British Responsibility After 1763

By around the turn of 1760s decade a great controversy arose in the British parliament over whether to maintain the sugar colonies of the Atlantic Caribbean Islands and forfeit Canada or vice versa. The later had the advantage of a wealthy fur trade, while as mentioned the former was promising in the sugar industry. However, all ended in 1763 by the historic signing of the Peace of Paris which saw the proponents of the Canadian option win. Going by the terms of the treaty, Britain was to benefit from all colonies of North America formerly under France.The regions to the east of Mississippi down to Florida (acquired from Spain) were also declared a British possession as per the terms of the treaty. In as much as the treaty favored Britain, it is important to realize that the cost of maintaining her possession in this area was in turn inflated. The expenses of maintaining, governing and also defending imperial wealthy had a negative impact on the economy of the Britons. This realizatio n had in contrast to the expectation of British policy makers who had thought that the American colonies will be self sustaining.It became expensive for the government of UK to maintain the defense troops in the Canadian soil. Therefore in response the government budgeted to maintain about 8000 troops in North America alone and this was to be maintained by an allotment of the cost of ? 400000. This responsibility proved a burden to the royal government which was already being overburdened by its defense and war plans. Following this, measures to increase revenue were taken and by the following year (1764) George Grenville, prime minister then, introduced an act in parliament, dubbed the sugar act aimed at spreading the burden of empirial maintenance to colonies.As expected the colonialists rose in protest against these measures because they envisioned them as a shifted burden. The French and Indian wars provided a major lesson upon which the British ministry based its policy making in the process of quelling the North American Indians. The Indians who were now becoming a nuisance to the British ministry maintained that that the Ohio state belonged to them. After 1763 the rising resentments in the Ohio prompted the British government to ban settlement in the region to the west of the Appalachians.Dominion Status: Before the year 1763, the empire meant nothing more than a trade region. It provided a wider market and also a source of valuables such as fur from India and Canada, rubber from Liberia of West Africa and sugar from the Caribbean. However, after 1763 it signified dominion as well. The acquisition of empire never came with massive wealthy acquisition as might have been expected. As previously mentioned it brought with it an array of problems in the areas of defense, administration and even finance.The aftermath of the seven years of war (1756-1763) the administration of the empire and ministers back in England agreed unanimously the supremacy of the leg islative parliament should be elevetated to have powers to repeal laws of the empire at large. In addition to this, the strong relation in the empire should be strengthened to facilitate the colonial empire to pay for their maintenance. Augmentation of Imperial Army in Ireland: The imperial ideas of the government back in London were clearly envisaged in the proposition by the British parliament to augment Ireland based army.However, with effect of 1763 there arose a problem in the ‘garrison’ and maintenance of the army, especially in the far away colonies. According to the ministers of the government in London, Ireland had the least opportunity of providing soldiers and recruits to the imperial army. The period between 1763 and 1767 saw the empirial demand for soldiers increase and therefore a quick source for more soldiers had to be sought. The British general who was to approach Ireland to supply extra soldiers had in mind that any indirect rule through Ireland offic ials would not by any means succeed.This conclusion by Townsend was as a result of a long and protracted persuasion of the Irish parliament to accept on the proposal to release recruits to the colonial empire. It was clear that any colonial indirect rule through Irish governors had to be discarded and replaced by the colonial official from England. This last proposal was accepted by the Irish parliament. However, the new system only came with increased responsibilities in terms of military regiments after 1763. French and Indian War: The French and Indian wars brought about policy changes in the ministry back in England.The American revolution of 1760 was sparked off by this policy which had its major aim to collect taxes for the empirical governance. Others still suggest that Quebec Act, which was followed by the proclamation of 1763, the issue of the stamp act, Townsend activities and duties and also the tea act of Bolton are seen as the major contributor to the rapid turn of even ts by the British towards the governance of the empire. Others on this least are the major wars against Indians and France, which are said to have financially affected the British ministry.These issues defined the British approach in the vast North American colony from 1763 to the final dismal of the North American by the independence of America in 1776. Quebec Act of 1774: This act was meant to increase the civil governance in the newly acquired colonies of North America, but as it turned out the act provided in some way for the extension of the territory under the Quebec government to western side, a territory that had been relinquished by the France in 1763. It therefore meant that the act violated the rights the colonists back in Canada considered their natural birthright.References: 1. Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. New York: Knopf, 2000. 2. Marshal, Peter. British Empire: The Cambridge il lustrated history of the British Empire, Cambrigde University Press, 1999. 3. Cootes, John. Britain since 1700: Longman Secondary Histories, Longman Group Ltd, 1968. 4. Raimo, John W. Biographical Directory of American Colonial and Revolutionary Governors, 1607-1789. Westport, Conn. : Meckler, Books, 1980.

Extracting Dna from Human Cheek Cells

The probable reason for the tinted brown shade in the human epithelial DNA and not the strawberry DNA is that human epithelial DNA is extracted from one's mouth in which there can be many germs that could change the color of the original DNA. Furthermore, in order to avoid these germs from affecting the human epithelial cell DNA greatly, the experimenter is only asked to rinse their mouth with distilled water while in truth, Just a rinse with distilled water does not eradicate all possible germs that could be living in one's cheek cells.However, some probably factors for why the strawberry DNA and the human epithelial DNA were so similar Is because both Dana were extracted using the same methods. For Instance, In both experiments detergent and ethanol were used to separate the DNA from the nucleus and proteins Inside the cells. Thus, although there are many differences and similarities between the strawberry and human epithelial DNA, in the end they both had the characteristic of bei ng standstill and clumpy. There were man's steps to this experiment.The major steps in this process of DNA extraction begin with rinsing the experimenter's mouth with plain water, then using a toothpick to scratch the inside of the cheek, and then rinsing the mouth again but this time with distilled water which is eventually spit into a cup. The reason this step is conducted is because it cleans the experimenter's mouth so that germs are limited from entering the cup and detaches the cells Inside the experimenter's cheek. Making them easily come out along with the spit Into the cup In the end.Once this step Is over, the spit In the cup is transferred to a test tube, ml of detergent solution Is added, and the test tubule Is mixed. The spit Is transferred to the test tube because it makes the spit easier handle. Furthermore ml of detergent, also called DEBT solution, is added to the test tubule to help break down the cellular and nuclear membranes of the cells in the spit, thus making the DNA more accessible. Finally, this new solution is mixed so that the DEBT solution is mixed well into the original spit and has caused almost all of the nuclear and cellular membranes to break down.Once these steps are over, ml of ethanol is added to the solution and after waiting for bout 3 to 5 minutes, the DNA can be extracted with an inoculating loop. The reason ethanol is added to this solution is because ethanol breaks the DNA apart from the other organelles inside the cell and does not allow the DNA to dissolve since DNA Is not soluble In alcohol. By not allowing the DNA to dissolve, after the 3 to 5 minutes wait, the DNA will automatically be visible near the top of the solution Inside the ethanol since the DNA can no longer mix with any of the other organelles.Thus, the wait is essential since it gives the DNA time to become visible and once it is, the e seen and touched by the experimenter. With this, the experiment is concluded and the experimenter can decide what th ey wish to do with their DNA. This procedure was effective in several ways. For example, the DEBT solution and the ethanol were extremely important to this experiment and were very effective in separating the DNA so that it was clearly visible towards the end. However, one way this experiment can be improved is by using plastic pliers to extract the DNA at the end of the experiment instead of the inoculating loop.This suggestion would be ore effective since with the inoculating loop there is a lower probability of extracting the DNA successfully than with the plastic pliers. This is because the DNA can slip out of the inoculating loop's loop while it is highly unlikely that the DNA will slip out of the plastic pliers grasp. Therefore, although this experiment was extremely effective, one adjustment that could be made is to replace the inoculating loop with plastic pliers. To conclude, there are many applications in the world where this experiment could be extremely important. One ex ample is law and crime.In court, Just as engineering can be an extremely useful tool in finding the true culprit, using the DNA found at the crime scene can be equally as important. This is because each person's DNA is unique and unlike anyone else's. This can quickly identify who the true culprit is in court and also be extremely helpful in the field of science and genetics as well. This is because DNA is the instructions to life and by studying this DNA, scientists and researchers can soon find ways to not only manipulate but enhance human life. Thus, it can be seen that this experiment can be useful in many different fields of study in today's society.

Nike Air Jordan Women

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Bullying of Gay and Lesbian Students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bullying of Gay and Lesbian Students - Essay Example 1). It is also unfortunate that these students are also physically injured and threatened by other students because of their sexual orientation. The distress of these bullied students is not exactly attributed to their sexual orientation, but to the hatred and prejudice against their sexual orientation (Norton and Vare, p. 327). As a result of this bullying, these students are two to three times more likely to attempt and eventually commit suicide (Chase). The education of these students is significantly affected by bullying. For the most part, these students are unable to receive adequate education due to intense bullying from other students (Chase). This bullying may sometimes escalate because the students are often embarrassed to report the cruelties they are experiencing. Due to bullying, they are often likely to skip school. Surveys indicate that gay and lesbian students often skip school for fear of being physically injured by other students and for fear of being targeted by bu llies through taunts and name-calling. According to 2001 statistics, about 28% of these students would likely drop out of school, this is more than three times the average for heterosexual students (Chase).

Century of women in Britain and United State Essay

Century of women in Britain and United State - Essay Example During this century, the life styles of women have changed vastly. The activities of women have brought an important role in transformation of women. Many workingwomen have reached pinnacles in their selective fields. They have become champions in the fields of educational institutions, science and technology. Now the women are more economically stronger and independent than a century ago. The women are not involved in union activities. Now the women in UK & USA can exercise their franchise not like in olden days. Now the women are well educated and participated in national politics. The women were first employed in jobs during the currency of First World War. After the First World War, the services rendered by the woman were forgotten, as they did not enter into domestic service. The start of industries gave some opportunities to women to get good jobs with good returns. The involvement of women in second world war and the role played by them brought changes in awareness and consciousness within the women and the in the society too. The politicians thought of safeguarding the interests of women at their respective work place. The women desired to stick to their jobs by showing their individuality but some women wanted to come back to their domestic service. The work force of woman has largely increased in the year 1940 when compared to the work force of women in the year1939. After Second World War the need of edu cation in higher education and technology has been increased for women after 1960, the entire world wanted to bring a change in inequality irrespective of their class, race and religion.The history of the women is the product of time of century old women. It is the growth of the women for the last 25 years, which focused on their memories, testimonies and pointing out women's experience. After events of revolution in 1968, the socialist feminism is possible once again the world, liberation of women in capitalism. At the end of 1960, the emergence of feminist framework and civil rights movement could be seen. In 1980s Thatcher and Reagan have elaborated the same. In both the countries of USA and Britain have contrasts of class, race, ethnicity, along with region, age and disability. The books did not carry a definite socialist analysis of the history of women in 20th centuries. The working class woman has not transformed the liberation of women forward. In 20th century, the women hav e achieved, in many nations, the right to vote, increased their changes in educational and job opportunities. Women used to feel wifehood and motherhood were most important events in their career. History shows that women is creative source of human life, women are always treated as inferior to men, since olden days. The attitude towards women was favorable in the east. In USA, the women were felt weaker than men as they couldn't do hard work which requires muscle power. In women, the Americans found lack of intellectual development. The women were allowed to attend domestic works such as caring of children, cooking cleaning of house and washing clothes. It was felt that women's main role in the society was to give birth to children. In the present scenario, because of major publicity to follow contraceptive methods control over number children besides

Production Efficiency under the impact of Employee Training Research Proposal

Production Efficiency under the impact of Employee Training - Research Proposal Example Researches reveal that production efficiency (referred to as efficiency further on in this assignment), is significantly influenced by the variation in employee training, attitudes, and wages that employees receive. Conveniently concluding the discussion, as analyzed from the various literatures, it will not be wrong to suggest that: Over the years, researches reveal that these variables though are effective in enhancing the production efficiency, but each has a particular threshold level, beyond which, the concepts of diminishing returns start taking over. As this literature review moves on, it can be seen how valid this argument is prior to proceeding with the primary research about the same. It is worth mentioning here that the three impacts under consideration have been title of various human resource management books, which goes to show the depth of matter available on these; however, this research, due to constraints of time and other resources, has tried to gather a crux of these literatures.   2.2 Impact of Employee Training on Production Efficiency abc   2.3 Impact of Employee Attitude on Production Efficiencyabc 2.4 Impact of Employee Wages on Production Efficiencyabc   

A Supermarket Marketing Strategy for Expanding its Store Essay

A Supermarket Marketing Strategy for Expanding its Store - Essay Example This essay covers fully developed marketing plan for a small wine company Castlegate Wines Ltd. In every organisation, there are some key marketing management decisions which play a pivotal role in determining the performance of an organisation. These include the product, price, distribution and management. In every day operations of an organisation, the total number of sales it makes plays a very important role in determining the overall performance. The main target in every organisation is to sell all what it produces in the shortest period possible. However, it requires an organisation to invest in and be able to come up with best marketing strategies which would help in maximizing sales. In the current business world, the market has become extremely competitive due to entrant of many players in the market. In the wine industry, the level of competition has increased significantly over the past. In order for any organisation to be successful in the market, they need to have a good marketing strategy on top of their retail wine stores. This will help an organisation to reach as many customers as possible hence maximizing its sales. Marketing plan in this essay is divided by such parts as: background and arguments, public relations, advantages of selling through supermarkets, impact and effectiveness of a supermarket strategy for expanding, effects of the strategy to Castlegate Wines Ltd, other necessary marketing measures, difficulties, opposition & barriers and recommendations.

Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership - Assignment Example Toffler’s (1970) conception of â€Å"transcience† was way ahead of its time. Looking forward more than 3 decades ahead, he has painted a frightening picture of how weary the situation will be if one will not be able to adapt to the ongoing acceleration of change. Transcience is the feeling of temporariness and impermanence which is what Toffler predicted would be the adjustment mechanism of contemporary man. In terms of employment, transcience may be seen in how employees cannot stay put in one job as they grab as many opportunities as they could just to get ahead. They may jump from one job to another, eager to try out the latest job openings in the newest companies. Such restlessness evades the development of loyalty to the current employer and even hinders the formation of strong bonds with co-workers. Ideally, young workers seek jobs related to their interests. However, when the need for a job is at hand, they may forsake their interest and take whatever job is avai lable. They find out more about the job in the early days, and get to gauge if they have chosen well or not, a job that they can establish their career on. As employees vacillate from job to job, they try to find what is in it for them†¦ is it challenging enough? Does it tap into their skills? Does it pay better? Hence, managers should make job offers as attractive as possible to recruit the best candidate for the position. Transcience significantly impacts an organization’s performance, as the frequent loss of employees to other companies can paralyze operations. Recruiting and training new staff involves a great deal of time, effort and resources that may drain the organization and hamper its smooth flow. Managers would prefer to work with a steady group of workers that would grow with the company. Providing an orientation to the job at hand is crucial in an employees’ decision to stick with a company for a long time. As in most situations, the first impression usually sets the expectations of people. Managers must prepare well for such an orientation because it is one way to send a clear signal to the employee that the organization is committed to his success. Organizational-level orientation intends for employees to feel welcomed and that they are now part of the organization; learn more about the organizational mission and vision, culture, language, history and structure. Employees come to better understand the basic workplace principles and policies. It prevents unwanted employee turnover is the provision of an effective orientation program to guide new hires through their jobs and the company in general. Even an experienced professional can be vulnerable to feeling abandoned when he is left on his own to survive unaided in a new and strange work environment. Apart from a standard employment contract, employees may also wittingly or unwittingly expect a â€Å"psychological contract† with the employer that includes open and hones t communication, managerial support and challenging and interesting work. Employees are becoming increasingly aware of the non-monetary rewards that companies can provide them. It is generally important that the job not only fulfills their economical needs, but their socio-emotional needs as well. This means a discussion of compensation and benefits should go beyond the concrete rewards of the

Socrates Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socrates - Research Paper Example To put it in simple words, Protagoras views the principle of morality as a valuable aspect that facilitates social cooperation. On the other hand, Socrates holds a vision about the principle of morality as a matter of an individuals’ interrelation towards his/her own soul which cannot be taught based on certain defined theories or assumptions contradicting Protagoras’ views that a person learns virtue from his early age recently when he/she starts speaking (Plato 5-25). Thesis Statement This study intends to analyze the arguments made by Socrates questioning the dialogues in Protagoras regarding the teachability of virtue and education humans regarding wisdom. Protagoras’ acclamations with reference to the viewpoints of Socrates will also be analyzed in this study to recognize the role of a rational agent, its justness and also its goodness in teaching wisdom to individuals. Proper justification will also be rendered with concern to the agreeability of the thesis , i.e. Protagoras. Explanation of the Argument The sole concern of Protagoras’ acclamations has been to rationalize that virtue and wisdom of human life can be taught. However, this argument has further been countered by Socrates where he questions the reality concerning the teachability aspects of virtues. ... Conversely, Socrates holds a perception that the diverse aspects of virtue are singular as well as indivisible in nature. As per his beliefs concerning the aspects of courage and wisdom are simply dissimilar names for two similar qualities of good life. Apart from arguing regarding diverse aspects of virtue, the determination of the interrelation between knowledge, doing good and pleasure have also been focused in the rudiments of Socrates’ arguments based on Protagoras’ dialogues. In this connection, Socrates proclaimed that pleasure undividable with the concern of good. This can be further rationalized with reference to Socrates’ acclamation that anything which seems to be painful is regarded as evil. This particular proclamation of Socrates signified that it is not possible knowingly to do what is good which apparently contradicts the views of Protagoras stating that individuals can be taught of doing good. Moreover, the proclamation put forward by Socrates al so represented with reference to the fact that it is quite unfeasible to live delightfully while performing any sort of evil activity which again rationalizes a strong connection within the various aspects of virtue as described by Protagoras. Conversely, Protagoras argued that there are several people who are not able to measure the most prominent doing that would bring pleasure to them. Hence, as a consequence, wrong activities are generally caused by ignorance that is not to be considered as a conflict or disagreement between ethical duties and the aspirations for pleasure within an individual. According to Protagoras’ dialogues, there lay the requirement of a specific art or

Human growth and develpement module 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human growth and develpement module 2 - Essay Example Berger (2010) claims that an infant’s or a child’s temperament also depends upon his/her inborn predispositions which might not only become the reason of his/her anxiety problems but also invoke anxiety in the parents also. When I applied these same categories to my nursing experience, I felt a significant improvement in the way I became able to assess the rate by which any child improved or recessed in terms of emotional growth and development. It is a fact that infants are very vulnerable to the toxic effects of malnutrition. Malnutrition, if not handled appropriately and on time, can lead to weight loss, height loss, and intellectual problems as poor nutrition can lead to lower IQ levels. Cognitive impairments also affect a young child if there is malnutrition and iron-deficiency anemia can also develop which leads a child to behave sluggishly and learn slowly. Children exposed to malnutrition also have a poor defense mechanism due to which they are more often targeted by various infections and diseases. In order to address this concern, I would suggest drinking lots of water per day as plenty of water can help an infant or a child much against malnutrition. A body loses much water per day through sweat, breathing, and urine so it becomes compulsory to drink many glasses of water a day. Also, vegetables should be made an essential element of daily diet as they help in strengthening the immune

Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc Essay

Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc - Essay Example The essay "Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc" overviews the leadership, team building and communication strategies at Apple Inc, one of the top organizations, which are involving many workers who work in different teams. As the time passes, many things and concepts are modified according to the situation. Same is the case with the leadership style and theories. Leadership theories are modified according to the need of the hour. Traditionally there were trait leadership model, behavioral leadership, and the situational leadership theories. Then there comes a difference in the thought pattern of leaders and the organizations. The contemporary theories include transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and the charismatic leadership. In the 21st century, there are many new concepts, which are emerging according to the situation and the issues, which any leader may face. This includes expansive leadership, emotional intelligence and the system thinking from the leader perspective. Different types of powers can be classified based on interpersonal communication. This interpersonal power actually assists people and very much helpful for the people who are in leadership positions. Expert power, legitimate power, referent power and the most important information power, these are all kinds of interpersonal powers which actually help any leader. When two or more persons work anywhere, in the form of a team or a group, then the occurrence of conflicts is a common matter of fact.

The Bicycle Thief Essay Example for Free

The Bicycle Thief Essay The Bicycle Thief is probably the best known and most highly praised of all the Italian Neorealist films of its era. The films of the Neorealist movement were characterized by several primary ideas. Instead of featuring stories focusing on glitz and glamour, Neorealist films focused on the poor and the working class. Instead of building and fabricating complex sets to film on, they did their filming on location. And instead of trying to get the most well known, highly paid celebrity actors, they frequently used people that weren’t even professional actors and had no training for their starring roles. This all helped lend a sense of realism and weight to the stories. The Bicycle Thief takes place in Rome during a period where the unemployment rate was high and men struggled to support their families. In the film, an unemployed man, Antonio Ricci (played by factory worker Lamberto Maggiorani, in true Neorealist fashion), catches a lucky break and manages to land a job pasting up posters around the city. The only catch is that he needs to own a bike. Being that he already sold his bike to a pawn shop for much needed cash, his wife sells all the bed sheets from their home to scrounge up just enough money to get the bike back. There’s a great shot in this scene where we see an enormous shelf containing hundreds of sheets; a subtle way of showing us that the protagonist is just one of many in similar desperate situations. Antonio gets his bike back and starts his job the next day. Unfortunately, just like in real life, things usually don’t go as planned. While he’s gluing up a poster, a hoodlum dashes by, snags his bike, and takes off with it. Antonio desperately chases after the man, knowing that if he loses his bike, he loses his job, and his family will starve. Try as he might however, the thief manages to escape. He reports the theft to the police, confident that they can help him recover it, but they basically tell him to go look for it himself. The film really tries to highlight the social and moral landscape of the time; if you’re at the bottom of the totem pole, you’re either a target or just one of the faceless millions to be ignored. With no other choice, Antonio takes to the streets and searches for his bike for hours, but comes up empty handed. The scene where he and his son are caught in the rain, soaked and downtrodden, as all around him people on their bikes are riding away really makes poignant the hopelessness of his situation. After trying everything he can think of to get any leads on the thief or the location of his bike, go so far as to even spend what little money he has left on a fortune teller, he happens to bump into the thief in question walking down the street. He chases and finally corners him, but the thief refuses to confess anything and his family and friends defend him from the furious Antonio. The cops arrive, and yet again, they are of no help. They can’t do anything for Antonio as he has no concrete evidence of the crime. Pushed to the final point of desperation, Antonio realizes he has no choice left but to stoop to the lowest level and steal a bike if he doesn’t want his family to starve. He tries to snatch one but is almost immediately taken down by witnesses and held until the police arrive. Seeing Antonio’s son distraught and in tears, the man doesn’t press charge and lets him off the hook. Antonio and his son walk off, both of them in tears, completely hopeless and beaten by society at every turn. This is what Italian Neorealism is all about. For millions upon millions of people living in poverty, real life doesn’t have a happy end. No matter how hard you struggle, sometimes there’s ultimately nothing you can do to alter your fate. And The Bicycle Thief really shows an extremely poignant example of this in the small vignette of Antonio’s life.

Effects of FDI in the Dominican Republic

Effects of FDI in the Dominican Republic Introduction Background and purpose The Dominican Republic has done a major shift in its economy, coming from an agricultural economy, to one based on services. An estimate of the sectors contribution to the country are, 60.2% in services (tourism, transportation, communications, finances, others), 15.5% in industry (manufacturing), 11.5% in construction, 11.3% in agriculture, and 1.5% in mining (CIA fact book). As of right now only tourism leads the service industry, but is soon to be challenged by the investment of contact centers. Because of this shift in its economy the Dominican Republic has become home to various foreign investments, but the one this study will focus on is on the foreign direct investment in contact centers, or call centers as they are also known. It is important to explore the advantages the Dominican Republic offers to attract such foreign investment, as well as to analyze the fact that although there are benefits, it could also lack the necessary infrastructure to sustain this rapidly growing industry. Due to the ongoing world financial crisis, many international companies are struggling to keep their business afloat and looking to establish their contact centers outside of their home based countries. Saving money and reducing operational cost are some of the main reason companies move and do foreign direct investment (FDI) abroad. Investing and conducting operations overseas seems to be the answer that foreign contact centers are looking for in order to meet such goals. It can be said that the Dominican Republic offers an answer to the difficulties contact centers companies are experiencing and continue to confront back at home. Some of the solutions given to these companies are a great business climate for foreign direct investment (FDI), incentives and good geographical location, among other compensations. As a result of moving abroad contact centers gain a particular advantage over their competitors. These advantages can range from cheaper operational cost, strategic location a nd skilled personnel, to a variety of options which may or may not be available in the Dominican Republic. But like everything in life not everything is perfect, the country also needs to confront a sad reality, which is that although it offers good things to investors, it also lacks of other good things. This study will provide the key aspects of contact center FDI in the Dominican Republic in order to present some of the weak and strong points the country has on this industry. By doing this the report looks at what the country has to offer to current and future investors in the contact center industry. It will also provide-from the investors point of view-what makes the Dominican Republic an attractive place to invest foreign capital in contact centers, as well as some of the problems encountered throughout the business venture. Although information provided by the governmental institutions in charge of spreading information about this industry say the country is capable, suited and ready to meet all the requirements of international investors, it is a fact that no system is perfect. This is where facts will be laid down in order to show what truly attracts, keep or loses these investments on the island. Based on those previously mentioned facts the study will look at what improveme nts can be made by the country in order to keep a competitive edge on the rapid growing industry. With this information the reader will comprehend the flaws in the system, and what measures are needed in order to correct them and generate a more positive investment climate. Along with this positive investment climate the study will show the impact call center FDI has had in the country. An efficient and effective investment climate can only be produced by pointing out the pros and cons of what the Dominican Republic has to offer to its investors. The conclusion of the study wishes to convey that these improvements can be achieved by taking action upon the recommendations given. Being that this study is based mostly on empirical knowledge, some of the observations made will be presented based on the industry expertise of the writer of over 7 years or working experience in this field. Research questions Is the Dominican Republic a good place for FDI? Have contact centers FDI created a real impact in the Dominican Republic? Research methodology In order to answer the questions mentioned above, this paper we will use a mixture of methodologies in order to analyze if the country is truly a good place for contact center FDI and if the industry has had an impact in the Dominican Republic. These methodologies include interviews, qualitative research and quantitative data. Organization of paper This document will be composed of four chapters, the first one being its introductory part. The first chapter will provide a brief introduction and background of the Dominican Republic and what sectors comprise the FDI in the country, along with the research questions and research methodology. The second chapter will present an overview of foreign direct investment, inflows, trends, performances and investment climate that pertains the country, as well as the promotion agency in charge of FDI in the country. This information will be in comparison with selected economies from the Caribbean, Latin America and others. The third chapter will cover a more in-depth analysis of contact centers in the Dominican Republic, flaws and investor perspective. The study will also look at a specific company from which the study will depict the impact this specific center has had in the country. The concluding and fourth chapter will provide key findings from the study and recommend future improvement s based on those findings. Overview of FDI in the Dominican Republic FDI trends and performance in Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic, like many other developing countries, is actively seeking to attract FDI. They are not only seeking FDI as an important factor in creating employment opportunities and additional source of income, but rather for the reason of potential spillovers of knowledge and technology. The strong public support for FDI in the Dominican Republic is expressed through the creation of the Center for Exports and Investment of the Dominican Republic, institution in charge of all exports and investment, along with other measures taken by the government. Some of these measures include simplification of administrative procedures, aid from the CEI-RD in logistics and information, subsidies, tax breaks, exemptions and other instruments that facilitate FDI. Before addressing the question of whether FDI in the Dominican Republic has led to development, spillovers of knowledge and technology, as well as, if it is a good place for contact centers to establish and invest, the study will provide an overview of FDI inflows and trends in the Dominican Republic. FDI inflows in the Dominican Republic have made a miraculous recovery from 2004 to 2008 according to the data by the World Bank (World Bank, World Development Indicators). As any other developing country, the inflow of foreign capital was affected by the political environment, which reflected in an average loss of almost 200 million dollars per year during the 2000-2004 governmental period. During this period the collapse of a major bank caused financial turmoil and many investors were forced to leave the country. After a change of government and the macro stability was placed back in track by the new authorities, the country received an average foreign capital inflow of 450 million dollars a year, to earn a total of over two billion dollars in FDI inflows (See figure below). This great recovery happened during the 2004-2008 period, as it was first mentioned, and it is still improving as the country keeps positioning itself as a preferred destination for FDI. Although contact centers are not the main reason for this fast recovery in the FDI, the new rapid industry of contact centers are playing a very important role as it continues to evolve into a leading industry in the service field. In President Fernandez first governmental period (2004-2008) the country recovered from the worst financial crisis in many years. During 2005 the country predicted a GDP growth of 9.3% and inflation to be brought under control at 7.3% throughout the 2004-2008 years. By managing these issues President Fernandez said We have rescued the confidence of investors by achieving macroeconomic stability (Leonel Fernandez, 2004). Having achieved macroeconomic stability, the Dominican Republic received US$1 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2005, up 40% from 2004, and U.S. investment accounted for around 40% of the total (CEI-RD, 2006). This led to an improvement of FDI inflows and mechanisms to continue attracting and sustaining this newly found investments. Below are the net inflows of FDI for various Latin American and the Caribbean countries, including the Dominican Republic. Investment climate When one thinks of the Dominican Republic, images of tropical beaches and all-inclusive resorts may come to mind, but this ten million-strong nation, occupying two thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, also has one of the Americas fastest growing economies and diverse scenery in the Caribbean (BusinessWeek, 2006). The briefing paper Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2008 is one of the latest editions of a series issued annually by the Unit of Investment and Corporate Strategies of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Division of Production, Productivity and Management. This report presents-in a very detail manner-the foreign investment done in Latin American and Caribbean countries, showing their relative differences and investment climate among other indicators. This report also touches on the contact center industry, which has contributed greatly to the ever increasing FDI inflow of the Dominican Republic. Comparing to oth er countries the Dominican Republic shows one of the best FDI inflows by reflecting a relative difference of 83%. What this means is that FDI activities has been constantly growing in the country, thus reflecting good initiatives from the country and a positive improving investment climate (see image below). A good investment climate is not created by simple marketing; it takes hard work, good economic policies and first-class governance on behalf of the government and its Head of State. Because many countries offer desirable investment conditions companies frequently ask themselves, where they should invest their capital. The answer needs to be provided by the country that wishes to be the host of the foreign investments these companies wish to make. The Dominican Republic has characteristics that make it a desirable place to make an investment of any kind, but the question that still lingers around is if the country can really sustain an investment of great magnitude. Offering the right investment climate in the Caribbean is something that the country wishes to achieve, but is not always successful on doing so. With a long history of attracting considerable FDI in a variety of sectors, the Dominican Republic is a regional leader in attracting contact center foreign investment. Longstan ding political stability and a diversifying economy have led many foreign firms to choose the Dominican Republic as an investment destination. Recent success in attracting FDI is due to the countrys investor-friendly legal regime, generous incentives, and infrastructure capable of supporting new technologies, including information technology (FDI Magazine. Financial Times Magazine. August 2005). As mentioned earlier, this success is fairly new and the Dominican Republic still faces the challenge of maintaining and attracting this foreign investments. A great way to see how well positioned is the country and the investment climate it offers is to do a comparison of economies. Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. The report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time (Doing business, 2010). Looking at this specialize report the Dominican Republic reflects its ranking in ease of doing business and other important world ranking criterias that foreign investors consider necessary to know before investing in any. Although this report is using specific economies, the data compares the Dominican Republic to the economies of countries around its region, as well as others from a distant hemisphere and much more developed than the island. One basic criterion for investment is the ease of doing business, the chart below reflects a clear weakness for the Dominican Republic in this area by ranking lower than a Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Puerto Rico and Jamaica are much smaller countries, which may contribute to more agile processes, but the fact that they are neighboring countries there should be a bigger similitude among them in terms of how business is handle. This is a clear sign that depending on how a country handles its business will reflect how efficient their mechanisms are, therefore providing a bigger ease of doing business. Another factor that should not be of much importance is the fact that Jamaica and Puerto Rico receive assistance, guidance and at times are regulated by developed countries. This should not be an excuse for why the Dominican Republic is falling behind in such a basic and important principle. (Doing business, 2010). The chart below, which has also been extracted from the Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times Report, touches on another very important factor for investors when they consider making an investment abroad. The ranking given in this chart is compared to the selected economies of Haiti, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Rwanda and others. This comparison is done once again in order to show how the Dominican Republic presents itself as a favorable investment location. Yet again this favorable climate for investors is not providing the best climate because is falling behind to neighboring economies which only advantage seems to be a more organize and efficient system. The Dominican Republic continues to improve, but is weak in its bureaucratic process, which as a result continues to slow down its progress. Dominican Republics ranking in doing business (Doing business, 2010) Once an investment is done, one of the biggest-if not the main concern of any investor-is how secure is their investment in a foreign country, meaning how are they protected from any unwanted situation. The Dominican Republic has recently passed a new legislation which provides a greater protection to its investors, thus providing investors with a contingency plan if anything happens. The graph below shows the global ranking of the Dominican Republic in terms or protecting its investors, which is a great improvement from other areas already mentioned. Although this is a very important concern for investors, it still addresses a post-investment situation. What this mean is that it does not really provide an immediate impact in attracting a foreign investment if the other factors are encouraging, but it does boost investors confidence in the country they plan to invest as well as adding to a better investment climate. (Doing business, 2010) In an interview to CEI-RD Minister Eddy Martinez in the renowned Dominican daily show Hoy Mismo, transmitted by channel 9, he talks about the investment climate in the Dominican Republic and mentions key factors that make the country a great place to invest-compared to other countries in the region. He talks about establishing incentive mechanisms in order to attract those capitals which appraise the value of the investment not only for the amount, but for the impact these investments will have in terms of technology transfer, creation of employment, type of employment, quality of products produced in the country and if they will carry out Research Development activities. Although this mechanism is something the country whishes to implement, it is still not fully incorporated, thus leaving room for error. The institution is still trying to educate and integrate the contact center community so they can share these incentives and goals with other investors who want to do future busine ss based on the country incentive structure. To disseminate this information the CEI-RD has done seminars concerning these incentives, and is moving forward to the implementation of those incentive policies. During the interview CEI-RD Minister mentioned that many investments come through different ministries, therefore many investors are not sure who and how their investment are handle. This reflects a clear disorganization in the governmental mechanisms, which translates into a weakness. Minister Martinez suggests the government creates an integrated mechanism of investment. What this means is that no matter the origin of the investment or ministry, it will end up in a single place. This will allow proper follow up of the investment, and in case a project gets stuck, the institution can determine where being detained due to bureaucracy or lack of project handling. Based on that integrated mechanism the country can increase its FDI inflows by having all projects in a single place, thus providing one more reason to invest in th e Dominican Republic. Promotion agency (CEI-RD) and incentives offered The Dominican Republics government has implemented a liberal framework for attracting FDI. It makes no distinction between foreign and local companies in terms of ownership restrictions and ability to qualify for investment incentives. Foreign investment is permitted in all sectors except those related to public health and the environment (such as storage and disposal of hazardous or radioactive waste), as well as national security. The Dominican Republic government also offers full exemption from all taxes, duties, charges, and fees that affect production and export activities in free trade zones, which it introduced in 1969. The free trade zones aim to attract high-tech manufacturing (including electronics and electrical components) as well as more traditional manufacturing-such as of automotive parts, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, plastics, metals, injection molding, textiles and footwear, jewelry, tobacco and of course contact centers. The incentives offered last up to 25 years for zones on the Haitian border, and up to 15 years for all other zones. In May 2006 there were 59 industrial parks and free trade zones in the Dominican Republic, hosting more than 600 companies, providing over 190,000 direct jobs, and occupying 2.1 million square meters. Although there are no performance requirements for foreign investors, few sector-specific incentives are offered to them. (World Bank Group, MIGA, Snapshot of the Caribbean, 2007) All of the benefits mentioned above and the continuing inflow of investment is happening thanks to efforts from the government and the institution in charge of carrying out FDI promotion. The institution carrying out this very important task is the Dominican Republics Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD), which is headed by Eddy Martinez, as the Minister and Executive Director of this government institution that promotes national strategic export and foreign investment opportunities and works hands-on with local and foreign enterprise to facilitate business activity. Because the institution knows the importance of investment they are aggressively targeting investors through offices in New York, Miami and California, and because of the nations entry into the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA-DR. The Centro de Exportacià ³n e Inversià ³n de la Repà ºblica Dominicana (CEI-RD) as it is called in Spanish, is the countrys one-stop investment promotion intermediary. It has three main departments: Export Promotion, Investment Promotion, and a Training Center. The CEI-RD aims to strategically promote the valuable conditions that the Dominican Republic offers as an investment destination and foreign trade developer, by pursuing priority areas as defined by the Government, to increase employment, technological transfer and the social welfare of the Nation. The agency organizes and participates in trade missions both overseas and locally as well as provides tools to assist investors, such as an export directory. (World Bank Group, MIGA, Snapshot of the Caribbean) The CEI-RD is the official organization responsible for the promotion of international trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It was created as a product of the fusion of the Center for the Promotion of Exports of the Dominican Republic (CEDOPEX) and the Office for the Promotion of Investments of the Dominican Republic (OPI-RD), according to Law 98-03, effective on June 17, 2003. The CEI-RD is comprised of two main operational areas, export promotion and foreign investment promotion and its functions include many promotions, but some of the more relevant to this study are promotion of the countrys advantages to attract foreign investment, coordination with other government institution related to foreign trade in the interest of achieving an expedient and efficient flow of exports and investments in the country, promotion and development of FDI and business from the CEI-RD offices abroad, currently in Miami, New York and Chicago, participating actively in trade negotiations and ad ministration of resulting agreements, contribute to the improvement of the legal framework and its proper application. Also throughout the Foreign Service network, new offices will be opening soon in Puerto Rico and Silicon Valley The institution services are available for local and foreign companies to facilitate the exports and investments of the country which is an advantage to any investor. Among the services the CEI-RD offers, and which are relevant to this study, they have specialized consulting, technical assistance in meeting the regulations and norms required for the export of goods and services, which is helpful to new investor who are not familiar with the legal framework. They also have validation of certificates of origin, technical assistance relating to trade agreements, recommendations for improving the production process and benefiting from tariff preferences. The new investor can also benefit from visits on behalf of the CEI-RD specialized staff to their companies in order to evaluate the production process under trade agreements and preferential programs. One very important service the CEI-RD offers is that they ensure the correct application of norms relating to export and investment proced ures by administrating Law 84-99 on the reactivation and promotion of exports and Law 16-95 on foreign investment. Other services, although not specific to the industry, offered by the CEI-RD and from which investors could benefit are product profiles and market analysis, business intelligence, legal and economic information, registration of exports and foreign direct investment, facilitation of a network of representatives abroad and foreign trade documentation center. As any other promotion agency the CEI-RD has several promotion programs that make the Dominican Republic attractive for FDI. These programs include National and International Trade shows and expos where it presents companies, local and foreign, can showcase their products. The CEI-RD also coordinates trade missions in order to ensure a successful transaction as well as training programs relating to international trade. In these specific programs-relating to international trade-local companies can get educated and learn how to export their products and foreign investors can learn about the local market and opportunities. Another very important promotion program-and the one of the most significant-is the coordination of business meetings to present what the countrys has to offer, as well as to contact potential investors and exporters. With this two-way program, foreign and local investors will have a mutual gain by making the necessary contacts to get their business started, thus gene rating future FDI. (CEI-RD, 2010) Contact center FDI in Dominican Republic Overview of contact center FDI As it was previously mentioned, this study looks at the pros and cons of contact center FDI from various angles, one been from the host country point of view and the other the investors point of view. From the host country the study takes into consideration a report created by the economist Jonathan Aragonez, from the Center of Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD), as well as other documentation of contact centers from the CEI-RD. These documents will provide the necessary data to point out the countrys benefit and disadvantages. Do to the lack of published papers that truly criticize or analyze the contact center industry, this study will support many of its facts on three things. These three key contributions are empirical knowledge of the writer, interview conducted to the economist previously mentioned, and interview with a contact center owner who is doing FDI in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has had strong export services for many years, and as a result there are 40 to 50 call centers registered with the Dominican Call Center Association. Investors currently operating in the country cited skilled workers, most of whom are bilingual, as their main reason for choosing it as their investment location (Dominican Republic Contact Center Association, 2010). The country has a large, well-trained labor force and although Spanish is the countrys official language, investors can find workers that also speak English. Apart from the stable, fast growing economy, attractive cost structure and near shore location, it can be said that people are the primary competitive advantage in the Dominican Republic. Investors in the Dominican Republic always emphasize the Dominicans high learning ability and proficiency in English. (Eddy Martinez, 2006). The countrys large size means that land is available for green field investment-if one was to be done-although most investors opt to rent or lease a work space for their operations. The country also offers great access to all markets being that is one of the six countries in the world that has a free trade agreement with the U.S. and Europe. Some of the other countries that have such a privilege are Israel, Jordan, Chile and Mexico (Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2010). Other favorable investment factors included the countrys well-developed, affordable telecommunications infrastructure which is the only one in the Caribbean with access four international cables through the Americas Region Caribbean Optical-Ring System Cable (ARCOS-1). What this means is that the Dominican Republic connection to the U.S. or any other country is redundant, thus ensuring contact center businesses to always be connected. Contact centers in the Dominican Republic generate 25,000 direct jobs, from the 57 companies registered and operating in the country. In the next two years those centers are expected to create 30,000 additional jobs, which when added to the indirect ones are more than 150,000 in. This information comes from the CEI-RD, which also says almost all of the data and information technology centers have been installed in the country in the past three years, meaning this great progress has been done in record time. This year alone-and not including centers outside of free trade zones-Contact Centers constituted 15% of approved companies in the free trade zones of the Dominican Republic, being matched only by textile companies (Approved companies by the Free Trade Zone and Export Committee, 2010). In previous reports the committee also shows how these companies add to the countrys GDP year after year, reflecting in a steady and secure growth of this industry. Companies approved in 2010 Free Trade Zone and Export Committee, 2010) The contact center industry in the Dominican Republic is one that has maintained a steady and significant growth. By doing so it has provided a great deal of jobs in the Dominican labor market, citing that for the year 2009 the industry counted with 22,000 jobs. Taking into consideration that the growth of this industry will be of about 27% and 36% annual growth during the next five years, it means that by 2014 the number of jobs can grow to an astonishing 150,000 jobs if the average annual growth rate is of only 27%. If the industry grows at an average of 37% annually, we are talking about having 250,000 jobs, which is almost double of the previous projection. (Jonathan Aragonez, 2010) Strengths, weaknesses and investors perspective of contact centers FDI Deciding whether to invest or not in a country is a decision which is influenced by what the country has offered and showed you, and what other investors say their experience has been. Investors will most likely take other investors input as the reality of how business works in a country. With that being said, one of the biggest disadvantages mentioned by investors is that the Dominican Republic doesnt count with a large enough English speaking community to hold growing operations. This statement comes from the interview with Mr. Blake Janover, contact center owner who has experienced the lack of English speaking representatives. He mentions that the Dominican Republic is a great place to invest, but not the best in the world due to some more important flaws than not enough English personnel. The main weaknesses mentioned by this contact center owner are banking, finance, and overall infrastructure, which is why he runs everything through an external company abroad instead of legally constituting a Dominican company. He also says that it takes time to get things rolling in the country, but he likes the Dominican Republic because it offers a huge tax benefit, as the US offers almost none (Blake Janover, 2010). Further details given by Mr. Janover can be seen in the Appendix. As for the interview with Mr. Jonathan Aragonez, an economist for the Center of Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic, he explains that the Dominican Republic offers contact center investors a great deal of benefits. In his interview he mentions some of the exclusivity of Dominican Republic, its treaty and skilled labor force. The most significant interpretation I could gather form the interview was that an investor is usually winning when investing in a contact center. This is an industry that is expected to grow at a steady 27 to 36 percent in average in the next 5 years, so the investor is bound to make a great profit in the business.(Jonathan Aragonez, 2010) Both the investor and the host country agree in one thing, the Dominican Republic offers advantages that many other countries dont have, and that is why the country is becoming a leader in the industry. These advantages are not only extended to the country and the investor, but are also transferable to the workforce. The average starting salaries in the contact centers are between RD$18,000 to RD$22,000 pesos. This amount is three times more than the average salary of RD$6,000 pesos-established by law-for people working office jobs such as law clerk, assistant or financial analyst (Ministry of Labor of the Dominican Republic, 2007). The contact center salaries are only matched by those of Doctors or Engineers in production plants, which is very demanding professional field in comparison with being a contact center agent. Although this is good for an individual whose only skill may be to speak English, it affects other labor markets due to the fact that the salary is so much

The British Imperialistic Presence In Northern Ireland History Essay

The British Imperialistic Presence In Northern Ireland History Essay The conflict in Northern Ireland in various literature and researches has been presented to us at its most basic as a struggle between those who wish to see Northern Ireland remain part of the United Kingdom and those who wish to see the reunification of the island of Ireland; the Protestants and Catholic respectively. However, reducing the whole cause of this conflict to this angle alone is blindfolding and remaining at its symptom level. It is important to note that the conflict was as a result of agglomeration of a number of factors such as the historical evolution of the Irish community, religion, politics, and economics . Prominent among these factors was the British imperialistic presence in Northern Ireland dating back the early antiquity and their system of divide and rule. The interplay of these factors created a fluid situation which was filled up by a violence that claimed thousands of lives, properties destroyed and, saw Irish community more fragmented . Therefore, this reflection paper will focus on how the British imperialistic presence from early antiquity among other factors planted the weeds that chocked the seed of peaceful co-existence and unity planted by Christianity in the protestant and Catholic communities of Ireland. The historical evolution of the British factor traces its roots from the first Norman invasion of the island of Ireland around 1169. This invasion was the starting point of direct foreign rule in Ireland, first by the English and later by the British engagement in Ireland. By this rule the whole Irish social system was not overhauled but halted and frozen thus making the history of Ireland a continuum of attempts to fight against oppression from foreign rule and social exploitation. They had to battle against the power of the sword with which the island was conquered and exploited by the Norman invaders. The inability of the Irish to resist and defeat the invasion resulted in to the sabotage and loss of their traditional clan system based on communal ownership of property and this was replaced by an exploitative system that saw much of the Irish land and wealth exchanging individual hands contrary to what existed before. Consequently, the Irish, who were majorly Catholics lost hold of their land and became landless in their own country with much of their land ending in the hands of the so called planters, who were majorly protestants from England and Scotland. With this, religious antagonism was already created. It was out of these planters that the British later created protestant oligarchy in Ireland as these planters increasingly became deeply rooted and absorbed the indigenous Irish way of life. In this kind of struggle for land ownership, conflict through rebellion was inevitable not only between the losers and winners of this struggle (the Irish and the Planter respectively) but also among the winners themselves(the planters) who were as well struggling among themselves to gain ownership of Irish land. This was one of the early conflicting situations Britain took advantage of through their system of divide and rule. As Hadden Peter puts it, à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"to rule in the face of these revolts the British chose to divide. Religion was the chosen instrument of division. Religious intolerance, the fostering of mutual suspicion, hatred and violence between Catholic and Protestant this became the shield of the ruling administration against the overthrow by the peopleà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ (Hadden P, 1980) . With a number of social, economic and religious differences already existing in the Irish society, an easier and a perfect environment was provided for the British to exercise their divide and rule policy which kept the Irish people fighting each other and made it possible for the British to advance their imperialistic interests in the whole of the Island. In other words, it was easier for the British to defeat and rule the Irish while divided other than while unified. At the onset of the 19th century, Britain had already established her imperialistic power in the whole of Ireland embodying her as part of the United Kingdom. This remained pain in the neck of the Irish people who wanted to run away from the British imperialism and form a unified republic of Ireland. The British implemented their colonial policy of divide and rule in Ireland by keeping high economic, social, political and religious disparity between the pro-British north and the rest of Ireland that remained anti-British. Economically,the north became more powerful as industry and manufacturing attained massive growth, offered better jobs and better living conditions, while in the south the reverse was true. The British managed to create protestant oligarchy in the south who owned much of the land and resources and this exposed the Catholic population in the south to deplorable conditions of poverty, unemployment and idleness . This later became a key factor in the conflict as the si delined Irish population began agitating for their welfare in seeking for social justice. The British successful prepared a battle ground through their divide and rule policy. The British imperialistic influence in Ireland further created more chaos as it antagonized the north and south of the country by passing the government of Ireland Act in 1920. By this Act, Ireland was split in into two different politically viable entities, each conferred with the powers of pseudo self-government. This Act was received with mixed reactions in that the Catholics mainly in the southern part of Ireland, who saw it as a perpetuation of British imperialism refuted it but the Ulster Protestants in the north, who saw it as a perfect move to keep their ties with England (protestantism) consented to the Act. The process of cultural and social diffusion and unity through trade, intermarriage, harmonious living, migration and settlement anywhere in Ireland was disrupted partly because the British then emphasized the differences and prejudices that fostered hatred and division rather than the similarities between the people of Ireland that would promote unity and harmonious liv ing. This was a deliberate act by the British to perpetuate their control over northern Ireland with the reasoning that the separation would give each country self autonomy to manage their own affairs and that they would continue dominating Northern Ireland people, who were more comfortable with their rule thus erasing the notion of the struggle for a unified Republic of Ireland that would either automatically oust them from the Island or suffocate their influence in the Island. This exploitative move by the British only succeeded in throwing the country in to division and bloody conflict contrary to what they expected. The British further perpetuated their imperialism in Ireland in late 1960s during a violent scuffle the involved the protestants and the Catholics in Belfast and Londonderry. In an attempt to quell this scuffle and bring about peace, the British government after a decade sought to the use of her mighty military power by sending soldiers to Northern Ireland. What remained puzzling was whether the involvement of the British soldiers in this scuffle was to play a neutral role or just to protect their imperialistic interests that were being threatened by the course of this conflict. However, the continued engagement of the British soldiers later answered this puzzle as the soldiers decided on a number of occasions to take parts in a number of conflicts siding more with the unionists who were promoting their interests while on the other hand used disproportionate military force to crackdown demonstrations, and uprising of the nationalists, whom they considered to be anti-British. With this kind of development, one would easily notice that the British had anterior motive to keep this conflict alive in order to extend a direct rule over Ireland in the name of restoring peace. They just wanted to create avenues for remaining colonial masters in Northern Ireland, thus the conflict. In conclusion, despite the fact that there were numerous other factor which brought the Irish into conflict, the British with their colonial policies prepared the weed bed and planted the weed against which the Irish were divided, weakened and failed to uproot it but simply nurtured it to their disadvantage. In other words, behind this conflict was British imperialism and for this imperialistic instinct to survive, the British had to divide the people of Ireland, who would continue fighting each other and remain weak so that it becomes easy to rule them. Unfortunately, religion was selected by the British as the best means to divide and later to rule the people of Ireland, thus creating the situation we read, watch, and hear of today in Ireland. Therefore, not mentioning it would be keeping a blind eye on what was evident, that the British colonial presence in Ireland from early antiquity to an extend was a catalyst in this conflict.

The Ideas of Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto Essay -- Karl Marx

The Ideas of Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto It has been shown by many historians, scientists, and psychologists that people are affected by the world around them. This is exactly what caused Karl Marx to write his Communist Manifesto. The living conditions of the working class-his proletariat, as well as that of the bourgeoisie (the upper class) must have had a profound effect on his views and ideals. In France the living conditions spawned from the actions of the current economy and ruling body. Some of these conditions included poor waste management and the spreading of diseases.[1] Enlightenment ideas developing in France brought him to the theory of socialism, a radical change to self-rule. While maybe not as influential as his Communist Manifesto, Enlightenment ideas also begged Marx to answer questions about what it means to be human. He came up with an answer to go with these questions and he put those answers in his revolutionary Communist Manifesto. Marx’s conceptions of what it means to be h uman were in direct correlation to the world in which he was living in. The proletariat, bourgeoisie, economy, ruling body, and Enlightenment all affected the views he had on what it meant to be human. A small historical background on Marx is beneficial to understanding the views he holds. Marx was born in 1818 during the destabilizing effects of Industrial Revolution and by the ideological and political forces unleashed by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. His commitment to radical social change and atheism were still unpopular to the authorities of his home, Trier, Prussia. Marx then moved to France, where he married his childhood friend, Jenny von Westphalen, daughter to ... ...Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989. [1] Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844. (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1892), 45. [2] Lawrence J. Flockerzie and others. Sources from the Humanities: History & Religious Studies. 1st ed. Dayton: University of Dayton, 1999. [3] Dennis Sherman, Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. (Boston: McGraw Hill), 2: 616. [4] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 16. [5] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 13. [6] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 35.

Abraham Lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His parents were both born in Virginia. his mother, who died when he was ten years old, of a family of the name of Hanks. His father. Who moved from Kentucky to Indiana when he was eight years old. He said â€Å"It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all." Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping a store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." He married Mary Todd, they had four children togather, only one of them lived to maturity, the rest died at an early age. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860. As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Language and Cognition Essay

Language is very complex and the manner at which humans learn language is even more complex. Language is more than just words and with words there are also definitions this paper will explain what language and lexicon is. Language is connected to cognitive functions in so many ways that this is better explained throughout the paper. There are key features in language that is developed during childhood and continues to grow as children get bigger. Language has a structure and processing through four levels. These levels better help humans understand language and communicate to one another. The connections in language processing and cognitive psychology are better understood later on in this paper. First to start off with a better understanding of what language and lexicon is. When a duck quacks, a dog barks, a horse neighs, and a cow moos everyone knows that they are communicating, these sounds do not however make up language. According to (Merriam-Webster’s Third New Internati onal Dictionary Unabridged) language is an â€Å"audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs†. Language and communication is structured, to communicate there must be arbitrary, considered generative and dynamic. Animal sounds are audible they are produced by an action of vocal organs but they are not structured. An animal’s noise is composed of a single sound. In addition to the human cognitive functions and language assimilation, is how the brain has a mental dictionary that holds all of symbols of words. According to (Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged) lexicon is â€Å"a book containing an alphabetical or other systematic arrangement of the words in a language or of a considerable number of them and their definitions†. Lexicon’s record accumulated spelling and pronunciation; humans also recognize words by evaluating what he or she has perceived hearing with these recordings. Humans will compare animal communication sounds using the stored lexicon to decide if the sounds make up a known language. Caldwell-Harris (2008) notes â€Å"words represented with links to their typical linguistic contexts will help explain the ever present influence of context on word meaning† (p. 170). Therefore, there would be no meaning to a human and an animal to communicate between each other because there are not words or contexts to understand. Furthermore, an understanding of language is more than the definition and lexicon, but includes the key features of language. Humans are pre-programmed to learn language; there is also a critical period which is where someone can learn effortlessly. According to (Willingham, 2007, p. 423) â€Å"there is fairly strong evidence that our brains are prepared to learn language, and with relatively little prompting, will do so†. Children learn in stage starting with babbling and cooing. According to (Hollich, 2006, p. 10) â€Å"to learn a word, infants must represent both the acoustic form and then make the connection to an external, possibly unfamiliar, object†. As children are learning to pronounce vowels and consonants they put together words, as they do this they also look at objects to match with the words. Chrysikou, Novick, Trueswell, & Thompson-Schill (2011) note â€Å"specifically, an increase in the spontaneous use of inner verbal strategies during development may support aspects of top-down control in task-shifting, by selecting and maintaining task-relevant goals, remembering task order , or retrieving task-relevant information† (p. 254). With repetition the key features of language are learned, and humans begin to form structure and begin to use the key features of language. There are four key features of language phonemes, words, sentences, and text. These key features are the structure and processing used in cognitive psychology. When listening to the pronunciations a person learning the language also needs to know how to identify it. Cognitive process helps us to learn these different words and how to spell, speak, and the meaning of each word. According to (Willingham, 2008, P. 454) if the phoneme string matches an entry, the word has been identified, and the cognitive system has access to the other properties of the word, including the spelling, part of speech, and meaning. The individual sounds that make up the audible and written copy of words are known as phonemes. There are about 200 phonemes used worldwide, but only about 46 are used in the English language. Through the above mentioned lexicon, people are able to determine a spelling and pronunciation of each word. With this ability humans are able to make coherent sentences with noun phrase and verb phrases. When this is completed it is where the significant formation of actual text is possible. A person can know phonemes, words, and sentences but to really carry on a conversation a person must correctly understand the language this is text. A branch of psychology is cognitive psychology and this area explores the function of mental processes connected to attending, thinking, perceiving, language, and memory. The English language has different sounds for letters as well for example kit and skill, the k sound is different in both words but the letter is the same. Each language has their own pronunciations as well as meanings but they are all diverse. According to (Evans and Levinson, 2009, P. 431) â€Å"the crucial fact for understanding the place of language in human cognition is its diversity. For example, languages may have less than a dozen distinctive sounds, or they may have 12 dozen, and sign languages do not use sounds at all†. There are quite a few functions used in cognitively one of which is memory. Memory is a big part of language and understanding the meaning of words. Humans learn language by repetition and memory to recall definitions and perceptions of the different words in the world around them. In conclusion cognitive psychology and the process of language is connected more than one might believe. Understanding our world around us through experiences is not the only way our mind works. Through language and lexicon, a person recalls information he or she has learned from previous experiences to better understand the lexicon and remember it. The key features of language are that humans are programmed to learn language and understand it. While humans learn the language they move through the four levels of structure and processing to get to communication. Communication is not just understanding the words but also making clear sentences and text as learned in this paper. References: CALDWELL-HARRIS, C. (2008). Language research needs an â€Å"emotion revolution† and distributed models of the lexicon. Bilingualism, 11(2), 169-171. doi:10.1017/S1366728908003301 Chrysikou, E. G., Novick, J. M., Trueswell, J. C., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2011). The Other Side of Cognitive Control: Can a Lack of Cognitive Control Benefit Language and Cognition?. Topics In Cognitive Science, 3(2), 253-256. doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2011.01137.x Evans, N., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). The myth of language universals: Language diversity and its importance for cognitive science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5),429-48;discussion 448-494. doi:10.1017/S0140525X0999094X Hollich, G. (2006). Combining techniques to reveal emergent effects in infants segmentation, word learning, and grammar. Language and Speech, 49, 3-19. http://search.proquest.com /docview/213732301?accountid=35812 Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged [Accessed June 18, 2012]. Willingham, D.T. (2007). Cognitions: The thinking animal (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare Essay

Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’ between 1603 and 1606 for King James 1st (England) and 6th (Scotland). It’s about a tale of royalty treachery heroes and witches. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 the public were full of tales of witches and evil. Witchcraft was a subject that the English took very seriously. They believed that a witch had a third nipple under her arm. They burned women or threw them in lakes to see if they floated, if they did, they were sentenced to death. It is estimated that in Scotland between 1564 and 1603 eight thousand suspected witches were burned to death. These executions did not cease until the end of the seventeenth century. The sight of witches in an Elizabethan theatre would have been terrifying for the audience. For my English coursework on Macbeth I have chosen to look at act one scene one, two and three. This is due to the simple fact that it is the introduction to the play and indeed it sets the feel to the whole play In Shakespeare’s play, we open during a thunderstorm; this prepares us for the evil witches. Three witches come onto the stage: ‘When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?’ The first witch asks what the setting shall be for their next meeting, thunder, lightning and rain conditions that most people would find frightening and would stay away from. The second witch says that they will meet: ‘When the hurlyburly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.’ We then find out that they are going to meet on ‘the heath.’ They have insight into the future. The witches tell us that they are going to meet Macbeth. We do not know who Macbeth is or why the witches are meeting him, but we think that he must be evil because he is linked with the witches. Their familiars call to them and they disappear chanting: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair:’ This expresses the main themes in the play, the reversal of fortunes, and the fact that appearance can be deceptive. And we later see Macbeth is ‘fair’ in Duncan’s eyes but underneath he is ‘foul’, he will later betray Duncan. The opening scene is exactly thirteen lines long, thirteen is unlucky and in those times unlucky things were bad. So by this point the audience will have picked up that these are bad people. Scene two opens in a camp near the battlefield; King Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain, his sons, and Lennox are present. They see a bleeding Captain and ask him how the battle is going. The Captain tells them how well Macbeth fights: ‘For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name-†¦ Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements.’ This is portraying a picture of a tall and strong man who is highly regarded by the experienced fighters in the army. Duncan then praises Macbeth by calling him ‘O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman’ This presents us with a very different view of the main character, a relative of the king’s, well brought up, a courtier, but still highly regarded. The Captain then goes on to tell us of how Macbeth and Banquo responded to a fresh attack by the Norweyan lord, Sweno: ‘†¦they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or to memorise another Golgotha, I cannot tell-‘ Macbeth and Banquo had fought back twice as hard as if they meant to kill every man there or to create a new burial ground, he could not tell. This shows how good and strong Macbeth is in battle. The Captain goes and Ross and Angus arrive. They tell Duncan that ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’ had won the battle. Macbeth had won and they were painting him as a god. They also tell Duncan that the Thane of Cawdor was a traitor’, Duncan decides to reward Macbeth by giving him the Thane of Cawdor’s title. This is ironic because Macbeth will become a traitor too. We now have two opinions of Macbeth, one evil Macbeth, linked to the witches, and one good Macbeth, a noble warrior who has fought well in battle to protect his country. The third scene is set on the heath, the witches are there, and telling each other what they have been doing since they last met. The first witch wants to put a spell on a sailor whose wife refused to give her chestnuts. She is going to toss his ship about and make sure that he does not sleep. This is reflected when Macbeth can not sleep later on in the play. The third witch shouts: ‘A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come.’ They know that it is Macbeth, this too shows the witches’ insight. A drum is significant because it is a military symbol. We now meet Macbeth and Banquo. The first words Macbeth say are: ‘So fair and foul a day I have not seen.’ This reflects the words of the witches: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair.’ Which tells us that he is in tune with them and therefore in tune with evil. It is Macbeth who demands to hear what the witches have to say: ‘Speak, if you can: what are you?’ They acclaim him: ‘All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!’ Macbeth starts and Banquo asks him why. The witches have seen his thoughts and know his ambitions, he is afraid to hear that other people know his desires. Banquo asks them what the future holds for him and the witches reply: ‘Hail! Hail! Hail! Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:’ Then they disappear again into the mist. Macbeth is not happy with the information he has received and demands that they stay and tell him how he is to become Thane of Cawdor and the king. The audience will now be itching to see if the latest predictions are true: after all, the previous have all now happened. Ross and Angus arrive on the scene, they have come from the king to award Macbeth with the title of the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth doesn’t know that the Thane has been sentenced to death for betraying the king: ‘The thane of Cawdor lives. why do you dress me In borrowed robes?’ Banquo is amazed that the witches are right: ‘What, can the devil speak true?’ Macbeth thinks to himself: ‘Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind.’ He thinks that they are evil and will bring about Macbeth’s downfall: ‘And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence.’ Macbeth thinks about Banquo’s words and fights with his ambition and decides to let fate take its course: ‘If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, Without my stir.’ In any screen version, ‘Macbeth on the Estate’, I expect a great warrior, respected by the king and fellow noblemen of Scotland. His best friend, Banquo is always by his side, and both dressed in armour coming from battle, with wounds. Macbeth should be about thirty-five to forty, he should be strong and masculine, as he has the strength to unseam a man: ‘†¦from the nave to the chops.’ I review now two modern interpretations of the play the first will be, ‘Macbeth on the Estate’ is set on the Ladywood Estate in Birmingham; this is the first difference between the screen version and the text. We open on a desolate estate, you can hear the wind, it is misty, dull, dark and grey. The high rise flats break the skyline. The ground is covered in mud and rubble, something used to be there but has been destroyed. A character comes on scene, he isn’t a witch, he is the Thane of Fife, Macduff. He is wearing a black tracksuit and speaks with a Jamaican accent, his words have rhythm. He tells us that what we are about to see, that Duncan is king and that he has become fat and lazy, he is no longer a good king. He tells us that there had been some problems and Duncan had told Macbeth to sort them out. The screen blacks and we see the title, when we return, we get a view from a smashed window, signifying violence. There is eerie music playing in the background, the estate is empty, abandoned. We get a clip of an alley, there are rats running around in it, this shows disease, dirt and decay. We then get a shot of a building, and a shot of another building with some children playing outside it, some men come along and they run away. The camera moves to the inside of a house, the door is kicked in and the men run into the house. The characters are introduced by freeze-frame the first man, the leader is Macbeth, he is wearing jeans and a dark jumper, this may suggest that he is evil. The other characters are introduced including Duncan, who is not at the battle. He is in a Public House; smoking and drinking, he is wearing a bright shirt, which is not buttoned, he is lazy and immoral, he is not as nice a king as Shakespeare’s Duncan. This makes Macbeth seem less evil when he kills him. The production is not about good fighting evil, it is about bad fighting worse. Shakespeare meant this as a morality play, however this is not a moral king and I feel that it makes me feel more sympathy for Macbeth when he betrays Duncan. The camera brings us back to the house, they are using pepper spray and baseball bats. The image is extremely violent. The television is switched on and Macbeth is distracted by it. The National Lottery is on, he seems drawn to it and is then disgusted by it and smashes the screen. Upstairs Malcolm and Macduff are fighting when they see the Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm jumps out the window Macduff is pushed down the stairs and they go back to tell Duncan. Macbeth comes up the stairs and gets trapped with Banquo. We go back to the Public House, where Malcolm and Macduff have just arrived Macduff keeps pushing Malcolm away. He tells Duncan of how the battle is progressing. This is the role of the Captain in the play. In the play we don’t see the battle, this shows us a more violent side to Macbeth, however it shows him as a warrior, not just a nobleman and a loving husband. We hear that Macbeth has won the battle and all the men are praising him. Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with the title the Thane of Cawdor, he sends men to kill the present Cawdor and deliver the message to Macbeth. We then have another extra scene, they drag Cawdor to a car. Three children, the witches, have just broken the window. Cawdor is shut in the car and Malcolm sets it alight. He takes his punishment and does not attempt to escape. A close up on his face shows his disclaim for the learning Malcolm I think that Macbeth would do the same, they are alike, they are both traitors. The camera then follows the black smoke upwards. The eerie music is still playing in the background. We see Macbeth and Banquo walking past a building, voices start to shout from windows and doorways. The voices get faster and come from all over the building. The camera follows the sound. Macbeth moves to go into the building, he seems drawn to it, Banquo tries to stop him but he walks in. They go up some stairs, Macbeth seems to be following something and leads Banquo under some low gaps in the wall to a room. They go in and the witches are standing there. There are candles and tarot cards in the room. They speak to him and he scorns them. The witches are not as frightening as Shakespeare’s witches are; they do not have the same effect. A car horn beeps and Banquo leaves, Macbeth lingers, again drawn to the evil, and keeps looking at them, walking backwards through the door. They walk out onto the balcony, Macduff and Ross are waiting in a car below, and they tell Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor and that the old Thane is dead. They get into the car to go to Duncan. We get a close-up of Macbeth in the car, he looks out of the window and thinks about all that has happened ‘if chance shall have me King, why chance may crown me Without my stir Ross is saying the porter’s speech; this scene is used after the murder of Duncan in the play. They reach the public house and again Macbeth is the first person to come through the door, he gives Duncan money and then starts a pretend fight with him. Duncan gives him his ring as a reward, he has a tattoo saying ‘love’ on his hand. I think that this shows that he is close to Macbeth. The scenes in the screen version are not in the same order as in the play. The actors are using Shakespearean language in a modern setting. I do not think that this works well. I think that the Macbeth on the screen reacts well with the witches, he is drawn to them. The screen version of Macbeth is not what I imagined him to be like; he is not a well-built man. Banquo is closer to my image of Macbeth. He does not seem to be in an army, whereas in the play there was a military tie with the drum. The fight seems to be a turf-war over drugs. Duncan is not as moral as Shakespeare made him, he smokes and drinks alcohol, he is not a good king. The setting is different, the scenes are not the same, and the morality aspect has changed. The screen version does not portray Macbeth as the tragic hero. He is not the Macbeth I expected to see. The second screen version I am going to look at is ‘Granada’, again I expected to see a great warrior, but now I am more curious after seeing the Macbeth on ‘Macbeth on the estate’. The ‘Granada’ version shows us an even more futuristic view of Macbeth but this time it uses actual warriors instead of vicious gangs of thugs, and they are actually fighting another country. We open on the wasteland with the witches. There are lots of bodies and old rubbish skips it looks as though there has been a battle fought here recently. We get a camera shot of the witches robbing the bodies anybody watching the scene can tell that these people are bad, evil almost as robbing the dead is frowned upon by anyone. The witches are dressed in rags and torn cloths they are grubby, they have rotten teeth and are wearing tacky plastic jewellery, They look like tramps. As they each say their lines we get a close up of each witch. ‘When shall we three meet again’ I can see a middle aged woman rushing to strip the riches of a dead body, when the witches are all finished talking to each other we see them running away from the bodies and disappearing into thin air. ‘there to meet with Macbeth’ Clutching watches in their hands. The camera then cuts a close up of Macbeth. This time Macbeth looks like I expected he looks strong, he looks like a warrior and he looks braver than the Macbeth we have seen from ‘Macbeth on the estate’. The camera cuts to scene two upon a hill in the country side with Duncan, Malcolm an Donalbain, Malcolms sons and Lennox standing talking, we are not told that is who they are but any one who has seen Macbeth before will know that this is who they are. With an explosion the Captain arrives war torn and bleeding, he staggers up the hill towards the group of man with his rifle slung over his back. His rifle is the currant issue weapon to the British Army so again it shows the modern aspect of the play. The Captain falls to the ground I front of the men, Duncan grabs hold of the Captain and shakes him. I can see that this Duncan is also more healthier than the king from ‘Macbeth on the estate’, he demands to know what is happening with the war and what about Macbeth. The Captain tells him that they have won the battle and that Macbeth has unseamed a mans body from his nave to his chops. The group all cheer at this they are all proud of their warrior Macbeth. Duncan then realises the Captain and orders someone to take a look at his wounds. Then with another explosion Angus and Ross appear they give the king the news of the Thane of Cawdor’s betrayal, king Duncan gives the order of the Thane to be killed and Macbeth to be given his title. They turn and leave down the hillside with their guns slung over their backs. The next scene begins in an original sort of way as Macbeth and Banquo riding down towards the wasteland on scramblers. This indeed is futuristic portrayal of the events, maybe the scramblers are there to represent the horses. They are now walking through the wasteland and spot the witches the viewers can now see that the witches’ predictions are true. Banquo spots them huddled around a fire and asks Macbeth what they are, Macbeth draws his gun and asks them to speak to him. They tell Macbeth his fortune and make paper crowns to symbolise the king, Macbeth is shocked by this and bites his nails, Banquo is questioning why Macbeth is worried and shocked by what the witches have to say. He then goes on to ask the witches what will become of him he seems happy. The witches then burn the crown in a nearby fire, they disappear in a star-trek like way again. Macbeth breaks out of his trance and calls for the witches to come back. I can see the power on his face he is almost annoyed that they are leaving it shows that he likes what they are saying. It’s like saying goodbye to all the things he has ever wished for. Almost as soon as the witches leave there is another gunshot as Ross and Angus arrive, Macbeth is told that he has become the thane, he still seems shaken by the witches and now he seems disturbed. He turns his back on Ross, Banquo and Angus, this is what he will go on to do later on in the play to betray all the ones he knows on his quest to be King. He has his gun pressed against his cheek, he likes the power of the gun it makes him feel power, something that he longs to have, and we can hear his thoughts ‘if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir’ We can see instead of fighting everyone to become king he is waiting for chance to crown him, or make him king. He turns to his comrades and says ‘Till then enough – come now friends’ He calls them friends now but would he be calling them friends if he knew he was going to kill his best friend Banquo Out of the two screen versions I prefer this one it presents the Macbeth I think of when I read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It shows good camera work to add to the effects. In this version the scenes are in the same order as the book unlike ‘Macbeth on the estate’ which muddles them around. I also think the witches are better portrayed as adults they seem more evil robbing the bodies. This Duncan is a good king I think this makes Macbeth seem even worse when he goes to kill him it shows that he is willing to kill good people to get where he wants to be. The war seems to be a proper war over land the way it would have been in Shakespeare’s time, not over drugs. This Screen version does portray Macbeth as the tragic hero I expected to see after first reading the book. Macbeth in both versions seems in a trance like state while the witches are around I think this is significant because the witches could be setting a spell on him.