Euro-civlization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Euro-civlization - Essay Example Thus Pope Boniface VIII was tried posthumously for apostasy, murder and sodomy. The Templars were tried as Devil-Invoking heretics. Anyone who could actually read so-called witchcraft texts was often suspected of being in league with the Devil merely because they were literate. Thus the elite were in some way condemned by the spread of a popular culture of fear regarding witchcraft. The "Caroline Code", the basic law code of the Holy Roman Empire (1532) imposed heavy penalties for witchcraft. As society became more literate (due mostly to the invention of the Printing Press in the 1440s), increasing numbers of books and tracts fuelled the witch fears. More people were becoming literate, books were cheaper to print and thus became available in greater numbers and were within reach of more of the population. Witchcraft was thus more likely to occur within the logic of the Witch Craze mindset. A sense of community, both within the wide context of countries and within local areas, was starting to break down because of the growth in a peculiar kind of paranoia. In 1630 the nuns of Loudun provided an interesting view of the Witch Craze and the extremes to which it could go. The nuns conspired to accuse Father Urbain Grandier of witchcraft by faking symptoms of possession and torment. They feigned convulsions, rolled and gibbered on the ground, and accused Grandier of indecencies. Grandier was convicted and burned at the stake. But after his death, and thus after the plot had succeeded, the symptoms of the nuns only grew worse, and they became more and more sexual in nature. This shows the degree of mania and insanity present in such witch trials. Community had often broken down into a series of groups that were always suspicious of others and afraid of being accused themselves. The breakdown of community reflected the wide rift that occurred during the period between Catholics and Protestants. Catholics often accused Protestants of witchcraft, such as when the Jesuits pursued them in Austria for a hundred years after 1560. Protestants in turn did the same, such as occurred during Henry VIII's reign in England in the 1500's. Thus "witch" was used convenient label that could be used as a tool against one's enemies, political, cultural or personal. 2) Language itself-as I have so often mentioned- is a primary source of information about its author's attitudes towards phenomenon described. Do a literary deconstruction of Las Casas' language by making two lists of metaphors- one for Spaniards, the other for Indians- as these appear in his text. It is the tension between theses two sets of images which creates the dynamism in this text. Pay special attention to gender as you do this. Who is masculine, who is feminine and what are the implications thereof Consider the following section from Los Casas' description of the Spanish treatment of the Indians in Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies (1542): Yet into this sheepfold, into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tigers, or lions that had been starved for many days. And Spaniards have behaved in no other way during tla! past forty years, down to the present time, for they are still acting like ravening beasts, killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied

Target Corporation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Target Corporation - Research Paper Example Upon this foundation, Target is expanding its business operations internationally. It hopes to start retail chains in Canada by 2013. By moving across borders, Target will follow and provide competition for Wal-Mart. Consequently, it will continue to grow and fund additional projects such as expansion through acquisitions. The success of Target is largely attributable to the culture of the organization, which stresses honesty and community (Rowley 145). In this examination of Target Corporation, we hope to accomplish a comprehensive look at the company’s history, financials, capital, reputation, marketing, and future. This all-inclusive view of the company can thus be evaluated in terms of how Target would like to perceive and how the public actually sees Target Corporation as an asset (or a liability) in their communities. Human Capital Target Corporation employs roughly 355,000 employees throughout the United States, who take part in a variety of operational functions such as managing stores, marketing, and customer service (SEC). Employees at Target are generally happy; however, there is some criticism of compensation and benefit packages offered by the company. For instance, it is alleged by labor groups and current employees that Target, based out of Minneapolis, pays less in some cases than their competitor Wal-Mart. does According to a recent survey by UFCW, Target pays entry-level positions a salary of about $6.25 per hour to $8 per hour, depending on qualifications (Serres). This is below- or at-the-market in terms of large retail chains. Therefore, even though Wal-Mart is often the subject of criticisms and community rejection, it seems that Target has a similar pay scheme for low-level employees to their competitor. In terms of benefits, union groups see Target as less equitable than its competitors do. In the early 2000s, Target dropped all health care insurance coverage for part-time workers, while Wal-Mart has maintained its medical plan available to all workers (Serres). However, many employees still agree that it is a better place to work than some other large retail chains, despite the weaknesses in the health care insurance pr ogram. Target’s benefits packages rate high in terms of flexibility for higher-level employees. The 401(k) plans offered by Target considered some of the best in the industry insofar as it matches dollar for dollar up to five percent of contributions made by employees. In addition, Target offers many other programs including the â€Å"Take Charge of Education† program that allows Target credit-card holders to donate 1 percent a year of their purchases to a school of their choice. This is in line with Target’s explicit commitment to the value of family (Rowley 146). Union Involvement Target Corporation is like Wal-Mart in the fact that they are not unionized. In fact, Target sees unionization as a potential threat to their corporate success (Rowley 141). For that reason, the company has published anti-video literature and videos in order to warn their employees about the dangers of a union. Deborah Weinswig, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney, said that,  "Target is not a union, so it can charge lower prices than other food retailers. In the Northeast, SuperTargets have done extremely well† (Rowley 174). This lends credence to the view that Target would be negatively affected by a unionization of its employees. These efforts were increased in 2009 in response to

Moment and equilibrium Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Moment and equilibrium - Lab Report Example The aim of the experiment is to verify the equilibrium of force on a beam experimentally and analytically using the concepts and equilibrium and finding the reactions of the left and right weights (Lee, 2010). Taking measurements by several people would mechanically give dissimilar values since each individual may stretch the string by diverse tension. To minimize is by stipulating the circumstances that could lead to the error. Taking into consideration of errors presented by the instant working environment. There is need to take into account for or shield the experiment from shakings, drafts, variations in temperature, electronic sound or other effects from neighboring apparatus (Lee, 2010). This error can happen when there is some length or distance between the measuring balance and the indicator used to attain a measurement. If the viewers eye is not directly aligned with the indicator and scale, the interpretation may be extraordinary (Lee,

War Poetry Essay Example for Free

War Poetry Essay Read Owens Dulce et Decorum est. the Kings speech before Agincourt in Shakespeares Henry v. Compare how and why the two Writers manipulate their audiences feelings about war. Dulce et Decorum est was written by Wilfred Owen during the time of world war one. The poem is known for its horrifying imagery and its condemnation of war. The difference between Dulce et Decorum est to Henry v, is that first of all it is written as a personal experience of war where as Henry v is written as a poem in a history play, so its themes and imagery is portrayed from a more personal perspective of war. William Shakespeare the famous playwright, is the author of the poem taken from the history play Henry V. The poem taken is a dramatic monologue by Henry v responding from a comment his cousin Westmoreland. The idea or theme of war is portrayed in both Owens D. E. D and William Shakespeares Henry v. , but they are put across in two very different ways. First of all in Henry v poem is more of a speech from a king ho is trying to install faith among his soldiers and most importantly his cousin Westmoreland. Where as Owens D. E. D is more of a physical and traumatizing account of a war that has already taken place. In Owens D. E. D we can see that the images that are given out are those of struggle not only physical suffering but also those of also mental suffering. With use of similes the physical suffering is shown to us. Coughing like hags is a simile used to relate to something we know and to give us not just to give us an image but a sound of the suffering. As hags is a word used to describe old witch like people. Whereas in HenryV the image created is that of honour and triumph. Images such as st crispians day a day created to remember the soldiers that fought for their country and king.

Sacrificial Inequality Essay -- Adam and Eve, Women Studies, Gender Ro

â€Å"Had Adam tenderly reproved his wife, and endeavored to lead her to repentance instead of sharing in her guilt, I should be much more ready to accord to man that superiority which he claims; but as the facts stand disclosed by the sacred historian, it appears to me that to say the least, there was as much weakness exhibited by Adam as by Eve. They both fell from innocence, and consequently from happiness, but not from equality,† (Grimke, 1838). For as long as mankind has been able to function in society, there has always been a line dividing the roles of man and woman. Women have always been the lesser, especially in Western Civilization, and the expectations to be the â€Å"perfect housewife† have continued on into the 21st century. In â€Å"A Doll’s House,† a play set in 19th century Sweden by Henrik Ibsen, a woman named Nora had taken out a loan behind her husband’s back in order to take him to Italy to save his life. She not only had done this in secrecy, but also forged her father’s signature to receive the loan. If Torvald, her husband, were to find out, Nora would be in big trouble, especially since he thought she was like a little child. When Nora’s friend, Mrs. Linde, comes to visit, Torvald finds Nora’s big secret through a series of events and nearly disowns her to save his image. Mrs. Linde, a widow, had left her man, Krogstad—also the man who gave Nora the loan—for a richer man to provide for her family. Although these women had made reasonable sacrifices for their loved ones, their men didn’t understand and allowed society to decide how to react to their women. In â€Å"A Doll’s House,† Ibsen uses Nora and Mrs. Linde to illustrate that women are expected to make sacrifices to their happiness for their family that men wouldn’t m... ...ity for the ones they love because they believe that’ll help the relationship. If Nora had stood up to Torvald before, they may not have even been together anymore because Torvald would’ve realized it was really the â€Å"idea† of Nora that he was in love with and not actually her. This play caused great controversy because a woman had stepped out of what had become â€Å"her place† and been her own person. This was peculiar because it was orthodox for a woman to stay home doing housework and raising children. Although this isn’t how life is today anymore, it is still unusual to society for a man to be doing what was â€Å"a woman’s job.† This is the way it’s been for decades and centuries and the way it may stay for years to come. The only cure to the inequality between genders is to diminish the parallel between nature and nurture and break the stereotypes set up by humanity.

Middle-Class Homelessness in America Essay

Can you imagine yourself standing in line in hope for a cot at a shelter to share with your family, or waiting for a warm meal in a soup kitchen? This is what many middle-class American citizens have succumbed to. Has the American dream been lost, has the middle-class lost its position in the American economy, and has the inequality of income cause the demise of the middle-class? By focusing on the health care reform and record low unemployment rate we overlook the underlying problem; the dwindling middle-class, the backbone of our country. Many studies have been conducted to define middle-class without much success. It has been attempted to relate it to annual income. One study states that yearly incomes between $32,900 and $64,000, another between $50,800 and $122,000, and the U. S. census bureau middle 60% of incomes is the largest range of all lies between$ 20600, and $102,000 as what defines middle-class. Dan Horn notes in the Cincinnati Enquirer â€Å"Psychologist Ken Eisold, a contributor to Psychology today, said, though, that the way people describe their social status has more to do with what’s going on in their heads than their wallets. † Eisold goes on to say that â€Å"it’s really more about identity†. Horn adds that Julie Heath, director of the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center agrees with Eisold that saying, â€Å"We’re a middle-class family has more than a financial connotations to it, it has a salt-of the earth to it. That’s the bed rock. Essentially this shows that Americans do not base their social status on their income alone, but also on their personal accomplishments and views of where they have come from and where they are going. That being said, the bed rock of the middle-class comes from one of the most common descriptions what living in America is all about; the great American Dream. History tells us that this emotion connected with being middle-class started showing up in the 1830’s. In these times people came to America hoping for the best, and they clung to ideas of how they would make it. They believed that if those ideas and values were kept, that they were middle-class, even if they were not financially. This is how the idea of the Leave it to Beaver life style came into being. In the 1950’s men took white collar jobs while women stayed home and maintained their house and families. They bought homes in the suburbs, nice family cars, and made safe investments. This provided them a sense of stability and many believed this is what the American dream is all about. Today, in pursuit of the dream, to maintain their middle-class status many Americans have higher incomes than their parents did but both parents are working. Yet while doing the best that they that they can possibly do, many are watching their dreams shatter. Erin Currier, director of the Pew Economic Mobility Project, said â€Å"stability is one of the biggest threats to the middle class today. † She goes on to say, â€Å"Though born into middle-class, many fall out by adulthood. † This is due to inflation of basic needs such as health care, day care, college funding, and the rise of the inequality of income. One term often referred to when relating to the middle-class crisis is Income Gap. As defined on the internet by investapedia. om, the income gap is the unequal distribution of household and individual income across the various participants in an economy. A sociology and political science professor at the University of Arizona who studies income inequality and poverty, says that over the past three decades â€Å"is slow income growth compared to general economic growth†¦ a bigger and bigger portion of economic growth has occurred to the wealthiest 1 %, whether the measure is basic wages or total compensation,† says Lane Kenworthy. (CQ researcher 3) There is political risk involved with this shift that is greater than economics and family finances. A large middle class, especially one that is politically active, tends to be a kind of anchor that keeps our country from swinging back and forth. There are typical values that middle-class families acquire and pass on to their children and those values tend to be good for democracy,† states Teresa Sullivan, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan, and the co-author of The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt. (CQ Researche r 2) The new millennium looked very hopeful for the war on poverty in America. The federal poverty rate was the lowest it had been since 1974 according to CQ Researcher. The next 4 years even better with Housing prices doubling in many cities and increase in home equity loans that brought the Home-ownership rate up to an all time high of 69 percent. In 2008 we would not only see the sand shift out from the false growth of the economy led by the banks and lending companies but our government bail the banks out with $700 billion rescue bill, They did not however bail out the borrower and many lost their homes. Leading to the current middle class crisis. These issues, the rise of the inequality of income and the shattering of the American dream, have led us to the downfall of the middle class. In more recent years the middle-class are finding themselves not only having a decrease in their income due to layoffs and downsizing, but while not able to maintain their dream are losing their homes due to foreclosures. They are now finding themselves sleeping in their cars, if fortunate to still have one. They are waiting in lines for food and shelter, and bathing in gas station rest rooms, standing on street corners and highway exit’s begging for money or work. I have a personal interest in this research because I consider myself a middleclass American who lived through these years of the housing crisis and recession, I have lost a business, I am dealing with the short sale of my home and a threat of foreclosure, I have suffered through divorce and currently I am a struggling single mother. In conclusion the decline of the middle-class has hit very close to home. Although the hope of the American dream dies a slow death in my own heart, because of the continual economic status and burden of the cost of living rising, many like me are losing hope.

Oprah Winfrey Essay

?So you want†¦ to get a degree Why? Let me tell you what society will tell you: Increases your chances of getting a job, Provides you an opportunity to be successful, Be a lot less stressful, Education is the key. Now let me tell you something your parents will tell you: Make me proud, Increases your chances of getting a job, Provides you an opportunity to be successful, Your life will be a lot less stressful, Education is the key. Now let’s look at the statistics, Steve Jobs – net worth seven billion R. I. P, Richard Branson – net worth four point two billion,  Oprah Winfrey – two point seven billion, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates Now here comes the Coup de grace, Looking at these individuals, what’s your conclusion? Neither of them in being successful, Ever graduated from a higher learning institution. Now some of you may be like, Money is only the medium by which we measure worldly success, And some of you even have the nerve to say â€Å"I don’t do it for the money. † So what you studying for? To work for a charity? Need more clarity? Let’s look at the statistics: Jesus, Muhammed,  Socrates, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa, Spielberg, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Sean Carter, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, Michael Joseph Jackson. Were either of these people unsuccessful†¦ or†¦ uneducated? All I’m saying is that, If there was a family tree hard work and education would be related, But school would probably be a distant cousin, Because if education is the key, School is the lock, Because it rarely ever develops your mind to the point where it can perceive red as green and continue to go when someone else said stop. Because as long as you follow the rules and pass exams your cool, But are you aware that examiners have a checklist, And if your answer is something outside the box then the automatic response is a cross, And then they claim that school expands your horizons and your visions, Well tell that to Malcolm X who dropped out of school and is world renowned for what he learn in a prison. Proverbs 17:16 It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, Why? Because he has no common sense. George Bush. Need I say more? Education is about inspiring one’s mind,  Not just filling their head, And take this from me because I’m an ‘Educated’ man myself, Who only came to this realization after countless nights in the library, With a can of red bull keeping me awake till morning, Another can in the morning, Falling asleep between piles of books that probably equates to the same amount I spent on my rent, Memorize equations, facts and dates, Write down to the letter, Half of which I would never remember, And half of which I would forget straight after the exam, Before the start of the next semester,  Asking anyone if they had notes for the last lecture. I often found myself running to class, Just so I could find a spot on which I could rest my head and just sleep without making a scene, Ironic because that’s the only time I ever spent in university chasing my dreams. And then after nights with a dead-mind, I’d den find myself in a queue of half-awake students, zombies, Waiting to hand in an assignment, Maybe that’s why they call it a deadline. And then after three years of mental suppression, And frustration, My â€Å"Proud Mother† didn’t even turn up to my graduation. Now, I’m not saying that school is evil and there’s nothing to gain, All I’m saying is: understand your morals and re-assess your aims, If you want a job working for someone else then help yourself, But then that would be a contradiction because you wouldn’t really be helping yourself, You’d be helping somebody else, There’s a saying that is: if you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs. Redefine how you view education, Understand it’s true meaning, Education is not just about regurgitating facts from a book, Or someone else’s opinion on a subject to pass an exam,  Look at it. Picasso was educated at creating art, Shakespeare was educated in the art of all that was written, Colonel Harland Sanders was educated in the art of creating Ken Tucky Fried Chicken. I once saw David Beckham take a free kick, I watched as the side of his Adidas-sponsored boot hit the patent leather of the ball at an angle, Which caused it to travel towards the skies as though it was destined for the heavens, And then as it reached the peek of it’s momentum, As though it changed it’s mind, It switched directions. I watched as the goalkeeper froze,  As though reciting to himself the laws of physics, And as though his brain was negotiating with his eyes, That was indeed witnessing the spectacle that was the leather swan that was swooping towards it, And then reacted, Though only a fraction of a millisecond too late, And before the net of the goal, Embraced the Fifa-Sponsored ball as though it was the prodigal son returning home, And the country, that I live in, Erupted into cheers, I looked at the play and thought, Damn, Looking at David Beckham, There’s more than one way in this world to be, An educated man.