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Starship Troopers - 1396 Words

The Novum presented in Starship Troopers is the rule of the Veterans and the resulting primacy of the military. This Novum sets the novel up as a utopic pandering to a readership demographic that the author himself is a member of. This is a normative sci-fi construction. Starship Troopers deviates in that the true target readership is the young man who has not yet been given a chance to join up. He is meant to gain a favorable understanding of the military man by sharing in his dream. The dream then - the world created – is the persuasive device. Heinlein begins by claiming historical inevitability for his Novum. Once our decadent civilization falls, the veterans; as the faction best equipped to counter anarchy, will simply take over†¦show more content†¦Sleep is the most highly thought of means of recreation for a soldier (45). This ultimately represents a yearning for the simplicity of the pre-modern. The complacency that one was birthed into in previous centuries is, in the military, presented as conscious lifestyle choice. On the matter of preference of placement within the military structure, Rico’s recruitment officer speaks dismissively of a â€Å"that† â€Å"being what you think would make you happy.† (28). The allure of the military lifestyle is not having to be concerned with one’s own happiness. Happiness is portioned out according to the decisions of men like Rico’s placement officer whom â€Å"you could relax and take it easy with† (32). That this easiness and happiness is built upon faith in a Chinese Legalism and a utilitarian calculus is un-concerning to Rico. That same placement officer has quotas and his first duty is to those quotas, people will suffer because of that. Similarly, the method through which complexity and moral ambiguity is avoided has caused suffering. The suffering of the Temporary Third Lieutenant on the HMS Chesapeake (154) is the price paid for a rigid and easy to u nderstand law of behavior that expects no field philosophizing. Rico as emblematic of the military man in general, does not what to think, does not want to know, and does not want to ask. This shown to not be as we would expect a discipline required of him but instead a favor grantedShow MoreRelatedStarship Troopers Essay619 Words   |  3 PagesStarship Troopers is a classic novel written in 1959 by retired Navy Lieutenant Robert Heinlein. At the time that it was published Starship Troopers was controversial yet won the Hugo Award in the 1960’s for being one of the best science fiction novels. One of the controversies surrounding the book is the main character’s history teacher’s view on violence and how violence â€Å"has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.† The book had such a cult following that there has been a filmRead MoreStarship Troopers2190 Words   |  9 Pagescan have crushes on each other, but the dark primal sexual ne eds and pleasures of adult life are totally absent (making the Heinleins world less believable); I bet even many real life teenagers have love lives more rich than anything seen in Starship Troopers. We have no idea about the art, music, recreation, romance, food, or larger non-military society of earth in the 22nd century. We have only the most unconvincing portrayal of the future family with a reconciliation taking place between RicoRead MoreHeinlein : New York : Putnam1526 Words   |  7 Pages Heinlein, R. A. (1959). Starship Troopers. New York: Putnam. INTRODUCTION: The author of this book was born on July 7,1907 in a town in Missouri. He graduated in 1929 from the Naval Academy, later on in his life Heinlein got sick which made him have to retire in 1934. After retiring from the Naval Academy he moved to California and was a professor of physics and mathematics at the University of California. In 1939 Astounding Magazine Company bought his first science fiction story and choseRead MoreEssay on The concept of earning ones citizenship2721 Words   |  11 Pagesfederal service in Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers† vers. 1.0 1996 Online. Internet. Available http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah 4 Oct. 2002 This Paper explores and attempts to more clearly define the nature of federal service Robert Heinlein wrote about in ‘Starship Troopers.† He does a great job of proving that even remarks that Heinlein made about his own book are incorrect. There is a great deal of controversy as to whether the ‘Starship Troopers† was a Fashist statement or not. This paperRead MoreMovie Analysis : Military Science Fiction1172 Words   |  5 Pagesdiscovered he had to battle evolving creatures that resembled everyone else. A matter of whom to trust was added to the need for survival. Survival amidst creatures dominating worlds was next. Johnny Rico had to battle world destroying Arachnids in Starship Troopers. The plot of survival has turned from a single person to an entire race. Megahitler further expounded on the plot of engaging a potentially dangerous enemy. After quite an interesting conversation with a nine-meter-tall representation of AdolphRead More A Canticle for Lei bowitz and Starship Troopers: The Movie Essay1904 Words   |  8 PagesA Canticle for Leibowitz and Starship Troopers: The Movie In this paper I intend to explore the attitudes toward the value of individual life vs. the value of a community as a whole expressed in A Canticle for Leibowitz and Starship Troopers: the Movie by analyzing their treatment of information control, euthanasia, and the idea of obtaining happiness through a sense of purpose. Starship Troopers may be a satire of a fascist state or an apology for fascist ideology or neither (I don’t pretendRead MoreEssay about Our America: Your Duty1516 Words   |  7 PagesIn the movie Starship Troopers, there are two classes of people, Civilians and Citizens. What are the differences? Citizens are the men and women, rich or poor that serve in the Federal Service; service guarantees citizenship. This is a short period in which a person serves in the military. A universal service that requires young (Americans) citizen, men and females: healthy and the disable, to obligatory serve an allotment of time. Basically, you have to earn the right to be called a citizen; thisRead More Impact of Pulp Magazines on American Culture Essay583 Words   |  3 PagesRice Burroughs (author of the Tarzan, Mars, and Pellicidar series), Lester Dent (author of the Doc Savage series), Walter Gibson (author of the Shadow series), Erle Stanley Gardner (author of the Perry Mason novels), Robert Heinlein (author of Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land), Robert E. Howard (author of the Conan stories), Robert Heinlein, Daishell Hammett (author of the Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man), Steven Crane, and Tennessee Williams. Such famous authors of great American literatureRead MoreThe Impact of Computers1014 Words   |  5 Pagesby computer animation, texturing, and graphics to make him more realistic then the older version when they used a man in a costume to play Godzilla. This wasn t the only movie made with computers. Movies like Jurassic Park, Wing Commander, Starship Troopers, Star Wars SE, and the latest Star Trek Movies used computers to make them look more interesting and realistic. There are even movies completely made by computers like Toy Story and A Bugs Life. Not only movies used computer animations andRead MoreRhetorical Analysis : The Tesla Wasnt God And Thomas Edison WasnT God986 Words   |  4 Pagesthat the readers view is already swaying before they even read the first sentence of the text. He uses a similar example later on in the text when he quotes Robert Heinlen, another popular writer responsible for science fiction classics such as starship troopers. He quotes Heinlen’s stance on innovation, writing, â€Å"When railroading time comes you can railroad--- but not before† (Robert Heinlen). This is yet another example of rhetorical strategies present within the article used for dramatic effect. Knapp’s

Comparison of a Clockwork Orange and Lord of the Flies free essay sample

Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man. †Ã‚   How do Anthony Burgess in A Clockwork Orange and William Golding in Lord of the Flies reflect violence and social responsibility? Both Lord of the Flies, first published in 1954 and A Clockwork Orange, published eight years later, focus on the inherent human capabilities for evil as well as good. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously posits that ‘whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil’ and it is clear from both novels that it is this absence of love as a driving force that prevent both Alex and Jack from moving beyond the simplistic notions of good and evil and choosing a socially responsible path that looks beyond the self. Both narratives reflect the growing concerns in British society at the time: A Clockwork Orange is scathing in its attack on the supposed values of communism, inspired by Burgess’s stay in Leningrad, and by the undercurrent of violence that filtered into Britain as a result of gang culture. Golding’s concerns seem to stem from his first-hand experience in World War II and the horrors which he encountered as a member of the Royal Navy. The novels share a common theme: the notion of good and evil among young males. In Lord of the Flies, Golding establishes very early on a clear narrative framework in which a microcosm of society can be examined. His initial meeting in Chapter One between Ralph and Piggy is deliberately paced to allude to the ways in which power can be wielded in society. Ralph’s keenness to impose superiority over Piggy paves the way for his insistence on rules and domination among the other boys: ‘I’m chief then. His intentions may be rooted in a desire to be socially responsible and offer rational solutions, however, his ‘tribesmen’ quickly become disillusioned with the notion of peace and order which he aims to instil, and their inherent desire for ‘bad’ comes to the surface. Alternatively, Golding may be wishing to refer to the inequalities in society and the ways in which the subjugated will invariably ‘rise up’ against their oppressors . Burgess’s cast of characters are clearly children. They speak in a clipped, often immature manner – ‘We’d better all have names†¦I’m Ralph’ – and their actions perhaps lack the foresight of adult experience, such as the indecisiveness and lethargy in building a shelter. Yet Golding makes it clear that the essential actions of these children are within us all. The fact that these are twelve or thirteen-year old children does not obfuscate the principle that evil is innate and that the concept of fairness, or social responsibility, is something that must be learned or imposed by government. Again, perhaps Golding wishes to allude to the ways in which it is not always the socially responsible who wield the power and that the base and evil seen in Nazi Germany can occasionally, with staggering consequences, triumph over the rational. Whereas the boys in Lord of the Flies speak in a relatively straightforward, colloquial English, A Clockwork Orange’s most striking stylistic touch is Burgess’s use of invented, or ‘borrowed’, words with which he bestows the novella’s fifteen-year old protagonist and narrator, Alex. This meta-language, called nadsat, is a blend of Standard English, Russian, British slang and original coinage and initially distances us from Alex until the reader is able to infer the meanings of several key terms. At the point at which we begin to comfortably translate, for example, ‘viddy’ as watch, ‘droog’ as friend or ‘horrorshow’ meaning very good (from the Russian ‘khorosho’), the reader has formed an almost subconscious intellectual bond with Alex. His speech is full of rhythm and onomatopoeia, and so alive with melody that even Alex’s most violent and reprehensible acts are rendered, at the very least, engaging and lacking in the overt sadism one would expect from such behaviour. When Alex rapes the writer’s wife early in the narrative, Burgess writes: ‘†¦I ripped away at this and that and the other†¦and real good horrorshow groodies they were that then exhibited their pink glazzies†¦while I untrussed and got ready for the plunge. ’ His savagery is undeniable but it is rendered behind a facade of exuberant wordplay and elaborate euphemism. Alex is intelligent and quick-witted but the dystopian society in which he lives offers no outlet for his potential and, therefore, he actively rejects the notion of social responsibility in favour of criminality. It is possible for the reader to be both repulsed by his actions and to be sympathetic to his lost cause. Similarly to the ‘leaders’ in Lord of the Flies, Alex is equally revered for his wilful violence but turned upon by his own tribe when they have had enough. The treatment of women in a ‘man’s world’ is disturbing in both A Clockwork Orange and Lord of the Flies and furthers the notion of a rejection of social responsibility. The aforementioned rape in Burgess’s novella is highly stylised and the alarming abuse of girls, or ‘devotchkas’, as young as ten treated matter-of-factly: ‘†¦if they would not go to school they must still have their education’. However, the near-climactic passage in Golding’s work in which Jack and the boys kill the sow is almost more brutal in its portrayal and clearly works as an extended metaphor to represent the sexualised male aggression over the female. Golding is chilling in his description. The boys ‘[force] a spear still deeper’ into her flesh after the initial entrapment and ‘follow her easily by the drops vivid blood’. Later, ‘the hunters [follow], wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood. ’ When Jack mounts the sow, he stabs ‘downward with the knife’ and ‘leans with his whole weight’. When she finally dies, ‘hot blood [spouts] over his hands and he and the other boys are ‘heavy and fulfilled upon her’. Golding explicitly emphasises through the use of the pronouns ‘her’ and ‘she’ the sex of the pig and the language clearly refers to the passionate fervour associated with not only violence but also sexual domination. It is at this point of the novel that the boys’ ultimate rejection of social responsibility is complete. While Ralph and Piggy, the novel’s moral arbiters, look on in disgust, they are powerless in the face of the raw, masculine group mentality of the others. In Golding’s relatively neutral third-person narration, Robert ‘stabilized the thing in a phrase which was received uproariously’, the phrase in question: ‘Right up her ass! ’ Arguably, the horror of the misogyny of the scene is heightened by the exclusively male culture that has been constructed on the island. A feminist reading may also see it as telling that the least stereotypically masculine characters in Lord of the Flies, Simon and Piggy, are killed by the other boys. Their deaths serve to represent not only the dominance of males in society but also the rejection of typically feminine characteristics – reason, diplomacy and sensitivity. Although clearly an allegory for human nature in its entirety, Lord of the Flies also represents a world without adult intervention and the tenets of social responsibility that come with maturity make way for the baser aspects of free-will. Burgess also examines the absence, or ineffectiveness, of adult role-models in A Clockwork Orange. Alex’s parents appear largely absent in his life and their suspicions about his nocturnal habits are hardly pressed: ‘Not that I want to pry, son, but where exactly is it you go to work of evenings? ’ Burgess names Alex’s Post-Corrective Adviser P. R. Deltoid – a name of artificiality and coldness, state-sanctioned and reminiscent of the faceless anonymity of communist regimes of the time and hardly the kind of supportive counsel a disturbed teenager might need. When Deltoid asks of Alex: ‘You’ve got a good home here, good loving parents, you’ve got not too bad of a brain. Is it some devil that crawls inside you? ’, there is no clear answer offered. This may be the question the reader wants answered too, but Burgess refuses to openly judge Alex. He is by far the most alive and charismatic character in the narrative and the reasons behind his choice to brutalise others remain ambiguous. Like Simon in Lord of the Flies, Deltoid fails to understand the rationale behind brutality. Alex believes, just as Jack does, that it is more honourable and authentic to act on impulse than on rational, responsible thought: ‘[t]his biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns me into a fine laughing malchick. They don’t go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? ’ Deltoid does not, or chooses not to, understand Alex and it is his falsified recommendation that leads to Alex serving a fourteen-year prison sentence. When Deltoid spits in Alex’s face during his incarceration, we actively abhor the role of the state in his downfall, despite his own inarguably abhorrent crimes. It is, ironically, in the prison chaplain, or charlie, that Alex finds most comfort and companionship. In earlier chapters, Alex rejects the notion of religion – he calls God ‘bog’ and ridicules the word of a clergyman in the newspaper – but Burgess creates a sympathetic outlet for Alex in the form of the admittedly flawed chaplain. The chaplain finds the potential in Alex and portentously warns him about the possibility of correction: ‘The question is whether such a technique can really make a man good†¦Goodness comes from within†¦Goodness is something chosen†¦When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man. This perspective contrasts with the policeman’s earlier statement at the time of Alex’s arrest which appears to suggest the inevitability of a cycle of brutality: ‘Violence creates violence’, said the top millicent’. Perhaps Burgess is claiming that with more understanding guidance and compassion, A lex’s fate may not have been sealed in the way it is about to be. Alternatively Burgess, himself raised in a staunchly Catholic home, may be espousing the relative virtues of religion over those of politically motivated states. Burgess may be saying the socially responsible doctrines of organised religion are a force for good. Biblical references also litter Lord of the Flies. In a sense, the anonymous beauty of the island reflects the untarnished Garden of Eden. If Piggy and Ralph make an unusual Adam and Eve, they do symbolically represent a new start and the hope of a new life. When the plane crashes we are led to believe that it is during wartime and the children might therefore be the planting of new seeds while the adult word implodes. The opening to the novel is written with descriptions of ‘shores fledged with palm trees’ and ‘high ledges of pink granite’, utopian visions that share something in common with life before human intervention. Simon’s depiction mirrors that of Jesus – he takes himself away to the glade in the forest to meditate and he arrives at a number of truths the other boys are unable, or oblivious, to see. Simon’s conversation with the Lord of the Flies also parallels the confrontation between Jesus and the devil during Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, as told in the Christian Gospels. Simon is eventually sacrificed for his beliefs and his unwillingness to adopt the lifestyle of the savages. While Burgess is more direct in his depiction and discussion of religious ideologies, Golding clearly alludes to the stories of Christianity. However, his disturbing portrayal of the killing of the sow, which may be a link to the ritual of religious slaughter, suggests a more judgmental view on organised religion. The endings of both novels suggest a clear sense of closure in their respective narratives. Golding employs deus ex machina to return the remaining boys to reality. It is a fire signal, a recurring symbol for civilisation and common sense in the novel, that alerts the officer to the island but not the one Ralph had intended to be seen but rather one set by the other boys as a way to kill him. The officer, however, does not instil a sense of relief in Ralph. Golding mocks the officer and the illusion of British patriotism: ‘I should have thought that a pack of British boys†¦would have been able to put up a better show than that’ and suggests that the ycle of violence will continue in the adult world just as it has always done. On the other hand, in A Clockwork Orange, Alex’s discontentment with violence after his reprogramming leads him to consider an alternative future in which he can reclaim the role in society he had once lost, albeit a homogenised and stereotypical one with a wife and a son. It is telling that in the original American publication of the novel, the final chapter was excluded, against Burgess’s wishes. Without Alex’s renouncement of violence, Burgess said, the novel would have been ‘irredeemably evil’. It is no surprise that both Lord of the Flies and A Clockwork Orange are still relevant and widely-read today. Oppression, subjugation, sexual violence, tyranny and misogyny are still rife in the world and discontentment among people continues to lead to uprisings against corrupt or totalitarian states. Although the social responsibility of the ‘average’ person and also of the ruling class is reflected in these novels, it may not be true, after all, that ‘goodness is chosen’. Rather it is in human nature and, therefore, the way of the world that evil exists. Word count: 2245

Marvin Hugley Jr. Essays (3303 words) - Film, Film Noir, Neo-noir

Marvin Hugley Jr. Eric Nelson Cinema 107 5/8/17 LA Confidential and Film Noir One of the most influential film movements in the 1940's was a genre that is known today as film noir. Film noir was a recognizable style of filmmaking, which was created in response to the rising cost of typical Hollywood movies (Buss 67). Film noir movies were often low budget films; they used on location shoots, small casts, and black and white film. The use of black and white film stock not only lowered production costs, but also displayed a out of place disposition that the conventions of film noir played upon. It is these conventions: themes, characters, lighting, sound, and composition, which are seen in the movie LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997). This paper discusses the techniques used in LA Confidential that link the movie with the typical cinematic conventions of the film noir style. Film noir often tackled subjects that dealt with common underlying themes: corruption, deceit, mystery, etc (Sobchack, 271). One of the most well-known and acclaimed pioneers in film noir is the movie The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941). This film was based on a private investigator, Sam Spade, hired to investigate a case. The Maltese Falcon is now viewed as the typical film noir style movie because it contains traits and qualities of filmmaking that were adapted by film noir filmmakers. Film noir started during the mid 1940's and has been a popular film style ever since, yielding such contemporary movies like The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995), Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994), and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998). These films have proved that film noir is not a method dedicated to past decades, but rather an innovative style of film that influences movies today. LA Confidential, like other contemporary film noirs utilize many stylistic qualities that the earlier film noir movies grasped. Often film noir movies were based upon corruption, usually in an urban type setting. Location in these movies would often consist of nighttime scenes in a busy city. Los Angles, the location of LA Confidential, is a typical setting for film noir movies due to its "newer" west coast image and the absence of rural traditions. The city was chosen largely because of its informality. People living in a city do not interact with each other as people of a small town might. Film noir played upon the idea of loneliness and solitude; two traits that are easily found in a big city (Monaco 246). Nighttime scenes were chosen because of the mystery that comes with darkness. Night projects a feeling to the viewer that he or she would not absorb in the daytime, very much the same way horror movies play themselves upon the night. Just like the basis of the big city, film noir acts upon the conventions of mystery and suspense: it is easier for the filmmaker to play with the viewer's emotions if he or she is placed in a setting of uneasiness. The nighttime images in LA Confidential portray that anxiety and allow the mystery of the plot to expand. This use of nighttime and darker images lends the movie to take advantage of the stylistic low-key lighting. The movie begins with the narration of Sid Hudgens, editor for Hush Hush magazine, a sleazy tabloid concerned with getting a news story no matter what the consequences are. Typical of film noir, the story is adapted from a tabloid or pulp fiction novel. Sid Hudgens describes a town of beauty, filled with beaches, people, and economic potential. He tells how anyone can achieve the American dream in Los Angeles and how it truly is the greatest place to live. Sid's voice suddenly turns sour as he reveals the truth about Los Angeles: an image is sold to the gullible; a pleasant image sent throughout the media. Unfortunately, it's all a lie. The story continues with the addition of Edmund Exley to the Los Angeles Police Department. Exley is a skilled detective with all the book smarts a cop could possess. Usually, the protagonist in film noir would have an inner conflict between what he feels is right, and what is expected of him. In the movie,

Vicarious Liability Essays

Vicarious Liability Essays Vicarious Liability Essay Vicarious Liability Essay Seminar 7 Vicarious Liability The problem question deals mainly with the issue of Vicarious Liability and Negligence. In order to advise Jerry one would have to explore the rules of vicarious liability, relevant statute law and case law which may apply. Vicarious liability has been defined as the person who commits a wrong must be an employee and not an independent contractor, the employee must have committed a tort and the tort must have been in the course of employment. The doctrine of ‘vicarious liability’ is a public policy that holds employers liable when a tort is committed by an employee in the course of their employment. This means that a victim of a tort can claim compensation from the employee’s company if it is proven to have been the employee’s fault that the tort occurred. There are three elements to the doctrine of vicarious liability, where the ‘employee and not an independent contractor’, ‘commits a tort’ and ‘in the course of employment’. There are 3 tests to establish whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor. These are the control test, integration test and the economic reality test, which is also known as the multiple test. In order to determine who is an employee versus who is an independent contractor, this is illustrated the case of Yewens v. Noakes (1880) 6 QBD, were the respondent was a hop merchant and possessed houses which had internal communication throughout, and were used for the purposes of his trade. K lived in the houses in order to take care of them, and he was a clerk and was paid a salary of ? 150 a year. He resided in the houses together with his wife, children, and servant. It was held that K was not ‘a servant or other person’ within Revenue Act 1868 (c 28) s 11 (repealed), and Bramwell LJ stated that â€Å"a servant is a person subject to the command of his master as to the manner in which he shall do his work. This case set out what was known as the ‘Control Test’ by way of stating who was an employee and how that employee was controlled by his master. For example, an employee could be controlled in the way he preformed his duties, such as cutting the vegetables this way, holding the knife that way. However, this test became one where it could no longer control how employees preformed their duties, given that one can direct an employee to do a task, but could no longer command an employee to do it in a certain way due not having the particular skill needed to carry out the task. For example, an employer could direct a doctor to operate on a patient but not be able to control how that operation is preformed given that the employer may not posses that particular skill. The integration test was established in Stevenson v McDonald (1969) and looks at whether the person’s work is an integral part of the business. If they are an integral part of a business, for example a till worker, then they are more likely to be seen as an employee to the courts. If they are not seen as an integral part of the business, for example someone who has come in to fix a till, then they will be seen by the courts as a independent contractor. Lord Denning stated that One feature which seems to run through the instances is that, under a contract of services, a man is employed as part of the business and his work is done as an integral part of the business; whereas, under a contract for services, his work, although done for the business, is not integrated into it but is only accessory to it. This refined the control test in order to determine the differences between being an employee and an independent contractor. The multiple test was applied in the Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1968) where it looked at the contractual relationship between the parties. An individual who has a contract of service is more likely to be seen as an employee by the courts whereas an individual who has a contract for services is more likely to be seen as an independent contractor. The courts may also look at the way an individual is paid. If an individual is paid a salary and they incur for tax reductions, then the individual is ore likely to be seen as an employee. If however, the person is paid a lump sum and has to make their own reduction, they are more likely to be seen as an independent contractor. In this case it was held that the driver was an independent contractor. However in the case of Market Investigations Ltd v Minister of Social Security [1969] 2QB173 Cooke J’s judgment was that â€Å"The fundamental test to be applied is this: †Is the person who has engaged himself to perform these services performing them as a person in business on his own account? This was been determined by using a mix of factors: for example, does the employee provide his own equipment and does he hires his own helpers? It also looks at what degree of financial risk he takes and to what degree of responsibility he has. It also takes into account how the employee is paid and whether the employee can work for another. In this case it was held that Mrs Irving was employed under a series of contracts of service and therefore was an employee of the company. Although, Jerry regards Peter as self-employed within his organisation, it would be fair to state that given the control test above, Jerry does have control over Peter by stating that if ever Peter is not available when he wants him he will never employ him again. Peter is free to work for others but does not do so. Therefore the case of Yewens v. Noakes (1880) 6 QBD demonstrates the control that Jerry has over Peter. The Integration Test would also show that Peter could be an integral part of the business given that he does a service rather than offers one. This was made clear in the above case of Stevenson v McDonald (1969) where Lord Denning noted the differences between an employee and an independent contractor. Although this new test sets out the real differences, the old test could still hold some merit if the employee is controlled in such a way as to be a servant rather than an accessory to the business. Therefore, if Peter is an employee rather than an accessory to the business this would be examined by the more modern multiple test. This test looks at other factors which don’t arise in the older tests. The courts would look as to whether Peter used his own equipment and how he is paid as stated above. Peter does not use his own equipment as he does his deliveries on a motorcycle wearing a uniform provided by Jerry. He is also paid a basic weekly wage, or retainer, plus an hourly rate for every hour actually worked. Based on this and the case of Market Investigations Ltd v Minister of Social Security [1969] 2QB173 it would be clear that Peter is in fact employed by Jerry under contracts of service and therefore is an employee of the company. Once it is established that a relationship of employer and employee exists, it is then necessary to establish as to whether a tort has been committed in the course of employment. A test formulated by John William Salmond 100 years ago stated that an employer will be held liable for either a wrongful act they have authorised, or a wrongful and unauthorised mode of an act that was authorised. The courts tend to favor this test as there are no other suitable tests available and the courts usually rely upon precedent, and the facts of each individual case. An illustration of the test is provided by two contrasting cases. In the case of Limpus v London General Omnibus Company where a driver pulled out in front of another rival omnibus, in order to obstruct it. Despite having expressed prohibitions, the employer was found liable. This was classified as an unauthorised act of the employee carrying out his duties, which was driving and not an entirely new activity. Whereas in the case of Beard v London General Omnibus Company, a conductor was employed to collect fares on board the bus and, thinking he was doing the driver a favor, he negligently chose to drive the bus. This was completely outside of his duties as a conductor. Given the above Peter committed the tort of negligence in the course of employment and although the act was unauthorised it was not outside the course of his duties. Therefore Jerry would be vicariously liable to the claimants.

Cactus Hill (USA) - Possible Preclovis Site in Virginia

Cactus Hill (USA) - Possible Preclovis Site in Virginia Cactus Hill (Smithsonian designation 44SX202) is the name of a buried multi-component archaeological site on the coastal plain of the Nottaway River in Sussex County, Virginia. The site has both Archaic and Clovis occupations, but most importantly and once quite controversially, below the Clovis and separated by what appears to be a variably thick (7–20 centimeters or about 3–8 inches) level of sterile sand, is what excavators argue is a Pre-Clovis occupation. Data from the Site Excavators report that the Pre-Clovis level has a stone tool assemblage with heavy percentages of quartzite blades, and pentangular (five-sided) projectile points. Data on the artifacts has yet to be published in detailed peer-reviewed contexts, but even skeptics agree the assemblage includes small polyhedral cores, blade-like flakes, and basally thinned bifacial points.   Numerous projectile points were recovered from the various levels of Cactus Hill, including Middle Archaic Morrow Mountain Points and two classic fluted Clovis points. Two projectile points from what are thought to be Pre-Clovis levels are named Cactus Hill points. Based on the photographs published in Johnson, Cactus Hill points are small point, made from a blade or flake, and pressure flaked. They have slightly concave bases, and parallel to slightly curved side margins. Radiocarbon dates on wood from the Pre-Clovis level range between 15,070 ±70 and 18,250 ±80 RCYBP, calibrated to approximately  18,200–22,000 years ago. Luminescence dates taken on feldspar and quartzite grains in the various levels of the site agree, with some exceptions, with the radiocarbon assays. The luminescence dates suggest that the site stratigraphy is primarily intact and has been little affected by the movement of artifacts down through the sterile sand. Seeking the Perfect Pre-Clovis Site Cactus Hill is still somewhat controversial, in part no doubt because the site was among the earliest to be considered Preclovis in date. The Pre-Clovis occupation was not stratigraphically sealed and artifacts were assigned to Pre-Clovis levels based on their relative elevation in an environment of sand, where bioturbation by animals and insects can easily move artifacts up and down in a profile (see Bocek 1992 for a discussion). Further, some of the luminescence dates on the Pre-Clovis level ranged as young as 10,600 to 10,200 years ago. No features were identified: and, it must be said that the site is just not a perfect context. However, other, completely credible Pre-Clovis sites have been and continue to be identified, and Cactus Hills shortcomings may today be of less significance. Multiple instances of fairly secure preclovis sites in North and South America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and along the Pacific coast, have made these issues seem less compelling. Further, the Blueberry Hill site in the Nottoway River valley (see Johnson 2012) also reportedly contains cultural levels stratigraphically below Clovis-period occupations. Cactus Hill and Politics Cactus Hill isnt a perfect example of a Pre-Clovis site. While the west coast presence of Pre-Clovis in North America is accepted, the dates are pretty early for an east-coast site. However, the context for the Clovis and Archaic sites also in the sand sheet would be similarly imperfect, except that Clovis and American Archaic occupations are firmly accepted in the region and so no one questions their reality. The arguments concerning when and how people arrived in the Americas are slowly being revised, but the debate will likely continue for some time to come. Cactus Hills status as a credible evidence of preclovis occupation in Virginia remains one of those questions yet to be fully resolved. Sources Feathers JK, Rhodes EJ, Huot S, and MJM. 2006. Luminescence dating of sand deposits related to late Pleistocene human occupation at the Cactus Hill Site, Virginia, USA. Quaternary Geochronology 1(3):167-187.Goebel T. 2013. Archaeological Records: Global expansion 300,000–8000 years ago, Americas. In: Mock SAEJ, editor. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science (Second Edition). Amsterdam: Elsevier. p 119-134.Goebel T, Waters MR, and O’Rourke DH. 2008. The Late Pleistocene Dispersal of Modern Humans in the Americas. Science 319:1497-1502.Johnson MF. 2012. Cactus Hill, Rubis-Pearsall and Blueberry Hill: one is an accident; two is a coincidence; three is a pattern – predicting old dirt in the Nottoway river valley of Southeastern Virginia, U.S.A. Exeter: University of Exeter.Wagner DP, and McAvoy JM. 2004. Pedoarchaeology of Cactus Hill, a sandy Paleoindian site in southeastern Virginia, U.S.A. Geoarchaeology 19(4):297-322.Wagner DP. 2017. Cactus Hill, Virginia. In: Gilber t AS, editor. Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. p 95-95.

RESEARCH METHODS FOR MANAGERS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RESEARCH METHODS FOR MANAGERS - Assignment Example The ability to form teams virtually that will operate across the limitations of time, distance and organizational boundaries have proven to be the successful for the organizations. These teams use electronic collaboration technologies and other techniques to lower facility and travelling costs, reduce project schedules and improve decision making communication and time. Since companies are more focused on foreign markets for expanding their base of customer, they are also looking at lowering costs or exacting effectiveness by tapping the foreign labor pool. For this purpose, outsourcing and off- shoring have become very prevalent. The result is that firms are able to achieve substantial cost saving and decrease their time to market when building software solutions, offering services, manufacturing products since additional risks are managed effectively (Gruhn, Volker, Schope & Lothar, 2002, P. 254). Today the management desires to establish international presence by exacting operatin g efficiencies and reducing costs of distributed teams created by mergers, acquisitions, technical specialization and downsizing. Organizations that do not use virtual teams effectively have difficulty in competing in the global, competitive and rapidly changing markets. Those organizations that will succeed in finding ways of working across boundaries like systems, technologies, people and procedure. Literature Review Managing virtual teams can be more complex than managing traditional teams, however. First, virtual teams primarily communicate and collaborate by using technology such as e-mail, groupware, etc. Virtual teams exclusively depend on software and technology tools to collaborate and communication, whereas the teams that are traditional can always abandon technology and software tools in favor of face-to-face communication and collaboration. Secondly, boundaries were crossed by virtual teams in relation to organization, distance, and time. This raises the need of attentio n towards the issues of collaboration and communication

Systems Dvelopment Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Systems Dvelopment Case Study - Essay Example The system also provided the factor of motivation that it was able to identify the cost saving opportunities and prospects for the Pepsi Company. The billing management offered by the project also served as a motivating factor for the company to implement the system. BusinessObjects Corporation was one of the participants involved in the development of the Purchase to Pay System. It was involved for the providence of business intelligence information to Pepsi Co. and also for the storage of the procurement in a well managed and efficient database. The systems development life cycle approach which can be best applied to the Purchase to Pay System of the Pepsi Co. was the iterative approach. Through this approach the prototype of the new project that was to be implemented should be designed for the convenience of the staff of Pepsi and also for the ease of use and should be improved through a number of iterations. For achieving the best system development, the system is improved through iterations in the prototype in this approach. This kind of approach would be helpful for Pepsi to get the best out of the Procurement System that it planned to implement in the company. 5. Assuming that you were responsible for designing and implementing the new procurement system at PepsiCo, what problems and opportunities would you have considered in conducting your initial systems investigation The purcha

Media as the main branch of society that sway Gender Essay Example for Free

Media as the main branch of society that sway Gender Essay In the current era, media had been greatly influencing the society. Through the variety of information and mediums the industry could utilize, seemingly media could create numerous impact in the lives of many people. In the movie Bodyguard which was publicized in 1992 provides one of the most distinct examples which could be highlighted to see the power of the media. In terms of gender topics, media had been the main industry that has the authority to proclaim what should or should not be for various genders in the society. The movie Bodyguard starred the most popular actors during the early 90s such as Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Both of these actors have their own image which the masses view of them. Therefore, there is an immediate connotation when it comes to the characters they portray. Kevin Costner is known to be a very good actor who had been acknowledged in many award giving bodies. Whitney Houston on the other hand is a very popular singer who is idolized by many. In the movie, Houston sort of, portrayed herself while Costner captured the role of a masculine, â€Å"only-doing-his-job† body guard who is very much protective of Whitney for the reason that she has a stalker. Houston on the other hand is a famous singer who was being harassed by a stalker. Thus seeing the main personalities, the characters does portray a very â€Å"in-the-box† nuance of what a male and a female should be. Just like in fairytales, the woman must be saved by a man in order for her to get through the evil witches who were often abusing the helpless lead character. In conclusion, media and the concept of media go together. The perspective of the media of what should or should not be is immediately absorbed by the society. Moreover, the movie Bodyguard supports the concept of the typical male and female responsibilities which is practiced by the society. Thus, the media supports this type of perspective of gender which strictly assumes that men are strong and protective while women are vulnerable and weak. References Costner, K. , Kasdan, L. Wilson, J. (Producers). Jackson, M. (Director). (1992). Bodyguard. [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Brothers.

Organizational Justice and Psychological Contract Essay -- Human Resou

1. Organizational Justice The idea of justice has become noticeable building in the organizational studies. Researchers and practitioners put a great attention to the concepts of justice in the organization because of the potential results from the study. Perceptions of fairness are used as important factors in explaining, predicting and understanding human behavior in organizations (Hartman & Galle Jr., 1999; Martin & Bennett, 1996; Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002). As Colquitt et al. (2001a) explain that a number of studies on organizational justice have shown that fair treatment has a significant effect on the attitudes of individual employees, such as satisfaction and commitment, and individual behavior, such as attendance and citizenship behavior. A number of studies explain that justice plays important role in explaining variance in work attitude and behaviors. Studies shows that application of fair conduct from management deliver a positive message to employees that they can be trusted, thereby reducing the fear of exploitation while enhancing the legitimacy of the actions the organization (Lind, 2001, Tyler and Lind, 1992 and Van den Bos, 2001a). Fair treatments will reduce some uncertainty in the daily work life and makes the situation faced by employees can be predicted and controlled (Lind and Van den Bos, 2002 and Thibaut and Walker, 1975). Just behavior has the potential to bring more meaning of work life (Cropanzano et al, 2001 and Folger, 1998.). a. Definition and Forms of Organizational Justice The concept of organizational justice is a broad, multifaceted construct, encompassing several dimensions. Perceived justice previously discussed in two different perspectives. As Greenberg (1990) give details, that initia... ...1), 137-152. Robinson, S. L., & Morrison, E. W. (1995). Psychological contracts and OCB: The effect of unfulfilled obligations on civic virtue behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(3), 289-298. Robinson, S. L., & Rousseau, D. M. (1994a). Violating the psychological contract: Not the exception but the norm. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(3), 245-259. Rousseau, D. (1989). Psychological and implied contracts in organizations. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2(2), 121-139. Rousseau, D. M. (2001). Schema, promise and mutuality: The building blocks of the psychological contract. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 74(4), 511. Simons, T., & Roberson, Q. (2003). Why managers should care about fairness: The effects of aggregate justice perceptions on organizational outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 432-443.

Minimum Wage Good or Bad

Minimum Wage Good or Bad Rachel L. Hathaway Professor Myung Han Economic Problems and Issues – ECO 40500816 March 15, 2009 Whether minimum wage is good or bad, has been an ongoing debate since before 1938 when the government set the first federal minimum wage at $0. 25/hr thanks to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The federal minimum wage is currently at $6. 55/hr with yet another increase to come July 24, 2009 to begin the federal minimum wage up to $7. 25/hr. Minimum wage was ideally set to help the working poor to stay out of poverty. Let’s do the math $6. 5* 2080=$13624 per year. 2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971–3972 Well, based on the 2008 poverty guidelines if you are a single person you are considered above the poverty line, however, if you are a head of household say a single parent with a child you now fall below the poverty line. It is easy to see that minimum wage will not cut it to make end s meet and provide for just basic needs for food and shelter and the need for child care that you have to have in order to work for the minimum wage of $6. 55/Hr. A hike in minimum wage is fun to talk about, but, in the end, economically speaking, it isn’t a worthy option. Higher wages mean higher costs, which mean higher prices across the board. With a $10 minimum wage, the ninety-nine-cent value menu at Wendy’s becomes the $1. 99 value menu, and so on, so what’s the point? If $7 an hour isn’t supporting your current lifestyle, then you have other options: a) team up with a friend or family member to help cover living expenses, B) change your lifestyle, or C) use that job as the stepping stone it is meant to be in you quest for better opportunities. Shepard, 2008, page 229-230) Ok so the minimum wage is increasing to $7. 25 in July 2009 that will make the annual income a total of $15,080. Congratulation! Single parents working at minimum wage you are now technically above the poverty line, however, you can almost bet on the cost to purchase everyday items to also go up as well. Economically in a mixed market like o urs in the US this is the normal course of things as costs to produce goods or services go up so will the sales price for the goods or ervices will follow suit to compensate for the increased labor cost, i. e. the $0. 70 raise from $6. 55/Hr to $7. 25/Hr come July. I found that even though we have federal minimum wage-state minimum wages vary widely with â€Å"27 states + DC being above the federal minimum, 12 states being equal to federal minimum wage rates, 6 being less than minimum wage, and 5 states do not have a minimum wage rate at all. â€Å"Note: Where Federal and state law have different minimum wage rates the higher standard applies. †Ã¢â‚¬  (WHD, 2008, consolidated table and p. 1) Why do the states vary so? The cost of living of within each state is so different the main logical reasoning. Some states are proactive with their higher wages by linking their increases to the Consumer Price Index in hopes to keep up with inflation. Others are lower but are held to the federal minimum wage anyway. The attempt to at least keep up with inflation is an honorable one however the output effect of inflation seems to keep the wages on the lagging side. You would expect minimum wage workers to typically be teenagers or young adults working their first jobs trying to gain skills and experience. However, many older adults are also filling those minimum wage jobs as while taking away taking away valuable experience needed to move on to higher paying positions. So how do we make more jobs? In our current state of recession in this country and the jobless rate mounting, we should consider placing a freeze on the minimum wage instead of adding to the unemployment rate with the next increase due in July 2009. By holding wages steady businesses are more likely to hire more laborers instead of letting go of laborers due to increase costs. We need all the help we can get to lower or at least slow the unemployment rate. It is estimated that for every one entry level/minimum wage position opening there are now 5 to 7 applicants. Minimum wage, good or bad, it is not helping those it was intending too. References Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and Dimed. New York: Owl Books Henry Holt and Company, LLC Messerli, J. (2007, December) A 20-Point Plan for Fixing America. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from http://www. balancedpolitics. org/editorial-point_plan. htm Sharp, A. , Register, P. , and Grimes, P. (2008). ECO 405 Economic Problems and Issues third custom edition. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Shepard, A. (2008). Scratch Beginnings. Chapel Hill, NC: SB Press The 2008 HHS Poverty G _uidelines, _One Version of the [U. S. ] Federal Poverty Measure. (2009, February). Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://aspe. hhs. gov/poverty/08poverty. shtml WHD. _ _(2008, December), Minimum Wage Laws in the States – January 1, 2009, Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://www. dol. gov/esa/minwage/america. htm Wikipedia. (2009, February), Minimum wage in the United States, Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in theUnited_States Minimum Wage Good or Bad Minimum Wage Good or Bad Rachel L. Hathaway Professor Myung Han Economic Problems and Issues – ECO 40500816 March 15, 2009 Whether minimum wage is good or bad, has been an ongoing debate since before 1938 when the government set the first federal minimum wage at $0. 25/hr thanks to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The federal minimum wage is currently at $6. 55/hr with yet another increase to come July 24, 2009 to begin the federal minimum wage up to $7. 25/hr. Minimum wage was ideally set to help the working poor to stay out of poverty. Let’s do the math $6. 5* 2080=$13624 per year. 2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971–3972 Well, based on the 2008 poverty guidelines if you are a single person you are considered above the poverty line, however, if you are a head of household say a single parent with a child you now fall below the poverty line. It is easy to see that minimum wage will not cut it to make end s meet and provide for just basic needs for food and shelter and the need for child care that you have to have in order to work for the minimum wage of $6. 55/Hr. A hike in minimum wage is fun to talk about, but, in the end, economically speaking, it isn’t a worthy option. Higher wages mean higher costs, which mean higher prices across the board. With a $10 minimum wage, the ninety-nine-cent value menu at Wendy’s becomes the $1. 99 value menu, and so on, so what’s the point? If $7 an hour isn’t supporting your current lifestyle, then you have other options: a) team up with a friend or family member to help cover living expenses, B) change your lifestyle, or C) use that job as the stepping stone it is meant to be in you quest for better opportunities. Shepard, 2008, page 229-230) Ok so the minimum wage is increasing to $7. 25 in July 2009 that will make the annual income a total of $15,080. Congratulation! Single parents working at minimum wage you are now technically above the poverty line, however, you can almost bet on the cost to purchase everyday items to also go up as well. Economically in a mixed market like o urs in the US this is the normal course of things as costs to produce goods or services go up so will the sales price for the goods or ervices will follow suit to compensate for the increased labor cost, i. e. the $0. 70 raise from $6. 55/Hr to $7. 25/Hr come July. I found that even though we have federal minimum wage-state minimum wages vary widely with â€Å"27 states + DC being above the federal minimum, 12 states being equal to federal minimum wage rates, 6 being less than minimum wage, and 5 states do not have a minimum wage rate at all. â€Å"Note: Where Federal and state law have different minimum wage rates the higher standard applies. †Ã¢â‚¬  (WHD, 2008, consolidated table and p. 1) Why do the states vary so? The cost of living of within each state is so different the main logical reasoning. Some states are proactive with their higher wages by linking their increases to the Consumer Price Index in hopes to keep up with inflation. Others are lower but are held to the federal minimum wage anyway. The attempt to at least keep up with inflation is an honorable one however the output effect of inflation seems to keep the wages on the lagging side. You would expect minimum wage workers to typically be teenagers or young adults working their first jobs trying to gain skills and experience. However, many older adults are also filling those minimum wage jobs as while taking away taking away valuable experience needed to move on to higher paying positions. So how do we make more jobs? In our current state of recession in this country and the jobless rate mounting, we should consider placing a freeze on the minimum wage instead of adding to the unemployment rate with the next increase due in July 2009. By holding wages steady businesses are more likely to hire more laborers instead of letting go of laborers due to increase costs. We need all the help we can get to lower or at least slow the unemployment rate. It is estimated that for every one entry level/minimum wage position opening there are now 5 to 7 applicants. Minimum wage, good or bad, it is not helping those it was intending too. References Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and Dimed. New York: Owl Books Henry Holt and Company, LLC Messerli, J. (2007, December) A 20-Point Plan for Fixing America. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from http://www. balancedpolitics. org/editorial-point_plan. htm Sharp, A. , Register, P. , and Grimes, P. (2008). ECO 405 Economic Problems and Issues third custom edition. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Shepard, A. (2008). Scratch Beginnings. Chapel Hill, NC: SB Press The 2008 HHS Poverty G _uidelines, _One Version of the [U. S. ] Federal Poverty Measure. (2009, February). Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://aspe. hhs. gov/poverty/08poverty. shtml WHD. _ _(2008, December), Minimum Wage Laws in the States – January 1, 2009, Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://www. dol. gov/esa/minwage/america. htm Wikipedia. (2009, February), Minimum wage in the United States, Retrieved February 13, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in theUnited_States

Corporate Strategy Analysis Discussion Summary Essay

â€Å"Corporate strategy identifies the set of businesses, markets, or industries in which the organization competes and the distribution of resources among those businesses† (Bateman & Snell, 2011). There are four basic alternatives for corporate strategy. These strategies include concentration, vertical integration, concentric diversification and conglomerate diversification. Every company has their type of corporate strategy that they follow to include Coca-Cola, Xerox, Southwest Airlines, and VF. In 2004 Coca-Colas CEO Neville Isdell agrees to come out of retirement and becomes cokes new chief executive. Coca-Cola’s worse drop in sales at 24% resulted in the return of Neville Isdell (Foust, 2014). With the return of Neville, Coca-Cola agreed to use a corporate strategy of their own (vertical integration) when they bought Glaceau’s vitamin water. Coca-Cola also came out with their coffee cola (Coke Blak) and their green tea (Envigo). The decision to purchase vitamin water was vital to the increase of Coca-Cola’s sales and bring them back into competition with PepsiCo. Coca-Cola is using an aggressive strategy to expand globally with their carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. To this day Coca-Cola is still expanding with their products such as Fuze and Gold Peak tea. Anne Mulcahy began the transformation of Xerox by following a concentrated strategy by focusing on a single industry. She pursed concentrated strategy by first reducing Xerox nearly $18 billion in debt. She accomplished this by cutting billions of dollars through slashing of jobs and selling off divisions. Anne Mulcahy then evaluated alternatives by pouring resources into a consulting division; this made the company more accessible for potential clients and customers. She developed a new business strategic plan, although a risky choice helped the organization seize new opportunities or thwart challenges. She also closed the desk top printers division and moved away from expensive consumer  printers with functions nobody wanted. Xerox took new technology and moved into colored digital printing and started developing high end color commercial printers. Xerox made this decision because the profit margin of color pages was five times that of black and white copies. Xerox used the strategy of concentric diversification by moving into a new business that was related to the company’s core business. Xerox then purchased office Services Company and Image Services for 1.5 billion dollars to demonstrate its new marketable high end color digital printers and copier services. References Bateman,T.S., & Snell, S.A. (2011). Management:Leading & collaborating in a competitive world (9th ed.). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Foust, D. (2014). Gone Flat. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-12-19/gone-flat

How did Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon consolidate their thrones and pacify their kingdoms in the late fifteenth century Essays

How did Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon consolidate their thrones and pacify their kingdoms in the late fifteenth century Essays How did Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon consolidate their thrones and pacify their kingdoms in the late fifteenth century Essay How did Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon consolidate their thrones and pacify their kingdoms in the late fifteenth century Essay The achievements of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella, Queen of Castile (1474-1504) and Ferdinand, King of Aragon (1479-1516) have long been admired by historians. (www.thehistorychannel.co.uk /classroom/alevel/catholic.htm). When they married in October 1469, it resulted in the instigation of the consolidation of their thrones. The route to unification was not easy for them, they had several difficulties to overcome and it was not actually until five years after Isabella was crowned the queen of Castile that the entire kingdom finally came under her control and the couple became the joint sovereigns of Aragon and Castile. Imperial Spain was born from this Union of the Crowns.To assess how the consolidation of the thrones came about I plan to look in detail to the routes that had to be taken to unite the crowns. Also, once consolidated the way Isabella and Ferdinand managed to pacify the kingdoms.Before 1479 imperial Spain did not exist. The Iberian peninsular c onsisted of Portugal, Castile and Aragon (with three separate crowns).In 1406 Juan II became successor to the throne of Castile. However as a minor, this brought a period of much instability in the kingdom. His son Henry IV succeeded him in 1454. Chroniclers claim that he was incompetent, impotent and unfit to rule (www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/classroom /alevel/catholic.html) and the great nobles liberally exploited his power. With this strength of the nobles, they felt they could question his choice of successor.A group of nobles led by Alfonso Carillo, archbishop of Toledo, supported the rights of Isabella, the half-sister of Henry IV, as successor. Henry agreed to the nobles but only on the condition that she marry the widowed, much her elder, Alfonso V, king of Portugal. However Isabella had plans of her own, in search of allies, to strengthen her position and with the influence of the great nobles pressurising her into the decision, she chose Ferdinand, heir of Aragon, a plan h is father Juan II had been trying to initiate for some time. The matrimonial alliance was sought more eagerly by the Aragonese than by the Castilian branch, as Juan II was faced by revolution not only by Catalonia but also by the expansionist ambitions of Louis XI of France.The couple married in secret on 19 October 1469. As cousins, it became necessary to forge a papal bull which allowed them to marry within the forbidden degrees. Many people were strongly opposed to the marriage including Louis XI who had been hoping to secure Castile by a union between his brother and Isabella. There were also other nobles led by the powerful Mendoza family, who supported as heiress, Henrys infant daughter Juana (born 1463) known as La Beltraneja since it was rumoured that her real sire was Beltran de la Cueva, Duke of Albuquerque.When Henry IV heard of the event he disowned Isabella and recognised Juana as his heir. Nevertheless the kings death in 1474 eased the crisis that Isabella would have t o take to become Queen. Isabella was crowned Queen of castile in Segovia on 13th December 1474, the first step of the five year upward struggle for the throne. In May 1475, encouraged by her adherents, Juana, now married to Alfonso V of Portugal duly claimed the throne. Portuguese troops crossed the frontier into Castile, and risings broke out against Isabella and Ferdinand all through the country. What followed was a genuine civil war with Juana not only backed by Old Castile and most of Andalusia but also had the assistance of the Portuguese troops. Isabella was eventually victorious however with the assistance of Ferdinand who negotiated and used his militaristic skills giving Isabella advantage and maintaining the theory that Juana was not the true daughter of Henry IV. It was a slow process but eventually in 1479 Castile came under Isabellas control. The same year Juan II of Aragon died and Ferdinand and Isabella eventually became the joint sovereign of Castile and Aragon.The U nion of Crowns was regarded as a union of equals although each kingdom preserved its own social, political, and economic realities.. Aragon was an empire in decline while Castiles empire was just beginning to rise under its energetic young queen. Isabella was a devoted Christian and this religious conviction motivated her campaign to expel the Moors and Jews from Spain and spread Christianity to the rest of the world. Ferdinand, on the other hand, focused on Aragons Italian possessions and a series of royal marriages with the other royal houses of Europe.Even so Ferdinand and Isabella worked together to reform Spain. Until Queen Isabellas victory, politically Castile had been in turmoil. During the opening years of the fifteenth century the Castilian kings had become pawns in the hands of the Castilian aristocracy who exercised a great deal of political power as they had gained control over the majority of the land taken from the Moors. They represented only 3 per cent of the popula tion but owned almost 50 per cent of the land in Castile, leaving the remaining land divided between the Crown and the Church. Once Isabella and Ferdinand had firmly pacified the country, they planned to change this. They began restricting the power of the aristocracy by centralising their government and expanding their judicial system. Hence the monarchy was reformed and it was no longer in turmoil and firmly under the Crowns control.This stabilized the monarchys authority enough so that they could then focus on the completion of the reconquest. United, Ferdinand led the forces of Aragon and Castile to triumph thanks to his military and diplomatic skill. He and Isabella walked together in victory through the gates of Granada, the last Muslim place of defense, in Spain 1492. To Isabella this was a very important demonstration of her very strict Catholic faith and inspired the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition. The results included the expulsion of Muslims from the peninsula and t he expulsion of Jews from her kingdoms in order to create a homogeneous population of Christians. That same year, 1492, Isabella sponsored an expedition by Christopher Columbus that located America and signaled the beginning of a new era for Imperial Spain when he discovered America.Although the Monarchy had been unified in the sense of crowns it failed to emerge the kingdoms in the sense of people and in the sense of a national identity. Other than the fact that the two kingdoms would share the same monarchs, but in other respects they carried on leading the same lives. The only difference now would be that they were now partners, not rivals. Throughout their reign, the word Spain, referred to as it had done in medieval times, to the association of all the peoples in the peninsula, and had no specific political meaning and because of its imprecision they never used Spain in their official title calling themselves instead King and Queen of Castile, Leà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, Aragon, Sicily an d so on. Beyond the personal union, no attempt was made to change the complete autonomy of Castile and Aragon, and the achievement of a united Spain was never an objective of theirs. Minor improvements such as easing transport of goods between the realms, and decreeing equality between the three principal gold coins of Spain, helped economic exchange. But all the custom barriers that separated the kingdoms remained fully on force, and their institutions were kept separate.Going back to the medieval ages the crowns of Castile and Aragon had evolved in dissimilar ways, had different ideals and distinct institutions. The major differences were Castile was much larger, occupying almost four times that of Aragon and holding almost 80 per cent of the population, castile was essentially a united state with a single government; it had one Cortes, one tax structure, one language and one coinage, all this added to its size and population gave it greater political initiative than Aragon where each realm was governed independently by its own Cortes.With these major distinctions in mind it would and no attempt to change any of them, it is hard to say that Isabella and Ferdinand are the founders of an emergent Spain. It is true that they consolidated the thrones and pacified their kingdoms. But the only real unification was made by the crowns, not by the people. Also it is true that if it wasnt for them, it is likely that there would be no Spain today. If Juana had become sovereign, the world as we know it today may have been very different as it was Isabella who funded Columbus trip to America and without her Spanish America may not exist. They may not have set out to unify Spain but given time that is precisely what has happened. Along with the peace and order they brought, the emergence of Spain they can also take responsibility for.

The Failed Inventions of Thomas Alva Edison

The Failed Inventions of Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison held 1,093 patents for different inventions. Many of them, like the lightbulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, were brilliant creations that have a huge influence on our everyday life. However, not everything he created was a success; he also had a few failures. Edison, of course, had a predictably inventive take on the projects that didn’t quite work the way he expected. â€Å"I have not failed 10,000 times, â€Å" he said, â€Å"I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.† Electrographic Vote Recorder The inventor’s first patented invention was an electrographic vote recorder to be used by governing bodies. The machine let officials cast their votes and then quickly calculated the tally. To Edison, this was an efficient tool for government. But politicians didn’t share his enthusiasm, apparently fearing the device might limit negotiations and vote trading.   Cement One concept that never took off was Edisons interest in using cement to build things. He formed the Edison Portland Cement Co. in 1899 and made everything from cabinets (for phonographs) to pianos and houses. Unfortunately, at the time, concrete was too expensive and the idea was never accepted. The cement business wasnt a total failure, though. His company was hired to build Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Talking Pictures From the beginning of the creation of motion pictures, many people tried to combine film and sound to make talking motion pictures. Here you can see to the left an example of an early film attempting to combine sound with pictures made by Edisons assistant, W.K.L. Dickson. By 1895, Edison had created the Kinetophone- a Kinetoscope (peep-hole motion picture viewer) with a phonograph that played inside the cabinet. Sound could be heard through two ear tubes while the viewer watched the images. This creation never really took off, and by 1915 Edison abandoned the idea of sound motion pictures. Talking Doll One invention Edison had was just too far ahead of its time: The Talking Doll. A fill century before Tickle Me Elmo became a talking toy sensation, Edison imported dolls from Germany and inserted tiny phonographs into them. In March 1890, the dolls went on sale.  Customers complained that the dolls were too fragile and when they worked, the recordings sounded awful. The toy bombed. Electric Pen Trying to solve the problem of making copies of the same document in an efficient manner, Edison came up with an electric pen. The device, powered by a battery and small motor, punched small holes through paper to create a stencil of the document you were creating on wax paper and make copies by rolling ink over it.   Unfortunately, the pens weren’t, as we say now, user-friendly. The battery required maintenance, the $30 price tag was steep, and they were noisy. Edison abandoned the project.

Topic Selection and Rationale (Attempt 1 ) Essay

Topic Selection and Rationale (Attempt 1 ) - Essay Example The ability to properly define and/or guarantee protections for unique works or concepts could easily lead to stalemate if the intellectual property is governed domestically yet regulated abroad when doing business in foreign nations. In microeconomics, comparative advantage could explain a potential stalemate when it comes to intellectual property protection. This is when a firm has the ability to produce a work or product at a lower opportunity cost than competition. An opportunity cost is when the highest valued alternative must be sacrificed to select another strategy. If one business operates in a market where there are many competitors, and are able to experience lower cost in the action, competition may be more adamant about protecting their intellectual property as a competitive tool. Because the WTO acts as an agency and forum for these discussions, it is likely that the WTO will become engaged in trying to settle the dispute. A competing company might have very high cost objectives, however they cannot lower their opportunity costs to seek a special project or product innovation. Animosities between the rival companies could cause conflict with the membership of the WTO, based on the high cost of doing business against a competing product able to avoid high opportunity costs. In macroeconomics, inflation could also lead to problems with intellectual property rights disagreements that will ultimately involve the WTO. This is when the price of goods and services rises due to supply, finance, or money supply. Companies that are unable to compete effectively against another company that enjoys comparative advantage may also have inflationary issues arising from the cost of doing business which, in turn, affects overhead costs and production costs. The company could, at the same time, be impacted by inflation associated with international distribution.

The use of art to reveal sexual identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The use of art to reveal sexual identity - Essay Example Johns' works were also influenced by the works of two gay artists; O'Hara and Crane. By using the style and formats used by these two artists, it reveals his sexual inclination although in an indirect way. There are many similarities between "In memory of my feelings-Frank O'Hara" and "Paintings with two balls." The signature, the full title, and the date are stenciled along the bottom. The artist freights his work with signs of concealment. The inclusion of the name of Frank O'Hara in his art is clear sign that Johns adore the artist. O'Hara was one of the artists that were known to be openly gay. Andy Warhol is seen as the father of the Pop Art movement that rose in popularity towards the end of 1950's and early 1960's. Warhol pieces of art appear to be in agreement with the works of both Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Rauschenberg and Johns were also the idols of Warhol, who learnt a lot from them; Warhol even made silkscreen homage for Rauschenberg. "Let us now praise famo us men" was written to express admiration for the artist. "Thirteen most wanted men" by Warhol was a clever reference to the FBI's wish of arresting criminals and also the artist's desire for fellow men. Warhol managed to use that piece of art to demonstrate his support for homosexuality inclination as supported by Rauschenberg and Johns. Andy Warhol was one of the highest paid commercial artists of his time. Despite being a commercial artist, he also produced his own work. Warhol does not hide his sexual identity.

The Level of Employee Engagement and Organisational Performance in the Dissertation

The Level of Employee Engagement and Organisational Performance in the Nigerian Public Secto - Dissertation Example And if yes, then how does employees’ engagement relate to employees’ performance, i.e. positively or negatively? This study aims at investigating the relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance with particular reference to the Nigerian Public Sector, i.e. Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and National Information Technology Development. In order to conduct this study, the researcher made use of primary research and obtained information related to employees’ engagement level and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and NITDA’s performance through survey questionnaire and interviews. The researcher selected 150 respondents for survey and interviewed 10 managers. The results obtained in this study show that there is a positive relationship between employees’ engagement and organizational performance. Moreover, it has also been concluded that the employees working in Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and NITDA are highly engaged and t his high level of employee engagement has translated into improved organizational performance. Keywords: Employee Engagement, Organizational Performance, Motivation, etc. ... harts - Descriptive Findings 46 Figure 2: Scatter plot - Regression Analysis 48 List of Tables Table 1: Descriptive Findings – Demographics Attributes 36 Table 2: Descriptive Findings – Statements Related to Employee Engagement 39 Table 3: Descriptive Findings – Statements Related to Employee Engagement 42 Table 4: Findings from Regression Analysis 47 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1. Background to the Context The term ‘employee engagement’ can be argued to be a comparatively new in managerial practices, as it emerged in the last decade (Bhatia, 2011). The concept of employee engagement can be elaborated as the degree of employees’ commitment towards attainment of organizational goals and objectives. Engagement of employees can also be regarded as the sense of responsibility developed in employees in relation to their contribution and performance for overall betterment of organization (Schaufeli & Solanova, 2007; Exec, 2007). In the fast changing co rporate world of today, it is strongly felt by the organizations that employees are their assets and it is due to this reason that organizations in general and management in particular have started give importance to the concept of employee engagement (Bhatia, 2011; Adi, 2012). However, the question arises whether employees’ engagement has something to do with the performance level of employees? And if yes, then how does employees’ engagement relate to employees’ performance, i.e. positively or negatively? This study thus attempts to explore this relationship between these two aspects of employees’ behavior in organizational context. 1.2. Research Aim This study aims at investigating the relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance with particular reference to the Nigerian Public

United Kingdom and the Eurozone

United Kingdom and the Eurozone DEFINITION OF CURRENCY UNION In the world today, systems in which countries come together in agreement of sharing single money. The system is called currency or monetary union, its importance and number of participants is growing. In May 2005, 52 out of 184 IMF members participated in currency unions (Rose, 2006). A currency union can be defined as a system where two or more groups usually countries share a common or single currency in order to keep the value of their currency at a certain level (Investopedia, 2015). It can also be defined as an agreement among member’s countries or other jurisdictions to share a common currency, and a single foreign and monetary exchange policy (Rosa, 2004). Currency unions occur when a poor country unilaterally adopts the money of a larger â€Å"anchor† country. For Example, a number of countries currently use the American dollar such as Panama, Ecuador, and a number of smaller countries and dependencies in the Caribbean and Pacific (Rose, 2006). In Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia all use the South African Rand thereby forming a currency union (Multilateral monetary area). In these cases, the exchange and interest rates of dependent countries are influenced and determined by the anchor country, generally in the interest of the anchor. There are a number of multilateral currency unions between countries of similar size and wealth such as the East Caribbean dollar: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia. The Central Bank of the West African of the CFA franc: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo and also the Bank of the Central African States. Other currency unions in the world are the monetary authority Singapore, eastern Caribbean currency union, multilateral monetary area etc. The largest currency union is the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union which began on the 1st January 1999, although the euro was only physically introduced three years later. Twelve countries instituted the euro as a legal tender, delegating and determining monetary policy for EMU to through the international European central bank. One of the reasons of forming a currency union is mainly to synchronize and manage each member countrys monetary policy which could be done through lowering of transaction costs of cross-border trade (Silva and Tenreyro, 2010) The union is expected to grow more with Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia recently joining the area and other states such as Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City unilaterally adopting the euro as their sole currency however, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and the United Kingdom have rejected membership but maintained debates on the advisability of adopting the euro particularly after the onset of the global financial crisis (Carney, 2014). Currency unions have no definite size therefore there is no appropriate domain for a currency. The use of a single or common currency is advantageous to regions as well as can also cause problems in the dual presence of asymmetric shocks and nominal rigidities (in prices and wages) (Mundell, 1961). The effect of the size on currency union tend to create more open and fewer nominal rigidities for smaller countries making them better candidates for currency unions (Mckinnon, 1963). The effects of the economys degree of diversification could result in fewer asymmetric shocks and accordingly fewer benefits from national monetary policy. The insights of the theory of optimum currency areas provided by Mundell (1961) concluded that common currency areas are defined by internal mobility and external immobility of factors of production. According to this theory, the optimum size of currency area depends on the tradeoff between the macroeconomic efficiency gains and micro-economic costs. The forming currency unions have its costs as well as benefits. THE COSTS Generally, the main cost of joining a currency union is the loss of an independent monetary policy with the inability to react to shocks through exchange rate adjustments. Monetary independence can be beneficial when shocks are regionally specific, alternative mechanisms are weak and when exchange rate changes function as means of lightening idiosyncratic shocks Countries that could potentially let their exchange rates adjust to justify the impact of shocks often display fear of floating and thus do not exploit the automatic stabilization properties of exchange rates (Calvo and Reinhart, 2002). Countries reluctance to implement monetary policy to tackle shocks could be linked to its actual effectiveness; less effectiveness of monetary policies to facilitate the adjustment or possibly wider consideration such as fear that it may trigger beggar thy-neighbor responses by trading partners inducing structural volatility in the financial markets. Besides the absence of price adjustment mechanisms, output stabilization and currency revaluation in the currency union faces another challenge. A system of income transfers is necessary for softening negative asymmetric shocks in countries that have joined a currency union however; the prospect of income transfers between countries generates the type of moral hazard commonly seen in insurance models (Grabner, 2003). Another cost of currency unions relate to overcoming structural differences among the countries. The transition towards a monetary union is likely to expose structural weaknesses (Jacquet 1998 and Grabner 2003). By entering a monetary union, countries lose the ability to correct their monetary troubles in short term. The necessary structural reform preceding the acceptances of a single currency focus on issues like taxation, supervision of capital markets and also mutual recognition and harmonization of labor markets (Jacquet 1998). There is also an issue of fiscal financing. Public budget can be financed from government bonds and tax revenues. A country in a currency union is likely to face constraints on financing options resulting in a suboptimal situation. At the same time, government bonds are linked to inflation and a currency union implicitly assumes convergent optimal inflation rates (Grabner 2003). In reality the optimal levels of inflation may differ among the countries in the currency union. Furthermore, the cost or problem of currency union inability of participant countries to independently choose an inflation rate. It seems relatively less important now than in the past as improvements in available technology to central banks enable sustainable inflation that result in low actual inflation rates in most countries however if a country plagued by low productivity enters a currency union of higher productive countries, it could experience higher inflationary rates (Coleman 1999). THE BENEFITS One of the main benefits of currency unions envisaged by Mundell (1961) is the elimination of currency conversion costs and greater predictability of prices which would increase trade. The savings are more significant for small, open and less developed countries whose currencies are not used for international payments (Grabner 2003). Coleman (1999) mentions the savings from the reduction of transaction costs and reduction of price uncertainty together account for 0.4 percent of GDP in the Eurozone. Increased price transparency and reduced price uncertainty are often quoted as interrelated benefits of currency unions. The reduction of price uncertainty is linked to the use of unit of account which is simultaneouslu used by broader economic area (Zika, 2006). The even disappearance of exchange rates removes a vital barrier to trade integration; this furthermore leads to better information, increased competition and price transparency (Jacquet 1998 and Grabner, 2003). Further benefit of monetary union is the removal of competitive devaluations by member countries which also known as â€Å"beggar-thy-neighbor† policy (Kronberger, 2004). Within currency unions, both importers and exporters have a strong interest in avoiding disproportionate swings in exchange rates. The transfer of resources between regions by the centralized monetary authority through its money issuing function. These transfers can be used to diversify the risk of expected economic shocks however; public finance plays a significant role (Voss, 1998). Currency union has the potential to reduce the number of investment failures. Price uncertainty negatively impacts the welfare or risk adverse individuals in standard economic theory. The greater exchange rate volatility tends to impair the quality of decisions about investment projects abroad; therefore greater exchange rate volatility implies more frequent investment failures and larger costs (Grabner, 2003). Higher risk caused by the increase in price and exchange rate uncertainty increases the real interest rate. Higher real interest rates then highlight the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection. This therefore helps lower systematic risk (Grabner, 2003). Finally, the vast economic area of currency unions increases the effect of networking. The adoption of a single currency in a bigger economic area creates greater benefits for all users. Looking at the economic structure of the United Kingdom and Eurozone, both have projects which are suitable to the individual development and growth of both economies. The United Kingdom becoming a member of the eurozone will be more of disadvantage than benefit to the United Kingdom due to several reasons. The core argument for entering the EMU is the elimination of exchange risk against the euro which would promote much more trade with and within Europe by merging the rather risky and limited sterling capital market into a bigger and less risky euro capital market. The joining of the Eurozone is not to world currency but a regional one. Outside of Europe, most of the world either uses the dollar or is tied to it in some way therefore trade and investment would be half with the euro area and half with the dollar area. But over the years, euro/dollar exchange rate has been highly variable which when compared to British pound/dollar exchange rate it doesn’t seem convincing. If the UK remains outside, the pound can go between the two currencies as the euro swings occur against dollar thereby sitting on the middle of a seesaw. Looking at this, there is no necessary gain in the exchange risk reduction in UK joining the Eurozone and that it is even possible that the overall risk would rise. The benefit of price transparency and comparison between UK and Eurozone is also of little importance in the sense that United Kingdom has no land borders with the Eurozone unlike Belgium and Netherlands. Given this fact, the comparing of prices between both zones is irrelevant. In terms of bailout and the emerging state pension crisis, growth and development is slower than expected while unemployment is turning out to be higher. The politics of pension cut benefits is speculative given that the aging population will increasingly be dominated by older voters. The effect of raising taxes further would lower growth and increase unemployment. It is a matter of concern to the UK that cost of meeting explosive financial liabilities might somehow impact British taxpayers. In conclusion, the reduction of transactions cost of currency exchange would be roughly offset by the one-off cost of currency conversion. There would be some gain from eliminating exchange risk against euro but this would be offset largely by the volatility against the dollar with around half our trade broadly defined with countries either on or closely linked to the dollar. Generally, the exchange risk does not appear to have an important effect on trade or foreign investment, and in the UK case, on the cos of capital. Honestly, I would like to advice that the UK waits and properly assess and plan out different projects. Due to the structure of the Eurozone, I am strongly against the UK joining the Eurozone which is the best interest of British citizens REFERENCES A Coleman. (1999).Economic integration and monetary union.Available: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/workingpapers/1999/twp99-6.pdf . Last accessed 04-01-2015. Andrew K. Rose. (2006).Currency Unions.Available: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose/Palgrave.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Available: http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2004/5/cj24n1-2-10.pdf. Last accessed 04-01-2015. G.M.Voss. (1998). Monetary integration, uncertainty and the role of money finance.Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 65 (2), 231-245. G Fink And D Salvatore. (1999).Benefits and Costs of European Economic and Monetary Union.Available: file:///C:/Users/G1308037/Downloads/6.2_Fink.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. G Thompson and D Harari. (2013).The economic impact of EU membership on the UK.Available: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=10cad=rjauact=8ved=0CGEQFjAJurl=http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn06730.pdfei=iBCsVJ_QAefe7AbMvYDgDgusg=AFQjCNG. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Guillermo A. Calvo And Carmen M. Reinhart. (2002).Fear Of Floating. Available: http://web.cenet.org.cn/upfile/87741.pdf. Last accessed 02-01-2015. Investopedia. (2015).Currency Union.Available: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency-union.asp. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Jan Zika. (2006).Cost and Benefits Of A Monetary Union.Available: http://janzika.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/Monetary_union.pdf. Last accessed 02-01-2015. Jacquet P. (1998).A worthwhile gamble. International Affairs.Available: No. 1, January, Vol. 74, pp.55–71.. Last accessed 04-01-2015. Mark Carney. (2014).The Economics Of Currency Unions.Available: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2014/speech706.pdf. Last accessed 06-01-2015. Patrick Minford. (2002).Should Britain Join The Euro?.Available: http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook147pdf.pdf. Last accessed 07-01-2015. Patrick Minford. (2004).Britain, The Euro, And The Five Tests. R. Kronberger. (2004).A cost-benefit analysis of a monetary union for MERCOSUR with particular emphasis on the optimum currency area theory.Available: http://econwpa.wustl.edu:80/eps/mac/papers/0407/0407010.pdf . Last accessed 04-01-2015. R Layard, W Buiter, C Huhne, W Hutton, P Kenen and ATurner. (2002).Why Britain Should Join The Euro.Available: http://willembuiter.com/RL334D.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Robert A Mundell. (1961).A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas. Available: http://digamo.free.fr/mundell61.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Ronald I. Mckinnon. (1963).Optimum Currency Areas.Available: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1811021?sid=21105014573601uid=4uid=3738032uid=2. Last accessed 02-01-2015. S Rosa. (2004).Definition Of Currency Union.Available: https://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/pdf/cuteg1.pdf. Last accessed 04-01-2015. S.Silva and S. Tenreyro. (2010).Currency Unions in Prospect and Retrospect.Available: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/tenreyro/cupaper.pdf. Last accessed 01-01-2015. S.Tenreyro. (2001).On The Causes and Consequences of Currency Un.Available: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose/tenreyro.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Willem H. Buiter. (2008).Why the United Kingdom Should Join the Eurozone.Available: http://willembuiter.com/ifeuro.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015.

Kimberley Jayne Fletcher :: English Literature

Kimberley Jayne Fletcher The links and connections between ‘Flight’-by Doris Lessing, ‘Your Shoes’-by Michele Roberts, ‘Chemistry’-by Graham Swift, ‘Superman and Paula Browns new snowsuit’-by Sylvia Plath, and ‘growing up’-by Joyce Carey. The main theme in all the pieces of prose is ‘family’. In ‘Flight’ the granddad and granddaughter growing up and having to let go because the granddaughter is getting married, and it’s hard for family to let people you love go. In ‘Your Shoes’ the mum is upset about her child running away and is telling the audience/reader how she is feeling and how certain she will come back because she hasn’t got her new shoes she bought her. In ‘Chemistry’ the relationships betweens the granddad, mum, son and new boyfriend and how their lives change when their close family die. In ‘Superman and Paula Browns new snowsuit’ the boys family and friends not believing him that he didn’t push Paula brown in oil slick and ruining her new snowsuit. In ‘Growing up’ the dad is too tied up with his work during the week and one weekend he decides to spend time with his two daughters and he realises how much they have grown up. Both ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Flight’ the children feel betrayed by their granddad. The boy in ‘Chemistry’ feels betrayed by his whole family but his granddad the most because he has just committed suicide to get away from his daughter who has changed because of her new boyfriend and the boy think that his granddad is the only one who understands him and now that he's gone he has no one like his granddad. The girl in ‘Flight’ is feeling betrayed by her granddad because she knows how much he loves his birds and he also loved her as much as his birds. So when he let go of his birds it was symbolical of him letting go of her, so she can have freedom in her life and not have him interfering in her life. But the irony is that she wants him in her life. All of the stories portray betrayed but by different people, ‘Flight’ and ‘Chemistry’ the boy and girl betrayed by their granddad. ‘Your Shoes’ the mother is betrayed by her daughter. In ‘Your Shoes’ the mother is talking about what her daughter is like and how she feels betrayed by her because her daughter had always liked her grandmother more than her and she had always hated her mother because of the way she treated her when she was young. ‘Superman and Paula Browns new snowsuit’ the child is betrayed by their family and friends. In ‘Superman and Paula Browns new snowsuit’ the writer doesn’t tell us