Olaudah Equiano Essays (1023 words) - Olaudah Equiano,

Olaudah Equiano Life of Olaudah Equiano is a detailed story about the life of a well-educated slave published. One section of the story in particular describes one of his many experiences in the New World with one of his owners. This narrative is a very powerful one telling about the treatment of slaves, but also many of the good things Equiano experienced while he was a slave. He gives a seemingly honest and unbiased account to his travels abroad. Equiano was born in 1745 in an Ibo village located in Nigeria called Essaka and in 1756 captured by British slave traders. He was brought to the West Indies and later to a Virginia Plantation. During the Seven Year's War he was present in many of the important naval battles. At the time he was the property of a British man, Lt. Michael Henry Pascal, who had originally bought him as a gift to a cousin in London. After ten years he was sold to a Quaker named Robert King, who eventually allowed him to buy his freedom for forty pounds. Equiano then traveled the globe, as he was an experienced seaman. He spent much of his time in London, where he was pushing the Queen in 1788 to allow the settlement of blacks back in Africa in the British colony of Sierra Leone. Despite his efforts, he never made it back to his homeland of Africa, though. He was married in London in 1792 and had one daughter, but soon after died in 1797 (Costanzo "Equiano") Equaino is most noted though, for his autobiography, which was published nine times, including an American edition in 1791, and German and Dutch editions in 1790 and 1791 respectively. Overall, nine editions were published before 1837. The book was a bestseller for many years and still read today as possibly one of the first influential slave narratives (Costanzo Suprising Narrative) Equaino writes his narrative in a very honest and informal form, as if he is writing to someone that he knows well. The audience however, seems to be the people of the Americas as well as Europe, not just other blacks or slaves. For this reason the book is published in America as well as Europe several times while Equiano is still living. In the narrative, Equiano attempts to tell his story with a very fair and accurate historical tone. By doing this he can gain his reader's trust as an unbiased historian, calling for necessary action, rather than an angry slave trying to get back at the slaveholders. He portrays both of his owners as fair men, appreciative of his hard work and good behavior. They always give him the benefits he deserves, and never leave him short of necessary money or supplies. With this reliable persona, though, Equiano can describe the terrible treatment of fellow slaves that were not so fortunate. The atrocities he speaks of, as well as the general lack of care for the slaves, paints a very ugly picture of slavery. Any reasonable person not holding slaves would be convinced of the immorality of the slave trade by reading the narrative. He gives many convincing circumstances in which he tells about the horrors of the slave trade. His account of one of the ships he traveled upon reads like this: I was often witness to cruelties of every kind, which were exercised on my unhappy fellow slaves. I used frequently to have different cargoes of new negroes in my care for sale; and it was almost a constant practice with our clerks and other whites, to commit violent depredations on the chastity of the female slaves; and these I was, though with reluctance, obliged to submit to at all times, being unable to help them. (Equiano 697) The horrors that he describes are countless in his narrative. Many portray a much more vivid image, able to turn a staunch supporter of slavery to a committed abolitionist (Kennerly 20-30). Equiano's narrative brings about a new style of literature rarely seen before, the slave narrative. It is similar to that of the earlier Indian captivity narratives, but different in its motives. Slaves worked in terrible conditions; they had no personal freedom, and no ability to choose their destiny. Few were educated and even fewer had the supplies to write down the things they encountered. When a slave was freed, educated, and granted the supplies to write down his or her thoughts, they were often published and widely read due to the ever growing hatred toward slavery in the North

Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Example

Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Example Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Best Buy is a transnational corporation with over 4. 000 locations countrywide. Circuit City was Best Buy’s merely chief competition for some old ages until it took over and ran Circuit City out of concern. Best Buy’s market portion increased after that nevertheless. other big retail merchants every bit good as e-tailers entered into the market. Amazon. Target. Wal-Mart and Apple became Best Buy’s new competition that caused a lessening in market gross revenues in 2010. They all had the same thing in common after the Circuit City prostration and that was to increase electronics. They all had their ain schemes to out-beat Best Buy. Although Best Buy acquired some more competition in a 2010 study consumers still said Best Buy is the first to come to mind when they think about purchasing electronics. However. even though Best Buy is the first that comes to mind against the other rivals. depending on what the merchandise is they will travel to Amazon to purchase it a lternatively. Due to their scheme which focuses on three countries ; customer-centricity. employment policies and sole stigmatization. they are maintaining up with the competition. Best Buy’s schemes may assist them a bulk of the clip but they could alter their schemes merely a small spot. They should seek what Wal-Mart does and monetary value lucifer ads with other shops so that manner they are still acquiring the net incomes and maintaining clients. In my sentiment. Best Buy could better their scheme when it comes to monetary values because they are on the higher terminal of monetary values. As a consumer myself. I do look at Best Buy foremost for my electronics but I normally go someplace else because the monetary values are normally cheaper. Other than their monetary values I really think their schemes are working out good for them and it shows in their rankings amongst other rivals. Consumer electronics is considered a mature industry because of the new tendencies. This industry hits record gross revenues during the vacation seasons but still says instead good throughout the twelvemonth every bit good. All companies associated with this industry attempt to maintain up so they make their ain merchandises. However. due to industries cannibalising their merchandises their merchandise life rhythm has decreased. Industries started making this to seek to maintain their consumers trueness. When monetary values start to fall for engineering merchandises this opens a bigger demographic ; nevertheless by clip the monetary values autumn for the merchandises they have come up with better merchandises. In order to recapture the growing of Best Buy they should seek to repair the monetary values to suit a bigger demographic. I think if they at least attempt to work with the consumers with the monetary values they would derive more clients. The job is the fact that consumers go elsewhere when they see the monetary values and do a monetary value lucifer. Amazon became popular with electronics because people found out that they could acquire electronics of all sorts online. Besides Amazon has an advantage over Best Buy because with Amazon there is free transporting on merchandises. good on most merchandises. I think if Best Buy tried to accommodate some of Amazon’s scheme they can out crush them in the electronics section. If they could be like Amazon and have a illimitable stock list online instead than merely hold their sum of handiness on the salesroom. If they did this I think they would see growing in their company. They pride their egos in holding the most well-thought-of name trade names in the consumer electronics industry so if they matched the monetary values with their pride in their trade names I see a definite growing in their company. With Best Buy being a well-known company and is the first that comes to mind when speaking about electr onics. if they had a bigger pick when it came to the merchandises than they might derive some more growing every bit good to travel along with their already loyal client base. At Best Buy. they offer a choice of energy-efficient merchandises. These merchandises were designed to assist their clients around the universe salvage some more money by utilizing less energy. I think with Best Buy going more sustainable they are more able to keep the involvement of the stakeholders. With these merchandises the stockholders play a large function in act uponing their overall sustainability scheme. The stakeholders help with patterning Best Buy’s one-year sustainability studies. So with them adding this scheme and leting the stakeholders to acquire the opportunity to hold a portion in the scheme they are deriving their involvement. Best Buy really takes the recommendations from their stakeholders and they try to pass on with them in attempts to maintain their involvement in their determination to integrate a sustainability scheme. I think this was a good move on their portion because it states they were unsure about Mr. Dunn’s five twelvemonth growing sc heme. The stakeholders were worried about Best Buy’s hard currency place and about if these schemes would work or non. Anytime when stakeholders have the chance to hold a so in a company is a good thing. In decision. I believe Best Buy is a great company but can go a better one if they were to make some alterations with their schemes. With the invariably altering economic system they need to accommodate their schemes to the alterations. I’m non stating they would hold to ever alter their schemes but I think they should ever seek their best to do their schemes fit the clients every bit good as aid the success of the company. With that being said I believe they will have even better consequences for the company every bit good as the consumers.

Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan - Essay Example To emphasis this recovery plans need to be tested on a regular basis with the risk analysis workshops. The answer to this question depends on different variables like the regulatory requirements, possibility of natural disasters, insurance premiums and above all the cost of the whole process. The distance of the intended business continuity site is to be determined and setup taking into consideration the time factor and how soon you would need it operational. The requirements subject to distance and data currency, integrity of data and the affordable loss needs to be closely looked into. Replicating data at a distance is essential for effectiveness wherein synchronous replication could be used for short distances and asynchronous techniques are required for longer distances which would guarantee data integrity. The fact that increased dependency on information technology based on information processing is to be categorized and identified based on the critical nature of the process. The business continuity management team which is the backbone of the plan coordinates between the various processes to move into action the continuity plan in case of any disaster. It is essential to ensure that the plan is constantly updated with the ongoing changes to the resources along with the management team which is responsible for this task. Every quarterly the Business Continuity Management Team has to make sure that the plan is reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure effectiveness and productivity. Annually the plan is overhauled and revised if necessary and the changes are reported to the respective coordinators and authorized personnel. Testing of the complete plan on regular basis is essential for it to be effective at any given point of time. Secondary tests can be carried out on individual processes while

Period of Baroque Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Period of Baroque - Essay Example Renaissance, through its new ideology and reform, resulted with a variety of styles. The idea of individualism and freedom of artistic creations influenced Michelangelo in a different manner. He was, in a way opposite of Leonardo. He was emotional and inward oriented. While painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he described the creation of the universe in his own way. He represented God as an old man with bears, most probably because of the humanism. Also, the humanism of Renaissance allowed him to represent a naked man, together with God, in same size. Renaissance was a start of reform and it was a return to classical values. In opened a new viewpoint in terms of ideology and style. After Renaissance, Baroque period have started. The artistic center moved from Florence to Rome. The reconstruction and redecoration of Rome gave rise to different artistic ideas and styles. One of the features of Baroque which distinguished it from Renaissance period is that it was international. Baroque style spread all through Europe, it was also accepted in Russia and passed into the New World. Caracci and Andrea Pozzo became famous with their ceiling frescoes and Caravaggio with his style, his way of representing figures and use of light etc. The paintings on ceilings in Baroque period differed from Renaissance. In this period the paintings became more elaborate and variety of images created an allegory in a way, representing the glorification of the miracles. There were flying figures on ceilings. and everything took place above us. Therefore the perspective moved from walls to ceilings and scientific reality gave its place to illusion and movement. The Baroque period had its own way of representing naturalism and reality. Michelangelo Merisi Da is better known as Caravaggio and he was an Italian baroque painter. His works portrayed saints and other biblical figures as plain ordinary people. Little is known about his early life but one might assume from his painting that he was a very catholic person with good morals. But actually this is not the case- His fame came when he unveiled his three life size paintings narrating the life of Saint Matthew in 1600. At that time his life was filled with notorious violence. It is said that a full transcript of his trial pending and police records would fill several pages. Several of these violent incidences almost ended in his death. He was later ordered to quit Rome after one of his alliances was killed during a violent accident. He wanted to paint saints and biblical figures

Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Term Paper

Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering - Term Paper Example In the field of biotechnology, modern techniques enable the genes to be removed from one organism and inserted into another in order to produce a desired substance, for example, Insulin. Another example is of fire fly. When a gene of fire fly is introduced into tobacco protoplast, the gene produces an enzyme, luciferase. When adult plant is sprayed with substrate luciferin, it glows. Many of human diseases are cured by means of this technology. Biotechnology has produced multiple drugs and vaccines. Bacteria naturally clean up the environment by killing and engulfing the pollutants, but genetic engineers have produced much more improved types of bacteria that can finish the environmental pollutants, increase soil fertility and function as pesticides in a much more efficient manner as compared to naturally occurring bacteria. Similarly, by using the knowledge of biotechnology, the scientists have altered the genotype and phenotype of plants and animals for the benefit of mankind. Some times natural mutation of genes in humans cause malfunctioning in their bodies, the biotechnologists replaces the faulty genes by healthy ones. The gene therapy in which genes are inserted into the cell outside the body is called Ex Vivo gene therapy and within the body is called In Vivo gene therapy. ... The DNA which contains DNA from two different sources is called recombinant DNA. The following bacterial is required for producing recombinant DNA. Isolation of gene from the chromosome The chromosomes are cut on the flanking sites to isolate the genes from them. The enzymes restriction endonucleases are used for this purpose. The genes can also be chemically synthesized in the laboratory or synthesized from messenger RNA by an enzyme named reverse transcriptase. The obtained DNA is termed as complimentary DNA. (Peacock,2010) Molecular Scissor Endoneucleases (restriction enzymes) cut down the viral DNA and restrict their growth. Hamilton O Smith at Johns Hopkins University was the person who isolated the first restriction Enzyme. The specific sites in DNA show specific sequence of four to six nucleotides arranged symmetrically in the reverse order. These sequences are known as Palindromic sequence. Restriction enzymes cut the DNA at the specific sites. Out of four hundred isolated en zymes, twenty are frequently used in recombinant technology. ECORI (a restriction enzyme) cuts double stranded DNA at the cleavage site so that a gap is formed to fit the foreign DNA with its complimentary ends into the gap. (Yount, 2008) Vector (the molecular carrier) Vector is a method by which recombinant DNA is inserted into a host cell. In this method, plasmids (natural extra chromosomal circular DNA) are used as vectors. They carry genes. DNA of bacterial virus is also used as vector. Lambdaphage (vector) attaches to a host bacterium. The recombinant DNA releasing from the virus enters the bacterium and replicates to produce many copies of virus each containing a copy of the gene of choice. Plasmids are cut with enzymes to

The Key Thinkers in Sociology

The Key Thinkers in Sociology Talcott Parsons (1902-79) was a key functionalist thinker. He suggested a special type of sociology called functionalism. He said that the function of anything is the job that it does. Functionalists see society as a social system made up of interrelated and inter-dependent institutions, such as education, work, religion, law, the family. The overall function of these institutions is to maintain social order. The nuclear family is suggested by the functionalist sociologists as the norm in modern industrial societies, and that it has a number of functions that contribute to the well-being of the society. The family is the primary agent of socialisation. It socialises new members by teaching them common norms and values. The family create consensus and order. Parsons (1995) argued that families are personality factory; they produce children who shared same norms and values and have strong sense of belonging to society. There are criticisms of the functionalist view of the family. The idea that the family benefits all individuals has been strongly attacked, mostly by feminist sociologists, who argue that the family is only there to exploit and oppress women. They believe that the rosy harmonious family life painted by functionalist ignores social problem such as increases in divorce rate, child abuse and domestic violence. The analyses are based on middle-class and American versions of family life, and they didnt add other influences such as ethnicity, social class, religion. They also see children as passive recipients of culture and this view under-estimates the role of children in families. In conclusion, functionalist thinking of the family suggests that biological needs support the nuclear family, even when there is no scientific evidence to support this view. Feminism is the sociological perspective which examines society from the perspective of women. It contrasts with traditional sociology, which was dominated by men and male concerns. There are at least four types of feminists who identify different reasons for womens unequal situation in society. They are the Marxist feminists who argued the relationship between capitalism and family, private property and the house wife role. The liberal feminist duels on the lack of equal opportunities in society. The radical feminists talk about patriarchy; this predates capitalism and present in most cultures. The difference feminists in its theory claim that certain groups of women might have unique situation that disadvantages them. Feminists have been highly critical of the family, unlike other critics; they have tended to stress the harmful effects of family life upon women. This has led them to the development of new perspectives and highlighted new issues. They have for example, introduced the study of areas of family life such as housework and domestic violence into sociology. They have challenged the views about the inevitability of the male dominance in families and questioned the views that family life is becoming egalitarian (becoming equal). Feminists have also highlighted the economic contribution made by women domestic labour within the family. Their theory has gained the attention sociologists to see the family as an institution involving power relationship. They have challenged the image of the family life as being based on cooperation, shared interests and love. It has shown that men obtain greater benefits from families than others. Some feminists have come out to question why other feminists sho uld condemn family life. Some have also argued that feminists should recognise the various improvements in family life for women over the past years. All feminists, however, argue that family life still disadvantages women. The Marxist theory of the family developed from the work of Karl Marx (1818-1883). Marx believed society was made up of two important parts, the economic base or infrastructure and the superstructure, which includes the family. By economic base, Marx means the capitalist system of production and the capitalist class structure, whereas by the superstructure, Marx means the other institutions of society, the family, the education system, the mass media, the religious system, the political system and the legal system. He argued that the economic base influences the organisation of the institutions of the superstructure so that they operate to maintain the capitalist system. Federich Engels (1884) was a close friend and colleague of Marx. He believed that early society was based on a primitive form of communism. There was no such thing as private property, wealth was communally owned, there were no rules limiting sexual behaviour and undiscriminating sexual behaviour was the norm. The society was the family. Engels believed that a monogamous nuclear family became more important as private property became more important in society. Property was owned by males and they needed to be sure of the legitimacy of their heirs (inheritors), and marriage was the best the best solution. This increased control over women or patriarchy. The criticism against Marxism is that there is a considerable working class support for the family and it is difficult to explain this if the family is a source of working class oppression. Families have sometimes helped their members to cope with the injustices of the capitalist system. There has being active opposition to the capitalist system, although such opposition occur only in a minority of families. According to Talcott Parsons (1950), family structure changed as society industrialised. Families in Britain have changed over the centuries. It has changed from extended family to nuclear family. The extended family was during the pre-industrial society. People needed to have lots of relatives with them to share the familys work (such as running a farm) and to support them in sickness and old age. The big change came with the Industrial Revolution bringing in the nuclear family. The period of Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) was when modern industry based on factories developed, and people moved in large numbers from country areas to new industrial cities. Before the Industrial Revolution, it was difficult to separate home and the whole family worked together. As time changes, it was men who went to work and women just stayed home to do the cooking and cleaning. Young and Willmott carried out studies of working-class families in London in the 1950s and 1960s. They found strong extended family networks in Bethnal Green, East London. The most important characteristic of British family today is diversity. The different types of family are the nuclear family; it is made up an adult man, adult woman and their child or children. The lone parent families are one parent, father or mother and his or her child or children. Reconstituted families are new family created after divorce through a second marriage, with stepparents and stepchildren. Co-habitation family is a name for people who live under same roof. The presence of minority ethnic groups (afro-Caribbean families and the Asian families) has also contributed to the diversity of Britains families. A study by Young and Willmott (1973) found that joint role had replaced separate roles in the home with tasks and decision making now shared. But Ann Oakley (1974) criticised this view and argued that separate roles still exist in the home. Stephen Edgell (2000) found that in the middle class, women had sole responsibility for financial decisions in relatively unimportant areas such as home decorating and children clothing. The decisions on major spending were made jointly. Evidence suggests that many women have dual burden of labour, home and work responsibilities. Sociologists Mary Boulton suggests that women have additional emotional role in the home. She called it a triple burden. Studies conducted in the 90s by sociologists showed that the role of father was changing. They are more likely to attend to the birth of their babies and play greater role in childcare than in the 60s. Burghes (1997) says fathers are now more actively involved in the emotional development of their children. The reason for this, according to Beck (1992) is that father can no longer rely on jobs to provide a sense of identity, they rely more on their children for that. Feminist have highlighted the influence of patriarch ideology on the way both husbands and wives perceive their respective situations. Ann Oakleys study, The Sociology of Housework (1974) involve forty housewives, six were employed outside the home. She found that middle class husbands gave more help with childcare than with housework. Oakleys survey has been backed by subsequent surveys. The above finding contradicts the optimistic view of Young and Willmott. Their picture of symmetrical family in which husband and wife share their work was based on responses to only one question. Functionalists see the sexual division of labour at home as biologically inevitable. Marxist feminist argue that the housewife role serves the need of capitalism. Radical feminists believe like Delphy (1984) that the first oppression is the oppression of women by men.

Art and Humanities Essay

The Music I associate with from my early childhood would be so many different songs from like the alphabet songs. When I grew up we were not allowed watching TV so much in the 70’s. But we watched some cartoons like the Surf’s on Saturday mornings; I still remember the song Fa-la-la-la. I grew up listing to reggae and oldies but goodies music on my parents little radio in the living room. When I hear these songs I have a smile on my face. It always reminded me when my children was listening to some of the same kind of music either on Television or radio or when they watched cartoons like Old MacDonald or Bitsy Spider with the same good old folk rhymes. As I got older I remember listening to bands like the S. O. S. , Dazz band. My mom always made me play her cassette deck with her oldies or reggae music while she cleaned the house top to bottom. She always danced around while she was cleaning and it made cleaning looked like so much fun. And to this day if I help my wife with house chores I listen to the same kind of music then my mother was listening to. My daughter is the exact same way; she plays music all the times. The Music I associate with my adolescence is R&B disco music from the 1980’s and 90’s. I loved mostly all of them and I would listen to any songs â€Å"I want to be your man† by Rogers or Keith Sweat â€Å"Make it last forever†, â€Å"Between the sheets† by The Isley Brothers, I could just go on and on. I went through many phases where I start listening to Madonna or country music and different artists like them, but I believe it had something do to with being a young boy growing up. Up to this day I could listen to all the same artists, bands or songs and think about the carefree days I had and being a high school boy being crazy with all my friends. But there was a time in my life where I was real crazy and just listening to rap music and started using the bad words and believe me that was not for long because my mother got rid of all my rap music quickly. And now if my children would listen to some rap music I tell them please not in my home. When it comes to comfort in music I always find myself going back and listen to oldies or reggae that was always  playing when my mother was cleaning the house. It was an everyday thing for my mom because it seemed that our home was never clean enough for her because we were six children coming in from football fields dirty or the backyard. But anytime I came into the house the same oldies or reggae music was playing, it was either Bob Marley† Buffalo Soldiers† or the oldies song† Let’s stay together† by Al Green When I have a bad day or just want to relax I find myself sitting down and turn on music and listen to the 70’s or 80’s songs, because that is what gets my head clear and then I can focus again. Happiness is a mood I would associate with songs or music that has a good rhythm and has a positive message. The song that makes me happy is â€Å"Buffalo Soldiers† by Bob Marley just like my mother, she would play that song over and over again. I would say that every genre and style of music has it songs that are happy, sad, comforting, depressing, fun and any other mood or feeling one could have. This is not because of how the song really sounds or the way it’s played, it’s the meaning from the lyrics. But the listener interprets the song in a way that only you can relate to. That is why music is so important to me because it can be a musical time line of our memories. I will always remember the music I grew up with and all the god times I had as a child and this is what I took into my Adulthood. In my life, music has been a constant, ever changing magical and amazing adventure. Music has always been a part of an everyday life for so many years and so many more years to come, because no matter if we understand the music that the one likes or not it does not matter to us. All we need to know is what we like and what impact music has on us. Music may make a person happy or sad because of the memories they re-live. No matter what it might be you must know that music is needed and wanted. References: Altschuler, R. J. (2009). The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a Technique for Living. Retrieved from: www. youtube. com/watch? v=S5FCdx7Dn0o Retrieved from: www. youtube. com/watch? v=RCcg7ctrC4w.