Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Essay Example One depicts the life of a slave boy and the other that of a girl. That Jacobs used a pseudonym is sometimes cited as a proof the account being a piece of fiction. I think it does not have to be so. It is an author’s right to use a pen name and it applies to Jacobs just as well. It is literally true that facts are often stranger than fiction and that explains why Incidents, for a long period after its publication in 1861, continued to arouse the skepticism that it was in all probability a white abolitionist’s fabricated work till Yellin of Pace University established the author’s authenticity (Diamond VIII). The cynicism understandably comes from those quarters where the members, owing as often to their community identity as to the gender identity, will never be able to identify with the traumatizing experience of what it means to be a slave – a female slave in particular; in the south, to be even more precise. The pain of having to choose between family ne eds and master’s decrees, for instance, cannot be appreciated just by going through the pages of a book. However, they were not the author’s target either. ... ery during the 17th and 18th centuries are two features that expose the darker side of the history, society, culture, politics and economics of a nation that is conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal (Elmore 232). In this context, Incidents assumes significance for its capacity to throw light on the fact that the cruelly exploitative nature of slavery is as horrible as the atrocities under colonialism, if not worse. It is an important literary work as well a source of crucial historical information about 19th century America that could be of essence to future generations in grasping what their forerunners lived through. It is a portrait of the society in which ‘citizen’ was a strange word to be used to refer to a colored man, as Jacobs observes on receiving the obituary notice of her uncle Phillip (Castronovo 158). For a slave, what images is the word freedom likely to conjure up? Being a woman can make more difference than w e think. Jacobs’ narrative is all about a relentless pursuit of individual freedom. But the way she envisages this freedom is beyond the wildest stretch of one’s imagination. The moment of freedom was not when she was able to take control of her life. Nor did it arrive when her employer had bought her freedom. Since self-definition and self-assertion are undeniably among the key themes of the protagonist in Incidents, it is not easy to resist the temptation to label it as feminist. But we find an interesting contradiction. From the feminist perspective, it is hard to think marriage can be synonymous with freedom whereas Jacobs equates freedom with marriage when she states: Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage† (Jacobs 183). It is in sharp contrast with the

An investigation into perceptions of employee benefits in UK Literature review

An investigation into perceptions of employee benefits in UK - Literature review Example Employee benefits can be short term, long term and termination benefits. Short term benefits generally include monetary and non-monetary benefits for a short period. Long term benefits include pensions and other retirement plans. A possible narrowest definition will include employer-provided benefits for accident, death, retirement, sickness or unemployment (Weathingtin and Tetrik, 2009). However, in order to better understand the employee benefits, it is important to cover all forms of employee benefits and compensation schemes used across the globe. The most frequently used employee benefit forms are as follows: 2. Payments for retirement plans and private insurance: These include costs of starting such plans and contributions in forms of payments or insurance premiums through alternative arrangements for funding (The British Psychological society, 2014). The government has set policies for providing benefits under various plans in case of personal loss. The personal loss covers the following aspects: 4. Extra payments to employees through cash. Other than bonuses and wages, cash payments are also provided to employees on the basis of performance. This category of benefits includes the following factors: Employee benefits and compensation packages have become a very common as well as necessary phenomenon for employees and workers in the 21st century. As a result of globalizations and increasing opportunities in work and career, workers and employees have started realizing their worth and have started demanding more from their employers (Dulebohn, et al., 2009). As a result companies have not integrated benefits and compensation system into their core management. As the economic environment is becoming more service oriented and work forces are becoming white collars, these employee benefits are naturally expected. The necessity of employee benefits is more for employers than for employees. In the current

Chicano Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chicano - Essay Example La Huasanga (Los Rogacianos) is a must for followers of music who appreciates diversity in culture. The film industry in Mexico is credited by the way they have appreciated and marketed the Mexican culture through music. Conjunto Hueyapan used a sharp harp called arpa planeca together with a deep sounding bass register, one or two violins. They also use a tandem strumming section formed by a five-string guitar (a vihuela) and aquitarrs de golpe. The guitars have really stood out in the music. The vocalists have ensured that the message is passed through the most appropriate musical way. The lyrics are such that they describes the moment of the time. The lyrics are passing the message as required. The performance had great characterization and lots of energy. The dances of the performance are crisp, clean and synchronized. It was the most entertaining performance. The instruments ranging from guitar to violin could be just described as wonderful. Every word in the music was spoken with a lot of enthusiasm and energy and it also provided the audience with the opportunity to laugh. This showed that the music is not meant for entertainment but also as a way to educate audience about the goodness of Mexican meal (El Toro Viejo) Weinstock, Herbert, and Carlos ChaÃŒ vez.  Mexican Music: Notes by Herbert Weinstock for Concerts Arranged by Carlos ChaÃŒ vez As Part of the Exhibition. New York: Printed for the Trustees of the Museum of modern art by W.E. Rudges Sons, 1940.

Global Economies according to Friedman's The World Is Flat Research Paper

Global Economies according to Friedman's The World Is Flat - Research Paper Example This has allowed other growing economies to collaborate irrespective of the geographical distance separating the collaborating countries. Based on the past and current trends in the U.S. economy, Flanders presents that as compared to some of the ten major recessions that have hit the U.S, those that have occurred in the 21st century have been the worst. This is indication that the in the next five years, another heat is likely to have even more serious impacts on the U.S economy. For instance, the 2000-2001 and the 2008-2009 economic downturns have had some huge effects, especially in major areas such as employment, growth, investment and personal disposable income. The rate of employment trend has continued to fall over the years with the invention of more new technologies that replaced human labor. Today, the 85% rate of employed men and women in 1960 has reduced to only 64%. This has also been marked by the reduction in the share of all men and women entering the workforce. Subseq uently, Flander further explains that from the year 2000 to 2009 the average income per household fell by 3.6% and has continued to fall up to date, especially with an increase in the inflation rate. Do you believe China will surpass the U.S. as a world economic power? According to Smith, although the United States, Germany and Japan are the greatest economies in the world, most model projections indicate that China and India will surpass some of these huge economies. For instance, Smith points out that as per the Goldman Sachs model projection, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the U.S will rise to $35.1 trillion from $10.1 trillion whereas that of China is expected to rise from $1.4 trillion to a massive $44.1 trillion. I agree with this idea, especially taking into consideration that during the 2008-2009 economic downturns, whereas the U.S. economy was rapidly shrinking, China’s economy was still growing at a rate of 9% per annum. The recent performance of China’s economy also shows that China is on track towards its long-term goal. For instance, the GDP grew 7.5% in 2001 and accelerated to 8.3% in 2002 and 9.5% in 2003. Moreover, China’s trade links as well as the fact that China is a well known net creditor puts her economy in a good position of becoming one of the strongest economies globally.  China is also known to be a great buyer of the U.S. bonds implying that to some extent it has the capacity to determine the deficit that the U.S. can run considering the fact that the U.S. is among the biggest net debtors (McEachern). Friedman documents that China is the world’s greatest â€Å"offshoring† country to the extent that even the U.S is one of the beneficiaries of the attractive production prices in China. The Chinese education system, with its emphasis on technical areas such as mathematics and sciences, has resulted in a situation where the wages of highly skilled workers in the U.S. are starting to compete again st Chinese workers who can do a similar job at a low price. According to Flanders, one of the latest forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reveals that perhaps by 2016 the economy of China will surpass that of the U.S. The forecast predicts that there is a current wrangle of the budget in Washington. This in turn leads to the emergence of a number of questions

Information Technology 1-4D Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information Technology 1-4D - Essay Example This paper will serve to address four separate questions in regards to technology and modern society, with a careful look into how the use of technology is reflected in our day to day lives. Keywords: technology, day to day lives, Web 2.0, Mark Kennedy, data mining, data collection, decision making process, change, change management, organizational skills, management Information Systems D1-4 1. Mark Kennedy said, â€Å"All of the biggest technological inventions created by man – the airplane, the automobile, the computer – say a little about his intelligence, but speak volumes about his laziness.† What do you think of this quote? Do you agree? Why? Mark Kennedy stated that â€Å"all of the biggest technological inventions created by man – the airplane, the automobile, the computer – say a little about his intelligence, but speak volumes about his laziness† and I could not agree more. While the technologies themselves have been innovative and work to show the different ways that humans are able to take a look at what is available and adapt it to a different use, it is only the generations who are already aware of the original way of doing things that are benefiting from the technology itself. The generations that grow up with the technology already set firmly in place are made lazy and, to a degree, stupid by that same technology (Shaw, 2010). Society has become more and more dependent on technology, to a degree that many members often lack the willingness to think before acting, and as a result of current technologies have become impatient in regards to how quickly information is available (Patil, 2013). While technologies offer many different benefits, and technology is the mother of invention, the current technologies have far more drawbacks than they do rewards. Patil, P. (2013). Technological advancements and its impact on humanity. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/346486/Technological_Advancements_and_Its_Imp act_on_Humanity Shaw, S. (2010, September 16). dependence comes with technology. Retrieved from http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/2010/09/16/dependence-comes-with-technology/ 2. Textbooks define Web 2.0 as â€Å"the 2nd generation of the Web, which focuses on online collaboration, users as both creators and modifiers of content, dynamic and customized information feeds, and many other engaging web-based services.† How can these Web 2.0 tools help businesses to gain a competitive advantage? There are a large variety of different products and services associated with Web 2.0 that assist businesses in gaining a competitive advantage. If these technologies, including but not limited to, blogs, wikis, podcasts, mashups, social networks, and RSS filters, are properly deployed, they may allow companies to increase their productivity and competitive advantage in a cost effective manner (Andriole, 2010). IBM performed a study in 2005 which looked into how much Web 2.0 could truly affect co mpetitive advantage, and it showed that a sustainable competitive advantage resulted from continual innovation, increased productivity and transformation and employee learning as a result of the positive application of Web 2.0 tools (Graham & Jones, 2011). Andriole, S. J. (2010). Business Impact of Web 2.0 Technologies. Communications Of The ACM, 53(12), 67-79. doi:10.1145/1859204.1859225 Graham, M. & Jones, N. (2011). IMPROVING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE WITH WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES. Journal Of Business Excellence, 2(1), 12-17. 3. As we live our everyday lives, data is collected from us, sometimes without our consent and often without our knowledge. A personal profile could be compiled from disparate sources. What’s your opinion about the secondary use of personal data for data profiling? It is my opinion that while there are other, secondary uses of personal data for data profiling that may be beneficial, such as the use of data by local and national governments to increase transpar ency in the governmental process and democratize the exchange of

Tony Blair and Liberal Democracy Ideology Essay

Tony Blair and Liberal Democracy Ideology - Essay Example Tony Blair played a major role in Unifying the Labour Party a fact that made the popularity of the Labour Party to rise in the United Kingdom. It is through this unification that the country experienced a balance between the two major parties the country and that is the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. This is referred to by some experts as the Blair effect. This shows that Tony Blair was a good leader by all means and this also brings about the question of liberalization. It is important to note that Tony Blair highly advocated for the liberalization of various aspects in the country as well as other parts of the world especially the developing countries and countries that were having political, social and economical problems. Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from the year 1997 to the year 2007 and during his premiership, he adopted various policies which have been seen by many as to advocate for Liberal Democracy and Nation State. Many people will remember him for the foreign wars that he was involved in when he was the Prime Minister and also his doctrines of military intervention in various conflicts in the world. When he was resigning, he argued in parliament that his successors should learn to use his foreign policy. Although these doctrines and policies were not instrumental in his first election to the premiership and were not cited in his campaign, the policies that were cited in his first campaign still remained instrumental in his leadership throughout his premiership1. The most prevalent political model of Tony Blair was the Liberal Democratic Nation State. This was his initial political ideology and while he exercised this at the domestic politics, his foreign policy leaned very much to the Liberal Democracy ideology. It is important to note that even though the Liberal Democracy was a prevalent policy in the United Kingdom long before Tony Blair was elected to the premiership but he also embraced this policy during his premiership2. On the international side, the global crusade for the policy of liberal democracy was taken by Tony Blair as his personal crusade during the conflict of Kosovo. Although he faced significant criticism from various quarters, he did not shy away from implementing this policy in the subsequent wars that included Afghanistan and Iraq. He was also very instrumental in bringing about neoliberalism to be the country's dominant social and moral philosophy. This does not meant that neoliberalism is just a synonym of capitalism because the society and the political culture of the country were transformed by numerous policies which sought to eliminate the ideal of equality from the political policies and this policies also encourage the establishment and acceptance of an underclass which had the outlook of permanency and hereditary social group. Under the administration of Tony Blair, the core electorate group also known as Middle Britain had the opportunity to dominate the country's politics and in so doing they excluded the disadvantaged and non-voting underclass from the politics of the country3. Blair also attempted to implement the Mazzinian Nationalism but this failed

Building a Coffee Shop Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Building a Coffee Shop - Research Paper Example I have decided to add innovation in the customer services section by building an isolated area in my Coffee Shop where the customers could not only relax but also study as I would be making study material including newspapers and magazines available for them. In this way, the customers would not only enjoy the coffee of my shop, but will also be impressed by the services; thereby exhibiting the high value, which the shop places in them. In today’s world, Marketing is one of the most important determinants for a business’ success. For my Coffee Shop, I would be developing a small but skilful team which would market and advertise my shop extensively at all platforms. Marketing would not only be done through conventional methods such as pamphlets, brochures and newspapers, but modern day techniques such as Internet advertising would also be employed. Today, social networking websites have become a significant part of the society’s life; and my marketing plan intends to utilize this factor by publicizing my shop through it. In order to gain an edge over the competitors, my team would attempt to reach as many people as possible by personally visiting the houses in the town and informing people about the new Coffee Shop. As far as the area of Human Resources is concerned, my policy for Human Resources is a very broad one, which completely adheres to the federal and state laws pertaining to employment. Though, I would refrain from hiring people of less than eighteen years of age at my shop, however, if ever the need arises, I would ensure that while employing students and teenagers, there is compliance with the child labour regulations and ordinances. Furthermore, to compete with the other Coffee Shops, my shop would not only hire a diverse workforce on the basis of caste, colour, creed and race; but diversity will also be enforced by hiring people with disabilities, thereby, enhancing the reputation of my shop in the social circles. At the same t ime, such measures would also qualify my shop for tax credits. Technology would be utilized by my Coffee Shop to a great extent by making use of computers for maintaining records and conducting other important activities related to the shop. Moreover, in order to remain competitive in the market, I would be providing my customers with the latest Wi-Fi technology in the shop through which they could access internet. It would also give a stylish look to my business, in that way, attracting customers and challenging competitors. Therefore, my strategy is quite comprehensive with the rationale to make my Coffee Shop a successful one which would give tough competition to all the other Coffee Shops in the town ("SBA," n.d.). I aim to open my own Coffee Shop instead of buying an existing one as I have always admired the concept of entrepreneurship and wanted to be a successful entrepreneur. Establishing my own Coffee Shop would provide me with an opportunity to fulfil my dreams and develop my shop according to my own will. Consequently, this would enable me to bring in my own innovations while constructing the shop; such as designing the interior, seating arrangements, isolated studying area, reception centre and other activities related to the overall structure of the shop. Moreove