Cultural Ecology Connecting Environment and Humans

In 1962, anthropologist Charles O. Frake defined cultural ecology as the study of the role of culture as a dynamic component of any ecosystem and thats still a fairly accurate definition. Between one-third and one-half of the land surface of the earth has been transformed by human development. Cultural ecology argues that we humans were inextricably embedded in earth surface processes long before the invention of bulldozers and dynamite. Key Takeaways: Cultural Ecology American anthropologist Julian Steward coined the term cultural ecology in the 1950s.  Cultural ecology explains that humans are part of their environment and both affect and are affected by the other.  Modern cultural ecology pulls in elements of historical and political ecology as well as rational choice theory, post-modernism, and cultural materialism. Human impacts and cultural landscape are two contradictory concepts that may help to explain the past and modern flavors of cultural ecology. In the 1970s, concern over human impacts on the environment arose: the roots of the environmental movement. But, that isnt cultural ecology, because it situates humans outside of the environment. Humans are part of the environment, not an outside force making impacts on it. Discussing cultural landscapes—people within their environment—attempts to address the world as a bio-culturally collaborative product. Environmental Social Science Cultural ecology is part of a suite of environmental social science theories that provide anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, historians, and other scholars a way to think about why it is people do what they do, to structure research and ask good questions of the data. In addition, cultural ecology is part of a theoretical division of the whole study of human ecology, broken into two parts: human biological ecology (how people adapt through biological means) and human cultural ecology (how people adapt through cultural means). Looked at as the study of the interaction between living things and their environment, cultural ecology involves human perceptions of the environment as well as the sometimes unperceived impacts of us on the environment and the environment on us. Cultural ecology is all about humans—what we are and what we do, in the context of being another animal on the planet. Adaptation and Survival One part of cultural ecology with immediate impact is the study of adaptation, how people deal with, affect and are affected by their changing environment. That is vital to our survival on the planet  because it offers understanding and possible solutions to important contemporary problems, like deforestation, loss of species, food scarcity, and soil loss. Learning about how adaptation worked in the past can teach us today as we grapple with the effects of global warming. Human ecologists study how and why cultures do what they do to solve their subsistence problems, how people understand their environment and how they share that knowledge. A side benefit is that cultural ecologists pay attention to and learn from traditional and local knowledge about how we really are part of the environment, whether we pay attention or not. Them and Us The development of cultural ecology as a theory has its start with a scholarly grappling with understanding cultural evolution (now called unilinear cultural evolution and abbreviated as UCE). Western scholars had discovered there were societies on the planet who were less advanced than elite white male scientific societies: how did that come about? UCE, developed in the late 19th century, argued that all cultures, given enough time, went through a linear progression: savagery (loosely defined as hunters and gatherers), barbarism (pastoralists/early farmers), and civilization (identified as a set of characteristics of civilizations such as writing and calendars and metallurgy). As more archaeological research was accomplished, and better dating techniques were developed, it became clear that developing ancient civilizations did not follow neat or regular rules. Some cultures moved back and forth between agricultural and hunting and gathering or, quite commonly, did both at once. Preliterate societies did build calendars of sorts—Stonehenge is the best known but not the oldest by a long way—and some societies such as the Inca developed state-level complexity without writing as we know it. Scholars came to realize that cultural evolution was, in fact, multi-linear, that societies develop and change in many different ways. History of Cultural Ecology That first recognition of the multi-linearity of cultural change led to the first major theory of the interaction between people and their environment: environmental determinism. Environmental determinism said it must be that the local environments in which people live force  them to select methods of food production and societal structures. The problem with that is that environments change constantly, and people make choices on how to adapt based on a wide range of successful and unsuccessful intersections with the environment. Cultural ecology arose primarily through the work of anthropologist Julian Steward, whose work in the American southwest led him to combine four approaches: an explanation of culture in terms of the environment in which it existed; the relationship of culture and environment as an ongoing process; a consideration of small-scale environments, rather than culture-area-sized regions; and the connection of ecology and multi-linear cultural evolution. Steward coined cultural ecology as a term in 1955, to express that (1) cultures in similar environments may have similar adaptations, (2) all adaptations are short-lived and constantly adjust to local conditions, and (3) changes can either elaborate on earlier cultures or result in entirely new ones. Modern Cultural Ecology Modern forms of cultural ecology pull in elements of tested and accepted theories (and some rejected) in the decades between the 1950s and today, including: historical ecology (which discusses the impact of individual interactions of small-scale societies);political ecology (which includes the effects of power relations and conflicts on the household to global scale);rational choice theory (which says that people make decisions about how to achieve their goals);post-modernism (all theories are equally valid and the truth is not readily discernible to subjective western scholars); andcultural materialism (humans respond to practical problems by developing adaptive technologies). All of those things have found their way into modern cultural ecology. In the end, cultural ecology is a way to look at things; a way to form hypotheses about understanding the broad range of human behaviors; a research strategy; and even a way to make sense of our lives. Think about this: much of the political debate about climate change of the early 2000s centered around whether or not it was human-created. That is an observation of how people still attempt to put humans outside our environment, something cultural ecology teaches us cannot be done. Sources Berry, J. W. A Cultural Ecology of Social Behavior. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Ed. Berkowitz, Leonard. Vol. 12: Academic Press, 1979. 177–206. Print.Frake, Charles O. Cultural Ecology American Anthropologist 64.1 (1962): 53–59. Print.and Ethnography.Head, Lesley. Cultural Ecology: Adaptation—Retrofitting a Concept? Progress in Human Geography 34.2 (2010): 234-42. Print.Cultural Ecology: The Problematic Human and Terms of Engagement. Progress in Human Geography 31.6 (2007): 837–46. Print.Head, Lesley, and Jennifer Atchison. Cultural Ecology: Emerging Human-Plant Geographies. Progress in Human Geography  (2008). Print.Sutton, Mark Q, and E.N. Anderson. Introduction to Cultural Ecology. Second Edition ed. Lanham, Maryland: Altamira Press, 2013. Print.

Fuzzy Topsis Method Free Essays

Fuzzy TOPSIS method This is an approach based on the TOPSIS technique (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and the fuzzy set theory. The TOPSIS method is based on the concept that the optimum option has the least distance from the positive ideal solution. It is a linear weighting technique, which was first proposed, in its crisp version by Chen and Hwang(1992), with reference to Hwang and Yoon(1981). We will write a custom essay sample on Fuzzy Topsis Method or any similar topic only for you Order Now Since then, this method has been widely adopted to solve MCDM problems in many different fields. Because decision information is uncertain instead of certain in most environments, further extension for group decision making problems under fuzzy environment was published by Cheng(2000),known as Fuzzy TOPSIS. The selection of the third-party provider is a typical MCDM problem. In this method firstly we screen out providers that have not minimal qualifications by the selection criteria. Then closeness coefficient of contractors to each proposal will be computed by Fuzzy TOPSIS method and finally these coefficients as successful indicators for each provider will be fed in to a linear programming to select most profitable projects and providers with respect to the constraints. The stages are described blow: Stage1: Eliminate contractors that haven’t minimal qualifications. For the purpose of analysis, selection criteria need to be rationally selected at first. There are a lot of researches with respect to the decision criteria for evaluating the supplier. Such as the study of Dickson(1966), Ellram (1990),Weber et al. (1991), ,Grupe (1997), and Akomode et al. (1998). According to an empirical survey, the top four selection criteria are responsiveness to service requirements, quality of management, track record of ethical importance, and ability to provide value-added services. The less important selection criteria are listed in a descending order as below: low cost, specific channel expertise, knowledge of market, personal relationship with key contacts, willingness to assume risk, investment in state-of- art technologies, size of firm, and national market coverage. Keeping the outcomes of the supplier selection literature review as a guideline, we derived the relevant factors to evaluate in the provider selection process based on the outsourcing view. However selection of criteria is totally industry specific and based on each case and the criteria are changed and replaced. Then opinions of decision makers on criteria were aggregated and weights of all criteria have been calculated by organizing the expert meeting. Meanwhile, the outcomes of the supplier selection literature review should be kept as a guideline. Stage2: Computing closeness coefficient (CC) for each project by fuzzy TOPSIS method So after we have obtained the important evaluation criteria and the qualified provider candidates to form the MCDM problem,the ranking of the shortlisted vendor providers will be done using the fuzzy TOPSIS approach. First,choose the appropriate linguistic variables for the importance weight of the criteria ,asses the importance of each contractor in each project with respect to each criterion by DM, using linguistic variables. Convert these evaluation into triangular fuzzy numbers with fuzzy weight for each criterion. Fuzzy weight wj of criterion C j are obtained with regard to DM’s opinions. Then the importance of the criteria and the rating of alternatives with respect to each criterion and the aggregated rating Xij under criteria C j can be calculated as: Wj=1K[Wj1+Wj2+†¦+Wjk] xij=1K[xij1+xij2+†¦+xijk] Wjk is the importance weight of the kth decision maker. xijk is the rating of the kth decision maker. Construct the normalized fuzzy decision matrix. If we describe the linguistic variables by triangular fuzzy numbers, xij=(aij,bij,cij) and wij=(wj1,wj2,wj3)then we can get the fuzzy decision matrix denoted by R, and R= R=[rij]m? n. rij=(aijcj,bijcj,cijcj) rij=(aj-aij,aj-bij,aj-cij) Next, the weighted normalized fuzzy decision matrix is constructed by : V=[vij]m? n, i=1,2,†¦,m j=1,2,†¦,n Where vij=rij(. )wj After all of these analysis and calculation ,a positive-ideal solution (PIS, A+) and a fuzzy negative-ideal solution (NIS,A-) as the criterion are chosen. The best alternative solution should be the closest to the Positive Ideal Solution (PIS) and the farthest from the Negative Ideal Solution (NIS). A+=(v1*,v2*,†¦,vn*) A-=(v1-,v2-,†¦,vn-) vj*=1,1,1 vj-=0,0,0 Calculate the total distance of each components from the fuzzy positive ideal and negative ideal: ? If A and B are two fuzzy numbers as follows, distance between these fuzzy numbers is calculated by equation below: A=(a1,b1,c1) B=(a2,b2,c2) Equation : DA,B=13[a2-a12+b2-b12+c2-c12] Given the above description on how to calculate the distance between fuzzy numbers, the distance of components from positive and negative ideas can be derived respectively as: di*=j=1nd(vij,vj*), i=1,2,†¦,m di-=j=1nd(vij,vj-), i=1,2,†¦,m In the end,the relative closeness coefficient (CC)of each contractor-project in each criterion can be calculated as: CCi=di*di-+di+, i=1,2,†¦,m Stage3: Selecting the best projects and related contractors Select the best projects and related contractors by ranking options based on the descending cci. An alternative with index cci approaching 1 indicates that the alternative is close to the fuzzy positive ideal reference point and far from the fuzzy negative ideal reference point. A large value of closeness index indicates a good performance of the alternative. A case study: The proposed methodology for supplier selection problem, composed of TOPSIS method, consists of three Steps: (1) Identify the criteria to be used in the model; (2) weigh the criteria by using expert views; (3) evaluation of alternatives with TOPSIS and determination of the final rank. The case is that of a major company operating in the dairy products field. In the first phase, the project team operated mainly through roundtable discussions on developing their main selection criteria. After identity the criteria attributed under consideration, five alternatives suppliers are written in the list. There are several criteria need to be considered, and each vendor’s information under each criteria are collected, calculating each vendor’s overall rating weight, shown in Table 2. (Mohammad Saeed Zaeri,2010) Finally, the closeness coefficient was calculated to rank alternatives. The results obtained are shown in Table 4: (Mohammad Saeed Zaeri,2010) The order of rating among those vendors is Supplier3;gt; Supplier 4;gt; Supplier 1;gt; Supplier2;gt;Supplier5, the best vendor would be Supplier3. To conclude, the TOPSIS method had several advantages. First, TOPSIS makes it possible to appraise the distances of each candidate from the positive and negative ideal solutions. Second, it allows the straight linguistic definition of weights and ratings under each criterion, without the need of cumbersome pairwise comparisons and the risk of inconsistencies. It evaluates the projects and each provider more precisely by expert decision makers in each stage of the whole process. Moreover, the method is very easy to understand and to implement. All these issues are of fundamental importance for a direct field implementation of the methodology by logistics practitioners. However TOPSIS is proved to be insensitive to the number of alternatives and has its worst performance only in case of very limited number of criteria. In order to apply fuzzy TOPSIS to a MCDM problem, selection criteria have to be monotonic. How to cite Fuzzy Topsis Method, Papers

Theories of Ageing and Their Impact on Health and Social Care free essay sample

Theories of ageing and their impact on Health and Social Care Provision (D2) During life span and development, we learned about each of the stages of life. In this report I am going to focus on the final stage which is elderly. In today’s society the population of elderly people is rising. As the population of elderly people is rising, it means the need for health and social care services is rising too. As health care services have improved so much over the last number of years, it also means that elderly people will be able to live longer because of improved services and more awareness about health. 10 million people in the UK are over 65 years old. The latest projections are for 5? million more elderly people in 20 years’ time and the number will have nearly doubled to around 19 million by 2050’ – parliament UK As people start to age, most retire around the age of 65/70. For many this is a positive thing as it means more free time and also many elderly people deserve to retire as they have worked hard during their life. When a person retires they may use the time to travel or to get more involved with their community. Some may also move abroad to get more experiences and make the most of the free time they have. Many people continue life-long learning after retirement and may take up a new hobby, sport or language to fill up their free time. However, not everyone’s retirement or becoming elderly is positive. Many elderly people who are not as active may develop an illness or become very lonely. If an elderly person was to develop an illness, it may make them less mobile, depending on the severity of the illness and may end up making them become disengaged from everyone. Dependency is another aspect that elderly people have to face at some point towards the end of their life or even at the start of ageing if they do develop an illness. Many elderly people that go into care homes sometimes feel neglected and a burden. They then may not have as positive end of life as others. The government plays an important role in providing care and other services for elderly people. There are many services that are already in place for people who are 65+. Some examples are: * Free bus passes * Dental care * Eye care * Heating allowances * Free TV licences Free hearing aids * Home helps * Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy treatment free of charge These are just some examples of what is available for people aged 65+. There are many other measures being put in place all the time for elderly people. The government also constantly make positive changes to health care services. E. G. there are more care homes and domiciliary carers now than there would have been 20 years ago. A number of years ago, many elderly people would have been put in hospital and left there till they died however this is not the case anymore. Elderly people now have a choice whether they want to stay at home or go into a type of care setting. There are many ways in which the government have put measures in place to work around the service user and not to go by what the organisation wants. E. G. an elderly person has the choice of having a carer in each day to help them or whether or not they would rather go into care home. This is a positive change because it means not as many elderly people will have to worry about being put into a home without their consent. The government also have in place a pension. This can help an elderly person to live once they retire or run out of savings. Some elderly people may sell their house to cover the cost of living in a care home. This can then cause problems for families as they do not get anything. During my work placement I got talking to an elderly lady who was telling me about her 40 grandchildren that she has and how she would have to give them all money at Christmas. She said she shouldn’t really have given them all money because she can’t afford it but that it was something she always did. There are many reasons in today’s society why there are elderly people living in poverty. There are many cut backs being made that affects everyone although more so than others E. G. an elderly person. If an elderly person doesn’t have any savings and are just relying on benefits then they may start to struggle. A lot of elderly people go into residential care simply because they cannot afford to live alone and provide food and heat for themselves. For unfortunate elderly people who become ill, then they may face barriers too because they may be on a waiting list for something that they urgently need. Many elderly people do not have family to help and support them either and so some end up isolated and having to face problems on their own. In some cases, there are problems with domiciliary carers coming into an elderly person’s house. The statistics for levels of abuse states that the highest number of cases of abuse takes place in someone’s own home. This is a problem because an elderly person is vulnerable, especially if they are ill or have a mental health problem. However, there are many measures put in place now to try and prevent abuse happening E. G. eople who apply for a caring job have to be vetted and police checked, inspections are done in care homes more frequently and elderly people have advocates to speak up for them. Finally, elderly people should look at ageing as a positive aspect of their life because there are so many ways in which they can have a happy end of life and many other reasons why they shouldn’t become disengaged to everyone. Also , elderly people still have many opportunities to learn new skills and can also gain more experiences which should be enjoyed and treasured E. G. having grandchildren and watching their family grow.

Santa Claus and Mythical Creatures

Religion, Femininity and Love in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre

Religion, Femininity and Love in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Free Online Research Papers I. FRANKNESS AND TRUTH FROM A MAIN CHARACTER â€Å"Miss Eyre is rather a brazen miss,† wrote one reader, referring to the passionate main character of Charlotte Bronte’s most famous novel. Indeed, the novel received unfavorable reviews from its early critics for going against deeply entrenched codes of conduct and femininity. Jane’s outbursts of emotion, her then-radical assertion of the woman’s right to go beyond roles assigned by custom and her rejection of borders imposed by class caused controversy. In fact, Elizabeth Rigby calls Jane â€Å"unchristian,† saying that Jane Eyre couldn’t have been written by a female. She ultimately says that even if the book was penned by a woman, it was penned by one â€Å"who has, for some sufficient reason, long forfeited the society of her own sex.† (Weisser, p. xiv) This nonconformity, however, is what renders the novel an accurate picture of the life and times of its main character. Jane Eyre can be compared to a view through an unclouded lens: the character speaks without regard for the conventions of the day; therefore, we are given an uninhibited view of the character and an honest, unrestrained response to the issues during her time. Moreover, while Jane Eyre is classified as historical fiction today, it fell under the category of contemporary realist fiction during the time of its publication. Its author drew characters and plot elements from her own life, thus it can be treated as a reliable account of England during Bronte’s time, despite its fictionalization. Bronte was wary of theatrical productions of her novel because she feared they would misrepresent her work, and in a way she was right. Most productions selectively emphasized the Gothic and Romantic elements of the novel at the expense of its views on religion and the condition of women (Weisser, p. xii), which are noteworthy as well. Jane Eyre’s passages on women and religion actually need more emphasis, given that much of the controversy surrounding the novel stems from the Bronte’s brand of Christianity and proto-feminism. II. RELIGION, HUMAN FEELINGS AND HUMAN DESIRES Readers are given three pictures of religion in Jane Eyre. First, we are given the brand of religion from Brocklehurst, which Jane deems too hypocritical and consequently rejects. The hypocrisy is painted through the contrasting appearances of Brocklehurst’s family and the students of Lowood. There is a scene where Brocklehurst orders that the curls of a Lowood student be cut. Because Brocklehurst espouses the Evangelical view that Christianity requires the purging of pride, he subjects Lowood students to these kinds of humiliation and deprivation. Note, however, that Brocklehurst practices his evangelism on Lowood students while his own family takes on a gay, luxurious appearance. This hypocrisy justifies the novel’s rejection of the nineteenth century Evangelical movement. Second, Helen Burns’ brand of religion is one that forgives all wrongs in the name of Christianity. Jane rejects this, because she cannot train herself wholeheartedly for martyrdom like Helen’s, even if she admires Helen for it. The fact that Helen dies very young implies that her passivity is not suited for the trials that a person will face throughout the course of life. Third, we are given the brand of religion of St. John Rivers, which casts the Christian in the role of saviour to the heathens and deliverer of God’s word to new flocks. Jane rejects this as well, because this type of religion seeks glory (which Jane does not desire) and forces her to curb her feelings and passions. Like Helen’s brand of religion, this forces her to deny her nature. But while Jane rejects all three models of religion, she does not reject God or morality. This is exemplified by Bertha, one of Jane’s foils. Bertha responds to conflict in ways that Jane cannot. For example, Bertha succumbs to her desires and feelings, as evidenced by her promiscuity and alcoholism. Meanwhile, Jane denies her desires and feelings when she refuses to commit adultery by marrying Rochester while his first wife exists, because God forbids adultery. Jane rejects the models of religion from Brocklehurst, Helen and St. John, but eventually she discovers her own brand of Christianity: one that is not oppressive and hypocritical like Brocklehurst’s and not unnatural like Helen’s and St. John’s. It obeys God while allowing Jane her earthly pleasures and emotional desires. Bronte’s views on religion were a reflection of how the events of the era filtered into her writing. During the parliamentary debates in 1829 regarding the Catholic question, the English debated on whether or not Catholics should be granted political rights equal to those of Protestants (Center for Research on Social Organization, p.1). These debates imply that there is the question of which religion – Protestantism or Roman Catholicism – deserve supremacy over England. Bronte may be espousing her own brand of morality in answer to these debates. Since Jane’s religion was not specified, and the reader only has her brand of morality to judge, Bronte could be saying that a person should not be judged according to one’s label (Catholic or Protestant), but should be judged instead by how one answers the call to be upright. Does the person’s response break laws of the Bible? Does the person’s response strike a balance between moral duty and practicability? Or is the response too hypocritical? The pictures of religion throughout Jane Eyre tackle these questions to a great extent. III. LOVE AND SOCIAL CLASS IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD Jane Eyre is deeply critical of the social hierarchy in England during the Victorian period. Jane lashes out against class prejudice in certain parts of the novel, the most famous of which is her declaration of love for Rochester: Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you and full as much a heart! . I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities nor even of mortal flesh; it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood equal at God’s feet, equal – as we are! (Bronte, p. 294) Moreover, Jane does not adhere to the value system of the Victorian period. Rochester’s crowd (Blanche and her peers) are superior to Jane based on the Victorian social hierarchy, which puts a premium on income. In this light, Blanche and Rochester should marry, and Jane should not dream of a union with Rochester. But Jane believes that intellectual equality and kindred spirits – and not income or any other arbitrary Victorian standard – should be the basis for a union. Thus she says of Blanche and Rochester: â€Å"I would scorn at such a union† (Bronte, p. 294). However, the novel ends with Jane not actually being able to defy limits imposed by class. She gets an inheritance. Meanwhile, Rochester’s wealth is diminished because Thornfield burns to the ground, and he loses an eye and a limb. They do not get married while they are from different classes in society. They both had to move (Jane up the ladder of income, Rochester down the ladder of income and social status) to be able to marry. This may be because Bronte’s ideas were too radical for the time, and to write about a union that defied all the conventions of society may not come off as believable at all. Or Bronte may have changed their positions in society to offer readers the possibility of a marriage with tangible indications of equality. Furthermore, it is acknowledged in the novel that marriage – an expected state for a female to go into – can be a relationship between equals, despite the fact that women were generally thought of as inferior to men during the Victorian period. As Jane says: â€Å"I am my husbands life as fully as he is mine. . . . To be together is for us is to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. . . . We are precisely suited in character† (Bronte, p. 525); this not only establishes that a woman can marry not only for social mobility; she can marry because she found someone who suits her well. it also reinforces the belief that compatibility in intellect and character – and not income or social class – should be the basis for a good match. IV. FEMININITY AND FREEDOM Jane’s assertion that a woman’s horizons should be broadened is not to be misinterpreted as a denunciation of the Victorian values of service and domesticity. Note that the novel begins in girlhood and ends with Jane’s marriage and motherhood, following the Victorian trajectory of the female’s life based on her purpose (Weisser, p.xxv). Bronte has been cast as a proto-feminist, because she created female protagonists that do not charm men to secure their futures. But she does not push for the woman’s complete autonomy in Jane Eyre. In fact, marriage and domesticity are also presented in the novel as a reward for Jane’s morality. She simply says that women should be allowed to deviate if they wish from the roles and duties imposed by custom. This is evident when Jane says: Women are supposed to be very calm generally; but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded of their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing the piano and embroidering bags. (Bronte, p. 123) Freedom in the novel is not limited to the freedom endorsed by feminism today. Jane also seeks the kind of freedom that will fulfil her need for autonomy while still allowing her to fulfil the need to belong. She is presented different forms of freedom throughout the novel. First, Rochester offers her the freedom to liberate her passions when he offers to make her his mistress. She rejects this, because to liberate her passions in such a way would mean enslavement to her feelings. Afterwards, St. John offers her the freedom to exercise her talents to the fullest by becoming a missionary. She rejects this as well, because this would mean enslavement to Grace through the obliteration of Nature, because she could not give rein to her passions. There is also the presence of Diana and Mary: two women who are unmarried and therefore unsubjugated by any male. Jane appreciates the self-sufficiency of Diana and Mary, but she does not conform to their kind of freedom as well, because it cannot give her emotional sustenance. V. CONCLUSION Jane Eyre is the story of a young woman’s quest for emotional and spiritual fulfilment. While it has been called unchristian, unfeminine and the like, it remains a favorite both in and out of the academic reading lists. (Weisser, p.xiii)This endurance of Jane Eyre may be attributed to the same reasons why it has met disapproval: Jane’s intensity of feeling, her attempt to strike a balance between her moral obligations and earthly pleasures, her unabashed declaration that she is equal to Rochester despite their differences in wealth. These propose a middle ground for all the conflicting elements in life: Nature vs. Grace, Passion vs. Reason and Love vs. Autonomy. This middle ground makes Jane a believable and relatable character and allows the novel to retain popular success despite the passage of time and the evolution of tastes. Moreover, the issues tackled in the novel remain relevant to the present time. First, there is still the question of how to practice the Christian faith. At present, Christians are still divided into labels: Catholic, Protestant and many others. The pictures of religion in the novel serve as points for reflection for people exploring their Christianity. Second, the novel discusses women’s place in society, an issue that has not yet been resolved. Bronte issued her declaration of women’s rights in 1847, but women’s rights still have a long way to go in the context of the present, and Jane’s struggles can still effectively mirror the struggles of women at present. This does not include only the broadening of the roles that women are supposed to take on, but also the power play between man and women in love. Jane Eyre may have been written hundreds of years ago, but its endurance is proof of its value. It is fortunate that despite the fact that women and women writers were not taken as seriously as men during the Victorian period, Bronte pursued her dream to write. If not, we would be deprived of a deeply valuable account of life during the Victorian period, and we would be deprived of great insights without the voice of Jane. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. Weisser, Susan Ostrov. Introduction. Jane Eyre. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003. Center for Research on Social Organization. â€Å"British Catholic Emancipation, Prototype of Reform?† Online. Internet. December 1980. Available URL: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50994/1/220.pdf Research Papers on Religion, Femininity and Love in Charlotte Bronte's Jane EyreBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andStandardized TestingMind TravelAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeWhere Wild and West Meet19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

SABMiller Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SABMiller Analysis - Case Study Example The external environment for SABMiller in 2010 was conflicted by the inability to differentiate certain products in its portfolio of brands, namely the light beer categories, which accounts for 40 percent of total beer sales in the U.S; a significant volume. In Western Europe, well-established premium brands were estimated to be driving consumer demand based on their buying trends. This was a difficulty considering that new executive leadership worked toward reducing the Miller brand portfolio from 50 down to just 10 or 12 products. Divestment of premium brands that occurred during the earlier part of the 2000s seemed to limit the ability of SABMiller to re-establish brand presence for low-performing beer. Clearly, SABMiller is affected by the consumer behaviour preferences driven by trends or consumption patterns and must reengineer processes to meet these changing demands. In 2010, it was also clear that SABMiller is impacted by events in the external market, such as South African AIDS pandemics, confidence in certain currency markets related to the stock market and trading, and other events that limit their short-term potential to gain revenue and/or market share. However, SABMiller understood these limitations and worked to leverage other activities to the best of their ability, especially considering that some external events like the AIDS scenario was completely outside of the control of strategic leadership and focus. Additionally, the external market was driven by joint ventures from some of the major players in the beer industry, thus limiting the ability to consider this a quality strategy that had once served them well, such as with Coors and other brands. Even though these had short-term revenue opportunities and cost reduction improvements, or streamlining operational functions, their long-term value was diminishing. The external market provided opportunities to combine resources with competition, however this strategy has long-term brand problems at the marketing level when similarly-priced products in a joint venture are competing with one another. Thus, finding new opportunities based on the external market characteristics were becoming increasingly difficult to innovate and implement. SABMiller’s competitive advantage SABMiller’s competitive advantage had been the ability to coordinate resources for acquisitions in order to extend their portfolio of brands across Europe, em erging economies and the United States. This drove considerable success from 2001 until 2009, such as the acquisition of Grolsch, Sarmat Brewery in the Ukraine, and multiple brewery purchases in the Chinese market. As indicated by the company’s cash flow statements, the improvement in total brand portfolios gave it more resources to seek acquisitions as a strategy for long-term growth and opportunity in emerging economies and locally. SABMiller fits the profile of a strategic leader when it comes to seeking opportunity through acquisition and divesting poor performing brands when required through external analysis and business process reengineering.

Caliban in Aim Cesaire's A Tempest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Caliban in Aim Cesaire's A Tempest - Essay Example He describes how Prospero, the Duke of Milan, uses  magic  to  grasp  absolute  power  over Caliban and Ariel. Aime depicts Prospero’s as a driven and powerful  master  as well as colonizer who  power  over the island  territory  by superior  force  and  authority. On the hand, he portrays Caliban as a colonized  master  who ignores Prospero and disobeys his  command  on  many  occasions throughout the play (Harrison 25). Caliban’s response and authority to control Prospero’s and powerful commands  depict  him as authoritative. For example, Prospero refers to Caliban as an ugly ape (Cesaire 17). Caliban  quickly  reiterates:  You  think I’m ugly†¦well I do not think you are so handsome yourself. With that large hooked nose,  you  look just like  same  old vulture, an old vulture with a scrawny neck! (Cesaire 17). We  learn  that Caliban is  brave  and courageous. He expresses his feelings towards Prospero and takes control over him. Cesaire depicts Caliban as ‘the king of the Island’ (Cesaire 17). Caliban views Prospero as  narrow-minded  and intolerant when he refers to his mother Sycorax is a witch and a  ghost’ (Cesaire 18). He views Prospero as  narrow-minded  and  intolerant: ‘Anyhow  you  only  think  she is  dead  because you think the world itself is  dead†¦It’s so much easier that way!’ (Cesaire 18). After Caliban reminded by Prospero that Sycorax is  dead, he starts to gain more confidence and  power  to control Prospero’s ruthless  command.  When Prospero accuses Caliban of rape; ‘Good God, you tried to rape my daughter’, Caliban reiterates forcefully: Rape!  Rape! Listen  you  old goat, you are the one who put those  dirty  thoughts in my†¦I could not care less for your daughter, or about your cave, for that matter (Cesaire 19). Caliban derives his  magic  from Sycorax to  shape  and make Prospero  powerless  of