The legacy of the renaissance Essay Example for Free

The legacy of the renaissance Essay The legacy of the renaissance can be described and defined in many ways and through many great people. For example, one of the main figures of the renaissance was Leonardo Da Vinci born in Italy during the year1452; he was during his time and is still today considered a true renaissance man. Da Vinci dabbled in almost every aspect of the arts and science. He is most famous however for his painting (Mona Lisa) finished in 1506, but he also worked on designs for weapons and sculpted as well as the study of human anatomy. Leonardo Da Vinci died on May 2nd 1519. And it is said that King Francis was at his side when he died, cradling Leonardos head in his arms. Another great figure of the renaissance was the Architect (Andrea Palladio) born in the year 1508, Palladio was a master architect and is often described as the most influential and copied architect in the Western world. Palladio used classical architecture to influence his style and that is what makes him a key figure of the renaissance period. Since the renaissance was based on classical ideals. By the 1540s, Palladio was using classical principles to design a series of country villas and urban palaces for the nobility of Vicenza. One of his most famous is Villa Capra, also known as the Rotunda, which was modeled after the Roman Pantheon. Palladio also designed the Basilica in Vicenza, and in the 1560s he began work on religious buildings in Venice. Palladio died in the year 1580 but left behind a legacy of architectural works and design plans in a book he published called (The Four Books of Architecture) were widely translated, and Palladios ideas spread across Europe and into the New World. American statesman Thomas Jefferson borrowed Palladian ideas when he designed Monticello, his home in Virginia. A final figure during the renaissance was the sculptor Donato di Niccolà ² di Betto Bardi universally known as Donatello, he was born in Florence around the year 1386 and during his time he created many famous works. One of his most famous is the statue (Saint George) a vigilant marble made for the guildhall of Orsanmichele. Although this is an early piece, it still follows the renaissance tradition of a return to classical themes. During his life Donatello created many beautiful and highly influential works that would later inspire such great artists as (Michelangelo) through the 16th century. Donatello died in the year 1466 in Italy but left behind a true legacy of renaissance art for generations to come. The leaders of the Reformation were, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and John Knox. The reformation was set in the ideal of building a new Church and new religion. The idea was good but the men who lead this reform were not fit be called human. If you look at the methods they choose to enforce their ideals of religious reformation you will find them to be nothing more than the sick and twisted methods of mad men. Such methods as torture, hangings and drowning were used and condoned in the name of religion and God. Consider the fact that Aldof Hitler studied the writings of Martin Luther and implemented many of Luthers ideas into his own sick design for genocide of the Jewish race it is easy to say that the reformation was again, a good idea but being lead by mad men. The only good thing to come out of the reformation was the Counter Reformation the Catholic Church was not totally unprepared for the reformers. They had been fig hting opposition, heresy and resistance for over 400 years. SO when the reformation began the church was preparing its own form of attack or anti reformation. The Counter Reformation movement birthed many groups such as the Modern Devotion and the Oratory of Divine Love were organizations that included both clergy and lay people and encouraged a return to simple ethical living and piety, principles that had been championed by Desiderius Erasmus. But the movement that most concerned the Catholic Church was that of the (Protestant church) the Protestant church was growing beyond the Catholic Church and posed a serious threat to the power that the Catholic Church held. From this concern came The Council of Trent The council of Trent was formed in 1545 and lasted for almost 20 years, until 1563. During this time the council worked on the problems in three separate sessions. It was a major undertaking and the outcome was a much needed reform of the Catholic Church but it was still on their terms. Although many issues were addressed and resolved by the council it was too little too late. The Protestant Church had grown too strong and beyond the reach of the Catholic Church. Although the Catholic Church would remain a major religion, it would in a few short centuries no longer be the leading religion in the western world.The Baroque Age was during the years 1600-1750 A.D. During this time period many great advances in the arts were made but none greater the ones made in music. The word  Baroque comes from two words. The first being the French word baroque meaning (irregularly shaped pearl) the second being the Portuguese word barroco also meaning (irregularly shaped pearl) the Baroque Age was after the Renaissance and in a way was a backlash to the simplicity and ideals of the renaissance period. The Baroque age saw a trend in extravagance, bold ornamentation and flamboyance. There were three major movements during the baroque age. The first being Florid Style. This style was brought to life by the influence of seventeenth-century popes and is easily recognized by identifying its name florid with the style. Think of florid the word. Flowers, bright colors and rich textures and shapes all come to mind. This was the florid style. Second is the Classical style. This style of art had a very secular focus and identified itself with Absolutism which at the time was the view of Louis XIV also called the sun king. If you think absolutism you can envision straight clean lines, simple geometric shapes and everything coming together in perfect seamless unison. This style would also influence modern art and artists. The third style of baroque art was the Restrained Baroque. This style again, is easily envisioned by simply thinking about its name. Although most restrained baroque art was being done in the northern regions of the world such as the Netherlands, examples can be found in some regions of Italy as well. Some famous artists who practiced this style were, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Jan Vermeer and Anthony Van Dyck. The Scientific revolution lasted from 1600 to 1715 with its climax between 1685 and 1715. During this time period many great changes took place. First, the changes in astronomy and physics were largely influenced by the new theory that the sun centered the universe as opposed to the old view that the earth centered the universe. This became the official view 1543 and involved an international community of scholars. The result was called Heliocentrism Once this was established as fact; people now began to see the universe in a whole new light. Mathematical calculations were now though to be able to unlock the mysteries of nature and mankind. Many key figures of the time such as Nicolas Copernicus, Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler all made valuable contributions to the scientific revolution and how it was shaped. There were also conflicts that resulted from this revolution however. The Church, both Catholic and Protestant agreed that this new  theory was dangerous and went against the Holy Scripture. The church felt that if the earth was no longer at the center of the universe then neither was man and his place in the divine scheme of things was then reduced. So it was denounced and condemned as a false system. It was not until 1822 that the Roman Catholic Church accepted the theory as true. Also, sects within the Protestant church slowly began to adapt and accept the theory as true. Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 in England and theorized that man was incapable of existing without rule over them and in order to for humanity to exist in a civil society they must be ruled by one individual and give up their sovereignity. John Locke was born 1632 in England as well but Locke theorized that people were basically good in nature and could govern themselves but needed a government to protect them instead of ruling them. Both had different points of view on humanity and how a structured system should work but both Hobbes and Locke agreed that a Social Contract was needed in order to keep things balanced. Locke and Hobbes views influenced the Enlightenment but in different ways. Lockes views influenced the Enlightenment by helping give way to such ideas as better public education and a more liberal government. I can not find how Hobbes views influenced the Enlightenment with the exception of reinforcing the ideals of oppression and fascist rule over the people. The resulting views of government based on these theories were both for the greater good of the people based on Lockes theory and for the greater good of the government based on Hobbes views. Works cited. (1) Western Humanities Vol. II fifth edition (2) (The Panorama of the Renaissance) Edited by: Margaret Aston, Abradale Press (3) Various internet research sites.

Oligopolistic Market Model and Oil Prices

Oligopolistic Market Model and Oil Prices Executive Summary The report is prepared to explain how oligopolistic market model is the best model to relate to the current increase in the price of Oil. The Oil petroleum Organization is analyzed deeply which clearly depicts the oligopoly style of marketing by the members of OPEC. It has also examined by lot of research and based on recent reports that the OPEC tries to influence the oil prices by controlling the supply of oil production with the consent of all the members and tries to fix the oil prices in order to gain heavy profits. OPEC works on the same rule as followed by oligopoly market structure and hence clearly indicates its relation to each other and is best example of oligopoly market style. 1.0 Introduction The Oligopoly market structure is the market which has few producers and large number of buyers which gives these producers an advantage to control the market. According to (Scholasticus, 2010), the buyers have very less alternatives and do not have enough knowledge about the market. The producers inflate the prices of their goods to attract more customers by reducing prices leading to deflated price level.ÂÂ   Based on Scholastics writing in one of its articles, the producers have perfect knowledge of the consumers but consumers do not have any information about the producers or their act of influencing the prices has a negative effect on national economy. 2.0 Discussion 2.1 Features of Oligopoly Market There are few producers and large number of buyers. The producers deal in differentiated products. (Jayasuriya, 2011, p. 87) One of the producer or firm become the leader of the group and makes others to agree or dominates them to fix the prices which results in price leadership. The competition in an Oligopoly market is intense and both price and non-price methods are used to attract more customers. For example in lot of advertisements, producers mention We will not be beaten on price. The price will be matched with the competitor selling price (Labs S. S.) In Oligopoly market, firms or producers get together to share a market and decide on prices. Because of an uncompetitive market structure, they enjoy heavy profit by raising the prices or lowering the prices to attract more customers resulting in entry barriers to this market. (Labs S. S.) According to recent study by Stanley St Labs., the competition is very different in oligopoly as compared to other markets forms. In other markets, it is violent because of the high competition to gain the market share but in oligopoly, the firms are interested to gain the market share by collaborating to earn heavy profits. Firms are mutually interdependent which means if one firm changes its prices, it will affect the sales of other firms. 2.2 Kinked Style Demand Curve According to (Stewart Rankin, 2008, p. 141), the oligopoly market structures have kinked demand curves and the demand curve for the product has two sections called inelastic and elastic section. demand curve.png Kinked Demand Curve The elasticity of demand depends on the amendments of rival companies price or service output. The assumption made here is that the all the companies would want a considerable market share along with heavy profits: There is no increase of price by one particular firm. This is elastic demand. There would be an adverse impact on the total revenue of the company. In a situation where the rival company reduces it prices in order to maintain its market share, it would be an inelastic demand curve. Due to reduction in prices again, this would impact the total revenue of the company. The Price warsÂÂ  between the firms does not benefit anyone but it benefits the consumers in fact. (ecoteacher) Based on the above graph, we state it faces kinked style demand curve because of these reasons: It shows price rigidity. It controls the market segment. Leader decides the market Price and others agree to it. It results in Mergers/cartels and collusion to control market. Producers decide on prices with the consent of others. It has Horizontal and Vertical Integration. 2.3 Few Industry examples given by Economists teachers society of South Australia are: The grocery market in Australia is oligopoly which is dominated by Woolworths and Coles. They have lot of stores in Australia and have an extensive distribution system across Australia. It is difficult to compete with these firms as it requires huge investment to gain the kind of market share as they have. The Automobile Industry is a form of oligopoly market. The world Oil production market or Oil refining is also another oligopoly dominated by the seven sisters multinational oil companies like BP, Shell, and Exxon. The telecommunications market in Australia was initially aÂÂ  monopoly but as new telecom service providers started operating, it resulted in a group of few giant telecom providers competing for a greater market share. 2.4 INTRODUCTION OF OPEC According to the OPEC Organization, OPEC is the intergovernmental organization (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) consisting of 12 oil producing and exporting countries across America, Asia and Africa continents. The members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates Venezuela. (About Opec, 2011) A report (OPEC organization, 2011) states that it was formed on September 14, 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq, by five Founder Members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It was registered with the United Nations Secretariat on November 6, 1962 (UN Resolution No 6363). OPEC organization (2011) indicates their principal objectives as: To develop and maintain the petroleum policies for the Members Countries to safeguard their interests. To ensure the stability of the prices in the international oil markets to eliminate the unnecessary price fluctuations To provide a regular supply of petroleum to the nations while expecting a fair return on the petroleum industry investment. 2.5 OPEC: Oligopolistic market model TheÂÂ  Organisation of Petroleum Exporting CountriesÂÂ  orÂÂ  OPECÂÂ  is an oligopoly market which is dominated by the Arab oil producers as they hold the maximum amount of oil refineries which gives them an opportunity to dominate others and decide on prices. Cartel is another name for an oligopoly of producers of a commodity. (About Opec, 2011) The Members of OPEC tries to influence the world oil prices with the consent of all and they set the production quotas and become an effectiveÂÂ  cartelÂÂ  by restricting the sales. They deeply analyse the current market situation and anticipate future demand and supply to see various fluctuations of prices in the markets. After analysing the market scenario, they decide to raise or lower the oil production as agreed by all the members to maintain price stability and make the oil available for consumption. (corporation, 2003-2011) According to (Oil :Crisis and Collusion, 2011), OPEC was organized with the purpose of manipulating the oil prices by controlling oil supplies to the market. It controls approximately 80% of the worlds oil reserves and 40% of the worlds production among their 12 member states. As discussed earlier, it is dominated by Gulf States who can easily turn the taps on and off when required to influence the market prices. Even when the economy was facing an issue of recession, it did not have any effect on oil industry and were still making heavy profits. Hence, we can say that OPEC does play an important role in making decision of oil supply to the market which may affect the oil prices in a greater extent. The members have larger number of oil reserves and can increase or decrease the production or supply whenever they want. As they very well know that all the developing and developed nations wants oil and has almost become the necessity of life like food in todays lifestyle, so they try to earn as much as they can by controlling the prices with the kind of power they hold in their hands. However, we may say that OPEC has oil reserves and cannot produce more oil as they do not have any more oil reserves as overestimated by us. There can be lot of other reasons as well which may give rise to the oil prices like any commodity price fluctuation due to the demand and supply effect. (Savage, 2008) 2.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Oligopoly Market Structure The cost of a service of product in under oligopolistic tend to be lower in comparison to that of a monopolistic firm, but more than a competitive market. There is stability in pricing; however the prices would lead to reduction if any other firm reduces. This will impact the profitability of the companies giving a benefit to the customer. As there are barriers to join oligopolies, it gives the firms cost advantages. This is because they would cater to mass production. Consequently it encourages having highly competitive production processes which than improvises the service delivery. (William Boyes, 2008) 3.0 Conclusion To conclude, we can say that OPEC is an oligopoly form of market structure where few nations who have oil reserves decide on the current production and supply of oil with each other consent which directly influences the price of oil. Hence, oligopolistic market structure model explains the behaviour of oil industry and its effects on the market prices. In a recent report (corporation, 2003-2011) states that United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia and China also produces oil and are expected to reduce the need for gasoline in future through its improved techniques and research and development in other forms of energy which will also reduce the affect of dominance of OPEC on the price of oil.

Drinking Alcohol Essay example -- Papers

Drinking Alcohol Alcohol can and does kill millions of people. It can effect your brain and make you shake, lose all your senses, and kill off your brain cells. It also can cause your liver to deteriorate and not function properly. Liver transplants are hard to come by and do not happen often, if your liver goes out you do not have many chances of living much longer. You could also choke on your puke and die. Drinking too much alcohol can kill you, but millions of people consume mass amounts daily. College students drink and party a great amount. The average student drinks at least three nights a week and that is the weekend. Most sororities and fraternities encourage drinking. The fraternities make their pledges drink and the kids love it. It makes them loosen up and have a good time meeting new people. Drinking is also a good way for students who do not know anybody to meet new people and feel more comfortable when they go into an unfamiliar place with a lot of strangers around. When someone is drunk they feel more comfortable and able to talk to random people they do not know and have a good time. Once someone becomes familiar with certain people or just being drunk around strangers, it becomes a habit and that is when school work starts to not be important anymore. Students who drink start to stop attending classes because they are hung-over, tired because they did not go to bed, or just do not feel like going because they would like to start drinking again. The! re are those who can drink every night of the week and still go to class, do their homework, and keep their grades up. Those who can do that are very rare and end up eventually stop being able to do it anymore and fail out of school. It is not very hard for... ...time where there was a lot going on and had many opportunities to drink. I am going to settle down for a while and become a book worm. I have on midterm this week on two next tuesday so it is time to focus on my work. Alcohol is something that many people consume. Some can handle it, and others do not know how to control it and it controls them. I know that I drink, but I know that it will not become a habit and I have it under control. I feel bad for people who are alcoholics and can not control their drinking. The worst is an alcoholic who does not think they have a problem. I just wish those who did drink could sit down have a couple and be happy. A lot of people get drunk and violent. I have friends who have broken many things and hurt a lot of people just because they were drunk and everyone let it go because of it. Alcohol can be fun when it is used wisely.

An Ethnography of Hunters Essay -- Learning to Hunt

Everyone kills, and everyone eats. Not everyone eats what they kill, but these remain two of the most intimate forms of communing with our environment, whether we recognize them as such, or not. Almost 40 000 Americans are killed each year as the result of homicidal, accidental, and suicidal uses of guns; in all, Americans wielding guns intimidate, wound, and kill hundreds of thousands every year. These were the kinds of ideas impressed upon me as I grew up in my urban home: Guns were beasts, as were knives, arrows, spears, indeed anything could become a weapon if held in a particular way. We sprayed each other with the hose instead of water guns, and spent many long hours as a family "communing with nature" through long walks on the nature trails in southern California; we had a little garden from which we harvested potatoes, carrots, and lettuce, but we never harvested the rabbits hopping through, or the squirrels, or the groundhogs. It didn't occur to me until high school, however , that I didn't know where the meat I was eating came from. This bothered me. I became vegetarian. No more cows in the rain forest! I said. No more chickens in long cramped houses, moving along conveyor belts where heads went flying, feathers electrically shocked off, fire burned off the hairs, to be tossed into a super-wrap machine, ready for the Wal-Mart grocery bin. Hunting, too, was equally cruel to animals in my mind. I tried to ignore the arguments that hunting helped control deer populations, and that killing for food was, ultimately, part of human nature to be honored, much less tolerated. I got a chance to broaden my perspective last year, and I harvested my first hen out at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, during a May Term ornitholog... ...or hunting season. I am curious to know more: Will there be more female hunters in the future? My impression is that there is more hunting done for sport now than there is for necessary protein harvest, but will there be a movement in the other direction? Will the deer population survive while the hunters try to make up their minds? I hope that this ethnography may serve as a model of forming connections within our own close communities; that we may work towards preserving this interwoven web of culture through respect and interest in our environments. I haven't been hunting. I haven't yet sought out the opportunity. I have, however, given up vegitarianism for lent. Notes 1. poundage refers to the number of pounds it requires to draw the string back from the bow 2. Hedge apple also known as Osage Orange, common in old fence-rows in the greater Goshen area

Examining Disadvantages of U.S. High School System Essay

In light of a lot of controversial issues over education matters, different people take different sides and give out individual opinions. There is a common belief that good education would provide a country with a lot of benefits such as more promising economic growth and higher living standards. As the global economic recession is taken more seriously, more and more people are now turning their attention to education in America, the most powerful country in the world, asking whether it will be still up to its name in the future and what kind of improvement to education can make contribution to the social economy. In addition, media also gives data on America’s stagnant education outcome. In a study released in September 2009, what stands out is that U.S. students scored the lowest in Math and Science, with a Math result â€Å"in the bottom quarter of all the countries that participated, including Finland, China and Estonia†(Lattimore). As well, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan claimed that students are going to struggle in the global market competition without intellectual growth. Thus, education issues become outstanding among all the challenges people are going to meet in the recent future. Since secondary education plays a fundamental and transitional role in one’s whole education journey, here are examinations of important factors in the current U.S. public high school system that cause its education quality to decline. Students are not being helped by tests because standards are not rigorous in American high schools. According to Dr. Kristy Vernille, an expert in Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction, American students usually move from grade to grade easily and â€Å"without having to demonstrate competency in any subject matter†, as a result of the loose and vague test standards in America (Vernille 5). Although American students are often asked to take a lot of standardized tests, based on the American Federation of Teachers, the tests results of students usually do not influence their progress through the system. Furthermore, state and commercial tests have lower degree of difficulty and focus on less-advanced problem solving than the international tests; at the same time, international tests include more open-response items (in which students have to show how they solve the problems), whereas â€Å"the United States tests are predominantly multiple-choice items with little intellectual demand associated with determining the answer† (AFT 15). Under these circumstances, U.S. students are not motivated for further study or higher academic accomplishment, resulting in their lower competency than their international peers. However, establishing more rigorous test standards in the U.S. public school system will improve American students’ academic performance. To demonstrate, in China, there is a highly standardized test named â€Å"the National College Entrance Examination†. It also appeared in Time magazine as the â€Å"most pressure packed examination in the world† (Siegel). The Entrance Examination is held for the sake of selecting students for higher education and leadership, and is taken by every Chinese twelfth grader every year. In every state, schools are informed what to teach students and what will probably appear in the exam (Schaack 5). During the preparation for the exam, students have to receive an extremely large amount of information from teachers and finally implement it into the Entrance Exam. Those who perform extraordinarily well are admitted to the nation’s top universities; â€Å"the rest find spots in provincial universities or two- and three-year coll eges† (Siegel). Due to the fact that Chinese students are under such kind of pressure, they are more likely to learn things in order to be competitive and prepared for their future. To a large degree, their academic achievement is related to their educational policies and environment. They don’t have many alternatives in their testing system, which is considered to be fair and standardized. This method can be adopted by American public school system to reduce their test alternatives, in other words, to make a standard in the testing system. With a more clear and rigorous standard, American students are going to have better understanding of what teachers convey and what skills they are supposed to pick up. Thus, academic improvement will subsequently be fostered. Besides the lack of a rigorous testing standard, American schools set up their curriculums based on the education policy approved by law, resulting in negative consequences. Since the No Child Left Behind program was signed into law in 2002, test scores have become the most basic measure of school quality (Ravitch 15). Schools then had to modify the curriculums to enhance their test scores in order not to lose students. How does education make sense when the purpose of testing goes beyond the substance of learning? Diane Ravitch, a historian of education and educational policy analyst, writes this program â€Å"demanded that schools generate higher test scores †¦ It ignored such important studies as history, civics, literature, science, the arts, and geography. Though the law required states to test students eventually in science, the science scores didn’t count on the federal scorecard†(Ravitch 16). She watched her hope for better education fall though she was initially supportive of the so-called education reform. Under this circumstance, coupled with the contemporary, vague, unchallenging test standard, schools are rather unlikely to have curriculums that can help students develop fully or help them attain high scores in those more advanced and comprehensive international tests. To illustrate, data collected by NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) shows that U.S. students perform the worst in areas like Math and Science. Especially in Math, U.S. high school students scored much lower than other countries that participated (Lattimore). Nevertheless, the situation can be changed if the whole school system revises the curriculums for the sake of students’ better development, which is the original intention of education. After that, tests should be based on the curriculums that schools are providing. How is it possible for students to achieve good grades while the test does not at all correspond to the courses they are taking? Although many people believe that the freedom of teaching and the freedom of learning are both significant, experts claim that a well-educated person has a well-furnished mind, â€Å"shaped by reading and thinking about history, science, literature, the arts, and politics†, and is armed with knowledge and skills that help him read, listen and also explain (Ravitch 16). Without basic knowledge and skills, people are unable to think critically, to debate or to question, let alone able to solve problems in tests or in their real lives. The continuous education reforms really expose th e effort that America is always trying to make for its nation. Nonetheless, paying too much attention to testing other than curriculum will only lead to a blow up of its previous efforts. Moreover, school resources, computer technology especially, are not being used effectively by teachers and students, causing a reduction in school productivity. It is now in the midst of the information age when technology use is widely spread. Although the goal of President Bill Clinton, â€Å"a computer in every classroom†, has practically been realized by American public schools and â€Å"the number of computers in U.S. schools has grown dramatically† (Evans 272), a research conducted by Harvard University economist Caroline Hoxby has shown that the productivity (the ratio of student performance to spending) has not increased as expected. Instead, it is declining (Woessmann 73). Originally, schools hope that technology can help students achieve better academic performance, instead of being a distraction for students. Hence, as can be seen in most schools, there are a lot of unwritten rules for students banning them from using electronic devices during class. But many students still behave as usual, making technology a destraction of class environment. For this reason, American schools are confused about whether their students are the beneficiaries or victims of this new age (Evans 272). Since it is a technological time, why not take good advantage of it? There are still many students in developing countries dreaming of this advantage that American students experience. And it definitely cannot be wasted. If students were guided to make good use of school resources, the teaching pace and quality would increase; homework assignments would receive more positive feedback; the testing burden would be lighter. Accordingly, the whole nation’s students would do much better academically. In addition to the hardware and software resources not being used well, adults are not paying enough attention to American students. During a student’s academic journey, adults around him can have a substantial influence on him. In particular, parental involvement has a considerably critical impact on their children’s education experience. If a child’s parents attach great importance to education, then the child would also tend to value their school work (Schaack 10). Again, to demonstrate using Chinese parents as an example, most of the time, they supervise their children’s behavior in school by attending parent-teacher conferences periodically, learning about their grades, discussing school programs and activities with their children, monitoring their homework and so on. They also provide private tutoring, paying private teachers, when their children are not performing as well as others or when they need to pass some specific tests and examinations. Some of the Chinese parents even consider their training to be high enough to teach their children while most American parents seem â€Å"less sure as to how much they could help† with children’s school work (Hunt and Hu 134). As a part of culture, Chinese students are motivated intensely by their parents to succeed in school from the time when they are young (Ho and Willims 136). In comparison, American parents’ involvement in their children’s education differs from area to area. During an interview with a Chinese student in Hillsdale High School, Yixi Wu, who left his country at the age of 15 and immigrated into America, he said that he could tell that American parents provide their children with more freedom when it comes to school matters. They care more about their children’s overall life pattern and everyday skills rather than pay too much attention on their academic achievement (Cannon and Ginsburg 122). However, parental involvement can substantially influence a student’s academic performance. To prove, statistics collected by Professor Esther Ho Sui-Chu from University of British suggest that â€Å"the most important parental-involvement factor at the individual level is Home Discussion. The estimated effect is approximately 12 percent of a standard deviation on both mathematics and reading achievement. This finding implies that an increase of 1 standard deviation in Home Discussion is associated with an increase in achievement of 0.12 of a standard deviation† (Ho and Willims 136). The result of this study really emphasizes the significant influence of parents’ facilitation on children’s academic success. Since cultures in Asian countries like China and Western countries like America are different, children in America manage to have more freedom in school life and academic matters. Consequently, their learning outcome compared to China is relatively lower. But if American parents pay more attention to their children’s school experience, more positive attitudes towards academic behavior will probably be fostered; homework assignment will have better quality; learning outcome will be more outstanding and dropout rates will definitely go down. Besides parents, teachers also have great academic influence on students and their impacts are more direct. Superficially, some people would consider that it was because in some countries teachers were too strict that students did not dare to obey them. This common recognition makes sense to some extent but is not exactly true. Obviously and overall, students are going to attain higher achievement if teachers pay more attention to them and give them corresponding advice on the difficulties they meet at school. As mentioned above, Chinese teachers have their own technique dealing with this issue. Usually, a Chinese teacher is going to ask a student to come to the board to solve a problem with everybody else watching him. If he is not able to have it done, others will try hard to help him deal with it so that no one will extremely lag behind. What’s more, if he still has difficulty figuring it out, teachers will ask him to go to his office after class and provide extra individua l tutoring. â€Å"In Contrast, in America, being called in front of a class and being critiqued by not only your teacher, but also by other peers, could be downright damaging to a student’s psyche† (Schaack 7). In this case, subsequently, students can only ask for help after class during teachers’ office hours, which are rather limited. What if one does not realize where his current position is compared to the others? What if he does not know what he misunderstands right after he gets confused? He will probably accumulate his misunderstanding and eventually lag far behind. Therefore, as the old saying goes â€Å"every coin has two sides†. In exchange for maintaining students’ self-esteem, American education has to lose some of its points in the international competition. Yet if the American schools were to learn from Chinese schools in this aspect, making the classroom environment to be more challenging and teacher-controlled, students are going to be more comp etitive and will achieve much better academically. Admittedly, there are still problems waiting to be fixed in America’s education system even if it has always been receiving a good reputation worldwide. With more rigorous test standards, students would have a better sense of direction in their education journey; with curriculums to be more comprehensive, students would be equipped with better skills for life and career; with more efficient use of resources, students would be able to release much of their pressure and make studying fun; and with the help from parents and teachers, students would probably be more motivated for further study and self-development. Fixing the defects in the U.S. education system and adopting advantages from other countries like China will awaken students’ potential, thereby improving the whole nation’s academic achievement, finally consolidating its title of the most powerful country in the world. Those who suit their actions to the time are wise. Hence, corresponding changes in educ ation turn out to be necessary for America to succeed in its self-progress as well as in the aggressive global competition. Work Cited American Federation of Teachers. â€Å"Setting higher sights: A need for more demanding assessments for U.S. eighth graders.† Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers. July, 1998. Web. May, 2012. Cannon, J. and H. P. Ginsburg. â€Å"Doing the math: Maternal beliefs about early math ¬ematics versus language learning.† Early Education and Development. 2008. Web. May, 2012. Evans, Dennis L. Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in secondary education. University of California, Irvine. 2002. Print. Ho Sui-Chu, Esther and J. Douglas Willims. â€Å"Effects of Parental Involvement on Eighth-Grade Achievement.† Sociology of Education. (April, 1996):126-141. Web. May, 2012. Hunt, Jessica H. and Bi Ying Hu. â€Å"Theoretical Factors Affecting Parental Roles in Children’s Mathematical Learning in American and Chinese-Born Mothers.† The School Community Journal. 2011. Web. May, 2012. Lattimore, K. â€Å"Students in U.S. Falling Behind i n Math and Science.† 8 September, 2009. Web. May, 2012. Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York. Basic Book, 2010. Print. Schaack, Tara L. Van. â€Å"Comparing U.S. and Chinese Public School Systems.† University of Michigan. n.d. Web. May, 2012. Siegel, Benjemin. â€Å"Stressful Times for Chinese Students.† TIME. 12 June, 2007. Web. May, 2012. Vernille, Kristy. â€Å"Why Are U.S. Mathematics Students Falling Behind Their International Peers?† University of Maryland. n.d. Web. May, 2012. Woessmann, Ludger. â€Å"Why Students in Some Countries Do Better: International evidence on the importance of education policy.† Education Matters. 2001. Web. May, 2012.

Boston Beer Company Case Essay

Background Information_: The Boston Beer Company, which was founded in 1984, had a very diversified thriving product line which entailed about twenty different kinds of beers. Their product was available in over nineteen various countries and used a network of around four hundred distributors. Revenues grew from 21 million dollars to 210 million dollars from inception to 1997. _Problem and Opportunity Identification_: As a result of the company’s product line and its variety, the company encountered issues sustaining and upholding of their products such as Lightship – which has been withering in recent years and which doesn’t have the volume like other products to sustain distribution. Since the light beer business that Lightship belonged to was one that was rapidly growing, the Boston Beer Company felt the need to investigate its products disappointment. The research to do so took place in different forms such as competition, market, and financial analyses, customer surveys, and finally deep emotional analysis using the ZMET technique. _Alternatives_: One option the research team is considering is introducing a new light beer into their product line. It is understandable that since the high-priced light beer industry is one of the biggest and rapidly growing field in the beer industry, the Boston Beer Company wants to occupy and take advantage of this field to further enhance its name and maintain its market share and its standing. However, there are issues in terms of positioning and marketing of this product. The product needs to be communicated as a light, rich, fun beer and targeted at a different audience that entails women. In addition to the fact that this option might cause conflict in terms of the brand image being a macho rough beer brewer, using it doesn’t solve the problem for Lightship if Lightship is going to be kept in the market offerings. Another option the research team considered was repositioning Lightship and throwing in more effort and investment into the marketing of the product. It was obvious that, compared to one of their biggest competitors Heineken, the Boston Beer Company has had trouble and sort-of failed to build a unique brand identity for this product. The product was not successfully differentiated and positioned in the market in order for it to build market share and improve standings. This failure could make it difficult for the company to reposition itself and change consumer perceptions to gain their interests and so it might be a waste of time and efforts. Finally, the last option is the dreaded one of not competing in this realm of the industry. This is a very extreme option since this realm is a huge and growing segment of the market and they would be missing out on a lot if they decide to pull out it. The failure to fit into this field, however, might have proved that the Boston Beer Company is not competent enough and ready to compete in this segment. _Critical Issues_: There are two main critical issues that the company should consider when making the decision about their situation in the light beer industry. One critical issue concerns the brand image – the company has an umbrella brand image of being a premium masculine macho craft beer brewer and shaking that could be seen to influence consumer perceptions. The second critical issue relates to the field study and the results it yielded – do they answer our questions about how to position the light beer product or on whether we should even introduce/keep products in this segment of the market. _Conclusion and Recommendation_: After reviewing the results of the various research techniques, the recommended option would be to introduce a new high-end light beer into the market (while probably retiring Lightship). Making use of the ZMET research results, this new product should be positioned in a manner that represents an active, refreshing, and healthy lifestyle. Having a new product instead of improving Lightship is best in order to avoid the difficult efforts of having to change stubborn consumer perceptions. Also, in terms of the umbrella brand image of BBC being a macho tough image, having a separate offering targeted at other audiences will probably add to the image of having two instead of eroding the existing image.

Modernism in poetry Essay

Modernism. It is a direction of poetry, literature and art in general that uses and describes â€Å"new and distinctive features in the subjects, forms, concepts and styles of literature and the other arts in the early decades of the present century, but especially after World War I. † (Abrams 167) More often than not â€Å"Modernism† engages in â€Å"deliberate and radical break† (Abrams 167) with more traditional foundation of art and culture, established since XIX century. Here two poets of modernist age – T. S. Elliot and H. Crane – are compared to T. Hardy and G. M. Hopkins, a pair of contemporary classical poets. I’d like to begin the study with T. S. Elliot, the famous poet whose very name sounds like a synonym to word â€Å"modernism†. Elliot was and is the personification of modernism, and images and verses from his poems are remembered even today, and integrated in today works of literature and fiction. One can remember Steven King’s â€Å"Dark Tower† saga where images of Elliot’s works resurface frequently – in fact, one of King’s volumes of that saga is called â€Å"The Waste Lands†, obviously inspired by Elliot’s . For example, Elliot’s â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† had brought us a vision of a man whose world had split in and around himself, a lost person in search of love which can only be destructive and formidable for him. Since he is confined in the abyss of his own consciousness, reality is merely some kind of emotional experience for him. He can still observe the world around him, but psychologically he is alone, in the waste lands of unfertility and spiritual emptiness. Prufrock (the epitome of Elliot himself, or the reader) lets his thoughts and sentiments drift off incoherently. The external world around him, to which he is so sardonic, reflects his inner world, deprived of spiritual serenity. As he cannot get involved in a dialogue with the external world, only through the dramatic monologue can Prufrock whisper his intention : â€Å"Let us go then, you and I† (Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, 242). Elliot wanted his hero (and the reader) to compare himself with a character of Dante’s â€Å"Inferno†. But while they are alike, their fates are different: While Guido has at least the courage to open up to Dante, Prufrock is too complacent and too inert to make that effort. His only confident can be his alter ego – a distorted reflection of himself in the mirror of outside world. He sees this person, and begs to him for unification – as if there can be an answer different from the one he gives himself†¦ Prufrock’s wisdom of the ages he seems to feel returns to him as cruel mockery. What, indeed, could be the meaning of â€Å"life, universe and everything† (D. Adams), if .. one, settling a pillow, or throwing off a shawl, And turning toward the window, should say: â€Å"That is not it at all, That is not what I meant, at all. † (Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, 245). That Prufrock’s mawkish and evasive nature is shattered is delineated in the last ten lines of the poem. As the recurrent images of and references to the sea (â€Å"silent seas†, â€Å"mermaids†, â€Å"seagirls†) crop up more and more, Prufrock’s self-evasion becomes more marked. His psychic para1yis culminates when he realizes that even the mermaids will not do him a favor by singing to him; thus, all his source of possible inspiration fades away. (Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, 245). He has never rea1ly been a religious man: he cannot, thus, expect Christ to restore him to a potent life, as was Lazarus restored to his. It is no wonder that while Prufrock is felt to be an epitome to all society of his times – so brilliant and so exquisitely empty inside. In modern times, his words had been referenced to in mockery by one of the most horrible machines the human mind had ever invented, Blaine the Mono: â€Å"In the rooms the people come and go. But I doubt that any of them is talking of Michelangelo† (King). Elliot’s other masterpiece, Gerontion, depicts a dream of memory. While Prufrock is at least â€Å"here† (even if he is unsure of his own location in the world), Gerontion’s hero is the time itself, sifted through the sieve of human memory. The observer is neither here not there, but the remains of memory, the dregs of time are spread before him – an enchanting display, but meaningless essentially. Elliot seems to ask – would the dregs of our own memory, if spread before some stranger, mean as little to him as these remains of one’s time mean to us now? All Elliot’s images are dark, broody and disturbing. They imply to ask – is it all? Can there be anything else around us, or are we lost eternally in the world which wasn’t mean for us? And, as Elliot hadn’t answered that questions himself, each reader must substitute his own answers and test their validity on Elliot’s words of man, world and time. Hart Crane is other example of modernist poets, his images are less brooding than Elliot’s and more defined, but the power they wield over us is intensified by their hidden meanings, unseen at first glance. Crane’s â€Å"Black Tambourineâ€Å" reflects on author’s own experience of time spent with some negro workers in a cellar. But the cellar expands in author’s view to the size of the whole world, and its closed door becomes the famous wall of the three Biblical judgments – MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN: â€Å"numbered, weighed and found wanting†. All universe seems to be contained between â€Å"here and now† – the dark cellar with tambourine on the wall – and mystical â€Å"somewhere†, where all human hopes end as â€Å"carcass, quick with flies† (Black Tambourine). â€Å"At Melville’s Tomb† brings dark and melancholy beneath which a memory of forces lingers that were bright and vicious once before – before the Death took its toll, equaling the furious Ahab and unnamed sailor. The image of the sea is indefinite and vague too, for it can be perceived as deep grave, or Death itself, or Sea of Time which will eventually give endless calm to every living being. In all modernist poetry, the concept of such multipart images and veiled references was honed and detailed up to its perfection. Now this is an instrument which is frequently used in literature and other spheres of life, such as advertising, but in times of T. S. Elliot and H. Crane it was a powerful innovation with which readers were stunned literarily. To compare with modernist poetry of Elliot and Crane, classical works by T. Hardy and G. M. Hopkins are selected. The classical English poetry of Thomas Hardy is more structured both in rhythm and meaning than modernist examples of Elliot and Crane. His poetry can be called â€Å"methodic†, for he explains methodically the one symbol which forms a poem. He explains it, details it, brings it before our eyes in maddeningly realistic manner, until the reader not simply understands it, but is enthralled by its vision. â€Å"Neutral tones† brings us a vision of lost love which turned into deadliness – the blank neutrality which opposes love and joy and happiness of life. The feelings deepen further with each stanza – from tranquility to blankness, to melancholy, and finally to utter despair. The concluding stanza forms the moral of the poem, adding to the finality of the sentence – what is lost in time, can never be found again. â€Å"The Darkling Thrush† is an example of more hopeful vision. Dedicated to the coming century, it is full with dark images of definite meaning: the gate as the gate of a new age (or a new Century), frost and Winter as Death itself that comes to all, and the land becomes a body which dies together with Century, for its time has passed. But the mere voice of the thrush changes the picture, illuminating it with some inner light of â€Å"blessed Hope†. And, while the reader (as the man who stands at the gates) is yet unaware of a definite knowledge of that Good Sign that only the bird has, he still accepts the bird’s song as a sign that there is hope for the future. Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins is yet another example of what classics had to offer then. His images are as definite as Hardy’s, if somewhat more fluent, and the moral is present too in his poems. â€Å"Spring and Fall† shows Margaret – a young girl who had realized for the first time that all things in life change and eventually die, that life is not permanent. A child’s mind can grasp concepts at levels they are not aware of, and understand something without ever having it explained. It is simple because of the innocent way the child absorbs the life itself. As an adult, one can see a subject or idea in a completely different way by viewing it through the eyes of a child. In the poem, Margaret looks at death and understands it symbolically, through the death of leaves to her own imminent demise. â€Å"God’s Grandeur† is another example of short and conclusive classical poetry. The tension in scenes of man-made destruction, pictured with vivid detail, is intensified by alliteration. Disturbing images of oozing oil and ever-repeating trod of countless generations result in deep, uncontrolled fear. But the conclusion opposes all said before by references to never-ending nature and God as its creator and protector. It states to us that God will as surely brings life after death and resurrection after destruction, as each day he brings the morning light after the dark of night. From fear of Man to hope in God – that is the meaning of the poem in general. To conclude the work, one should remind that modernist poets had learned to use their images from classical poetry. But, taking the basic elements and images from their predecessors, their works had transcended from single pictures (or contented stories explained to reader part by part) to grandiose intertwined canvases, full of elements and colors, or bottomless abysses of veiled hints and allusions. Certainly, the works of classics had formed the foundation for these magnificent creations of modernist poets, and without them the whole modernism in English literature would not be able to exist or progress. Works Cited Abrams M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, 1941 Hardy, Thomas. Wessex poems and other verses. New York: Harper, 1898. Hopkins, Gerard Manley. Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. London: Humphrey Milford, 1918. King, Stephen. The Waste Lands. Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc, 1991. Simon, Marc. The Complete Poems of Hart Crane. New York: Liveright, 1986. The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. New York and London:W. W. Norton & Company, 1988