A Streetcar Named Desire and Top Girl Essay

â€Å"Man†¦cannot learn to forget, but hangs on to the past: however far or fast he runs that chain runs with him.†- Friedrich Nietzsche (German-Swiss philosopher and writer). In the light of Nietzsche’s opinion, compare and contrast the presentation of the past as a limiting factor to the identities of the female protagonists in ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ and ‘Top Girls’ Williams and Churchill present the past as a haunting spectre that threatens the characters progress in their future life. Both playwrights construct the past as an emerging chain that, parasitic like, has clinged onto the protagonists’ present and immobilised the characters ability to function and progress. The retroactive structure of Top Girls reinforces this. Marlene attempts to escape her working class roots in the city office, but the chain of her past, her daughter Angie, imprisons her in this very environment she seeks to flee. Blanche Dubois seeks refuge in her sister’s world in an attempt to release herself from the chains of her past; presenting herself as a ‘Southern Belle’ in search of a gentleman and holding on to Old Southern traditional values: she is always incongruous to New Orleans and the future America. Initially, both playwrights present the past as a route of future imprisonment for the characters. The initial exposition of Blanche’s marriage and widowing is demonstrated through the constant symbolic sound of the traditional polish Polka; also revealing Blanche’s extreme sensitivity as a woman, to her past and vulnerability as how ‘man cannot forget’. Blanche is glued to her past suffering, and deliberately forces herself to believe that her previous experiences no longer i ntimidates her, but deep down, her remembrances haunt her, infiltrating in her present and future through the subtle sound of the disruptive Polka music, slowly becoming more and more frequent, leading up to the climax point towards the end, where Blanche reaches her tragic ‘self-destruction’, where her brother in law rapes her. The texture of the polka music creates an enhanced contextual setting of the play, where the audience gains a clearer perspective of how the past reflects on the construction of each characters psyche. Blanche ‘cannot forget’ her past, but chooses to ‘hang on to it’. Her choice of constantly remembering the sound of the Polka, is a reflection of her hesitation of wanting to progress; Blanche is her own enemy, therefore being her own barrier to overcome past dilemmas. NOT SURE WHAT ELSE TO ADD Churchill presents lies as a means of liberation for Blanche. When speaking to Stella, she laughs at â€Å"myself, myself for being such a liar. I’m writing to Shep.† Blanche unambiguously admits that she in fact, is a liar; the repetition of the personal pronoun â€Å"myself† emphasises the irony in her statement; Blanche is very well aware of her past, and so chooses to lie to avoid any future consequences through exposing the truth. â€Å"†¦neurotic and corrupted, hiding from herself behind artificial illusions.† as described by Christopher Innes in John Russel Brown (ed.) 1995: 422 Blanche is face to face with Stella, she is desperate for some Alcohol and compulsively searches Stella’s house for some liquor, â€Å"I know you must have some liquor on the place!† Blanche evidently seems to feel no shame of having a â€Å"drink† near Stella but â€Å"nervously† tamps her â€Å"cigarette† however, suddenly, further in the scene, Blanche negates a drink, when stanley arrives home from work, â€Å"No, I – rarely touch it.† and lies to Stanley as â€Å"(He holds the bottle to the light to observe its depletion.)† as he has noticed that someone has drunk some liquor. Blanche clearly feels intimidated and ashamed in having â€Å"some liquor† in the presence of the Alpha male, Stanley Kowalski, and denies the drink; however, Stanley has already seen through Blanche’s pretence and comments, â€Å"some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often†. Blanche is fully aware that the first impressions are the ones that stay, especially as she has a necessity to impress men, so she knows that if she accepts the drink and has it near Stanley, her reputation as a â€Å"Southern Belle† will be destroyed. However, Blanche seems to be quite flattered to have Stanley’s attention; and without a doubt, realises that Stanley is flirting with her, and automatically switches to her ‘past’ seductive self which she initially tried to cover up. The promptness in which Blanche reacts and gives in to Stanleys’ seductive methods, clearly shows how she cannot resist being a ‘fake’ but, cannot help but giving in to her old, past desires. Critic JJ Thompson argues that Blanche is â€Å"trapped by the sins of her past,† which to an extent is true as Blanche may not have needed to create a fake past if she had not done anything wrong. She is desperate to conceal the truth about her previous record of prostitution and promiscuity. However, it is not in fact her sins that trap her, but her desire to hold on to the values of the old south, as society demands spinsters to be the â€Å"visible manifestation of the Southern gentility and purity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We have no clear trace of Stanley’s past, or what leads him into acting in such an manipulative manner, however, in contrast with Blanche, he does not show any signs of being ‘chained’ to his previous experiences, but shows some sort of complexity in his character, as he intimidates Blanche causing some sort of disruption in her care-free lies. This complexion could be the fact that Stanley’s apparent broken character is simply a male instinct of power possession and pride as a man. Critic Londrà © argues that Williams â€Å"intended a balance of power between Blanche and Stanley, to show that both are complex figures whose wants and behaviours must be understood in the context of what is at stake for them.† Felicia H. Londrà © in M.C. Rouande 1997: 50. At stake for both is something essentially selfish- escape for Blanche, sexual satisfaction and dominance for Stanley. Equally in Top Girls, Marlene’s sister Joyce clings on to her past. She still criticises Marlene’s judgement by accusing her that â€Å"I don’t know how you could leave your own child†. By referring still to Angie as Marlene’s child, suggests that Joyce has not accepted the past and this leads to the growth of her resentment and bitterness, and these sentiments are articulated through the monosyllabic tone of the language. Joyce seems to be imprisoned by her past as she has no means of prospering. The womanly domestic environment becomes Joyce’s biggest limitation and the ending, implies that she is enduringly trapped in the past, leaving her with no hope for the future. The stage direction â€Å"Marlene goes. Joyce goes on sitting,† allows the audience to perceive the visual impact the past has created between the mother-daughter relationship, and once again referring back to the post-feminist criticism of Feminist abandoning their concept of sisterhood and embracing a more materialistic society, who care ab out the individual, much like Margret Thatcher’s ideology. Blanche however, uses the figure of Shep Huntleigh to re-establish him as a potential date instead of recalling the past and classifying him as a failed lover in her life. Even though, this can be seen as a weakness of Blanche, she has not released â€Å"the chain† of her past but simply ‘covering the dirt up with the carpet’. Blanche feels enlightened through her ‘untrue’ past which is obvious as she laughs at herself. The tragic protagonist is all too aware of her lies, and seems to be gaining some sort of pleasure through her fake truths, which shows that Blanche is ultimately â€Å"just as phony as can be†. She cannot let go from her desire to be a delicate southern belle, who relies on the â€Å"kindness of strangers† like poor old Mitch, Stanley’s friend (not sure on how I can build on it without losing my point); rather than face her reality of being an ageing, penniless prostitute with a corrupt reputation. Blanche is far from being trapped by her sins; she is trapped by her desires, not for sexual satisfaction but for the past. Churchill also illustrates how the past can set the characters ‘free’. In Act 1, the protagonist Marlene gathers women who suffer with their past together, to feel liberated through sharing their experiences. This is an uncommon part of the play and though we do not know exactly where and when it takes place, we are aware that all the women in this scene are from the past of literature, art and history. Marlene’s story is ironically told through the historical character of Patient Griselda implying her promotion at work, Pope Joan taking over a male role as Marlene had in the office, Dull Gret fighting men, Isabella Bird leaving home and her family behind to independently travel and the historic character from Japan, Lady Nijo, who grew in an imperial court, as one that has her motherhood nature, debilitated due to her three traumas with child abduction; â€Å" taken the child† from the own father, the Emperor, â€Å"I saw my daughter once.† Marlene, the protagonist hosts a dinner party for her friends, where here, all the six women have the chance to share their ‘past’ experiences. When Nijo begins to recall her tragic history, her speech becomes more fragmented and the characters interrupt less while she talks about her past, â€Å"it hurts to remember the past† admits Lady Nijo. By gathering these persistent women in a celebration of Marlene’s job promotion, transmits a message that for the present to be fully valued, the past has to be reviewed. If Lady Nijo had not gone through her losses with her children, she had not learnt the value of being a mother, an independent woman and bearing children, leading her into being a Buddhist monk and living her life completely please herself and benefit her well-being. Marlene says, â€Å"how far we’ve all come†. This comment switches the past form regret to thankfulness of emerging from prejudice against women. The use of the pronoun â€Å"we† demonstrates that this progression is one that all women make together, supporting a feminist reading of the play as one which would argue that women build on successes of women of the past to achieve in future. Churchill presents women in Thatcherite Britain who are trying to establish a future focus, a new society where women were able to be in power. Blanche is too afraid to embrace this attitude to the past; it was essential in 1947 as America needed to establish a forward focus following the war, where the suffering past that women once went through, no longer hindered them in taking a stand. Alternatively, it can be argued that the past actually limits the female protagonists in both Top Girls and A Streetcar Named Desire. The structure of Top Girls reinforces this argument as the retroactive structure implies the past of these characters keep chasing after again and again, being unable to look towards the future, being barred by their past. Protagonist, Marlene ends up in her working class, domestic space and the past- which is ironic as she defines her success against her capacity to escape these things, which suggests that her success is not as valid as it might seem. Streetcar on the contrary, uses a linear structure where the action escalates towards the vertex, yet the characters such as Blanche cannot progress but tragically end up disheartened, owed to the past that limits her. Blanche does not accept the new world and holds on to her old world values of the past. Both playwrights therefore present unlike perceptions on the role of the past; Williams sees it as a form of escape and to move forward from, whereas Churchill insists on evaluating the impact it has on the present, as we end up re-examining Marlene’s success, rather than looking to the future.

The Life and Works of Rudolfo A. Anaya

Rudolfo A. Anaya, a New Mexican writer, is considered one of the creators of Chicano Literature. He is most known for his novel Bless Me, Ultima. He has been recognized with many prestigious rewards for his work. As Anaya says, â€Å"As a Chicano writer I am part of a community which for the first time in our contemporary era has produced enough literary works to create a literary movement. Prior to the 1960s western literature was written about us, but seldom by us. Now the world has a truer insight into our world; the view is now from within as more and more Chicano and Chicana writers explore their reality† (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography 1). Anaya was born on October 30, 1927 in the small village of Pastura, New Mexico (Anaya 363, Contemporary Hispanic Biography 1). He was born to Martin and Rafaelita Anaya. Anaya was the fifth of seven children. His father came from a family of cattle workers and sheepherders, was a vaquero, a horseman who worked on ranches surrounding Pastura, and his mother came from a family of poor farmers (Contemporary Hispanic Biography 1). At a young age, his family moved to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Their house was perched over the Pecos River, and young Anaya spent his childhood roaming around the planes with his friends, hunting, and fishing in the Pecos River. He was raised in a strong Catholic household, he stated, â€Å"In my child hood world the power of prayer was supreme† (Anaya 362). Also, Anaya grew up in a Spanish speaking only house hold. He stated that his parents only mostly spoke Spanish and that at the age of six or seven when he started school he knew very little to no English (Anaya 362-365). My parents spoke only Spanish. My dad worked for big ranchers and he could buy and sell cattle, which meant he could get along in English. But at home it was a complete Spanish-speaking household. By the time I went to school when I was six or seven, I didn't know English, I only knew Spanish† (Stone). At the age of fifteen Anaya moved to Albuquerque, and he attended Albuquerque High School. In Albuqu erque Anaya was exposed to prejudice against Latinos as well as some cultural and ethnic differences he had not previously faced. Anaya played football and baseball in Albuquerque. He managed to avoid the trouble of gangs, and he kept good grades. (Anaya 364-366, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). At the age of sixteen Anaya suffered a diving accident. Diving into an irrigation ditch, Anaya broke two vertebrae; he nearly killed himself. Anaya said in his short auto biography, â€Å"The doctors would later explain that I had fractured two vertebrae in my neck, and I had gone into instant paralysis. I could not move a muscle† (Anaya 369). His mother nursed him through his paralysis with daily massaging the stiff limbs, and his friends never wavered. He swam, exercised, and slowly began to reenter the rough and tumble life. He mentions that one of the first things that he did was return to the YMCA pool alone. As a way to conquer his fear he dove into the water alone (Anaya 369-372). In 1956, Anaya graduated from Albuquerque High School. Anaya then attended business school for two years before dropping out and enrolling in the university. University life sent Anaya into an identity crisis. He speaks of losing his faith in god. Anaya found that the culture at the university was not his own; also, Anaya found that his classes were devoid of relevance to his own culture. On top of all this a recently failed relationship with a girl pushed Anaya to begin writing to help his pain. However, much of these early writings were later destroyed. Anaya thanks his friends for helping him survive the university. On weekends he would get with his friends and go out drinking, playing pool, and meeting girls. Anaya received a degree and soon after accepted a teaching position in a small town in New Mexico. (Anaya 373-375). In this small town he still continued to practice his writing everyday (Contemporary Hispanic Biography ). He married a young woman named Patricia Lawless. Patricia, from Kansas, provided him with encouragement, and Patricia would read his work and respond to its weaknesses (Anaya 374, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). Marriage provided Anaya with a stable base for which to write; although, two miscarriages were the most difficult experiences of his married life. Through this stable base Bless me, Ultima was born. He would teach by the day, and he would come home at night to write. Anaya 376) Anaya says that his inspiration for Bless Me, Ultima came when he had a vision of an elderly woman dressed in black standing in his room, and it was this vision that inspired him to start writing the novel (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). In Anaya’s words, â€Å"One light was on, a desk light near the typewriter, I heard a noise and turned to see the old woman dressed in black enter th e room† (Anaya, 377). Bless me, Ultima tells the story of Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, a six-year old boy growing up in rural New Mexico during World War II. Antonio is befriended by Ultima, a kindly curandera, or healer, who has come to stay with Antonio’s family. Antonio discovers the mysteries of the plains surrounding him and learns how to use its plants for medicinal purposes. Ultima later cures curses placed on Antonio’s uncle by a family of witches. Much of the drama or conflict in the novel developed because of this. (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). This story relates in many ways to Anaya’s own history. Antonio, in the novel, is pulled between his father’s wandering life as a vaquero and his mother’s harmonic, grounded existence with the earth itself. He questions the validity of his Catholic faith that seems helpless against pain and suffering while Ultima’s magic heals. He discovers the golden carp in the river, which as told in local folklore, is a god. The idea that the carp may share divinity with God, to Antonio, feels like a betrayal of his mother’s faith. However, this is a question that he cannot help but to ask (Anaya; Bless Me, Ultima, Contemporary Hispanic Biography). â€Å"In my first novel, Bless Me, Ultima, I used the people and the environment of my childhood as elements of the story. Like my protagonist, Antonio, my first language was Spanish. I was shaped by the traditions and culture of the free-wheeling cow punchers and sheep herders of the llano, a lifestyle my father knew well, and was also initiated into the deeply religious, Catholic settled life of the farmers of Puerto de Luna, my mother's side of the family. â€Å"(Anaya 380) Anaya eventually was published by Berkeley. Although the path to getting published wasn’t easy, â€Å"I approached dozens of publishers, the result was always the same. I collected enough form letter rejections to wallpaper the proverbial room, but I was undaunted† (Anaya 379). Bless Me, Ultima was a huge success. Anaya won the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol Award for the novel. Anaya also received many other prestigious rewards for the novel. Such as, Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima appeared on the Big Read site. The Big read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. There are 30 books selected every year for this site. Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima was also chosen as one of the literary works to appear in the 2009 American Academic decathlon. The New York Times stated that the novel was, â€Å"probably the best-known and most respected contemporary Latino Fiction†, and the San Francisco Chronicle said Bless Me, Ultima was a, â€Å"poignant†¦ an important book that deserves to be hailed as a classic† (Bless Me Ultima to be flimed in New Mexico reports Gov. Bill Richardson, 3) A Bless Me, Ultima sculpture was even made at the north entrance to Park Lake off Historic Route 66 in Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa Dedicates ‘Bless Me, Ultima’ Rudolfo Anaya Sculpture Park, 4). A play was also made after Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, and has been shown all across New Mexico (Bless Me Ultima – The Play). Also, a movie was made after the novel. The film versions began Shooting in Santa Fe in October 2010 (Bless Me, Ultima' Film Based on Rudolfo Anaya's Novel Will Shoot in N. M. ). The director of the film is Carl Franklin, and the film is staring Bento Marinez, David Rees Snell, and Miriam Colon (Bless Me, Ultima article, 2). Overall, Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima has sold over 360,000 copies. (Rudolfo Anaya UNM Article, 3) Anaya’s father owned a land grant that stretched for miles along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque’s south valley, and then for miles west into the desert as far as the Rio Puerco. This grant had been passed down from generation to generations. Anaya’s father, as heir to the land grant, received and sold some lots that were part of the grant in the forties; on the other hand, Anaya’s mother, having that peasant Nuevo Mexicano instinct and love for the land, believed the grant was a source of our values (Anaya 382). As Anaya said, â€Å"she believed that someday we would all own a piece of that grant which had been handed down for generations† (Anaya 382). However, the real history of the Spanish and Mexican land grants of New Mexico would prove her wrong. Most of the big land grants were stolen away from the true inheritors. Anaya says that is was these themes that lead him to create his second novel. The main character is Clemete Chavez, a farmer who loses his land at the start of the narrative and is forced to move into barrio in Albuquerque. While in the city, Chavez, and his family, they watch helplessly as their teenage children lose themselves in drugs violence, and sex. Chavez undertakes a soul-searching quest for an identity and a role for himself. As an attempt to provide a fictive analogue to the Chicano consciousness-raising efforts of the 1970s, the book ends with a Chicano march against the oppressive Santa Fe Railroad (Portales 2). Heart of Aztlan, was published in 1976. (Anaya 383) Anaya was invited to serve on the board of the Coordinating council of Literary Magazines (CCLM) in 1974. Their office was in New York. The council held regional workshops around the country twice a year and Anaya used this as a great way to meet different people in the writing community. Many of these friends would remain close friends with Anaya for life. (Anaya 380-385) During these years Anaya was working on Tortuga. Tortuga was the third novel in his series, and it was designed to loosely complete his trilogy (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). Tortuga was his hospital story, and thus he considered it a very difficult novel for him to write; however, many see it as one of his best novels, and it won the Before Columbus American Book award from the Before Columbus foundation for Tortuga in 1980 (Contemporary Hispanic Biography). It was loosely based on his own experience in a hospital, but it quickly became more than that. â€Å"The theme of healing still occupied my thoughts. How do people get well? I looked around and saw that we had created a society that was crushing and mutilating us. People were sick physically and spiritually. How could those people be helped? The hospital I created became an existential hell, symbolizing our own contemporary hell†¦ In Tortuga I took my characters to the depths of despair and human suffering, and they find in their hellish existence the faith they need to survive in the world† (Anaya 385). Anaya began to spend more time writing plays and learning the techniques of drama. Anaya wrote his first play in 1979, the Season of La Llorona, first produced in Albuquerque. The Farolitios of Christmas was produced in Albuquerque in 1987, Matachines was published in 1992, Ay, Compadre! was published in 1994, and Billy the Kid and Who Killed Don Jose was published in 1995. (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography) Anaya began working with and translating some old oral materials which had been collected by folklorist. This renewed his connection to that exciting and magical stream of oral tradition. Cuentos: Tales from the Hispanic Southwest was published in 1980 (Anaya 389, Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography). In his free time he was also working on making short stories. Somewhere between writing novels he would squeeze out short stories. In 1982, The Silence of Llano (short stories) was published by Berkeley. The Legend of La Llorona was published in 1984, and was soon followed by Lord of the Dawn: The Legend of Quetzalcoatl. Anaya also wrote poems in his free time, The Adventures of Juan Chicaspatas was published by the Arte Publico Press in 1985. In 1986, A Chicano in China was ublished as a nonfiction account of Anaya’s travels to China. Also, Anaya began to edit numerous publications (Anaya 389). When asked why he became a writer Anaya responds, â€Å"†¦I became a writer in my childhood. That is why that time has been so important to me. The character of my childhood, the family, friends, and neighbors that make up my world, they and their lives fed my imaginat ion† (Anaya 375). In 1995, Anaya published his first murder mystery, Zia Summer; also in 1995, Anaya released his book Albuquerque, a good he considered to be a celebration of the city. Zia Summer was followed by rio Grande Fall in 1996, a continuation of his murder mystery series. In 1999, Anaya introduced Shaman Winter. Finally in 2005, Jemez Spring was introduced. Aside from writing, Anaya was a teacher. Anaya began teaching at junior high schools first, then at High schools throughout Albuquerque (Anaya 370). His first teaching position was in a small New Mexican town. Anaya, then, began to work as a public school teacher in Albuquerque from 1963 to 1970. He was appointed the Director of counseling of the University of Albuquerque in 1971. (Rudolfo A. Anaya, article) Then, in 1974, Anaya was offered a position at UNM to teach creative writing (Anaya 380). Anaya worked at UNM from 1974-1993 when he retired. (Rudolfo A. Anaya, article) As Anaya says on the topic of his retirement from UNM, â€Å"I don’t view leaving the University of New Mexico and teaching as retirement. I view it more as the mid-career change, to do a lot of writing and other things, like reading. I want to do more essays. So I think it’s just a shift of energy into new areas† (Anaya, Dick, Sirias, 153). Anaya has received many awards and honors throughout his career. He was awarded the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol literary award for Bless Me, Ultima in 1970 (Anaya, 363). Anaya has been awarded the New Mexico Governor’s Public Service Award twice, in 1978 and in 1980. The Before Columbus Book award was rewarded to him for Tortuga in 1980. (Contemporary Hispanic Biography) In 1982, Anaya received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting script development award for Rosa Linda (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937-). He received the Award for Achievement in Chicano Literature from the Hispanic Caucus of Teachers of English in 1983. In a Salute to American Poets and Writers, Anaya was invited by President Jimmy Carter to read at the White House (Gonzales, 1). The PEN-West Fiction Award was awarded to Anaya in 1992 for Albuquerque (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937). In 2002, Anaya was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George Bush. He was one of the eight Americans receiving the award at Constitution Hall. Anaya received the award for his contribution to American literature that has brought recognition to the traditions of the Chicano people. Gonzales, 2) In 2003, Anaya was awarded the Outstanding Latino/a Cultural Award in Literary Arts or Publications (Biography of Rudolfo Anaya (1937). Since Anaya’s retirement from the UNM English department in 1993, he has dedicated his life to traveling, writing, and reading. He currently lives in Albuquerque with his wife, the same state where he was born (Rudolfo Anaya Author of Bless Me, Ultima Article). He has said that he has no desire to leave. Anay a is overall, one of the most successful and one of the most significant figures in the landscape of Chicano literature. Anaya says, â€Å"†As a mestizo, a person born from these two broad streams (or more correctly, from many inheritances), I want to create a synthesis, a worldview† (Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya Biography, 2). Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest. Anaya sees this as a powerful force, full of magic and myth, and this is apparent in all of his writings. Anaya has moved from one genre to the next, an acclaimed novelist, a poet, a dramatist, an essayist, and anthologist, a playwright, a children’s author, a travel writer, and finally, an editor. His works are standard texts in Chicano studies and literature courses around the world. He has done more than, perhaps, any other person to promote Chicano literature. As Anaya said, â€Å"I fished, scaled the mountains of Taos, hunted with Cruz from the pueblo, finished high school, entered the university, married, and began to travel. I climbed mountains and crossed oceans and deserts in foreign places my old friends back home didn’t know existed. So who is to judge whether an adversity comes to crush us or to reshape us† (Anaya 371).

Assess the View That Sects Always Compromise and Turn Into Denominations

Sects are usually very hostile groups and 9 times out of 10 they will be ‘world rejecting’, meaning that they reject the outside world and believe it is either corrupt or beyond redemption. Such groups tend to abandon the outside world and start their own community with their own way of life or attempt to transform the world with an evangelical approach. An example of a sect which has cut off from the world is the Unification Church, often known as ‘The moonies’ – they reject materialism and encourage its members to hand over all assets whilst imposing an ascetic lifestyle on them.Sects and Cults are known for being quite short lived, and it is suggested that over time they will either turn into a denomination or disband and disappear all together. An example of this is the Methodists, they originally began as a world rejecting religious sect, with members living a lifestyle in opposition to existing society. However, they have evolved over time into becoming the world accommodating denomination that they are today.Neibuhr puts forward his explanation of this and calls it ‘denomination or death. ’ He believes that a Sect is a world rejecting organization that comes into existence because of a schism from an established church due to disagreements within either teachings or religious doctrine. He argues that sects are usually short lived because within one generation they will either compromise with the world, abandon their extreme beliefs and become a denomination or ultimately die out.One reason that Neibuhr puts forward is ‘the second generation’ – this refers to the children of the members who joined voluntarily, they lack the same enthusiasm and beliefs that their parents showed because they were born into it and will not express the same extreme beliefs. He also suggests, ‘the protestant ethic effect’ this is the result of the members living an ascetic lifestyle. People are most likely to join a sect because they are looking for a theodicy of disprivelage to legitimate their position in society, and after living this lifestyle where by they save their money and do not spend it on material goods.They will no longer need the theodicy of disprivelage and will be tempted to compromise with the world and become world accommodating. The Final suggestion, also stated in item A is that most sects have a charismatic leader, and when this leader dies they will either collapse or a new more bureaucratic leadership will take over, this will then transform them into a denomination. However, on the other hand Aldridge suggests that many sects have existed a long time while still retaining their features as sects such as Jehovah’s witnesses.In addition, sects maintain a strict conduct, so much so that if members fail to conform to these standards then they will be expelled, he also points out that sects are very good at socializing children into the acceptance of their beliefs and practices. Similarly, Stark and Bainbridge view religious organizations such as sects as moving through a cycle, they call this ‘the sectarian cycle. ’ The first stage is the ‘schism’, which is when there is tension and disagreement between the privileged, and deprived within a church, the deprived break away to form a world-rejecting sect with slightly different beliefs and practices.The second stage is ‘initial fervor’ which is when a charismatic leader will take over and form great tension between the sect and the outside world, thirdly the sect will then turn to a denomination for the same reasons suggested by Niebuhr leading to them finally, becoming an establishment. This sees the sect become world accommodating; within this stage there is usually a further schism, where more zealous members break away to form a new sect more true to the original message. On the other hand, not all sects are short – lived.Not all sects depend on a charismatic leader so the death of a leader would not affect the functioning of the sect enough for it to collapse and become a denomination; also Many sects have outlived one generation and have still retained their features. Wilson also argues that not all sects follow the pattern of turning into a denomination or dying out, he believes that whether or not this happens to sects depends on how they answer the question that they ask themselves ‘how can we be saved’? onversionist sects will try to convert as many people as possible through evangelism, these will be more likely to turn into larger more formal denominations. Where as Adventist sects such as the seventh day Adventists await the second coming of Christ and will hold themselves separate to society, this separatism will prevent them becoming a denomination. Wilson also argues that globalization will make it harder in the future for sects to keep themselves separate from the outside world.On t he other hand, it will also allow them to recruit in the third world, where there are large numbers of deprived people that will be attracted to sects. This is shown by the success of Pentecostalism. To conclude, the evidence suggests that although it is very easy for a sect to turn into a denomination, not all sects always do. They have means and ways of avoiding this and many have become established sects that will continue to socialize further generation and carry on the original message.

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Boddy (2008) defines Human Resource Management (HRM) as â€Å"the effective use of human resources in order to enhance organizational performance† (p.354). Human resource management is one of the core areas of organizational functions. Even though an organization has many resources such as manpower, materials, machines and money, manpower or human resource seems to the most important one. Context for HRM & key concepts and practices associated with HRM According to Torrington et al. (2011), â€Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the basis of all management activity†( p.4). In fact all the management activities in an organization start from HR. If HR fails to identify and post suitable talents, the organization may not develop properly. The right person at the right place at the right time will always bring benefits to the organization. Since human resource managers are responsible for recruitment, placements, training, development and retention of the employees; the performances of human resource department is vital for the success of an organization. It should be noted that most of the current organizations are operating internationally and diversity in the workforce is not a myth but a fact. Diverse workforce often brings different types of conflicts in the workplace. HR department is responsible for settling such disputes. Strategic HRM is gaining popularity at present because of the globalized nature of organizations a nd the workforce. Paauwe & Boselie (2005) mentioned that â€Å"HRM practices should focus particularly on employee development, the encouragement of learning and knowledge management†. Knowledge management is vital for organizations to stay competitive in the heavily globalized and competitive market. It is necessary to update the knowledge of the employees periodically to make them capable of dealing with the new challenges. Training and development are necessary for the employees to update their skills and knowledge. HR department is responsible for organising training for the employees. As mentioned earlier, majority of the organizations have diverse workforce at present. Diverse workforce often brings a variety of challenges to HRM. Work philosophy, attitudes, skill sets, ethics, values, language, communication means, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of diverse workforces are extremely different. For example, many American companies are currently operating in China and these companies have many American employees along with Chinese employees. China and America are entirely different countries in terms of politics and culture. American employees may face lot of problems related to culture and politics while working in China. HR managers are responsible for providing necessary training to such employees before sending them to China. In short, HR management principles are changing as time goes on because of the huge changes happening in the global business world. The success of an organization depends on how well the HR department deals with such changes and makes corrections in its strategies. Along with employee recruitment, training and development, employee retention is another critical area handled by HR department. It should be noted that smart employees always get better opportunities. It is the duty of the HR managers to provide necessary motivation for work to the employees. Better remuneration and incentives alone may not motivate the employees to stick w ith an organization. Along with remuneration, current employees are particular about the work culture, organizational climate and work-life

Conducting an Environmental Analysis Assignment

Conducting an Environmental Analysis - Assignment Example g all the time, it becomes increasingly difficult for the administrator to understand them and work to ensure that they do not affect the competitiveness of the organization. Moreover, Healey and Marchese (2012) note that it is unrealistic to expect hospital administrators to be aware of all these changes, specifically those changes that impact on the environment of the hospital. Therefore, as administrators continue to manage internal factors that influence their hospital facilities, Ginter et al (2013) ask whether it is realistic for the same administrators to be cognizant of their external environment at the same time. The answer to this is that hospital administration requires not only the management its internal confines, but also anticipation and management of factors and trends on the outside that impact the hospital’s operations and competitiveness. Changes in the political and economic environment, which are external to the hospital, need to be evaluated by the administrator for them to understand how they will impact the strategy and competitiveness of the hospital. The political environment is dynamic and constantly changing. For example, every hospital administrator is aware that the briefs received from state agencies, along with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare result in substantial requirements for paperwork that must be understood, assessed, addressed, and implemented (Noh et al, 2011). However, there are also other political forces that are not directly linked to the healthcare sector that could portend formidable impact on the hospital’s environment. Elected officials and special interest groups may not view the issue at hand, such as obesity, from the same perspective, normally espousing competing and diverse interests. Moreover, the partisan agenda of the Republican and Democratic Party also have to be f actored into the assessment of the hospital’s environment, particularly because the party that holds a majority has the political

Globalization and neoliberalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Globalization and neoliberalism - Essay Example With the Indian neighborhood, they act out their Indian culture. Specifically, the youth act out their Indian American youth culture. Such culture is characterized as musical and dance to the fusion of American hip hop, techno, and reggae with Hindi film music and bhangra. In addition, the Indian American youth they use Indian style nose rings and bindis to complete their cultural trimmings. The American Indians Indian body art to complete their Indian American description (Maira 33). John Clarke, Stuart Hall, and other theorists belonging to the Birmingham school emphasized the American Indians create a unique culture by setting up social rituals which underpin their collective identity and define them as group. The group adopts and adapts material objects and acknowledges them in distinctive styles which express the collectivity embodied in rituals of relationship and occasion and movement. This can be called ritual. Ritual is used in the sense of cultural practice that makes an â€Å"agreement† between enduring cultural structures and the current situation. The Birmingham theorists classified the second generation Indian Americans as a subculture. The latter blurred the link between the cultural construction of youth as a distinct category and the creation of a teenage market (Maira 34). The Birmingham theorists emphasized the Indian youth culture are based on rituals that resist the values inherent in the dominant culture or the overall disposition of cultural power in society as a whole. The creation of a subculture is to comply with the personal, economic, and political crisis that American Indian youth are confronted as they reach adulthood. David Harvey (Harvey 25) affirms the Maira theory of Neoliberalism. The American Indian youth must survive in the American Environment. To do so, the American Indian must comply with neoliberalism concepts. Under the concept, the American Indian â€Å"blends† into the American economic environment in order

Gerrymanderinf Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gerrymanderinf Reflection - Essay Example As long as they remain there, the practice continues. Gerrymandering causes political, racial and class tension in a country. Actions that can be taken to reduce the effects of this practice include redistricting based on neutral or cross-party agencies. Rectifying the voting systems, resizing large districts, regulating transparency in elections and having to use fixed districts in elections. Redistricting, however, faces major challenges in implementation. The challenges are related to the negative influence of the top leadership most of whom are the direct or indirect beneficiaries of the practice (Esman & Herring, 2003). In the process, taking a partisan level of approach is relatively easier and is faced with fewer challenges as compared to a bipartisan level approach. This is because with a partisan level, the decisions and explanations made are retained throughout the process. This game specifically relates to challenges the lawmakers often face as they try to change the wrong strategies that brought most of them to the office. There are three predominant types of gerrymandering. Cracking is a gerrymandering approach that spreads out a particular group of voters among a large number of districts thus denying them a majority vote in one area. For instance, most urban areas are even today divided into several districts voting independently to ensure that they do not have a majority advantage. Stacking is another strategy that packs the particular type of voters in a single district and thus significantly reduces their influence in other districts. This is still used today for instance in selecting districts based on racial divides. Mutually positive gerrymandering redraws districts such that two persons of the same group run against one another and hence they both are eliminated in the election that someone else wins (Nivola & Brady, 2006). Nivola, P. S., & Brady, D. W. (2006). Red and blue nation?: Characteristics and causes of

The role of personnal selling in KFC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The role of personnal selling in KFC - Essay Example KFC came to Singapore in 1977 with its first outlet on Somerset Road. It took the firm 30 years, to establish over 70 outlets which signify the popularity of the chain (KFC 2009). KFCs menu includes Original Recipe chicken – having the same exuberating recipe Colonel Harland Sanders created more than a half-century ago. Customers around the world also enjoy a variety of more than 300 other products – like the Shrooms Burger in Singapore (KFC 2009). KFC Singapore’s performance in 2007 was at its peak. The sales climbed 3.0% to RM280.2 million from RM272.0 million in 2006; while profit before tax augmented 12.3% to RM10.1 million from RM9.0 million the year before (QSRbrands 2007). KFC Singapore attained these record sales with their varied deals throughout the year year. In March, KFC Singapore used its energetic 30th Anniversary media campaign to introduce the new KFC logo, uniform and packing. KFC Singapore also coupled this with their toasted range with Cheesy BBQ Meltz in April the same year. By the end of the year, KFC Singapore had 69 stores, with four new restaurants, five repositioned and eight closures (QSRbrands 2007). But due to the global crunch, sales are declining overall. New ideas and menu items are needed at for the business to keep up with its performance in 2007 (Uniquely Singapore 2009). Moreover cost effective methods of marketing products have to be utilized like personal selling to boost the sales graph which is now taking a downward trend. Technology -Technology plays an eminent role in the growth of an economy. Singapore has the largest and most IT-savvy Port in the world which enables businesses to have efficiency in the supply chain (Field 2002). The country has a very sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure which gives the opportunity to reach new customers and keep a closer check on their preferences (Field 2002). Economic - Singapore is considered as one of the best economies for

Psychology 43 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology 43 questions - Essay Example Paul lives in Cordelia Street, which was a working class neighborhood with haggard-looking businessmen rushing off to their work and though it was a decent place to live Paul seemed to loathe his neighborhood immensely. As for his school, Paul had the same sentiments and despised everyone; he was filled with a certain superiority complex that caused him to belittle everyone around him. The only place he ever loved was Carnegie Hall and did his duty as an usher wonderfully. In this very place Paul discovered his undying passion for the theatre and arts, and being around these things had a soporific impact and he completely forgot about all his worries in life. And in Carnegie hall he completely changed as a person and it turned out to be an escape for Paul from the troubles of his real life. 2. What is the significance of the fact that his father and other men in his neighborhood worked for the "iron kings"? Whom does his father want Paul to emulate? Is such a role model suitable for Paul, given his character?   The legend of the ‘Iron kings’ was about a group of Cash boys and soon stumbled upon great fortune and the fact that Paul’s father had worked for him symbolized that one day Paul too, like these Cash boys would have a life of great wealth and luxury. He was always busy dreaming about a life full of luxury.

Project Management Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Project Management Review - Essay Example If outsourcers fail to re-document the message according to the individual requirements, it means that outsourcers did not get the content of the actual message. It is recommendable for the individual not to settle a response such as â€Å"Yes, I got the message’. Finally, the individual has to request outsourcers to create a prototype for the order placed. This prototype would be very helpful for the individual to ensure that outsourcers have absolutely understood his wants and needs. In order to make the communication between individual and outsourcers better, it is advisable to make use of pictures as they are more powerful tools for communication. In this way, everybody working on a placed order can thoroughly understand how the final product looks like. By undergoing these phases, an individual may ensure that outsourcers clearly understand his requirements. 2. It seems that a project manager’s trust is the key to exercising influence in an organization. A project manager deals with each and every aspect of a particular project, from creating a methodology for specific task completion to formulating a quick plan changes in response to unforeseen contingencies. While considering time-sensitive as well as cost consuming nature of modern business projects, the project manager’s trust is very vital to an organization’s financial success. ... uggests that every project team must â€Å"have sufficient checks and balances in place to insure against untrustworthy behaviors† either by project team members or by other concerned parties (Bourne, 2010). Therefore, a project manager’s trust is vital to make sure better accountability and thereby a positive reputation for the organization. A project manager’s stature also plays a significant role in contributing to organizational flexibility. Since the modern business environment is highly unpredictable, proposed project structure may need to be changed in times of contingencies. A project manager cannot delegate such last-minute changes if he has not earned the trust of his teams. 3. â€Å"Principled negotiation is an interest-based approach to negotiation that focuses primarily on conflict management and conflict resolution† (Principled negotiation). This concept mainly uses an integrative approach with intent to explore a mutually shared outcome. The concept of principled negotiations was firstly introduced in the book â€Å"Getting to Yes† which was published in 1981 by Roger Fisher and William Ury. The principled negotiation is based upon four key points which are illustrated below. 1. Separate people from the problem 2. Focus on interests, not positions 3. Invent options for mutual gain 4. Insist on objective criteria The first key point reflects the fact that relationship issues must be separated from substantive issues. According to Fisher, Ury, and Patton (1991, p. 21), popular problems mainly involve issues related to perception, emotion, and communication. Negotiating on interests does not indicate that it must be about things which people express as a want or need. Often, people tend to achieve extreme positions which are capable of confronting with

Orangutan's diet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Orangutan's diet - Essay Example Orangutans are known to be solitary but occasionally aggregation form particularly in enormous large fruiting fig trees. The individual Orangutans tend to compete as the scramble for food. Therefore, the paper will partly study the kind and strength of food competition in huge fig trees amongst the Orangutans and also probe the impacts of fruits seasonality on the changes in diets and energy balance amongst these wild Sumatran Orangutans to help understand the diet of Orangutans. Studies have shown that over 50 percent of Orangutans diet is composed of fruits hence earmarked as frugivorous. Also, their diet is composed of young leaves approximated to be about 25%, as well as barks and flowers rated at 10%. Moreover, Orangutans diets have also been uncovered to contain about 5% of insect primarily ants, pupae, crickets, and termites. The studies have also pointed out the wild Orangutans are selective and opportunistic. Therefore, during the emergence of tasty and nutritious insects, O rangutans feed all day on them (Nellemann, United Nations Environment Programme & GRID—Arendal, 2007, 34). In case of unavailability of fruits and insects, previous studies have observed that Orangutans feed on trees barks and leaves that are less in nutrition to avoid starvation. Moreover, wild Orangutans have been noted to learn to feed on hundreds of various food types as youngsters through observing their mothers while being permitted to take foods from the mouth and hands of their respective mothers. This study seeks to investigate  and understand the Orangutans’ diet. The study will help the researcher to understand precisely what constitutes these primates diet. Moreover, the study will add knowledge to the already knowledge about these primates. Further, the study will help the researcher develop insights into changes in Orangutan caloric intake, energy balance, and ketones in

The United Kingdom awarding body Essay Example for Free

The United Kingdom awarding body Essay I have been asked to design a system for the United Kingdom Awarding Body (UKAB), an imaginary exam board. This system is going to be used for the monitoring of its post-examination re-marks. System Specification: The system specification needs to store the following data:   Candidate name Candidate number Centre number   Subject Reference Code   Original mark   Re-mark mark Whether the centre requested the return of the script It was also necessary to store the grade boundaries for each of the subjects. For the system I was asked to build the following table was provided for the grade boundaries of each subject: Subject Reference Grade Boundaries (%) Code A B C D E 01325 75 67 60 54 48 20094 70 60 50 40 30 28181 90 78 66 54 42 54821 85 79 74 64 55 64773 68 60 52 46 40 The system needed to be able to produce hard copies of the following:   A daily list of any re-marks completed where a mark change has affected the grade; A daily list of any re-marks still outstanding, i. e. that have not been completed within a three-week period;   A list of re-marks that have been requested for a particular subject;   A list of re-marks that have been requested from a particular centre. The system also needed to be able to produce documents which could be returned to the centre giving the results of the re-marking. The document needed to show the UKAB logo and also the following details: Centre number (integer)   Candidate name (string) Candidate number (integer)   Subject Reference Code (integer)   Original Mark (integer)   Original Grade (text)   Either the re-mark mark and grade, if changed, or a sentence to say that there has been no change (integer/text) Processes: The user of the system would need to be able to carry out the following processes:   Record information about candidates. Amend/delete information about candidates Record re-marks Query so as to obtain the information for the hard copies which I listed above. Firstly I needed to use the data requirements to start to design the entities and attributes that I would use in the system. Following is a brainstorm of the ideas I used to come to the first draft of the entities and attributes: Initial Entities: After this brainstorming I decided to start with the following 3 entities: Candidate(Candidate Name, Candidate Number, Centre Number, Subject Reference Code, Original Mark, Re-mark mark, Requested) Subject (Subject Reference Code, A, B, C, D, E). Centre (Centre Number, Centre Name, Centre Address) Where the underlined attributes represent the primary keys within each entity. In the candidate entity I decided to use both candidate number and also centre number as a joint primary key as candidate numbers were only unique to their centre. This would mean that there could be multiple candidates with the same candidate number; however the candidate number and centre number combined would always be unique. For the subject entity, subject reference code was the only sensible primary key as it was the only unique attribute in the entity. Centre Number is both a primary key in the centre entity and also a foreign key in the candidate entity. Another foreign key in this initial model is subject reference code in the candidate entity. Data Types: Candidate Name: text: 20 Candidate Number: integer Centre Number: long integer Subject Name: text: 15 Subject Reference Code: long integer Original Mark: integer Original Grade: text: 1 Re-mark Mark: integer Re-mark Grade: text: 1 A: integer B: integer C: integer D: integer E: integer Centre Name: text: 20 Centre Address: 200 For each of the field I altered the length of each field appropriately. I did this by either switching from long integer to integer, or changing the maximum number of characters in each field. In this way I was able to save on the space that the database used. Following is the reasons for choosing the data types for some of the fields I used in the database: Candidate Name: I limited the field length to 20 characters as this would be long enough to cater for any name but yet saves space as less space has to be set aside for each record. Candidate Number: as candidate number is only 4 digits long there would be no way in which it would exceed the maximum length an integer would provide. Therefore I chose to decrease the field length to integer so as to save space. Centre Number: I was not able to decrease the size of this field as Centre Number is a 5 digit number and therefore can exceed the maximum length of an integer of 32768. Subject Reference Code: this field again used long integer as its data type due to it being a 5 digit code. To ensure that the field could start with a 0 I altered the properties of the field as below: Original Grade: I decreased the length of this field to 1. The grade would always only be a 1 letter grade such as, A or B. Therefore I was able to decrease the length of this field to 1 at no consequence. Re-mark Mark: I changed this to integer as it was only a 2 digit number. Centre Address: I changed this to 200 characters as an address can be quite long. However I did not change the data type to memo which would have provided more space as it would make the system slower and the extra space would not have been needed First Normal Form: I realized that having the candidates and also the re-marks in the same table, that I would be unnecessarily duplicating data within the system. I therefore decided to split the entity up into two separate entities, candidate and re-mark. So my new entity list looked as below: Candidate (Candidate Name, Candidate Number, Centre Number) Re-mark (Subject Name, Subject Reference Code, Candidate Number, Centre Number, Original Mark, Original Grade, Re-mark mark, Re-mark Grade, Requested) Subject (Subject Reference Code, A, B, C, D, E) Centre (Centre Number, Centre Name, Centre Address) The new entity remark has a composite primary key consisting of, subject reference code, candidate number, and centre number. This was the only combination of attributes within this entity which would ensure that it was always unique. Also in this way I was able to ensure that all of my tables were in first normal form, satisfying the criteria of eliminating duplicative fields within the same table. By making the re-mark table a sub-form of candidate through the use of a one to many relationship between the two, I was able to have multiple re-marks for each candidate without having to break the first normal form which I need to adhere to. Second Normal Form: For a table to fulfill the requirements to be in second normal form, all of the non-key attributes within the entity must be functionally dependant upon the primary key of the table. All of my entities satisfied these criteria so therefore no changes needed to be made. Third Normal Form: For a table to fulfill the requirements to be in third normal form, it must first be in first and also second normal form. On top of the requirements for the first two forms, it must also be ensured that no non-key attributes are dependant upon other non-key attributes. My database already satisfies this requirement and can therefore be said to be in third normal form. As my database fulfills all of the requirements to be in first, second and third normal form my database has now been normalized. Relationships: After designing the entities my table will use while considering the normalization of my tables I have now come up with the following relationships: Above is a screenshot of my relationships that I have created in access. As can be noted there are no many to many relationships as I have eliminated them through the normalization process. Software: For this project I am going to be using Microsoft Access, as well as some coding within Visual Basic which I will implement into the database. I have chosen to use the following combination as it is an easy way to set up tables and the initial database, but also allows me to utilize the power of a programming language such as Visual Basic so I can fine tune and customize the user interface and other aspects of the database. I have chosen to use a package to create the initial database as opposed to programming the whole database as programming the whole database from the start is a larger task which I would not have been able to accomplish with my current understanding of programming. Also for this particular project the extra power that a programmed database could offer was not needed as the solution could be provided in a fairly simplistic form. My other main option for creating this database was to use Delphi, which is a form of Pascal. I have already covered most of the Pascal syntax and it would have been the best alternative choice, however I did not do this for the reasons above. On top of this I wanted to expand my knowledge of systems creation by experimenting with Visual Basic and also Access. Hardware: The hardware which I will be initially creating my solution on is my home PC. This PC was built by me and therefore I am very familiar with the hardware that I will be using. The hardware is of a medium to high specification:   AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (clocked at 1533 MHz) 512 MB DDR PC2100 RAM. 40 GB Hard drive However I wanted to ensure that the software that I was creating would work on a PC of lower specification so that anyone that was using it would not be forced to upgrade their systems to use my database. I therefore did some testing on the PCs at my College which were of a lower specification:   Intel Pentium III 800 MHz   128 MB SD RAM   10 GB Hard drive Design: Tables: Following are screen shots of the tables in my database: Candidate Design View: As can be seen in the properties of the candidate name attribute, I have changed the field size to 20. Also it can be seen that the primary key is a composite one made up of candidate number and centre number. Candidate Table View: Centre Design View: In the above view, the focus is on the centre number attribute, as can be seen the field size is set to long integer, also for the format I have altered it to 00000. This represents the number of digits that I was to be shown at any time, this is a work around of the problem that if a centre number begins with a zero then it will still be kept. The primary key for this entity is Centre Number. Centre Table View: The test data included 3 centres. So as to show the full address of each centre I have had to increase the height of each record within the table. Re-mark Design View: As can be seen for this table the primary key is a composite one comprising of subject reference code, candidate number and centre number. Re-mark Table View: Here is all of the test data for my database, it may be noted that there are more than 15 re-marks (the corresponding number of candidates). This is because I have given some candidates a number of re-marks so as to be able to test the effects of more than one re-mark per candidate. Subject Design View:In the subject table I have given the primary key to the only unique attribute within the entity which is subject reference code. Subject Table View: As can be seen for each grade boundary I have just given the singular value as opposed to the actual bounds for each grade. This is so as to make coding for the user interface easier later on in the solution. Validation Rules: In the specification there were a few rules by which some of the data needed to adhere to, these were: 1. Candidate Numbers are of 4 digits and will be unique within any centre, but not between centres. The solution should ensure that this is allowed for. 2. Centre numbers are allocated within the range 10000 to 80000 and are unique. 3. Subject Reference Codes are 5 numeric digits. The following are the validation rules that I used to ensure that my data was correct. 1. For the candidate numbers I used the following validation rule: (0) And (10000). This allowed for the numbers from 0001 up to 9999. 2. For the centre numbers I used the following validation rule: (9999) And (80001). This allowed for the numbers 10000 to 80000. 3. For the subject reference codes I used the following validation rule: (0) And (100000). This allowed for any 5 digit code. Other validation codes that I used include: 1. (=0) And (=100) : for the original mark and re-mark mark attributes. This ensured that every mark was expressed out of 100. 2. (=A) Or (=B) Or (=C) Or (=D) Or (=E) Or (=U) : for original grade and re-mark grade, this ensure that each was a valid grade. Queries: The first query that I needed to create needed to show any outstanding re-marks. Outstanding was defined as 3 weeks after it was received. This led to me needing to change the design of the re-mark table slightly. I needed to add an attribute (date received) so as to keep record of the date that it was received. After this the re-mark entity looked as follows: Re-mark (Subject Name, Subject Reference Code, Candidate Number, Centre Number, Original Mark, Original Grade, Re-mark mark, Re-mark Grade, Requested, Date Received) Forms: Main: To make the design as user friendly as possible, I have split it into 2 sections of input and output. This way it is easy for the user to distinguish between the two uses of the system. For all of my forms I have included an exit button in the bottom right of each form. I have kept this constant to stay in line with the element of least surprise design. New Centre: Similarly to the new centre button, the new subject button opens at a new record. The screenshot is of the subject form. New Re-marks: The new re-mark button unlike the first two buttons does not open at a new record. This is because it is more likely that the user will be inputting a user from an existing centre and therefore it would make more sense for the user to scroll through the centres. A small feature that I have included in this form is to improve the user interface of the system. It will input a code from a subject name or a subject name from a code automatically. I used the following code to achieve this effect. This code changes a subject name into code, it can be noted that this happens on exit of the subject_name field. For the opposite effect I used very similar code: Above is a small clip of how this code works, it follows on similarly for each code. Again this code takes place on exit of the subject_reference_code field. Re-mark Results: For this particular form I have locked many of the fields, this is because it will be used to input the re-mark results from previously submitted papers. The locked fields are coloured in grey. Another feature which is used in this table is an auto-grading system, where the system calculates the grade from the mark entered. This feature also takes into consideration the different subjects as each has different grade boundaries. The code is as follows: End Sub Where the grade boundaries are actually on the table but are hidden as shown: Each of these fields contains the grade boundaries from the subject table. They change in accordance to the subject reference code which is also on the table. This feature is put in place to increase the efficiency of the system for the end user. It may also be noted that when the re_mark_mark field is exited the re_mark_date field becomes equal to todays date. The field was like the grade boundary fields hidden on the form. Reports: The following are the reports which I included to provide hard copies for the end user. Beneath I have listed the names of each of these reports and have also printed out examples of each report. Each example is clipped onto the end of this report; the page number will be included next to the report name beneath:   Grade Changes (pg )   Outstanding Re-marks (pg )   Subject Report (pg )   Centre Report (pg )   Candidate Report (pg ). Each of these reports simply used the queries that I had already constructed. However the candidate report posed a small problem, the specification stated that it would like to show the grade change or if no grade change had been made, then it would like a sentence stating that there was no change. This meant that I would need to create two separate reports and then create some code which could go to the necessary report when I had inputted the details for the report. Test Purpose of test Data Used or Action Taken Expected Result Actual Result 1 Check that main form loads Click main form button Switchboard form displayed. Form opened 2 Check New Centre form Opens Click New Centre Button New Centre form at new record Form opened 3 Check New Subject form Opens Click New Subject Button New Subject form at new record Form opened 4 Check New Re-marks form opens Click New Re-marks Button New Re-mark form at first record Form opened 5 Check grade changes report opens Click Grade Changes Button Grade changes report preview Preview opened 6 Check outstanding re-marks report opens Click outstanding re-marks button Outstanding re-marks report preview Preview opened 7 Check subject report opens Click subject report button Pop up box then report preview. After entering criteria, opened 8 Check centre report opens Click centre report button Pop up box then report preview After entering criteria, opened 9 Check candidate report opens Click candidate report button 3 popup boxes then one of 2 reports After entering criteria, opened 10 Check exit button Click exit button Form closes Form closed 11 Check auto grade feature for original mark Insert mark Equivalent grade is generated Grade generated 12 Check auto grade feature for re-mark mark Insert mark Equivalent grade is generated Grade generated 13 Check validation rule for candidate number Insert 5 digit code. Rejection of the code Rejected 14 Check validation rule for centre number Insert number larger than 80000 Rejection of the code Rejected 15 Check Validation for subject reference code Insert 6 digit code Rejection of the code Rejected 16 Check validation for original mark Insert number larger than 100 Rejection of the number Rejected 17 Check validation code for re-mark mark Insert number larger than 100 Rejection of the number Rejected 18 Check validation code for original grade Insert the letter G Rejection of the letter Rejected 19 Check validation code for re-mark grade Insert the letter H Rejection of the letter. Rejected 20 Check auto subject reference code feature Insert word business Generation of the code 20094 Generated 21 Check auto subject name feature Insert code 01325 Generation of word Art Generated 22 Auto date feature Enter date field Generation of todays date Generated 23 Check that Auto grade feature works for alterations Change an existing mark Regeneration of grade to new grade Generated 24 Check validation of dates Insert abc into date received Rejection of date Rejected 25 Check that Duplicate Centre Numbers cannot be inputted Insert 66528 in new record Rejection of data Rejected.

Analysis On Jit Sourcing Strategy Information Technology Essay

Analysis On Jit Sourcing Strategy Information Technology Essay Outsourcing problems are very complex where even a small decision when taken wrongly can lead to unpredictable risks. From JITs outsourcing experience, the following questions should be considered in order to analyse the case. How to strategically select the appropriate activities that can be outsourced or be maintained internally? How to identify the relative risks and benefits of outsourcing the selected activities? (Quinn, J. B. Hilmer, F. G., 1995). It has been identified that most managers do not consider the risk factors into account while giving importance only to the costs and benefits of outsourcing and offshoring. Many IT jobs outsourced offshore are help desk jobs. People who hold such jobs typically do not have computing discipline degrees. Murphy and Chabrow (2003) argue that the IT jobs outsourced offshore were the routine, repetitive, and largely uninteresting ones. They are well trained and well versed in the product that they are supporting but in-depth questions regarding the internal workings of the product usually require that a person with a computing discipline degree be summoned to assist. (Antonio M. Lopez, Jr., 2004). Similar to many other outsourcing projects, the key reason for failure in JIT outsourcing activity is poor management and governance. In order to identify the root cause for this failure, we need to frame the key stages of the outsourcing cycle followed by JIT. Based on the success of Corporate Intranet, selective sourcing was decided. Also, it should be noted that corporate Intranet did not involve any vendor employees and was only purchased and handled completely by the JIT. IT outsourcing problems usually happen at the contract and post-contract stages (Alborz et al.s 2003), where how to negotiate and come out with a sound contract, how to manage the contract, and how to build up and maintain a good relationship become the most critical issues IT executives need to face. Managers have to carefully select which IT activities to outsource. John Smith in JIT had an uncertainty about the IT departments value. In order to resolve the internal Infrastructure department issue, some of the IT activities had been selectively outsourced without a proper strategy. An increased IT costs and poor service level in vendors has been mainly due to ill-defined relational contracts and non-flexibility in adapting to both business and technical changes. Thus, many IT activities like JIT did should have remained in-house, but instead were handed over to the vendors.( Lacity, M. C. Willcocks, L. P. Feeny, D. F., 1996). The IT outsourcing lifecycle suggested by (Sparrow E., 2003) can be used to identify the outsourcing process implemented in the IT department of JIT. Initiation Vendor Selection Contract Negotiation Transition Service Delivery (Continuous) Contract Renewal/Termination Pre Execution Execution Time In the Initiation stage, the plan was to outsource the Datacentre management and PC help desk activities to outsourced vendor in order to give provision and for the IT infrastructure group employees to concentrate completely on the enhancement and up gradation of projects within that division. The main motive of outsourcing is generally cost cutting or for maintaining the legacy systems. However, it is required that whatever outsourcing option a company adopts, there is always a need for a capable IS managers to manage the IT operations effectively. It is just not enough to just outsource the work. A companys IT managers should also know how to manage contracts and relationships with third parties. The main motives for JIT outsourcing of Datacentre and PC helpdesk were to reduce IT Infrastructure cost, Improve service quality in PC helpdesk and resolve employee retention in the IT infrastructure section. The IT employees were highly qualified and disliked to work on PC helpdesk. There was employee retention in the infrastructure section. The IT employees spent more time on day-to-day maintenance activities due to which they had no time to enhance the existing projects or innovate new ideas for a competitive advantage over other firms. A study found that only 54% of the agreements realized expected cost savings (Lacity and Willcocks 1998). More recently, a Gartner Dataquest Report claimed that about one of every three outsourcing contracts targeting cost reductions failed to match expectations (Caldwell 2002b; Caldwell 2002a).It should also be noted that, when a company outsources its IT services to a third party vendor, how can it be sure that the vendors skills would be updated? Moreover, in JITs case, cost reduction has been the major concern to decide the outsourcing. Therefore, it cannot expect the vendors CMPI to be updated on technical capabilities and process management. (Earl, M. J., 1996). In the Vendor Selection, JIT finalized with two vendors for each outsourcing projects. The vendor was mainly selected based on the cost/benefit analysis, expertise level. The Datacentre activities in JIT did not face any cross-cultural issues. However, the PC Helpdesk activity required that the staff should know Japanese language as well, in order to support the rotational staffs. Hence, it is essential that the outsourcing firm should be able to understand and manage the cross-cultural differences. (I Oshri, J Kotlarsky, LP Willcocks, 2009). Among the two vendors that JIT finalised for PC helpdesk outsourcing, CMPI was not an experienced company in handling this, whereas, Outsourcing Solutions had proposed a unique business model to provide technicians in four different levels covering all aspects including the cross-cultural differences in JIT. The proposal of Outsourcing Solutions had to be compromised considering just the cost factor. The third stage is the Contract Negotiation. In this, JIT had a Service level agreement with both the vendors for a one year contract. Willcocks and Kern (2000) suggest that strategic intent as well as technical capability shape both contract structure and interpersonal relationship development. In JITs case, the strategic intent and technical capability of DR solutions was strong. But, it was not the same with CMPI. Thus, it resulted in a very poor interpersonal relationship. Thus, a relationship that aims to tap into the technical leadership capabilities of a vendor to achieve IT efficiency may generate higher value if it is run as a partnership; whereas, one that aims to achieve IT efficiency by tapping into a vendors widely available resource pool, may be better managed as a technical supply pay-per-service relationship. In the transition stage, both the datacentre and helpdesk activities were moved to DR Solutions and CMPI vendor appropriately. The IT manager John Smith did not have a clear cut plan with the outsourcing vendors .Immediately after the contract begun; there was not much of monitoring or management of IT operations. (Earl, M. J., 1996). Because of this, it is also likely that the company might have to some of its crucial competencies or capabilities. In JITs aspect, there has been value capture of the outsourcing companies but no value creation. Moving the Datacentre from JIT to DR Solutions was not efficient in terms of preplanning. Although JIT had involved 5 different specialists for the deployment, there was no one to actually monitor the process. Moreover, it was not an appropriate time to relocate the Datacentre to the DR Solutions. In the Service delivery stage, although Datacentre activities was a success, the CMPI employees allocated for PC helpdesk did not possess enough troubleshooting skills right from the beginning, in order to manage the escalation calls they received. They could handle only the quick fixes. They also were reluctant to handle the calls from Japanese executives which clearly convey that, CMPI employees were not well versed in Japanese language. This is another major drawback in CMPIs business model. Governance is considered not just in terms of pre-specified frameworks for a formal relationship, but that emerge in interactions between client and provider (Mintzberg, 1978). It involves both the client as well as the vendor. The MOG model addresses the question of how a companys governance affects the outcome of outsourcing in terms of Value Capture and Value Creation. .(Moments of Governance in IS outsourcing: conceptualizing effects of contracts on value capture and creation). Having char ged $180/per user/month, the employees felt that they were not receiving a quality service from the PC helpdesk. Thus, John smith decided to improve the quality of service by outsourcing to CMPI and also increasing the user charge $200/month. This did not bring any change in the quality of service. This in turn has increased the expenditure in the Infrastructure division of JIT. Also, there was also a need for expense reduction. Even before finalising the contract with CMPI, John smith had the doubt whether the employees from CMPI would be able to handle the numerous numbers of calls received by JIT per day. In order to identify the core capabilities of the outsourcing suppliers, the framework proposed by (Feeny, Lacity and Willcocks,2005) can be applied. In this framework, the capabilities of the outsourcing suppliers have been rated based on their Delivery, Relationship and Transformation Competency. Based on the given information, Compared to the Outsourcing Solutions vendor, CMPI had lacked in the leadership, as CMPI had less experience in providing IT services. It had provided services only to 20 companies. Whereas the Outsourcing Solutions vendor had the credit of providing services to Fortune 500 companies. Considering the technical expertise level, CMPI had highly skilled technicians. However, they did not follow any specific business model to implement the helpdesk activities. Whereas, Outsourcing solutions had proposed with a specific business plan with 4 PC helpdesk technicians of 3 different levels for JIT. Also the technicians had excellent resumes and references with them. Also, CMPI were not willing to give an upper limit on the amount of time its employees would take to resolve an escalated call. This information was very unclear when compared to Outsourced solutions. While the Relationship and transformation competency of Outsourced Solutions is much better when compared to CMPI, the cost has been very high. This forced JIT to choose CMPI.(I Oshri, J Kotlarsky, LP Willcocks, 2009).If a company decides to outsource IT services just focusing on costs; It is assuming that its directions and necessities are clear. (Earl, M. J., 1996). Key Problems with JITs Sourcing Strategy: JIT was focusing more on cost cutting instead of the quality of the service provided by the vendors. This is because, although the vendors CMPI chosen for PC helpdesk activities were not expensive, they did not have as much of experience as the other vendor Outsourced Solutions. The existing IT division employees at JIT felt that PC help desk Job was not a very productive and was not improving their career as all these employees felt they were overqualified to perform the mundane job. Moreover, as they were spending most of their work hours on maintenance and PC problems, they were unable to concentrate on upgrading or enhancing the existing projects. This eventually started demotivating them. There was poor governance and Management right from the beginning of the outsourcing contracts initiation. The Service Level agreement was not made clear during the initial contract with CMPI. There have been poor contract and relationship issues. According to Deming (1986), a poor communication or a poor coordination between the vendor and the client is mainly due to poor vendor performance. Some of the anticipated benefits of outsourcing such as cost reduction, expanded, updated skills from vendors and increased flexibility often failed to materialize. (An enterprise perspective of Software Offshoring).Most companies that are outsourcing IT for the first time are not aware of the hidden costs that might start occurring post contract. These may arise as a result of insufficient planning or an unexpected turn of events. (Daniel C. M. Tan, 2009). The IT director John Smith, who was solely responsible for both the outsourcing projects, did not actually investigate deep into similar outsourcing cases. Based on just the Corporate Intranet outsourcing that gave a success to JIT, he proceeded with this outsourcing decision. He did not give much interest for getting consulting, although he just got a suggestion from one of the known consultants. In Information technology, Customized services are generally not outsourced. As, Michael Cunningham (Ask IT Professional IT Advisory Services Company) Said to John Smith, IT outsourcing is significantly less mature than other outsourcing sectors. Before outsourcing the Datacentre and PC Helpdesk activities, the JIT Company had little knowledge on the Outsourcing strategies. From the clients perspective, IT outsourcing decision makers are usually short of experience to select and evaluate service providers and immature in negotiating contracts, managing contracts and maintaining good relatio nships with the providers.(Q.Cong, 2000). Recommendations for fixing helpdesk problems faced in 2002: Aron and Singh (2005) suggest that firms should base their outsourcing and offshoring decisions on the assessment of operational and structural risks. For activities that present high operational and structural risks (e.g. corporate planning), they recommend to execute in house and onshore. Activities that present moderate operational and structural risks (e.g. supply chain coordination) they suggest to outsource carefully, using extended organization offshore, and monitor closely in real time. Activities with low operational and structural risks (e.g. transaction processing) are suitable for outsourcing to offshore service providers. With the datacentre outsourcing, although there was a problem in the transition phase, it got resolved immediately due to the vendors dedication and strong relationship with JIT. However, there was no risk management planned for both the outsourcing. With the PC helpdesk outsourcing, rather than choosing the in-house facility, choosing the right vendor/vendors for outsourcing will always be cheaper and efficient for mundane IT tasks. According to Willcocks and Lacity, over 75% of organizations in the developed economies outsource 15%-50% of their IT budgets, typically with multiple suppliers. JIT can continue for the same SLA with CMPI. But, instead of re-negotiating the contract only with CMPI, it can also involve into a new contract with Outsourced Solutions. As Willcocks (2008) said, outsource only business and not your problems. Outsourcing should be viewed as an opportunity and not just as a cost cutting strategy. Hence, JIT should consider the quality, their experience and capability while choosing to outsource the tasks to vendor. As JIT is going to outsource a part of its helpdesk activities to the new vendor, the cost can be reduced. Also through the adoption of multi-vendor strategy, competition between two vendors result in the right pricing for the client and the quality of service will be improved. In order to resolve the PC helpdesk problem, my recommendation would be to continue with the existing vendor (CMPI) and shift some of the other helpdesk activities to a new vendor. In this case, the new vendor can be Outsourced Solutions, which means JIT can follow a multi-vendor Outsourcing Strategy. Or, JIT can cancel the contract with CMPI and choose Outsourced Solutions for better service. Benefits / risks of Single vendor Outsourcing strategy: By adopting a single vendor strategy that JIT already follows, it needs to track only a single implementation. Complexity of management will be much minimized. This is mainly adopted by clients to benefit from lower operational costs. Similarly, JIT also adopted the single vendor strategy only to lower its operational costs. But, cost should not be the only criteria. Vendor management, capability, and experience, of vendor should be given more importance. The client can expect the highest level of vendor capabilities through a well-planned Service Level Agreement. The risks could be poor quality of service by the vendor. There is also a possibility of too much dependency created on the vendor by the client. At the end, this can result in a situation for clients where they cannot move out of the vendor at their will. However, as JIT failed to follow this strategy efficiently, I would recommend that a multi vendor offshore outsourcing can be adopted by JIT to solve the issues faced in its Infrastructure section. Benefits /Risks of Multi-Vendor Outsourcing: As mentioned earlier, JIT did not follow a risk mitigation methodology while choosing the vendors for both the Datacentre and PC helpdesk activities. Thus when JIT outsources the PC help desk activities to CMPI as well as Outsourced Solutions, it can reduce the risk level because, even when CMPI does not provide a quality service, Outsourced Solutions will be there to backup. Working with multiple suppliers provides a strong element of power for a company for at least two reasons. First, if a supplier underperforms, it becomes easier to transfer the work to a supplier that is already executing the same processes. Second, working with multiple providers will generate a competitive climate among them that, if managed carefully, can become very beneficial for the customer, both in terms of the quality of service delivered and in terms of price. As there are two vendors (CMPI and Outsourced Solutions), there is increased domain and technical expertise. This will also enhance the service quality as each vendor will try to compete with the other vendor while providing its services. However, in multi-vendor outsourcing, the companies engage an array of vendors; the managers should be increasingly adept at managing the entire portfolio of vendors. Thus, John Smith should think beyond cost to ensure the success of the PC helpdesk outsourcing. (Lacity, M., Willcocks, L. and Feeny, D., 1996). Firstly, vendors familiarity with the business is most important. Although, CMPI was familiar with helpdesk activities, it was not aware of the actual activities happening in the Infrastructure section in JIT. (Kakabadse, A., and Kakabadse, N., 2000) Secondly, there should be good involvement from the JITs IT team to equally co-operate with the vendors employees. (Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A., 2007).

The Man With The Movie Camera Analysis

The Man With The Movie Camera Analysis Dziga Vertovs 1929 film, The Man with the Movie Camera, documents life in a Russian city while also telling a story about filmmaking. The film is a dazzling mix of imagery and technique, inviting the viewer to see the city through the eyes of the cameraman, and to share his perception of the events and visions that he encounters through the filmmaking process. This review will examine the films narrative line and its underlying themes, its use of genre and generic traditions, the cinematic techniques employed and the effectiveness of its approach to the material. At the beginning of the film, The Man with the Movie Camera defines itself as something out of the ordinary. In the opening credits, the title cards refer to the film as an experiment in the cinematic communication of visible events, executed without the aid of intertitles, without the aid of a scenario, without the aid of a theater (Vertov). From the outset, the film distinguishes itself by aiming to explore the pure essence of film-to document and record human life and activity in the form of moving pictures. The Man with the Movie Camera is split into four sections, and is book-ended by imagery relating to film and filmmaking. It opens in a cinema and closes with the lens of a camera shutting its eye. From a narrative perspective, the film is different from the norm in that it has no typical protagonist or antagonist. If a main character had to be defined, he would be the cameraman, with his main supporting character being the editor. The city and its inhabitants as a unified entity also become a major character in the film, showing how they interact with each other in the daily routine of work, rest and leisure through the perspective of the filmmaker. The movie is predominantly concerned with depicting reality, rather than dramatized fiction or re-creations of historic events. The films story is constructed in an unconventional narrative style, but is brought together through the recurring theme of the camera and the filmmaker. The events in the film take place over the course of a day, and although Vertov experiments with geographical and temporal continuity, the audience is given enough information to piece together the plot. Upon first viewing, this plot may not be entirely clear, but as Roberts confirms, The Man with the Movie Camera does have a plot (1). Each section of the film covers the different parts of the day (work, rest and leisure), and through this, Vertov establishes images which provide the visual language which is brought into play throughout the length of the film. By layering this imagery through editing and montage, and combining them with the underlying story of the filmmaker and his camera, the overarching narrative is tied together. Roberts explains that all human life is here from birth to death via childhood, marriage, divorce, wo rk, rest and play (2). This avant-garde style of filmic storytelling became popular in the form of the city symphony genre. Dimendberg explains that the genre encompasses around twenty titles and relies heavily upon montage to represent a cross-section of life in the modern metropolis (109). In adhering to this genre, The Man with the Movie Camera does away with the traditional trappings of the documentary and becomes something different. There is no narration, no conventional narrative or plot elements, but rather a succession of rhythmic imagery detailing the inner workings of a city. Graf describes the genres structure as having a dawn to dusk strategy in the search for a pure film form (79). Vertov employed many cinematic techniques to achieve the incredible momentum of imagery found in the film. These techniques included split-screen, slow motion, freeze-frame, fast motion, and stop-motion animation. The stop-motion animation sequence where the camera seems to come alive and walk around on its tripod remains startling even today. When juxtaposed with the everyday motions of human life which the film presents, it becomes clear that the camera itself has a life of its own. It has its own perception of events separate from that of the filmmaker, and separate from that of the audience. The diversity of techniques used makes the film a showcase of the power of cinema and its ability to transform everyday life into something completely different, with its own rhythm and sense of unpredictability. The editing in The Man with the Movie Camera is one of the films strongest points. There is a segment which contrasts challenging footage of a birth with that of a funeral. As one life ends, another begins. Similarly, there is a scene of marriage, with joyous atmosphere and smiling faces. In contrast, Vertov inserts a somber scene of a couple signing their divorce papers. These binary oppositions are ubiquitous throughout the film, with juxtapositions between work and play, play and rest, man and machine, and many others. The musical score also brings much life and energy to the film. The repeated themes complement the visual language that Vertov established. According to Feldman, Vertov carefully planned the musical score and may well have intended the work to be made as the first Soviet sound film (qtd in Barsam 74). The synchronicity between sound effects and onscreen action creates an impressive and exciting mosaic of audio and imagery. While the film is certainly a product of its time, it holds up surprisingly well in modern day. Barsam states that the film was well-received in the domestic and international press (74). The inventive narrative construction and the multitude of cinematic techniques placed the film genuinely ahead of its time. Vertov was successful in his attempt at documenting Russian life in a city without many of the normal elements typically found in documentaries. He managed to show an impressive cross-section of Russian society, by following the daily lives of different classes of people. The Man with the Movie Camera remains a wonderful piece of experimental cinema, and offers a fascinating view of life as it was in the Soviet 1920s.

Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Daniel Ellsberg, and the Vietnam

Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Daniel Ellsberg, and the Vietnam War Daniel Ellsberg once believed in the need to contain Communism, in America’s military supremacy, and in the sanctity of those who governed America’s democratic institutions, yet decades of American involvement in Vietnam changed these beliefs for him. The nature of the Vietnam War forced Ellsberg to revise his earlier faith in America’s ability to win any war and his faith in the trustworthiness of America’s leaders. By 1971, this former Defense Department official had so completely altered his thinking that he leaked classified documents to the press in order to encourage public scrutiny of American foreign policy decisions in Vietnam and of the integrity of those who made such decisions. Although Ellsberg is an extreme example, he illustrates the way the Vietnam War called into question many widely accepted beliefs that were shaped by American experience in World War II and in the Cold War. The reassessment of these World War II and Cold War assumptions, however, was not universal within the nation nor within the government elite. As some leaders revised their thinking because of Vietnam, and others held tightly to their initial assumptions despite contradictory evidence, dissent and confusion increased in the higher echelons of government. This high-level dissension mirrored the differences of opinion in the nation and was often responsible for ambiguous, inconsistent policies in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried reveals how the lack of government consensus and clear purpose in policy, as indicated by an analysis of Ellsberg’s intellectual conversion, translated into confusion, purposelessness, and futility for those who a... ...for reconsideration. It seems that if any consensus was left intact after the Vietnam War, it was one of cynical distrust, critical questioning, and ideological confusion. Works Cited Chafe, William H. The Unfinished Journey 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Ellsberg, Daniel. Papers on the War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972. Herring, George C. America’s Longest War: the United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. Hodgson, Godfrey. â€Å"The Ideology of the Liberal Consensus† in History of Our Time. Ed. William H. Chafe and Harvard Sitkoff. 4th edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Schrag, Peter. Test of Loyalty: Daniel Ellsberg and the Rituals of the Secret Government. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.