Critical Analysis: Death and Justice by Edward Kotch Essay

In his essay with regard to capital punishment entitled â€Å"Death and Justice†, which first appeared in The New Republic on April 15, 1985, Edward I. Koch aggressively refutes the claims of individuals who are opposed to the subject matter with seven firm and satisfying points. A native of New York, born 1924, Koch was an American lawyer, politician, political commentator and a reality television arbitrator. He earned his law degree in 1948 from New York University and practiced law in New York City for some two decades thereafter. He was a member of the U. S House of Representatives, serving from 1969 to 1977 and in the later year, he was then elected as New York mayor, holding the post until 1990. With such a strong and wide variety in terms of line of work, it is my belief that his views communicated in this essay by way of his, logical, ethical and rational appeal are well-thought out and unbiased. Unbiased or impartial, if you will, due to the fact that with the rebuttal style in which the argument was written, the opposing claims would first have to be identified and evaluated before generating an objecting response. See more: how to write a critical analysis essay step by step The piece of work in my opinion achieves its purpose and is well organized by use of logos, pathos and ethos, thus influencing a successful but indeed controversial essay. As mentioned in my introductory paragraph, the essay is carefully structured into seven sturdy points in which each, Koch identifies the claims of his opponents followed by his rebuttal arguments. This makes the piece much easier to follow and interpret, hence making his arguments extremely clear and concise. This also influences the readers to grasp a better knowledge of his position hence increasing the probability of reader agreement. In this logical system of ideas, each argument is further justified by the use of analogies, if, then†¦ statements, statistics, stories and the use of credible sources (experts, scholars). Some throughout the text take place as follows: in his first refutation in which he rejects the statement that the death penalty is barbaric and draws and analogy between cancer and murder. It is my view that this was an extremely effective strategy used by Koch as analogies encourage participation and increases understanding of an unfamiliar topic by comparing it to something that is quite familiar; in his third refutation where Koch refutes the opinion of the opponent that an innocent person might be executed by mistake. By way of statistics he proved that this was never the case. He cited a study of 7,000 executions in the USA from 1893 to 1971, and concludes that the records fail to show that such cases occur. Statistics ultimately speak for themselves, needing no further clarification hence why their use is extremely influential and in this case, utterly persuasive. This was a great execution in the area of logos which totally disregarded the opposing claim without a doubt. Remarkably Koch does not end that particular argument there but rather continues by establishing truth and developing such truth by examples. He says â€Å"Human life deserves special protection and one of the best ways to guarantee that protection is to assure that convicted murderers do not kill again†. He then proceeds by providing an example, and in this case, of an unexecuted recidivist murderer named Lemuel Smith who was sentenced to about six years life sentence. This was immaculate! Why you may ask? This same murderer then killed a woman corrections officer. Additional life sentences for Smith, according to Koch are â€Å"meaningless†. It is my view that examples reiterate and re-enforce a concept or thought, in this case the earlier provided statistic. This example provided also provoked one’s rational thinking and critical reasoning hence increasing the probability that readers are inclined to agree with Koch and his position; in his fourth refutation where he refuted that capital punishment cheapens the value of human life. In his immaculate use of if, then†¦ statements, Koch says â€Å"if we lower the penalty for rape, we lower our view or regard for the victims’ suffering, humiliation and personal integrity. In the same instance, by exacting the highest penalty for murder, we then affirm the highest value of human life†, which influences logical reasoning and critical thinking, both forms and arts of rhetoric used to persuade intellectually (logos). To conclude my first point, it is my view that the essay did in fact follow a logical system of ideas by way of seven clear points. Each point was further justified by use of rhetorical strategies to make the argument much more understandable as well as believable. It is safe to say that Koch’s essay was particularly powerful where logos is concerned. Throughout the text, despite not in abundance, there is in fact some sense of emotional appeal (pathos). Although Koch’s primary tone throughout the piece is aggressive, he distinctively manages to appeal to our emotions in some contexts. For example, once more, take his fourth refutation where he refuted that capital punishment cheapens the value of human life. He uses rape, a very emotional and touchy topic for any individual within our society, and basically goes on further to state that if we lower the penalty for rape, we lower our view or regard for the victims’ suffering, humiliation and personal integrity. His use of connotation with words such as â€Å"victims’ suffering, horrible experience, humiliation and increased danger† invoked a feeling sympathy for the victim and the situation by the way it appealed to the heart and to one’s emotion. Rape is in fact a terrible occurrence for which sympathy is usually given to the victim. It is my belief that Koch deliberately seized the opportunity to demand the readers’ emotional attention by evoking a sense of pity or sympathy in his efforts for us to conceptualize and agree with his point. Very good move! Given the background information provided in my initial paragraph, it is implied that Koch is a credible source. This was an underlying establishment of ethos. Throughout the text, his tone suggests authority as well as credibility. He was a lawyer, a TV judge, a politician and a mayor. He was a well-rounded scholar with a diverse work history. It is of my opinion that he has dealt with a variety of different cases on a wide spectrum of practice. The area of ethos is therefore implied. Although for the most part, the ethos is in fact underlying by way of his background information, throughout the text you can still witness hints of his authority. Take for example, in his fourth refutation; he ridicules his critics, one in particular, Jimmy Breslin by calling his statement regarding capital punishment sophistic nonsense. Not only is this satire but establishment of authority by way of discrediting another’s opinion. This in fact was effective as it shows that Koch has in fact done his research regarding what his critics have said thus establishing him as a trusted and unbiased source. Another example can be found in his sixth refutation, where he makes reference to the bible, he establishes credibility by introducing us to the greatest thinkers of the 19th century – Kant, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Mill who all agreed that natural law properly authorized the sovereign to take life in order to vindicate justice. According to philpapers. org, an online research philosophy engine it can be said they were all well-known philosophers who are considered to be central figures of modern philosophy. â€Å"Name-dropping† is one of the easiest ways to persuade an audience as the majority of us human beings tend to follow the way in which famous people ranging from celebrities to scholars, think. This then influences the way society thinks hence my belief that the use of credible sources in this instance was impeccable. Within the same argument (the sixth refutation), I also noticed that it was not biased or unfair as he includes that Jeremy Bentham, another great philosopher, was ambivalent to the claims of the others. He does not leave out any information hence making the argument fair and believable, which in turn establishes his credibility and believability. He then goes on to establish additional credibility by revealing names of other scholars (Washington, Jefferson and Franklin) who endorsed the claim. This was effective in persuading us as the readers to understand and accept his point of view. Death and Justice† is an effectively-written essay which judiciously rebuts the claims of individuals opposed to the capital punishment. Each paragraph within the essay is well-thought out and organized effectively. With the use of logos, pathos and subliminal forms of ethos, Koch immaculately achieves his purpose of persuading the readers to conceptualize, understand and agree with his claims and opinions regarding the death penalty. Although Koch ridicules the opponent throughout some exerts of the text, the readers are still able to grasp his aggressive and almost certainly serious tone. It is my opinion that the argument presented was unbiased and impartial, taking into the consideration the rebuttal style in which it was written. This piece of writing has not, and will definitely not be limited to the time in which it was written as the argument presented is very controversial, and in continued debate.

Assessment for Teacher Essay

The primary purpose of assessment is for the learner to provide evidence of learning by demonstrating the understanding of content and achievement of learning outcomes. This gives an insight of their strengths and areas of development. Whereas for teacher, it provides a moment to review their assessment strategies in terms of effectiveness and facilitate progression by giving constructive feedback. It also informs the curriculum board, managers, and relevant staff to evaluate learning programmes for any improvements. Learners are assessed through various stages of learning journey by using variety of methods and strategies. They are usually assessed formatively before or during the course and summatively near or the end of it. Formative assessment provides a continuous source of information about students’ progress, improvement and problems encountered in the learning process. It could be an â€Å"Initial Assessment† to determine prior knowledge or â€Å"Diagnostic Assessment† to find areas of development and strengths. Feedback is an integral part of it. (NCFOT, 1999) said it â€Å"occurs when teachers feed information back to the students in ways that enable the student to learn better, or when students can engage in a similar, self-reflective process†(Principle 4). It has also been supported by several educationists such as Scales (2008 p. 179), Black and William (1998: 17) and Reece and Walker (2007 p. 325). Formative assessments are not graded which allows flexibility to modify and adjust the teaching practices and reflect the needs and progress of learners as well as motivating them. However, formative assessment in its purist form is seldom used (Brookhart, 1999). I feel that teachers should be given training to as â€Å"how† and â€Å"when† to employ it successfully. There are variety of methods by which students are assessed formatively such as Accreditation of prior learning (APL), Observation, Oral Questioning, Discussion, Role play, Case study, Essays, Projects, Assignments, MCQs etc. which when used in combination has proven effective in measuring a variety of complex learning outcomes (Reece and Walker, 2007, p. 326) It is useful for development of â€Å"Cognitive†, â€Å"Psychomotor† and â€Å"Affective Domains† of learning as explained in Bloom’s Taxonomy and could assess higher order skills of these domains. Some teachers are predominantly concerned with cognitive learning with some use of psychomotor skills but affective learning can be a useful tool in changing attitudes i. e. gender, culture etc. even if it’s not a requirement of a course. Summative Assessment happens at the end of the course, unit etc. and is for grading and decision purpose. It is used for informing employers, institutions etc. about learner’s overall performance. It does not however, give information about detailed abilities of learner and there is no feedback so it is debated for its complete reliability and validity. (Scales, 2008 and Rust, 2002). Learners are assessed summatively mostly by Examination, Assignments, Portfolios, and Essays. They develop the skill levels of ‘cognitive and psychomotor domains’ depending on how effectively they are set out and the type of course. ‘MCQs’ and ‘Viva’ for instance can provide better coverage of syllabus as well as assessment of deeper knowledge whereas essays does not serve the same purpose but assess higher levels of cognitive domain i. e. synthesis and evaluation. Feedback is an important element of assessment and is directly related to motivation. In order to accelerate learning process it has to be timely, positive and constructive. â€Å"Maslow’s hierarchy makes us think about the total experience†¦.. From physiological factors†¦. to relationships (do we give positive regard and development feedback? ) to self-esteem needs (‘I’m no good †¦ ’), his hierarchy provides a useful device to help us understand learning and motivation(Scales, 2008 p. 72). We need to keep records to track and monitor the progress of our learners. They are many different types of internal, external and formal and informal records. Internal records include mark books, matrix, learner progress sheets/ reviews and results of mock tests. In ESOL, we keep records of Initial interview, Initial assessment, spiky profile, ILPs, Diagnostic assessment, Formative assessment, observation reports, feedback reports, peer/self assessments and Summative assessments to assess the progress of learners and efficacy of programme and teaching. The external records include all the evidence in form of written work or internal verification to sent to external bodies i. e. exam board, auditing bodies, other educational organisations, support staff, etc.

Melbournes Weather And Climate Environmental Sciences Essay

Weather affects everybody. Consequently it is of involvement non merely to occupants of an country, but besides to visitants. The undermentioned information is designed merely as a general study ; one to give occupants more cognition of their environment and tourists an thought of what can be expected. Melbourne enjoys a temperate clime with warm-hot summers ; spring and fall are balmy and mild, the winters cool. Melbourne is rarely unbearably cold or unbearably hot, temperature extremes when they do happen see the hotter kingdom of the thermometer doing more jobs than the colder. There is a repute for rain in the metropolis, which is statistically baseless as Melbourne receives merely 50 per centum of the mean rainfall of either Brisbane or Sydney. Possibly it can sometimes be a small unpredictable, nevertheless, it is a comfy environment to be in whatever the season. In fact it is a great topographic point to watch the seasons change, they are so clearly defined and so extremely ocular within the many Parkss and gardens of fall and spring, giving rise to all of natures dramatic beauty and appeals within the confines of a great metropolis. Melbourne lays within the southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed to those in Europe, North America and most of Asia. Melbourne ‘s alterations of seasons are renown for get downing late, the â€Å" functionary † first twenty-four hours of summer is 21st December, but it seldom feels like summer until mid January or even later. During the summer months out-of-door activities in peculiar the fabulous Melbourne beaches are popular with both locals and visitants.Melbourne ‘s conditions by the monthJANUARY & A ; FEBRUARYIt is high summer in Melbourne during January and February, a typical twenty-four hours is warm and cheery with a refreshing sea zephyr geting from the South in the afternoon. A few yearss are cool and cloudy, a maximal temperature below 20 °C being recorded about one time a hebdomad. There are ever hot yearss and the twelvemonth ‘s highest temperature of about 40 °C is normally recorded during these two months. Some of the hot years s are accompanied by an unpleasant North air current, which can be rather strong. Largely there are merely one or two hot yearss in a row. Occasionally hot conditions may go on for three or more yearss, when the day-to-day visual aspect of that cool refreshing, north bound sea zephyr in the afternoon, becomes that twenty-four hours ‘s most welcome visitant. The twelvemonth ‘s warmest dark, with a minimal temperature of about 24 °C, is besides recorded during these two months. Hot weather usually ends with an disconnected cool alteration when the quicksilver may fall by 10 °C in merely 20 proceedingss. Some of these alterations are dry and waterless ; showers and electrical storms accompany others. High degrees of humidness create uncomfortableness on really few yearss, largely towards the terminal of a hot enchantment. It is non uncommon for a two weeks to go through without rain. On occasions prolonged heavy rain can fall.MarchMarch is a transitional month between s ummer and fall. Hot conditions can be experienced in the first two weeks, when the month ‘s highest temperature of about 35 °C is normally recorded ; it may good be accompanied by a strong northwards air current during the twenty-four hours. The hot conditions normally comes to an terminal with a crisp air current alteration to the sou'-west and a rapid autumn in temperature. Humidity is uncomfortable on about one twenty-four hours merely. Many yearss are mild and cheery although some yearss are cool and cloudy. A maximal temperature below 20 °C is recorded about twice a hebdomad. The afternoon sea zephyr is non near every bit strong as in mid-summer. Nights are perceptibly cooler than in the predating month. Towards the terminal of March, it is rather common for the nightlong temperature to fall below 10 °C on one or two occasions. The month is reasonably dry nevertheless drawn-out heavy rain, falls on occasion.AprilApril is a pleasant month, frequently with enchantment s of all right cheery conditions enduring several yearss during which the temperature on occasion exceeds 25 °C. Every 2nd twelvemonth 30 °C is exceeded. The darks are rather cool with temperatures falling below 10 °C several times a hebdomad. Once in every five old ages an nightlong minimal temperature below 5 °C is recorded. Fog occurs during the early forenoon on a few occasions but clears to a cheery twenty-four hours. There are normally several yearss of strong air current ; largely from the North but the mean wind velocity of 9 kilometers per hr is the lowest of any month. Prolonged heavy rain falls on occasion. In April 1960, 172 millimeter fell within three yearss. On the other manus, April 1923 is the lone rainless calendar month on record.MAYMay is an appreciably cooler month. The last case until spring of temperatures in the low 20s normally occurs in the first two weeks. In May 1904 the temperature exceeded 20 °C on all but two of the first 15 yearss. The first hoars of the twelvemonth occur in the outer suburbs tardily in the month. In the metropolis itself, the coldest dark of the month normally has a minimal temperature of 4 °C, a small excessively high for hoar. Fog occurs on several forenoons but both frost and fog are normally followed by a all right and cheery twenty-four hours. This late fall, early winter period is noteworthy for drawn-out periods of really light air currents in Melbourne, although there are a few yearss of strong air current, largely from the North. Cloudy and showery conditions may prevail for some yearss at a clip, but prolonged heavy rain is rare.JuneThe conditions in June is cold, frequently with enchantments of all right and unagitated conditions. There are more yearss with really light air currents in June than in any other month. It is besides the foggiest month. Fog normally forms in the late eventide and clears by mid-morning, on occasion it may prevail for most of the twenty-four hours. Many yearss a re nebulose, June being the cloudiest month of the twelvemonth. Nights are cold with occasional hoars, largely in the outer suburbs, the lowest temperature for the month in the metropolis normally being about 2 °C. Rain falls on one twenty-four hours in two and sometimes it is in the signifier of mizzle in the forenoon which clears to a all right twenty-four hours. Heavy rain is rare.JULY & A ; AUGUSTThe windiest clip of the twelvemonth in Melbourne begins in July. There may be several yearss in sequence of strong, cold North to northwest air currents, frequently with cloud and some light rain. The conditions is often cold and cloudy. The few yearss of unagitated cheery conditions are accompanied by cold darks with hoar or fog. Fog normally forms late in the eventide and clears by mid-morning, but on occasion persists for the whole twenty-four hours during July. There are normally a few really cold yearss with strong southern air currents and showers, light snow may fall on the hi lls within 35 kilometer of the metropolis Centre. On rare occasions, snow even falls in the metropolis. The twelvemonth ‘s coldest twenty-four hours, with a maximal temperature of about 9 °C, normally occurs during July. Some rain falls on an norm of one twenty-four hours in two ; on some of these yearss there may be merely a small mizzle or a light shower. The highest figure of wet yearss in any one-month in the metropolis is 27, in August 1939. However, heavy rain is rare at this clip of the twelvemonth. In late August there are some warmer yearss, when the temperature normally reaches 20 °C for the first clip since May.SeptemberSeptember is the first month of spring, which is the most mutable season of the twelvemonth. A full scope of conditions may be experienced within a few yearss, from warm, unagitated and cheery to cold, windy and showery. There are several cloudy to cloud yearss. September is another blowy month. Most strong air currents are from the North, these frequently occur on the heater yearss. There besides are on occasion strong cold sou'-west air currents with showery conditions. The temperature normally reaches the mid-20s for the first clip since April. Nights are cool, hoar is reasonably rare, and the lowest temperature for the month in the metropolis being about 4 °C. Fog is uncommon. Rain is higher in spring than in winter, falling on one twenty-four hours in two. There are yearss with merely a small mizzle or a light shower but heavy rain falls on occasion.OctoberThe mutable conditions of spring continues in October, there is greater contrast between the heater and colder yearss than in the predating month. The maximal temperature exceeds 25 °C one time a hebdomad. However, it besides fails to make 15 °C one time a hebdomad. There are several cloudy to cloud yearss and many yearss are blowy. Most strong air currents are northwards and warm, but there are on occasion strong cold sou'-west air currents conveying rainy con ditions. Warm windy conditions may be followed by a sudden alteration to colder conditions with showers. Rain falls on about one twenty-four hours in two, some of it heavy.NovemberMutable and blowy conditions continues in November. There is frequently great contrast in the temperature from twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours. Warm to hot and cheery yearss and cold and rainy yearss may follow each other in rapid sequence. There are besides some cloudy to cloud yearss. Nights are normally mild. Many yearss are blowy. Most strong air currents are northwards and warm, nevertheless cold showery conditions with strong southern air currents can happen. The month ‘s warmest twenty-four hours registers a maximal temperature of about 34 °C while the month ‘s coldest twenty-four hours experiences a maximal temperature of merely 16 °C. Some of the most terrible storms with gales and rain have occurred at this clip of the twelvemonth.DecemberThe conditions is less mutable in D ecember than it is in November, although it still can be rather varied. Cool and cloudy conditions can predominate for some yearss at a clip during which the temperature remains below 20 °C. There are besides some hot yearss, temperatures transcending 30 °C on about six occasions, but hot conditions does non frequently last for more than two yearss at a clip. There have, nevertheless, been occasions when it persisted for much longer. Hot yearss are sometimes accompanied by an unpleasant North air current, which can be rather strong. On about two yearss high temperatures are associated with high humidness and there may be electrical storms in the late afternoon on these occasions. Hot weather frequently comes to an terminal with an disconnected cool alteration when the temperature may fall by approximately 10 °C in 20 proceedingss. Some of these alterations are accompanied by showers and electrical storms so followed by strong and cold southwesterly air currents. Nights are nor mally mild yet during hot weather the temperature overnight may non fall below 20 °C. Heavy rain falls on occasions. Like many urban environments, Melbourne faces some important environmental issues, many of them associating to the metropolis ‘s big urban footmark and urban conurbation and the demand for substructure and services. One such issue is H2O use, drouth and low rainfall. Drought in Victoria, low rainfalls and high temperatures deplete Melbourne H2O supplies and clime alteration may hold a long-run impact on the H2O supplies of Melbourne. [ 96 ] Melbourne has been in a drouth since 1997. [ 97 ] In response to low H2O supplies and low rainfall due to drought, the authorities implemented H2O limitations and a scope of other options including: H2O recycling strategies for the metropolis, inducements for family H2O armored combat vehicles, greywater systems, H2O ingestion consciousness enterprises, and other H2O salvaging and recycle enterprises ; besides, in June 2007, the Bracks Government announced that a $ 3.1 billion Wonthaggi desalinization works would be built on Victoria ‘s south-east seashore, capable of handling 150 billion liters of H2O per twelvemonth, [ 98 ] every bit good as a 70A kilometer ( 43 myocardial infarction ) grapevine from the Goulburn country in Victoria ‘s North to Melbourne and a new H2O grapevine associating Melbourne and Geelong. Both undertakings are being conducted under controversial Public-Private Partnerships and a battalion of independent studies have found that neither undertaking is required to provide H2O to the metropolis and that Sustainable Water Management is the best solution and in the interim, the drouth must be weathered. [ 99 ] In response to Attribution of recent clime alteration, the City of Melbourne, in 2002, set a mark to cut down C emanations to net nothing by 2020 [ 100 ] and Moreland City Council established the Zero Moreland plan, nevertheless non all metropolitan municipalities have followed, with the City of Glen Eira notably make up one's minding in 2009 non to go carbon impersonal. [ 101 ] Melbourne has one of the largest urban footmarks in the universe due to its low denseness lodging, ensuing in a huge suburban conurbation, with a high degree of auto dependance and minimum public conveyance outside of interior countries. [ 102 ] Much of the flora within the metropolis are non-native species, most of European beginning, and in many instances plays host to invasive species and noxious weeds. [ 103 ] Significant introduced urban plagues include the Common Myna, [ 104 ] Feral Pigeon, [ 105 ] Brown Rat, [ 106 ] HYPERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-106 † [ 107 ] European Wasp, [ 108 ] Common Starling and Red Fox. [ 109 ] Many outlying suburbs, peculiarly towards the Yarra Valley and the hills to the north-east and east, have gone for extended periods without regenerative fires taking to a deficiency of saplings and underbrush in urbanized native bushland. The Department of Sustainability and Environment partly addresses this job by on a regular basis firing off. [ 110 ] HYP ERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-stateoffire-110 † [ 111 ] Several national Parkss have been designated around the urban country of Melbourne, including the Mornington Peninsula National Park, Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and Point Nepean National Park in the south E, Organ Pipes National Park to the North and Dandenong Ranges National Park to the E. There are besides a figure of important province Parkss merely outside Melbourne. [ 112 ] HYPERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-112 † [ 113 ] Duty for modulating pollution falls under the legal power of the EPA Victoria and several local councils. Air pollution, by universe criterions, is classified as being good. Summer and fall are the worst times of twelvemonth for atmospheric haze in the urban country. [ 90 ] HYPERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-113 † [ 114 ] Another recent environmental issue in Melbourne was the Victorian authorities undertaking of channel intensifying Melbourne Ports by dredging Port Phillip Bay – the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project. It was capable to controversy and rigorous ordinances among frights that beaches and marine wildlife could be affected by the perturbation of heavy metals and other industrial deposits. [ 74 ] HYPERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-114 † [ 115 ] Other major pollution jobs in Melbourne include degrees of bacteriums including E. coli in the Yarra River and its feeders caused by infected systems, [ 116 ] every bit good as litter. Up to 350,000 coffin nail butts enter the storm H2O overflow every twenty-four hours. [ 117 ] Several plans are being implemented to understate beach and river pollution. [ 74 ] HYPERLINK â€Å" # cite_note-litter1-117 † [ 118 ] In February 2010, The Transition Decade, an enterprise to passage human society, economic sciences and environment towards sustainability, was launched in Melbourne. [ 119 ] Melbourne has a repute for its mutable conditions. A tip for any visitant is to be prepared for anything – take an umbrella and wear beds that can be worn or removed as needed! As a general regulation, Melbourne enjoys a temperate clime with warm to hot summers, mild and sometimes barmy springs and fall, and cool winters. While Melbourne has a repute for rain, the metropolis really receives less rainfall than either Brisbane or Sydney. Melbourne is an first-class topographic point to see the seasons change. In summer, most people head out to see our aureate beaches. In fall, see the glorious leaf of the many European-style Parkss that fringe the CBD.A In winter, Melburnians enjoy the heat of cozy coffeehouse and bars. Spring is a clip for reclamation – a great clip to head back into our Parkss and revel in our beautiful gardens.

Gangs and the Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gangs and the Criminal Justice System - Essay Example As per the recent news even the cargo ships were robbed by gangs near the territories of Somalia and hence the subject and gang and criminal justice system is more prevalent under present circumstances. Gangs have been in existence for as long as there have been inhabitants of this world. The history of criminal gangs can be traced back to even the biblical times. Such gangs are a part of history for thousands of years and their roots run deep into America’s past and culture. â€Å"The birth of America’s gang problem can be traced to the dawn of the country, a time when many Europeans migrated to the East coast with the intent of making a better life. After arriving, their savings was quickly depleted and many were forced to take out loans with local merchants and colonization companies, who charged steep interest rates. Life for many was more difficult than they imagined and death due to poverty and disease was common. There were many who died orphaning their children. With no money to send the children back to their homeland and with no relatives to care for them in America was a common problem in many cities†. ((Jared L. A wide variety of historical gangs, such as the Muslim Assassins, Adam the Leper s gang, Indian Thugs, Chinese Triads, Japanese Yakuza, American Old West outlaw gangs and Italian Mafia crime families have existed for centuries. Throughout the 19 th century, America was troubled with the gangs and gagsters like The James Gang, Billy the Kid, Irish gangs like the Whyos, Dead Rabbits, Plug Uglies, Jewish gangs like the Monk Eastman Gang, Five Points Gang etc. The Five Points Gang, led by Italian immigrant, Paolo Antonini Vaccarelli, was the most significant street gang to form in the United States, ever! The Five Points Gang became the Major League to many young street gangsters and a farm club for the Mafia. The most notorious recruit into the

Uncertainty Avoidance and Country Risk Ratings Dissertation

Uncertainty Avoidance and Country Risk Ratings - Dissertation Example Despite the importance of these country risk ratings, the utility of these measures for predicting market volatility has been called into question (DiGregorio, 2005; Oetzel et al, 2001) while global debt crises have occurred that have been likened to a heart attack for the international financial system (Gokay & Whitman, 2010).   Current literature on country risk ratings indicates a focus on political, financial, and economic factors without inclusion of social or cultural factors (Miroshnik, 2002). Description of the Population and Sample In selecting the sample size three factors into consideration and the study came up with a sample size which will consist of a total of 49 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.   This sample surpasses the minimum required sample size as computed from G*Power, which should reduce the possibility of committing Type II errors when running the analyses.   Data from the samples will be collected from the International Country Risk Guide database, Euro money Country Risk score database, Hofstede Uncertainty Avoidance Index databas e, and the World Bank databases. Table 4.1 Economic indicators and the previous year country risk ratings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Years compared    Predictors 2007 ? 2008 2007 ? 2009 2008 ? 2009 2008 ? 2010 2009 ? 2010                      Euromoney .998*** .906*** .908***          Intl Country Risk Guide .982*** .959*** .965***          Economic indicators                                     Export growth       .132   Ã‚  Ã‚   .090 -.240    Ratio current account to GDP       .878*** .826*** .910***    Growth foreign exchange       .039*** .181*** .695***    Inflation       .892*** .867*** .950***    GDP per capita       .994*** .991*** .994***    Combined indicators       .528*** .445** .732***    **p< .01, ***p< .001, all 2-tailed. Source: International Country Risk Guide database To confirm the applicability of factor analysis a t-test was carried out at 95% confid ence level. The table above shows all the identified economic factors that could probably affect a country’s risk ratings. The test results are only significant if the p-value or the significance value of the test is lower than .05.   The t-test statistics (table above) shows that all identified

End of Course Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

End of Course - Assignment Example Third is the aspect of the balanced scorecard that would help the company improve its operations. Last are the benefits and drawbacks of zero-based approach to budgeting for the business. This section contains the analysis of the Brown Bear Leisure’s financial statement, using relevant ratios, for the two-year period (2014 and 2015). The ratios are as follows: profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, and efficiency ratios. Net profit margin- this ratio shows how well a company manages its operating expenses such as the administrative costs and interests on borrowed funds. The higher the ratio, the lower the operating expenses of the enterprise. Concerning Brown Bear Leisure Company, the net profit margin for the year 2014 and 2015 have been determined as 7.07% and -0.53% respectively. The ratio interpretation for the fiscal year 2014 means that only 7.07% of the company’s revenue were net profit, whereas, remaining 92.93% were consumed by the operating expenses. However, in the year 2015, the ratio is negative reflecting the loss made by the company during that period. Net profit margin decreased between the two periods due to a sharp decline in the profit from positive to negative (Loss). Based on the analysis, the company’s operating expenses are excessively high, which indicates the ineffectiveness of the company’s cost management methods. Therefore, it is justified to mention that the company’s value creation ability is dwarfed by the high level of operating costs (Baker & Powell 2005, pp. 3-10). Gross profit margin- the ratio indicates a company’s financial health after meeting the cost of sales. It also shows the company’s ability to pay for future operating costs. Concerning Brown Bear Leisure Company, the gross profit margin for the year 2014 and 2015 have been determined as 41.24% and 34.46 % respectively. The ratio interpretation for the fiscal year 2014 means that 41.24% of the company’s revenue were gross

Animal Human Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Animal Human Cultures - Essay Example In this regards, Goodall (1993) narrated various instances illustrating the sufferings of both humans and nonhumans targeting on the role played by humans as protestors, when the human society itself is suffering by almost a similar degree. He even debates on the significance of such arguments or rather protests made by humans stating the sufferings of non-humans to be greater. It is in this context that the sufferings of human and nonhuman beings have emerged as a subject of great dispute suggesting that both should be provided with certain degree of prominence. Although unnecessary suffering of nonhumans is brutal, sufferings of human beings can also be proved as similarly terrible (Goodall, 1993, pp. 10-18). This paper describes the significances of suffering of nonhuman beings and human beings from different perspectives based on the statement of Goodall (1993) that â€Å"Who are we to say that the suffering of a human being is more terrible than the suffering of a nonhuman bein g, or that it matters more?† (pp. 15). The objective of the paper is to understand the viewpoints of both types of sufferings and develop a rational understanding towards the issue. Discussion There is rising awareness among the human society about abuse of nonhuman beings in zoos, forests, households and even circuses. ... There are also circumstances of suffering among humans with respect to being tortured by the police and other powerful status holders. At times, it has also been observed that the children are intentionally distorted after destroying their body limbs (such as eyes, hands or legs) in order to make them begging. Besides, humans were also sold in return of money or being forced to adopt prostitution and other unkind living styles. Thus, no matter how people raise voices against suffering of nonhuman beings, it cannot be misled by the fact that human beings also suffer from same misery compared to the nonhumans (Goodall, 1993, pp. 10-18). Value of Human and Nonhuman Beings There is increasing concern among people about the value of human as well as nonhuman beings. Generally, human beings attempt to increase cognizance about sufferings of nonhumans who are raised in firms, zoos, laboratories or in circuses developing legislation in order to protect them. However, they delude themselves b y believing that human also suffer similarly in comparison with nonhumans (Goodall, 1993, pp. 10-18). Based on this particular thought, it can be argued that in recent phenomenon, an increasing importance have been rendered towards protecting the genre of nonhuman species treating the humans to be the superior most and certainly the liable one to take the plunge. The increasing rate of environment protection awareness can also be identified as a rudiment towards such notions rather than focusing on their sufferings. But, does that mean values of nonhumans are more than the humans? It is true that nonhumans are imprisoned in zoos, and exploited for public entertainment. They are

Islam Compared to Judaism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Islam Compared to Judaism - Assignment Example Islam basically refers to total submission to the will of Allah or God. Muslims believes that there is only one true God who is all knowing and powerful, and has no end (Goldschmidt, 2001). In addition, they believe that any person, who submits to the will of God, exalts and worships him, will be rewarded in eternity. Similarly, in Judaism, they believe there is only one true God, he is the creator of Universe and has always been there since nobody existed before. More so, those who follow the will of God will be rewarded unlike evil doers who are destined to punishment by death. In Islam, all material possessions such as cars, houses, clothing and furniture are valueless than one true God. All things and pleasures that we have as humans are fine if they lead to satisfaction of what God requires. Muslims believes that God is the one who gives and takes life thus; he has predestined all human activities (Goldschmidt, 2001). Muslims also believes that all world religions were sent by God but, later they were corrupted by human beings. Jews believes that God is giver of life. They view people of all world religions as equal and children of God and that they are just distinct ways to serving the same God whom they must obey and adhere to his law. It is the responsibility of the Jews to adhere to the torah and cement presence of God (Robinson, 2001). Muslims believes that God is everywhere and that he works in a universe in which lives diverse creatures, not all of whom can be felt, heard, or seen by humans. The Quran, for instance, argues that jinns, can do good or bad, but God’s Angels are more powerful and they respect his divine will. God sent Angel Gabriel to teach Muhammad how to pray (Esposito, 2010). As Robinson (2001) argues, similarly, the Jews believes that Angels are God’s messengers and that they exist in the universe but, cannot be understood or seen by human beings. Muslims

When will employers require cognitive augmentation of their workers Essay

When will employers require cognitive augmentation of their workers - Essay Example A driver of cognitive augmentation on the social side is the growing acceptance of technological augmentation of human capabilities, already present in 2015, and certainly will continue to accelerate and become commonplace by 2040. This will be to the extent of people becoming used to cognitive augmentation as a way of life. Current forays into device augmentation of reality, such as Google Glass, are testaments to this. The certainty and the level of impact are high, given the current high rate of social adoption of such new cognitive augmentation devices, with the smart phones arguably an early form of a cognitive augmentation device already prevalent worldwide (Pang, 2014). The on-going shift in the major economies, such as the American economy, towards more substantial industries that require high levels of scientific expertise, such as biotech, will certainly propel industries to require cognitive augmentation for workers. The certainty and level of impact is high, judging from the permanent nature of the shift and the need for more highly intelligent workers by 2040 (Egan, 2015). Climate change will be a driver of change towards cognitive computing in the workplace by 2040. The problems relating to climate change are persistent and long-range, requiring the development of new answers, new ways of living, and new ways of adapting. This means that workers will be required to make use of augmented cognition technologies to aid in this large task. The level of certainty and the level of impact are both high, judging from the high impact nature of the problem of climate change, and the urgency of the tasks relating to solving the problem (Gilpin, 2014). Reed, B. (2015). Bill Gates is the latest brilliant person to warn artificial intelligence could kill us all. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from

Assessing the feasibility of different techniques for providing fresh Essay

Assessing the feasibility of different techniques for providing fresh water to arid regions of the world - Essay Example The average water usage in the US is highest while Mozambique records the lowest water consumption per day. The goal has been the provision of secure and equitable access for all people and to ensure that water infrastructure and service delivery in standardized especially for the poor people (Conca, 2006, p, 164). These objectives are yet to be achieved because of population growth. Currently, provision of adequate water for the developing countries is a problem leading to the outbreak of water related diseases. The contaminants associated with water quality have diverse health effects as such it is not easy to make conclusive health based assessment of the situation. The problem may be severe like food poisoning or mild like dental fluorosis. (Gary, 1994, p. 39). The volume of water accessible by the population in the developing countries is significantly lower compared to that of developed country. In some cases, it is less than a third of the consumption of the developed countrie s. The volume of water consumed by Americans is 600 litres per day; Europeans consume 250 litres while Africans consume 30 litres. The volume of fresh water calculated from fresh water sources is approximated at 125 045km3. Despite the volume of fresh water, available supply of the fresh water to the population is not sufficient enough to meet their demand. Fresh water bodies Currently many of fresh water of lakes are facing degradation and volume reduction as a result of the global climate change. Many African nations cannot provide for the population safe water for domestic use. Piped water for the poor is still a dream, and at times, conflict arises as a result of water accessibility. In the sub-Saharan Africa, nomadic and pastoral communities fight over water sources leading to death and destruction of properties (De Villiers, 1999, p.105). The government of the country cannot supply the inhabitants with clean water, and infrastructure to those areas is poor. Flooding has two ef fects, which are, by the time of occurrence or duration. On health floods have two effects namely direct and indirect effects. Direct effects include changes in stream flow velocity which may carry boulders fallen trees resulting in drowning, injuries and contact with respiratory water borne diseases such as hypothermia and cardiac arrest(Galloway, 2009, p.179). Contact with polluted water will result in disease outbreak such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. In the Sub Saharan Africa, there are no fresh water bodies because the underground limning is salty leading to dissolving of the salt. The water source, therefore, cannot be used effectively without desalination Desalination Desalination is the most appropriate method of collecting fresh water in the arid areas, but has one main challenge namely the cost of the operation. Desalination can be used to change the water quality because; it involves the use of technology to obtain fresh water from the salt water offered by the und erground sources in the arid areas(Green, 2003 p. 34). Some of the best technology that could be used in the process includes the use of reverse osmosis and the use of other chemicals in extraction of the salts. Reverse osmosis uses membrane technology, which allows water molecules to sip through while blocking salt ions. There are other filters like he porcelain filters that can also be employed with ease. Some of

History of HTML Essay Example for Free

History of HTML Essay HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the predominant and most currently most popular language for creating web pages. It is a well-designed language to describe the structure of text-based information in a document by using certain tags referred to as HTML tags and using certain text links, heads, paragraphs, tables, lists and headings. While HTML is written in the form of tags, surrounded by angle brackets. HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document, and can include embedded forms, and other scripting language codes, which can affect the behavior of Web browsers and other HTML processors. It is assumed that what made this language a very popular web development language is its English-like characteristic which makes it relatively easy to comprehend, and memorize the tags as compared to most other languages. It was in the late 1980’s, when the physicist Tim Berners-Lee, who was an independent contractor at CERN, proposed and prototyped ENQUIRE, a system for CERN researchers to use and share documents. In 1989, Berners-Lee and CERN Robert Cailliau, a data systems engineer from CERN, each submitted separate proposals for an Internet-based hypertext system providing similar functionality. The following year, they collaborated on a joint proposal, the Worldwide Web (W3) project; this proposal was accepted by CERN and as of now, and the project continued to grow from the day that it was developed, and continuous to grow up until present. In the advent of the interne and in the continuous increase in its popularity, came parallel the advent of the web-development language HTML. Although it has already been an accepted and established concept in the field of academics as early as the 1940s. It was with the advent of he personal computer that hypertext came into popularity. Bill Atkinson came up with the astounding idea in the late 1980s. It was then the he and his team developed Hypercard, an application for the Macintosh Operating System. Hypercard allows users to construct a series of on-screen `filing cards that would be able to contain text and graphics. Users can also navigate through these filing cards by pressing on-screen buttons, which were designed for simple and plain navigation. Hypercard easily became popular and was integrated on many other applications. Toolbox, for Personal Computers was developed and popularized in the 1990s for hypertext training courses. These courses came up with a more advanced navigation system wherein viewers or users were able to view pages with buttons which can help them navigate forward or backward or jump to a topic. Hypercard and its co-programs easily became popularized, however they were still held back by certain limitations. The major limitation was that hypertext jumps were only allowed to be made to files on the same computer. Hypertext umps to computers on other countries or on the other side of the world were still not possible. Hypertext communication was still on the local scale and not available in the global scale. It the increasing demands for global scale hypertext communication that the HTML came into advent. HTML has had a development-span of roughly seven years. During that time, it has evolved from a simple language with a small number of tags to a complex system of mark-up tags, enabling authors to create visually stunning web pages complete with sound and animation. Basically, the language developed from HTML+, HTML 2, HTML 3. 2, HTML 4. And finally HTML 5, which was released in 2008. A document called â€Å"HTML Tags†, was the first publicly available description of the HTML. This was known to public by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991. It describes 22 elements comprising the initial, relatively simple design of HTML, thirteen of these elements still exist up to HTML 4. At that time, Berners-Lee considered HTML to be an application of Standard Generalized Markup Language or SGML. However, it was not formally announced until the mid-1993 publication, by the IETF, of the first proposal for an HTML specification. Berners-Lee and Dan Connollys made an internet draft, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). This included an SGML document type definition to define the grammar. The HTML and HTML+ drafts expires in 1994, and that was when IETF created an HTML Working Group, which in 1995 completed HTML 2. 0, the first HTML specification intended to be treated as a standard against which future implementations should be based. HTML 2. 0 included ideas from the HTML and HTML+ drafts. HTML 2. 0 became the standard for website design until the year 1997. By then, more people were using HTML, and while the previous standards offered some decent abilities, people thirsted for more abilities and tags as to be able to better enhance the appearance of their websites. At this time, a HTML working group, led by Dave Raggett introduced HTML 3. 0. It included many new and improved abilities for HTML, and promised far more powerful opportunities to HTML users. HTML 4. 0 was recommended by W3C in 1997 and became the official standard in April 1998. Browser support was undertaken surprisingly earnestly by Microsoft in their Internet Explorer browser HTML 4. 0 was a large evolution of the HTML standards, and the last version of the classic HTML. At present, the newest version of the HTML is HTML 5. 0. It was published as a working draft by W3C last January 22, 2008, and includes major revisions in the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. In this version, new features, elements and functionalities had been introduced to aid web developers to further improve the appearance and back-end structure of websites.

Presidency of Andrew Jackson Essay Example for Free

Presidency of Andrew Jackson Essay The early nineteenth century was first of all marked with the making of American national identity. Presidency of Andrew Jackson is usually addressed as revolution in American democracy as since that time rapid development of politics, social relationships, national economy and religious started. Tremendous social changes described in Tocqueville’s â€Å"Democracy In America† written in the middle of nineteenth century that amazed Europeans with tremendous democratic, social, national and economic development of the United States serves one more incontestable prove for the forming of American nation during the period. Jackson appeared a symbol of the self-made man for many Americans. He managed to inspire people the idea of American national identity through his multiple successful reforms and personal achievements 1. Strengthening of American political and party system, gradual development of two-party system, fair people-centered politics and successful innovations helped the nation to overcome previous colonial mentality and build a prosperous welfare society of XIX century America. Symbolizing himself the changes in country’s political system Jackson indeed made the nation to believe in him and his policy targeted to improve the lives of all common Americans. For many Americans who associated Jackson primarily with the Battle of New Orleans in 1912 his coming to power was a synonym of the same successes in archaic and corrupted political sphere . As the war hero Jackson captured imagination of people and dedicated loyalty of a great part of American society. He was believed to be a symbol, a kind of a national ideal, a self-made man possessing strong will and moral courage. Many researchers believe that the very idea of national identity, American nationalism has its roots in Jackson’s presidency 4. Jackson was elected a President of the United States in 1828, and soon supported several very important changes both in political and social milieus. Before all, Jackson increased the power of the Executive Office. This measure was targeted to ensure the rights of the common Americans and suggest them the idea of a sole nation. Jackson’s changes were first of all targeted to reinforce people, inspire them a vaporized feeling that a government is before all for the people, not vice versa. Jackson believed that no social group or privileged class are entitled to any special political or economic advantage. These rich minorities that were in power prior to Jackson didn’t respect the will of common Americans and the real political power was concentrated in the hands of an elite minority. Jackson’s electoral campaign and future policy was targeted to clean up corruption in Washington. In his electoral program Jackson declared that people were cheated by previous Adams’ administration and corruptions and intrigues in Washington defeated the will of common Americans. These ideas united people around the idea of fair politics: factory workers, frontiersmen, farmers, bankers, and businessmen from all across the United States rallied behind Jackson. He appeared that charismatic leader that gathered the nation. Even his nickname â€Å"King Andrew† serves a good illustration of his respect amidst the common people. These promises and real deeds of Jackson indeed helped people to identify them as Americans and became proud of the own country. Almost 20. 000 citizens, an incredible crowd in XIX century, greeted Jackson near the White House after he was elected! After Jackson was elected a president his primary efforts were focused on making that political and economic changes that eventually helped American society to become more democratic and welfare. Jackson sufficiently reconsidered the very idea of presidency, partially, the issue of presidential veto. Jackson changed the perception of the presidential veto. It had originally been viewed as something the president could do if he considered a bill unconstitutional. Jackson eventually made it clear that the president could veto a bill on whatever grounds he saw fit. The first president to proclaim himself the elected representative of all the American people, Jackson did not hesitate to use the power of veto. Jackson himself vetoed twelve bills, more than all of his predecessors all together. His use of the powers of removal and of executive orders paved the way for the modern American presidency 6. Jackson has made a government more open to the common people and sensitive to their wills through implementation of his principle of â€Å"rotation in office†. He believed that no person should regard officeholding as a right he decided to protect the nation from a permanent, aristocratic officeholding elite through removing of long-term officeholders. Nevertheless that only a small part of federal officials were indeed removed by Jackson, this policy helped the President to become even more popular in the society. This measure also helped Americans to trust authorities and respect political power 7. Rapid economic development and growing demand for man power determined rapid social migration within the county that also prompted self-identification of people. It was the very beginning of a legendary â€Å"American Dream† idea further united the nation. The old way of living was reshaped by the influence of Industrial Revolution. Traditional political system was unable to promote development of the country as far as both the political and economic layers concentrated in the hands of a small minority. Jackson, instead, suggested different standards of economic development. Jackson’s economic policy caused rapid development of territories, huge growth of cities and transportations. In the new democratic American society built by Jackson, people no longer associated themselves with family background, occupation, or class to define themselves. Believe in a self-made man based on the example of Andrew Jackson helped to new model of people’s self-identification according to the different standards 8. Jackson himself supported several controversial decisions that, however, were popular in that time society. One of such measures undertaken by Jackson was a notorious Indian Removal. National interest in Middle West territories and personal feelings of a President as a former Indian fighter led to the governmental decision to move all eastern Indian tribes to the territories beyond Mississippi. The removal policy of Jackson was popular among white majority of the country that obtained new fertile lands 9. Andrew Jackson’s foreign policy also promoted nation’s consolidation and evoked people’s proud of being Americans. The President eventually ended the long-lasting disputes with the United Kingdom and France. In 1937 Jackson recognized Texas’ independence from Mexico. At the same time he rejected the calls for its joining the country due to the slavery policy of the state. Territorial expansions of America were also helpful in forming of national dignity and proud of the common people. Jackson’s presidency, his political and social outlooks and reforms indeed help the nation to recognize its unity and role in establishment of fair democratic society. The rise of national identity during Jackson’s presidency helped people to build completely different nation and welfare country.

Womens Engagement in Politics

Womens Engagement in Politics Why are there relatively few women engaged in political activity? Introduction It is evident that women are underrepresented in government and in general do not engage in political activity in the same numbers as men do. Various explanations have been used to explain this phenomenon: entrenched discrimination on the part of candidate selectors, elite theory as well as the Supply and Demand Model. This paper visits each explanation in turn finding some value in each. Finally, the argument is made that another possibility is that the system has been created by men for men. When states and constitutions were created in today’s developing countries, women did not have the right to vote, own property or engage in any political activity. Therefore, one could argue that the terms of the social contract on which liberal democracies are based are male- centric and do not allow for the equal representation of women. Theoretical Perspectives: Women and Democracy Beyond the basic interpretation of democracy as â€Å"rule by the people†, scholars have noted that democracy has evolved, changing over time and space and responding to evolution in public affairs. As explained by Meny â€Å"it is commonly accepted that democracy has varied over time, evolving from a rather elitist and restrictive form to a more open and participatory form of government† (Meny, 2002, p.10). Dahl identifies three evolutionary waves, or â€Å"transformations† of democracy, from the Greek city- state to the republic and finally to the nation- state (Dahl, 1989). Furthermore, Dahl identifies the basic criteria for a democratic process as: effective participation, voting equality at the decisive stage, enlightened understanding, control of the agenda by the people, and equal opportunity (Dahl, 1989). Effective participation is the requirement for citizens to have an equal chance of expressing preference for the political outcome, and their choice should be weighed as equal to that of any other citizen. Enlightened understanding means that citizens should be informed in their choice and have an understanding of the system. At first glance, therefore, one would be surprised with the arguments posed by some Feminists that standard definitions of democracy such as the above are discriminatory against women and legitimize a gender- biased system. Waylen asserts: â€Å"democracy defined in these ways becomes a ‘political method’ simply an institutional arrangement to generate and legitimize leadership† (Waylen, 1994, p.332). To help us understand statements like these, we should consider the distinction between different kinds of â€Å"equality† and the historic inequality democratic systems have imposed on women. There is an important distinction between equality of opportunity and equality of result. If a system merely aims at equality of opportunity then giving women the right to vote and come forward as candidates would be an end in itself; but if equality of result is sought, then one would see that external factors diminish the value of equality of opportunity (Karam ed. 199 8). A historic overview of â€Å"democracy† reveals that as a system in application, it is embedded with inequality. The democrats in ancient Greece excluded women, slaves and immigrants and considered foreigners to be â€Å"barbarians† and therefore inferior to the Greeks. At a minimum, democracy requires that people have the right to vote, and this right was not given to women until recently: 1919 in West Germany, 1920 in the USA, 1921 in the UK and 1971 in Switzerland (just to name a few examples of developed and democratic states). In accounting for this inequality, Feminists emphasize the concept of patriarchy and the distinction between the public and private sphere. Patriarchy[1] means â€Å"rule by fathers† and mainstream political theory argues that this system has been obsolete and no longer n existence since more than three hundred years ago. Feminists, however, have always been pointing out that it still exists. Pateman argues that patriarchy has been replaced by â€Å"fraternity†[2] through the establishment of the social contract. Patriarchy has its foundations in the separation between the public and the private sphere, thereby keeping women confined in the private sphere, removed from politics: â€Å"The division of public and private life as one that differentiates the woman (private) from the man (public) is the overarching ideological tool of patriarchy† (Corrin 1999 quoting Eisenstein 1984). Liberal Democracy This system aims to check both the tyranny of the majority and the abuse of power by a government, usually through a system of checks and balances. The system merely aims at equality of opportunity (and not equality of result or of condition) and accountability through voting. It assumes that society consists of a plurality of interests which compete with each other over influence over political outcomes. As a result of this competition a stalemate may occur which means little or piece meal change to the system can be achieved and thus the status quo perpetuates. This model embraces the distinction between the public and private sphere. [3] Feminists therefore criticize liberal democracy and assert that inequalities between husband and wife reduce the value of political life for women. Feminists also feel that a â€Å"gender- neutral† approach to citizenship (as is proposed by liberal democracy) actually serves to exclude women. Phillips argues that concepts such as the individual, citizenship, rights etc are male categories (Phillips, 1991). Participatory Democracy This model requires social equality and emphasizes participation. It challenges the private- public distinction and proposes that for democracy to be meaningful in the public sphere there must also be democracy in the private sphere. Feminists agree that voting is not enough and that there must be discussion and participation. However, feminists argue that this model also creates an elite of â€Å"active† citizens. As certain categories of women such as housewives have less free time, they are less able to be â€Å"active† in public affairs and would therefore be disadvantaged. Elite Theory Elite theory assumes that throughout history there has been a group of people who â€Å"rule† and the rest who are ruled by them. Essentially this theory is about power and its distribution. Gaetano Mosca argues that the existence of the elite and its dominance depends on its organizational position and abilities. Mosca believes that the more organized minority will prevail over the less organized majority. Mosca distinguishes between an upper stratum elite (small group of political decision- makers) and a lower stratum of the elite, who perform lesser political functions. Mosca saw elite- formation as inevitable; if the mass were to rise against the elite and replace it in government, another small group would rise from within the masses and prevail over the rest. Mosca saw elite theory and democracy as compatible (Rush, 1992). Michels drew upon Mosca’s â€Å"iron law of oligarchy† and argued that like all other organizations, political parties are dominated by their leadership. Pareto diverges from the Marxist notion that the elite are defined in economic terms, and argues instead that it is human attributes such as motivation and abilities which define it (Rush, 1992). Political Recruitment The Selection Process Norris and Lovenduski identify three levels of analyzing political recruitment: a) systematic factors such as the legal system, the electoral system and the party system, which set the context for analysis, b) context- setting factors such as party organization, rules and ideology, c) factors influencing directly the recruitment of individual candidates such as resources and motivations of applicants and the attitudes of â€Å"gatekeepers† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The recruitment process is generally evaluated by testing whether the system is democratic (involving local activists and grassroots members), whether it is fair (treating all applicants equally), whether it is efficient (as a decision- making process) and whether it is effective in producing candidates of a high standard (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). There are six main types of selection process and these are: 1) informal- centralized, where constitutional mechanisms may be in place but in essence patronage controls outcomes and rules are largely symbolic 2) informal – regional where factions bargain in order to get good positions for their candidates, 3) informal- localized where the decision over which selection procedure will be used depends on local groups and therefore procedures vary and the system is open to manipulation by small groups 4, 5) formal- centralized/ formal- regional where party leaders at national or at regional level have the power to choose candidates and 6) formal- localized where constitutional rules and guidelines create a standard procedure and all applicants are treated equally (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). According to Norris and Lovenduski: â€Å"in the long term the main change in recruitment within British parties has been in process rather than power. There has been a gradual evolution from an ‘informal- localized’ system based on patronage in the nineteenth century towards more ‘formal- localized’ system today based on more meritocratic standards† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.5). Supply and Demand In analyzing trends in political recruitment, Norris and Lovenduski present the Supply and Demand Model : â€Å"based on a ‘supply and demand’ model, the study distinguishes between the factors influencing the ‘supply’ of candidates willing to come forward and the factors influencing the ‘demand’ of party selectors in making their decisions† ((Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.14). On the Demand side, selectors choose based on perceptions of the candidates’ abilities, experience etc. Such perceptions can be affected by discrimination and stereotyping either in a positive r in a negative way. Direct discrimination is judging people as members of groups instead of as individuals. Imputed discrimination amounts to selectors favouring certain categories of candidates e.g. women or racial minorities (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). On the Supply side, selectors may argue that certain categories of people such as women do not come forward as candidates. Motivation and constrained resources may affect potential candidacies. Also, demand and supply are inter-related; some may be deterred from coming forward out of fear of discrimination (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). Applied to the case of women, the Demand side proposes that women may have lower resources in terms of money and time as well as lower levels of political ambition and confidence. On the supply side, selector may employ direct or imputed discrimination against women: â€Å"the basic problem is that selectors are not enthusiastic about women candidates. They believe the electorate does not want them. They do not see women as having the same commitment as men. They do not know how to categorize them †¦ in short, they apply different standards† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.115 quoting Mitchell 1982). Party Selection In the Conservative Party, following the Chelmer Report 1972 the rules guiding procedures were revised. This slightly strengthened the role of party members at the expense of the constituency executive committee. In 1980 the Conservative Central Office introduced managerialist selection boards to scrutinize candidates on the Approved List before they could apply. These boards aimed to produce better quality candidates and fairer procedures (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The Labour general party modernization in the 1980s included selection rules reform. Thus, there was a mandatory reselection for incumbents, a formalized selection procedure and power shifted downwards to an electoral college of all members. To encourage more women candidates the Party altered short listing rules and introduced more training programs (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). For the general election 1997 Labour introduced women-only shortlists whereby a proportion of local parties were required to shortlist only women candidates for selection. The policy was then withdrawn as it was found in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The Electoral System According to Norris and Lovenduski â€Å"the British electoral system is commonly seen as contributing towards the localism of the selection process, by strengthening the links between individual MPs and their constituency† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.28). The British first- pass- the post system is based on a 651 plurality, single member districts and opportunities are determined by the number of seats. Voters can vote for or against individual candidates, but have no say over who is placed before them as a candidate (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The incumbency turnover further constrains opportunities to enter parliament. The rise of â€Å"careerism† whereby MPs enter parliament at a younger age and see their position as a career further supports this proposition. The party system is a further constraint; traditionally the UK was considered a two- party system, but this has gradually been weakened in the post- war period (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). Conclusions: Accounting for Women’s Under representation The Discrimination Argument Some feel that women are discriminated against by part selectors: â€Å"discrimination by gatekeepers is probably one of the most common explanations of the social bias in our parliament† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.123). However, it is difficult to establish proof of this discrimination. Others feel that at present the system is open to women and explain the under representation in terms of structural constraints such as lack of confidence or the difficulty to combine family life with a career in politics (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). There is also the argument that selectors may not be biased themselves, but may feel that the electorate has biased perceptions. Therefore, to avoid ‘losing’ they do not select ‘risky’ candidates such as women or ethnic minorities. In general, ‘winning’ candidates are perceived as local, white, middle class and male: â€Å"perceptions of anticipated electoral gains and losses reflect, and thereby reinforce the dominant class and racial biases within parliament† (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995, p.136). The Elite Theory argument An application of elite theory to liberal democracies at present, confirms the validity of this model. Electoral systems may mean that the voters do not have a genuine choice and that this lies in the hands of the selectorate, usually party officials: â€Å"studies in a number of countries show that in socio- economic terms the differences between successful and unsuccessful candidates are not great and that the selection of candidates is often in the hands of a small group of party leaders and activists† (Rush, 1992, p.66). The Social Contract Revisited Nadezhda Shvedova identifies the difficulties women face in achieving equal representation in government: political, socio-economic, and ideological/psychological obstacles (Karam ed. 1998). Political obstacles include: the type of electoral system ( Shvedova believes proportional representation is better for increasing women’s representation), prevalence of the â€Å"masculine model† of political life e.g. the â€Å"predator mentality† that is supposedly alien to women, and lack of party support. Arguments of socio-economic obstacles usually stem from the theory that higher development brings more democratization; Ideological/psychological obstacles are the traditional social roles assigned to women and men, women’s lack of confidence, the perception of politics as a â€Å"dirty†, and the way in which women are portrayed in the mass media. In newly democratized countries mechanisms such as quotas have been devised to ensure equal representation. Quotas are introduced to make sure that women constitute a certain percentage of the members of a public body such as a candidate list, committee, parliament assembly, or government. They usually aim at achieving at least a â€Å"critical minority† of 30-40% for women (Karam ed. 1998). The three most common forms of these mechanisms are: constitutional quotas which reserve seats in the national parliament for women, election law quotas which are written in national law, and political party quotas which are adopted by political parties to achieve a certain percentage of women as candidates. According to Dahlerup, â€Å"History seems to prove that the implementation of a quota system is made easier in a new political system than in an older one, where most seats might be ‘occupied’, and consequently a conflict may arise between the interests of new groups versus those of the incumbent† (Karam ed. 1998). Countries that have implemented quotas for women are : Uganda, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Tanzania, Belgium, Italy and Namibia (Karam ed. 1998). An example of a newly democratized state where women played an important role in creating the institutions and the foundations of the state is South Africa. According to Seidman â€Å"During the South African transition women activists played a surprisingly important role in the negotiations, in the elections, and in designing the new state. Women’s participation is already leading to new approaches in policy making and, I will suggest, to the construction of a new vision of gendered citizenship† (Seidman 1999, p. 288). This illustrates the ambiguous relationship between development and democracy, and the relationship between the role played by women in freedom or independence struggles and their subsequent role in the new state. . However, it is more difficult to implement such mechanisms in older democracies where rules of procedure and systems are entrenched. Another reason is that the liberal democratic model creates systems that are less â€Å"gendered† than the participatory democracy model, for example, would. This may not have been done to purposely discriminate against women; it may be more about the general ideology of liberal democracy. A good illustration would be the case of the USA where the founding fathers of the American Constitution aimed at creating a â€Å"free† society. â€Å"Free† however, does not imply equal in resources or in condition. Liberal democracy can be therefore criticized because the state will strive to achieve the equality of disadvantaged people; it is more likely to act as a neutral mediator or even observer in the free, pluralist system, where the strongest group/ elite will prevail. It therefore follows that in such a system, reforms to improve the r epresentation of women in political activity will be piece-meal and gradual. References Corrin, C. (1999). Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Essex, Pearson Prentice Hall. Karam, A. (ed) (1998). Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Stockholm, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Waylen, G. (2003), Gender and Transitions: What Do We Know?, Democratisation, 10 (1), p. 157- 178. Waylen, G. (1994), Women and Democratisation: Conceptualising Gender Relations in Transition Politics. World Politics, 46 (3), p. 327- 354. Seidman, G. (1999), Gendered Citizenship: South Africa’s Democratic Transition and the Construction of a Gendered State, Gender and Society, 13 (3), p.287-307. Phillips, A. (1991), Engendering Democracy, Cambridge , Polity. Pateman, C. (1988), The Sexual Contract, Cambridge, Polity. Meny, Y. (2002), De la democratie en Europe: Old Concepts and New Challenges, Journal of Common Market Studies, 41 (1), p. 1-13. Dahl, R. (1989), Democracy and Its Critics, New Haven; London, Yale University Press. Rush, M (1992), Democracy and its Critics, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Prentice Hall. Norris, P. and Lovenduski, J. (1995), Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 1 Footnotes [1] Adrienne Rich defines patriarchy as â€Å"a familial- social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play† (Corrin 1999, p.8 quoting Rich 1997). [2] Fraternity means â€Å"rule by brothers† and is seen by Feminists such as Pateman as equally discriminative against women as patriarchy [3] Plato and Aristotle had made this distinction in their writings (Phillips, 1991)

Crime :: essays research papers

Crime refers to many types of misconduct forbidden by law. Crimes include such things as murder, stealing a car, resisting arrest, possessing or selling illegal drugs, appearing nude on a public street, drunken driving, and bank robbery. The list of acts considered crimes is constantly changing. For example, at one time, people were charged with witchcraft, but this is no longer illegal. Today, it is becoming a serious crime to pollute the air and water. In colonial days, pollution received little attention because it caused few problems. During the 1700's in England it was not a crime for people to steal money entrusted to their care by an employer. Today, this type of theft, embezzlement, is a crime. Crimes may be classified in various ways. For example, they sometimes are grouped according to the seriousness of the offense, according to the motives of the offenders. Such crimes may include economic crimes, political crimes, crimes of passion, organized crime, and white collar crim e. Crimes are often divided between acts that most people would consider evil and acts that lawmakers decide should be regulated in the interest of the community. The first group includes such major crimes as arson, assault, breach of the peace, burglary, kidnapping, larceny, murder, rape, and robbery. The second group includes crimes of a "rapidly growing urban society." These crimes include violations of income tax laws, liquor control regulations, pure food and drug laws, and traffic laws. Crimes in the first group usually involve severe punishments while crimes in the second group are generally punished by fines, notices to follow the court's orders, or other relatively light penalties. Crimes are frequently classified according to their seriousness as felonies or misdemeanors. Generally, felonies are more serious than misdemeanors. Under the federal criminal law system, felonies are crimes for which the punishment is death or imprisonment for more than a year. A misde meanor is punishable by a fine or by imprisonment for less than a year. In most states persons convicted of felonies are sent to state prisons, while those quilty of misdemeanors serve their sentence in city or county jails or houses of correction. Crimes against people include assault, kidnapping, murder, and sexual attacks. Such crimes usually bring severe punishments. Crimes against property include arson, automobile theft, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, larceny, and vandalism. In most cases, these crimes carry lighter penalties than do crimes against persons.

Soliloquy Essay - Famous Soliloquies in Shakespeares Hamlet

The Famous Soliloquies in Hamlet  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay goes into the Who, the How and the Why of Hamlet’s famous soliloquies in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet.    Samuel Taylor Coleridge comments on the hero’s first soliloquy:    Few have seen a celebrated waterfall without feeling something akin to disappointment : it is only subsequently that the image comes back full into the mind, and brings with it a train of grand or beautiful associations. Hamlet feels this; his senses are in a state of trance, and he looks upon external things as hieroglyphics. His soliloquy -    "O! that this too too solid flesh would melt," &c.    springs from that craving after the indefinite - for that which is not - which most easily besets men of genius; and the self-delusion common to this temper of mind is finely exemplified in the character which Hamlet gives of himself :-    "It cannot be But I am chicken liver'd, and lack gall To make oppression bitter."    He mistakes the seeing his chains for the breaking them, delays action till action is of no use, and dies the victim of mere circumstance and accident. (345)    Gunnar Boklund in â€Å"Judgment in Hamlet† expresses his interpretation of the hero’s situation in the first soliloquy:    Let us then first clarify Hamlet’s initial situation, as it is presented to us in the first great soliloquy â€Å"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt.† It is a statement that is unusually easy to understand. The death of his father has shaken Hamlet so profoundly that he refuses to accept it as natural, and he takes the same attitude to the remarriage of his mother, which to us would seem to belong to a different category. If this is what goes ... ...Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Mack, Maynard. â€Å"The World of Hamlet.† Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Maher, Mary Z.. â€Å"An Actor Works at Connecting with His Audience.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies. Iowa City: University of Iowa P., 1992. p.71-72.    Rosenberg, Marvin. â€Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: Univ. of Delaware P., 1992.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.   

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble :: Bounty Toilet Paper Marketing Essays

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble Proctor & Gamble will introduce the new Bounty Toilet Paper during the first week of December 1999. This brand of toilet paper will take the already established idea used with Bounty Paper Towels, and modify to the toilet paper world. Bounty has always stressed the idea of taking the least amount of the product, but still getting the job done while at same time consisting of a strong durability. Never before has such attributes of durability and effectiveness been used in a toilet paper brand, therefore P&G hopes to establish Bounty Toilet Paper as a leader in the industry. Proctor & Gamble understands the high competition that already exists in the toilet paper industry, but feel that new Bounty Toilet Paper will change how this industry is geared. In recent times, toilet paper producers have stressed comfort and style in the production of their products, but as the times have changed, the American public is now more interested in getting the job done in the shortest amount of time with the smallest amount of the product. P&G have produced Bounty Toilet Paper because of this change in the lifestyle of Americans. With this focus on effectiveness and durability, Bounty will go into the new Millennium leading the toilet paper world. Company Background Proctor and Gamble was founded in Cincinnati, OH, by William Proctor and James Gamble in 1837. Initially the company was started to compete with the 14 other soap and candle makers already established in Cincinnati, but around the end of the century, Proctor and Gamble dropped candle manufacturing altogether to focus on soap production. By 1890, Proctor and Gamble had increased their production to over 30 different types of soap. During 1911, Proctor and Gamble introduced Crisco, the first all-vegetable shortening, beginning what would be the first in a long line of different unrelated products the company would develop in the future. Such products include Tide washing detergent, Crest toothpaste, Charmin toilet paper, Pampers baby diapers, Folgers coffee, Bounce fabric softener, Pert Plus shampoo, and Bounty paper towels, just to name a few. With these products, and the more than thousand others, Proctor and Gamble leads the world in sales in almost all categories of household products. Sales hit the one million mark by 1859, roughly 22 years after the company was formed.

Rhetorical Analysis of Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” Essay

Directions: Read â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† As you read, underline examples of Thoreau using rhetorical devices and identify and explain the devices via annotation. Answer questions 1-4 to prepare for further work with a small group. The group will work together on questions 5 through 8. Be ready to explain your answers to the whole class. Even when you’re working as a group you should be writing the answers. 1. Based on your reading of â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† what kind of person does Henry David Thoreau seem to be? How would you characterize his state of mind and emotion as he composed this essay? Cite specific examples from the text to support your claims about Thoreau’s voice and persona. Voice = textual features such as diction and syntax, that contribute to a writer’s persona Syntax and tone are formal, academic, eloquent. Sentences tend to be longer, complex sentences punctuated with frequent commas and semicolons (to indicate pauses) which lends the pacing of a speech, almost as if even though we’re reading a written word, it’s Thoreau himself speaking to us, lecturing even. Also, parallelism (more precisely in the following example, anaphora): Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished. (paragraph 2) (The last â€Å"It does not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  with the â€Å"The†¦American people has done† is antithesis) Diction is academic and intelligent, supporting the same tone mentioned above (â€Å"alac rity† is a lesser-known word for â€Å"speed†). Repeated use of the â€Å"machine† metaphor when referring to the government and politicians/lawyers who work for it. Sets up an â€Å"Us† (free-minded, free-thinking citizens who rebel against slavery) versus â€Å"Them† (the government machine and those who would support it, as well as those who talk but don’t act against it). He uses â€Å"We† a lot, further emphasizing this division against government, but also the unity of people who agree with his points, a â€Å"we’re in this together† kind of thing.  Repeated use of words associated with honorable, positive human qualities as well as those associated with evil and guilt: â€Å"tradition†¦integrity†¦vitality†¦force† versus â€Å"complicated machinery† (paragraph 2); â€Å"a corporation has no conscience†¦agents of injustice†¦damnable business†¦at the service of some unscrupulous man in power† (paragraph 4) Persona – the character that a writer/speaker conveys to the audience Anti-authority (at least rebellious against corrupted power). Anti-government. In favor of the rights of all free-thinking people. A bit of a â€Å"maverick†. Angry and in some cases, bitter at the government for injustice. Critical and mocking of people who claim they disagree with slavery but do nothing about it. 2. What does Thoreau do in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† to urge his readers to believe in him as a trustworthy, credible person? Point out specific passages where you felt Thoreau was (or was not) particularly believable (this gets at the ethos of the piece). Other examples of logos or pathos? A writer builds ethos (an appeal to the author’s credibility) by establishing himself as credible, believable, and trustworthy. 3. One device a writer can use to get a point across is metaphor. Thoreau uses metaphor extensively in â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Notice, for example, what he compares machinery to or how he uses gaming metaphorically. Select two metaphors and explain, citing specific examples from the text, how they help Thoreau’s central idea become more vivid for his readers. The â€Å"machinery† metaphor is extended—used throughout the work: The â€Å"gaming† metaphor: (paragraph 12) â€Å"All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it†¦Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.† 4. How do you think Thoreau wanted his readers to react to the essay? What did he want them to feel? think? believe? do? How do you know? Identify specific places in the essay that help you determine Thoreau’s purpose. (paragraph 15) â€Å"†¦Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves—the union between themselves and the State—and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury? (paragraph 17) â€Å"Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?† (paragraph 23) â€Å"†¦If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood.† 5. Using the questions below, divide the essay into functional parts (a part of text classified according to its function—for example, introduction, example, or counterargument). Label the parts and be prepared to support your answers. †¢ 1) the exordium: the web that draws listeners into the speech, the speaker would introduce the subject at hand and include material that would make the audience attentive and receptive to the argument. †¢ 2) the narration would offer background material on the case at hand †¢ 3) the partition would divide the case and make clear which part or parts the speaker was going to address, which parts the speaker would not take up and what order would be followed in the development †¢ 4) the confirmation would offer points to substantiate the argument and provide reasons, details, illustrations, and examples in support †¢ 5) the refutation would consider possible objections to the argument and try to counter these †¢ 6) the peroration would draw  together the entire argument and include material designed to compel the audience to think or act in a way related to the central argument a. Is there some section that clearly lets the reader know what subject the composition is about and what the writer’s purpose is? If so, where does this section begin and end? In this section, can you find an answer to the central question that the text has been written in response to, or can you find an indication of the text’s central argument? b. Is there a part that explains any background information that the reader needs to know in order to be able to understand the answer to the central question or argument that the composition offers? If so, where does this section begin and end? c. Is there some sentence or paragraph that focuses the reader’s attention on some particular issues, aspect, or theme that the paper examines as opposed to others that it could examine? d. Is there some section that purposefully sets out material in support of the paper’s answer to the central question of its argument? If so, where does this section begin and end? e. Is there a part that examines possible objections to the answer, argument, or supporting material? If so, where does this section begin and end? f. Is there a sentence or section where the writer specifically answers the â€Å"So what?† question? In other words, is there a section where the writer hints at what he or she hopes readers will think and do on the basis of what they have read in the text? 6. Using a functional part where Thoreau is supporting his argument, see how many of the following rhetorical methods you can identify. Cite the paragraph number and a few identifying phrases or sentences of specific text to identify the method: a. Relating anecdotes b. Describing scenes and evoking sensory images c. Defining terms and concepts d. Dividing the whole into parts e. Classifying the parts according to some principle or order f. Providing cause-and-effect reasoning 7. Select one specific paragraph that you believe represents the most interesting, most vivid passage in â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Describe as much of the style of that passage as you can. For every stylistic feature you notice, explain what you see as its effect on 1) the appeal of the essay, 2) the credibility of Thoreau (ethos), or 3) the emotional or persuasive power of the piece (pathos). 8. Point out some ways you see Thoreau tapping into the â€Å"cultural memory† of his readers. (Cultural memory in modern rhetoric refers to the writer-reader connection. It has to do with how much knowledge, information, and data a writer has about his audience and their culture. A simple way of talking about this is to ask: what does a writer know about is readers and their lives, and how does he or she use it to further his writing purpose?). To what does the text refer or allude with the expectation that readers will know the reference or allusion? Are these references and allusions likely to appeal to and affect readers today in the same way they did when Thoreau used them?