Jahli Tray Coffee Table Essay

Jahli is Indian style furniture. It’s size is 110cm X 60cm X 47cm . It is made from sheesham wood; it is a very heavy, hard wood and has a natural rustic look, which in some homes will look very effective. It many features which makes it eye catching, these include old fashioned hinges on the corners of table. These hinges are matching to the handles of the four drawers. These drawers are cleverly designed and made because two of the four drawers have been sized to hold magazines. The other two drawers are the same size as each other and could hold remote controls, or any other bits and bobs. All these features contribute to its price tag of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½299. Existing Product Research Balmoral Coffee Table It’s size is 106.5cm X 51.0cm X 45.1cm. It is made from mahogany; it is very good for crafting by hand or machine and has a unique reddy colour when freshly cut. This table doesn’t have any distinctive features, however mahogany can be expensive, therefore this particular table is priced at à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½359. This table will slowly become damaged over time if kept in sunlight, so inevitably will not be suitable for conservatories, but it would be very effective in a modern living room, dining room or a side piece for a designer bedroom. Belly Nelly Small Coffee Table â€Å"Belly Nelly is a company built on a philosophy of quality, value and service that is second to none.†. It’s has a size of 90cm x 60cm x 40cm. This is also made from sheesham wood like the first table. However this piece of furniture has a different finish to the first, as it has a honey glazed finish giving it that glossy shiny look. This piece has been designed for an old fashioned household, and would look best in a 19th century style living room or somewhere along those time lines. It has no features, but I think that it benefits from this; not practically but visually, because of the simplicity of the design. Bentley Designs Coffee Table Bentley designs are renowned for creating stylish modern furniture, and this piece is no exception. It is 115cm X 60cm X 40cm. It is made from solid American oak. You can realise from the name that solid oak is a heavy, strong and durable wood. This piece, unlike the others, has an oiled finish bouncing light off it making it appear shiny and glossy.. Also the finish provides very practical protection to the wood. This design would fit in, in any modern living room because of its stylish appearance. The two drawers are very practical for remote or magazines, and the bottom shelf could be used for ornaments, trophies e.t.c. Furniture link Coffee Table The Eve range is different from other pieces because it is designed, so that the joinery will stand out to give maximum effect. It has a size of 120cm x 60cm x 43cm. It is made from solid oak, just like the piece from before. They have used solid oak because, it suits this simple design best. Also oak is renowned for being very strong therefore it will be able to withstand a lot of pressure. It doesn’t have any special features, which I think works best for this particular table because its simple. This table costs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½109. The Star Budget Corona Coffee Table This table has been made with steel in the legs, to add extra stability and strength. It is medium sized because it is 99.6cm X .59.7cm X .45.1cm. It has been designed to be perfectly suited to an old country home. However it may work in newer homes also. It has been manufactured by thick, solid pine, and with the additional strength from the metal rivets, it is very strong and hard wearing. The carved areas on the table give it character and finesse and the drawer makes it very practical. It has been given a pine finish to get the full effect of the wood out.

Legal memo

We filed a complaint last month in trial court alleging that there was negligence on the part of the store. We were seeking an award for damages. In the answer to the complaint the store alleges that Samaritan Smith had a duty to avoid the spill, and was unable to fulfill that duty because she was distracted by her misbehaving child. The store claims that her being distracted makes her equally at fault for the Injuries sustained in her trip and fall accident.Statement of Facts: While shopping at the local grocery store with her young son, Samaritan Smith lipped on clear, gel shampoo that had spilled Into the Isle. The fall resulted In a broken hip, requiring an overnight stay at the hospital as well as several months of physical therapy. The grocery store Indicated that although they complete hourly Isle clearance checks they were unaware of the spill. Issues: 1. Was the store negligent for not providing an environment free from hazards? 2.Is Samaritan Smith partially responsible for her injuries based on her not keeping proper lookout and not avoiding the spill? 3. Based on the Comparative Fault Act, can Samaritan Smith recover for her injuries? BRIEF ANSWERS: 1. In Indiana the owner oaf business or store is required to take reasonable measures to keep their property in a reasonably safe condition for persons who will be using the property. 2. Samaritan Smith does have a responsibility to maintain her own personal safety. 3. Based on the Comparative Fault Act, can Samaritan Smith recover for her injuries? Applicable Statue: 1.â€Å"A Claimant is barred from recovery if the Claimant's introductory fault is greater than the fault of all persons whose fault proximately contribute to the claimant's damages†. The amount awarded is reduced and possibly eliminated based on the level of claimant's fault found. Legal memo By cathedral The store claims that her being distracted makes her equally at fault for the injuries slipped on clear, gel shampoo that had spi lled into the isle. The fall resulted in a physical therapy. The grocery store indicated that although they complete hourly isle Legal Memo I chose to say contributory negligence because we cannot deny that cases of beer were not properly secured In our vehicle, proving that It was some percentage of our own default. ‘The plaintiff shall be barred from recovering damages if the Trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the Injury or damage for which recovery is sought. Illinois State Statute 735 ILLS 5/2-1116(c) (2011). Thus we must provide proof that the plaintiff, Mr..King contributed at least 51% of the negligence. A similar case would be Attainment v Modern Industries, INC. 960 F. Ad 692; 1992 U. S. App. LEXIS 6205. This case Involved a collision between a truck (Defendant, Modern Industries) and a person (Attainment). Attainment died due to his Injuries resulting from the accident. The decedent's mother brought a wrongful death slut against Modern Industries. Attainment was found to be 51% at fault thus the claim against Modern Indus tries was denied.Attainment's actions before he collided with Modern Industries are what led to the accident In the first place. An example of one of Attainment's contribution to the accident Is: â€Å"No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until It Is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without Interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic or a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers. Ill. Rev. Stats. 1989, chi. 95 1/2, par. 11-1407. Legal Memo PAP 10 By Jeroboams that cases of beer were not properly secured in our vehicle, proving that it was some percentage of our own default. â€Å"The plaintiff shall be barred from recovering is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery U. S. App. LEXIS 6205. This case involved a collision between a truck (Defendant, Modern Ind ustries) and a person (Attainment).Attainment died due to his injuries resulting from the accident. The decedent's mother brought a wrongful death suit Modern Industries are what led to the accident in the first place. An example of one of Attainment's contribution to the accident is: â€Å"No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor

Quality Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quality Management - Term Paper Example This review focuses on Mike Bolton’s published issue- ‘Get Staff Involved in Quality Initiatives.’ Mike Bolton, the Vice President of ATC, a public transportation company, explored an entirely new quality initiative. He went out of the ordinary Six Sigma to the risk of involving employees-whose loyalty was not guaranteed-in quality initiatives. This was a daunting task that many critics doubted its feasibility. Bolton’s motivation for a new quality initiative was the economic downturn in 2000 when it merged with a global transportation service. He thought that adopting the Six Sigma would be costly in terms of time and finances considering their budget at the time. Together with ATC’s CEO, Jim Long, Bolton adopted the Action Workout initiative. This incorporated leaders and employees alike in quality improvement. Teams were deployed to each of ATC’s branches; this consisted of leaders and employees. Each team had one leader and six employees, their focus was improving one of the laid down key profitability driver at its location. Each location was put on a 60-day clock on the start and finish and assumed ownership of the results. The teams were encouraged to localize best practices, this enhanced member enthusiasm and creativity. Among the ideas put into action were trained teams comprising of defenders of safety whose main concern was to reduce accidents. They established the root cause of accidents to be failure to perform vehicle inspection. They established the ‘red dot’ inspection initiative to counter this. The other team was the ‘budgeteers’ team. Their focus was overtime expense reduction. This was achieved by routine vehicle fueling, maintenance timing and reporting accuracy among others. Every vehicle and every driver were tracked every day. Teams that produced the best results were awarded. The company also learnt a number of insights: the need to think carefully about team

Strategies in Action Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategies in Action - Assignment Example Lastly, by weighing the relative advantages and disadvantages, a suggested change of thinking is offered for the recommendation. Over the years, global and multinational companies are faced with the choice between standardization and adaptation when it comes to their strategy in different markets. While standardization has been the cornerstone of globalization over the years, it has also been argued that companies that tailor their strategy to their individual country markets have more chances of local success. According to Loyka, â€Å"the globalization of markets is the principal driving force behind the need for global product standardization theory (2003).† The two strategies certainly have their own advantages and their own drawbacks. Therefore, assessing these relative strengths and weaknesses is important when considering entering other international markets and joining the global competition. Johansson in his book â€Å"Global Marketing has identified the advantages of standardization, which according to him includes the following: â€Å"cost reduction, improved quality, enhanced customer preference, and existence of global customers, and the emergence of global customer segments (2000, 367-368).† As according to Loyka: â€Å"While standardization of product design, packaging and promotional material offers important economies to multinational marketers (Buzzell, 1968), little hard evidence is available on the potential benefits arising from a more coherent international image, more rapid international diffusion of products and ideas, and greater coordination and control (Walters, 1986). The gains from standardization range from cost savings and more consistent dealings with customers, to better planning and exploitation of ideas with universal appeal (Buzzell, 1968) (Loyka 2003).† Cost reduction. As companies find their local markets saturated, companies look for opportunities in the international markets. The

Strategic Marketing Plan for(iPhone 4 in London) Essay

Strategic Marketing Plan for(iPhone 4 in London) - Essay Example Based on its established brand equity, Apple Corporation has the opportunity to skim the market with high prices in the UK market. However, once the upper class market has been catered, iPhone 4 can head for the mass market with low prices. This will expand iPhone 4’s life cycle over a longer period of time till the product itself matures. This report contains a detailed analysis of all the marketing and operational aspects of launching Apple Corporation’s iPhone 4 in the UK markets. 1. Resource Analysis The tangible resources available for the introduction of smart phone include the production facilities of the company which already exist. Apple Corporation’s main strength is its ability to develop hardware and software systems which it has developed through extensive Research and Development (Apple.Inc). The quality, method and organization of the current production process are already available. The production requirements can be met by existing state-of-the-a rt facilities. The marketing management process remains the same and the same distribution channels though which our competitors sell their smart phones, will be used. The IT systems are already developed which makes it easy to integrate with our customers and suppliers. The intangible assets available include our Goodwill in the market. The reputation of delivering the objects on time is also important. The key commercial rights protected by patents and trademark will work as an asset for our company. However, introducing this new smart phone will increase our labor cost by ?10 per person as more workers will be needed. The R&D department will need more labor therefore it will be increased by 500 men working at the rate of ?10 per hour and there will be 30 more employees for managerial work. As the existing production facilities will be used, there is no need of extra physical capacity. However, to improve and modify our facilities, a financial injection of ?500,000 will be needed which we will raise through debts as raising through equity will increase our interest expense. (Deutschman; Useem). 2. SWOT Analysis (Apple) Strengths (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Apple stands on a strong foundation of Innovation through which it will introduce iPhone 4 with unique positioning. Apple’s phones are meant to be user friendly and with this ease of use, the company differentiates itself from the competitors who produce more complex versions of PDAs. iPhone 4 would be a competitive product and will be launched in the market with competitive prices through its competitive advantage of cheap raw material availability. The brand itself has long been established and therefore, the market will be highly receptive to new brand extensions. Weaknesses (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Touch screen phone usage causes a medical condition called Gorilla Arm, which is caused when one holds his/her hand at waist length and continuous usage of touch screen phones may cause s uch problems. The consumers may therefore feel discomfort while using touch phones. Opportunities (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Smart phones have a growing consumer base which is a good sign for Apple’s business as the new iPhone 4 can anticipate higher turnover rate. All the other brands such as Nokia, Samsung and especially Blackberry are positioned towards the corporate sector. iPhone 4 will be targeted towards a different and a larger market which can be

Construction Technology, Services and Materials Assignment

Construction Technology, Services and Materials - Assignment Example Extrusion rates of twenty thousand bricks per hour are what modern brick manufacturers work with. Solid bricks used are of the size 215mm x 102.5mm x 65 mm and weighs 3 kg. But this varies from one region to the other. Harvesting of clay is by bulldozers, scrapers or mechanical shovels. Stockpiles are put to enable the blending of the various types of clay. The clay piles are fed to the primary crushers to reduce the size particle to 3mm or less (Kaushik, Rai & Jain, 2007). Conveyors carry the clay for secondary crushing in the pan mill whose base is perforated the crushed material to pass through (Lingling et al 2005). Clay particles fall between high-speed rollers for grinding. Wet clay is moulded into bricks. For this study the standard size of the manufactured brick is 215mm x 102.5mm x 65mm with a mass 3kg. This is according to the BS EN772 and the BS PAS 70 standard methods of testing. These methods ensure to control the weight, height and quality of the bricks which gives the overall strength. Bricks’ compressive strength varies according to the different qualities of clay material used and the firing method. Bricks made from white clay tend to be lighter and economical when firing. White bricks are fired at a temperature of about 12000C. Black or brown bricks are heavier and require a temperature of between 1500 to 20000C. Fired bricks are tested for strength before allowed on construction site. Compressive strengths of bricks range between 3.5MPa to over 50MPa (Demir 2008). The durability of the bricks cannot be fully determined by compressive strength. If this is done a false picture of may be painted leading to disaster. Clay products used in construction of structures to support heavy loads need thorough testing. One of the best method in the laboratory test of the bricks is to look at close tolerances and strength (Lingling et al

Health and Saftey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Health and Saftey - Essay Example Carbon monoxide is odourless and so increase in the ambient concentration will not be detected by smell and there is no equipment in the warehouse for detecting carbon monoxide increase in ambient concentration. Therefore the reasons for this situation are the presence of carbon monoxide in the exhaust of the gas fuelled fork lifts, due to the incomplete combustion of the fuel (Rimmer & Yarnell, 2009). The first action is to move the ladies that are complaining of dizziness and nausea out of the warehouse to breathe fresh air with more oxygen to remove the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The second step consists of using the basic air sampling tubes to test for the ambient concentration of carbon monoxide and confirm its excess presence (Rimmer & Yarnell, 2009). 4. Gas masks to be made available in the warehouse for use in case the air sampling tubes indicated elevated levels of ambient carbon monoxide. In case ambient carbon monoxide levels exceed 400ppm, all personnel to be cleared from the warehouse and the sealed doors opened to lower the ambient carbon monoxide levels. Rimmer, T. W. & Yarnell, S. H. (2009). Controlling Forklifts Exhaust Emissions. Retrieved October 26, 2009, from Occupational Health & Safety Web Site:

Crafting and Executing Strategy Apple Inc. in 2008 Case Study

Crafting and Executing Strategy Apple Inc. in 2008 - Case Study Example The company believes in creating better and more innovative devices in every subsequent product they launch. This has this far worked to their advantage revamping their sales year after year. After releasing the first version of iPhone in mid-2007, the company under the watch of its chief executes Steve Jobs watched as the product struggled to keep pace with the other leading mobile devices in the market. The product eventually sold a million copies in close to three months. Being the preliminary product, the first iPhone served its purpose effectively by pointing out the specific features about the smart phone market that the company might not have considered before unveiling the product. It is therefore from this that the company learnt to revamp innovation in their subsequent product. Innovation refers to the process of altering a product in order to create a newer product possibly from an existing one. The iPhone 3G succeeded the first iPhone and level of innovation in the new product became evident even in the name of the device. This product promised faster performance with download speed unique to the smart telephony market. Besides the faster processor, the phone had new better performing application intentionally added into the product to win new markets within the previously existing market (Thompson, 2011). It was therefore not surprising that within three days the phone had outsold the figures it took its predecessor three months. The innovative brand-positioning tool worked effectively for the company with the new applications increasing the sales despite the obvious performance flaws. Innovation is a marketing strategy that if used effectively alongside other marketing techniques yields results as was the case with the Apple Inc. in 2008. It is important for business organizations to carry out expansive market research in order to determine the new features. It is more prudent for the new features to have an inclination towards

Giant Panda and Wildlife Conservation Essay Example for Free

Giant Panda and Wildlife Conservation Essay Wildlife conservation is the most important things in the world. And people have made a lot of progress in this field. In wildlife conservation, people try their best to protect endangered plants and animals, as well as their habitats. The purpose is to make sure that future generations will have enough space to survive and develop well. Countries all over the world have different agencies for wildlife conservation and plenty of nonprofit organizations also take part in the process of this activity. Various kinds of subjects are involved in the process of wildlife conservation. For example, people must use the knowledge in the field of biology and other sciences to recognize the species that are in danger, and to study those species to learn more about their needs. Economics is also involved in wildlife conservation, because the conservationists are trying to find out the most efficient solutions. Apart from these, the protection of wildlife also depends on education very much, using different methods to teach people about the importance of animal habitat conservation. However, the Earth is warming, and humans are using more water than ever before. It is important to know how people save wildlife around the world especially conservation in China, the U. S . and then when happens after conservation especially the governments role in the process to protect wildlife, as well as the effects of these measures. Conservation in China China has a vast variety of species, with the number of mammal species ranking second all over the world. In terms of reptiles and amphibians, China’s ranks are the fourth and sixth respectively. Although China only ranks eighth when it comes to its bird species, there are still about 1,244 types of birds in this country. A lot of these bird species are native to China, and that is why China has the responsibility to protect their future existence. There are sixteen primate species living in China. However, in the northern part of the tropical area, China has precious species such as the Sichuan golden monkey, which can also be found in Hubei as well as Sichuan provinces, and the Yunnan golden monkey, which lives in high-latitude places covered by snow of about 4,270 m. (Harris, 2007).. Golden monkeys, tigers, and pandas are rare and protected animals in China. In China, however, the most famous endangered species of wild animal is definitely the panda The panda is an endangered species of wild animals, and it can only be found in China. So people can say that panda is Chinas unique wild animal, so the protection of this animal is essential. The habitat of pandas lies in the provinces within China’s â€Å"Great Opening of the West†. The place is so fragile and unique that people can only run tourism on a small scale as the only economic activity. Therefore, it is extremely essential to create more nature reserves for the protection of pandas, even though some of them are not working effectively. If we do not pay most of the attention to allocating these areas as habitat for pandas, these places will definitely be used for producing wood and or agricultural crops. Recent survey in 2004 found that many threats including deforestation and persistent poaching interfere with the long-term survival of this endangered species. (Harris, 2007). For instance, Western development for pandas makes Chinese poachers see business opportunities and their harmful behaviors have seriously affected the survival of this precious animal. Human development has affected wildlife survival environment. Because of the population explosion and unsustainable use of natural resources, the panda habitat is also rapidly losing. Pandas adhere to living in a large area of natural forests, which can also be used for agriculture, timber and firewood. Because of Chinas dense population, many of the giant panda population is isolated in no more than 1093-1312 yards wide narrow belt of bamboo. Because of immigration, the pandas habitats are continuing to disappear. In more than 20 pandas range, there are many habitats fragmentation into isolated areas. In these areas, a network of nature reserves exist to protect more than half of the panda population. Because of the requirement for habitat, the giant panda cannot migrate, so they have lost a lot of flexibility as they are not able to find new feeding areas. (Calhoun, 2005). In China, humans’ over-exploitation of trees and the destruction of environment have also caused a large number of pandas to disappear. Moreover, China has no ability to build adequate reserves to protect the panda. Conservation in the United States America is a country with a focus on animal protection and people there treat animals as their close friends. The country of United States has a broad geographical location and there are many kinds of views in the United States, from the polar ice to tropical rain forests, from moderate rain forests to prairies, from mountain summits to desert and coral reefs. There are some places to live, comprising the most richest land on the Earth, such as the lower Mississippi River and the western salt marshes which are some of the most barren areas. Wonderful and various kinds of animals live in many places of this country, such as elk, wolverine, bison, grizzly bear, bald eagle, musk ox, caribou, wolf ,mountain lion, polar bear, and moose, which are booming in these areas. It is also the habitat of thousands of amphibians, fish, bird and reptiles. (â€Å"Wildlife Conservation Society,†n. d. ). Americans attach great importance to the protection of animals and people in the United States to give animals a lot of living space and a good natural environment. In order to ensure the survival of wildlife in the United States, people have founded a vast area of nature reserves. In terms of conservation innovation, the U. S. has a rich history. The U. S. created Yellowstone, the crown jewel of parks in 1872, establishing the concept of national parks. And then in 1932, the first International Peace Park, Glacier-Waterton National Park along the border with Canada was created. Even with a vast system of public lands which provides protection for the wild places in the country, including national parks and wilderness areas for fishing and wildlife refuges and state lands, there are still some conservation challenges caused by management activities on the public lands. Usually, more efficient private lands are a vital component of long-term success in conservation. (â€Å"Wildlife Conservation Society,†n. d. ). The Yellowstone national park is one measure to guarantee the protection of their animals, since the place gives wildlife enough living space. Yellowstone national nature reserve gave wild animals more opportunities and space. People also try their best to protect wolves in the United States. In March 2003, the U. S. fish and wildlife service issued a rule, significantly reducing federal protection for wolves and set the stage to liminate them from the endangered species act (ESA) protection completely. Until now, in terms of the recovery in the number of wolves in the 20th century, the U. S. fish and wildlife service has done a great job. People take wolves into the Yellowstone national park and central Idaho. This protection is considered by many to be one of the great achievements. (Calhoun, 2005). The United States fish and animal protection administration also obtained remarkable achievements in protecting the wolf population. After Conservation After the management of protection on animals by volunteers, the joint efforts of the China panda protection finally result. Recently, the world natural foundation has helped the Chinese government in the field of national habitats of giant panda and its protection program. This program has made significant progress: China now has 33 of the giant panda reserves, and the giant panda habitat reaches around more than 6177 square miles of area. According to a survey in 2004, there were 1600 pandas in the wild. (Calhoun, 2005). With the help of the animal protection association of America and China, multiple reserves are established. China needs more reference to the United States in protecting wild animals. Wildlife protection is the responsibility of people around the world. Chinese and Americans need to learn from each other about how to protect endangered wildlife better in the future. China should, for example, learn from the United States some new ideas of animal protection and the responsibilities of ordinary people when it comes to animal protection in the wild. Through the study of wildlife conservation concept, people in China can improve their animal protection measures, reduce cutting down trees and causing environmental damage any longer. Strengthening the reserve management and reducing the poaching practice, these measures will better protect endangered wild animals. The United States in the field of conservation philosophy occupies a leading position in the whole world. For instance, American people created Yellowstone national park and the international peace park. These huge areas provide plenty of living space for wild animals. China also has an extensive area, so there are a lot of important lessons China can learn from the United States, such as creating national parks and nature reserves in the areas which are suitable for specific kinds of animals. In the meanwhile, if necessary, China may also seek some help as well as advice from the United States. Conservationists work all over the world. To determine the species need to aid and protect them. The subject usually include animals and raise them. Capture prisoner ensure still large and diverse population at the same time environmentalists work establish territorial animals, so they can have a safe place in the field. Wildlife conservation needs also need to be balanced with other desires, because many countries value forms of entertainment like hiking in the wilderness, camping, hunting and makes it impossible to set aside land makes wild animals live. In this respect, China only attaches great importance to the development and demand of human beings. Ignored, the environment and wild animals, and other important factors.

Literary History and the Concept of Literature Essay Example for Free

Literary History and the Concept of Literature Essay Literary history and the concept of literature I From the 1970s onwards, much has been said about the writing of history and literary history that has cast doubt on its intellectual credibility. For example, Hayden White’s Metahistory (1973) included an influential analysis of the metaphorical foundations of 19th century history writing. In 1979, Jean-Francois Lyotard criticized grand narratives in La Condition postmoderne (The Postmodern Condition), and in 1992 David Perkins presented a whole array of sceptical epistemological and methodological arguments directed against literary history in Is Literary History Possible?. The questioning of literary history has not however resulted in the abandonment of large-scale literary-historical projects, rather it has inspired attempts to base such ventures on better designs and better foundations. Not least, many new ideas about the field have been put forward in connection with the preparation of two major works of literary history sponsored by the ICLA. It is also natural to point to two theoretical publications from 2002: the collection of essays, Rethinking Literary History, edited by Linda Hutcheon and Mario J. Valdes, and Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer’s brief presentation of the ideas behind a history of literary cultures in East-Central Europe. [ii] The Swedish project â€Å"Literature and Literary History in Global Contexts†, which was started in 1998 and will terminate in 2004, focuses specifically on some theoretical problems associated with the writing of literary history. We who participate come, mostly, from various fields within oriental studies or from comparative literature. Since the project is sponsored by the Swedish Research Council we all work, or once worked, at various Swedish universities. One of the special features of the project is the interest devoted to world histories of literature, a genre where the general problems of literary history become especially visible and acute. (I shall return to this perhaps unfamiliar genre in a moment. ) Three important cruces in connection with world histories of literature have been singled out for special discussion within the project: (i) the understanding of the notion of literature, (ii) the understanding of genres, and (iii) the understanding of interactions between literary cultures. These three sets of issues will be made the subject of four volumes of literary-historical studies and theoretical reflections, and these volumes will represent the main concrete outcome of the project. In this paper, I shall concentrate on the first of the questions, about the notion of literature. I shall say a few words about the concept of literature itself, point out some of the difficulties that it occasions in a world history of literature, and conclude with a brief discussion of how such problems may be approached and dealt with. II In a sense, of course, there are very many concepts of literature: if every nuance is taken into account, it may well be the case that each person has their own. Yet if, conversely, one looks at the situation very broadly, one can say that there is an everyday concept of literature in Western culture which is widely shared. That concept came into being in the course of the 18th century. Before that, no exact counterpart to our present concept of literature existed either in Western culture or elsewhere, and the distinction between imaginative literature and non-fiction was not of primary importance in the classification of texts. Wilt Idema and Lloyd Haft have given a concise and clarifying account of how earlier cultures thought about texts and their basic divisions. As long as no more than a few written works are in circulation in a given society, all texts are more or less equally important and valuable. If there is a dramatic increase in the number of writings, with a corresponding differentiation in their content and character, the texts are likely to be subdivided into the categories of â€Å"high† literature, professional literature, and popular literature. â€Å"Literature† (or high literature) is then the term for texts which are felt to be of general educational value and which are, accordingly, regarded as part of the necessary intellectual baggage of every cultured person†¦. Works which contain useful knowledge but remain limited to one specific area, such as medicine or military science, are classified as professional literature. Works intended only to amuse, and which have (or are considered to have) no educational value, fall outside the scope of â€Å"literature†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. We may call these more or less despised writings â€Å"trivial literature†. In the kind of intellectual culture described in this quotation, the fundamental distinction among texts is the one between culturally important texts and culturally less significant ones. In most such cultures – classical antiquity, classical Chinese culture, classical Sanskrit culture, and so forth – the class of culturally important texts would comprise most of what we call poetry, history writing, and philosophy, and normally also other kinds of texts – some administrative texts, some texts concerning magic, some letters, et cetera. Oral vernacular texts, or relatively unadorned fictional narratives, what we call fictional prose, would normally form part of popular or trivial literature. For complex social, economic, and cultural reasons, this way of classifying texts came to undergo great though gradual transformations in Western Europe from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. One of the very many crucial factors behind the process must have been the growing importance of a new, more rigorous conception of empirical truth, associated with the natural sciences. High literature, in the special sense described by Idema and Haft, had always aspired to truth in the sense of great human significance. As the distinction between empirical truth and empirical non-truth became more rigid and more significant – and as many other, more or less related developments were taking place – new groupings began to emerge in the textual universe. Poetry became dissociated from scientific writings, and successively also from history, philosophy, oratory, and letters. On the other hand, fictional prose, especially in the guise of the increasingly appreciated novel, came to be regarded as one of the genres of poetry. With this, our modern notion of literature had effectively taken shape, and the term â€Å"literature† (whose main meaning in the 17th and 18th centuries had been something like â€Å"education† or â€Å"culture†) successively developed into today’s normal designation of the concept. [v] III The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the beginning of the writing of literary history – of the history of national European literatures, of the history of European literature as a whole and, at least from the 1830s onwards, of the world history of literature. World histories of literature thus comprise a genre which has existed for around 170 years. Among its modern instances are such impressive works as the German twenty-five volume Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft (New Handbook of Literary Studies), published between 1972 and 2002, and the Russian Istorija vsemirnoj literatury v devjati tomach (History of World Literature in Nine Volumes) from 1983-94. [vii] However in the English-speaking world the genre is more or less extinct, and its very existence appears to be overlooked in the contemporary international discussion about the globalization of literary studies. These debates are primarily inspired by the widespread interest in colonial and postcolonial studies and place the last few centuries at the centre of attention, while the traditional world histories of literature are, in principle, universal in scope, and are meant to cover all times and cultures. In many respects, it seems a good idea to have a world history of literature to fall back on. Such works can relate the various literary cultures of the world to one another and put them into perspective. Thus they may create a much needed overview, much as a map of the world helps us to comprehend certain fundamental geographical realities. To some extent, works like the Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft and the Istorija vsemirnoj literatury do just that, and of course they also contain a wealth of information and intelligent discussion. Yet, despite their often remarkable qualities, world histories of literature are typically profoundly problematic for a number of reasons. Two major problems have their roots in the very concept of literature. First, the concept is, in itself, an everyday notion. If employed without additional explications or stipulations, it is too imprecise and inconsistent to form the basis of a reasonable classification. Second, the concept of literature is a relatively recent Western invention. Its application to other times and cultures will easily lead to anachronistic and ethnocentric distortions. On the whole, world histories of literature are content to sweep such problems under the carpet. They typically prefer to rely on the everyday notion of literature and to include the resulting contradictions in the bargain. For instance, the concept of literature is traditionally used in such a manner that the criteria for a work to be classified as literature vary depending on the time and the culture one is speaking of. Modern literature is most often seen as consisting of just fictional prose, poetry, and drama. When there is talk of older periods, the concept of literature is however used very inclusively. [ix] For example, ancient Roman philosophy, history, and oratory are not excluded as being non-fiction; instead, such writers as Lucrece, Caesar, and Cicero are considered part of the European literary heritage. The same duality appears in the treatment of other literary cultures. Thus, for instance, the sacred Vedic texts (circa 1200 – circa 500 B. C.).

World War Ii In Southeast Asia History Essay

World War Ii In Southeast Asia History Essay Japanese occupation in Indochina. The Japanese Invasion of French Indochina, also known as the Vietnam Expedition, was a move of Japanese Empire in September 1940, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina, especially through Sino-Vietnam border. With the outbreak of World War II, France was force to withdraw its best troops from Indochina in order to help their force in the war in Europe. Thus, it was a wide open opportunity to the Japanese. Japan saw that French Indochina would need to be protected so that other foreign powers couldnt seek to take advantage of Frances plight. Earlier, Japan demanded the French colonial to close the Hanoi-Kunming railway in order to abandon the shipments of war-related goods from Vietnam to China. Later, the Japanese sought to gain control over the Haiphong-Yunnan railroad so that it could attack the main supply based of Chiang Kai-shek. After the fall of France during World War II, t hat the Japanese seized power from French and occupied the entire Indochina. However, the colony was still administered by Vichy France, but was under the Japanese supervision until a brief period of complete Japanese control between March and August 1945. In Cambodia and Laos, in the short term at least, despite the fact that the French continued to administer these states and to support the traditional rulers, so that there was a limited growth of nationalist feeling compared to other states in the region. In Cambodia, politicization just began during World War II. By the 1940s, Khmer intellectuals had begun to form three institutions including the scholar Buddhist Institute, Cambodias sole French-language high school, and Khmer newspaper Nagara Varta (Angkor Wat). Cambodian feelings were outraged in 1940 after getting back some territories of the north-western provinces from Thailand under the Japanese support. However, the nationalistic movements in Cambodia were slickly under French control. The French and Japanese agreed to let French continued to occupy the Indochina, but Japanese forces could move freely in Indochina. French role was variegated in the growth of Cambodian nationalism. In order to reduce Japanese popular fascination in the country, French began to provide a quasi-nationalist movement to young Cambodians. Simultaneously, French glorified Khmers past and its future in partnership with France. Moreover, French also promoted the status and salary of Cambodians in the g overnment service. Unconsciously, in 1943 they pushed the strong nationalism feelings further by launching a program to replace Khmer traditional writing with a roman alphabet. The Buddhist sangha and intellectuals protested against this program because they considered that this was an attack on Khmer traditional learning and cultural heritage. The feeling of anti-French continued until the Japanese seized control of government in March 1945, and the Romanization was cancelled. In April 1945, the Japanese provide independent to Cambodia, but after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, there was no next step for Cambodia independent. Furthermore, there was still no anti-colonial movement in Cambodia such as national movements emerged in Vietnam and Indonesia in 1945. In June 1940, after the Fall of France, Laos was controlled by the Axis-puppet Vichy France government which was under the supervision of the Japanese. Most of Laos stayed under the control of French supervision until March 1945. Before March 1945, French had brought significant changes to Laos. A National renovation movement was assembled; schools and other amenities were built; Lao music, dance and literature were promoted. Moreover, First Lao newspaper was also emerged at that time. The nationalistic movement arose as well, especially in the Lao lowlanders. On 9 March, 1945, Japanese occupied Laos, so Laos stayed under the administration of French along with Japanese supervision. During the Japanese occupation of Laos, enormous amount of French officials were imprisoned. At the same time, King Sisavang Vong, who tried to declare independence of Laos and accepted Laos under the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere, were put into the prison as well. Japan continued to rule Laos de spite constant civil unrest against it until it was force to withdraw from Indochina after the Japanese surrender in August 1945. The Japanese occupied Vietnam from September 1940 until the end of World War II. Japan came to Vietnam with the policy Asia for Asians and Japanese forces took only a week to control Vietnam. However, Japan still left the French colonial government there, because Japan could not provide enough men to occupy the entire of Vietnam. Japan left the French in charge and developed Vietnam as its client state. The French continued to colonize Indochina, but ultimate political and military power was not in their hands. Japanese demanded for resources and had priority over French policies. Thus, Japanese troops could freely access to Vietnams roads, rail network and ports, so that the Japanese could conquer Thailand and Burma easily. During the Japanese occupation, the Vietnamese were told that the Japanese were not conquerors, but liberators Japan would drive away the white imperialists out of Asia. Simultaneously, Japanese language course were introduced; Japanese films, literature and poe try were translate into local language as well. However, Vietminh considered Japanese as number one enemy. It was notable that the Vietnamese Communists rose up in the 1930s, before the arrival of Japanese. However, the arrival of Japan made Vietnamese Communists felt that there was no hope for them to demand for getting any power. Their numbers remained small and the French was trying to eliminate the political force that was considered as a threat to their role in Vietnam as well. As the war advanced and the altered of the political environment, it was an opportunity for the Vietnamese Communist-Nationalists. The Vietnamese was trying to develop its force in order to seize the power at the end of the war. By June 1945, Ho Chi Minh felt strong enough to create a Viet Minh-controlled area in north-western Vietnam. By August, Viet Minh forces seized the control of Japanese-held villages and towns. In early August, the Japanese forces prepared to leave after the Japanese surrender in World War II. Within days, Vietminh forces took control of most of northern and central Vietnam and declared Vietnams independence On 2 September 1945 in Hanoi. Exceptional case: Thailand Thailand was the most interesting country among Southeast Asian nations during the colonial period as well as the period of World War II because it was the only state in the region that was not under the foreign colonization. At the beginning of World War II, Thailand was under the control of an authoritarian government which was led by Prime Minister Phibun. In that regime, the government supported the restoration of the territories in Cambodia and Laos, and they rose up anti-French sentiment in the country as well. Phibun was trying to keep closer relations with Japan in order to seek support against France. In October 1940, a conflict between Thai and French forces broke out along Thailands eastern border. Then, it was a good opportunity for Japan to intervene to mediate the conflict. Japan used its influence with the Vichy regime in France to gain concessions for Thailand. As a result, France agreed to give away western part of Laos and most of Cambodian Battambang province to Th ailand. The restoration of Thai lost territory increased Phibuns reputation in Thailand. However, Japan wanted to maintain the relationship with Vichy, so that Thailand was forced to get only a quarter of its demanded land. In addition, they had to pay six millions piasters as a concession to the French. Relations between Japan and Thailand became tense; then Phibun turned to courting the British and Americans instead. In December 1941, Japan moved its troops into Thailand and demanded the rights to access through Thailand to invade British Burma and Malaya. Thai troops resisted but later the Phibuns government called for ceasefire. After that, a mutual offensive-defensive alliance pact between Thailand and Japan was signed and Thai entered a military alliance with Japan. Japanese troops were allowed to move freely in Thailand; however, Thailand still controlled its own armed forces as well as internal affairs. In January 1942, Thais declared war on Britain and the United States bec ause of the Japan pressure. Meanwhile, Japan had put its troops in Thailand and built the infamous Death Railway by using many Asian labour forces as well as allied prisoners of war. According to M. Walsh (2005), the Japanese engineers predicted that Death Railway would be completed in five years. However, the Japanese army forced the prisoners to finish this railway in only sixteen months. The causalities in the construction were very high there were about 12,400 deaths among the total 61, 700 labour forces. In 1943, there was tense situation between Japan and Thailand, and many Thai people began to against Japan. Because of the war, Thailand had experienced the economic disruption as well. In July 1944, Phibun resigned from office and left Thailand with the problem of preparing Thailand for an Allied victory. Thai politicians were under the controlled of Japanese until August 1945 Japanese surrender in World War II.

Man-of-war :: essays research papers fc

Man-of-War The Portuguese man-of-war if a member of the Kingdom Animalia, phylum Cnidaria(1), class Hydrozoa, order Siphonophra, the genus Physalia, and the species Physalia(2). The man-of-war is not an actual jellyfish, but a Siphonophor. Also the man-of-war is not a single organism. It is made up of many different organisms that work together. These organisms are called polyps. The Portuguese man-of-war is usually found in the Northern Atlantic gulf stream. It can also be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The man-of-war will usually travel in groups, that may contain up to one thousand members. The main portion of the man-of-war's body is an oblong gas-filled bladder. The bladder is usually nine to thirty centimeters long, and is a translucent pink, blue, or purple. On top of the bladder is a crest. This is to catch the wind, and move the man-of-war along. Below the bladder, hang long stringy tentacles, that can reach a length of up to fifty meters. The tentacles are made-up of three different types of polyps. The names of these three polyps are: dactylozooid, gonozooid, and gastrozooid. The polyps are the parts that: capture prey, digest prey, and reproduce. The dactylozooids have cells called nematocysts(3). The nematocysts release a toxin(4) into anything that they come into contact with. The gastrozooids then attach to the dead/stunned victim, and spread over it. They digest it, and transfer food to the rest of the man-of-war. Last, the gonozooids create other polyps. The means by which the man-of-war reproduces, however, is not yet understood. The fish Nomeus gronvii lives among the tentacles of the man-of-war. This fish, which is eight centimeters long, is mostly immune to the man-of-war's toxin. It will eat the tentacles, which will grow back, as its main source of food. Although it is mostly immune to the man-of-war's toxin, the man-of-war will sometimes end up eating it. The enemies of the man-of-war are the Nomeus gronvii, and the loggerhead turtle. If you were to get stung by a man-of-war, you would experience a very painful sensation where you got stung. The toxin that the man-of-war uses blocks nerve conduction. This causes a severe systematic syndrome. This is accompanied by a fever, possibly shock, and interference with heart and lung functions. Bibliography "Portuguese man-of-war," Encyclopedia Britannica. 1988, University of Chicago: Vol. IX, p.634-35 "Portuguese man-of-war," Animal Kingdom. 1972, United States of America: Vol. XVIII, p.88-93 Caras, Roger. Venomous Animals of the World. United States of America: 1974, p. 17-18 hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us, http://hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us/kaipo/invertebrate/welcomeinv.html, United States of America: hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us, 1997 Microsoft Encarta 1996. Silicon Valley Ca., Microsoft Corporation, 1997

Philosophy of Teaching Essay -- Teachers Education Learning Essays

Philosophy of Teaching My goals as a teacher are to help students communicate effectively and foster a desire to learn. I believe these two characteristics are important for students to have because despite what problems they encounter or what situation they are in, the ability to communicate effectively will help them in working with others and the desire to learn will motivate them to make positive changes in their life. As a teacher, I want my students to become interested in learning, both in school and in their personal lives. With these two goals in mind, my role as a teacher is to help them acquire these skills and values. However, effective communication is one of the hardest tasks for teachers because we all communicate in different ways and through different means. This is why teachers also need the desire to learn because it will motivate them to learn more useful ways of communicating and connecting with the students. To help students attain these goals, a teacher who leads by example can demonstrate to students how to communicate to others. In addition, if teachers are excited about what they teach, they will create a better learning environment that will motivate the students to learn. My philosophy of teaching consists of these two traits because after they leave my class, I want them to continue their education with the desire to learn more and to communicate this desire and the skills they have obtained with others. As a future social studies ... Philosophy of Teaching Essay -- Teachers Education Learning Essays Philosophy of Teaching My goals as a teacher are to help students communicate effectively and foster a desire to learn. I believe these two characteristics are important for students to have because despite what problems they encounter or what situation they are in, the ability to communicate effectively will help them in working with others and the desire to learn will motivate them to make positive changes in their life. As a teacher, I want my students to become interested in learning, both in school and in their personal lives. With these two goals in mind, my role as a teacher is to help them acquire these skills and values. However, effective communication is one of the hardest tasks for teachers because we all communicate in different ways and through different means. This is why teachers also need the desire to learn because it will motivate them to learn more useful ways of communicating and connecting with the students. To help students attain these goals, a teacher who leads by example can demonstrate to students how to communicate to others. In addition, if teachers are excited about what they teach, they will create a better learning environment that will motivate the students to learn. My philosophy of teaching consists of these two traits because after they leave my class, I want them to continue their education with the desire to learn more and to communicate this desire and the skills they have obtained with others. As a future social studies ...

Quantitative Research Critique

Quantitative Research Critique Cathleen Atkins Grand Canyon University NRS 433V Linda Permoda March 24, 2013 Quantitative Research Critique Title of Article The title of the article being critiqued is â€Å"The impact of workload on hygiene compliance in nursing†, which was published in the British Journal of Nursing (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Authors There are three authors for this quantitative research study. Martin Knoll is the HTW of Saarland, Clinical Nursing Research and Evaluation, Saarbruecken, Germany.Christine Lautenschlaeger, Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Medical Informatics, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany is the second author. And last, Marianne Borneff-Lipp is head of the Institute for Hygiene, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Introduction to Study Quantitative research is used when trying to determine the meaning of li fe experiences and situations. This is done by using a systematic and subjective approach to study.The goal of quantitative research is to determine the relationship between one thing, an independent variable, and another, the dependent variable (Burns & Grove, 2011). The purpose of the study was to examine whether external factors such as ward capacity and level of nursing intensity had any effect on compliance of hand hygiene guidelines by the nursing staff (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Protection of Human Participants During the six participant observation trials nurses were observed, without their knowledge, to see if they complied with hand hygiene disinfection.When a nurse was observed to have neglected hand hygiene an interview was immediately conducted to understand why previous training on hand hygiene guidelines were ignored. The observations and interviews were conducted with permission from hospital management and the medical director that were in accor dance with the Guidelines of Good Research Practice (Cambridge University, 2005). Informed consent was obtained by nursing staff when subsequent interviews were undertaken after notice of failure to comply with the guidelines and they did so voluntarily (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010).Benefits of participation were not addressed by the researchers. Data Collection Major variables for this study were identified. The independent variable identified by the researchers is the nursing staff with the dependent variable being data collected from the interviews. Data was collected for this study during a 12 month time period, from June 2007 to May 2008. Data collection was divided into six observation trial periods that included June, September, and November of 2007 and January, March, and May of 2008. Nursing staff from ten departments were observed for research.Those departments included four surgery units, four internal medicine units, and two interdisciplinary intensive c are units. Data was collected by observations and interviews. A researcher observed nurses for hand disinfection, when a nurse failed to do so the researcher introduced themself to the nurse and immediately initiated a narrative interview (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Rationale for using the previously described collection methods was so the study could employ the Hawthorne effect. (Stroebe, 2003).The Hawthorne effect exercises influence on the nurse through teaching that is intended to motivate behavioral change (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Data Management and Analysis There was no information provided by the researchers about data management. A descriptive design and trend analysis was used to determine problems with current practice of the nurses interviewed. Data analysis was done through categorization of summarized core statement. Seven categories with subsequent causes were developed as well as a structured definition of those categories.T he rigor process was not addressed by the researchers. To minimize the effect of researcher bias the interviews were consistently conducted by the same interviewer in a controlled environment (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Borneff-Lipp, 2010). Findings / Interpretation of Findings The findings from the research are valid and have an accurate reflection of reality. Confidence in the findings is positive because it addressed the purpose of the study. Nursing staff illness, absence, vacation, and difference in full or part time employment were not taken into account and make up the limitations of the study.The study used coherent logic as was evidenced by categorization of data, tables, and section titles. The study findings can be applied to all aspects of nursing practice in all areas. One question that emerged that requires further study is how such an imbalance could arise between the scope of every day nursing duties and the time available to perform them (Knoll, Lautenschlaeger, & Bo rneff-Lipp, 2010). References Burns, N. & Grove, S. K. (2011). Understanding nursing research. Maryland Heights: W.B. Saunders. Cambridge University. (2005). Good research practice. http://tinyurl. com/3yhf8py Knoll, M. , Lautenschlaeger, C. , & Borneff-Lipp, M. (2010). The impact of workload on hygiene compliance in nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 19(16), S18-S22. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from http://ehis. ebscohost. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=0e6f5b68-9e35-492d-9fae-b57d46b48458%40sessionmgr112&vid=7&hid=6 Stroebe, W. (2003). Sozialpsychologie. 4th Ed. Heidelberg, Berlin.

Critically Evaluate the Three Theories of Personality

Critically evaluate the three theories of personality using examples from PE and Sport. The three theories of personality are; Trait Theory, Social Learning Theory and Interactionist Theory. All three have a different perspective of how each individual’s personality is formed. Trait theory suggests that personality is made up of certain stable and enduring characteristics which stay with a person from birth and do not change. They are inherited and passed down through genes from the individuals parents.Therefore the equation for this theory is, Behaviour = function of Personality or B = F (P). One strength of trait theory is that it can be easily measured through questionnaires, quizzes, interviews etc. The most well known questionnaire for trait theory is one designed by Eysenk. The questionnaire allowed Eysenk to calculate a number for the individual which he would then plot onto a graph and be able to label them into two dimensions; extrovert/introvert and neurotic/stable. However, this theory does not take into account the influence of the environment on personality.This theory can be put into context when looking at extroverts and introverts in sports. Extroverts tend to play in team sports, where they can be sociable, lively and are able to take some leadership. However, introverts generally prefer to take part in individual sports as they are more unsociable, shy and nervous. Social Learning Theory implies that personality is simply formed through life experiences and environmental influences. Therefore the equation for this is Behaviour = Function of personality (environment) or B=F(E).The fact that this theory, unlike Trait theory, takes into consideration the effect of the environment gives it an entirely different perspective. Despite this, the theory doesn’t give any thought to inherent traits and therefore is relatively simplistic as personality seems to all be down to the environment and a person’s experiences. To put this the ory into context, an example may be that a person who surfs might surf purely because they grew up by the coast. This shows the environment has had an effect on their choice of sport to take part in. The Interactionist Theory is the final theory of the three.It suggests that personality is formed through a combination of traits from birth e. g. funny and then these traits are developed and enhanced through life experiences. The equation therefore being B = F (PE). This theory is somewhat just a mix of both Trait theory and Social Learning theory to produce a new theory which contains aspects of both of these. It is this that makes it the most widely accepted theory used to explain behaviour in sport. Interactionist theory can be seen in sport when someone acts out of character to what they usually would.For example David Beckham, who is known for his gentle and shy nature, lashed out in a game against Argentina and received a red card for his actions. David Beckham does not typicall y react like this, and so we can see that his traits were heavily influenced upon by the environment which in this case was an opposing player. To conclude, all three theories are based on different perceptions and all come with their own strengths and weaknesses. The fact that they are theories reminds us that there isn’t one that is deemed to be correct, and that it is down to opinion to which one you choose to believe.

Modernity and Literature Essay

Modernity by itself is a very abstract concept which can be associated with all new experiences in history. It is largely temporal because what is modern today is the old or obsolete tomorrow. Modernity is said to be a logic of negation because it tends to give importance to the present over the past, and at the same time also frowns over the present with respect to the future. From a purely historical perspective however, the society which evolved in Europe after the French Revolution of 1789 can be termed as modern in so much so that there is a marked difference or break in the way of thinking, living and enterprise between the societies after and before the French Revolution. The evolution of the modern society was not a process that happened overnight. The roots of the modern society and its gradual evolution can be traced back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. In fact the period from that point in history to the French Revolution is termed as the period of intellectual Enlightenment when there was a radical change in philosophy, science, politics, arts and culture. It was on these new forms of knowledge that the foundation of the modern society or modernity was based. Defining the Traditional Many scholars have tried to analyze the basic or instinctive nature of human beings in attempts to track back how modernity could have affected the core individual. In his book Leviathan, Hobbes deduced that in an environment uninfluenced by artificial systems or in a ‘state of nature’ human beings would be war like and violent, and their lives would consequently be solitary, poor, brutish and short. Rousseau however contradicts Hobbes. He claims that humans are essentially benevolent by nature. He believed in the ‘noble savage’ or the concept that devoid of civilization human beings are essentially peaceful and egalitarian and live in harmony with the environment – an idea associated with Romanticism. Human beings have however lived in communities and formed societies since the very early ages. In what is now known as the ancient world or the world of classical pagan antiquity typical of the societies of Greece and Rome, the concept of the ‘new’ or ‘change’ was absent. Time, like the seasons, was supposed to move in cyclical order, repeating itself with regularity cycle after cycle with nothing new or changed to break away from the established order. The people were steeped in more superstitious and religious beliefs which ruled almost every aspect of their lives. Christianity brought about changes in the belief systems of the ancient world. Christianity postulated that time was linear, that it began from the birth of Jesus Christ and would end with the apocalypse and the second coming of Jesus. This was a linear concept of time that moved in a straight line and not in a cycle that kept coming back to the same point. The Foundations of Modernity It was during the Enlightenment period that the Christian concepts of time and history were secularized to give way to the modern approach to change and progress. There were many other basic changes during the Enlightenment. The key ideas which formed the basis of the enlightenment period were autonomy and emancipation, progress and the improvement of history and universalism. The development of scientific knowledge gave rise to religious skepticism. People were no longer willing to submit blindly to the dictates of ordained religion. In other words they attained emancipation from the shackles of religion that had governed almost all aspects of their lives. This emancipation led to autonomy of the individual. Individuals began to decide for themselves instead submitting to an external authority such as religion. The people now decided by themselves what kind of authority, rules and regulation would be good for them, and such authority must be natural and not supernatural. Enlightenment encouraged criticism. Enlightenment thinkers did not hold anything sacred and freely criticized, questioned, examined and challenged all dogmas and institutions in their search for betterment or progress. Thinkers such as Voltaire defended reason and rationalism against institutionalized superstition and tyranny. The belief that there could and should be a change for the better came to be a prominent characteristic of modernity. The critical attitude of enlightenment thinker to contemporary social and political institutions paved the way for scientific studies of political and social studies and subsequent evolution of better forms of such institutions. The scientific revolution during the period, culminating in the work of Isaac Newton, presented a very practical and objective view of the natural world to people at large, and science came to be regarded very highly. Scientific inquiry was gradually extended to cover new social, political and cultural areas. Such studies were oriented around the cause-and-effect approach of naturalism. Control of prejudice was also deemed to be essential to make them value free. Enlightenment thinking emphasized the importance of reason and rationality in organization and development of knowledge. The gradual development of the scientific temperament with a paradigm change from the qualitative to the quantitative is also very evident in Europe of the time. People came to believe that they could better their own lot through a more scientific and rational approach to everything. The concept of universalism which advocated that reason and science were applicable to all fields of study and that science laws, in particular, were universal, also grew roots during the period. People began to believe in change, development and progress – all basic tenets of modernity as we know it today. Autonomy to decide for their own good, gave the people the right to choose the form of authority that could lead them as a society or community towards a better future and progress. This opened the doors to the emergence of states with separate and legally defined spheres of jurisdiction. Thus we find that modernity represents a transformation – philosophical, scientific, social, political and cultural – at a definite time in history at a definite spatial location. This transformation also represents a continuum up to the present in so much so that its basic principles are inherent in the societies and nations of today. The period of enlightenment can be seen as one of transition from the ‘traditional’ to the ‘modern’ forms of society, from an age of blind beliefs to a new age of reason and rational. Different Perspectives on development of Modernity Different political and philosophical thinkers have however developed different, and sometimes contradicting, theories of the development of modernity. Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx are two of the leading thinkers whose theories run counter to each other. For Hegel, the development of modernity was a dialectical process which was governed by the increasing self-consciousness of what he termed as the collective human ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’. According to Hegel, the dialectic process of development of the mind comprised three stages, with two initially contradicting positions synthesizing into a third reconciled position. Human beings live what Hegel called an ‘Ethical Life’ or in a social environment shaped by customs and traditions. This ethical life has three stages: the first is the family, which is dissolved in due course, the second is the ‘civil society’ that a person builds up as a result of his social interactions beyond the family and greater relations, and finally the third stage of the ‘state’ which Hegel defines as the highest form of social reason. For Hegel therefore, the formation of the modern state is the mark of modernity when human beings achieve the ultimate stage of social existence. Hegel believed as individuals or families, human beings are too selfish and self-centered co-exist in harmony and work for development. It is the state that is able to integrate the contradictions of different individuals, and not market forces. Since the state by itself is composed of political institutions, Hegel’s theory equates the development of the modern state or modern political institutions with modernity. Marx took a completely opposing view, when he asserted that material forces drive history. For him the state by itself is not an ideal entity for the integration of human beings into a cohesive whole for their development as a nation or a society. According to him it is the material forces comprising social and economic forces that drive history towards modernity. People engage in production for their means of subsistence, they bind together and form states for the sake of production. Different forms of productions create different class relations. It is to maximize production and gain the maximum benefits and advantages that people bond together in different classes in the form of the modern state. The different ways in which production is organized give rise to complex forms of social organization because a particular mode of production is an entire way of life for the people who are involved in it. For Marx social existence is not consciously determined by human beings, rather, it is the other way round: their social existence determines their consciousness. When there are contradictions between productive forces and the social relationships of production, class conflict arises. For Marx, therefore, modernity is defined by the state of social existence. Marx acknowledges that ‘capitalism has been the most productive mode of production, and it contains the most potential for the realization of human freedom’. This very dynamic characteristic of capitalism is born out of its destructiveness for all traditional social constraints such as religion, nation, family, sex, etc. But it is the same destructiveness and creativeness that creates the experience of modernity in Capitalism. This vital association between capitalism and modernity from none less that Marx himself establishes that the capitalism that evolved after the period of enlightenment in Europe has been acknowledged as the modern era of the period of modernity by Marx. Marx however states that capitalism is exploitative, and because it is exploitative, its full potential cannot be harnessed for the benefit of all. He therefore advocates communism which is a system of planned and conscious production by men and women of their won free will. This brings us to the question whether humanity has already passed through a stage of history that has been termed as modernity, and has moved on to the postmodern era (Mitchell, 2009). Another important point is regarding the placing of modernity. Modernity is understood to be a process that began and ended in Europe, and was later exported to other parts of the world. Thinkers like Marx tend to differ. He saw Capitalism emerge as a ‘rosy dawn’ not in England or the Netherlands but in the production trade and finance of the colonial system (Marx, 1967). Therefore, though the concept of modernity can be defined in various ways, it definitely refers to the process of evolution of the human mind and the society to a point where people were able to come together for their own advantage and benefit and work for unceasing development under a collectively formalized authority such as the nation state. It can also be state with a certain degree of assertiveness that the period from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century to the French Revolution in 1789 actually marked the period of active development of modernity in Europe. The concepts that were nurtured during the period bore fruit immediately afterwards in Europe and the West and later spread to the rest of the world. The world has continued since on very much the same basic principles but with far more advanced technologies and superior social, economic and political approaches. Influence of Modernity on Literature Modernity had a profound influence on literature. As people began to think differently, they also began to write differently. The modernist ideas of religious emancipation, autonomy, reliance on reason, rationality and science, and on development and progress began to find expression in the literature that developed even during the period of enlightenment and thereafter. This new form of literature came to be known as the Modernist Literature. Modernist literature tended to vent expression to the tendencies of modernity. Modernist literature, as also modernist art, took up cudgels against the old system of blind beliefs. Centering around the idea of individualism or the individual mind, modernist literature displayed mistrust of established institutions such as conventional forms of autocratic government and religion. It also tended not to believe in any absolute truths. Simmel (1903) gives an overview of the thematic concerns of Modernist Literature when he states that, â€Å"The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life. † Examples from two Greats A few examples of Modernist literature will serve to make its characteristics more clear. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) is considered to be one of the early enlightenment thinkers whose literary works opened the avenues to the modern era. Known as the founder of modern philosophy and the father of modern mathematics, Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist whose influence has served to shape the beginnings of Modernist literature. In his famous work, The Discourse on Method, he presents the equally famous quotation ‘cogito ergo sum’ or ‘I think, therefore I am’, which about sums up the very principle of the basis of the modern era. â€Å"I observed that, whilst I thus wished to think that all was false, it was absolutely necessary that I, who thus thought, should be somewhat; and as I observed that this truth, I think, therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM), was so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search† (Descartes, 1637). In this work, Descartes drew on ancients such as Sextus Emiricus to revive the idea of skepticism, and reached a truth that he found to be undeniable. â€Å"Descartes started his line of reasoning by doubting everything, so as to assess the world from a fresh perspective, clear of any preconceived notions. In other words, he rejected man’s reliance on God’s revealed word, placing his own intellect on a higher plain† (McCarter, 2006). David Hume (1711 – 1776) was a philosopher, economist and historian from Scotland, and was considered a notable personality both in western philosophy and of the Scottish Enlightenment movement. In his works, he had a way of projecting the errors of scepticism and naturalism, thus carving out a way for secular humanism. In his most famous work, ‘An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding’, Hume asserts that all human knowledge is imbibed through our senses. He argues that unless the source from which the impression of a certain entity is conveyed to our senses is identified, that entity cannot exist. The logic would nullify the existence of God, a soul or a self. â€Å"By the term impression, then, I mean all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will. And impressions are distinguished from ideas, which are the less lively perceptions, of which we are conscious, when we reflect on any of those sensations or movements above mentioned †¦It seems a proposition, which will not admit of much dispute, that all our ideas are nothing but copies of our impressions, or, in other words, that it is impossible for us to think of anything, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dover Philosophical Classics, 2004) In the same work Hume also postulates two kinds of human reasoning – Relation of Ideas and Matters of Fact. The former involves abstract concepts such as of mathematics where deductive faculty is required, and the later is about empirical experiences which are inductive in nature. This postulate has come to be known as Hume’s Fork. Hume, along with his contemporaries of the Scottish Enlightenment, also proposed that the basis for principles of morals is to be sought in the utility that they tend to serve. This shows the questioning nature of modernist literature not only of religious but also of moral and social norms and values. A very visible influence of modernity is therefore seen in the works of Hume. Present-day Modernist Literature If modernity influenced literature, it also used literature to shift from a philosophical and theoretical domain into the practical lives of people. Modernity could infiltrate into the lives of people through literary works that defined and reiterated the legitimate new modes of classification. Old literary forms with traditional meanings attached to them were reworked, allowing readers to modify or contravene the older meanings. â€Å"This opening-up process allowed readers to glean new meanings that modified or contravened the older ones. In the course of these changes, words, forms, and institutions altered their meaning in British life: they, and the practices they comprised, referred differently†¦. modifying ‘reference potential’ in literature fed back into how readers responded to changes in life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rothstein, 2007) In art and literature, many critics view ‘modernism’ as a new trend in the field of art and literature, defined basically by stylistic and structural variations. They would not accept the fact that ‘modernism’, it is basic approach, was the principles of modernity rendered plausible in literature and art. Modernity has always tried to hold up the world in new perspectives. Similarly, modernist literature opens up the world in all its forms – theoretical, philosophical, aesthetical and political – for fresh scrutiny. Even in its present form, modernist literature attempts to break the objective world of the realist. â€Å"Modernist writing †¦ takes the reader into a world of unfamiliarity, a deep introspection, a cognitive thought-provoking experience, skepticism of religion, and openness to culture, technology, and innovation† (Melton, 2010). Modernist literature exhibits a fascination with the workings of the mind, and how reality is reflected by the mind. The questioning of life, with or without the presence of God, is another trademark of the philosophical and theoretical moorings of modernist literature. Charles Darwin’s work challenges God as the Creator and presents the process of natural selection in the survival of life. This led to modernist literature of time travel, of questioning the existence of individuals and the purpose of the universe. Modernism brought about a new openness in the areas of feminism, bisexuality, the family, and the mind. In the world of today, modernist literature still display much of the characteristics of the times in which it first took shape. A very important theme of modernist literature today is a feeling of being alone in the world – a feeling stemming from estrangement or alienation. Characters are often presented as being depressed or angry. A second common trait is that of being in doubt. â€Å"It may be disbelief in religion, in happiness, or simply a lack of purpose and doubt in the value of human life. Finally, a third theme that is prevalent is a search for the truth† (Foster, 2010). Then there is a third theme in which the alienated character is always in the search for truth and seeks answers to a plethora of questions relating to human subjectivity. In all these characteristics are to be found the same questioning nature, the same denouncement of blind beliefs and the same dependence on reason and rationality that the Eighteenth Century enlightenment thinkers had pursued. The character is alienated and estranged because he or she questions all that is deemed not right by his or her own mind; the character questions the beliefs of religion and other institutions which are not based on reasoning; and finally the character seeks answers and the truth. â€Å"Modernist literature encompasses the thematic fingerprints of a rebellious, questioning, disbelieving, meditative, and confident type of form, which was conceived out of a change in the belief of humanity, the mind, a God, and the self brought on by the shift from capitalism to an ever-increasing society of revolutionary changes† (Melton, 2010). References Descartes, R. , 1637, The Discourse on Methods. Dover Philosophical Classics, 2004, David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Dover Publications Inc. Foster, J. , 2010, Modernism in Literature and History, Available: http://www. helium. com/items/743749-modernism-in-literature-and-history Karl Marx, 1967, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, 3 vols. , New York: International Publishers, 1:703. McCarter, J. , P. , 2006, Literature of the Modern Era, The Puritans’ Home School Curriculum. Melton, L. , 2010, Modernism in Literature and History, Available: http://www. helium. com/items/809291-modernism-in-literature-and-history Mitchell, T. , 2000, The Stage of Modernity, Available: http://www. ram-wan. net/restrepo/modernidad/the%20stage%20of%20modernity-mitchell. pdf Rothstein, E. , 2007, Gleaning Modernity, Earlier Eighteenth Century Literature and the Modernizing Process, Rosemont Publishing and Printing Corp. , Associated University Presses. Simmel, G. , 1093, The Metropolis and Mental Life.

Mardi Gra Social Impact Study Essay

  Sydney has always been the destination of lesbian and gay tourists around the world to view this great spectacle at the South Pacific’s gay and lesbian capital. The Australian gay and lesbian tourism industry has always been on the go whenever the event comes into full view. The street parades and costume parties have always attracted tourists when compared to other events and affairs. Because of this, Sydney, the gay capital of the world, has changed from â€Å"an industrial port to a cosmopolitan, global capital increasingly dependent, for the last two to three decades, on an economy driven by consumption and leisure† (Markwell, 2002, p. 82). Therefore, it is evident that the Mardi Gra contributes solely on Australia’s tourism economy, as reflected in the paper that Kevin Markwell (2002) wrote. There are tensions and demands that leak from the Mardi Gras of Sydney, and the economic impacts of big events such as this cannot be completely ignored. Mardi Gras of Australia Localization as well as globalization can create a big impact on international events and issues that surround the nations. What Markwell (2002) has called localization-globalization dynamic refers to†¦ [T]he way in which a local, community event has challenged and overturned social mores and legislation at the state and national levels partly through its elevation to a national and international event. (Markwell, 2002, p. 83) This has an impact on the tourism industry, as it evades traditional mechanisms and instead, focuses more on the trend and movement of a certain population, creating an ever-increasing power while affecting government intervention and legislation. The tensions and demands of the Mardi Gras The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gra parade happened on the 24th of June 1978 (Markwell, 2002, p. 83). However, what was supposed to be an enjoyable event became one that was close to disaster, as the celebration turned out to be a riot â€Å"with fifty-three people arrested and several alleging vicious assaults by police† (Markwell, 2002, p. 83). There was this tension of distinguishing what exactly was the purpose of that event, especially that there were records on concealed systematic oppression, homophobia, as well as discrimination (Markwell, 2002, p. 83). As of last year, there were approximately 10,000 people who joined the Mardi Gra of Sydney, marking the event as the biggest Mardi Gra event ever to be held in Australia (Organizers say, 2008, p. 1). According to AAP General News Wire, â€Å"Crowds of up to 300,000 people are expected to line the central city route to watch the procession of themed floats, drag queens and many more costumed and flesh-revealing revelers† (Organizers say, 2008, p. 1). To avoid unwanted riots and insurgencies, 80 military personnel and defense force employees marched among the crowds. As stated, â€Å"Those charged will face a range of offenses including affray, assault police, possessing prohibited drugs, assault, and resisting arrest† (Mother Nature, 2007, p. 1). The demand of cleaning human debris is another demand, in addition to the demand of controlling 4,000 gays and lesbians in the event that triggered an economic relief of about $500,000 in the local economy (Bathersby, 2008, p. 1). The economic impact of Mardi Gras In the economy of New Orleans, there is a report that the chosen event can generate more than $1 billion in annual spending, benefiting the economy and the tourism industry of the state (Mardi Gras questions and answers, 2009, p. 1). Noosa, on the other hand, will have poured about $500,000 last year as stated above (Bathersby, 2008, p. 1). By March 2009, they earned about $300,000, as stated in the report (Lander, 2009, p. 1). It is therefore, apparent that this year is approximately 60% less the earned revenue of last year. Nevertheless, it still is helpful to the economy, earning in New South Wales an amount of about $100,000 million each year in the area of tourism (Santow, 2002, p. 1). Each state or nation earns different amounts each year, depending on the state of tourism of that state or nation. According to Simon Santow (2002) however, [T]he Mardi Gras is suffering from a combination of increased costs and falling revenue, at a time when, ironically, there’s been no significant drop in public interest. Unless half a million dollars is found, the organization could place itself in voluntary administration, so the call has gone out for some emergency funding from the state and federal governments [of Sydney]. (Santow, 2002, p. 1) The government issues the permits in parades such as these, but there are economic impacts on big events, such as the Mardi Gras events. Focusing on the economic impact of big events In a paper that Larry Dwyer, Robert Mellor, Nina Mistilis, and Trevor Mules (2000) wrote, they stated that, as the state government receives requests in funding special events and conventions (such as the Mardi Gra), the government focuses mainly on the alleged positive impacts of these events, especially the overall economic impact. There is a framework developed by the state of New South Wales in Australia used to estimate the economic impacts of events and conventions. This is done by using â€Å"accurate and uniform set of events or conventions expenditure as input into the forecasting model† (Dwyer, Mellor, Mistilis, & Mules, 2000, pp. 191-192). Forecasting event-related expenditure is done by the following these steps: first is to estimate the number of inscope visitors; second is to estimate the inscope expenditure of visitors; third is to estimate inscope expenditure of organizers, participants, teams, and media; fourth is to estimate total event related inscope expenditure; fifth is to apply multipliers to estimate economic impacts; sixth is to estimate media impacts; seventh is to estimate fiscal impacts; eighth and final is the recognition of intangible costs and benefits (Dwyer et al. , 2000, pp. 192-194).Mardi Gra is a big event, and it covers some impacts on the economy and the society, as it affects the lives of people there and abroad. References Bathersby, D. (2008, March 2). Noosa set for pink invasion. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from The Daily database: http://www. thedaily. com. au/news/2008/mar/02/noosa-set-pink-invasion/. Brown, A. L. (2009, February 27). Mardi Gras boost. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from The Daily database: http://www. thedaily. com.au/news/2009/feb/27/mardi-gras-revellers-coast-boost/. Dwyer, L. , Mellor, R. , Mistilis, N. , & Mules, T. (2000). Forecasting the economic impacts of events and conventions. Event Management, 6, 191-204. Lander, A. (2009, March 9). Mardi Gras recovery on the coast. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from The Daily database: http://www. thedaily. com. au/news/2009/mar/09/mardi-gras-recovery-coast/. Mardi Gras questions and answers. (2009). Retrieved April 9, 2009, from the Compucast Interactive database: http://www.mardigrasneworleans. com/faq. html. Markwell, K. (2002). Mardi Gras tourism and the construction of Sydney as an international gay and lesbian city. GLQ, 8, 1, 81-99. Mother Nature to star Sydney gay parade. (2007, day). NSW, p. 1. Organizers say Mardi Gras will be biggest ever. (2008, day). NSW, p. 1. Santow, S. (2002, August 1). Mardi Gras in danger. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from The World Today Archive of the ABC database: http://www. abc. net. au/worldtoday/stories/s637685. htm.

A Mythical Roadmap of the Movie Cars Essay Example for Free

A Mythical Roadmap of the Movie Cars Essay ? The first stage of separation is the call to adventure. Followed by the refusal of the call and the crossing of a threshold. Call to Adventure: In most situations, this call becomes the subject of the story or the plot of the movie. For Lightning, he thinks his call to adventure comes over the Public Announcement System when the tie-breaking race in California is announced. While this may be the obvious choice, but I don’t think that it is. We need to look at Lightning as the potential hero and observes how he grows over the course of the journey. He doesn’t grow in skill as a driver. He ran his first race at the beginning of the movie a lot better than the race at the end. The call to adventure is not always the destination, but the road leading to the destination. The adventure is in the hero’s growth. The growth that Lightning experiences is in his ability to have and appreciate friends. As cheesy as it sounds, the call to adventure for this movie is the call to find friendship. Refusal of the Call: The refusal of the call happened during the first race when Lightning refused the help and friendship around him. Let’s admit it, Lightning was a jerk. He alienated the people who tried to help him. Three different crew chiefs quit on him during the one season he’s been racing. His arrogance at the end of the first race was so bad his entire crew quit on him. Another example of Lightnings Refusal was his initial refusal to pave the road he destroyed in Radiator Springs. It was through his paving the road that he learned the lessons of the journey. Crossing the Threshold: The symbolism of the thresholds in the movie are found in the highways that Mack and Lightning re traveling. The â€Å"Mother Road† on Route 66 is significantly more important as it is on the Mother Road that we meet the Threshold Guardian, embodied by the Sheriff. As Lightning is frantically trying to find the interstate and Mack, he speeds pas a sleepy Sheriff’s speed trap. The local sheriff begins to follow him with sirens going. Instead of stopping, Lightening goes through a chain of events throug h the forgotten town of Radiator Spring destroying the main road and other property and landing himself in jail, or the impound. This leads to the initiation phase, which can be summarized by the road of trials, the meeting with the goddess, and apotheosis. Road of Trials: The neat part of the Road of Trials step in Cars is that they are somewhat associated with an actual road, in this case, Route 66 or the Mother Road. As Lightning began to face his trails during the movie, he began by failing them. Lighting’s failure in his encounter with the threshold guardian, the Sheriff, resulted in the destruction of the road. When Doc challenged Lightning to a race, Lightning again failed due to his arrogance and lack of experience racing on dirt. The turning point on his road of trials came in the pasture where he and Mater, the local tow truck, were tipping tractors. Lightning successfully tipped all of the tractors by revving his engine. He was also successful in escaping from Frank the Combine. There, Lightning’s luck changed and he was able to fix the road, learn to race on dirt and redeem himself from his earlier failures. The Meeting with the Goddess: I had a couple of options in picking the goddess who Lightning would meet. Since Lightning is a male, I began looking at the female characters. Had the hero been a woman, I would have included the male characters in my search. One important part of identifying the Gods and Goddesses is to not get hung up on their gender but on how the character fills the role. I first went to Sally Carrera, a 2002 Porsche Carrera, as a possibility for the goddess, but I needed to remember not to confuse the romantic interest with the goddess. The goddess that Lightning has to meet needs to be associated with a trial or test that he had to pass in order to continue on his journey. The character that I identified as the goddess, was not a main character, she didn’t even have any speaking lines. The goddess was Bessie. Bessie is the name given to the road paving machine that Lightning had to drag at a snails pace to fix the road. I chose Bessie because she was the symbolic and literal obstacle that was keeping Lightning in town. To leave town, Bessie would have to be on the other end of the road with smooth pavement behind her. Lightning challenged Bessie’s role as his captor when he tried to speed up the process of fixing the road by quickly laying down the asphalt that he later had to scrape up. When Lightning was put in his place, humbled, and respectful of Bessie’s role as the goddess, he could begin to accomplish the task before him. Apotheosis: The step of apotheosis or becoming the father or god began when Lightning discovered that Doc was a retired race car. Discovering Doc’s Piston Cups and watching Doc race helped Lightning to realize that he could learn something from Doc and he quickly regretted not listening to the advice Doc previously offered. The true point of apotheosis comes during the final race when Lighting takes things learned from his time in Radiator Springs and used it to position himself for the win. This includes driving backwards using rear view mirrors and driving on the dirt infield during a spin-out that helped him take the lead. Even though he did not win the race, or the cup, as Doc had, it was Lightning’s to give up. He became the race car that Doc would be proud to know. The third and final stage of Lightning’s journey is the return, characterized by a refusal to return, the crossing of another threshold, the mastery of two worlds, and the freedom to live. The next three step follow each other in very rapid succession. The refusal came when Mack and the rest of the media came to bring Lightning back to the â€Å"real† world. Lightning didn’t want to go. He had fallen for the temptress, Sally, and was ready to abandon his journey. Luckily for him, Sally told him it was okay to go and he left, returning to the world he left behind. The magic flight out of the fantastical world in this story had been combined with the crossing of the return threshold. Mack the truck carries Lightning out of Radiator Springs and onto California. The events surrounding this is discussed a little more when we talk about crossing the return threshold. During Lightning’s stay in Radiator Springs, he became more attached to the people there. It is easy to imagine that he would give up the California race if that meant he could stay with Sally and the residents of the town. The sweet ambrosia of friendship he tasted there was more powerful that the desire to have the Piston Cup. As demonstrated in the movie, there were three aspects to this rescue from without. First is how the media was notified by Doc of Lightning’s location. Second, is Mack with the media entourage barreling into town to take Lightning away. And third, Harv the agent reminds Lighting about the Race, Dinoco, and his rival Chick Hicks. Doc, Mack, Harv, and the media each helped to rescue Lightning. Reluctantly, he allows himself to be rescued and backs into Mack’s trailer for the magic flight to California. The Crossing of the Return Threshold: In the step of crossing the return threshold, we see the return of the Sheriff in his role as the threshold guardian. He and Sally stopped Lightning from leaving by siphoning his gas tank on his first night in the impound. Later, the Sheriff almost had to go after him before Sally and Lightning went on their ride to the Wheel Well. After Lightning finishes paving the road, and thus completing his road of trials, the Sheriff changes his demeanor and is ready to give Lightning a police escort to help Lightning get to the race on time. In the Sheriff’s role as the threshold guardian, he has released Lightning from â€Å"captivity† and it is now Lightning’s â€Å"refusal to return† that is keeping him there. Lightning crosses the return threshold as he takes his magical flight in Mack’s trailer. One part of crossing the return threshold is that the fantastical world, or the world forgotten, becomes forgotten again. Lightning had become a catalyst of life and energy culminating with everyone in Radiator Springs cruising under the neon lights. When Lightning had left town, Doc finally got what he originally wanted. After a tongue lashing from Sally, Doc quietly sat there as everyone left him alone. He sat there thinking about what he had done as the neon lights turned off, one by one. The world forgotten returned to its anonymity as Doc sat on the darkened road, under the traffic light’s flashing yellow signal. Perhaps the saddest moment in the movie. Master of the Two Worlds: The second to last step in the journey is when the hero becomes the master of the two worlds. This is done by finding the ultimate boon and sharing it with those around him. Since the Ultimate boon in the gift of friendship, it is shared in two situations. First, Lightning shares his friendship to the residents of Radiator Springs when he becomes the customer of all of their stores. They share their friendship back when they show up to be his pit crew. Most notably is Doc acting as the crew chief. Lightning did not show his friendship to Doc in the same manner as he did to the others until he helped King across the finish line. Another large sharing of friendship is where he arranges for Mater to take a helicopter ride over Radiator Springs. Freedom to Live: The Freedom to live is shown primarily in the epilogue after the race. Lightning has merged his two worlds together and can now freely live in the racing world but still be with his friends, especially Sally. Lightning literally puts Radiator Springs back on the map when he moves his racing headquarters to the small town. Also, Lightning becomes a new man, or car, as shown by his new paint job, inspired by the classic 1957 Chevy. In many ways, I have found this journey to be similar to that of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh begins his journey at home as the restless king. He soon meets his helper Enkidu and the two of them go off on their adventure to the forest to defeat Humbaba. Enkidu dies. This prompts the grief stricken Gilgamesh to cross the Threshold of Adventure to seek the answer to immortality. While in the underworld/other world Gilgamesh passes many tests before he meets Utnapishtim and his wife who help him find the magical flower of everlasting life. But Gilgamesh loses the magic plant in his Peak Experience to the trickster snake who steals immortality for itself. So Gilgamesh returns home with the boon, the understanding that immortality is reserved for the gods and that he is human. He will experience death and he realizes that he must live his life and enjoy it. So he writes down his tale to spread the word to his people. As a result, Gilgamesh’s journey comes full circle just as Lightning McQueen’s had in the movie. For this reason, I have concluded that all heroes must use the phases of the journey mentioned in this paper. Though the sequence of the steps may change, they are almost always taken. A Mythical Roadmap of the Movie Cars. (2018, Nov 05).