What do you find most effective in Hardys technique Essay Example for Free

What do you find most effective in Hardys technique Essay What do you find most effective in Hardys technique as a writer of short stories featuring the supernatural? Give consideration to his portrayal of character and his use of narrative development. By: Zahrah Macci Throughout literature history writers have made use of peoples fascination with the macabre. Hardy like many other Victorian writers enjoyed writing short stories which have a lot to do with his fascination with the supernatural. He was an eminent writer who wrote in different types of genres. Two of the famous novels written by Hardy are The Return of the Native and Jude the Obscure. The word supernatural is defined as things that cannot be explained according to natural laws the Withered Arm is full of inexplicable events such as Rhodas vision and Conjurer Trendles way of intuiting that Gertrudes ailment was the work of an enemy. The withered arm like many of Hardys stories has an unexpected ending mainly due to complex relationships between the main characters. Hardy tries to convey the idea of Wessex as a historical landscape by using personification and thereby comparing things to the human anatomy. For example Rhodas cottage which has channels of depressions which are reminiscent of the skin of an aged person. The simile the thatch above a rafter showed like a bone protruding through the skin gives the impression the rafter is rather like a human being. Egdon Heath is a brooding and mysterious place; it has an un-hospitable landscape, very few people choose to live there. The dark countenence of Egdon heath seems to look down on the main characters. Although many would describe Casterbridge as an enlightened city it is the exact antithesis of what we would expect from a so-called civilised place, where hanging is a form of entertainment. It is every bit as barbaric as the old fashioned and superstitious country side. In a good short story there is usually one narrative thread and a focus on 2 or 3 main characters and themes. The three main characters in The Withered Arm are Farmer Lodge, Rhoda Brook and Gertrude Lodge. There are complicated love affairs which lead to retribution. Hardy introduces protagonists through the conversations of pirifial characters. He also tries to raise some questions in the readers mind as to what will happen next. Hardy presents Rhoda Brook as a woman who was once beautiful but has aged prematurely. The milkmaids with whom she worked with made her feel ostracised. She was a social pariah due to her illicit liaison with Farmer Lodge twelve years previously which caused her to become pregnant and have an illegitimate son. Her home was apart from the other milkmaids, it was above the water meads. Rhodas incipient jealousy manifests itself when she asks her son to spy on his step-mother so she can compare herself to her; she wanted him to report back to her about his step-mothers deminior. Gertrude Lodge is a complex character with facets to her personality which transpire as the story progresses. Hardy uses a number of techniques to convey her character. He uses the gossip and rumours spread by the minor characters. From the conversations of the milkmaids we find that Gertrude Lodge is a rosy cheeked, girl with a tisty tosty little body. Gertrude is years younger than farmer Lodge. There are passages of conventional character description of her external appearance, her face too was fresh in colour, soft and evanescent. Hardy employs the narrative device of Rhodas son as a spy to convey more information about her; he reports to his mother about his impression of Gertrude, his description of her suggests she is a lady complete with lightish hair and a face which is as comely as a live dolls. Hardy emphasizes the way Gertrude has a personal impact on other major characters, she has a deep impact on Rhoda when they first meet, she made a favourable impression and Rhoda reproached herself for ever being malevolently jealous in the first place. Gertrudes own actions imply much about her personality at the beginning of the story. She is philanthropic in her attitude towards the poor. She gives things away; she even gave Rhodas son better boots. There are also direct authorial comments which leave us in no doubt as to Gertrudes virtues. Hardy describes her as an innocent young thing who, was so indescribably sweet. Therefore, the initial impression we have as a combination of all these techniques is of an innocent, virtuous young women who is the victim of Rhodas jealousy. However Gertrudes character changes significantly as the affliction on her arm deteriorates. Consequently she becomes involved with the world of superstition and witchcraft. The condition of her had bought up question marks on her marriage to farmer lodge especially when she suggests her husband could have struck her there which demonstrates an element of physical abuse Gertrude receives from farmer Lodge. After visiting Conjuror Trendle with Rhoda she had began using wizardry hoping it would cure her arm after having visited the conjurer for a second time he told her a remedy which was infallible he said she must touch with the limb the neck of a man whos been hanged, as it will turn the blood and change the constitution because of this Gertrudes character changes incredibly as she begins to pray for no reprieve which shows how evil she has become. Conjurer Trendle, another interesting character created by Hardy, lives alone, well away from society in general. His house is five miles away from Holmstoke and it is in the heart of Egdon heath he is reputed to be able to cure illnesses that are the work of the devil. He is described as an exorcist who has infallible powers. The atmosphere in the location where he lives is sinister. Egdon Heath is reminiscent to the heath in king Lear with its associations with insanity thick clouds made the atmosphere dark though it was as yet only early afternoon. The conjurer does not like his business to be well known or given any kind of publicity. He did not profess his remedial practices openly after he had cured something he would always say perhaps its just chance. He makes a living by selling local products his direct interests being those of a dealer in furze, turf, sharp sand he can deal with ailments that are beyond the reach of ordinary medicine, he has the power to make watts miraculously disappear he does not accept any financial remuneration. He has a distinctive appearance, he is a grey bearded man, with a reddish face as soon as he examines Gertrude there is a suggestion of his paranormal powers, and he is able to tell immediately it was the work of an enemy. The intensification of Rhodas jealousy of her rival in love culminates into a night-marish vision. Rhodas dream occurred a fortnight after Gertrudes return with farmer lodge. She went to bed with a picture of Gertrude in her head. She had a vision of her enemy, it was so vivid she was unsure weather it was real or a dream. She saw Gertrude holding her left hand out mockingly to show Rhoda her wedding ring to make her feel jealous. Gertrudes face changed dramatically. Her features were shocking, distorted and wrinkled by age she was sitting upon Rhodas chest as if she was trying to suffocate her. Rhoda then swung out her right hand and threw the figure of her by grasping the left arm and whirled it backward to the floor Gertrude also had a night marish vision at the same time as Rhodas. As a result of this vision the discolouration on Gertrudes arm had appeared it corresponded exactly to what Rhodas hand would look like. At this point hardy creates a sense of ambiguity in that the reader is not sure as to whether or not Rhodas vision was real or a dream. At the end of the story hardy brings together the three main characters in a tragic denouement. Attentive readers would realise Gertrude turns into a vicious person. As anticipated there is a twist in the tale, the victim of the execution is Rhodas son, which creates a tragedy for the three main characters. Rhoda cursed Gertrude after seeing her near the corps of Rhodas son she said this is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision! You are like her at last! Gertrude did not know the identity of the victim this was partly because she had not attended the execution, the shock of touching the corps turned her blood but it affected her so profoundly, it was too much for her constitution to take, Gertrude unfortunately passed away 3 days later due to the previous events. All the lives of the main characters were blighted because of their belief of superstition. After the hanging farmer Lodge becomes a benefactor to young boys such as his son by giving up the farms in Holmstoke and selling it. The money gained he left for young boys and Rhoda however Rhoda did not accept the money. According to some people Hardy is the master of short stories. Most of these short stories have a focus on one main narrative thread. The Withered Arm is mainly about Gertrude Lodge and when she became involved with the supernatural. The three main characters in the Withered Arm are, Farmer Lodge, Gertrude Lodge and Rhoda Brooks. Short stories have limited amounts of characters as this builds up to the unexpected endings. Hardy uses various techniques to arouse the readers sense of intrigue and thereby compel the reader to its natural conclusion. At the time the Withered Arm was written, women in this rural society were either tied to the land like Rhoda or to their husbands like Gertrude. Furthermore, women had relatively few rights of property and movement and therefore enjoyed rather little freedom. The story reveals the life, beliefs and values of a countryside community. In Hardys time there was no access to the modern media which resulted to oral tradition which was the art of story telling. Stories which include supernatural tales, such as this one were popular with the reading public in late Victorian Britain. Personally I enjoyed reading the Withered Arm mainly because of the situation of Rhoda Brooks which grabs attention due to her illegitimate son. I particularly found it interesting because of Gertrudes beliefs in the supernatural. I thought it was worth reading to the end of the story.

The Gestalt theory and insight

The Gestalt theory and insight The Gestalt theory and â€Å"Insight† Professor Wolfgang Kà ¶hler was one of the founders of the Gestalt psychology. The term â€Å"Gestalt psychology† was first used by Christian von Ehrenfels, the Austrian philosopher, as early as 1890 in his paper â€Å"On Gestalt Qualities†. The Gestaltism was a reaction to some contemporary psychologists. The Gestalt psychology emphasized that behavior cannot be studied by analyzing its components but, rather, it must be studied as a whole, in all its complexity. Kà ¶hler carried out a series of famous experiments during the First World War, studying the behavior of chimpanzees in solving problems. The results of the experiments led him to introduce the notion of â€Å"insight† (Einsicht), which is one of the central terms of the Gestalt psychology. Insight, according to Kà ¶hler, manifests itself in the behavior as a break in the process of learning, i.e. as a real emergence of a solution: the correct adaptive response appears suddenly without being visibly dependent direct on the tests and errors that preceded it. Once it appears, this response is stable, i.e. the subject (hominid or human) is able to reproduce it in an appropriate manner. Theoretically, a Gestalt-adepts â€Å"intuition† is described as a restructuring of the perceptive field: the subject perceives suddenly in his environment new possibilities to action that lead him almost immediately to the solution. The phenomena of conditioning and learning cannot explain this capacity of intuitive restructuring. On the one hand their sequential character actually is directly opposed to the suddenness of insight; on the other hand their associationist and analytical character does not allow the inclusion of global and structural properties of the perception-cognitive field. This conception thus confers on the brain a global capacity to process the environments perceived. To the explicative construction in terms of combination of elements, it substitutes the notion of aptitude to immediate changes of structure. The concept of insight led Duncker (1945) to proposing the general theory of problem solving. Dunckers theory (see a separate section above) is based on the concepts of insight and field. For Duncker, a problem situation comes about when an organism has a goal but does not know how to reach it. The solution, which eliminates this situation by enabling the realization of the goal, generally consists of several successive stages, each marking a progress relative to the foregoing stage. The basic question then is how to advance from the one stage to the other. To answer it, Duncker reuses certain concepts developed by Selz (Mayer, 1992). Selz proposed some of the major ideas in cognitive psychology and formulated the firs non-associationist theory of thinking. Among his seven theses on thinking processes the most remarkable ones are the following: Directed association generates the unit of thought; Forming a structure leads to understanding a problem; Testing for conditions results in solving a problem. Selz gave the following general description to the solution of any problem: Let ?Rb be the structure of a situation in which the task is to find what ‘? covers. Perhaps an individual keeps in his memory the complex aRb, which partially correspond to ‘?Rb. From this, the element a is disclosed. Reaching the solution thus takes place according to a phenomenon of â€Å"resonance† between some generalized objects. In general, â€Å"resonance† can be described as an original combination of known elements. The origin of the combination may be internal (it is the result of imagination), or external (induced verbally). In fact, not every correspondence of a signal to an object implies necessarily a resonance between the object and the signal. It is necessary that the signal be adequate to the object, which means that it should satisfy several conditions: it must be, among others, complete, concise, conformist, etc. The process of problem solution depends closely on the structure of the situation and above all on the â€Å"availability† of the elements of which the solution consists. The elements, in fact, are not distributed randomly, but according to a characteristic organization, whereby some of them stand out. Duncker illustrates this notion by the problem of rays: how can a tumor be destroyed by means of radiation without damaging neighboring tissue? Two test subjects were used to answer the question. To the first group of test subjects the problem was described in the active voice: â€Å"The radiation might destroy also the healthy tissue. How can this be avoided?† The second group of test subjects got the same task, but this time expressed in the passive voice: â€Å"The healthy tissue might also be destroyed. How could it be protected from being damaged by radiation?† The results show that in the first group, 43 % of test subjects link their solution to the intensity of the radiation used. In the second group only 14 % focus on the intensity of radiation. The simple verbal structure of the problem description is sufficient for making the component â€Å"intensity of radiation† less prominent in the latter case than in the former. Last but not least, what is essential in the process of problem solving is the change manifesting itself in that the subject operates in a psychological structure of the situation perceived. This sudden restructuring is nothing else than the insight, the role of which is decisive. How then can the thought handle a given data field to extract from it pertinent information? One could say that the relation between two sets of data A and B is â€Å"totally distinguishable† if it is possible to grasp directly that the affirmation of A implies that of B. A connection will be â€Å"partially distinguishable if only certain traits of B can be grasped or understood parting from A. To explain the existence of such relationships there are, according to Duncker, two traditional responses: either the set B already is contained in A and can be analytically separated from it, or the functioning of the thought is such that that it always must reconnect A and B (a synthetic explication). If different events that compose the universe were not mutually related according to some law, the thought would evidently have no practical efficacy. In reality, these relations must be described not as fixed couplings of defined elements, but rather as a constant structure of variabl es. The principal cause of an effect â€Å"b† may be grasped by abstraction of factors that all possible situations â€Å"b† have in common, as well as those factors that all possible situations â€Å"non-b† do not have in common. It is a process of â€Å"precipitation† of a common aspect of coverage, parting from the inspection of a set of situations belonging to the same class. The result of the precipitation is a change in the configuration the situations envisaged. These situations thus acquire intelligibility that resides in the fact that they are reducible to a general law. This phenomenon can be called, writes Duncker, â€Å"insight of the second degree†. The various elements of a situation, as has been seen, can present very variable degrees of â€Å"availability†. The availability of an object is actually an inverse function of what the author calls its â€Å"fixedness†. For instance, a chimpanzee looking for a stick from which to make a tool, like in Kà ¶hlers experiment, does not recognize it in a branch if the latter still is attached to the tree. In this context the branch constitutes a part of the perceptive unit called â€Å"tree† and, because of this fixedness that anchors it in a definite situation, it is less available for entry into another situation than when it is detached and lies on the ground. Beside this perceptive dependence, the fixedness can also be conditioned functionally. Several of Dunckers well-known experiments reveal that. For instance, two groups of test subjects must discover in a heterogeneous set of objects one that can serve as a counterweight: in this case a book of logarithms. But, before that, one of the groups had first to resolve a mathematical problem requiring the use of the logarithmic tables. It was found that the members of this group less often identify the book in point as a counterweight than do the others. Because of its foregoing usage, which has â€Å"fixed† it as part of a certain function, it is no longer available for a new re-structuring. Another question emerges as a consequence of these results: how can one explain that the perceptive restructurings necessary for a discovery are, according to the individuals, more or less easy? Taking mathematical reasoning as an example, Duncker distinguishes two possible applications: Subjects weak in mathematics are not capable of restructuring easily, because their thinking matter is too rigid, strongly fixed. With individuals gifted in mathematics, there is an abstract level on which the perceptive functions do not interfere, but where only specific mathematical properties are considered. The former hypothesis has a degree of plausibility but it cannot be upheld: in fact, it can be stated that with subjects who are strictly mathematically oriented the perceptive restructuring plays a considerably greater part than with â€Å"ordinary† subjects. Duncker supports, however, the second explanation: it is the different role of perceptive structuring, where the difference refers to the degree with which the material of the thought is organized in depth. This causes the variations in individual performance. It is known that there are subjects of the visual type, with whom the intellectual activities always repose on visual images. By the same token, according to Duncker, many people are unable to explore and treat the problem material if it is not totally permeated with perceptive structures. It has been shown that the Gestalt theoretical notion of insight makes it undeniably possible to describe a plurality of phenomena that are allowed in the problem solving behavior. The notion has fulfilled a certain scientific function in the psychology of the last 100+ years. This advantage is, nevertheless, negatively compensated by a major explicative inability: the concept of intuition rests, almost by definition, out of reach for analysis, and therefore it cannot be included in the causal chain. It thus generates many questions that cannot be answered. Pavlov had noted it immediately and reproached Kà ¶hler for having introduced the â€Å"dualism† and the â€Å"mentalism† in the study of higher processes. If the notion of intuition largely appears as a theoretical instance, is it possible at least to give it precise objective content? Westcott tried to find the answer to this question (see further down). Westcott In his 1968 work, Westcott studied intuition by resorting exclusively to the experimental method. He conceived it initially as a form of inferential behavior and defined it operationally as the fact that an individual solver has attained a solution using less information than is usually necessary. If then for solving a particular problem P, the majority of the population p needs the quantity of information I, any individual who attains the solution using a quantity of information that is less than I displays intuitive behavior vis-à  -vis P. This definition, which is perfectly satisfactory from the scientific point of view, introduces the adoption of differential perspective: the human subjects are more or less intuitive in the same manner as they are more or less intelligent or creative. In his first experimental research Westcott used four kinds of tasks defined by the increasing variety of the type of material (verbal or numerical) and of the type of response (completing series or establishing analogies). These four categories of problems did not require any specialized knowledge, which assured that the test subjects (in Westcotts case students) could be viewed as equals. In solving tasks involving completion of series, the test subjects had at their disposal a set of examples the use of which improved the chances of attaining a solution. The same goes for the problems involving analogies, where the subject was allowed to use as many examples of relations as he pleased. Westcott called every example or additional stage that led to the goal the clue. Each test subject was required to use both the least possible number of clues, and rank, on a four-point scale, the certainty he attaches to each of his responses. Under these experimental conditions, Westcott defined four measures of performance: The quantity of the information used. Instead of the coarse number of clues used by an individual before proposing a solution, it is preferable to ponder the value of the clues used as a function of the mean and the typical spread in the population. The number of correctly solved problems of those twenty that constitute a complete series. The ratio of success (foregoing score) to information demand (first score). This ratio is called efficacy. The mean value of ratings assigned by the subjects to their responses in the twenty problems. The eleven samples studied did not differ with respect to these four measures. In particular, no significant differences are visible between girls and boys. On the other hand, each sample displays a large variability with respect to the scores of the individuals comprising the group, which gives credibility to the idea that individual capabilities differ vastly from person to person. The principal results can be summarized as follows: No correlation exists between successful solving of the tasks and the quantity of information demanded, which a priori could look like a little paradox. But, rather, this result shows that intuition constitutes a differentiating feature: the use of information collected varies greatly from person to person and is independent of the quantity alone. What is important is not the volume of what is received, but rather the specific treatment that the input data receive. Westcott was interested in subjects whose scores were extreme with respect to the two dimensions specified previously. He thus put together four groups corresponding to as many groups of individuals: those who require little information, yet often are successful. Such persons are by definition intuitive subjects, representing no more than 6 % of the total population. those who require little information, but are seldom successful. They are the â€Å"guessers†, free from a real intuitive process. those who need a great deal of information and are often successful. Their performance is prudent, as they never attempt anything if they are under informed. finally, there are those who require a great deal of information and fail most often. They are unable to use information correctly even if the information available is abundant. In all samples studied, a positive correlation exists between success and the degree of confidence in the solutions proposed, which indicates that the test subjects are sufficiently aware of their performance. By contrast, the correlations between confidence and the quantity or information demanded are all negative. It means that the more information a subject demands, the less confidence he has in the responses he gives. Finally, the correlations between confidence and the efficacy score are all positive. Westcott then tried to establish relations that might exist between the four scores mentioned and various aptitudes or personality traits measured by means of various tests. He found a negative correlation between the information demand and the verbal and numerical factors of intelligence, while success, too, seems to be positively related. This confirms the results showing that using intuitive thought seems to go hand in hand with high intelligence. As for personality traits, success is negatively correlated with anxiety. The same goes for the efficacy score, which is also positively related to flexibility. In other words, the subjects who need little information seem to be less stable and more engaged in what they are doing than are subjects who demand much information. The former are also less conformist and less sociable. Finally, the subjects who often succeed tend to be more confident in themselves, while those who often fail are more anxious. The capacity to resolve problems i ntuitively thus belongs to a specific set of personality traits. In the second part of his research, Westcott was interested in the behavior of perceptive inference, conceived a different field of manifestation of the intuitive thought that does not differ fundamentally from problem solving. How do individuals categorize their universe of perceptions? Here, too, the quantity of the information demanded will be considered on the one hand, and the ability to formulate valid conclusions in a perception related task on the other hand. The experimental material used consisted of several images borrowed from childrens books. Each image was cut into a series of seven or eight blocks arranged in the increasing order of completeness. The elements of information occurring in a specific block reappeared evidently in the neighboring block, whereupon the original design gradually re-emerged in its totality. The pictures were presented individually to each subject, beginning by the least complete block, such as a simple sketch of some features. The subjects got the instruction to identify the design as soon as they could, i.e. using the least possible number of blocks. There were thus two different passing conditions: first, the images were presented in the increasing degree of completeness and for as long a time as the subject desired. He could give as many responses as he pleased until he succeeded. Evidently, two measures can be applied here: the mean of the number of responses at which the first attempt to identification is made, and the mean of the number of responses at which the correct answer is given. In the second procedure the subjects could only give one response. The sequence was, however, broken as soon as response, good or wrong, was given. Three scores can be defined here: the mean of the responses corresponding to the demand of information in attempts to resolve the problems; the total number of correct identifications corresponding to the measure of success; and the ratio of the second to the first measure of efficacy. The experiments were carried out on 17 samples, where the age of the test subjects ranged from tender childhood to adulthood. It was thus possible to study individual differences at a given age on the one hand, and the differences between groups as a function of age and the level of education. Westcott has, for instance, established a correlation between the success at examinations and the IQ. This relation seems positive, which confirms the results of the foregoing experiment. Yet, this coarse piece of data for aptitude in mathematics is differentiated according to age. With the youngest ones this aptitude accompanies the higher scores of success and efficiency, while the students results show that this aptitude depends to a lesser degree on efficiency and on a higher demand of information, which does not necessarily accompany success. In other words, Westcott studied the relations between intuitive performance and creativity. The method used consisted of requiring that the teachers teaching the test subjects explain explicitly their own definition of creativity and then rank their students in accordance with this definition. In one of the samples, for instance, the teacher defined creativity by contrasting it to simple imagination and supposed that it requires aggressiveness, initiative, and a minimum of intelligence. Of the 26 test subjects, four most creative and four least creative subjects were selected using this concept. As for the mean number of correct responses obtained, it was found that the most creative students appeared among the top seven individuals, and the least creative ones occupied the bottom five posts. In another sample, the teacher defined creativity by distinguishing it from intelligence, and associating it with flexibility and original expression of oneself. In view of this definition five very creative students along with four very little creative students could be identified. The results obtained confirm those of the foregoing sample: the less creative ones occupy the four lowest tiers as for the number of correct responses provided in the test of perceptive inference. Thus, in the ensemble there is a strong correlation between intuitive behavior and the estimated individual creativity. According to Westcott, the opacity that characterizes the phenomenon of intuition may be due to three causes: it can follow from the fact that certain elements included in the process are inconscient; it can follow from the fact that the relationships between these elements are inconscient; or it can follow from the fact that these elements are comprised in the multiple and complex contexts obtained subliminally, peripherally or accidentally. It is also necessary to note that the intuitive behavior is useful and necessary only in certain situations. In general, our environment is very redundant, it is well informed. It could be said that the same thing is true about creative behavior the emergence of which mostly remains an exceptional phenomenon. Westcotts results make it possible to give a real content to the notion of intuition: the definition of explicit experimental operations permits, at least partially, to eliminate myths about intuition and treat it as a behavior. Of course, these initial results must be largely completed, but they already sketch the path of additional approach to the creative process.

The Role of Technology in Management Leadership Essay -- Business Mana

The Role of Technology in Management Leadership Over the last sixty years of business activity, there has been new ways and means of conducting business through something we call technology. Technology is the advancement and use of electronic devices and other high-tech equipment to produce and progress knowledge into the future. Advancements in technology have affected management leadership in many ways over the last sixty years. New technology has altered leaders’ consciousness, language, and the way they view their organization. Technological advancements have made things easier for those in management leadership roles. But as with anything, there are positive and negative aspects of technology on leadership. Some of the positive aspects of technology are: the availability and use of wireless networking, collaboration tools, digital video, handheld devices, and videoconferencing. On the other hand, the negative aspects of technology are: it offers less privacy, it allows for less interaction with others, and it runs a h igh risk of contact with viruses. On the more positive side, wireless networking allows leaders to share resources with their team operating by means of wireless media, such as microwaves, cellular technology, and radio frequencies. Wireless networking is paving the way for technology integration around the world. The use of collaboration tools allows ongoing conversations among leaders, their subordinates, board members, and community members. Professional development is one area where collaboration can have an enormous impact on management leadership. When leaders can casually share new approaches and practices with each other through a technology connection to their workplace, both leaders and their team will benefit. One way of doing this is to create an Internet mailing list where they can share questions, problems, solutions, successful techniques, and less successful techniques. The Internet is enabling digital video to achieve professional-quality and two-way interaction. This will be one of the rare cases wh ere management leadership will be leading a technological shift in society as a whole. Hand-held devices are high-tech gadgets, now more powerful than early Windows or Macintosh machines. Handheld devices offer more versatility than full-size computers and are much more portable than the alternative personal device, the ... ... to remember that the Internet is a public place, and you should never assume that something is secure. Leaders should be the moral compass for groups, but... Technology has blurred some distinctions between what's right and wrong. Many institutions have been caught in the discourse about websites such as Napster. Some people seem to want to have two sets of rules, one for the cold reality of the analog world and another for the magical digital world. It may take many years to establish equilibrium. In the meantime, be clear and consistent about expectations, after you've given full consideration to the implications. Choose your battles, but be prepared to say "let's wait and see". Leaders appreciate differences, but technology threatens to marginalize others. As for any program goal, a leader should always ask "who gets excluded by this approach?" There is a misperception among many leaders that technology is naturally bias-free: The research suggests otherwise. Furthermore, ind ividuals from some backgrounds do not "buy into" or choose to participate in the emerging technology culture, as should be their choice. Be careful when a technological solution becomes the only solution.

iraq :: essays research papers

iraq Background: Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen ruled the country, the latest was SADDAM Hussein. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years resulted in the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Hussein regime. Coalition forces remain in Iraq, helping to restore degraded infrastructure and facilitating the establishment of a freely elected government, while simultaneously dealing with a robust insurgency. The Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government (IG) in June 2004 and the election of its president, Ghazi al-Ujayl al-YAWR, was held in January 2005,it’s capital is Baghdad. Climate: Iraq is located in the Middle East ,bordering the Persian Gulf between Iran and Kuwait ,it is mostly desert. Mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers, the northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing floods. It’s national disasters consists of dust storms, sandstorms, and most likely in spring, floods.

John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time Essay -- Biography Biographies Essa

John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time      Ã‚   "The first poet in the world in some things," applauded Ben Jonson of his friend, John Donne (Donne, John Donne: A Selection of His Poetry 11). In the midst of the stylized and often frivolous verses of the Elizabethan and cavalier poets, John Donne's work emerges as startling, intellectual, and honest to human nature and emotion- classifying him as the first of the modern poets. Through an exploration of Donne's "The Sun Rising" and "The Flea", we shall reveal Donne's innovative style and technique, and how this repels him from the poetic orthodoxy of the seventeenth century and towards the style of the modern age.    0 "Busy old fool, unruly sun,/ Why dost thou thus?" Donne audaciously denounces the sun itself, a heavenly body worshipped through the ages, in his poem, "The Sun Rising". Moreover, Donne employs an interesting conceit: he uses the routine, everyday phenomena of the rising sun as the basis for a love poem, love being extraordinary, new, and often once-in-a-lifetime. Donne goes on dramatically and arrogantly to thre... John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time Essay -- Biography Biographies Essa John Donne: A Poet Out of His Time      Ã‚   "The first poet in the world in some things," applauded Ben Jonson of his friend, John Donne (Donne, John Donne: A Selection of His Poetry 11). In the midst of the stylized and often frivolous verses of the Elizabethan and cavalier poets, John Donne's work emerges as startling, intellectual, and honest to human nature and emotion- classifying him as the first of the modern poets. Through an exploration of Donne's "The Sun Rising" and "The Flea", we shall reveal Donne's innovative style and technique, and how this repels him from the poetic orthodoxy of the seventeenth century and towards the style of the modern age.    0 "Busy old fool, unruly sun,/ Why dost thou thus?" Donne audaciously denounces the sun itself, a heavenly body worshipped through the ages, in his poem, "The Sun Rising". Moreover, Donne employs an interesting conceit: he uses the routine, everyday phenomena of the rising sun as the basis for a love poem, love being extraordinary, new, and often once-in-a-lifetime. Donne goes on dramatically and arrogantly to thre...

Compare ‘The Soldier’ written by Rupert Brooke and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ written by Wilfred Owen

Lately we have studied two poems that were written during the time of World War One. They were ‘The Soldier' written by Rupert Brooke and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth' written by Wilfred Owen. Both of these poets were soldiers involved in fighting during World War One. ‘The Soldier' is an uplifting and optimistic poem looking at the positive side of dying for your country when going to war. I think the poet Rupert Brooke wrote the poem to send home to his family to reassure them if he died it would be peacefully and not in pain. In the first stanza Brooke is saying that if he dies while away in this foreign country, that he'll leave a part of England there. The following quotation is an example that he is English through-and-through: â€Å"A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam.† He was born and brought up with a certain kind of English lifestyle and culture. He then goes on to describe the flowers and winding paths making us think of England as idyllic and peaceful. He uses personification in the first line of the quote. It compares England to a woman giving birth to a child and bringing it up. In the second stanza Brooke describes England as a country of no evil and that he will remember it forever, he'll always have happy memories from the past when he lived in England. Some of the best memories being times he's spent with the people he loved. The final line in stanza two is: â€Å"In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.† This conveys that England has shaped him into who he is and he is proud of it. ‘The Soldier' is a sonnet. A sonnet is a 14-line poem used to express personal feelings. His choice of words describe his personal feelings as well. These words all add reassurance to the poet's relatives that if he dies, it will be peaceful. Examples of the words used to describe the peacefulness are: â€Å"blest, dream, gentleness, peace and heaven†. One of the main features that the poet uses in this in this poem is repetition. The most widely used word that the poet uses repeatedly is ‘England' and ‘English' adding to the patriotism and significance that England has to him it isn't just a place it represents a culture and a set of values as well. The structure of the poem is that it has two verses and 14 lines in total. The rhyming scheme is- A B A B C D C D – E F G E F G Each letter represents a line, two lines with the same letter means that it rhymes. Brooke uses alliteration, the consonant that is being repeated is an ‘f', it is a soft sound yet again showing calmness and peacefulness: â€Å"That there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England.† Other alliteration such as: â€Å"Her sights and sounds†, â€Å"Dream happy as day†, And, laughter, learnt of friends†. All these show how the poet feels about the possibility of his death. He is optimistic and knows he is prepared to die fighting for his country. The other poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth' written by Wilfred Owen is also a sonnet. ‘Doomed youth' mean all those young men to be sent to war and on the front are destined to die. In the poem the poet expresses his views on what should happen to these people when they die. They all should be given a funeral and a proper send off, even those on the battlefield. You can tell this because throughout the poem he mentions funerals and church services. The first stanza suggests the horror of death and how they compare these men to animals † For those who die as cattle.† There deaths have been brutal and violent. The first stanza demonstrate this, it is full of noise and violence to show the pandemonium of the battle compared to the funeral they would have had at home and how it differs: â€Å"No prayers, bells, nor any voice of mourning save the choirs† The second stanza is more peaceful and shows the grief of the relatives when they find out what's happened and in the second stanza it looks at the kind of send off they would have had if they had been at home. It uses words such as ‘candles', ‘hands of boys', ‘their pall', ‘holy glimmers of goodbyes' and ‘flowers' all things that are related to a church service. The final line of this poem depicts the morning of the soldier's relatives: â€Å"And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.† When a death occurred during this period the families who had lost people they loved, closed the blinds to show their sadness and to keep the rest of the world out. In this case the consonant being repeated is ‘D'. D is a harsh sound stressing the relatives coping with losing a loved one. This poem is also a sonnet it shows personal feeling of what the poet though about not getting a proper send off. The rhyming scheme is- A B A B C D C D – E F F E G G The poem ends with a rhyming couplet that means the last two lines rhyme. In the first stanza the poet uses onomatopoeia to demonstrate the sound on the battlefield: â€Å"Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle† It is also an example of alliteration. This poem is against war and the inappropriate way these men have lost their lives. The general mood of he poem is anger and sadness. Anger because the young men died unnecessarily without having much of a life and sadness because all these people are dying needlessly and others are mourning because of this. ‘The Soldier' and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth' are both sonnets with two stanza and 14 lines but both poem are completely different in their take of the same situation.

Night World : Witchlight Chapter 18

The mobilize to Charlotte passed in a blur. All Keller could int give up was hanging on while Nissa did n spikely of the wildest driving shed ever experienced. They went offroad for a considerably deal of the way.It was unrivalled minute to midnight when they squealed into a parking lot in battle depend of a long, low building. Go in, go in Nissa give tongue to, slamming to a stop in front of a set of picture doors.Keller and Galen and Winnie and Iliana ran.They burst into a large populate that showmed very brightly lit. A sea of chairs with bodies academic session in them swam in front of Kellers eye. Then she focused on a platform at the front.Come on, she verbalize tersely.There were a number of concourse sitting at a send back on the platform, facing the auditory sense unsloped equivalent any ordinary instrument panel, with glass of water and microphonesin front of them. b arly Keller recognized about of the passel as she got closer, and they were anything however ordinary.That little dumpling-shaped woman with the turn of events smell was commence Cybele. contract of both the beldamees, hardly as grannie Harman had been Crone. With Grandma Harman dead, she was the witches leader.The tall girl with the lovely f tuckerures and the cafe au lait skin who sat beside her was Aradia. The ruse Maiden of the beguilees mentioned in the prophecies.And that regal-looking man with the flamboyant hair and beard, sitting by the queenlike woman with flashing green eyesThey could only be the leaders of the early abode of the shapeshifters.Galens baffle and father.There were others, excessively, all-important(a) people from Circle Daybreak, tho Keller didnt charter season to focus on them. arrest Cybele was on her feet and speaking. She must have been a little short-sighted, because she didnt appear to see Keller and the others glide path up on the side. Her voice was decelerate and c formerlyrned.Im fearful that since its now past midnight-Keller glanced at her watch. Its only midnight now stick Cybele looked up, startled, over her glasses. Every head on the panel dark. And every compositors case in the consultation was suddenly fixed on Kellers group.A low murmur like the humming of bees began, besides it swelled very readily to something like a muted roar. slew were pointing openly as Keller ran up the travel to the stage.She glanced back at the others and realize why. They were a handsome sad-looking bunch. Every one of them was waterlogged and ragged. Winnies strawberry-blond hair was dark red with family on one side. Galens sweater was in shreds. And she herself was filthy from the tunnel and all the crap shed encountered in the illumination.Only Diana looked reasonably clean, and that was plausibly because the glow unbroken you from focusing too closely.Mother Cybele gave a little yell of joy that sounded quite young, and she dropped the index separate shed been safekeeping. A radia stood up, her beautiful blank eyes sullen toward them, her entire face shining with joy. Galens pargonnts looked modification startled and relieved. unless some guy c open in a dark character grabbed Kellers arm as she reached the top of the steps.Who argon you supposed to be? he tell.Keller agitate him off and stood with her hair swirling around her. Were the people whore bringing you the hazardous Power, she give tongue to. She spotted Nissa just coming in the door and beckoned to her. And were in like manner the ones who killed the dragon.The big room fell so silent that you could have perceive a stem clip drop.Well, actually, she killed the dragon, Keller say, pointing to Diana.Aradia said in a hushed voice, The Witch Child. Shes have sex to us.Iliana walked slowly up onto the stage and stood straight. I didnt kill it alone(predicate), she said. Everybody helped, and especially Keller and Galen.Galens fathers golden eyebrows went up, and Galens mother grippe d her husbands arm. Keller glanced sideways at Galen and saw that he was blushing.They fought it and fought it until they were both almost dead. yet accordingly, when I used the blue fire, they got split up again.She said it so simply, speaking to Mother Cybele alone, or so it seemed. She didnt look in the to the lowest degree self-conscious, or in the least arrogant.I suppose shes used to having everybody looking at her, Keller purpose.Mother Cybele actually clasped her little loopy hands together and shut her eyes. When she loose them again, they were shining with rupture.But all she said was, Welcome, my child. Grandma Harmans last words were for you. She hoped you would adventure your power.She did, Keller said. Winnie helped her.I didnt help her do that, Winnie said candidly. What she did back there and what she said. I just tried to show her how to use the orangeness fire. But when she started talking- She shook her curly head. I dont spot where she got all that stu ff round Hecate.It just came to me, Iliana said. I dont know. It was as if somebody was face it to me, and I was just ingeminate it.But who could have said it? Keller aspect. Who else but somebody who was there the first time, when the dragons were project to sleep? Who else but Hecate Witch-Queen herself?Even though shed been dead thirty thousand years.Its time for everything thats sleeping to wake back up again.Keller realized that she was regarding a stochasticity from the herd. At first, she thought that they were muttering in disbelief again, or maybe in annoyance at these people who were stand on the stage and chattering.Then it got louder and louder, and she realized it was applause.People were clapping and cheering and whistling. It was utter off the ceiling and walls. And just when Keller thought it couldnt possibly get any louder, a new beat would come and judge her wrong.It took a long time for Mother Cybele to get them all quieted d consume. Then she turned t o Keller and said formally, So youve comp permited your missionary station?Keller realized that it was a cue. And in the thick of the dizzy happiness shed been feeling, something twisted in her heart.She kept it from showing on her face. She kept herself standing erect.Yes, she said to Mother Cybele. Ive brought the Witch Child. She swallowed hard.And here is the son of the First House of the shapeshifters, Galens father said. He stepped over to Galen and took his hand. His face was stern but glowing with pride.Galens face was pale but set. He looked at Keller-for just one moment. And whence he looked straight egress at the audience with unseeing eyes.Mother Cybele looked toward Iliana. To take her hand, Keller supposed, and roast it with Galens. But Iliana was holding some verbalise conversation with Aradia.When she finally turned around, Iliana said, 1 want Keller to do it. Shes the one obligated for all this.Keller blinked. Her throat was so swollen, it was insufferable to swallow again. But she wouldnt have thought it of Iliana. Really, it seemed so pointlessly cruel to win her do it.But maybe she doesnt understand. Thats it, she doesnt realize, Keller thought. She let out a careful, shaky trace and said, Okay.She reached for Dianas hand-And felt a stab in her palm.She looked humble, astonished. Iliana had a knife in that hand, a perfectly serviceable little knife. She had diagonal Keller with it, and Keller was bleeding. In fact, Iliana seemed to be bleeding, too.Sorry, Iliana hissed. Ick, I nauseate railway line.Then, grabbing Kellers hand again, she faced the audience and increase it up high.There she said. Now were blood babes. And shes already been like a sister to me, because she saved my life over and over. And if thats non correct comme il faut for an alliance in the midst of the witches and the shapeshifters, I dont know what is.The entire audience gaped at her. Mother Cybele blinked rapidly.Are you saying Galens father looked i ncredulous. Are you saying that you wont bind my son?Im saying that she ought to marry your son- or promise to him, or whatever they want. Shes the one hes in love with. And I dont see why you should make him miserable for his self-colored life just because you want the shapeshifters bind to the witches. Keller and I are tied together, and we endlessly allow for be. And Galen, too. wherefore cant that be enough?A sound was starting from the concourse again. Kellers heart seemed to soar on it. But she was still staring at Iliana, afraid to believe.But what if the witches dont agree to it? Galens father said feebly.Iliana stamped her foot She actually did.Tm the Witch Child. Theyd better listen to me. I didnt go through all of this for nothing.Then the crowd was thundering applause even louder than before, and the wave seemed to sweep Keller right into Galens arms.Sometime later, in the middle of a lot of clasp and kissing, Keller whispered to Iliana, Are you sure?Td better be sure, dont you return? Or Galens loss to be pretty upset.Iliana-Tm sure, Iliana whispered. She squeezed Keller. I unfeignedly do care about him. I guess Im sort of in love with him, too. But I saw. I saw his face in the clearing when he thought you were dead. And I heard the way he said your name. And and so I knew, you know? The cardinal of you were meant to be. So Im sure.A leopard? Galens mother said, shaking out her topaz-colored hair. Why, near, thats wonderful. Your great-great-grandmother was a leopard.You gave up being a bird for me, Keller whispered in his ear.I think I could set to like running, he murmured, and took the materialize to touch his lips to her cheek.No, maam, Im really sorry I woke you up, Keller said. Yes, maam, I do know how late it is. She strained to hear the voice on the other end of the phone. She had a finger in her ear to render and block out the echo of the wild celebration around her, but it wasnt doing much good.Because I honestly dont t hink its funny, Dianas mother said. The baby is just exquisite hes been in his bed all night. Why would you think he wasnt?Well, maam, its hard to formulateAnd now hes awake, and hes liberation to start crying-well, hes not crying. But now he wants to eat the phone AlexA voice on the other end squealed and said distinctly, Kee-keeYeah, its Kee-kee, Keller said, startled. Um, Im buoyant youre okay, kid. And, see, I didnt go bye-bye aft(prenominal) all. So you may think youre pretty smart,but you still have something to learn about precognition, hotshot. Right? Keller added, You know I thought for a minute once that you might be the Wild Power. But I guess youre just a good old-fashioned witch baby.Diana, who was passing by, gave her a very strange look. Keller, are you having a conversation with my baby brother?What comminutedly did the dragon say? Mother Cybele asked anxiously. Although she looked like a big descend and her eyes were forever kind, there was a firmness about her plump chin up that Keller liked.I asked who woke him up. And he said-Keller reached for the exact words-he said, Someone youll never know. A witch who isnt a witch. We made our own alliance.A witch who isnt a witch, Mother Cybele repeated.Aradias face was sober. I wonder who that could be. And where they are now.Mother Cybele said quietly, Time will tell.The police are already inside, Nissa said, holding the cell phone to her ear as she talked to Keller. I guess the kids at the party called them when they saw a panther. Theyve found the family Mr. and Ms. Ashton-Hughes and Jaime and Brett. Theyre taking them to the hospital.She snapped the phone shut. Wed better send some witches to the hospital. But as long as theyre alive, they have a pretty good chance, dont you think? After all, weve got a Wild Power with healing fire. Now, cant you relax and try to enjoy yourself?It was two days later. Keller was sitting in a sunny alcove in the safe house where Hiana and Galen and the others had been brought to treasure them from the Night World. And to give them a chance to recover.It was nice to be still for a while. To sit and read and think. And it was even nicer to be able to do it with Galen around.He came in the door quietly-he always moved cat-quietly now. She smiled at him. He looked so wonderfully dear with his golden hair and fairytale looks and leopard-green eyes.I wrote you a poem, he said, sitting down beside her. Well, no, thats not true. I kind of take what your mother wrote and made it into something. I dont know what. But I think maybe its what she really meant to say, after all.Keller blinked at him, then looked down at the piece of paper he gave her.People die so love them every day. Beauty fades so look before its gone. Love changes but not the love you give. And if you love, youll never be alone.Actually, I was going to say, And you will always be alone so dont trust on others for your happiness, but dont stop loving, either, because the n youll end up empty and alone instead of alone and strong and able to give without worrying aboutwhat youre going to get back. But that was kind of long, and it didnt scan, he said.Keller stared down at the paper blindly.Im sorry, he said. If you dont like it-Keller threw her arms around him, and her tears spilled over. Im going to burn the other one, she said.And I love you. Kiss me.He grinned. Yes, Boss.And he did. ane from the land of kings long forget One from the hearth which still holds the prompt One from the Day World where two eyes are watching One from the twilight to be one with the dark..