Thursday, October 31, 2019

MG2119 Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MG2119 Marketing Research - Essay Example Moreover, the findings are a comprehensive scrutiny on the various facets of the company that the manager should know to make decisions that will facilitate sustainability. Corporate social responsibilities define the lawful actions that extend some social goodness to the community, business environment and employees. (Palmer, 2012) Programs in social responsibility include actions to make a better environment for the society and stakeholder’s lives in an organization. Most companies are not aware of the accountability factor hence they do not make any significant impact to the societies; essentially, this is because they lack the right strategies and procedures to implement in their systems (Palmer 2012). Most companies fail at achieving sustainability because they lack the necessary curriculums; however, they are those that establish these curriculums but do not effectively implement them. CSR curriculums facilitate meeting of customer’s needs by companies; they improve their esteem by making them feel more worth in the society. These programs also act to the corporation’s advantage since they attract a great number of customers hence increasing the sales. In cases of Insurance policy companies, they increase the number of people that want to be in their hands and these also motivates the company to continue offering better services using the social responsibility programs (Annabel & Deanne, 2011). Social responsibilities act as guidance to how employees and stakeholders behave and conduct themselves in the work place. CSR, merely as laws, facilitate employees’ actions, as individuals or as a group, in different situations like when providing services to customers, when handling corporation assets and when required to execute business-based tasks. Failure to establish the different aspects related to corporate social responsibility is the reason why top-level managers for most companies do not succeed in

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Prepareabriefingnoteforacolleaguewhohasjustbeenpromotedintoaleadership Essay

Prepareabriefingnoteforacolleaguewhohasjustbeenpromotedintoaleadership positionwithinyourorganization,oranorganizationwithwhichyouarefamiliar.Thenoteshould adviseyourcolleagueonwhatlead - Essay Example Secondly, I will brief him on the leadership theories that he could adopt for the effective management of the organisation. Thirdly, I will brief him on team work that is known to be one of the most important aspects of success within contemporary organisations. Finally, I will look into the culture of the organisation and how it impacts on decision-making. There are three important organisational theories namely scientific management, classical and bureaucratic theories. The bureaucratic theory is an impersonal framework and it could have its advantages and disadvantages within the organisation (Argyris, 2012:56). Excluding emotions within the organisation could infringe on creativity among the employees and minimizes the level of conflicts and could be the best approach while dealing with official matters in the business. The second theory is scientific management. This theory mainly focuses on employee motivation within the organisation (Barkin, 2006:13). Employee motivation is viewed as one of the major contributing factors towards success within the company. This is owing to the fact that a motivated work force works hard towards achieving the entity’s goals and objectives (Owens, 2007). This theory however notes that the major aspect contributing to employee motivation is based on compensation. Money is an important motiva ting factor among employees. However, it can be noted that other factors play an important part in employee motivation as well (Owens, 2007). The last theory is the Classical theory that is the most practical for the current situation. This concept takes the idea of employee motivation into a new level (Winkler, 2010:14). This is done by taking beliefs, ideals, values as well as the need for employee satisfaction into consideration (Owens, 2007). This is because intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation are important in employee motivation and satisfaction. However, the theory has a major weakness in that it employs

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Approaches To Sport And Exercise

Approaches To Sport And Exercise Critically discuss interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to sport and exercise science within the professional experience undertaken in term 1. Support your answers with relevant literature and theory Research within sport and exercises science is done in many different disciplines. The majority of published research, however, is mono-disciplinary (from a singular discipline) in nature (Burwitz et al. 1994). A professional experience was undertaken to assess the approaches to inter and multi-disciplinary within sport and exercise science research. The experience was of a sport science nature which involved assisting in an undergraduate research project of 3D biomechanical analysis of a gymnastic vault using CODA, focussing specifically on the approach and springboard take-off. Sports biomechanics uses the scientific methods of mechanics to study the effects of various forces on the sports performer (Bartlett, 2007). It is important to monitor technique in gymnastics to help prevent injury and improve performance. It is then possible to feed this information back to coaches to highlight strengths and weaknesses of individual athletes. Multi or inter-disciplinary research requires a combination of methods and knowledge from more than one sub-discipline (Burwitz et al. 1994). This essay will outline what multi and inter-disciplinary approaches to sport and exercise science are, compare how similar they are and then show how they differ. It will then outline how the two approaches can be applied to the professional experience undertaken. An interdisciplinary approach within sport and exercise science involves a partnership of coaches with sport and exercise scientists such as physiologist or psychologists. Smith (2005) split sport science from exercise science due to differences of individual needs from elite athletes to members of the public. Smith (2005) described sport science as being characterised by collaborations with coaches and performance directors and exercise science as being characterised by collaborations with general practitioners and professionals allied to medicine. Interdisciplinary research needs to involve a strong integration of information from more than one sub-discipline of sport and exercise science from the outset of a particular research programme (Burwitz et al. 1994). Williams and James (2001) stated that a sport or exercise team should have a scientific basis. Williams and James (2001) also developed a model to demonstrate inter-disciplinary approaches, where the goal of the sport or exe rcise is affected by each area involved. Multi-disciplinary research involves less integration of the sub-disciplines of sport and exercise science. Each discipline tends to work in parallel on a common topic (Burwitz et al. 1994). Miles et al (1997) adapted Burwitz et al. (1994) definition to state that multi-disciplinary research involves sport and exercise scientists working together to solve a problem in an isolated unitary fashion and co-coordinated manor. In a multi-disciplinary approach each sub-discipline will look for problems to a solution from within only that discipline, for example a biomechanist will look at technique. Then each discipline will collate their results, whereas in an interdisciplinary approach the biomechanist may work with a physiologist to look at technique changes due to fatigue (Burwitz et al. 1994). Multi-disciplinary research may be the result of a lack integration of sub-disciplines from the outset of sport and exercise science, and so it is harder to integrate then together when trying to bring about an inter-disciplinary approach to problem solving. Multi and inter-disciplinary research are both ways of improving research and developing is away from mono-disciplinary work in sport and exercise sciences. The majority of sport and exercise research is mono-disciplinary (Burwitz et al 1994) which is when research looks solely at one sub-discipline and provides answers and conclusions from only that discipline. Both multi and inter-disciplinary approaches endeavour to link sub-disciplines, such as psychology and biomechanics, together to improve the ability to solve problems such as injury, fatigue and poor technique. Both approaches work in teams or groups (that include the sport and exercises scientists, coacher or practitioners and the athlete or patient) to combine knowledge and methods from their different areas. Despite these similarities there are still major differences between the two stated approaches. The inter-disciplinary approach appears to be the best way to bring about improvements as it integrates the sub-disciplines which takes the form of ‘bridge-building (Squires et al 1975) which requires a combination of specialist knowledge from various disciplines focusing on a specific problem. Contrastingly, multi-disciplinary approaches collate rather than combine knowledge; therefore the sub-disciplines work separately during research processes before coming together to attempt to reach a conclusion about a stated problem (Burwitz et al 1994). It is also believed that an interdisciplinary approach will reveal potential conflicts between the sub-disciplines (Burwitz et al 1994). As there is immediate interaction between sub-disciplines, an opinion given by one area is disputed by another. This is less likely to occur in multi-disciplinary approaches as sub-disciplines do not work i n direct contact with one another. Despite the above examples no clear definition is given of the distinctions between the two approaches because many sport and exercise scientists have regarded multi and inter-disciplinary as synonymous terms (Burwitz et al 1994). The professional experience was involved with sport science which smith (2001) described as being characterised by collaborations with coaches and performance directors. It was first and foremost a biomechanical approach. Biomechanics is a highly scientific and mathematical based sub-discipline, usually looking at technique, and problems with technique, as causes of problems such as injury and failure of achievement. Gymnastics is a sport that utilises these methods frequently as it is a very technical sport where injuries can be common. This is due to the fact that gymnastics encompasses a seemingly endless quantity of movement skills (George 1980). During the professional experience questions were putt to the researcher regarding the involvement of other sub-disciplines to determine the dimension of the research. These questions were: ‘are there any sport scientists or performance director present for sub-disciplines other than biomechanics to help assess the primary information gathered from the research? ‘Will the results of the research be collated with other sub-disciplines and fed back to the performer? From the answers given to these questions it was concluded that the research being carried out was mono-disciplinary as there was no interaction, in any way, with other sub-disciplines. As discussed above there is an increasing need from multi or inter-disciplinary research in sport and exercise science, this study may have been improved by the introduction of other sub-disciplines and the feedback given to an athlete would have increased in value. The research itself was looking at the approach and take off of the gymnast during the vault, as well as having technique assessed biomechanically, the researcher may have advised the athlete to be assessed by a physiologist or physiotherapist, this may produce results that show differences in muscle pair which could lead to injury, for example one calf being larger than the other, which could mean production of force at take of is unbalanced. This could then be fed to the biomechanist who has also found that during takeoff the gymnast has been unbalanced and therefore the athlete would need to undergo strengthening in the shorter calf to get it up to a similar size to the other calf. This would create a multi-disciplinary approach as sub-disciplines of sport science will have collated data after the research to improve feed back to the performer. It may also have been helpful to have had a psychologist present at the time of testing who had watched the subject in competition and seen if their routine or performance differed between in and out of competition performance. It may be possible that the pressure of performing in competition had led the athlete miss time a move which led to a decrease in performance; the psychologist could then work with the performer to help improve confidence during competition and therefore improve the athletes performance. This would create an inter-disciplinary approach as sub-disciplines of sport science will have integrated during research to improve feed back to the performer. If the approachs dimension was changed to either a multi or an inter-disciplinary approach it will give the gymnast a much better chance of improving performance in competition. The professional experience undertaken was shown to be mono-disciplinary as it was a piece of research focusing solely on the biomechanics of the approach and take off of the gymnastics vault. As discussed above introducing further dimensions to the research may have been more beneficial to the athlete as they may receive more feedback. However the piece of research was an undergraduate study which had a primary focus on biomechanics and introducing other sub-disciplines may have confused the findings and taken away from the aims of the research. This essay has described multi and inter-disciplinary approaches within sport science and described their application within a sporting context.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Role of Consciousness in To Kill a Mockingbird :: Literary Analysis, Critical Analysis

When an old tired town does not have any good economic sources you might think that a parent won’t care about his or her children. In the novel â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† Atticus is the father of Jem and Scout. Atticus is like middle class in his society and is as one parent he is a good father unlike the Ewells father. The Finches are a loving family and sharing because the father teaches them different things about life he tells them how a gentleman and a lady would act and should say. Also theirs other people in the novel that also help Jem and Scout understand about life and what it leads to. One thing about learning conscience is that everything in life is not a joke. Atticus has thought Jem and Scout a lot of things in life. Atticus hasn’t been a bad father he is like a mom and dad in one. He also tries not to be so hard on his kids because their children and sometimes don’t know what they’re doing. Jem and Scout also have Calpurnia to take care of them and teach them something’s. But the Ewells are different from the Finches family. The Ewells are a poor and lonely family that nobody really is friendly with. Bob Ewells was a father of 8 kids and he was not that nice he dranked a lot and didn’t have respect for no one. Calpurnia had thought Scout some lessons in life to, Scout once had invited one of her classmate she got in a fight with to eat at her house. Scout had insult the boy because of the way he ate and Calpurnia told her â€Å"Theres some folks who don’t eat like us, but you aint called to contradiet ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear† (24). Calpurnia was trying to tell Scout not to judge the boy because they all had different lives. Scout also had Aunt Alexandra to teach her about life because she was also like a mother to Scout. Aunt Alexandra acts a little more like a high rich standard she talks about how to act and pick her friends.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Fool Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO AT THE WHITE TOWER â€Å"Tosser!† cried the raven. No help was he in my stealthy entry to the White Tower. I'd packed my bells with clay, and darkened my face with the same, but no amount of camouflage would help if the raven raised an alarm. I should have had a guard bring him down with a crossbow bolt long before I left the Tower. I lay in a shallow, flat-bottomed skiff I'd borrowed from a ferryman, covered with rags and branches so I might appear just another mass of jetsam floating in the Thames. I paddled with my right hand, and the cold water felt like needles until my arm went numb. Sheets of ice drifted in the water around me. Another good cold night and I might have walked into the Traitor's Gate, rather than paddled. The river fed the moat, and the moat led under a low arch and through the gate where English nobility had been bringing their family members for hundreds of years on the way to the chopping block. Two iron-clad gates fit together at the center of the arch, chained in the middle below the waterline, and they moved ever-so-slightly in the current. There was a gap there, at the top, where the gates met. Not so wide that a soldier with weapons could fit through, but a cat, a rat, or a spry and nimble fool on the slim side might easily pass over. And so I did. There were no guards at the stone steps inside, but twelve feet of water separated me from them, and my skiff would not fit through the gap at the top of the gate where I was perched. A fool was getting wet, there was no way around it. But it seemed to me that the water was shallow, only a foot or two deep. Perhaps I could keep my shoes dry. I took them off and tucked them into my jerkin, then slid down the gate into the cold water. Great dog-buggering bollocks it was cold. Only to my knees, but cold. And I would have made it undiscovered, methinks, if I hadn't let slip a rather emphatic whisper of, â€Å"Great dog-buggering bollocks, that's cold!† I was met at the top of the stairs by the pointy part of a halberd, leveled malevolently at my chest. â€Å"For fuck's sake,† said I. â€Å"Do your worst, but get it done and drag my body inside where it's warm.† â€Å"Pocket?† said the yeoman at the other end of the spear. â€Å"Sir?† â€Å"Aye,† said I. â€Å"I haven't seen you for months. What's that all over your face?† â€Å"It's clay. I'm in disguise.† â€Å"Oh right. Why don't you come in and warm up. Must be dreadful cold in your wet stocking feet there.† â€Å"Good thought, lad,† said I. It was the young, spot-faced yeoman whom I'd chastised on the wall when Regan and Goneril were first arriving to gain their inheritance. â€Å"Shouldn't you stay at your post, though? Duty and all that?† He led me across the cobbled courtyard, into a servants' entrance to the main castle and down the stairs into the kitchen. â€Å"Nah, it's the Traitor's Gate, innit? Lock on it as big as your head. Ain't no one coming through there. Not all bad. It's out of the wind. Not like up on the wall. Y'know the Duchess Regan is living here at the Tower now? I took your advice about not talking about her boffnacity,[43] even with the duke dead and all, can't be too careful. Although, I caught sight of her in a dressing gown one day she was up on the parapet outside her solar. Fine flanks on that princess, despite the danger of death and all for sayin' so, sir.† â€Å"Aye, the lady is fair, and her gadonk as fine as frog fur, lad, but even your steadfast silence will get you hung if you don't cease with the thinking aloud.† â€Å"Pocket, you scroungy flea-bitten plague rat!† â€Å"Bubble! Love!† said I. â€Å"Thou dragon-breathed wart farm, how art thou?† The ox-bottomed cook tried to hide her joy by casting an onion at me, but there was a grin there. â€Å"You've not eaten one full plate since you were last in my kitchen, have you?† â€Å"We heard you was dead,† said Squeak, a crescent of a smile for me beneath her freckles. â€Å"Feed the pest,† said Bubble. â€Å"And clean that mess off his face. Rutting with the pigs again, were you, Pocket?† â€Å"Jealous?† â€Å"Not bloody likely,† said Bubble. Squeak sat me down on a stool by the fire and while I warmed my feet she scrubbed the clay from my face and out of my hair, mercilessly battering me with her bosoms as she worked. Ah, home sweet home. â€Å"So, has anyone seen Drool?† â€Å"In the dungeon with the king,† said Squeak. â€Å"Although the guard ain't supposed to know it.† She eyed the young yeoman who stood by. â€Å"I knew that,† he said. â€Å"What of the king's men, his knights and guards? In the barracks?† â€Å"Nah,† said the yeoman. â€Å"Castle guard was a dog's breakfast until Captain Curan came down from Gloucester. He's got a noble-born knight as captain of every watch and the old guard man for man with any new ones. Crashing huge camps of soldiers outside the walls, forces of Cornwall to the west and Albany on the north. They say the Duke of Albany is staying with his men at camp. Won't come to the Tower.† â€Å"Wise choice, with so many vipers about the castle. What of the princesses?† I asked Bubble. Although she seemed never to leave her kitchen, she knew what was going on in every corner of the fortress. â€Å"They ain't talking,† said Bubble. â€Å"Taking meals in their old quarters they had when they was girls. Goneril in the east tower of the main keep. Regan in her solar on the outer wall on the south. They'll come together for the midday meal, but only if that bastard Gloucester is there.† â€Å"Can you get me to them, Bubble. Unseen?† â€Å"I could sew you up in a suckling pig and send it over.† â€Å"Yes, lovely, but I did hope to return undiscovered, and trailing gravy might draw the attention of the castle's cats and dogs. Regrettably, I've had experience with such things.† â€Å"We can dress you as one of the serving lads, then,† said Squeak. â€Å"Regan had us bring in boys instead of our usual maids. She likes to taunt and threaten them until they cry.† I regarded Bubble with steely recrimination. â€Å"Why didn't you suggest that?† â€Å"I wanted to see you sewed up in a suckling pig, you oily rascal.† Bubble has struggled with her deep affection for me for years. â€Å"Very well, then,† said I. â€Å"A serving boy it is.† â€Å"You know, Pocket,† said Cordelia, age sixteen. â€Å"Goneril and Regan say that my mother was a sorceress.† â€Å"Yes, I'd heard that, love.† â€Å"If that's so, then I'm proud of it. It means she didn't need some mangy man for her power. She had her own.† â€Å"Banished then, wasn't she?† â€Å"Well, yes, that or drowned, no one will really say. Father forbids me to ask about it. But my point is that a woman should come to her power on her own. Did you know that the wizard Merlin gave up his powers to Vivian in exchange for her favors, and she became a great sorceress and queen, and put Merlin to sleep in a cave for a hundred years for his trouble?† â€Å"Men are like that, lamb. You give them your favors and next thing you know they're snoring away like a bear in a cave. Way of the world, it is.† â€Å"You didn't do that when my sisters gave you their favors.† â€Å"They did no such thing.† â€Å"They did, too. Many times. Everyone in the castle knows it.† â€Å"Vicious rumors.† â€Å"Fine, then. When you have enjoyed the favors of women, who shall remain nameless, did you fall asleep afterward?† â€Å"Well, no. But neither did I give up my magical powers or my kingdom.† â€Å"But you would have, wouldn't you?† â€Å"Say, enough talk of sorcerers and such. What say we go down to the chapel and convert back to Christianity? Drool drank all the communion wine and ate all the leftover host when the bishop was ousted, so I'll wager he's blessed enough to bring us into the fold without clergy. Burped the body of Christ for a week, he did.† â€Å"You're trying to change the subject.† â€Å"Curses! Discovered!† exclaimed the puppet Jones. â€Å"That'll teach you, you sooty-souled snake. Have him whipped, princess.† Cordelia laughed, liberated Jones from my grasp, and clouted me on the chest with him. Even when she was grown she bore a weakness for puppety conspiracy and Punch-and-Judy justice. â€Å"Now, fool, speak truth – if the truth in you hasn't died starving from your neglect. Would you give up your powers and your kingdom for a lady's favor?† â€Å"That would depend on the lady, wouldn't it?† â€Å"Say me, for example?† â€Å"Vous?† said I, my eyebrows raised in the manner of the perfectly fucking French. â€Å"Oui,† said she, in the language of love. â€Å"Not a chance,† said I. â€Å"I'd be snoring before you had time to declare me your personal deity, which you would, of course. It's a burden I bear. Deep sleep of the innocent, I'd have. (Or, you know, the deep sleep of the deeply shagged innocent.) I suspect, come morning, you'd have to remind me of your name.† â€Å"You didn't sleep after my sisters had you, I know it.† â€Å"Well, threat of violent, post-coital death will keep you on the alert, won't it?† She crawled across the rug until she was close then. â€Å"You are a dreadful liar.† â€Å"What was your name?† She clouted me on the head with Jones and kissed me – quickly, but with feeling. That was the only time. â€Å"I'd have your power and your kingdom, fool.† â€Å"Give me back my puppet, thou nameless tart.† Regan's solar was bigger than I remembered it. A fairly grand, round room, with a fireplace and a dining table. Six of us brought in her supper and set it out on the table. She was all in red, as usual, snowy shoulders and raven hair warmed to the eye by orange firelight. â€Å"Wouldn't you rather lurk behind the tapestry, Pocket?† She waved the others out of the room and closed the door. â€Å"I kept my head down. How did you know it was me?† â€Å"You didn't cry when I shouted at you.† â€Å"Blast, I should have known.† â€Å"And you were the only serving boy wearing a codpiece.† â€Å"Can't hide one's light under a bushel, can one?† She was infuriating. Did nothing surprise her? She spoke as if I'd been sent for and she'd been expecting me at any moment. Rather took the joy out of all the stealth and disguise. I was tempted to tell her she'd been duped and Drool-shagged just to see her reaction, but alas, there were still guards who were loyal to her, and I wasn't sure she wouldn't have me killed as it was. (I'd left my knives with Bubble in the kitchen, not that they'd help against a platoon of yeomen.) â€Å"So, lady, how goes the mourning?† â€Å"Surprisingly well. Grief suits me, I think. Grief or war, I'm not sure which. But I've had good appetite and my complexion's been rosy.† She picked up a hand mirror and regarded herself, then caught my reflection and turned. â€Å"But, Pocket, what are you doing here?† â€Å"Oh, loyalty to the cause and all. With the French at our bloody doors, thought I'd come back to help defend home and hearth.† It was probably best we not pursue the reasons why I was there, so I pressed on. â€Å"How goes the war, then?† â€Å"Complicated. Affairs of state are complicated, Pocket. I wouldn't expect a fool to understand.† â€Å"But I'm a royal, now, kitten. Didn't you know?† She put down her mirror and looked as if she might burst out laughing. â€Å"Silly fool. If you could catch nobility by touch you'd have been a knight years ago, wouldn't you? But alas, you're still common as cat shit.† â€Å"Ha! Yes, once. But now, cousin, blue blood runs in my veins. In fact, I've a mind to start a war and shag some relatives, which I believe are the prime pastimes of royalty.† â€Å"Nonsense. And don't call me cousin.† â€Å"Shag the country and kill some relatives, then? I've been noble less than a week, I don't have all the protocol memorized yet. Oh, and we are cousins, kitten. Our fathers were brothers.† â€Å"Impossible.† Regan nibbled at some dried fruit Bubble had laid out on the tray. â€Å"Lear's brother Canus raped my mother on a bridge in Yorkshire while Lear held her down. I am the issue of that unpleasant union. Your cousin.† I bowed. At your bloody service. â€Å"A bastard. I might have known.† â€Å"Oh, but bastards are vessels of promise, are they not? Or didn't I watch you slay your lord the duke, to run to the arms of a bastard – who is, I believe, now the Earl of Gloucester. By the way, how goes the romance? Torrid and unsavory, I trust.† She sat down then and ran her fingernails through her jet hair as if raking thoughts out of her scalp. â€Å"Oh, I fancy him fine – although he's been a bit disappointing since that first time. But the intrigue is bloody exhausting, what with Goneril trying to bed Edmund, and he not being able to show me deference for fear of losing Albany's support, and bloody France invading in the midst of it all. If I'd known all that my husband had to tend to I'd have waited a while before killing him.† â€Å"There, there, kitten.† I moved around behind her and rubbed her shoulders. â€Å"Your complexion is rosy and your appetite good, and you are, as always, a veritable feast of shagability. Once you're queen you can have everyone beheaded and take a long nap.† â€Å"That's just it. It's not like I can just put on the crown and go sovereigning merrily along – God, St. George, and the whole rotting mess into history. I have to defeat the fucking French, then I've got to kill Albany, Goneril, and I suppose I'll have to find Father and have something heavy fall on him or the people will never accept me.† â€Å"Good news on that, love. Lear's in the dungeon. Mad as a hatter, but alive.† â€Å"He is?† â€Å"Aye. Edmund just returned from Dover with him. You didn't know?† â€Å"Edmund is back?† â€Å"Not three hours ago. I followed him back.† â€Å"Bastard! He hasn't even sent word that he's returned. I sent a letter to him in Dover.† â€Å"This letter?† I took the letter that Oswald had dropped. I'd broken the seal, of course, but she recognized it and snatched it out of my hand. â€Å"How did you get that? I sent that with Goneril's man, Oswald, to give to Edmund personally.† â€Å"Yes, well, I sent Oswald to vermin Valhalla before delivery was secured.† â€Å"You killed him?† â€Å"I told you, kitten, I'm nobility now – a murderous little cunt like the rest of you. Just as well, too, that letter's a flitty bit o' butterfly toss, innit? Don't you have any advisers to help you with that sort of thing? A chancellor or a chamberlain, a bloody bishop or someone?† â€Å"I've no one. Everyone is at the castle in Cornwall.† â€Å"Oh, love, let your cousin Pocket help.† â€Å"Would you?† â€Å"Of course. First, let's see to sister.† I took two of the vials from the purse at my belt. â€Å"This red one is deadly poison. But the blue one is only like a poison, giving the same signs as if one is dead, but they will but sleep one day for each drop they drink. You could put two drops of this in your sister's wine – say, when you are ready to attack the French – and for two days she would sleep the sleep of the dead while you and Edmund did your will, and without losing the support of Albany in the war.† â€Å"And the poison?† â€Å"Well, kitten, the poison may not be needed. You could defeat France, take Edmund for your own, and come to an agreement with your sister and Albany.† â€Å"I have an agreement with them now. The kingdom is divided as father decreed.† â€Å"I'm only saying that you may fight the French, have Edmund, and not have to slay your sister.† â€Å"And what if we don't defeat France?† â€Å"Well, then, you have the poison, don't you?† â€Å"Well, that's bollocks counseling,† said Regan. â€Å"Wait, cousin, I haven't told you the part where you make me Duke of Buckingham yet. I'd like that dodgy old palace, Hyde Park. St. James's Park, and a monkey.† â€Å"You're daft!† â€Å"Named Jeff.† â€Å"Get out!† I palmed the love letter from the table as I exited. Quickly through the corridors, across the courtyard, and back to the kitchen where I traded my codpiece for a pair of waiter's breeches. It was one thing to leave Jones and my coxcomb with the ferryman, another to secret my blades away with Bubble, but giving up my codpiece was like losing my spirit. â€Å"I was nearly undone by its enormity,† said I to Squeak, to whom I handed the portable den of my manly inequity. â€Å"Aye, a family of squirrels could nest in the extra space,† Squeak observed, dropping a handful of the walnuts she'd been shelling into the empty prick pouch. â€Å"Wonder you didn't rattle like a dried gourd when you walked,† said Bubble. â€Å"Fine. Cast aspersions on my manhood if you will, but I'll not protect you when the French arrive. They're unnaturally fond of public snogging and they smell of snails and cheese. I will laugh – ha! – as you both are mercilessly cheese-snogged by froggy marauders.† â€Å"Don't really sound that bad to me,† said Squeak. â€Å"Pocket, you'd better be off, lad,† said Bubble. â€Å"Goneril's supper is going up now.† â€Å"Adieu,† said I, a preview of the Frenchy future of my former friends and soon to be frog-snogged traitorous tarts. â€Å"Adieu.† I bowed. I feigned fainting with a great wrist-to-brow flourish, and I left. (I admit it, one does like to lubricate his recurrent entrances and exits with a bit of melodrama. Performance is all to the fool.) Goneril's quarters were less spacious than Regan's, but luxurious, and there was a fire going. I hadn't set foot here since she'd left the castle to marry Albany, but upon returning I found I was simultaneously aroused and filled with dread – memories simmering under the lid of consciousness, I suppose. She wore cobalt with gold trim, daringly cut. She must have known Edmund was back. â€Å"Pumpkin!† â€Å"Pocket? What are you doing here?† She waved the other servers and a young lady who had been braiding her hair out of the room. â€Å"And why are you dressed in that absurd outfit?† â€Å"I know,† said I. â€Å"Poncy breeches. Without my codpiece I feel defenseless.† â€Å"I think they make you look taller,† she said. A dilemma. Taller in breeches or stunningly virile in a cod? Both illusions. Each with its advantage. â€Å"Which do you think makes a better impression on the fairer sex, love, tall or hung?† â€Å"Isn't your apprentice both?† â€Å"But he's – oh – â€Å" â€Å"Yes.† She bit into a winter plum. â€Å"I see,† said I. â€Å"So, what is it with Edmund? All the black kit?† What it was, was she was bewitched, was what it was. â€Å"Edmund.† She sighed. â€Å"I don't think Edmund loves me.† And I sat down, with all of Goneril's luncheon repast set before me, and considered cooling my forehead in the tureen of broth. Love? Sodding, bloody, tossing, bloody, sodding, bloody love? Irrelevant, superfluous, bloody, ruddy, rotten, sodding love? What ho? Wherefore? What the fuck? Love? â€Å"Love?† said I. â€Å"No one has ever loved me,† said Goneril. â€Å"What about your mother? Surely your mother?† â€Å"I don't remember her. Lear had her executed when we were little.† â€Å"I didn't know.† â€Å"It was not to be spoken of.† â€Å"Jesus, then? Comfort in Christ?† â€Å"What comfort? I'm a duchess, Pocket, a princess, perhaps a queen. You can't rule in Christ. Are you daft? You have to ask Christ to leave the room. Your very first war or execution and you're right fucked for forgiveness, aren't you? There's Jesusy disapproval and scowling at least and you have to act like you don't see it.† â€Å"He's infinite in his forgiveness,† said I. â€Å"It says so somewhere.† â€Å"As should we all be, it also says. But I don't believe it. I've never forgiven our father for killing our mother and I never shall. I don't believe, Pocket. There's no comfort or love there. I don't believe.† â€Å"Me, either, lady. So, sod Jesus. Surely Edmund will fall in love with you when you become closer and he's had a chance to murder your husband. Love needs room to grow, like a rose.† Or a tumor. â€Å"He's passionate enough, although never so enthusiastic as that first night in the tower.† â€Å"Have you introduced him to your – well – special tastes?† â€Å"Those will not win his heart.† â€Å"Nonsense, love, a black-hearted prince like Edmund verily starves to have his bum smacked by a fair damsel like yourself. Probably what he's craving, just too shy to ask.† â€Å"I think another has caught his eye. I think he fancies my sister.† No, that's his father's eye she caught, well, speared, really, I thought, but then I thought better. â€Å"Perhaps I can help you resolve the conflict, pumpkin.† And at that, I produced the red and blue vials from my purse. I explained how one was for death-like sleep, and the other afforded more permanent rest. And as I did so, I cradled the silk purse that still held the last puffball the witches had given me. What if I were to use it on Goneril? Bewitch her to love her own husband? Surely Albany would forgive her. He was a noble chap, despite being a noble. And with that, Regan could have that villain Edmund for herself, the conflict between the sisters would be settled, Edmund would be satisfied with his new role as Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Gloucester, and all would be well. Of course there were the issues of France attacking, Lear in the dungeon, and a wise and comely fool whose fate was uncertain†¦ â€Å"Pumpkin,† said I, â€Å"perhaps if you and Regan came to an understanding. Perhaps if she were put to sleep until her army had done its duty against France. Perhaps mercy – â€Å" And that was as far as I got, as the bastard Edmund came through the door at that moment. â€Å"What is this?† demanded the bastard. â€Å"Don't you fucking knock?† said I. â€Å"Bloody common bastard!† You'd have thought, now that I, too, was a half-noble bastard, that my disdain for Edmund might have diminished. Strangely, no. â€Å"Guard. Take this worm to the dungeon until I have time to deal with him.† Four guards, not of the old Tower force, came in and chased me around the solar several times before I was tripped up by the constrained step of my waiter breeches. The lad they'd been made for must have been smaller even than I. They pinned my arms behind me and dragged me out of the room. As I went backward through the door, I called, â€Å"Goneril!† She held up her hand and they stopped there and held me. â€Å"You have been loved,† said I. â€Å"Oh, take him out and beat him,† said Goneril. â€Å"She jests,† said I. â€Å"The lady jests.†

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Informal Logic

Have you ever thought to wonder what will happen to you after death? Where will your soul go? Will you still have some form of existence to continue through a mental capacity? Most every person has sat to ponder this lifelong question at one time or another. In many peoples mind this can be a devastating thought, serious enough that they begin to contemplate believing what they know is true and what they would like to believe.Over the existence of man many people have followed different ideals ND practices to help cope with this daunting question. Religion is the basis for the preservation of a person's soul and gives comfort In a belief of a higher power that Is responsible for creation. Most religions such as Charlatanry believe that our soul Is sent to a higher place after death and gives mental relief from the life after death question. But ask yourself this, is religion real, or merely an ideal used to comfort the wandering human mind?Science is the theory of truth thru knowledg e, and many people only believe what they know is true thru factual evidence. According to Webster New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is â€Å"knowledge attained through study or practice,† or â€Å"knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world. â€Å"(Science) So what's the answer? What concept is truth? Should you trust your soul in the concept of religion or science? More importantly are these two ideals In conflict?I would argue that both of these concepts are far beyond our humble minds to comprehend. We simply don't have enough knowledge regarding owe religious facts and scientific facts relate to each other regarding the creation of the universe. Because we have yet to fully understand the creation of the known universe and its relation to religious ideals they are not in conflict, and God could Just be the creator of science. The universe is a void of space filled with galaxies, stars, planets and vast amounts of never ending empty space; but how did the space we live in get there to begin with?How did all the star dust we are made up of come to being? These questions have been plaguing mankind for generations, and we have spent millions of dollars trying o find the answer. There are many theories such as the Big Bang that mathematically quantifies the expansion and creation of the known universe. This theory puts Into perspective how the universe dispersed Its matter to form the universe we know today. (Lieberman, 2013) These theories no matter how mathematically correct cannot explain how space and matter itself came into created from nothing or destroyed only converted in to energy.Because the known fact that matter cannot be created from nothing it would allude to the fact that all matter that is in the universe had to come from somewhere. Sahara, 2004) Even more mind boggling is the thought of where space and ti me exists itself, how was the big empty vacuum called space made and where does it go? So for arguments sake if science can only explain the expansion of the universe thru mathematical equations and experiments, that would mean that the ideal of god being the creator of the heavens is still sound.The theory of the Big Bang could in fact be an accurate mathematical equation of how god distributed matter he created throughout the universe. Until we have scientifically proven how matter came into existence in the iris place we can't logically prove how we came into existence one way or the other. This would lead us to the conclusion that the two ideas are not really in conflict per say, because we simply Just don't know yet. There is still a chance that science is merely a tool used by a higher power to create and distribute matter thought the universe.With that being said lets debate the so called â€Å"controversy' most people have heard about or even debated themselves. The relatio nship between science and the Catholic Church has been very intertwined for ages and is a controversial epic to many. The Catholic Church have vested time and money into many things scientific like hospitals and universities. It's a known fact that the Catholic Church remains the single greatest private provider of medical care and research facilities in the world.But in the beginning of the relationship between the Catholic Church and science there were many problems. While being funded by the church religious scientists began looking to the stars and developing theories to our existence. In fact a priest named Monsieur Georges Henry Joseph ?dotard Limiter proposed the Big Bang theory that explained the expansion of the universe. (Georges Limiter) Like Limiter, many other scientists made advancements in science in areas of astronomy and genetics, all while working under the close supervision of the Catholic Church.Another religious scientists working under the Catholic Church was a man named Friar Gregory Mendel who is known as the â€Å"father of modern genetics†, pioneered many fundamental principles in genetic research in plants. (Basic Principles of Genetics) Obviously the manipulation of a Gods creations in nature truck a harsh cord in the way of scientific research in the churches eyes. The Catholic Church then drafted an actual conflict thesis that proposes an intellectual conflict between the Church and science asserting that the Church has been in stated lifelong opposition to science.The public and well known thesis interprets the relationship between the Church and science as inevitably leading to public hostility, when religion aggressively challenges new scientific ideas in relation to creation and the evolution of mankind. What concept is truth? Should you trust your soul in the concept of religion or science? More importantly are these two ideals in conflict? Because the Catholic Church funded the research that developed facts that put t he concept of religious faith in God to question, an eternal conflict was struck in mankind in a battle of truth versus faith.Religion greatly outdoes early and modern science, but in the beginning of science as we now it, the two ideals were actually intertwined. Controversy between religion and science struck and became two arguments is a bit irrational due to the fact that one side of the argument is based on faith, and the other truth by what can be proven by science. McCall, 2011). Religious documents like the bible are one of the most historic documents of the known world. They give premise to the early beginning of man and woman, and by most accounts are the most circulated historical documents of mankind.While they do have a many revisions mostly due to the evolution of human language their stories have changed little over the last few thousands of years. (The Holy Bible) Religious documents like the bible are seen as factual documents to the religious community, and so brin g controversy with non-believers. Many teachings in the bible such as the age of the earth directly contradict what factual science has discovered over the last few hundred years (Hodge, 2007). This idea of conflict simply comes down to the interpretation of valid sources.The bible and other religious documents have claimed to be inaccurate by scientists due to the lack of control and validation when they were written. Many faulting factors like how many people had a hand in writing religious documents like the bible make it difficult for people to instill their faith in such a concept but in hindsight scientific documents have known o be Just as flawed. (McCall, 2011) Advancements in science have explained many things about the universe around us in a tangible way people can see and feel.Therefore until we are able to reach advancements in science that prove religion wrong there will always be some kind of hostile conflict between the religion and science. Let's face it the idea of where a person's soul will reside after death is a huge deal to most people. Most every person has had to of contemplated where they would go after they die and there is question it can make people seriously emotional. These emotions lead to public controversy that bleeds in to religious debates in almost every type of religion.Over the years the religious community has had my conflicts with concepts like Naturalism and Evolution because they offer a logical scientific explanation to how things have come to be on earth. But these conflicts can still go back to the main point that we truly don't know what or how started the creation of matter God in fact could have used science as a tool for creation. Over the last few hundred years we have made vast advancements in the way of science.We can now fly, split atoms, and actually live in space for an extended period of time. Such advancements have enabled us to peer into the very beginning of the universe almost to the very beginning of the Big Bang itself. Scientists have even been able to replicate a small scale Big Bang like scenario by smashing atoms together in hopes to create a small big bang of our own. (CERN, 2013) But with all of these amazing discoveries we have failed to answer the most important question of them all.Is god the real creator of the universe or can science explain it with mathematical facts or experiments? The argument of whether religion and science are in a conflict is realistically a moot point in today's day and age. The concept of science being the search of the truth and religion being a fundamental belief system is like comparing apples and oranges. Most religions are centered on the basis of faith that causes a false sense controversy with the hunt for the truth in science.One really doesn't have much to do with the other unless people want to stir up controversy by comparing the facts of science to the plausibility of religion, in fact they might Just be comments like the bible d o not give specific reference to how the heavens were created, you could deduct that we are only now learning the process of how god created matter, and spread it thru the universe. Scientific facts like the evolution of man and animals overtime can appear to create controversy but all take us back to the basis of the truth and our humble understanding of how matter was created and that we simply don't know.While there might be a perceived conflict between religion and science, this is merely a false comparison of the two. The two ideals do have mom independent characteristics that strike the human mind for comparison but not in a way that makes them competitive. Religions that are based on faith in a higher power, concede that they no longer search for the answer of our beginnings in space and time. In comparison scientific studies search to further our understanding of matter and how it was created thru facts that can be proved.Unlike belief systems science has no agenda, nothing to gain or lose, only the truth. How far that truth can be proved in a conclusion of the existence of matter itself Just might prove and endless Journey playing to the tune of faith in its own right. Unfortunately our own human nature has clouded our view of these daunting principles. Because of the importance and nature of the subject this topic will be evaluated until god comes or science finds him. I would argue that both of these concepts are far beyond our humble minds to understand to completion.Because we have yet to fully understand the creation of the known universe and its relation to religious ideals they are not in conflict, god could Just be the creator of science making them one in the same. The idea that these to giants are in conflict is more or less a confusion between the imperfections in man and not the truth itself.