Charles Dickens Essays (1966 words) - Charles Dickens,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in Ports Mouth, Hampshire. In his infancy his family moved to Chatham, where he spent his happiest years and often refers to this time in his novels (1817-1822). From 1822 to 1860 he lived in London, after which he permanently moved to a quiet country cottage in Glads Hill, on the outskirts of Chatham. He grew up in a middle class family. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office and was well paid, but his extravagant living style often brought the family to financial disaster. The family reached financial "rock bottom" in 1824. Charles was taken out of school and sent to work in a factory doing manual labour, while his father went to prison for his debt. These internal disasters shocked Charles greatly. He refers to his working experiences in his writings. Although he hated doing labour, he gained a sympathetic knowledge into the life of the labour class. He also brings forth the images of prison and of the lost and oppressed child in many novels. His schooling ended at 15, and he became a clerk in a solicitor's office, then a short hand reporter in the lawcourts (where he gained much knowledge of legalities which he used in his novels), and finally like other members of his family, a newspaper reporter. Here, he got his first taste of journalism and fell in love with it immediately. Drawn to the theatre, Charles Dickens almost pursued the career of an actor In 1833, he began sending short stories and descriptive essays to small magazines and newspapers. These writings attracted attention and were published in 1836 under the name, Sketches by "Boz". At the same time, he was offered a small job of writing the text for a small comic strip, where he worked with a well know artist. Seven weeks later, the first instalment of The Pickwick Papers appeared. Within a few months Pickwick was the rage and Dickens was the most popular author of the day. During 1836, he also wrote two plays and a pamphlet, he then resigned from his newspaper job, and undertook the editing job of a monthly magazine, Bentley's Miscellany, in which he serialized Oliver Twist (1837-1839). By this time, the first of his nine surviving children had been born, He had married Catherine, eldest daughter of a respected journalist George Hogorth (April 1836). Novels His first major success was with The Pickwick Papers. They were high spirited and contained many conventional comic butts and jokes. Pickwick displayed, many of the features that were to be blended in to his future fiction works; attacks on social evils and the delight in the joys of Christmas. Rapidly thought up and written in mere weeks or even days before its publication date, Pickwick contained weak style and was unsatisfactory in all, partly because Dickens was rapidly developing his craft as a novelist while doing it. This style of writing in a first novel, made his name know literally overnight, but created a new tradition of literature and was made one of the best know novel's of the world. After The Pickwick Papers were published in 1837, he put together another novel, Oliver Twist. Though his artistic talent is very much evident, he refrained from using the successful formula used in The Pickwick Papers. Instead, Oliver Twist is more concerned with social and more evil, though it did still contain much comedy. The long last of his fiction is partly due to its being so easy to adapt into effective stage plays. Sometimes 20 London theatres simultaneously were producing adaptations of his latest story; so even non- readers became acquainted with simplified versions of his works. In the novel Barnaby Grudge he attempted another type of writing, a historical novel. It was set in the late 18th century and graphically explored the spectacle of large scale mob violence. The task of keeping unity throughout his novels (which often included a wide range of moods and materials and several complicated plots involving scores of characters) was made even more difficult because he was forced to write and publish them, while also doing on going serials. His next major work, and probably his most famous was published in 1843, and was called A Christmas Carol. Suddenly conceived and written in mere weeks, while he was preoccupied in writing another serial, it was an unmatched achievement. His view of life was described as "Christmas Philosophy," and he spoke of "Carol philosophy" as the basis of his work. He

Ethology Essays - Ethology, Animal Welfare, Behavioural Sciences

Ethology Essays - Ethology, Animal Welfare, Behavioural Sciences Ethology The biological study of animal behavior is called Ethology. All behavior is a reaction to a stimulus. John B. Watson influenced animal behavior in the twentieth century. He published a book in 1924 called Behaviorism. Jakob von Uexkull and O. Heinroth started a school that taught about animal behavior. There are two categories of animal behavior: "genetically determined" or "environmentally determined." Animal behavior is the different ways that animals do different things, such as hunting. An example of this would be how a lion hides in the grass to hunt their prey. Some of these are instinct or they must learn from their parents or the hard way. Examples of animal behavior When a jackdaw bird first makes its nest, it has to learn Page 3 new ways to make it. It might start trying to make its nest with light bulbs and other items that are not needed to make a nest. When it uses a twigs to make the nest, it finally learns that twigs are the best item to make the nest with. The jackdaw stores what it learns, and it only uses the twigs that it used earlier. When ducklings hatch out of their eggs, they follow their mother. During this time they learn the differences in males and females. They will need this when they grow older, and use this for mating. If they were to follow other species they would do the things that they do and be with them. A very important part of a bird's learning is learning the different songs. The young male can only learn the territorial song. This song can only be learned during the first eight weeks of its life. Some birds that her other birds' songs. The bird can never learn that song. They are not exposed to their species' song until late in the first year of their life. Most animals learn new things from trial-and-error. If an animal tries to attack a group, but instead the group defends themselves very well and the animal fails. After it fails it will stop trying to hunt it. This is called trial-and-error. If a light turns on a young rat might not know what to do. After it grows more Page 4 mature it will automatically leave the room. If you train an animal right it would do what you want it to do. You could train a pigeon to dance if you give it food. Some procedures are sometimes used on humans to lower their heart rate or alter their brain waves. Researchers are interested in the way behavior is like adaptations, but learning with behavior is a faster way. They say that behavior evolves such as science says that animals do. They say this because now, because of humans, there are many different environments that animals have to learn to deal with. They say that different behaviors solve different problems. Flexible Learning will teach an animal to respond to unpredictable situations. Another example of animal behavior is the sun dance of the honeybees. When a honeybee finds nectar in a flower it will tell the other bees in the hive. It does a dance to tell the other bees exactly where the nectar is. They also use angles from the sun to determine where the nectar is. A certain dance stands for different places. One more example of animal behavior is when sea gulls, dogs, as well as other animals have the same movements when being attacked. Some would stretch their necks to make them Page 5 look larger than they are. They would sometimes crouch low and bring their neck up. This is usually used for defense. Animals such as the grouse would puff up their feathers to make them look much larger. This is used on attacks. Animals in the same group would fight against each other to gain status in the group. They fight for who would be the leader of the group. Animals have a way of telling each other apart. Prairie dogs touch each others teeth, seals do the same, and chimpanzees touch hands to tell each other apart. Genetics of Behavior Some birds have special cells that make it do specific things with its eggs, such as detect it

The Decline of the Educational System in Harlem, NY Essay

The Decline of the Educational System in Harlem, NY - Essay Example The Jim Crow legislation, which was rampant in the South, widened the education gap between the blacks and the whites, which had adverse effects to the education system. The public education system did not serve the needs of the blacks adequately which worsened the problems experienced by the blacks (West 287). For example, the schools in the South Carolina became more overcrowded, the teachers were not paid well, and many of the teachers were not qualified. In addition, possessing education in the South did not guarantee the blacks with jobs and was difficult to gain high school status and earn respect for the knowledge gained in the education system. The emergence of trade schools provided the blacks with the training in fields such as millinery and sewing. Other schools, which underwent the renaissance time include the Bronx Community Chatter School, Fausset Districts Schools and Queen Metro High School. Harlem Renaissance came into the end in the 1930s as the Harlem artists and i ntellectuals drifted to other opportunities (Coy 124). Because of the prevalence of the racial segregation against the African American students, the Harlem students could not access the education they needed in order to have a substantial participation in the country affairs. In Harlem schools, the students performed dismally due to the low educational standards in schools. The government did little on the provision of the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the learning process (West 287). The education system denied the Harlem students to join decent jobs, participation in the nation’s economic and political affairs, and fight for a fair society. The education system in Harlem is often one, which does not provide students with adequate knowledge as resources in these schools are scarce compared to the students on other regions. The inadequate resources have made the students to score poorly. Consequently, the Harlem schools always post low grades during the internal exa ms and the national exams. The students often score poorly in mathematics and science subjects. For example, the score in mathematics is as low as below 30%. This has been linked to poor infrastructure, and inadequate staff because of understaffing by the government, as the priority of teacher allocation by the government is not in Harlem schools. The rate of drop out in the Harlem schools is high as 26.3% of the total number of the students drops out during their high and lower schools levels. The number of students who proceed to the tertiary level is extremely small. On average, 8% of the total students who started in lower classes join colleges and universities and are because high rate drop out the educational process (West 287). The teacher training is still poor and most of the teachers in the Harlem schools are untrained, thus making them inefficient in presenting the content to learners, thus low performance. The principle of the District-bargained contracts with the teache r unions has led to decrease in employment and sustaining highly motivated teachers. The high rate drop out has also affected the number of students who graduate from the colleges ad the universities. This means that the students of the African American in Harlem schools ar

Assignment 5 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

5 - Assignment Example People have intermarried reducing the pure generation that can claim to be Maori. Contrary, the Bushmen in Africa have not received significant changes in their social or economic lives, hence failing to realize the major benefits that come with technology. This paper presents an in depth comparison between the two communities based on the past and current technological developments, and in the general society. Keywords: Maori, Bushmen, San, Society, Indigenous People, New Zealand, Southern Africa, European Settlers, Urban, Rural, Technological Development, Population , Culture, Social, Economical, Historical, Agriculture, Communication, Education, Modern World Introduction Technology is the backbone of every society’s civilization and human development. It is used to make things easier, of more quality, and in increased quantity. Some eliminate human roles and interventions acting to reduce long term costs and saving time. Technologies have evolved over time, and are commonly used in different fields such as medicine, transportation, agriculture, food preservation, administration, industrial production and processes, military, education systems, and entertainment. All these have affected the human lifestyles and activities in one way or the other, depending on how accessible the technology is. Societies in developed nations like the Maori of New Zealand stand a better chance to access the technology, and change their ways of life compared to those in developing countries. Societies such as the Bushmen of Southern Africa have not had the opportunity to interact with most technologies, making them to lag behind in development and literacy. Impact of Technology on Contemporary Maori Society from Historical, Cultural and Social Viewpoints Cultural and historical viewpoint The indigenous Maori people spoke their te reo maori language, resulting to most named sites in modern New Zealand having names influenced by the original language and culture. Technology developments have brought changes in their language, due to migration to urban areas hence eroding certain senses of Maori identity. Along the 20th century and since the New Zealand gained independence in early 1900s, missionaries and the colonial government and its enacted policies stimulated cultural heritage disappearance, such that in the contemporary world, few Maori’s speak Te reo Maori (only 23.7 percent could hold a fluent conversation, majority being the older generation), while the majority from the community (Maori and non Maori) speak English (Lai, 2010). English has improved their communication with the rest of the world and enhanced learning. Today, besides the traditional weaving, carving, and art works, the Maori people have increased their literacy level, with numerous science courses and careers raising scientific knowledgeable workforce. More people now live in the urban areas hence separating from most traditional activities and losing historical ties with their cultures. Facial tattooing practices have become rare in the urban population, and most people do not understand their traditionally recognized clans or tribes. Their food and dressing style is more westernized, but local designers try to incorporate an aspect of their Maori culture with the changes in the technological products. Social viewpoint The Maori use computers to enhance their creativity, performing arts, in high level learning institutions, research, and organizational

Fairy tale story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Fairy tale story - Essay Example the prime minister’s son, the King organizes a contest between the gardener’s son and the prime minister’s son. Thus, both of them are asked to undertake a journey to a far destination and whoever returned first would be given the hands of the princess. On his unpleasant journey to the destination, the gardener’s son helps a woman in rags, with whose support he heals the sultan of another city. In return, he gains the bronze ring which contains a djinni who can grant all his wishes. With the help of this bronze ring, he gains a magnificent sailing ship with goods of gems, gold, etc and attractive sailors on board. When the gardener’s son meets his opponent in distress, he helps him on condition that he would make an imprint upon his back with the bronze ring heated in fire. In the course of the story, the prime minister’s son comes back home first in a ship offered by the gardener’s son and claims the princess as his bride. However, th e gardener’s son soon reaches back to the country in a gold ship who tells that the prime minister’s son is merely a slave to him. When the prime minister’s son denies this, the gardener’s son shows the trademark of his bronze ring on the back of the prime minister’s son.

Impact Of Workplace Stress On Organizational Performance Psychology Essay

Impact Of Workplace Stress On Organizational Performance Psychology Essay Stress in the workplace is a new phenomenon in modern life and has become an increasingly one of the most discussed topic over the past decade. Workplace stress can be defined as the change in ones physical or mental state in response to workplaces that pose an appraised challenge or threat to that employee (Thomas W. Colligan, 2005). It is already established that the stress in the workplace represents threat not only for physical health of one worker, but also for the health of all labour collective. As a result, it does not only affect the employees performance, reduces their work efficiency but also may have huge impact to an organisations performance and can lower an organisations profit (Ton, Huckman, 2008). Statistical figures indicate stress is a bigger problem than people give it credit (Ornelas and Kleiner, 2003). According to survey which was conducted by Health and Safety Executive in 2006, one in six working people in the UK believed that their job was very or extremely stressful (Bupas health information team, 2010). There are many factors that can cause stress in the working place. Most known factors are work overload; job insecurity; long working hours; insufficient training; poor work organisation and etc. Workplace stress has been proved to lower productivity, increase absenteeism, and create pervasive patterns of dysfunction in the workplace (Anderson Puluch, 2001; Levin-Epstein, 2002). Finally, in modern day most of the organisations understand very well that one of the main reason of unwanted expenses of the organisation are the costs caused by stress according to the Health Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK, work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 13.5 million lost working days in Britain in 2007/08. This makes stress an extremely expensive loss for businesses: the HSE estimates that British industry loses  £370 million a year due to stress (UK HSE stress statistics). Although, most organisations spend a lot of time, money and efforts to prevent or control the stress, unfortunately in most cases these efforts are not effective. Therefore organisations need to develop new ways to deal with increasing stress in working place. Scope of study This paper aims to explain an aspect of organizational performance that has not been extensively examined the impact of stress on organizational performance. The paper attempts to make an emphasis on how impact of stress in organizations can be perceived and understood, and it also argues that the stress is an important element in the theory and practice of organizational performance. Research will be carried out using both secondary data and primary data in the forms of interviews and questionnaires with organisations. Specific Research Questions Do the organisations really take the impact of stress seriously and how they intend to deal with it? Hypothesis H 1: In spite of rising expenses, organisations will still ignore impact of stress as useless knowledge. H 2: Having realized the impact of stress organisations will develop new mechanism in minimising and controlling stress. Objectives O 1: To identify main factors behind workplace stress O 2: To evaluate the costs which are caused by stress at a workplace and how they impact on the organizational performance? O 3: To establish workable stress management techniques for managing the workplace stress. Literature review This chapter will critically analyse the stress development process and its impact to organisational performance. The literature review is structured into two sections. The first section the theory of organizational stress examines the theory of stress development and the main factors of the organizational stress. The second part reviews the impact of stress to an organisational performance and suggests ways how to manage it. Theory of organizational stress According to Cote S. Morgan LM (2002), stress is basically a form of unpleasant emotion and has got the potential to increase employee turnover. But other authors such as Hart and Cooper (2001) point out that the scientific community still has not reached an agreed position on the meaning and definition of occupational stress. In the past three decades, a lot of studies have been carried out in order to explore the main factors of organisational stress and to find out link between employee job stress and organizational performance. The studies have been conducted in a various organisations. The early studies indicate deadline pressures, job dissatisfaction, job insecurity and repetitive work (Kasl, 1973) as the main factors of organisational stress. More recent studies have explored some others factors such as inadequate feedback regarding performance, lack of training and lack of control (Doby Caplan, 1995). The lack of opportunity of interaction with other workers or in other words isolation is another important factor in increasing workplace stress (Wachtel, 1989). The feeling of isolation does not only involve machinery or assembly line jobs, it may also take place in boring or repetitive jobs such as computer data entry which tend to increase employee stress levels (Karasek Theorell, 1990). Impact of stress to an organisational performance and how to manage it Stress at workplaces is on rise which in its own turn results higher rate of sickness (absenteeism) among employees, reduced productivity and overall, having negative impact on the efficiency of organisational performance. Managing stress and its attendant health and productivity consequences may be one of the biggest challenges facing organizations in the 1990s (Murphy, 1995). In the article, Management: Principles and Practices written by Holt D. H. (1990), the author suggests that in order to manage job stress effectively, two conditions should be met. First, the individual worker must be able to recognize causes of stress and realize their consequences and second, organizations must develop stress prevention and stress reduction techniques. The book Managing workplace stress written by Susan Cartwright, Cary L. Cooper (1997) can be considered one of the best book in the field of organisational stress. The book on the one hand provides detailed information about the source of stress at a workplace, examines the cause of the rise in work-related stress; on the other hand, it proves clearly the important role of organisational culture in stress managing process. According to Nelson Quick (1996) excess stress has direct impact in lowered individual and organizational performance, as a result both production and quality suffering. In other words, stress is a main factor that causes organizational inefficiency, absenteeism because of sickness, increased costs of health care and decreased job satisfaction (AbuAlRub, 2004). Meantime, both field and laboratory studies are always carried out to find out the best ways to reduce work-related stress. Some findings have been proved very effective. One of them is involvement of employee in decision making process that significantly lowers job-related stress (Landy, Quick and Kasl, 1994). Another finding is the measures developed by authors like Khanka (2000) and Cole (2002) which can be adopted to reduce workplace stress. The measures require the organisations to set up clear objectives that will assist to minimize job and role ambiguity; to maximize employees job fit through careful screening and selection. Specific questions to focus on in the study This study seeks to answer the following research questions: Objective 1: Identify what stress is and main factors behind stress at a workplace? Is there a relationship between impact of stress and organisational performance? What is role of stress in organisational productivity? What are the roles of the modern technologies in rising workplace stress? Does stress have always negative impact or can it have positive impact to organisational performance as well? Objective 2: Why is it important to manage causes of work-related stress? Apart from financial cost, what affects have stress on organisational performance? What is best strategies and techniques for preventing job stress What is role of organisational culture/climate in reducing stress? Methodology The section will assess all available research methods and choose most suitable methods in order to accomplish the proposed tasks. Main aim of the section is to find out how seriously is taken the impact of stress by organisations. 5.1 Approaches to research For all objective of this study the author will be using a scientific approach. The author intends to use statistical data throughout the research to support the analysis. 5.2 Research Design Multiple method of data collection will be used for this study. The reason for this is that using mixing modes will maximise responses as the author plans to take interview from some respondents face-to-face, from others by mail. In addition, a structured questionnaire will be used to collect data from the respondents on the variables of the study. 5.3 Sampling Sampling is a fundamental method of inferring information about an entire population without going into any trouble or expense of measuring every member of the population (White, Wilson Pfoutz, 2006). As this study will be carrying out survey, random sampling technique will be used in the sample selection. Sampling will be conducted in both interview and questionnaire forms. 5.4 Data collection Though, the study includes both primary and secondary data, the author will mainly use primary data for this study. Face-to-face interviews will be carried out with representatives of a number of organisations. Because of time and physical constraints, questionnaires will be sent via e-mail. Secondary data will be gathered from different online libraries and databases. 5.5 Evaluation of primary research methods for this specific study Surveys and questionnaire will be used in the study in order to gather primary data. Main purpose of surveys are to assess the distribution of some variables such as proportion of the population of different age groups, sex, religion, castes and languages, knowledge, attitude and adaption of practices about particular issues, and other information of similar nature about the population (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). 5.6   Ã‚  Possible Conclusion to research objective From this study, it can be concluded that stress can have both negative and positive impact on organisational performance. Organisations can encourage productive stress by assisting employees to build challenge into their work, can organise stress-reduction workshops and also can change element of stress by redesigning jobs to reduce role conflict and role ambiguity.

Gullah

The recent rise in Black consciousness has created an extraordinary interest in the study of Black heritage and the preservation of Black culture in America. Many scholars and students are turning their attention to A frican-American cultural patterns, which have been long ignored and often scorned. Black people are realizing more and more that these patterns exemplify key features of their heritage and may offer not only clues into the past, but also provide guides to survival in the future.As this interest gains momentum, African-Americans are looking toward the South, particularly to its rural and isolated islands where so many of the unique elements of contemporary Black culture have their roots. The culture of the Sea Islands is such a special case. The lack of contact with the mainland helped to preserve some of the important features of their African culture. Because the Africans that were brought to these islands were not sold and resold as often as those on the mainland, som e of their ancestral family patterns remain even to this date. ——————————————————————————- A. Sea Islands Begin just north of Georgetown, South Carolina, and continue to the Florida border. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 islands along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia separated from the mainland by marshes, alluvial streams and rivers. 1. Some of the islands are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and are as far as twenty miles or more from the mainland. 2. They range in size from the uninhabitable ones to John’s Island South Carolina, the second largest island in the United States.B. European settlement 1. The Sea Islands have formed the basis of a very profitable agriculture. 2. During slavery, the long staple cotton grown here was considered the best available anywhere and brought very favorable prices on the world market 3. The economy of the region was based almost entirely on slavery, and because of the labor intensity of the crops, very large plantations developed in this area. a. Some Whites owned entire islands containing thousands of acres of land and maintained hundreds of slaves to till the soil. C. Isolation 1.The isolation of the islands and the large numbers of slaves meant that the influence of American White culture upon African and slave culture was minimal. 2. To further enhance the development of a unique Black culture, there was the continual importation of slaves directly from Africa. a. The overwhelming number of slaves entering South Carolina during the 18th century came directly from Africa. b. The isolation of the islands made them a prime location for slave traders to land illegal cargoes of Africans after the Slave Trade Act of 1808. c. Africans were imported into the islands as late as 1858.D. Cultural formations 1. There was a geographical, social and cultural basis for the retention of many elements of African culture in the Sea Islands and the development of a distinctive African-American culture. 2. The word â€Å"Gullah† was once defined as the way of speaking of Blacks on the Sea Islands. In recent years, Gullah has come to mean not only the speech of Black islanders but also their culture and way of life. a. Food- traditional seafood and rice dishes â€Å"Hoppin John† and â€Å"Frogmore Stew† b. Arts-basket weaving, donning fishnets, pottery, and quilting. . The first American cowboys were the Blacks in the Carolina low country (Sea Islands). d. Contributions to American music are also evident. e. Tradition of fishing passed from one generation to another. f. During the slave period many of the customs the people developed clearly reflected African culture and post-bellum conditions enhanced their retention. Basket weaving is one of the dominant crafts of the region, and one of the oldest crafts of African origin in theUnited States. Crabbing and fishing are a very important part of the Sea Island culture.Sea Island children are intimately familiar with the ocean and learn the art of casting and netting as early as the age of three. E. Development of survival patterns 1. Philosophy and utilization of time. Older Blacks have a different relationship to time than many younger and â€Å"up to date† Blacks. 2. Environment coping a. Dealing with atmospheric changes F. Psychological and sociological issues. 1. Many Sea Island Blacks may have different self perceptions and attitudes as compared to Blacks raised in other areas. 2. The Sea Island Blacks frequently owned their land since the years before Reconstruction.Many of them do not know what it means to pay rent or a mortgage and to some the very concepts are meaningless. 3. The fact that the people were very isolated from mainstream culture, they could only survive by developing a posture of self-s ufficiency and independence. 4. Many elderly Sea Island Blacks had very limited interaction with Whites. 5. Black activism of Sea Island Blacks a. Some of the earliest support for the civil rights movement came out of the Sea Island and Martin Luther King developed some of his major campaigns during retreats to the area. . Local independence and activism has its roots in the Reconstructionist Era and the Black majority in the area. c. A large portion of the elderly Sea Islanders registered to vote before 1910. G. Uniqueness of Sea Islands 1. They are home of a West African people called Gullah. They were captured from this area because the Europeans needed technology and labor to build their empires and America. The Gullah captives possessed skills (technology) in agriculture, science, animal farming, construction, navigation, government, and teaching. 2.The knowledge and need for farming and building in the Sea Islands required specialized skills that were found in abundance in Wes t Africa 3. The isolation of the Gullah from mainland whites and other Africans allowed the Gullah to maintain a high degree of African culture. Also, the high concentration of Africans allowed a Gullah community to form an Afrocentric cultural entity within a European American cultural context. H. Gullah Dialect 1. The Gullah â€Å"accent† is much more than just an accent on the English language. Gullah, as a language, uses distinct African language patterns, and conceptual meanings.In other words, the Gullah language is uniquely African, with English words added to it. 2. One study says that the origin of the term Gullah and the Blacks came from the West Coast of Africa, but exactly where has not been agreed upon. a. One is that Gullah is a shortened form of Angola, the name of an African West Coast district lying south of the Equator and the mouth of the Congo River. b. A second suggestion is that Gullah comes from the name of the Liberian group of tribes known as Golas li ving on the West Coast between Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. . Gullah has been called the most African of any of our Black dialects, yet it can be traced back in practically every detail to English dialect speech. There has been an interchange of cultural values between the Black and White communities who have lived and worked together on the Sea Islands from the first days of settlement. The dialect was nourished in isolation and has survived with little change because of the continued isolation of its native area. The Parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15:2-3 King James VersionAnd the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with the them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until hefind it? Gullah Version En de Pharisee en de law teesha dem saat ta mek cumplain,say â€Å"Dis man sociat e widsinna en ebn eat mong am. Now den Jesus done know dem binna nek cumplain bout am. So e tell am one parryubble, say â€Å"Supposin a hondad sheep blonks ta one a oona.Ef one a dem sheep done loss een de wood wa you fa do? Sho nuf, you gwain lef de ninety-nine oddares safe een de pasta. You gwain saach fa de one wa loss tel you fin am eni? † I. Sea Islands Today 1. Today, an estimated 270,00 people along the Georgia, Carolina, and northeastern Florida coasts speak of Gullah. The dialect survived primarily among rural Blacks who largely depended on farming and fishing. Many of these people are now moving into jobs in the various resort industries, which are springing up on the islands, thus ending their isolation.Nonetheless, Gullah has a way of surviving even in small clusters in New York City where its speakers are often mistaken for Barbadians. 2. Because many corporations are now building their resorts on the islands and the United States Marine Corps has established a training base on Paris Island, many sociologists theorize the Gullah culture will soon die out. Nonetheless, although the pressures on the Gullah culture to disintegrate and assimilate are great, there are a number of people who are making valiant attempts to maintain, and preserve this treasured culture.

Benjamin Collins Quarshie Kwesi Essay

Honorable Headmaster, Members of Staff, Co-aspirant, Out-going Prefect, Fellow Student, Ladies and Gentlemen. I greet you all. I am very grateful for being given the chance to read my manifesto to you, as an aspirant for the position of boy school prefect. I am Benjamin Quarshie, a second year art student of this great institution. I am before you today, to solicit to your vote for the enviable position of a boys school prefect for the 2013/2014 academic year. Honorable headmaster, my reasons for vying for this position are very tangible and varied. Firstly, my personal qualities compelled me to vie for this enviable position. I am specifically referring to my high sense of discipline, hardworking, academically good, physically and friendly. These are not all, my astuteness, Honest and ability to turn adversity into advantage are just proverbial. Beloved student, a compound prefect should be descent and well discipline, dedicated and wiliness to serve his people with all diligence. These are qualities that I am not deficient in. I know by now most of you are wondering how I will be able to realize them, I am specifically referring to my tactics for achieving these. Honorable headmaster, if you give me the mandate to serve you as your boy school prefect for the 2013/2014 academic year, my first priority will be ensuring high sense of discipline, as discipline being the hallmark of every institution, I intend when giving the mandate, to build upon the already laid foundation of the school by my predecessor. To do this, I need your maximum cooperation and that of the administration, to see to it that the discipline level of this institution has raising to our expectation both in mind and attitude to deal with the environmental challenges of this institution.

Different Methods of Vegetation Essays

Different Methods of Vegetation Essays Different Methods of Vegetation Essay Different Methods of Vegetation Essay Besides natural methods of vegetative propagation, artificial modes of propagation are also being used. Farmers, gardeners and horticulturists have adopted several such methods like grafting, layering, cutting and tissue culture for propagating plants in gardens and nurseries. 1. Grafting: In horticultural practices this method is commonly used. In this method the cutting of a plant (scion) is attached to the stem of another rooted plant (stock). After some time the attached cutting becomes an integrated part of the rooted plant. The scion and stock are placed in such a way that no gap remains between them. After some time the attached cutting becomes an integrated part of the rooted plant. The scion and stock are placed in such a way that no gap remains between them Because of the arrangement of their vascular bundles, grafting experiments are successful only in divots and not in monocots. This method is commonly applied to improve the variety of fruits like mango. Wax is used to cover the place where grafting is being done. This is to avoid infection. 3. Cutting: In rose, sugar-cane, Coleus, Bougainvillea, etc. this method is used to produce new plants. In this process stem cuttings with some nodes and internodes are placed in moist soil which gives rise to adventitious roots and a new plant subsequently. It is a very common method of vegetative propagation. Farmers divide up the rhizomes, tubers or roots stocks at the end of flowering or growing season. Each part grows into a separate plant in the followin g year. Some plants like dahlia are propagated by root cuttings. 4. Layering: In some plants one or more branches are bent close to the ground and covered with moist soil. After some time, the underground portion of those branches produce new roots and develop into a separate plant as in jasmine, Rhododendron, Magnolia, etc. The stem or branch that develops adventitious roots while still attached to the parent plant is called a layer. In many plants, layering can also be induced artificially. In mound layering the stem is pruned and the base of the plant is covered with soil. From the base, new shoots develop, which are separated from the parent plant, ad grown into a new plant. Many types of apples and gooseberries are grown using this method. Air layering is another type of layering in which branches of the plants cannot be bent to the ground. A piece of the branch is scraped (girdled) in this method and polythene or plastic sheet is used as cover to preserve moisture. Roots arise from the scraped part after a few weeks. This branch is then detached from the parent plant which grows into a new plant after plantation. Layering differs from cutting in that the developments of adventitious buds are induced before the stem is cut to form the new plant. 5. Tissue Culture: In this technique a small piece of tissue of a desired plant is cut. This is placed with a suitable nutrient medium under proper conditions. The tissue grows into an unorganized mass, known as callus. Small part of this tissue is put in another medium, which induces the formation of plantlets. The plantlets can be transplanted in soil or pots foe developing to maturity. This technique is also called micro propagation. This method is used in propagating plants like Asparagus, orchids, Chrysanthemum. This method allows us to grow whole plant from cells taken from various parts of the plant body.

Fish Weir - Ancient Fishing Tool of Hunter-Gatherers

Fish Weir - Ancient Fishing Tool of Hunter-Gatherers A fish weir or fish trap is a human-made structure built of stone, reeds, or wooden posts placed within the channel of a stream or at the edge of a tidal lagoon intended to capture fish as they swim along with the current. Fish traps are part of many small-scale fisheries around the world today, supporting subsistence farmers and sustaining people during difficult periods. When they are built and maintained following traditional ecological methodologies, they are secure ways for people to support their families. However, local management ethics have been undermined by colonial governments. For example, in the 19th century, British Columbias government passed laws to prohibit fisheries established by First Nations people. A revitalization effort is underway. Some evidence of their ancient and continuing use is found in the wide variety of names still used for fish weirs: fish impoundment, tidal weir, fishtrap or fish-trap, weir, yair, coret, gorad, kiddle, visvywer, fyshe herdes, and passive trapping. Types of Fish Weirs Regional differences are apparent in construction techniques or materials used, species harvested, and of course terminology, but the basic format and theory is the same world-wide. Fish weirs vary in size from a small temporary brush frameworks to extensive complexes of stone walls and channels. Fish traps on rivers or streams are circular, wedge-shaped, or ovoid rings of posts or reeds, with an upstream opening. The posts are often connected by basketry netting or wattle fences: the fish swim in and are trapped within the circle or upstream of the current. Tidal fish traps are typically solid low walls of boulders or blocks built across gullies: the fish swim across the top of the wall at spring high tides, and as the water recedes with the tide, they are trapped behind it. These types of fish weirs are often considered a form of fish farming (sometimes called aquaculture), since the fish can live in the trap for a period until they are harvested. Often, according to ethnographic research, the fish weir is regularly dismantled at the beginning of the spawning season, so fish may freely find mates. Invention and Innovation The earliest fish weirs known were made by complex hunter-gatherers all over the world during the Mesolithic of Europe, the Archaic period in North America, the Jomon in Asia, and other similarly dated hunter-gatherer cultures around the world. Fish traps were used well into the historic period by many groups of hunter-gatherers, and in fact still are, and ethnographic information about historic fish weir use has been gathered from North America, Australia, and South Africa. Historical data has also been collected from medieval period fish weir use in the UK and Ireland. What weve learned from these studies gives us information about the methods of fish trapping, but also about the importance of fish to hunter-gatherer societies and at least a glimmer of light into traditional ways of life. Dating Fishtraps Fish weirs are difficult to date, in part some of them were used for decades or centuries and were dismantled and rebuilt in the same locations. The best dates come from radiocarbon assays on wooden stakes or basketry which were used to construct the trap, which only dates the latest rebuild. If a fish trap was completely dismantled, the likelihood that it left evidence is very slim. Fishbone assemblages from adjacent middens have been used as a proxy for the use of a fish weir. Organic sediments such as pollen or charcoal in the bottoms of traps have also been used. Other methods used by scholars include identifying local environmental changes such as changing sea level or the formation of sandbars that would impact the weirs use. Recent Studies The earliest known fish traps to date are from Mesolithic sites in marine and freshwater locations in the Netherlands and Denmark, dated to between 8,000 and 7,000 years ago. In 2012, scholars reported new dates on the Zamostje 2 weirs near Moscow, Russia, of more than 7,500 years ago. Neolithic and Bronze Age wooden structures are known at Wooton-Quarr on the Isle of Wight and along the shores of the Severn estuary in Wales. The Band e-Dukhtar irrigation works of the Achaemenid dynasty of the Persian Empire, which includes a stone weir, dates between 500–330 BCE. Muldoons Trap Complex, a stone-walled fish trap at Lake Condah in western Victoria, Australia, was constructed 6600 calendar years ago (cal BP) by removing basalt bedrock to create a bifurcated channel. Excavated by Monash University and the local Gundijmara Aboriginal community, Muldoons is an eel-trapping facility, one of many located near Lake Condah. It has a complex of at least 350 meters of constructed channels running alongside an ancient lava flow corridor. It was used as recently as the 19th century to trap fish and eels, but excavations reported in 2012 included AMS radiocarbon dates of 6570–6620 cal BP. The earliest weirs in Japan are currently associated with the transition from hunting and gathering to farming, generally at the end of the Jomon period (ca. 2000–1000 BC). In southern Africa, stone-walled fishtraps (called visvywers) are known but not direct-dated as of yet. Rock art paintings and fish bone assemblages from marine sites there suggest dates between 6000 and 1700 BP. Fish weirs have also been recorded in several locations in North America. The oldest appears to be the Sebasticook Fish Weir in central Maine, where a stake returned a radiocarbon date of 5080 RCYPB (5770 cal BP). Glenrose Cannery at the mouth of the Fraser River in British Columbia dates to about 4000–4500 RCYBP (4500-5280 cal BP). Fish weirs in southeastern Alaska date to ca. 3,000 years ago. A Few Archaeological Fish Weirs Asia:  Asahi (Japan), Kajiko (Japan)Australia:  Muldoons Trap Complex (Victoria), Ngarrindjeri (South Australia)Middle East/West Asia:  Hibabiya  (Jordan),  Band-e Dukhtar  (Turkey)North America:  Sebasticook (Maine),  Boylston Street Fish Weir  (Massachusetts), Glenrose Cannery (British Columbia), Big Bear (Washington), Fair Lawn-Paterson Fish Weir (New Jersey)UK:  Gorad-y-Gyt (Wales), Wooton-Quarry (Isle of Wight), Blackwater estuary weirs (Essex), Ashlett Creek (Hampshire)dRussia:  Zamostje 2 The Future of Fish Trapping Some government-sponsored programs have been funded to blend traditional fish weir knowledge from indigenous peoples with scientific research. The purpose of these efforts is to make fish weir construction safe and productive while maintaining ecological balances and keeping the costs and materials within the range of families and communities, especially in the face of climate change. One such recent study is described by Atlas and colleagues, on weir construction for the exploitation of sockeye salmon in British Columbia. That combined work by members of the Heiltsuk Nation and Simon Fraser University to rebuild weirs on the Koeye River, and establish fish population monitoring. A STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education program has been developed (Kern and colleagues) to engage students in the construction of fish weirs, the Fish Weir Engineering Challenge. Sources Atlas, William I., et al. Ancient Fish Weir Technology for Modern Stewardship: Lessons from Community-Based Salmon Monitoring. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability 3.6 (2017): 1341284. Print.Cooper, John P., et al. A Saxon Fish Weir and Undated Fish Trap Frames near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, Uk: Static Structures on a Dynamic Foreshore. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 12.1 (2017): 33–69. Print.Jeffery, Bill. Reviving Community Spirit: Furthering the Sustainable, Historical and Economic Role of Fish Weirs and Traps. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 8.1 (2013): 29–57. Print.Kennedy, David. Recovering the Past from above Hibabiya - an Early Islamic Village in the Jordanian Desert? Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 22.2 (2011): 253–60. Print.Kern, Anne, et al. The Fish Weir: A Culturally Relevant Stem Activity. Science Scope 30.9 (2015): 45–52. Print.Langouà «t, Loà ¯c, and Marie-Yvane Daire. Ancient Maritime Fish-Traps of Brittany (France): A Reappraisal of the Relationship between Human and Coastal Environment During the Holocene. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 4.2 (2009): 131–48. Print. Losey, Robert. Animism as a Means of Exploring Archaeological Fishing Structures on Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 20.01 (2010): 17–32. Print.McNiven, Ian J., et al. Dating Aboriginal Stone-Walled Fishtraps at Lake Condah, Southeast Australia. Journal of Archaeological Science 39.2 (2012): 268–86. Print.OSullivan, Aidan. Place, Memory and Identity among Estuarine Fishing Communities: Interpreting the Archaeology of Early Medieval Fish Weirs. World Archaeology 35.3 (2003): 449–68. Print.Ross, Peter J. Ngarrindjeri Fish Traps of the Lower Murray Lakes and Northern Coorong Estuary, South Australia. MSc, Maritime Archaeology. Flinders University of South Australia, 2009. Print.Saha, Ratan K., and Dilip Nath. Indigenous Technical Knowledge (Itk) of Fish Farmers at Dhalai District of Tripura, Ne India. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 12.1 (2013): 80–84. Print.Takahashi, Ryuzaburou. Symbiotic Relations between Paddy-Field R ice Cultivators and Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers in Japanese Prehistory: Archaeological Considerations of the Transition from the Jomon Age to the Yayoi Age. Senri Ethnological Studies. Eds. Ikeya, K., H. Ogawa and P. Mitchell. Vol. 732009. 71–98. Print.

Machinery and Integrated Cropping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Machinery and Integrated Cropping - Essay Example Potato residues are in small amounts, and add very little organic matter in the soils. However, sweet corn adds more refuse that is decomposed by the forage. It also consumes phenoxy herbicides and act as a pest control measure. The rotation provided uses crops with a different nutrient portion to maintain fertility and recovery. Rotation schemes should factor in the cost of production, economic gains and long-term disease and pest control measures to manage potato production. Rotation farming in large tracks of land requires adequate and modern equipment to reduce the cost of labor cost and time. Due to the intense and time-consuming procedures involved, it is important to use zero-tillage. Specifically, this entails the use of 45hp tractor that cultivates at a rate of 1 acre/hr. (Nutbey, 2010, p 26). Notably, the purpose of this machine is to pull equipment such as Rotavators, planters, cultivators, digger elevators and harrows. However, the farmer must decide whether to buy or hire the 45hp tractor. The net present value method of analysis helps the farmer to determine whether to buy or hire this equipment. Net Present Value is a method of analysis that gives an answer to this dilemma. Precisely, it adopts the dollar as the base of this calculation and assumes the formula {PVF= 1/ (1+i) n}, where ‘i’ is the rate of discount and ‘n’ is the number of years (Gollier, 2010, p 17). The data represent the monetary pros and cons of hiring and purchasing, and shows buying as the best option. The purchase Net Present Value is $10,696 less than the annual hire Net Present Value. Therefore, it is profitable to buy than to hire the tractor. Drought resistant crops are grown in arable lands. For this reason, the 200ha arable land can be used to grow wheat, barley, sugar beet, and the grass under rotational farming. Wheat farming will serve as animal feed and human food. I thus recommend

Mathematical Golden Ratio in Nature, Music and Sex Essay

Mathematical Golden Ratio in Nature, Music and Sex - Essay Example The essay "Mathematical Golden Ratio in Nature, Music, and Sex" analyzes the issue of how the mathematical golden ratio is used in nature, music, and sex appeal. The golden ratio is developed by from the extreme and mean ratio rule that states that â€Å"a straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, the greater to the lesser†. The ratio of the straight line’s unequal segments is the origin of several natural scenes of mathematics interaction with nature. Only a handful of retrogressive and conservative theorists have risen to offer sensible criticism to the best explanation to mathematical infusion to nature’s inseparable interaction with mathematical theory. Perhaps the best brain that this age has experienced was possessed by Einstein who devoted much of his intense academic work to find out on the natures engagement with mathematics. According to Livio, several natural arrangements remain strictly controlled by the ratio such as the patterns seen in leaf structures and arrangement of the branches (phyllotaxis), seed arrangement patterns on plants as well as the formation of natural crystals. The Fibonacci sequence explains the patterns employed in botanical systems which depict market design and order that no other discipline elaborates on but mathematics. In light of these phenomena, mathematics fascinating facts in nature as dictated by the golden ratio seems to be the best explanation behind nature’s orderliness.