Abc-Clio - Continental System Essay Example for Free

Abc-Clio Continental System Essay Continental System One of Europes most storied leaders, Napoleon I is remembered for his dramatic victories as the leader of France, conquering large swathes of Europe until his ultimate downfall following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Despite his military prowess, Napoleon was never able to conquer the United Kingdom, his archrival to the north. As Europes most successful economic power and the nation with the most powerful navy in the world, Britain relied on its trade with foreign nations to fuel its own economy. In an effort to undermine his rival, Napoleon initiated the Continental System, a wide-ranging system of tariffs and embargoes against Britain. The Continental System ultimately had a far more negative impact on France, however, much to the chagrin of its illustrious emperor. Origins of the Continental System Hostilities between France and Britain had boiled for many centuries, but the French Revolution, with its antimonarchical republican values and extreme violence, initiated a new low in relations between those two nations. Fearful of republican ideology spreading to its shores, Britain was staunchly opposed to the French Revolution from its inception, and as the French Army began its conquest of Europe, the island nation sought allies in its struggle against France. By 1799, Napoleon had used the support of the military to overthrow the French Directory and effectively take full control of the nation; the French coup dà ©tat of 1799 established the French Consulate as the new government of France, with Napoleon assuming the ultimate executive position of first consul. Meanwhile, French armies successfully conquered the Papal States, Sardinia-Piedmont, and Switzerland, and even occupied Ottoman Egypt for three years. Such conservative forces on the European continent as Austria and Russia shared Britains fears and quaked at the thought of French invasion. They knew that the French would not only bring occupying armies to their lands, but also displace their monarchies and establish republics, and that was something the ruling elite could not accept. With a successful general like Napoleon now at the helm of the government, the issue appeared more urgent than ever before. To counteract the threat of French invasion, monarchies across Europe banded together in a series of coalitions. In 1798, Austria, Britain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, and Russia formed the Second Coalition, but their infighting prevented any effective concerted movement to stop the French war machine. By 1805, France had firmly established itself as an imperial power, having gained control over large portions of the Continent. In response, Britain and Russia, later joined by Austria and Sweden, formed the Third Coalition. This was a crucial move for the British; Napoleon had begun to amass troops in Boulogne—on the northern coast of France—in 1803 in preparation for invading Britain. The powerful British Royal Navy was able to prevent French invasion through a blockade, however, and with the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, Napoleon realized he would not be able to launch a successful land inv asion of Britain. A New Strategy Defeated, but not demoralized, Napoleon plotted a new way to attack the British. If he could not take them on militarily, the French emperor (Napoleon had proclaimed himself emperor of the First French Empire in May 1804) determined to attack their economy. Calling the British a nation of shopkeepers in a derogatory tone, Napoleon nevertheless knew that the Industrial Revolution, along with the riches flooding into the country from the burgeoning British Empire, had made the United Kingdom the most powerful economic power in the world. Because the nation was an island, it needed trade of its finished goods to buy enough raw materials and supplies for its population to live at a level that made it possible for them to be consumers and continue their rapidly expanding industrial output. He also knew that industrialization had ravaged the rural population of Britain, as well as its artisan crafts and cottage industries. As a consequence, he believed that a massive embargo of British goods throughout the European continent would destroy the British economy and incite a popular uprising that would bring down the government, as deprivation among the poor had done in France in the 1780s. Meanwhile, despite the loss of the French Navy at Trafalgar, the French Army (renamed the Grande Armà ©e in 1805) continued its domination of Europe. By the fall of 1806, nearly all of the Continent, from the Atlantic Coast to the borders of Russia, was either under French control, occupation, or allied to France. The only exceptions, most notably Portugal and Sweden, were unable to effectively take on French military might and stood waiting to see when they too might fall under French rule. With his power seemingly uncontested in Europe, Napoleon determined that it was time to strike at the British with his new strategy of economic embargo. Economic Warfare Begins On November 21, 1806, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree, which declared that France would henceforth blockade all British ships and refuse them entry into any port under French control. In December 1807, Napoleon issued the Milan Decree as well, which stated that any ships coming into French waters that had previously docked in British ports would be confiscated, along with their cargo and crews, by French officials. That new policy was meant to include such neutral nations as the United States, which at that time was Britains most important trading partner; U.S. cotton in particular was essential for fueling the textile industry, Britains most important manufacturing base at the time. To counteract Napoleons moves, the British passed their own laws, known as the Orders in Council of 1807, forbidding their trading partners from dealing with France. As a consequence, the United States was forced to cease all trade with both Britain and France, a move passed into law by the Embargo Act of 1807. The U.S. withdrawal from international trade caused significant problems in the British economy and forced British industrialists to look elsewhere for cotton and other raw materials that had previously come from America. The expansion of the second wave of British colonization in the 19th century traces its origins to that period, as does the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Effects of the Continental System Napoleons attempts at economic warfare were shocking at first, but they did not fully cripple the British economy. Russia was not under French control in 1806, so in the beginning phase of the blockade, goods from Britain were still able to enter Europe through Russian-controlled Baltic ports. By July 1807, however, France and Russia concluded peace with the Treaty of Tilsit, and Russia—along with Prussia—joined the Continental System as a term of the treaty. By 1808, the value of British exports had fallen from  £40.8 million to  £35 million, and there was a visible decline in the import of grain. Moreover, industrialists, unable to get raw materials from abroad, began to lay off their industrial workers. At the same time, there were many crop failures in Britain, leading to extreme hunger for many of the poor who, without jobs or sufficient hours and pay, were unable to afford higher prices for rarer staples. Food riots resulted, but Napoleons hopes for a popular uprising that would overthrow the government never materialized. Though deeply affected, Britains economy was able to survive the blockade in the end, largely thanks to trade with its colonies and a marked growth in smuggling. While the consequences of the Continental System were dire for the United Kingdom, historians are adamant that the system actually had a far more punishing impact on France. Europeans, both in France and in its conquered and allied territories, were bitter that the system was denying them access to many of the consumer goods they relied on that originated from Britain and its colonies, like sugar, coffee, inexpensive textiles, and tobacco. Meanwhile, smugglers thrived in the environment of the embargo, and such goods that did get into Europe from Britain were far more expensive than they had ever been. Moreover, European nations conquered by the French resented the partner laws of the Continental System, which privileged French goods by placing high tariffs on other European goods. Prices throughout Europe skyrocketed under the Continental System, giving Europeans living under French rule new reasons to resent their imperial overlords. That resentment ultimately shook the foundations of support for Napoleons empire. Resentment, War, and Defeat The economic hardships wrought by the embargo led European nations that had not fallen under French rule to resist the Continental System. Portugal entirely refused to take part, forcing Napoleon to invade the nation and attempt to capture its fleet and depose its monarchy. However, King John VI of Portugal fled his home for Brazil, Portugals largest colony, and his naval fleet went with him. His people responded by revolting against the French invasion, and the British sent an expeditionary force to support them. This was the preliminary phase of the Peninsular War, a brutal struggle for independence from the French for Portugal and Spain, most famous in the United States today for its astonishing and heartbreaking war images captured by the master painter Francisco de Goya. The war was extremely costly for the French and played a significant role in Napoleons eventual downfall. The Swedish also decided to reject Napoleons demand that they join the Continental System, an act that resulted in that nation being invaded by Russia in 1808. The war that ensued—known today as the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809—raged from February 1808 until September 1809 and resulted in Finland being separated from Sweden and established as a semiautonomous entity closely tied to the Russian government. Also, the Russians forced the Swedes to join the Continental System, and all Swedish ports were closed to British shipping. Like other parts of Europe living under the Continental System, the Swedes were furious at the results of the embargo, namely higher prices and scarcity of goods. Anti-French sentiment increased, and Sweden subsequently took part in the final campaigns to overthrow Napoleons empire in 1813–1815. As prices skyrocketed, Napoleons Continental System was increasingly resented in France as well. Moreover, the human and financial costs of the wars in which the system played a causative role—like the Peninsular War—wore on the French public. Napoleons popularity began to plummet, and by 1812, the economy of all of Europe was collapsing. In that year, Russia decided to stop participating in the Continental System, and Napoleon responded by launching a massive land invasion of the vast country. Ill prepared for the elusive tactics employed by the Russian Army and the harsh nature of the Russian winter, Napoleon suffered the worst military defeat of his career during the Russian invasion; the human carnage was devastating for both sides, and Napoleons Grande Armà ©e was practically decimated. The resentful nations of Europe, including former allies of France, seized the opportunity and rose up in unison against Napoleons weakened regime. Within three years, the emperors fate would be sealed with his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the final proof that his Continental System was, in the end, a failure. Continental System. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 3 Mar. 2011. Chicago World History: The Modern Era, s.v. Continental System, accessed March 3, 2011. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/. APA Continental System. (2011). In World History: The Modern Era. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/

Improve the World Essay Example for Free

Improve the World Essay We all want to make the world a better place, but few of us go beyond this abstract idea to planning for change. Like any goal, it takes thought and determination. You may wonder if you can change the world like the great leaders in history. Remember that these people started out with dreams, just like you, and worked through insecurities, fear and doubt. Although we do live in a world of reformations as economies develop, trade flourishes and as astounding technological advances are made but our world is still far from being perfect. No matter how many advances are made in technologies the world will still need some enhancements. Some recent researches have founded out that the more time rolls by the more this world is getting polluted. A social crisis of unprecedented proportions that the whole planet of ours faces today is environmental pollution. Technology gave man sufficient control over his surroundings; yet by our apparently increasing control over our environment, we have in fact erred and caused the loss of our control over our environment. Due to the global warming and greenhouse gases the world is day by day turning unsafe. We all are living in an insecure environment. Every year thousands of people are killed due to the wars and disputes. Developments in these aspects can improve the world and the lives of the people living in it. If we think of a way how to improve the world and make it a better place to live there can be thousands of things we can do as individuals. As we know that pollution is one of the reasons. We can think of a way to terminate it. Every year thousands of people especially children are influenced by the diseases spreaded in the dirty atmosphere. If we try to reuse, recycle and dispose litter around us the environment can become much cleaner. As far is the wars are concerned we ourselves are behind all the disarray. Following on the values of unity, faith and discipline the world can be a serene place to live in. The modern men can shed his prejudices and baseless notions and eschew war on the realization that all men are brothers. Unless human nature changes, unless there is a change of heart among the leaders of the world as well as the peoples, it is impossible to eliminate the factors that cause war. As far is the development of a man’s nature is concernced in order to make this world a peaceful place education plays an important role in the development of manhood. When literacy rate develops the world itself becomes a better place to live in. According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus ‘’change is the essence of life. ’’ The world can be made more perfect if change occurs and this change will only occur if the people living in it stay determined and try to achieve their goals in making the mother Earth a better place to live in.

The Rationale Approach In HR Planning

The Rationale Approach In HR Planning Like any other form of planning, Human Resource Planning (HRP) is a rationale approach to the effective recruitment, retention and deployment of people with in an organisation, including, where necessary arrangement for dismissing staff, (G.A. Cole, 2004). HRP is therefore concerned with the flow of people through and sometimes out of the organisation. Normally it is a requirement for every organisation to plan ahead and make some assessment of their present employee situation, so as to ensure that an appropriate range of skills is available for the entire department within the organisation. Human Resource Planning is essentially concerned with analysing the existing human resource situation, assessing the external labour market and forecasting the supply situation, forecasting future demands for people and establishing and implementing human resource plan, (G.A. Cole, 2004). The organisations goals for securing the workforce whether for short or long-term includes recruitment and selection, training and development, promotion, redeployment and career planning, pay and productivity, motivation and appraisal, retirements and redundancy, all depends on a sound human resource planning process. Considering all the above organisations goals, Human Resource Planning has contributed a lot in helping Care UK to achieve its goals. Care UK is the leading independent provider of health and social care in UK. Its deals in Residential care services, Homecare services, Mental health services, Learning disability services, GP practices, NHS walk-in centres NHS CATS and NHS treatment centres. It has its head office at Connaught House, 850 The Crescent Colchester Business Park, Colchester Essex, CO4 9QB. In consideration to the Care UK recruitment and selection planning, the organisation has adapted both the internal and external recruitment and selection planning process for the managers and health care workers respectively. To maximise its internal capability and run its current 59 nursing or care homes, the organisation want to recruit more managers internally by offering a clear career path that will attract excellent candidates and keep these who have already joined us, said Carol Cunningham Care UK project manager. Candidates applying for home managers have to go through a rigorous selection process that involves recommendation by a senior manager or regional directors, aptitude and personality test and a structured interview with the project manager and operational manager to be selected. The Care UK recruitment policy is structured to ensure that all staff will be fairly employed, while meeting the criteria and standards set by Care UK and in accordance with appropriate legislation, (www. Care uk.com). As a recruitment process, Care UK do advertise their vacancies in the organisations website, national and local newspapers, job centre and internet. The organisation does strive to ensure that applicants are kept informed of their progress through the recruitment procedure and candidates are selected on the basis of their ability to perform the job required. Care UK operates an equal opportunity during its recruitment process where applicants are given equal opportunity regardless of their race, sex, religion and age. Basing on the sector of which the organisation operates, much emphasis has been put on the recruitment and selection process as it is a requirement that the right candidates are given jobs. As a result a sound recruitment and selection planning is needed to attract the right candidates for the jobs. As a legal requirement, all the applicants who are applying for positions of healthcare or domiciliary care assistants are subjected to a number of checks before they are selected. These checks includes, enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) disclosure, right to work, occupational health check and verifiable reference check including full employment history. Only the candidates with a satisfactory outcome of the above checks are selected interviewed and offered the opportunity to trained and work with the organisation. As a form of legal requirement, employees that are selected and offered job by the organisation are provided with a written particulars for employment which stipulate clearly the title of the job the employee is employed, scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculating remuneration, intervals at which remuneration is paid, holiday pay, sick pay pensions arrangement, grieverance procedures applicable and length of notice to be given on either side. A written employment contract is then handed to the successful candidates that have been employed by the organisation. Having followed the Care UK recruitment and selection planning, the organisation has strict and tough policies when conducting its recruitment and selection process due to the nature of the sector in which it operates. The organisation does follow the right procedures by engaging in both internal and external recruitment process when vacancies do arise within the organisation and advertising the vacancies through all the avenues which makes it not discriminatory to the people interested for the available jobs within the organisation. Only the right candidates are offered the jobs merits while considering the legal requirements. The organisation through its recruitment and selection process puts all the legal requirements of employment like Criminal Record Checks, equal opportunity, Health and safety at work Act, 1974, Human Right Act, 1996, National Minimum wage Act, 1998, Human Right Act, 1998 and Employment Right Act, 1998 to mention but a few. Care UK has a sound training and development policy do to the nature of the sector in which the organisation is in. The organisation spends a lot of resource in the provision of training and development of staffs to ensure not only a regular supply of skills to employees but also as a way of improving on the employees standard of work. As an organisation, Care UK also sees an important role for training and development in the provision of skills and improvement of employee motivation. Since the organisation policy is based not only with the recruitment of people with experience but also individuals who willing and capable of working, it is paramount that the training and development of staffs is strongly looked at and also because the sector is too much regulated with new equipments brought in so frequently couple with new regulations, employees need to have thorough training and development policy well put in place. At Care UK, new employees for the post of healthcare assistants und ergo a three days intensive induction training to introduce them to the field of healthcare and the challenges they will faced ahead during the course of their working with the organisation, (www.care uk.org). After the induction training, specialised trainings are brought in and this is done through identifying training needs required by the employees and annual training updates are compulsory for all staff. Healthcare assistants are encouraged to undertake further qualifications and whenever possible, are provided with the opportunities to extend their studies through National Vocational Qualification, i.e. (NVQ2 and NVQ3). Those who are aspiring for the post of managers are carefully selected against rigorous selection framework and are subject to induction processes and are expected to continue to develop professionally, supported by the organisations performance and personal development planning processes. Having looked at the training and development policy of Care UK, it is of a high interest to develop a plan for professional development and training of the employees of the organisation. Before doing this, a clear distinction should be made between development and training. Development is a course of action designed to enable the individual to realise his or her potential for growth in the organisation while Training is concerned with the acquisition of a body of knowledge and skills which can be applied directly to work of a particular type, (Penny Hackett, 1994). As a well known fact, a well-trained employee will have the confidence and the competence to produce better quality service and now turning to Care UK as an organisation, the first step to develop a plan for development and training for employees is to identify the individual training needs. Healthcare assistances are faced with a challenge of working with some complicated equipments and treating of patients which require s proper training. By analysing the training needs, this will help to assess the employees competence and identify what is required to perform the tasks. The second step would be to design a training programme for the organisation. For Care UK, training programmes should be both on-job training and off-job training as demonstrations on how to use equipments and coaching of trainee requires on-job training while presentations, interactive video, lectures and computer base training is more a off-job training. The third step is to identify the training courses that will help the employees to gain confidence and have the competence to perform the tasks. This will includes both the in-house training courses (tailor-made courses to suit the objective of the trainees like moving and handling techniques), external courses like shadowing of new healthcare trainees, and qualification courses like National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), (Penny Hackett, 1994). So turning to Care UK, employee s trainings should be structured to meet the objective of the organisation which focus on developing the employees to meet their potentials of facing challenging situations at work and giving them the opportunity to extend their studies through National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Care UK as an organisation has a sound way of motivating the employees. This is done through training and promotion of employees. By training and promoting the staffs they feel they are part of the organisation. This can be evidenced through training of home managers scheme adapted by Care UK. After their training they are always promoted to senior management positions and also healthcare assistants are trained before they are allowed to start work. This also improves on their confidence and creates in them that the organisation rely want them and they are part of the organisation. Staffs are also encouraged to take external courses like National Vocational Qualifications payable by the organisation. All these makes the employees feel motivated to work for the organisation. This feeling of belonging to the organisation makes employees motivated as Abraham Maslow explained in his motivation theory. Employees are also rewarded for their hard work and this is done through pay and reorga nisation where each month the organisation announce an employee of the month and gifts and present are then given to the nominated employee. By recognising the good work done by the employee like this make them motivated to work hard and also encouraged other employee to work harder as they do also want to be nominated for the employee of the month. The organisations do strive hard to mach the pay of the employees to other employees in different organisation in the industry and all the employees are paid over the national minimum wage. This as well makes the employees not seek employment elsewhere as they feel better of at the organisation. At Care UK employees are supervised and given proper guidance as to how to do their work. Through proper supervision, employees feel more confidants when performing their tasks and motivated to work for the organisation. These things like good pay, high quality supervision, fringe benefits like gifts and presents are the hygiene factors to motiva tion as Herzberg pointed out in his motivation theory. Through high level of team building at Care UK where employee are trained to work in a team through double up calls, healthcare staffs are fully motivated as they feel safe when carrying out their duties. By encouraging team work within the organisation the employees feel they are part of the group hence working towards fulfilling the goals of the organisation. Team work plays a bigger role in motivating employees as they tend to learn more from each other. AS most employees at Care UK have a different value goals that they all want to achieve, as some want to be home managers, employees are rewarded differently basing on their individual needs. Employees are properly selected and trained basing on their value goals and as they see achieving their goals as is with the organisation, they will be motivated to increase their effort in achieving goals. Like employees who want to be home care managers will work hard with the expectat ion that they will one day be home care managers in the organisation as trainings are always provided to them. This feeling of expecting some reward in the future do motivate employees to work hard as mention by Vroom in 1964 in his Expectancy theory of motivation. Care UK also do organise end of year party for their staffs which brings a sense of togetherness at the organisation as employees do get to know their fellow workers. This kind of togetherness at the organisation helps to motivate employees to work towards the goal of the organisation. At Care UK appraisal of staffs are done after every six month where employees are asked individually by their line managers what they feel about the organisation, any area of concern that they feel should be improved, how they feel about their working conditions, any concern with other staff member. Through this appraisal exercise, employees are free to hear all their concern and where necessary proper steps are taken to improve the organis ation and facilitate the employees in performing their duties. At Care UK, the organisation is structured from top to bottom i.e. hierarchical arrangement where one level of jobs is subject to control by the next higher level. This kind of management is bureaucratic in nature and more authoritative in nature. The employees at the bottom of the hierarchy do not influence the decision making in the organisation a lot. Decisions are made from top to bottom. Because of the bureaucratic nature, the organisation enables the authority of officials to be subject to published rules and principles. Thus authority is legitimate, not arbitrary, (G.A Cole, 2004). In the organisation, information is passed from the top management to the healthcare staffs at the bottom. Little do the bottom healthcare staffs at the bottom influence the decision being made at the organisation. The top managers formulate all the rules and regulations to be followed by the bottom staffs, there is a clear separation of officials from the ownership of the organisation though the ap pointment to offices are made on the grounds of technical competence. This management style can be identified by Max Weber and the idea of Bureaucracy. Max Weber in his management school of thought do try to explain the kind of management style that Care UK has adapted. The management style is would recommend for Care UK would be more of a democratic nature where employees are given a bigger say in making decisions as it is through their hard work and commitments that has made the organisation where it is today. The employees work on the ground interacting with the clients and they are the eye of the organisation. If the are given a quit proportion to make decisions on haw to run the organisation it would improve on the image of the organisation and they would feel more part of the organisation. Since human resource planning is concern with the flow of people though and some times out of the organisation, Care UK has adapted a strong policy towards its human resource planning. This can be seen through the organisation recruitment and selection planning policy, training and development of its employees, promotion of the staff to new and top levels, redeployment and career planning processes, pay and motivation policy, appraisal of staffs. All these depend on a sound commitment of the organisation towards human resource planning. Care UK also has an effective recruitment and selection planning policy which comply with the national care standards and national laws of the country like criminal record checks, right to work in the country, equal opportunity, health and safety at work Act, national minimum wage Act to mention but a few. All this is done by the organisation throw its strong human resource planning.

Position Paper Concerning the Use of Biblical Quotations in Matter of Science :: essays research papers

Position Paper. â€Å"Concerning the Use of Biblical Quotations in Matter of Science† 1) Is Galileo right that Joshua passage cannot be taken literally, and that some interpretation is necessary no matter which system of the world is being considered? Yes. Literal reading of Joshua will bring us to unpleasant consequences. If only Sun’s and Moon’s spheres will be stopped, laws of Ptolemy will be broken (f.ex. relationship between planets and Sun-Earth line). In Copernican Universe, with modern discoveries of Galileo’s, sudden stop of Earth will be at least as destructive as the Deluge. But as there’s no doubt that the event took place, and there are no records about something strange that happened on that day. We need some interpretation. 2) Is the literal reading of Joshua incompatible with either system of world? Yes. Ptolemy: If just Sun’s and Moon’s spheres were isolated from the rest and stopped, spheres of planets and star ball will continue to rotate (and they should as they weren’t asked to stop and it’s their nature to rotate) Heavens perfection will be either disturbed (centers of epicycles of inferior planets will no longer lie on Sun-Earth line, Sun may appear in other constellation of zodiac), or planets and starball will violate principle of uniform motion (moving in a special way to compensate for Sun’s behavior). Copernicus: Sudden stop of Earth will probably destroy entire civilization as everything including waters of oceans, buildings and, finally, people will attempt to continue to move in the same direction with the same speed. 3) Must Joshua passage be interpreted? Yes. Literal reading leads us to nowhere. That means that Holy Scripture provided us with false information what is a critical hit on the most sacred values of mankind. This is a catastrophe. But interpretation may save the situation. 4) If the passage must be interpreted, then can it be interpreted to fit the Copernican system as well as the Ptolemaic system? Ptolemy: Joshua just didn’t say the whole thing. Considering position, reputation and experience of the Executant of the pray, concerns about side effects must be rejected. Due to God’s authority mortals may trust God on doing the most important things, asking just for the final result, assuming that God will do all necessary actions so the result will have divine quality. So, most likely, all spheres were stopped. Copernicus: If something is staying still it simply means that location of the object with respect to us stays the same.

Synesthesia :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Synesthesia When I was very young, I experienced a recurring dream that I was staring, entranced, at a delicate white flower. It was like nothing I had seen or experienced in my waking life, because the pristine, thinly-veined petals were such an exquisite color that it manifested itself upon my dreaming brain as a color and a sound. The white song was a single note - like a distant choir lifting its voice in concerted wonder. I would wake from the dreams bewildered at the ease with which my brain, when asleep, could produce in me a tangle of sensations I could never enjoy while conscious. The neurological phenomenon of cross-modal, or inter-sensory, perception stemming from a single stimulus is called "synesthesia." The word comes from the Greek syn-, meaning "union," and -aisthesis, meaning "sensation" (2). Although my childhood dreams had some synesthetic character, I have never had a comparable conscious experience. "Synesthesia proper," or neurologically-based synesthesia, is defined as the regular, involuntary experience of external, durable, and generic perceptions in senses not commonly associated with a certain stimulus (1,2) . Although there are numerous possible combinations of synesthetic events, not every permutation is observed. The estimated number of affected individuals ranges from one in five hundred, who perceive colored letters or musical notes, to one in three thousand, who experience colored sounds or colored tastes (2). It is estimated that one in fifteen thousand individuals experiences taste-touch overlap and other, rarer forms of the condition (2). Another, more conservative, estimate suggests that only one in twenty-five thousand individuals is a synesthete (3). While certain synesthetic events are triggered by a sensory appeal to the imagination, i.e. as an artifice of literature or art, true synesthetes report only very rudimentary secondary sensory perceptions for a given input (1). That is, while many of us associate the smell of cut grass with the color green within our internal perception, a synesthete with a smell-sight perception overlap might perceive colored shapes or textures within the external environment upon smelling the grass. Synesthesia is an additive sensory condition. Rather than replace one perception with another, a single sensory input stimulates simultaneous responses in two or more of the senses (2). It is most frequently experienced as a unidirectional condition; while one stimulus, such as sound, induces sensation within another sensory realm, such as sight, the converse does not usually occur (2).

James M. Cains Novel Mildred Pierce: Comparing the Book and Movie Ver

James M. Cain's Novel Mildred Pierce: Comparing the Book and Movie Version Mildred Pierce is one of the greatest novels written by James M. Cain. After the success of the novel, the Hollywood film came out, produced by Jerry Wald. The novel and the movie are very different from each other. â€Å"James M. Cain sent several letters of complaint to producer Jerry Wald, objecting to the changes Wald wanted to make, especially the dramatic idea of making Veda a washout musically and putting her in a tawdry nightclub† (Bennett Notes). The three main differences in the film were, the murder of Monte, Veda not having a successful career, and the time period only covering 1941 to 1945. The main difference between the film and the novel was the murder that Hollywood added. Right when the film begins, it starts making the viewer think about who the killer is already. The novel doesn’t make the reader guess in any aspect. Jerry Wald makes the viewer think that Mildred is the killer at first, especially because she tries to commit suicide in the beginning of the film. Then it makes the viewer think that Bert is the killer for a while. Finally, the real killer is revealed at the end of the movie, which turns out to be Veda. The best thing about the movie was that it kept you guessing until the end. â€Å"Throughout the film we are never certain that Mildred is not Monte’s murderer. Even when she is cleared, she is not exculpated† (LaValley 12). Mildred tries to cover up for Veda again, by telling the cops that she killed Monte. The cops tell her that she can’t get her daughter off the hook this time. Finally, Veda ends up paying th e consenquences for her action and goes to jail. Another big difference between the novel and ... ...vel was how the characters would survive the Depression, and how they would make money. â€Å"As the Depression deepened in 1932, jobs were few and far between. More than 10 million Americans were out of work† (Strock 12). The film’s plot was totally different, which mainly focused on who killed Monte. Works Cited Bennett, Bsabas A. Joan Crawford Online-Films:Mildred Pierce. 26 May. 2002. 30 May.2002 http://www.joancrawfordonline.com/films/m/mildred/mildredpierce.html. Joan Crawford Filmography. October, 2001. May 25, 2002. http://www.lynnpdesign.com/classicmovies/crawford/mildred.html. LaValley, Albert. Mildred Pierce. Madison, Wisconson: The University of Wisconson Press, 1980. Skenazy, Paul. James M. Cain. New York, NY: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1989. Strock, Clancy. ‘We Had Everything But Money’. Greendale, WI: Roy Reiman

The Main Characters In The Brother K English Literature Essay

The â€Å" secret plan † of the narrative is alone from many other books, in that it feels like 5 different secret plans all ramifying off from the same starting point, and all stoping up at the same topographic point. Each of the major characters has their ain â€Å" secret plan † : Papa, Peter, Everett, Irwin, and the remainder of the household at the house. Papa is, merely that, the male parent of the family. Once a professional hurler, he subsequently retired to work in a factory. Several old ages subsequently, his pollex was crushed by some machinery in the factory ‘s paper imperativeness, intending that he could ne'er flip once more without a particular surgery, one they could n't afford. This sent him into a spiral of depression that lasted many old ages, until Kincaid snapped him out of it. He began developing once more, despite his pollex, and after a batch of preparation, he was fliping once more, but nowhere near his â€Å" glory yearss † . Final ly, due to some tampering by Everett, he is able to acquire his surgery, and replaces his bad pollex with his toe, and gets a prosthetic toe to replace that. He finally works his manner back up the baseball ladder until he is the alleviation hurler for the Tugs. He merely quits when he realizes he has to take between baseball and his household. He dies a few months afterwards, due to several types of malignant neoplastic disease. Peter is a genius degree mind who believes really strongly in Zen Buddhist doctrines, and ends up at Harvard for all of his work, avoiding the bill of exchange by manner of scholarship. Finally going to India, he returns place after being robbed of all of his ownerships, although deriving a great trade of cognition about the doctrines he believes in. Everett, on the other manus, is about an antonym of Peter. His beliefs are anarchistic and agnostic in nature, and he is much more extremist in his actions. From beginnings hassling his ain female parent about her spiritual beliefs, he finally ruins his household ‘s relationship with their curate. After he graduates High school, he uses his natural endowment of address to progress in life, going a â€Å" hippy † . Droping out of school in order to dodge the bill of exchange, he finally ends up in Canada, love struck by the one miss who his powers of address could n't enchant, named Natasha. After an on/off relationship affecting many letters, he finally comes back to the US to assist his brother, despite the effects of bill of exchange evasion. The 3rd oldest, Irwin, has no mental art, but is alternatively, an about everlastingly happy, soft giant. By book ‘s terminal, he is one of merely 3 characters left in the household whose beliefs are strictly Christian. Due to dropping out of school and non wishing to run off, he is drafted into the Vietnam War, where his apparently eternal benevolence runs dry. He snaps after his squad is forced to kill a little kid, utilizing n il but a tubing of toothpaste and his fists to assail his bid officer. These actions landed him in a mental establishment back in the United States, where he was subjected to an copiousness of narcotics and repeated electroconvulsive therapy therapy when he would n't halt singing the church anthem he grew up with. Upon larning of this, his household puts aside their differences and calls upon many of their churchgoing friends to come and assist acquire him out of the establishment. They win, and he recovers finally, through tackling the originative mercantile establishment of wood ranges. The remainder of the characters are much more minor. Mama is an highly spiritual lady who keeps the whole household together, even when 2/3 of her kids reject her instructions. Beatrice/Bet and Winifred/Fred are twins born after Kincaid, both really scientifically minded, but ramifying off sacredly, as Bet ‘s uninterrupted dark panics have lead her to an agnostic/atheist point of view, and Fr ed ‘s beliefs remaining Christian. All of these characters and events come together as the kids and parents try to populate their lives. In my sentiment, the most memorable scene from this book was the minute that they allow Irwin out of the mental establishment. The concluding behind this being that, up until this scene, the book had been reasonably realistic. The war was portrayed as dark, farinaceous and meaningless, the characters three dimensional and complex. But this minute merely shattered that for me. No authorities establishment would be that easy overthrown by a few household members and some spiritual leaders. Irwin was, from a 3rd individual ‘s point of view, still lawfully insane. They had every ground to maintain him at that place. This scene was such a displacement in the secret plan that I suppose it stuck with me. My favourite quotation mark from this book is: â€Å" aˆÂ ¦ † Want to hear why? Do you desire to cognize why Linda could ne'er kip? † I forced myself to nod. Good. It ‘s good to shareaˆÂ ¦ † ( Page 390 ) This is from the scene where Bet is depicting her dark panics to Kincaid. My ground behind picking this quotation mark is that, for one, it was a immense turning point in the narrative for Kincaid. Prior to this point, he himself was a minor character, more frequently than non leting his wiser older sibling to make everything. This is one of the few points in the narrative where he takes the brunt of the blow and shows some development as a character. For two, and for the same grounds mentioned, this shows off one of the major subjects in The Brothers K that is salvation. Every character in this book redeems themselves at one point or another, with the possible exclusion of T Bar, one of the people Peter met in India who helped him along his journey . Personally, I did non like this book. Many parts I had to maintain forcing myself frontward, with the promise that it may acquire more interesting subsequently on. And it did, for the most portion. But any clip the secret plan of one character would get down to acquire interesting, it would trade off to another character, and so another, until I had long forgotten why I was interested in the first character in the first topographic point. I did, nevertheless like how every character was given a sufficient wrap up, but at the same clip, the stoping felt really rushed. Where as in most of the book, at most merely a few months would travel by without notice ; the stoping skipped full old ages in between paragraphs. A more minor complain is about the names. It took me half the book to recognize that Winnie and Fred is the same individual, and that it is a miss. But about three quarters of the manner through the book, Irwin adopts the nickname Winnie, with no account behind it. This book besides has a batch of reasonably unneeded spots to it, apparently in order to give the characters more credibility. A multi portion â€Å" History of My Dad † written by Irwin serves to give the Papa character a back narrative that is n't truly needed. There are besides several interviews with celebrated baseball participants. All in all, this book may be a good read for the history partisans, but I do n't believe that the mean Joe would happen it really appealing.