A Universal History essays

A Universal History essays There were many philosophers throughout time who sought constantly to identify a Universal History. These philosophers believed in continuity. History to them was a progressive revelation of the way the universe was structured and through this belief, they felt better able to explain mans origin and purpose in life as a whole. Not all philosophers followed or studied Universal Histories as can be seen in the times of Greek antiquity. The philosophers and writers of antiquity never ventured in the writings of Universal Histories, even though the philosophical and historical traditions of the Western world began in Greece. They only acknowledged a cyclical view of History, not one of continuity. Through the politics of the well known philosopher Aristotle, we see that he firmly believed that no regime could ever satisfy man completely, but that man, through being dissatisfied would constantly replace one regime with another, hence his belief that history was a never ending cycle. Plato also spoke in the Republic of regimes having certain natural cycles. The Greek view of that time therefore showed history was not secular but cyclical (Fukuyama 1992, p55 thought. The first Universal Histories we see came from Christianity in the Middle Ages. Christians were the first in presenting the idea that through the eyes of God, man was equal to one another and that people all over the world shared in the same destiny. Christianity introduced the concept of a history that was finite in time, beginning with Gods creation of man and ending with his final salvation (Fukuyama 1992, p56). For Christians there was a definite belief of there being a day of judgement sometime in the future, where all earthly history would cease to exist and the universe would be no more. These beliefs describe a ...

Abraham Lincoln 10pg paper essays

Abraham Lincoln 10pg paper essays How has Abraham Lincoln impacted American history? Abraham Lincoln was an important part of American history. He ended slavery and helped America through the civil war. Abraham Lincoln was one of the truly great men of all time. Even as a boy, Lincoln showed ability as a speaker. He often amused himself and others by imitating some preacher or politician who had spoken in the area. People liked to gather at the general store in the crossroads village of Gentryville. Lincoln's gift for telling stories made him a favorite with the people there. In spite of his youth, he was well known in his neighborhood. In 1834, Lincoln again ran for the legislature. He had become better known by this time, and won election as a Whig. He served four successive two-year terms in the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. During his first term, he met a young Democratic legislator, Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln quickly came to the front in the legislature. He was witty and ready in debate. His skill in party management enabled him to become the Whig floor leader at the beginning of his second term. He took leading parts in the establishment of the Bank of Illinois and in the adoption of a plan for a system of railroads and canals. This plan broke down after the Panic of 1837. Lincoln also led a successful campaign for moving the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. While in the legislature, Lincoln made his first public statement on slavery. In 1837, the legislature passed by an overwhelming majority resolutions condemning abolition societies. These societies urged freedom for slaves. Lincoln and another legislator, Dan Stone, filed a protest. They admitted that Congress had no power to interfere with slavery in the states where it existed. They believed "the promulgation of abolition doctrines tend rather to increase than abate its evils."*1 Their protest arose from the legislature's failure to call slavery an evi...

Iclude 2 in-text citations and place the reference on the reference Essay

Iclude 2 in-text citations and place the reference on the reference page - Essay Example the company launches in the market having many variations, Samsung is confident that their customers will never run out of choices in terms of the products that will truly satisfy their needs and preferences. Samsung has a wide variety of businesses including advanced technology, semiconductors, skyscraper and plant construction, petrochemicals, fashion, medicine, finance, and hotels (Samsung, 2012). The impact of new competition on Samsung’s financial performance is more of a negative one. This is because the new competitors have only forced the company to spend more in order to produce more differentiated products and keep up with the intense competition. Unfortunately, the new competitors of Samsung especially from China have been able to establish a strong presence in the markets, which has contributed to the decline in the sales of Samsung’s products and a decline in profitability (Siegel, 2009). The negative impacts of the recent economic crisis do not help Samsung at all, as majority of the consumers have decided to spend less and save more. Thus, it is safe to say that Samsung has really become troubled by the emergence of new competitors and the threats that they continue to pose to the financial profitability of the company. A new marketing strategy that Samsung should consider in reaction to new Chinese competition is one that will highlight the excellent quality and significant value of its products. It is important for Samsung to emphasize on its marketing strategy that not one of their competitors can be able to match the superior quality and value that their products are able to provide. This should help in gaining the trust and confidence of the consumers to try Samsung products and personally experience their benefits. Aside from this, Samsung has to be willing to spend for advertisements as a form of a marketing strategy, which will help to inform the public about the superior quality and value that their products are able to provide (Grant,

Discuss roles and responsibilities of a System Analyst and relation to Research Paper

Discuss roles and responsibilities of a System Analyst and relation to a project manager - Research Paper Example Master's in business administration is also required. However, some individuals are hired with a bachelor's degree in a technical field, as well as considerable on-the-job business training. This job requires one to possess strategic skills (technical and business) as well as ability to interact with professionals with variety of skills (Shelly, 12). A Systems Analyst must have good analytical skills, (to be able to analyze for the report) good communication skills, and experience in programming is a help also. Basic skills such as grammar, spelling, data entry and Microsoft office (Microsoft words, excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft outlook) skills are also required. Other skills needed are verbal communications and reading of comprehension. It is important for system analyst to be able to understand complex business process. System analyst need to understand business organizations and how they operate. It is important to understand how organizations are structured and managed (Shelly, 34). In addition to understanding the business, analyst must understand business functions such as accounting, human resource, finance and customer care. One should know the organization they are working in, their traditions and values, what it does, what makes it successful and most definitely their strategic plan. A system solution is tailored for specific needs of specific organization. They should also possess people skills and knowledge. This is because system analysts normally work on development teams with other employees (Niznik, 8). They need to understand a lot of people and possess many interpersonal skills. Analysts need to understand how people think, learn, react to change, communicate and work (Shelly, 17). System analyst mostly works in office or laboratory. Their work is more involving therefore most of the times they do overtime. This happens especially when designing a new system or one is being installed. One might be able to telecommunicate but most of their du ties are performed by themselves. System analyst can advance to a senior position such as senior or lead analyst or chief information officer. Most of system analyst after gaining experience, they choose to become independent consultants. Role and Responsibilities One role of systems analysts is to enable systems with different setups to communicate with each other on both hardware and software level (Mannetti, 9). Systems are more varied and advanced as tools such as wireless Smartphone and internet-based applications continue to replace the functions of a regular PC computer. As a result, individuals in these kinds of computer careers should stay abreast of the latest technologies. They are also more in demand to provide systems security as more and more confidential data is stored electronically on a network. Analysts are trusted with private information such as salary, health and job performance information. They should come up with a system that will protect the information fro m being hacked, leaking or tempered with (Mannetti, 4). They might also work with confidential corporate information about products, strategic plans, business tactics and security systems and process. If these kinds of information leak then the organization is doomed. System analysts play a major role especially in governments and security agents. System analyst designs complex systems that will accomplish goals of the business or organization. Design

Discrimination Against Lesbians in Britain

Discrimination Against Lesbians in Britain Lesbianism and the problems of identification in contemporary Britain In Britain, lesbian women may not have had to campaign to have their sexual activities decriminalised, as homosexual had needed to do; yet their lives were not free of problems. However, men even homosexual men had more social, economic, and political power and status than British women did as a whole have. Men had a greater control of and over their own bodies than either heterosexual or lesbian women had in the immediate post-war period, and indeed before then as well. British lesbian women would have to campaign for greater rights as both women do, and as lesbians to challenge the discrimination and expected gender roles from a patriarchal and heterosexual dominated society. In other words, British lesbians had to counter sexual discrimination as well as orientation discrimination before they were able to feel fully secure in publicising their sexual orientation and identification. Changing public perceptions of their different gender roles and sexual orientation was, as the main lesbian rights groups realised was not going to be easy, as their experiences during the 1970s proved.[8] In Britain the 1960s was a decade that brought about some wide-ranging social changes and promised further changes for the future. Lesbian women could certainly regard the availability of the contraceptive pill and the legalisation of abortion as being an improvement for the choices that all women were able to make in relation to their own bodies. During the 1960s expectations about the gender roles of women began to change, as feminism meant that fewer women were prepared to become wives and mothers without having a career first. Lesbian women also realised they did not have to put up with marriage and children just because it was expected of them to do so. The decriminalisation of male homosexual acts at the end of the 1960s could also be viewed as a demonstration that British society was slowly becoming less illiberal in its attitudes towards people that embraced alternative lifestyles. For the more radical lesbians the social changes in the 1960s were the start of the process of fighting discrimination, rather than the end of the process. British lesbian women and gay men were encouraged to start gay pride movements by the apparent success such groups in the United States were having in altering social attitudes, especially in cities like New York and San Francisco.[9] British lesbian and gay pride organisations began in earnest during the early 1970s with the objectives of enabling their members to have pride in their orientation identification, as well as aiming to reduce the level of social discrimination which their own members had to endure. The hope was that reduced social discrimination and reduced fear of such prejudices would allow all lesbian women to readily admit their sexuality with pride. These lesbian pride organisations as a whole found that changing social attitudes towards them and their sexual orientation was a slow process, after all generations of social prejudices could not be expected to vanish overnight.[10] The effectiveness or otherwise of lesbian and gay pride movements since the 1970s has been an area of much debate. Depending on which criteria are used to judge the gay pride movements the achievements of these organisations will alter.[11] If judging the achievements of the lesbian and gay pride movements solely in terms of their ability to have anti-discrimination legislation passed these movements were undoubtedly a failure before the election of the New Labour government in 1997.[12] The only lesbian women to gain from anti-discrimination legislation between the early 1970s and 1997 did so because they also came under gender equality, race relations and disability legislation. Governments from the early 1970s did not believe that legislation was needed to prevent homophobic discrimination, leaving lesbian and gay pride organisations on their own to lower such prejudice aimed at their members. New Labour has taken more steps than any previous governments to pass legislation to red uce homophobic prejudices and promote the rights of all lesbians and gays. New Labour legislation has included passing legislation to end discrimination upon the grounds of sexual orientation to enhance the opportunities for all lesbians and gays to be openly identified as such without fear of homophobic discrimination. Besides specific legislation to protect lesbian and gay rights, lesbians can also use the Human Rights Act of 1998 to make sure that their orientation being publicly identifiable is not detrimental to their rights or their safety.[13] Under New Labour, lesbian women have finally received legal equality with heterosexual men and women. For instance, lesbian women and gay men are no longer dismissed from Britain’s armed forces if they openly admit their sexuality. Lesbian women and gay men now also have the right to ‘marry’ each other in civil partnerships. The introduction of civil partnerships means that lesbian women in long term partnerships hav e the same rights as married and co-habitant heterosexual couples in terms of property, taxation and inheritance rights, as well as the same benefit and pension entitlements. Lesbian women now have the same rights as heterosexual women when it comes to the custody or adoption of children.[14] In respect of the lesbian pride movements they probably had a more immediate impact on changing social attitudes towards them than they did in influencing governments to pass legislation which tackled discrimination against them. Lesbian and gay pride organisations did not use the same tactics to publicise their sexual orientation. The more radical lesbian and gay pride organisations were happy to shock heterosexuals in British society with the tone and the methods in which they demonstrated their identifications of sexual orientations. More radical groups were even prepared to ‘out’ famous people to make headlines and raise public awareness of lesbian and gay issues.[15] Other more moderate lesbian and gay pride groups were less keen on showing their sexual orientation and identification in such an ostentatious manner. The more moderate lesbian pride groups would have preferred to be open about their sexual orientation and identification without using over the top publi city stunts. Moderate lesbian groups would have fitted in with insider pressure groups, which attempt to achieve their objectives behind closed doors, rather than in public. Radical lesbian and gay pride groups are examples of outsider groups that have little influence with governments and rely on publicity to bring their objectives to public attention.[16] The campaigns of lesbian pride groups were not as successful in changing public perceptions of lesbian women as a majority of those groups would have hoped from the early 1970s. This was especially the case during the period of Conservative governments between 1979 to 1997. The Conservative party more than the Labour and Liberal/Liberal Democrats parties like to represent traditional family values instead of promoting the rights and the lifestyles of lesbian and gay pride groups. When in office the Conservatives prevented lesbian and gay groups’ form educating school pupils about their sexual orientations and identification through the infamous section 28. Lesbian and gay groups lobbied New Labour to have the section removed as soon as possible. The media did not always help lesbian and gay groups convey the messages to the public that they wanted to be sent out, especially right wing newspapers did not want to change public perceptions of lesbian women. The right wing newspap ers often portrayed the objectives of lesbian and gay groups in the most negative perspective possible.[17] Despite the efforts of some politicians, religious groups, and parts of the media the number of people who happen to be publicly prepared to be known as being lesbian and gay in Britain has increased noticeably since the 1970s. It is harder to argue out right that such a situation is entirely due to the attempts of lesbian and gay pride groups to alter the attitudes of British society. After all changed reactions towards their orientation and gender identification could have resulted from the campaigning of such groups, or alternatively could just have been a continuation of increasing indifference to how other people chose to live their lives.[18] Thus in conclusion, lesbian women in Britain have not always felt comfortable or able to openly display their sexual orientation, and their gender identification due to the nature of British society. The immediate post-war society in Britain has remained predominantly patriarchal and heterosexual in terms of social and gender relationships as well as expected behaviours, roles, and identifications. That situation meant lesbianism did exist in Britain, it was just well hidden. The 1960s were a decade that kick started the process of altering British society, and provided the stimulus for lesbian and gay pride groups to emerge during the early 1970s. The legacies, influence, and success of such groups are highly debatable. Although these groups certainly raised the profile of lesbians and gays in Britain they actually had little affect on the mainstream political agenda prior to New Labour gaining office in 1997. Lesbian and gay pride groups may have attempted to increase acceptance of their lifestyles and their alternative identifications, yet changing public perceptions of lesbian women has not been universal or overwhelmingly favourable. The way in socialisation operates in such a haphazard way means that the predominantly heterosexual and patriarchal nature of British society will continue for a considerable amount of time, even if the acceptance of lesbian women should continue to improve, and more fluid gender roles should develop further. Bibliography Abercrombie N, Hill S Turner B S (2000) Penguin Dictionary of Sociology 4th edition, Penguin, London Eatwell R Wright A (2003) Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd Edition, Continuum, London Hobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, London Whitaker’s, (2007) Whitaker’s Almanack – today’s world in a single volume, A C Black, London Young H, (2003) supping with the Devils – Political writing from Thatcher to Blair, Guardian Books, London 1 Footnotes [1] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. [2] Judt, 2007 p.485 [3] Martin, 2003 p. 233 [4] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 314 [5] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 314 [6] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 314 [7] Sandbrook, 2005 p. 599 [8] Eatwell Wright, 2003 p. 214 [9] Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 428 [10] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 314 [11] Judt, 2007 p. 785 [12] Abercrombie, Hill Turner, 2000, p. 314 [13] Young, 2003 p. 216 [14] Whitaker’s, 2007 p. 604 [15] Judt, 2007 p. 785 [16] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 336 [17] Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 314 [18] Judt, 2007 p. 785

Managemente and Leadership Essay -- essays research papers

Management and Leadership Are you a manager or a leader? This is a question that has been asked from consultants to corporations. An organization needs both management and leadership. It is good for a corporation to understand the differences between the both. I think Leaders and Managers have very clear and distinct qualities but highly interconnect together. Skilled set management and leadership are needed to achieve organizational goals. Depending on the size of an organization, management and leadership roles may be carried out by the same person, or by multiple managers who carry out the two roles. I believe that a leader is one who guides people in a certain direction to accomplish a certain goal. Every business needs leadership. Leadership is on of the ways managers affect the behavior of people in the company. In history most of the great accomplishers became leaders for an unpredictable special quality they had that let them rise to the occasion when needed. In an organization today, a leader may not necessarily be the CEO of a company. The CEO will oversee the company as a whole, whereas a manager or supervisor of a department will be the point of contact that an employee will look to for direction. Being a leader is not the same as being a manager. A leader can lead people in a certain direction, whereas a manager can manage people in their jobs. Management has put together people in groups or organizations that will help the company drive to improvements. The bi...

A Schenkerian Analysis of Preludio from Bach’s Unaccompanied Violin Partita Essay

Very few theorists touch upon the topic of motivic and structural coherence in Bach’s dance suites. The keyboard and lute suites deservedly have more published analyses than the string suites – considering there are simply more of them – leaving the cello and violin suites pristine and practically untouched, and unjustifiably so. The most obscure are the violin suites, particularly the BWV 1006 in E major. With the exception of the well-known published analysis by Schenker of the Preludio, Carl Schachter’s analysis of the Gavotte en Rondeaux, no other analysis can be found of this partita. Building on Schenker and Schachter, I present my own Schenkerian analysis of the Preludio. With the help of David Beach’s book on unity in Bach suites and Joel Lester’s book on Bach’s solo violin works, I address motivic and structural coherence in this partita with some observations that apply to all of Bach’s violin suites. Bach composed six unaccompanied works for the violin in the year 1720, three Sonatas da chiesa and three Partitas. The â€Å"partita†, as understood during Bach’s time, was a set of variations; as one might infer, this definition implies that some or all movements of each partita are variations of each other. The BWV 1006 has seven movements and the only violin partita that begins with a prelude. David Beach addresses the first two of three violin Partitas in his book, observing the importance of the neighbor motion as a motivic pattern in the first and second Partitas. I wish to call attention to the great significance of the neighbor motion that is present in the third Partita as well. The Preludio opens with a lower-neighbor figure E-D#-E, and the figure occurs within every modulation. It’s noteworthy that Urlinie itself, in fact, contains an incomplete neighbor. The Gavotte en Rondeaux is the literal embodiment of the variation concept. Being the only violin partita with a Rondo movement, the notion that a partita is a set of variation is most evident through this partita. Regarding Gavotte en Rondeaux, Carl Schachter suggests that as the episodes increase in complexity, the ritornello seems more and more parenthetical. In a sense the two episodes can be organically linked over the ritornello, and thus the concept of the Rondo is realized even more so beyond its surficial sectionalized design. Continuing with this notion, I suspect that as a whole, the movements of BWV 1006 can be linked together specifically because it is a set of variations, despite its superficial differences. Structural coherence of the partita can be inferred from the Preludio. The piece is typically heard as two sections that are quite similar, while this division seems insignificant, it suggests a subtle element of variety. Being a prelude, it would not be presumptuous to assume either one the two things: the other movements will have similar two-part divisions, or other movements will also have varying sections. To facilitate an in-depth analysis of the Preludio, I have produced foreground and middle ground graphs. However, I made my graphs after consulting Schenker’s own analysis of the Preludio. As one of Schenker’s earlier analyses, it is noteworthy that he reads the Urlinie as an 8-line; this octave-line interpretation creates more problems than a reading from 3. However, the basic, fundamental idea Schenker presented provides a blueprint for a reading, which, in my view, is more accurate. Schenker offered FIG. 1 in conjunction with the 8-line Urlinie, without specifying exactly what the relationship is. I propose that Schenker intuited the significance of the neighbor motion in the Urlinie, and read 8 as a cover tone. From Schenker’s figure above I present my notion of the incomplete upper neighbor [FIG. 2]. The de-emphasis of the returning 3 as a passing tone from 4 to 2 lends importance to the incomplete upper neighbor A, supported by IV. This self-contained tonal area stretches over half of the Preludio. A reprise of an opening passage at the initiation of the A prolongation gestures its independence from its surrounding, indeed a smaller organism enveloped within the larger animal. This is evident through the internal auxiliary cadence to A that accompanies the tonal area IV. In retrospect, the IV is already a long-term goal from the beginning. The first 58 measures properly set the stage for the emergence of IV. The first step on the path to IV is the movement to VI as a short-term goal. This is done by first moving to G# (m. 39) through F# (m. 37), creating a third progression E-F#-G# in the process. The G# is employed first in the top voice as primary tone and then in the bass as pedal point, also the fifth to the incoming C# (m. 51) [FIG 4.  EX. 1]. The C#, in a sense, is a midway stopping point from E major on its way to A major. A# in measure 53 leads to B, creating yet another third progression G#-A#-B. The B is to be read not as V of E but as II of A, unfolding to tonic through two consecutive fifths B-E-A [EX. 2]. As we shall see, the contour of the bass forecasts what is to come; additionally this prelude within the Preludio presents the material for further elaboration and development. Now firmly in A, a memorable passage from measures17-28 is restated in the new key, as though a second beginning. This reiteration casts upon listeners a sense of home, even though the music has strayed to a new tonal area. As I stated before, the 58-measures prelude will matured and grow in its new environment. The bass progression moves in the similar contour as the early 58 measures. The F# (VI) in the bass being a third below A, serves as a short-term goal as a midway stopping point on its way to D# (V65). The long-term relationship between A and D# results in a tri-tone which intensifies the arrival of V [E, 4]. The midway F# is unfolded from G# the same manner as the unfolding of A from B, through two consecutive fifths F#-D#-G# [E, 3]. The internal Urlinie is initiated by C# over A in [E, 2], and falls upon an implied B above the D# as 2, the B is prolonged over the V in a 6-5 motion [E, 5]. The path between V on its way back to I is quite sophisticated. In the treble, a sequential circle of fifths is used to take the fifths (E-B) to the octaves (A-A) [E, 5. 5]. With an 8-7 motion, the A octave becomes a B7 chord. The B acts as pedal point at this point in the bass [E, 6]. As the seventh of B resolves to G#, B leaps a third to D#, which then is registrally shifted to a lower register through arpeggiation. The low D# then compose out a D#7 chord reaching a high A, thus the end of the internal Urlinie is reached. It should be noted that Schenker pointed out a large-scale voice exchange, consisting of B and D# between measure 120 and measure 128 [see foreground graph pg. 8]. The V in the bass arpeggiation is now approached with utmost anticipation as the weight of the entire Preludio shifts upon its imminent arrival; with only a few measures left, one has to onder in what magnificent way the V will be executed to counterbalance the monumental build to the IV? As the internal Urlinie is fulfilled in measure 131, two descending third progressions in parallel sixths [E, 7] bring forth the most dramatic, German style of violin execution: one dotted quarter B7 quadruple stop that brings the Preludio to a single halt, as the V is finally in place. The effective but swift gesture is sustained by A, the seventh, no longer an incomplete upper neighbor but supported by V. As the A moves through G# to F#, a 7-6-5 motion is created over V as Urlinie scale degree 2 is reached [E, 8]. The bass returns home to its original tonic E in measure 137, and the Urlinie is satisfied as well with E in the treble. The last two measures are coda, finishing the piece in a similar manner as it opened, unfolding itself back into the high E through two octaves. Extended bow technique is demanded to perform the Preludio, perhaps more so than the other movements; but that is not to say the big shifts and the frequent adjusting to unconventional positions is any more comfortable for the left hand. The consistent stream of sixteenth notes in a fast ? nvokes immediate association to a keyboard prelude. Furthermore, the multiple voices created through exploiting the full range of the instrument allows for keyboard features such as pedal point, register shifts. Combined with multiple subject entries and modulations, this piece contains mature Baroque characters of a Bach keyboard prelude. Ironically, Bach wrote such a prelude for a most unsuitable instrument, perhaps with the knowledge that only with correct and virtuosic execution can its full intended effect be achieved. As I begin to understand the purpose of each note, I play the piece better. Mindless playing and practicing is unfulfilling and futile, and can only produce the most stiff and lifeless imitations of music, if I may quote Schenker. As for the issue concerning unity in all of Bach’s work, both Lester and Beach discussed first two violin partitas at length but strangely failed to address the last partita, I think the research on this topic remains incomplete without consideration of this partita. It would be interesting, if not absolutely necessary to look into the rest of the partita to see what it has to offer.