Class Prophecy 2012 Essay

Having stayed for five years in France for my masteral studies and job as historical journalist in CNN, made me long to go back to my country. I wanted to stay with my family, reunite with old friends, and render my hard work to my countrymen. I know that my studies and my work have led me to different places across the globe, meet new peoples, and lead a wonderful and meaningful life. However, as the rugged saying goes â€Å"there is no place like home†. Upon the completion of my thesis my concluding documentary, and my book about the Philippines in France, I bade everyone â€Å"au revoir† â€Å"until next time† and happily went back to Philippines. Inside the plane we were given all the luxuries that we can afford in this long ride home, that almost always include a newspaper. As I browsing through the pages of the newspaper, I was awestricken by the names that I saw in the bylines. They were of Jenzen Anzano – writing news for the Metro; and Valeriano Onia – reporting about the recent battle of Ginebra versus Rain or Shine. But the good news doesn’t just end there, Mila Mary Lyn Maralit’s chemical invention have earned her an award from the President of the Philippines, Alyssa Mae G. Daraog. Then on the Health and Fitness Section was the full-page length column of the famous psychologist Richard Sanchez. With all their abilities and talents way back our high school years, we knew that these former classmates would indeed become successful and it is heartwarming to learn that these Lucians were pioneers in adhering to the CORE values that we cherished in our high school years. Many hours passed and the song in the plane shifted from The Beatles; to the Lady Antebellum’s; to SNSD’s; to the Hotdog’s Manila. By then we knew that we are approaching the Philippine territory and in no more than an hour we shall be landing. Suddenly, a lady in black dress approached me. It was Mara Cassandra Gomez! She told me that she was in France for two weeks to attend for an international conference in Psychology. We talked and talked until we are notified to go back our seats and fasten our seatbelts for our landing. I can feel the plane slowly going down and sudden gosh of excitement and relief that embraced my being when I finally felt the bump of the wheels in the land of my country. I’m finally back! My first two weeks were spent in countless reunions and homecoming then I wondered where are my high school schoolmates, classmates, friends? I hope to meet them again. However, now is not the time to think about those, we will soon find our ways. By now, I have to work-on my job in the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Right there and then, I was accepted and given projects. First on the list was the Bangon Tribe in Mindoro. I am thrilled because I am the one in-charge of such meticulous and comprehensive task that we shall carry-on. I decided to go to the bookstore to enhance my knowledge and to at least familiarize myself with their environs. As my car was driving along EDSA the billboard of Rowielyn Singh and Jaypee De Castro, the hosts of WilTime Big Time was prominently displayed, then there is also another billboard of pop star singers, Ma. Diana Derpo, Binna Azucenas, and Ericka Faye delos Santos inviting everyone to join in their concert at the Mall of Rommel Concepcion’s Concert Grounds. Lucians of batch 2012’s progress can’t be stopped. From De Castro to Rosario Village/Tramo ; now Lucians are domineering EDSA and filling up the key positions in our society! As I went inside the bookstore, my attention was caught by the book at top of the best-sellers list. That was the name of Rhoxanne Villasin, she is the author of this year’s bestselling book. I grabbed my copy of her book then bought the materials that I needed for my work. Nearby I saw a new mall named Von’s. I went inside and I was really amazed with the beauty and intricate details of the place. While strolling along I heard someone shouted my name. Few steps away from me was Glenn Rose Baculanlan! Dressed like a Parisian doll, she and four other ladies in office attire went to me. Glenn Rose is now a model and the four ladies with her are Roselyn Monforte, Louise May Mackay, Cynthia Mae Pama, and Angel Mae Bahay were the accountants at Von’s the mall that Christian Von Geminiano owns. We went inside the pub named Muppets and had some coffee. While having our funny chats, we reminisced the good-old days wherein being a historian, an accountant, and a model were just a confusing dream†¦ a vague possibility. Just when we are about to part ways a lady appeared before us and introduced herself as Shirlyn! Indeed it was she†¦ Shirlyn Alvario the owner of Muppets restaurant. She informed us that Lucians are involved in the foundations of her restaurant with Bhenz Benig (now a food technologist) as her business partner. Joseph Perez and Rances Marticio were in charge of the place’s architectural design, Bernardino Rodelas for the engineering plans and construction, and the famous artists: Cedrick Caguing, Cyril Flora and John Paul Dogillo for the details and designs. Neither one of us wouldn’t want to end our girl talks and reminisces but then we knew that we have works to do so we exchange contact numbers and promised to meet soon. Back to work, I indulged myself with my project. Busy all day studying, preparing, preparing, studying. One day, three days before my five-member team went to Mindoro, I was informed that certain groups would like to join our trip and they all had their recommendations. Of course, I do not like them to go with us because our work might be exploited by their presence. But then, I couldn’t just discredit their requests so I immediately called my assistant to call their representatives to explain their intentions at exactly two p.m. today. After an hour, my secretary informed me that all the persons that we’ve been waiting to talk to are already inside the conference room and they are quite noisy. I immediately went inside my conference room and . . . it seems like I’m a high school student once more! The faces inside are all my high school classmates and friends. Indeed all of them, wow! Aarone Jhone Julian is now the managing president of the Apple Company in the Philippines; Jennelyn dela Cruz, Ma. Kathleen Adona, and Mark Anthony Borja are now the Division Supervisors of Pasig City; Kimberly Mae Chua, Stefany Cabantog, and Mharianne Yalega, are now head doctors of Lucia General Hospital; Francesca Ann Balmonte, is recognized as one of the bests photographers in country; and Sir Eljun Velga is now the Principal of Sta. Lucia High School. They explained to me that they wanted to join to help and contribute something for progress that has always been OUR dream. Right there and then, I agreed and we’ve planned the flow of our own respective missions consecrated towards the fulfillment of one goal. At home, I packed my things for our mission then watched the news anchored by Merleen Mercolita. News about Ramlou Demegillo’s outstanding performance in the International Dance Sport Competition; Nigel Paulino, Renmar Moses, Julius Caesar Brutas, and Marcelino Loza’s gold in the recent Olympic games; Jovy Ann Sta. Ana, manager of SNSD; Arjay Gervacio-Ventura, the new business tycoon; Ronnel Villamar tops the Bar Exams; and Shelly Ann Ruales’s proclamation as the Philippine Ambassadress to the USA.

Beowulf – Critical Review

I believe Beowulf was written with an Anglo-Saxon foundation, but there was an attempt at relating Christian beliefs to the Anglo-Saxon ways. The main character of the poem, Beowulf, is portrayed as an Anglo-Saxon warrior. Beowulf's values and the way that other characters in the poem acted were also primarily Anglo-Saxon. The traditions of Beowulf's people support the Anglo-Saxons in several ways throughout the poem. On the other hand, there are many instances in the poem where it is easy to recognize the Christian themes that were included. Beowulf is a great Anglo-Saxon hero in the poem and possesses several unexplained supernatural powers. From this, you can only assume that he is above humans and â€Å"normal† people. One explanation for Beowulf's strength is that the Anglo-Saxon writer is relating Beowulf directly to the Great White Bear of the North, which is an Anglo-Saxon myth. Several details support this, including the breakdown of Beowulf's name into the root language. â€Å"Beo†, meaning bee, and â€Å"-wulf† meaning enemy support this because the â€Å"enemy† of the â€Å"bee† is the bear. Knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder; his mind flooded with fear-but nothing could take his talons and himself from that tight hard grip. â€Å"(Beowulf pp. 46-47, ll. 751-755) This quote from the poem is referring to when Beowulf fought Grendel in Herot, and he holds Grendel in what seems like a â€Å"bear† hug, which supports Beowulf being the Great White Bear of the North. When Beowulf travels to Grendel's home at the bottom of the lake he acts in a very Anglo-Saxon way. After killing Grendel and his mother, he decapitated Grendel and brought his head as a souvenir to Herot. This action is very contradictory to Christian ways, but would be a normal act for an Anglo-Saxon warrior in war. In Beowulf's war against the Franks in which he was the only survivor he supported Anglo-Saxon ways. â€Å"He had killed no less than thirty of the enemy in hand-to-hand conflict, one of them, the Frankish champion Daeghrefn, he slew with his bare hands. The poet informs us further that Beowulf was the only man on his side to survive the battle. His own triumph over the enemy was so complete that, though his fellows all lay dead, he held the field alone and stripped from the bodies of the thirty men he had slain the armor to which his victory over them gave him honorable title. â€Å"(Malone p. 144) Beowulf acted as an Anglo-Saxon warrior in the way that they were very materialistic, and taking the armor and leaving one's friends behind would be common in war. All the ways Beowulf acts in war situations throughout the poem are Anglo-Saxon and the author meant to portray him in this way. Beowulf's values in the poem and also the way in which the dragon and Grendel's mom act reflect Anglo-Saxon attitudes. Prior to his death, Beowulf asked for a large tower to made on the coast so that people would never forget him after his death. â€Å"Wiglaf, go, quickly, find the dragon's treasure: we've taken its life but its gold is ours, too. Hurry, bring me ancient silver, precious jewels, shining armor and gems, before I die. Death will be softer, leaving life and this people I've ruled so long, if I look at this last of all prizes. â€Å"(Beowulf p. 108 ll. 744-2751) Here Beowulf asks Wiglaf to bring treasure before his death, which shows Beowulf's materialistic views. This supports the theory that Beowulf performed all of his actions for fame and glory, not charity. Performing these actions for fame does not support Christian values at all and is more evidence on how Beowulf is primarily an Anglo-Saxon character. The dragon that Beowulf battles in the end of the poem shares with Grendel's mom the fact that they both were getting revenge on their enemies. Each character was violated in one way or another, the dragon getting his gold cup stolen and Grendel's mom defending her son. According to Anglo-Saxon beliefs revenge is tolerable, and because neither of these characters acted first in battle, they were justified. However, if one were to look at Christian beliefs, revenge is not tolerable and neither the dragon or Grendel's mom would be justified in their violent acts of revenge. Beowulf does have an attitude that differs between Christina values and Anglo-Saxon values. Depending on the situation, Beowulf will express one or the other. â€Å"Yet he makes Beowulf an admirable Christian except when Christianity and the warrior code conflict. Then Christianity comes off a poor second-as it did with most Anglo-Saxons. â€Å"(â€Å"Chapter 4-The Anglo-Saxon View† p. 33) This is an example of the order that Beowulf's priorities were set and also how his community influenced him to lean more towards the ways of Anglo-Saxons. The way the poem begins and ends with pagan funerals supports the poem being more Anglo-Saxon than it does Christian. â€Å"There can be no doubt that Beowulf's cremation is a pagan rite. Unless Beowulf is a good deal older than most scholars believe, the funeral is a traditional archaism. (â€Å"The Anglo-Saxon View† p. 33) The funeral in the beginning of the poem was for the Danes' great king, Shild. The funeral at the end of the poem was held for Beowulf, the great king of the Geats. Each of these kings was buried with gold or had a monument built to be remembered by, which were traditions of the Anglo-Saxons. King Shild was brought much treasure to his death, â€Å"Next to that noble corpse they heaped up treasures, jeweled helmets, hooked swords and coats of mail, armor carried from the end of the earth. â€Å"(Beowulf p. 24 ll. 6-39) Beowulf was cremated at the end of the poem, surrounded by war gear, â€Å"A huge heap of wood was ready, hung around with helmets, and battle shields, and shining mail shirts, all as Beowulf had asked. â€Å"(Beowulf p. 120 ll. 3137-3140) The poem ends in a tragedy, Beowulf dies and his men mourn him. This contradicts Christianity because according to the Bible, Jesus died, and then rose again to look over all mankind. These two stories are not parallel and this rejects the idea that the poem is primarily Christian. Beowulf is a warrior who dies as an Anglo-Saxon hero, but there is no evidence to show that he dies as a Christian hero. Despite all of the evidence that the poem is totally Anglo-Saxon, there is a good deal of Christian references in the poem. There are many lines and situations that can be interpreted as Christian. â€Å"Our Holy Father has sent him as a sign of His grace, a mark of His favor, to help us defeat Grendel and end that terror. â€Å"(Beowulf p. 35 ll. 381-384) This is a very blatant reference to the Anglo-Saxons referring to the Christian God as their own. â€Å"There is no doubt whatever that the Beowulf-poet has gone out of his way to exclude all the old pagan gods from an active place in his poem. The one referred to throughout by Hrothgar and Beowulf alike is the one, providential God of the Christians. â€Å"(McNamee p. 332) Another event in the poem that could be interpreted as Christian is when Beowulf travels to the lake of Grendel. Many symbols can be found here, such as the lake being hell, and after Beowulf kills Grendel's mother it seems as though Heaven shines upon him. â€Å"Her body fell to the floor, lifeless, the sword was wet with her blood, and Beowulf rejoiced at the sight. The brilliant light shone, suddenly, as though burning in that hall, and as bright as Heaven's own candle, lit in the sky. (Beowulf p. 72 ll. 1567-1573) Another example of Christianity in the poem is the reason for Grendel terrorizing the Danes. He is not necessarily evil, but Grendel could actually be seen as a monster sent by God. â€Å"And, assuming a little different position, one notes that Grendel is the agent, not the enemy of God; he was sent to punish the Danes and the poet was only adding his touch of cunning subtlety when he said Godes yrre baer [he bore God's anger]. â€Å"(Baum p. 358) This author is writing that Grendel is not evil, but he is actually good and was meant to torture the Danes for their behavior. The many references to Christianity express the author's inner Christianity and I believe that he was an Anglo-Saxon man originally, who was either converting to Christianity or was a converted Christian who was trying to promote Christianity by relating it to Anglo-Saxon ways. Overall Beowulf is a poem that can be interpreted in so many ways, and the author left that up to his readers. I have come to believe that the poem is primarily an Anglo-Saxon one, but I do not deny the idea that Christian vales, themes, and ways were added or included.

Employee Training & Development and Organizational Benefits Dissertation

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Bio Cement Essay Example for Free

Bio Cement Essay The project aims at attaining high durability of concrete and gaining high strength of cement. We plan to make use of bacterial species which can hydrolyze the enzyme Urease efficiently to produce microbial concrete. Such bacterial are known to produce calcium which is useful in giving strength to cement. We are working in 2 stages. Stage 1: Here we check the effect of bacterial solution on cement mortar and along with that we check the effectiveness of the bacterial solution to fill the cracks in concrete by precipitation of calcium in the cracks. Stage 2: To prepare concrete using the cement and solution (bacterial) in optimum ratio and checking its effectiveness from strength and durability perspective. Till now Stage 1 is partially over: We have made use of this bacterial solution(Emulsion: Bacillus culture+ nutrient broth+ sucrose+ urea+ calcium chloride+ antifungal agent(griseofulvin)to heal the existing cracks in the concrete walls. For achieving high 7 days we have made use of bacterial solution in some fixed proportion with water. The 7 days test was performed on 7/12/11 with 5%, 10%, and 15% of the bacterial solution with respective percentage of water. We have gained a significant percentage increase in the strength of the cubes made with bacterial solution with water versus those made with only water Bacteria at work Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is known to be a natural phenomenon associated with a wide range of bacterial species such as Bacillus spp. provided the right conditions, namely, an alkaline environment rich in Ca2+ ions. Bacterially induced mineralization has recently emerged as a method for protecting and consolidating decayed construct materials. Calcite (CaCO3) is one of the most common and widespread minerals on the earth, constituting 4% by weight of the earth’s crust. Calcite precipitation is a common phenomenon which forms natural rock and exists in environments such as marine water, fresh water, and soils. Microbial calcite precipitation can be induced by organisms involved in the nitrogen cycle, via the hydrolysis of urea by enzyme urease, which results in the production of carbonate ions in the presence of ammonium. Calcium carbonate is readily precipitated under these conditions, in the presence of calcium. Microbial calcite precipitation comprises a series of complex biochemical reactions. During microbial urease activity, 1 mol of urea is hydrolyzed intracellularly to 1 mol of ammonia and 1 mol of carbonate, which spontaneously hydrolyzes to form additional 1 mol of ammonia and carbonic acid. Subsequently, these products equilibrate in water to form bicarbonate, 1 mol of ammonium and hydroxide ions which give rise to a pH increase and ions Ca2+ and CO32- present in the surrounding precipitate as CaCO3. Urea hydrolysis is the most easily controlled of the carbonate generating reactions, with the potential to produce high concentrations of carbonate within a short time. Bacillus spp. was used in this study. The culture was grown in Nutrient broth-urea (NBU) medium containing peptone, sodium chloride, yeast extract, 2% urea and 25mM calcium chloride and incubated at room temperature on shaker condition (130 rpm). Calcium chloride acts as the source of calcium ions and urea as the source of carbonate ions. Observations * There is a rise in the compressive strength of the mortar cubes till 5 % bacterial solution. * The strength is reduced when the proportion of bacterial solution is increased up to 10 % and beyond. * The cubes with 15% bacterial solution shows 8 % decrease in strength. * The 1%, 2%, 3% cubes developed less cracks in comparison to control cubes. * The cubes when observed after testing , the control cubes had more number of empty pores. Conclusion * 3% cubes showed an increase in compressive strength of 36 % in comparison to control cubes. * Reduction in empty pore space.(which prevent the ingress of water and other chemicals ) * Bacteria does not have any physical effect on the cement. * Chemically inert. * Bacterial solution can be prepared on a large scale . * No skilled labour is required. * Its production is economical. References * Microbial activity on the microstructure of bacteria modified mortar by S.Ghosh, M.Biswas, B.D. Chattopadhyay, S.Mandal. * Effect of calcifying bacteria on permeation properties of concrete structures by Dr. Varenyam Achal. * Work on BacillaFilla by New Castle University.

Causes and effects of fluctuation in oil price

Causes and effects of fluctuation in oil price This report discusses about the most essential energy resource and the core in economics that is oil. Since it is now used in a variety of ways to operate any machines for everyday life especially automobiles, its needs and wants has been grown rapidly. However, such unsustainable and finite amount of oil now does tremendous matters to global economics. When it was not fully used for running machines, people in history used for constructions and medicines. However, with its discovery of many usable ways such as lighting, the wants of oil has been rocketed. After many years have been used oil for running machines and other fields, economists found that oil price is actually affected by some crucial reasons and events occurred. Following this, it explains with examples about how such natural disasters, wars, recession, and oil crisis can cause the oil price changed. Also, it talks about effects as what would happen to politics and economics after the fluctuation in oil price. Since the re is high in demand of oil and limited supply, the price of oil is very high. Also, environmentalists claim that even it has replaced coal successfully in running machines and automobiles, it still emissions harmful pollutant to nature. Therefore, many researchers have been made a research for an alternative energy source to oil. Actually, there are many renewable energy sources found to use as alternative energy to oil after it is depleted, but it still has to study more on it due to new technology required to be usable. Hence, there are many arguments about whether we should keep oil as main energy source or change it to new energy source to lessen the current oil price and care about remaining amount of crude oil even it costs a lot. We infer that the oil price fluctuation can make significant changes economically, socially, and politically. We also think that searching for alternative energy sources can help the environment and maintain more stable economy. 1.0 Introduction The oil, which is used for everyday life, is just as important as water and air. Oil is used not only for running automobiles and producing electricity but also producing plastics, clothes, and electrical goods as well. Thus, we could say oil is a fundamental material to produce goods we need in everyday life. This research paper will mainly discuss oil and recognize how the money in exchange for oil, in other words, the oil money affects global economy. Also, we will see how other economists think about viable alternatives to oil in future. 2.0 History of Oil use Oil has been known as one of the most significant and essential energy sources used and progressed for numerous purposes since thousands of years. Despite modern major oil use is to run automobiles such as cars, buses, trucks, and ships, ancient people used in many other ways. According to history, ancient people used pure oil not only as a material for binding materials and as a sealant for waterproofing various surfaces but also as worked materials to pave asphalt on walls and roads. With its numerous effects has brought economic growth, the world started to recognize the importance of oil use. It was also discovered that the Chinese were the first knew the importance use of oil and to discover underground oil and drew from the wells in order to use for lighting around 500 B.C. Ever since that time many countries has begun to find oil wells around the world due to the important roles for the use of oil (BERA The Oil Gas Industry). Moreover, oil development has been quite active s ince long time ago. For example, Poland was the first country in the world trade the oil that was in 1853, and then comes Romania in 1857. In North America, the first commercial was in 1858. In 1959 Titusville was very famous for its oil well production of twenty five barrels a day. The U.S started to produce millions and millions of barrels during the past 50 years after the first production. For example; 2000 barrels in 1859 after 40 years 57 million barrels were produced in a year and still increasing until now. (Wilson, 2010) 3.0 Causes of fluctuation in oil price Knowing the reasons for oil price fluctuation is very important; since knowing such information can help the investor to invest at the right without any risk. It is very perplexing to know the exact cause of fluctuation in oil price; however, we will highlight the main causes and effects of phenomenon. 3.1.0 Causes There are four main causes change oil price; hurricane Katrina, middle-east wars, recessions, and oil crisis in the 1970s. 3.1.1 Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused the oil production in the Southern Gulf Coast in the U.S to stop completely, and due to the demand and to the lag of oil production; the price of oil barrels increased suddenly to $70 per a barrel. The prices declined when the U.S government decided to release 30 million oil barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) (Editorial Dept, 2009). 3.1.2 Middle East wars The wars happened in the Middle East between Iraq and Afghanistan in July, 2008 caused the prices of oil to increase to more than $136 per barrel. The Middle East is known that it is one of the richest regions of oil. Therefore, due to the high prices of oil at that time, the demand for oil dramatically decreased; people started to demand less and save money. Due to this low demand, the prices of oil started to return back to normal (Editorial Dept, 2009). 3.1.3 Recession Recession caused the oil prices to change in two ways. First, the recession caused the employees to work lesser, and some even started to work from their homes; therefore, they are not demanding often for oil (e.g. transportation). Hence, the prices of oil decreased due to the low demand. Secondly, the demand for other products (e.g. electronics) decreased due to recession. The manufacturing countries which supply these products started to supply less since they started to lose proifit, so less shipment of products occurred less use of oil and this caused the prices of oil to decline (Editorial Dept, 2009). 3.1.4 Oil crisis in the 1970s The prices of oil in the Middle East were low, most of the developed countries such as the U.S decided to rely more on importing the oil. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to limit their production of oil in order to make the higher oil price (Wright Boorsw, 2011). 3.2.0 Effects There are two effects showing what would be likely results of politics and economics after the changes in oil price. 3.2.1 Political effects Because of the negative effects of oil price fluctuation in the United States, the citizens decided to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 elections. (Crenshaw, Maniam Subramaniam, 2010). 3.2.2 Economical effects There is a relationship between oil price fluctuating and income rate. For example, when the price oil increase, the income rate of the labors decrease in order for the industry to make up for the loss and make profit. Also, when the prices of oil increased, some storeowners couldnt pay for the gas deliveries and they had to shut down their businesses. Not to mention the increase of shipping fees, transportation, and food prices (Crenshaw, Maniam, Subramaniam, 2010). 4.0 Alternative energy sources to Fossil Fuels Countries around the world are reconsidering other energy sources to oil due to its increasing prices, polluting waste and the remaining amount left of it. Oil is formed over millions of years from the remains of animals and plants, covered with a layer of sand and silt. Crude oil and petroleum are also known as rock oil, developed by heat and pressure on the layers. Today oil is used to fuel vehicles, heat houses, and make numerous products ranging from medicines to plastics. However, a great pitfall of oil is the emission of harmful gases when burnt. Before the age of oil, coal was the dominating fuel, as stated by BBC (Alternatives to oil, 2000).Not only was it a reliable provider of electricity, it [was] also an essential fuel for steel and cement production, and other industrial activities (World Coal Association, N.D). However, it lost its popularity due to the fact that a large amount of poisonous gases, like carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide are produced in its burning process, contributing negatively to the change in climate. Moreover, nuclear power is said to be friendly regarding the global warming. For example, the United Arab Emirates has been depending on oil for a very long period as a main income generator. However, the emirates are trying their best to stimulate other inflows from tourism, manufacturing and plans for research and development of new energy programs since they know that oil would eventually run out one day. According to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the development of nuclear power plants in Abu Dhabi will help serving the growth in energy needs in the future. On the other hand, some countries fear to take the risk of having nuclear plants because of the rising rate of tragic accidents. The recent leakage of nuclear and radioactive substances in Japan, due to the 8.9 Richter scale earthquakes, is an example. Technology innovations are creating a path to the usage of new, more environmentally sociable fossil fuels. Renewable fuels include hydro-electric energy, solar energy, biomass energy, wind energy and hydrogen. Renewable fuels promote countries to use nature and a high technological plan to produce power. In Norway for instance, hydro-electric power is used to the fullest as reported by BBC (Alternatives to oil, 2000). Wind and wave power are another promising fuels. Solar power is coming on by leaps and bounds. There are already photo-voltaic cells which will provide power on a cloudy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ winters day, or even by moonlight (Alternatives to oil, 2000). However, the hesitation and reluctance of countries to use such power sources falls under the aspect of price. A lot of money will be required to build wind turbine, solar panels, and hydrogen in conversion of technologies. All in all, there is a wide variety of alternatives to oil, however the users should evaluate the benefits and drawbacks for each power source and the effects generated to the society from the global view. 5.0 Conclusion To sum up, our world consists of variety of sources. Oil is one of the most important sources that are used in todays life, yet it is a non-renewable source. Therefore, looking for alternatives for oil can help stabilize economy and environment. Furthermore, due to some environmental and humanistic behaviors, oil prices began to increase and decline; this affected the world in many ways economically, politically, and socially.

bias or not? :: essays research papers fc

Bias or Not? The most political news story that is being reported on these past few weeks has been the nomination and debate over President Bush’s nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations. One of the most watched and influential news channels, CNN has been following this routine story closely. The President nominated Bolton in March of 2005 but the Senate has been delaying the vote of the nominee for several weeks. The story on CNN was headlined Vote to end debate on Bolton fails. Though the story did discuss that it was mostly the Democrats that were causing the delay in the vote the channel also stated that their were some republicans that did not agree with the nomination. The channel tried to stand by the facts but the story did seem to state that it was the Democrats that voted against closing the debate. The story did seem slanted when discussing the issue over the Democrats wanting to obtain access to information about Bolton and Syria. The channel st ated that the was good and bipartisanship until the Democrats resorted back to a partisan approach. This seemed slante because throughout the debate both the Republicans and Democrats have been resorting to a partisan approach. Despite the slight slant ness in some of the story the primary contents of the story did stick to the facts and remained bias. Democrats Mull Politicizing Iraq War Intelligence this article found on the Fox News Channel in November of 2003 is an insider story. The following story discusses a informal memo was found concerning the planning and timing of a possible investigation into pre- war Iraq Intelligence. The memo suggested that Democrats "prepare to launch an investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the [Senate] majority.† Then the story goes on further to discuss how upset the Senates Republicans were by the leak but especially by the memo itself. A republican Senator went as far as saying that the â€Å"Democrats intended to politicize what should have been bipartisan†. Such comments seemed to elude that the Democrats were at fault for thinking of conducting investigation but that was not the matter at hand. The matter was the leak of a memo was a draft that had not even been approved. Lawmaker Hopes to Open Churches to P olitical Speech this headline on Fox News refers to a bill that Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina has introduced the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act of 2005

Cable Broadband :: Essays Papers

Cable Broadband Five years ago, all that people had to worry about when they wanted to connect to the Internet was really what modem they were going to purchase. It was simple. Do I buy a 33.6Kbps modem or a 56Kbps modem? With the advances in current technologies, that decision has become a bit more difficult. Now people have to make the decision between 56k modems, Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Cable Broadband, and Satellite Broadband. I believe the choice to be simple. Cable Broadband, with its widespread availability, is definitely a great investment for the average consumer. Broadband Daily states, â€Å"Its fatter pipes and inherent two-way capability promise to deliver everything – video, voice, data, text, graphics, and more – to both the PC and the TV.† (â€Å"What’s Broadband†, 2002, para. 4). The most important factor to take into account for any service is the cost. Most Cable Broadband across the country costs between $40 and $50 per month. To all those who have Insight Communications Cable service in Noblesville also have the ability to receive their Cable Broadband. It costs just $39.95 per month for their cable customers and $49.95 per month for non-customers (http://www.insight-com.com/net/roadrunner/rrfaq.html). Obviously, it pays a little to be a regular customer. They receive a $10 discount. To those that are still using a 56k dial-up service this may seem a bit steep considering that most dial-up services only cost about $22 per month. However, if they were to take into account the fact that most people have a separate phone line for the modem and pay for the dial-up service also, they would see that they are paying around $35 and $45 per month (â€Å"Cable Modem Guide†, 2000, para. 5). There is only one more cost and that is the one time cost of the cable modem itself. Generally, they cost about $120. That is about the same for a good 56k modem. If someone were to compare the cost of Cable Broadband to ADSL they would find that for the same price ADSL offers slower download/upload speeds (Nismojjang, 2002). Also with most ADSL services they require a one year contract. Cable Broadband services do not. All this definitely shows Cable Broadband to have a very reasonable cost. Most would wonder, â€Å"How much faster is Cable Broadband?

American Experience in Huck Finn Essay

â€Å"All modern American Literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.. † claimed Ernest Hemingway, a American author and journalist. This quote represents the idea and perception of Huckleberry Finn as a defining moment in American Literature, a time when a new culture was being formed west of the Atlantic that had many different subjects and characteristics than that of the literature in Europe. What makes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn so original and such a representation of America is that whatever Huckleberry Finn, the character, is about or can be defined by, is what America was all about. Through this complex character, Mark Twain was able to create a new American experience and show the reader all about it. The main characteristics of the American experience that Mark Twain represented through this character included a social commentary on the southern culture and its response to slavery and its general antebellum culture, the nature that defines America and how America defines its nature and the freedom from it, and the new anti-materialistic hero. The opening of the book deals with the most serious issue depicted; the idea of slavery and the response of the southerners to its injustices. The majority of the American experience of slavery and its response are shown through the relationship between the main protagonist, Huck and his friend Jim. When Jim first approaches Huck to tell him that he has run away from his master Huck replies, â€Å"People would call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum- but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell.. † (1379). In a time when it was illegal to aide slaves in their escape, Huck was just beginning to start his moral dilemma of his loyalties to the law, and his friendship with Jim. This brings about a side note on the American experience of slavery that is not as developed as the response to slavery in Huck and that is: how does a person act and feel in a society in which they have friends that can become slaves. In many Abolitionist books and essays at the time, the reader was directed to feel for the slave as a man, as a brother. They used emotions to show the hardships of the slaves and play upon the guilt of the white American to end slavery. In Huckleberry Finn, Twain asked the reader to determine how they would act on slavery when they saw their friends under servitude. This was a large issue because it brings out personal alliances with cultural alliances of the south. However, the main American experience Twain is trying to develop on slavery is not the personal relationship and whether or not slavery was a terrible issue, it was the southerners response to slavery. This is exemplified by two separate cases. The first is with slavery and Jim, and the second is with Huck’s abusive and drunken father who would â€Å"lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard† (1359). Both of these issues were just symbols of the southern distorted culture of the time. A culture that could enslave a man, calls themselves good Christian men, and then falls asleep drunk. What is peculiar about this novel is not necessarily Twain’s feelings regarding the morality of this culture. It is fairly obvious that he disapproves of such and shows that it is a morally defunct society, but rather what makes this novel truly representative of the American experience is showing how even someone who is not morally corrupted acts upon it. Huck, who is shown through his helping of Jim and his friendship with Jim, clearly understands the injustice of slavery and the immoral acts his father does. What does he do about it though? Does he seek to transform this southern society through work or a mini-revolution? No, he just simply moves along. This is the central irony of the book, and thus represented of one of the ironies of the American experience in the 19th century. Huck Finn chooses to leave intact this society that is clearly in need of change, and just simply leaves the place behind. It shows that he is against slavery and the ideals of the south and thus won’t live in it, but he also won’t change it. This was one of the most prominent experiences of America in the 19th century. Many whites disagreed with slavery, but if it did not affect their lives, as they were not necessarily the culprit or the victim, they just went on living their lives. The most common feature of this novel is movement. While this was crucial in developing the irony that was the southern response to slavery, it is also important in itself. In this novel, the main characters are always going somewhere, leaving a place in which they didn’t like or had a bad experience, and moving on to the next. This sense of freedom from nature was feature that is distinctly American. In the novel, the river was a  central metaphor as it brought them food, their raft, but also gave them a means of transportation. The American experience of traveling for the sake of traveling and expanding yourself in nature is shown from their experiences with movement in the river. Huck Finn was a character who is always in motion, always free. This was seen by the fact that he did start out the trip trying to provide freedom for Jim up the river, but when they passed Cairo he did not stop. In fact, the new route would take them to New Orleans, a slave-trading capital of the south at the time (Johnson). The freedom that nature provided Huck was seen by his depiction of the nights on the raft as â€Å"It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky, up there, all speckled with stars.. † (1423). This freedom brings a release from the world of land, the towns where people were entrapped in a cycle of guns, alcohol, and racism. He does not see in moral meaning in nature like the transcendentalists of the time, rather it was an escape of the modern world, a place to have pleasant feelings. This freedom is an American experience. In just a purely physical sense, America has the opportunities for freedom. Vast lands, ample rivers, defined seasons all allow the American to seek freedom from society. This is something that was not seen in Europe as you were subjected to just your own country’s land through language, cultural, and physical barriers. This idea of jumping on a raft and finding your freedom, both spiritually as in the case of Huck and physically in the case of Jim, is something that represents a true American experience. This myth of the open frontier continued in writing for decades to come, a myth that would allow the individual American to escape the rapidly growing urban centers that were developing an uneducated middle-class. The last particularly American subject is the hero of the novel himself, Huck. Huck is envisioned as this romantic anti-society anti-inheritance hero. In coming-to-age novels of the time, many were determined to show the process the character mature, moving past their youthful selves and into a role of social acceptance of culture. Huck represents a new American subject, on who speaks as he wishes, and does as he wants. Because of his traveling lifestyle, Huck does not concern himself with inheritance or money for any matter. What mattered most for Huck in the story was the materials that made the journey possible. He was not concerned with his social class, his need for a life with a wife, kids, and money. This metaphor represents the American Anti-materialistic culture that was forming, and thus Twain depicted it as such in his story. The sense of anti-conformity culture was the subject, a view that was depicted primarily by Huck. To combat the idea that Huck was just a child, and this is how he was supposed to act, Twain introduces two characters. The Duke and Dauphin, con-artists who swindle people out of their money by performing productions represent the free nature, the anti-materialistic culture that Huck represents. While these two do act in order to obtain money, the goal of the money is not to obtain a higher social order, but to carry on in life. It supplies their thirst for fun. This was seen when after a heist, the Duke asks to count the money so that they can â€Å"take and give it to the girls† (1451). This shows that they went about their plan yes for the money, but the money was not an object that they desired; it is what it can be immediately used for that defines it. This was against the European experience of inheritance and the desire to better oneself in a Victorian fashion, and represented an American subject. Huck finds out throughout the story and the encounters with the people in the towns, how to live in order to escape the social conformity, thus creating his own identity. This idea of putting your obligations to you self-creation and fun, and not to the creation of a self that is defined by community or cultural standards was an effective approach to an American subject. In an extended metaphor, Huck Finn and his friends and acquaintances represent an American subject. Their reactions to slavery represent the blind eye and unwillingness to put about change in the southern culture of slavery and racism, a subject that would arguably represent the south to this day. At the same time, the river which took them away from their culture as opposed to fighting it, also represents the freedom of America, a subject Twain makes sure he repeats throughout the novel. Lastly, the characters themselves represent a new age of anti-materialism, a staunch contrast to the European idea of self-betterment for the sake of culture and standing. In all, these metaphors all show a new American subject. Cited: Twain, Mark. â€Å" The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. † The Harper Single Volume American Literature. Ed. McQuade et al. New York: Longman. 1999. 1355-1522 Walter Johnson, Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 2 and 6.

Can One Be Moral and Not Believe in God? Essay

The argument set forth is best understood by the first line given by Hamlet in Act 3, Scene 1 in this 1600 play, â€Å"Hamlet,† written by William Shakespeare (1600). â€Å"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Believing in a spiritual entity or a supernatural supreme being can play a role in one’s moral beliefs, but it is not necessary. The argument will start with breaking down what it is to be moral with the definition of moral, which is â€Å"of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior,† (ethically speaking) â€Å"conforming to a standard of right behavior.† (Merriam-Webster, 2011) With that in mind now, one can be moral and not believe in GOD, because it is up to the person to choose to be moral, hence â€Å"To be, or not to be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This argument will consist of a brief history in a few religions, church and state, moral education, ethics, and Plato’s and Aristotle’s take on living morally. Again, believing in God is not necessarily needed for one to be moral; all that is needed is good ethics, belief in oneself, and knowledge. The origin of religion, experts think, arose from the fear and wonder of natural events (i.e. storms, earthquakes, and the how babies were born). Experts believe that the explanations of death were the outcome of supernatural powers greater than one’s self and the world around them. Religious activities, prehistorically, involved the most essential elements of existence, like adequate rainfall and or a successful hunt for food. Prehistoric people were also believed to have performed rituals intended for good fertility of women, for animals, and for succeeding in hunting as well as making sacrifices for all good fortune. The major religions of today may have been originated between 1500 B.C. and A.D. 600. (Fontaine, 2011) As time progressed, there came a new understanding with religion being involved in one’s life. The justification by faith, the actions of an individual can be justified by their faith as it assists moral goodness and faithfulness to duty. Through Christianity, Christ died for their sins to sit before God’s judgment in their place so that they cannot be found guilty. As an example of justification by faith, believers are led to be more loving towards God, their neighbors and to do good works. For instance, treat others the way you would like to be treated. The understandings of justification by faith, good acts towards others, are justified by people using their faith as justification for their actions. (Edwards, 2011) Religion also has a code of conduct, a set of moral teachings and values to uphold when conducting the business of living. From these morals and values, one should treat others how one would like to be treated, whom one may marry, what jobs may be held, how to dress, and what foods may be eaten. (Fontaine, 2011) Now let us look at church and state. The understanding of church and state is that each should not be involved in the others development. In other words, government should operate non-religiously and churches should operate outside the boundaries of the government system. This was disagreed by many, because many believed that religion improves the moral character of citizens and should be actively promoted by government. Many others believed that government should support and fund some religious activities so long as any religion is not favored over another. From these oppositions, arose intense debates in the United States of America for issues involving prayer in public schools, government funding for religious schools, government support for religious charities, and the display of religious symbols on government property. (Ivers, 2011) The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof†¦.† Freedom of religion is still an issue today, for it is interpreted by many court rulings â€Å"that the government may not promote or give any special treatment to any religion.†(Morgan, 2011) Plans, which called for government financial aid for religious schools have been denied and courts have ruled it unconstitutional to many programs to teach the  Bible and or recite prayers in public schools. Yet, church and state are not totally separate, because (1), many of the nation’s people are Christians, (2), the nation’s motto is â€Å"In God We Trust,† (3), sessions of Congress open up in prayer, (4), witnesses in court swear oaths on the Bible, and (5), Christians governed the United States since its existence. (Morgan, 2011) Moving along, morality in both religion and government is a major concern and work together when and if their moral goals desired are with the same intentions. It, of course, is the exact opposite when both entity’s desires and views of morality are different, like the belief in abortion. Where religiously it is viewed as morally wrong and governmentally allowed in some states. Moral education is focused on what is right and what is wrong to develop the standard values by which people judge what is important, worthwhile, and good. Moral education is received from many angles of sources one may encounter, beginning with their family, church, friends, teachers, and television. Moral education lessons were given in schools either intentionally or unintentionally in the United States in the 1970’s by developing special teaching methods in assistance with dealing with moral questions. These methods if given in a combination approach were called comprehensive moral education. Inculcation was the effort to teach values which educators believed to lead moral behavior to children. Values in moral behavior such as honesty, compassion, justice, and respect for others were taught by appropriate praise and punishment and reflected in whichever desired value in the teacher’s behavior. Values clarification was designed to assist in developing one’s own values and morals by stress setting goals, choosing thoughtfully from alternatives, and acting on their own convictions. Moral development assisted in the development in the abilities to judge moral questions. That which is based on the theory that moral reasoning progresses from lower to higher stages in people: (1) self-interest, (2) seeking approval of others, (3) to following rules, (4) respecting the rights of others, and so on to where opposing laws of society if it conflicts with moral principles that are even higher. An example of moral  development would be putting one in a moral dilemma with a question like, â€Å"Would you steal to feed your starving family?† or allow the principles of fairness and justice up to the students to govern. Lastly, value analysis teaches the application of logical and scientifically investigative techniques to matters involving values, where the importance of exploring, gathering, and evaluating facts and logically made decisions are highly stressed. (Kirschenbaum, 2011) Opposition to the teaching of moral education in schools believes it is a matter for the family and church to handle. In addition to their argument, it takes necessary time away from what should be taught in class, like reading, writing, and mathematics. In surveys though, parents have indicated that some forms of moral education in schools are needed. Their argument is that families need help in teaching moral behaviors consistent with values such as hard work, honesty, fairness, cooperation, tolerance, and respect. (Kirschenbaum, 2011) All these values are built from character education including responsibility and caring. The goal, which was set forth here, was to develop a more responsible and caring society by implementing and emphasizing on such programs dealing with ethics and responsibility. The core basis in character education has to be established for it to be integrated into schools and in the community. Character education is introduced in early grades, which emphasizes on behavior skills and in later grades, which involves topics such as reducing prejudice and resolving conflicts. These character education programs have been widespread throughout the United States to nonprofit organizations, universities, and school districts; thus giving all these organizations strategies on how to effectively incorporate character education into their curriculums. Building character comes with ethical choices. â€Å"Ethics is a branch of philosophy that attempts to help us understand which ways of life are worth following and which actions are right or wrong. Ethics addresses questions of right and wrong using reason rather than faith or tradition.† (Hunt, 2011) Upholding high ethical standards can be complicated, because some decisions are difficult to make. For example, Joe has been in-trusted with  a secret from a friend, John, that he stole some money from another friend. Thinking about doing the right thing, Joe realizes their friendship can be jeopardized, because Joe and John are closer than the other friend is. Keeping the secret though, can damage Joe’s integrity and his moral values. Conflicting thoughts can be very difficult to comprehend which direction to take. Ethical theories have been made to direct a person in making the right choice and they also guide us when and where conflicting ideas apply and do not apply. Ancient ethical theorists such as Plato and Aristotle are two influential thinkers who have brought order into thinking about ethical problems. They have defined a sort of life that is worth living and the sort of people who can live such lives. (Hunt, 2011) Plato believes that wisdom, courage, temperance or self-control, and justice are virtues that one should have. Plato has also acknowledged that wisdom is the most important of these virtues, for it is the knowledge of what is truly good. Having this wisdom will direct one to do what is right and this will bring harmony to them, thus building the virtue of justice. Plato wrote a book, which described the life and death of a man who understood goodness, his teacher Socrates. Both believed that people did not know how to be moral, because they did not have the knowledge of moral ideas to act morally. Plato’s ethical theory is based on the belief that one desires happiness and that moral virtue can bring that happiness within the soul of a person; resulting in a healthy state of the soul. (Soll, 2011) Aristotle, Plato’s student, had similar beliefs, but added more traits needed to live a moral life. â€Å"These traits are friendliness, generosity, gentleness, truthfulness, and wit.† (Soll, 2011) He believed in one trait that brings out all of the virtues discussed, which he called phronesis, meaning prudence or good judgment; the ability to know what one should do by figuring out what choices would direct one to lead a good life. The study of practical knowledge, knowledge that enables people to act properly and live happily, Aristotle argued that people do this to find their function in life. Function like how one’s eye functions, which is to see; believing that a happy life is governed by reason. Believing also that moral virtue is finding the medium between the extremes, example, â€Å"the virtue of  generosity is the mean between stinginess and wastefulness.† (Soll, 2011) From these two ancient theorists, the belief of ethics differs from modern ethical theories. The difference is ancient ethics related a theory of normal life and offered no solutions to the dilemmas facing very critical decisions. Like the example of Joe’s dilemma. There were no rules or guides set in assisting us in making those difficult choices, whereas modern ethics is a theory of life in crisis. Modern ethics is directed towards helping one sort out the conflicting reasons for different choices of action to take. It also assists one’s decision-making in which, one will choose which reasons that hold more value and which ones hold lesser value. Modern ethics involve considerations of benefits and of obligations. Joe might feel obligated to keep John’s, a close friend, secret and what benefits will arise from him not keeping his considered obligation, like closer ties with the other friend, who is not a thief. Modern theorists have reached the conclusion that giving equal importance to both obligations and benefits is difficult. They have also divided its ethical theory into two chains of thought: (1) deontology, holding what really matters (ethically) and to what obligations one has, (2) teleology, claims to what really matters in which, one’s actions or policies would best benefit the people. (Hunt, 2011) In conclusion, to live as righteous as one can be, does not need GOD or a supreme supernatural being to do so; even though many of the teachings of how to live morally consists of values of spiritually related beliefs, building character comes with ethical choices. These choices develop or build one’s personal strength in believing in one to do right as to wrong by educating on and building knowledge of moral values to which ethic standards one wants to live by. Again, moral education, ethics, and belief in one’s self to do what is right are all one needs to live morally without GOD. â€Å"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shakespeare, 1600) References Edwards, M. U. (2011). Luther, Martin. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University. Fontaine, C. R. (2011). Religion. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University. Hunt, L. H. (2011). Ethics. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 25, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University. Ivers, G. (2011). Church and State. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University. Kirschenbaum, H. (2011). Moral education. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University. Merriam-Webster. (2011). Moral. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/. Morgan, R. E. (2011). Freedom of religion. Web: World Book. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from World Book Encyclopedia Ashford University.

Internal And External Sources Of Finance For Tesco Essay

A source of finance used by Tesco is retained earnings. Tesco re-invest a certain percentage of their end of the year profits back into Tesco, so they can improve it. Each year Tesco decide how much money they re-invest, this depends on the profit they make. Fixed assets: Another type of an internal source of finance for Tesco is fixed assets. Fixed assets are an asset that is not consumer or sold during the normal course of business, these are land, buildings, equipment, machinery, vehicles etc. These assets are very hard to convert into cash as it takes time to sell, Tesco would use these assets to fund future operations. Current assets: Current assets are a key financial source to Tesco’s business. Current assets are cash and other things such as inventory that can be converted into cash easily. An asset that will be in use for less than a year is a current asset as they transfer into money once sold. Tesco’s stock in their stores is a current asset as they transfer into money once sold. An essential thing for Tesco to ensure is to ensure that their assets aren’t lower than their current liabilities (debt) as this may force Tesco to close as they want to be able to pay off their debts. Working capital: Working capital can be both a good and a bad thing, this will depend on the debt a company has in this case Tesco. Tesco are a massive company so they will have a lot of working capital, this will ensure Tesco grow as they can expand their brand. Companies like new starts will have finances to expand and grow their business. In 2014 Tesco’s working capital reduced massively by over 300 million this will have an affect on their company in 2015. In this task I am going to write about what internal and external sources of finance are available to Tesco. Internal sources are funds that come from within the business. An example of an internal source is profits. They can be used to expand a business. Another way is to sell assets that the company don’t use to free up capital. External sources are found outside the business. An example of an external source would be a bank lending company money. External sources of finance (Tesco) Investments: An investment is when a person or persons invest their own money into a business, hoping to make a profit on their investment into the organisation. Tesco rely massively on investments just like any organisation. Tesco’s share prices depend on just how much is being invested into the company, and over the past year their share prices have dropped as the amount being invested has decreased. Warren Buffet who is an American billionaire, who made his fortune by investing said that â€Å" Investing in Tesco was a big mistake†. Ordinary shares: Ordinary shares, are shares within an organisation that any member o the oublic can buy. Tesco’s shares are currently selling for around  £189.75p , with Tesco buying the shares back at around  £190.05p, since the horse meat scandal, shares have decreased rapidly. Since November 2013 Tesco’s shares have declined drastically. Tesco are unable to buy back the shares at a price high enough to push customers to sell back, as the customers wouldn’t be making enough profit. Corporations: As Tesco are a corporation they can part-take in all the activities any corporation are involved in such as hiring new staff, sue other companies, be sued by other companies and also own their own assets. An asset that Tesco own is their very own oil plant in America Institutions: An institution of Tesco would be their bank. The institutions are companies that work with Tesco and that Tesco own. Any money that Tesco receive from the customers and clients of their bank, gets directly put in the profits.  The money they make from the institutions gets invested directly back into Tesco Business angels: Business angels are people who look to invest into new or successful businesses to try to make a profit. For Tesco business angels would’ve invented at the start of the companies journey in 1919. Business angels usually invest in companies around their home so they can check up on their investments. Government Grants: Tesco are Britain’s biggest supermarket and due to this they employ thousands. The government can give Tesco grants and money to invest back into Tesco. The government will benefit because if Tesco invest the money wisely they will have a successful year therefore the government will receive more tax. An example of Tesco receiving a government grant was in 2009 when they received  £5 million to open a new store in Glasgow. HP: Hire purchase is when a company or person lends out goods to companies for a short period of time, with added interest. Tesco could benefit if they were the company as they would lend out equipment, machinery, property and vehicles, as they would gain interest and also regain some of their investment into the product. Suppliers credit: Supplier’s credit is when a supplier offers the buyer the product they want on credit. This is like getting a loan of sorts as Tesco can pay at a later date. This benefits Tesco as they can order as much stock as they need even if they haven’t got the finances at that time. Sale and lease back: This is when Tesco sells something to a buyer such as equipment,machinery etc and the buyer leases the product back to Tesco immediately. This benefits Tesco as they can use the product without being tied down to the product  financially. To Tesco there is some tax benefits to leasing the product rather than actually owning the product. Tesco can sell the products and lease them back for a long period of time.

The Measurement of Student Engagement

While there is limited research on engagement in adult literacy contexts across researchers, the literature shows a vast number of researchers have studied student engagement. The definitions and descriptions of student engagement are broad and range from engagement as ‘participation' in school as a social system (Finn, 1989; Newmann, 1981; Newmann, Wehlage, & Lamborn, 1992), to the concept that engagement is a cognitive function used during certain academic tasks (Corno & Mandinach, 1983; Helme & Clark, 2001; Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). More recently, student engagement has been built around the optimistic goal of developing students' abilities to ‘learn how to learn' or to become lifelong learners in a knowledge-based society (Gilbert, 2007, p. 1). Therefore, it is clear there is no ‘one' universal agreement among researchers as to what a definition of student engagement might be. Researchers have instead explained different forms of engagement and how they work for different students under different conditions (Kuh, 2009).For example, Kuh (2009) defines student engagement as â€Å"the time and effort students devote to activities that are empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what institutions do to induce students to participate in these activities† (p. 683). Coates (2007) describes engagement as a â€Å"broad construct intended to encompass salient academic as well as certain non-academic aspects of the student experience† (p. 22), comprising: Active and collaborative learning; participation in challenging academic activities; formative communication with academic staff; involvement in enriching educational experiences; and feeling legitimated and supported by university learning communities. Hu and Kuh (2001) define engagement as â€Å"the quality of effort students themselves devote to educationally purposeful activities that contribute directly to desired outcomes† (p. 3). Comparably, Harper and Quaye, (2008) suggest engagement is more than involvement or participation and requires feelings, sense-making, and activity — as acting without feeling engaged is merely involvement or ‘compliance' and feeling engaged without acting is ‘dissociation'. Glanville and Wildhagen (2007) acknowledge there is a debate over the recognition of engagement being a single or multi-dimensional concept state. These authors conclude that â€Å"engagement should be measured as a multidimensional concept† (p. 1019) that is divided into behavioural and psychological segments. In recognising this ‘multi-dimensional' concept, Fredricks et al. (2004) drawing on Bloom (1956), identify three dimensions of student engagement that can be synthesised to gain a deeper and more meaningful grasp on student engagement: Cognitive, emotional, and behavioural.In looking at these categories, in turn, cognitive engagement includes two components; psychological and cognitive. The psychological component emphasises students' investment in learning, motivation to learn and self-regulated learning as it relates to thoughtfulness and a willingness to put in the effort to comprehend complex ideas and to master difficult skills (Blumenfeld, Kempler, & Krajcik, 2006). The cognitive component involves self-regulated learning, meta-cognition, application of learning strategies, and being strategic in thinking and studying. Cognitively engaged students invest in their learning, seek to go beyond the requirements and enjoy being challenged (Fredricks et al., 2004). In the adult literacy context, examples of cognitive engagement might include: The effort in understanding course material; completing assignments; critically analysing information; applying concepts to real-world examples; and deepening insights through research and interaction (Harper & Quaye, 2008). Emotional engagement comprises students' attitudes, interests, and values – mostly in relation to positive or negative interactions with faculty, staff, students, academics, or the institution. Students who engage emotionally experience affective reactions such as interest, excitement and enjoyment, or a sense of belonging (Fredricks et al., 2004). Emotional engagement also refers to a student's reactions to others, connections with the school community, and how students feel about their educational experience (O'Donnell, Reeve, ; Smith, 2011).Behavioural engagement involves complying with behavioural norms such as attendance, involvement and participation, student behaviours related to concentration, attention, persistence, effort, asking questions, and contributing to class discussions (Fredricks et al., 2004; Hattie ; Anderman, 2013). These students are typically not disruptive, nor do they demonstrate negative behaviour (Fredricks et al., 2004). In adult literacy, examples of behavioural engagement may include respecting others, listening to instructors and peers, engaging in discussions, and participating in group work or teams (Harper ; Quaye, 2008).Fredricks et al., (2004) explain that each of these three dimensions can have a ‘positive' and a ‘negative' pole, each one representing a form of engagement – with the two extremities separated by a space of non-engagement, demonstrated by withdrawal, or apathy. This means that students can engage either positively or negatively along one or more of the dimensions or engage positively or negatively along one or more dimension while not engaging along another or ‘others' (Fredricks et al., 2004).

Controversial History of the House of the Seven Gables

Africa, by David Diop David Mandessi Diop (19271960) was a revolutionary African poet born in France but with parents of West African descent. His poems highlighted problems of Africa brought about by colonialism and gave a message to Africans to bring about change and freedom. He was known for his involvement in the negritude movement in France, a movement started by Black writers and artists protesting against French colonialism and its effects of African culture and values. His views and feelings were published in â€Å"Presence Africaine† and in his book of poems â€Å"Coups de pillon† which was published in 1956.Diop died at the age of 33 in a plane crash. Africa my Africa Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs Africa of whom my grandmother sings On the banks of the distant river The poem starts by Diop reminiscing about Africa, a land he has not seen but only heard about from his grandmother's songs. His choice of words like â€Å"distant† symbolis e how far he is from his country, a feeling based on his real life as he lived in France throughout his childhood and only visited Africa in the 1950s.Despite this, he paints a vivid scene of Africa and the proud warriors who walk on its â€Å"ancestral savannahs† You can sense how much he misses his homeland by his stress on the word Africa, and he continues to call it â€Å"My Africa† to emphasise it is his land and his feelings of patriotism towards it. I have never known you But your blood flows in my veins Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields The blood of your sweat The sweat of your work The work of your slavery He continues to say that he has never known Africa, but despite the distance he cannot deny how much it is a part of him.The â€Å"beautiful black blood† which flows in his veins describes his African descent and shows how much Africa is a part of him and his love for it and its people. The next verses are angry and accusatory as he stresses that it is the blood and sweat of his people which is irrigating the fields for the benefit of other people. By this he is pointing a finger at the colonialists who exploited Black people and used them as slaves to profit from their hard labour. Africa, tell me Africa Is this your back that is unbent This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliationThis back trembling with red scars And saying no to the whip under the midday sun. In these verses he urges the Black people to stand up to the pain and the humiliation that they are suffering in their own land. He reminds them of the strength Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka uses irony to depict the absurdity of racism in his poem, â€Å"Telephone Conversation. IRONY the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, â€Å"How nice! † when I said I had to work all weekend. technique of indicating, as through character or pl ot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc. , esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion. Irony, sarcasm, satire indicate mockery of something or someone. The essential feature of irony is the indirect presentation of a contradiction between an action or expression and the context in which it occurs.In the figure of speech, emphasis is placed on the opposition between the literal and intended meaning of a statement; one thing is said and its opposite implied, as in the comment, â€Å"Beautiful weather, isn't it? † made when it is raining or nasty. Irony differs from sarcasm in greater subtlety and wit. In sarcasm ridicule or mockery is used harshly, often crudely and contemptuously, for destructive purposes. It may be used in an indirect manne r, and have the form of irony, as in â€Å"What a fine musician you turned out to be! or it may be used in the form of a direct statement, â€Å"You couldn't play one piece correctly if you had two assistants. † The distinctive quality of sarcasm is present in the spoken word and manifested chiefly by vocal inflection, whereas satire and irony, arising originally as literary and rhetorical forms, are exhibited in the organization or structuring of either language or literary material. Satire usually implies the use of irony or sarcasm for censorious or critical purposes and is often directed at public figures or institutions, conventional behavior, political situations, etc. Some examples:When something bad has happened: â€Å"This is just great,† or â€Å"That was just perfect. † In response to a bad joke: â€Å"That's just so funny,† or obviously feigned (and often weak) laughter â€Å"Ha. Ha. Ha. NOT. † When a boring statement has been made: â €Å"Wow, great! † When someone has thoroughly botched something: â€Å"Great job! † or â€Å"Congratulations! † When somebody accuses another of something bad/wrong: â€Å"Do I get bonus points if I act like I care? † Used when writing: I love school The speaker of the poem, a dark West African man searching for a new apartment, tells the story of a telephone call he made to a potential landlady.Instead of discussing price, location, amenities, and other information significant to the apartment, they discussed the speaker's skin color. The landlady is described as a polite, well-bred woman, even though she is shown to be shallowly racist. The speaker is described as being genuinely apologetic for his skin color, even though he has no reason to be sorry for something which he was born with and has no control over. In this short poem, we can see that the speaker is an intelligent person by his use of high diction and quick wit, not the savage that the landl ady assumes he is because of his skin color.All of these discrepancies between what appears to be and what really is create a sense of verbal irony that helps the poem display the ridiculousness of racism. â€Å"The price seemed reasonable, location / Indifferent† The first sentence of the poem includes a pun that introduces the theme of the following poem and also informs us that things are not going to be as straightforward as they appear. â€Å"The price seemed reasonable, location / Indifferent† If we read over these lines quickly, we would assume that the speaker meant â€Å"Being neither good nor bad† by the use of the word indifferent .But, indifferent is also defined as â€Å"Characterized by a lack of partiality; unbiased. † This other definition gives the sentence an entirely different meaning. Instead of the apartment's location being neither good or bad, we read that the apartment's location is unbiased and impartial. However, we quickly learn in the following lines of the poem that the location of the apartment is the exact opposite of unbiased and impartial. The speaker is rudely denied the ability to rent the property because of bias towards his skin color.This opening pun quickly grabs our attention and suggests that we as readers be on the lookout for more subtle uses of language that will alter the meaning of the poem. â€Å"Caught I was, foully† After this introduction, the speaker begins his â€Å"self-confession† about his skin color (line 4). It is ironic that this is called a self-confession since the speaker has nothing that he should have to confess since he has done nothing wrong. He warns the landlady that he is African, instead of just informing her. â€Å"Caught I was, foully† he says after listening to the silence the landlady had responded with. I hate a wasted journey—I am AfricanAgain, the word caught connotes that some wrong had been done, that the speaker was a criminal caught committing his crime. By making the speaker actually seem sorry for his skin color, Soyinka shows how ridiculous it really is for someone to apologize for his race. To modern Western thinkers, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has committed no wrongdoing. ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT? Her goodness is seemingly confirmed later on when the speaker says that she was â€Å"considerate† in rephrasing her question (line 17). Her response to the caller's question included only â€Å"light / Impersonality† (lines 20-21).Although she was described as being a wealthy woman, she was seemingly considerate and only slightly impersonal. The speaker seems almost grateful for her demeanor. Of course, these kind descriptions of the woman are teeming with verbal irony. We know that she is being very shallowly judgmental even while she is seeming to be so pleasant. The landlady, on the other hand, is described with nothing but positive terms. The s peaker mentions her â€Å"good-breeding,† â€Å"lipstick coated† voice, â€Å"long gold-rolled/Cigarette holder,† all possessions that should make her a respectable lady (lines 7-9).These words describing her wealth are neutral in regard to her personal character, but allow that she could be a good person. â€Å"How dark? ,† After recording the all-important question, â€Å"How dark? ,† the poem pauses for a moment and describes the surroundings to give a sense of reality that shows that the ridiculous question had really been asked (line 10). The speaker describes the buttons in the phone booth, the foul smell that seems to always coexist with public spaces, and a bus driving by outside. His description gives us an image of where the speaker is located: a public phone booth, probably somewhere in the United Kingdom.The â€Å"Red booth,† â€Å"Red pillar-box,† and â€Å"Red double-tiered / Omnibus† are all things that one might find in Leeds, the British city in which Soyinka had been studying prior to writing this poem). In addition to the literal images that this description creates, a sense of the anger running through the speaker's mind is portrayed by the repeated use of the word red. This technique is the closest that that the speaker ever comes to openly showing anger in the poem. Although it is hidden with seemingly polite language, a glimpse of the speaker's anger appears in this quick pause in the conversation.In the end, the landlady repeats her question and the speaker is forced to reveal how dark he is. â€Å"West African sepia,† he says, citing his passport . She claims not to know what that means. She wants a quantifiable expression of his darkness. His response, feigning simplicity is that his face is â€Å"brunette,† his hands and feet â€Å"peroxide blonde† and his bottom â€Å"raven black†. He knows that she just wants a measure of his overall skin-color so t hat she can categorize him, but he refuses to give it to her. Instead he details the different colors of different parts of his body. wouldn't you rather / See for yourself? † As it was meant to, this greatly annoys the landlady and she hangs up on him. In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, â€Å"wouldn't you rather / See for yourself? † The speaker, still playing his ignorance of what the lady was truly asking, sounds as though he is asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin color for herself. The irony in this question, though, lies in the fact that we know the speaker is actually referring to his black bottom when he asks the woman if she wants to see it for herself.Still feigning politeness, the speaker offers to show his backside to the racist landlady. Throughout the poem, yet another form of irony is created by the speaker's use of high diction, which shows his education. Although the landlady refuses to rent an a partment to him because of his African heritage and the supposed savagery that accompanies it, the speaker is clearly a well educated individual. Words like â€Å"pipped,† â€Å"rancid,† and â€Å"spectroscopic† are not words that a savage brute would have in his vocabulary (lines 9, 12, 23).The speaker's intelligence is further shown through his use of sarcasm and wit in response to the landlady's questions. Although he pretends politeness the entire time, he includes subtle meanings in his speech. The fact that a black man could outwit and make a white woman seem foolish shows the irony in judging people based on their skin color. Wole Soyinka's â€Å"Telephone Conversation† is packed with subtleties. The puns, irony, and sarcasm employed help him to show the ridiculousness of racism. The conversation we observe is comical, as is the entire notion that a man can be judged based on the color of his skin.Night Rain John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo was born at Kiagbodo in the Ijaw country in 1935. For a while he worked as a newspaper editor, before going to Princeton University in the United States where he was a Parvin Fellow. On his return to Nigeria he became a Research Fellow at the University of lbadan. He spent ten years as editor of the highly influential literary magazine Black Orpheus. He then moved to the University of Lagos, as Professor and Head of Department. He took voluntary retirement in 1980 to allow time for his research and creative endeavours.He set up the first Repertory Theatre in the country, PEC Repertory Theatre. A poet, playwright and essayist, Clark-Bekederemo has been a prolific author. His writings include a book of critical essays, America their America, a collection of literary essays, The Example of Shakespeare, and a highly acclaimed translation of the Ozidi Saga. He has published numerous volumes of poetry including A Reed in the Tide, which is said to have been the first by a single African poet to be p ublished internationally (rather than in an anthology. His poetry is inspired a great deal by his cultural roots among the Ijaw people of Nigeria. Other volumes of poetry include Casualties, which came out in 1970 just after the Nigerian Civil War, A Decade of Tongues, State of the Union, and a sixth book of poems, Mandela and other poems. JP Clark remains a controversial figure in some respects, but there is no doubting his prowess as a poet. Nigerian poet and playwright; he originally published under the name of J. P. Clark. Poetry is the genre in which he is probably most successful as an artist.His poetic works are Poems (1961), a group of forty lyrics that treat heterogeneous themes; A Reed in the Tide (1965), occasional poems that focus on the poet's indigenous African background and his travel experience in America and other places; Casualties: Poems 1966-68 (1970), which illustrates the horrendous events of the Nigeria-Biafra war; A Decade of Tongues (1981), a collection of seventy-four poems, all except ‘Epilogue to Casualties' (dedicated to Michael Echeruo) His poetic career spans three literary pedigrees: the apprenticeship stage of trial and experimentation, exemplified by such juvenilia as ‘Darkness and Light' and ‘Iddo Bridge'; the imitative stage, in which he appropriates such Western poetic conventions as the couplet measure and the sonnet sequence, exemplified in such lyrics as ‘To a Fallen Soldier' and ‘Of Faith', and the individualized stage, in which he attains the maturity and originality of form of such poems as ‘Night Rain', ‘Out of the Tower', and ‘Song'. While his poetic themes centre on violence and protest (Casualties), institutional corruption (State of the Union), the beauty of nature and the landscape (A Reed in the Tide), European colonialism (‘Ivbie' in Poems), and humanity's inhumanity (Mandela and Other Poems), he draws his imagery from the indigenous African background and the Western literary tradition, interweaving them to dazzling effect. Although he is fascinated by the poetic styles of Western authors, particularly G. M. Hopkins, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, and W. H. Auden, he has cultivated an eloquent, penetrating, and descriptive voice of his own.Bekederemo's dramas include Song of a Goat (1961), a tragedy cast in the Greek classical mode in which the impotence of Zifa, the protagonist, causes his wife Ebiere and his brother Tonye to indulge in an illicit love relationship that results in suicide. As one of Africa's pre-eminent and distinguished authors, he has, since his retirement, continued to play an active role in literary affairs, a role in which he is increasingly gaining deserved international recognition. In 1991, for example, he received the Nigerian National Merit Award for literary excellence and saw publication, by Howard University, of his two definitive volumes, The Ozidi Saga and Collected Plays and Poems 1958-1988. Chinua Acheb e's â€Å"Refugee Mother and Child†The Mother has always held a supreme position in all religions. In Islam, she holds the first,second and third places. In Hinduism, the Mother and Motherland are deemed greater than heaven. In Christianity, the privilege of â€Å"giving birth divinely† was also handed over to a woman. The image of Madonna with her child is supposed to be the highest paradigm of motherhood one can envisage . Here ,Chinua Achebe states that even that image could not surpass the picture of a mother expressing tenderness for a son she would soon have to forget. It is the most poignant impression one's imagination and memory can ever perceive. The prescribed poem is titled â€Å"Refugee Mother and Child†.The adjective ‘refugee' assumes different meanings in this context. One, the mother in question may be a refugee. Besides, one who flees from danger, and is in a secure and protective circle is also called a ‘refugee'. In this regard, th e baby is a refugee, and his refuge is his mother's womb till he comes out to this cruel world. Another interpretation would be the mother finding refuge from the reality of the death of her son in a make-believe world. The air held a nausea of unwashed children with traces of diarrhea,and the stench of the emanations post-delivery. The rawness of the struggle to attain motherhood is depicted as the poet states: The air was heavy with odors f diarrhea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms struggling in labored steps behind blown empty bellies. Mothers there had long ceased to care, as the poignancy of the situation of the refugees had reached their saturation point. But this one still held her own. She donned a ghost smile. The situation is scary because the new-born is dead and the smile seems ghastly. The term ‘ghost smile' may also signify that the lady held a ‘ghost' of a smile that once was real. Now that the genuine reason for the smile is lost, it may be termed as a ‘ghost of a smile. ‘ Her eyes also looked super-focussed as it held the ghost of a mother's pride.She combs ,with maternal affection, the hair on his ‘skull'. Note that it is ‘skull' and not ‘head' as the baby is impoverished, and dead. Her eyes appeared to sing a lullaby, as she parts the son's hair. In an otherwise situation, this act would be of little consequence; another everyday affair before breakfast or school. Here,however, it happens to stand for the last display of maternal affection and is therefore equivalent to â€Å"putting flowers on a tiny grave. † If You Want to Know Me By Noemia de Sousa My apologies for the long drought without a FUUO poet of the week. Noemia de Sousa (aka Vera Micaia) was born in 1927 in Maputo, Mozambique.She lived in Lisbon working as a translator from 1951 to 1964 and then she left for Paris where she worked for the local consulate of Morocco. She went back to Lisbon in 1975 and became member of the ANOP. In the early years of the liberation struggle she was very active. She later left and lived in exile. Noemia racial background was Portuguese and Bantu and in much of her poetry she explores the idea of Africa and her heritage. Her poem below is phenomenal. It’s angry and inspired and that final stanza—where she proffers her body as a medium for Africa’s struggle for freedom–wow, powerful. And she ends her poem without a period, perhaps because her last word is ‘hope’ and what is more hopeful than an undefined end? 1926–2002), Mozambican poet and writer. Carolina Noemia Abranches de Sousa was born in the Mozambican capital, Lourenco Marques (now Maputo), the child of two mixed-race parents, roughly fifty years before her country's liberation from Portugal. She was proud that her background included German, Portuguese, and Goan (Indian) ancestors as well as Ronga and Makua from Mozambique. Her early education was in Maputo, though after her father died she was not able to attend an academic high school. She trained at a commercial school, learning to type and do stenography, but she also pursued more traditional academic subjects and studied English and French.De Sousa's first job was working at a local business as a secretary, employment she took in order to support her mother. She published her first poem, â€Å"O irmao negro† (The Black Brother), in the local literary magazine Mocidade (Youth) when she was nineteen. She was then known as Carolina Abranches , so she disguised her identity by publishing under the initials N. S. E. , referring to her unused names of Noemia de Sousa. She soon began working for the Associacao Africana (African Association), a political group that included the renowned Mozambican poet Jose Craveirinha , and she was responsible for reviving the association's militant newspaper, O Brado Africano (The African Call).She wrote several well-received and m uch anthologized poems through the late 1940s, though after 1951 she no longer wrote poetry, with the exception of a commemorative poem following the death of independent Mozambique's first president, Samora Machel , in an airplane crash in 1986. Her early poems are often cited as representative of the Negritude school of writing, extolling black African culture and history, though she was writing in isolation from the better-known French school of Negritude. Her poems celebrated Mozambican culture and history. One of the most often cited is a poem about migrant workers in South Africa's gold and diamond mines, â€Å"Magaica† (â€Å"Migrant Laborer†) which concludes: † Youth and health, the lost illusions which will shine like stars on some Lady's neck in some City's night. â€Å"Her celebration of â€Å"my mother Africa† (in the poem â€Å"Sangue negro† [â€Å"Black Blood†] is continued in â€Å"Se me quiseres conhecer †¦ ,† [â €Å"If You Want to Know Me†], which has a catalog of Mozambican lives: † If you want to understand me come, bend over this soul of Africa in the black dockworker's groans the Chope's frenzied dances the Changanas’ rebellion [ †¦ ] † And she was appreciated for her cries for liberation, as with these closing lines from â€Å"Poema de Joao† (â€Å"The Poem of Joao†): â€Å"who can take the multitude and lock it in a cage? † In 1951 she moved to Portugal to escape the vigilance of the Portuguese secret police, who were interested in her work at O Brado Africano. In Portugal she met and married her husband, Gaspar Soares, in 1962. The couple moved to France, where de Sousa worked as a journalist under the pen name Vera Micaia.She returned to Portugal and was living there when she died in 2002. I Thank You God Bernard Binlin Dadie Bernard Binlin Dadie (or sometimes Bernard Dadie) (born 1916 near Abidjan) is a prolific Ivorian novelist, playwright, poet, and ex-administrator. Among many other senior positions, starting in 1957, he held the post of Minister of Culture in the government of Cote d'Ivoire from 1977 to 1986. He worked for the French government in Dakar, Senegal, but on returning to his homeland in 1947, became part of its movement for independence. Before Cote d'Ivoire's independence in 1960, he was detained for sixteen months for taking part in demonstrations which opposed the French colonial government.In his writing, influenced by his experiences of colonialism as a child, Dadie attempts to connect the messages of traditional African folktales with the contemporary world. With Germain Coffi Gadeau and F. J. Amon d'Aby, he founded the Cercle Culturel et Folklorique de la Cote d'Ivoire (CCFCI) in 1953. [1] His humanism and desire for the equality and independence of Africans and their culture is also prevalent. Famous for his work I Thank You, God â€Å"I thank you God for creating me black, For havin g made me the total of all sorrows, and set upon my head The World. I wear the lively of the Centaur And I carry the world since the first morning. White is a colour improvised for an occasion Black, the colour of all days And I carry the World since the first evening.I am happy with the shape of my head fashioned to carry the World, satisfied With the shape of my nose, which should breathe all the air of the World, happy With the form of my legs prepared to run through all the stages of the World. I thank you God for creating me black For making of me Porter of all sorrows.. Still I am Glad to carry the World, Glad of my short arms Of my long arms Of the thickness of my lips.. I thank you God for creating me black White is a colour for special occasions Black the colour for every day And i have carried the World since the dawn of time And my laugh over the World, through the night, creates the Day. I thank you, God for creating me blackGabriel Okara's â€Å"Once Upon a Time† â€Å"Once Upon a Time† has been published in the Edexcel GCSE anthology. In â€Å"Once Upon a Time†, Gabriel Okara speaks of a time when Africans were rooted in the simplicity of tradition and minimalism of sophistication; and how different they have turned out to be with the advent of colonialism. The very title â€Å"Once Upon a Time† points to a fairy tale existence long ago that is almost deemed unbelievable â€Å"Once Upon a Time† they used to laugh with their hearts and eyes in complete sincerity. A smile, if natural, first reaches the eyes. Therefore Okara portrays fake, unfelt smiles. A smile is the first greeting a person is received with.If the greeting itself is deceptive; the rest is to be regarded with great suspicion. â€Å"Once Upon a Time† they were children in the lap of nature . However, now they have turned into processed products of the pseudo modern existence. They now laugh mechanically with their teeth and ice-block cold ey es. The term ‘ice-block cold eyes' is very suggestive of death and stagnation. It also denotes lack of communication. Pictorial vehemence suggests the lurking hypocrisy. The people only ‘search behind' the speaker's shadow. Okara means to say that every action is analyzed and every motive criticized. Also, they are satisfied with the shadow of the person in question, and do not seek the identity of the persona.This points to the current media policy that project the shells of various personalities without delving to their depth. They fail to comprehend the enigma behind each unique individual. The poet moves from expression to action. Now they shake hands ‘without hearts' as their left hand probes the speakers' pockets. People do not go out of their way to help others now-a-days. Instead, influenced by the Western formula of success, they take advantage of others to reach their end. The poet asserts that immersed in the crowd, he has also become a cog in the wheel of society. Like Kamala Das echoes in her poem â€Å"Fancy-Dress Show†, the poet claims that he has learnt to adorn different faces to suit the situation- homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, ocktailface, with all their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait smile. The third stanza portrays the hiatus between words uttered and bitter reality. The divorce between the intention and remark is explicit. The poet has also learnt o say â€Å"Good bye† when he means â€Å"Good Riddance† The shut door stands for modern insularity: it foregrounds the alienation of the individual from tradition, tribe and clan. . The speaker tells his son that he wants to relearn everything and be like him. He seems to echo that :†Child is the father of man†. Okara ,in other words, would like to go down to his roots. The man distrusts even his mirror image, his reflection: for my laugh in the mirror hows only my teeth like a snake's bare fangs! The poisonous erudition is implicit in his own state of being. The poet opines that unpolluted simplicity and innocence can only be found in childhood, and relived in the same. The Call of the River Nun is a similar celebration of lost innocence David Rubadiri's â€Å"A Negro Labourer in Liverpool† An analysis of David Rubadiri's â€Å"A Negro Labourer in Liverpool† The poem strives to highlight the plight of a Negro labourer in Liverpool. The indefinite article ‘a’ points to the lack of a specific identity. They are just one among a group, one of the community, who do not necessarily possess any individual identity.They are labeled according to their work(labourer)or corresponding to their geographical location. The poet himself hints at the indifference of society as a whole to the plight of the labourer as he states that he ‘passes’ him. He slouches on dark backstreet pavements. His ‘marginalization’ is evident in his position ’slouchingâ€℠¢. Further, it is also emphasized in his being side-stepped on the pavements. Again the pavement is qualified by the phrase ’dark backstreet’. The head is ‘bowed’ when it would have preferred to be straight. He is overcome with fatigue and totally exhausted. He is a dark shadow amongst other shadows. He has no unique identity, his life is not colourful.The poet asserts that he has lifted his face to his, as in acknowledgement. Their eyes met but on his dark Negro face. The poet probably refers to the reflection of the speaker’s eyes in the eyes of the labourer. The eyes are foregrounded on his dark face. There is no sunny smile as he wears a forlorn expression. The sun is an important and recurrent motif in African poetry. A wise man once said that a man is poor if he does not have a penny; he is poor if he does not possess a dream. The labourer here neither has hope nor longing. Only the mechanical ‘cowed dart of eyes’ that is more mec hanized than the impassive activity of the people. People in their ‘impassive’ fast-forward life fail to notice the labourer.He painfully searches for a face to comprehend his predicament, acknowledge his suffering. It expresses his utter solitude and utter desperation. Capitalism & Women Academy. Mises. org Feminists Should Thank Capitalists. Mises Academy Course. Enroll Today! Ads by Google Notice that the poet shifts from the indefinite article ‘a’ to the definite article ‘the’ in addressing the Negro labourer in the second stanza. It is to assert and affirm his existence in society that the poet does the same. David Rubadiri goes on to describe him in terms of his motherland; and in terms of his emotions: ’a heart heavy’. He bears a century’s oppression that had sought after an identity.He strives to attain the fire of manhood. But ironically, even in the Land of the free (England), he is unable to attain the same. Neve rtheless, the free here are also dead, in a state of decay and stagnation, for they too grope for a light, a ray of hope. The speaker puts forward the question: Will the sun That greeted him from his mother’s womb Ever shine again? Not here- Here his hope is the shovel. And his fulfillment resignation He awaits a new dawn, as fresh as that promised as he arose from his mother’s womb. He longs for the rays of hope of a sun that will never set for him. Presently his hope is his shovel-his hard work, and he discovers content in its fulfillment.