Pictorial Narratives: Hogarth’s Marriage àla Mode Essay -- Essays Pa

Pictorial Narratives: Hogarth’s Marriage à   la Mode One of Hogarth’s bitterest satires, Marriage à   la Mode, showed the disastrous results of a marriage of convenience concluded between the son of a poverty-stricken nobleman and the daughter of an aspiring merchant (Jarrett 88). Yet this background information is not necessary to appreciate each painting independently. From the first painting, in which the ambitious fathers of the couple exchange money and titles, to the final two prints that show the husband and wife’s melodramatic deaths, each of the six prints tells both a episode in the story of this doomed arranged marriage and a story in and of itself. The first two Marriage à   la Mode prints, The Marriage Settlement and Shortly After the Marriage, both contain numerous works of art, architecture, period dress and other carefully placed props that allow each work to tell a story without being dependent on the context of the series. Because of its immense detail, The Marriage Contract is perhaps one of the easiest prints to appreciate. Even without any prior knowledge of this work, an inexperienced art critic can still ascertain that the scene takes place in an aristocratic home. Copies of paintings after the old masters hang in gilt frames, the ceiling is painted and the walls hung with green damask. Two men sit at a table in some sort of business transaction, as evidenced by the presence of three lawyers, numerous documents and money. The gentleman on the right’s portrait hangs on the wall above the table, indicating that the deal is being brokered in his home. He is correspondingly dressed in fine clothes, whereas the other gentleman is more modestly attired. The skill with which Hogarth has represented the swelling aristocratic pride of the Earl and the lower-bred, commercial demeanor of the Sheriff was regarded by eighteenth-century critics, best acquainted with the social manners of their age, as masterly (Webster 103). A document that reads â€Å"Marriage Settlement of the Rt. Honble Lord Viscount Squanderfield† rests in the hand of the non-artistocratic gentleman, his careful perusal of the document indicating that he is the bride’s father. In turn, he has handed over a sum of money to the Viscount’s father (who the inexperienced viewer can assume holds the title earl). In turn, the Earl points to his contribution to the marriag... ...m each other. The Roman bust with a broken nose on the mantle and the painting above it, featuring Cupid playing a song on the bagpipes ironically titled â€Å"O Happy Groves† amidst falling ruins, suggest the similarly ruined and collapsing state of the couple’s marriage. Hogarth's remarkably exuberant satire of marriage for money, his pungent details of upper-class life, and his mastery of complex scenes find perhaps their highest expression in this series, generally considered his finest work. (Encarta). Although critics have commented that the series progresses somewhat abruptly, with little idea of what occurs in between the six scenes, rarely is any one painting referred to independent of the others. But because of the complexity of each scene, the paintings, The Marriage Contract and The Tà ©te-à  -Tà ©te in particular, can easily stand by themselves as brilliant satires of arranged marriage in the 18th century. Such is the genius of Hogarth. Works Cited Hallett, Mark. Hogarth. London: Phaidon Press, 2000. Jarrett, Derek. England in the Age of Hogarth. London: Hart-Davis, MacGibbon Ltd, 1974. Webster, Mary. Hogarth. Danbury, CT: MasterWorks Press, 1984.

The New Deal Coursework

The New Deal was set up by Franklin D. Roosevelt when he became president of the United States of America in March 1933. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal to stabilise the USA, focusing on his aims that he put forward in his inaugural speech. Roosevelt made his inaugural speech in March 1933, declaring his main aims that he planned to achieve during his time as President. During his speech Roosevelt said: â€Å"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.† He said this because he wanted to assure the American citizens that he could reform the current depression in the USA and make sure no such crisis could happen again in the future. He wanted to regain the American people's confidence in that the problems caused by the Great Depression should no longer be feared because he had a plan to resolve the bad effect of the depression on his country. Roosevelt said that he aimed to make better use of natural resources, and to lower unemployment figures by providing jobs for thousands of people. He also said that he was aiming for the protection of people's savings and property, a redistribution of the land for those less privileged and to provide aid to the ill, elderly and unemployed. Roosevelt was granted one hundred days of broad executive power so that he could achieve his aims by passing laws quickly without having to put them through the government. With this power Roosevelt set up the â€Å"Alphabet Laws† that were combined to form the New Deal. The different laws he passed allowed him to achieve the aims that he had proposed in his inaugural speech. To accomplish his first aim of restoring confidence in the American citizens, Roosevelt came up with the idea of the â€Å"fire side chat†. The fire side chat was a radio show that Roosevelt would speak on every night, in a bid to convince Americans that he would make sure that America recovered fully from the Great Depression. Because the fire side chat was a daily occurrence, it could been seen as a form of propaganda but the radio shows did in fact give confidence to Americans in the way that they he made people believe that he would keep the promises he made to help America recover. One of the first of the Alphabet Laws that Roosevelt set up was The Emergency Banking Act. The Emergency Banking act was, to all intents and purposes, a four-day bank holiday; when all the banks were declared financially secure they were allowed to be reopened but those which were not were closed. Roosevelt set this act up to restore the Americans' faith in the dollar and to systematize America's economic situation. The Emergency Banking Act abolished Americans fears that their savings were not secure and let them put their trust back into the banks where they kept their money. Another program that Roosevelt set up was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration which was established to provide benefits for the unemployed. The basis of the program was that the government would give a dollar for every three dollars that the state spent; this was supposed to give people confidence that the unemployed would be given enough money to live on until a job opportunity came about. The fact that the Government was showing interest in the well-being of American people, made people believe even further that it was a strong, caring government system that took into account minorities and those in need. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was later changed to the Civil Works Administration which was a project set up with five hundred million dollars backing from the Government, which was spent on public work schemes. It gave hundreds of people jobs all across America on developments such as road works and building important public buildings such as airports and sc hools. The Labour Relations act was brought about to give employees and workers across America the reassurance that they had worker's rights and the freedom to back themselves against unfair dismissal by their employer. The Home Owners Loan Cooperation was set up to give Americans back the confidence that they were safe from being evicted from their own homes. It allowed people to take out loans so that they could pay rent until they came up with a better source of income. As well as the Civil Works Administration as a factor in achieving his aims of lowering unemployment figures, Roosevelt also set up the National Recovery Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and the Public Works Administration; all of which were work schemes that provided jobs for many people in all aspects of society from arts to agriculture. Other aims of Roosevelt were the redistribution of land and better uses of natural resources. Roosevelt set up The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Agricultural Adjustments Act and The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The Civilian Conservation Corps was set up to protect the environment in many areas of the USA. As well as observations on plants and wildlife such as tree-planting and beekeeping, the CCC also built many trails and buildings in state and national parks and installed fences, and power and telephone lines. The Agricultural Adjustments Act aimed to prevent farmers from being evicted from their homes by introducing new crops to farming areas. The government would also buy a cow from a family farm and then have the meat sent back to family tinned, ready to eat. The TVA was set up in order to provide economic development in the Tennessee Valley, where many people were affected greatly by the Great Depression. It concentrated on building dams to prevent flooding and to regain land around the Tennessee River and also on electricity generation and the manufacturing of fertilizer as a source of income. Roosevelt also set up other organisations to tackle other problems such as The Social Security Act that gave aid to the ill, elderly and unemployed; and the National recovery Administration that ensured working conditions were acceptable for everyone and to abolish over working and child labour. In conclusion, Roosevelt covered all of his aims mentioned in his inaugural speech using his power to pass the Alphabet Laws in order to keep his promises that he made to the people of America. The features of the New Deal came together to successfully meet Roosevelt's initial aims as President, as he made a benefit of the environmental state of the USA by using natural resources to boost the economy and provide employment for many people, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

Historical Changes of Affirmative Actions

Affirmative action was established to practice equal employment opportunity. Moreover, in general, it is a catchall phrase that refers to laws, customs, and social policies. It intends to ease the discrimination between majorities and minorities by giving more opportunities for diverse demographic groups in various social organizations. Also, it refers to both voluntary and mandatory efforts practiced by federal, state, local governments, private employers, and schools to overcome discrimination and to urge equal opportunity into the educational system and working environments (Stephanopoulos and Edley 1995). On the other hand, it is criticized and discussed since it was established due to its has very broad influences in America society. It is not simply a legal issue, but also an issue that affects every American†s way of life. However, it†s just like other laws and regulations, none of them can please all kinds of people. I am a supporter of the affirmative action. Some may say that this is because I am a student, and I need affirmative action to protect my opportunity of finding jobs in the future; unfortunately, they have the wrong thought. I am Taiwanese, and I will find my job in Taiwan where there is no regulation like affirmative action. Therefore, I am standing at a very objective position to discuss this topic with you. Of course, you can always keep you opinions in minds, but please open your minds to look at what I am going to tell you. I. The historical changes of affirmative action Affirmative action was first seen at 1961. President John F. Kennedy referred to his executive order that asked all federal contractors treat the applicants and their employees â€Å"without regard to their race, creed, color or national origin† (Pasour 1989). In 1964, affirmative action expanded its scope to prohibit employment discrimination by large employers, having over 15 employees, whether they have government contracts or not. In addition, from 1965 to 1967, affirmative action was expanded to require all government contractors and subcontractors to take it to expand job opportunities for women and minorities. Then, from 1970 to 1973, legislators evaluated and compared the affirmative action this program and status quo and made this program have more flexible goals and timetables for every organization to achieve it. II. I-200 & Proposition 209 V. S. Affirmative Action When I heard that Washington and California have passed Initiative 200 (I-200) and Proposition 209, which are regulations that against affirmative action, I think the residents of these two states may not clearly realize what the affirmative action really is. These regulations were passed because the supporters believe affirmative action has gone too far to protect minorities and women. Furthermore, the affirmative action causes reverse discriminations, preferential treatments, and privileges at not only work places but also schools. Proponents of I-200 and California†s proposition 209 also argue that affirmative action has led American colleges and universities to use racial and ethnic as criteria to select a significant fraction of their entering classes. They also argue that because of affirmative action, companies may hire less qualified minorities or women instead of best-qualified white males. I cannot agree! If those are true, why are most of the top level managers white males? Besides, why are women getting lesser pay than men have when taking charge of the same duties? According to the report of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission in March 1995, â€Å"a large proportion of minorities and women are locked into low-wage, low-prestige, and dead-end jobs† (Murrell and Jones). The Glass Ceiling Commission reported that â€Å"97 percent of senior managers at the Fortune 1,000 corporations were white males†(Morin and Warden A01). Also, in 1998, women were earning 75% of men†s salaries base on the same kind of job, said by Jim Hose, a Human Resource Professor of Eastern Washington University. The general pattern of male-female relations continues in modern societies. An example like Home Depot Inc. , â€Å"it was suited by EEOC in 1997 because it hired women into low-level jobs, such as cashier, with little chance for advancement into sales or management positions† (Lerner D3). The evidence shows that affirmative action is still needed due to society†s unequal status. Most importantly, opponents argue that affirmative action causes reverse discrimination, and that is not true. A statistic shows that â€Å"fewer than 100 out of 3000 discrimination cases filed actually involved reverse discrimination and only six out of 100 cases were true† (Wilson 1995). When the U. S. overnment stars to practice affirmative action, it creates broader opportunities for all populations instead of only for white men. At this point, white males may have some impact on them, but the affirmative action is still needed when you consider society as a whole. Another issue has been brought out by advocators of I-200 and Proposition 209, that affirmative action leads schools to select candidates unfairly. However, universities do not just look for racial and ethnic diversity when composing a class. Universities may reject some white students, but the reasons are absolutely not simply about racial and ethnic issues. According to the date, which is based on 1996 applications for ten public Virginia universities, â€Å"show those universities selected applicants would consider about race, sex, SAT scores, class rank, and high school grade point averages† (Mcqueen A13). Affirmative action is the regulation that ensures everyone in America has fair chances in every organization. Why did legislators established affirmative action? Is it because of historical discrimination of white people against African Americans? This notion gives those opponents a very big chance to criticize affirmative action. They argue that discrimination between blacks and whites has become history; therefore, we should not have affirmative action to deepen prejudice or recall everybody†s attention to racialism. Has our society become equal without discrimination? I don†t believe that someone is so naive to think so. Perhaps those critics just don†t want to face the truth of the status quo. There was an example on ABC news, which filmed two men that have the same education, age, appearance, and other qualities, However, one is African American and another is white. While the white got full service in shoes store, got a lower price and better financing plan for buying a car, the African American got opposite treatments. Thus, when you think that affirmative action is enough, please consider what the real world is. The truth is that there is pervasive racism in all areas of U. S. society. IV. Four-fifth rule/Quota and Affirmative action The most common argument about the affirmative action is that many people believe that affirmative action leads organizations to not hire the best-qualified people due to some quota restrictions, such as the four-fifth rule. The four-fifth rule means â€Å"adverse impact exists if the selection ration for the discriminated-against group is less than four-fifths (or 80 percent) of the selection ration for the majority group† (Ledvinka and Scarpello 143). These opponents of affirmative action argue that some affirmative action practices have involved the use of preferential treatment and privilege to achieve workforce diversity that destroyed the purity of assessing candidates. At this point, I am not going to say that there is no company that likes what they have described, but the problems occurred due to misunderstanding of those regulations. What we say about the Four-fifth rule, or simply say quota restriction, is a goal set by government for every organization to follow. So far, there is no company which hires employees base on BFOQ (Bona fide occupational qualification), that has been charged because of not reaching the goal of the Four-fifth rule. â€Å"True affirmative action does not enshrine preferences or mandate quotas. Nor has any effective affirmative-action program ever been structured to allow unqualified candidates to take jobs over the qualified† (Redwood 136). Everyone can have goal. By setting a good goal for yourself, even you can†t reach it, you are still going toward right direction. The affirmative action and Four-fifth rule as like. V. How do you identify the term â€Å"Best-qualified†? Can you give the â€Å"best-qualified† a definition? No, I can†t. Actually, by using â€Å"best-qualified,† this phrase is usually very subjective. Different employers have different considerations under their â€Å"best-qualified† catalogs. Tom may be the best-qualified candidate for company A, but may not be eligible for company B. Also, â€Å"Employers have traditionally hired people not only on test scores, but on personal appearance, family and personal connections, school tiles and on race and gender preferences, demonstrating that talent or desirability can be defined in many ways† (Kivel 1996). As we know, many job opportunities are heard from informal networks, like friends, family, and neighbors. If there is no affirmative action to ensure that everyone has a fair chance at what is available, the segregation between different groups, such as black and white, men and women, will become more and more serious. VI. Affirmative Action creates diversity for our environment Affirmative action helps organizations to find diverse and talented employees. America is a diverse country; therefore, if your company has more diverse employees, your company can get various ideas, information, and knowledge to enhance your competition. Many companies, such as Mountain Bell, have commented that â€Å"by instituting affirmative action, they not only made their employee population look like American, which is a diverse country, but also found more talented and skilled workers† (Pendleton and Douglas 1991). Another example for supporting affirmative action is the Aire Sheet Metal, which its president, Bobby Bramlett, said that â€Å"affirmative action creates opportunities with contractors who otherwise wouldn†t know us, or give us a chance†¦ The work comes through relationships, but that first opportunity to build a relationship comes from affirmative action† (Spencer 151). Therefore, affirmative action can let companies have various personnel to enrich companies† overall human resource and enhance companies competitive capacities. In conclusion, I just want you to recognize what affirmative action really is. Affirmative action ensures that everyone in America has an equal chance to compete with others. It is a law to minimize the gap between blacks and whites, men and women. Although affirmative action may have some impact to white males, we still need this law to balance our society by considering the society as a whole. Affirmative action is good for overall U. S. society, especially, when people can combine those diverse powers together. Affirmative action is a long-term benefit for the U. S. society. I believe every American should support this regulation.

Puritan Society in Winthrops

In his work â€Å"Remembering John Winthrop- Hawthorne’s Suggestion† Matthew Holland calls John Winthrop powerful but unclear, well-liked and despised, completely unwanted by some while other energetically fight traditionalists to make him an image of ideal. The author finds very strange the fact that being a critic of Puritanism, Nathaniel Hawthorn turns our attentions to Winthrop’s ideas of charity (Holland 1). According to Holland, The Scarlet Letter testifies that Hawthorne was not at the Puritans’ side and did not consider their values to be right.Since Winthrop is primarily connected with the origin and propagation of Puritan ideas, it is not possible that Hawthorne could not consider him to be deserved an honor. Notwithstanding that Winthrop’s own use of ideology of Christian love can influence Hawthorne’s attitude positively, this can’t overshadow the excessively cruel social arrangement Winthrop created (Holland 12). Holland s tates that Hawthorne simply considered Winthrop to be a normally righteous exclusion to a Puritanism that generates just wickedness and tyranny.However, Hawthorne noted that Winthrop was an outstanding person way, a leader of his age, elected by his contemporaries and reelected for several times. Trepanier, Lee. â€Å"The need for Renewal: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Conservatism. † Modern Age, Fall 2003, Vol. 45. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. 1 March 2007. In â€Å"The need for Renewal: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Conservatism† Lee Trepanier describes Hawthorne's attempts to renovate the Puritan heritage by means of art (Trepanier 200) .The author tries to explain to us the final breakdown of Hawthorne's artistic and sacred views and tries to find out how actual breakdown influenced our evaluation of Puritan heritage. According to Lee Trepanier, The Scarlet Letter is usually understood as a story of morality, where the traditions of Puritanism and defenselessnes s of people are perfectly represented. However, the author explains the way how to fight with defenselessness stating â€Å"life is strictly a function of ‘mechanism; and that having knowledge of the mechanism is to have power over life itself† (317).Michaelsen, Scott. â€Å"John Winthrop's ‘Modell’ Covenant and the Company Way. † Early American Literature, 1992: 85-100 Scott Michaelsen reminds the reader that straight after their coming to the New England to create a new civilization founded on the Calvinism, Puritans were perceived as cultured, hard-working and established. Today their influence is the New England are to coming to naught, it is heritage still is felt in the society (Michaelsen 10). The author told us that American leaders of the past century cite John Winthrop.However, they sometimes overlook his anti- sovereign political theory. Michaelsen explains, that Winthrop’s creations – and A Model of Christian Charity is one of them – were not well-liked by his contemporaries, due to the reason that the he did not create any new values of Puritanism and simply talked about the ideas developed by someone else earlier (Michaelsen 60). Winthrop stated that real pure feeling was present only before the sin of Adam and Eve, while the modern imperfect society needs charity preservation.According to him, such qualities as forgiveness and fairness play more important role than love in our society today. However, the author argues that people must know their obligations and be merciless to one another (Michaelsen 91). People are commonly upset because of the severity of Winthrop's viewpoint. This state is generated by reading some literature of Winthrop's supposition connected with the power of patriarchy and the live of women in the Puritan society.It is essential to note how our modern ideas about what is right and wrong can occasionally differ from those in the society Winthrop lived in. Schweitzer, Iv y. John Winthrop's Model of American Affiliation. Early American Literature, 2005: 441-69 In his article the Schweitzer provides the John Winthrop’s work and values evaluation. According to the author of the article Ivy Schweitzer lately, researchers started to investigate the Age of Reason’s veneration of and devotion to composed motivation, and to discuss the ‘‘emotional history of the United States’’ (441).Schweister states that In his study of early American influence, the author Peter Coviello says that the population appears under the influence the oratory of its main leaders through the tactical expression of powerful feelings of failure and parting that make a very contrasting and extensively alienated colonial population to unite (Schweitzer 442). According to Schweister, this not just paves the way and creates the political establishment of the new nationality however it develops the ability for emotional reaction as a precondition f or â€Å"virtuous republican citizenship† (441).

Four Rightly Guided Caliphs Essay

Muhammad’s mission, like many other prophets, was to call people to the worship and submission of the one true God. After his death this mission was left to those whom followed his teachings. Those who truly followed in the Prophet’s foot steps were proclaimed The Rightly Guided Caliphs. They were Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, Uthman and Ali, and were the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, all of which were amongst the earliest and closest companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Each of these Caliphs contributed greatly to the development of Islam as well as the contradictory emergence of the Sunni and Shi’ite schism. Abu Bakr was the first of the four Caliphs and ruled from 632-634 A. C. Abu Bakr was unfortunate to have the burden of leadership placed on him during the most sensitive of Muslim times. Since the death of Muhammad was quickly spreading, many Muslims and tribes decided to rebel, refusing to pay Zakat. Also, many claimed that the prophethood of Muhammad had been placed on them, this only made the tribes revolt stronger. He had to deal with the threat of two powerful empires, the Roman Empire and the Persian, of which threatened Islamic state in Medina. Abu Bakr himself led a charge against the revolting tribes who attacked Medina and forced them to retreat. Although the threat of the Roman army still remained, Muhammad had already sent out an army and when he died, Abu Bakr took over. With fierce determination he said â€Å"I shall send Usama’s army on its way as ordered by the Prophet, even if I am left alone. † Throughout the rule of Abu Bakr, troops went from one victory to another from attacking Romans. Another contribution of the Caliph was that he encouraged many of Muhammad’s friends to commit his teachings to memory. Memories all of which were written down to form the Qu’ran. All together without his leadership; the people of Islamic faith would have gone riot. He helped restore stability to the Islamic people. On top of this, he contributed to the writing of the Qu’ran and the keeping of the people safe with all his military forces. During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar was his closest assistant and adviser. When Abu Bakr died on the 23rd of August 643 A. C, all the people of Medina swore allegiance to ‘Umar who became the second Caliph. Upon taking charge ‘Uman spoke to the people with conviction and said â€Å"O people, remain conscious of God, forgive me my faults and help me in my task. Assist me in enforcing what is good and forbidding what is evil. Advise me regarding the obligations that have been imposed upon me by God†¦ † ‘Umar did exactly that. He enforced the good and forbade evil. Within the first years of his leadership he completed Islam’s conquest of Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt and Persia. During ‘Umar’s Caliphate, he was majorly responsible for the vast expansion of Islam and was considered a highly effective military leader. He also commanded the construction of the Mosque, also know as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. When ‘Umar returned to Medina from Hajj he raised his hands and prayed, â€Å"O God! I am advanced in years, my bones are weary, my powers are declining, and the people for whom I am responsible have spread far and wide. Summon me back to Thyself, my lord! † Before his death, ‘Umar went to a Mosque to lead in prayer where he was attacked and stabbed several time and fell under the assassins dagger. Before he died, the people asked him to nominate his successor. Umar appointed a committee of the Prophets followers to appoint the leader among themselves. ‘Umar died in the first week of Muharram, 24 A and Uthman was appointed as his successor. Uthman became the Third Rightly Guided Caliph in 644 A. C. From all the Caliphs he was the one more interest in religion than politics. During his Caliphate he completed the compilation of the Qur’an that still remains till today. Uthman ruled for twelve years, the first six years were marked to have been filled with peace and tranquility. The second half of his rule took a brutal turn. Rebellion rose, the Jews and the Magians were taking advantage of the whispers that were passing among the people and began conspiring against Uthman. Although with the size of his army he could have stopped all of them, he remembered the words of Muhammad, â€Å"Once the sword is unsheathed among my followers, it will not be sheathed until the Last Day. † Uthman didn’t want to be the first of the Caliphs to spill the blood of Muslims, so instead he tried to reason with them. This hardly did him any good and after a long battle the rebels broke into his home and murdered him. The last words Uthman spoke were that of the Qur’an 2:137, which speaks of God being all hearing and all knowing. He took his last breath on the Friday afternoon of June 656 A. C Ali, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad himself was the final Caliph. At first he was very much reluctant to take the position but after he was urged by the other companions of the Prophet he accepted. Ali was responsible for the tradition of scholarship, although he too was assassinated. During his Caliphate internal tensions in the Muslim communities came to surface which lead to a period of civil war and political conflicts which ultimately led to the split in Muslims allegiances. This now known as the Sunni and Shi’ite schism. The differences between Sunni and Shi’ia Muslims are not in the written word, but rather they have political differences centred around who should be recognised as the leader of the Muslim community. The Sunni’s make up an estimate of 90% of Muslims in the world today and they believe that the leader of Muslims should be chosen among the descendants of the tribe of Muhammad, the Quraish tribe but not necessarily from the family of Muhammad. The world ‘Sunni’ itself mean tradition and in turn means that they support the Caliphate of all the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. The Shi’ites on the other hand only make up 10% of the Muslim population and the word Shi’ite means ‘the party of Ali’ and they believe that the leader of the Muslim community must be a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, the official term of a blood relative being ‘Imam’. This meaning out of all the Caliphs they only support the rule of Ali. Every single Caliph had an important part to play in the development of Islam and many people have them to thank for their religion and faith being as strong as it is today. Each of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs contributed to the safety and growth of Islam. Although with the split of Muslims that result of the Sunni and Shi’ite schism, everything was eventually kept under control. If conflicts do arise between the two, it will never result in another civil war as they have learnt from the past of the devastations it can cause.

Bilingualism and Brain Lateralization

Bilingualism and Brain Lateralization Polina Gavrilova Brain Lateralization and Neural Networks in Bilinguals In recent years, various studies have been conducted on bilingualism in regard to the neural basis of the first language (L1) and second language (L2) processing. The new technical advances, such as position emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to determine whether L1 and L2 share a common neural network or whether languages are represented in different areas of the brain (Dehaene et al., 1997; Perani et al., 1998; Liu, Hu, and Peng, 2010). Studies in neuropsychology have shown that for most people language processing takes place in the perisylvian areas of the left hemisphere. Research on bilinguals and polyglots who suffered brain injury revealed that occasionally aphasia affects only one of the languages that were previously acquired. This finding suggests that languages are represented in different parts of the brain (Paradis, 1995, cited in Perani et al., 1 998) and that L2 has reduced leftward lateralization (Albert Perani et al., 1998; Liu, Hu, and Peng, 2010). This paper examines whether L1 and L2 are supported by a common neural system or whether a dedicated cortical area represents each language. Furthermore, this paper identifies neural substrates activated by L1 and L2 during auditory, word production, and picture naming tasks. Dehaene et al. (1997) examined bilinguals (French-English) who acquired L2 after the age of seven. The researchers found that while listening to a task the superior temporal sulcus (STS), superior and middle temporal guri (STG and MTG), temporal pole (TP), and left angular gyrus (AG) were constantly activated in the left hemisphere for L1. STS and TP were also activated in the right hemisphere but it varied across subjects and the activation wasn’t as strong as in the left hemisphere. In addition, the neural pathway didn’t extend to AG. The findings for L2 showed greater inter-subject varia bility than for L1. The results of fMRI found that six subjects activated STS, STG, and MTG in the left temporal lobe for L2. However, the pixels of these activations were dispersed compared to the results for L1. The second language didn’t cause any activation in the left TP and AG. Also, some of the subjects didn’t show any neural activation in the left temporal region, which suggests that L2 is mostly dominated by their right hemisphere. The results also displayed that subjects activated additional resources while listening to L2. These additional sub-regions were the right STG and STS in the right temporal lobe. In addition, results of L2 showed that some subjects activated various networks outside the temporal lobe. Specifically, these subjects used the left inferior frontal gyrus, located in the Broca’s area, the inferior precentral sulcus, and the anterior cingulate. The research shows that L1 consistently activated the temporal lobe, especially stimulati ng the STS, STG, and MTG in the left hemisphere. Some subjects also activated these cerebral regions for L2 but with greater dispersion. Participants had strong leftward lateralization for L1 and inconsistent lateralization patterns for L2 across subjects. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that L1 is represented in the left hemisphere for most people. Furthermore, the study suggests that late bilinguals require additional neural networks for L2. Therefore, some subjects recruited left inferior frontal gyrus, which is responsible for language production to help maintain L2 while processing it during tasks. The anterior cingulate was another additional resource, which is responsible for attention and control. This suggests that L2 is not as autonomic as L1 and subjects needed more resources and attention to process L2 (Pardo et al., 1990; Posner Paulesu, Frith, & Frackowiak, 1993, cited in Dehaene et al., 1997).

Discuss the extent to which economic integration within the EU has Essay - 1

Discuss the extent to which economic integration within the EU has been subordinated to the achievement of political objectives - Essay Example World War; the legal, economic and political framework of the EU is rooted in the Franco-German tradition, which has lent itself to EU tensions with the political agendas of certain other member states such as Britain (Lippert, 2001, p.114). The fragmentation of the single monetary union and the EU agenda with national political agendas has become increasingly prominent in relation to the EU enlargement programme particularly with the controversial Turkey accession question remaining uncertain (Lahav, 2004, p.113). Indeed, Artis & Nixon suggest that the EU’s economic objectives in the last decade have reached crisis point on grounds of the bicycle theory paradigm, where there is a â€Å"slowing of momentum precedes collapse, or in this case crisis† (Artis & Nixon, 2007, p.1). In supporting their proposition, Artis and Nixon comment that as follows: â€Å"the list of setbacks is rather a long one. The negative outcomes of the referenda on the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands in 2005 must head the list because of their symbolic significance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ these cannot but induce a loss of confidence in the viability of the European Union† (2007, p.1). They further argue that the EU relies on co-ordination and mutual co-operation of states and that the enlargement of the EU and free movement within the labour market rules has fuelled numerous derogations from certain member states (2007). This in turn has raised the question as to the extent to which national political objectives are actually taking precedence to EU economic objectives. For example, Artis and Nixon refer to the fact that many member states opt out or derogate or suspend certain obligations to address national political agendas such as certain member states derogating from the free movement of workers provisions for a period of seven years and the conditions of former communist Eastern European states as part of EU enlargement (2007). With regard to the latter, the continuation of the