Xipe Totec God of Fertility, Death, and Farming

Xipe Totec (pronounced Shee-PAY-toh-teck) was the Aztec god of fertility, abundance, and agricultural renewal, as well as the patron deity of goldsmiths and other craftsmen. Despite that rather calm set of responsibilities, the gods name means Our Lord with the Flayed Skin or Our Lord the Flayed One and ceremonies celebrating Xipe were closely allied with violence and death. Xipe Totecs name was derived from the myth by which the god flayed—peeled and cut off—his own skin to feed humans. For the Aztecs, Xipe Totecs removing his layer of skin symbolized the events that must happen to produce renewed growth that covers the earth each spring. More specifically, flaying is associated with the cycle of American corn (maize) as it sheds its external seed covering when it is ready to germinate. Key Takeaways Xipe Totec (Our Lord the Flayed One) is the Aztec god of fertility, abundance, and agricultural renewalHe is most often illustrated as a priest or shaman wearing the skin of another person  He was one of the four gods who make up the Aztec underworldCult activities in honor of Xipe Totec were the gladiator and arrow sacrifices Xipe and the Cult of Death In Aztec mythology, Xipe was the son of the dual male-female divinity Ometeotl, a powerful fertility god and the most ancient god in the Aztec pantheon. Xipe was one of four gods intimately related to death and the Aztec underworld: Mictlantecuhtli and his feminine counterpart Mictecacihuatl, Coatlicue, and Xipe Totec. The cult of death surrounding these four gods had numerous celebrations throughout the Aztec calendar year that were directly related to death and ancestor worship. In the Aztec cosmos, death was not a thing to be feared, because the afterlife was a continuation of life in another realm. People who died natural deaths reached Mictlan (the underworld) only after the soul passed through nine difficult levels, a four-year-long journey. There they remained forever in the same state that they had lived in. In contrast, people who were sacrificed or died on the battlefield would spend eternity in the realms of the Omeyocan and the Tlalocan, two forms of Paradise. Xipe Cult Activities Cult activities conducted in honor of Xipe Totec included two spectacular forms of sacrifice: the gladiator sacrifice and the arrow sacrifice. The gladiator sacrifice involved tying an especially brave captive warrior to a large, carved circular stone and forcing him to fight a mock battle with an experienced Mexica soldier. The victim was given a sword (macuahuitl) to fight with, but the obsidian blades of the sword were replaced by feathers. His adversary was fully armed and dressed for battle. In the arrow sacrifice, the victim was tied spread-eagled to a wooden frame and then shot full of arrows so that his blood dripped to the ground. Sacrifice and the Flaying of Skin However, Xipe Totec is most often connected with a type of sacrifice Mexican archaeologist Alfredo Là ³pez Austin called owners of skin. The victims of this sacrifice would be killed and then flayed—their skins removed in large pieces. Those skins were painted and then worn by others during a ceremony and in this manner, they would be transformed into the living image (teotl ixiptla) of Xipe Totec. Rituals performed during the early spring month of Tlacaxipeualiztli included the Feast of the Flaying of Men, for which the month was named. The entire city and rulers or nobles of enemy tribes would witness this ceremony. In this ritual, slaves or captive warriors from surrounding tribes were dressed in as the living image of Xipe Totec. Transformed into the god, the victims were led through a series of rituals performing as Xipe Totec, then they were sacrificed and their body parts distributed among the community.   Pan-Mesoamerican Xipe Totec Images Plate depicting god of earth and spring, known as Xipe Totec, Our Lord The Flayed One. Mexico, Mexico City, Museo Nacional de Antropologia (Anthropology Museum), Aztec civilization, 15th century.   DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI / De Agostini Picture Library / Getty Images The image of Xipe Totec is easily recognizable in statues, figurines, and other portraits because his body is depicted as completely covered by the skin of a sacrificial victim. The masks used by Aztec priests and other living images portrayed in statuary show dead faces with crescent-shaped eyes and gaping mouths; often the hands of the flayed skin, sometimes decorated as fish scales, drape over the hands of the god. The mouth and lips of flayed Xipe masks stretch widely around the mouth of the impersonator, and sometimes the teeth are bared or the tongue protrudes out somewhat. Often, a painted hand covers the gaping mouth. Xipe wears a red swallowtail headdress with a red ribbon or a conical hat and a skirt of zapote leaves. He wears a flat disc-shaped collar which has been interpreted by some scholars as the neck of the flayed victim and his face is striped with red and yellow bars. Xipe Totec also often holds a cup in one hand and a shield in the other; but in some depictions, Xipe holds a chicahuaztli, a staff terminating in a point with a hollow rattling head filled with pebbles or seeds. In Toltec art, Xipe is associated with bats and sometimes bat icons decorate the statues. Origins of Xipe The Aztec god Xipe Totec was clearly a late version of a pan-Mesoamerican god, with earlier versions of Xipes compelling imagery found in places such as the classic Maya representation on Copan Stela3, and perhaps associated with the Maya God Q, he of violent death and execution. A smashed version of Xipe Totec was also found at Teotihuacan by the Swedish archaeologist Sigvald Linnà ©, exhibiting stylistic characteristics of Zapotec art from Oaxaca state. The four-foot (1.2 meter) tall statue was reconstructed and is currently on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia (INAH) in Mexico City. It is thought that Xipe Totec was introduced into the Aztec pantheon during the kingdom of the emperor Axayà ¡catl (ruled 1468–1481). This deity was the patron deity of the city of Cempoala, the capital of the Totonacs during the Postclassic period, and is thought to have been adopted from there.   This article was written by Nicoletta Maestri and edited and updated by K. Kris Hirst Sources Ball, Tanya Corissa. The Power of Death: Hierarchy in the Representation of Death in Pre- and Post-Conquest Aztec Codices. Multilingual Discourses 1.2 (2014): 1–34. Print.Bastante, Pamela, and Brenton Dickieson. Nuestra Seà ±ora De Las Sombras: The Enigmatic Identity of Santa Muerte. Journal of the Southwest 55.4 (2013): 435–71. Print.Berdan, Frances F. Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Print.Boone, Elizabeth Hill, and Rochelle Collins. The Petroglyphic Prayers on the Sun Stone of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina. Ancient Mesoamerica 24.2 (2013): 225–41. Print.Drucker-Brown, Susan. Wearing the Virgin of Guadalupe? Cambridge Anthropology 28.2 (2008): 24–44. Print.Lopez Austin, Alfredo. The Human Body and Ideology: Concepts of the Ancient Nahuas. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988. Print.Neumann, Franke J. The Flayed God and His Rattle-Stick: A Shamanic Element in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican Religion. History o f Religions 15.3 (1976): 251–63. Print.Scott, Sue. Teotihuacan Mazapan Figures and the Xipe Totec Statue: A Link between the Basin of Mexico and the Valley of Oaxaca. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University, 1993. Print.Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs. 3rd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Print.

Racism Discrimination Or Antagonism Directed Against...

Racism: discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race. Even though The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boy the story has an underlying message of the truth of racism. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel set in the late eighteen hundreds hundreds and is considered by many the quintessential American novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a highly controversial book with many supporters and many hecklers. Some consider the book to be false and too harsh of a novel that doesn’t accurately depict the late eighteen hundreds hundreds. Others think the novel is a American novel that states the cold hard truth of what society was like in the late eighteen hundreds hundreds. The argument in this paper will be in the point-of-view of those who believe that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the quintessential American novel. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the perfect example of an American classic because it shows: the faults in society, the growth of a character who goes against society, the good in some people, and a unique American voice. To begin, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the faults society had during the late eighteen hundreds hundreds. Throughout the novel Mark Twain shows that many people in society are hypocritical. For example Huckleberry Finn says many times that Jim did something good for an African American. One example that sticks out is the line where Huckleberry says Jim hadShow MoreRelatedDefinition Essay On Racism1005 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout society, the definition of racism varies drastically. Some people would define it as its definition, one race against another, then there are the other uninformed members of society who would define it as blacks against whites, but in all reality it’s any race against another. Though racism is usually defined as antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that ones own race is superior, this definition would mean one race hating another, a more accurateRead MoreRacism Is An Epidemic That Has Occurred Throughout History1206 Words   |  5 PagesRacism is an epidemic that has occurred throughout history. Racism is when patterns of discrimination towards a certain race are established and perceived as normal throughout an entire culture. It is not one person from a certain race discriminating another person from another race, but rather an entire population operating in a social structure that makes it difficult for a person not to discriminate. People of color have been oppressed because of their race/ethnicity by those who have held theRead MoreEssay On The American Dream1004 Words   |  5 Pagesauthors shows charts of the obvious innequality within the United States. The charts show that many different races and ethic backgrounds in the United States, including whites, african americans, hispanics, and more, feel that they are all descriminated against. On most of the charts, the african americans felt that they experience the most racism and unfair treatment. They also feel that racism has not stopped or changed in these recent years. Although the United States, in the beginning, workedRead MoreRacism, Sexism, And Sexism889 Words   |  4 Pagesmade little progress such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. In reality vaccines and sexism are manmade, a vaccine is a manmade invention and sexism is a manmade idea. Neither would exist without human beings backing the idea that they are necessary. Racism is â€Å"prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior (Oxford Dictionary).† Racism over the last hundred years has been directed towards Blacks, Hispanics, andRead MoreGlobalization and Its Affect on Racism1528 Words   |  7 PagesGlobalization and its Effect on Racism Racism, in the Oxford English Dictionary, is defined as Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior, and, The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. The essence of both definitions seems to be that specificRead MoreRacism During The United States1282 Words   |  6 PagesRacism in the United States Whites seemingly have always thought they were somehow superior to colored people. Whites in England conquered half the world just to show how powerful they were. Spaniards used Native Americans as slaves to mine gold in the early days of Mexico. America relied on slaves to farm for them or perform household chores. After slavery was abolished in most countries, racism prevailed. In the United States whites established the â€Å"Separate but Equal† idea. For example, whitesRead MoreRacism And The Civil Rights Movement984 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is racism? By definition racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one s own race is superior. This is a big issue in America today. Many Americans believe that racism is over in this country because it had gone through a civil rights revolution but those people are more than wrong. Some people believe that just because America went through a civil rights movement that all racism is gone. That everything wasRead MoreThe Oxford Dictionary Defines Racism As â€Å"Prejudice, Discrimination,1133 Words   |  5 PagesOxford Dictionary defines racism as â€Å"Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one s own race is superior.† If further defines the same as â€Å"The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.† (Oxford Dictionaries | English, 2017).There are different types of racism based on religion, nationalityRead MoreTristan Hanna. Mrs.Jenkins. English 1. 21 February2017.757 Words   |  4 PagesJenkins English 1 21 February 2017 Evils of Racism: 1930 Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in a racist society in the 1930 as a 6 year old. In Harper Lee’s epic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, it takes place in Alabama during the Depression, and is narrated by the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise Scout Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high moral standards.The most prevalent theme is the evils of racism. One example is Mrs. Dubose s comments to ScoutRead MoreTo Kill A Mockingbird Political Theme Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pagesnovel by the same title, the movie explores and condemns the controversial political theme, especially controversial at the time of the movie, racism. Racism is defined as Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that ones own race is superior, according to the Oxford Dictionary. Even though racism is the political focus of the movie, it also touches on class inequality, which is the division of groups based on wealth and power, and justice

Global Dimension and Perspectives

Question: Discuss about the Global Dimension and Perspectives. Answer: Introduction: The lifestyle choices of Robert as mentioned in case study involves regular smoking, heavy alcoholism and manual functionality alone. The lifestyle choice of smoking contributes to the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Smoking contributes to blood pressure and heart rate increase in the body, it reduces the kidney blood flow further accelerating production of angiotensin II. Smoking also damages arteries branches and renal arteries in kidneys. Further, smoking leads to loss of kidney function (Chambers, Germain Brown, 2010). Zhang et al. (2012) indicated that smoking increases proteinuria risk, the increase of protein release in urine confirms proteinuria. In the case of Robert, large concentrations of protein are detected in his urine. Appel et al. (2010) also supported by stating that people with hypertension and diabetes preferring smoking as lifestyle choice develop CKD risk. Jha et al. (2013) stated that smoking slows down the blood flow rate to vital organs like kid ney leading to worsening of existing diseases in these organs. Another lifestyle choice of Robert is alcoholism that also directly affects kidneys of the body. Zhang et al. (2012) stated that More than four drinks/per day lead to progression of kidney disease. Regular drinking habit possesses the double risk to development of CKD in the body as well as drinking alcohol along with smoking possess five times increased risk to develop CKD compared to people who don't drink alcohol or smoke in excess. Etgen et al. (2012) indicated that kidney works to filter harmful substances of the body where alcohol is one such substance leading to harder functioning of kidney. The drying effect of alcohol damages normal kidney function as well as disrupts the hormonal regulation in the kidney. Cardiovascular disease and diabetes type-2 are considered to be risk factors for chronic kidney diseases. Jha et al. (2013) studied that 30% of type-1 DM and 50% of type-2 DM patients suffers the risk of kidney failure. The high blood sugar level in the body disturbs the filtration performed in the kidney. Excess blood sugar makes kidney filtration harder leading to protein leakage in the urine under serious conditions. The presence of protein in urine indicates kidney failure. Robert is also facing the same situation of high protein concentration in urine. Type -2 diabetes mellitus also causes small blood vessels injuries leading to improper blood cleaning in the kidney. Further, damages to nerves is another effect of type-2 diabetes that leads to difficulty in emptying the bladder supporting kidney failure because the back-up pressure in the bladder can cause major kidney injuries. Zhang et al. (2012) indicated that blood glucose, hypertension, cholesterol and BMI are major risk factors for chronic cardiovascular diseases having much-involved risk to chronic kidney diseases. Levey Coresh (2012) studied that damaged blood vessels due to cardiovascular conditions increase the risk of eye disease, kidney failure, stroke and heart attack. The fat deposition (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL) in the blood vessels due to cardiovascular diseases hinders the normal filtration process occurring in the kidney. This fat deposition increases the blood pressure leading to improper filtration in kidney glomerulus region. Further, Jha et al. (2013) indicated that in cardiovascular disease generally, the blood vessel confront injuries, blockages and damages that can lead to leakage of substance in kidney provoking kidney failure. The stages of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) are determined by the Glomerular Filtration rate (GFR) of the patient. Basically, as per GFR rate there are five stages of chronic kidney disease as described below: - Stage 1 GFR 90ml/min Stage 2 GFR = 60 to 89ml/min Stage 3 GFR = 45 to 59ml/min Stage 4 GFR = 15 to 29ml/min Stage 5 GFR 15ml/min The GFR measurement result of Robert being 11ml/min indicates that he has entered the STAGE -5 of chronic kidney disease. This stage -5 is considered as end-stage of chronic kidney disease named as established renal failure condition. With the GFR value of 15ml/min or less the patient has surely entered the end-stage of renal failure where dialysis or kidney transplant becomes a critical requirement (Fox et al. 2012). According to Hallan et al. (2012) some of the most common symptoms of stage 5 CKD are appetite loss, headaches, weakness, vomiting or nausea, itching, swelling, muscular cramps, skin defects and pigmentation. This indicates that vomiting, nausea and tiredness are regular symptoms of stage 5 CKD, therefore, Robert was facing them as the indication of him entering stage 5 of CKD. As the result of kidneys filtration inability, there is a deposition of toxins, waste products and dirt in the blood that is named as Uremia. This Uremia leads to nausea and vomiting conditions in CKD. Uremia basically occurs only in the stage -5 of CKD. Further, the electrode imbalance in the stage -5 occurs when the kidney is not able to filter phosphate, acids and potassium from the body developing muscular weakness and hence the patient feels tiredness (Fox et al. 2012). This indicates that electrode imbalance and uremic syndrome are a reason for the appearance of nausea, vomiting and tiredness in Roberts health condition. According to Zhang et al. (2012), dialysis is usually recommended when the patient is nearing the stage -5 of CKD where the severe symptoms like uremia, pain, toxin deposition, dyspnea etc. are critically affecting the patients body. Similarly, in case of Robert, dialysis is recommended to manage his critical conditions, symptoms and consequences of the stage -5 CKD. The dialysis will manage Roberts condition by minimising his uremia, electrode imbalance and removal of waste products from his body. The dialysis will remove waste, salts, and excess of water that will minimise uremia and stop the vomiting and nausea of Robert also improve his GFR rate. Dialysis leads to a safe management of chemicals like potassium, bicarbonate, sodium etc. in the blood providing electrode imbalance in the body. In the case of Robert dialysis will help to overcome his tiredness by providing electrode imbalance initiating strength to his body (Chambers, Germain Brown, 2010). Further, Zhang et al. (2012) studied that dialysis also minimises the blood pressure, therefore, it will also help to manage the hypertension condition of Robert. Dialysis perfectly functions as artificial kidney where a special fluid containing clean water and the chemical is used to clean the waste, toxins, salts, water from the blood of the patient in a manner like normal kidney functions (Evolve Trial Investigators, 2012). In this manner dialysis will play a major role to minimise the stage -5 CKD conditions and symptoms as well as hypertension of Robert. References Chambers, E. J., Germain, M., Brown, E. (2010).Supportive care for the renal patient. Oxford University Press. Appel, L. J., Wright Jr, J. T., Greene, T., Agodoa, L. Y., Astor, B. C., Bakris, G. L., ... Gabbai, F. B. (2010). Intensive blood-pressure control in hypertensive chronic kidney disease.New England Journal of Medicine,363(10), 918-929. Etgen, T., Chonchol, M., Forstl, H., Sander, D. (2012). Chronic kidney disease and cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American journal of nephrology,35(5), 474-482. Evolve Trial Investigators. (2012). Effect of cinacalcet on cardiovascular disease in patients undergoing dialysis.N Engl J Med,2012(367), 2482-2494. Fox, C. S., Matsushita, K., Woodward, M., Bilo, H. J., Chalmers, J., Heerspink, H. J. L., ... Tonelli, M. (2012). Associations of kidney disease measures with mortality and end-stage renal disease in individuals with and without diabetes: a meta-analysis.The Lancet,380(9854), 1662-1673. Hallan, S. I., Matsushita, K., Sang, Y., Mahmoodi, B. K., Black, C., Ishani, A., ... Wetzels, J. F. (2012). Age and association of kidney measures with mortality and end-stage renal disease.Jama,308(22), 2349-2360. Jha, V., Garcia-Garcia, G., Iseki, K., Li, Z., Naicker, S., Plattner, B., ... Yang, C. W. (2013). Chronic kidney disease: global dimension and perspectives. The Lancet,382(9888), 260-272. Levey, A. S., Coresh, J. (2012). Chronic kidney disease.The Lancet, 379(9811), 165-180. Zhang, L., Wang, F., Wang, L., Wang, W., Liu, B., Liu, J., ... Chen, N. (2012). Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in China: a cross-sectional survey.The Lancet,379(9818), 815-822.

Hillary Clinton Essay Example For Students

Hillary Clinton Essay Bill Clinton was born on August 19, 1946 in a town called Hope, with the birthname William Jefferson Blythe. His birth father died in a car accident justthree months before his birth. When he was born his mother sent him to live withhis grandparents, due to the fact that because of the current economy shecouldnt possibly support a child by herself. He lived with his grandparents fortwo years while his mother was away at nursing school in New Orleans trying toadvance her career. His grandparents tried to instill in him strong southernBaptist principles and a desire to get a good education. When Bill was four hismother returned to Hope where she met and married Roger Clinton Sr.. A few yearslater Bill and his family moved to Hot Springs, where despite his Baptistupbringing Bill attended a catholic school. When he was nine years old hechanged schools and went to Ramble Elementary. When Bill was ten Roger ClintonJr. was born, and at age fifteen Bill took his step fathers last name in hop esof helping his mothers troubled relationship. While Bill was growing up in HotSprings, the town was plagued by illegal gambling, but Bill had little contactwith this part of society despite his parents frequent participation in theseillegal practices. As time went by his mothers relationship became more and moreunstable with the alcoholic Roger Clinton Sr.. The relationship turned abusiveand his parents often separated. In high school Bill was a member of the band,student government, honor society and numerous other organizations. One summerat a political summer camp called Boys State, Bill ran for delegate to BoysNation. He won this election and was on his way to Washington to meet John F. Kennedy and Senator William Fulbright. Bill said of his victory as delegate toBoys Nation, I didnt know if I could win a race like that, because when Iwas a student politician, I was about as controversial as I have been in mylater life (Allen pg.10). After meeting JFK and Senator Fulbright face toface, Bill became determined to enter politics. After high school Bill went tothe University of Georgetown where he concentrated on international studies, inorder to prepare himself for the world of politics. While enrolled atGeorgetown, he had to get job to help pay the tuition cost. He took advantage ofthe meeting he had with Senator Fulbright to get a job as Fulbrights assistant. While at school Clinton was awarded a Rhodes scholarship and went to Oxford tostudy for two years. After traveling through Europe and graduating form Oxford,he then went on to study law at Yale in 1971. At this time in his life, Bill didsomething that would come back to haunt him in his political career many yearsdown the road. During the Vietnam war Clinton tried to receive a draft defermentfor his education. Also, despite his hatred for the war enrolled in ROTC. Hefailed to fulfill his enrollment in the program when he realized that if he gota lottery number for the draft, his chances of being called were slim to none. While attending Yale, he met Hillary Rodham and the two started a friendshipthat turned into a relationship. After graduation from Yale Clinton planned onreturning to Hot Springs to set up a small law practice, but on before he leftYale one of his professors suggested that he seek a position as a professor oflaw at the University of Arkansas. Bill thought about this on the way back toArkansas and when he arrived there he called up the University and requested aninterview. After a few tries, he successfully landed a job on the faculty andbegan to teach law at age twenty-eight. In 1974 he decided to run for congressin his district and was narrowly defeated by his elder opponent John PaulHammerschmidt. After this narrow defeat, he received a lot of attention as an upand coming politician. In 1975 Bill and Hillary got married at a house that Billhad just bought. In a small private ceremony, at the wedding reception heannounced his intention to run for office in 1976 but was not positive as towhether he would seek the office of States Attorney General or run again forCongress. In 1976 he ran and was elected to the position of States AttorneyGeneral. His term as

Meteorites Essays - Geophysics, Meteorite, Planetary Science

Meteorites Imagine that while you're on a peaceful Sunday afternoon stroll with your family, a large dark gray ball comes out of nowhere, just missing the head of your small child, shakes the earth, and produces a large crater in the ground a few feet ahead of you. This ball wasn't from the young boys playing baseball across the street, and it wasn't an acorn from the tree overhead. This ashen ball was a meteorite falling from the sky. A meteorite is a particle from space, large enough to enter the earth's atmosphere, and potentially cause damage to the surface of the earth, a house, or a car. Although almost getting struck by a meteorite while outside on a walk is a very rare occurrence, a collision with a meteorite can be fatal. Scientists have never encountered a fatality due to a meteorite, but several deformations in the surface of the earth have been linked to meteorite collisions. A meteorite comes from an asteroid or is a chip off of a moon or other planet. Many times a planet or other solar object is heated beyond capacity and, consequently, explodes thrusting many fragments into the universe. Some of these fragments are large enough to successfully enter the earth's atmosphere and hit the surface at amazing speeds. Most meteorites are blasted apart by fire while entering the earth's atmosphere. Meteorites are often dark gray or black because of their fiery descent. They are very rough on the outside. They are often identified by scientists by their composition. A meteorite has a very rare element, iridium, present in its makeup. This makes meteorites easy to decipher from surface rocks because all of the earth's iridium sank to the core many years ago. Many meteorites are filled with metals that give them a rich magnetic power. Meteorites also contain carbons. Meteorite collision has been responsible for many craters in the surface of the earth, and it continues to shape the land. As for meteorite impact becoming a threat to civilization, it is highly unlikely. The Torino Scale is a device used to measure the predicted threat of a meteorite colliding with the earth. Very few meteorite impacts large enough to threaten civilization are rated over zero on the Torino Scale. This means that it is unlikely that a very large meteorite will strike the earth hard enough to cause such damage. It is improbable that a meteorite will do much damage, and any large meteorite able to cause such damage will probably not enter the earth's atmosphere in tact. The Torino Scale rates potential collisions from zero to ten. A "zero" rating is given to those objects that have the least likelihood of entering the earth's atmosphere and doing any damage. A "ten" rating is given to those objects that will certainly collide with the earth and have the ability to cause devastating damages. Most objects rated one or higher usually change paths, and the rating is changed in time. Although it is unlikely, the next time you're out for a Sunday afternoon stroll and are almost nailed by a flying ball, pick it up. Check it out. You may have discovered a meteorite; a rock from the world beyond that was, for a long time, a complete mystery to us. Bibliography 1. Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, Voit. The Cosmic Perspective. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 1999. 2. www.ast1.spa.umn.edu 3. www.nasa.com 4. www.yahoo! "Meteorites."

Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of Faith , Oil on canva Essays

Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of Faith , Oil on canva Essays Johannes Vermeer, Allegory of Faith , Oil on canvas, c. 1670 Paul Gauguin, La Orana Maria (Hail Mary) , Oil on canvas, 1891-1893 Erwin Panofsky, Perspective as Symbolic Form , 1924 Perspective as an Artist's Tool The Renaissance of the 14th-17th century was a rediscovery of Greek philosophy and art in Europe. Intellectuals and artists alike embraced humanism, and art began to look markedly more lifelike than before. This was largely due to development of the concep t of perspective. Renaissance painters began to think of paintings as windows peering into another world. Now, to portray depth in paintings, artists began using more techniques than just foreshortening, especially gradation of color and vanishing points. We will examine two works in this paper: one painting which embraces the concept of perspective developed in the Renaissance and another painting which ignores this type of perspective. In analyzing and comparing these paintings, we will see how perspectiv e is used as a tool to guide the viewer's eyes and add meaning to a painting not just to make a painting look more naturalistic. I. Allegory of Faith Johannes Vermeer was a painter late in the Dutch Renaissance period known for painting middle class, domestic interiors (The Met). When this work was painted, the Netherlands was officially protestant, so Catholics had to worship in house churches in secret. This painting depicts one of these covert sanctuaries, and the tapestry in the foreground of the p ainting represents this secrecy. Behind the tapestry, a woman is sitting at a table, clutching her chest and looking towards a glass sphere hanging from the ceiling. A Bible, a goblet, and a crucifix sit on this table. Near the woman's feet are a globe, an apple, and a snake being crushed by a stone. Behind the woman is a painting of the crucifixion of Christ. The Bible, goblet, crucefix , and the painting of the crucifixion in the background are items and decoration that would likely be in a church, but the rest of the items strewn about the room and the woman herself are symbolic of Christianity. First, the woman in the center of the painting is the titular Faith with the world at her feet. The globe she rests a foot on, of course, symbolizes the world. She is gazing up at Heaven which is symbolized by the glass sphere dangling from the ceiling.The blue dress she is wearing may allude to the blue robes of the Virgin Mary. The apple by Faith's feet symbolizes original sin, and the crushed snake is Satan being crushed by Christ, "the cornerstone of the church" (The Met). Mostly muted, delicate colors make up the palette. Soft gradients of colors help to imply depth and form and this softness adds to the muted nature of the painting. The orange in the tapestry i n the foreground and painting on the wall in the background contrast with Faith's blue dress to help draw attention to her. The position of the vanishing point of the painting also points the eye to Faith. II. La Orana Maria Paul Gauguin was a Fr ench painter of the post-impressionist era, but he travelled to Tahiti to take part in the idyllic, Tahitian way of life. This painting was made before Gauguin took heavy inspiration from the religion of the Tahitian people. So, although everyone in the pa inting looks and is dressed like a Tahitian native, the painting is ultimately another depiction of the Madonna and Child. Mary wears a traditional Tahitian dress that is a far cry from her iconic blue robes. Jesus is nude and perched on her shoulder, a pose nothing like the traditional "throne of wisdom." Both Mary and Jesus have thin halos around their heads. Without them, their holiness would be near indecipherable. To the left are two Tahitian women, "nudes dressed in pareus , a cotton cloth printed wi th flowers that can be draped from the waist" (The Met). The angle to the far left is hard to make out because it is somewhat obscured by the foliage, but it points out Mary and Jesus to the two women. Bowls of bananas take up the foreground. Flowering tr

Econonics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econonics - Essay Example This phenomenon is called the income effect. Similarly, when the price of a particular product increases certain person opt to switch to any other low priced substitute goods. This is called the substitution effect. This clearly explains that there is a relation between income effect and substitution effect. That is, the substitution effect occurs as result of income effect. 2. Explain, using an income compensated demand curve, how a per unit tax on a good can reduce its consumption even if the government uses the tax revenue to make consumers as well off as they were before the tax was imposed. The tax impact should be met by the consumers themselves. If there are any changes in the price of a commodity, it will ultimately affect the demand of such a product, and finally the income of the buyer also. There is an inverse relation between the demand and supply, but the price factor is also playing a key role in this context. If there is an increase in the price of a commodity, the total income level of the consumer will be affected. "As shown in the Calculus of Hedonism, economists derive the individual demand curve from individual utility maps. Normally this results in the desired downward-sloping demand function, but there is a fly in the ointment to dispose of, since it is possible, though difficult, to draw a utility map which results in an upward sloping demand curve." Upward Sloping Demand Curve with Inferior goods. Separating the impact of a price change into the "income" and "substitution" effects Compensated demand curve slopes downwards (Keen 2000). Thus it becomes apparent that if any changes take place in the price pattern of a commodity, there should be a corresponding change in the income level of the consumer. 3. Explain, using consumer theory, why it might benefit companies (for example, mobile phone companies) to offer a menu of price and service options to consumers Every consumer has his or her own rights to select the goods according to his or her taste and preferences. Consumers should give emphasis for the quality of goods and the price affordability. The consumer theory gives more focus on the concept of effective utilization of purchased goods and thereby the attainment of satisfaction. Utility Function Optimization Model (Mylonakis 2004). The applicability of consumer theory is very beneficial in the case of cutthroat competition. Due to recent technological advancements, nowadays mobile phone companies are also functioning on the basis of modern economic principles. "Mobile commerce opportunities cover mobile initiatives that are designed to achieve strategic change in downstream activities through direct interaction with the customer. Customer knowledge must reach all the necessary parts of a mobile company to be useful, such as through an electronic knowledge repository. But mobile services involve more than just sending knowledge. They incorporate both technical and cultural challenges. To deliver superior service

Chemical Firms Plan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chemical Firms Plan - Case Study Example The sixteen firms plan a 7.6% rise in spending for new plants and equipment in 2007 to 0.4 billion, down from 28.1% and 16.5% for 2005 and 2006 respectively. While companies surveyed in January 2006 expected to increase capital spending by 17.0, the expected increase in R&D was 4.7%, proving that priorities and spending plans can change over the course of a year. This year's group reports that it actually increased R&D by 9.0%. Of the 16 companies that provided 2007 capital spending plans, 10 expect to increase spending on new plants and equipment compared with 2006, two plan to spend the same, and four have plans to cut back. This compares with 14 that increased spending in 2006 and two that pulled back. In some cases, firms are spending on new capacity in response to customer demands. Other firms intend to make capital improvements to enhance efficiency and productivity. Ferro, for instance, says it is increasing spending to fund productivity improvement and also to underwrite restructuring programs in its electronic materials and colors segments. The firm plans to increase capital spending by 36.4% to million in 2007. Of the 14 firms surveyed on R&D spending plans, nine plan to increase spending in 2007, three plan spending cuts, a... The 14 firms in this group budgeted a combined 0.6 billion for research in 2007, up 5.8% over 2006. Their plans mark a slowdown compared with the collective 7.3% and 9.0% boost to research budgets in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Funds slated for R&D tend to move in a narrower range than those for capital improvements. So when capital budgets jump, a proportionately smaller share of the budget goes to fund research. This year, the firms in C&EN's survey expect to devote 30.3% of future-oriented funds to research, compared with the decade high of 34.8% in 2004 and the decade low of 27.7% in 1997. The combined 2007 budget of the 14 firms that supplied both R&D and capital spending data is .5 billion. Despite the slowdown in the rates of increase, the figure marks a decade high. Four years ago, in 2003, the group's future-oriented spending hit a decade low of .9 billion. A significant run-up in capital expenditures gets most of the credit for the rebound. But take inflation into account, and the funds destined for future-oriented projects won't buy nearly as much as they did 10 years ago. The .5 billion that the group plans to spend this year is only .9 billion in 1997 dollars. Because of the boost in capital spending in recent years, the ratio of investment in new equipment to investment in research has steadily increased. Inevitably, inflation whittles away at the buying power of dollars devoted to research. The .6 billion devoted to R&D by this year's group of 14 companies represents only .1 billion based on a constant 1997 dollar. However, that .1 billion also marks the inflation-adjusted decade high. The Industrial Research Institute's "R&D Trends Forecast for 2007" notes that despite a slowing housing market and wavering consumer confidence, many

Project Paper on Wireless Transmission and Communication Essay

Project Paper on Wireless Transmission and Communication - Essay Example n become a technology that is productive in promoting modest, well remunerated employment and improving economic performance in the developing economies of the world (Noll, 2000). According to Noll (2000), in spite of the economic crash of the global economy over the last five years and the passing of the Internet fizz, these queries remain fundamental to the regulators. This is because ITC has become a reality of life in all realms of economic activity. Nearly all organizations use computers and most of them have an Internet connection. Furthermore, a great percentage of these organizations use computers networks for economic rationales, such like selling and outsourcing of goods and services and buying. However, in spite of the far ranging dissemination of ICT in developing economies, questions remain about the effect of the technology on job-generation and economic development. The cumulative denominator of in all these decades has been the slow transit of related technologies from innovator perceptions that could distribute products and services of these technologies more dynamically than their originators by merit of labor cost advantage. Pakistan is situated in South Asia neighboured by Afghanistan, China, Iran, and India. Pakistan is the 7th most populated nation in the world with a population of 160 million. It is a middle income with per capita income of US$846 and the nation has recorded a nominal GDP expansion of seven percent over the past five years. In spite of the political instability that the country has never witnessed during 2007 between ruling military government and numerous political and social classes, Pakistan has accomplished success in mobile telecommunications. The telephone diffusion rate per capita shifted from 4 percent in 2000 to 58 percent in 2007 because of over triple figure expansion during past few years. This growth from 19990 when the first mobile certification was issued to just two private companies in Pakistan. The

Feminism And Nationalist Themes

Feminism And Nationalist Themes The twentieth century Indian literature has drawn a considerable amount of its themes especially feminism and nationalist themes from two major epics: The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. Like Bible in European culture these two major epics dominates the Indian culture strongly and powerfully because they discuss all the major problems that are faced by all kinds of people. They discuss the issues of social inequality, gender inequality and for the rights of the lower class people too. Especially in India, for most of the people, myth is a lived reality, is a part of ones lived reality, every day existence, and large communities of people live by myths. As Daniel Tehapda, the philosopher from Cameroon states in La Place du my the dans Lexistence du negro-African. Another critic Ritwik Ghatak says the purpose of using such ancient myths and traditional music is to constantly point towards some dormant inspiration that lies hidden in reality. Sita, the female protagonist of the Ramayana and Draupadi, the female protagonist of the Mahabharata have become signs or cultural icons as pativratas (ideal wives) and as earth born Goddess. In the epics and in the culture that influenced and is influenced by them, a woman alone, a woman the powerful, a woman capable of bringing shame upon her family-that is to say, any woman is a woman in need of control. On a relatively innocent level, she is viewed as vulnerable creature in need of masculine protection. More insidiously, she is seen as essentially unable to control her own fatal force. But literary texts have brought subtle readings of these two epic women- sita can wage a psychological war against her captor Ravana; Draupadi can argue. The Mahabharata, attributed to Vyasa, is generally agreed to have been composed between 500BCEto 400CE. The Ramayana, attributed to Valmiki, is likely between 200BCE to 200CE. In the eleventh century, the Tamil poet Kamban wrote a recension in the south, and in the sixteenth century,Tulsidas translated the epic into Avadi(old hindu),which was later brought into Bengali by Krittivasa,and into modern Hindi. William Jones translated it to English. Both the epics recension of oral and written have emerged in all major Indian languages, as well as in European languages, from palm leaf into paper, drama, film, poem, etc. When one speaks of epic in India at large, with its literate and non literate audiences, no one written text is necessary to mind: Mahabharata or Ramayana is more likely to be envisioned. Doordharshan televised version of Ramayana, generally based on Tulsidas, but incorporating other major texts, faithfully watched by over80,000,000viewers,some of whom Bathed before watching, garlanded the set like a shrine, and considered viewing of Rama to be a religious experience. (Rich man 3) Most of the versions of epics focus upon the tradional heroes (Rama in the Ramayana, the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata); only very few versions focus the views of the heroine. India is casted as Bharathmata, a maternal figure who has been captured, insulted humiliated by evil men or rakshasas (demons) Draupadi at the hands of Duryodhana, Sita at the hands of Ravana. Social activists or writers perceive the darkness and power of sita and Draupadi to rescue from their avenging figure to liberate one of a nation, of a gender, of a class. This chapter concentrates on the major crisis Sitas reunion with Rama at Valmikis Ashram; Draupadis humiliation at Hastinapura after Yudhistra has lost her in a game of dice, the innocent lives of innocent people was written or reworked in literature. Mahaswetha Devi says, Im not a student of history but anyway I read, I wrote, then I tore away the pages, I collected folklores, ballads, things like that. I was drawn to the great importance of collecting the oral traditions. I was only 26 or 28. Because at the time Thakur mansingh was operating. I had left my child son at home with my husband. I went to all these places. Never have I faced any danger, except one small Encounter with a dacoit. That was the time when I realized that oral tradition, folk material, is very important of historical, material. So those must be kept and preserved and printed if possible, because when these people die, the next generation, their life style might change, they will not see these. Indian people anywhere, tribal or non-tribal whatever happens; they keep it alive in folklores. Else, you will be surprised to know how many songs about Telegana struggle have been collected and published. I have taken After Kurukshetra story collection, Dopdi from Breast Stories and Ambais Atavi for the study. In all these stories, the women move on. They do not wait for endings. They meet the demands of life and find resolutions in nature. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana has received a great deal of exegetical and explicatory attention over the years, yet the voices of the oppressed in the great epic have remained a somewhat neglected field of critical enquiry. Mahaswetha Devi and Ambais palpable intention is to underscore the contrast between the Rajavritta and Lokavritta, in which one Honours and celebrates life. Kunti and Nishadin epitomize these two contrasting world vies respectively. The fifteenth chapter of the original version of the Mahabharata the ashram Vasik Parva describes the three years stay of the three familiar characters of the great epic Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti- in a forest towards end of their lives. After fifteen years of reign, they opt for a life of vanaprastha which is the third of the four stages of life, prescribed tradition for a caste Hindu, the stage of abandoning worldly affairs. Much against his wishes, Yudhistra lets them go. One day, as Dhritarashtra finishes his ablutions and returns to their hermitage, he comes to know that the forest has caught fire. The wind blows and the flames spread everywhere. The animals and the birds start deserting the forest. The blind Dhritarashtra, Gandhari with her blindfolded eyes and kunti, all awaiting death, ready to give themselves up to the flames. They have spent their times in penance, prayers and yogas till their death in the forest-fire. In her attempt to rewrite the story, Devi has made a couple of brilliant interpolations-Kuntis confession, her guilt-stricken conscience at being unwed mother and her helplessness in not accepting Karna as her son in public. What shocks her more is the Nishadins reminder of a greater crime committed by her, of which she was totally unaware, that is, the murder of six innocents belonging to the lower caste society. In her introduction to the politics of literary theory and representation, Pankaj.K.Singh states that, this is an interrogative rewriting of a segment of the Mahabharata from the point of view of the Nishadin whose mother-in-law and her five sons were made to die in the fire of Lakshagriha to cover the escape of Kunti and her sons, and who holds up for interrogation the whole practice of Rajavritta. Commenting upon its cotemporary relevance Singh states further that contemporary India has its own subalterns in the lower castes, the tribal, the landless, the poor and their women, Devi gives voice in her writing. Devi says, its my realization that the more we read through the lines and give voice to the countless infantryman used to protect the landed epical heroes, the dasis (mother of vidura, mother yuyutsu and countless others) and the vratyas used as cannon fodder during rajavritta emergency, the more the mythical time come into focus and the eternal game of politics comes into view. The first thing which strikes us, as the story opens, is the pitiable, pathetic plight of Kunti, the mother of mighty pandavas, queen of Pandu undergoes an existential despair, Mother of the Pandava, wife of Pandu, the role of a daughter-in-law, the role of a queen, the role of a mother, playing these hundreds of roles where was the space, the time to be her true self? All that while, amazingly she never felt that anything was hers, hers alone. She feels betrayed by life, now, she cant bear to keep it all locked inside her. But never tried to learn the life style of Nishadins, even she did not care their presence, one day she sees some middle-aged Nishadins moving about the forest with their children and familiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Kunti never tried to learns the language they speak. Kunti is not happy, she laments of her present situation, whereas Nishadins are happy without any crumbling. This forest is full of tall, resinous trees. They gather this resin, honey, tubers and roots. They seem to be a tranquil, happy, hardworking lot, their faces always wreathed in breath smiles. After watching nishadins life Kunti feels that she has wasted her life by following the rituals of rajavritta. Watching Nishadins, it strikes her for the first time that she is wasting herself living like this, subsisting on rotting, withered leaves. Blindly following predetermined predestined path to death. Then realizes that, she never knew that she carried within her such a burden of unspoken thoughts. She feels guilty of being on unwed mother to Karna, one of the greatest heroes of Mahabharata and her helplessness, in accepting him openly as her son because of the oppressive patriarchal social order gnaws away at her conscience, Karna looked so much at peace as he lay there, dead. Gandharis piercing cry at the sight of Karnas body struck me like a whip. Why did I not have the courage? To cradle Karnas severed head in my lap and say, this is my first born? Dhananjaya! You have murdered your eldest brother! The son I abandoned for fear of public shame! Had I not disowned him, my name would have been sullied forever. Karna is the only one of my sons whose father I took of my own free will. What irony! What irony! Not one of the five pandavas as is sired by Pandu! Yet they are Pandavas. And Karna? A carpenters son. O! Ancient mother! That day Kunti stayed silent. What greater sin can there be? Gandhari knew she was pure and innocent. This knowledge gave her courage to publicly speak t he truth. Death is approaching slowly towards her and she feels the urge to unburden herself before she dies. She knows that the confession at this stage is urgent because Silence would be unpardonable. Then, her second confession, its about when she directly went to Karna asking him to leave Duryodhana and join to Yudhisthira I hesitated no more. I have not committed just, one sin, after all. I had not told my sons about the birth of Karna. Then, the day before the battle, I went to Karna and told him, abandon Duryodhana, side with yudhisthira. At this time she feels for being Rajavritta, living in the Rajavritta makes one cunning, treacherous. Because love did not dry Kunti to meet Karna only her self-interest did. Against the world of Rajavritta, the dark Virgilian world of deceit, duplicity and double moral standard stands the world of Lokavritta, world of Nishadins that is guided by natures law, where different standards of judgments do not have any place. Natures law. Nature abhors waste. We honour life. When a man and woman come together, they create a new life. But you wont understand. As the Nishadin proudly tells Kuti, we do not deny the demands of life. If we are widowed we have the right to remarry. Those who wish to, can marry again. We did so. We have husbands, childrenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth that is the way of the Rajavritta. That is what Kurukshetra was all about. The Lokavrittas ways are different. The conversation between Kunti and Nishadin brings out the sharp contrast between the worlds of Lokavritta and Rajavritta, the Rajavritta folk and the Lokavritta folk have different values, different ideas of right and wrong. If a young Nishadin girl makes love to the boy of her choice and gets pregnant, we celebrate it with a wedding. After the conversation Kunti understands clearly that Lokavrittas moral and spiritual ethics have been destroyed by the Rajavritta and which does not allow her to lead instinctive life and to confess her sin. It is in the forest Kunti realizes her true self, do not forgive me, o mother! The brute wealth of the royal palace, the might of the son on the throne, I felt caged and torn to pieces. Kunti dreams of her past life. She recalls her life as Rajavritta, the life of Rajavritta was so different, and she had so many roles to play. Deep in the forest she notices the Nishadins but nothing registers on her mind, oh, yes, I not only understand it, I speak it too. Of course you never thought of us as human, did you? No more than mute rocks, or trees, or animals. The Nishadins are so self-composed, hardworking, innocent people. But Rajavritta knows only to attend the Brahmins and worshipping the Gods. Kunti does not remember ever talking to a lower-class people, how could they? Her life had been the Rajavritta, the Gods, serving the Brahmins. Had she ever spoken to a dasi? Had she developed any genuine bond with hidimba? Life outside the Rajavritta had not touched her at all. Kunti wishes to confess, to purge herself of the sins she had committed. After every confession Kunti finds herself at peace, cleansed light and on every occasion. The nishadins hear her maternal lamentations, but Kunti believes them to be as dumb as rocks. Nishadins do not know her language or Kunti their, still the elderly nishadins reprimands her: no confessing of sins today? Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Ive heard you out day after day, waiting to see if you will confess your gravest sin. Your languageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦likes mineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? Oh yes, I not only understand it, I speak it too. Of course you never thought of us as human, did you? No more than the mute rocks or animals. The elderly Nishadin accuses her of committing the most heinous crime, the massacre of innocents for self-interest. As the Varanavata episode from the Mahabharata was a conspiracy to kill Pandavas. But the Pandavas came to know the plan of Kauravas and hatched a counter-plan for survival. When the vax palace was set to fire by the trusted soldiers of Duryodhana, the pandavas escaped through a secret tunnel. In order to make the Kauravas to believe that Kunti and Pandavas were burnt to death, an elderly Nishadin and her five sons were invited to a feast and oceans of wine were served with food. The innocent Nishadin and her five sons drank too much and slept well. The elderly Nishadin, in Mahaswetas story whom discusses with Kunti is none other than the daughter-in-law of the dead old Nishadin. Kunti is shocked by this revelation and fears for her life. The elderly Nishadin makes clear view of their (tribal) ethics to kunti. She says, no I wont kill you. The Nishadin informs Kunti that a forest fire, which is disastrous natural phenomenon, has already broken out. She says, Yes, we can tell, from smelling the air, just as the other creatures of the forest can, that a fire has started. That is why they are fleeing like we are. Where to? Far away, beyond the reach of the forest fire. Where there are mountains, lakes and winding rivers. Kunti asks for forgiveness but the elderly Nishadin says, three blind, weak and infirm people cannot make it there. One is blind from birth, another has chosen to be a blind, and you, you are the blindest of the three. The thought of forest fire makes Kunti fearful but the Nishadin is not ready to forgive. She believes that it is easy for the Rajavritta to commit sin. to beg forgiveness is typical of the Rajavritta . The narrative ends with Kuntis acceptance of the destiny with the sense of finality. She got up. She has to go back to the Ashram. Wait for the forest fire. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, after their loss of a hundred sons, are waiting patiently for death, waiting for the final fire to consume them. Kunti also welcomes death. In the story the five women, the narrators are five war widows, their husbands, foot soldiers, died in Kurukshetra war to protect the chariot mounted heroes. these women are not of the rajavritta, women of royalty, nor are they servants or attendants. These women are from the families of the hundreds of foot-soldiers Podatics from various other little kingdom. The women of Rajavritta strictly follow the ordeal but the women of Janavritta lives life in close association with the natural world. The Rajavritta is represented by Kunti, Draupadi, Subhadara and the pregnant Uttara where as the five women from the Kurujangal represent the Janavritta. I am Godhumi. This is Gomathi, holding my hand. That is Yamuna, with the red spot between her brows. That one standing there with a finger on her chin is Vitasta. And this is Vipasha, Vitastas sister. The five women consider the war as futile clash of egos, so many great kings joined in a war between brothers. Some choose one side, some cross over to the other. It was not just brother slaughtering brother. We know of quarrels jealousies rivalries too. But such a war for just a throne? This, a holy war?! A righteous war?! Just call it a war of greed! The five women are appointed to keep Uttara company and help her to overcome her grief. But to Uttara all the five women seems to be inseparable. the five women seem to think as one. They are so close that they seem to understand each other without words, speak to one another with their eyes alone. They look, they understand. The companionship of these five women is in contrast to the isolation of the women of the Rajavritta. Uttara feels as a stranger to them. Uttara, like the other women of Rajavritta believes that all the soldiers who died in the holy war are very secured in Divyalok the heaven, but the five young women reject this idea. Gothumi says, no chariots came down from Divyalok. They did not go to heaven. The foot soldiers, died fighting in the very same Dharmayudha. But no funeral rites were held for their souls. Further they reject the idea of Dharmayudha, this was not out Dharmayudha. Brother kills brother, uncle kills nephew, shishya kills guru. It may be your idea of dharma, it is not ours. The Janavritta women enjoy the public participation where as it is denied to rajavritta. Thus Uttara expresses surprise, imagine men and women singing together. The rajavritta women have no companionship or bond with their child, at best her child will stay with her a year. After that, the wet nurses will take over its upbringing. Royal offspring are not raised by their mothers. Then will begin the prescribed rites and rituals, the self-denial, the penance. So, this story clearly shows that the rajavrittas were restricted by false notions of high civilization. The natural human state is represented by the five Kurunjugal tribal women, whose life, ideas and quests are opposite to the destructive and sterile attitudes of the higher class of society. Uttara understands the difference and is not ready to leave them. But as widows of rajavritta, all the women (widows) concerns only for Uttara and not for the five young widow. Rajavritta women expect them to give a good company to Uttara because she may beget a son for the throne. how anxious her mother-in-law are! Draupadi, Subhadara, all the others, are deeply worried. If Uttara bears a son, he will be a king. After becoming so close with the five people Uttara used to question, did the rajavritta the royalty ever care to know about the Janavritta common humanity? through the story the five women Mahasweta Devi reveals to the reader the other side of Kurukshetra war and the ingenious of rajavritta women towards Lokavritta people. The third story, Souvali focuses on the irreconcibility of the rajavritta and the Janavritta. Souvali is a former handmaid who served to Dhritarashtra and bore him a son named Souvalya; known as yuyutsu. Souvali, a woman from Janavritta is forced to send her son to the Gurugrigha at the age of five. She is not able to bare the life of Janavritta so she gives up her dasi status and lives outside of the town, waiting for her son to return. On the margins of the town live the marginalized. Their settlement is a lively, noisy place. The alleys are narrow, the houses small. Ponds here and there, surrounded by trees, cattle sheds beside the huts. There, on the stoop of a large hut, sat Souvali. Souvalya is insulted and discriminated from the Kauravas, Dasiputra! Slave child! Its because of this Dasiputra that you got water from a sons hand! Kunti! Gandhari! Gandhari never once, in all these years, acknowledged you as a Kaurava. But he only performs the last rites (tarpan) for Dhritarashtra after the forest fire. The conversation between mother and son reveals that Souvalya is happy to rise above the status of dasi-putra by the pandavas. But his mother is not happy to accept the recognition rather she calls it as a farce. She wants her son to be a Janavritta, her son is foolish. Following the norms and customs of royalty even though he is one of the common folk. She thinks to herself, if you must learn, learn from your mother. I was nothing but a dasi in the royal house-hold but here, amongst the common people, Im a free woman. This story shows the difference between centre and the margins of society. its true. Its in the janavritta,amongst the common people, that we are in touch with our natural emotions. Tenderness,caring,compassion romance,love anger,jealousy. But in the rajavritta,you know how they keep such natural emotions strictly in check. Thus, mahasweta devi shows the two types- the subaltern as gendered subject and the subaltern as class subject clearly. The charcters exemplify the twin problems of class and gender. Mahasweta devis another story draupadi concentrates on the major crisis of drupadis humiliation at hastinapura after yudhistra has lost her in a game of dice. Briefly the Mahabharata chronicles the ancestry and the escalating conflicts of two sets of the brothers, the pandavas and the kaurauvas,for ruler ship of the land. In most recensions, drupadi is born from the earth(although some have her emerging from the fire of her fathers ritual sacrifice). Not long thereafter (she emerges as a young woman of marriageable age), her father arranges a sw aymvara, a gathering of eligible men who compete for her hand in marriage. Arjuna, the third of the five pandavas,wins,as she had hoped he would. But when he returns with his brothers to tell their mother the joyful news, their mother thinking he has won some material goods, commands him to share his winnings with his brothers. As her word can never be taken back, arjuna must share her, to the consternation of all. Draupadi marries all five pandavas in turn, yudishtra, the eldest and wisest; Bhima,noted for his physical strength and tenderheartedness; Arjuna, the consummate warrior, friend of Krishna, and Draupadis favourite; and the twins nakula and sahadeva, celebrated for their good looks. They device an arrangement to eradicate jealousy: beginning with Yudhisthira, each brother ha sole right of conjugal acces to Draupadi for a year at atime, during which the other may not even accidently enter the marital bedroom. Draupadi bears a son to each husband. Eventually, due to pressure exerted upon them by the king Dhritarashtra, the two sets of brothers reconcile, although mutual suspicion remains. In a move of anticipatory, Dhritarashtra divides up the kingdom between the two sides of the family: half to the pandavas and the other half to the hundred kauravas, an arrangement most unsatisfactory to the kauravas. The leading kaurava , Aduryodhana, arranges for yudhisthiras horse sacrifice and coronation,followed in the kauravas grand assembly hall by a ritual game of dice in which players are supposed to ceremonially lose to the new king. But Duryodhana puts his maternal uncle Sakuni, a master at dice, to play in his stead, and the loaded dice take away yudhistras land, wealth and slaves. Yudhistra then stakes each of his brothers in turn, again losing each time. He stakes himself, and again he loses. While the pandavas, stripped to their undergarments, stand aside helplessly as slaves, Duryodhana demands that Draupadi be brought out of the womens hall, and sends a messenger to fetch her. Informed about what has just occurred, she asks whether Yudhishtra lost her before or after he lost himself, and argues that one who no longer owns himself cannot own another to give up. She sends back the messenger. Another messenger is sent, and again returns. Finally, in frustration, Duhshasana himself goes to the womens hall; Drupadi tells him to leave her alone that she is having her period and unable to come to mens gathering. Ignoring her protestations, he drags her by the hair out to the assembly hall, where she pleads in vain with her husbands to help her, which they cannot do. Draupadis fury unmans all present. A debate ensues, interrupted by Duhshanans demanding that Draupadi be stripped, and Duryodhana laughingly patting his thigh to invite her to sit. This humiliation in the assembley hall is Draupadis central crisis, and is related in varying ways. Most recensions show her caling for Krishna to protect her; some show her merely as being jeeringly told to pray. In either case, a miracle occurs: as Duhshasana pulls at the cloth, Draupadi remains clothed:sari after sari appears, and ultimately, after pulling off hundreds of saris, Duhshasana collapses,weary and confused. Dhritarashtra halts the proceedings and grands Draupadi twoo boons. She asks for the freedom of Yudhisthira and for that of the other pandavas. The king grands freedom to every one, and restores all of their posssssessions and land to the pandavas. A second dice game ensues, which Yudhisthira again loses:the terms of the loss are that the pandavas must go into exile for twelve years, remain in exile in disguissse for another year, after which their half of the kingdom would be restored.draupadi follows them into exile, and tjhrought their years away from the kingdom is most eager for revenge: Bhima fulfill his promise to break Duryodhanas thigh and to drink Duhshasanas blood. A reworking of the mahabharatas assembly hall scene, draupadi brings forward the struggle of a santal woman(black like the epics draupadi, for whom she has been named by her mothers master). A cadre in the naxalbari rebellion, draupadi, in the text referred as dopdi is ultimately captured by senanayak, a Bengali army officer whose expertise in anthropology makes him perfect for the task of apprehending tribals. in order to destroy the enemy,become one . senanayak has become one just as in the Mahabharata , kauravas planned to wipe out draupadis husband,the five pandavas. Both the narratives clearly show the struggle of less powered people at the hands of powered ones and the less powered peoples wake of the powerful cheating. Similarly to the disempowering of the epic draupadis husbands,who,enslaved by the loss at the dice,cannot move,dopdis husband is murdered. on one such search, army informant Dukhiram Gharari saw a young Santhal man lying on his stomach on a flat stone, dipping h is face to drink water. The soldiers shot him as he lay. As the 303 threw him off spread- eagled nd brought a bloody foam to his mouth, he roared Ma-ho and then went limp. They realize later that it was the redoubtable Dulna Majhi. She refuses to fall into the armys trap by going to bend his body. The problem is thus solved. Then, leaving Dulnas body on the stone, the soldiers climb the trees in green camouflage. They embrace the leafy boughs like so many great God pass and wait as the large red ants bite their private parts. To see if anyone comes to take away the baby. This is the hunters way, not the soldiers. But senanayak knows that these brutes can not be dispatched by the approved method. So he asks his men to draw the prey with a corpse as bait. All will come clear, he says. I have almost deciphered Dopdis song. The soldiers get going at his command. But no one comes to claim Dulnas Corpse. Rather than lead her pursuers to capture other rebels, Dopdilets herself be caught, refuses to tell names.unlike the epic Draupadi,whose sari flow out in endless profusion,she is stripped, Draupadi mejhen was apprehended at 6.53 pm. It took an hour to get her to camp. Questioning took another hour exactly. No one touched her, and she was allowed to sit on a canvas camp stool. At 8.57 senanayaks dinner hour approached, and saying,Make her. Do the needful, he disappeared. The next day she is ordered to senanayaks tent and offered a pot water to slake her by-now overpowering thirst. But her response upsets all expections, Draupadi stands up. She pours the water down on the ground. Tears her piece of cloth with her teeth. Seeing such strange behavior,the guard says,shes gone crazy, and runs for orders. He can lead the prisoner out but does not know what to do if the prisoner behaves incomprehenstably .so he goes to ask his superior. Mahasweta devis Deaupadi refuses to be clothed again. She forces the confrontation with her tormentors-letting them see exactly what they have done to her, refusing to futilely attempt to cover herself. No goddess will come to help her and no king will fight for her behalf. Senanayk is paralysed at what he sees, Draupadistands before him, naked. Thigh and public hait matted with dry blood. Two breasts,two wounds. What is this? He is about to bark. Draupadi comes closert. Stands with her hand on her hip, laughs and says, The object of your search,Dopdi Mejhen. You asked them to make me up, dont you want to see how they made me? Where are her clothes? wont put them on,sir. Tearing them. Drauypadis black body comes even closer. Draupadi shakes wih an indomitable laughter that senanayak simply cannot understand. Her raveged lips bleed as she begins laughing. Draupadi wipes the blood on her palm and says in a voice that is as terrifying, sky spiliting and sharp as her ululation,whats the use of clothes? You can stripe me, but how can you clothe me again?are you a Man? She looks around and chooses thr front of senanayaks white bush shirt to spit a bloody gob at and says, There isnt a man here that I should be ashamed. I will not let you put my clothe on me. What more can you do? Come on, counter me- come on counter me-? Draupadi pushes senanayak with her two mangled breasts, and for the first time senanayak is afraid to stand before an unarmed target, terribly afraid. In the Mahabharata Draupadi is dragged from her menstrual cycle into the assembly hall in one garment, the stained garment is signifier that dushasana is expected to understand. She is not to be touched, and she certainly is not to be brought to the view of men. She reminds him,but he mocks at her and forces her to be in the hall. Dopdis signifiers of bllod, in contrast , mark a rape and torture completed rather than forestalled. The soldiers and senanayak are paralysed rather than goaded like Duhshasana into further action. Like the epic Draupadiu, who decries the impotence of her husbands, dopdi can find no man present within the camp. Ferociously, she defiles senanayak with her blood-she spits on him with her bleeding mouth, and pushes him with her wounded breasts into hiswhite shirt. Occypying his physical, forcing him to see her made up, she shoves his own fear into his face. Unarmed, but threatens what the actions of the next hour may be. In dopds case,the insults she hurls at senanayak and his men- which echo those that the master narrator Vyasa gave to the epic Draupadi in the assembly hall, and even her spitting and her pushing her wounded

The Inuit Way of Life :: essays research papers

The Inuit were people who lived in the Arctic such as Alaska, Northern Canada and Greenland. They can also be called Eskimos. The word Inuit refers to â€Å"real people of the north† and from this distinction as well as their way of living which I observed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, I conclude that these people were a race of people with a strong spirit for life in general as well as each other. Their social customs included storytelling, dancing, drum playing, crafts, celebrations, games, hunting and survival skills. They based their social structure on the land, their families, and traditions that were passed on through generations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Inuit hunted and fished whale, seal, and walrus by way of a kayak or by waiting patiently near holes in the ice. They made great use of animal skins for warm and beautiful clothing as one may observe on display in the Polar World exhibit at the museum. They primarily made a living by hunting, trapping, and buying and selling handicrafts. They also traded whale blubber which was used for fuel. They traded the blubber with missionaries, whalers, and other foreigners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Organization in Inuit society was nearly non-existent. There were no class divisions or divisions of rank among the people. They can simply be described as Eskimo tribes who shared the same traditions. There were no prominent leadership roles among these people. Family was considered the main focus with the eldest male of each family reigning with highest authority. This society was non-aggressive with values centered on cooperation. This is probably why there were no prominent leaders in this liberal-like society. The only character held in high regard was the Shaman who was believed to have relations with supernatural powers which controlled health, power, and the weather.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Inuits valued their families and each member looked out for each other. Kinship typically included three past generations from the paternal as well as maternal sides. These generations were extremely close. The doings of one member were felt as the accountability of the whole group. Small feuds often resulted between different families.

The First Day of School Essay

The first day of school is one of a child’s most significant moments of his or her life. Starting off kindergarten can be quite dreadful but a mother’s presence will reassure you that everything will be fine from the very start. In the story, â€Å"The First Day†, the author conveys the story of the mother going to great lengths to prepare her daughter for the start of school. Throughout the story, the author uses narrative techniques such as point of view, foreshadowing, and the main plot in order to convey the meaning of the short story that includes; love, pride and shame. The author uses first person point of view to describe the experiences she went through with her mother while enrolling for school. The narrator includes a series of flashbacks such as mentioning her father, who left them while she was young. This technique gives the readers access to the narrator’s perspective of the events and characters. She includes her thoughts, observations, and feelings about her mother, whom she is ashamed of due to the fact that she is illiterate. The purpose of foreshadowing is to warn or indicate readers of what is to come later in the story. In this case, the story begins with â€Å"In an otherwise unremarkable September morning, long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother, she takes my hand†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The narrator’s shame towards her mother is prevalent when she mentions â€Å"learned to be ashamed of my mother†. This indicates that the memory she is looking back on is not a joyful one. Furthermore in the story, the author makes numerous mentions about the mother’s lack of education by indicating her dialogue. This includes â€Å"If I’da wanted her someplace else, I’da took her there† or â€Å"Would ifou help me with this form? That is, if you don’t mind.† This technique made it obvious to the readers that there is something wrong with the mother. Lastly, the main plot is the most significant technique the author uses to make this short story compelling. It begins with memories of her past, to imagery about her clothing and perfume to introducing the main event: enrolling for Kindergarten. In then furthers to when she could not enroll to  Seaton Elementary School due to her current address. It led to her mother enrolling her to a different school where the climax is revealed that her mother could not fill out the paper work because she did not know how to read nor write. The conclusion came to an end when the daughter found out about her mother’s lack of education and how she realized her mother’s only dream is for her is to go to school and not become like her. The impact of the mother’s only dream for daughter to be able to go to school became the most important point of the story. The narrative techniques the author used showcased the mother’s desperate yearning for a better life for her daughter than the life she endured. It provokes feelings of self-love, pride and shame that unravels throughout the whole story.

Dial One, Followed by the Octothorpe

Dial One, Followed by the Octothorpe Dial One, Followed by the Octothorpe Dial One, Followed by the Octothorpe By Maeve Maddox Everyone knows the cross-hatched symbol #. For some its the pound sign because it has been used by greengrocers as a symbol for pound on the little signs pricing fruit and vegetables: .75# (seventy-five cents a pound). For some its the tic-tac-toe sign because of the game that uses it as the playing area. Automated telephone systems instruct us to dial certain numbers, followed by the pound sign, a direction that confused me at first because I think of this symbol as the number sign. As if there werent already enough names for it, engineers at Bell have come up with an official moniker for it: the octothorpe. The octo part comes from the fact that the symbol has eight points. No one seems to be able to say with any certainty where the thorpe comes from. European phone companies, like British Telecom, call the symbol a square, a term apparently too simple for the North American telephone industry. On the other hand, rather than use the obvious word asterisk for that symbol on the dial, the telephone powers prefer to call it a star. Go figure. For an exploration of the etymology of octothorpe visit World Wide Words. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Types of LanguageGrammar Quiz #21: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses50 Synonyms for â€Å"Villain†

Great Gatsby-corruption essays

Great Gatsby-corruption essays The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a classic American novel about an obsessed man named Jay Gatsby who will do anything to be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. The book is told through the point of view of Nick Caraway, Daisy's cousin once removed, who rented a little cottage in West Egg, Long Island across the bay from Daisy's home. Nick was Jay Gatsby's neighbor. Tom Buchanan is Daisy's abusive, rich husband and their friend, Jordan Baker, has caught the eye of Nick and Nick is rather smitten by her. Gatsby himself is a very ostentatious man and carries a rather mysterious aura about himself which leads to the question: Is Gatsby's fortune a house of cards built to win the love of his life or has Daisy entranced him enough to give him the motivation to be so successful? While from a distance Jay Gatsby appears to be a well-educated man of integrity, in reality he is a corrupt, naive fool. Jay Gatsby fell in love with a young Daisy Buchanan prior to his military assignment overseas in WWI. Gatsby wanted to marry Daisy but she wouldn't marry him because he was poor and not a socialite. Gatsby then spent the five years, after his return home from the war; he strived to accumulate enough wealth to receive Daisy's love and attention. There is one quote in my cards that I honestly had no idea what it meant. The quote was just plain creepy though. I had no idea it was when these little girls walked by Nick and Gatsby. The little girls were singing: Into you tent Ill creep. (pg.83) Then all of a sudden it hit me. It is such a foreshadow device and the little girls represent Daisy and the spell she has over Gatsby and Gatsbys eventual downfall. The quote is about someone whos love for another person is so great but that love cannot be so the person in love is killed, by love. Since this quote was only mentioned once Fitzgerald didnt want to pound it into our h...

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Anthropology - Essay Example The main reason why mating between different species is not encouraged is because the resulting offspring is usually not as fit as the parent species. However, this is not always the case if we take an example of the ancient man where the Homo sapiens and the Homo erectus interbred to produce viable offspring with a higher brain capacity (Douglas). Reproductive isolation mechanisms that exist make some individuals incapable of fertile interbreeding. This occurs when the interbreeding leads to offspring that are not viable. The word capable here means that the organisms are free and willing to mate naturally to reproduce. It is true that the anatomy of many organisms qualifies their ability or inability to mate. However, if there is no reproductive isolation, organisms of different species are capable of fertile interbreeding. The dog and the wolf are both from the same group, Canis, and they have the capability and desire to interbreed because they are closely related and their offspring are viable. For instance, taking the German Shepherds as an example, they are cross breed of dogs and wolves and they are known for their high intelligence, strength, and obedience training. An example of an infertile offspring is the mule- a result of the interbreeding between a horse and a donkey. This clearly shows that, fertile interbreedi ng between two distinct species should not be considered a surprise. This is because it does not matter whichever species two organisms come from as long as a fertile offspring is

Education vs Economic Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11750 words

Education vs Economic Crisis - Essay Example The research utilizes resources readily available as it seeks to shed light on the gap between the economic crisis and the education. The economic crisis pushes schools to adopt the best marketing and educational exercises that minimize expenditure to create profits for the business. The research attempts to provide information necessary for the management of Eurognosi to adopt optimal operations to acquire profits. Given the nature of the education system, the research utilized the availability of parents during the school’s enrollment day. Parents and guardians alike gathered at the institution to bring their children as they commenced the first day of the academic year. The research involved supplying questionnaires and administering interviews to all the stakeholders present at the school. The results acquired were gathered, tabulated, evaluated, and analyzed to extract the best practice techniques to ensure the survival of the institution in the near future. The research provides the linking information between the economic recession characteristic of the last decade and its effect on the standards of education delivered to students. The purpose of the project is to find and deeply analyze the main needs of today’s users as it comes to education in private institutes. To achieve such an analysis, a new market research will be implemented. For the purpose of this project, the institute to be used would be â€Å"Eurognosi† and more specifically the branch in Aglantzia. A SWOT analysis will be implemented to develop critical thinking to improve strategic plans and objectives of the branch. The main advantage of the project lies in its uniqueness and is the forebear of more studies to come.

Advertising-clients and consumers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advertising-clients and consumers - Essay Example ommercial that was somewhat similar between the two programs was an advertisement for cars for sale in which the normal employee discount was being extended to everyone until the end of the month. The difference was in the kind of cars featured. On the Emmys, it was the entire line of Saturns while on the football, the concentration was on trucks and larger sedans. There were amazing differences, though. The Emmy’s showed ads for products that would mostly or even exclusively apply to women. These included hair care products intended for long, silky hair or sparkling color, make-up, age-refining creams and a few female-oriented television shows. The advertisements played during the football game were for products such as men’s shampoo, beer, trucks and male-oriented television shows. The proportion of the ads was different, too. There were more ads for beauty products and shopping on the Emmys while there were more ads for movies and television shows on the football game. From these sorts of advertisements, several key characteristics of the expected audience can be inferred. The Emmys obviously anticipate a mostly female audience. They obviously anticipate older rather than younger women in that they are advertising products designed to make women look younger rather than capitalizing on already young faces and they are probably geared toward a more wealthy social class in that they are advertising more expensive products using classy settings and an elegant tone. The football game obviously expects a male audience, advertising products in terms of tough, strong and powerful. The settings are much more informal and include girls in bikini bathing suits and the emphasis is much more on simply passive observation or full-on involvement rather than a compromise between the two, such as in the shopping targeting the women. The similarities of products – there is an alcohol product in both, beauty products in both, vehicles in both, food in both,

Recruiting and Selecting Employees Who Look Good and Sound Right Essay Example for Free

Recruiting and Selecting Employees Who Look Good and Sound Right Essay Present day business industry is highly dependent on the general success of the people within organizations who are commonly referred to as the human resource. Important to note is that the human resource prospect is defined under two categories within any given organization; firstly there is the employees of an organization themselves and secondly the people in management who are responsible for promoting the values of the organization through ensuring that human aspects within an organization are satisfactorily taken care of (Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg and Nohria 2009 ). With regards to the aforementioned details, the human resource department is usually tasked with the responsibility of bringing in new employees whose skills sets suit an organization’s mandate and values in general through a rigorous recruitment and selection process. During the recruitment and selection process of prospecting employees, companies usually set out on a hunting mission for the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me who are available in the job search market. How an individual who is in pursuit of a job opportunity dresses and carries themselves in an interview and further their conversational skills greatly determine whether or not an organization will hire them; this is what is described as looking good and sounding right in this paper. How an employee is dressed decimates into how they think and interrelate with customers in an organization thereby offering quality services and creating a conducive business environment in return. The underlying chapters of this paper will be keen on reflecting on the prospects and influences of dressing smart and sounding right with an inference on analysis and compilations from multiple academic literatures on the same topic while at the same time illustrating the influences of looking good and sounding right through the lens or organizational examples. Having a human resource that thinks right and has an exquisite recruitment strategy in place is what defines organization’s competitive edge in the current market; it is every organization’s dream that its employee’s appearance influences how the customers relate to the company on a broader perspective thus promoting their brand in the long run (Warhurst 2012). The prospect of looking good and sounding right within organizations Human resource practitioners will agree to the fact that a great deal of time goes into activities and processes related to recruiting and selecting new staff for a particular position in an organization. Many at times the long durations tied to recruitment are connected to the ideal of companies to not only want to source for staff who are knowledgeable about what their companies deal in but also look the part of any given brand and are easily approachable by customers. Staff selection during a recruitment process of an organization is one of the most vital decisions that the organizations have to undertake to ensure that their normal operations are running smoothly (Taylor 2008). Businesses have to know what they are clearly looking for in an employee before signing them up, not only how red-hot the skills of an individual seeking employment look will determine the long-term success of an organization and recruitment of the correct person but also the most important aspect is how t hey look and how they carry themselves while conversing with customers in an actual business setting (Quast 2012). It is critical that organizations have systems and a recruitment process in place which is capable of accessing how the applicants of a particular job opening portray these traits before their full time absorption by any organization. Take the case of Richer Sounds an electrical retail chain store with over 53 stores across the nation: it has in place a three stage recruitment process for new staff seeking any job opportunities within the company. The first stage of recruitment involves placement of advertisements at the stores windows and also through the company website where people who are interested are requested to e-mail a CV to the company. The former kind of advertisement mainly targets people who pay attention to their brand and customers who are regular visitors to the shop thus are knowledgeable about the products (Fisher 2014). On the other hand, the latter advertisement is aimed to attend to a greater pool of applicants irrespective of their familiarity with Richer Sound s products. Considering the advertisement strategies imposed at this point, it is evident that a great pool of applicants will be willing to be signed; the most integral part of this initial stage is demonstrated through a store manager’s initial interview who is keen on sorting the applicants to remain with those who look the part through analysis of their dress code and personality. Operations director John Clayton suggests that, â€Å"Richer sounds hires on the basis of personality then later train for skills (Martin and Whiting 2010).† These instance posters a scenario where people get accessed on the basis of how they look even before a company takes a look and considers an individual’s qualifications. Second in line of the recruitment strategy is a paid trial day for an applicant which in some circumstances stretches beyond the one day period. Here, the applicant is accessed on whether or not they are consistent in their dressing and how they sound when conversing with customers. Upon completion of the trial stage, other members of a particular store are asked on their opinion of what they think about a new recruit and whether they embody the company’s aspect of looking good and sounding right (Nickson and Dutton 2005). Last in queue of the recruitment process is stage three where an applicant’s qualifications are now accessed to see how suitable they are for the job after considering that the individual’s personality is suitable for Richer Sounds. From the Richer Sounds case, it is evident that the way companies approach their recruitment processes over the years has greatly revolved and now companies are keen on how an individual looks and how their conversa tions sound before customers. Irrespective of the costs of recruitment, companies are willing to dig deep into their financial coffers so that they can get the right group of employees; Williamson argues that, â€Å"it is arguably more expensive hiring wrong people in an organization as opposed to the cost of having a stringent recruitment strategy in place that is time consuming (McMillan 2014).† Richer Sounds is just one among the many companies that are currently inclined towards accessing applicants for job openings on the grounds of how they look and opulence they execute through their conversations with customers. On a broader perspective, how an individual looks has a great influence on the operations of people within different organizations; important in the process of advocating for employees who look good is an employer who serves up to their word of promoting smart dressing for the workplace by leading as the actual ambassador of what their brand should be defined as. Looking good while pursuing a job opportunity has positive impacts and a higher probability one is going to achieve the job, people will ascribe good qualities on the prospect of your perceived appearance thus want to always associate their company with an individual who looks good. A Macquarie University research carried out in both the United Kingdom and United States suggests that looking good improves the chances of one scoring a job opportunity and also is responsible for boosting one’s career once they are employed in different organizations (Arkin 2007). The research further suggested that employees who look go od and sound right are usually rated highly by their employers and the probability of them losing their jobs is usually minimal. In essence, looking good attracts a myriad of premium rewards for both the person and organization at large whereas those who are unattractive and have a poor personality in most situations lose out on several job opportunities (Boxall 2008). Moreover, having in place a clearly defined staff is the key component that ensures customers to a particular organization have a clearly defined experience that warrants their coming back for the same services once again and consequently creates a solid positive internal culture of an organization. It is ideal that organizations have a culture that existing employees are well versed with so that when the recruitment process for new staff is commenced, it is one that runs smoothly. New recruits to any given organization should find in place, a culture where staff are usually well dressed and converse excellently with customers thereby prompting an easier transitioning process for new staff into the operations of an organization. Efficiently articulating a particular dress code for existing staff is key in determining and sourcing for new recruits who will promote the same culture and easily get acclimatized with the practices of any given organization which in return will yield posit ive results for the same company (Churchard 2010). Indeed, some positions within an organization do require employees with a particular set of skills usually defined as experience and qualifications for a specific job but setting out a hunt on this basis is the first step that organizations usually make during their recruitment process; companies should attend to the recruitment process with a different perception where the individual’s character is assessed for they are buying into the person’s character and not their qualifications. Possessing both this attributes is a plus for any prospecting employee and is a sure combined package to score one a job (Faccini and C 2010). Arguably, the perception of looking good and sounding right in a respectable number of business circles usually refers to an individual’s physical appearance, a definition that has triggered a trend of the working class turning to the gym as a means of staying fit. The service sector for instance has rampantly changed over the years where unlike the previous years where service providers never met their customers currently employees are always in constant contact with their customer; a fact that influences the need for staff to dress the part and portray their organization in positive light (Emott 2007). How affluent and efficient an employee’s speech is determines the placement of any given company as a brand to all its customers which is greatly dependent on the employees. The enforcement and prescription for employees to embody both the aspects of looking and sounding good is referred to as aesthetic labour and this characteristics play an integral point of how new e mployees to any organization relate with customers. Companies have learnt that before their recruitment process, that for the success of any business to be achieved, recruitment of workers should be expressively based on labour aesthetics of any individual before they are taken in. Finding and incorporating the right people with this kind of characteristics is a daunting task for many organizations and the only means of recruiting an individual with the right skill set involves having in place a well structured selection system during the recruitment process (Hofstede 1997). However, the daunting recruitment process does not stop at this point, it is equivocally difficult to select out a specific candidate who suits the needed requirements for your organization. Fast forward to the case of Nestle Group of companies which has a human resource policy that the company abides by whenever any recruitment is being carried out in their group of companies across the world (Kaplan 1992). Their recruitment processes is respectful of the varied legislation practices of different countries but above all the recruitment strategy is underpinned under the mantra of looking good and sounding right as a means of selecting new recruits into various positions of their wide range of companies across the globe. Underpinned in the promotion of its human resource policy, is the responsibility for employees of the organization to be capable of satisfying the needs of its customers (Hutchinson 2003). The human resource department is tasked with the requisite responsibility of proposing individuals that suit the aforementioned requirements. Furthermore, the Nestle Group has in place a mentorship programme that offers guidance to new recruits into the organization so that the company’s mission statement can be achieved in the simplest ways possible after assessment of recruits on the basis of how they look and sound good before the customers (Letmathe 2008). This partnership and mentorship programme between existing staff and new incoming staff is an efficient means that has been in use for a very long period of time for people recruitment and their management in general. The recruitment cases of both Nestle Group and Richer Sounds demonstrates that companies are currently turning to the looking good and sounding good trait in applicants as a means of selecting who is suitable for any given position within their organizations (Paton 2008 ). This trend has been fuelled by the fact that there exists a broader pool of unemployed individuals with right qualifications but they cannot secure for themselves any jobs; looking good and sounding right is the ideal means used to disqualify this wide pool of applicants. Looking good and sounding right has become the ideal filtering tool for companies when they are sourcing and on a search for new employees through a well structured recruitment process. Irrespective of the fact that recruitment of new staff by the human resource department is a difficult task, clearly defining what the human resource management is looking for in a customer then crafting a description of the same as a recruitment step is usually in strumental in attracting the right cadre of individuals any given company is keen on hiring despite the fact that there are many people out there looking for jobs. Looking out for these two qualities in individuals is the first step towards narrowing down the wide numbers of applicants for any given job so that any company’s job opening can remain with only potential clients that can meet the values of the company while at the same time promoting the mission statement of the same company. Categorical in the recruitment process and requirements for applicants is the prospect of an applicant having passion for whatever job they are trying to achieve, their commitment to any given company, their general problem-solving skills and lastly any relevant experience they have in the field being advertised (Ritzer 1985). Clearly outlining what as an organization you need in an applicant is instrumental in helping organizations know how attentive applicants are to detail as opposed to only looking at their resume which offers little or rather basic information about an individual. Before conceptualizing and kick-starting any particular recruitment and selection process, an organization must first attune its strategy to be relatively inclined to the values of the organization and is fully supportive of the organization’s culture. Pre-employment testing like the case of Richer Sounds is an ideal way in determining whether or not a company is making a wise decision by investing into an individual with the set capabilities of looking good and sounding right so that an organization can fully accrue its set goals (Gilmore 2000). The people recruitment strategy is a determining factor on whether a company is going to succeed or fail and also influential on how employees develop during their stay in a particular organization thus there general motivation that in return bears fruit through excellent service delivery to customers. New recruits embodying the prospect of looking good and sounding right is highly dependent on how the company itself is culturally inclined towards the promotion these two traits. References Arkin, Anderson. Street Smart . People Management , 2007: 28-29. Boxall, . Purcell. Strategy and Human Resource Management. London : Houndsmills: Palgrave McMillan , 2008. Churchard, Christopher. Power brokers. People Management , 2010: 38-40. Emott, Drucker. CSR Laid Bare . Harper Business , 2007: 14-32. Faccini, R., and Hackworth C. Changes in output, employment and wages during recesrecessions in the UK . Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, 2010: 43-50. Fernandez-Araoz, Claudio, Boris Groysberg, and Nitin Nohria. The Definitive Guide to Recruiting . Harvard Business Review , 2009 : 14-21. Fisher, Annie. How to spot the right cultural fit in a job interview. August 8, 2014. http://fortune.com/2014/08/08/job-interview-cultural-fit/ (accessed January 16, 2015). Gilmore, Stewart. The McDonaldization of Society: New Century Edition. London : Pine Forge Press, 2000. Hofstede, George. Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. London : McGraw Hill , 1997. Hutchinson, Purcell. HR roles and responsibilities: the 2010 IRS survey. IRS Employment Review , 2003: 14-17. Kaplan, Norton. The balanced scorecard. Harvard Business Review , 1992: 71-79. Letmathe, P. Brabeck. The Nestle HR Policy Report . Policy Report , New York : Ndestlesy Inc. , 2008. Martin, Malcolm, and Fiona Whiting. Human Resource Practice . In Recruitment and Selection , by Tricia Jackson, 109-157. London : CIPD , 2010. McMillan, Andrew. Recruitment at Richer Sounds . London : Cambridge University Press , 2014. Nickson, Dennis, and Eli Dutton. The importance of attitude and appearance in the service encounter in retail and hospitality. Managing Service Quality, 2005: 195-204. Paton, Oliver. Gen Up: How the Four Generations Work Together,. Joint Survery Report , London : CIPD , 2008 . Quast, Lisa. Companies Are Using Social Media In The Hiring Process. May 21, 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2012/05/21/recruiting-reinvented-how-companies-are-using-social-media-in-the-hiring-process/ (accessed January 17, 2015). Ritzer, Solomon. Packaging the service provider. Service Industries Journal, 1985: 65-72. Taylor, Kate. Recruiting and Hiring Top-Quality Employees. August 23, 2008. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/76182 (accessed January 16, 2015). Warhurst, Chris. Employee Screening nad Selection . References for Business , 2012: 134-152. Source document