The Mount Everest disaster of 1996 as it happened

The Man Behind Jay Gatsby essays

The Man Behind Jay Gatsby essays In the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, no one really seemed to know the man known as Jay Gatsby. When he was rich and powerful, he was a man everyone "wanted to be well acquainted with." But when he died, life went on without him. It seemed as if nobody cared that he was the man behind the extravagant parties and all the good times. He was dead and nobody mourned or gave any signs of sympathy. This shows the difference of opinions of the great Jay Gatsby throughout the story. He was an icon of not only every man's image of the American Dream, but he was also a part of Americanism and the American Experience. He was seen as the richest and luckiest man during his time. Unlike any of the other characters in the novel, Jay Gatsby does not change during the course of the story. He as a person may not have changed, but the way that people perceived him certainly became different. When he was alive and well, he was the perfect example of the American Dream. "He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray (Fitzgerald 97). This illustrates how he had more money than he knew what to do with. He could afford to have oversized parties every weekend and live the lavish style that he did. Jay Gatsby was the person to know when it came to West Egg. In the beginning, he was only known as Jay Gatz. He was a poor boy who had joined the army. He only had his charm to get him by. With that, he met Daisy. She was a very rich and sheltered girl from a wealthy family. They were in love from the beginning. Unfortunately, Daisy believed overall that security was of more importance than of love. From that moment on, Jay Gatz wanted one thing; to get rich so he could gain Daisy's approval and also to show her that a poor boy can become wealthy. This obsession ate up and de...

Western Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Western Society - Essay Example For instance, the creation of unions such as the National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies which advocated for peaceful approaches (Harrison, 2012). At the time most people, especially men, were opposed to the groups citing the inferior nature of women in the society. The role of the woman at the time was limited to the household setting where they played a lesser role to that of women (Harrison, 2012). From this perspective, the women right to vote was not considered as an option. In addition, women in support of the movement groups were viewed as rebellious and morally and ethically wrong. As technology advanced, the perception on war was based on the assumption that the better a country was technologically equipped with weapons, the more likely they were to win the war. This was a shift from the preference of the proper use of military action. For instance, the invention of nuclear weapons changed the perspective of war (Hopkins, 2007). A country well supplied with nuclear weapons could easily match any conventional military action. For this reason, many countries sort to align themselves with the best and deadliest nuclear weapons. In addition, nations with the resources to develop nuclear weapons were the only parties to enjoy its benefits. Consequently, these changes increased the aims and objectives of imperialism. Rich and more technological advanced nations were able to control and command poor nations. On most occasions, poor nations feared instances of war which they knew they could lose. For instance, the technology available for the United States and the So viet Union increased their global superiority reign (Hopkins, 2007). The escalation of the cold war was in three phases. The first phase began two years after the end of the Second World War. The USSR ensured it controlled states in Eastern Europe while the United States created a global strategy to minimize the significance of the soviets. The U.S supported countries in Western

MIH514 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives Module 1 - SLP Essay

MIH514 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives Module 1 - SLP - Essay Example Besides, immigration laws are relatively friendlier especially with growing number of â€Å"edu-tourism† agencies, which are aggressive in ensnaring would-be students. Of great importance is the enormity of Malaysia’s diversities. Most of what is presently called Malaysia was under the Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, for almost five centuries (from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD). The territory later came under the powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit in the 14th century. Islam started penetrating the Malays in the early part of the 14th century through to the 15th century. By this time, Malaca has become a major commercial centre, where Chinese, Arabs, Malays and Indians traded. Europeans traders (starting with the Portuguese and the Dutch) joined in the 16th century. The British gained control of Malaca from the Dutch in 1826 (www.state.gov). In 1867, Britain formally established control of the land as a colony. After almost a century rule (in 1963), present-day Malaysia created. By 1965, the British colonial administration separated Singapore (with a dominant Chinese population) as an independent country from Malaysia (now with dominant Malay population) given the prevalent tension between the two territorially disaggregated populations (World Almanac Education Group, 2006, 802). Today, Malaysia with a population of about 28 million is considered as one of the most cosmopolitan countries in the world. It a center sustained relationship among Indonesian archipelago, the Islamic world, India, China, and Europe. This makes it one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world with a blend of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian cultures as well as cultures of indigenous groups. Religion strongly correlates with ethnicity in Malaysia. The Malays are largely Muslims, the Chinese are dominantly Buddhists while the

Knowledge Management paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Knowledge Management paper - Essay Example Knowledge is, to an enterprise or an individual, the possession of information or the ability to quickly locate it. This is essentially what Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first comprehensive English dictionary, said when he wrote that: "Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." (Source website http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,sid19_gci212448, 00.html) This knowledge is spread over the length and breadth of the company and may be part of a network, a database, in manually documented files or simply as intellectual capital. When knowledge actually present in the organisation is not structured, it is not leveraged upon and therefore causes redundancies, because of the repetitiveness of the tasks performed to acquire the same knowledge. This creates inefficiencies. Within the evolving dynamic environment in which current businesses operate, the ability to create, acquire, retain and organize knowledge assets and put it to recurring use is highly beneficial. Knowledge does not occur instantly. It takes time, effort and resources to be gained and is therefore valuable. There are numerous ways in which knowledge management has been defined. ... Shared knowledge is vital component of the knowledge management systems. This is not solely the responsibility of the infrastructure alone that serves to transfer explicit knowledge; nor is it a good substitute for transferring tacit knowledge that people are capable of. Why do we need knowledge management Possession of the right knowledge is indispensable in the competitive market place. Companies long neglected the value of knowledge but have now understood the significance of it. The environment is constantly evolving and therefore knowledge must keep pace and be updated. For example when companies lay off workforce, the workers leave with their valuable knowledge. If this knowledge is stored then it is available for the future. Similarly, growth forecasts are predicted by knowledge of customer preferences and changing trends and sufficient knowledge resources will ease the process. Globalisation has done away with geographic boundaries and therefore when similar projects are undertaken across the globe, knowledge sharing allows them to be executed with lesser risks due to practical knowledgeable experiences being available. (Source from website http://www.media-access.com/whatis.html#why) Communities of practice A Community of Practice is a group of individuals who regularly engage in sharing and learning based on their common interests or methods of working. Members of a Cop interact closely leading to better knowledge sharing (Wenger, 1998). CoP's often bridge the gap between documented processes and actual practical feasibilities. There is often a dilemma as to whether existing CoP should be geared to wards the task or whether creation of

Black Death In 14th Century Europe History Essay

Black Death In 14th Century Europe History Essay The plague that we know today as the Black Death was actually a combination of two plagues. The Bubonic plague, the most common and significant of the two, was transmitted to humans by black rats infested with fleas. These fleas carried in them the lethal bacterium Yersinia pestis. The other less common, yet more deadly plague was the Pneumatic plague. This plague occurred when the bacterium spread to the lungs, resulting in severe coughing and easier communication to other humans. The ease with which these plagues were spread led to the infection of a considerably large number of Europeans. The Black Death was a time of great sorrow for most Europeans of the 14th century. During the 14th century, most people did not know where the plague came from. Most saw the plague as a punishment from God for mankinds sins. Today, we know that the plague came from East Asia. The plague came from the trade routes to Europe from some mysterious fountainhead of disease in the East.  [1]  This fountainhead was actually the Mongols. The flea-infected rats carrying the deadly bacterium accompanied the Mongols into central and northwestern China and Central Asia.  [2]  Traders from these regions took the rats with them to the island of Caffa in 1346; the disease quickly spread to Sicily and Italy. The Black Death pushed into southern France and Spain the following year. In 1348, the plague moved over the rest of France and into Germany. By 1349, the plague had moved into England, Scandinavia and northern Europe. In 1351, most of Europe was suffering from the effects of the plague. One of the most significant effects that the Black Death had on Europe was its lethality. From 1347 to 1351, the European population declined by 25 to 50 percent  [3]  The population of Europe at this time is estimated to have been about 75 million people; that is roughly 19 to 38 million people. The cities, whether they were large or small, were especially hit hard by the plague, with a mortality rate near 50 percent. Giovanni Boccaccio later described the plague as it swept over his city (Florence, Italy): No physicians council, no virtue of medicine whatsoever seemed to have an effect or profit against this sickness it spread no less rapidly than fire will spread to dry or oily things that lie close at hand.  [4]  Even the small farming villages suffered a mortality rate of 20 to 30 percent. Sheep and cattle want wandering over fields and through crops, and there was no one to go and drive or gather them.  [5]  The loss of life was so extreme in some areas that they r everted to waste land.  [6]   The Black Death sparked an economic dislocation that swept across Europe. This economical dislocation affected both the nobles and the peasants of Europe. As a result of the declining population, the number of laborers, or peasants, decreased drastically. This labor shortage caused a notable rise in the cost of labor. Although this was beneficial to the peasants, the labor shortage effectively lowered the standards of living for many aristocrats. The income of the landlords went down as their tenants decreased in number; their overhead kept going up.  [7]  The landlords did not like this, of course, and put forth efforts to lower peasants status back down while trying to increase their own status. In 1351, the English Parliament passed the Statute of Laborers, which attempted to limit wages to preplague levels and forbid the mobility of peasants as well. Although such laws proved largely unworkable, they did keep waged from rising as high as they might have in a free market.  [ 8]  This, along with new taxes, further strained the relationship between the aristocracy and the peasants. The aristocrats declining status paired with the peasants increasing status led to a social upheaval. As peasants became wealthier and gained more social status, they began to question the superiority of the nobles. This inevitably led to revolts. In the revolt known as the Jacquerie, French peasants rose up against the nobility because the nobility of France, knights and squires, were disgracing and betraying the realm.  [9]  They argued that it would be a good thing if they were all destroyed.  [10]  Landlords in England spurred a revolt by the issuance of a poll tax on adult peasants. The peasants refused to pay the poll tax and staged an uprising against the aristocracy. The revolt was initially successful as the rebels burned down the manor houses of aristocrats, lawyers, and government officials and murdered several important officials, including the archbishop of Canterbury.  [11]   The Black Death had a few lasting effects on Western Europe. One of the most important effects it had on Western Europe was its devastation of the European population. The European population thus did not begin to recover until around 1500 and took several generations after that to reattain thirteenth-century levels.  [12]  The social upheaval caused by the Black Death also shaped the future of Western Europe.Nevertheless, the rural and urban revolts of the fourteenth century ushered in an age of social conflict that characterized much of later European history.  [13]  The Black Death effectively altered the course of history for Western Europe and quite possibly the whole world.

Dbq Response Spread of Buddhism in China

Megan Cissell AP World-4 George October 14, 2012 Document Based Question After analyzing the documents I was given, I believe there is both a positive and negative response to the spread of Buddhism in China. Over time the response became more and more negative than positive. People were getting used to the spread of Buddhism because they knew that it wasn’t going away anytime soon. The background information I was given explains that since China was unstable at this time Confucianism was on the decline which made Buddhism easier to rise. Document one does not really state a response to the spread of Buddhism in China.This document is just three of the four noble truths that the Buddha preached. This document does not go into any grouping that I have because it does not explain anything about the spread of Buddhism. Certain documents had a positive response to the spread. One of the documents was summarizing the fourth noble truth that the Buddha preached, but it also explaine d the goal of Buddhism (Document 2). Another example of a positive response is the one that explains how Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha are alike in what they wanted for their respective religions.They all three wanted the same, but it was the difference in time periods that set them apart (Document 5). The next document I am going to explain is both positive and negative. The answers that are used are more positive than the questions, but still have a negative side to them. This document explains how Confucian classics do not contain everything so they ask why there is suspicion that Buddhism is so bad. The person talks about Buddha as a unicorn compared to other sages as a white deer; however, white deer are rare and unicorns are unreal. This person is saying that the Buddha does not really exist so why should Buddhism.The questions in this document are more negative because it talks about how if Buddhism is so great then why didn’t Confucius practice it. The questions al so point out that monks do not marry or have families, they only care about goodness and wisdom, which is not part of Chinese culture (Document 3). However to the positives also bring some negatives. Although, one of the documents has a negative response by saying that the Buddha does not conform to the Chinese culture, the scholar took greatly to Buddhism because he knows it will continue to spread until later when China becomes more stable and Confucianism returns.He is basically saying that why should Buddhism be honored if it has not originated in China. I believe that there is some bias in this excerpt because the person writing it is a Confucian scholar. (Document 4). Document 4 and document 6 tie together because they were written about the same time. This document talks about how Buddhism is an infection to China and is spreading like a vine throughout the country. He also says the country will suffer because people will stop their jobs to follow the Buddha.Buddhism in his w ords are like weeds, they don’t stop growing even if you pull them they grow back again and again. This excerpt also states how scared China was of the spread and how it could change the Chinese culture (Document 6). Additional pieces that I could use are the reports and consultations of the general public. These would be helpful to see how it impacted the whole country of China through the eyes of the public not just people that have power in the courts.