Two Lives Of Charlemagne ( Einhard and Notker The Stammerer ) and The Prince ( Machiavelli ) free essay sample

Compares these works on political and military leadership and power. This study will compare two books on the nature of political and military leadership and power, Two Lives of Charlemagne, by Einhard and Notker the Stammerer, and The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli. The authors of the two biographies of Charlemagne focus on an historical personage and explore leadership and power as expressions of his specific life. Machiavelli focuses on the theory of leadership and power as he urges it to be practiced by the ideal prince, but he uses historical examples of past effective and ineffective exercises of power to bolster his arguments. Despite this difference in the two books focus, the study will argue that the authors take the same essential position with respect to the subject: political and military power can be maintained only by a leader who is willing and able to use whatever means are necessary to bring obedience from ones

Comparing Theater and Cinema Essay Essays - English-language Films

Comparing Theater and Cinema Essay Essays - English-language Films Comparing Theater and Cinema Essay Comparing Theater and Cinema Essay ARTS/100 February 2, 2015 Lisa Turner Comparing Theater and Cinema Essay Jaws is a perfect movie. A movie that is the standard for the animal on the loose genre, and it is unlikely to ever be overshadowed. The movie preys on the human minds ability to construct horrors beyond any the screen can provide. The audience does not actually see the shark until an hour into the movie. But the shark isnt just a shark. The shark is a representation of consumerism in this memorable movie. Symbolism The shark in Jaws represents consumerism in society. This is first demonstrated in the scene where the sheriff, a recent transplant from New York and therefore an outsider to the town, tries to close down the beaches after learning of the first shark attack. The sheriff is confronted by the mayor and fathers of the town in the confined space of one of Amitys ferries, suggesting the islands isolation and dependence on beach-going summer tourists for its livelihood and survival (AMC Filmsite, n.d.). Amitys mayor informs the sheriff that he cannot close the beaches on his own authority, and must have a civic ordinance or resolution by the towns Board of Selectmen. Their one and only concern is what impact closing the islands beaches will have on the businesses in the exclusive town. The sheriff, symbolizing the everyman of society, is forced into a cover-up and ordered to keep the beaches open. Because of this decision, the relentless shark kills another member of the community. This ti me the victim is a child, yet people in town are still wary of drawing conclusions. We dont even know if theres a shark around here, argues the female motel owner (AMC Filmsite, n.d.). At a meeting of the towns elders, the sheriffs decision to close the beaches is once again vetoed by the mayor, who only authorizes a twenty-four hour closure. The sheriff is left helpless, emasculated, and speechless in front of the meeting (AMC Filmsite, n.d). The higher priority of revenue at the expense of beachgoers lives represents consumerism at its worst. Theatrical Production As a theatrical production, Jaws would best be performed as an American satirical musical in three acts. The cast would consist of puppet characters animated and voiced by actors/puppeteers who are present, unconcealed, and onstage but remain invisible relative to the story line, much like the current New York musical, Avenue Q. To assist in the illusion, the puppeteers would wear grey or black clothing in contrast to the characters colorful costumes. The set design would be simple, childlike scenes that would be easily rolled on and off the stage to change the scene settings. The musical would be scored simply for bass, drums and percussion, guitars, reeds, and piano or electronic keyboards. The shark would also be a character with a speaking role. He would be written as a tortured soul, who is a slave to his animal instincts, and the audience would be empathetic to his character, as he is consistently set up for failure by the townspeople of Amity. Despite the characters being port rayed by puppets, the show would not be appropriate for children to attend. Conclusion Widely written and dissected about by film historians and theorists, we continue to return to this amazing motion picture because it beckons us to. Whereas many great films contain a message or viewpoint that defines them as a product of their time, Jaws does the opposite (Deep Focus Review, 2012). The shark is open to interpretation by the viewer. The shark of Jaws represents consumerism. It is literally eating away the resources of wealth for the town of Amity. Jaws will never lose its potency as a film and a theatrical production would be an imaginative way to bring it into current popular culture. References AMC Filmsite. (n.d.). Retrieved from filmsite.org/jaws.html Deep Focus Review. (2012). Retrieved from deepfocusreview.com/reviews/jas.asp

Abandoning the American Dream

Abandoning the American Dream From the American Revolution onward, the United States has gained international recognition as a land of hope and equal opportunity. America’s founding fathers imagined the nation to be a place of widespread promise, operating under democratic rule and allowing for social mobility. The notion that any individual, regardless of circumstance, could achieve a goal by possessing determination became a belief known as the American Dream. Instilled at the core of American culture, and remaining there at present, the American Dream must be assessed for its validity. Using critical support to discuss the purpose and importance of this myth in the past centuries, I will examine the American Dream from a historical perspective to uncover its current function in modern America. In spite of its illusory nature, the pervasion of the American Dream into national thought serves to justify the myth’s perpetuation into 21st century. Overall, this paper will illustrate the necessity of a new ideology if America is to continue on the rise. Incredibly popularized in the 19th century, during the period of expansion and Manifest Destiny, the American Dream became a predominant principle that guided society. The myth’s premise appeared straightforward: work hard and achieve greatness. A hopeful approach to the future, this idealistic outlook provided inspiration to adolescent America, a child in essence. Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim explains â€Å"the most important and also the most difficult task in raising a child is helping him to find meaning in life† (3), which is essentially the conflict that led the youthful society to adopt a nationally recognized ideology. The people had the difficult task before them of economic, social, and cultural development, and they needed a path to follow that would assure a prominent, meaningful future. The author of mid-nineteenth century children stories, Horatio Alger was a major influence in spreading the message of the American Dream through popular culture. Embedding the myth into American consciousness, Alger proposed that anyone could move from rags to riches (Kanfer). He provided a formula to the achievement of the American dream that corresponds to Joseph Campbell’s simplified formula of the monomyth.[1] There are three stages to Campbell’s formula: â€Å"a separation from the world, a penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return† (35). Similarly, the Alger plot typically depicted a young boy separating himself from his poverty-stricken world, taking on a new routine characterized by intense work ethic, and coming forth with an improved status. Alger’s stories circulated throughout America at a crucial stage in its history, imparting a seemingly sensible approach to societal challenges and promising triumph. Alger truly had a substantial impact on the American philosophy for the upcoming century. Although Joseph Campbell in his conclusion to The Hero with a Thousand Faces asserts that modern society no longer abides by a mythic approach to life’s difficulties, I see the situation as the reverse: too strong of a reliance on the American myth has served as a constraint in the progression of society. In Campbell’s formula, there comes â€Å"the stage of the trials and victories† (36). Continued hope in the American Dream has prevented the social body from overcoming these trials. Consequently, the modern world’s reluctance to throw away the American Dream causes the postponement of â€Å"the return and reintegration with society† (Campbell 36). An exclusive faith in the American Dream hinders society from utilizing other approaches to improving the status quo. While the American Dream is exhausted of hope, society reluctantly retains faith due to how ingrained the philosophy has become within the social fabric. The American Dream myth consistently disappoints a large portion of American society; yet, for society to alter its attitude toward the myth proves difficult. Economist Lewis Corey uses the term â€Å"cultural lag† for this failure to change a popularized value, and he suggests that â€Å"ideals may persist†¦.after the material conditions of their origin are no more† (qtd. in Tipple 268). Viewing the American Dream from this rationale, I see the myth’s current existence in popular thought as primarily a result of its longevity. Instead of hard workers realizing that their efforts do not necessarily bring the promised success, they do not know whether to believe the claims of the myth or the observations of reality. Myth has the potent ability to blind its adherents from the nature of reality. By holding on to the myth, the believer suffers in a struggle without prospect. â€Å"Social myth functions in a complex and indirect system of rationalization,† (11) explains Joe Holland in The American Journey: A Theology in the Americas. Dominating the believer’s understanding of how society works, trust in the American myth only perpetuates the disillusionment in modern society. America does not recognize the myth’s falsehood, failing to confront the facts of the present social circumstances. Despite Alger’s claims about the self-made man, United States history repeatedly shows that the American Dream lacks the promise that the people have projected onto it. A study of United States history, from the American Revolution to the present day, reveals many examples of class struggle, racial prejudice, and restricted social mobility. Various times in history emphasize a not-so idealistic reality for minority groups, including the Civil War, the Progressive Era, and the 1960s. A key historical example, the period preceding and during the Great Depression in America, circa 1920s and 1930s, exposes the discrepancy between the American myth’s promise and the conditions of reality. In Crisis of the American Dream, John Tipple describes the carefree feeling among the people in the roaring twenties; it was taken as a truth that â€Å"man could realize his highest aspirations amid abundance† (13). The optimism, and naivety, of the American people reflects the stronghold that the myth of the American Dream had on our culture during a time of perceived affluence. The sudden collapse of the stock market crash, however, contradicted the myth’s promise: â€Å"the ensuing depression turned the dream of universal prosperity into a horrible nightmare† (Tipple 14). Regardless of its deep historical foundation, the time has come to acknowledge that Alger’s myth lacks true basis. The out-dated American Dream does not foster social advancement, and it has become harder to find Alger’s rags-to-riches man in modern America. No longer are the days of Manifest Destiny; the adolescent years of our nation have passed. Consequently, America must undertake the most difficult rite of passage[2]: giving up on old ideology and experiencing a rebirth by implementing a new faith. Modern society has the task of separating itself from the former myth and initiating a new philosophy if it is â€Å"to nullify the unremitting recurrences of death† (Campbell 16). Only by forming a new ideal can America prevent its demise and continue on an upward journey.

How Does the Talent Pipeline Impact on the Employment Relationship Essay

How Does the Talent Pipeline Impact on the Employment Relationship - Essay Example The involvement of recruiting and selection in the successful development of the employment relationship is explored in this study. Different approaches have been used in the literature for explaining the interaction between the recruiting/ selection processes and the employment relationship. All of these approaches lead to a particular assumption: both recruiting and selection are critical for the success of employment relationship; however, the level of involvement of these processes in employment relationship is not standardized being depended on the organization’s internal and external environment but also the skills and competencies of the individuals, i.e. the HR managers, who overview these processes. 2. Recruiting and selection and impact on employment relationship Recruiting and selection can highly influence the employment relationship. As explained above, the specific processes are parts of the first component of the Talent Pipeline model, as developed by CIPD in 20 06 (Figure 1, below); an alternative form of the Talent Pipeline, as developed in 2007 is also presented in Figure 2. The impact of these processes on employment relationship is analyzed below, using the views of the literature, as related to the particular subject. Figure 1 – The Talent Pipeline Figure 2 – The Talent Pipeline, CIPD 2007 CIPD 2006 (Source CIPD 2006) (Source: London Management Centre 2011) 2.1 The recruiting process as part of the talent pipeline and its effects on employment relationship The impact of recruiting on the employment relationship cannot be doubted. In fact, it seems that the power of recruitment to affect the employment relationship is verified by the law. A critical example is ‘Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, Australia’ (Stewart 2011, p.143). The specific legislative text promotes the following idea: the recruitment process can directly affect the employment relationship (Stewart 2011); for this reason, a dispute relat ed to the recruitment process should be characterized as ‘an industrial matter’ (Stewart 2011, p.143). Indeed, in the case Re Manufacturing Grocers (1986), the Court held that ‘an employment matter should be characterized as industrial only when it affects directly the employment relationship’ (Stewart 2011, p.143). It was also held that the recruiting process can be an industrial matter, since ‘it has the power to affect directly employment relations’ (Stewart 2011, p.143). The research of Guest and Conway (2002, quoted by Lewis, et al. 2003, p.15) verified the power of the recruitment process to impact the employment relationship. In the context of the above research, 1300 HR managers were asked to mention the factors that are most likely to influence the psychological contrac

Global Impact of Terrorism and Genocide Coursework

Global Impact of Terrorism and Genocide - Coursework Example The exploitation of fear within the global population, organizations and small social units helps to realize these terrorist goals. The September 11, 2001 attacks were a prominent example of terrorism in the 21st century. The incident involved a series of four separate, but well-coordinated terrorist invasions launched by the al-Qaeda on the New York City and the Washington, D.C. in the United States. The attacks impacted the Macro-system in the sense that the World Trade Centre was closed, and the economic system of Lower Manhattan nearly ground to a halt. Cancellations of international flights and business relations between the world and the two American cities had a substantial effect on the world markets. The Wall Street was also closed for nearly one week, and the civilian airspace three days in United States and Canada. In the Meso-system, different organizations such as churches, schools, and businesses suspended their operations and evacuated in the aftermath of the attack. At the individual and group level or microsystem, people were gripped with fear of a repeat of the attacks that had claimed about 3000 civilian lives. As Schlenger (582) has established, those who lost their loved ones, property or good physical health, have been enduring serious psychological disorders for more than 12 years now. America, Canada, their European allies and the whole world in general have since changed their security policies to eradicate cases of terrorism since then. Pham, P.N., H.M. Weinstein, and T. Longman. "Trauma and PTSD Symptoms in Rwanda: Implications for Attitudes Toward Justice and Reconciliation." Journal of the American Medical Association, 292.5 (2004):

Civil Rights in America Essay Example for Free

Civil Rights in America Essay The Cornell University Law School defines a civil right as â€Å"an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury† (2008). An example of a civil right in the United States is the freedom of speech. It is safeguarded in the First Amendment of the Constitution because this right allows for the free flow of ideas among individuals, organizations and other entities even if these opinions are unconventional, contentious or downright distasteful (Wang, 2001). The clash of opposing ideas in society facilitates the process in which the truth will emerge. Suppressing thoughts that counter another thought will not bring about a well-rounded understanding of an issue at hand and will lead to insufficient knowledge on which the public will base their positions, decisions or actions. Only by trying and testing ideas through competition guaranteed by free speech can the public become objective. Further, the freedom of speech is also one of the ways in which persons express their individuality and pursue self-development (Wang, 2001). Another example of a civil right is the freedom from involuntary servitude. The Thirteenth Amendment ended the more than two centuries in which slavery, the classic form of involuntary servitude, existed in the United States (Missouri Bar, 2006). This granted every inhabitant of the country, no matter what the race or ethnicity, gender or personal beliefs, the security from this form of inhumanity. However, involuntary servitude has a wider meaning in that in not only encompasses slavery but also peonage. The Thirteenth Amendment also protects against voluntary or involuntary labor of a person as a form of debt payment or a means for the fulfillment of obligations (Missouri Bar, 2006). The right against involuntary servitude assures citizens of their dignity and freedom even in times of economic difficulties. This right specifically protects persons of the lower economic status from the exploitation of the more affluent.

Don DeLillos White Noise :: Free Essay Writer

Don DeLillo's White Noise WHITE NOISE is probably Don DeLillo's most popular novel, largely because most readers see it as DeLillo's warmest and most human book. In this story, the ideas that seem to captivate DeLillo are fleshed out in real life in a way that none of his other books quite achieves. Of course, there are a few stubborn souls (like me) who still feel THE NAMES, or one of his other books is better. But I think everyone agrees, WHITE NOISE is a winner. It won DeLillo the National Book Award in 1985, and it also won a larger reading audience for a great American writer. DeLillo has said that Ernest Becker's THE DENIAL OF DEATH was a book that influenced him at the time he wrote WHITE NOISE. There's certainly no denying that death, and the many things we do to avoid facing it, is a major focus of DeLillo's novel. Becker's book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1974, has as it's thesis the assertion that "the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity---activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man." Becker's point is that this is *the* driving force in the human psyche today...which I think is overstating the matter a bit...but it certainly is a reality that all of us face in some way, sooner or later. As I looked through Becker's book last month, I was surprised to discover that it's actually an exposition of the work of Otto Rank. Rank was the third of the three famous defectors from Freud's inner psychoanalytic circle early this century (the others being Alder and Jung), and he's known in the literary world to a certain extent because of his intimate involvement with Anais Nin. Like Jung, Rank developed a psychology of mythology and religion...and, in particular, Rank's emphasis was "The Hero" motif. This is what Jung called "the puer aeternus" (or the female "puella")---the eternal youth...who never ages...who never dies...to whom death is nothing. In psychology, this idea is linked closely with that of narcissism, which is considered prevalent in society today. Just look at all the things we do to avoid the appearance of aging! Jack Gladney is, at best, an unlikely Hero, I think.