Medieval Literary Drama Essays - Performing Arts, Medieval Drama

Medieval Literary Drama Medieval Literary Drama Dialectic and Spectacle in the Harrowing of Hell Roland Barthes's essay on "The World of Wrestling" draws analogically on the ancient theatre to contextualize wrestling as a cultural myth where the grandiloquence of the ancient is preserved and the spectacle of excess is displayed. Barthes's critique -- which is above all a rewriting of what was to understand what is -- is useful here insofar as it may be applied back to theatre as another open-air spectacle. But in this case, not the theatre of the ancients, but the Middle English pageant presents the locus for discussing the sport of presentation, or, if you prefer, the performance of the sport. More specifically, what we see by looking at the Harrowing of Hell -- the dramatic moment in the cycle plays that narratizes doctrinal redemption more graphically than any other play in the cycle -- as spectacle offers a matrix for the multiple relationships between performance and audience and the means of produci ng that performance which, in turn, necessarily produces the audience. The implications of the spectacle could sensibly be applied to the complete texts of the cycle plays, and perhaps more appropriately to the full range of the pageant and its concomitant festivities. The direction of pseudo-historical criticism, especially of the Elizabethan stage, certainly provides a well-plowed ground for advancing the festive and carnivalesque inherently present in the establishment and event of theater. Nevertheless, my discussion here is both more limited and more expansive: its limits are constructed by the choice of an individual play recurrent through the four extant manuscripts of what has come to be called the Corpus Christi plays; its expansion is expressed through a delivery that aims to implicate the particular moment of this play in the operations of a dominant church-state apparatus, which is, ostensibly, a model of maintaining hegemony in Western culture. The Harrowing provides a singular instance in which the mechanisms of control of the apparatus appear to extend and exploit their relationship with the audience (i.e. congregation). The play is constructed beyond the canonized operations of the sacred, originating a narrative beyond (yet within) the authorized vulgate; it is constructed only through church authority yet maintains the divinely instituted force of the orthodox doctrine. Two introductory instances, one from the Chester cycle and the other from the Towneley cycle, situate the narrative and event of the play as a spectacle which engages the possibility of being consumed by its historical and particular mass culture -- a culture which was primarily illiterate in both the official and the vernacular writings of the church -- and being understood within the hegemonic orthodoxy. The introductory speech in the Chester Plays (The Cooke's Play) describes a previous knowledge that Adam -- as representative for a fallen humanity -- apprehends exactly a t the moment he articulates his speech: Nowe, by this light that I nowe see, joye ys come, lord, through thee, and one thy people hast pittye to put them out of payne. Similarly, though now through Jesus's self-proclamation, the introduction in the Towneley cycle reveals the already known nature of its narrative: A light will thay haue To know I will com sone; My body shall abyde in gaue Till all this dede be done. The doubled "nowe" of Adam's speech and the perfected futurity of Jesus's speech dictate a time before narrative. By expressing the nature of narrative to be known and that the outcome of the particular battle -- which is hardly a battle -- between Satan and Jesus is already determined, both Adam's and Jesus's speeches establish a code for participating in the festival. The audience is relegated within this code beyond the activity of interpretation; they are placed outside of the hermeneutic circle. Instead of calling for interpretation, the play calls for consumption, w hich means, in this case, to view the spectacle. The public then is subordinated to its own activity of visualization -- its own sense of perception -- to gain access to the operations of the festival. At this point of subordination to the visual, the audience's motives, according to Barthes's description of the effects of the spectacle, are extinguished: The public is completely uninterested

Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Sample

Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Sample Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Example Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Example Looking at Africa today one is likely to believe that civilization, governance and trade are new concepts introduced probably in the late 19th with the advent of colonialism. Africa was the most underdeveloped region in the world. In terms of civilization, though they have made progress in the use of technology especially mobile phones, the other sectors remain largely infant or nonexistent. In the 21st century the largest income earner and highest contributor to the GDP of most African economies remains to be agriculture. These are centuries after the agrarian revolution. Trade in most African countries is restricted to their former colonial masters with hardly any interstate trade going on. As for governance most African countries are young democracies, some of them were suffering from cruel dictatorship and others locked in never ending civil wars. The current situation is not a true representation of the African continent before the 15th century. On the contrary historical and ar chaeological evidence present a totally different picture. Medieval Africa was almost at par with the rest of the world as far as civilization is concerned. There existed many African Kingdoms and Empires that were governed properly complete with ministries and trade and foreign policies. These empires often formed as a result of military conquest, traded with other empires in Africa and also out of Africa with people in continents like Asia; they traded with Arabs and Chinese people and Europe with the Spaniards and the Portuguese. These empires were at the forefront of developing and using technology and their citizens lived quality lives for that period of time. This paper studies the rise and fall of the empires that thrived on the western coast of Africa before the 15th with a specific focus on the Mali Empire. The work discusses the factors that led to the rise of Mali Empire taking into account economical, geographical and political factors. It also examines how the above asp ects led to the decline and eventual collapse of the Mali Empire. Brief History of Early Kingdoms in Africa In medieval Africa, most people were either farmers, hunters and gatherers or livestock keepers. Their economic activities dictated where they settled. For instance, farmers settled in area with fertile lands and adequate water supply either through rainfall or close to water bodies such as ocean and lakes. Hunters and gatherers settled in areas near forests or grasslands where wild animals could be found easily. The herders preferred grasslands with adequate pasture for their animals. Economic activities were determined by the people’s tribes. Hence individuals of one tribe would settle together in an area, which favored their economic activity. As people settled, their numbers increased due to reproduction and often they would fight for the available resources. As a result of these conflicts, they needed someone to mediate and solve them. This led to the development of governance (McKissack, 1994: 190). They thus selected a person, in most cases the individual was a religiou s leader to mediate and gradually this person became the political chief. As people believed the religious gifts were hereditary, often the sibling of the religious persona would succeed him as a leader of the people. These tiny organizations normally grew in size to form kingdoms with kings and even a council of elders to advise the king in the governing of the people. They would further be divided into chiefdoms headed by chiefs who were the king’s representatives in the chiefdoms. It was possible to find many such kingdoms existing concurrently in an area, living as neighbors and intermarrying and even trading (Mann, 1996: 67). Over time one of the kings may develop a larger, more organized army whose military power exceeded those of the other kingdoms. Such a king would engage military warfare against his neighbors conquering them. In so doing he would force the other kings to pay allegiance to him; they would continue to rule their kingdoms as before, only this time they had to pay a fixed amount of revenue to him (McBrewster 85). The revenue came from the products produced in the kingdoms. The king of the strong kingdom hence merged a number of small kingdoms to form an empire and he became an emperor. Most empires then continued with the expansion by acquiring land and people from other kingdoms and through economic activities such as trade they grew in might. Most empires collapsed when due to weak governance or civil strife the individual kingdoms fought and achieved their independence. Many such kingdoms existed in Africa from the north to the south and to the east and west. To the east, kingdoms suc h as the Buganda kingdom flourished, the south had kingdoms such as the Zimbabwe Kingdom and the west had several great kingdoms including; Ghana, Mali and Songhai Kingdoms. The Mali Kingdom followed the above pattern and its rise and fall is discussed below. The Rise of the Mali Kingdom The rise of the Mali Kingdom was facilitated by a number of factors, which cut across all sectors ranging from geographical, political and economic factors. Geographical factors that led to the rise of the Mali Kingdom Mali had several geographical advantages over Ghana and the other kingdoms that enabled it to grow. First its proximity to the river Niger improved its transport system. This is as with the river, using canoes they were able to move not only more goods but also bulky ware that they would not have been able to if they had relied on then available transport means of horses, donkeys and oxen. The river also increased the pace of their transportation as it is faster that the beasts of burden used for those purposes. Transporting more goods and at a faster rate increased the volume of their trade and hence the capital available to them for expansion enabling it to rise as an empire. Another geographical position that enabled Mali to rise as an empire was its location on the lower banks of river Niger. The latter flooded periodically depositing fertile silt its banks. The silt was fertile facilitating the growth of crops. The river also provided water for the crops planted and hence the Mali Kingdom had adequate food supply. They also traded in food crops. With adequate food the empire could focus on other aspects of growth as they were spared of the severe bangs of hunger leading to starvation that affected the other kingdoms (Conrad, 2005: 93). Mali Kingdom unlike Ghana had actual gold mines in the Kingdom at Bumbuk and Bure. Hence increases its revenue from gold not just from transporting and facilitating its trade but also from the actual exploitation through selling of the gold that they mined. This helped them develop a stronger economy facilitating its rise. The trade routes for the Trans Saharan trade shifted eastwards and hence they fell in the Mali Kingdom. This leads to the rise of Mali as the empire, thus gaining a lot of revenue from the trade through the taxation of the traders. Revenue is important as it was used to support and fund the military and the royalty governing the empire enabling it to conquer more regions and hence rise. Political factors that led to the rise of the Mali Empire Several political factors led to the rise of Mali as an empire. The key among them includes the collapse of the Ghana Kingdom. When the Ghana kingdom collapsed, the individual kingdoms attained their independence and Mali was one of them. Together the Kingdoms were unassailable and strong but on their own they were weak and could easily be captured. When Mali gathered a sizeable army and the support of a few of its neighbors it became the strongest among the weak Kingdoms and was hence able to conquer them to submission thereby leading to its growth as an empire. If the Kingdom of Ghana had not collapsed then Mali would not have risen as an empire (Mann, 1996: 118). Another political factor that led to the rise of Mali as a Kingdom was the cruel leadership of Somanguru. The latter had ceased power upon the collapse of the Ghana Kingdom. He was cruel and ruled in a tyrannical manner killing people carelessly. When Sundiata a Mandinka prince was approached he accepted to rule the military and he did so successfully winning the battle of Kirina (McKissack.1994:77). That act united several kingdoms to the upper banks of the Niger River, which later became the Mali Empire. Hence that act led to the rise of the Mali. The governance of Mali Kingdom also led to its growth. This is so because under the Mansa (emperor) Sundiata came up with an efficient organizational structure that facilitated proper governance hence leading to Mali’s rise. Under this structure, the kings that had sworn allegiance to him and his descendants were appointed as commanders, they ruled their own kingdoms just as before, but this time they paid tribute to the empire. He also established a parliament like organization. This organization called the Gabra decided on the cases and the rules for the empire (McKissack, 1994: 91). He also initiated land reforms in that he divided land portions ensuring people owned land within the empire. He came up with documentation that regulated the interrelationships between people. This effectively reduced the conflicts in the region. Some other reforms initiated by Sundiata included proper and humane treatment of slaves and the prisoners in the kingdom. These led to the rise of the kingdom. Another emperor Mansa Musa also effected political changes that facilitated the rise of Mali Kingdom to reach its peak. Musa made political changes such as dividing the entire into administrative units that can be liked to provinces. He then appointed rulers for these provinces. The latter were further broken down to towns ruled by the equivalent of today’s mayors who were called â€Å"mochrif† (Conrad, 2005: 174) . Mansa Musa also led to the rise of the empire by expanding its territories far into the west. He did this by establishing a huge well trained army, which was used to expand the territory of the empire. It was also used for peace keeping in that whenever there was a rebellion in any of the small kingdoms, the army would be sent to quell it hence facilitating the rise of the Mali Empire. The army also facilitated trade by protecting the traders as they engaged in the trade and as they traded. Another political factor that led to the rise of the Mali Empire was the fact that the kingship was hereditary. Upon the death of one king, succession disputes were reduced by the fact that people knew his heir to the throne. This prevented power vacuums as people tried to choose a new leader. Smooth transition of power was a key factor in facilitating the prosperity of the nation. Except if a few cases where the heirs were overthrown. All the above factors led to the rise of the Mali Empire (McBr ewster, 2009: 29). Economic factors that led to the rise of the Mali Empire The Mali Kingdom like the other kingdoms in West Africa, though established by military conquest, thrived on trade. Therefore, economic factors played a big role in their rise and subsequent falls. In the Mali Kingdom the economic aspects that led to its rise include presence of such minerals as gold, copper and salt. Mali Empire has three gold mines within its borders. These facilitated the trade in gold. It improved the gold trade of the Mali Empire beyond that of Ghana Kingdom. The Empire also had other minerals such as bronze and copper. The latter was mined and traded in Takedda (Conrad, 2005: 245). Agriculture is another economic activity that enabled Mali to flourish. Through it Mali was able to trade in agricultural products like rice. The Niger River economically facilitated the growth of Mali, thus helping people transport goods along the trading routes that it passed through. Another economic factor leading to the growth of Mali kingdom was its location along the trade routes. Some of Mali’s major towns were located conveniently along the trade routes enabling them and hence the empire to grow. For instance, Taghaza town where people traded in salt. In Takedda people exchanged copper for gold. The government also had effective economic policies that led to the rise of the Mali Empire. The policies included taxation. The government taxed all the people trading in the Empire as well as ones who brought gold into the empire. This provided them with adequate funds to properly run the empire hence facilitating its growth (Mann, 1996: 105). The government intervened economically to stimulate the growth of the empire through the implementation of the monetary policy. This is evident that the empire or the place was the only custodian of gold. They received all mined gold and exchanged it for gold dust. This action prevented inflation and hence led to the rise of the Mali Empire, which had a good foreign policy, especially during the reign of Mansa Musa (McKissack, 1994: 87). This was because when he made the pilgrimage to mecca passing across Egypt and other countries he displayed his affluence and generosity attracting a lot of people. He made the rest of the world realize the existence of Mali and came to trade with them, thus resulting to high volumes of trade. He also personally brought scholars and doctors among other experts from around the world revolutionizing Timbuktu into a learning town. This attracted a lot of visitors, especially from North Africa and Asia, and hence improved the revenue of the country leadi ng to its rise. During Mansa Musa’s reign, Mali reached its peak; it was at its largest size about one point two million square kilometers. It had the largest trade volume and military strength. The Fall of Mali Empire Just like the Ghana Kingdom before it and The Songhai Empire after it, the Mali Empire fell, though it was gradual. Just like the rise, the fall of the Mali Empire is attributable to economic, geographical and political factors. The main political aspect leading to the collapse of the Mali Empire was succession. Upon the death of Mansa Musa the empire lacked a strong leader (McKissack, 1994: 74). His sons fought over the succession, since each of them desired to be the ruler. As a result, they fragmented the kingdom into smaller kingdoms. The latter also wanted their freedom as they desire to participate in the trading of gold and salt and to reap direct benefits. They thus revolted. Without an organized strong army to quell the rebellion, they succeeded in declaring and establishing their independence. Some of this Kingdoms such as the Songhai actually acquired enough military strength to conquer towns in the original Mali kingdom such as Goa and Timbuktu. Aside from political facto rs, economic and geographical ones also led to the fall of the Mali Empire (McBrewster, 2009: 109). New goldmines were discovered to the east and the trade shifted eastwards. As the economic base of the Mali Empire was gold, the shift hurt the economy leading to the eventual fall and final collapse of the Mali Kingdom. Conclusion The Mali Empire lasted several centuries. It was on an upward trajectory from the early eleventh century to the late 15th when its fall began. Factors such as good governance, favorable economic conditions and proper geographical location led to its rise. Its fall was caused by poor governance and a change in economic patterns. It had a structure similar to those of the other West African Kingdoms with an Emperor at the head and kings at the provincial level. At its peak it was the second largest empire in the whole world and was a model of civilization. Through the use of iron in the daily lives for purposes such as farming and fighting (spears) it achieved the success that had never been attained before. Its collapse however, was as a result of majorly poor governance. From this paper we can learn that authority is the key ingredient to a successful nation. Despite examples from Mali and Ghana subsequent Kingdoms in West Africa also fell as a result of poor governance and greed for power. Even in the 21st century African countries continue suffering from poor governance.

Historiographical essay ( the New Deal) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Historiographical ( the New Deal) - Essay Example F.D.R won the presidency and embarked on the New Deal.1 The First New Deal took place between 1933 and 1934 and was criticized for not bringing the recovery Roosevelt promised the Americans. A section of Roosevelt’s First New Deal critics described the programs as ‘socialist’. The Second New Deal programs were launched in 1935. The most notable programs of the Second New Deal revolved around Social Security and were thought to be more reasonable and realistic than those of the First New Deal. Roosevelt won the 1936 elections by a landslide, ensuring that the majority of the New Deal programs continued being in place. The programs were faced with missteps and setbacks until national recovery was achieved in the late 1930s, just in time to pave way for military preparations ahead of the Second World War. Scholars and historians of different times wrote books detailing the New Deal. They agreed on some things about the New Deal, but disagreed on others. The differences in views on and perceptions about the New Deal resulted from the different mindsets shaped by the different times the books were published. Richard Hofstadter is the architect of the consensus school of thought on issues surrounding the New Deal and the Great Depression. He alongside other consensus historians believed that that the American past was largely shaped by unity which implies things like homogeneity, shared national interest and stability. In his book, The Age of Reform: From Bryan to FDR (1955), he described the New Deal to be more of a reaction of an economic emergency than a clear framework for reform. He said the New Deal was very different from the progressive era reforms, meaning Roosevelt was very different from the progressive era reformers. He said that whereas the New Deal was not based on any cle ar reform philosophies, but were

Analysis of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant Emmanuel Research Paper

Analysis of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant Emmanuel and James W Ellington - Research Paper Example Time was of the essence as the woman’s condition continued to deteriorate despite the application of certain remedial measures. According to standard practice, the doctors required the assent of the next of kin in order to perform the dangerous experiment. After several futile attempts to contact the family members, the doctors decided to proceed with the abortion with the intention of rescuing the life of the mother. The operation went on successfully as the fetus was aborted. However, both the woman and her family members expressed their disappointment in the loss of the child and vowed to sue the doctors and the hospitals for what they deemed as professional negligence. Attempts by the hospital administration to explain the difficult situation in which the doctors found themselves failed to calm down the irate family members. According to their culture, abortion is a taboo and should not be performed under all circumstances. The family members implied that they would have p referred the woman to die in her own efforts to give birth rather than performing an abortion. The issue elicited sharp responses on both sides of the abortion debate. Much of the arguments were focused on the moral question of rescuing a mother in danger and the necessity of performing an abortion that led to the death of the child.  In the Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals, Emmanuel Kant expounds on his philosophical perspective on the principles of morality by providing specific frameworks about the nature of morality. Kant makes a significant effort in replacing the cultural assessment of moral principles by his alternative perspective that is grounded in logic (Kant and James 40). He seeks to provide critical tools for use in certifying certain actions as moral by basing them measuring them against consequences and motives. According to his position, actions can only be described as moral if indeed some specific moral laws motivated them.  

Binge Eating Disorders - treatment programmes, specific clinical Essay

Binge Eating Disorders - treatment programmes, specific clinical issues - Essay Example In case of adults, it is possible for them to spend money and get surgeries done to reduce the flab from their bodies. However, for children, spending money on plastic surgeries is not possible and hence, they are forced to adopt harmful eating behavior to get in perfect shape. Moreover, the pressure from families makes it difficult for them to find a support at home (Graber, Archibald, Brooks-Gunn,1999, p.52). In fact, according to Taylor et al (2006), the development of eating disorder occurs due to negative comments regarding physical aspects, made by parents and family members (Dosil, 2008, p. 47). Hence, the only option that children and adolescents have is to indulge in drastic steps of weight loss like dieting, binging, using laxatives, skipping meals etc. It not only develops the eating disorder in them but also makes them lose their self-esteem, confidence and trust in self and people around them, as parents tease them and siblings laugh at them (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.313) . However, the factor that plays a major role in development of eating disorder is the unusual and rigid functioning style of the family. Hence, if the eating disorder is to be eradicated completely, then the families need to show unconditional regard, emotional support and total acceptance of children as it is their outlook which makes children to develop confidence in their personal and social image, and achieve happiness and success in life. Definition Eating disorder is a general term used to describe two types of eating disorders known as the anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.311). American Psychiatric Association defines anorexia nervosa as a disorder in which a person has a disturbed body image perception which develops intense fear of gaining weight and refusal to maintain a normal body weight (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.311). In bulimia nervosa, people evaluate themselves on the basis of body shape and weight which leads to episodes of uncontrolled binge eating and inappropriate behavior like self induced vomiting and misuse of laxatives to maintain weight (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.312). The studies in the past 25 years, including that of Kog and Vandereycken (1985) and Wonderlich (1992), have found family relationships and communication patterns as consistent factors in the development of eating disorders (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.312). Eating disorders can be developed due to multiple destructive family functioning styles and structures (Segrin & Flora, 2005, p.312).This clearly shows that eating disorder is not just a physiological problem but has its roots in psychological and emotional aspects of a person. Hence, eating disorder is a psychosomatic disorder. Nature Of The Disorder Eating disorder is not a physical disorder completely. It has its roots in the social and personal perception of the body. Most of the times, the desire to get the body shape and weight to fit with the expectations of others, makes young adolescent s to develop eating disorder. It is not just a physical problem but has its roots in the mind and the soul of a person and hence, it is psychosomatic in nature. Psychosomatic illness is an illness which has its roots in the psychological problems that a person is experiencing (Minuchin, Rosman & Baker, 1978, p.13). Dunbar had noted that certain diseases are a result of certain personality traits in human beings and hence, according to him, it was

Michael Jackson As A Product Music Essay

Michael Jackson As A Product Music Essay Michael Jackson was born at Gray , Indiana in 1958 to an African-American couple, Joseph Walter Jackson and Katherine Esther Scruse. Though Michael had a very troubled relationship with his father at very early stages of his life, being born into a family with a musical background has contributed to the elevation of Michael into becoming the King of Pop. His career started as early as at the age of 5. In 1963, he was part of Jackson 5, a band that consisted of his four other brothers. Although at initial stages the band entertained their local surroundings, it captured a professional interest in 1968 when it signed a contract to Motown Records. By 1970, the group has gained enormous popularity and has topped music charts with hits such as Ill Be There, I want You Back, ABC and a few others. Michael has done four solo hits at this time. His solo Ben stood number one on the charts. After three glorious years, the sales started to decline forcing the Jacksons to leave Motown in 1975. Later that year, renaming the band as The Jacksons, they signed to Epic Records. Soon, Michaels outstanding performances and natural talent set him apart from the rest and made him central focus (Telegraph, 2009). Building on the relationship with producer Quincy Jones, formed at the time of acting in his musical movie The Wiz, Michael has released Off the Wall jointly produced by Jones. Off the Wall generated four US top ten hits, obtained number three on the billboard 200, sold over 20 million copies globally, and fetched various prestigious awards from American, Billboard and Grammy. This album has said to have brought 37% of wholesale album profits, the highest ever royalty rate in the music industry (USA Today, 2009). However, the best is yet to come. In 1982, the music business world has witnessed an unpredicted storm with the release of his Thriller. It has won him 8 of the 12 nominated Grammy awards, spent 122 weeks on the Billboard 200, sold over 50 million copies globally, and has since then remained the best selling album ever. However, the albums success cant be measured by sales alone, says Mitchell and Newman (2009), as Jackson moonwalked his way into history of music, Thriller set a new benchmark for blockbusters that changed how the music business promoted and marketed superstar releases. It also changed MTV, she continues, breaking down the cable networks racial barriers and raising the bar for video quality. Amidst the turmoil in music business at that time, he was described as a one man rescue team for the music business (Corliss, 2009). It exposed Michael as song writer, singer and dancer. Later that year, his fame reached further heights with the disclose of his signature Moonwalk live on Motowns 25:Yesterday, Today, Forever television show. The period between 1984 and 1992 has showcased Michaels business acumen. During this time he purchased Beatles back catalogue for $47 million, built Neverland ranch, founded Heal the World to aid children and environment, wrote a biography titled moonwalk, cause marketed to raise the funds for the poor in Africa and signed $1 billion 15 year contract with Sony. The Beatles purchase proved to be a great business move which guaranteed him millions of dollars of income forever (Strauss, 1996). In him was a wise investor, marketing genius but a shopping spree. However, at this time, the interest in business did not affect his music career as he released two albums, Bad and Dangerous. Although, the albums were not in race with Thriller, they kept him a float. But even as Jackson grew richer and more successful observes Leung (2005), his personal life took a strange turn: his face, his colour, his sex, his outfits, his marriage, and his lifestyle. And further, she opines, as the media zoomed in, he began to look more like a circus side show than a musical superstar.The much adored and worshiped innocent image of Michael has began to show up cracks in the early part of 1993, when a 13 year old accused him of child abuse at his Neverland. Although he denied the accusation, he reportedly settled it outside of court for $20 million causing suspicions (Independent, 2009). This was just a glimpse of numerous rumours and accusations to befall. Soon, Michaels image has begun to be questioned from every nook and corner and was surrounded by controversiesFrom physical transformation to song writing, from being married to becoming father of surrogate mother born child, from peter pan utopian ideas to adopting a chimp, from not exposing his children i n front of media to dangling his third child blanket out of balcony, from his new business contracts to his financial bankruptcy, from attending a Grammy ceremony on triple date to showing in court wearing pyjamas, and from label disputes to taking painkillers or drugs; every single move of him was under constant monitoring and was consistently linked to controversies. Acquisitions of physical transformation include plastic surgeries and bleaching. The suspected change of sex and colour has given a room from many moral and ethical allegations. The accused self-induced change from black to white has been reported as betrayal of black community (Topping, 2009). Although, Michael has responded with clarifications about the skin disease he posses and mental and physical turmoil he went through in his child hood (to argue his innocent love for children) in the famous interview of Opera Winfrey and by writing songs such as It does not matter if you are Black or White, they did not yield any results. In the surge of these allegations, his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley was surprising to many. However, the marriage was short lived. He then married for the second time, a nurse named Debbie Rowe in 1996. The couple had two children- son, Prince Michael Jackson in 1997 and daughter, Paris Michael Jackson in 1998. The second marriage was also resulted in divorce in 1999. A year later, Michael had a third child, speculated to be born of a surrogate mother. Amidst this personal life turmoil, not so surprisingly the 1990s have been barren in terms of musical revenue. Though the release of the best selling remix album ever: Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, the Dangerous world tour, a few charity events, a couple of shows celebrating his 30th anniversary and most acclaimed half time performance of Super Bowl XXVII have looked to rejuvenate his image, dangling his third child out of third floor balcony in 2002, the British journalist, Martin Bashirs documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, (in which the pop icon reportedly told that he shared bed with young children) in 2003, the second child abuse allegations, and following the pop stars arrest in 2004 based on these and many other relative allegations have further fueled the outrage (Rolling Stone, 2009). Ironically, in the following year Michael was acquitted of all these charges. In 2006, his Neverland ranch was closed due to labour disputes and he moved to Bahrain to star t a new. However, the controversies have never left him as he entered into dispute with King of Bahrain on several matters. As a late surge in the declining stage of his career, he and AEG, the music promoter, announced a surprise comeback to take place on 11th of July 2009. However, Michael goes into cardiac arrest and dies at the age of 50. Even in death the controversies did not desert him as there were many speculations on how he died. In the vocabulary of Product Life Cycle (PLC), beginning in 1963 up until 1978, Michael was in introduction stage, where he was a part of a group. He created awareness among music industry with his electric and outstanding performances. His stand alone performances from the group have served as trail before the actual solos at a later stage. Although being a part of group, he built a name for himself among music producers and customers. From 1978, with scarecrow role in the musical movie The Wiz has entered into Growth stage. Teaming up with Quincy Jones, the producer, he has extended his image to new markets. With albums like Thriller, performances like Moonwalk, endorsements contracts like Pepsi, and cause marketing and charity works like We are the World profits and sales have seen an unbelievable growth. All due to the improved quality, styling and added new value attributes to the music. And, thus, he was able to open up entirely anew distribution channels. The invention of music video genre, improved quality of the same, lip-syncing to pre-recorded voice in live performances and access to a whole new distribution channel in the form of MTV are a few of the many examples. The year 1986 has seen the start of Maturity stage. The sales and profits have reached to such a peak stage that, even the commercial success of Bad with over 30 million copy sales worldwide were considered lower. With the controversies regarding personal life beginning to creep into musical career the rate of sales growth slowed down. With the emergence of numerous controversies coupled with customers churn and competition, the early part of 1990s have seen the beginning of the end-the decline stage. The changes in his music videos with construction of sexual and violent natured images did not suit many customer preferences. The banning of In the closet in South Africa is a proof of the same. In the beginning of 2009, Michael calling it a final curtain call planned to perform 50 concerts (which saw a record breaking ticket sales and estimated to make close to $100m) but has met with his untimely death. So, Michael Jackson as a product (or marketing offering) has a similar life cycle to that of many others. However, what seems unique to him is the reincarnation or another cycle after its death-Product Death Cycle (PDC). Buried under huge financial debts for most part of his life, Michaels earnings have grown by millions after his death. Under various film, contract and merchandising deals, he has earned close to $200 million by the end of the year (Arango, 2009). Even beyond 2009, he is expected to earn close to 100 million per annum. For the man who left mark on over a 6 billion people, the Neverland and many other places on his name could be money generating machines for eternity from the tourists. The commercial renaissance after his death can be witnessed in almost everything-the physical and online retail outlets, the Billboard charts, radios, TV shows, internet and the like. As the digital music listeners fell back to CDs, over 422,000 copies of his albums were sold in the second week after his death, 40 times higher than the first one (Deprez, 2009). As per online, he notes, the shares of Apple, Amazon and eBay rose more than 2%, 1.3% and 0.64% respectively and expected to be long lasting. According to Silvio Pietroluongo , the Billboard director of charts, the level of dominance by Michael Jackson on the top pop catalogue albums chart is unlike anything one has ever seen on any Billboard chart, regardless if it occurred pre or post death (Smith, 2009). Michael Jackson topped the search list of all the major search engines for the year including Google, Yahoo and Bing (Michael Jackson, 2009). Britney Spears, whose name topped the yahoo search for past four years has been wiped out within an hour of his death as millions of users poured into it in no time (FD Wire, 2009). His music and videos became ubiquitous on the radios, iPods, MP3 players, televisions and internet (Sisario, 2009). As Barker (2009) puts it, his commemorative products and memorabilia are like the stimulus package 3 in the midst of global recession. In the contemporary capitalistic world, death of a few popular celebrities has always transformed into brilliant business opportunities (Porter, 2009). However, in the case of Michael Jackson, the opportunities in generating sale in death as in life are totally at par. Its not a day or a week affair; it is here to stay longer and thus might need another cycle.

St. Stanislas Kostka :: essays research papers

St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about October 28, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, October 28, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children, of whom Stanislas was the second. His older brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in 1605. The thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered the mind of the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislas quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a St. Stanislas Kostka :: essays research papers St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about October 28, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, October 28, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children, of whom Stanislas was the second. His older brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in 1605. The thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered the mind of the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislas quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a

Macbeth- the Weyward Sisters

English| Macbeth- The Weyward Sisters | Discuss the nature of the three witches who foretell Macbeth’s future. The Three Witches in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (1603-1607) add an element of supernatural and prophecy to the play. These three witches represent the personification of evil, conflict and chaos in an already hectic story. The predominant witch, Hecate- the Greek goddess of the moon and later witchcraft- and her two following witches- Graymalkin and Paddock- predict General Macbeth’s rise to the throne.The witches are described as having beards but appearing human. Also known as the ‘weyward sisters’- as quoted in Macbeth- these old, decrepit prophetesses recite â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air†( 1;1;12-13). This line sets up the play with suspicion and confusion as the line suggests that tables will turn. â€Å"Double, double toil and trouble† (4;1;10-11) the three witches chant - making it clear that these witches seek trouble, what is unclear is whether they are changing and controlling fate or if they are merely ensuring its success.What do these prophecies represent, what clues does Shakespeare provide and what conclusion (if any) does he allow his audience to come to? â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor; All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter! † (1;3;11-12) â€Å"The power of man; For none of woman born; Shall harm Macbeth† (4;1;88-89) The witches’ prophecies imply Macbeth will reign and that no man of natural birth will cause his downfall. The prophecies foreshadow the development of the plot, they hint to the audience the likely direction of the story and they give legitimacy to the final outcome of the plot.They give righteousness to the outcome; because its destiny. Shakespeare hints throughout the play of the expected downfall of the murderous King Macbeth. The second prophecy â€Å"For none of wom an born; Shall harm Macbeth† hints that an unnatural birthed man can kill or overthrow Macbeth. Macbeth is later be-headed in a duel against Macduff- retribution for the killing of his family including King Duncan. The audience come to a conclusion that good is returned- that fair is no longer foul. The wayward sisters and the death of Macbeth illustrates the need to follow good rather than choose the path to evil.The audience has seen the effects of Macbeth’s tortured soul- the death of his beloved wife and even his own- emphasizing the need to rid a guilty conscience. Was the ambiguity of the witches’ prophecies necessary to the development of the play’s plot and key themes? Hecate, Graymalkin and Paddock foretell the uprising of Macbeth and inform him of his future and what he must do in order to pursue his destiny as king. The Three Witches never tell Macbeth to kill King Duncan, they merely imply that Kind Duncan must die for Macbeth to become king.Th e witches set a path for him that only he may choose to follow should he wish. Through temptation of sure success he kills King Duncan and follows the path to destruction. Macbeth is not psychologically capable of living with the guilt of murder, however the Three Witches prophecies have given Macbeth the assurance that he will succeed- blanketing his guilt and giving him the confidence he needs to commit the crime. Had the witches kept their prophecies to themselves, Macbeth would not have enough confidence, or encouragement from Lady Macbeth, to kill King Duncan.However there would be a lack of supernatural and excitement in the play. Macbeth is unique because of its treacherous witches, unreal fascinations of King Duncan’s and Banquo’s ghosts and Lady Macbeth’s ‘blood’ on her hand- individualising this play to numerous regicide stories. Word Count- 711 Bibliography Stewart, M. Ancestry. com –The Three Witches. Published 1998 by Zimmerman. Accessed 14/11/11 At: http://homepages. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~maggieoh/Macbeth/witches. htm PotW Org. Poem of the Week- Macbeth. Unknown publisher or author. Accessed 17/11/11 At: http://www. potw. org/archive/potw283. html

The Commonly Confused Words Flew, Flu, and Flue

The Commonly Confused Words Flew, Flu, and Flue The words flew, flu, and flue are homophones: they sound the same but their meanings are different. Definitions Flew is the simple past form of the verb fly, which means to move through the air, to travel by aircraft, or to move quickly or suddenly.The noun flu (a shortened form of influenza) refers to a contagious viral infection.The noun flue refers to a duct or channel in a chimney or in any enclosed passageway. Examples Wire, briar, limber, lockThree geese in a flock.One flew east, one flew west,One flew over the cuckoos nest.(Childrens nursery rhyme, the source of the title for Ken Keseys novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, 1962)The greatest aerialist of all time was a Mexican, Alfredo Cordona. In 1930, after years of practice, Cordona achieved what to the circus world had been an impossibilityno less than a triple somersault! It is estimated that to achieve that feat, he flew through the air at sixty miles per hour.(Richard Lederer,  The Word Circus: A Letter-Perfect Book. Merriam-Webster, 1998)Millions are at risk of going without the flu vaccine this year.Although the media called the 1918 pandemic the Spanish Flu- because about 80 percent of the Spanish population  caught the flu, and it was widely reported in the Spanish press- the actual source of the pandemic is unknown.(Joan R. Callahan,  Emerging Biological Threats. ABC-CLIO, 2010)  Customers have been told that expensive flue wo rk is required to bring their homes up to modern standards. The stove was plugged into the flue of the marble fireplace, and there were parquet floors and Axminster carpets and cranberry-colored tufted Victorian upholstery, and a kind of Chinese  Ãƒ ©tagà ¨re, inside a cabinet, lined with mirrors and containing silver pitchers, trophies won by Skoglund cows, fancy sugar tongs and cut-glass pitchers and goblets.(Saul Bellow, A Silver Dish. The New Yorker, 1979) Flew Out vs Flied Out [In the game of baseball,] when a batter has hit a fly ball which is then caught, the past tense of his action is flied out. The only time flew out would be correct is if the batter dropped his bat, flapped his arms, and soared out of the stadium, thereby earning himself the frothiest head in the Guinness Book of World Records.(William Safire, On Language. Avon Books, 1981) Practice (a) He was a big, raw man, with too much strength, whose delight in winter was to hunt the sea ducks that _____ in to feed by the outer ledges, bare at low tide.(Lawrence Sargent Hall, The Ledge. The Hudson Review, 1960)(b) If you have a working chimney, you should have the _____ checked regularly by a professional.(c) About every 30 years, there is a major change in the genetics of the _____ virus. Answers to Practice Exercises (a) He was a big, raw man, with too much strength, whose delight in winter was to hunt the sea ducks that flew in to feed by the outer ledges, bare at low tide.(Lawrence Sargent Hall, The Ledge. The Hudson Review, 1960)(b) If you have a working chimney, you should have the flue checked regularly by a professional.(c) About every 30 years, there is a major change in the genetics of the flu virus.

The Reforms of Diocletian †History Essay

The Reforms of Diocletian – History Essay Free Online Research Papers The Reforms of Diocletian History Essay In 284 A.D. after nearly two-hundred years after Augustus had almost completely rebuilt the Roman State, Diocletian was face with that same task. Diocletian was face with a much more difficult task than Augustus. The decline of the empire was much worse, and therefore his reforms were more dramatic. Diocletian replaced Augustus’ constitutional monarchy with what was basically a totalitarian dictatorship. â€Å"The essence of Diocletian’s cure for the chronic ills of the third-century Roman world can be simply put, more government.† Diocletian started his governmental reforms by forming what would be deemed as the Tetrarchy. Diocletian recognized that the problems of the Roman Empire were much too great for only one man to deal with. He divided the empire into four parts, each portion of the empire would be under the power of a different emperor. In addition to dividing the empire itself, he also subdivided each of the four separate parts, putting more administrative officers in power in each province. By the time Diocletian had finished there were about 30,000 paid civil servants in the Roman Empire accounting for a population of approximately 50 million. Therefore for about every 1,700 Roman citizens there was one civil servant, still a very low number. Unfortunately all these new civil servants had to be paid and the citizens were burdened with new and higher taxes. The people aren’t generally happy with tax hikes, but during this time there was an economic depression. Inflation had become a huge problem and Diocletian’s Edict of Prices did not help the issue. His Edict attempted to combat inflation by issuing more currency and setting a maximum price for over a thousand goods that were the most highly coveted goods in the empire; including food, jewelry, clothing and furniture. Diocletian had a very difficult task in reconstructing the Roman Empire. Some of his reforms were successful such as his formation of the Tetrarchy, establishing a more bureaucratic system, but other reforms like the Edict of Prices were very unsuccessful. Many people suffered economically because of this Edict. Research Papers on The Reforms of Diocletian - History EssayBringing Democracy to AfricaPETSTEL analysis of IndiaQuebec and CanadaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Discuss the effects of hazardous materials on the fire service Essay

Discuss the effects of hazardous materials on the fire service - Essay Example They are produced due to incidents in plants or other such activities. There are a large number of hazardous materials that are used as chemicals in various walks of life such as in agriculture or cultivation of land. These chemicals get dissolved in the soil and contaminate the water sources as well as compromise the hygiene. The waste from the industries is also a main source of increasing amount of hazardous materials in the environment. These wastes are discharged in rivers, seas, and oceans hence polluting the water sources as well as the aquatic life. In order to understand the effect of hazardous material we must take into considerations the main causes of these hazards, the ways in which they can affect the human body, the precautions that must be taken in order to perform a safe rescue operation during fire service and also the handling of the situation from the beginning to the end with correct decisions and safety as the prime concern. Contamination is simply defined as the contact of a hazardous material with the clothes or some part of a body such as hair, skin e.t.c. while exposure happens when a hazardous material enters a human body through respiration or other means or is in direct contact with human body. To avoid these issues fire service men are provided an apparatus and special kind of clothing that resists exposure as well as contamination. Exposure can happen without contamination however in certain case contamination usually results in exposure unless only the clothing is affected by the hazardous material. For example many gases can enter a human body without coming in contact with the parts of the body or the clothing through the process of respiration or breathing. The human skin has an ability to absorb certain substances which it comes in contact with. But this depends upon certain conditions namely the time for which the substance comes in contact with the skin. If a hazardous material comes

An organization's healthcare marketing plan for an organization Assignment

An organization's healthcare marketing plan for an organization - Assignment Example The paper tells that healthcare organizations face the same challenges as corporations: the ability to provide the right services to the right market segment at the right place, time, and price. This ability has a clear marketing nature to it, which is why many healthcare organizations are pursuing marketing principles and practices to help them develop and achieve their strategic management goals. Kotler and Armstrong define marketing as â€Å"a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through exchanging products and value with others†. The American Marketing Association provides the particular functions of marketing in building relationships that exchange value with one another: â€Å"Marketing† pertains to the wide range of â€Å"activities and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large†. Furthermore, Kotle r and Armstrong underscore that the marketing management’s most important task is to develop profitable relationships with customers. These marketing concepts can also be applied to the healthcare services industry, because healthcare is also considered a service that can be marketed to particular groups. The healthcare campaign is an educational project that will distribute educational information in diverse platforms: opening a health information clinic, mobile communications, electronic information screen, and gym. In the clinic, a doctor and nurse will be available to answer healthcare questions and train patients or customers about healthcare management skills. Leaflets and other educational materials will also be available at this clinic. That clinic can be named as education clinic, where the patient will get any information needed. The Hospital management can seek for an agreement contract with Etisalat, so that it can send educative material through SMS to the public . The public has to key in keywords and send them to a specific number, in order to access health materials, such as first-aid tips and ways of dealing with hypertension and seasonal illnesses, such as colds and heat strokes. The electronic information screen will be set up in the hospital. This screen is going to be similar to those screens that give directions inside malls. The healthcare screen will contain basic healthcare information and tips. The patients or visitors can click on these screens and choose among diverse healthcare topics, such as illnesses and healthcare manage