Saturday, August 31, 2019

Blake writes about his thoughts and feelings concerning the society around him Essay

In his poetry Blake writes about his thoughts and feelings concerning the society around him. Comment on Blake’s attitudes in several poems of your choice and explain how effective the poems are in presenting his views. William Blake, who lived in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, was a profound poet who was, in large part, responsible for bringing about the Romantic Movement in poetry. Blake was an extremely eccentric man, who was viewed by most of the people of the time as mad, except for a small group of loyal followers who saw him as a genius. Blake was an individual to say the least, who had his own views on everything, He didn’t automatically agree with set views that were seen to be proper, instead he acted like his own man and made decisions for himself. His views at the time would have seemed rebellious and very unorthodox, which is probably the reason that his work only became famous long after his death. Yet seeing his paintings, and reading his poems and engravings in the modern world, where everyone has freedom of speech, the somewhat outrageous aspect that they used to have has diminished. To help me convey his views on the society that he lived in I have selected three poems. All of my chosen poems are taken from the ‘Songs of Experience’, which shows the world as he saw it, where ‘iron laws’ devised by Blake’s grim god, crush ‘the soul of sweet delight’. In this book he uses words, which can be understood on different levels. Therefore to understand the poems fully you need to look below the surface meanings. The poems that I have selected are: The School Boy The Chimney Sweeper London ‘The School Boy’ is a poem in which Blake’s views on the schooling system of his time are strongly portrayed. It explains that the children get taught unimportant things, and even if they were taught something important they wouldn’t be able to take it in properly because they are miserable. It says how school wears away their childhood, and by taking away their joy and happiness they are not being prepared for later life, instead their individual qualities are being stripped. In ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ Blake tries to express his views on the chimney sweep trade. He explains that it is as bad as death, and the parents can go off to church (to follow Christianity, where you should treat others like you would like to be treated yourself) leaving their child in ‘slavery’. And because the child doesn’t voice their objection the parents think that it is all right. In ‘London’ Blake criticises the state of the city and shows his pity and sympathy for the suffering people that live there; people that are repressed, exploited, poor and miserable. The Chimney Sweeper (experience) A little black thing among the snow, Crying â€Å"weep! weep!† in notes of woe. â€Å"Where are thy father and mother, say?† They are both gone up to the church to pray. The poem starts off by playing on the innocence of the chimney sweeper by using the word ‘little’ to make the sweep seem innocent and defenceless. The next line again plays on this by using the word ‘weep’ which makes the child seem more defenceless and to a degree pathetic, it is also similar to the chimney sweeper cry of sweep sweep. The next line is trying to blame the parents by saying where are the parents when the child is suffering. The next line says that the parents are praying in church. As before this is a dig aimed at the parents, it is saying that the parents are praying to God possibly to stop suffering in the world when their own child is suffering and they aren’t doing any thing about it. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smiled among the winter snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. In the second stanza the child in a way blames his predicament on his own happiness. The child says that because I was happy and smiled, the parents thought it was all right to make him a chimney sweep. The stanza hangs on the word because, this make it sound like it is his fault when it isn’t. Then next line has two slightly different meanings. The first is that because the child seemed happy they dressed him as a chimney sweep, which to the child was as bad as being dead. The other is that the dirty grey smelly clothes reminded him of death. The poem next says that the parents taught the child to sing the notes of woe. This is saying that after being dressed as a chimney sweep, the parents taught him to how to sweep the chimney. The song being the actual sweeping and the notes of woe (sadness) being the grim task. And because I am happy, and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and His Priest and King, Who make up a Heaven of our misery. This stanza starts much like the last one; it says that because I am happy, they think they have done me no misery. It means that just because I am happy doesn’t mean that what you did was all right. The injury that they have caused was the ‘enslavement’ into sweeping. Yet because the child seems happy and endures the treatment the parents can’t see that it isn’t a good thing to do. The next line refers back to the first stanza in which the parents went to pray; here they have gone to pray leaving the child behind, where they are blindly making out the misery that the child is enduring to be something happy and bright like heaven. He is also criticising the church by implying that the church seem to support the parents’ decision to ‘enslave’ the child. The School Boy I love to rise in a summer morn When the birds sing on every tree, The distant huntsman winds his horn, And the skylarks sing with me. Oh what sweet company! The poem starts off nice and cheerfully, Blake uses strong happy words like love to emphasise the joy of the verse. The happiness is again emphasised by using happy images like singing birds. This is made more powerful by saying that birds were singing on every tree. Although the image of a huntsman isn’t exactly a happy, joyful image it helps to display the free atmosphere that he is trying to create. On the next line when he says ‘the skylarks sing with me’ he is again highlighting that every thing is happy, and that he is in harmony with nature. The last line in the stanza summarises the whole verse, and ends it with a very cheerful line. But to got to school in a Summer Morn, Oh! it drives all joy away. Under a cruel eye outworn The little ones spend the day In sighing and dismay The first two lines show what he thinks of school. That on a summer morning when you should be happy and joyful, having to go to school makes you miserable. Then on the third line he portrays an evil image (‘cruel eye’) in attempt to get the readers to agree with his views. He also tries to do this in the last two lines of the verse, he refers to the children as ‘little ones’, this makes them seem pathetic and innocent. He follows that up by portraying the image of the innocent defenceless children sighing. Ah! then at times I drooping sit And spend many an anxious hour, Nor in my book can I take delight, Nor sit in learning’s bower, Worn thro’ with the dreary shower. He starts the third stanza with a sigh (Ah) to emphasise the misery that the children are feeling, he then portrays another strong image of children drooping over their desks. The next three lines depicts the way that he thinks that school isn’t the best place for children to learn. He is saying that the children are too worried to learn. And because they are so anxious they can’t enjoy books, nor can they learn properly. The last line shows that he is worn out with his life. How can a bird that is born for joy Sit in a cage and sing? How can a child, when fears annoy, But droop his tender wing, And forget his youthful spring? The first two lines are analogies, which mean that how can a child, have fun, if it is cooped up in school where they are miserable. The idea of the bird in a cage is a very effective image because it clearly portrays the ‘enslavement’. The next three lines suggest that the schooling system is wearing away the child’s precious childhood. Oh! Father and mother, if buds are nipped, And blossoms blown away; And if the tender plants are stripped Of their joy in the springing day By sorrow and care’s dismay; The verse opens with another exclamation, this is used to emphasise the feelings towards the life of the schoolboy. The end of the first line and the second are analogies that mean that the child’s personality is curved and it can’t develop fully, the next line reinforces this view by saying that these qualities will be lost. The next lines mean if that if the child isn’t allowed to play and have fun on a spring day then the child will be damaged. How shall the summer arise in joy, Or the summer fruits appear? Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy, Or bless the mellowing year, When blasts of winter appear? This verse like many of the previous ones is in anomaly. In this verse Blake is asking the readers how can the child do well in later life as an adult, if they was restricted as a child. It is suggesting that if a child’s joy and happiness is taken away then they are not being properly prepared for later life. London I wander thro’ each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness marks of woe. The whole of this poem has a very rhythmic feel to it; the last words on alternate lines also rhyme. The first verse is very negative and depressing. In the first two lines he describes each streets (which suggests that there are lots) and the Thames to be owned by something. That nothing is left to be and everything has a price. It the next two lines he goes on to say how there are signs of weakness and woe in peoples faces. This is very negative and suggests that they are fed up and worn out. In every cry of every man In every infant’s cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forged manacles I hear. In the first three lines of this stanza he repeats the use of the word every to emphasise his point. This is effective because he compared both men and children. By saying every ban it makes it sound as though every thing is forbidden. He then says how man’s mind has devised laws to imprison himself in. The strong image of chains is use here to great effect. How the chimney-sweeper’s cry Every blackening church appals; And the hapless soldiers sigh Runs in blood down palace walls. He again dwells on the misery by stating the crying chimney sweeps. The next line has a double meaning, it refers to the pollution of the time but more significantly the fact that the church is black because it condors dark deeds such as chimney sweeping. The unlucky soldiers sigh because they are sent of to war by those in power. The blood running down the palaces walls is that of the soldiers and is meant to signify that the soldiers’ deaths were the responsibility of the palace/rulers. But most thro’ midnight streets I hear. How the youthful harlot’s curse Blasts the new-born infants tear, And blights with plagues the marriage hearse. This verse is about the collapse of marriages and as a result, children’s lives. He is saying that men turning to prostitutes help to destroy marriage, and the babies, whether born to harlots of married women stand little chance in life. He uses very strong imagery to convey his views, like ‘blights with plagues the marriage hearse’. Normally marriage is associated with joy and happiness, the beginning of a new life, not with death and misery. After analysing the three poems it is very clear to see what his views are regarding the society of the time. ‘The Chimney Sweeper’ clearly portrays his views on both the trade and of the Church. He comments and describes the trade as being like death, and the church seaming to agree with the awful trade seams like a hypocrisy. In ‘The School Boy’ he clearly shows how he sees the schools. He describes them as places of misery, places where children are too scared to learn. He shows how he thinks the school does more harm than good in preparing the child for later life. In ‘London’ his views cover both the people and the land. He discusses how the land is all owned, and nothing is free. He talks about the rules and regulations that man has set upon himself and how the downfall of marriages leads to the child having little chance in life. He also refers back to his views of the church and chimney sweeping.

Friday, August 30, 2019

My Favorite Movie: Avatar Essay

Avatar, the epic movie by James Cameron, the director behind Titanic, is a project that has caused pop-culture ripples. James Cameron conceived the idea of Avatar back when he was working on Titanic. But the technology was not available then to bring his vision to life in the big screen. So instead of making the movie with sub-quality effects, he basically threw it in the drawer and it was not until 2005 that he decided to bring his masterpiece to life. In 2005, Cameron, along with Vince Pace, invented new ways of capturing the performances of the actors. Their team developed a brand-new image-based facial performance capture system which utilizes a head-rig camera and is able to record even the tiniest of facial movements. Avatar was filmed in stereoscopic 3-D using the brand new Fusion Camera System, which took seven years for Cameron and Pace to create, and is now the most advanced system of its kind. That is the reason why the actions of the natives looked so life-like and realistic, and that is because these parts were played by the actors, and the bodies of the Avatars were built around this motion, making each performance different, and making the Avatars more like the actor than any animated character would be. see more:my favourite movie essay Hence, Avatar was very much a live action film, not an animated film. The story took place on the planet Pandora, which, according to 20th Century Fox’s production notes, is â€Å"a moon with an Earth-like environment that orbits a gas-giant planet called Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri. At 4.5 light years away, Alpha Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor. And when it is discovered that Pandora is rich in a rare-earth mineral called Unobtainium, the race is on to mine the new world’s resources.† In the movie, Sam Worthington who starred as the film’s hero, Jake Sully, a disabled ex-marine, was called to help the humans convince the Na’vis give up their home tree. But as Jake Sully lived the life of Na’vis through his Avatar, he has learned to love the ways of life and beliefs of of the Na’vis. Sully, having realized what his fellow humans would cause to Pandora and the lives of the natives, eventually turned his back from the orders given to him, and helped the natives fight for their home. The film became a huge hit. It has reached the Five Hundred Million US Dollar mark in 32 days and became the highest-grossing film on January 26th,  2010, with a final worldwide gross of Two point Eight Billion US Dollars, beating Titanic, the previous record-holder and was also written and directed by Cameron, with a worldwide gross of One point Nine Billion Dollars. Sources: Avatar Production and Facts Wikia.com Imdb.com

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Drinks Market and Smoking Ban Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Drinks Market and Smoking Ban - Case Study Example It also focuses on the impact ban on smokers has on the cider market in UK along with the impact of the reduction of duties on the ciders. The UK retains relatively high levels of alcohol consumption. Historically, the country has been associated with brewing and distilling, the drinking of bitter in pubs and the consumption of whisky, a product historically tied in to Scotland. The trend for young people in their twenties to feel they can get drunk is being followed by teenagers who generally take an inspiration from the older people. (ICAP, 2007) This has resulted in more number of cases on 'binge' drinking - getting drunk more number of times within a very short time. The media suggests that this has been the main reason behind the increase in number of crimes at night. It is worth mentioning that studies show that of the people indulging in crimes at night, 80% of the cases were said to be committed by people between the age group of 20 and 30. When a bartender was asked about the increase in the drinking habits among the youth, he said, "'There's always someone asking for "one more bottle". Also the fact that publ ic transport in many places stops just before midnight, so if they miss the last bus (costing say 1.50), they'll have to get a taxi (costing say 10), so they feel that it is better to spend money on drinks rather than on the expensive taxi." Philip, from Kidderminster, commented "I like drinking beer because there are many different types of traditional British beer to try and also as it is nice to meet up in a pub with friends." These factors, coupled with the lethargic attitude of the government of UK have led to boost of sales of not just Magners, but other brands as well. Coming to the laws laid out by the Government, which say that serving alcohol should be stopped at 11 PM. All these factors have been immensely helping the brands to execute their strategies and tap the markets. In fact, the brands have been focusing on aggressive promotions in places close to various universities, which have been severely criticized by eminent educationists who feel that this could increase the crime rates in the universities. The Government too has come under severe criticism for remaining as a mute spectator to all this. Hence, it can be inevitably said that the above-mentioned factors did go a long way in making the most by the brands, who've always considered youth centric places as demographic markets, which needed to be tapped appropriately. The success of Magners clearly illustrates as to how successful marketing campaigns coupled with aggression can boost the overall performance and growth of a firm. The television advertisements of the brand have been described as the marketing success of the decade and more and more people shower

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Essay Example There were several moments when Finn had to undergo moral conflict as he went against the usual social norms by protecting Jim. Moral of Huck Finn Finn has been portrayed as an extremely loyal and courageous boy who because of his unique childhood did not get proper education. His sense of right and wrong is guided by the social structure in which he has been brought up. In the entire trip with Jim, Huck was faced with internal conflicts. On the one hand he felt it is his duty to surrender Jim to the authorities, on the other hand his loyalty and compassion makes him take extreme measures to save him. Several times he was torn between his â€Å"reason and desires – where he believes the former is correct and the latter wrong† (Kleist, 258). Every time he followed his heart and fulfilled his desire to save his friend thus performing the right action even thought he felt that he was wrong. The question arises that why Finn performed such moral deeds. The general ideas are that enslaving people because of their color is an immoral act, Jim deserves to enjoy freedom like a white man, or it is an obligation of a decent man to protect the oppressed. Throughout the novel Finn was never struck by these thoughts. On the contrary he kept on telling himself that by protecting Jim he was doing wrong and going against his moral duties. Although there is no way to know the exact reasons of his actions, it can be concluded that Finn was saving Jim because â€Å"his heart is in the right place† (Kleist, 259). Finn is a character who rejects the perspectives of civilization on what is right and wrong. He makes decisions based on what his heart instructs him. Throughout the journey made in this novel, Finn undergoes an â€Å"inner growth† and he does not surrender to the conventional values of the society. He learns to be compassionate to others irrespective of their races. In the end, Finn decides to â€Å"construct a new life among men who, like hi m, have left a patterned society† (Cummins). Value of friendship The portrayal of the warm and compassionate friendship between Finn and Jim is a major aspect of this novel. Belonging to two different backgrounds in a society where one (Finn) must always neglect the other (Jim) these two characters stand out to form an unbreakable bond. Jim who is one of the â€Å"noblest characters in American literature† (Wrobel, 6) knows how to value true friendship. In one sequence he sacrificed his sleep so that Finn can take some rest. Finn appreciated this gesture by saying that Jim was a good person. This revealed the â€Å"warm and cordial† (Wrobel, 6) side of Jim and he cared for Finn like a parent. Another day on Jackson’s island they find a house which they loot. Inside the house was a corpse which Jim did not want Finn to see because the face was â€Å"too gashly† (Twain, 47). This proved how Jim wanted to protect Finn from the ugly things. Finn too fel t â€Å"safe and comfortable† with Jim (Wrobel, 6). At one time Finn and Jim observed some men looking for slaves who escaped. During that time Finn felt a moral obligation to hand over Jim to Miss Watson because he belonged to her and protecting him means taking care of stolen property. But then Finn listened to his heart and saved Jim by lying to the men that his father is on the raft and is recovering from small pox, hearing which the men fled. This was a very

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

BB Furniture Launches New Fire Resistant Products Essay

BB Furniture Launches New Fire Resistant Products - Essay Example BB Furniture Co., Ltd., shall also be promoting its corporate image by sponsoring fire emergency training programs of the departmnent in commercial and domestic settings taking advantage of the chance to build awareness about the fire-resistant products of the company. Hong Kong Fire Services Director Kwok Jing-keung acknowledged in his 2004 message that (Jing-keung, 2004) that the government's budgetary constraints continued to pose serious challenge although he admonished not to compromise the department's service standards. He outlined an alternative to trim expenditure and enhance cost-effectiveness as new fire-fighting appliances and equipment were procured as well as strengthening efficiency through fire-fighting programmes and rescue and risk management. He also noted over 65,000 volunteers from the community while leaders were appointed as Honorary Presidents for the Fire Safety Ambassador Clubs in local districts as early as 2005. fatalities in fires between the same period: 66 recorded deaths in 1996, 47 in 1997, 14 in 1998, 29 in 1999, and 20 in 2000. Likewise, there were 32 recorded deaths in 2001, 25 in 2002, 25 in 2003, 9 in 2004 and 15 in 2005. Injuries in fires are 618 in 2000, 468 in 2001, 515 in 2002, 434 in 2003, 451 in 2004 and 367 in 2005. The report also indicated various classification of fire emergencies that occurred between 2004 and 2005 (please see Appendix). All these data point out to the fact the fire accidents actually occur and frequency cannot be predetermined as well as the place and time it could happen. This makes precaution, proper training and safety campaigns very important. Role of BB Furniture As fire-resistant furniture, BB Furniture products shall serve as fire-retardant whenever is used in domestic, institutional or commercial settings as in school, church, businesses, among other places where people or the public gather. BB Furniture, in its public relations campaign as sponsor for fire safety training and mass awareness campaign

Monday, August 26, 2019

Strategic management Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic management - Research Proposal Example This is because Saudi Arabia encompasses the geographical scope of the area that was inhabited by the Prophet of Islam and the various activities he was involved in, during his life and the founding of Islam. Due to this, the King of Saudi Arabia has the title â€Å"Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques† (Ramady, 2010). This is primarily because Saudi Arabia controls the two holiest sites of Islam: Mecca and Medina. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that is controlled by the core principles of the Islamic faith (Niblock, 2006). The King of Saudi Arabia has an absolute power over activities in the kingdom and his decrees are obeyed without question (Bowen, 2008). This is necessary to preserve his authority as a major figurehead in the world of Islam. Also, the king has the right and power to appoint authorities to run the various public institutions of the kingdom (Roberts, 2007). Until the 1930s when oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, education was mainly steeped in Islamic study and Islamic law (Roberts, 2007). By the 1940s, the need to acquire higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia was recognized by the King of Saudi Arabia (Abiur, 1988). This is because Saudi Arabia had two main options: to either rely on foreigners who had the skills or send their nationals to Europe, America or other nations with modern institutions of higher learning to get educated. This was seen as undesirable because it exposed Saudis to lifestyles that were not seen as complementary. In 1949, the King of Saudi Arabia commissioned the first college in Mecca but it was to operate a religious curriculum (Abir, 1988). A teacher training college was established in 1952 but the Ulama or religious elites controlled these institutions. Finally, in 1957, the King commissioned the University of Riyadh. Several universities and institutions of higher learning were opened after this. As Saudi public institutions, the universities are ran by authorities that are appointed by

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Brain All You AreIs Here Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Brain All You AreIs Here - Essay Example Through the use of fMRI, which is a non-invasive scan as compared to the X-ray, brain tumors are detected. It can also detect brain activities such as blood flow which is helpful recognizing brain activity according to the article. The article also suggests that the prefrontal cortex contains the sense of â€Å"self† in the young child. But as people mature, this â€Å"self† maybe located in different regions of the brain especially when higher order thinking skills are involved. Synapses also play a crucial role in brain development since they are points of contact during the exchanges of neurons firing to one another. These synapses grow or develop inside the brain of a fetus. Long-term memories are believed to be stored in the hippocampus ( part of limbic system) which is not yet fully developed on a child. Likewise, the amygdala can also hold â€Å"highly emotional memories† ( The Mind,p.12). Interestingly a research made by the NIMH in Maryland reveals that is during puberty period that the brain experiences another round of growth. The basic functions as well as sensory processing usually develops first in the extreme back and front portions of the brain. Next to develop in the parietal lobes of the brain are language functions and spatial orientation. This is also the reason why curriculum in the educational system is attuned to the level of development of the brain. Students in lower levels cannot process higher thinking activities unless their brain is developed. Last to develop is the prefrontal cortex where most decision making are processed. This meant weighing alternatives , making short term plans or even checking one’s self on e thical conduct is involved. Indeed, such complex mental functions can only be given to mature individuals. This just attests to the fact that people’s brain gradually develop and mature through adulthood. Aside from experiencing development, certain

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Human trafficking on women in hawaii or united states vs foreign Essay

Human trafficking on women in hawaii or united states vs foreign countries like india or china - Essay Example According to Fagan Brian, Human trafficking often involves the use of threats, false promise, force and trickery. The victims are usually sexually exploited; the sexual practices they engage in include sex shows, pornography, mail order brides, brothel prostitution, sex tours and serial sponsorship. Trafficking in women and girls has become an international business in Hawaii as well as other countries; especially in U.S. it is regarded as a migration issue, which leads to responses that will demand efforts to illegally cross the border. Taran and Gloria argues that, Hawaii is a logical transit destination where trafficking is very high. Research by Fagan shows how Alec Sou, William Khoo and Mike Sou conspired and devised a scheme so that they can obtain the labor of Thai nationals. They entice them to come into their farms in Hawaii, with false promises of good jobs. Furthermore, they make arrangements for high recruitment fee, which attract many jobless women from countries like China. According to Taran and Gloria, Hawaii is the first state to criminalize the activities related to sex trafficking in women. A new law was formulated; a law that recognize the relationship between trafficking and tourism. The major activities that contribute to trafficking in Hawaii include prostitution and other related activities (Fagan Brian. 2007). The state of Hawaii has developed a legislation that would campaign against sex tourism and sex trade in general. According to Taran and Gloria, the case of human trafficking is being prosecuted by Human trafficking prosecution unit. The case is conducted by the Hawaii department of public safety; this is the top priority of justice department. However, human trafficking is the fastest developing industry in Hawaii and United States. People trafficking continue to rise in number. Human trafficking throughout international and local borders requires collaboration and cooperation between countries or states involved. For instance to transport trafficked women from China to Hawaii, the two states have to collaborate and cooperate in order to perform human trafficking successfully. The major destination for the traffickers (U.S. and all 50 states including Hawaii), must come up with a domestic response to this alarming crisis. Violence against women and girls is defined as a national policy issue in Hawaii. However, sometimes, it is considered an individual problem that is not relevant to a public subject. In other words, trafficking of women and children should be viewed as a wide context of labor migration and transportation of persons from crisis situations and conflict areas as internally displaced people and refugees (Taran Patrick and Gloria Moreno 2007). An effective analysis should address the issues of women trafficking so that the federal government can be able to come up with policies, which can be implemented to control the crisis. Fagan claims that, women trafficking should be recognized as a component of population mobility and labor migration that ranges across seasonal and temporary population movement; movements that are intended to be temporary may sometimes turn to seasonal or permanent. This is because the victims may decide to remain in the destination place as a permanent migrant. On the other hand, China has had tragic stories about immigrants who migrate to Hawaii and other countries in U.S.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Management and Leadership in nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Management and Leadership in nursing - Essay Example As clinical nurse, in a leadership role, is involved in the provision of direct care to patients and works continuously to improve the quality of care provided by influencing others. It must be understood in this context that leadership cannot be considered to be simply a set of tasks or skills, but is rather the development of an attitude that relies extensively on informed behavior and remains consistent with enhancing performance and effectiveness on a long term basis along with benefit to everyone involved. This clearly means that leaders simply do not control others, but simply perform the role of visionaries, who encourage and guide their colleagues in planning, leading, organizing and controlling their tasks and responsibilities (Bernadette Melynk, 2005). Modern literature defines leadership in many different ways although the inherent traits possessed by a leader possess several common features that fit virtually every associated definition. For instance, leadership is often viewed as a process that exerts influence, acts on a group setting and is used as a way to attain a common goal. Leadership exists at all levels although the style used to deliver leadership varies from person to person. For instance, autocratic leadership is one form that facilitates the attainment of a goal without providing enough opportunities for others to be involved in the decision-making process. a leadership mechanism is termed to be bureaucratic when the person adheres strictly to rules and procedures when delivering decisions (Gladys Husted, 2001). In contrast, participative leadership provides for every member of the community or staff to be an intergral part of the decision making process and actively requires everyone to provide their contributions . This increased involvement among members increases the commitment of members towards the goals. A more liberal form of leadership is the laissez faire format that

Financial Performance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial Performance - Research Paper Example In this concern, the most common source of information comes from the Financial Statements of the company. Reviewing financial information helps an investor and creditor to recognize company’s strengths and weaknesses that leads to good investment strategies and financial planning. The information found on the financial statements is important to company’s managers, stock and bonds analysts, bank loan officers and to competitors. This study will use ratio analysis as a means to gain insight into the strengths and weakness of Walgreens Company. Three types of ratios will be used by this study to get into the desired information. Data will come from the published financial report of Walgreens and its competitors. First is the trend or time series analysis ratio to evaluate Walgreens performance over time. A cross-section analysis ratios will be done to establish comparison with different companies at same point in time. Last is the industry comparative analysis ratio to c onfirm the company’s ratio against the industry where Walgreens is competing in. 1. Fig. 1.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Culture Acceptance of Homosexuality in the African-American Culture Essay Example for Free

Culture Acceptance of Homosexuality in the African-American Culture Essay Different factions of sociologists depict men. Functionalists suggest that a division of labor originally arose between man and women because of the woman’s role in reproduction. By virtue of their larger size and greater muscular strength, men were assigned hunting and defense tasks. Conflict theorists reject functionalist arguments as simply offering a rationale for male dominance. They contend that a sexual division of labor is a social vehicle devised by men to assure themselves of privilege, prestige, and power in their relationships with women. By relegating women to the home, men have been able to deny women those resources they need to succeed in the larger world. Others say that the fundamental motive is men’s desire to have women readily available for sexual gratification. And still others emphasize that the appropriation of women is not for copulation but for procreation, especially to produce male heirs and daughters who can be used as exchanges in cementing political economic alliances with other families (Hinkle, 1994). Indeed, this gender stratification promotes the survival of the species and fulfilling their label to be strong, men even use violence to assert their so-called masculinity, which in any case is portrayed by the sociologists as the more superior specie. But when one takes a closer look into Kinsey’s reports, he or she won’t help but notice an honest existence of a â€Å"third kind† or the second-class citizens as the popular belief says in the persons of the homosexuals (Betancourt Lopez, 1993). For the best information on sexual characteristics, we are indebted to the Kinsey reports. Kinsey’s greatest contribution was the discovery that individual differences in sexual behavior are truly amazing. The reports were designed to give a scientific gloss to the normalization of promiscuity and deviancy. Kinsey’s initial report, released in 1948 stunned the nation by saying that American men were so sexually wild that â€Å"95% of them could be accused of some kind of sexual offense under 1940s laws† (Kinsey et al. , 1948). The report included reports of sexual activity by boys, even babies, and said, â€Å"37% of adult males had had at least one homosexual experience† (Kinsey et al. , 1948). Homosexuality is a preference for an individual of the same sex as a sexual partner. The Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research estimates that five to six percent of the adult population is predominantly homosexual. However, since there are so many gradations in sexual behavior and preferences, many sociologists and psychologists take the view that there heterosexual or homosexual practices but not homosexual individuals (Halgin, 2006). In brief, homosexuality and heterosexuality are terms that describe behavior, not the identity of a person. But gender identity confusion can lead to fear of homosexuality. But behavior is not grossly disorganized, nor is functioning impaired if the delusions are not acted out. A gay man or a lesbian may or may not elect to engage in homosexual behavior (Bell and Weinberg, 1998). Father’s Presence A boy prefers the company of boys; his favorite toys are cars and trucks and wants to be a fireman or policeman. The parents treated both the children differently, even though they are technically the same. This shows how parents do seek to socialize children into their gender roles, even if they are doing it unconsciously. Parents provide distinctive environments for boys and girls. They give them different toys and clothes and decorate their rooms differently (Fagot, 1995). They respond negatively to more obvious forms of cross-sex behavior. A very young boy who tries on his mother high-heeled shoes or puts on a dress or lipstick may be regarded with amused tolerance, but such behavior in older children is regarded as outrageous rather than funny. Father reacts especially strongly to any such signs of feminine tendencies in their sons (Nicolosi, 1991). The men may interpret certain kinds of feminine interests or actions as signs of developing homosexual tendencies in their sons and react to their tendencies in the strongest terms (Nicolosi, 1991). Psychologists described the uniformity of reports from literature that gay males had poorer relations with their fathers and concludes, â€Å"Every study reported findings that their relationships with their fathers were unsatisfying with the father variously described as cold, rejecting, indifferent, hostile, or simply distant† (Moberly, 1983). Likewise it was concluded that the homosexuals hurtful relationship with the father results in defensive detachment, which is carried over to relationships with other men. Homosexuality becomes a form of a reparative drive (Nicolosi, 1991) in which the boy seeks a nurturing male relationship to undo the repression and regain the lost father. Significant environmental issues such as the impact of the father-son relationship are indicated as important in the development of adult male homosexual orientation. As scholars suggested, the father-child relationship is one of many crucial elements in the development of any child. Deficits in this area may result in adverse effects to the child’s (and later adult child’s) identification with self as an adult, and this identification is generally considered to be crucial in determining the way in which children and adults form relationships with others (Blankenhorn, 1995). Conversely, boys seemed to conform to the sex-role standards of their culture when their relationships with their fathers were warm, regardless of how masculine the fathers were, even though warmth and intimacy have traditionally been seen as feminine characteristics (Blankenhorn, 1995). Son’s pubertal development was a significant predictor of both information sharing and, to a lesser extent, values sharing, with fathers more likely to talk with sons who had attained more physical development. The father’s recognition of his son’s physical development appears to be an important factor in talking about sexuality. When fathers see their sons maturing physically, they may become aware of the increased possibility of sexual initiation, and this possibility spurs them to discussion of sexual topics (Moberly, 1983). In the movie Billy Elliot, the simple rights of gay people are also advanced. In terms of personality traits, boys are generally aggressive, independent, dominant, competitive, logical, direct, adventurous, self-confident, and ambitious. Boys are described as closemouthed, rough, and sloppy in their habits. Boys do not usually enjoy art and literature, and cannot easily express and find it easy to express their feelings. This is what it means to be masculine in the eyes of biased society. But Billy, more than the fondness for boxing his father wants for him, his natural flair falls for dancing, an art predominantly associated with girls. Most families, like that of Billy, urge boys to be little men even before they have any idea what it means to be a man. As a matter of fact, there is even more pressure on boys to be masculine than on girls to be feminine. They are constantly warned not to act like girls, not cry, not to be sissies. Most people have always considered it worse for a boy to be a sissy than for a girl to be a tomboy. Boys may have to prove themselves by being athletic or by being tough, men by making a lot of money or by being a man’s man in whatever way this is defined by their associates. But the burden of proof is always present. And the burden is heavier than most people think. When cooing to a baby in a crib, they use one tone of voice toward a girl, a different one toward a boy. Mothers look at baby girl more often and talk to her more frequently. By and large, children have been brought up to believe that women should be pretty and preferably slim, while men should be tall and strong (Sheinberg, 2004). This familial stereotyping is even carried on to the bigger world of the boys known as school. In the world that children enter at 6 there is a new adult, the teacher, whose discipline boys must conform to and whose acceptance they must court. Ordinarily the teacher is a woman, like the mother, and children’s behavior toward their mother can be generalized toward her. But boys who are identifying with their father and rebelling against their mother often have trouble in the early grades. They may be less fearful of rejection by the teacher and therefore more reluctant to accept her influence (Sheinberg, 2004). It was also found that father’s age at first intercourse would predict father-son sex-based communication. The rationale was that fathers who were sexually active at an earlier age would remember their experiences and would see their sons as needing information (Moberly, 1983). On the other hand, fathers who had sexual intercourse at a later age may believe it is best to wait, and they may talk with sons to instill this same value, while fathers who had sex at an early age might believe it best to inform their sons about sex in order to prepare them for it (Moberly, 1983). Without a doubt, among African Americans, a father is the most important thing a boy can have in his life. They relate to one another on a level that cannot be achieved through a mother-son relationship. It is important to have communication in the relationship because talking brings the two closer. A father, though, needs to know when to play an active role in his son’s life, and when to be more of an observer. If he mixes the two up, serious repercussions may occur. A father can be the best thing in his son’s life, but he needs to care for the right (Sheinberg, 2004). Masculinity Another expert to have studied sexuality is Margaret Mead. Margaret Mead (1949) edified a good number of Americans about the significance of examining sensitively and plainly at other cultures to better comprehend the intricacies of humanness. She contends that it seems quite probable that nature creates some inborn tendencies. But there is ample proof that heredity alone does not necessarily push men toward being independent and aggressive, nor women toward being passive and submissive (Mead, 1949). In one tribe that Mead studied, both men and women were what we would call highly feminine. Both sexes shunned aggression. Both took care of and nurtured the children. In modern times, girls and women are considered feminine unless they display overwhelming evidence to the contrary, but boys and men have to win the right to be called masculine. They have to prove their masculinity; they have to face and succeed in all kinds of financial, intellectual, sexual, and physical tests. The testing process starts early and continues throughout life (Mead, 1949). In the other tribe, the members of one sex spent all their time applying cosmetics, gossiping, putting, engaging in emotional outbursts, and taking care of the children. Members of the other sex had clean-shaven heads, scorned any makeup or ornamentation, were active and domineering, and provided most of the tribe’s food and other necessities. But the last sentence describes how the women behaved. The preceding sentence, about a fondness for cosmetics and emotional outbursts, describes the men (Mead, 1949). The motives for affiliation and dependency are universal. So are the emotions that accompany them. Society’s demand to suppress them is in effect a demand to transcend humanity. And efforts to do so can never completely succeed. Since it is impossible to program out all emotions, even the most extreme he-man can only approximate the masculine ideal. Thus every man, aware of the stirrings of the softer and weaker emotion he tries so dutifully to hide, is bound to worry about his own masculinity. Otherwise, he is prejudged as gay, a sissy, or a homosexual (Duberman, et al. , 1989). The Religion’s Take The church usually operates with a bureaucratic structure and claims to include most of the members of a society. The difficulties the society has experienced in recent years are reflective of that of the ancient times and have contributed to the resurgence of conservative Christianity (Fisher, et al. , 1994). We have seen in Christie Davies’ Sexual Taboos and Social Boundaries that religion may be a conservative force, impeding modernization and reaffirming traditional authority (Davies, 1982). The bold article tackles Christianity’s bias against such so-called sexual taboos as homosexuality, bestiality, and transvestism in North America and Europe. That is, Christianity is associable with such concepts as hypocrisy, racism, narrow-mindedness and conservativism (Fisher, et al. , 1994). Davies is referring to the passages in the Bible, which state that homosexuality is wrong. These occur most prominently in Deuteronomy. Is it not entirely possible for instance to believe that the Bible is entirely true except those passages which condemn homosexuality which were inserted later by corrupt scribes (Fisher, et al. , 1994). Second, because homosexuals are considered deviants, the religious, military, and political principals find a way to give them a reprehensible image by consolidating their boundaries. The symbolic interactionist perspective has been a useful tool for examining the complexities of this heterosexual-homosexual relationship. Thus, should the roles of certain members of the society depart from the normal conventions bordering on the taboo, as homosexuals have been automatically deemed doing, invariably there are spiteful consequences for their behavior and actions (Fisher, et al. , 1994). And third, Davies argues that the society’s mainstream institutions dictate and shape the homosexuals’ experiences. In large part, they unconsciously build up their sense of reality by the way the society orders its social agendas and structures social alternatives. To the extent that they are locked within the social environment provided by the heterosexual culture, the homosexual segment inhabits a somewhat restricted world outside and is thus considered an external threat to any open social frontier (Fisher, et al. , 1994). Homosexual acts were punishable by death among the ancient Hebrews, but accepted and even admired by the Greeks. Later, the early Christians held that abstinence was the noblest form of sexual behavior, but at about the same time, the Romans were indulging in their famous orgies in the Colosseum (Fisher, et al. , 1994). In England, at the time of Queen Elizabeth, sex was treated with a frankness and frequently with a ribaldry that has no parallel in Western history. A little later, under Queen Victoria, it was regarded with such great circumspection that among some groups of these very same Englishmen, one would hardly have known that coitus ever took place and any falls from propriety were the cause of great scandal and disgrace (Lenski and Lenski, 1999). Moreover, Davies also touches on dehumanization or slavery by way of Christian association. In the Western society, significant segments of the population reject coexistence with minorities in equal terms. Women and homosexuals are subsumed in the list of minorities in the large group of African Americans (Davies, 1982). The current debate suggests that Christianity or any religion for that matter, remains a powerful moving force in Western life. People are not close to resolving how to relate people’s religious lives to their religious lives. Each generation must tackle its own church-state question as Christie Davies does with homosexuality in her article (Davies, 1982). Furthermore, broadly considered, long-term relationship, heterosexual or homosexual, should be considered as families. The social definition of the family as a group of people related by blood, marriage, or adoption has come to its revolutionary point of reshaping into such as a group of people who love and care or each other regardless of spiritual background or sexual preference (Fisher, et al. , 1994). Some gays and lesbians are married, have children, and lead lives that in most respects are indistinguishable from those of the larger population. However, homosexual adults who have come to terms with their homosexuality, who do not regret their sexual orientation, and who can function effectively sexually and socially, are no more distressed psychologically than are heterosexual men and women (Klonoff Landrine, 2000). Homophobia Few people in the history of Western society have been more scorned, feared, and stigmatized than homosexuals. To put in a more appropriate context, these people who fear, hate, and persecute the homosexuals are homophobic (Kagay, 1999). Gays and lesbians often hold values and beliefs that are different from those of the dominant culture. Because of the controversial nature of being gay or lesbian, and the heavy social proscriptions against it, many individuals are reluctant to â€Å"come out of the closet† or to reveal their membership in this co-culture. As more gays and lesbians identify themselves publicly, they find that their attitudes and communication patterns often clash with people who do not understand the gay and lesbian co-cultures (Vander Zanden, 1995). When the collision involves the arbitrary denial of privilege, prestige, and power to members of the homosexual co-culture whose qualifications are equal to those of members of the dominant group as the heterosexuals, then generally, sociologists can easily label this as discrimination. And when the attitudes of aversion and hostility toward the homosexual co-culture abound because they simply belong to it and hence are presumed to have the objectionable qualities ascribed to it, then the label becomes prejudice (Vander Zanden, 1993). Whereas prejudice is an attitude or a state of mind, discrimination is action. Therefore, phobia as an irrational part of a person’s mentality makes homophobia basically a prejudice that may lead to discrimination but cannot grow to be a form of racism (Klonoff Landrine, 2000). Racism or racialism is a belief in the superiority of some races over others. It also involves prejudice against or hatred of other races. Discriminating behavior is also defining element in racism. Be that as it may, racism is based on none other than racial membership and in this paper’s case, on sexual preference or orientation too. Stereotypically, it is based on the color of the skin, the texture of the hair, the facial features, the stature, and the shape of the heads. Biologists typically view races as populations that differ in the incidence of various hereditary traits. More narrowly, they conceive of a race or subspecies as an inbreeding, geographically isolated population that differs in hereditary traits from other members of the species (Bullough Bullough 1996). Hereditary is the key term. Although there are some floating nature-nurture debate on the tendency to be homosexual, being gay or lesbian is more broadly accepted as a behavior than a heritable peculiarity (Klonoff Landrine, 2000). Homosexuality knows no color or physical feature. Although gays whiten the color of their skin, stretch their hair length, effeminize their facial features, glamorize their stature, or cosmetically alter the shape of their heads, they cannot be classified a race but a co-culture instead (Bell and Weinberg, 1998). Although racial stratification is similar to other systems of stratification in which African Americans are a part of, including gender stratification, in its essential features, there tends to be one major difference. Racial and ethnic groups often have the potential for carving their own independent nation from the existing state (Klonoff Landrine, 2000). Political separatism may offer racial groups a solution that is not available to gender groups. Gender groups typically lack the potential for becoming self-sufficient political states because they do not function as self-sufficient social or economic groups (Vander Zanden, 1995). Homosexuals are a varied group. They are found in all occupational fields, political persuasions, religious faiths, and racial and ethnic groups. Some are married, have children, and lead lives that in most respects are indistinguishable from those of the larger population. Others enter homosexual unions that are relatively durable (Kagay, 1999). In fact, if homosexuality could be considered a part of the gender stratification, then homophobia could even be more appropriately subsumed by the realms of sexism than racism. But the homosexual population cannot be undervalued that a gay joke can testify to their numbers: â€Å"I wonder why gay people multiply. They don’t have any vagina but they seem born twice a straight baby girl’s chance. † In many modern nations, the members of some groups participate in the main culture of the society while simultaneously sharing with one another a number of unique values, norms, traditions, and lifestyles. These cultural patterns are termed a co-culture (Vander Zanden, 1993). African American co-cultures that have become prominent in the United States partly because of their numbers and partly because of their lack of subscription to many of the mainstream beliefs, attitudes, and values. Although there are many co-cultures in the United States, the homosexual culture has become increasingly prominent because of their demands for equality.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Critical Evaluation Of Value Chain Analysis Marketing Essay

Critical Evaluation Of Value Chain Analysis Marketing Essay In todays world, due to the development of globalization and the improvement of science and technology, the international economic situation is fast-changing. Whats more, competition is severer than before. It is unadvisable for managers to make a long-term plan and then ask the whole company to implement it days and nights. Managers should analyze the internal environments and external environments continuously surrounding their own company and then make plans in accordance with the analysis. There are lots of approaches which can be used during the strategic analysis process, such as SWOT analysis, PESTIN analysis, Value Chain analysis and Porter Five Forces. Therefore, it is very essential for managers to understand the usages of them during the strategic analysis process. Moreover, the functions of these approaches are also deserved to be researched. The main purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate critically two approaches, value chain analysis and porter five forces, during the strategic analysis process in order to make managers acquaintance with the knowledge about these two approaches and then make better plans for their own companies. There are four parts in this dissertation begun with an introduction. In the second and third parts, this dissertation will provide critical evaluation of value chain analysis and porter five forces separately by some empirical examples to illustrate the disadvantages and advantages of value chain analysis and porter five forces. A conclusion will be made in the end. Critical Evaluation of Value Chain Analysis Used during the Strategic Analysis Process According to Robbins (2009), only depending on value chain analysis, an organization delivers its products or services to its customers fast and quickly. This part will introduce what the value chain analysis is and the general review about value chain analysis. Simultaneously, this part will also explain the disadvantages and advantages of Value Chain Analysis by empirical examples. 2.1 What is Value Chain Analysis? Value chain analysis was proposed in 1985 by Michelle Porter in his book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (Robinson, 2009) to describe the way of how customer value accumulates along a chain of activities leading to an end product or service (Institute of Management Accountants, 1996). Porter described that value chain analysis was the internal processes or activities performed by a company to design, produce, market, deliver and support its products (Robinson, 2009, pp564). Porter also claimed that the main purpose of value chain analysis is to create a value chain strategy to meet and surpass customers demands and desires (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). And according to Robinson (2009), a successful value chain management should meet the following factors, including collaboration and cooperation, technical investment, organization process, leadership, employees, organizational culture and attitudes. Porter describes two major categories of busine ss activities: primary activities and support activities (Institute of Management Accountants, 1996, pp1). In 1993, Shank and Govindarajan broadened the definition of value chain analysis and states that the value chain is the value-creating activities of any firm to provide products and services to final consumers hands. 2.2 The General review about Value Chain Analysis The importance of value chain analysis propels lots of scholars to spend more time and energies to do researches on value chain analysis. In 2006, Khan, Pochampalli, Ding and Ponce adopted lots of approaches to make strategic case analysis, including value chain analysis taking the analysis of Nucor Corporation as the example. They analyzed Nucor Corporations mission, products and services, leadership, culture, structure and governance and gained the concluded that Nucor Corporation had the unique leadership, strong corporate culture and decentralized structure, which led this company to be successful and have effective corporate governance (Khan, Pochampalli, Ding and Ponce, 2006). In 2003, Dekker wrote an article named Value Chain Analysis in Interfirm Relationships: A Field Study to analyze the influence of value chain analysis on management accounting. In this article, Dekker pointed out that interfirm relationships was the new challenges for management accounting and a value cha in analysis is a useful tool to meet this challenges. Moreover, Awa and other scholars also proposed a research called collaborative experience of value chain architecture: a systemic paradigm to building customer loyalty in 2011. There are still another researches on value chain analysis, due to the limited space, this dissertation will not list them one by one. 2.3 Explain the Disadvantages and Advantages of Value Chain Analysis by Empirical Examples According to Robinson (2009), value chain analysis has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. In this part, this dissertation will explain the disadvantages and advantages of Value Chain Analysis by empirical examples. 2.3.1 The advantages of Value Chain Analysis by Empirical Examples Before listing the advantages of value chain analysis, this dissertation first show a survey result about the benefits of value chain analysis made by Taninecz (2000) (p44). From this survey result, it is reasonable to gain the conclusion that a successful value chain analysis can improve the services level to the customers. If the company performs well on each point of the value chain and the employees cooperate well and try their best to optimize service process, the service level to the customers can be improved (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). Meanwhile, a successful value chain analysis can help company increase sales, save cost, increase market, reduce inventory and improve logistics management (Robinson, 2009). Therefore, value chain analysis emphasizes not only the production process but also the various activities that make up the chain (McCormick and Onjala, 2007). Tetra-Pak, a multinational food packaging and processing company of Swedish, is one of the excellent examples which reconfigured the value chain in the packaging industry (Institute of Management Accountants, 1996). Tetra-Pak designs and uses a filling machine to package step by step, which brings a great change to the packaging industry (Institute of Management Accountants, 1996). Under this circumstance, no space in filling and packing would be wasted. According to the survey made by institute of management accountants (1996), the famous furniture Sweden Company IKEA also reconfigures the value chain and IKEA Company divides its operation activities into several parts, including design, assembly and even home delivery and has specific requirements in each activity, which also brings a revolution to the furniture industry in Swedish and even worldwide. Nucor Corporation is one of the largest steel manufacturers in the United States and takes value chain analysis during the strategic analysis process (Ding, Khan, Pochampalli and Ponce, 2006). According to them (2006), the value chain of Nucor Corporation includes firm infrastructure, human resource, technology development, procurement, logistics and other activities and due to the usage of value chain analysis help Nucor Corporation establish strong organization culture and unique leadership, which provide an excellent foundation for this company. All in all, value chain analysis during the strategic analysis process can help managers to divide operation activities into several different activities and assign tasks to specific employees and then through the cooperation and collaboration between employees, company can be a success. 2.3.2 The Disadvantages of Value Chain Analysis by Empirical Examples In the section 2.3.2, this dissertation has introduced the advantages of value chain analysis. However, managers should overcome some obstacles when they adopt value chain analysis during the strategic analysis process. In other words, there are some deficiencies of value chain analysis. For example, if the employees are unwilling to change their status and to share information between each other, they can not collaborate and cooperate with each other. Under this circumstance, the value chain analysis can not be implemented fully and effectively (McCormick and Onjala, 2007). Secondly, excessive trust between employees also can lead value chain analysis to become a failure (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). The implementing of value chain analysis needs employees and managers have necessary abilities, such as the abilities of good coordination and team spirits and the abilities to train all the employees. However, it is difficult for managers and employees to make themselves acquaintanc e with these abilities. For example, American Standard Company, Deere Company and Furon Company have come across lots of big difficulties. Due to the development of information technology and knowledge economy, the global economic situation is fast-changing. The managers have to change the value chain of the operation activities according to the change of environment. Therefore, if the company wants to make a long-term plan, the value chain will lose its efficiency, otherwise the company will spend lots of costs to change the value chain and organize employees to implement the value chain (Cadle, Paul and Turner, 2010). Pentagon Company, a famous high technology company in the United States, has no chance to take value chain analysis during the strategic analysis process if this company can not ensure the security of its own website (Robinson, 2009). Therefore, there are still some disadvantages of value chain analysis. 3. Critical Evaluation of Porters Five Forces Used during the Strategic Analysis Process Same as the value chain analysis, Porters Five Forces also has advantages and disadvantages, which will be exposed in this part by some empirical examples. 3.1 What is Porters Five Forces? Porters Five Forces Analysis is a theory made by Michael Porter, who is a professor in Harvard University. He came up with five factors that may influence the profitability of a company, namely the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, threat of entry by new competitors, pressure from substitute products, bargaining power of buyers, and bargaining power of suppliers (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). First, the rivalry can be weak or intensive. If it is weak, theres no need to worry about it. But if it is intensive, it should be pay much more attention to. When having the intensive rivalry among existing competitors, one is likely to be in a cut-throat position. Many factors will influence the intensity of rivalry, including the size of competitors, the costs of products, and the product differentiation (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). Second, the new companies are the other threats to ones benefits. They will become the obstacles to expend your market scale and cut off your market share (Robinson, 2009). Third, pressure from substitute products is another barrier for a company to get interests. Fourth, bargaining power of buyers is of the vital importance in the effect of the benefits (Scholes and Whittington, 2010). Since the profit margin has close relationship with the price. When the price is low, the profit margin may be high and vise versa. Last but not the least, bargaini ng power of suppliers is much similar to the factor of bargaining power of buyers. When the supply price is low, the costs of the product are low. Therefore, the profit margin will be high due to the low cost. 3.2 The General Review about Porters Five Forces As mentioned before, Porters Five Forces Analysis has its own characteristics. These are helpful when used as managerial strategies in big decision of the company. Most of the researches about the Porters Five Forces Analysis is based on the prior experiments, collective data and analysis. For example, the application of the Porter Five Forces Analysis in Internet (Nikolopoulos, 2005 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °and automobile industry (Cafferky, 2005) . All these researches can be viewed as the practical theories for future use. Undoubtedly, the aim of these studies is to find out the managerial problems and ways to solve these problems. This model is strive to improve the companys performance through the analysis, namely which part of its market it the most profitable one and which is the most cost-consuming one. After the Porters Five Forces Analysis, great efforts should be made to maximize the former market and minimize the latter market. It will help the company make the greatest profits as well. The well management of the five most important factors influencing the market share will reduce the difficulties standing in the progressing path. This framework of the Porters Five Forces can also define the opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses. Ones structure coping with these five forces can determine competitiveness of the company. 3.3 Explain the Disadvantages and Advantages of Porters Five Forces by Empirical Examples The Porters Five Forces Analysis has its advantages and disadvantages. If used well, it will help make great profits for a company. As for the advantages, it is very simple and direct. It has a simple framework in dealing with managerial problems. However, it also has shortcomings. For examples, it is not as clear as the Value Chain Analysis. The five factors cannot be separated clearly when analyzing. On the other hand, it can be easily affected by other factors, such as the size of the company, different economic environment and national investments. 3.3.1 Advantages of Porters Five Forces There are many advantages of Porters Five Forces Analysis, but two are among the most important ones. The first one is simplicity. Compared to other models, it is very simple. Five factors are easy to define. In the Mobile Company, the Porters theory provides an easy access to the information about these areas. It is known to all, this area is much more complicated regarding the practical market. But the five factors narrow these complicated factors down to the relationship among the suppliers, the sellers, and the buyers. The cash flows among the three most important participators. The main rivalries in this field in China are China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The competition is still very fierce (Wu, 2012). As the emerging of the iphones and various kinds of smart phones, China Unicom Company begins to take on the stage by its excellent 3G service. The company can quickly identify its valuable market and worthless market by the Porters theory. Here the word valuable mea ns that it will make profits for the company and worthless means that it makes little contribution to the companys benefits. Although there isnt the fourth competitor, the potential threats still exist. However, from Porters theory, the problems can be simply defined and solutions can be easily made to solve the problems. The second one is directness. The diagram of the Porters Five Forces Analysis seems very direct to analyze. In automobile industry, substitute products are used in order to improve the performance and to increase profits. It goes straight to the point so that the weakness and threats. For example, the General Motors Corp decides to reduce the carbon emission of its cars. So it tries its best to cooperate with an Italy company who can produce the environmental-friendly combustion motor. With the new motors, the company successfully increases its competitiveness and decreases its costs. Innovation ranks the most important factor affecting ones profitability. Without innovation, one could not move forward. But if substitute products are used instead of innovation, it may be a solution at the moment. And in modern society, such action can express its good images of being responsible. It means the company is not a profit-striving business man. It cares about people, society and the whole world. 3.3.2 Disadvantages of Porters Five Forces The first one is that it is unclear. The five forces may be easy to define, but it has no clear boundary. Each involves many details. What is more important, they cannot be separated clearly. In other words, they overlap each other. For instance, in the steel industry, the supplier power changes with the buyer power, and the buyer power is also swifts with the supplier power. They are mutually influenced. It is difficult to say which one is the fatal factor. Also in the General Motors Corp, five factors should be analyzed together. None of them can be separated from others. For example, the threats of the new entry warn the General Motors Corp to change its traditional producing forms. New technology should be employed to enhance its images and competitiveness. Therefore, the company analyses all of the five factors to solve the problems and to expand its market share all over the world. Second, it is easy to be influenced by other uncontrollable factors. Also in the steel industry, it has gone through many stages, from immature to mature (Ponce, 2006). When at the immature stage of lifecycle, the suppliers and the buyers are instable, while in the mature stage, they are consolidate. Different states of the buyer power and the supplier power will lead to different problems. It is too hush to make decision only according the only five factors. An overview should be made to identify the whole situation. And a comprehensive thinking should be put into the analysis. Although there are shortcomings of the Porters Five Forces Analysis, it is still a valuable framework used to discriminate the strength, weakness, threats and opportunities of the company. And it is useful to solve various problems that one could meet. Conclusion In conclusion, managers should make plans for their own companies according the fast-changing economic situation worldwide and during the strategic analysis process, it is essential for them to adopt some useful approaches, such as value chain analysis, SWOT analysis, porter five forces analysis and the like. Therefore, this dissertation provides a critical evaluation of value chain analysis and porter five force during the strategic analysis process. Before representing the advantages and disadvantages of value chain analysis and porter five forces, this dissertation has provide the definition and general literature review about these two approaches. From the above analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that the value chain analysis and porter five forces have advantages as well as disadvantages, which can help managers to learn about the general knowledge about these two approaches. Meanwhile, during the strategic analysis process, the managers can make full use of their advantages to gain more efficiency. Due to the limited energy and time, limitations must exist in any kind of research. This dissertation mainly takes the secondary data, which mainly are from journals, books and website, so it is difficult to ensure that the data are reliable enough. Due to the limited space, this dissertation can not explain all the disadvantages and advantages of these approaches and the listed examples may not represent all the industries and be typical. And all of these are the key points which are needed to be improved in the future. In the end, this dissertation will give the audiences some suggestions for future research to do the researches about the merits and demerits of these approaches better in the future. For example, the researchers should do some practical surveys about these two approaches to learn about the usage situations in different industries. Secondly, the researches also can make good use of books, journals, websites and even magazines to gain more and better information to give more specific analysis about the disadvantages and advantages about these two approaches.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Religion In Byrons Cain Philosophy Essay

Religion In Byrons Cain Philosophy Essay Byron wrote his closet drama Cain in Italy during a period of his life that Hoxie Neal Fairchild describes as coinciding with a strong attraction toward Roman Catholicism(437). Cain dramatizes the fourth book of Genesis. After refusing to offer sacrifices to God with his family, Cain slays his brother Abel and receives the punishment of banishment. Before killing Abel, Cain engages in a long dialog with Lucifer on the nature of death, the age of the universe, and the value of knowledge. Byrons poem calls on several religious controversies. First, Byron depicts the views of prominent factions of English Christians, including the Evangelicals, the Latitudinarians, and the Catholics. Second, the poem criticizes the Evangelical and Calvinist views of depravity and the literalness of scripture. Finally, by making Abel a figure of the priesthood and by sometimes invoking the language of the Catholic Mass, Byron questions the Calvinist idea that human beings have no capacity to offer sacrif ices. Byrons exposition on the efficacy of sacrifices allows him to challenge the Calvinist doctrines of depravity and predestination. Cain is a poem that reflects Byrons typical hostility to Evangelicalism. However, the drama also expresses skepticism of the Latitudinarian confidence in human reason, and Byron sympathizes with a Catholic, apostolic version of the Church and the efficacy of priestly sacrifices. While critics like Fairchild point to biographical explanations, Byrons doctrinal and theological decisions in Cain also convey political meanings. Byrons early reviewers sometimes recognize the politics of the poem, and some of these responses show that Byrons Italian residence, his representation of Catholicism, and his theology touch on the English anxiety over revolution. Byrons position on rebellion engages with Rousseaus conception of rights and the natural law. In contrast to Rousseau, though, Byrons Cain retains the natural law as external to the individual who partic ipates in it. Rejecting both Calvinist depravity and progressive ideas of reason and voluntarism, Cain opposes Rousseaus idea of the human being and diverges from the narrative of rebellion in Rousseau. Byron instead postulates the created essence of humanity and the precedent of natural law. The English Romantic tendency to distance revolution from violent excess appears in Charlotte Smiths The Emigrants and permeates the Romantic project in general. Cain, writes Paul Cantor, is like Frankenstein in its ambivalence, showing a world order that is ripe for rebellion, and yet at the same time suggesting that rebellion is somehow self-defeating. (139). Cantor traces the revolutionary potential in the Romantic world order to an abandonment of the Christian creation account in favor of a gnostic creation story and Rousseaus ideas of a return to the state of nature. Cantor sees the Romantics as engaging in a misreading of Rousseau because while Rousseau does not propose a strict return to the state of nature, the Romantic writers, according to Cantor, seek this primal, free state from which humanity can acquire for itself new, different meanings in opposition to the Biblical view of a fixed, created human essence. The question of human ontology, then, differs greatly in the Chr istian account and Rousseau. Rousseau abandons a created human essence in favor of an adaptability in which man can become something other than what he originally was. (6). Rousseaus idea of potentiality, which Hume and, later, Sartre also share, denies any law deriving from essential nature because it proposes that the general will according to which legitimate political action operates is habitual, not essential. Rousseau consequently also denies the traditional principle of the natural law and invests in a version of political rights which, in contradiction even to Locke, separates political rights from a basis in human ontology. Rousseaus reversal of the natural law rejects the notion that juridical systems derive from an innate natural law which in turn reflects a participation in the eternal law. Rousseau overturns the Aristotelian tradition of the natural law in which [w]hat is natural is what has the same force everywhere and does not depend on peoples thinking. (93). Rousseau proposes a voluntarist model of law in which any sense of an innate, pre-existing law is really a development coming from the progression of historical acts. For Rousseau, there is no law apart from human will and human action. In opposition to Locke and Rousseau, in Cain, Byron opposes Rousseaus notion of the societal origin of the law. Paul Cantor identifies an ambivalence in English Romantic ideas of rebellion, but the literalness of this ambivalence already surfaces in Rousseaus idea of the habitual characteristic of law because the capacity of the law to take on different forms according to the progress of history means that the law is always ambivalent and ambiguous, acquiring different values and progressing in different directions according to the movement of history. Rousseaus view thus denies the epistemological foundation of the Aristotelian concept of the natural law because Aristotles conception of the law depends on a view of knowledge as the settling of doubt. Because it rejects Rousseaus idea of the law, Byrons Cain does not express gnostic and progressive ideas of the mutability of human nature which, in Cantors model, gave rise to hopes of mans recapturing paradise. (xiv). Rather, Cain returns to a more traditional version of law and human nature which recognizes the ambivalence and ambiguity in Rou sseau and restores creation and its failures to more traditional terms than Rousseaus. The English Romantic project of returning to tranquility, of finding meaning away from the activity of history, is both a response to the failure of the Revolution and a means of integrating progressive values to traditional religious and national narratives. Often, the critical response to the Romantics has located this tendency mainly with the early poets and especially with the Lake Poets. This turning away from immanence toward transcendence also appears in Cain. As in Frankenstein, there is a similar doubt in Cain of an innate and primary creative capacity in human beings. Byron distinguishes Cain from Abel by the differing extent to which each is able to realize, but not to create, his capacity to participate in the sacrifice which ultimately defines his potentiality. Byron therefore breaks with Rousseau because the realization of creative potential depends on participation in a mandate that precedes the will but nevertheless requires its co ­operation. In moving away from a Protestant emphasis on personal rebirth and toward a Roman Catholic idea of the commission of a priesthood to administer sacraments, Byron distances himself from the progressive view of the law as immanent in subjective acts. Furthermore, Byron makes a connection between the Catholic priesthoods reenactment of a previously completed sacrifice and humanitys participation in a moral law that exists beforehand as an ontologically independent absolute. The divisions in the English Church of the nineteenth-century consist chiefly of three great parties which Newman defines in the French edition of his Apologia as the Tractarian, the Evangelical, and the Latitudinarian (72). The Tractarian party of Newmans time develops from an earlier Anglo-Catholic movement which itself traces back to the Nonjurors of the seventeenth century. They rested their faith, says Geoffrey Faber, upon a two-fold revelation: upon the Bible, as the Church and the councils of the Church alone knew how to interpret it, but still more certainly upon the existence and authority of the Church itself. (72). Although this group generally was hostile to Roman pretensions, and severe toward Roman abuses, (72), the incipient or covert Catholicism that the movement suggested appears in Drydens Absalom and Achitophel and persists into the late nineteenth century. The typical anxiety toward its Catholic-leaning emphasis on authority and tradition becomes part of Byrons de fense of Roman Catholicism in his Roman Catholic Claims speech when he says that the worst that can be imputed to Catholics is believing not too little, but too much. (33). The Evangelical party opposed this version of Christianity. It held that the Bible alone provides everything people need for salvation and that the institutional Church and its extra-scriptural rites and teachings interfere with an individuals direct, personal relationship with God. This view descends from Calvin and tends toward a literal or fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. It holds that a person can have perfect assurance of salvation. The Latitudinarian party, or the Liberal party, put an emphasis on reason and, through Locke and Butler, associated itself with the Whigs by emphasizing social progress and the freedom of the individual will. The Latitudinarian reliance on reason and empiricism eschews literal Biblical interpretation. While rejecting Calvins predestination and the Evangelical version o f an exclusively internal relationship with the supernatural, Byrons Cain also rejects the expansive Latitudinarian freedom of the will which, like Rousseau, imagines a political order that is neither subservient to, nor even necessarily related to, anything outside material history. In Cain, the derivative creative capacity comes from Byrons analysis of the efficacy of sacrifices. Byron links the priestly capacity to offer a sacrifice that receives its efficacy from a previous, divine sacrifice with the ability of human beings to access a moral law that derives from an ontological absolute. When Fairchild proposes the incompatibility of Christianity and Romanticism, he cites a Romantic impulse whose satisfaction could be found only in complete intellectual and spiritual autonomy. (3). Yet whenever transcendent values interrupt an investment in creative power and the immanence of the law, autonomy struggles with its dependence on a prior, extrinsic essence. Byrons preface to Cain begins with a discreet rejection of a six-day creation. Referring to the second act of Cain, Byron anticipates criticism of his having Lucifer show Cain the remains, from the ages, of the extinct creatures of earth. When Lucifer responds to Cains indignation at the suggestion that the earth is not new, he tells Cain that mightier things have been extinct / To make way for much meaner. (158). Lucifer then shows Cain remains of the former creatures of the earth which rest myriads below its surface, and Cain acknowledges those / Mighty pre-Adamites who walked the earth.. Ian Dennis argues that Byrons plain, almost naive juxtaposition of the account of Genesis with practical and scientific data is a defiant accommodation by which Byron can express his hostility toward religion only after an act of self-abasement which allows him to reach a broad, largely religious readership by engaging in religious questioning that is really beneath him (663). For Dennis, Cain is an example of the passive aggressiveness according to which Byron recognizes that he must attract audiences in a pluralistic field of religious discourse even while he harbors an impulse to be offensive (655). Fairchild arrives at a similar analysis of Cain when he mentions Byrons enlistment of science against orthodoxy, but he then claims that Byron does not like to admit even to himself the full extent of his unbelief (429). While Dennis recognizes that Byron negotiates a plurality of Christian beliefs, his expectation that the perspective of science indicates Byrons hostility to Christianity overlooks the dramas skepticism of reasons primacy. Byrons rejection of literal Biblical exegesis corresponds to a rejection of Evangelicalism, but this rejection is not sufficient to support Denniss reading of the play as treating theological issues insincerely. In the preface, Byron catalogs his sacred and secular sources, and he claims that Cuviers account of the ancient fossil relics is n ot contrary to the Mosaic account, but rather confirms it (157). In any case, while Byrons subjective feelings are interesting, the text of Cain and its reception treat the theological and political issues in a particular context of which Byrons private disposition makes up only a part. Byrons preface rejects the idea that scientific discoveries contradict the Bible, and this rejection accompanies a rejection of overly literal readings of the Bible which, in nineteenth-century England, characterize the Evangelical party. While adapting his drama from Genesis, Byron also puts forward an exegetical method for reading Genesis. This method corresponds more to the Latitudinarian and Roman Catholic method than it does to the Evangelical, and Byron expresses a Thomistic view of creation as the diffusion of history from a divine essence. The extent to which Byron really accepted religious stories or any exegetical method is an interesting question, but it does not arise explicitly in his pr eface or his poem. In contrast to Cain and Lucifer, Cains wife Adah responds to Lucifers challenge by proposing a more flexible account of creation that resembles Aquinass philosophy of predestination. In Cain, Adah does this. When Lucifer questions her, Adah repeats the Thomistic view of the unfolding of creation according to a divine will: [God] hath The angels and the mortals to make happy, And thus becomes so in diffusing joy. What else can joy be, but the spreading joy? (478). Cain mistrusts Adahs confidence in the unity of creation when he doubts the necessity of the division between God and Lucifer: Would that there were only one of ye! Perchance / An unity of purpose might make union / In elements which seem now jarred in storms. (377). In an effort to surpass the distinction between good and evil, Cain rejects the division of identities and powers in what Adah describes as the diffusion of creation. Cains attempt resembles the emergence of Rousseaus natural man from the natural laws bondage in order to create the law himself according to the general will. Cains powerlessness even in this endeavor leads ultimately to his rejecting his capacity to perform the sacrifices with Abel. When Cain finally kills Abel, the act leads not to independence from the moral law but instead to its assertion. In describing sacrifice in particular, Byron contrasts Abels view with Cains. When he offers his sacrifice, Cain resigns himself both to his own powerlessness and to the incomprehensible divine judgment that precedes and determines his life and actions. Cain does not believe his actions can affect his fate but rather takes a view similar to Bostons that even his will is bound by a divine mandate. Byron joins with Burns in criticizing Bostons brand of Calvinism, and Cains distress comes in part from his disgust with his perception of powerlessness in directing his fate. In contrast to Rousseaus notion of the human capacity to create the law and to alter human ontology, Byrons response to this facet of Calvinism calls on the efficacy of sacrifices. Byrons view assumes a fixed human nature which has access to an extrinsic source of law and redemption. It is not therefore a progressive view. Besides a return to an Aristotelian idea of the law and human nature, Byrons redemptive philosoph y invests in an Aristotelian epistemology which, unlike the continuum of Rousseaus adaptability, seeks knowledge in a finality beyond which there is no more development in being or comprehension. At his altar, Cain speaks to God and expresses his discontentment: [All r]est upon thee; and good and evil seem To have no powr in themselves, save in thy will. And whether that be good or ill I know not, Not being omnipotent nor fit to judge Omnipotence, but merely to endure Its mandate, which thus far I have endured (274). In contrast, Abel sacrifices as the watching shepherd boy who offers.(183). He asks Cain to join me and precede me / In our priesthood.(198). Abel builds altars whereupon to offer / A sacrifice to God,(96), and [h]is sacrifices are acceptable.(352). In his description of Abel and his sacrifices, Byron makes references to the language of the Catholic Mass and its sanctioning of the power of sacrificers and their sacrifices. These references come mainly from the Offertory parts of the rite and have no counterparts in the Book of Common Prayer. These references and the general leaning toward the efficacy of sacrifices in Cain come during Byrons residence in Italy which Fairchild, and others say coincides with his attraction to Italian Catholicism and responsive[ness] to Catholic worship(425). Beyond demonstrating any biographical inclinations, though, Byrons adoption in Cain of Catholic rhetoric resonates domestically amid particularly English religious and political stances In adopting Aquinass view of an essence which diffuses itself in the particular elements of creation, Byron engages in essentialism, particularly about the natural law. When Lucifer tries to convince Adah that sin develops in those who replace ye in / Mortality.(379), he expresses the voluntarist ideas of Rousseau according to which moral laws develop ambiguously by the progress of history. Adah, however, questions the sin which is not / Sin in itself and asks Lucifer, Can circumstance make sin / Of virtue?(380). Byrons Cain proposes an ontological definition of the human being that differs from Rousseaus acceptance of humanitys creative capacity with regard to the law. Whereas Rousseau proposes that human beings reason, arising from historical circumstances, creates the law out of nothing, Byron conceives of a prior essence to which humanitys creative endeavors have access. Byron also rejects the determinism of Calvin. Byrons limited conception of creativity corresponds to Wordswort hs view of the poets access to the transcendent forms which, though derivative, enable creative work, and there are links here with the commission of priestly sacrifices in Catholic theology and with the Thomistic idea of the law. In drawing on the capacity in Aristotle and Aquinas for human participation in laws and actions that are ontologically independent of human history, Byron shapes a worldview in Cain that conflicts with the progressive ideas of Rousseau. This conflict extends beyond the reshaping of progressive secularism because although Byrons conception of humanity shares with progressive secularism an expectation that good prevails over time, Byron relies on a supernatural, or at least metaphysical, essence beyond the material circumstances of history, participation in which determines individual success or failure, as it does for Abel and Cain. In Byrons Cain, a transcendent reality precedes the encoding of law, and the law is a concrete reality, not merely an abstract ion derived from material experiences.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Theatre-In-Education :: Drama

Theatre-In-Education The theatre education industry/movement has seen some rapid changes since its initial developments and establishment in the 1960’s. However its origins mainly lie in the early years of the last century. It was the initial establishment of companies such as Bertha Waddell’s in Scotland and Esme Church’s in the north of England that thoroughly established the main roots of TIE. Mainly the initial aims of these companies was to stimulate, educate and inform young people through encouraging them to participate in enjoyable and imaginary based theatre programmes. Despite early attempts in Britain in the mid 1930’s, where a Glasgow Director of education allowed the Bertha Waddell’s company to perform in junior schools within school time, the majority of the advances within the movement came after World War Two. Due to the nature and after-effects of the time, many post war Education Authorities felt the need to sponsor drama and live theatre companies to aid in their areas learning processes. One could perhaps say that due to the sheer devastation of the war many education authorities felt that through the use of drama therapy and role play style interaction that students would be able to address their true anxieties and would therefore have a more rewarding time in post war school. Around this time parallel groups were beginning to form in Birmingham and London. One of the pioneers of these types of groups was Brian Way. Having established his own theatre-in-education company in the late 1940’s, Brain established his companies aims as being, to assist teachers in all types of schools with methods of approach to drama in education. This company began to be at the forefront of schools early experiments, linking children, their education and theatre. This expanded further and as it progressed throughout England was mainly made up of amateur theatre groups consisting of largely teachers who aimed to introduce theatre to children. However, the main expansion of TIE came when a number of professional theatre companies began the notion of creating these experiences and took them into schools. Towards the end of the 1960’s the TIE movement was given a dynamic push in the right direction. This was largely due to the new style of teaching and curriculum delivery that was being implemented across Britain. The ‘Plowden Report’ gave numerous advice on the delivery of the school curriculum and a new style of â€Å"problem-solving† to teach the syllabus was adopted throughout many primary schools. This new â€Å"problem-solving† style of teaching allowed TIE to flourish, as theatre could be used within schools to give examples of how to successfully problem solve. This largely was done in the style of role play situations and stemmed mainly from the teaching of alternative Theatre-In-Education :: Drama Theatre-In-Education The theatre education industry/movement has seen some rapid changes since its initial developments and establishment in the 1960’s. However its origins mainly lie in the early years of the last century. It was the initial establishment of companies such as Bertha Waddell’s in Scotland and Esme Church’s in the north of England that thoroughly established the main roots of TIE. Mainly the initial aims of these companies was to stimulate, educate and inform young people through encouraging them to participate in enjoyable and imaginary based theatre programmes. Despite early attempts in Britain in the mid 1930’s, where a Glasgow Director of education allowed the Bertha Waddell’s company to perform in junior schools within school time, the majority of the advances within the movement came after World War Two. Due to the nature and after-effects of the time, many post war Education Authorities felt the need to sponsor drama and live theatre companies to aid in their areas learning processes. One could perhaps say that due to the sheer devastation of the war many education authorities felt that through the use of drama therapy and role play style interaction that students would be able to address their true anxieties and would therefore have a more rewarding time in post war school. Around this time parallel groups were beginning to form in Birmingham and London. One of the pioneers of these types of groups was Brian Way. Having established his own theatre-in-education company in the late 1940’s, Brain established his companies aims as being, to assist teachers in all types of schools with methods of approach to drama in education. This company began to be at the forefront of schools early experiments, linking children, their education and theatre. This expanded further and as it progressed throughout England was mainly made up of amateur theatre groups consisting of largely teachers who aimed to introduce theatre to children. However, the main expansion of TIE came when a number of professional theatre companies began the notion of creating these experiences and took them into schools. Towards the end of the 1960’s the TIE movement was given a dynamic push in the right direction. This was largely due to the new style of teaching and curriculum delivery that was being implemented across Britain. The ‘Plowden Report’ gave numerous advice on the delivery of the school curriculum and a new style of â€Å"problem-solving† to teach the syllabus was adopted throughout many primary schools. This new â€Å"problem-solving† style of teaching allowed TIE to flourish, as theatre could be used within schools to give examples of how to successfully problem solve. This largely was done in the style of role play situations and stemmed mainly from the teaching of alternative