About Anne Griswold Tyng, an Overlooked Influence

About Anne Griswold Tyng, an Overlooked Influence Anne Tyng devoted her life to geometry and architecture. Widely considered a great influence on the early designs of architect Louis I.Kahn, Anne Griswold Tyng was, in her own right, an architectural visionary, theorist, and teacher. Background: Born: July 14, 1920 in Lushan, Jiangxi province, China. The fourth of five children, Anne Griswold Tyng was the daughter of Ethel and Walworth Tyng, Episcopal missionaries from Boston, Massachusetts. Died: December 27, 2011, Greenbrae, Marin County, California (NY Times Obituary). Education and Training: 1937, St. Mary‘s School, Peekskill, New York.1942, Radcliffe College, Bachelor of Arts.1944, Harvard Graduate School of Design*, Master of Architecture. Studied Bauhaus with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Studied urban planning with Catherine Bauer.1944, New York City, briefly employed by industrial design firms.1945, moved to the Philadelphia home of her parents. Became the only female employee of Stonorov and Kahn. Worked on city planning and residential projects. Remained with Louis I. Kahn when the Stonorov and Kahn partnership broke up in 1947.1949, licensed to practice architecture. Joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA Philadelphia). Met Buckminster Fuller.1950s, associate consulting architect in Kahn‘s office. Continued to work on city of Philadelphia planning with Louis I. Kahn (Civic Center), while independently experimenting with habitable geometric designs (City Tower).1975, University of Pennsylvania, PhD in Architecture, with a focus on symmetr y and probability. * Anne Tyng was a member of the first class to admit women at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Classmates included Lawrence Halprin, Philip Johnson, Eileen Pei, I.M. Pei, and William Wurster. Anne Tyng and Louis I. Kahn: When 25-year-old Anne Tyng went to work for Philadelphia architect Louis I. Kahn in 1945, Kahn was a married man 19 years her senior. In 1954, Tyng gave birth to Alexandra Tyng, Kahns daughter. Louis Kahn to Anne Tyng: The Rome Letters, 1953-1954 reproduces Kahns weekly letters to Tyng during this time. In 1955, Anne Tyng returned to Philadelphia with her daughter, purchased a house on Waverly Street, and resumed her research, design, and independent contract work with Kahn. Anne Tyngs influences on Louis I. Kahn architecture are most evident in these buildings: 1951–1953, tetrahedronical ceiling and openly geometric staircase in the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut1955, cubes and pyramidal shapes making up the Trenton Bath House, Trenton, New Jersey1974, grid of symmetrical square design of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut I believe our creative work together deepened our relationship and the relationship enlarged our creativity, Anne Tyng says of her relationship with Louis Kahn. In our years of working together toward a goal outside ourselves, believing profoundly in each other‘s abilities helped us to believe in ourselves. ( Louis Kahn to Anne Tyng: The Rome Letters, 1953-1954) Important Work of Anne G. Tyng: For nearly thirty years, from 1968 to 1995, Anne G. Tyng was a lecturer and researcher at her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Tyng was widely published and taught Morphology, her own field of study based on designing with geometry and mathematics- her lifes work: 1947, developed the Tyng Toy, a set of interlocking, plywood shapes that children could assemble and re-assemble. A Tyng Toy kit could be put together to build simple but usable objects, which could then be taken apart and re-assembled to make other objects. Childrens furniture and toys included a desk, easel, stool, and wheeled toys. The Tyng Toy, featured in the August 1950 Popular Mechanics magazine (page 107), was exhibited in 1948 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.1953, designed City Tower, a 216-foot high, geometrically intricate building for Philadelphia. In 1956, Louis Kahn envisioned tripling the height of the City Tower Project. Although never built, a model was exhibited in 1960 at the Museum of Modern Arts exhibit Visionary Architecture in New York City, with Kahn giving little credit to Tyng.1965, Anatomy of Form: The Divine Proportion in the Platonic Solids, research project funded by a grant from the Graham Foundation, Chicago, Illinois.1971, Urban Hie rarchy exhibited at AIA in Philadelphia. In a Domus Magazine interview, Tyng described the design of square houses along spiral roadways as a cyclical sequence with recurring symmetries of squares, circles, helixes and spirals. 1971–1974, designed the Four-Poster House, in which the structure of a modernist Maine vacation home is geometrically integrated with a piece of furniture, the four-poster bed.2011, Inhabiting Geometry, a walk-through exhibit of her lifes work of shapes and forms at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania and the Graham Foundation, Chicago. Tynge on City Tower The tower involved turning every level in order to connect it with the one below, making a continuous, integral structure. Its not about simply piling one piece on top of another. The vertical supports are part of the horizontal supports, so it is almost a kind of hollowed-out structure. Of course, you need to have as much usable space as possible, so the triangular supports are very widely spaced, and all the triangular elements are composed to form tetrahedrons. It was all three-dimensional. In plan, you get an efficient use of space. The buildings appear to turn because they follow their own structural geometric flow, making them look like they are almost alive....They almost look like they are dancing or twisting, even though theyre very stable and not really doing anything. Basically the triangles form small-scale three-dimensional tetrahedrons that are brought together to make bigger ones, which in turn are united to form even bigger ones. So the project can be seen as a contin uous structure with a hierarchical expression of geometry. Rather than being just one great mass, it gives you some sense of columns and floors.- 2011, DomusWeb Quotes by Anne Tyng: Many women have been scared away from the profession because of the strong emphasis on mathematics....All you really need to know are basic geometric principles, like the cube and the Pythagorean theorem.- 1974, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin [For me, architecture] has become a passionate search for essences of form and space- number, shape, proportion, scale- a search for ways to define space by thresholds of structure, natural laws, human identity and meaning.- 1984, Radcliffe Quarterly The greatest hurdle for a woman in architecture today is the psychological development necessary to free her creative potential. To own ones own ideas without guilt, apology, or misplaced modesty involves understanding the creative process and the so-called masculine and feminine principles as they function in creativity and male-female relationships.- 1989, Architecture: A Place for Women Numbers become more interesting when you think of them in terms of forms and proportions. I am really excited about my discovery of a two volume cube, which has a face with divine proportions, while the edges are the square root in divine proportion and its volume is 2.05. As 0.05 is a very small value you cant really worry about it, because you need tolerances in architecture anyway. The two volume cube is far more interesting than the one by one by one cube because it connects you to numbers; it connects you to probability and all kinds of things that the other cube doesnt do at all. It is an entirely different story if you can connect to the Fibonacci sequence and the divine proportion sequence with a new cube.- 2011, DomusWeb Collections: The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania holds Anne Tyngs collected papers. See the  Anne Grisold Tyng Collection. The Archives are internationally known for the Louis I. Kahn Collection. Sources: Schaffner, Whitaker. Anne Tyng, A Life Chronology. Graham Foundation, 2011 (PDF); Weiss, Srdjan J. The life geometric: An Interview. DomusWeb 947, May 18, 2011 at www.domusweb.it/en/interview/the-life-geometric/; Whitaker, W. Anne Griswold Tyng: 1920–2011, DomusWeb, January 12, 2012 [accessed February 2012]

Illinois Tax Problems

Illinois Tax Problems Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was re-elected with a platform built on higher tax rates. According to many analysts, it was an improbable win because of the prospect of higher taxes. But to the surprise of many pundits, Governor Quinn was ushered into the office for another term.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Illinois’ Tax Problems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The reaction can be understood if one takes a look at the figures. The proposed income tax hike amounted to a significant increase from 3% to 5.25%. In addition, the state would also impose a tax increase in personal property tax. As a result, the corporate tax rate would increase to 10.9%. It was a major upgrade and a burden to many businessmen. The expected and unexpected outcome of the proposed tax increase was to initiate a chain-reaction of events that forced big businesses to search for a place to relocate. In other words, Illinois could no lo nger be considered as a practical place to conduct business. It triggered a panic reaction from the governor, and he offered tax breaks for companies like Motorola, Sears, and Caterpillar. However, medium-scale enterprises were unable to avail of multi-million dollar tax breaks enjoyed by previously mentioned conglomerates. The tax problems prompted many to offer solutions to the burgeoning budget deficit of the state, and some said that it could be solved not by higher tax rates but reduction in expenses. Macroeconomics The articles offered a good case study of macroeconomics. Roger Leroy Miller’s book provided a clear discussion of macroeconomics because it is one of the means to study the economy of a state or a nation. In this particular case, the macroeconomic consideration for the state of Illinois examines the impact of the new tax laws not only on the giant corporations that can be found in the state but also on the economy of neighboring states. In addition, a macroe conomic view of the tax issue enables the analysts to see the cause and effect of certain policies. In other words, the macroeconomic view considers the wide-range effect on an area not just an individual. It must be pointed out that when Governor Quinn increased the tax rate, he also considered the macroeconomic impact of his decisions. Although the tax hike could be seen as an additional burden to the families which saw their tax bill increase significantly, the positive impact of the said move should not be discounted.Advertising Looking for article on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Governor Quinn made the argument that this move could narrow down the budget deficit and provide a better future for everyone. On the other hand, the neighboring states began to entice corporations to relocate. Viewed from a macroeconomic perspective, this means that unemployment rate in Illinois will skyrocket if Governor Quinn cannot stop the exodus from happening. Tax Issues The proposed tax hike was a reaction to the problem of budget deficit that threatened to derail the state of Illinois. The current figures indicated that Illinois could not pay 40% of needed expenditures. In other words, there was no way to generate $15 billion. If this amount were not in the government coffers, then there would be no money to pay for pension and healthcare expenses. It was a devastating prospect for the workers who diligently toiled for decades in anticipation of an idyllic retirement period. It was also a nightmare for those who depended on the state for employment benefits and healthcare. The public school system would be affected and other services that the government had to support. As a result, Governor Quinn was forced to increase the tax rate. The people acceded to his request because he made it clear that there was no other way to solve the problem. The people voted for Quinn because he convi nced them that he could solve the problems that buffeted the economy of the state of Illinois. The main component of the campaign promise was to force giant corporations to fork out more taxes. It was a proposition that was easy to understand. Big profits could be translated to more tax money and, therefore, could increase the funds of the state. Unfortunately, the plan backfired when corporations like Caterpillar and Motorola threatened to relocate to another state where the tax laws were not as crippling. When Governor Quinn began to offer tax breaks, the average tax payer began to recoil in dismay and unbelief. It came to a point when an expert weighed in and said that the decision of Governor Quinn to appease big businessmen with tax breaks was not only disturbing but could also create a dangerous precedent that could significantly erode public confidence. It could even create a major financial crisis in the said state. Solutions from Taxpayers’ Point of View There were t wo major groups of tax payers. The first group was comprised of employees and entrepreneurs. The second group consisted of the multinational companies like Caterpillar and Motorola. From the perspective of the first group, the solution to the problem was to increase the taxes imposed on big corporations. They also proposed to lessen expenditures. A specific suggestion was to reduce the amount of money that the state committed to pay retirees.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Illinois’ Tax Problems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The second group, on the other hand, offered a one-sided solution to the problem. The solution came in the form of tax breaks. In other words, they were amenable to the idea of raising the tax rates, but when it came to the giant corporations, the amount that they had to pay was covered with the millions of dollars in tax breaks given by the state. Solutions from Selected Officials The solution provided by Governor Quinn was to raise the income tax of the workers and to increase corporate tax. But at the same time, he turned around to offer a tax break for big business groups like Motorola and Caterpillar. It should be made clear that government officials agreed with the proposal to cut government spending. As a result, the state legislature proposed a pension-reform bill. The purpose of the said bill was to reduce the commitment of the government to future retirees. Thus, the newly hired workers are not going to enjoy the same type of benefits received by present day retirees. Conclusion The budget deficit forced Governor Quinn and the state legislature to increase the income and corporate taxes. The campaign promise was anchored on the idea that giant corporations located in Illinois would help shoulder the burden. But when the new tax rate was announced, big corporations threatened to relocate, and this prompted another impulsive reaction from Governor Quin n. He offered tax breaks for these corporations. The people were dismayed with this new development and suggested other solutions that could help solve the tax problems faced by the state.

American muscle cars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American muscle cars - Essay Example For instance, Joe Oldham has written several books about muscle cars since 1964 when he started as an editor for Magnum-Royal Publications. Popularly known as the Godfather of the GTO’, Jim Wangers is a specialist car-marketing executive that has in various capacities within the motor industry. On the other hand, the other writers have earned credentials in various fields related to the motor industry. When it comes to the focus of the topic, it is unquestionable that the book addresses the topic appropriately and in a helpful way. This is especially so because the both the title The All-American Muscle Car and the subtitle The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Detroits Greatest Performance Cars, put greater emphasis on the American muscle car in terms of its conception and evolution. Perhaps this book is more specific because it narrows down on the American muscle cars that are found within Detroit. Additionally, the authors examine the details of the all-American muscle car in the sense that they look at the inception, collapse, and resurrection of such cars in Detroit. This gives an in-depth analysis of the cars in terms of evolution, performance and the underlying factors behind the cars’ success and failure. Although it may appear general from the cover, one will agree that the book covers the topic sufficiently especially after perusing the table of contents. Fundamentally, the table of content lists the birth of the muscle car, the birth of the pony car, when they were just cars, muscle car enhancers, modern muscle DeJaVu sort of, and Blue-chip muscle. Perhaps one remarkable feature about this book and its table of contents is that one individual, each according to their areas of specialization, wrote the various chapters within the books. This gives the topic ‘American Muscle Cars’ sufficient coverage in terms of scope, evolution, and marketing are concerned. Furthermore, the authors are very

Role & Functions of Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Role & Functions of Law - Research Paper Example The famed writer of Civil Law, Sanchez Roman defined law as a rule of conduct, just, obligatory, laid down by a legitimate power for common observance and benefit. (Nolledo 1978, p. 1) Another requisite is the existence of a sanction or punishment in case of non-observance of the rule of conduct. The sanction may be in the form of either or some of the following: fine, imprisonment, forfeiture of rights and properties, payment of interest or surcharges, liability for damages, expulsion or deportation, and exile. Nolledo (1978) presented following characteristics of business law, to wit: (1) it is universal because it exists in every civilized society; (2) it is progressive because as time passes, business law accumulates new ideas and keeps abreast with modern trends; (3) it is equitable because business transactions involve exchange of values and considerations; (4) it is customary because its rules are followed from time to time or are invoked in every day transactions; and finally (5) it is uniform because within a country, a business act or contract is governed by the same rules. (p. 8) In an article written by Bushman (2007), she recognized the importance of law in the successful operation and existence of business and society. Accordingly, she stipulated that â€Å"laws regulate social behavior, which leads to a society that runs efficiently. Laws also supply ethical standards and expectations, while providing rules of conduct, measures to enforce those rules, and a means for settling disputes. According to Gillies (2004), â€Å"the formal view of law is that it functions to regulate human behavior in obedience to an infinity of different policies. In particular, it aims to regulate relations between persons for in a crowded society, people have to co-exist and occasionally their interests collide†. (p. 4) Other functions of law include: peacekeeping; checking government power and promoting personal freedom; facilitating planning and the

Changes in curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Changes in curriculum - Essay Example 79). Not only that, but at the level of the school, it can be particularly difficult for faculty to agree on what the curriculum should be. According to Keating (2010), â€Å"[I]nstitutional approvals [must be] obtained for nursing program curriculum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pp. 40). Healthcare is becoming increasingly difficult to manage, in terms of payers, payees, and billers. According to Smyth (2005), â€Å"[P]olicy makers [should] better appreciate the complexity of health care† (pp. 156). People are struggling to pay for their medications, and this is one area that nursing curricula often overlooks: medication management. Changes and demands in health care continue to skyrocket, as curricula change in response. Apparently, the numbers of people who use healthcare services is increasing. According to Tucker (2010), one of â€Å"†¦of the nonprice determinants that can change the demand for health care†¦Ã¢â‚¬  are the number of buyers (pp. 127). Health care curricula in nursing programs are constantly changing due to government regulations, the healthcare industry becoming much, much more complex, and the changes and increasing demands in health

The main premises and limitations of functionalism

The main premises and limitations of functionalism The theory I have chosen is functionalism, whose basis is the systemic nature of culture, or what might be most appropriately designated as a glue concept of culture. I am however, deeply aware that no theory explains everything and every theory has its limitations, reason why the grand theories all failed: calling for complementarity in the theoretical frameworks and methodological assumptions that informs our research. This fact explains the continuous growth of theory in anthropology from evolutionism with its unilineality to poststructuralist theories today. In what follows, I will explain and illustrate the main premises of functionalism, and highlight the limitations of the functionalist framework. Functionalism was one of the earliest anthropological theories. Its main theoretical postulate is an analogy of the human organism as a microcosm of society: parts as making up the whole, different individuals playing different roles and having different statuses, although one individual can have different statuses simultaneously. According to this metaphor, the various parts of the human body like the traits and institutions of a culture are interrelated and work together to ensure its proper functioning (see Barth, 1979:20-22). Following one of functionalisms precursors, Polish-born British anthropologist Malinowski, who is associated with bio-cultural/psychological functionalism, cultural institutions are meant to meet human instrumental needs: economics, social control, education, political organization among others. On the other hand, Radcliffe-Brown who developed the idea of social structure presents human society as based on networks of social relationship and that institution s maintain society as a system. The difference between Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown is that unlike the former who emphasizes the individual, the latter sees the individual as irrelevant'(Goldschmidt,1996:510) As a critique against evolutionism, diffusionism and historicism, functionalism wanted a shift away from speculative history and cultural survivals to ahistorical synchronic study of social institutions within bounded, functioning societies(Young,1991:445). The core idea of the functionalists was to look for the reality of events in their present day manifestations. This does not imply a wholesome rejection of history per se but rather, a rejection of what Harris (1968:524) calls pseudo-history. Methodologically speaking, the functionalists viewed society in systematic terms, parts as being dependent on one another so as to maintain social equilibrium, but they recognized the prospects for internal social conflicts and disequilibrium. The second methodological premise is that of intensive fieldwork through the traditional method of participant observation. It implies in this case, the search for functional relationships among customs and institutions as a useful mechanism of abstracting data. And thirdly, analysis was to be based on short time scale. As recent advances in anthropological and sociological theory suggests, culture is contestation and we need to write against the whole concept of culture so as to embrace the very dynamism of anthropological fieldwork due to the mobility of subjects owing to globalization. Gupta and Ferguson (1997:4) have rightly called for anthropology to embrace changing trends in contemporary world marked by people, objects and ideas rapidly shifting. These shifts; they argue have changed the notion of the field as a fixed territorial space and of people as immobile and dealt a serious blow to the traditional notion of community as bounded. This is quite evident when considering new tribes like refugees, migrants, displaced and nomadic communities. They note that culture is not bounded and therefore does not occupy designated spaces. They further note that such conception do not account for people inhabiting borderlands nor do they factor in cultural differences of people occupying the same geogra phical space. They further assert that post-coloniality and globalization have heralded the idea of hybrid cultures in which concepts like identity and solidarity are no longer based on proximity to marked spaces and contact zones and thus making the case for a radical re-thinking of anthropological models of analysis (Ibid). Following Appadurai, (1991; 191,196), the contemporary world structured by the overarching effects of globalization has become quite de-territorialized in ways that have altered the conception of locality and space. In the same light, Fox and Gingrich note that of late, the notion of whole cultures or integrated societies has been questioned and new ideas about globalization, cultural flows, fragmentation and fluid signs have been touted as definitive blows to anthropologys traditional objects of study: local communities of some order (2002:27). Clifford also observed that ethnographic studies seeking to disassociate themselves from totalizing anthropology use multiple allegories (1986:103). Against this backdrop, there has been a shift from single to multiple case studies: study individuals both in the village and in the urban milieu to which they have migrated, from single to multiple case studies, calling for the need to always extend out beyond the locale of natives and capture the voices of those away from home since migration may presuppose a change or modification of values and lifestyle. Multiple case study designs have been variously justified: Ethnographic data from multiple-case studies is often considered more persuasive and thus making the overall study more robust (Yin, 1994:141). A multiple case study exposes regularities through the simultaneous inspection of numerous cases (Eckstein, 2000:137). All other things being equal, a finding emerging repeatedly in the study of numerous sites (a multi-site study) would seem to be more likely to be a good working hypothesis about some yet unstudied site than a finding emerging from just one or two sites (Schofield, 2000:79). Such a study is capable of going beneath the political binaries (Burawoy,1998:6) of researcher and subject, local, national and international contexts so as to uncover multiple processes, interests and identities since the postcolonial context provides fertile ground for re-condensing these proliferating differences around local, national, and global links in view of the fact that various actors and stakeholders are multiply drawn into alliances at all levels (Buroway,1998:11). Like any other theoretical perspective, functionalism has received its own share of criticisms. Among these is the fact that the presence of an institution cannot precede its existence usefully suggesting that functionalist explanations carry a hardened notion of culture which is obviously not the case because historical processes are always at work. It is further assumed not to be concerned with social processes and to negate cross-cultural comparison because it sees every institution insitu. As one of the earliest anthropological theories, its forerunners suffered from lack of historical data in so-called primitive societies which might have greatly inhibited the quality of the data they obtained and therefore the type of analysis and theory they eventually came to construct. Secondly, proto-anthropology was begun by non-professionals: missionaries, travelers, and colonial administrators who wrote mostly to exoticize the communities they had come in contact with and to entertain people. First hour anthropologists were therefore partly preoccupied with making sense of these societies from the standpoint of the natives through participant observation. They were further preoccupied with particular questions, particular institutions, how societies that were presumed to have no histories and other institutions were capable of meeting particular cultural needs. Generally, they adopted an encyclopedic tradition, trying unlike today to study and grasp the functional relevance an d interrelationships of every institution to the other within a given culture. E.E. Evans-Pritchards (1940) classic study of the Nuer for instance, shows how an understanding of social structure is important to grasping the overall functioning of Nuer acephalous society. He does this using his concepts of fussion and fission, segmentation and combination with segments of the same order. By so doing, he demonstrates that in politics there are no permanent enemies. Malinowskis study of the Trobriand Islanders of New Guinea and the ceremonial annual kula Ring exchange shows its association with magic, religion, kinship and trade. In the same light, in Argonautes of the Western Pacific (1922), he paints a total picture of the peoples life through participant observation detailing among others, their technology, sexual life, everyday life and conflict resolution. One way of going beyond the limitations of these studies would have been to see these societies in historical context, as dynamic over time since the overall vision of the functionalist was not to negate history but rather, only to explain the present. Such a view will reconceptualize culture, not as based on consensus but rather as renegotiated by stakeholders in the light of changing circumstances. They dealt with circumscribed field sites and therefore did not go beyond local or how extra-local forces affected individuals in the societies that they studied. It is true from the history of sociological theory that every theoretical perspective has its shortcomings, calling for the need for complementarity. This is even more accentuated because social phenomena are multifaceted- different causal factors might explain the existence of a particular phenomenon. For instance, the classic example of Durkheims suicide based on observation may not be tenable today because of changes in soci al structures. Theories are rooted in particular historical epochs. Time changes and certain explanations become untenable, calling for more research and the need to reformulate old theories or discard them totally. This further demonstrates the spatio-temporal relativity of truth. There are of course, no universal truths despite the existence of cultural universals. Functionalist theories emerged as a response to the crisis of social order, seemingly the outcome of two developments. The first was industrial society with its loss of community, poor working conditions and increase in crime. The second was the French revolution with its ideals of equality, happiness and freedom of the individual. These two events were influential in the development of the consensus theory, although this theory fails to address conflict. Often times, some studies are replicated using different theoretical assumptions over time demonstrating that no theory is capable of explaining every aspect of human society. This explains why some anthropologists return to their field sites several years later so as to map the various changes that have taken place after their fieldwork. The dilemma with grand theories such as functionalism is their claim of attempting to explain every known phenomenon in the universe. The Durkheimian theory on suicide for example, seems to present a unilineal view of culture- some social groups and people with a protestant religious ethos are more prone to commit suicide than others. But even within a group, the groups values are constantly being contested and each group in reality might have multiple identities. Culture is actually a constant field of contest, negotiation and constant renegotiation. In summary, functionalism was geared towards investigating particular phenomenon using particular theoretical assumptions and methodological approaches. The authors were preoccupied with particular questions which largely determined their theoretical assumptions and above all, these theories were imbricated in particular historical moments and with changing times, some of their assumptions have been shown to be faulty.

Anti-traditional Conception of Sex in Pounds Coitus Essay -- Pound Co

Anti-traditional Conception of Sex in Pound's "Coitus" Â   Critics have been fascinated and often baffled by Ezra Pound's shifting poetic style, which ranges from the profound simplicity of "In a Station of the Metro" to the complex intertextuality of the "Cantos." Pound's significance derives largely from his constant resolve to break traditional form and ideology, both literary and poetic. What is particularly unique about Pound, however, is that as he continually establishes precedence, he rarely abandons his thorough knowledge and appreciation of classical literature, drawing heavily from his literary and historical education in even his most groundbreaking works. "Coitus," one of Pound's early short works, exemplifies both his interest in the simple, efficient techniques of vorticism and his homage to the classics, interrelating them to create a statement that is unique and anti-traditional. Â   COITUS The gilded phaloi of the crocuses are thrusting at the spring air. Here is there naught of dead gods But a procession of festival, Â   A procession, O Giulio Romano, Fit for your spirit to dwell in. Dione, your nights are upon us. The dew is upon the leaf. The night about us is restless. Â   Although classical allusions and imagist influences are an essential part of "Coitus," it is the disturbingly stark sexual force that dominates its tone. However bluntly carnal the poem seems, it does not at any point explicitly mention sex, except in the unmistakable directness of the title. Pound renders his tone through a montage of classical allusions and phallic imagery which resemble the vorticistic Japanese haiku; the beginning and ending two lines share similarities with Pound's... ...ion, yoking allusive fragments of western culture with elements of modern life. By combining the ancient with the new, Pound produces disturbing and sexually centered anachronisms that capitalize on the previous history of literature but also revolutionary modern theories; psychological, sexual and literary. As a whole, "Coitus" is an atom of knowledge, capable of splitting and exploding into far reaches of historical and literary realms, yet instantly and intriguingly disturbing for its modern sexual tone. Â   Â   The following poems are borrowed from page 109 of Personae: The Collected Shorter Poems of Ezra Pound, 1926. Â   Â   IN A STATION OF THE METRO The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. Â   ALBA As cool as the pale wet leaves of lily-of-the-valley She lay beside me in the dawn. Â  

Discuss Jane Austen’s portrayal of her central character in the opening chapters of the novel

Emma by Jane Austen can be described as a social satire of the Regency Age and was first published in 1816. Austen uses the omniscient narrator to immediately introduce the central character, eponymous heroine Emma Woodhouse, in the opening chapter of the novel by describing her as â€Å"handsome, clever and rich with a comfortable home and a happy disposition,† and saying how she â€Å"seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence,† with very â€Å"little to distress or vex her. However, Austen's use of the word â€Å"seemed† may indicate that the reality of Emma's perfect and privileged life may affect her interaction with others and consequently cause her to have many flaws due to the fact that she is good looking, indulged and allowed â€Å"rather too much her own way. † Emma may be described as an exception to society in the way that she is a financially independent with a fortune of thirty thousand pounds, a vast amount of money in the Reg ency age. During this period, many women needed to marry for financial stability and some marriages tended to resemble business contracts as opposed to true love because so much was based on this factor. Perhaps Emma's situation means that she may be one of the few women who is able to marry for love as opposed to finance? Austen often portrays Emma as a meddlesome and interfering character in the opening of the novel. These traits really come across when Mr Knightley, Austen's voice of reason, discusses Harriet's refusal of Mr Martin, an â€Å"intelligent gentleman-farmer,† and blames Emma's influence for her turning down a man who is more than her equal in class and status, factors influential to most marriages in the Regency Age. Austen highlights this importance by referring to different social ranks as the â€Å"first set† and the â€Å"second set. † Mr Knightley guides and advises Emma with well-balanced thoughts and advice that genuinely penetrates through her self-deluding personality. Mr Knightley states realistically that Emma is wrong to meddle with Harriet and encourage her to pursue Mr Elton; he describes Harriet as â€Å"not a sensible girl,† with â€Å"no respectable relations† illustrating the importance of marrying within the right social class and also a weakness in the character of Emma Woodhouse due to the fact that she manipulates situations to suit what she wants and can sometimes avoid reality if it does not agree with her. This weakness can go on to affect and hurt others, for example raising Harriet's hopes and expectations of marrying above her even though this is unlikely to happen. Another character who is responsible for Emma's behaviour is her father, Mr Woodhouse. Mr Woodhouse is at fault due to the fact that he is an over â€Å"indulgent and affectionate† father who fails to see weaknesses in his youngest daughter's character, therefore being unable to correct her mistakes and teach Emma how to consider other people's feelings. Emma's father is also described as â€Å"dearly loved† by her but â€Å"no companion† due to his age and distance from her. Emma's loss of her mother may also affect her personality and explain why she has become so strong-willed and independent minded. The only female influences she has really benefited from include her sister Isabella who moved out after marrying Mr John Knightley and Mrs Taylor her governess who marries Mr Weston, a match Emma feels she is responsible for creating. As well as living within a class-conscious society, Emma conforms to the proper and polite tradition of behaviour, regarded highly at the time. When Mr John Knightley and Isabella come to stay, Emma's â€Å"sense of right,† permits that Mr Knightley dines with them. However, Mr Woodhouse is slightly â€Å"against the inclination† that â€Å"anyone should share with him in Isabella's first day. † This â€Å"sense of right† illustrates how Emma feels it is important to act properly and conform to social etiquette in line with what is â€Å"right. † Although Emma is described as a â€Å"spoiled child† by John Knightley, Austen also illustrates how self-contained her life is on Isabella's visit. Emma urges them not to â€Å"talk of the sea† because it makes her â€Å"miserable† and â€Å"envious† as â€Å"she has never seen it. † Emma's life seems circled around little more than painting and playing the piano and this may be why she feels the need to meddle with other people's relationships for her own amusement. Overall, Austen introduces many themes and social rules and regulations along with the introduction of Emma Woodhouse. Emma seems to be a very lucky and privileged individual although she does not always make the best of her advantageous situation causing her to have an arrogant and self-righteous side to her personality. Emma's situation is not normal and her fortune sets her aside from other women as she does not need to marry for the sake of financial gain and security, this sets her aside from being an accurate reflection of social interaction of the times. However, Emma's conformity when it comes to social class rules and etiquette illustrates the class conscious society of Regency England and the importance of propriety.

Free Essays on Orgin Of Evil

God is good, and all that he has made is good. But, even with all his goodness there is still a corrupt and sinful nature in the world. All this came about because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. It is easy to recognize that this is the origin of sin, and because of this act, the entire human race has fallen into the same sinful lifestyle. Even though we can trace the original sin, it is not easy to put the finger at a particular person or being to blame the origin of evil into the world. The origin of evil is the first domino in the sinful domino effect. But where did this come from? Who is to blame? Did God originate evil in the world? Did Adam and Eve first have an evil heart before they took of the fruit? Or did it all fall upon God’s mightiest angel? It is within these three people that the origin of sin could have possibly have come. God is the creator of all, but does that mean that he could have created evil as well? This question is similar to a question I heard as a young child, â€Å"Can God make a rock that he can not pick up?† Both of these questions puts God into a box, but in order to bypass any more theological debate, I will end by saying God can do all, but has also placed limits within himself. By understanding this concept it is safe to say that God did install evil into the world. After ever single creation in the Bible, the bible says â€Å"†¦and it was good.† From common knowledge everyone knows that good is the complete opposite of evil, and good and evil have nothing in common with each other. II Corinthians 6:14 says, â€Å"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?† According to John MacArthur, Jr he states, â€Å"God is not the author of evil. If God created evil, then God would be both good and evil. And if God were both good and evil, there would be no hope for the ultimate triumph of good, which... Free Essays on Orgin Of Evil Free Essays on Orgin Of Evil God is good, and all that he has made is good. But, even with all his goodness there is still a corrupt and sinful nature in the world. All this came about because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. It is easy to recognize that this is the origin of sin, and because of this act, the entire human race has fallen into the same sinful lifestyle. Even though we can trace the original sin, it is not easy to put the finger at a particular person or being to blame the origin of evil into the world. The origin of evil is the first domino in the sinful domino effect. But where did this come from? Who is to blame? Did God originate evil in the world? Did Adam and Eve first have an evil heart before they took of the fruit? Or did it all fall upon God’s mightiest angel? It is within these three people that the origin of sin could have possibly have come. God is the creator of all, but does that mean that he could have created evil as well? This question is similar to a question I heard as a young child, â€Å"Can God make a rock that he can not pick up?† Both of these questions puts God into a box, but in order to bypass any more theological debate, I will end by saying God can do all, but has also placed limits within himself. By understanding this concept it is safe to say that God did install evil into the world. After ever single creation in the Bible, the bible says â€Å"†¦and it was good.† From common knowledge everyone knows that good is the complete opposite of evil, and good and evil have nothing in common with each other. II Corinthians 6:14 says, â€Å"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?† According to John MacArthur, Jr he states, â€Å"God is not the author of evil. If God created evil, then God would be both good and evil. And if God were both good and evil, there would be no hope for the ultimate triumph of good, which...

Jimmy - Racism Essays - Discrimination, Hatred, Racism, Free Essays

Jimmy - Racism Essays - Discrimination, Hatred, Racism, Free Essays Jimmy - Racism The sizzling streams of sunlight were just beautifully glimmering down on the crisp green school yard. Such a wonderful day that was. Nothing could have ruined it. Little Jimmy, since it was such a wonderful day decided to go to the corner store and buy himself a little treat. As little Jimmy started walking over to the store, clouds flocked over the dazzling sun and the sudden pitch dark meant no trouble. On the other side of the road were three white boys from Jimmy's same school. Upon recognizing Jimmy, the boys ran over the street to where he was. Hey Negro, what's up?, one of the white Boy said. Did your mamma pack you enough to eat to-day?, another hooted. Just leave me alone., Little Jimmy said Oh no, Jimmy's really getting pist off!?, the first boy retaliated. Just shove off and let me be, Jimmy answered. It is like this everyday, everywhere, and everytime, people suffer discrimination. All because they have differences amongst each other. Different beliefs, different cultures, different skin colour, all of these act like building blocks to help construct what we know as Racism. Racism has become one of the many burdens amongst multi-cultural worlds like Canada and the States. Racism is a part of each and every one of us. No doubt, we are all racist, but this the term racism has been used too loosely. Racism has been mutated to such an extent that it could be a reason for war, a symbol of terrorism, and even an excuse for neglecting. Is that all there is to it? No, actually it is just the beginning. Racism is just like warfare in which there is no shelter and nobody is neutral. Nobody is exempt from this demon. He has haunted us with a bitter curse. On one occasion I remember, nobody would play with me at school. I would walk around by myself and ask people if we could play together. Everywhere that I went, like the process of induction, everyone would avoid me. Like two inducted poles with the same polarity, they would just shimmer off into the distance and continue to do whatever they're doing. Because of racial differences, they neglect me. People are afraid of the unknown, and it is this difference amongst people that spread rumors and distrust amongst people. Corrupting our thoughts and reasons, we get accustomed to thinking differences are omens. Amongst smaller kids, there is no difficulty in getting them to all play together. There thoughts are not totally corrupted as others. Probably the demon has no time to bother with smaller children. As children start to grow up, their knowledge of the world increases in astronomical figures. They start to mature and realize the barbarous aspects of life. When this knowledge reaches to a certain point, the demon like racism comes after them. The child begins to understand the term racism and is encouraged to use it in part of there everyday speech. Then when one walks around the school ground, you wouldn't see children from different ethnic groups playing together. They have become insoluble to each other and will never then mix again. Interaction between each other thus terminates. Nobody benefits from this kind of behavior except for the demon that haunts us. Racism, like the demonic figure it has imposed on us is the reason for distrust, disloyal, and discrimination amongst each and every one of us.

The Rise of Fascism and Japanese Imperialism Essay

The Rise of Fascism and Japanese Imperialism - Essay Example The three primary factors were: Japanese militant imperialism, the failure of the League of Nations, and Nazi Germany’s inability to abide by their own treaties. America tried to avoid being directly involved with the military, by assuring its military neutrality at several conferences and through arms deals. Despite America’s proposed neutrality, it did certainly favor its old allies from the days of the First World War, and oppose the spread of fascism. It thus attempted to aid its allies through arms deals such as the lend-lease act, which would provide American made military machinery of various sorts to the British for free in the short term, supposedly expecting repayment in the long term (Brinkley 243). America thus tried to avoid getting directly involved with the conflict while still providing its allies with the materials necessary to win it themselves. America’s attempts to avoid conflict were foiled by several factors, the most notable of which was Ja panese imperialism. The United States and Japan both had significant pacific colonies, with the United States holding Hawaii and the Philippines while Japan had a series of pacific islands. This brought the two nations into conflict, and all but assured that Japan’s imperial aims would eventually come up against American land claims. This conflict led to the proximate cause of America entering the Second World War, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the alliance between Japan and Germany, the attack had to be considered an act of both parties, and the United States was thus directly thrust into the Second World War. Though Japanese imperialism was a proximate cause that directly led to the United States entering the conflict, there were several other factors that would have all but guaranteed that the United States would have eventually had to get involved regardless. One of these was Germany’s lack of honesty and integrity when dealing at peace conference s, especially the Munich conference. At this conference, a European line in the sand was drawn, indicating that Germany’s actions up to that point, such as annexing Austria or Czechoslovakia would be accepted (in part because those, especially Austria, were already in Germany’s sphere of influence and at least partly culturally German). Germany’s technically illegal expansion of its army was also legitimized, in large part because allies had begun to realize how unreasonably harsh their victory conditions after WWI were. The conference also indicated, however, that Germany would not continue future territorial expansions such as invading France or Poland. Germany agreed to this plan, then relatively quickly afterwards, built up their military and invaded Poland. This indicated that Germany’s peace promises could not be trusted, which means that the United States would never feel assured of its safety. The failure of the League of Nations also guaranteed a n eventually entry into the conflict by the United States. The League of Nations was a group proposed by Woodrow Wilson at the close of the First World War as a mechanism to stop future wars: it would be a place both for diplomatic discussions and have military power to engage in defense actions, forcing an armed truce amongst all

Crowdsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crowdsourcing - Essay Example Most studies done on crowdsourcing have focused more on the quality of results and throughput with very or no attention on efficiency or the tradeoff therein. This is because; the number of tasks to be performed is usually very small. Additionally, the tasks performed by users are also small, and as a result, the techniques employed to guarantee result quality and scale the tasks that arise, does not tackle the aspect of efficiency. This paper aims at evaluating existing result-improvement mechanism, and proposes a novel technique that is independent of task complexities and size, but ensures efficiency and a tradeoff between quality of results and efficiency. Keywords: Efficiency; Throughput; Result Quality; Crowdsourcing; Data INTRODUCTION Crowdsourcing is very popular and has become very important for data collection-labeled data- that are dependent on human input to ensure quality of data as demonstrated by reCAPTCHA, Amazon Mechanical Turk, ESP game, and Netflix among others. Cr owdsourcing is the distribution of small chunks of large, complicated tasks to a large community of users over the internet who offers small contributions towards solving or offering a solution (Brabham 2008). In addition to data labeling, crowdsourcing has been utilized in double keying individual words, image labeling, word disambiguation and grading of word pairs that depict relatedness (Sautter & Bohm 2011). There are a number of challenges that arise from crowdsourcing including lack of guarantees for correctness with regards to human inputs. This can be as a result of accidental mistakes resulting from misjudgment or sloppiness. Sometimes, users may cheat to increase their chances of receiving a reward by cheating to reduce their effort. These challenges require development of crowdsourcing techniques that can ensure data quality, efficiency, counter errors, work with very large data sets, and yield high throughput. Previous studies and crowdsourcing mechanisms such as r-Redun dancy, have focused more on working with large tasks, countering errors, yielding high throughput and ensuring data quality (Eckert et al. 2010). This study, however, proposes novel techniques that are independent of task complexities and size but ensure efficiency and enables tradeoff between quality of results and efficiency. THE NEED FOR EFFICIENT CROWDSOURCING TECHNIQUES FOR COMPLEX TASKS Crowdsourcing mechanisms such as r-Redundancy, have focused more on working with large tasks, countering errors, yielding high throughput and ensuring data quality. They have assumed that most users offer meaningful and correct inputs. These mechanisms have ensured data quality, even in the presence of dishonesty, cheating and inability but do not discourage such a behavior (Wauthier & Jordan 2011). Therefore, a mechanism that probes users, is required, one that would not only ensure quality and high throughput, but ensure efficiency, as well. OVERVIEW OF EFFICIENT CROWDSOURCING TECHNIQUES FOR COMPLEX TASKS There are crowdsourcing techniques that combine error countering, data quality enforcement, and large tasks handling. v-Voting is one such mechanism that mostly focuses on countering errors (Alonso et al. 2008). It reduces the required number of inputs unlike r-Redundancy by obtaining inputs from different users and combining them to the final result. There is also Vote Boosting, which is a mechanism that builds on v-Voting to increases throughput