Monday, September 30, 2019

Distinctive Voices †A.B. Paterson Poetry Essay

A number of distinctive voices are used in ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ by A.B. Paterson to paint an evocative picture of Australian society and to juxtapose images of the Australian bush against images of life in the city. The purpose of this poem is to highlight the unique characters of the Australian bush and to allow the reader to romanticise with the Australian bush. The pervading tone of the poem expressed by the clerk narrator is envy of the pleasures he imagines Clancy to experience living and working in the bush and derision of aspects of the city. The distinctive voices in the poem include the clerk narrator, the laconic character of Clancy, the ‘shearing mate’, the bush and finally the city. Paragraph 2 – Explain the distinctive voices of Clancy and the shearer and what they convey about the Australian bush (focus on craftsmanship/techniques and effect). Paragraph 3 – Explain the distinctive voice of the clerk narrator and what he conveys about the Australian bush and life in the city (focus on craftsmanship/techniques and effect). Paragraph 4 – Explain the distinctive voice of the bush and how it is used in a positive way to reinforce Paterson’s view (focus on craftsmanship/techniques and effect). Paragraph 5 – Explain the distinctive voice of the city and how it is used in a negative way to reinforce Paterson’s view (focus on craftsmanship/techniques and effect). Summary (Conclusion) – a final statement about the use and effect of distinctive voices in this poem.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

To what extent has the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR’s) case law recognised and protected the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of sexual orientation, in relation to marriage.

Abstract There has been much discussion as to whether the ECHR’s attempts to recognise and protect the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of sexual orientation have been successful. This is because, although the UK has in recent years made positive changes towards the equality of same-sex couples, discrimination is still prevalent in many other countries. This study aims to identify the extent to which such discrimination still exists and consider how effective the ECHR has been in preserving these rights. Introduction It will be examined the extent to which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR’s) case law has recognised and protected the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of sexual orientation. This will be examined in respect of same-sex marriages and by considering whether same-sex couples are still being discriminated against or whether the ECHR has been successful in helping to protect the interests of such couples. Various case law of the ECHR will be examined and a review of the academic literature in this area will be conducted. These will be acquired by accessing relevant text books, journal articles, online databases and governmental reports. Once all the applicable information has been gathered an appropriate conclusion will then be drawn demonstrating that the ECHR has made significant attempts to protect the rights of individuals when it comes to their sexual orientation. However, it will be demonstrated that whilst this has proven successful in the UK, othe r countries are still reluctant to employ the ECHR’s approach. Literature Review The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 came into force on the 13 March 2014 to legalise same sex marriages as this was previously prohibited under section 11 (c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. This prohibited led to much debate and controversy for a number of years as it was felt that same-sex couples were being discriminated against and that their right to equality, as provided for under Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights 1951 (ECHR), as incorporated by the Human Rights Act 1998, was being violated. This controversy occurred regardless of the fact that civil partnerships were introduced under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 since it was still being argued that same-sex couples entering into a civil partnership were not provided with the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples under a civil marriage. Inequality therefore still existed as the status of marriage was not capable of being acquired by same-sex couples. This was considered highly d etrimental and it was argued by Francoz-Terminal that; â€Å"if at one time homosexuality was considered as a choice that implied no procreation, nowadays legal systems have had to face a new factual reality.†[1] This highlights the importance of equality and it seems as though there has never been more of a pressing need for the provisions contained in the ECHR to be implemented. Not all agree that same sex-couples should have been permitted to marry rather than merely enter into a civil partnership, yet because of the increasing recognition of same-sex couples in many European countries it was evident that the permitting of gay marriages have been relevant when discussing reforms in England and Wales.†[2] There was clearly a pressing need for reform in this area since the 2004 Act had proven ineffective in providing same-sex couples with equal rights to heterosexual couples when it came to marriage. Nevertheless, whilst it was argued by some that civil partnerships were simply marriages under a different name, this was not entirely true. This is because the equal rights and responsibilities that were given to heterosexual couples were not being given to same-sex couples. For example, same sex couples were not allowed to get married in a church or other religious on the basis that these types of places are prohibited from conducting civil partnership ceremonies under the law. This was considered highly unfair given that some ministers were willing to marry same-sex couples; however they were prevented doing so by law. Modern beliefs that all people should be treated equally were therefore not being ascertained and all of the traditional views of marriage were upheld. Not all agree with the new changes, however, as churches can still refuse to marry same sex-couples which leaves same-sex couples open to further discrimination.[3] Yet, it is believed that the law should not restrict a person’s choice and that churches ministers should still have the ability to choose whether or not they would like to marry same-sex couples. This provides a fairer system overall because although some churches will permit same-sex marriages whilst others will not, the fact that marriages can be conducted in churches in the first place is a major step forward.[4] The debate as to whether same-sex marriages should be permitted has been going on for some time, and the courts have attempted to protect an individual’s right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation on marriage. In The Attorney General for Ontario v M and H[5] it was held by the court that; â€Å"provincial governments are to take legislative action to ensure that individuals in same-sex relationships are afforded equal treatment with others in marriage-like relationships.† Regardless of these views, it wasn’t until the ECHR began to recognise such rights that Parliament decided to take action. In Schalk v. Kopf v. Austria[6] it was made clear by the ECHR that; â€Å"a failure by a state to allow same-sex couples to marry amounted to a violation of the article 12 right to marry.† This decision highlighted the need to make amendments to section 11 (c) of the 1973 Act so that same-sex couples were not being discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation when it came to marriage. It was quite surprising when the 2013 Act was implemented given the widespread concerns that existed and as put by Norrie; â€Å"the trouble with gay and lesbian people is that they are never satisfied. Give them a crumb and they want a slice of bread. Give them a slice of bread and they want a full meal.†[7] Nevertheless, although changes were made under the 2004 Act to provide same sex couples with equal rights to heterosexual couples, the ECHR did not believe that this went far enough and still found that discrimination subsisted. It could be said that civil ceremonies were the same as marriages, yet because the nature of the ceremonies were different as well as the rights that were provided to married couples, it was clear that further changes were needed if complete equality was to be attained. It was argued by Eireann that the 2004 Act was akin to marriage in that it allowed same-sex couples to â€Å"formally declare their allegiance to each other, register their partnership and commit themselves to a range of duties and responsibilities.†[8] On the other hand, because equality of choice and opportunity was removed from same-sex couples, their rights under the ECHR were not being fully recognised[9], which is why drastic changes to the law were implemented in 2013. Whether all 47 countries will follow the ECHR’s decision in Schalk is questionable[10], given the political backlash that some countries will be subjected to. Although the ECHR is of the view that same-sex marriages should be permit ted, they are also aware of the fact that not everyone agrees with this position. As a result, they made it clear in their judgment that the choice to marry same-sex couples should still remain with the minister conducting the ceremony and that the rights of ministers should also be upheld.[11] Therefore, whilst it is important that the rights to equality are being maintained when it comes to the marriage of same-sex couples, it is also important that the rights of ministers not to be discriminated against if they choose not to marry such couples are also preserved. The ECHR has made great attempts to recognise and protect the rights of individuals not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation over the years, which is enunciated in various case law decisions. An example of this can be seen in the Niemietz v Germany[12] case where it was made clear that the right to a private life under Article 8 of the ECHR included the right to establish relationships with other human beings regardless as to whether they were of the same sex or not. Therefore, the fact that there were laws against same-sex marriages demonstrated that the right to a private life under this Article was also being violated. This was also identified in Bensaid v United Kingdom[13] where the court held that â€Å"gender identification, name and sexual orientation and sexual life† were all capable of protection under Article 8. Arguably, the ECHR has been a pioneer for same-sex relationships for some time and has clearly made significant attempts to eradicat e discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In Mata Estevez v Spain[14] the Court held that same-sex relationships could be protected by the right to respect for private life, although it was held that homosexual relationships could not be protected by the right to a family life. However, this has since been resolved in the Schalk case above. The Schalk case is a major development within this area of the law, yet because many states have not yet legalised the marriage of same-sex couples it is manifest that the development of this area does remain ongoing. It remains to be seen what changes, if any will be made by other Member States because although this was a positive decision inferences were not drawn by the Court. This leads to confusion as to whether puzzling all States should follow suit and as has been noted; â€Å"the door may have been unlocked but remains closed (or half open) for now?†[15] Consequently, even though same sex marriages are now being permitted in the UK, inequality will still exist by the ability for ministers to refuse to marry same-sex couples. Whether this will ever be changed is doubtful since all individuals still have the right to freedom of belief and religion under Article 9 of the ECHR. Hence, there will still be many churches that will refuse to allow such marriages to take place, yet nothing can be done to stop this as this too will result in a violation of human rights. At present an attempt to strike a balance between these competing interests has been made and it is unlikely that discrimina tion on the grounds of sexual orientation with regards to marriage will ever be fully eradicated. Still, the rights same-sex couples have to marry has increased substantially over the years, though there will continue to be different views in relation to the acceptance of such marriages by society. Every person has a right to have an opinion and by forcing ministers to conduct same-sex marriages would seriously contravene. In addition to the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada, also allow same-sex marriages to be conducted, which demonstrates the movement that is being made towards achieving greater equality across the globe. This is believed highly desirable and as noted by the court in Fourie and Another v Minister of Home Affairs and Others;[16] â€Å"the limitation of marriage to opposite sex couples was unconstitutional.† Same-sex marriages should therefore be recognised in all countries as societal views are continuously changing and same-sex couples are starting to become the â€Å"norm.† It is questionable whether this will be implemented by all and as stressed by Herring; â€Å"the tensions between the traditional family ideal of what a family should be like and the realities of family life today indicate that family law is quite different from family law 30 years ago and where family law will be in 30 years time is hard to predict.†[17] Now that same-sex couples are able to marry under the 2013 Act, such couples are now able to claim a family status. This is necessary given that there is â€Å"no institution of a de facto family† as pointed out in McD v L & Another.[1 8] It is thus in the best interests of a child to be served in a marriage-based family and because same-sex couples can adopt, it is necessary for them to be able to marry also; N and Another v Health Service Executive & Ors[19] Nevertheless, because same-sex marriages are not permitted in all countries, such as France, it cannot be said that the ECHR’s approaches have been completely successful. It was recognised by Francoz-Terminal that the emergence of same-sex families has been challenging for French Law, yet it has been said that the courts do actually seem prepared to meet these challenges.†[20] Attitudes towards same-sex marriages have changed considerably over the years and are likely to continue to do so until such marriages are considered a normal part of society. As a result, â€Å"the married family can no longer be assumed to be the near-universal institution of civil society it once was.†[21] Because of the changes that continue to be made within society, it is vital that the law is able to keep abreast with such changes which can be achieved by making sure individuals are not discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. Conversely, it has been said that marriage is being undermined as a result of this,[22] yet the courts should not be able to interfere in one’s beliefs as shown in Burden and Burden v UK.[23] The right to marry is enshrined in human rights law and is thereby considered a â€Å"fundamental part of the freedom of the individual to form personal relationships according to his or her own inclination.†[24] Resultan tly, individuals should have the right to marry whoever they wish regardless as to whether they are of the same-sex or not, though it remains to be seen whether other European countries will adopt the same approach as the UK in protecting such rights. Conclusion Overall, it is evident that the ECHR has recognised the rights of same-same couples for a number of years and has made great attempts to recognise and protect the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation. Nevertheless, it is only recently that the UK has implemented changes to reflect the stance taken by the ECHR by enacting the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. This Act makes it permissible for same sex couples to marry in religious settings. Although the Civil Partnership Act 2004 was said to provide similar rights, these were not considered enough and same-sex couples were still being subject to much discrimination. Since the 2013 Act was implemented, greater equality is now capable of being attained in the UK. The ECHR in Schalk is considered a major breakthrough in this area as this decision is what sparked the introduction of the new law. Nevertheless, because not all countries have followed the same approach as the UK, the ECHR still has some way to go in attaining equality for all. This is likely to prove difficult given the divergence of opinions that exist in this area, yet because the marriage of same-sex couples is becoming the ‘norm’, it is likely that other European countries will follow suit. The fact that ministers are able to choose whether or not to conduct same-sex marriages also ensures that their rights are also being protected. This maintains a balance between the rights of individuals not to be discriminated against on grounds of sexual orientation with the rights of belief and opinion. Bibliography Books Herring, J. Family Law, Longman, 4th Edition, (2009). Lowe, N. and Douglas, G. Bromley’s Family Law, OUP Oxford, 10th Edition, (2006). Probert, R., Family Law in England and Wales, Kluwer Law International, (2011). Standley, K. Family Law, Palgrave MacMillan, 7th Edition, (2010). Troyer, L. Church in Society, Xulon Press, (2011). Journals C F Stychin, ‘Not (Quite) a Horse and Carriage: The Civil Partnership Act 2004’ (2006), Feminist Legal Studies, Springer 2006, Volume 14, Number 1, 79-86. Doughty, S., Conservative UK: Most Britons Still Oppose Gay Marriage, The Daily Mail, (2011), Available [Online] at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040783/Conservative-UK-Most-Britons-oppose-gay-marriage.html Eireann, D., Parliamentary Debates, Volume 697, Number 1, (2009), Available [Online] at: http://debates.oireachtas.ie/Xml/30/DAL20091203.PDF Francoz-Terminal, L, From same-sex couples to same-sex familiesCurrent French legal issues, Child and Family Law Quarterly, Issue 4, [2009] CFLQ 485, (2009). Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Civil Partnerships and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, Client Update, (2010), Available [Online] at: https://marketing.mop.ie/rs/vm.ashx?ct=24F76A1FD4AE4EE0CDD881AED12B921991907ABFDA9818CF5AE175767CEAC80BDF417 Norrie, K. Two by Two, by Two, The Journal Online, The Members Magazine of the Law Society of Scotland, (18 October, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/55-10/1008759.aspx Peroni, L., Gay Marriage: Unlocking the Door but Keeping it ClosedStrasbourg Observers, (25 June, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://strasbourgobservers.com/2010/06/25/gay-marriage-court-unlocks-the-door-but-keeps-them-closed/ Probert, R. and Barlow, A. Displacing Marriage – Diversification and Harmonisation Within Europe, Child and Family Law Quarterly, [2000] CFLQ 153, Issue 2, (01 June, 2000). Ross, T., Archbishop Attacks Cameron’s ‘Gay Marriage’ Plan, The Telegraph, (2011) Available [Online] at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8809548/Archbishop-attacks-Camerons-gay-marriage-plan.html Rothwell, R. Why Civil Partnerships for Heterosexual Couples Could be a Good Idea, The Law Society Gazette, (11 August, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/blogs/news-blog/why-civil-partnerships-heterosexual-couples-could-be-a-good-idea Sohrab, J., Recognising Aquired Gender, New Law Journal, 154 NLJ 1018, Issue 7135, (02 July, 2004). Tatchell, P., in BBC News, Gay Church ‘Marriages’ Set to Get the Go-Ahead, BBC, (14 February, 2011), Available [Online] at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12442375 The Office for National Statistics, Marriages, (February 11, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=322 Wintemute, R. Consensus is the Right Approach for the European Court of Human Rights, The Guardian, (12 August, 2010), Available [Online] at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/aug/12/european-court-human-rights-consensus Cases Bensaid v United Kingdom (2001) 33 EHRR 205 Burden and Burden v UK [2008] All ER (D) 391, Application No 13378/05; (2008) 47 EHRR 857 Fourie and Another v Minister of Home Affairs and Others Application No. 56501/00, 10 May 2001 Niemietz v Germany (1992) 16 EHRR 97 Mata Estevez v Spain Application No. 56501/00, 10 May 2001 McD v L & Another [2009] IESC 81 N and Another v Health Service Executive & Ors [2006] I.E.S.C. 60 Schalk v. Kopf v. Austria [2010] ECHR 30141/04 (25 June 2010) The Attorney General for Ontario v M and H [1999] 2 SCR 3

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Tracing Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tracing Rules - Essay Example It need not be a proprietary right. Often the tracing exercise begins with a bank account, which is a personal right against a bank.1 And sometimes, the repository of value with which the plaintiff begins is not a right at all, but is rather in the form of services. Services can enhance the value of assets, and in this way the value inherent in the services can be traced into the enhanced asset. It is sometimes said that a prerequisite to tracing in a court of equity is the establishment of a fiduciary relationship.2 If this were true, the consequences would be startling. A trustee sells trust land, and deposits the proceeds into a bank account into which he has earlier deposited some money of his own. A court of equity will allow the beneficiary to trace from the land, previously owned by the claimant in equity, into the balance in the bank account. It will also allow claimant to assert equitable proprietary rights in the bank account; that is a separate issue. On the other hand, a thief steals some money from claimant and pays it into a bank account into which thief has earlier deposited some money of his own. The tracing exercise would appear to be even simpler. But the thief does not owe fiduciary obligations to claimant. If it is true that a fiduciary relation is a prerequisite to tracing in a court of equity, then a court of equity is unable to trace into the bank account in the second situation. This seems absurd. What could possibly be the reason for such a requirement The standard explanation is that it is necessary to found the jurisdiction of equity: Agip ( Africa) Ltd v. Jackson. When a plaintiff wishes to conduct the exercise of tracing, he wishes to establish that the value inherent in his asset has been used to acquire another asset. That alone neither gives nor denies hearing jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery or its successor, a court exercising equitable jurisdiction. If the plaintiff is seeking specific performance or rectification, then t he Court of Chancery would have hearing jurisdiction, and it would allow him to try to prove the making of the contract. If he was merely seeking damages for breach of contract, then the Court of Chancery had no order jurisdiction to grant that remedy and so it would decline hearing jurisdiction.3 The exercise of proving the existence of the contract is neither peculiarly equitable nor peculiarly legal.4 The fact that a plaintiff wishes to trace is not determinative of whether the court has hearing jurisdiction. It is an exercise which is neither peculiarly equitable nor peculiarly legal. Moreover, it is neither peculiarly proprietary nor peculiarly personal; tracing is not a right but an exercise. But equitable rights, properly so called, are different in many ways from common law rights, and so the relief sought by the plaintiff is peculiarly equitable or peculiarly legal. Whether or not there is equitable jurisdiction to hear a claim is determined by the relief which is sought. I f the plaintiff asserts that she holds equitable proprietary rights in some new asset, then that is a claim which only a court of equity can evaluate; and that is the source of the court's hearing jurisdiction. But it makes no sense that a plaintiff should have to establish a fiduciary relationship merely to conduct the exercise of showing that her asset was used to acquire some other asset. When the Court of Appeal expressed its view that a fiduciary

Friday, September 27, 2019

Relationships Between Inequality and Industrialization Research Paper

Relationships Between Inequality and Industrialization - Research Paper Example Weber (72) argues that transformation in modern society has contributed to varied changes; thus, he emphasizes on the work ethic. He asserts that capitalism is nowadays common in society, and this is associated with capitalism in society. Many people in developed nations have become capitalists because of industrialization. Capitalism is associated with issues of inequalities because the rich tend to be richer, whereas the poor remains to be poorer. The industrialists face the problem of inequalities when trying to employ a pre-capitalist workforce. The labourers spend less time in the production process, in the capitalist society, but this displaces many people in the workplace because of the use of machines; thus rendering many of them jobless. The capitalism in the industrialized society arises because of rational decisions for economic advantage. In the proletarians and communism theories of Marx, he reveals that inequalities arise due to different social classes in society (Marx par.1). These classes struggle with their competitors to achieve independent existence. The same phenomenon contributes to the division of labour, which can only be eliminated by the ownership of property and labour itself (Marx par 4). The division of the labour process is common in contemporary society. This arises because of increased industrialization process; thus creating personal powers into material powers. Hence, the issue of communism is essential because the community plays significant roles in the abolition of labour division.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Public Order Legislation and Fundamental Rights Essay

Public Order Legislation and Fundamental Rights - Essay Example Public protests are generally encompassed within the framework of the right to free expression and free association which is an essential part of a democracy. However the European Convention of Human Rights also includes among its umbrella of rights guaranteed to people, the right to such freedom of speech and association which may also include the freedom to protest6. But this right to public assembly is not one of the fundamental rights, such as that of the right to life or the right against torture7, therefore these rights may be regulated to some extent by the Government through the police in the interest of maintaining law and order. But how far can policing be extended? While these rights may certainly be regulated, they cannot be obstructed and developments that have been occurring within the UK for the past two decades appear to point in that direction. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994:Public protest has been a part of UK history, but has not been construed t o be criminal without due cause. The Public Order Act of 1986 had introduced some restrictions on public gatherings, camping and other activities, however these provisions as extended into the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 to cope with criminal and terrorist elements, has resulted in a wider range of activities being construed as criminal offences.Specific provisions that are of interest in the case of public order are from section 619 up to sections 77-80 that even deal with the traveling community

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Aboriginal studies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Aboriginal studies - Research Paper Example Natives of the South -- southeast and southwest -- lived somewhat similar and different social environments and had their own unique means of using, controlling, and changing their inhabitation. Bonds of social set up were so strong that the Southern natives did not loose hold of their social and cultural identity while adapting to the ways of modern agriculture. In the matter of practicing refined ways of cultivation, the natives of southeast followed comparatively advanced methods of farming than their counterparts. The theme of religion in its purest form of following rituals and in the wider perspective of believing in the existence of God was pervasive in all functions of life. There were cultural differences as well as similarities as based on the geographical distribution of land that culminated in their choice of practicing different professions other than farming but natives of South believed in the oneness of all human beings on the spiritual grounds. Natives had a sharp se nse of the natural cycle and practiced different modes of livelihood to save themselves from the vagaries of nature. Before comparing the environmental and social organization of the natives of southeast and southwest, it is logical to know the physical boundaries that divided them. The Southeast culture area is the semi-tropical region that extends from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to way ahead of Trinity River in today’s Texas, and from the Gulf of Mexico towards north following different latitudes through the modern states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. The Southwest aboriginal culture has its expansion from the southern corners of modern times Utah and Colorado south via Arizona and New Mexico, including Texas, California, and Oklahoma, into Mexico. This physical division of both regions creates curiosity to compare the social and environment organization of both the regions. According to Charles Hudson,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Final assignment Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Final assignment - Movie Review Example Johnson from achieving her dreams with teaching. The students are derailed from concentrating in their education by drug dealing and other elements of street life that are unfavorable to education (Smith). This movie is important to me individually because it affirms my belief that, besides its use for language aesthetics, literally work has practical implications on the society. For example, Johnson uses Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan’s poems to challenge and instill hope in her students, and the results are visible. This movie embodies messages and feelings that are relevant today because it features real life issues that have endured through history. Issues of poverty, illiteracy, and drugs trafficking are issues that still make headlines to the present day. However, the theme of hope has traversed centuries and it is exemplified in this movie (Smith). Finally, the message of change featured in this movie is reminiscent of the present day endeavor to abandon the practices and systems that hamper progress and embrace those that bring

Monday, September 23, 2019

Developments in SEN )Special Educational Needs Essay

Developments in SEN )Special Educational Needs - Essay Example This approach concentrated on difference rather than normality, on sickness rather than well being, and specifically on the problem affecting the child. In doing so, children acquired medically diagnosed groups, which emphasized on deficit rather than potential (Jones 2003, p.9). Therefore, in the early 20th century education for children with special needs used the strategy of separate, special schools for children thought to need such schools. In addition, psychometric analysis by early psychologists supported the use of special schools. In 1944, a number of reforms were done on the education system. The majority of the reforms were towards the mainstream education and the availability of free education for all. In addition, the 1944 education reforms also addressed particular aspects of education for education for children with special needs. However, the approach, and definition of children with special requirements was not as sufficient as its requirements for education in gener al (Hodkinson & Vickerman 2009, p.23). The 1944 Act still relied on the medical model of disability. Under this Act, eleven categories of handicap were identified, and children belonging to those categories were identified based on their desired treatment. The use of unique schools to educate children with special needs remained the most desired approach, although less recognition was paid to the provision of education in mainstream schools. The 1944 Act continued to refer to children with a disability of mind or body, and focused on special schools to cater for handicapped children (Jones 2003, pg 13). Through the 1960s and 1970s, education for children with special needs shifted towards an approach favored by behaviorist psychologist. An example of psychologist who played a crucial role in shaping education for children with special needs was Lois Malaguzzi who spent much his time understanding how children learn. This approach focused on the need to apply operant conditioning tec hniques. Experts refused the medical model and campaigned for an approach that applied only what that could be observed. The approach was criticized by some behaviorist terming it a significant weakness. However, the reforms were very vital because they emphasized on the possibility to modify the problems of children with special needs. In addition, the reforms placed the responsibility to the teacher as one way of ensuring that the reforms became effective (DfES, 2004). The behaviorist techniques appeared very effective in dealing with particular difficulties such as self help skills. On the other hand, they were seen as less effective in assisting children with duties that required more understanding. It is evident that the 1960s and 70s created a way for new approaches to special needs. During this period, attitudes towards special education started to change, and in some sections the behaviorist initiatives caused the teaching of children with learning problems appear more acces sible to teachers in mainstream schools. In connection to this, Vygotsky who was a renowned education theorist, once pointed out that most essential learning by a child happens through social interaction with the help of a skillful tutor. Similar sentiments were put forward by John Dewey who argued that learning and education are interactive and social processes, and the school remains to be a social institution whereby social

Sunday, September 22, 2019

English Mock Exam Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

English Mock Exam - Term Paper Example Anyone can be arrested suddenly, and for no valid reason, at any time of the day or night. There can be no recourse to the law, or appeal for justice. The ‘knock on the door’ can happen at any time to anyone. In both the poems, all citizens are the helpless victims of state sponsored terrorism. The government is absolutely ruthless and does not tolerate any form of dissent. The background of both poems is an atmosphere of fear. Both First They Came and Not my Business share the common theme of the impossibility of isolating oneself from injustice. It can be said that the underlying message in both the poems is the brotherhood of man. Niemoller and Osundare emphasize that no man can live in isolation from his society. What affects one man will have its repercussions on all others. No one can live in a cocoon and remain untouched by the experiences of others. If injustice is left unchecked, it will inevitably engulf everyone. The poets are united in their call for every ma n to speak out against injustice. Both poems urge every individual to give voice to the demand for justice and protest against wrong: even if one is not personally affected. The writers call for everyone to overcome their fear and have the courage to stand up and be counted for their convictions. If we remain passive spectators to wrongdoing, we will definitely be the next victims. The themes of the poems can be said to be almost identical. Niemoller writes from his personal experience as a protestor against Nazi rule in Hitler’s Germany, and his active opposition to state control of the church. He has actually lived the lines of his poem, having been arrested and sent to the notorious concentration camps, where he has spent seven years. The line, â€Å"Then they came for me,† is based on his real life experience. It is a true account, which was written after the fall of Nazism and his release from the camps. His poem is biographical. However, although Osundare has not been subjected to such actual arrest and imprisonment, his empathy for his countrymen makes his poem as vivid and intimate as First They Came. Osundare’s poetry is so personal, that it remains as true-to-life and genuine as Niemoller’s. Both the poems reflect their own culture. Niemoller, as a Protestant clergyman in Nazi Germany, bases his list of the various kinds of people on religion: Communists, Jews, Catholics and Socialists. This is in accordance with the anti-religious sentiments which Hitler established as part of his Nazi ideology and also with Niemoller’s strong religious identity as a churchman. Niemoller focuses on religious belief in his poem and conveys the message that one should stand up for everyone’s right to practice their own faith. On the other hand, Osundare’s poem reflects the realities of Africa, where the scarcity of resources is a fact of everyday life. Hunger is a very real threat which hangs over every person. In accor dance with this fact, he focuses on food. Osundare asserts that one should speak out in defense of others, even at the cost of losing one’s daily food: represented in his poem by the humble yam. It is clear that Not my Business is based in a country where poverty is widespread. The names used by Osundare, and the mention of yam as a staple food, also speak of Africa. The writers use similar forms in their poems. First They Came and Not my Business both have short stanzas and are not lengthy. However, Osundare’s indentation of the repetitive lines forms a kind of chorus, while

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Science and Technologies Essay Example for Free

Science and Technologies Essay With the advent of future developments in science and technology, we will assign more and more decision making to machines. At present this is evident in military systems in which electronic sensors maintain the ideal flight characteristics in advanced aircraft. The capacities of computers today exceed five hundred trillion bits of information per second. The complexity of todays civilization is far too complex for human systems to manage without the assistance of electronic computers. Computers of today are relatively primitive compared to those that will evolve in the future. Eventually the management of social systems will call for require electronic sensors interconnected with all phases of the social sequences thus eliminating the need for politics. Today modern industrial plants have built in automatic inventory systems, which order materials such as bearings and other mechanical replacements well in advance People became accustomed to live surrounded by the things that make their lives easier and more comfortable. When we look back at previous centuries and especially at the 20th century we focus on wonderful events: trains, cars, planes making distance shorter; rockets taking people out into space; our homes and offices taken over by successive waves of electronic equipment, including telephones, TVs, faxes, computers, cell phones, Internet facilities, and electronic liberties. Scientific and technological achievements follow so called folklore â€Å"science† which lays foundation for genuine science. For example, common people predicted planes or television in the fairy tales flying carpets or mirrors that show other lands and people. Many fairy tale dreams came true, and the emergence of television proves this. Television has grown up all over the world, enabling nearly every country to share aspects of its culture and society with others. Practically every country in the world now has at least one broadcast television station. It came into being based on the inventions and discoveries of many scientists, engineers, managers. The idea of television implied in its early stages of development of a combination of optical, mechanical and electronic technologies of capture transmit and display a visual image. All modern television system relies on the electronic technologies, and it is not compatible with the old mechanical type of television. But the knowledge gained from the work on mechanical – dependent systems was crucial in the development of fully electronic television. In early television era televisions were made to be sold from in the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia. The first person who demonstrated a working television was a famous Scottish engineer John Baird. John Baird, the son of a clergyman, was known for being of poor health for most of his life, but he nonetheless showed early signs of ingenuity. When he was twelve years old, he and some friends built a private telephone system which connected his bedroom to those of his friends across the street. The system worked well, but it had to be closed as one night a storm pulled down the wires that were stretched across by the boys and a man was hurt by the falling wires. Baird had always been interested in science. He studied at Glasgow University, but the tuition was interrupted by the outbreak of World War One. When the war ended he set himself up in business, but his real dream was creating the television – a dream of many scientist for decades. By 1924 he managed to transmit a flickering image of a Maltese cross across a few feet. On October 2, 1925, Baird transmitted a picture of a human face – the face of a fifteen year old boy. He also gave the first demonstration of both colour and stereoscopic television. In September 1929, the BBC started experimental transmission with Baird’s equipment. In the 30s his mechanical system was rapidly becoming obsolete as innovative electronic devises came into existence. When BBC committee of inquiry launched in 1935 a side by side trial between the existing television systems, American’s all-electronic system devised by Marconi was found to be the best. The Baird’s system was not chosen, and two years later the Baird’s system was dropped out the use. The history of television is remarkable, and it is tightly connected with the history of human civilization. All these precious ideas and things are used by people in their everyday life; they are carefully kept in scientific museums such as the National media Museum in England or the Early Television Museum and the Museum of broadcast Communication in the USA. The mission of such museums is to collect, preserve and present technological content of human civilisation as well is to inform, entertain, and educate people. There is no doubt that television made our lives richer, more informative and colourful. Somehow it made people of the world closer to each other. The society is aware of television and radio as having cultural, creative, and social significance. Both television and radio create communication platforms for common people, media-interested public and the professional community. But there is some anxiety in the society about such topic as violence, tabloid television and the quiz show scandals. The development of technologies moves on: we witness the emergence of such broadcasting technologies as the internet, mobile video and podcasting.

Friday, September 20, 2019

A Study On Australian Globalization Economics Essay

A Study On Australian Globalization Economics Essay The effects of Globalization are manifold, affecting various aspects of the world economy to bring about overall financial betterment. The impact of Globalization exerts intense influence on the financial condition as well as the industrial sector of a particular nation. Globalization creates markets based on industrial productions across the world. This in turn, widens the access to a diverse variety of foreign commodities for consumption of the customers, owing to the marketing strategies undertaken by different corporations. Economywatch.com states that In the world economic arena, Globalization facilitates the formation of a common worldwide market, on the basis of the liberal exchange of both cash and kinds. Globalisation has largely benefited the Australian economy. As Australia has an abundance of natural resources that our whole population cannot use, the extra surplus is sold to other countries that have a demand for the resources, giving us a world market of over 6.5 billion people. Skwirk.com states that Australia As a country with a stable government and substantial revenue, globalisation, in many ways, has been positive. Australia has not fallen into the cycle of debt that many developing nations have suffered, nor have we been adversely affected by bad investments. Australias strong economy has therefore been strengthened during the globalization time. An international trade theory can be seen as a measure to address problems in a country which has high unemployment, inflation or a weak macro economy. One international trade theory is known as mercantilism, and this theory suggests that a government can improve its economic well-being for the country by increasing exports and reducing imports. Two of the other main trade theories are known as absolute advantage and comparative advantage. If a country has an absolute advantage over its trading partners, it is able to produce more of a good or service with the same amount of resources or the same amount of a good or service with fewer resources, whereas a country that has a comparative advantage in the production of a good or service, produces it at a lower opportunity cost than its trading partners. According to Ahsan Kaleem, The theory of comparative costs argues that it is better for a country that is inefficient at producing a good or service to specialise in the production of th at good it is least inefficient at, compared with producing other goods. Another important trade theory known as the factor endowment theory, strongly supplements the theory of comparative advantage by bringing consideration to the endowment and cost of factors of production. The theory states that countries with a big labour force will focus on labour intensive goods, and countries with more capital will focus on producing goods that are capital intensive. Economywatch.com states that The benefits of international trade have been the major drivers of growth for the last half of the 20th century and nations with strong international trade have become prosperous and have the power to control the world economy. There are a few more important benefits of international trade, one of which is the fact that it enhances the domestic competitiveness and takes advantage of international trade technology. An increase in sales and profit can be made through international trade and an extend sales potential of the existing products is created. In an international trade market, the ability to maintain cost competitiveness in a domestic market is achievable and the potential to expand a business is enhanced. There is a reduce in dependence on existing markets within the global trade scene and a stabilisation of seasonal market fluctuations can also be achieved. A government may choose to intervene in international trade largely based on the fact of wanting to change the allocation of resources and achieve what they perceive to be an improvement in economic and social welfare. Geoff Riley states that all governments of every political persuasion intervene in the economy to influence the allocation of scarce resources among competing users. The main reasons for policy intervention are to correct for market failure, to achieve a more equitable distribution of income and wealth and to improve the performance of the economy. There are many ways in which intervention can take place; these include government legislation and regulation, the direct state provision of goods and services, the fiscal policy intervention and an intervention designed to close the information gap. Regulation can be used to introduce fresh competition into a market whereas the state funding can be used to provide goods and services and public goods directly to the population. The fiscal policy can be used to alter the level of demand for different products and also the pattern of demand within the economy. Market failure often results from consumers suffering from a lack of information about the costs and benefits of the products available in the market. Through government action, and increase in information to help consumers and producers value the true cost and benefit of a good or service can be found. The global trade system can have a variety of different implications if it is not conducted in the correct manner. International trade may discourage the growth of domestic industries and excessive exports may cause quick depletion of natural resources of a country. Global trade may create economic dependence which may threaten political independence and in the case of intense competition, exports may lead to rivalry among nations. Also, Soumya Singh believes that too much dependence on imports may undermine the economy of a country and developed countries may economically exploit the underdeveloped countries that are dependent on international trade for their economic development. The globalisation of markets and the development of the global economy have had a definite impact on both the international and Australian economies. There are many benefits to be gained through international trade; however, if it is not conducted in the correct manner, there could also be many implications. Through the various trade theories and government intervention, the most effective way for each country to be involved within the international trade market can be utilised, and as a result, can boost the global economy and support the idea of globalisation. Sources: Kaleem, A, 2005, International Trade Theories [online]. Available from: http://bizeco.blogspot.com.au/2005/06/international-trade-theories.html [September 2012] Economywatch.com, 2010, Benefits of International Trade [online]. Available from: http://www.economywatch.com/international-trade/benefit.html [September 2012] Economywatch.com, 2010, Effects of Globalization [online]. Available from: http://www.economywatch.com/economics-theory/globalization/effects.html [September 2012] Riley, G, 2006, Government Intervention in the Market [online]. Available from: http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/as-marketfailure-government-intervention-2.html [September 2012] Singh, S, 2012, What are the Disadvantages of Foreign Trade? [online]. Available from: http://www.preservearticles.com/2012022923900/what-are-the-disadvantages-of-foreign-trade.html [September 2012] skwirk.com, 2012, Globalisation in Australia [online]. Available from: http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-57_u-507_t-1374_c-5292/globalisation-in-australia/qld/sose-geography/the-global-citizen-ecology-and-economy/globalisation [September 2012]

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Norbert Rillieux :: essays research papers

Norbert Rillieux Norbert Rillieux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 17, 1806. His mother, Constance Vivant was a freed slave from New Orleans, and his father, Vincent Rillieux, was a inventor and engineer. Vincent invented the steam-operated cotton baling press. Norbert's academic talents were seen at an early age by his father, and was sent to Paris to be educated. At the age of twenty-four, Norbert Rillieux was a teacher of applied mechanics at a school in Paris. In 1830, he put out a series of papers about steam economy and steam engine work, a prelude to his invention involving steam. In fact, it was during the time that he was writing these papers, most likely, that he created his theory about multiple effect evaporation. Between 1884 and 1854, he created the Rillieux apparatus, a revolutionary invention. In 1864, he patented his first model, and advanced the system for eight more years, and received more patents. It took him ten years to create the final model because he was black, and there were prejudices he had to deal with in addition to his invention. Norbert Rillieux invented the triple effect vacuum evaporator. The "triple effect" is for the multiple things that the system does all at the same time. The "vacuum" is for the vacuum of air that is used in the system, and the "evaporator" is for the sugarcane liquid syrup that is heated and evaporated into regular sugar. The actual system is somewhat complicated, so please see the picture that is provided. As I have stated, the purpose of the triple effect vacuum evaporator is to evaporate the liquid out of sugarcane syrup, the natural form of regular sugar, leaving the sugar crystals we can use. The way that the evaporator works is like this: Water is heated in the first container (1) which produces steam. The steam carries heat, called latent heat. A pump on the wall of the first container (1) pumps the steam into the second container (2). The steam from the first container (1) heats the syrup and boils it, creating sugar crystals, in the second container (2), using up the latent heat in the steam from the first container (1). The evaporating syrup creates it's own steam, with latent heat as well. A pump on the opposite wall of the second container, (2), pumps the latent heat in the steam into the third container (3).

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

My Best Friend Died Essay -- Friendship Essay Personal Narrative

My Best Friend Died Dr. Munter's comments: The purpose of this assignment was to relate an event that changed the direction of your life. Not only does this student successfully accomplish this task, he does it with a certain amount of understatement. The instruction â€Å"to show, not tell† is beautifully and subtly completed. There is also a nice balance of long and short sentences, unusual similes, and the sense that the author allows the reader to view this event through the eyes of an eight-year-old. Overall, the writing is clean, simple in technique, yet powerful in its message. I remember the van. It was the gray of dry clay, and it had maroon stripes on the sides that were the same color as maple leaves during the fall, but it was winter now. It was my mom's van, and I was riding in the back seat. I was eight years old, and she had pulled over on the side of the road because she had â€Å"some sad news† to tell me. My legs didn’t touch the ground. They just dangled with my sorrels about to fall off. I was all bundled up in the puffy winter clothes that mothers dress their chi...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Does your environment shape you? Essay

Does your environment shape your personality and the way you act? I completely agree with the fact that, one’s environment is the main factor of shaping one’s personality. I find that many teenagers including myself are very easily influenced by what they see and hear. For example, some teenagers are different and are more interested in the material they read on the Internet and the newspaper. Television adds for make up or clothes can easily attract our attention. Although many of us teenagers live up to a standard so they can fit into a crowd at school. The newspaper articles and stories we read and hear about can grab our attention very easily. Big titles on articles catch our attention. We don’t try to look at them we just see them. An interesting title for an interesting article about your favorite music group or an even that you attended steals your attention and just be reading the first few lines makes you want to keep on reading and reading. When I flip open the newspaper section, I immediately turn to the entertainment section knowing that there must be an article of amusement that will give me something to think and talk about. Same with the stories that we hear from friends. Gossip. You hear a bit of a story being told to another and you immediately jump in asking the questions â€Å"who? What?† These types of things get our attention and just the way we hear about it changes our thoughts and feelings. What good is a section of a story when you must know the whole thing to spread on the story? Hearing two different stories makes you change your mind back and forth until you are too confused to care or another hot new story arrives to the ears of a fellow friend who will pass it down to you. Even the television affects they way we think about events in life. I know that for a fact because I remember when I had never even heard of the small city of Walkerton, Ontario until the story came on the news. I never really gave a damn about Walkerton before, why should I now? Just because it’s a story to talk about! The interviews they broadcast on television and the facts given to you keep on getting you more and more interested until it becomes a common subject to talk about. T.V. adds are the exact same. The colors and the music provided in the background attract our attention very easily. We’re interested to see what’s hot and what’s not. Since everything  in the media involves sex to attract our attention, a lot of us are very easily. I remember watching my favorite show (The Simpsons) when the commercial came on. A gorgeous young lady planting seeds that tears off the lab coat revealing her bikini suit. Next thing I see, a built, muscular man grows from the ground from the seeds planted. And in the end, what was the commercial trying to sell you? A pair of jeans. Just a fashion statement. The commercials make you want to have that exact same product.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Great Gatsby Color Symbolism

During the 1920’s, many people would disguise themselves through the identities of someone else. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main characters can be seen â€Å"hiding† behind the symbolism of different colors. Color affects the mood, emphasizes the importance of events in a novel, and can also interact with the personalities of the characters. The concept of color symbolism is prominent in the novel. White, yellow, blue, green, and even the color black affect the atmosphere of scenes through association with a specific mood, and also through the actions of the characters. The color white is associated with purity and innocence. Gatsby and Nick, the main male characters in the story, can be affiliated with this color, but it mostly symbolizes Daisy and Jordan, the main female characters in the story. The characters can be seen using â€Å"white† as a way to make themselves look better. The color is first correlated with Daisy and Jordan when Nick is on a tour of Tom’s house, who is Daisy’s husband, and he sees two women who are â€Å"both in white† (Fitzgerald 8). This is significant because this is the first time that Daisy and Jordan are mentioned, and it portrays them innocently. Another instance where the representation of Daisy and Jordan together is mentioned is when Nick decides to drive to East Egg, New York for lunch at Tom’s house. When he arrives at the house, they are â€Å"laying upon an enormous couch, like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses† (Fitzgerald 115). Even though at this point in the story, you can clearly see the corrupt lifestyles that Daisy and Jordan live, they are still trying to depict themselves righteously. When we start to examine Daisy closer, we realize that she is always connected to white. When Daisy and Gatsby are together, and Daisy decides to kiss Gatsby, it is described as â€Å"Daisy’s white face came up to his own† (Fitzgerald 118). When Daisy kisses Gatsby, it is pictured as being a pure act, but really, she has just cheated on Nick. Once again, this shows Daisy â€Å"hiding† behind white. When we look back to when Daisy was younger, we still see her linked together with the symbolism of white. The main idea of childhood represents innocence, and because the color white is associated with innocence, white is once again a representation of innocence. This makes it seem that Daisy was innocent when she was younger. An instance where this is shown is when Gatsby is describing to Nick the first time he met Daisy. Gatsby stated that â€Å"†¦She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster† (Fitzgerald 74). What Gatsby stated here was important. It made Daisy out to be this perfect girl with the perfect image. That is one of the reasons Gatsby tried so hard to get her back. Another time when Daisy’s â€Å"childhood† is stated, is when Jordan talks about Daisy and herself years before. She said â€Å"When I came opposite her house that morning, her white roadster was beside the curb† (Fitzgerald 74). The significance of this is once again it shows Daisy trying to put forward this image of â€Å"purity†. Like I said before, not only is Daisy related to white, but Jordan is too. The difference is that Jordan uses white more often to cover up her true self. It is explained that â€Å"Jordan’s fingers, powdered white over their tan† (Fitzgerald 121). Throughout the novel, Jordan is seen by many as a liar, and not trustworthy. When her fingers are powdered white, it is almost as if she is trying to cover up her true self, and pretend that she is pristine. This is also proved true when Daisy’s daughter says â€Å"Aunt Jordan’s got a white dress to† (Fitzgerald 117). This shows how Jordan wants to make herself look better in the eyes of others. Not only do the female characters represent white, but the two main male characters, Gatsby and Nick, are also compared to white. After five years, Gatsby finally gets to see his love Daisy again. When he meets her for the first time, he wore a white suit â€Å"†¦ and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, and gold colored tie† (Fitzgerald 90-91). He wore this to show that he was good, pure, and honest in an attempt to appease Daisy. When Gatsby was stopped by the police for speeding, he got out of it by â€Å"taking a white card from his wallet, and waving it before the man’s eyes† (Fitzgerald 68). This here shows how innocent Gatsby can be, just by using something white. When we turn our focus to Nick, we see that he believes that he himself in the most honest person he knows, and how he is usually dressed in white to symbolize his innocence. An important event in the novel is when Nick goes to Gatsby’s party for the first time, â€Å"Dressed up in white flannels, I went over to his lawn a little after seven† (Fitzgerald 47). Nick dressing in white symbolizes how he is immaculate, unlike the others at the party who could be labeled as corrupt. â€Å"White traditionally symbolizes purity, and there is no doubt that Fitzgerald wants to underscore the ironic disparity between the purity of the characters, and their actual corruption† (Schneider 146). The color yellow can be connected with the symbolism of greed, desire for wealth, and â€Å"old money†. Corruption is also distinctly represented by yellow, but death is also a key to yellows dark symbolism. The color yellow can be seen around a tragic death. The first time this is seen is when Myrtle is killed. She is the mistress of Tom, and is also married to a man named George Wilson. Myrtle was killed by Gatsby’s yellow Rolls Royce, in front of her yellow brick house, and under the yellow spectacled eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. The â€Å"spectacles† are an advertisement on a billboard that oversee the valley of ashes (a poor part of town). These eyes see everything, and can be referred to as â€Å"god†. The yellow color of Gatsby’s car led to his death. If the color of his car was black like most of the other cars that time, then he wouldn’t have been killed. Gatsby is also seen walking through yellow trees just before he was murdered, â€Å"†¦ but he shook his head and in a moment disappeared among the yellow trees† (Fitzgerald 161). Daisy also can be related to yellow. Like her name suggests, Daisy is a flower with white pedals and a yellow center. It shows that Daisy is pure, like the pedals, but is rotten on the inside, like the yellow of the flower. This is proven true because she ends up being the one who killed Myrtle, even though she looks so innocent on the outside. Daisy is also referred to as the â€Å"golden girl† (gold can be associated with the color yellow), â€Å"high in a white palace, the kings daughter, the golden girl† (Fitzgerald 120). Gatsby realizes here, that her voice, her main feature, is â€Å"full of money. † Yellow is not just the color of money, but also of destruction. Of course since Daisy can be expressed by yellow, it’s not a surprise that Jordan can be too. You can see Jordan’s â€Å"yellow side† through her autumn leaf yellow hair. She can also be compared with the color gold, â€Å"With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine† (Fitzgerald 49) and â€Å"I put my arm around Jordan’s golden shoulder† (Fitzgerald 86). This shows how Jordan is pretty much all golden, which can be related to corruption. She is a â€Å"Chronic liar who even cheated to win a golf tournament† (Bradstreet 2). Corruption is basically what Jordan stands for, considering all of the lying and cheating she constantly she does. Gatsby can also be symbolized by yellow because he is a character who desires wealth, and because he is also surrounded by corruption. The first time he meets Daisy after five years, he decides to wear a gold necktie, â€Å"†¦ and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, and a gold colored tie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 90-91). The gold tie symbolizes the corruption that Daisy and he stand for, and foreshadows further problems to come, such as when Daisy kills Myrtle. The color yellow also appears in Gatsby’s parties. It is presented to describe the wealth of the party. â€Å"†¦ Two girls in twin yellow dresses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 48). This shows the inhabitants of West Egg and the wealth people who attend the parties. In the parties, it can be seen that people are showing their true side. Since yellow is the color of corruption, it can be related to George Wilson for what he did, and for what happens to him. To start off with, his house is made of yellow bricks. Actually, it’s the only place referred to as yellow. â€Å"The only building in sight was a small block of yellow brick† (Fitzgerald 30). The house contains Myrtle and George. Myrtle was killed outside her yellow house. George eventually decided to kill Gatsby based on the information given to him inside the house. This house is somewhat of a â€Å"corrupt† house. George shows his depravity when he tells his friend that god sees everything, relating to the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. â€Å"God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God! † (Fitzgerald 166). As stated before, George Wilson sees the billboard as some sort of â€Å"god†. Eckleburg is wearing yellow glasses, which represent the corruption of his godliness, and in turn, represents the corruption of everything he sees. The people who live in the yellow house are corrupted and immoral. The billboard can be related to Wilson’s home, as he views it as god. The color yellow does not only represent wealth, but more importantly, it also stands for corruption. The color blue personifies a false appearance, and it also represents and â€Å"dream† that can be connected to Gatsby. Blue is used when Gatsby’s gardens are described. This is where people can come and go to the parties as they please. His â€Å"blue† gardens are like a fantasy land. â€Å"In his blue gardens man and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars† (Fitzgerald 45). Blue represents Gatsby’s dream, which he thinks is reality. â€Å"He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it† (Fitzgerald 188). Another representation of a dream in when Dan Cody, who use to be Gatsby’s best friend, buys Gatsby a blue coat. He begins to become more prosperous and wealthy. Maybe it was in his dream that his success was caused by that coat, but in reality it was just a coincidence. The color blue is also said to personify false appearances. This is true for George because he has blue eyes. This is significant because he believes that his wife is faithful, and doesn’t see through the falseness she puts out. The eyes of Eckleburg are also blue, which represent his false appearance as god. Blue is the color of being depressed, moody, or unhappy. It also represents Gatsby’s illusions, his deeply romantic dreams of unreality. The color green represents a new beginning for Gatsby. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is the representation of the American dream, the will to succeed in life. The green light also illustrates hope. Gatsby was trying to restore his old relationship with Daisy. He failed to realize it was impossible because he was â€Å"blinded† by the hope generated by the green light. â€Å"†¦ He stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, as far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling involuntarily. I glanced seaward- and distinguishing nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been from the end of a dock†. (Fitzgerald 27-28). In reality, it seems like Gatsby is looking forward to getting â€Å"The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock- that symbol of the future† (Schneider 145). In a way, if Gatsby would obtain the light, then Daisy would be included in the process. The color gray is another was to show dullness or a loss of hope, lack of happiness, and even lack of life. Jordan can be represented here because of her gray eyes. â€Å"Her gray, sun strained eyes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fitzgerald 65). They show lack of love and a general boredom in life because she is surrounded by everything she wants. She has no dreams or plans for the future. The color grey is also brought up the first time Gatsby and Nick meet, when they make a reference to the war. â€Å"We talked for a moment about some wet, grey little villages in France. † (Fitzgerald 53). The villages mentioned here are portrayed as sad due to the face they went through a war. The color of grey can also convey a lack of spirit. In the valley of ashes there are, â€Å"Grey cars, grey ashes, and the grey land. † (Fitzgerald 27). It is also stated that â€Å"the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it. † (Schneider 145). This is the area where men worked tirelessly in the ashes. People saw this as dirty and low life. The color grey can really be related to the other colors mentioned. When looked at closely, all of the colors have a â€Å"dark† side to them. Color adds to the emotion of situations. As seen in the novel, color is a way to correlate events that have a common meaning. Even though color symbolism is not very noticeable, it can tell you a great deal about the story. The Great Gatsby contains three primary colors- white, yellow, and green. The colors are powerfully exercised to represent aspects of personality and life. Symbolized by white is the innocence of the characters, which mask their corruption. The corruption is illustrated by the color yellow. Yet, through all of the deception and madness, the color green still shines brightly. It is signifying hope in the harsh world of The Great Gatsby.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Dematerializtion of Architecture

The history of discourses has been developed for centuries, and architecture have entered a phase of re-evaluation. Because of the prevalent technology and media of creation in the virtual world, contemporary architecture is dematerialized to be images and abstract ideas. The definition of architecture has become even more subjective, obscure, ambiguous and limited. We took advantages from photography and the technology of visualization.But the excessive trust on the visual sensation has somehow blinded our eyes and becomes he obstacle for understanding space and architecture. Photographers and designers selectively frame an object to depict a most exaggerated angle or to capture a most exciting moment. Audiences lost their autonomy in discovering the truth, because there is no other materials available except the illusions. The resulted biased understanding to architecture contradicts to Juhani Pallasmaa's theory. He reaffirmed Merleau-Pontys philosophy, the human body is the centre of experiential world, in his book: The Eyes of The Skin.He argues that multi-sensory experience allows the human body perceiving the qualities of space, matter and scale in a more profound manner. However, the multi-sensory experience does not apply to those intangible architecture. The obsession of rendering has enervated the importance of materiality. Materiality means mapping or tiling texture' over the flat surface in the simulation program, disregarding physical properties, thickness, stiffness, elasticity, and density, of each specific material. We recklessly over simplify materiality.In renderings, stainless steel eans highly reflective and shiny; wood means brown and static; brick means pixelated facade. Material has been degraded to be a piece of veneer or wallpaper, fragile and dispensable. This encourages substituting one material with another material. It is not rare to use hollow metal with shiny coating to imitate stainless steel in the construction practice. The ide ntity of material is fading away. Last but not least, the inflation of the project scale has disrupted the relationship between an individual and the built habitat.The immense scale of the new evelopments confuse us because everything is out of human proportion. Windows grow too big to become curtain wall. Doors are automatized, because they are too heavy to open. Towers are too high that takes hours to walk up. We cannot use the traditional quantitative mechanism to interpret matters. We could Just live within a building and hardly get to see the whole picture of it. The tangible structure is dissolved to be purely impression. Here we go back to photography in seeking a solid answer to the understanding of contemporary architecture.

Guide Question Dragon Soup Essay

For Case (A) 1. Using Excel sheet provided, and the recommended consequential disclosures as a basis for your analysis, what recommendations would you give Phillips on each of the items listed below? In each case, justify your recommendations and estimate how much the decision will change the true value of the company and its value in the eyes of an investor in a private company. a. The lease or buy decision, including whether to structure an operating lease. b. The regular price of the soup, whether or not to run an end-of year promotion or target end-of-year inventory level. c. Whether or not to ask Dunwood to guarantee accounts receivable. d. Whether or not to reduce the end-of-year provision for bad debts due to recent strong collection experience. e. Whether or not to sell different investments and, if the recommendation is not to sell the mortgage-backed securities, how to value them on the end-of-year balance sheet assuming market conditions do not change. Given your recommendations, how m uch do you think a potential buyer will offer based upon a valuation earnings multiple of ten times sustainable earnings, plus the value of cash and marketable investments on the balance sheet? 2. In the case, Phillips questioned how far he should push the envelope. Why should he be concerned if all the actions you recommend are legal? Do you think the associated disclosures satisfy the SEC requirement that a company provides a narrative explanation of its financial statements that enables investors to see the company through the eyes of the management? For Case (B) As stated in the case, Kerr had given the task of valuing Dragon’s equity for possible acquisition, assuming a valuation of ten times sustainable earnings, plus the value of cash and marketable investments on the balance sheet. He understood that most companies preparing for the sale would â€Å"window dress† their financial statements. However, he had no reason to believe Dunwoody  and Phillips would do anything deliberately dishonest. In any event, it was Kerr’s job to try to unwind any such behavior to establish Dragon’s true value. 3. Using the Excel spreadsheet provided and the footnote disclosures it contains as a basis for your analysis, estimate the true value of the company in the eyes of an investor in a private company. 4. Assuming Phillips had prepared the forecasts for you, would you want him to join your team? Please justify your decision. Assuming you want to hire him, would you offer a similar payment structure to the â€Å"Tomato Farm† deal? Please describe how you think such a transaction should be treated in accounting terms. 5. The footnote disclosures in Excel spreadsheet are designed to generally satisfy the SEC requirements to provide a narrative explanation of a company’s financial statements, which enables investors to see company the through the eyes of management. What additional information would you like to see in the so-called â€Å"standard† disclosures? As part of your submission, please provide an Excel spreadsheet that justifies your answers. To the extent that you change any assumptions from those contained in the Excel spreadsheet provided to your group, please provide a detailed explanation of the reasons for these changes and details of the magnitude of their impact on the valuation you propose. If your valuation includes information and/or calculations that cannot easily be incorporated into the spreadsheet provided, please provide additional explanations with your submission MW PETROLEUM (A) JETBLUE AIRWAYS IPO VALUATION KOHLER (A) CONSOLIDATED RAIL For Case (A) For Case (B)

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Happy moment in my life Essay

Social networks are becoming increasingly important in higher education as the format of course delivery changes to include hybrid and online models, and as the social network offers students a way to stay in touch, creating face-to-face like conversations and other interactions away from the physical classroom. From this perspective, social networks are particularly important for adult learners who often have complex, busy schedules that may not enable them to participate in face-to-face events at their institutions of choice, or may prohibit them from participating during â€Å"regular† classroom hours. Online social media participation can happen anytime, anywhere, and fills the need of adult or distance (or both) students to feel connected to their classmates, their instructors, and their institutions. My experience teaching both face-to-face and online courses with and without the use of social networks has shown me how valuable they can be to overall student engagement. In both cases, before turning to using a social network (in my case, Yammer) as a web course space, I tried using other formats for student engagement such as blogs, wikis, and forums. I found that the â€Å"chatty† nature of social networks made a big difference in the kind of student participation I saw and the length, depth, and consistency of student-to-student and group-to-group (many-to-many) interactions that occurred in my courses. Read more: Essay About  Happiest Moments in Life Social networks most closely resemble what happens in face-to-face discussions, and therefore resulted in the students feeling more committed, engaged, and known to each other and the course, as well as (potentially) to the institution. Other factors contributing to the increased engagement with the use of social networks are: (1) The low learning curve: Most people are familiar with Facebook, and can therefore easily adopt any similar social network without feeling burdened by having to learn anything new; (2) Familiar faces: The use of a photograph alongside the students and professors or administrators postings goes a long way to heighten a sense of familiarity. Often I found students knew each other and me from the social network so well that when we finally met in person, it felt very familiar; (

Friday, September 13, 2019

Discuss, in detail, the connection of power to political science Essay

Discuss, in detail, the connection of power to political science - Essay Example For instance, a leader over a small number of people is named a master, the director of a home; over a quite greater number, a king or a statesman, as there is the presence of a variance amid a boundless household and a minor nation. Aristotle states that it is not right for a government to have variance in politics and power. In power and politics, there exists six types of constitutions they are divided into here are unjust and three that are just. A constitution can be defined as just in cases where is has advantages to the each and every citizen, on the other hand, a constitution can be referred to as unjust in cases whereby it is of help to the individuals in power only. When leadership is via a single person, this is a monarchy constitution, the ruler has to be good and incases of a bad leader it is referred to as tyranny. In cases where minor elite is the ruler, this constitution is referred to aristocracy when the rulers are respectable and an oligarchy if the rulers are wicked and corrupt. In situation of a government whereby the masses rule, the constitution is termed as a polity if the leadership is good and a democracy if the leadership is bad. Aristotle recognizes that providing full dominion to either the leading body or the regulations might create room for misuses of power and advocates th at a polity is most likely least vulnerable to corruption, particularly in situations where by the laws are assumed higher power than the leading body. He suggests a norm of distributive justice, stating that advantages ought to be discussed upon diverse citizens in a different way, depending on the involvement they make to the happiness of the public. Platos Republic focuses on a modest question â€Å"is it always better to be just than unjust?† Plato defines justice as a virtue of a nation that would aid outline justice as a feature of typical

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Compare Dante's Hell to Muslim's Hell and Heaven Essay

Compare Dante's Hell to Muslim's Hell and Heaven - Essay Example He categorized various sins in according to their degrees of seriousness and produced the image of hell in parts which have an authority to punish the sins of a particular degree.1 According to Dante, there are nine circles that constitute the hell and are located within the earth. The religion of Islam has also got a very vivid image of hell which is explained in great detail in its literature i.e. Quran and Hadith. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is believed to have visited the hell himself when he went on Miraj" (Quran 17:1). Muslims belief in hell is quite different from Dantes hell in many ways. These differences are discussed in the coming paragraphs. The first difference between the two hells is of location. Dantes hell is believed to be within the earth, preferably underground. Muslims hell, on the other hand, is not located within the earth. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) travelled at more than the speed of light upwards in the sky. That gives us an idea how far the hell is from the earth. He travelled seven skies and it is not possible for normal human beings to go beyond the boundary of even the first sky while they are alive. Second really important difference is of the constituents of the two hells. Dantes inferno consists of nine circles namely Limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud, treachery. Muslim hell is a one gargantuan place which is larger than the planet earth. Another distinction between the two concepts is that in Dante’s inferno, people who prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are not found in hell but they labor for their freedom from their sins. Islam teaches that this world is a place of doing good deeds and refrain from sins. Forgiveness is granted in abundance by Allah. Even a person who has committed hundred murders can be forgiven in his life at once if he asks for Allah’s forgiveness from the deepest pit of his heart and does not repeat his sins. The first

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Music Culture - The Four Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music Culture - The Four Components - Essay Example The second component of the music culture includes the activities which employ music. Today music is used in almost all the spheres of human activity, and music itself has become a separate activity practiced both by amateurs and by professionals. It is also remarkable that music itself has become a very lucrative business, and it is not normal that sometimes its quality may suffer so that more income could be gained from its mass production. Filmmaking is the first activity mentioned when the music-employing activities are in question. In this sphere of activity, music is one of the key components of the proper product making, as it often conveys such emotions and information which is impossible to be transferred otherwise. Music is also employed by ritual events. This means that such events from one’s life as marriage, child’s birth, college entering etc. are in most cases accompanied by music, and its kind and mood depends on the nature of the event, that is, if the event is positive and gives happiness, then the music is also major and pompous, and, on the contrary, negative events imply involvement of sad music. This means that music has relation to the norms of the society. It helps people honor their colleagues or relatives and mourn the loss of someone or something very dear, that is, expressing one’s feelings and emotions, maintenance of interpersonal communication.RepertoireThe next, the third, component of the music culture is the music repertoire.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concepts - Essay Example According to Office of Government Commerce (2002), Collaboration is the process of sharing tacit knowledge among members in a group they work together in order to accomplish stated goals and objectives (p.95). Collaboration follows strong desire of achieving a particular set of goals. Involving the relevant stakeholders in business and receiving their interests, accepting opinions and running business considering all of their interests have been considered to be the basic activity in the successful organizational culture. Time Warner Company is a good example for collaboration that helped them work across the boundaries. David Straus (2002) finds this concept as fundamental in the success of his business experience. According to him, the power of collaboration comes from inclusion, not exclusion. His experiences of facilitating collaboration taught him the fundamental principle as involving the relevant stakeholders (p. 39). Shared Mindset represents the extent to which employees within an organization have a common focus or agenda. Shared Mindset helps employees to have commitment to how to work together to achieve goals and employer to set an agenda and to ensure that it translates to employee behavior (RS Schuler, 2007, p. 132). Shared Mindset is a broad concept in the way that mindset needs to be shared both inside and outside the organization. It can be applied in both micro and macro levels. According to David Ulrich (1997), a fully shared mindset occurs when employees inside and customers or suppliers outside the organization embrace similar automatic thought about the process and structure of the organization (p. 171). Shared mindset leads to increased business performance because employees are focused. Shared Mindset concept In order to apply shared mindset effectively, managers need to focus on informational and behavioral patterns. Harley Davidson is an illuminating example for

Monday, September 9, 2019

Artist research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Artist - Research Paper Example Laurie Ann’s immigration to Spain could be considered as one of the most highlighted chapter in her life. Her views to natural things became uniquely appealing. For example, she had found the beauty of the decayed walls of the demolished building in Spain (Blogspot, 2010). With this, she imitated the styles of the â€Å"imprinted† walls, and she started to collect the relics, and the remains of the demolished site to create a new genre of art through â€Å"urban decay† painting. One of her paintings related to this style is the â€Å"Return Home† (see Figure 1) piece created in the year 2009. The painting has dominant colors of white, light brown, black lines and gray zigzag lines, which could make someone feel an ancient wind in an old-fashioned house. Moreover, the longhand letters in the house walls represent a mysterious love that one starves to evoke and feel. In the long run, Laurie created her three other main paintings: â€Å"The High Tower† (2009), â€Å"The Castle† (2009), and â€Å"the Patina† (2010). The figure 2 painting shows an ordinary house drawn on a wall. There is an opened door in the right side of the painting which creates a three-dimensional illusion of being inside a room. In addition, the house on the left side of the painting has a triangle rooftop and a long rectangular body with stairway connected to a church found in the upper-right corner. There is a black shadow heart above the rooftop of the church that may represent the bitter feeling of an angry child who is outside the church. The child could have wanted to play, to pray and explore the world without many restrictions. In the Figure 3 shown above, â€Å"The Castle† (2009) painting represents a picture of an abandoned building with a horizontal space and an opened window in the right side. One can dance in the boundless wind of the horizontal space, and to imagine the house like a kingdom of his own. One can step-up freely in the two stairs of the building without

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Meaningful use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meaningful use - Essay Example Meaningful use refers to the application of certified EHR technology in attaining specific healthcare objectives. Meaningful use is centered along the roles of healthcares professions and hospitals with respect to the adoption and implementation of EHR technology in their respective practice (CDC, 2013). This claim can be justified by the guidelines of the EHR incentive program, which requires medical professionals and hospitals to demonstrate that their chosen certified EHR has met specific health outcomes priorities. The concept of meaningful use is based on a number of vital health outcome priorities which include but not limited to improved population and public health; enhanced privacy and security of patient medical information; superior quality, efficiency, safety and minimized health disparities; enhanced care coordination; and increased engagement of patients and their families in the care (â€Å"Policymaking, Regulation†, 2012). This means that eligible medical profe ssions and hospitals must ensure that their certified EHR meets the above results before they get CMS inventive payment. The healthcare outcomes will be used as the criteria for establishing effective use of the deployed health IT tools by healthcare providers. According to the CMS incentive program eligible medical professionals, hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) will receive up to $44,000 over 5 years and up to $63,750 over 6 years through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive program respectively (CDC, 2013). It is noteworthy that CMS inventive program is voluntary, but negative consequences especially financial ones have been put in place for medical providers who fail to join the program by 2015. The concept of Meaningful Use was first introduced during the Obama administration though enactment and final signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 into law (Flanders, 2010). The ARRA through a number of measures particularly the "Health In formation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act" has witnessed improved national healthcare IT infrastructure. The HITECH proposed the concept of meaningful use of the EHR through the country’s healthcare delivery system as a vital national goals and it remains to be the critical focus for legislative, financial and ethical concern for hospitals and professional in the healthcare sector (â€Å"Policymaking, Regulation†, 2012). The initiative for automating medical records is facilitated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) in conjunction with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) after the current administration realized that IT infrastructure is impetus for addressing longstanding healthcare challenges which range from escalating healthcare costs, low quality and safety, as well as high wastage (CDC, 2013). Meaningful Use has been divided into phases in order to encourage gradual widespread EHR adoption and implemen tation universally besides relieving excessive burden on medical care providers. The first phase which covers 2011 involves aspects of data capture and sharing; the second face, which involves advanced clinical processes elements covers up to 2013 while the final phase involves

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Crown sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Crown sports - Essay Example The Company has nearly 50,000 club members with 22 mid sized health and fitness clubs across England on a whole all over U.K . The crown company is well known for their health services like gymnasiums, swimming pools and their environment areas crown sports plc was formed with the merging of the golf club holdings a famous golf course operating company in U.K with assets of eight golf courses at the time of acquisition. The other strategic business entities include sports based publishing, horse racing and sporting information, land and property investment. The main strategic business unit is the health clubs, as the company has much presence in the health club market. Crown has diversified in various business entities as the company performance registered a considerable growth in the initial phase of the new millennium. The crown sports company has a large number of members around the U.K. to enhance the customer experience they have entered into a new market avenue by exploiting th e market share of the local players who already existed in that region. In the golf industry, according to the then the MARTIN KNIGHT the Deputy Chairman of Crown Sports PLC growth potential for crown sports very good because there are a large number of courses that are not fulfilling their potential. The deputy backed the management skills, operational skills and understanding of the company fulfill customer requirements and propel will give the ability to acquire courses and manage them better.Resources and capabilities As we say services, it is performances and is frequently produced by humans and no two services will be precisely alike. The employees delivering the service frequently are the service in the customer's eyes, and people may differ in their performance from day to day or even hour to hour. The consumer is a part of the production process so the delivery system must go to the market or the customer must come to the delivery system. The concept of bringing customer to the product started working well as it has registered profits in 1999 and 2000. Analysts predicted there is huge potential for Crown to drive revenues by selling products to its members. The company superiors planned to expand the business to other sports related entities as a dynamic expansion strategy. It was revealed in the company chairman's words as "We think that there is a significant amount of consolidation likely to happen in the sports asset industry in the United Kingdom and that is where we are going to concentrate our activities over the next two years". Initially the company started thinking that it should not confine to a specific sport utility supplier and measured the options of diverging into new avenues and started working to that path. The basic idea behind this move is to expand their span of market and to increase the potential market base by merging with a company which has good customer base and was in healthy condition to takeover and to move with the crown sports . crown sports initiatives succeeded in acquiring the Dragon health club plc in last month of December 2000.The dragon's health club equally big as crown sports and has an admirable number of customer. The company performance can be actively studied with the help of the porter's generic strategies. Porter's theory specified that the company with different entities should havefreedom in their

Friday, September 6, 2019

Spring Festival Gala Essay Example for Free

Spring Festival Gala Essay A Comparative Study of the CCTV Spring Festival Galas, 1984-86 and 2004-06 Xiaoyan Xu Abstract The Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China. On every Lunar New Year’s Eve since 1983, the state-run China Central TV (CCTV), the only national TV station in China, has held a celebrating gala. This thesis attempts to examine the CCTV Spring Festival Galas as a case study of China’s statist nationalism. The research questions of this thesis are: what techniques and technologies have the CCTV Spring Festival Galas used to construct a Chinese national space? How have the CCTV Spring Festival Galas describe the Chinese national space? And what changes have taken place in these techniques and technologies as well as in the descriptions? To answer these questions, this thesis conducts a comparative research, comparing both the commonalities and differences between the galas of 1984-86 and those of 2004-06. Employing an interpretative textual analysis approach, it analyzes the videos of these six years’ galas and explores the political meanings of words and programs in the galas. This thesis finds that in order to imagine a united Chinese national space, the galas mainly represent China in terms of classes, ethnic groups and places. With the presence of minorities and people from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, the galas focus on the boundary of the Chinese nation to construct the unity of China. Furthermore, in order to construct the greatness of this united Chinese national space, the galas use heroes and sites to symbolize China. The presence of traditional elements helps create a temporal dimension of the Chinese national space. As a result of, and in response to, the socio- economic changes in the last two decades, the techniques and technologies used by the galas have changed. Besides the great changes in stage settings and technologies, the major changes in the techniques include: in the 2004-06 galas, hosts play a much more important role in interpreting the political meanings of the programs and presenting the state’s nationalist narrative to the audience, the Chinese Communist Party occupies a more central place in the galas, and home increasingly means individual family instead of the country of China. Correspondingly, the way the galas treat singers, actors, and hosts from Hong Kong and Taiwan has also changed. Acknowledgements The past three years have passed fast. At this moment, my heart is full of thanksgivings. I am especially grateful to: Dr. Timothy Luke, my committee chair, for his advising and helping me with revising this thesis for several times, as well as for his patience. Dr. Scott Nelson and Dr. Yannis Stivachtis, my committee members, for their support and suggestions on this thesis and future research. Dr. Christopher Clement, for his acceptance for my TA work and his kind flexibility for my responsibility during my pregnancy. Dr. Ilja Luciak, Chair, Department of Political Science, and Dr. Deborah Milly, former Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Political Science, for their great support. Pat, Kim, Melissa, and Karen, staff of the Department of Political Science, and Jenny and other staff of the Graduate School, for their great help. God, for giving me life and abundant graces. My parents and other family members, for their love and encouragements. Examples of these studies are Guan Ling, Zhixing Guiji [The Tracks of Knowledge and Actions] (Beijing: Beijing Radio College Press 2000); Xu Yingchun and Wang Ying, â€Å"Dui ‘kan chunjie wanhui’ chengwei xin minsu wenti de sikao [Some Reflections on Watching the Spring Festival Galas Becoming New Customs],† Shiting Zongheng [On TV and Radio], No. 1 (2003); and Wang Xiaoyu, â€Å"Chunjie lianhuan wanhui de ‘zhaohuan jizhi’ [The ‘Calling Mechanism’ of the Spring Festival Galas],† Meiti Piping [Media Critique] (Guangxi Shifan Daxue Chubanshe, 2005), Vol. 1, http://www. usc. cuhk. edu. hk/wk_wzdetails. asp? id=4891. 22 is Wang Xiaoyu’s study. 34 Based on the concepts of â€Å"TV community† and â€Å"collective emory,† Wang analyzes the â€Å"calling† mechanism that renders individuals to join the audience of the Spring Festival Galas every year. He argues that the high viewing- audience-rates of the CCTV Sp ring Festival Galas can be partly attributed to the â€Å"TV community† emerging in 1980sthat is, the phenomenon that many people gather together to watch the same TV programs. Wang argues that the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is creating a new and special â€Å"TV community†. Many families gather to watch a TV program together, along with eating the reunion dinner. What is more, people’s discussions on the CCTV Spring Festival Galas afterwards make the galas a â€Å"collective