illness quickly and she would not stay there as long as her mother wants. Moreover, the appearance of a girl as the result of walking three miles through the mud is surely not expected to see and the girls social image may be affected. Nevertheless, Elizabeth pays attention to nothing of it. Her only concern is Jane and her health so she does not have intention of changing her initial decision. Her answers to her parents are full of willpower and resolution. Her look with weary ankles, dirty stockings, and a face glowing with the warmth of exercise when arriving at Netherfield is a great surprise to the people here but she appears unworried about their comments and views on her. Nothing can make her flinch from difficulties. In a society like Elizabeths appearance is everything and by arriving to Netherfield as she did would ruin her familys social image. However Elizabeth paid no attention to this and this shows that she is an unconventional woman of her time. She was more concerned for her sister Jane than her familys reputation. Moreover, Elizabeth is really a woman of action who once decides to do something will do it no matter how hard it is. She is very unwavering, particularly shown by her treatment of Darcy when she believes him to have done wrong. As we know, at their first meeting, Darcy was impolite and insulted words on Elizabeths beauty making her think so badly of him. At the evening at Longbourn, Sir William Lucas intends to introduce Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy as a very desirable partner to dance. However, she immediately refuses this offer and does not change her mind no matter how Sir William tries to persuade her. Even though when Mr. Darcy himself elegantly asks for her hand, she only smiles and turns away. Later on, when she hears about the fake story that Wickham makes up to leave a stain on Mr. Darcys reputation she increasingly believes he is a terrible and cruel man. That is the reason for her indifferent and harsh attitudes to Mr. Darcy whenever they meet (but this changes after Elizabeth knows the truth of the two men). I can say that it actually takes a great strength of character and resolution to confront such a power man as Mr. Darcy who should be treated with respect and courtesy because of his wealth and social status. However, it is a part of Elizabeths personality that attracts Mr. Darcy as well as the readers of Pride and Prejudice. Rejecting to dance with a man of such high standard as Mr. Darcy takes a lot of strength and this strength was uncommon in women of Elizabeths time. Elizabeth should have disregarded what Mr. Darcy had said before and quietly and obediently dance with him, and do as she was told. She should have conducted herself in a respectable manner. The opening line of Pride and Prejudice is It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife implies that the only way for women to ensure themselves a stable life is through marriage. Marriage to some certain extent is like a business transaction. In the novel, Jane Austen uses the character Charlotte Lucas to illustrate this point and contrast with Elizabeths views on love and marriage. Charlotte is also a smart and well-educated woman like Elizabeth so it really makes Elizabeth surprised when hearing her friends decision to wed Mr. Collins. However, in a society where women are expected to marry a well-off man even though they are not in love with him was common. Their main reason was gaining financial security, or else facing homelessness and poverty. Therefore Charlottes actions were understandable. Compared with Elizabeth, Charlotte is older, plainer and more desperate to find a husband so Mr. Collins proposal is the rare opportunity to save her from the unpleasant reality, I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collinss character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state. (Chapter 22). Charlotte is constrained by the fact that all she desires is wealth and stability and it can be achieved just through marrying to Mr. Collins. In her thought, love is not a real concern in marriage. To her closest friends choice, Elizabeth exclaims: Engaged to Mr. Collins! My dear Charlotte impossible! She completely astonished at seeing Charlotte marrying without affection and it is their opposite points of view on this matter that makes them never be close as before. In Elizabeths time marriage was like a business transaction. All that was necessary was for the man to have money. Love had no importance. This meant that Elizabeths views on marriage were highly unusual and were irregular of her time. However Elizabeth also shows conventional features of women of her time. Firstly she marries someone of a higher status, and has more wealth than herself. This was typical of women in her time. In fact Mrs Bennet was happy declaring Ten thousand a year! Oh Lord what will become of me. (Chapter 59). She was delighted in knowing that her daughter has married an accomplished, rich man. Elizabeth Bennet marries Mr. Darcy, providing her family and herself financial security, as a woman of her time desired and aimed for. Her story ends very similar to Jane, a typically conventional woman, showing her regularity. Another conventional aspect of Elizabeth Bennet is that she plays the piano forte She has a very good notion of fingering (Chapter 31). Elizabeth also partakes in dancing in the Meryton balls. So much so that she is said to be an excellent dancer. You excel so much in the dance Miss Eliza (Chapter6). When Mr. Darcy talks of accomplished women he says that an accomplished women is one who add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading (Chapter 8). Elizabeth Bennet also reads regularly showing she is an accomplished and conventional woman. Traditionally a woman of Elizabeths time would be experienced in reading, playing the pianoforte, partaking in local balls, all aspects which Elizabeth Bennet has. In conclusion Elizabeth Bennet is not entirely an unconventional woman. She possesses mainly conventional aspects such as playing the piano. However I believe that it is her mind and thoughts that are unconventional. Elizabeth has been blessed with wit and intelligence. This comes through in her mannerisms and this is what forces her to seem unconventional. Through her thoughts, words and actions, no one can deny the fact that Elizabeth is an intelligent girl who possesses a humorous sense as well as a keen capability of observation. In the novel, she is described as a beauty and has especially expressive eyes, but what everybody notices about her is her spirited wit and quick responses. Elizabeth is not only smart but she also has a strong character. She is very brave to confront with the people who are far more powerful and superior than herself like Lady Catherine and Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth is quite determined and independent in her actions and opinions. She is ready to refuse the marriages that could provide her with a comfortable life and a high standing in the society just because she finds that man does not suit her in terms of intellect and personality. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses Elizabeth Bennet as a literary device to represent her values and attitudes on the importance of marrying for love. The heroine dares to go against the social conventions that women should marry for their economic benefits. She only weds the man she really loves and respects. This makes the young free-spirited woman differ substantially from the other female characters of the novel. Although the novel was written a vast amount of time ago and Jane Austen is no longer with us, the distance of time could not fade away the image of Elizabeth as a complex young woman with sparkling intelligence and a strong personality. Although Elizabeth makes some mistakes, for example she has been driven by her pride and prejudice for a long time leading to the misjudgements between Wickham and Mr. Mr. Darcy, the striking features she possesses still overweigh these weaknesses. She is not perfect but is an idealized woman. That is possibly the message Jane Austen was trying to get across, that there is no perfect woman, but then who is. In modern times, Elizabeth would be the opposite of unconventional. Now women are free to express their opinions and are encourage speaking their minds. In this way I think Jane Austen has predicted the future of women through Elizabeth. I believe Jane Austen has been accurate in her prediction and she has succeeded in producing more Elizabeths throughout the world. I admire Elizabeth Bennet and I believe that she is an ideal women. Particularly when it comes to her strength of mind and her courage.

Effects of Job Rotation Essay Example for Free

Effects of Job Rotation Essay Discuss the various issues of managerial behaviour and related matters raised by this case study Laurie J. Mullins argues that A fist step in the effective management of other people is confidence in your own ability, and awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. Why is it then that managers find it difficult to admit their mistakes, to say sorry or to laugh at themselves? 1 In the building society case study, there are examples of bad managerial behaviour on the part of both Mary Rodgers, the branch manager and Jane Taylor, the senior branch assistant. Jane Taylor was clearly good at her job if, after four years, she was promoted to this new role, yet within a short period of time, she was having trouble with Tony Jackson. Looking back at what Mullins said, Miss Taylor doesnt appear to have confidence in her own ability or indeed awareness in her own strengths and weaknesses. According to Thompson ;amp; McHugh control is not an end in itself, but a means to transform the capacity to work established by the wage relation into profitable production, and Jane is unable to control her sub-ordinate what are the reasons for this? Part of the problem stems from the beginning of the case study and the relationship between Jane and her manager. Mary Rogers does not instil any confidence in Jane when she effectively dumps this new role. Up until now, Jane has been performing specific task functions and has no real knowledge of how to manage people as she has previously been performing the duties of a cashier and looking after mortgage advice accounts more task orientated skills rather than managerial ones. The refresher course she attends includes nothing on this either and Jane immediately falls into what McGregor calls the Theory X assumption of human nature. The central principle of Theory X is direction and control through a centralised system of organisation and exercise of authority2 and Jane automatically tries to coerce and direct Tony Jackson. The inability of Mary Rodgers to provide effective support and development for Jane shows a clear ineptitude on her part. She admits herself that the reason for Janes promotion is that I [Mary] need someone to take some of the weight off my shoulders and she seems to be reluctant to help intervene and solve

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay Recently travel by rail has increased with many lines struggling to cope with the demand. The West Coast mainline which can be seen as one of the most important rail lines in Britain will reach capacity by 2020 according to the Transport Politic and has also seen investments of around  £13 billion already (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). One of the popular modes of travelling long distance within Britain is short haul flights; however air travel is neither efficient in terms of energy nor is it environmentally friendly. As the U.K has pledged to lower carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050 (www.treehugger.com, 2009) Britain needs more sustainable forms of transport. With the need to increase capacity on the rail lines, especially from London to the North, along with the environmental and sustainability factors the question that arises is, would it be more be beneficial to upgrade the existing link between the north and London or to implement a new high speed rail link? An Atkins report commissioned by the Dft alternatives to the high speed rail titled High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) outlines rail upgrades as an alternative. Firstly trains could be lengthened to allow for more passenger, however this does not tackle any reduction on journey times and station platforms may not be able to accommodate longer trains. Secondly an investment on the infrastructure to enhance the capacity of the West Coast Mainline would cost around  £3.6 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would see the operation of an extra four to five trains per hour reducing journey times to Birmingham and Manchester by 12 minutes and 6.5 minutes respectively (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This alternative would not have many adverse effects on the environment as it does not affect the Chiltern Area of Natural Beauty, where the high speed network would, it would however be disruptive to passengers. The third alternative detailed in the report would be to in vest on the Chiltern line along with the previous alternative which would allow three trains per hour to the West Midlands on the Chiltern line at a cost of  £12.5 billion without reduction on journey times and an adverse environmental effect on the Chiltern AONB. Adding onto this would be the fourth alternative with further work on the Chiltern Line between London and the West Midlands to improve journey times at a cost of  £15.1 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This could see a single stop service to the West Midlands in 64 minutes (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would have the same environmental effects on the Chiltern AONB and also be disruptive to passengers. The last alternative would be to include further work on the infrastructure on the Chiltern Line to take it up as far as Stratford as an alternative to the northern stretch on the West Coast Main Line. This would cost approximately  £19.6 billion(www.dft.gov.uk, 2010), but may prove to challenging, and result in a small frequency on services, without any certain demand for these services. This alternative would be the most environmentally damaging not only for just the Chiltern AONB and would cause disruption to passengers. All the alternatives in upgrades to the existing network seem to be costly, have an adverse effect on the environment and disruption to services already in place which outweigh the benefits in terms capacity generated and reduction of journey times. For many of the alternatives there is no impact on the journey times, which would be seen as defeating the objective of upgrading the existing network. A publication by the Institution of Civil Engineers titled unblocking the potential of rail states that Flights currently account for 93% of business trips between Scotland and London. Research shows passengers will only consider changing from air to rail if the journey time is under three hours only possible on land with a high speed rail route. (www.ice.org.uk, 2010). Over the years Britain has seen to fall behind its European neighbours in developing high speed rail networks. France, Germany, Italy and Spain have all developed high speed rail networks. In particular Spain have in place a high speed rail network between Madrid and Barcelona which reaches speeds of 220mph, which allows the journey of 410 miles to be completed in 2 and a half hours (www.treehugger.com, 2010). Spain is a good example as they have a similar route from Madrid to Seville where more than 80% of travellers on that route prefer to travel by train (www.treehugger.com, 2010). The article Spains high speed service challenges the airlines on www.treehugger.com, 2010 also describes the services as In terms of comfort and convenience the operators are not skimping either. Each train features a conference room, upgraded cooling and air conditioning, internet access and a restaurant car and passengers are refunded their entire fare if the train is more than 5 minutes late (www.tr eehugger.com, 2010). However since 2009 the government have set up a new organisation. High speed 2 Ltd (HS2 Ltd) which is outlying proposals and reports on a new north-south high speed rail network. Recently the transport secretary published the report for new high speed rail network which could see work start around 2017 at the earliest (BBC News, 2010) Figures from The Transport Politic show that the project would cost  £34 billion and include 1500 miles of track, accommodating a total of 34 tunnels and 138 bridges. Whilst 8 new stations would be built and the procurement of 73 high speed trains. If put in place the new north-south link would see an annual ridership of 43.7 journeys. (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). Figure 1 in the appendix shows the proposed line and reduction in journey times. The transport secretary Lord Adonis in a speech about the high speed rail stated additional transport capacity would be needed from the 2020s between our major cities, starting with London to the west midlands, Britains two largest conurbations . . .high speed rail could be the most efficient and sustainable way to provide more capacity between these conurbations. (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). Lord Adonis summarised the development as an initial high speed network linking London to Birmingham then onto Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds with high speed trains through to Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which would result in a Y shaped network capable of carrying trains upto 250mph. Figures 2-4 in the appendix show some comparisons of high speed rail compared to classic rail. The benefits of high speed rail as described by Lord Adonis on the Dft website (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) are an increase of rail capacity by a third on the West Coast Mainline, not only because of the track but also due to the length of high speed trains and the adapted stations along with segregation from other rail traffic. The speech also describes the upgrade of existing rail lines yielding less than half the extra capacity for more money and disruption than it would do to implement a high speed network. A new high speed network could see pressure on capacity on the West Coast Mainline released for other services on the network. In terms of saving time on journeys, the time between the London and the west midlands would be between 30 to 50 minutes depending on the station used, whereas places such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield would be bought to within 75 minutes of London and places further north such as Edinburgh and Glasgow to around three and a half hours. High speed trains are stated as a sustainable way forward (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) by Lord Adonis, going on to say that they emit less carbon then other modes such as car or airplane per passenger mile, with the low impact of a new high speed rail network on local areas than that of a new motorway. Weighing up the benefits to the costs, HS2 assessed that the project will yield  £2 for every  £1 spent with the first part of the line up to the West Midlands costing between  £15 and  £17 billion. Along with these benefits, other factors must be taken into consideration. The high speed trains are said to reach 400km/h or 250mph. which would make them the fastest trains in the world, we however need to observe the fact that a train travelling at 360km/h requires 50% more energy than that of a train travelling at 300km/h (www.cpre.org.uk, 2010), going faster could be a cost to the environment. On the topic of environment the high speed network will, similarly to many of the alternatives, cut through the Chiltern AONB where extensive tunnelling will be required as high speed trains need to travel in straight a line as possible. High speed trains will generate a new form of travel, where freed up traffic via existing rail and air travel may be taken up by new demand which could in turn add to carbon emission. For high speed rail to be part of a sustainable future, policys should be produced to keep demand and traffic down on other modes such as increasing air fares and making it more expensive to travel by car. In conclusion high speed rail travel looks more attractive compared to an upgrade of the existing network. Many of the alternative upgrades mentioned have little effect for a big price. The cost of the fifth alternative up grade matches that of the cost of a new high speed line from London to the West Midlands, where you would have significantly reduced journey times and no disruption to existing services. Environmentally both upgrading and building a new high speed line have adverse effects. For the same amount of effect on the environment you could have a new faster rail network, which could be a small price to pay for a network with greater outcomes and a project which would contribute to the economy and create jobs. In terms of carbon emissions and efficiency figure 5 in the appendix shows high speed rail is the most efficient in terms of passenger km carried by unit of energy than other forms. However it should be taken into consideration the past in terms of development of rail lines. Where plans to upgrade existing lines have been postponed by Lord Adonis due to lack of finances and what may be a coincidence of the government introducing these plans just before a major election. On the lines of finance the project cost a substantial amount, especially with the current debt of the country. This cost may be passed on as increased rail fares, fares which currently some of the population regard as expensive. The new and improved service may not be attractive to some unless it is heavily subsidised. Overall a new high speed rail link from London to the North would be beneficial, looking at our European neighbours we can see that high speed rail can be a success and the plans tick all the boxes in terms of journey time reduction and being able to compete with other modes such as short haul air travel and helping in the reduction on carbon emmissions. High speed rail can be an improvement if it does not drag funds and infrastructure investment away from other areas and is affordable to use.

Evil Dead Vs. Evil Dead :: essays research papers

“Evil Dead'; in respect to “Evil Dead 2'; Main Character Personality Differences From the Original to the Remake “Evil Dead'; and “Evil Dead 2'; are both late 80’s horror movies starring Bruce Campbell as Ash, a quiet guy in his early 20’s that ends up hacking to death his demon posessed friends to avoid death. In the original “Evil Dead';, Ash tends to run from any of the daemons and scary things that come his way, until there is no one left and he is forced to protect himself. In “Evil Dead2';, Ash Starts out as a quiet guy, but when evil things start happening, he swings quickly into action. From slicing up his girlfriends possessed head to chopping off his own possessed hand, he never seems timid around danger. To accurately compare these two films, it needs to be known that “Evil Dead'; and “Evil Dead2'; are the same movie. “Evil Dead2'; is not a sequel to “Evil Dead'; but rather a remake of the original. The original let the impression of Ash being killed at the very end of the film. The remake, “Evil Dead2';, allowed the making of the sequel, “army of darkness';. In “Evil Dead';, Ash, his girlfriend, and 3 other friends rent a run-down cabin in the middle of a deserted forest for a couple nights as a vacation. Ash seems to be the easy-going push over type. He does what everyone says without question. Shortly after a tree sexually attacks one of the girls in the group she becomes possessed and attempts to kill ash’s girlfriend. While this is happening ash is standing 4 feet away with an ax, yet he is too scared to do anything. The other man in their group has to take action and lock her in the basement. According to the remake, this is unusual behavior for Ash. In “Evil Dead2';, Ash’s Girlfriend is the first individual possessed and he barely thinks twice before taking her head off with an ax and then cutting the head in half with a chain-saw. In “Evil Dead';, one of the characters tells Ash that “there’s something out there'; but ash refuses to believe. On the contrary, in “Evil Dead2';, ash tries to convince some visitors to the cabin that people are possessed and they end up locking him in the basement. In the second version of the story, Ash is made out to be a hero.

Analysis of The Tulse Luper Suitcases Trilogy Essay -- Peter Greenaway

History and time are considered to be cultural formations since a History cannot be detached from the culture in which it is produced and received. It is through culture that a historical sense is achieved and in fact, each culture experiences History in a different way leading us to the current perception of History as not being one, but many histories depending on the cultural groups involved. Historians have fought throughout the centuries on whether such thing as â€Å"objective History† can exist but in the end, even materialist historians will admit that the reality of History is so complicated and contradictory that no single version could possibly represent the truth; consequently different interpretations are inevitable. This is where Peter Greenaway comes in with his trilogy The Tulse Luper Suitcases in which the eponymous suitcases (of which there are 92) contain the collected memories of Tulse Luper, a manic collector of forgotten records and other evidence of the twentieth century. Devised as a trilogy, Peter Greenaway’s multimedia project concentrates on a period between 1928, the year in which the element uranium was discovered in Colorado, and 1989, the year when the Berlin wall came down and the Cold War came to an end. The two central events of the past one hundred years – the confrontation between East and West and the threat of atomic warfare – have left their mark on writer and realizer of projects Tulse Luper, who spends most of his time detained in some form of prison or another. Luper’s role is hard to define: his many encounters, the injuries he has sustained and fragments of sentences that surface from his memory, all combine to produce a complex weave or structure that includes both various periods in time a... ...aware of in his film, through the opposition between the reality of History on the one hand and the fiction of the Luper project on the other, the truth and stability of what really happened and the playful construction presented by Greenaway, the unincarnated omniscience of reality and the awkward contextualization provided by the Luper point-of-view. According to Greenaway, History does not exist in an absolute, unmediated form, but will always be filtered through the perceptions, interpretations and values of subjects as experiencers, filing instances, historians and readers. The event "as it was" thus can never be recovered in an absolute form and that is why â€Å"there is no such thing as History, [but] only historians† whose collective work only, can serve as a somewhat effective record of History.

Denim Finishing Company Case Essay

1. Mrs. Kelsey Bowser using the ABC method decided to use the number of garments as the cost driver of the change-over costs. Nevertheless, I argue that this was not the best possible choice. I will try to defend my point using the following example. Let’s assume that Guess Who Jeans demands 600, not 500 garments per shipment. Although the number of garments changes, the total change-over costs would stay the same, because no additional retooling of the machine would be necessary. The whole change-over process takes 3 hours regarding if the number of garments is 200, 500 or 800. Furthermore, let’s strictly theoretically assume that the company is able to achieve some extra capacity and one batch is now composed of 150 garments instead of 100 garments. Still, although the total number of garments would vastly increase, the change-over costs would be altered only partially. The opportunity cost measured as a lost contribution margin would slightly increase, but the out-of-po cket costs would stay the same, as the wages of the employees and supplies costs will not change. Thus, it is clear that the number of garments is not the proper cost driver for the change-over costs. In my opinion the number of shipments would be a much better cost driver for the change-over costs. Regarding the number of garments or the number of batches Guess Who Jeans demands every shipment requires the change-over costs to be incurred twice. For instance, if 99 shipments were made, the total change-over costs would equal $351 * 198 = $69,498, because two change-overs ($702) would not have to be undertaken. Thus, the number of shipments clearly drives the analyzed costs. Unlikely the previous example with the number of garments per batch increasing to 150, the number of shipments fully ‘drives’ the change-over costs. Every time the number of shipments rises or falls, the change-over costs change by the full amount of the two per-changeover costs which properly reflect the real situation. Using such a cost driver may be problematic when the allocation of the chang e-over costs is analyzed. Nevertheless, I argue that those cost should be solely allocated to the propriety denim finishing. The demand for the stonewashing services exceeds the company’s capacity. Thus, if the Guess Who Jeans’ offer was declined, the company would use the whole capacity for stonewashing. However, if the offer was accepted the stonewashing processes would be somehow ‘interrupted’ by the propriety denim finishing. Each ‘interruption’, and therefore each shipment would require incurring the change-over costs twice. No factor connected with stonewashing ‘drives’ those costs. Regarding the number of batches or garments used in the stonewashing process each shipment necessitates the cost of $702. Therefore, I believe this cost should be associated with every shipment done by Guess Who Jeans. In Appendix A I present the product profitability analysis using the number of shipment as the cost driver. Moreover, Mrs. Kelsey Bowser claims that the change-over costs should be treated as product-sustaining costs. Nevertheless, I believe her opinion is wrong. I believe these costs should be on the batch level in the cost hierarchy. Hence, I believe the initial analysis undertaken by Mrs. Bowser was correct, although the cost driver she selected was improper. Product-sustaining level costs could be defined as ‘activities that are needed to support an entire product line but are not performed every time a new unit or batch of products is produced’ [Hilton 2010]. Although the first part of the definition applies to the change-over costs, it is clearly not the case when the second part of the definition is concerned. The change-over costs have to be incurred every time the shipments is delivered and the propriety denim finishing has to be done. Therefore, I believe these costs should be rather placed as the batch-level costs in the cost hierarchy. Batch-level costs are believed to ‘arise from activities performed once for each batch or lot of products’ [Zimmerman 2011]. Since the change-over costs need to be incurred every shipment, placing them at this level in the hierarchy seems reasonable. 2. It is clear that before accepting the proposal several nonfinancial issues have to be considered in order to make a reasonable decision. First, the management should think how accepting the Gues Who offer would affect the relations with the other clients. Since Guess Who requires the Denim Finishing Company not to offer the particular type of finish to other customers, it is very likely that relations with other firms will worsen. The Denim Finishing Company has been cooperating with many companies for a long time. Therefore, those companies may dislike the fact that the new client receives the special treatment, while such benefits could not be observed in their case, even though they have been the customers for ages. Consequently, the Denim Finishing Company’s reputation may shrink and furthermore the firm may lose some of its customers that it had long term relations established with. Accepting the Guess Who offer, as mentioned before, would require the Denim Finishing Company to offer the certain time of finish exclusively to Guess Who. Hence, the firm would be prohibited from providing other companies with this service. Before making the decision it should be analyzed if that could lead to potential losses in the future. For instance, although cooperating with Guess Who may be beneficial, the potential gains from offering that type of finish to other clients could be higher. If so, the Denim Finishing Company should rather provide the service to other firms. Naturally, before making such a decision it has to be determined if other firms would require the Denim Finishing Company to offer the service exclusively to them, like it is the case for Guess Who. Offering exclusive service to one company may result in other companies’ (not only potential clients as mentioned in the previous paragraph, but also current ones) demands for exclusive treatment. If other clients, especially those who have been cooperating with the Denim Finishing Company for a long time, realize that it is possible to receive such a special treatment, they would likely claim for it too, as it could give them a competitive advantage over other firms in their industry. Thus, the Denim Finishing Company would undoubtedly face a big problem. It theoretically could increase the prices for the firms that demand exclusive service, but it could lead to losing those clients. Accepting or declining the Guess Who offer may also result in potential conflicts within the firm that have to be considered. For instance, Bruce Farrand who is against the offer may be so determined in defending his point of view that if the offer is accepted, he will decide to terminate his employment. However, he might be so valuable for the company that the gains from the cooperation with Guess Who would not compensate for the value added by Mr. Farrand. Moreover, some other conflicts could arise in the company after deciding either. Before making the decision it would also be recommended to analyze the potential influence the service offered to Guess Who could have on the machine. Since providing the finish would require constant and often retooling of the machine, it could negatively affect the lifetime of the machine. What is more, it is possible that the quality of services done by the machine would shrink because of those often changes. Hence, the satisfaction among clients could diminish and the high cost of purchasing new machine would have to be incurred soon. It also cannot be forgotten that the current demand exceeds the firm’s capacity and some of its clients already use services provided by other companies. Thus, if the Denim Finishing Company’s has even less time for stonewashing, these clients can shift to competitors. Finally, it should be estimated what potential nonfinancial benefits could cooperating with Guess Who bring to the Denim Finishing Company. Guess Who is considered to be a company that offers innovative and premium products. Thus, being an important business partner of such a firm could have a positive impact on the Denim Finishing Company’s reputation. Consequently, it could attract new clients and encourage more companies to cooperate with the Denim Finishing Company. Moreover, successful cooperation with Guess Who Jeans could lead to extending the business relations with that company. For instance, it could outsource more of its production to the Denim Finishing Company. 3. If I were Tom Corcoran, I would undoubtedly have a few questions for the controller. First, I would ask about all the problems mentioned in the two previous questions. As mentioned before, I believe that Mrs. Bowser did not place the change-over costs at the right level in the cost hierarchy. Hence, I would like to get to know why she decided to treat them as product-sustaining costs, while there are a lot of arguments supporting the idea to treat them as batch-level costs. Furthermore, the cost driver chosen by Mrs. Bowser is highly doubtful. I would require the explanation how and to what extent in her opinion the number of garments ‘drives’ the change-over costs. Since I believe the number of garments is not the right cost driver, I would ask Mrs. Bowser for some other type of profitability analysis, such as the analysis presented in Appendix A. The analysis presented at the meeting by the controller could be misleading. Both Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 4 present data that is in my opinion inaccurate. Moreover, as it was analyzed in the second question accepting or declining the offer could lead to multiple nonfinancial outcomes that may play a significant role on the company’s profitability. Hence, I would ask if such factors have been analyzed and if so, what possible impact they may have. I also believe that Tom Corcoran would be most interested in the total profit his company would have under both scenarios. Analyses presented at the meeting, as valuable as they might be, do not contain such information. For instance, they do not include the facility-sustaining costs that the Denim Finishing Company has to incur. Hence, it would be recommended to present Tom Corcoran with the yearly profit the firm may earn. Moreover, I would ask Mrs. Bowser about the accuracy of her assumptions in Exhibit 4. She estimates that the costs of the proprietary process, as well as the price paid by Guess Who Jeans will not change during the year. However, it may not necessarily be the case. The analysis relies on historical costs that may not be appropriate for the future estimations. Thus, I would like to know if Mrs. Bowser took that aspect into account. Another question would regard the overhead rates of the batch- and unit-level costs. The rates were estimated when only stonewashing was done. However, accepting the offer from Guess Who Jeans would require retaining from using the machine for 600 hours. This could likely result in different overhead costs and consequently different overhead rates. The batch-level utility cost can be particularly problematic. It is ‘driven’ by the machine hours and as previously mentioned the machine is not used for 3 hours before and 3 hours after the shipment. Furthermore, the case makes it unclear whether drying is also performed by the Unit #4. The per-garment utilities cost includes 3 hours for washing and 3 hours for drying. However, when the change-over is undertaken, the washing is not performed, because the machine cannot be used. Therefore, during the change-over the utilities cost is possibly lower. This is especially important for the opportunity cost analysis. Since the case is lacking information explaining the problem, if I were Tom Corcoran I would like to clarify it. Finally, I strongly believe that it would also be necessary to ask Mrs. Bowser about the facility-sustaining costs. Such costs are ignored in the controller’s analysis. Nevertheless, they still affect the company’s profitability. Hence, I would like to get to know how big those costs are. Moreover, the facility-sustaining costs could also be somehow influenced by the possible cooperation with Guess Who Jeans. For instance, the security or insurance costs could rise, since the service is supposed to be offered exclusively to that particular client. Therefore, the analysis of the capacity-sustaining costs would also be useful. To sum up, if I were Tom Corcoran I would have many doubts about the controller’s analysis. I would probably ask her to prepare yet another presentation that includes my suggestions. However, if I were to make the decision, I probably would accept the Guess Who Jeans’ offer. The analysis in the Appendix A, although it does not include nonfinancial factors and may not properly reflect all the costs, clearly shows that such a scenario leads to increased profits. 4. Activity-based costing is undoubtedly a useful tool that could help the management to make the optimal decision. It is much more accurate that the traditional costing systems. Distinguishing various activities and determining cost drivers relating to them helps to more precisely allocate the costs. Using one cost driver for all the amount of the overhead could create the situation where the indirect costs are not really ‘driven’ by the particular cost. For instance, although direct labor hours might to some extent determine the value of the overhead, the influence may only be partial, especially regarding certain products. Using various cost drivers for various activities largely eliminates this problem. What is more, selecting particular cost drivers for respective activities enables ‘taxing’ certain activities. This internal tax system gives an incentive to reduce certain costs and therefore improve the company’s efficiency. For instance, if machine labor hours are chosen as a driver for the production activity there is an impulse to lower the number of machine labor hours which consequently results in decreased value of overhead, lower costs and higher profits. Under Activity-Based Costing the share of costs allocated directly to the products increases. Thus, the company better understand where its overhead costs go to. It enables the firm to identify the products that are not profitable and undertake relevant actions, such as decreasing costs, raising the price or withdrawing the product. However, the cost hierarchy helps to make such decision regarding not only particular products, but also batches and product lines. This undoubtedly allows making decisions that are more profit-maximizing. Moreover, in the ABC the practical capacity is used. Therefore, it is possible to determine the unused capacity. Diminishing the unused capacity is definitely helpful in maximizing the profits of the company. Hence, Activity-Based Costing provides the management with the information necessary to make optimal decisions. To compare, the traditional costing systems do not give such a possibility. However, the ABC method also has some flaws that may result in making a non-optimal production decision. Some of those disadvantages could be observed in the previous questions. First, the system is believed to be complicated. As noticeable in the first question choosing the proper cost driver for the particular activity might be problematic. Selecting the wrong driver could lead to biased results and consequently the decision that is not profit-maximizing. Furthermore, trying to maintain the cost hierarchy may also be difficult, as shown in the example of Mrs. Bowser from the Denim Finish Company. The results when the costs were determined as the batch-level where completely different than when they were analyzed to be product-level. Thus, such easily made mistakes could result in a non-optimal decision. Furthermore, as it could be seen in the second question Activity-Based Costing does not include any nonfinancial measures. Thus, even though pure financial values may show that a particular decision is profit-maximizing, it might not necessarily be the case. Other factors, such as e.g. loss of reputation could actually result in decreased profits. Finally, the ABC method requires gathering data from the whole company, often through interviews. Hence, there is a relatively big possibility that collected data is not perfectly accurate. To sum up, the Activity-Based Costing method is quite reliable tool in making optimal production decisions, especially compared to the traditional costing systems. However, the system has to be carefully planned and implemented, because any mistakes could lead to inaccurate results. Choosing the wrong cost driver and improper assignment of the costs in the cost hierarchy may result in undesired errors. Furthermore, as useful as the ABC is, the management cannot rely solely on financial values provided by the method. Before making the decision all nonfinancial factors have to be considered. Only such a consideration combined with the information supplied by the properly designed and applied Activity-Based Costing system can lead to the optimal production decision.

Crooks Of Mice and Men Essay

George Milton -â€Å"I been mean, ain’t I?†   George is a good friend to Lennie. He protects him and does what is necessary to keep him out of trouble. -â€Å"If I was alone I could live so easy†   Lennie is a burden to George -â€Å"I want you to stay with me, Lennie† –George   conveys Georges loneliness Lennie Small -â€Å"paws†   animalistic quality; bear -â€Å"all you can ever remember is them rabbits† –George. Lennie represents idealism and optimism in the American dream. â€Å"rabbits† symbol of freedom and peace of mind. -â€Å"he’s jus’ like a kid† –Slim   describes him perfectly -â€Å"why do you got to get killed?† –Lennie no understanding of actions or consequences. â€Å"its mean here† –Lennie too innocent to cope with harsh environment -hallucination of Aunt Clare: main moral figure in his life. Tells him between right and wrong and about consequence. Crooks/Racism -â€Å"crooks†   nickname due to injury. Name given to him by other ranchers dominance, possession (slavery) -â€Å"California Civil Code for 1905† had aspirations once of being successful. Educated individual. ( had â€Å"books†) 1905 tho! 25 years out of dates   shows futility of his situation. -â€Å"crooks was a proud, aloof man† Steinbeck does not aim to victimize/generalize Crooks. He’s 3 dimensional; knows his worth. BUT has no power to change his fate. -location of Crooks in ranch (barn) symbolizes his distance the other men. Explicitly: segregation, metaphorically: emotional distance/loneliness -â€Å"they’ll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog†-Crooks. When Crooks finally finds someone weaker than him, he feels he must destroy them. Relates to his own oppression. Suffering leads to cruelty. -â€Å"difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger† shows his desperation for contact. He has become hardened by h is pain but lets his guard down at times. -â€Å"drew into himself†   crooks forces to accept his oppression. Powerless in his fate. Curley’s Wife/Women -â€Å"that glove’s fulla Vaseline† –Candy ( Curley’s mark of dominance over his wife; she’s an object to him, a trophy. AND clear warning to other men) -â€Å"Curley’s wife† no name. dehumanization. -â€Å"fingernails were red†   symbol of danger, sexuality, blood, passion. Stoplight! She will be cause of danger later in novel. -â€Å"rolled clusters, like sausages† –> childlike, naà ¯ve little girl. Contrasts with red. -â€Å"heavily made up†   suggest she’s hiding the true here. Underneath surface there is hidden personality: loneliness, desperate, need, kindness. Puts on front of sexuality and flirtatiousness. ALSO conveys men on the ranch only care about sex from women. -â€Å"what a tramp† –George ïÆ'   hypocritical view towards women. Has sex with prostitutes but calls her a tart da fuq +!! Objectification. Ironic cuz what she really wants is human contact not sex. The men don’t even consider that she could have more complexity other than wanted a man physically. -ranch is a patriarchal environment. -â€Å"I get lonely† –Curley’s wife (mask taken off, complexity revealed) Candy -Him and his disability aid in themes of minority, oppression, and loneliness. -â€Å"the swamper warmed to his gossip† ïÆ'   he needs a distraction from his own, unsatisfying life. Friendship â€Å"stayed behind the other†   symbolizes how they always protect each other â€Å"we got somebody to talk to† importance of friendship, especially at times of hardship. Human contact takes away loneliness Loneliness/Isolation â€Å"a guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody† –Crooks â€Å"suppose you ain’t got nobody† –Crooks –> almost ironic; Crooks doesn’t realize that everyone is alone in this environment. His pain consumes and blinds him, he isn’t the only one who’s feeling it. The American Dream -â€Å"you give me a good whore house every time† –> although they want to achieve their dream, they waste their money on prostitutes and booze. Cycle of pain and desperation, a temporary void of loneliness and boredom that has to be filled. -â€Å"every damn on of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head† –Crooks –> Crook’s knows reality of American Dream. Faced this for long long time due to racism. -â€Å"they left all the weak ones here† –Curley’s wife   themes of novella come full circle. Oppression of minorities.

Slavery in Brazil

Edmund Burke, the acclaimed author and philosopher once said, â€Å"Slavery is a weed that grows on every soil. † Between the 16th and 19th century in the Americas, millions on millions of slaves were brought to the New World. There purpose was to work. The economy of most European colonies in America was dependent on slaves. The land that was discovered in Americas was useless with out sufficient slave labor to exploit it. In this essay, I will focus on two nations where slavery played an enormous role in the development of that country. First, The United States, where in 1860 in South Carolina over 50 percent of the population were slaves.Next, Brazil, the nation where about one third of all salves from Africa were brought. In this essay I will compare slavery in The United States to slavery in Brazil, I will dissect the similarities and differences while focusing on why and how the slaves came, the demographic and religious aspects, the treatment of the slaves, and the afte rmath on both countries due to slavery. Around the year 1530 the Portuguese came to Brazil in search of land and natural resources, specifically sugar. As the Portuguese and the indigenous people of Brazil battled for land, the Brazilians resisted against being enslaved.As the Portuguese presence grew in Brazil so did disease, causing the death of most of the working indigenous people. As the number of sugar plantations grew, the demand for workers did as well. This is the main reason why Brazil began to import slaves from Africa. Although the origin of slaves in The United States was similar to Brazil, there were some differences. In the year 1619, only around 10 years after the British began to colonize US, a Dutch slave trader exchanged about 20 Africans for food in Jamestown, Virginia. Like Brazil, the U. S needed workers for plantations, but while Brazil focused on the sugar plantations, the U.S was focused on the tobacco plantations. In general, both Brazil and the U. S lacked a major resource in order to maintain a strong economy, that resource being workers. Although Brazil used more slaves towards sugar and the U. S used more towards tobacco, in general the slaves worked in mines or they worked in a sugar, rice, tobacco, or cotton plantation. Although the U. S played a larger role in the process, both Brazil and the U. S participated in the Triangular Slave Trade. Some say the Triangular Slave Trade is the reason why 10 to 15 million of Africans were shipped to the Americas between 1650 and 1860.The slave trade was simple yet wrong on so many levels. The slave trade took several different routes, but there were two popular ones. The most common route would first start in Europe where the Europeans would trade manufactured goods for slaves in Africa. Next, the slaves were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil and the Caribbean where the slaves were sold for huge profits or traded for sugar, coffee, and tobacco. The journey from Africa to the Americas was known as the middle passage. Olaudah Equiano was a slave captured and sold into slavery.In his book, The Life of Olaudah Equiano the African, when describing the middle passage he writes, â€Å"I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a greeting in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, The white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty.The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, almost suffocated us. The air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died. The shrieks of the women, and the gr oans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. As you can tell, the conditions were brutal to say the least. Another popular triangular route taken was ships from the U. S colonies would take rum and other products to Africa in exchange for Slaves.From there, the slaves were taken to Brazil and the Caribbean and sold for profit or sold for sugar and molasses to take back to the U. S where then the sugar and molasses was sold to rum makers. In general, the slave trade was horrific and inhumane, however, it is the reason that the U. S and Brazil were able to maintain a steady economy. Although there were many similarities between the Brazilian slaves and the U. S slaves, there were quite a few specific differences as well. One of the largest differences in slavery between Brazil and the U. S was demographic.Generally speaking, the Brazilian slaves were usually decreasing while the U. S slaves were usually increasing. This is due to several reasons. First , the Brazilians had a much lower proportion of female slaves compared to the U. S who had an equal sex ratio. In Brazil, due to the lack of female slaves, they had a much lower birth rate then the U. S did. Both the death rate and suicide rate was also higher in Brazil compared to the U. S. Due to the low birthrate and the high death rate, Brazil had trouble to maintain a population resulting in having to continuously import slaves.On the other hand, the average number of children born to an early 19th century U. S slave woman was 9. 2; this is twice as many as Brazil and the Caribbean. All these reasons are why Brazil had a much larger number of recent arrivals from Africa while the U. S had a predominately American slave born population. Also, this is why out of the millions and millions of Africans who were brought to the New World, over one-third landed in Brazil and between 60 and 70 percent ended up in Brazil or the sugar colonies of the Caribbean.According to Henry John Temp le, the well-known British Prime Minister of the 19th century, he suggests that there were about 3,000,000 slaves in Brazil in the 19th century. Although it is hard to know the exact number, most historians agree that it was around 3,000,000, which would be about forty percent of the whole population. On the other side, in 1860, the slaves in the U. S were only about 13 percent of the entire population. Generally speaking, in Brazil slaves worked on much larger plantations then in the U. S.Most Brazilian plantations held about 150 slaves per plantation. In the U. S, it was quite different. According to Carl Deglar, who wrote, Slavery in Brazil and the United States, he states, â€Å"Out of all the plantations in the U. S, more the half the slaves worked on units with 20 slaves or less. † In the U. S it would not be uncommon for the slaves to deal with their owners on a daily basis, while in Brazil some worked on plantations with hundreds and hundreds of other slaves where it would be rare to encounter your owner. When comparing Brazil and the U.S today, the demographic differences during the days of slavery is one of the main reasons why the two countries are so different One may think that since the slaves were brought to the U. S and Brazil for similar reasons then they all were treated the same, had the same rights, and were viewed the same. Although this is by no means entirely false, there are a few specific differences on how the slaves were treated in the US compared to how the slaves were treated in Brazil. Religion among the slaves was vital for some while non-existent for others. In the U.S, religion was discouraged for the slaves. The average white American slave owner thought there was no need to ever have a slave practice a religion. This could be due to the fact that nowhere in the Catholic Christian teachings does it say it’s acceptable to enslave and treat a fellow Christian as the owners were treating their slaves. In 1831, Virgi nia passed a law stating, â€Å"Slaves and free Negroes were forbidden to preach, exhort or teach in any prayer-meeting or other association for worship where slaves of different families are collected together on penalty of not more than thirty-nine lashes. In Brazil, the Christianity of a slave was viewed quite different. Some slave owners even viewed it as an essential for a slave to work on his farm. In some cases the slaves would even have to perform a religious ritual even before they stepped foot in Brazil. Instead of being viewed as complete property, the slaves in Brazil were given a chance to practice a religion, in particular, practice the teachings of the Catholic Church. The slaves that departed from Angola, Africa to Brazil were baptized before they got on board the ship.When they arrived in Brazil, the slaves were acknowledged as baptized and had to begin learning the prayers, doctrines, and functions of the Church. In Brazil, marriage was actually acceptable and val id. In 1711, the Constituicoes Primeiras of the Archbishopric of Bahia reaffirmed the legitimacy of marriages between slaves, and between free persons and slaves. According to the Constituicoes, masters could not prevent their slaves from marrying, nor could they separate them once they had wed. Although this may sound promising, it sounds better then it actually was.Most slave owners did not abide by the law that you could not separate a married slave. In general, they still viewed them more as property then people. According to Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the former president of Brazil, he states, â€Å"Of the 660,000 slaves in all of Brazil in 1875, who were 14 years or older, only about 1 out of 6 was recorded as married or widowed. † In terms of religion, it is true that the Brazilian slaves had more rights then the U. S slaves, but not by much. As you can see both the U.S and Brazilian slave owners were more determined on making profit by making the slaves strenuously wo rk then anything else. Although both Brazil and U. S slave owners had complete ownership and control over their slave, the way they treated them did differ between countries. Theoretically, both Brazil and the U. S had laws against murder, abuse, and over working the slave. The difference is, generally speaking, in Brazil some of those laws were carried out while in the U. S, it was rare to see anyone ever defend a slave. In the U. S, the slave owner acted as the judge and jury for any issue involving his slave.In Brazil, a slave had somewhat of a right to a jury. For instance, say a slave owner murdered his slave in the U. S. In most cases it would go unheard of, but even if it were taken to court, it would have been extremely rare if the owner were prosecuted for anything. Now, if a slave owner murdered his slave in Brazil, by law the court should have prosecuted the case as if the slave was a free man. Although it may sound that slavery in Brazil was a lot less harsh, in reality, this judicial approach in Brazil is what should have happened, but as you can guess, it rarely ever did.Henry Koster, a famous German author and film director, in his novel, Travels to Brazil, he states, â€Å"occasionally a cruel master was fined for maltreating his slaves but, I have never heard of a punishment having been carried farther then this trifling manner of correction. † Although by law, the Brazilians compared to the U. S had stricter laws protecting the slaves, when it comes down to the truth, in both countries the slave was viewed more as property then human, mistreating your slave was seen as mistreating your property. One of the biggest differences when comparing U.S slavery to Brazilian slavery concerns manumission. Manumission, meaning the act of freeing a slave, was undoubtedly less common in the U. S compared to Brazil. The number proportion of free slaves in Brazil compared to the number proportion to free slaves in the U. S proves that manumission was more frequent in Brazil. In 1818, for every one free African in Brazil, there were only three slaves. This ratio is compared to with that in the U. S in 1860, when for every one free African, there were eight slaves. By 1872, the number of free Africans in Brazil was more then double the amount that were still slaves.The numbers show that there’s indisputable evidence to prove that manumission was more frequent in Brazil. It is important to note that Brazilian slave owners were freeing the sick and the old more so then the U. S, however, the sick and the old simply would not have been capable to produce offspring in numbers to explain the large number of free Africans in Brazil. Marvin Harris, the famous American anthropologist, along with many other historians suggests another explanation to why there were such a higher percentage of free Africans in Brazil compared to The United States.As stated before, in Brazil in the late 19th century, the free Africans greatly outnumber ed the slaves. The big difference was that Brazil needed those free Africans in order to maintain their economy. The free black slaves in Brazil produced food, were craftsmen, and even slave catchers. They performed the tasks that slave labor was too hard to achieve and the whites thought they were too good to do. This was not the occurrence in The United States. First, the U. S was importing more food rather then growing it like Brazil did, and the food that was being produced in the U.S was produced by whites in the South and Northwest. Also, the U. S had enough white men to perform the tasks that the free Africans in Brazil were doing. Therefore, for the U. S there was no economic reason for the whites to turn towards manumission as Brazil did. It did not matter if you were a slave in Brazil, The United States, Caribbean, Central America, or anywhere else, something that they all had in common was the attempt to run and become a free man. Some succeeding, some did not. In Brazil, escaped slaves formed communities like the ones they were forced to leave in their homeland.These communities were called quilombos. Compared to the U. S, the slaves in Brazil had a greater and a better chance for escape. The number of escaped slaves, the number of revolts, and the size of the quilombos were all greater in Brazil. Although there were plenty of revolts and escapes in the US, generally speaking, there were fewer participants then Brazil. In most of The United States, the climate was to cold in the winter to survive on your own compared to Brazil where the climate was reasonable. Also, Brazil was full of forests to hide in compared to the U. S where the areas were policed heavier.The large quilomobs communities in Brazil may contribute to the fact that today, in Brazil the blacks are seen as Brazilians while in certain parts of The United States, the blacks are still seen as Africans. During the days of slavery, discrimination towards blacks was clearly brutal and rut hless. The horrific and saddest result of slavery in The United States is that race prejudice still exists today. I am not saying that blacks are thought of as they were in the 18th century, but in The United States today, especially in the South, there is still discrimination towards colored people.After slavery was abolished in The United States, by no mean did that make the whites and blacks have equal rights. Even after the abolition of slavery, a black man still could not vote, give testimony in court for a white man, marry white women, hold office, and many other terrible things. Brazil, on the other hand, as writer Herbert Alexander puts it, â€Å"the race problem had been allowed to solve itself. † For example, in the seventeenth century, one of the three main officers when the Brazilians fought the Dutch was Henrique Diaz, a black man.This is something you would have never saw in The United States. The United States and Brazil were one of the last nations to abolish slavery in all of the Americas. The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, ended slavery in the United States. In 1888, due to international political pressure, Brazil being the last nation to do it in the Americas, finally abolished slavery. Unlike The United States, Brazil was able to abolish slavery with out catastrophic violence. In both Brazil and The United States, the horrific terror of slavery in the 16th to 19th century is something everyone would want to forget.However, during that time period slavery was the reason why both The United States and Brazil’s economies were both stable and on the rise. Overall, when looking into the history of slavery in both The United States and Brazil, although there are differences and similarities, the time period of slavery explains greatly to why present day life in both unique countries is what it is. Bibliography Alexander, Herbert B. â€Å"Brazilian and United States Slavery Compared. † – Wikisource, the Free Online Library. N. p. , 2 Feb. 2001. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Bergad, Laird W.The Comparative Histories of Slavery in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Brogan, Hugh. The Penguin History of the United States of America. London: Penguin, 2001. Print. 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