Pre-Industrial European Labour Market Essay Example for Free

Pre-Industrial European Labour Market Essay In this critical review I will compare the two texts by Peter Earle and Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk. The articles are about woman’s work in the 17th and early 18th century respectively about women’s work in the Dutch textile industry and female labour marked in London. The article by Earle (in 1989) is released before Meerkerk’s article (2006) and there are in Meerkerk analysis some pointing to Earle’s article. I will start with a short presentation of each of the two articles, how and from what time data is collected, some of the findings and conclusion. And then what contribution their papers have made to the historical debate about women’s role in the pre-industrial labour market. Both Earle and Meerkerk refer to Alice Clarks pioneer study from 1919 about women’s work in production in pre-industrial time[1] [2]. Earle is more critical to her work than Meerkerk. Peter Earle is the first person after Alice Clark to look deep and critically into how women had it in the labour market in the 17th and 18th century. In his article Earle is saying â€Å"Indeed, it would be fair to say that we know virtually nothing about the female labour force in early modern London except in the most unstructured and superficial way[3]. An important note Earle makes in his introduction is that the arguments that Alice Clark put forward has more or less just became accepted and Peter Earle is the first one to test Alice Clark’s analyze[4]. A main thing Meerkerk and Earle are concentrating on is Clark statement that there where a ‘golden age’ for women in the 17th and 18th century. What becomes clear in Meerkeerk article is that she is influenced by development in economic theory and social theory as well. The way Meerkeerk and Earle do their analyze is different. A major reason for that is that Meerkeerk is a social scientist while Earle is a ‘traditional empiricist historian’. What is easy to see is that Earle look at numbers much more than Meerkerk do, and while Meerkerk also look at numbers, she uses market theories as well such as the split market theory to analyze the findings. Katrina Honeyman and Jordan Goodman used this when they where looking at European women’s work between1500 – 1900[5]. Peter Earle is more or less guided by his sources. He goes thru his sources and construct figures [6] from his sources. He also takes other sources from other historians such as Wrigley and Schofield [7]. And this is what he is basing his conclusion on. Meerkerk on the other hand developed a frame work, she had an idea before she starting on the research. The idea is that of how to analyze her data. Based upon works from many social scientists and historians and their findings, she found that †we must therefore derive a new theoretical framework to explain the working of gender in the pre-industrial labour marked† [8]. On this background she analysed the data. Her work became a supplement to understand the segmentation of the labour market. Meerkerk wanted to know who got the core jobs, who got the peripheral jobs and why men tends to earn more than women even if they are doing the same work. Core jobs are higher paid and productivity while peripheral jobs is lower paid and lower productivity. Peter Earle has data from witnesses and defendants in the time period of approximately 1660 – 1725. Earle have an impressive material from whole London divided by districts, occupations, full-time and part-time, women and men and their age. He also has data from which class the citizens are from, if they are upper class or lower class (low wealth to high wealthy), and also reading skills and illiterate[9]. Earle is self-stating that poor people are under represented because they weren’t literate enough to be called as witnesses[10] Meerkerk’s material not less impressive than Earle’s, is from last quarter of the sixteenth century, first half of seventeenth century and 1810. Other than showing women in the textile industry in Holland, she are showing the percentage of married women who are in work, men and women in different industries, different jobs, heads of family per industrial sector and heads of family in textile industry. She also looks at women and men’s income. Meerkerk also has an analyse of guilds in the textile industry[11]. What is worth mentioning is that Tilburg and Leiden who are the main places in Holland she is looking at was wealthy places economically mainly because of the textile industry. Conclusion: Even though they goes with their work in a different way, they both come up with similar conclusions. None of them believes it was a ‘golden-age’ for women. Meerkerk said women where restricted to peripheral and low paid jobs but it was changeable, depending upon industry and it as is peak when women occasionally gets better paid jobs, but as soon the industry starts to decline women where the first to loose their job. The fine jobs women’s ones had, where then given to men. It’s easy to see there where gender discrimination. As mentioned, Earle has a kind of similar conclusion; He means that women where expected to work at that time to support their family. Women got low-paid and low skilled jobs while men got the higher paid jobs (core jobs). Meerkerk and Earle’s works compliments each other as to real knowledge about women’s situation on the labour marked in pre-industrial times. What Meerkerk’s work gives us more than Clark is supplement to the theories about segmented labour marked and the labour marked segregated by gender, and she are valuable to understand the labour marked in preindustrial time and today’s labour marked as well. Bibliography: Earle, Peter: The female labour market in London in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, 1989 Economic History Review, 2nd ser., XLII, 3(1989), pp. 328-353 Meerkerk, Elise Van Nederveen; Segmentation in the Pre-Industrial Labour Market: Women’s Work in the Dutch Textile Industry, 1581 – 1810 page 189 216, 2006 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis

E-Learning and E-Services

E-Learning and E-Services Social Impart: E-learning is a structured, purposeful use of computer or electronic system which covers a wide set of processes and application such as web-based learning, computer-based learning, distance and flexible learning via a web browser, through the internet or an intranet, interactive TV, satellite broadcast, audio and videotape and CD-ROM. Based on the survey questionnaire, it noted that 98.2 percent of people are prefer searching the information for working or studies purpose via internet and this proved that more of the worlds people become connected to the network. Connectivity to this network and the ability to master it once on has become an essential part in the new century, and also a key to success, opportunity and fulfillment for the people around the world. E-learning is deployed to reach geographically dispersed groups, to provide consistency, to provide â€Å"anyway-anytime† learning, to ensure compliance with regulation. E- learning is also deployed with the objective of enhancing student knowledge and cost saving. It is used for broadening the academic scope and provided much more references and learning scopes than the ones provided in the usual text books. Effective e-learning can also improve the performance on core subjects and foster development of new century skills, whether in mature or emerging countries. It can help in increasing student motivation, engagement and attendance. E-learning could have potentially major effects on the way higher education is designed, implemented and delivered .For students, e-learning can provide an educationally-superior alternative to traditional lectures, in which education can take place outside of the lecture hall. E-learning can also provide a model for students on how to train themselves to become self directed independent learners, which may assist them to become ‘life long learners. On the other part, for lecturers, e-learning may cause changes in work patterns and even change their professional role, but in addition, e-learning provides them the opportunity to train students in real business situations and new methods to evaluate their learning. As lecturers have the influence to eliminate students technical frustrations, make them feel empowered and encourage them to interact with one another, the role of the lecturer is become predominant in the successful delivery of e-learning initiatives. According to Malaysia Ministry of Education and Intel Malaysia, in a one to one (1:1) e-learning program at 10 primary and secondary schools in Malaysia, 85 percent of teachers, many of whom were skeptical initially, reported that the program lend a hand to them create a collaborative and innovative e-learning environment within their classrooms. E-learning represents a change in teaching and learning style. The precise nature of the change is hard to clarify, however allocation of sufficient resources and time. The major advantage of e-learning is its flexibility, accessibility, and convenience. Flexibility in variety of forms is also an often-identified positive feature of the virtual school or online school. Students are able to work at home, able to get extra credits that did not fit into their regular school day, and to take an extra course which is not offered at their school. It can save the travel cost and time contemporary. Besides that, as web browser software and internet connection are widely available, students are able to search information or material easily and efficiently. E-learning can enhance retention by varying the types of contents such as images, sounds and text work together, creating interaction that engages the attention, providing immediate feedback, encouraging interaction with other learners and instructors in discussion boards, chat room, instant messaging and all offer interaction for learners effectively. Every application has two sides, there are identified drawback with the use of e-learning. E-learning is not suitable for all kind of learners as e-learning emphasizes independent learning and requires the completion of a lots of assignment, tasks and interactive collaborations. Students with low motivation will have to face a stressful feeling and will not able to complete their modules, rendering the strategy ineffective. In addition, there are some people who are not able to deal successfully with isolation. The short of human interaction and the absence of active guidance increase the likelihood of disinterest and boredom. There are not all type of content is suitable for e-learning. The educational institutions are not yet prepare to adapt to the e-learning capabilities due to which many of the contents cannot be used to the e-learning platforms. Students taking on e-course may have the opportunity to receive a risk-free simulation environment, in which they can make mistakes without directly exposing themselves, eventually getting the feedback on the consequences of their actions. E-learning requires new skills in content producers and still has to clearly demonstrate a return on investment. Enabling technology might also be costly since there need to develop advanced visually-rich content for the learners. Nowadays, worlds people are currently moving towards an electronic and internet service system called e-services. E-services is a highly general term referring to the provision of services through internet and act as an interactive, content-centered and internet-based customer services, driven by the customer and integrated with related organizational customer support processes and technologies with the goal of strengthening customer-service provider relationship. E-services are including e-insurances services, e-banking services, e-financial advice services, flight or railway e-ticket services, hotel e-booking services, package tour e-services, real estate e-services, food take away e-services and so on. E-services are offering a lot of advantages to their users. The users are being familiarized with the electronic information personally and being educated on using advanced technology. Furthermore, easy tracking of payment to beneficiarys accounts thus it will enhance audit trail for the users. It can be also reduced cases of corruption and increased convenience and flexibility of the users as the users can access e-services in home without travel and this can help to save the travel cost and time contemporary. E-services have improved data acquisition, transformation and retrieval which unlike the data chaos in a traditional service provider. In addition, it allow in searching of large number of heterogeneous data such as documents, database, messages, pages and multimedia. It also involves the citizens in governmental activities providing easy access to information via internet. E-services are conducted at a distance, uncertainties and risks are magnified. Therefore, users have to rely on image and promises. Some services are confused of proper legal and regulatory framework. Besides that, users may face grave danger as the personal information including name, address credit card number, bank account number and so on which can be accessed by other culprits through e-services. Disclosure of private information, counterfeiting and illegal alteration of payment have been listed in the drawbacks of e-services.

Realibility Engineering and Asset Management

Realibility Engineering and Asset Management The Strategic Process Workload Seems excessive for available resources KPIs Actual against planned performance not always recorded Standards/Procedures Lubrication not being performed properly The Work System Planning Apparent failure of entire process Utilisation of Manpower Staff seem to be overworked and/or not used properly Reliability Critical machinery is failing Reporting Too much expected on job completion Work Completion Excessive backlog of PM and defects repair The Feedback System Root Cause Analysis Not being performed Work Order feedback   Rarely completed by fitters Job Completion reports Not being reviewed The Continuous Improvement Process New Technologies Condition monitoring probe request rejected New techniques Training for maintenance staff not pursued Innovation No development of maintenance practices Corrective action No improvements being made to maintenance strategy The Environmental Process Production Pressure Plant is being sweated Shortage of Resources Appears to be insufficient for current workload The Strategic Process Maintenance Strategy Derek is busy at organising this but to the detriment of his focus on everyday items at the plant. Workload there seems to be an excessive amount in relation to the available resources. Mick states that the fitters are struggling to complete PMs and fix machine defects. Harry mentions later that the situation is worse and that they are way behind on PMs and defects. Plant patrols, which are part of the strategy, are not being performed due to time shortages. There is a possibility that the initial allocation of resources was adequate when the plant was in a healthier state but since the state of machinery has deteriorated, the maintenance staff are now overworked due to the high number of breakdowns. I believe that a collapse of the planning process is at the root of the ever increasing workload. KPIs Derek is aghast when he learns from Harry that Dougie wants to be consulted on new requirements for reporting. Derek reminds Harry and Mick that the maintenance strategy has always had a requirement for feeding back actual against planned performance. The fitters received a letter detailing job completion report requirements but instead of motivating, it seems to have riled them up. Standards/Procedures When quizzed about the cause of the compressor bearings seizure, Harry informs him that it was likely due to improper lubrication. There is either a failure of Standards or Procedures here i.e. either the lubricating standard was not correct or the lubrication procedure was not followed. The Work System Planning There has been a complete collapse in the planning process. Charlie has been instructed to concentrate on shutdown planning with no ownership being taken of the corrective maintenance activities. The planning function also includes reviewing job completion reports with the Maintenance Manager, this has also being neglected due to the focus on shutdown planning. Utilisation of Manpower There are certainly concerns with the utilisation of resources. Mick states this in no uncertain terms to Derek. There is a significant backlog of works to be completed and Mick and Harry believe that too much time is being spent on reporting and planning thus reducing tool time. Reliability Plant reliability is suffering extreme adverse effects. A failure of a critical piece of equipment has resulted in a minimum of five days downtime for the entire manufacturing operation. Reporting Reporting on equipment condition is not consistent. A fault report was filled out by Mick for the compressor in advance of its failure. However job completion reports are not being completed by all fitters. Work Completion It is clear from the scenario, that non-completion of maintenance tasks is a serious concern. Lubrication of the compressor bearings was not performed (either at all or to the right degree). Harry states also that the team are behind with their PM routines and have a serious backlog on defects. The Feedback System Root Cause Analysis Not only is root cause analysis not being performed at ACME, the maintenance supervisors are not even aware of the meaning of the concept. Harry and Mick are keen to learn about it, which instigates the Dictaphone recorded conversation. Work Order /Job Completion reports Only some of the fitters are filling in job completion reports despite it being part of the maintenance strategy. Derek is quite stunned when he learns this from Mick. To make matters worse one of the few fitters, Eddie Condon, that completes the reports is fed up as he feels that his efforts are being ignored. Plant Patrol fault reporting This is not being performed by the fitters. Because of the backlog in PM workload and fixing defects, Mick states they would have to do overtime to carry out what he refers to as detective work. Fault reporting A report on the compressor fault was completed by Mick and submitted to the planning office. However it went unnoticed by Charlie due to prioritisation of shutdown planning. Disconnect with Maintenance Strategy From the above points it is clear that there is no action being taken with the feedback that is performed at ACME. Derek states that he is too busy organising the maintenance strategy but yet he has failed to notice the breakdown in this process. The Continuous Improvement Process New Technologies Mick has been asking Derek for months to purchase the hand held condition monitoring probe. He believes that its advanced technology could provide great assistance in solving the plants equipment issues. Derek dismisses the probe as fancy stuff and requests instead that the department get back to basics. New techniques Harry reminds Derek that he was promised he could attend a training course on compressors. Harry believes that, had this advanced training been attended, ACME may not have had the compressor breakdown. However Derek reneged on his promise stating that he could not lose Harry for three weeks. Innovation There seems to be an utter lack of innovation in how maintenance is practiced at ACME. Derek appears to be disconnected from his subordinates and perhaps this is why they are stuck in a rut when it comes to changing how they do things. Corrective Action Because the feedback and feed forward loops have been severed, there are no corrections to the maintenance strategy taking place. Derek appears to be asleep at the wheel and is not aware of the challenges facing his troops. In Dereks defence, Jim Gordon has insisted that ACME embark on a time consuming World Class Maintenance Program this could be significant factor in distracting Derek from introducing the required corrective actions to the maintenance strategy. The Environmental Process Production Pressure It is clear in the scenario that production pressure has been ratcheted up. Derek has been castigated by Jim Gordon, the managing director of ACME. The plant is not running, due to equipment failure, and will not be operating for at least five more days. Such is the managing directors anger with the situation that Derek believes that his life would be in danger if a suitable weapon were present. When Derek, Mick and Harry are discussing the root cause of the compressor bearings failure, it comes up that operations have been hammering the plant due to a big order from Korea. Derek confirms that the plant has been running fifteen percent above nameplate capacity. He also feels that it may have been a factor in the compressor breakdown. His concerns were mentioned in a management strategy meeting but he was told to find a way to work around operation requirements. Shortage of Resources Harry states to Derek that the maintenance department is probably understaffed. Mick feels that they are not using the fitters in the best way. As stated earlier, ACME either does not have enough maintenance staff or how they are using them has caused the current situation of excessive work backlog to develop. There could well be a combination of shortage of resources and not optimum utilisation of the resources they have. The Strategic Process Workload Reason for high priority There are mentions throughout the scenario of the mismatch between the work that requires completion and the resources available to action it. Specific adverse effect A build up in the backlog of PMs and correction of defects. Responsible person Derek Piper. As maintenance manager, he must own the strategy and ensure that it is fit for purpose. The Work System Planning Reason for high priority I believe poor or non-existent planning is at the root of the work systems issues and it has created knock-on effects in manpower utilisation, work completion and ultimately poor machine reliability. Specific adverse effect Compressor failed because the planner was not focussed on operations and completely missed the fault report prior to its failure. Responsible person Derek Piper. Although it is Charlies role, Derek has instructed him to shift his focus to shutdown activities. The Feedback System Plant Patrol Fault Reporting Reason for high priority It is imperative that potential equipment failures are reported to the planning office. Specific adverse effect Impending failures were not recorded for processing by the planner. Responsible person Harry Warner and Mick Brice. They only informed the maintenance manager that the fitters were not performing this activity after the compressor had failed. The Continuous Improvement Process Corrective Action Reason for high priority Corrective actions are required to align the maintenance strategy with the changing availability/reliability requirements of the plant. Specific adverse effect The maintenance strategy has stagnated and is not fit for purpose in the operating environment that ACME has moved to. Responsible person Derek Piper. He could plead some defence here based on the directive from Jim Gordon to pursue the World Class Maintenance Program which is consuming his time. But ultimately he must be held accountable as maintenance manager. The Environmental Process Production Pressure Reason for high priority ACME is running the plant twenty four seven and fifteen per cent above nameplate capacity. Specific adverse effect Operations are not releasing the equipment for necessary maintenance. Responsible person Jim Gordon. For the managing director to not listen to the concerns of the maintenance manager regarding the sweating of the plant is inexcusable. Of particular note is Jims instruction to Derek to simply stop moaning. The Strategic Process Workload Recommended change The strategy needs to be reviewed by the maintenance manager in terms of dealing with current and medium term workload. An assessment on this workload will help decide the required resources to complete it. ACME may have to consider hiring temporary or sub-contracted maintenance resources to clear the backlog. There is also a minimum of five days immediately available for opportunity maintenance due to the compressor failure bringing the plant down, ACME should endeavour to capitalise on this and add a silver lining to the cloud that hangs over operations. Estimated cost High. Especially if ACME hires additional maintenance staff to clear the backlog. Feasibility Medium. There will be some difficulty in planning terms to coordinate self-delivered and outsourced resources. The Work System Planning Recommended change Hire a specialist temporary resource to support Charlie in the planning department. This will allow corrective and shutdown work to be planned concurrently. As part of this change, the weekly job completion reports review meetings will have to be immediately reinstated. In the longer term, a review will have to be undertaken on the level of planning detail for minor works as Harry states that it is excessive. Estimated cost Medium. If the shutdown is less than two weeks duration, recruitment costs should not exceed  £10k. Feasibility Medium. The maintenance manager will need to make a case to senior management that justifies this course of action and associated cost. If this option proves to be a success, it can be built into the strategy for future shutdowns. The Feedback System Plant Patrol Fault Reporting Recommended change Plant patrol fault reporting must resume. ACME may have to wait until the maintenance backlog is cleared before re-implementation. One option would be to resume it at a reduced frequency e.g. if its currently a daily activity, move it to a weekly activity in the medium term. Estimated cost Low. No additional expense should be incurred. Feasibility High. The Continuous Improvement Process Corrective Action Recommended change The maintenance manager has to be receptive to both feedback and feed forward information. He must use these inputs to align the strategy with the needs of the company. Estimated cost Low. It is part of the maintenance managers job. Feasibility High. The Environmental Process Production Pressure Recommended change All stakeholders including the managing director, operations manager and the Chairman need to work with the maintenance manager in creating a medium to long term maintenance strategy. This will help facilitate achieving the required production targets. Estimated cost High. Equipment investment and additional maintenance staff recruitment is highly likely in order to increase and maintain the nameplate capacity of the plant. Feasibility Medium. If Jim Gordon is serious about keeping the plant running at all costs, then the investment funds should be made available. The compressor failure and resultant plant downtime seems like an accident that was waiting to happen. When we analyse the circumstances surrounding the event, its clear that the maintenance system had failed. Through all of this, Derek Piper was lost at sea and to clash metaphors had his head buried in the sand. As a consequence, the planning process collapsed, feedback was not acted on and the maintenance strategy became unfit for purpose. He can claim that external pressure from the managing director, with the demand of increased plant output and reduced windows for PM activities, caused the system to fail. Although there may be some validity in this claim, I believe that every manager has two high level challenges: the first is to lead subordinates, the second being to manage the expectations of superiors. Times will come when a manager has to push back and stand up to unreasonable demands of company bosses. If a manager does not display this inner strength and backbone, he will likely be trampled on at some stage. Its clear at ACME that Jim Gordon had subdued Derek Piper and I believe Derek would not have had the strength to resist when the decision was made to sweat the plant and run it above nameplate capacity. If I was to apply a percentage weighting of blame for the situation that ACME finds itself in, it would be 65/25/10 for the maintenance manager, managing director and maintenance supervisors respectively. Its interesting that the question states if you were appointed maintenance manager as I believe the only option that will rescue the situation is the replacement of Derek Piper in his role. A rebuilding process is required in the ACME maintenance department. This should start from the top down with a new manager. Derek is in the unenviable position that football mangers often find themselves in, he has lost the confidence of both senior management and the dressing room the dressing room equivalent being the shop floor fitters. He now very much remains an isolated figure at ACME. A carefully chosen new appointee to the role of maintenance manager would bring a fresh impetus. The candidate should come from outside the company as such a person would not carry any baggage from the current ACME situation. In the Recommendations section of this paper, I have deliberately avoided mentioning Derek Piper by name and referred to the role of maintenance manager instead. This is because I do no t see him as part of the solution. He may be required to get the compressor repaired and the plant back running but once this is achieved, his removal and succession should be planned. If I was appointed maintenance manager, I would look to introducing a new style of leadership to the maintenance department. My approach would be to lead from the front, engage with the fitters and regularly visit their turf to get a feel for their daily challenges. A strong focus would have to be applied to resuming the effectiveness and efficiency of the planning function. Feedback and feed forward lines would have to be reconnected and the maintenance strategy would require improvement action when necessary. Strength of character and assertiveness would be required to deal with Jim Gordon in order to explain to him both the limits of production equipment and the necessity for appropriate maintenance. As maintenance manager, I would also have to ready myself for battle in securing investment for new equipment and possible recruitment of additional maintenance staff. Immediate consideration needs to be given to introducing redundancy for critical equipment. If there was a spare compressor to switch over to, the plant would have kept running. If the expense of a standby compressor is not approved, contingency needs to be made can we roll in a temporary machine and connect it in the event of a breakdown? The challenge here is to convince ACME senior management of the benefits of investment and consequences of not spending i.e. a repeat of the last major equipment failure. I know its very easy to state these high level objectives and will be much harder to drive them through to implementation but the job can only be tackled with the confident belief in success. ACME seems to be in a good place regarding sales orders, all that is needed now is a companywide belief in the importance of a sustainable maintenance system.

Advancement Of Women Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout the international community, women have been a primary focus of the United Nations due to their importance to the economic and social balance in a country. The advancement of women is a vital issue concerning the world as the new millenium begins. Although the international community views women with high regard and of the utmost respect, ancient traditions, one sided beliefs, and false stereotypical propaganda, which demean and belittle women are existent in the world today. Historically, women have been victims of inequality and abusive practices, and due to this, many women never reach their full potential in the economic world. First, the primary root that hinders the progress of women is the inferiority complex at an early age. In document UN/ CRC/ 531, analyzed through UNICEF, an estimated 25% of the world’s children (developing world) are in the web of child labor. To add to this, nearly 70% of all girl/female laborers go unregistered, often performing acts of prostitution and strenuous domestic housework. This form of unregistered work is dangerous to young girls because the employers often abuse their employees sexually and physically, as well as psychologically scarring them for years. This alarming fact can be attributed to the inequality of education given to young girls. At an early age, many girls are taught to be inferior to their male counterparts, both mentally and physically. Currently, 75% of all the world’s illiterates are wom... Advancement Of Women Essay -- essays research papers Throughout the international community, women have been a primary focus of the United Nations due to their importance to the economic and social balance in a country. The advancement of women is a vital issue concerning the world as the new millenium begins. Although the international community views women with high regard and of the utmost respect, ancient traditions, one sided beliefs, and false stereotypical propaganda, which demean and belittle women are existent in the world today. Historically, women have been victims of inequality and abusive practices, and due to this, many women never reach their full potential in the economic world. First, the primary root that hinders the progress of women is the inferiority complex at an early age. In document UN/ CRC/ 531, analyzed through UNICEF, an estimated 25% of the world’s children (developing world) are in the web of child labor. To add to this, nearly 70% of all girl/female laborers go unregistered, often performing acts of prostitution and strenuous domestic housework. This form of unregistered work is dangerous to young girls because the employers often abuse their employees sexually and physically, as well as psychologically scarring them for years. This alarming fact can be attributed to the inequality of education given to young girls. At an early age, many girls are taught to be inferior to their male counterparts, both mentally and physically. Currently, 75% of all the world’s illiterates are wom...

Nathan Bedford Forrest Essay -- Nathan Bedford Forrest Hero Bio Essays

Nathan Bedford Forrest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States Army, in its doctrine, lists nine basic principles. As stated in Field Manual 100-5 these include objective, offensive, mass, economy of force, maneuver, unity of command, security, surprise, and simplicity. 1 Napoleon had 115 maxims, Sun Tzu had 13 principles, but Nathan Bedford Forrest’s advice was the utmost of simplicity, â€Å"Git thar firstest with the mostest men.†2 As we look at the challenge facing our nation’s military today, our leaders would do well to look at Forrest’s campaigns and strategies as a guide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Forrest won respect for risking his life while trying to save his aging uncle. Subsequently, Forrest won the affection of Mary Montgomery who, in 1845, became his wife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1851 Bedford moved to Memphis. He won several elections as an elderman and prospered as a businessman. When he closed out his business in late1859 war was eminent. He was involved in his own cotton business and was busy putting his family affairs in order. His net worth was 11/2 million dollars and he was netting $30 thousand a year for his cotton. While he was a slave trader during this period, Colonel Adair described his actions as â€Å"Forrest was kind, humane, and extremely considerate of his slaves. He seemed to exercise the same influence over them that in a greater degree he exercised over the soldiers who served him as devotedly as if there was between them a strong personal attachment.5 On 14 June 1861, he enlisted in Memphis as a soldier in Captain White’s Tennessee Mounted Rifles Company.6 This unit would become a subordinate unit of the Seventh Tennessee Calvary Regiment. Forrest was the unit’s commander when the war ended. Friends of Forrest’s approached Governor Harris and General Polk, which subsequently resulted in an authorization allowing Forrest to raise a battalion of mounted rangers. By October of 1861 he had eight companies of men comprising a total of 650. Most arrived with pistols and shotguns, as well as horses, which resulted in Forrest still attempting to obtain rifles for them when the unit was ordered to Dover as reinforcement for what was to be Fort Donelson. As Colonel Tate described then to General Johnston, â€Å"Colonel Forrest’s regiment of cavalry, as fine a body of men as ever went... ... York: Simon & Schuster), Volume 2, 607. 9. Wyeth, 27. 10. Robert E Corlew, Tennessee, A Short History. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,1989), 307 11. Wyeth. 61. 12. Ibid., 100-101. 13. Ibid., 184. 14. Edwin C. Bearss, Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1979), 28 15. Thomas Jordan & J.P.Pryor, The Campaigns of Lieutenant General N.B.Forrest. (New Orleans, 1868), 16. Wyeth, 241. Bibliography Bearss, Erwin C. Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1979 Brasher, Justin â€Å"Forrest’s Headquarters† and â€Å"NBFHQ† 2001 (a website) Corlew, Robert E. Tennessee: A Short History. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989 Current, Richard N. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985. Jordan, Thomas and Pryor, J.P. The Campaigns of Lieutenant General N.B. Forrest .New Orleans, 1868. Matloff, Maurice, General Editor, American Military History. Washington D.C.: Office of the Chief of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military History. United States Army, 1969. Wyeth, John A. MD, Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1975 reprint   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of 1898 ed.

Animal Imagery in King Lear Essay

Animal Imagery in King Lear A common misconception during the Elizabethan Era is that humans are superior to animals. Fudge shows this by stating: â€Å"where there is a fear of the collapse of difference, there is also an urgent need to reiterate human superiority† (Fudge 2). Throughout King Lear, Shakespeare challenges this boundary that has been desperately enforced by humans for so many years. The strict distinction between humans and animals is trivialized as Shakespeare continuously alludes to the relationships between his characters, animals, and other species. With this being said, the audience is able to see how the play King Lear, exposes a number of Shakespeare’s interesting literary choices. One that is used frequently within the play is animal imagery, where the characteristics of specific individuals relate to the qualities associated with a particular animal. Through the use of a dragon, serpent, and bird, Shakespeare utilizes animal imagery to relate common understandings and representations of animals to highlight both the characters’ true qualities and their relevance through a feminist lens. The juxtaposition of human and animal in King Lear is effective in establishing the idea that humans and animals are not as dissimilar as many believe, and in fact possess many of the same underlying qualities. The image of a dragon is used by Shakespeare to portray King Lear’s emotions. Although dragons are traditionally mythological creatures, their possessive qualities and explosive personality are traits that humans also possess. For example, Lear refers to himself as a dragon when he states, â€Å"come not between the dragon and his wrath† (1. . 126). At this point in the play, it is evident that Lear possesses qualities of a dragon as he is very easily enraged, and views himself as a very powerful and important person. He becomes enraged at the fact that his prized possession or treasure, Cordelia, is being put in jeopardy by her response. Lear and a dragon both show how the concept of change can make one become very vulnerable. Although Lear’s inflexible personality causes him to banish Cordelia, the thought of losing his favourite daughter will become everlasting in his mind. Both a dragon and Lear have become so accustomed to their roles of protecting, that the idea of change may cause them to lash out. Furthermore, Lear shows how he feels superior to everyone below him in the hierarchy. His actions reveal that he sees himself as untouchable and is willing to pose threats to anyone he may feel uncomfortable or intimidated by. Even though Kent is giving Lear priceless advice, Lear’s current state of vulnerability causes him to usher threats and make idiotic decisions. Lear’s comments out of anger and his comparison to being a dragon shows how males have ultimate authority over women, and are able to speak their minds without consequences. In addition, men can be distinguished as the dominant gender since Lear parallel’s a dragon’s characteristics of being a very powerful creature and leader. Although Lear is willing to divide his kingdom up, he does not suggest that he is willing to give up any of his power. Lear still wants to remain as a leading figure and have full authority over everyone. There is no mention of a Queen being present, or the balance of power shifting to anyone else other than Lear. Therefore it is evident that Shakespeare uses animal imagery to show Lear’s fiery personality and male authority. Traditionally, snakes are seen as predatory animals that are feared by almost everyone. Being related to a snake is not normally a positive comparison, thus, one must commit a significantly evil action to be called one. The first reference to a snake is when Lear is ranting about Goneril to Regan. He states, â€Å"[Goneril] struck me with her tounge/ most serpant-like, upon the very heart† (2. 4. 169-170). In a traditional fight, a snake is almost powerless; however, it is known that by being smart and deceptive, snakes can be victorious in battle. Goneril shows this by flattering her father’s ego in order to obtain his riches. Once she takes her father’s wealth, she orders him to get rid of his knights, and ultimately kicks him out, with nowhere to go. Goneril’s cunning ability allows her to destroy her father, while benefiting herself. These villainous actions that she commits come as a surprise to Lear because he is blind to the fact that he is being cheated and robbed of his possessions from the second he offered the division of his kingdom. Just like a snake, the element of surprise is utilized by Goneril to catch her father off guard and thus, diminish his power without any consequences. Furthermore, this shows how greed and wealth can cause humans to make rash decisions, and therefore be compared to poisonous beasts. As the play comes to an end, one can see how the quote becomes very ironic as Goneril decides to poison her sister. Therefore not only does she possess the same mentality as a snake, she also follows through with her actions physically by the use of poison. Through a feminist lens, one could say that men are quick to blame women for their actions and mistakes. Lear is too busy feeling sorry for himself to realize that he was the cause of his own sadness and destruction. However, instead of acknowledging this fact, he immediately refers to his daughter as a snake. The representation of women as snakes shows the imbalance of power in society. In order for women to make their own decisions, they must be sly and quiet about them because they have no right to speak their minds in front of men. Therefore, instead of stating their own opinion, they must comply with the needs and wants of the men around them. Even if they have an excellent idea, it will most likely be opposed by men simply because women are viewed as being less capable or credible. With this being said, Shakespeare uses the image of snake to highlight the many evil and manipulative qualities that humans possess. Shakespeare utilizes the image of a bird to reflect both positive and negative attributes within his characters. Unlike most animals, birds are able to express both predatory and peaceful instincts. Towards the end of the play, the reference of a bird is seen in a positive way, as it represents the renewal of life and freedom. This is present when Lear states, â€Å"we two alone will sing like birds in a cage† (5. 3. 10). The quote emphasizes irony as both Lear and Cordelia are literally in prison like a bird in a cage. Despite the fact that they are captive, and about to lose their lives, their overall happiness is restored because they are together once again. After the climax of the play causes extreme pain and agony for both characters, being together with the one whom they can trust and care for is the best possible reward, regardless of the setting. Now that Lear and Cordelia are free from the evil sisters, they can live happily for the rest of their lives. This in turn causes them to sing like birds, or in other words, express their true happiness. This is a very controversial moment in the play, as it is the moment when Lear finally brings good-spirits to the tragedy that has taken place. Now that he is free of his arrogance and illusions, he is able to see the true love of Cordelia. The use of a caged bird describes Cordelia’s character perfectly. Throughout the play, she is expected to play the traditional role of a woman, which is to look pretty and â€Å"sing† charmingly. This suggests that women are expected to act only in the way that their male authorities desire. However, although Cordelia has done nothing wrong and has continued to be a loyal wife and daughter, she still ends up dead as a result of her sisters actions. Just like a caged bird, women are forced to live through the terms of their owners. Therefore, even though they have the ability to be free, they are obligated to listen to whatever their owners want. Also, this shows how men view themselves as providers, and the advantage of this is they recognize that majority of women would not be able to cope by themselves in a male dominated society. On the contrary, Shakespeare uses the image of a bird to show their more predatory and savage-like behaviours. These birds contradict the traditional image of a bird as they are very dangerous and aggressive. Throughout the play there are multiple references to these birds such as, â€Å"the hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long,/ that it’s had it head bit off by it young† (1. 4. 203-204). The fool states this to Lear because he is aware of the evil actions that both Goneril and Regan are committing. Both daughters are raised by Lear therefore they know all his weaknesses and are able to take advantage of them. Also, once they are able to realize that their father is becoming old and weak, they take this opportunity to rid him of his power very quickly. The next examples of predatory birds in the play are once again used to make reference to the two evil daughters. However, this time Lear calls Goneril a â€Å"detested kite† (1. 4. 254), and states that both of them are â€Å"pelican daughters† (3. 4. 74). Lear now realizes that he has been deceived by his daughters and that his power has been stripped from him. These two references are also ironic, as these two birds are known to eat the flesh of decaying corpses. In many ways Lear represents a decaying corpse, as he is becoming old and powerless; therefore he can be easily taken advantage off. Thus, the image of birds throughout the play is critical because it allows Shakespeare to portray the positive and negative attributes in his characters. Throughout history, the disparity between animals and humans is unclear. However, Shakespeare effortlessly brings light to this subject as he is able to indirectly reveal the personalities of his characters by making connections to the qualities of particular animals. This literary method is known as animal imagery, and the characteristics that both humans and animals share allow one to conclude that they are very much similar in the way they act. In King Lear, a dragon, serpent, and bird emphasize animal imagery as they reflect common understandings that can be related to the actions of the characters in the play. Through a feminist analysis of the characters, it is evident that the Elizabethan Era was dominated by male egos. Therefore, one can see the importance of animal imagery as it not only shows the similarities of humans and animals, but allows Shakespeare to be comprehended on another level.

Education in the Philippines Essay

Education, a continuous process of growth from womb to tomb that is most essential to man for development and progress. In technical sense, it is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values and skills from one generation to another through institutions. This technical process is sometimes called schooling, when referring to the compulsory education of the youth. The continuous growth of the population in the Philippines has been a great factor that affects the quality of education one can experience. There are greater and greater number of students in a class that a learning institution can accommodate. Other than that, some other problems occurred such as: lack of qualified teachers, inadequate classrooms and ineffective programs. These are more evident to public schools here in the country. Recognizant of this reality, small communities in the urban part of the country have been sensitively responding to this situation. Little by little, the number of private learning institutes have been massively growing in some areas in the city. The sustenance of these private schools is, in a very large extent, depend upon enrolment. School administrators have been continuously seeking ways and means to upgrade the standards and quality of their respective school in terms of its delivery system and other related components of quality education. This have been noticeable to Barangay Bagong Silangan because of the numerous learning centers that was established here for the past ten years. Parents, regardless of the schools’ standards, enroll their children to these private learning centers believing that they would experience a better quality education than that of in the public schools. It is, most of the people, if not everybody’s interest, to be equipped with knowledge and skills for productive endeavor in the future. The vital reason for a researcher to conduct a study is to make the parents aware if their children are getting the quality of education that they want for them in these private learning centers.