Ethnographic Research Project Essay

The subject of the Ethnographic Research project is Fall-Line Motorsports, a full service participant in the motorsports industry. Located in Chicago’s northern suburbs, the firm specializes in racing, servicing and modifying street and professional high performance vehicles such as BMWs, Porsches, Audis, Mercedes-Benz, Corvettes, and other high end transportation. (Fall-Line Motorsports, 2006) In the form of ethnographic research, Fall-Line Motorsports, is subjected to focus on the sociology of meaning through close field observation of sociocultural phenomena. Typically, observing the motorsport â€Å"community† (not necessarily geographic, but within the work and limited leisure environment).   Selection of informants or participants who are known to have an overview of the activities of the community and requesting such informants are asked to identify other informants representative of the community. (Ethnographic Research, 2006) Several informants/participants are interviewed multiple times within the work environment.   The purpose is to use information from previous informants/participants to elicit clarification and deeper responses upon re-interview.   Ã‚  The intent of this process is to uncover common cultural understandings related to the environment under study.   Ã‚  It should be noted that study utilizes the approach from the point of view of art, i.e. marketing, symbols, images and cultural preservation, i.e. behavior, customs and norms, as a descriptive rather than analytic endeavor. (Ethnographic Research, 2006) cultural immersion Observation â€Å"Aspects of motorsports has had long been considered exclusively European in nature, most notably sports cars and grand prix motor racing, began to achieve a level of acceptance that would make them important elements of the American automobile culture in the years to come.† (Inge, 1989, p. 110) One of the most noticeable practices in the shop environment was the constant human activity.   The machine and tools were merely instruments that served as extensions of the men working around them.   The level of concentration was amazingly intense.   Empirical analysis yielded high productive output, efficiently, effective craftsmanship only second to the obvious dedication and resourcefulness.   Ã‚  It was difficult to imagine that any facility of the same size could match or possible exceed the results of Fall-line Motorsports, particularly in the motorcar racing industry. Macro-ethnography Broadly-Defined Cultural Groupings Motorsport racing is a sport of addiction. â€Å"Once you experience it firsthand, you feel compelled to keep following it. In many cases, you quickly identify with a driver, his sponsor, or the make of car he drives. You watch races on television, you scan the newspaper for articles or photographs, you see people on the street wearing a NASCAR T-shirt or cap, you notice numbered decals on the back windows of cars and trucks, you start to recognize (and buy) products based on which team they sponsor.   A cultural reading of NASCAR’s evolution shows that stock car racing has become part of our national consciousness, both accepted and recognized by corporate America and the media.† (Bodine et al. 1997, p. 3) Since the very first visit to Fall-line Motorsports, I became completely enthralled with the motorsport business.   I saved and pulled together every nickel and dime I could muster in order to purchase the latest and best technology they had to offer. At that time, my single aspiration in high school was to have the fastest car on campus, and with their help, I achieved my goal.   Anecdotal analysis of American culture represents motorsports racing as an interesting phenomenon connected to our romanticism of the old American West. Stock car racing is more than a sport; it represents an important element of this nation’s culture and heritage. It is a sport with ties to the rebellious actions of post-Revolutionary frontiersmen. This is an activity with deep roots, the lines that connect the America of today with the America of yesterday. â€Å"Breaking NASCAR’s ties to its traditional Southern identification might be enough to get a culturally and ethnically-diverse audience involved in the sport.   Opening new Winston Cup markets—especially in large urban areas within reach of new facilities, like the California Speedway near Los Angeles and Quad-Cities International Raceway Park near Chicago—might be the catalyst to attract minorities as fans and participants.† (Bodine et al. 1997, p. 116) ethnographic method involve gaining informants Gathering Of Data In The Form Of Observation One particular afternoon presented the opportunity to develop the informant relationship.   I went down to Fall-line Motorsports to purchase and have installed a cold air intake.   The installation took approximately four hours. Upon completion, I paid my bill on a job well done and left.   Like any new device, I felt a real world test was warranted.   I found a major open through fare, position the car in empty, place the shift into first gear and press the accelerator down to the floor. In an instant the bolts to the sub frame ripped off and the differential fell out. Clearly, the only option was to return the Fall-line Motorsports.   Upon my return, the car was completely incapacitated.   Right then, JP, the chief engineer wasn’t able to repair immediately.   However, he drove me home which was quite a distance from the shop.   Ironically, the accident and the ride home provided me the opportunity to talk with JP at length about the business, the industry, and the people of motorsports. Hence, my informant relationship was established. During the conversation, even though motorsports has southern origin attached to it, it was discovered that one of the first northern drivers to find success as a â€Å"NASCAR Grand National competitor was Fred Lorenzen, who was raised in the town of Elmhurst, Illinois, not far from Chicago. Lorenzen became familiar with NASCAR racing while camping out with friends in his parents’ backyard.† (Bodine et al. 1997, p. 67) Micro-ethnography Narrowly-Defined Cultural Groupings Local spectators consume the regional sport commodity over a period of time, with different degrees of intensity of consumption. Consequently some races are enormously more important than others, with different meanings to different viewers or fans depending on their geographical location.   â€Å"Thus the standardization of the time length of games and events, and the calendarisation of sport goes hand in hand with its commoditization.† Forster, 2004, p.4) So much as the study goes, first hand participation is essential, unlike a â€Å"restaurant guides do not offer the kind of ethnographic information we might wish to have on American food ways, but as ephemeral publications that are part of as well as a commentary on popular cultural behavior, they have much to offer the student of American food ways.† (Inge, 1989, p. 488)   Also associated within the confines of this world is the mechanic.   Steve is one of the mechanics and a true fan of the sport. He typifies the motorsport fan, family man, calm , Midwestern civility and calmness that carries the day. â€Å"The group is socially dynamic. It is a sport that thrills and draws by the tens of millions to speedways and television sets each year, yet we have never considered what the sport means to us as a country, as a community of Americans. Community plays a large part in the sport of stock car racing. The sport itself is a community, one that travels to race tracks all over the country each week. As is the case with transitory social groups, the NASCAR Winston Cup participants look to each other for solidarity. The drivers, mechanics, officials, media people, and families of NASCAR move about the nation as a community with its own rules, ethics, and etiquette.† (Bodine et al. 1997, p. 10)    The deepest layer inside the motorsport subject is the driver.   One overwriting commonality that stands as an attribute to all who ride in the â€Å"beast† is the rituals practiced by the drivers. Whether it involves the silent act of prayer or wearing certain article of clothing in a particular fashion, the practice is uniform and convincing.   It even sometimes involves the people related to the drivers. Before a driver embarks into a race there are a series of different rituals that are performed. Mark Boden, 45 years old owner and operator of Fall-Line Motorsports and a driver at Fall-line motorsports, says goodbye to his wife and children before he goes into a race. He systematically walks over to the car to check and recheck the machine as to let his family know of his confidence.   With assurance, he says a prayer and is prepared to race. â€Å"When I go off I tell who ever I’m with ‘I’ll see you in a little bit’ or ‘I’ll be back.’ I walk over to my car and check my tire pressure, get my racing suit on, put my helmet on, and drive to the line. As I’m driving I start to loose my breath, but by the end of the first lap I am back to normal,† say Mark. Emic perspective Cultural Perception The general competitive balance result remains unchanged. Underlying the argument is a set of assumptions concerning the behavior of motorsports with respect to the quality of games (higher uncertainty of outcome leads to higher quality of games). In this scenario, drivers attract fans by winning. JP, head engineer at the firm epitomizes this argument. He is required by the demanding world of motorsports competition to know and understands every aspect of the BMW M3 models in addition to every other car he works on.   Within his challenging environment, he serves as a critical source of reference for the mechanics and other engineers. Miraculously JP has been able to find solutions when others have failed.   It seems he is able to answer any question posed to him. â€Å"American racing fans, NASCAR is autoracing, and the on-track exploits of its heroes–both names from the past such as David Pearson, Daryl Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and Richard Petty, and names of the present such as Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.–have, in many quarters, attained a status bordering on folklore.† (Clark et al, 2004)   JP understands that the fan is comparing his work, his results with the major competitors. With the shadow of the legends looking over his should, JP designs various parts that will enhance the cars’ performance if other parts aren’t able to meet Fall-Lines standards. Etic perspective Non-Members (Outsiders) Perceive African American ownership in sports has been a long sought after goal. Many have tried and only a few have succeeded in the multibillion-dollar arenas of professional football, baseball and basketball. Yet, look a little lower on the radar screen and you’ll see another sport has attracted the attention of a pair of former athletes in an arena not generally frequented by African Americans–professional auto racing. Washington Erring Motorsports, which recently completed its second year on the NASCAB circuit, is being touted as NASCAR’s first minority-owned race team in over 25 years. (Smith, 2000, p. 28) Symbols Material Artifact Of A Culture, Such As Art, Clothing, Or Even Technology The sport, â€Å"with its noise, dirt, powerful cars, and consumption of alcoholic beverages,† became â€Å"a symbol of the southern way of living.† As with Daniel’s analysis, Johnson’s depiction of stock-car racing anchors the activity’s origins in deadly speed contests among southern moonshiners and federal revenue officers in the 1930s and 1940s. When not outrunning the law, moonshiners â€Å"participated in informal races between themselves and others interested in automobiles.† (Hall, 2002, p. 629) For motorsports, obvious merchandise opportunities would include t-shirts, hats, and model cars. For landscapes it might be travel packages or hiking gear. Corporate customers might be interested in software, design services or office supplies. Unique content on Artemis Images’s website could be used to draw traffic to other companies’ sites. Chris and her team planned to license the content on an annual basis to these sites, creating reach and revenues for Artemis Images. (Bell, 2003, p.173)   At work, Steve and Mark only wear a Fall-Line t-shirt and jeans.   Clearly branding themselves where ever and when ever they can. National and international sporting events attract millions of fans to the communities that host the events.   Unlike the limited seasons and markets in baseball, basketball, and football, motorsports facilities play host to events throughout most of each year. Major events are held almost weekly throughout the year in the United States, Europe, and other areas of the world. â€Å"Motorsports is truly international in scope and stature, and racing attracts millions of fans to areas widely recognized for their involvement in the sport.† (Gnuschke, 2004, p. 2) Cultural patterning Relate Symbols Across Varied Forms Of Behavior And In Varied Contexts â€Å"Budweiser, Burger King, Cellular South, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Comp Cams, Domino’s Pizza, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz Rental Equipment, Hilton Properties, Ikon Office Solutions, Kroger, Ledbetter Meats, Millington Telephone Company and the list goes on†¦obviously; the list of participating corporate sponsors and involved business partners will increase over the racing season. Some examples of the global importance of motorsports include the following excerpts and highlights of studies of motorsports events in the United States and around the world.† (Gnuschke, 2004, p. 2) Tacit knowledge Deeply-Embedded Cultural Beliefs It all stated with a simple model, â€Å"†¦the recipe for a classic American hot rod is simple. First you find the smallest, lightest chassis available. Then you add one big American V-8 engine and beefed-up driveline. For good measure, you modify that V-8 to produce even more horsepower.   Ã‚  It all started in the 1930s when ingenious American youths (now our grandfathers and fathers) figured out that the new Ford V-8 engine would fit in the smaller and lighter Ford Model A.† (Anson, 1996, p.14) In essence, professional motorsports is in the business of entertainment. Instead of artists, you have athletes, which in the case of motorsports are race drivers. The stage and the arena is a racetrack.   â€Å"As a business, the primary motive of any motorsports series is profit. So you need to keep spectators happy which in turn keeps sponsors happy. Also up there in the need-to-keep-happy list are the stars of the show themselves. Because they are the ones whom spectators come to spectate.† (Manila Bulletin, 2005) Reference(s) http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/ethno.htm Ethnographic Research – Retrieved 12.06.06 http://www.fall-linemotorsports.com Fall-Line MotorSports– Retrieved 12.06.06 Thomas Inge, 1989, Handbook of American Popular Culture. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Page Number: 110, 488 Brett Bodine, Mark D. Howell, 1997, From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Publisher: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. Place of Publication: Bowling Green, OH. Page Number: 3, 67, 10, 116 John Forster, Nigel K. Ll. Pope, 2004,   The Political Economy of Global Sporting Organisations. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Page Number: 4 John M. Clark, T. Bettina Cornwell, Stephen W. Pruitt, 2004, The NASCAR Phenomenon: Auto Racing Sponsorships and Shareholder Wealth. Journal Title: Journal of Advertising Research. Volume: 44. Issue: 3. Publication Year: 2004. Page Number: 281+ Eric L. Smith, March 2000, Racing for Dollars. Magazine Title: Black Enterprise. Volume: 30. Issue: 8. Page Number: 28. COPYRIGHT 2000 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. Randal L. Hall, 2002, Before NASCAR: The Corporate and Civic Promotion of Automobile Racing in the American South, 1903-1927. Journal Title: Journal of Southern History. Volume: 68. Issue: 3. Page Number: 629+. Joseph R. Bell, Joan Winn, 2003, Artemis Images: Providing Content in the Digital Age. Contributors: Journal Title: Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice. Volume: 28. Issue: 2. Page Number: 173+. COPYRIGHT 2003 Baylor University; John E. Gnuschke, Fall 2004, Economic Impact of the Memphis Motorsports Park. Magazine Title: Business Perspectives. Volume: 16. Issue: 3. Page Number: 2+. Mike Anson, 1996, American Tradition of Hot Rodding Lives, Extending to Miatas. Newspaper Title: The Washington Times. Page Number: 14. COPYRIGHT 1996 News World Communications, Inc Manila Bulletin, July 5, 2005,   When Sport Gets in the Way of Entertainment. Page Number: NA. COPYRIGHT 2005 Manila Bulletin Publishing

Information Use Essay

In today’s business environment information is the most important asset a business has, this information helps to support, maintain, develop and track its daily activities. The next logical step is implementing a system that is conducive and geared towards this goal. With the help of its information system, and its information technology department, managers, sales people, the operations department and others with access to this information have a handy tool to help them do their work on a daily basis. The structure of the information system is paramount on how accessible this information is to the people that depend upon it to complete their normal workday. The managers and IT department work closely together to agree upon and decide on an information system that will be feasible to the business itself, thus setting up a system that will be beneficial to the business itself. In my previous workplace, this was a real estate company that focused on short sales and loan modifications. Our information was provided by the homeowner, this information consisted of their mortgage statement, bank records, hardship letters describing why they needed the short sales or the loan modification, and a list of their debt-income ratio and any foreclosure information. The database we worked on was a system called Salesforce; this system enabled us to keep track of the calls we had to make and document all details of that call. It contained all of the information we needed to accomplish this task, it held clients pertinent data, the banks that we dealt with and a method to track the goals we had to accomplish each week. This system was also an ERM (electronic records management database) we had the ability to scan and upload pertinent client information such as three months of bank statements, paystubs, and hardship letters, foreclosure notices and current mortgage statements. It was very user friendly and had the ability to be modified towards the needs of the company using it. That being said management asked us to make suggestions on what additions we saw or felt that would help make our jobs easy and more efficient. The short sale team made several suggestions to add to Salesforce, thereby making it more specified for our daily tasks. The short sale team was not the only ones using Salesforce, our sales team that generated the leads or clients were the first line of defense; they had to enter the client’s information into Salesforce and scan all the documents related to a homeowner’s situation. The sales team was also responsible for contacting the homeowners to send updated and current documents pertinent to their short sales or loan modifications. In essence Salesforce was also used as a data management system, it had the ability to store all data, generate sales reports, processing, integrating, distributing, securing, and archiving data effectively for current and future use. Accessing Salesforce was readily available if we were out of the office as well, we had the capability to log in and view reports, or if a new client was added, and if we needed information to set up an appraisal that was requested by the bank before the short sale was approved. This ability was very handy for the real estate agent and the processor handling the account, the ability to access the main database with all pertinent information about the client away from the office was an excellent tool that Salesforce offered. Maintenance of Salesforce was managed by our small IT staff, any problems with the system was corrected or fixed very quickly, as the licenses held by Salesforce enabled the IT staff to manage the database as an in-house system, therefore they did not have to contact anyone with any issues. At the same time the permissions on Salesforce were very strict, a person’s user id and password only allowed access to certain parts, the short sales team could not modify or change anything, especially any client information or access the sales departments input and vice versa. This made sense, because there was very important information on the database, the client’s financial data and mortgage information, very sensitive information. In essence, the database that the company used in my opinion was user friendly and seemed to address the needs of the business, in this case a real estate office that held important and sensitive financial data, credit reports and mortgage information. The system enabled us to handle the flow of information and daily activities easy, made access to running reports quickly and efficiently. Further, management was able to view and track completion of daily tasks and weekly goals to generate reports quickly.

Critical review of research studies about effective strategies in Lab Report

Critical review of research studies about effective strategies in prolonging breastfeeding - Lab Report Example For mothers’ health, breastfeeding results in reducing risk of breast and ovarian cancers and enhancing maternal infant attachment, more rapid uterine involution, less postpartum depression and weight reduction (Peters, Wehkamp, Felberbaum, Krà ¼ger, & Linder, 2005; USPSTF, 2003). In particular, the decreased risks of breast and ovarian cancers are associated with the duration of breastfeeding in women. Peters et al. (2005) reported that the risk rate is reduced by 4.3% annually among women who breastfeed. Moreover, breastfeeding has cost-benefit. Health Maintenance Organisation in USA (cited in Peters et al., 2005) showed that a family with a child who was breastfed saved $808 for the child in three years. As a result of countless benefits of breastfeeding, the rates of mothers who commence breastfeeding have exponentially grown since 1960s. The World Health Organisation [WHO] (cited in Brttion et al., 2007) strongly recommends that all infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their life. Despite of that, the rate of the breastfeeding continuation is lower than the WHO recommendation. Many infants in developed countries receive breast milk for a shorter period as well as in developing countries (Blyth et al., 2002; Dyson, McCormick, & Renfrew, 2005). In fact, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) have some of the lowest rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration among developed countries (Blyth et al., 2002; Dyson, McCormick, & Renfrew, 2005). According to WHO, only 35% of infants worldwide receive exclusive breastfeeding in five months postpartum (Peters et al., 2005; Spear, 2004). In Australia, the rate of mothers who continue with breastfeeding drops from 90% to 23% for six months postpartum (Blyth et al., 2002; Cadigan, & Perrin, 2007; Lumbigannon et al., 2007). There are many issues which contribute to short durations of breastfeeding, such as young

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 29

Case study - Essay Example Human genome is responsible for carrying hereditary information. In human, the structure is known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The structure carries all the human genes. There are four chemical bases found in the DNA (EDinformatics 1999). They include adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine (G) (EDinformatics 1999). Covalent bonds of phosphodiester join the bases together (Makalowski 2001). The bond helps in alignment of bases in specific pairs. Moreover, the structure exhibits a double helical organization. The organization is because of hydrogen bonding between the base pairs (EDinformatics 1999). The hydrogen bond helps in linkage of one complementary strand to the other (EDinformatics 1999). In human, the human genome is stored on 23 pair’s chromosomes (EDinformatics 1999). In these pairs, 22 are autosomal chromosome pairs while the rest is involved in determining sex (EDinformatics 1999). In human, there is a way in which genes are arranged in a genome. For example, they may be in the same (tail to the head) or opposite orientation (head to the head or tail to tail) (Makalowski 2001). The majority of human genomes account for non-exonic sequences (Makalowski 2001). However, a number of genes occupy the same genomic space. In addition, there is a tremendous difference in the human genome. Scientists have shown the difference to be occurring in millions of locations. In these locations, the single base DNA differences (SNPs) takes place in human (EDinformatics 1999). The resulting variation has led to exploitation by various researchers on the use in health screening. On the other hand, there has been interest in human mitochondrial genome (EDinformatics 1999). The genome has been shown to play a significant role in mitochondrial diseases (EDinformatics 1999). The understanding of genetic variation has an immense implication on the field of medicine. In fact, it has generated a vast potential in understanding and promoting

How do our checks and balances work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Portfolio Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

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Introduction to FIlm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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AAFES 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AAFES 4 - Essay Example US Army and Air Force. Being a company with unique business model, AAFES conduct its advertising in unique way too. AAFES is not to active in using television and other media as active channels for advertising purposes however advertising is being done in direct way through the use of local means of advertising to the soldiers at the bases. Since AAFES is almost also a monopoly therefore advertising is not mostly done in its most conventional means. Sales promotion activities of the firm take place in store i.e. firm displays various sales promotional activities and items in house besides offering sales promotion on its website. The website of the firm provides different sales promotional activities for making a purchase on line. In store sales promotional activities involve displaying of different sales promotional material. Since AAFES is a sort of monopoly therefore it mostly utilizes direct marketing as one of the most important mean of promoting the firm’s products and services. However, this is not on the individual basis however it is done on the basis of the groups of customers i.e. army bases where soldiers are stationed. There is no personal selling done by the firm however it offers an opportunity for personal selling through its website where it offers different services and products customized to the individual needs and demands. Firm maintain good public relation activities which are also evident from the fact that recently it has recalled some of its products especially toys because of toxic issues in them. Public relations at the firm are also done through the issuance of a magazine The Exchange Post; through which firm tends to provide information about latest development at the firm. While analyzing the promotional mix of the firm, it is important to consider the unique business model and structure which it follow. It is a sort of monopoly which serves a very specialized and scattered target

Seductive Powers of Women in the Medieval Era Essay Example for Free

Seductive Powers of Women in the Medieval Era Essay Women of the medieval genre employed sexual prowess to manipulate and gain control of their men. This was their only means of power in an otherwise powerless role as a female. Chaucer and de France portray in their poems the female’s struggle for power and dominance in relationships and the use of sexuality to achieve that goal. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue exploits a woman’s endeavor for power over men and the wicked measures she employs. The wife, the protagonist of The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, bragged of her successful manipulation resulting in having had five husbands. This power of persuasion, also noted in The Canterbury Tales General Prologue, â€Å"Of remedies of love she knew parchaunce, For she coude of that at the olde daunce,† which exclaims the wife’s familiarity with the art of love. (477, 478) The character of the wife used powerful seduction as the main means of manipulation, but she also beguiled them into guilt in order to get what she wanted from them. Ultimately, as depicted in by the wife’s own admission, â€Å"Namely abedde hadden they meschaunce, Ther wolde I chide and do hem no plesaunce†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (403,404), it was in the bedroom where she wielded her best feats, teasing them and refusing to bring them to sexual satisfaction until they promised to give into her plea for money- a cunning way in which she made her men submissive. Chaucer depicts the wife as a feminist character who is debauching in one sense, yet she contradicts that very essence by only having sex with her husbands when she wanted money from them. Ironically, she confesses to being the fondest of, and loving only her fifth husband, whom she could not control. The fifth husband, some 20 years younger, satirically reverses roles of the wife and her previous husbands by using the same manipulative schemes on her that she previously used on other men. Husband number five dominates the wife and alludes to her that he is aware of her wicked ways by reading to her from a book of stories of the most wicked, deceitful wives in history. Even though husband number five demonstrated more control over her than any of her previous husbands, she still managed to use her sexual talents to convince him to sign over his estate to her. Not only did Chaucer suggest the use of sexual temptations as tools for women used to obtain power in their domain, Marie de France also hinted to a similar use of sexuality in Lanval. de France’s Lanval depicts analogous use of beauty and sexuality by the queen as she seduced the protagonist, Lanval. Lanval was the object of a different seductress, one with the power of royalty. The queen used words of love along with her beauty and body to manipulate and seduce Lanval, evoking the pathos of love in him. Because of her position as queen, she demanded secrecy of her adulterous affair, which served as her means of control over Lanval. He had no choice but to agree to her demand of silence if he desired more favors from her. He eventually rejected her, which in turn infuriated her, therefore subjecting him to her bitter wrath as she sought to ruin him in an attempt to lessen the pain of rejection. In this poem the seductress doesn’t desire money, for she had all that she needed, but nonetheless she used her sexuality to obtain her desire, which is in this case was sex with Lanval. Sweet seduction manifested by soft-spoken, sweet words of love along with lust for the female body have lured men into the manipulative ways of women for centuries. Women have sought the dominance they so desired over their men with the only means of power they’ve had – and with much success. The works of Chaucer and deFrances illustrate the desire women have had for power throughout the ages.

Picassos Background And Life Experiences Essay Example for Free

Picassos Background And Life Experiences Essay Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the twentieth century. He had some degree of influence in all styles of painting which were used during his time, and was known and respected by almost every art enthusiast on the face of the planet. Pablo Picasso, born Pablo Ruiz Picasso, came into the world on the 25th of October 1881 in the southern Spanish town of Malaga. Pablo was an artist from early in his life he was a child prodigy. He began his career as a classical painter. He painted things such as portraits and landscapes. But this style didnt satisfy Picasso, he was a free man and wanted to express himself and ultimately leave a lasting mark on art, as we know it. Picasso turned his attention to cubes. He invented Cubism a radical art form that used harsh lines and corners to display a picture instead of the usual soft curves. Picasso won a lot of fame for his Cubist paintings, but was criticized for it also. He designed and painted the drop curtain and some giant cubist figures for a ballet in 1917. When the audience saw the huge distorted images on stage, they were angry, they thought the ballet was a joke at their expense. Cubism lived on despite this. Other artists mimicked Picassos Cubism, and it took hold. Picasso had only just begun his one-man art revolution. In the late 1920s, Picasso fixed himself upon an even more revolutionary art form Surrealism. Surrealism emphasized the role of the unconscious mind in creative activity. Surrealists aimed at creating art from dream, visions, and irrational impulses. Their paintings shocked the world particularly Picassos it was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. He took advantage of this fact and also the fact that he was extremely famous, to make a few political statements, statements that would go down in history. 1936 saw the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Fascist revolutionaries, led by Francisco Franco took hold of Spain and imposed a fascist dictatorship upon the country. Due to poor economic control and disregard for the people on the part of the Fascists, the country went through hell. The unemployment rate was phenomenal. The majority of the population were peasants and lived in appalling conditions. Impoverished gangs scavenged in fields and rubbish heaps for anything they could find. A vast horde of ragged, jobless people  wandered around from town to town. On top of this the Fascists operated as a police state and therefore anyone who opposed it would be executed. This incident sparked the most important time in Picassos life. On April 26 1937, Nazi German bombers flying under orders from General Francisco Franco, laid waste to the town of Guernica, in the Basque part of Spain, killing many innocent civilians. The bombing of Guernica was an extremely cruel example to the rest o f Spain of what would happen if the Republican resistance continued. This action prompted Picasso to paint Guernica; some say his greatest masterpiece ever. It shows the suffering and destruction of the town, as well as Picassos own horror and outrage at what happened. The painting depicts death and carnage on a large scale. A grief stricken mother is holding her dead child, a woman is burning, a severed arm holding a broken spear is lying next to a dead man and a horse, which represents the people, has been speared through the heart and is in agony. The bull stands alone, above everything else. The painting shook not only the art world but also the political world. Guernica is Picassos major political expression of all his paintings. Even though it is a single painting, it did so much. And even though it is painted using expressionism, it is still so powerful and it made people realize what was going on in Spain and struck up sympathy for the Spanish people, and hatred for the fascists. Even though Picasso only aimed to express his own horror, outrage, suffering and sorrow of the Spanish people. By unleashing Guernica on the world, Picasso achieved more than he set out to do. Guernica struck up mixed emotions. The Nazis thought of his work as degenerate art not only did it defy the rules of painting; his artwork was anti-Fascist and therefore anti-Nazi. On the other hand, the British, Americans, French etc. loved his work because it expressed, as nothing else could, the horrors and atrocities of Fascism. When Nazi occupation of Paris came, Picassos work was prohibited from public exhibition. Picasso then took on a new role. He refused to leave Paris while the Nazis were there his fame protected him. But Picassos refusal to co-operate with the Germans also made him, as a person, a symbol of freedom, of the unvanquished spirit After the war however, Picassos work was not  met entirely with open arms. In Paris, those still influenced by Nazi propaganda, violently protested against Picasso. But this wore off and Picasso went down in history as not only one of the greatest artists ever, but also a hero, and a figure of defiance against Fascism. Works Cited Page  ·Pablo Picasso: The Early Years. E-Library Article Preview. http://ask.elibrary.com  ·Picasso and Braque : pioneering cubism : [exhibition] Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 24, 1989-January 16, 1990.  ·The Artist and the Camera : Degas to Picasso, by Kosinski, Dorothy M.

Does Media Ownership Need To Be Regulated Media Essay

Does Media Ownership Need To Be Regulated Media Essay In this assignment am aiming to address three main reasons the way how media ownership has to be regulated in digital age. The two aims are will focuses on the European Union in terms of media ownership regulation such as; to protect freedom of expression and the fair regulation of media and media ownership to ensure high quality, unbiased broadcasts and finally, a concern to the public is the protection of privacy. Our lives, our everyday choices, our aspirations (goals) our continually changing values, are constantly shaped by the media in all its forms. For the last 40 to 50 years, we have seen TV dominate, and here in the UK, we have gone from a virtual monopoly to a situation where we have access to unlimited amount of TV channels. In the UK, and most countries, the introduction of regulation of media and media ownership has been a requirement which is unavoidable. In a free society, one major aim is to ensure that each media format, radio, TV, newspapers, have lots of players within the market place. A particular media market with lots of players, and not just one or two major players is said to be plural or in a state of plurality. Governments in free societies aim to ensure that regulation of media ownership ensures this plurality. Some governments have such stringent laws which mean that media owners find it hard to operate in a free way, so companies are limited in terms of expansion and growing in a natural way. Governments have to take into consideration that rules of media ownership do not hold back companies in this way, and hence regulation must aim to balance between plurality, and allowing companies to deliver their media without too many laws that slow down free thinking, creativity and quality. Current media regulation within the UK developed from regulation originally aimed at printed form. Earliest regulation was inadequate and included newspapers only adhering to certain laws and not infringing those laws, such as libel etc. Recently the newspaper industry as its own code-of-conduct, and is said to be self-regulated. Some would view self-regulation as only in the interests of media owners, and not necessarily in the interests of the public and private lives of individuals within the public. Media is going through such a rate of change, its been described as a media revolution, or digital revolution and were said to be in the information age. Change is so fast, and continuing that regulation is under strain to keep up with these new formats. For instance, as Doyle (2002:150) describe in her book; broad-band Internet technologies bring about the possibility of not only conventional TV, but also interactive TV, sitting alongside your home computer network. Increasing numbers of devices are now able to stream media into the home through these broadband providers, such as cable or DSL technologies. This change is world-wide, affecting all countries to some degree, even the poorest third world countries have access in places to these technologies, even if its a little slower on the update than elsewhere. When different media types are able to utilise the same medium of transmission (The Internet), we know this sharing of the medium as convergence. Converged Media is both grea t, but is a headache for regulators work-wide. As new forms of media developed over time, such as radio, TV, and more recently the Internet, regulation has had to develop with it. Currently regulation of these new forms of media in the UK is carried out by a body called Ofcom. In Ofcoms own words:- Ofcom is the communications regulator. We regulate TV and radio, fixed line telecoms and mobiles, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. All forms of media allow us as a society to challenge the status quo, challenging the government to do better for its citizens, and fight against corruption. Laws allow governments to censor the printed media easily, but its not so easy to censor newer forms of media such as the Internet. Throughout the world, its been easy to regulate traditional forms of media which include those mentioned, TV, radio, magazines, newspapers books, but governments are faced with the difficulty in regulation new media which is now international, websites, Internet radio. How can one country regulate media ownership in other countries, because the Internet enables anyone to get media created in other nations? Whilst ensuring plurality has been focused on printed media, to ensure citizens get a wide variety of views from media, the nature of the Internet itself is plural, in my view, more emphasis in future has to be put on regulating media ownership on a global scale, but this is a controversial view. Recently we have seen countries such as China put blanket bans on their citizens viewing a large number of sites on the Internet. These are draconian measures, but shows what lengths some countries may go to enforce their own forms of censorship. The European Union has a directive which is a country of origin rule for the provision of on-line services (information society services). This directive ensures that regulation of the Internet is enforced at the country of origin, and not the country that the public may view the content. This has obvious difficulties, because only certain internationally agreed laws such as child porn are enforced globally. The problem arises when one country has different social values and social practices to another. For instance one country can have very open views on adult pornography to anothers, and their laws will be vastly different in this respect. The EUs country of origin direct prevents the country of destination from applying its own laws to the media providers country of origins media owner. Domestic regulators cannot apply their rules to another member states media owner (incoming services). On the other hand regulators must also apply their own rules to domestic media owners who supply media to citizens of another member state (outgoing services). It follows that if regulations brought in to ensure media ownership is plural, then the outputs of the media should likewise also be plural by their very nature. As an example, we can use satellite TV: If a country allows both domestic and international TV broadcasts to be received by its citizens, then this ensures that there are different views, beliefs and cultural values outputted; hence by nature this medium is plural. Stricter governments and regimes mean that tight controls on media ownership means strict and tighter media output. Going back to printed medias in the UK such as newspapers, laws or acts of parliament, are used for control of media ownership. The government used the Fair Trading Act 1973 to regulate how ownership and takeovers are conducted. In addition the Broadcasting Act 1996 was used to regulate cross-media ownership, and prevent the dominance of one company across the spectrum of media. The government has to be involved with ensuring diversity in output, through the control of ownership. I think that its important ensure competition within the market using laws that control ownership in this way, ensuring regulation for plurality can be achieved through control of ownership. A worst case scenario if whereby one company, say Rupert Murdochs newspaper industry gets so strong that it is able to turn say news into a monopoly; this would mean that Murdoch would be able to control who gets voted into government, what we by, wed only tend to go for certain brands. A monopoly would mean that the public interest was not being served, and wed continually be misinformed in the interests of only that company. In history we have seen where the control of all media forms can cause bloodshed on a wide scale, recently in Rwanda, Bosnia, and further back in the Second World War. In order to stop this happening again, its important to ensure that media provides a balanced, view, and regulation though business law through acts of parliament will ensure this is prevented. The European Unions E-Commerce directive seems to ensure that on the European scale, the regulation of media ownership ensures a wide variety of media types and additional internationally agreed laws on privacy, data protection, and child pornography for instance can be utilised to protect citizens where local laws are not adequate in this respect. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has also implemented laws on media ownership, such Article Eight: Freedom of Expression. The complexity of broadcasting laws throughout the world can be seen within the EU, as the EU continues to find new ways of ensuring that cross-border media outlets are regulated in a way that participating countrys all play a part in allowing freedom within a set of guidelines that still stays within the public interest. These laws for cross-border media types such as the Internet and satellite TV do not pertain so much to older media types like newspapers and laws on media ownership is left to individual member states to take care of. Its not all plain sailing within Europe, because there has been stiff opposition to laws that hinder Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the press. The European Union has come up with an EC directive known as Television without Frontiers, which takes the result of the Convention on Trans-frontier Television into current European Law on media ownership. So we have seen that the two aims of the European Union in terms of media ownership regulation are: To protect freedom of expression The fair regulation of media and media ownership to ensure high quality, unbiased broadcasts. The third aim, which recently has come more of a concern to the public is the protection of privacy. People should have some degree of privacy in their lives, and domestically newspapers have been allowed to invade someones privacy on the basis that its in the public interest. Different member states within the EU have different views of what is in the public interest, and where we have new forms of media that have no borders, then how do we tackle news based on peoples private lives, and where do you draw the line on what should be an invasion of privacy and what is in the public interest if different member countries greatly differ on that. The European Union has tended to shy away from this issue, and concentrate more on enforcing laws on media owners concerned with intellectual property rights, and copyrights, with slightly bit more emphasis on privacy only recently. The European Union approach with the television directive has looked more on media content in terms of violence, pornography racial hatred and the right to reply. These paws prevent broadcasters from going over the top in what they broadcast, whilst ensuring that ownership remains broad and international ensuring that freedom of expression is OK in all member states. The EU is not so concerned with individual media moduls like Murdoch taking control of large swathes of the media, and this controlling public opinion without variation, but is more concerned with plurality and diversity of media. In my opinion, this is right, and a balanced view form a wide variety of media owners can be achieved this was right across the European Union though this type of regulation. Rasiah Newell state: Relaxation of ownership regulation might shift attention to content controls. Again, multiplicity of outlets and communications convergence provide arguments against such controls. Scarcity and impact might have justified special statutory controls over broadcasting until now, but such reasons have no relevance to the future information and communications industry. The print media would never accept such statutory interference with freedom of expression. It is vehemently opposed to licensing or pre-vetting and could not accept due impartiality requirements its current self-regulatory code expressly preserves its freedom to be partisan. In the multi-media world there is little danger of information monopoly. Rasiah Newell attempt to describe here how the print media have prevented the government here in the UK from attempting to enforce laws that restrict or interfere with their freedom of expression; it would mean death for any UK government that went up against the print industry. However, by relaxing regulation of ownership means that content is more of an issue, and we have seen that on the European level. I am unsure that a self-regulating press can be totally in the pubic interest, and would like to see more of an effort on the European level to tackle issues such as privacy and what is in the interest of the public on a European level, as the UK papers seem to get away with murder sometimes.

Applying Platos Allegory of the Cave Essay -- Plato, Philosophy, Phil

Applying Plato's Allegory of the Cave to Oedipus Rex, Hamlet,and Thomas Becket Plato was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He is recognized all over the world as one of the greatest minds of all time. Knowledge is required under compulsion has not hold on the mind.(Durant 24). Plato's dialogues are the fruit of a rare mind; but the could not have kept their perennial freshness if they had not somehow succeeded in expressing he problems and the convictions that are common to Plato's age and to all later ages. Genius alone is not enough; or perhaps it were wiser to say that we recognize genius only in the power of divination that overleaps the boundaries of a special time and place.(Jowett xi). Although Plato did not come up with the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates did, he transcribed it. In their own ways, Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Thomas Becket, prove that one must break the chains of the cave to discover the truth. In view of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, several literary works contain characters who break from the shadows of the cave to witn ess "the real world". Plato's Allegory of the Cave, presents Socrates instructing one of his students to imagine that there was a cave that was totally dark, except from the light that comes from the entrance and from a fire. The student was instructed then to imagine that the inhabitants of the cave have their necks and legs chained to the wall, impossible for the inhabitants to move. The people who control the cave place objects in front of the fire so that the inhabitants of the cave only see the shadows of the objects that the people want them to see. The chained inhabitants never get to see the real objects, only the distorted images of the objects. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the cave perceive the distorted objects as real, not the actual objects as being real. Socrates, then tells the student to imagine if the inhabitants of the cave were suddenly freed of the chains. The inhabitants would be in agonizing pain, for the first time in their lives the individuals can stand and move their heads. Their bodies are not used to being in such positions. The inhabitants of the cave, now are able to behold the light glimmering outside the cave. The inhabitants who were only adapted to only darkness, perceive light. The light stabs at their eyes, it is too painful for these individ... ...the cave and witness the light of the real world, one will never get to see the harsh truth of their destiny. Works Cited Gibson, Anna Lee, "Allegory of the Cave." Advanced Placement English Writing Manual and Literary Guide. Ed. Jewell Worley and Frank Gentry. Wise: Wise County Vocational-Technical Center. 1992. The Canterbury Story. Anglicans Online. Http://www.anglican.org/online/uk-europe/lambeth/canterbury.html. 3 Dec., 1997. Jowett, Benjamin. The Dialogues of Plato. Ed. William Chase Green. New York: Liveright Publishing Company. 1954. Durant, Will. "The live and opinions of the greater philosophers." The Story of Philosophy. New York: Simon and Schuster Rockefeller Center. 1961. Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." England in Literature. Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and Company. 1987. Becket Murder. Hyperhistory. Online. Http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/ppersons5_n2/beck.html Stravinsky, Igor. Oedipus Rex . Online. Http://www.coc.ca/98stra-synopsis.htm. Jaspers, Carl. "Plato." The Great Philosophers. Ed. Hannah Arendt. New York: harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1962. Jowett, B. The Dialogues of Plato. New York: Random House. 1937.

Ulysses S. Grant Essay -- biographies bio biography

Ulysses S. Grant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On April 27, 1822 a boy was born to Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant in the small town of Point Pleasant, Ohio. They named their son Hiram Ulysses Grant. In 1823 the family moved to a town nearby called Georgetown, Ohio, where Ulysses’ father owned a tannery and some farmland. Grant had two brothers and three sisters born in Georgetown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ulysses attended school in Georgetown until he was 14. He then spent one year at the academy in Maysville, Kentucky, and in 1838, he entered an academy in nearby Ripely, Ohio. Early in 1839, his father learned that a neighbors son had been dismissed from the U.S. Military Academy. Jesse asked his congressman to appoint Ulysses as a replacement. The congressman made a mistake in Grant’s name. He thought that Ulysses was his first name and his middle name that of his mother’s maiden name. But Ulysses never corrected the mistake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant was an average student at West Point. He spent most of his free time reading novels and little time studying. He ranked high in math and was very good at horsemanship. Ulysses did not like the military life and had no intention of making it his career. Instead he considered teaching mathematics in a college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant graduated from West Point in 1843 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment stationed near St. Louis. It was there that he met Julia Dent. They fell in love and soon became engages. The threat of war with Mexico delayed their wedding plans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1847, Grant took part in the capture of Mexico City and won a promotion for his skill and bravery. He reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant by the end of the war. Grant returned to St. Louis as soon as he could and on Aug. 22, 1848, he was married to Julia Dent. During their marriage, the Grant’s had four children: Frederick, Ulysses S. Jr., Ellen, and Jesse Root Jr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Civil War Era   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant was almost 39 years old when the Civil War began in 1861. He had freed his only slave in 1859 and strongly opposed secession. After President Abraham Lincoln called for Army volunteers, Grant helped drill a company that was formed in Galena. Then he went to Springfield, the state capital, and worked for the Illinois assistant general. Grant asked the federal government for a commission as colonel, but his requ... ...e ring from exposure. Grant stoutly defended Babcock, who was cleared of the charges. Many other officials were convicted of defrauding the government. In spite of the growing list of scandals, many Republican leaders wanted to nominate Grant for a third term as president. But Grant refused to run again. In June 1876, the Republicans nominated Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president. Hayes won the presidency by a margin of only one electoral vote.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Grant retired in 1879, he had about $100,000 in savings and decided to invest it in a banking firm called Grant & Ward. His son was a partner in this company. Grant knew nothing about banking, but his son assured him that Ferdinand Ward was a financial genius. The collapse of the company came in 1884 leaving Grant almost penniless. In order to make a living after this great loss, Grant began writing magazine articles about his war experiences. Soon he began to write his memoirs. The memoirs were a great success and earned Grant’s family about $500,000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1885, Grant moved to Mount McGregor, New York, near Saratoga. Grant died on July 23,1885 from cancer. His wife later died in 1902. Ulysses S. Grant Essay -- biographies bio biography Ulysses S. Grant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On April 27, 1822 a boy was born to Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant in the small town of Point Pleasant, Ohio. They named their son Hiram Ulysses Grant. In 1823 the family moved to a town nearby called Georgetown, Ohio, where Ulysses’ father owned a tannery and some farmland. Grant had two brothers and three sisters born in Georgetown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ulysses attended school in Georgetown until he was 14. He then spent one year at the academy in Maysville, Kentucky, and in 1838, he entered an academy in nearby Ripely, Ohio. Early in 1839, his father learned that a neighbors son had been dismissed from the U.S. Military Academy. Jesse asked his congressman to appoint Ulysses as a replacement. The congressman made a mistake in Grant’s name. He thought that Ulysses was his first name and his middle name that of his mother’s maiden name. But Ulysses never corrected the mistake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant was an average student at West Point. He spent most of his free time reading novels and little time studying. He ranked high in math and was very good at horsemanship. Ulysses did not like the military life and had no intention of making it his career. Instead he considered teaching mathematics in a college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant graduated from West Point in 1843 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment stationed near St. Louis. It was there that he met Julia Dent. They fell in love and soon became engages. The threat of war with Mexico delayed their wedding plans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1847, Grant took part in the capture of Mexico City and won a promotion for his skill and bravery. He reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant by the end of the war. Grant returned to St. Louis as soon as he could and on Aug. 22, 1848, he was married to Julia Dent. During their marriage, the Grant’s had four children: Frederick, Ulysses S. Jr., Ellen, and Jesse Root Jr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Civil War Era   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant was almost 39 years old when the Civil War began in 1861. He had freed his only slave in 1859 and strongly opposed secession. After President Abraham Lincoln called for Army volunteers, Grant helped drill a company that was formed in Galena. Then he went to Springfield, the state capital, and worked for the Illinois assistant general. Grant asked the federal government for a commission as colonel, but his requ... ...e ring from exposure. Grant stoutly defended Babcock, who was cleared of the charges. Many other officials were convicted of defrauding the government. In spite of the growing list of scandals, many Republican leaders wanted to nominate Grant for a third term as president. But Grant refused to run again. In June 1876, the Republicans nominated Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president. Hayes won the presidency by a margin of only one electoral vote.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Grant retired in 1879, he had about $100,000 in savings and decided to invest it in a banking firm called Grant & Ward. His son was a partner in this company. Grant knew nothing about banking, but his son assured him that Ferdinand Ward was a financial genius. The collapse of the company came in 1884 leaving Grant almost penniless. In order to make a living after this great loss, Grant began writing magazine articles about his war experiences. Soon he began to write his memoirs. The memoirs were a great success and earned Grant’s family about $500,000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1885, Grant moved to Mount McGregor, New York, near Saratoga. Grant died on July 23,1885 from cancer. His wife later died in 1902.

A creative intervention into a multicultural education setting

A multicultural education setting should fundamentally be an awareness-raising educational setting that, for the sole aim of justifying and inspiring a progressive inter-cultural cross-fertilisation, spotlights the challenges of co-existence in a multicultural local and global environment. Therefore, multicultural education has the primary goal of inculcating students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for them to adjust voluntarily, co-operatingly and unobtrusively to the conditions and of a culturally and ethnically diverse nation, meeting these intra-national challenges and employing them constructively.A support of this assertion lies in James A. Banks’ statement, â€Å"[multicultural education] is designed to empower all students to become knowledgeable, caring, and active citizens in a deeply troubled and ethnically polarized nation and world.†However, the full implementation of the concept of an ideal multicultural education is not yet in evidence . What are generally on the ground are executions of facets of the concept, often with unsavoury and questionable unilaterality. What is outlined above is, therefore, for all practical purposes, an ideal to which every (nominal) multicultural education setting should aspire.To remedy this one-sidedness in the generality of multicultural educational settings, one will do well to adopt a creative approach to the trends currently in evidence.(A).  Ã‚   A CREATIVE INTERVENTION INTO THE CONDITION OF THE DAVIDAMBROSE MULTICULTURAL COLLEGE, MOPTI(a) CREATIVITY: A creative intervention into the multicultural education setting of David Ambrose College, Mopti, as set out in the folio, is by no means a be-all-end-all intervention; it is no ultimate answer to its dysfunction, but an attempt to uplift it, according to a conceived ideal, to more respectable heights.Creativity embraces rational and clear thinking, individual exploration of ideas and concepts, and an experimenting with the possib ly untried in an attempt to further and ennoble an existing condition..   It is â€Å"inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules†¦..† Mary Lou Cook.Two popular theories of creativity will be applied towards this intervention: The divergent theory (DT) and the associative theory.The divergent theory of creativity is a theory of systematic exploration of possibilities, a theory of serendipity. This theory   suggests that in questing for a   creative solution to some problem, a broad range of ideas, concepts, suggestions and recommendation are explored, the seemingly valid as well the seemingly invalid, a process generally associated with what is called â€Å"cognitive overinclusiveness† (CO).Considered a fundamental part of the creative spirit, CO is the inclusion of the likely (apparently logical) as well as the unlikely (apparently illogical) in the range of considerations towards a solution to a problem or towards the creation of new id eas. â€Å"(a) many,   as opposed to only a few, ideas; (b) a wide range of ideas; and (c)   unusual (as well as more typical) ideas† (Boorstin) – all are put into consideration.The associative theory, on the other hand, is a theory of similarities. It arose from the observation of the tendency of creative minds to associate an idea related to the issue being resolved to another which seems to expand or clarify it. This process sometimes results in an interfusion or union of various associated ideas into a novelty which contains the sought solution.

English Macbeth coursework Essay

Is the supernatural wholly responsible for the tragedy that occurs or is Macbeth fatally flawed and responsible for his own heinous crimes? It is my contention that all of the central characters have some integral part to play in the tragedy that occurs. Each have some function in the heinous crimes, and hence one individual cannot be held completely responsible for the bloodshed that occurs. William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was named John Shakespeare; he was originally a glove maker before eventually becoming a politician. His mother, Mary Arden, belonged to the ranks of high society, being from a wealthy family, she subsequently inherited a great deal of money and farmland. Shakespeare was the third child born to the couple, but was the first to survive. The Shakespeare’s went on to have four children, Gilbert, Richard, Joan and Mary. Shakespeare’s family was quite wealthy, and when Shakespeare was four, his father was established as High Bailiff of Stratford. Shakespeare’s first school was Petty school and when he was seven, it is believed that he went to the local grammar school until at the age of twelve, when he left to help his father who had run into financial trouble. At the age of eighteen, Shakespeare met Anne Hathaway who was the daughter of a local farmer. She was twenty-six. They married in November 1582 and in May 1583 gave birth to their first child Susanna, she was followed two years later by twins Hamnet and Judith. Shortly after this, Shakespeare left Stratford, leaving his family behind. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, Shakespeare arrived in London and found a job in the theatre. He began to act and write a variety of plays and they were hugely popular, though many considered him to be intellectually insecure given that he was not university educated. In 1956, sadly young Hamnet died. By the age of 33, Shakespeare was making vast amounts of money and had been propelled to success, thus gaining country wide fame. He bought the second biggest house in Stratford, lots of land and a share in London’s finest theatre, ‘The Globe’. When James 1 became king he displayed a huge interest in the theatre given that he was patron of the arts. He ordered Shakespeare’s company to change their name to the ‘King’s Men’. In June 1613, Shakespeare’s play ‘Henry V111’ was put on at ‘The Globe’. During the play, a live cannon shot out a burning ball of paper, which landed on the thatched roof of the theatre. The whole building caught fire and within an hour it had burnt to the ground. After this, Shakespeare decided to retire and move back to Stratford. He was forty-nine and had written thirty-seven plays. He died on the 23rd of April 1616 at the age of fifty-two. He was buried two days later in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. ‘Macbeth’ was an old Scottish legend and according to the ‘Holinshed’s chronicles of England, Scotland and Wales’, Macbeth became king of Scotland in 1040 after having defeated an inadequate, weak and youthful leader. Shakespeare’s Duncan was much older and demanded respect from Thanes; his murders were more heinous in the dramatic interpretation. The historical Macbeth reigned as king for 17 years. James 1, formerly a ruler in Scotland, was the eighth descendant of the Banquo-Fleance line and because of this Shakespeare presented Banquo in a more honourable light than the historical Banquo actually was. James 1 was intrigued and terrified by witchcraft. In 1597, he produced a book called ‘Daemonolougie’, which acted as a guide to recognise and defeat witches. King James believed that he had encountered witches and claimed three witches had raised a storm in order to drown him on his wedding trip. He believed that his encounter was real and three women were consequently murdered after they admitted sailing in a sieve to sink the ship. However, Shakespeare presented this encounter in Act one scene three. During this century, it is estimated that between 4,500 and 8,000 women were destroyed for supposedly practising witchcraft. The king even passed a law proclaiming death to anyone who was thought to be meddling in the dark forces. Shakespeare used the idea of witchcraft, kingship and moral order to develop the play, as these themes were greatly admired by a Jacobean audience. The play is extremely dramatic in its depiction of the corruption of natural order and raw ambition. It starts with the three strange witches meeting on an empty heath. King Duncan wins a great battle and Macbeth becomes a hero. Furthermore, Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches. They predict that Macbeth will be the ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and later King. The prophetic hag’s first prophecy comes true and Macbeth does become ‘Thane of Cawdor’. Macbeth writes to Lady Macbeth telling her what the witches said. In an ambitious move the husband and wife plot to kill King Duncan. When Duncan comes to stay at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to go ahead with the murder and grudgingly he does. Malcolm and Donaldblain, sons of Duncan, escape to England and Macbeth is crowned King. However, Macbeth does not trust Banquo and has him murdered, but when Macbeth has a feast, Banquo’s ghost appears. Hence, Macbeth resolves to revisit the witches and he sees strange apparitions, meanwhile, Macduff’s wife and children are murdered by order of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth then becomes insane and dies. The castle is attacked, Macbeth is killed and Malcolm is proclaimed King. One lone character cannot be solely to blame for this tragedy, all of the central characters should be apportioned some blame. Macbeth is a brave and noble soldier who fought heroically for King Duncan. One would not suspect him of pre-mediated murder. Therefore, the witches must have had the ability to corrupt, manipulate and shape his mind. Macbeth must certainly be apportioned some blame as every man is in control of his own destiny. The witches never specifically told him to kill, they merely implanted a suggestion. Macbeth obviously had ambition, which was sparked from the beginning. The witches simply helped to spark this ambition and then worked to keep it alight. He acts along with the help of Lady Macbeth. She manipulates and supports his evil deeds. Macbeth had the power to reject the witch’s suggestions and allow nature to take its course, this is evident, as he was able to control hundreds of soldiers in battle and give orders. He was not a weak and challenged man man. Macbeth was on the contrary selfish and power hungry. He let his greed influence him. â€Å"Loves for his own ends, not for you† However, one can reason that Macbeth was not always in control. He is said to be in a ‘rapt state’ and one whethers this has anything to do with the elemental forces or his over – sexual, manipulative wife. Even so, he may be possessed but he is in control of himself as the dialogue suggests, â€Å"Stay you imperfect speakers tell me more† In addition, his tone changes as he gains confidence and he becomes aggressive. This suggests that he is in control and can make up his own decisions. However, there are reflective moments when he reflects on his actions and decides against murder. â€Å"If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me/without my stir† However, this way of thinking is soon non-existent in the second act. Macbeth would be viewed as a hero if he made his own judgement and resisted the temptation. Lady Macbeth is also marginally to blame. She is introduced when she reads Macbeth’s letter. She is pushed, pressurised, manipulated and calculated the pre-meditated murder. She is powerful and dear to Macbeth and takes full advantage of this. However, we would not expect a woman to rein such power, as this would have been unlikely given the period. Without her cajoling, Macbeth may never have gone through with the first murder. She took control and handled the murders as an unsexed entity. It seems that Lady Macbeth may have been connected with the supernatural before, as she calls out to evil spirits. â€Å"unsex me here† Lady Macbeth could be considered a witch according to the standards of Shakespeare’s day. She subverts the order of the sexes and the usual family hierarchy by trying to assume more power than the head of the family, her husband. She does appear to have more power over him, as she challenges his manhood so he will commit the murder of Duncan. â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem† She uses sexual means to control her puppet – like husband and entrances him; thus she is like a witch. By challenging her husbands manhood, she is making him mentally impotent yet in the same way pleading for herself to become an unsexed entity, on an equal power with her husband given his impotent and fragile state, if anything Lady Macbeth is more aggressive in this strange role reversal. This is highlighted in the following quotation, â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man† She does not follow the typical role of the wife; she transforms the social order and thus becomes the pinnacle of the family and her alliance with the dark forces becomes dubious, the fact that she works with the weird sisters to influence Macbeth suggests that she is at least indirectly allied with them. Though it can be said that, Lady Macbeth retains her mortal form and temporal powers; she has simply touched on the deep-seated ambitions and greed that were already present in him. Although Lady Macbeth coserts her power and dominance over her weak, ineffectual husband, the elemental forces also corrupt the impotent Macbeth. She also encourages Macbeth to become more confident and assertive and tempt him into using his ambition for his own gains. Without this guidance and the corrupt suggestions, Macbeth would probably have never acted on his impulses and desire for power. The witches cast spells and provide apparitions and thus drive his hunger for power and dominance. The withches intentionally taunt him by making him believe that he is in control, they change their tone and act subservient towards him, â€Å"speak, demand, we’ll answer† We are also more prone to condemning them more as we learn the grotesque content of their cauldron, â€Å"pour in sow’s blood that hath eaten her nine farrow† These ingredients sound equally gruesome to Macbeth, yet this is overshadowed by the vague, riddled promises that they make, â€Å"for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth† They continually meddle in his life and one could question whether they had anything to do with the hallucinations. Most of the play is written in blank verse, which resembles the natural rhythm of spoken English. The language flows in this form, certain syllables are stressed and there is a lack of end rhyme. However, this rhythm is disturbed when the weird witches are present in the scene. The language and verse is varied, with the witches and present. The verse is much choppier and sharper. Shakespeare also used rhyming couplets, which is particularly applicable for use in the witch scenes, as riddled; rhyming couplets enhance the devious and corrupt nature of the witches. The vocabulary is archaic and typical of Elizabeth style. The language devices Shakespeare used are abundant; he uses figurative language, aural imagery, patterned sound, equivocation, biblical illusions, symbolism and personification. Act 1 Scene 1 opens with ‘thunder and lightening’. We establish that this scene could be evil as the weather suggests this. Hence Shakespeare has used pathetic fallacy to enhance atmosphere. It was believed that in superstitious times those fierce storms were omens of unrest in individual people and whole countries. The fact that the witches open the plays shows the theme of supernatural is integral to the play. Shakespeare used the weird witches to open the play to show that evil will taunt Macbeth and will influence what happens in the play. The unearthly creatures talk of the battle being, â€Å"lost and won.† This equivocation shows the witches have the power of prediction and that they have also been anticipating the fight for Macbeth’s soul. The witches actively seek to meet up with Macbeth; this portrays their meddling side to the audience. â€Å"there to meet Macbeth† The prophetic hags establish a link with the supernatural by calling their familiars. Their familiars were supposedly given to them from Satan to help with sorcery. â€Å"I come Greymalkin† The witches riddled phrases denote the confusion that will occur. Their ambiguous language addresses that things aren’t always as they seem. â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair† This line is an analogy for the deceptive facade of Lady Macbeth. The witches ‘Exeunt’ by hovering through the air and by doing this; they are symbolically linked with the supernatural. From analysing the evidence in this scene, one can assume that the blame is directed to the witches, as they are meddling in Macbeth’s affairs and are being associated with evil. Act 1 scene 3 also opens with ‘thunder’. It shows the extreme nature of the prophetic hags. Their meeting place, the heath, is symbolic of the barren and empty nature of the witches. â€Å"blasted heath† The fact the witches meet again reinforces the idea of sisterhood and coven, â€Å"where hast thou been, sister?† One witch has been a gruesomely â€Å"killing swine.† This is a ritual killing for evil purposes. Another witch relates how a sailor’s wife denied her food, so decides to attack the sailor. It was superstition that if you denied a witch food then the witch would take steps to punish you. The dramatist uses a strong metaphor here, which creates imagery, â€Å"Aroint thee witch the rump-fed renyon cries† The witch turned herself into a rat and sailed in a sieve to corrupt the sailor’s ship. There is a symbolic suggestion in the word ‘rat’ that they are cunning and manipulative. Furthermore, the fact she turns herself into a rat indicates her lower status compared to her familiar. Therefore, her familiar is a lot more powerful than she is, as it is a cat. The witches are very civil to each other, which makes us question whether they really are intrinsically evil, â€Å"Th ‘art kind† Moreover, they speak in rhyming couplets; this increases the notion of incantation and makes their riddles more complex. The first witch produces a human thumb. This implies that she has used her magic for evil. Macbeth is announced with a symbolic drum. His future is told within a drumroll. Death. Macbeth’s opening words directly associate him with evil. â€Å"So fair and foul a day I have not seen† It is in reference to an earlier quote that the unearthly creatures spoke. This links his destiny with the witches and evil. Macbeth speaks with an important, unsure and hesitant tone and the Weird Sisters prophesise that Macbeth will be ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and ‘King hereafter’. This is what sparks ambitions. Banquo seems jealous but says Macbeth, â€Å"Seems rapt withal† He is in a trance and he may be possessed at this point, perhaps under the control of the supernatural. Banquo already recognises the witches to be unnatural and strange and is very vivid in his description of them. â€Å"So withered, and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ earth† In addition, Banquo may also be suggesting that Macbeth is greedy and expectant. â€Å"Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours or your hate† Even in his rapt state, Macbeth is still coherent enough to demand to know more. Thus he is in control of himself enough to absorb the information and calculate his actions. His tone becomes more commanding and demanding, hence Macbeth is capable of making his own decisions. â€Å"Stay you imperfect speakers tell me more† Macbeth feels powerful after having been victorious in battle. Macbeth is sadly deluded that he can control the elemental forces, which have succeeded in uncovering his raw ambition. One Macbeth learns he has been made Thane of Cawdor, Banquo says, â€Å"What can the devil speak true† This suggests that evil is at work, One must recognise that the witches never suggested murdering Duncan and it is essential to balance the evidence and make appropriate decisions. We learn of the Weird Sisters connection with evil and of their provoking and meddling, yet they never tell Macbeth to do anything they merely suggest. It is clear that Macbeth is showing his true colours by the end of the scene and is in complete control of his actions. One can reason that he is in ‘rapt state’, but after we are given this impression, there is also contrary evidence provided to suggest that he is in fact in control of his actions. The tone actively changes, commanding and directing. In Act 1 Scene 5, Macbeth has sent Lady Macbeth a letter and the first thing Macbeth writes about is the witches. Shakespeare is insinuating that the supernatural has a central role within the play. Macbeth writes, â€Å"while I stood rapt in wonder of it† We once again question whether he was possessed and can be held responsible for his actions. Macbeth calls Lady Macbeth, â€Å"my dearest partner of greatness† This suggests they have a good relationship and usually work together in partnership. Macbeth is aware that he may not have enough ambition. â€Å"That thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee† Macbeth is leaving the decisive action up to Lady Macbeth and hence is giving her freedom of choice. â€Å"Lay it to thy heart and farewell† Lady Macbeth realises that Macbeth is, â€Å"too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness† Lady Macbeth feels responsible for what happens so is plotting and planning for him. â€Å"Yet do I fear thy nature† Lady Macbeth reveals her thoughts about witchcraft and the supernatural by calling on evil spirits. â€Å"come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts† One can assume that she has been embroiled in the supernatural before. She calls on the spirits to change her into a ruthless human being. To take away her soft feminine qualities so that she can assist her ambitious husband who lacks the evil he will need. â€Å"unsex me here† After critically examining the evidence in this scene, one can point the finger of blame towards Lady Macbeth who calls on evil spirits so she can assist her husband. She is already planning and plotting murder. One can now connect her with the supernatural and evil. In Act 1 Scene 7, Macbeth starts to change his mind about the murder, â€Å"hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been, so clear in his great office† In contrast, Lady Macbeth shows optimum strength in this scene. She undermines Macbeth and challenges his manhood. â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem† Lady Macbeth plots and plans the murder of Duncan. All her actions are pre mediated, which implies that she is a cold heartless killer, â€Å"When Duncan is asleep whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey soundly invite him-his two chamberlains. Will I with wine and wassail so convince, that memory, the warder of the brain, shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason a limbeck only; when in swinish sleep their drenched natures lie as in death† She is so cunning and conniving that she has thought everything through. â€Å"his spongy officers, who shall bear guilt† We are reminded of the earlier quotation, â€Å"fair is foul and foul is fair† It seems to be unfolding like a prophecy. There should be equilibrium in apportioning blame in this scene as Macbeth, though deciding against the murder, was convinced very quickly to go through with it. If he really hadn’t wanted to go through with the murder he would have put up a bit more resistance. One can reason that Lady Macbeth has a very strong influence over him and she knows how to use it to her advantage, especially in this scene as she challenges his manhood and has a carefully thought out plan. One could question whether she is inherently evil or whether Macbeth really had any other choice. In Act 2 Scene 1, Banquo is unable to sleep, as he is uncomfortable in the presence of evil thoughts. â€Å"Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose† Macbeth denies his involvement with the unearthly creatures. He is very careful to hide his guilt in murdering Duncan. This is the turning point for Macbeth; he is becoming more and more empowered, â€Å"I think not of them† Macbeth believes he sees a dagger in front of him. This could be a sign of his need to muster his courage, hence he intentionally visualises his evil swaying. This could also be the work of the supernatural. The word ‘dagger’ reminds us of the unnatural predictions, â€Å"That summens there to heaven or to hell† This soliloquy reveals Macbeth’s abnormal state of mind. It also reminds one of the unnatural witches who are products of hell. He believes he is becoming stronger, but ironically he is becoming weaker, as he is more and more disturbed as a result of the supernatural. One can use the evidence shown in this scene to appoint the blame to Macbeth as now he is denying any involvement with the witches and lying to his own friends as the supernatural is taking a hold of him. One could question his sanity as he sees a dagger, or one could reason that this is the supernatural meddling and taunting Macbeth. In Act 2 Scene 2, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are becoming more frail minded as they are beginning to realise what they have done in order to get what they want. Lady Macbeth jumps at the sound of an owl. This suggests that she is becoming frail minded and is extremely anxious. â€Å"Hark! Peace!† Other signs of the pair frail – mindness are that Lady Macbeth pleads with her husband not to go insane, which is ironic as this happens to her, and that Macbeth can’t wash the blood from his hands. â€Å"No, this my hand will rather the multitudnous seas incarnadine, making the green one red† He can’t literally wash the blood from his hands and also metaphorically he can’t wash away the guilt of what he has done from his blackened soul. For all Lady Macbeth’s evil words she still has some sort of conscience, as she can’t commit the murder herself. She is not as evil as she would like and maybe the evil spirits didn’t remove all of her soft gentle side. Macbeth is remorseful, but Lady Macbeth has achieved her desires. She is adamant that the dead can’t exact revenge. If anything she has been influenced and manipulated by the supernatural. â€Å"the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil† In this scene we see that Macbeth is regretting his devious actions, yet this passes very quickly. Lady Macbeth shows very little regret or remorse. One can reason that she couldn’t commit the murder herself so she can’t be all evil. Both are becoming weakened and anxious. Macbeth can’t return the daggers and is initially ashamed of himself. In Act 3 Scene 1, Macbeth has become more powerful. He has not yet converged with the witches, so we can assume that they haven’t complete power over him in this scene. Lady Macbeth and his own greed now directly influence everything he does. Macbeth has Banquo murdered, but it is his own madness that drove him to do it. He is now more in control of his destiny. â€Å"I will put that business in your bosoms whose execution takes your enemy off† He is level headed and cunningly instructs the murderers to plant themselves away from the palace. â€Å"I will advise you where to plant yourselves†¦.something from the palace† Macbeth gives the murderers reasons to kill Banquo, claiming that Banquo had held them â€Å"under fortune† This portrays his intelligence, but also emphasises his evil side. Macbeth is very clear in what he must do to secure the thrown without challenge. â€Å"We have scorched the snake but have not scorned it† This implies that there are more murders to come. Macbeth is not troubled by the murders he has committed. He is more worried that Fleance escaped. From this we can establish that he has little or no conscience. â€Å"Fool of scorpions of my mind dear wife thou know’st that Banquo and his Fleance lives† One must recognise that neither the supernatural nor Lady Macbeth had anything to do with the murders of Banquo or Fleance, yet Macbeth now uses a style not unlike the style Lady Macbeth had used on him. One could say that her influence has not left him unmarked and she still has some sort of control over him, though it is mostly his own greed that is spurring him on to commit these heinous acts. In Act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth is becoming increasingly cruel in his manner and shows no remorse in his friend’s death. â€Å"Tis better thee without than he within† He is referring to the blood on the murderer’s face. Macbeth is upset that Fleance has escaped because it jeopardises his plans and he realises that he can still feel fear. â€Å"But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined.† Shakespeare uses alliteration in this scene for dramatic effect, it emphasises that Macbeth is trapped, desperate and afraid. The use of the ‘c’ consonant is particularly effective since ‘c’ is a hard consonant. The sharp sound evoked by this letter emphasises Macbeth’s fear. He also uses rule of three for literary effect moreover, there is a great association with the number three and magic. The dramatist is once drawing us back into the supernatural and highlighting the fundamental importance of the role of the ‘prophetic hags’. â€Å"There the grown serpent lies, the worm that’s fled† This is an evocative metaphor used to describe Fleance. By calling him a serpent, Shakespeare is inferring that Macbeth sees him as devious, sneaky and sly. Macbeth sees an apparition of the deceased Banquo. We must question whether this is guilt or the supernatural meddling again. â€Å"Which of you have done this?† This is what we call an asside or soliloquy. A private moment where the character shares his thoughts with the audience. Lady Macbeth refers to Macbeth as a woman. It is ironic that Lady Macbeth feels so superior at this time, because shortly she becomes insane yet here she is perfectly sane. Macbeth reveals his evil intentions by explaining, â€Å"we are yet but young in deed† At the end of this scene Macbeth concludes that he will visit the Weird sisters (witches). His reliance on the supernatural is necessary to stifle his fear. One must recognise that he goes to the supernatural and not the other way about. Therefore, we blame Macbeth for going to the prophetic hags. Act 3 Scene 5 includes Hectate who is the supreme witch. This scene involves her scolding the witches for not involving her. This scene incriminates the witches which makes them responsible. â€Å"How did you dare to trade and traffic with Macbeth in riddles and affairs of death† Hectate also apportions some of the responsibility to Macbeth and believes the witches are wasting their time. â€Å"Loves for his own ends, not for you† The witches know Macbeth is coming to them and they will, â€Å"draw him on to his confusion† thus adding to the supernatural’s already existing evil. The inclusion of this scene means that the metaphorical finger is pointed at the ‘Weird Sisters’. However, most editors do not consider this scene to be written by Shakespeare. Therefore, this scene should not be included when considering the evidence. If it were, it would suggest that the elemental forces were to blame the whole way through the play. In Act 4 Scene 1, the witches are involved in a ritual, making a concoction for Macbeth to drink. They will be instruments of his doom. There is similar assonance present, to emphasise the riddled and confused nature of their speech and hence to magnify the idea that these are unnatural creatures. â€Å"chaudron†¦.cauldron† The way they chant together reveals their sisterhood. The prophecies they reveal are that Macbeth must be cautious of Macduff (thane of fife Nemises/avenger to Macbeth not born of a women); he will only be defeated when ‘Birnham Wood’ moves to Dunsinane and that no man born from a mothers womb can ever harm Macbeth. These predictions though extremely ambiguous, are riddled prophecies of Macbeth’s future. They only tell half-truths but they are also double meanings. Macbeth longs to feel secure. â€Å"Double double, toil and trouble† This enhances the fact that the meanings are going to be double edged. The incantation reveals the turmoil that lies ahead. Macbeth’s tone is demanding and he thinks he has the power to control the witches when he most certainly doesn’t. â€Å"I conjure you, by that which you profess† The witches recognise this and use it to their advantage by making Macbeth feel that he is in control by saying, â€Å"speak, demand, we’ll answer† They are now purposely taunting him and acting in a subservient way and their tone has changed. They lure him into a false sense of security. â€Å"say if thou’dst rather hear it from our moths or from our masters† Macbeth has become a puppet for the instruments of darkness. He has become conceited and believes he is untouchable. The prophetic hags have influenced and shaped him by implanting thoughts of grandeur into his head and extracting his ambition. He misinterprets the prophecies and still he isn’t satisfied. â€Å"Yet my heart throbs to know one thing† We condemn the witches more so because of the ingredients they put in their cauldron are foul, grotesque and inappropriate in the extreme, â€Å"Finger of birth strangled babe† Yet Macbeth decides to murder all related to Macduff. The killing of these innocents is perhaps his most evil act. It can’t be condoned, as they have nothing to do with the situation. Macbeth says, â€Å"From this moment, the very firstlings of my heart shall be, the firstlings of my hand† For this malevolent deed we blame him in this scene, as the witches never said anything about killing Macduff’s family. This is completely of his own accord. In Act 4 Scene 3, Malcolm (son of Duncan and prince of Cumberland) tests Macduff and when it is clear that they are both loyal and good, they plan what’s to be done. Macbeth has been energized by the witches and goes on a killing spree, murdering Lady Macduff and her son. â€Å"He has killed me mother† Once Malcolm and Macduff learn of the slaughter of Macduff’s family they are clear that Macbeth must be stopped immediately. They invite assistance from, â€Å"the powers of above,† Or the heavens to overthrow the tyrant. This suggests that the supernatural world can be fair as well as foul. This reminds us of the former equivocation, which is the central coda of the play. Macbeth is crazed by murder. His actions are now gratuitous, as he is hungry for murder. He was once subservient to the supernatural and now he is a transformed lunatic. He was once empowered by them and now is obsessed and insane. After analysing the evidence from this scene it is clear that Macbeth should be blamed and one must also recognise that there is evidence to show that the supernatural is not all bad. In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth becomes completely crazed. Firstly she sleepwalks. Lady Macbeth hallucinates that she has blood on her hands, has sin on her soul. â€Å"Out damned spot, out I say†¦. Hell is murky† â€Å"will these hands ne’er be clean?† This juxtaposes what she has said previously. â€Å"A little water should cleanse me of these deeds† It is clear that her conscience troubles her and one must recognise that she is not wholly evil. In Act 5 Scene 3, Macbeth is still on a mission for power and will not go down without a fight. â€Å"I’ll fight until from my bones my flesh be hacked. Give me my armour† This image is gruesome and unwholesome and it reminds us of the witches and their evil deeds. His choice of language leads us to believe that his encounters with the weird witches had some sick satanic effect on him. His frustration is apparent and he is cruel towards the servant, but this is understandable as he is faced with the risk of battle. He also invites some sympathy when he admits, â€Å"my way of life has fallen into the sear† Yet he musters some confidence at the end and one could recognise that he brought this all on himself. In Act 5 Scene 5, we see the death of Lady Macbeth. She commits suicide, as her evil deeds were too hard to live with. One can recognise that she is not all evil, but merely weak and that she could not live with what she had done. Macbeth seems too far-gone in his evil ways to feel real fear. At the end of scene five Macbeth begins to question the moral fibre of the witches. â€Å"I pull in resolution and begin to doubt th’ equivocation of the field† Even on the stake he ponders over how he could be killed when the witches promise differently. â€Å"Whats he that was not born of a woman† He still stupidly believes in what he was told. He has been duped as Macduff was, â€Å"from his mothers womb untimely ripped† Macbeth still shouts orders and damn’s others, yet ironically, it is he that is damned. After critically studying the evidence of that scene we blame Macbeth, as he is evil right to the very end and still obsessed with the supernatural and what the witches have told him. After close critical analysis it is my view that responsibility is swayed in each scene, yet on the whole each party are equally to blame for the bloodshed. There is sufficient evidence to imply that each party had a vital function in the outcome. Macbeth was not wholly responsible for the outcomes of the play, yet he is partly to blame for murdering for his own gains. It is obvious that sometimes he is said to be in a ‘rapt’ state and one could question whether he had been possessed by the Weird witches. However, even in his ‘rapt’ state he still seems to be in control of himself. Macbeth never actually calls the three women witches, only weird sisters or prophetic hags; thus one must question whether they actually have any power or only the power of suggestion. They never actually instruct Macbeth to murder anyone, yet they alongside Lady Macbeth work to water the seed of ambition. Fate may have intended Macbeth to seize the throne; the witches may just have been instruments to support this notion and provide Macbeth with guidance. The prophetic hags tempt Macbeth into using his ambition for his own gains and they have knowledge that Lady Macbeth is a power – hungry woman who will aid Macbeth. One must assume that they too are evil as they cast spells, provide apparitions and implant notions of power and grandeur. Furthermore, the spells they cast are extreme and the ingredients are highly inappropriate, this further denounces the witches. â€Å"finger of birth strangle babe† In Jacobean times spells were thought to be powerful concoctions brewed for evil purposes. The witches encourage Macbeth to become more confident and assertive and Macbeth is linked with them from the start. He is linked through his phrasing and they talk of him before they are even introduced hence one could say that it is their primary intent to corrupt Macbeth. â€Å"There to meet with Macbeth† Macbeth allows himself be corrupted and is easily lead. His ambition was already there; the witches simply helped it grow. They cannot be held completely accountable as they only fuel and drive his ambition. Lady Macbeth must also be partly blamed for the outcome. She pushed, pressurised and coldly planned the murder of Duncan. She took control and handled the murders as unsexed entity. If not for her, Macbeth may never have murdered Duncan and if he had never murdered Duncan then he would never have got a taste for power or greed. It was only when he first murdered that his hunger escalated and he became driven by greed and ambition. Though one may assume that she is not all evil, as she could not live with herself for the crimes she had committed and became insane. Some critics insist that Macbeth was tricked, cajoled, tempted and guided by the supernatural forces and hence he is not to blame. However, it is my interpretation that the ‘Weird Sisters’ did tempt, taunt and tease him. They sparked his ambition, but that ambition already lay within Macbeth; the witches simply brought in to the surface. Had the unearthly creatures not have done this one could argue Macbeth would never have thought of killing Duncan. Yet this is only a presumption. One must clearly recognise that witches under any circumstances told Macbeth to murder. Had Lady Macbeth not tackled and challenged Macbeth’s manhood, one could argue Macbeth may never have murdered Duncan or become embroiled in future murders. Yet it is clear that though in the early stages Lady Macbeth and the supernatural influenced Macbeth, he became a murdering lunatic all of his own accord and was in control of what he was doing. He chose his destiny and killed innocents without any influence from anyone except the influence of his own greed and desire. Macbeth is insatiable, ruthless and domineering. Yet none of the guilty parties are blameless. All three caused the tragedy and only with all three present could the tragedy have been caused. All three parties are portrayed with blame, the tragedy is more satisfying. A seventeenth century audience would have believed, Macbeth was not fully responsible, because witches were prevalent within their society yet a modern day audience would blame Macbeth fully, as they would contemplate that he had no excuse. She believes that it is easier to surface some pity for Macbeth when he is not the only one to blame but part of a triangle of guilt. In my opinion, it is easier to muster sympathy for a person who is not entirely to blame for their actions; in the case of Macbeth, the tragedy is more successful if the popular seventeenth century mentality is adopted, and thereby the witches and Lady Macbeth are made partly to blame for his downfall.