America in the 1920s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

America in the 1920s - Essay Example Realities of the wartime, accompanied by the scale restrictions of democracy and introduction to violence of tens millions of people, have rendered huge influence on public psychology, morals, valuable priorities. At the same time, the war has also lay the foundation of rather significant industrial growth in the majority of the states of the West that cannot but affect a standard of living of the population. To the full all this was showed in the history of the United States of America. The war and post-war economic boom became the reason of essential social changes in the country, which have turned into partial reconsideration of former, in many respects Puritan, value system. So let us consider 1920s American economic and social developments, including the economic boom (1922-1929), impact of the automobile, introduction of new electrical products and household appliances, improvement of the standard of living and working conditions, and growth of the stock market. Growth of the population and the well-being of the population in the beginning of the twenties century have led to a long growth in economy. In 1920s was carried out railway construction, people spent a lot of money for purchase of the new capital 'consumer blessings', and as a result building sector, automobile and other industries experienced an extraordinary rise. It is possible to say that the most important factor of the amazing economic boom (1922-1929) in the USA is the occurrence of new industries. In particular, phenomenal rise was observed in automotive industry. There has arisen the huge demand for production of allied industries, especially steel, rubber, glass and oil products. In the road building, which has received additional stimulus of development, there were also many new workplaces. In the same period in high gear developed manufacture of radio, other electrical products and household appliances. Installment trading became the powerful factor of growth of interna l consumption. Despite of the existence of variety of laws, called to limit the creation of large corporations, monopolization of economic life occurred very quickly, especially in sphere of public service. As it usually happens during the periods of boom, in the second half 1920s there was a big growth of share prices. And there was a ground for it: manufacture grew, incomes of the population raised, unemployment decreased. "Americans invested in companies by buying shares. They bought shares 'on the margin', paying back loans when share prices went up1". When this speculative boom has reached its limit, it has begun great fall of stocks. Since this moment all financial system of the USA and together with it the financial system of other world has started crackling. It is assumed that the main reason of the Great depression is the stock market crash in 1929. However the process actually has been set by the irresponsible profit making of brokers during the economic boom, which has begun in 1924. During this period the country is unprecedented prospered, however then there was a dangerous skew in incomes. Calvin Coolidge, the president of the USA in 1924-1929, has declared the non-interference of the state in business. The tax on income has been sharply lowered. Illusion of economic growth has led to occurrence of a financial pyramid: the share price were artificially overestimated, Americans counted up dividends and bought new shares,

Performance management and rewards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Performance management and rewards - Essay Example extremely essential to retain the human resources of the organization so as to enhance its productivity and brand value in the market among other rival players. This essay is divided into four phrases mainly highlighting the importance of retention as well as the ways to increase the rate of retention of the employees in the organization. Along with this, the retention strategy is also devised in order to reduce the ratio of attrition of the Hertfordshire-based SME so as to amplify its reputation and efficiency in the market among others. It is the process by which, employees are retained within the organization for longer period of time so as to enhance its image and productivity. Due to which, retention is recognised as the most important tactic of talent management process. So, it is offered higher attention by the organizational entrepreneurs in this competitive age (Cannon & McGee, 2011). Retention of an employee within an organization is essential as it acts as its driving force. This is because it helps in introduction of varied types of inventive products and services thereby satisfying the changing requirements of the customers. As a result of which, it enhances the reliability and trust of the customers towards the brand thereby amplifying its position and dominance in the market among others (Finnegan, 2010, pp. 556-561). Not only this, employee retention also gears the goodwill of the organization to a significant extent thereby amplifying its cost of profit margin and net income. In addition, employee re tention also helps in regaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization, long term success and profitability and improvement of turnovers. Thus it might be stated that retention of employees might enhance customer satisfaction, improve total sales cost and amplify returns of the Hertfordshire-based SME. The term retention seems easy, but it’s extremely hard. This is mainly due to various reasons presented. Lack of appreciation is one of

Snow White And The Huntsman Film Studies Essay

Snow White And The Huntsman Film Studies Essay In the epic action-adventure starts out with (Kristen Stewart) who plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen, her name, snow white. While the film offers an appropriately exciting take on the fairy tale that inspired it, Snow White and the Huntsman is slow at the beginning of the movie with a confused script that jumps around a bit. Thirty minutes into the film it starts to pick up with its first action war scene against the Dark Army, an assaulting force of glass fighters. The film offers wonderful digital effects during this scheme with the soldiers shattering when struck by swords. Ravenna (the evil queen) seizes control of the entire kingdom, locks snow white up and years pass. More drama begins to unfold as age starts to affect the Queen. In order to sustain and preserve her beauty, the Queen must draw out the essence of youth from young women. The Queen also consults with a digitally animated Magic Mirror, that very interesting to watch. As the story begins to pick up, the Mirrors informes the Queen that Snow White is predestined to destroy her unless she devours the young girls heart. At this point the huntsman is introduced; his name is Eric, a widower who has lived in the Dark Forest, is taken to Queen. She orders him to lead her brother, Finn to search for Snow White. In exchange, she assures him that she can revive his deceased wife, Sarah. The next few action scenes have high intensity with a lot of digital affects within the scary forest full of nightmares to an enormous, drooling, angry goblin thats out to eat anyone that enters his valley. The visual effects continue as they travel through the fairy sanctuary where the fairies and animals alike dwell in harmony. The guides for Snow white and the huntsman are hefty, stocky dwarves who were snow whites loyal friends. The actors who played these dwarfs caught me off guard while watching the film. It seems the movie producer passed over little people for the roles of the seven dwarfs.   Full-sized British actors such as  Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone played the roles and were shrunk using digital manipulation and had their faces digitally transmuted onto small the bodies. This took away from the realization of the seven dwarfs if you recognize any of the actors playing the seven dwarfs. I would like to have seen more of the seven dwarfs and I feel they w ere slightly under used. The location of the movie took place in the beautiful United Kingdom. Some of the beach scenes were filmed near the village of Marloes which gives the movie a darker feel. The classic Snow White fairytale was set in Germany and the movie showed these German features throughout the movie. The shape of the castle, the design of the village cottages, and the dark forest which represented Germanys Black Forest brought the classic story to life. The music that was created for the movie was outstanding. It really lifted the film and stood out over the chaos of the battle scenes. The background voice that was used created tension in all the right places, and moved me to the point that I wanted to cry during the dwarfs duet.  The costumes made for the Queen were spectacular. The dresses represented power and elegance with a touch of armor for battle as the story unfolded. I would have no problem seeing it again even though I know the ending. All in all this movie was money well spent. I would whole heartedly recommend this film. It has really given the kiss of life to the fairy tale classic, breathing new air into a new way of storytelling. The acting was well done except for Kristen Stewart playing snow-white. I would have no problem seeing watching this movie again or buying it on DVD.

The Path to the Chromosome Theory of Heredity :: History Science Biology Essays

The Path to the Chromosome Theory of Heredity The notion of the chromosome theory of heredity is very important to the understanding of evolution and genetics. There were many ideas, some correct and others not, which influenced the revolutionary discovery of chromosomal heredity. The main stones in the path to the chromosomal theory are the pangenesis hypothesis, the germ-plasm theory, and Mendel’s Laws. Pangenesis Lamarck expressed the idea that by simply using or not using certain organs they may be developed or atrophied and their offspring can then inherit these acquired characteristics. (Milner p. 375, 1993) It should be noted that this theory was not widely accepted largely due to the fact that the French word that Lamarck used in the sense of â€Å"must† was translated as â€Å"wants to,† which makes it sound as though the organism decides to change its body. Furthermore, Lamarck provided no mechanism by which this could take place. (www.ridgenet.net/do_while/sage/v1i8f.htm) Darwin was the one to give a mechanism for Lamarck’s idea. This mechanism is known as pangenesis. Darwin’s ideas of evolution were well founded in the beginning; however, as his theory progressed he reverted to Lamarckian thought to explain his observations. To begin his theory he started with the observations that there is variation in offspring. He wrote, â€Å"no one supposes that all the individuals of the same species inhabiting the same confined locality, are cast of the same mold†¦I am convinced that the most experienced naturalist would be surprised at the number of the cases of variability†¦as I have collected† (Chapter 2 of Origin of Species). He sees that there is a struggle for existence saying, â€Å"as more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for existence† (Chapter 3 of Origin of Species). Finally, Darwin recognized that there is a survival of the fittest in that the organisms with the best variations for the continuance of the species live and those with variations that are n ot as useful to the continuation of the species die (Chapter 4 of Origin of Species). Darwin begins to diverge into Lamarckian thought at this point. Darwin wrote that, â€Å" slightly different changes in the conditions of life add to the vigor and fertility of all organic beings†¦the crossing of forms which have been exposed to slightly different conditions of life or which have varied, favours the size, vigor, and fertility of their offspring† (Chapter 9 of Origin of Species).

Birth of a Nation: Art or Propaganda Essay

Mankind, engaging in war, driven by whatever instincts guide him, seeks to keep the defeats and victories of battle in his memory and on his conscience. To accomplish this men have used paint and canvas, ink and paper, or instrument and song in their effort to communicate the tragedy and glory of war. Never, before the career of D. W. Griffith had anyone attempted to bring the subject to film. The result of his efforts, weaknesses aside, mark a change in attitude towards film as a media. Perhaps audiences previously going to a picture expected emotional manipulation. After all, years before the film Birth of a nation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke pathos from viewers; whether through the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened child or what have you. In this respect the film was not a ground-breaker; However, through its effective use of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as well as building on and arguably perfecting film techniques such as continuity editing, intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from mere entertainment to art and propaganda. To present and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere in literature. Whether the image is subtle or obvious it is regardless a sign of considerable calculation and effort. In Birth of a nation Griffith places symbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written works with his own visual works. For instance, the parched corn symbol in the scene where the southern army is eating symbolizes their desperation in the face of defeat. This imagery proves that Griffith wasn’t just presenting actors and a plot, he intended to dig far deeper than that, into the realm of a clever storyteller. Another example of his unique style is the use of foreshadowing, another literary device now commonly employed in film. The most prominent example of this is the scene where two gentlemen are talking, and as the camera pans down, we see a puppy struggling with a kitten. This is another strong example of symbolism; however, even more importantly it foreshadows the coming war. It is expertly placed to add to the building tension between sides which the audience already knows results in confrontation. Its placement reflects Griffiths desire to advance the complexity and diversity of film beyond entertainment to higher levels in society. To manipulate his audience’s emotions, he first had to draw them into the story and in turn into the stories underlying theme. He accomplished this by using numerous virgin film tools, much as an artist uses his own tools to create a believable painting. Among these tools he uses panoramas to illustrate setting, to paint, if you will – a moving picture. To show the swell of heated gunfire on a crowded battlefield i. e. the scene of the battle of Petersburg, or to bring across image of the delicate beauty of his native southern land to those who had never been there or seen a picture of it. This was the substance that transformed film into a genuine art form. Once he had the attention and anticipation of the audience, as well as their almost guaranteed acceptance of his word, he merely had to feed them a easily grasped, recognizable message to sway their emotions his way. This method of classic propaganda was used to fuel the audience’s already considerable ill-founded hatred of blacks. It comes in the form of a rebel black group who terrorizes the Cameron family, the film’s main characters. By placing blacks in this position it isn’t difficult to imagine the reaction of an average theatre goer. The film spawned riots, fired up racism, built stronger the negative stereotypes of blacks. It portrayed them as lazy, as illustrated in the black parliament, where a man rests his bare feet on a desk, alluding to uselessness in the employment environment. More horrifyingly than that it portrayed them as ultimately evil with the seizing of the Cameron’s home and the attempted rape of one of their daughters. The obvious bias presented, although appalling, demonstrates just how effective Griffith was at utilizing film not with the intention to merely entertain, but to spread propaganda and affect the perceptions of society itself. Griffith exploited his audience, he turned them against minorities and themselves. The film Birth of a nation exemplifies ignorance and hate at its worst. Although it stands for something that today is looked on as morally wrong, it proves by this very reaction that the film is not just mere entertainment, but something with a far more serious purpose. Since Griffith was the first to accomplish something of this nature, Birth of a nation therefore marks the transformation of film from pure entertainment into art and propaganda.

My Last Duchess and La Belle Dame Sans Merci Comparison Essay

My Last Duchess and La Belle Dame Sans Merci are two poems that explore a wide range of power dynamics that result from love. Patriarchal power is a key theme that is explored in these two poems, with conflicting views on each. La Belle Dame sans Merci tells of a sorry tale of how a knight, a typically powerful figure, is cast away by a woman who had no love for him. This theme is almost mirrored in the other poem; however the other poem, My Last Duchess seems to exert a more male perspective, focusing more on patriarchal power. A women to Her Lover, seems to be a blend of the two poetic styles of the previous two poems, as it both states the various patriarchal powers, and then proceeds to tear down these beliefs, and also tear down the conventions which were typically seen as the norm of the day. The title of the poem is typically an indicator of what to expect from the poem, and in what vein it will be written. My Last Duchess is no exception as it immediately gives the reader a sense that the narrator, The Duke, see’s his late wife as a possession. He refers to her with the possessive pronoun ‘My’ to try, it appears; to regain a certain degree of control over her. This wanting of control is further explored when he says that ‘The curtain I have drawn for you,’ which portrays the sense that he feels he is the one who is giving others the right to see his wife. During the Renaissance (a period which Browning based his characters society as) was a time that was largely seen as patriarchal, and so the duke would typically want to conform to this norm. Furthermore, it may be this possessiveness that leads to his jealousy when she is seen as accepting a ‘bough of cherries’ from someone who he regarded as an ‘officious fool’. He also felt that she had a heart which was ‘too soon made glad’ and that it wasn’t only her ‘husband’s presence’ that she appeared to crave. These lines seem to be the Duke commenting on how her rather flirtatious and outgoing nature, not typical of women in that period, displeased him greatly. Furthermore, it seemed that he wanted her to end this affiliation with the other people, and this gave rise to the suspicion that he killed her, to end the constant barrage of seeming embarrassment and discomfort from his wife’s various exploits. In those days there were always certain classed that would always be prejudiced against. Therefore, this incidence could have been regarded as his wife trying to exert some egalitarian power, by making the ‘officious fool’ feel like an equal, and also by riding round on a ‘white mule’, something which was often seen as a past time of the poor, as they could not afford to buy a proper horse. This form of power did not seem to go down well within the constraints of the love relationship. The duke seemed particularly afraid of this form of power as he proceeded to mention the fact that he thought that she felt that she ‘ranked’ his ‘nine-hundred year old name’ with anyone’s ‘gift’. This shows that he feels that the social classes should stand as they are. This is quite ironic, as this is set in the Renaissance period where it was said that people were becoming more scientific and were ready to embrace new ideas. Thi s is at odds with what actually happens in the poem, with the man defecting to the typical view of women being ‘slaves’ to the men, but during a very socially obligated period. As well as this, the poem also manages to explore the power of love itself. This is shown with the infatuation of the widowed husband over the picture, as is demonstrated when the Duke believe that there is ‘depth’ in the painting, and that the women portrayed in the painting still holds some ‘passion’ for him. This could either be the power of the love, or, in fact, the power of the painting. This could, however, represent the actual mentality of the Duke, as he falls in ‘love’ with a painting of a woman who is deceased. This displays the underlying power of the love that had blossomed between these two individuals, and how the power of the painting was so influential that up to this point (in the poem), he still feels the attraction of the painting. However, this is at odds with what he says later on in the poem, written using enjambment to make it a more conversational style, when he talks about how he ‘tamed’ her, and rather uncharacteristically he uses a metaphor, perhaps to inject some frivolity into the proceeding so as to avert any fear of being caught. However, he also mention ‘I gave commands’, perhaps referring to getting her killed, and then he goes on to say that ‘all smiles stopped together’. This form of power could also be regarded as patriarchal power or perhaps more accurately as sheer male strength over the opposite gender. The poetic techniques used are also pivotal to understanding what types of power are being explored. A key feature used in the poem is the iambic pentameter, which is a meter typically associated with a more male poem, due to the stressed single syllable at the end of a line. This is often attributed to the fiercer and fierier poems, which are to be said with an earnest, thus it being seen as a more masculine form of rhyme. As well as this enjambment is used, meaning that all of the lines follow on from each other, giving the poem a more conversational tone. This is quite odd, as the Duke himself comes across as a very contrite kind of person, but this could be due to the Duke trying to appear more powerful in his own home, or estate, meaning hierarchal power is something that is quite high up on his agenda, probably because he feels that hierarchal power is the only way he could have got this relationship. Overall, this poem is mainly based on patriarchal power, and despite the fact that it does include a few instances of other forms of power, such as egalitarian power, patriarchal power seems to take an overbearing role. It is written from the perspective of someone very high up on the social ladder, and thus would include references to this form of power, inherited, or hierarchal power. La Belle Dame sans Merci on the other hand is a poem which almost admits to a person of rather high importance, the knight, being led astray by a woman. This poem is set in the medieval period. Various power dynamics are explored throughout the poem, mainly the various struggles between the desire of the man, and the simple want of pleasure for the woman. The atmosphere is largely controlled by the weather displayed in the poem. This poem first begins by thinking of the power of nature and how this seems to coincide with the mood of the narrator, creating a pathetic fallacy. He is described by the visitor as ‘alone’ and ‘palely loitering’, and to add to the rather sombre starting, the atmosphere is seen as in the winter, where the ‘sedge’ has ‘withered’ away ‘from the lake’. This displays how the rather somber natural world seems to effect on his recovery from his painful loss of his girl. The weather seems to dampen his spirits and this is almost confirmed when it says that ‘no birds sing’, or that there is no sign of happiness. This power is quite strong as it is unavoidable, and can have an effect on his love for the woman as he may ponder on the relationship more. However, this is only one power dynamic that may have an effect on his love for the woman, and his overall love outlook. This power is far less prominent in ‘My Last Duchess’ with the atmosphere merely created through the dramatic monologue. Also, the main atmosphere is created through the ranting of the Duke. A woman’s power over a man is not often accredited, however it is brought to light in this poem with the woman who he (the knight) see’s as a ‘faery’s child’, or in essence a woman with an abundance of beauty. This power of the woman over him may have resulted in him becoming quite ‘haggard’ and ‘woe-begone’ meaning his gradual degrading of state, because of his insistence that ‘she did love’ him, even though he believes she does, although she never explicitly stated those words, and this is backed up later in the poem when he admits she said it in a ‘strange’ ‘language’, which he believed said that she ‘love[d]’ him, even though it was quite plain to see that she did not in fact love him, but was there to be pleasured. This shows that the woman used her power to manipulate what was the result. However, another power that is used to some extent, is matriarchal power, on a more philosophical sense, as the knight imagines the lady wearing a ‘garland’ that could be seen as him trying to believe that the ‘sacred’ woman is still angelic, however, this is contradicted when he describes her as ‘wild’ and that he could only ‘shut her eyes with kisses four’. This shows that he had such an infatuation with his prospective wife that he looked past these slight niggles, as he was blinded by the power of love, which is essentially what under lied all of the events that occurred in the whole poem. The first poem on the other hand instead looks at the woman as someone who should be at the hand of the man to answer to his every need, not someone who should be able to have fun when she wants, and in this poem the woman is allowed to freely go, whereas in the first poem, she comes to an arguably, sinister end. Furthermore, in ‘My Last Duchess’ the woman is not given much power except those that come with the name, and of course her egalitarian power. Apart from this, ‘My Last Duchess’ has few similarities with this poem with regards to the way women are treated; aside from the fact that the knight believes she should be obedient to him. Strangely, it seemed that hierarchal power was of not much importance to the two, as despite the promise of power, the woman still left him ‘alone and palely loitering’. This was also unconventional, rather like most of the events that occurred in this narrative, where the woman didn’t jump at the option of gaining some power, but instead just left him. It seems that the woman was just there for the power of the promise of being made love to, but not hierarchal power. Instead this poem seems to focus only on the aspects of love, unlike the first poem which makes sure that the reader is aware of the hierarchal integrity that is needed. This is at odds with ‘My Last Duchess’ which focuses heavily on how the status brings power to the family, and it is essentially this that makes the Duke so incensed by the bad behavior of his wife. However, this poem doesn’t use the masculine pentameter, instead it has the last two syllables unstressed, which gives the impression of having a much softer, and morose feel to the poem, which is quite suited to the overall theme of the poem. This is in stark contrast to the more conversational, but still fiercer style of the first poem. Conclusively, the power dynamics explored in the first poem are far more diverse, and it appears that there are much more powerful components involved in the rather complex relationship, and it showed the power of the relationship that the man was ready to kill, or silence his wife. This is contrary to the second poem where the knight seems to be rather constrained and polite at all times, and in this case it is the woman who has control over the man, unlike the trends of the time. Overall, the power dynamics behind love in the first poem varies greatly; largely going down to hierarchal power, but the second poem is a relationship of courtly love, which is not based on true unabated love. The third poem is a strange mix of the previous two poems, with both patriarchal and matriarchal poems being discussed. A woman to her lover offers a refreshing insight into the inner workings of a woman’s mind. It begins by listing all the conventions, particularly how males usually dominate society. She openly attacks these conventions, by saying that if he wants to ‘make of [her] a bond slave’ then she simply ‘refuse[s]’ him. This is quite odd, as the poem was written at a time, when everything that she is trying to repress was actually the norm of the day, so it is seen as quite unconventional that a woman is being able to exert so much power of a man, by actively refusing to follow the current conventions of the time. This matriarchal power trying to quell the patriarchal power is evident. This is in stark contrast to ‘My Last Duchess’, where the main forms of power explored are those which are typically more to do with patriarchal powers, in a male dominated society. For example, the Duke feels that she should respect his ‘name’. However, this poem does bear some resemblance to the second poem, in the way that both seem to respect that women do have some power over men, however limited and unconventional it may be. However, this poem is largely egalitarian power, as it largely displays how men and women should be treated as equals, and this is demonstrated when she pleads to her lover, that she wants to be treated as a ‘comrade’, and a ‘friend’. This shows that this woman firmly believed that she was in an equal position to the man, and, despite it being said otherwise in the unwritten law of the land; the woman feels that she should be at the same level as the man. The narrator uses phrases such as ‘o husband’, and ‘I am yours forever’ to try and show that she has submitted to him, and to try and restore some order, with the male again being the more dominant one. This is surprisingly similar to ‘My Last Duchess’ as both women in the poems try to make them equal with the opposite gender, seemingly oblivious to the opposite gender. Another key aspect of this poem is the way in which it is written, such as organization, and poetic techniques. Firstly, it is written using enjambment, creating a more conversational style to the poem. This means that the woman does not appear to be dominating too much, and is, as a result, courting him on equal terms, emphasizing the fact that she feels that it should be a ‘level playing field’ for them. It is also quite clever in the way it manages to make the things that it is trying to crack down on come first and then it brings them down by saying what she would actually like. This is clever because it sticks in the person’s mind, and creates a stronger argument. The technique of enjambment is similar to the first poem, where it manages to create a conversational style so as to appear to converse with the other messenger, while realistically the Duke isn’t very sociable. However, none of these literary techniques are echoed in the second poem, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, which is probably due to the problem of both being written in completely different styles, with one being a more sorrowful poem, and the other being a more commanding and endearing poem. Conclusively, the three poems all share a variety of power dynamics that are all explored. The most common theme was that of which gender was more dominant and which gender was controlled. This was mostly explored in ‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘A woman to her lover’. Inevitably this led on to the topic of equality, and it is in this way that egalitarian power was brought to light. Even ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ explored how the woman and the man were both equal as they could both enter and leave the relationship as they did please. However, poetic techniques were used to further enhance the message of the poem; with all the poems using a different poetic technique to enhance and improve it’s delivery of different love and power dynamics. In the end, the power of love seemed to encompass all the poems, as all three showed how love took control of the.