Ebay Case Meg Whitman Essay

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, an on-line company whose purpose was to facilitate an environment where people could not only exchange goods, but also have discussions, make connections, and form relationships. He carefully crafted a culture based upon, â€Å"trust, respect, autonomy, empowerment, and equality,† and sought for the eBay community and company to be reflective of those principles. eBay was successful because Omidyar realized that a respectful, symbiotic relationship with this on-line community was critical, â€Å"because eBay wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for [the] community. In 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as CEO to strengthen the eBay brand and to develop a stronger marketing strategy. In this, she was remarkably successful. In little over a year, eBay registrants grew from 88,000 to 3. 8 million users. The company successfully went public, revenue just about doubled every quarter, and acquisitions and partnerships were made to increase the customer base. However, the rapid growth under Whitman caused a major problem for eBay: it put a strain on the culture and the community upon which eBay was successfully founded. With growth came the need for more rules and policies. For instance, Whitman made the decision to ban the sale of firearms to keep the company free of legal liabilities. Many in the community and company were shocked and outraged by this policy because it violated the eBay values of open communication and trust. Also, the acquisition of Butterfield and Butterfield, a prestigious, high-end auction house, was taken as a slap in the face. It violated the eBay value of respect, and the community saw this purchase indicative of the company’s priorities being focused on higher profit margins, not building and maintaining relationships with its existing community. There are clear reasons why the eBay community felt its culture was being left behind in the wake of rapid growth. First, the strategic design of eBay dramatically changed under Whitman’s management. eBay was previously built upon a small, flat and flexible team of engineers who worked together without many formal chains of authority. This open work environment perfectly mirrored the community Omidyar sought to create online, and the internal company practiced its values of respect and trust on a daily basis. However, Whitman correctly recognized that as the company grew, more formal structures and positions would have to be put into place to bear the burden of greater demand. With expert consultation, she reorganized the engineers. She eventually added eleven different vice presidents in upper management. In little time, the company transformed from an informal, flat model to a formal functional structure. This enabled growth, but it also created tall hierarchies that diminished the culture of open communication. For instance, lower-level employees and the eBay community both back-lashed at the decision of banning firearms for largely the same reason: they had no idea such a policy was forthcoming. Upper management made this decision without outside consultation. Even though it was the right decision for the company, it was handled and presented in a way that violated the culture eBay was built upon. In 1999, Whitman formally created a Community Watch group to monitor the website for fraud. Initially, eBay â€Å"counted on its users to abide by its user agreement and take much of the responsibility for safeguarding the site themselves. But, the community had grown too large to be self-monitored. Again, the decision was appropriate, but so many structural changes implemented in so little time was too much for the community to absorb without reaction. Moreover, the political nature of eBay changed rapidly. Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder and developer, had the rare gift of leading with b oth referent and expert power. He used this power to create a strong sense of community throughout eBay. He also used his referent power to give Whitman legitimacy in both her position as CEO and in her consequential actions. His support was effective at getting the company to align behind her decisions, but the external community did not see this support and were more suspicious of the company’s new direction. Whitman’s decisions were all sound and applauded by Wall Street. But the community saw what was once a democratic forum turning into a big business. Her lack of consultation with the community lead one user to brand eBay as having a â€Å"cavalier attitude,† and a â€Å"political agenda. † Lower level employees also saw this lack of communication. Where there were once full company meetings weekly, now they were held, at most, once a quarter. Power was concentrating. Clearly, this power shift was positively causing growth but negatively affecting culture. In her defense, Whitman was not indifferent to the culture at eBay. She stressed hiring people who understood and wanted to expand the eBay culture. But at the same time she outsourced customer service to a location in Utah, far from where the gatekeepers of the eBay culture were to be found. Therefore, those directly working with the community may have been the least in tune with its values. Also, she applauded and maintained the â€Å"no penalty† culture where everyone could voice their opinions and feel free to change their minds. However, with the growth of the company, there were fewer opportunities for a voice to be heard, less direct contacts with upper management, and fewer voices involved in major decisions. This led to decisions being made that were sound individually but not corporately when placed in the eBay culture. It also proved difficult to spread this culture to the plethora of newly added users. And it is critical because it built the community, which built the company, and if it is removed, those elements that made eBay a unique success will be gone. Therefore, eBay needs to find a way to maintain its culture. One way to correct this problem would be to implement more cross-functional teams internally. These teams would recreate the initial eBay structure of being team-based, autonomous, and flat. They would allow different departments to address problems and offer valuable input into pending company policies. This lateral flow would lead to decisions that would keep more in line with the original eBay culture, thus satisfying the community at large. The downside to these teams is that it gives Whitman and others less authority to use in making decisions for the company. Another alternative would be to create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This would create an opportunity to communicate values as well as pending or upcoming policy changes. This system of polling through email would empower the community to have a cogent voice once again and would reestablish the feeling of one-to-one communication. The downside is that if the company decided to go in a direction different than that of the community, those polled and involved could lose faith and optimism in exercising their voice. Finally, Whitman could create a separate company under the eBay name where she could make mergers and acquisitions without alienating the base users and without directly affecting the company. This would help maintain the existing eBay culture, but it would do nothing to repair any damage done. Moreover, having a different arm will not expand their user community of eBay, which is eBay’s vision. Whitman should create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This mechanism would be two-fold in design. First, eBay would create a oalition of the â€Å"top sellers,† those truly engrossed in the eBay community and whose interests are aligned with both company and community. Upper management would formally integrate the opinions and responses of this group (on issues ranging from policy to community values) into its decision-making processes. Also, the use of widely sampled polls of eBay users on the same issues would help th e company get a feel for how the broader community at large feels about important issues. This would be positive for the community because it would give them a legitimate voice in the company again, just as it had at eBay’s inception. It is important to remember that eBay is unique in that the community it serves is the company itself. Soliciting, responding to, and implementing the voice of this community improve eBay; even with its now more functional structure, it will only help the company know the needs and opinions of its community, which will strengthen business. The downside to this move is that after hearing out the top sellers and looking at the data of a poll on a particular issue, Whitman and upper management may still feel that an unpopular direction needs to be taken. Some users may feel patronized and refuse to participate in future polls. Even so, many in the community will be appreciative to at least be involved in the process and to be forewarned of pending changes. Once again there will be a dialogue with the community that will attribute value, trust, and respect to its opinions, even in disagreement. In this manner, eBay can grow and still stay small.

Introduction to Astronomy

AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Final Exam (12/21/2007) Instructions A. B. Answer ALL questions on your Opscan, using a #2 pencil. Make sure to include your NAME and STUDENT ID. The computer identifies you by your student ID; do not forget to include it. C. D. E. Do NOT mark your date of birth. The exam is CLOSED BOOK. You should not use any books or notes. Time: 2 HOURS and 30 MINUTES. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) What is the ultimate fate of an isolated pulsar? A) As gravity overwhelms the neutron degeneracy pressure, it will explode as a supernova. B) It will spin ever faster, becoming a millisecond pulsar. C) The neutron degeneracy pressure will eventually overwhelm gravity and the pulsar will slowly evaporate. D) As gravity overwhelms the neutron degeneracy pressure, it will become a white dwarf. E) It will slow down, the magnetic field will weaken, and it will become invisible. 2) Which of the following statements about globular clusters is false? A) Globular cluster stars are very metal-poor relative to the Sun. B) Globular cluster stars are more than 12 billion years old. C) Globular clusters are distributed spherically around the Milky Way. D) Globular clusters contain many thousands of stars. E) Globular cluster ages increase with distance from the Milky Way. 3) Which of the following characteristics of stars has the greatest range in values? A) mass B) core temperature C) radius D) surface temperature E) luminosity 4) Which statement best describes the solar neutrino problem? A) Solar neutrinos have been detected, but in fewer numbers than predicted by theoretical models. B) No one understands how it can be possible for neutrinos to be produced in the Sun. C) Our current understanding of fusion in the Sun suggests that all neutrinos should be destroyed before they arrive at the earth, yet neutrinos are being detected. D) Theoretical models predict that neutrinos should be produced in the Sun, but no neutrinos have ever been observed to be coming from the Sun. 1 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Refer to this scenario for the following questions: Final Lost in Spacetime. Just when you thought it was safe to take final exams . . . vindictive multi-dimensional being reaches down (up? over? through? ) to Earth and pulls you out of the universe. You are thrown back into the universe at a place of this being's choosing, and she permits you to leave only after you have identified your surroundings. You are subject to several of these tests. Through a scientifically unexplainable miracle, you are able to survive in every one of the places you are tested. (Le st you become too comfortable, however, you certainly are able to feel any associated pain due to high temperature, pressure, gravity, etc. In each case described below, identify your surroundings. In some cases, the surroundings described may exist only during eras of the universe (past or future) other than our own time; in those cases, you should identify both the place and the time where you are located. 5) It sure is bright everywhere; you've been able to travel around a bit, and it's clear that you are not in a star. Yet it is as bright as looking directly at the Sun. In your extensive travels through your current surroundings, you cannot find a single neutral atom anywhere, nor can you find a nucleus besides hydrogen or helium. And, while it is hot (a few thousand degrees Kelvin), it is nowhere near the temperature needed for nuclear fusion. Where are you? A) You are in the central regions of a quasar. B) You are in the universe more than 10100 years in the future. C) You are in the universe during its first 300,000 years. D) You are in an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. E) You are where the Sun should be located, but about 5 billion years from now. 6) At last you are in a place where the heat and high density are no longer bothering you. However, although the density is very low, the gas around you is extremely high in temperature. In fact, the temperature is so high that it is emitting lots of X rays, which are creating cancer-causing mutations in your body at a rapid rate. Well, at least the view is great! There are no stars anywhere within about 10,000 light-years of you, but at slightly greater distances your sky is brightened by many beautiful, star-filled structures, some with majestic spiral shapes. Where are you? A) You are somewhere between the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies in the Local Group. B) You are in intergalactic space within a rich cluster of thousands of galaxies. C) You are in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, looking outward into the Local Group. D) You are in the outskirts of a galaxy whose nucleus is a powerful quasar. E) You are in the universe when it was about 200 million years old, just before galaxies began forming. 7) You are once again in a hot, dense place. You are surrounded by protons and neutrons, some rapidly fusing into helium. You notice that your surroundings are cooling (good, because it's really hot! ) and rapidly dropping in density. Within about 3 minutes, the fusion reactions stop. Where are you? A) You are in the center of a star much smaller than the Sun. B) You are inside a nuclear power plant on Earth. C) You are in the early universe during the era of nucleosynthesis. D) You are in the center of a massive star near the end of its life. E) You are in the center of a star very much like our Sun. 2 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Final 8) Talk about cold, dark, and empty! As far as you look around you, there seems to be nothing at all. Even the nearest electron is light-years away. And, no matter how far you travel, you can find no solid matter, not even a single proton. You do, however, detect a few strong gravitational fields—probably due to black holes—at enormous distances away from you. Where are you? A) You are where the Sun should be located, but about 5 billion years from now. B) You are in the central regions of a quasar. C) You are in the outskirts of a young cluster of galaxies. D) You are in the universe when it is over about 1040 years old. 9) The light radiated from the Sun's surface reaches Earth in about 8 minutes, but the energy of that light was released by fusion in the solar core about A) a thousand years ago. B) a hundred years ago. C) ten years ago. D) one year ago. E) a million years ago. 10) From lowest energy to highest energy, which of the following correctly orders the different categories of electromagnetic radiation? A) gamma rays, X rays, visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, radio B) visible light, infrared, X rays, ultraviolet, gamma rays, radio C) radio, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X rays, gamma rays D) infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X rays, gamma rays, radio E) radio, X rays, visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, gamma rays 11) What is a possible solution to the solar neutrino problem? A) Not all fusion reactions create electron neutrinos. B) The Sun is generating much less energy than we think it is. C) The Sun is generating energy other than by nuclear fusion. D) The electron neutrinos created in the Sun change into another type of neutrino. E) We do not know how to detect electron neutrinos. 12) Newton's second law of motion tells us that the net force applied to an object equals its A) momentum times velocity. B) mass times velocity. C) energy times acceleration. D) mass times energy. E) mass times acceleration. 13) What happens when the gravity of a massive star is able to overcome neutron degeneracy pressure? A) The star explodes violently, leaving nothing behind. B) The core contracts and becomes a black hole. C) The core contracts and becomes a white dwarf. D) The core contracts and becomes a ball of neutrons. E) Gravity is not able to overcome neutron degeneracy pressure. 3 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 14) Radiative energy is A) heat energy. B) energy used in home radiators. C) energy of motion. D) energy from nuclear power plants. E) energy carried by light. 15) Most large galaxies in the universe are A) lenticular. B) irregular. 16) Compared to spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies are A) redder and rounder. B) bluer and rounder. C) bluer and flattened. D) redder and flattened. E) always much smaller. 17) Approximately how long does it take the Sun to orbit the Milky Way Galaxy? A) 23,000 years B) 23 billion years C) 230,000 years D) 2. 3 million years E) 230 million years 18) Approximately how many stars does a dwarf elliptical galaxy have? A) less than a billion B) 10 billion C) 100 billion D) 1 trillion E) less than a million Final C) spiral. D) elliptical. 19) What is the ultimate fate of an isolated white dwarf? A) As gravity overwhelms the electron degeneracy pressure, it will explode as a supernova. B) The electron degeneracy pressure will eventually overwhelm gravity and the white dwarf will slowly evaporate. C) As gravity overwhelms the electron degeneracy pressure, it will become a neutron star. D) As gravity overwhelms the electron degeneracy pressure, it will explode as a nova. E) It will cool down and become a cold black dwarf. 20) What evidence supports the theory that elliptical galaxies come from denser clouds? A) Elliptical galaxies have denser stars than spiral galaxies. B) Elliptical galaxies at high redshifts lack young, blue stars. C) Elliptical galaxies have more gas than spiral galaxies. D) Elliptical galaxies are generally larger than spiral galaxies. E) Elliptical galaxies are denser than spiral galaxies. 21) Which of the following types of galaxies are most spherical in shape? A) lenticulars B) spirals C) irregulars D) ellipticals 4 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 22) Roughly how many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy? A) 1 billion B) 100 trillion C) 100 million 23) White dwarfs are so called because A) it amplifies the contrast with red giants. B) they are both very hot and very small. C) they are supported by electron degeneracy pressure. D) they are the end-products of small, low-mass stars. E) they are the opposite of black holes. 24) Which of the following is evidence for supermassive black holes in active galaxies? A) quasars emit approximately equal power at all wavelengths from infrared to gamma rays B) rapid changes in the luminosity of the galaxy nucleus C) very high speed orbital motions around galactic nuclei D) the discovery of powerful jets coming from a compact core E) all of the above 25) What happens to the surface temperature and luminosity when a protostar radiatively contracts? A) Its surface temperature remains the same and its luminosity decreases. B) Its surface temperature and luminosity remain the same. C) Its surface temperature decreases and its luminosity increases. D) Its surface temperature and luminosity decrease. E) Its surface temperature and luminosity increase. D) 100 billion Final E) 10 billion An advanced civilization lives on a planet orbiting a close binary star system that consists of a 15MSun red giant and a 10MSun black hole. Assume that the two stars are quite close together, so that an accretion disk surrounds the black hole. The planet on which the civilization lives orbits the binary star at a distance of 10 AU. 26) Sometime within the next million years or so, their planet is likely to be doomed because A) jets of material shot out of the accretion disk will shoot down their planet. B) tidal forces from the black hole will rip the planet apart. C) the red giant will probably undergo a supernova explosion within the next million years. D) their planet receives most of its energy from the red giant. However, this star will soon be completely devoured in the accretion disk and thus will no longer exist. E) the planet's orbit gradually will decay as it is sucked in by the black hole. 27) Through a bizarre (and scientifically unexplainable) fluctuation in the spacetime continuum, a copy of a book titled Iguoonos: How We Evolved appears on your desk. As you begin to read, you learn that the book describes the evolution of the people living in the star system described above. In the first chapter, you learn that these people evolved from organisms that lived 5 billion years ago. Which of the following statements should you expect to find as you continue to read this book? A) As a result of traumatic experiences of their evolutionary ancestors, they dislike television. B) They believe that the presence of two stars in their system was critical to their evolution. C) Their immediate ancestors were chimpanzees. D) They evolved from primitive wormlike creatures that had 13 legs, 4 eyes, and bald heads, thus explaining why such critters are now considered a spectacular delicacy. E) They evolved on a different planet in a different star system and moved to their current location. 5 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Final The following questions refer to the H-R diagram below that shows the life track of a 1-solar-mass star, with various stages labeled with Roman numerals. Figure 17. 1 28) Which stage lasts the longest? A) viii B) i C) iv D) iii E) vi 29) In the end, the remaining core of this star will be left behind as A) a supernova. B) a white dwarf made primarily of carbon and oxygen. C) a white dwarf made primarily of silicon and iron. D) a neutron star. E) a black hole. 30) What is the Sun mainly made of? A) hydrogen and oxygen B) oxygen and carbon C) hydrogen and helium D) carbon and nitrogen E) nearly equal portions of all the elements 31) Which of the following comprise the oldest members of the Milky Way? A) red giant stars in spiral arms B) globular clusters C) Cepheid variables D) the Sun and other solar mass stars E) O stars 32) The wavelength of a wave is A) equal to the speed of the wave times the wave's frequency. B) the distance between a peak of the wave and the next trough. C) the distance between two adjacent peaks of the wave. D) how strong the wave is. E) the distance between where the wave is emitted and where it is absorbed. 33) What is the name given to 2H? A) deuterium B) helium C) hydrogen D) tritium 6 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 34) Approximately how fast are you moving with the rotation of the earth around its axis? A) 130 km/hr B) 1,300 km/hr C) 13,000 km/hr D) 13 km/hr Final 35) What do astronomers mean by light pollution? A) Light pollution refers to pollution caused by light industry as opposed to heavy industry. B) Light pollution refers to light used for human activities that brightens the sky and hinders astronomical observations. C) Light pollution refers to harmful gases emitted by common street lights. D) Light pollution is another name for sunlight, which makes it impossible to see stars in the daytime. E) Light pollution refers to the lights that must be used inside major observatories and that make it difficult for astronomers' eyes to adapt to darkness. 36) What evidence supports the galactic fountain model? A) We see a jet of ionized gas shooting out of the bulge of our galaxy. B) We have mapped several spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. C) We have observed a lot of water molecules in the interstellar medium. D) We see hot gas above the disk of the galaxy and cool gas that appears to be raining down from the halo. E) We have no evidence yet for the galactic fountain model. 37) How do we know what happens at the event horizon of a black hole? A) Astronomers have analyzed the light from matter within the event horizon of many black holes. B) Astronomers have detected X rays from accretion disks around black holes. C) Astronomers have sent spacecraft through the event horizon of a nearby black hole. D) Physicists have created miniature black holes in the lab. E) We don't know for sure: we only know what to expect based on the predictions of general relativity. 38) What is a central dominant galaxy? A) a giant spiral galaxy that exerts large tidal forces on other nearby galaxies B) a galaxy around which many other smaller galaxies orbit C) a hypothesized galaxy type that no longer exists but once dominated the structure of the universe D) a spiral galaxy from which many smaller galaxies form when it is stripped apart by tidal forces E) a giant elliptical galaxy at the center of a dense cluster 39) The study of energy levels in atoms is called A) particle physics. B) quantum mechanics. C) classical mechanics. D) general relativity. E) special relativity. 7 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Final 40) Why did the era of nuclei end when the universe was about 300,000 years old? A) All the free particles had combined to form the nuclei of atoms. B) Neutrinos and electrons were finally able to escape the plasma of the early universe and no longer heated the other particles. C) Photons were finally able to escape the plasma of the early universe and no longer heated the hydrogen and helium ions. D) The universe had expanded and cooled to a temperature of about 3,000 K, cool enough for stable, neutral atoms to form. E) No theory can explain this. 41) What causes the radio pulses of a pulsar? A) A black hole near the star absorbs energy and re-emits it as radio waves. B) The star vibrates. C) The star undergoes periodic explosions of nuclear fusion that generate radio emission. D) The star's orbiting companion periodically eclipses the radio waves emitted by the main pulsar. E) As the star spins, beams of radio radiation sweep through space. If one of the beams crosses the earth, we observe a pulse. 2) If we represent the Milky Way Galaxy as the size of a grapefruit (10-cm diameter), the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy would be about A) 3 m. B) 100 km. C) 1 km. D) 10 cm. E) 30 m. 43) About where is our solar system located within the Milky Way Galaxy? A) at the center of the galaxy B) about two-thirds of the way from the center of the galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic d isk C) about 10 percent of the way from the center of the galaxy to the outskirts of the galactic disk D) near the far outskirts of the galactic disk E) in the halo of the galaxy above the galactic disk 44) What is an astronomical unit? A) any basic unit used in astronomy B) the average speed of the earth around the Sun C) the diameter of the earth's orbit around the Sun D) the average distance from the earth to the Sun E) the length of time it takes the earth to revolve around the Sun 45) How did the Ptolemaic model explain the apparent retrograde motion of the planets? A) It varied the motion of the celestial sphere so that it sometimes moved backward. B) It held that the planets moved along small circles that moved on larger circles around the Sun. C) It held that the planets moved along small circles that moved on larger circles around the earth. D) It held that sometimes the planets moved backward along their circular orbits. E) It placed the Sun at the center so that the planets' apparent retrograde motion was seen as the earth passed each one in its orbit. 46) What is meant by spectral resolution? A) It is the same as angular resolution when applied to telescopes operating at different wavelengths. B) It is a measure of how close two point sources can be distinguished. C) It is a measure of how much energy an object emits in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. D) It is a measure of how close two spectral lines can be distinguished. 8 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 47) The tides on Earth are an example of A) Newton's third law of motion. B) Newton's second law of motion. C) Newton's first law of motion. D) the universal law of gravitation. E) none of the above 48) What might be causing the universe to accelerate? A) WIMPs B) dark gravity C) we don't know! —it's a subject of continuing research D) MACHOs E) white-dwarf supernovae Final 49) White-dwarf supernovae are good standard candles for distance measurements for all the following reasons except which? A) All white-dwarf supernovae involve the explosion of stars of nearly the same mass. B) White-dwarf supernovae occur only among young and extremely bright stars. C) White-dwarf supernovae are common enough that we detect several every year. D) All white-dwarf supernovae have similar light curves, which makes them easy to distinguish from massive-star supernovae. E) White-dwarf supernovae are so bright that they can be detected even in very distant galaxies. 50) What do we mean by the singularity of a black hole? A) It is the center of the black hole, a place of infinite density where the known laws of physics cannot describe the conditions. B) An object can become a black hole only once, and a black hole cannot evolve into anything else. C) There are no binary black holes? each one is isolated. D) It is the â€Å"point of no return† of the black hole; anything closer than this point will not be able to escape the gravitational force of the black hole. E) It is the edge of the black hole, where one could leave the observable universe. 51) Which of the following is an example in which you are traveling at constant speed but not at constant velocity? A) driving around in a circle at exactly 100 km/hr B) rolling freely down a hill in a cart, traveling in a straight line C) jumping up and down, with a period of exactly 60 hops per minute D) driving backward at exactly 50 km/hr E) none of the above 52) What is a superbubble? A) the region of space cleared by a powerful supernova B) a very low-density region of interstellar space, formed by the merger of several bubbles C) a very high-density region of interstellar space, filled with gas ejected from nearby star systems D) a bubble so large that it fills much of the galactic halo E) a cloud of gas that can form a million or more stars AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 53) No stars have been found with masses greater than 100 times our Sun because A) they would fragment into binary stars because of their rapid rotation. B) molecular clouds do not have enough material to form such massive stars. C) they would generate so much power that they would blow themselves apart. D) they are no t bright enough to be seen nearby. E) they shine exclusively at X-ray wavelengths and become difficult to detect. 54) All of the following are involved in carrying energy outward from a star's core except A) conduction. B) radiative diffusion. C) neutrinos. D) convection. 55) In what part of the electromagnetic spectrum do the biggest telescopes on Earth operate? A) ultraviolet B) radio C) infrared D) X-ray E) visible 56) Which is the strongest of the fundamental forces in the universe? A) weak force B) electromagnetic force C) strong force D) gravitational force E) none of the above 57) The path that led to modern science emerged from ancient civilizations in which part of the world? A) China B) North America C) Southern Asia D) the Mediterranean and the Middle East E) Central and South America Final 58) Most of the energy produced in the Sun is released in the form of visible light from the photosphere. However, some energy is released from the upper layers of the solar atmosphere. Which of the following best describes where other forms of light are released? A) The convection zone is the source of ultraviolet light, and the upper photosphere is the source of X rays. B) The chromosphere is the source of infrared light, and the corona is the source of ultraviolet light. C) The chromosphere is the source of X rays, and the corona is the source of radio waves. D) The chromosphere is the source of ultraviolet light, and the corona is the source of X rays. 59) How did Edwin Hubble measure the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy? A) He applied the period-luminosity relation to Cepheid variables. B) He used white dwarf supernovae. C) He deduced it from its redshift. D) He used main-sequence fitting. E) He measured its parallax. 10 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 60) Dr. Smith believes that the Hubble constant is H0 = 70 km/s/Mpc. Dr. Jones believes it is H0 = 50 Final km/s/Mpc. Which statement below automatically follows? A) Dr. Smith believes that the universe is younger than Dr. Jones believes. B) Dr. Smith believes that the Andromeda Galaxy (a member of our Local Group) is moving away from us at a faster speed than Dr. Jones believes. C) Dr. Smith believes that the universe is expanding, but Dr. Jones does not. D) Dr. Smith believes that the universe will someday stop expanding, while Dr. Jones believes it will expand forever. E) Dr. Smith believes that the universe is older than Dr. Jones believes. 61) What is an artificial star? A) a meteor B) the unseen member of a binary star system C) a satellite orbiting the earth D) a point of light in the earth's atmosphere created by a laser for the purpose of monitoring atmospheric fluctuations E) a possible source of dark matter in the universe 62) When we see X rays from an accretion disk in a binary system, we can't immediately tell whether the accretion disk surrounds a neutron star or a black hole. Suppose we then observe each of the following phenomena in this system. Which one would force us to immediately rule out the possibility of a black hole? A) bright X-ray emission that varies on a time scale of a few hours B) spectral lines from the companion star that alternately shift to shorter and longer wavelengths C) visible and ultraviolet light from the companion star D) sudden, intense X-ray bursts 63) On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, where would we find white dwarfs? A) upper left B) lower right C) lower left D) upper right 64) On a cosmic calendar, in which the history of the universe is compressed into 1 year, when did Kepler and Galileo first discover that we live on a planet in a solar system? A) 1 second ago B) December 30 C) 1 week ago D) December 25 E) 1 day ago 65) Why does the Big Bang theory predict that the cosmic background radiation should have a perfect thermal radiation spectrum? A) It doesn't predict that the cosmic background radiation should have a perfect thermal radiation spectrum. B) The spectrum of 75 percent hydrogen and 25 percent helium is a perfect thermal radiation spectrum. C) The light from all the stars and gas in the sky averaged over the entire universe is a perfect thermal radiation spectrum. D) The spectrum of pure hydrogen is a perfect thermal radiation spectrum. E) The background radiation came from the heat of the universe, with a peak corresponding to the temperature of the universe. 11 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 66) If a material is transparent, then it A) scatters light well. B) emits light well. C) transmits light well. D) absorbs light well. E) reflects light well. 67) He discovered what we now call Newton's first law of motion. A) Ptolemy B) Galileo C) Tycho Brahe 68) Where was the Sun in Ptolemy's model of the universe? A) slightly offset from the center B) between the earth and the Moon's orbit C) at the outer edge, beyond Saturn's orbit D) between the orbits of Venus and Mars E) at the center Final D) Kepler E) Copernicus 69) Why do we expect the cosmic background radiation to be almost, but not quite, the same in all directions? A) The overall structure of the universe is very uniform, but the universe must have contained some regions of higher density in order for galaxies to form. B) The temperature of the universe can be found by taking an average over the entire sky, but individual stars will create peaks in the spectrum over small angles. C) The overall structure of the universe is very uniform, but the synthesis of different elements produces varying signatures within the background spectrum. D) The overall structure of the universe is very uniform, but intervening gas between us and the era of nuclei absorbs wavelengths depending on the composition and redshift of the gas. E) Dark matter consisting of WIMPs greatly smooths out the spectrum, but the small patches of â€Å"light† matter create peaks in the spectrum. 70) A star of spectral type O lives approximately how long on the main sequence? A) 10,000 years B) 1 million years C) 1,000 years D) 1 billion years E) 100 million years 71) If you wanted to observe a molecular cloud, in which of the ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum would you most likely observe? (There are additional possibilities. ) A) infrared B) gamma-ray C) X-ray D) ultraviolet E) visible 72) How do we learn about what is going on in the center of our own galaxy (the Milky Way)? A) We cannot see the galactic center with visible or ultraviolet light, but radio and X rays from the center can be detected. B) The gas and dust in the Milky Way prevent any type of direct observation of the galactic center, but theoretical models allow us to predict what is happening there. C) We have learned it only recently, thanks to the great photographs obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. D) We must look at the centers of other galaxies and hope that ours is just like others. 12 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 73) The age of the universe is A) between 100 billion and 160 billion years. B) between 100 million and 160 million years. C) between 1 billion and 1. 6 billion years. D) between 10 billion and 16 billion years. E) between 10 million and 16 million years. Final 74) Which forces have physicists shown to be the same force under conditions of very high temperature or energy, as confirmed by experiments in particle accelerators? A) the strong and electromagnetic forces B) the electromagnetic and weak forces C) gravity and the strong force D) the strong and weak forces E) gravity and the weak force 75) Cluster ages can be determined from A) main sequence fitting. B) pulsating variable stars. C) visual binaries. D) main sequence turnoff. E) spectroscopic binaries. 6) The spectral sequence sorts stars according to A) radius. B) mass. C) luminosity. D) surface temperature. E) core temperature. 77) Why wasn't the intracluster medium in galaxy clusters discovered until the 1970s? A) The medium emits X rays, which are blocked by the earth's atmosphere and require X-ray satellites in space in order to be observed. B) We didn't have the resolution to observe ga laxy clusters until then. C) We did not know how much dark matter existed before then. D) Radiation emitted by the medium was so dim that we couldn't detect it until we built much larger telescopes. E) The Milky Way was blocking our view of distant galaxy clusters. 78) The most active galactic nuclei are usually found at large distances from us; relatively few nearby galaxies have active galactic nuclei. What does this imply? A) Active galactic nuclei tend to become less active as they age. B) Active galactic nuclei can form only at large distances from the Milky Way. C) The jets seen in many active galactic nuclei must cause them to move far away from us. D) Massive black holes existed only when the universe was young and no longer exist today. 13 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 9) Which of the following is an example of baryonic matter? A) neutrinos B) you C) mesons produced by physicists in particle accelerators D) electrons and positrons produced by pair production E) WIMPs Final 80) How can we see through the interstellar medium? A) by using only the biggest telescopes B) by observing only the brightest visible sources C) by using telescopes above the earth's atmosphere D) by observing in high-energy wavelengths such as X rays and long wavelengths of light such as radio waves E) We cannot see through the interstellar medium. 1) On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, where on the main sequence would we find stars that have the greatest mass? A) upper right B) lower left C) lower right D) upper left 82) What is nuclear fusion? A) an explosion caused by putting together two volatile chemicals B) a process that only occurs in bombs C) the process of splitting nuclei to produce energy D) the process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei E) the process of turning matter into pure energy 83) He developed a system for predicting planetary positions that remained in use for some 1,500 years. A) Copernicus B) Tycho Brahe C) Kepler D) Galileo E) Ptolemy 84) What causes stars to twinkle? A) variable absorption by interstellar gas along the line of sight to the star B) the inability of the human eye to see faint objects C) bending of light rays by turbulent layers in the atmosphere D) variations in the absorption of the atmosphere E) It is intrinsic to the stars—their brightness varies as they expand and contract. 5) The controversial book of this famous person, published in 1543 (the year of his death), suggested that the earth and other planets orbit the Sun. A) Copernicus B) Kepler C) Tycho Brahe D) Galileo E) Ptolemy 86) What is a typical mass-to-light ratio for the inner region of a spiral galaxy, in units of solar masses per solar luminosity? A) 6 B) 0. 1 C) 1,000 D) 600 E) 100 14 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 87) In the formula E = mc2, what does E represent? A) the mass-energy, or potential energy stored in an object's mass B) the radiative energy carried by light C) the electric charge of the object D) the kinetic energy of a moving object E) the gravitational potential energy of an object held above the ground The following questions refer to the sketch below of an H-R diagram for a star cluster. Figure 17. 2 Final 88) Based on its main-sequence turnoff point, the age of this cluster is A) about 10 billion years. B) less than 1 billion years. C) more than 15 billion years. D) about 2 billion years. E) about 1 billion years. 9) What percentage of a molecular cloud's mass is interstellar dust? A) 1% B) 28% C) 50% D) 12% E) 1-50%, depending on the mass of the molecular cloud 90) Which of the following correctly states the luminosity-distance formula? luminosity A) distance = 4? ? (apparent brightness)2 B) apparent brightness = luminosity ? 4? ? (distance)2 apparent brightness C) luminosity = 4? ? (distance)2 D) apparent brightness = lumin osity 4? ? (distance)2 15 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy 91) Harlow Shapley concluded that the Sun was not in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy by A) looking at the shape of the â€Å"milky band† across he sky. B) mapping the distribution of globular clusters in the galaxy. C) mapping the distribution of stars in the galaxy. D) looking at other nearby spiral galaxies. E) mapping the distribution of gas clouds in the spiral arms. 92) Which of the following statements about stages of nuclear burning (i. e. , first-stage hydrogen burning, second-stage helium burning, etc. ) in a massive star is not true? A) Each successive stage creates an element with a higher atomic weight. B) As each stage ends, the core shrinks further. C) Each successive stage of fusion requires higher temperatures than the previous stages. D) Each successive stage lasts for approximately the same amount of time. Final 93) Which of the following is not true of quasars? A) Some quasars are more than a thousand times more luminous than the Milky Way. B) Some quasars can change their brightness every few hours. C) Quasars are powered by the energy radiated by matter falling into a central black hole. D) Quasars are powered by the intense production of large numbers of stars that can only be sustained for a relatively short time. E) Quasars were more common in the past. 94) How does the spectrum of a molecule differ from the spectrum of an atom? A) Molecules only have spectral lines at ultraviolet wavelengths. B) Most atoms only have spectral lines at infrared wavelengths. C) A molecule does not have spectral lines due to electrons changing energy levels. D) A molecule has additional spectral lines due to changes in its rotational and vibrational energies. E) An atom has a wider range of spectral lines than molecules. 95) We can learn a lot about the properties of a star by studying its spectrum. All of the following statements are true except one. Which one? A) We can identify chemical elements present in the star by recognizing patterns of spectral lines that correspond to particular chemicals. B) We can look at Doppler shifts of spectral lines to determine the star's speed toward or away from us. C) The total amount of light in the spectrum tells us the star's radius. D) The peak of the star's thermal emission tells us its temperature: Hotter stars peak at shorter (bluer) wavelengths. 96) Where does the energy come from that your body uses to keep you alive? A) It is produced from the radiative energy of the Sun on your skin. B) It comes from the foods you eat. C) It is created during the time that you rest or sleep. D) It is in the air that you breathe. E) It comes from the water you drink. 16 AST 101- Introduction to Astronomy Final 97) Which of the following statements best describes the two principal advantages of telescopes over eyes? A) Telescopes have much more magnification and better angular resolution. B) Telescopes can collect far more light with far better angular resolution. C) Telescopes can collect far more light with far greater magnification. D) Telescopes collect more light and are unaffected by twinkling. E) Telescopes can see farther without image distortion and can record more accurate colors. 98) According to the universal law of gravitation, if you triple the distance between two objects, then the gravitational force between them will A) decrease by a factor of 9. B) decrease by a factor of 6. C) decrease by a factor of 3. D) increase by a factor of 3. E) increase by a factor of 9. 99) Degeneracy pressure is the source of the pressure that stops the crush of gravity in all the following except A) a neutron star. B) a brown dwarf. C) the central core of the Sun after hydrogen fusion ceases but before helium fusion begins. D) a very massive main-sequence star. E) a white dwarf. 100) Which of the following is not a conserved quantity? A) momentum C) energy B) angular momentum D) radiation 17 Answer Key Testname: FINAL_071212 1) E 2) E 3) E 4) A 5) C 6) B 7) C 8) D 9) E 10) C 11) D 12) E 13) B 14) E 15) C 16) A 17) E 18) A 19) E 20) B 21) D 22) D 23) B 24) E 25) E 26) C 27) E 28) D 29) B 30) C 31) B 32) C 33) A 34) B 35) B 36) D 37) E 38) E 39) B 0) D 41) E 42) A 43) B 44) D 45) C 46) D 47) D 48) C 18 Answer Key Testname: FINAL_071212 49) 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 70) 71) 72) 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) 85) 86) 87) 88) 89) 90) 91) 92) 93) 94) 95) 96) B A A B C A B C D D A A D D C A E C B D A B A A D B D D A A B D D D E C A A A A A D B D D D C B 19 Answer Key Testname: FINAL_071212 97) B 98) A 99) D 100) D 20

Theater and Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theater and Cinema - Essay Example Symbolism is pervasive throughout all artistic mediums, and the new(ish) production of Cinema is no exception† (Montano, 2010, par. 1). literary discourses: in short stories, novels, poems and narrative literatures. These symbols aim to enhance scenes within the film by providing viewers with the opportunity to respond and react according to their personal interpretations for these symbols. Definitely, these symbols added to the enjoyment through the aesthetic appeal that have been generated. Symbols create opportunities to entice varied emotions and magnify the appeal that is intended to be created by them. When is a shark just a shark? Consider the movie Jaws. What could the shark symbolize in our culture, society, or collective human mythology other than a man-eating fish? Why? A shark could be considered just a shark when shown in the most objective form (a documentary about sharks or as one of the species of fishes in the body of water) where the intention of the producer or director is to present a film portraying the crucial aspect relating to sharks and how they live, reproduce, eat, evolve, and survive, in general. When shown in the movie like Jaws, the shark could symbolize terror, danger, death. Likewise, it was emphasized that â€Å"the shark serves as a convenient metaphor for sexual and class power† (Biskind, 1975, p. 1). The shark represents imposition of dominance to society through its sheer power and strength to overpower those who are considered week and meek: the minority groups, women, the old, and children, among others. Next, think about a theatrical staging of Jaws. Describe the artistic choices you would make to bring Jaws the movie to Broadway. What genre would you choose? Describe at least three other elements of production and how you would approach them in your staging of Jaws as a stage play or

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner - Essay Example Their personal styles of work with the great variety of plots and directions were partly a result of their vital activity, including great number of their drawings, lithographs and woodcuts. Kirchner as well as his colleagues was under influence by the African and Oceanic art that is reflected in unusual manner of his works. In 1912, Kirchner became the leader of the group "The Bridge. He and the other artists sought to build a "bridge" between Germany's past and future. "They felt that the art of the current establishment was too academic and refined to retain any degree of expression, so they instead found inspiration in medieval German art and primitive African sculpture. Additionally, they would find inspiration in the emotionally expressive works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edward Munch. Since their primary concern was the expression of deeply felt emotions, they would also transform their negative feelings about the war onto canvas."(3) Kirchner achieved some fame during his lifeti me, and he had a number of collectors for his paintings and wood-cuts. His intense work on paintings, woodcuts, and sculpture expanded to include designs for the weaver Lise Guyer and, more importantly, for the decoration of the great hall of the Museum Folkwang in Essen: work never to be completed, since the Nazis seized the museum in 1933. During the Nazi dictatorship, however, his work was denounced (as well as his compatriots) as "degenerate art", and confiscated from museums. He became increasingly depressed by the war and committed suicide on June 15, 1938 after destroying much of his artwork - he was very despondent over the Nazism and its displays. All his life Kirchner was in search for an increasingly simplified form of expression. When the group relocated to Berlin in 1910-11, Kirchner's response to the confrontation with the metropolis resulted in the bold works that epitomize the hectic life in Berlin. In 1917 Kirchner moved to Switzerland, where he was supported by the collector Dr. Carl Hagemann, the architect Henri van de Velde, and the family of his physician, Dr. Spengler. He slowly recovered, while continuing to work on paintings and woodcuts. His works were exhibited in Switzerland and Germany. In 1921 he had fifty works on view at the Kronprinzenpalais (Nationalgalerie) in Berlin, which were praised by critics and established his reputation as the leading expressionist. In 1925-26 he made his first long trip back to Germany. He stayed for a while in Dresden with his biographer, Will Grohmann, and visited the dancer Mary Wigman. In this period of his life he painted one of his significant colour-woodcuts, "Head of Albert Muller". It was signed, annotated and dedicated in black ink and pencil. It is a splendid proof impression printed from two blocks on a yellowish, thick Japan-paper. The work is in excellent and fresh condition. Although it is a second state key-stone, Kirchner annotated it as ,,1ster Handdruck", which probably meant the fi rst impression of this state. The represented painter from Basle, Albert Mller, was a very close friend and pupil of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. He and his family spent several months in the summer of 1925 with Kirchner and worked with him in Frauenkirch. The portrait was probably executed during that time. Albert Mller died of typhus - only 29 years old - in December 1926. Kirchner, who

Social research methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Social research methods - Essay Example A â€Å"survey† can be anything from a short paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive one-on-one in-depth interview (Firebaugh, 2008). From the foregoing explanation, it becomes necessary to explain the reasons behind the selection of the survey design used in this exploration. Firstly, social research aims at finding social patterns of regularity in social life and usually deals with social groups (Halsey, 2004) but not with individuals per se. Since this exploration is social in nature, it was necessary for the researcher to conduct the said study using a survey. This report presents the conduction of a social research using a questionnaire to collect views on â€Å"racism in UK†. The author has divided the report into various sections discussed hereunder. Background to the study area Racism is an ideology that preaches the inferiority of one race to another. It justifies discrimination and in its extreme form, violence towards and murder of people because of th eir skin colour. Bowling and Phillips (2002) believe that these ideas haven’t been in existence, nor are people born racist but these ideas have been created and spread for specific purposes and in a conscious way. Racism is used by those who wish to sustain this oppressive society in order to divide and rule the working class. It is the views of proponents of peace to continually oppose all forms of racism and unite people from all walks of life in the fight against the real enemy of racism (Adamson and Cole, 2006; Chau and Yu, 2001). Based on this revelation, the current author fully commends the sensitization of members of pressure groups to join hands in the fight against racism. Some facts about racism have been laid bare in the face of the world by a number of earlier studies in this area. Cole (2008) for instance claims that racism comes in a number of ways; whether through name calling, bullying or even actual physical attacks. Whichever form it takes, racism eventual ly tears away the social fabric that holds communities together (Garland and Rowe, 2001). As pointed out in a report by Cole (2008), racism cannot be tackled merely as a moral issue but as a multiplicity of concerns. Racist arguments are found to provide powerful explanations for the poverty and unemployment that many young people face in UK. These and many other lies and misconceptions about racism including the immigrants’ perceived responsibility for crime and the lack of jobs and decent housing for UK nationals forms the basis of this report. Similarly, many insinuations to the fact that immigrants have come to UK and taken plump jobs from the indigenous people have been branded ‘a racist lie’ (Bowling and Phillips, 2002). In fact, racist groups are reported to having claimed that it is possible to get rid of unemployment by stopping immigration and ‘sending foreigners back where they came from’ (Adamson and Cole, 2006; Cole, 2008). This opinion is negated by the fact that about 8.1% of the working population of UK is officially unemployed; only 5% of the total population is composed of immigrants (Chau and Yu, 2001). In the views of the current author, these insinuations are found to be very retrogressive and help fan the racism fire, a fact that must be fought at all cost. It is the essence of this report therefore to come up with

Research paper for culture Geography---Female role in work place Essay

Research paper for culture Geography---Female role in work place - Essay Example For example, in the 19th-century in the northeastern part of England women were excluded from employment in coal mining. They were bestowed with heavy burdens of unpaid domestic labor in their capacity of being wives and often daughters. It is very evident that wages were paid differently to men and women from the statistical example of 19th century. Women were seriously disempowered in all walks of lives. McDowell and Massey argued, â€Å"male supremacy...became an established, and almost unchallenged, fact† (1984, p. 132). Women were faced with unequal pay and other forms of gender equality. Women â€Å"do not often gesture and stride, stretch and push to the limits of our physical capabilities† (Rose, 1993, p. 144). This notion said by Rose should be interpreted as; women are much more capable of what they believe to be. Should they push themselves a little bit forward, they can make the best leaders. The geography has ever since supported the notion of separate public and domestic spheres; based on this ideological divide, women has had limited access to the public sphere. There exist certain structures and practices that work towards men’s advantage and women’s disadvantage. Bartram & Showbrook aptly says, â€Å"The debate has emphasized the importance of patriarchal relations in defining social and cultural roles for women in the workplace† (1998). It is widely proven that women have been highly underrepresented at work places. This particular fact needs immediate attention and redressed. According to the Royal commission report (1984) on Equality in Employment, there are four groups of people in Canada who are historically considered disadvantaged in employment policies and practices--Native people, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and women. This is so because many discriminatory and unfair employment practices. Compared to ancient times, the workplace began to open up for increased number of women. Women had to

How Parents Discipline in Public Places Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Parents Discipline in Public Places - Essay Example 154). The clash of needs transpires when the mother unloads her grocery items at the cashier section while her son unwraps the chocolate bar at the checkout aisle for consumption. When the child does not get what he wants, an unwanted scene is created: the child does temper tantrum. Baumgardner (2003) says that temper tantrum is a â€Å"response of children not getting their way during a specific encounter† (p. 185). The mother is exhausted from carefully selecting and picking the items that she wants to buy -- considering the time and the mind she had allocated -- and the exhaustion is augmented when her son decides to do something which is unplanned and unimportant. Seldom, temper tantrum occurs when a child fails to have what he desires. Bergman (2001) counsels the parent not to give in to the child’s manipulation (p. 261). For him, temper tantrum is a sort of mechanism in which children greatly use in order for their parents to â€Å"get their own way† (Bergm an, 2001, p. 261). On the other hand, mothers vary in their response to this kind of situation. Some good mothers complain to the store manager for putting a â€Å"nag factor† (e.g., checkout aisle) in their grocery store. And some mothers talk to their children of what went wrong.

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 28

Economics - Essay Example Thatcher follows a policy of monetarism and this is the difference with the other administration. Thatcher strongly believed in an open and privatized economy. Therefore her government worked fiercely towards privatizing some of the major government organizations. This era advocated policies of free markets and nationalizations of banks and financial institutions. The soul of this era was the Big Bang of financial deregulation that prevailed in the market in the year 1986. The economy was left free to open trade by reduction of tariffs and trade duties. Thatcher government was in favor of market optimization by inviting competition. To fight with the inflation Thatcher, after coming to power increased the taxes and reduced government spending. It was reported that the first year of her tenure in the office, was marked by a reduction of 1 billion pounds in the government spendings. Policies were adopted to reduce the powers of the labor unions. Ordinary people were encouraged to own h ouses and the companies they work for. Large number of council houses was sold off to the tenants. Her government brought about reforms in government expenditure snd thus made the economy of Britain more effectual. This paper centers on the economic principles employed during the Thatcher era and justify the use of these different approaches under the current economic scenario of our country. (Pearce, n.d.) Under this section we cover the major economic policies adopted during the Thatcher era. We further analyze the effectiveness of these policies in our country, especially in the current scenario when the economic conditions are almost the same as the one in United Kingdom before Margaret Thatcher took over as the president of United Kingdom. â€Å"When Mrs. Thatcher won the election in 1979, economic growth stood at just over 2% but this apparently respectable figure hid many problems. Unemployment had been rising from

The Impact of the Repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell Policies Research Paper

The Impact of the Repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell Policies - Research Paper Example Through aggressively taking down the level of sexual harassment and eliminating sexual displays of dominance, the military can become a more solid and unified organization in which men and women are safe and honorably treated with respect. The following study through secondary research will examine the nature of the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy and the ways in which the repeal is a necessary measure. Through understanding the ways in which the sociological nature of the military will undergo changes, this will be related to the ways in which the repeal of the law will impact military families. The sociology of integrating homosexuality into society will be examined, and then assessed in consideration of the unique environment of the culture of the military. With respect to family culture, the nature of the changes will look at any impact that might occur. The following research paper will discuss the nature of the ‘don’t ask don’t tell policy, creating a background for the controversy and then relating the information to the effect that the repeal of this policy will have on military families. As the issue is intertwined with those who support political factions that support the ‘family values’ platform, the new policies and philosophies that will be included in the sociology of military life will have some form of impact on families within the military. The paper will be structured with a history of the military philosophies on homosexuality and the consequences of those philosophies.

Islamic Arabia Essay Example for Free

Islamic Arabia Essay Signs of Islam using the Koran as the foundations of its life and values being more accepting of women whether they are married or single are easier to see than in Christianity that made use of the Bible as the basis of its spiritual teachings. Accommodations in Islam which means accepting women as people of sacred, substantial, cultural, social and moral worth began its call even before pre-Islamic Arabia (Smith 52). Increasingly, however, Christians are turning women into little more than just sex objects. Many other societies have actually demoted women with two pieces of skimpy cloth walking down the ramp, viewed on tubes for global audience use, drowning the usual human values, robbed of natural human distinction. The core of a woman is being destroyed by the image of being just sex objects. Mankind should remember that the origin of all is just one pair. Eve’s progeny reminds mankind to be grateful for her willingness to be the mother of the first children earth ever had and the generations later should be proud of the founding of humankind. Femininity is a tribute to society. Childbearing honors women who bear a child in her womb for nine long months, who goes through the pains of giving birth, and the burden of breastfeeding. Being a woman and a capable mother have great societal significance to Muslims, recognizing and accepting women’s role. There are two top religions in the world today that is reaping much awareness and credit. The 1st is Islam, which is the cult of those who believe in Muhammad as a messenger of God, differing according to culture, and Christian religion, the cult of those who believe in Jesus Christ the son of Mary, modified according to culture,. Though Muhammad and Jesus Christ have both been influenced by some patriarchal views (Fiorenza 316), they have also in many ways differing concepts about women in their respective time and society. Like, in one occasion when it came to the knowledge of Muhammad that a couple committed adultery, he ordered them to be stoned to death right in front of his mosque (Mishkat 267), on the other hand when Jesus received the report from a witnessed a woman committing adultery, and so she must be penalized according to Jewish law, Jesus said sternly, â€Å"Let him who is without sin among you throw the first stone at her†, discarding double standard of morality (John 122). However, in his personal affairs Muhammad advised his men to treat their women with kindness (Al-Bukhari   80). Today, long time after Jesus and Muhammad, these values have so much evolved as intellectual education intensifies bringing about much understanding of human nature and modifications to a changing ecosystem. It can not be denied however that there still exist varying scales as to acceptability of women in Islam or in Christianity. Accepting of women in society is relative when looked upon the perspective of Islam after the time of Muhammad as against those of the Christians after the time of Jesus without neglecting cultural values. In Islam women were raised on a pedestal over 1, 400 years ago (Jumuah 62), when Muhammad directed his followers to regard women with compassion (Al-Bukhari 1, 55, 62, 80). They were acknowledge   to be the sisters of men, bestowing rights: to education up to the highest intensity, the right to decide on their marriage partner, the right to end an unhappy marriage, the right to inheritance, and the rights of a full citizen of a state (Jumuah 62), though, cultural differences still exist. While Christianity is more liberal, it leaves women to find its own level in the strata of society (Luke 81). Christian codes do not specify and provide rights for women. Christians adopts rights for women founded by men as cultural dictates (Fiorenza 1083) incorporated in individual state and governmental laws, which changes from time to time as revised to suit a presumed social need (Luke 89). Islam considers that men and women are at par when it comes to value as pieces and parts of humanity (Jumuah 63), but, these changes from customs to ethnicity. A man can not be victorious in his life without a woman. Their rights and tasks crossover and balance their totality because their roles are harmonizing and shared, although their duties might clash in certain areas of life in accordance with their basic physical and psychological disparity, where each is equally liable for their actual tasks (Jumuah 63), according to culture. Not one sex is either better or lesser than the other in any way, depending upon the Muslim culture where one belongs. There are however those who practice primarily according to their culture, which is not definitely a teaching of Islam according to its advocates, because culture does not crossover nor influence the Islamic code which is likewise the Qur’an, since the Qur’an is all embracing and above anyone’s culture. They oppress women which is simply a reflection of local customs that are definitely inconsistent and contrary to the teachings of Islam (Jumuah 62). Not only material and physical rights are given to women. They have also the right to be treated with kindness and consideration because it is provided for in the Qur’an. Under Islamic law the following provisions are given to women: when a Muslim woman marries she does not lose her maiden name in place of her husband (Jumuah 63). She has the right to keep her identity. She is given a gift by her husband to be, prior to their marriage which is also called a dowry (Ali 759). It is a personal gift that is at her disposal or which she can spend to buy properties, invest on whatever she feels she must without the influence of anyone from her family (Ali 759). The man must provide for the needs of his wife and the family even if she has the money of her own (Ali 759). She is not in any way obligated to spend anything for the family, which relieves the woman from the burden of earning a living. She however has the option to work if she finds it necessary. As the family is similar to any systematic organization, leadership is bestowed upon men. The Qur’an Clearly states that the husband is to some degree higher than the wife being the leader and guardian of the family. This does not in any way presume a right nor a license to be the tyrant of the household. It is rather the complete responsibility of the husband to care for the family (Jumuah 63). Karen Armstrong in a biography said, the emancipation of women was dear to the Prophets heart, describing: women were treated inferiorly with no rights like slaves in pre-Islamic time, but Muhammad allowed them to stand as witnesses and gave them the right to inheritance (Armstrong 191). The concept of women’s dress is of Islamic moral, social and legal values. By their observance of proper dress code, men and women alike protect their honor and reputation in a society contributing to it largely along peace and order. It is also A Qur’anic revelation While Jesus did not marry, Muhammad had several wives after Khadija his first wife, for different reasons such as: widows who needs provisions (Ali 53), widows with orphans who needs a fatherly attention (Ali 129), literacy of a woman, wealth of a woman, the widow being the wife of the enemy (Ali 129), political alliances and as a virgin wife like Aisha (Mishkat 3:13). A woman has four reasons to marry: wealth, family status, beauty and religion (Al-Bukhari 16, 32). Divorces were allowed even before pre-Isalmic times (Smith 52), while it was only a male prerogative in the Jewish law (Deuteronomy 176). But, Jesus made it irrevocable (Mark 56). Jesus helped women, honored them like the hunchback, one he called daughter of Abraham after she was healed from illness (Luke 93), and praised another for anointing him with oil (Mark 62). Jesus parables showed his compassion for women (Matthew 34).

LG Group: Leadership and Management Development

LG Group: Leadership and Management Development There is no company which is resistant to environmental changes, especially business environment. As the year comes by, new inventions or innovation will absolutely give impact on every type of business in the world. However, the causes of the impact, in other words, the root of the changes in the environment is not merely coming from company external territory; in most cases the impacts (either negative or positive) can come from external territory and internal territory of the company. This written analysis focuses on the LG Groups Chairman Koo who once stated and defined his vision for the LG group to develop and improve significantly and to be a leading company in its local market area (Korea) and the wider market scope, international market and increase its revenue significantly within 7 years period. This is known as LEAP 2005. Even though is not an easy task to do, he is much certain that the group can do that. He considers the past performance of the group and the major internal changes within the company will enable it to achieve what its chairman wants. The main key success, as the management agrees, lies on the future leaders of the group. There are several questions that arise as the result of the discussion between the management in relation with this key point, namely where and how to find these future leaders, what capabilities of competencies these leaders should possess how to develop these key competencies and so on. ANALYSIS OF LG GROUP SITUATION Briefly speaking on LG historical background, a common first impression on the company is that it has tremendous historical records in terms of business performance and business revenue. Citing the record, LG was established for the first time in 1947 as a small chemical company. As the time went by, there are expansions that the group has done. As a result the company got bigger and bigger. The applied several strategies that really work well are the main reason why the company grew bigger within a relatively short period of time. These days, LG is one of the strongest players in Indonesia industry. As the case of LG Group already describes, what is meant by LEAP 2005 desired by Chairman Koo reflects the his dream to make LG Group as the leading company in Korea and leading company in the world as well. This leads to for sure the increasing revenue to US$380 billion. To achieve this, certain development an improvement towards the company as an organization is an urgent necessity. The significant matter or points which are at the same time can be the conclusion of this brief analysis is that the improvement on internal aspects of organizations, which at the end should result in the transformation of LEAP 2005 into reality. Further, it is agreed that the management should focus on the human organization and make the first priority above all. The analysis is written as follow. LG GROUPS DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN ORGANIZATION An ideal human organization that can facilitate the achievement of Chairman Koos LEAP 2005 vision of future definitely has three most fundamental characteristics namely: 1. Strong LG company culture/values, 2. Qualified competent people as its component, 3. Good managerial strategies and operations by the management. These all explains how the company will provide itself its needed sources to meet the requirements of the company to achieve the vision. Each of this characteristic can be described as follows. Strong Company Culture A company with certain strong culture (or some term it as values) can usually stand up against all turbulence that occurs during its operations. The LG Group itself has already passed some bad period with great success and continues showing positive progress. Addition to this, there is for sure changes of transforming (STABILITY, HARMONI, RESPECT) to the cultures (CHALLENGE, SPEED, SIMPLICITY, BOUNDARYLESSNESS). These changes are in line with the demand of business environment which requires a company to quickly adapt themselves to the changes. Competent Human Resources The core component of a business organization is the humans who move it and run the companys operation. The more competent the person of the company the more prosperous the company will be. If the all person in the company are competent in their own field it will lead to best product that the company produces. Furthermore, this will end up in the achievement of customer satisfaction target (consumers demand and wishes). This all will result in better competitive advantages that the company has. Good Managerial Practices by Best Management Company management can be is the back bone of the company. They are the key person who drives the company towards certain direction. They are the decision maker of in the company. The fate of the company is in their hands. The culture that the management builds inside the company will also influence the day to day operation of the company. In terms of external relation, the management acts as the representative of the company. The can influence the business partners as well as potential consumers. Specifically speaking, in relation with human resources, the management should provide strategies that relate to human resources management such as defining organizational strategy, defining organizational structure and man power planning, defining the critical jobs, defining the job description that matches with the companys competencies, setting competency model and implementing it in form of setting HR tools and functions such for performance appraisal and reward and compensation recruitment, promotion, training and development. The human organization with the above mentioned characteristics that LG Group have and will help the company to achieve the LEAP 2005 vision will face obvious problems related to the organization and business the period of the vision achievement progress, they are for example the impact of paradigm or culture changes towards the company, process of setting up the companys core competencies, the changes on business orientation and target (e.g., business goals, from international to international (global) player, the internal (company value) and external cultural change, the demand of new employees to fulfill the need of increasing work load and competent employees, to prepare human resources management system and its tools in line with the company development. As the human resources management plays significant roles the process of translating the chairmans vision in 2005 they should be discussed further in details. The overall implementation of strategies, policies, programs, and or practices by Mr. Y. K. Kims LG Human Resource Team that can help Chairman Koo transform his LEAP 2005 vision into reality must link to how the management organizes and manages the human resources that the company has. These could be the strategies of attracting best new employee, develop the star performers (or other may call high potential) in terms of soft and hard skills or competencies, retain the best performers, manage work effectivity etc. LG GROUP STRATEGY: DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS FUTURE LEADERS As explained before, the key success of the company in transforming the vision LEAP 2005 into reality relies on how the organization prepare and develop the future leaders of the company which will determine how the company will operate and run in the future. These leaders will be having several capabilities as what Chairman Koo desired so that these competencies will enable them to perform well. First and foremost, these leaders must possess a sense of competition for global perspective. This competency strongly connects with the capability to fight and compete with the world class companies. Secondly, this has a relation with how wise and strategic a leader can create a global management system. Finally, a sharp sense of global perspective will assist a leader on how to create a world class business. The other attributes that a future leader must hold is his ability to maintain the quality of the company output. In relation to this they must have capability to create maximum value for customer. In other words, the satisfaction and loyalty of the costumer towards the company has to be the first priority and target for the future leaders that the group will need in the future. As important as the focus on outputs (products) the leader must also embrace the values that have been the LG values directly given by the Chairman. The two other values that basically are the required attributes for all future leader of LG to have are the skills (managerial) to conduct the business with integrity and the good level of contribution towards social development. Practically speaking, when it comes to day to day business activity, the basic capabilities for them to master is that the knowledge on what and how the company process runs. Thus, when there is a problem in certain area of the business, they can quickly tackle down the problem and solve it. Finally, they must have what so called global orientation and global leadership capabilities. These will define the company orientation in the future as well as solve the problem that may occur such as significant and drastic different environmental and business condition changes. LG GROUP STRATEGY: HUMAN RESOURCES APPLIED STRATEGY To discuss the case of future leaders in more detail, the whole process of preparing the future leaders can be described in more specific process and stages as follow: To identify and attract the best leaders. Here research I believe will benefit the company much in the sense of tracking the best candidates in the future. Nowadays, competition is occurring not only attracting best costumers/consumers but also in attracting the potential competent employees. To select, recruit and hire the future leaders. The activities are the follow up of the research conducted in the first phase. Citing the case of LG, the company will need a really significant number of employees, both Korea and Non-Koreans. These involve certain strategy to achieve best output in terms of attracting future leaders with competent capabilities. To train and develop the future leaders of the company. Here, a training center such as what Dr Lee runs with his LG Academy plays an important role. Their task involves defining the current employee competencies required for better performance and a set of competencies on which they can focus assessment and development activities in the future. This also one of the main concerns of the management. They see training and development for technical competencies as the main component to achieve the LEAP 2005 To provide motivation, appraise, and rewards as implementation of strategies to retain the competent company future leaders. The company should not reenact what so called as Bamboo Ceiling which most Japanese company once faced. The management must develop clear and transparent career path for all employee. The assessment for promotion should also be made fair so that all employee can see the progress of their career and most importantly, and equal opportunity for career improvement must exist in the company. This will guarantee the all employee can achieve higher position as their performance says so. In regards with the future plans in LEAP 2005 vision, the company plans to attain 50 % of the whole revenue from international market the number of non Korean employees will increase significantly. In the practices, the company and the management plan to fill 3 or 4 business presidents with non-Koreans out of 50 positions and give 20% portion of all executives at the office at Seoul. To maintain the unity and fairness of the management approach, the team could take the same approach to the both Korean and non-Korean employees. However, the customization may take place in accordance with the background of culture of those two groups. However, in general the common strategies must be implemented to both groups. What must be emphasized is the output which is all employees can implement the strategies in to the business and provide the desired outputs. CONCLUSION In summary, by analyzing the case of LG Group: Developing Tomorrows it can be concluded that a company business activity can not be separated from internal and external influences. Internally the management may have a set of future plans and strategies or even vision that must be implemented and transformed by all company components. Externally, the changing business environment in each different period often requires the company to constantly prepare a set of strategies to cope possible problems and stay survive in the midst of uncertain condition. Here, the human resources team plays an important role since a competent future leaders are the key person that can manage the company through the hard time that may happen in the future. It is the responsibility of the human resources team to attract, develop, and maintain those future leaders for the sake of company stability. Comparative Film Analysis: Shutter Island and Insomnia Comparative Film Analysis: Shutter Island and Insomnia Shutter Island Insomnia. Movies such as Shutter Island and Insomnia both display attributes of neo-noir and classical noir films which contain a great deal of tension and suspense. The detectives in both films are determined to find clues and answers that uncover the truth. In their attempts to uncover the truth, both detectives experience hallucinations and flashbacks from their traumatic past. Each mystery involves an investigator or detective who has the overwhelming desire to uncover the truth. There are often many distractions and misdirections that the detectives must overcome in order to solve the mystery. The misdirections of the cases are frequently caused by false or inaccurate leads, but each detective examines every lead they receive and treat it as being potentially helpful in solving the case. The Shutter Island and Insomnia films possess distinct similarities and disparate elements in the characterizations, social issues and cinematic effects. Film-noir is a movie genre based in the 1940s and 1950s that generally feature characteristics of mystery or crime dramas. The elements of film-noir consist of black and white produced stories that involve violence, crime, femmes fatales and skeptical detectives who seek the truth of a mystery. Neo-noir is classified as a sub-genre of crime and mystery stories which heavily rely on the influence of film-noir movies. The term neo-noir describes any film coming after the classic noir period that contains noir themes and the noir sensibility (Conard 2). Neo-noir movies often share a similar resemblance to film-noir genres in regards to the plots, themes, characterization and cinematography. Shutter Island is a psychological thriller based in 1954 that gives the impression of a classic film-noir. Mark Conard states in his book, The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, You know a classic-noir when you see it, with its unusual lighting, tilted camera angles, and its off-center scene compositions (Connard 1). The detective in Shutter Island is Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), a federal marshal who travels to the island with his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), to investigate the escape of patient in the mental institution. As Teddy Daniels further investigates the mystery of the island, he loses control in grasping the real truth as his perceptions are blurred by hallucinations and conspiracy. As the story unfolds in Shutter Island, the viewer is taken on a psychological trip through the cognitive processes of Teddy Daniels mind. It is apparent to the main character and the film viewers that there is a secret hiding within this mysterious island. The story provides a solid discernment of Teddy Daniels mind as his sense of reality and fantasy is blurred. Throughout the film, Teddy experiences delusions that are derived from his traumatic past as an American soldier fighting Nazis in World War II, and the death of his wife. The exploration of Teddys mind provides pure entertainment for the viewer as it is difficult to distinguish fantasy from reality while experiencing everything through Teddys eyes. The realism in the mystery of the patient that escaped the island exists on an imaginative state which is exposed by the truth during the end of the film. The main character in the Insomnia movie is Will Dormer (Al Pacino), a veteran LAPD detective whose exhaustion is intensified with exposure to the unfamiliar northern Alaskan landscape where there is constant daylight. Dormer and his partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan), receive the disturbing details in the autopsy of a teenage girl that was murdered in Alaska. The autopsy revealed that the girl was extremely beaten and her hair had been brushed as well as her nails clipped by the murderer after her death. One of the most significant scenes is when Dormer and his partner are investigating the girls murder. They begin a foot chase with a suspect after being shot at in the thick fog. Dormer sees a silhouette of a person that looks like they are aiming to shoot so he fires a shot at the person without hesitation. He runs toward the body and realizes that he has shot and killed his own partner because he couldnt see through the thick fog. This symbolizes the protagonists clouded judgme nt and is the beginning of his slow descent into insanity. Dormer deliberately lies to the police about what really happened and explains that the girls murderer had shot his partner because he is afraid of the consequences. Dormer is dishonest about shooting his partner and goes through great lengths to cover his own tracks instead of having full focus on the murder case he was assigned. The primary suspect of the girls murder is novelist Walter Finch (Robin Williams) who witnessed the accidental shooting of Dormers partner. The well-being of Dormer declines further as he experiences extreme sleep deprivation, hallucinations and flashbacks of accidentally shooting his partner. The characterizations of the protagonists in Shutter Island and Insomnia have analogous qualities as they attempt to uncover the truth in each mystery. The protagonists in both films are persistent investigators who are losing their grasp on reality due to traumatic experiences. Dormer and Teddy share mixed emotions including anxiety, guilt and panic. The protagonists in both movies are manipulated psychologically by the antagonists who drive them to do things that they normally wouldnt do. Dormer and Teddys memories and troubles from the past have a significant affect on their attempts of solving the mysteries. Although there are many similarities in both films, the cultural and social issues in each film are quite different. Shutter Island was set in 1954 and deals birth of psychiatry experiments and the traumatic events of World War II. The scene where the camera pans over the American soldiers as they perform an execution of Nazi soldiers in the Liberation of Dachau conveys the barbaric nature of World War II. Teddy experiences many flashbacks of these events and the guilt starts wearing on his sanity. The social issues in Insomnia deal with murder in a community and corruption within the police force. The murder has a drastic impact on the isolated Alaskan town where everyone knows one another. While investigating the murder, many of the officers are faced with the difficult decisions of lying, framing suspects by planting evidence or clearing their own names by destroying evidence. Dormers guilt of shooting his partner sends him into severe sleep deprivation where he seems increasingly delusional as the film goes on. Cinematic effects such as camera shots, lighting and sound design are utilized in both films to convey the pure emotions of the characters in the films. The best thing about Insomnia is that despite director Christopher Nolans soft spot for moody-blues obfuscation, he has the good sense to keep his star in practically every shot, said Peter Rainer, a New York Magazine writer, on the film critic website, rottentomatoes.com (Rotten Tomatoes website). Insomnia made an effort to zoom in on the protagonists emotions and at times showed the point of view shots to express the sleep deprivations and hallucinations from the eyes of the main character. There was high contrast lighting used in setting the mood in the Insomnia film. Even though a lot of this movie was shot outside in the constant daylight setting of Alaska, low-key lighting such as heavy fog and silhouettes were used to symbolize the level of clarity in Dormers mind as he continues to lose sleep. The sound design used in Insomni a was used to create tension and suspense in the film. The cinematic effects and setting used in Shutter Islandenhance the symbolism and themes in the film. Similar to the Insomnia films camera shots, Shutter Island also uses the zoom-in camera effect to display the emotions and thoughts of Teddy. When Teddy is experiencing hallucinations of the past, the camera shots and lighting flash to indicate that he is dreaming or seeing flashbacks. Film critic, Lisa Kennedy, from rottentomatoes.com states, What is real? What is delusion? What is montrous? What is decent? Shutter Island may not shatter the heart but these are gnawing achievements for a movie about madness and paranoia (Rotten Tomatoes website). Fire was used as a key lighting to symbolize Teddys insanity in the film. Fire is the symbol of Teddys imagination, while water is used to symbolize the true reality of his past. The sound design of Shutter Island correlates with the intense instrumental music to portray the suspense as used in many film-noir genres. ParralaxView.org explai ns noir sound design on their website, The sound of noir-plaintive sax solos, blue cocktail piano, the wail of a distant trumpet through dark, wet alleyways, hot Latin beats oozing like a neon glow from the half-shuttered windows of forbidden nightspots (Parralax View website). The Shutter Island and Insomnia films display similarities and differences in the characterizations, social issues and cinematic effects. The protagonists in both films are determined to find clues and answers that uncover the truth. Both detectives experience hallucinations and flashbacks from their traumatic past in their attempts to investigate the truth. There are often many diversions that the detectives must overcome in order to solve the mystery. The cultural and social issues in each film were contrasting even though there are many similarities in both films. Cinematography was successfully utilized in each film with camera shots, lighting and sound design to display the pure emotions of the characters in the films.

Role of the Chorus in Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus the King Oedip

What is the Role of the Chorus in Oedipus the King ? In answering this question, I will look at the question in two ways. Firstly, I will look at the role of the chorus objectively, examining the basic role of the chorus in the play, and looking at the role of the Chorus as Sophocles would have intended the role of the Chorus to be understood. However, I will then look at how I think the Greek audience would have perceived the role of the Chorus and then how the role of the Chorus is perceived today by a 20th century and examine the key differences in the two different sets of perceptions. Finally, I will look at the importance of the role of the Chorus to a 20th century audience and a Greek audience respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Chorus in the play Oedipus has three basic functions. Firstly, to act as bystanders throughout the play, observing what goes on, reacting and offering opinions at regular intervals throughout the play (e.g. when Oedipus accuses Croon irrationally of conspiring against him, the Chorus says "To one who fears fall, his words seem good; O king, swift counsels are not always safe") In this role they are important to the play as they often offer the voice of reason during moments of heated debate, the voice of fear and confusion during Oedipus' downfall, which seems to mirror the audience's reaction and emotion in many situations throughout the play. The Chorus are also used as a sort of receptive audience for passages of description over what has gone on behind closed doors (e.g. after Jocasta has realised the truth the second messenger describes the scene inside the palace to the Chorus: "Within the porch, straight to the couch she rushed, her bridal bed, and tore her hair")   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Secondly,... ... happens. Also they maintain the continuity as their being present removes any need for scene or act changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Greek theatre they take on a significant role of emphasising the storyline by groups speaking in unison rather than one single actor trying to reach the ears of around 17,000 listeners. They were after-all a very natural part of Greek theatre and their absence would certainly reflect an unorthodox presentation. They also keep the emotion running as any scene changing can be done during their narrative sections.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In a 20th Century production the chorus perform a seemingly less essential role. As there would be ample amplification of sound the chorus could be projected to the role of town folk who would fit into the structure of the play neatly. Works Cited: Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1991.

Differences between Beatrice and Hero in Much Ado about Nothing Essay

Differences between Beatrice and Hero in the early scenes of Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ has two main female characters, Beatrice and Hero, who are cousins. Both appear to be completely different in the beginning of the play but, as things progress and their characters develop, there are also some very obvious similarities between them. Hero and Beatrice have a very close relationship; they are best friends. Leonato is Hero’s father but Beatrice has no parents, which gives her greater freedom. Where Hero is polite, quiet, respectful and gentle, Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty, and sharp. Shakespeare uses quite a lot of literary devices and techniques to present the characters of Hero and Beatrice in a way that lets the audience easily compare and contrast them. For example, in the characterisation of Hero and Beatrice, the dialogue used – what they say, how they say it, what other characters say about them and Hero’s silence are all very important in revealing their characters; in a similar way, their actions – what the characters do, and their inaction contrasts and creates significant difference between them, bringing each one’s personality. In addition, Shakespeare’s constant use of dramatic irony, exaggeration and contrasting plots, themes and structure all combine in his presentation of the two. At the start of the play Hero is presented as a typical woman of the time, modest and demure – she says little. In fact, Shakespeare’s first words describing Hero, ‘Is she not a modest young lady’ announce her essential qualities of modesty and decorum. In this period, these were vital qualities to have in a wife and Hero possessed them, unlike Beatrice. By contrast, Shakespeare portrays Beatrice as an untypical woman, being outspoken, independent, witty and unconventional – she is always participating in the conversation even with the men (especially Benedick), which Hero never does. A prime example of this in Act 1 is when Beatrice asks the messenger about Benedick, (a lord, and soldier from Padua) in an offensive way: â€Å"I pray you, is Signor Mountanto returned from the wars or no?† This is part of her â€Å"merry war† with Benedick. Beatrice appears to loathe Benedick and vice versa; they engage in many â€Å"skirmishes of wit.† However, although Beatrice appears hardened and sharp, she is vu... ...he other hand, Beatrice and Benedick are comedy-makers and Beatrice is not ruled by her father as Hero clearly is. It does take Don Pedro’s benevolent plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together, however. A modern audience would prefer Beatrice to Hero as she is her own self and admirable. The relationships also differ because Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship slowly grew whereas Claudio and Hero’s relationship was love at first sight. Perhaps it was a little hasty as we see in Act 4 how their love turns sour. Beatrice and Hero are both wonderful and intriguing characters. They develop in interesting ways and they represent two extremely different views of society and what it was like to be a woman in those patriarchal times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I find Beatrice the more interesting character of the two women; she is more active and has a fuller character which lets you speculate about her whereas this isn’t possible with Hero because her character is so bland. Beatrice’s character is also more entertaining and she stimulates feelings out of the reader, making you like or dislike her and the way she acts and again this isn’t as possible for Hero because her character is so featureless.