Essay --

Of mice and men is a novella written by Steinbeck in the 1930’s at the time of the American great depression. Two migrant workers George and Lennie are the protagonists; through these characters Steinbeck highlights many themes. The themes presented in this novel can be compared with those in the ‘Moon on the Tides’ Anthology poems for example ‘Brothers’, ‘Farmer’s Bride’ and ‘In Paris with You’. ‘Brothers’ written by Andrew Forster is an autobiographical poem and is written in three stanzas which account for three different stages in the narrators’ afternoon. This poem explores the relationship between two siblings which can subsequently be compared with George and Lennie’s relationship. The ‘Farmers Bride’ is another poem which can be compared with ‘Of Mice and Men’ this poem explores the nature of the famers ‘bride’ and can also be interpreted to indicate that the poem is a metaphor for the way women are treated in Mews society? Charlotte Mew lived through the First World War and the women suffrage therefore it can be collated that her writing was influenced by the events in her time both historically and socially. In addition to this her personal life has an impact too as she made a pact never to marry because her family went through a tough time- they were mentally ill. Therefore she did not want insanity to be passed on to her children. Nonetheless Mew was bisexual and in her time period homosexuality was illegal, these things in her time period could be considered a source of stimulation for the deception in the poem. The third poem which links with ‘Of Mice and Men’ is ‘Hour’ by Carol Ann Duffy which explores the nature of love not typical richness of love but how spending time with a loved one is priceless and valuable. ... ...traditional desires of love, the narrator portrays the idea that nature is more valuable than typical materialistic things eg; ‘spend it not on flowers...but.. Sky and a grass ditch’ many similes, oxymoron’s, metaphors are used in the poem alongside enjaments to suggest that the narrator hasn’t enough time, her treasure is time. The short sentences used are pauses to perhaps show how the narrator is stressing time. ‘like treasure.. limbs gold’ is a simile used which refers to the richness of spending time with someone. Compared with ‘Of Mice and Men’ George and Lennie don’t have the luxuries of being good friends but make the most of things ‘guys like us.. no family...you got me.. i got you...’ however oppositely Lennie is overwhelmed by his dream to have rabbits and the alfalfa-materialistic things he thinks by achieving this dream himself and George can be happy.

A Study of Warfare in Europe Between 1300 and 1500 Essay

Since the introduction of gunpowder into Europe, it has gone on to dominate warfare into the twentieth century. With the development of the first European guns in the fourteenth century, armies were given use of a weapon which was to radically alter most of the ways of making war which had been established during the Middle Ages, and changes began to be seen within only a few years. It is, however, questionable whether the nature of these early changes constituted a revolution in the methods of war, and even more so whether guns had by 1500 made a great deal of impact on the character of war as it had existed in 1300. In assessing whether a revolution had taken place (or at least whether one was in the process of happening) by 1500, it is necessary to examine three areas: the effectiveness of guns during the period; the extent of their use in conflicts; and finally the changes which resulted from the employment of the new weapons in war. The first reliable sources which assert the existence of guns appeared in the 1320s, and from the late 1330s the number of references to them rose dramatically. The early guns were of large calibre and used almost exclusively for sieges, although as early as Crà ©cy in 1346, the English â€Å"fired off some cannons which they had brought to the battle to frighten the Genoese.† Guns were made in one of two ways. Firstly, there were cast metal guns, usually of bronze, which were made at the foundry. These were usually the better weapons because they were made of a single piece of metal and therefore were less likely to burst apart on firing. The second method was arranging wrought iron strips into tubes which were then bound together with iron hoops in much the same way as barrels were made. The advantage of these guns was that iron was a much cheaper metal than bronze (but could not be cast), but being made of many pieces faults were more likely to develop, causing either the release of explosive pressure through the sides of the barrel and therefore a reduction in the power of the shot, or even the complete bursting of the gun. This structural weakness was compounded by the inclusion of a detachable breech (such guns were far easier to build) which often detached itself on the discharging of the weapon. Despite their lack of quality, however, iron guns were the more numerous due to their comparative cheapness, although smaller guns tended to be made chiefly from bronze both because of the difficulties of constructing small guns from iron  strips, and because they required less metal than the great bombards. The sizes and types multiplied from their modest beginnings until there were guns ranging in size and type from great bombards used for reducing entire cities, to handguns used as anti-personnel weapons. The early role played by artillery was in sieges, where its effectiveness was soon widely appreciated. â€Å"Broadly speaking, the use of guns meant that sieges could be brought to a conclusion much more quickly.† Cannons, with the ability to throw stones with great force over a flatter trajectory and with more accuracy than the old siege engines, could bring an end to a siege in a few weeks where previously it might have taken several months. In 1437, the castle of Castelnau-de-Cernà ¨s was â€Å"broken down during the said siege by cannon and engines, and a great part of the walls of the same thrown to the ground, so that it was in no way defensible against the king’s enemies.† On occasion, the mere presence of bombards could be enough to induce swift surrender, cities preferring capitulation to large-scale destruction by cannon fire. As artillery was added to armies in increasing amounts during the 1400s, wars became far more fast-moving affairs. The French employed artillery on a large scale in reducing the English fortresses in Normandy and Gascony, while huge, cumbersome bombards were used to good effect by the Spanish in the Reconquista. Such was the effectiveness of artillery by 1500 that Machiavelli could declare that â€Å"No wall exists, however thick, that artillery cannot destroy in a few days.† The successes which the early guns had in siege warfare led to the bombard being a vital part of any country’s armoury. The use of the counterweight trà ©buchet, which had been in existence in Roman times, failed to decline until the 1380s and was still listed as an active weapon in some French arms inventories until the 1460s. This shows the gradual nature of the introduction of gunpowder artillery (perhaps caused by shortages of materials for the cannons or unwillingness to invest in them when a prince already owned trà ©buchets), but there was little doubt that guns were becoming by far the better siege weapons. Their importance gave rise to a kind of ‘arms race’ in France in particular, with cities in the contested areas of the Hundred Years War assigning the acquisition of guns a high  priority. Charles the Bold’s army included a substantial artillery element in his war with the Swiss (although he was perhaps not a good enough general to make effective use of it), while in 1494, Charles VIII invaded Italy with â€Å"†¦an army of 18,000 men and a horse-drawn siege-train of at least forty guns. Even contemporaries realised that this marked a new departure in warfare: in 1498 the Venetian Senate declared that ‘the wars of the present time are influenced more by the force of bombards and artillery than by men at arms’.† Despite their undoubted worth, however, artillery did have a number of disadvantages at this time. Perhaps the main one of these is the chronic difficulty of moving the heavy guns, especially over land. Philip the Good of Burgundy experienced such problems in his war with Ghent in 1452-3: â€Å"Such was the weight of a great bombard which he borrowed from the town of Mons that all the bridges between Mons and Lille had to be strengthened with iron supports for its passage. During the journey, the gun fell into a ditch, and took two days to be extricated by men using lifting equipment specially constructed for the purpose.† Transport was easier by river, but clearly this limited the movement of the artillery. It is partly because of these transport problems that artillery (with the exception of handguns) was used little during open field battles. Particularly when manoeuvring was of critical importance to an army, the last thing a commander would want would be to have to wait for the artillery, which would be slower than the rest of his force, and be unlikely to be able to move away from roads. Due to a lack of enthusiasm for such a cumbersome battlefield weapon, field artillery developed little in the early days of gunpowder, and the large cannons which were used on battlefields tended to be immobile siege guns which had been hastily adapted. Not only did the lack of mobility of cannons cause problems for armies on the march, but it also restricted their usefulness on the battlefield itself. The absence of effective gun carriages meant that artillery tended to be fixed rather than able to be aimed, the guns being mounted on wooden frames or simply positioned on mounds of earth. Their slow rate of fire (not only because of the time taken to load them, but because it took time for the  guns to cool down between shots) and their limited range at this time was another weakness, which led to them being easily overrun. Soldiers could wait at the limit of the guns’ range until the first salvo had been fired, then charge, reaching them well before the next shots could be fired, and disable the guns. The weaknesses of artillery on the battlefield were such that, â€Å"Even during the second half of the fifteenth century cannons were only used occasionally in pitched battles.† Handguns were of more use on the battlefield, having none of the transport problems of the heavy artillery and having a great deal in common with the crossbow, a weapon of proven worth. Like the crossbow, the handgun was a specialised anti-personnel weapon, and was ideal for firing at large exposed masses of soldiers where it could inflict considerable damage. The advantages which handguns had over crossbows was their superior hitting power, (of which Pope Pius II remarked, â€Å"No armour can withstand the blow of this torment, and even oaks are penetrated by it,†) and their relative cheapness due to the simplicity of their construction. As their accuracy improved and the numbers of trained marksmen increased, they came to supersede the crossbows in European armies, but by 1500 this process was by no means complete, the two weapons frequently working side-by-side in battles. While the slow rate of fire of handguns meant they could not stand independently in battle and needed the support of troops armed with close-combat weapons, they became an accepted auxiliary weapon in many armies. Despite the increased use of gunpowder weapons in battle, they were by no means always successful. Superiority in artillery was no guarantee of victory, as Charles the Bold discovered at Grandson and Morat in 1476. At Agincourt, the French gunners were pushed to one side by their own men at arms and played no significant role in the course of the battle. There are, however, examples of the successes of guns in battle, hinting at the success they were to achieve in the future. The Battle of Castillon in 1453 showed the devastating effects of crossfire: â€Å"Talbot imprudently attacked the [French] camp which led to the intervention of the French battery commanded by Giraud de Samian, a highly respected cannoneer. ‘He grievously injured  them because with each shot five or six fell dead to the ground’.† With the increased use of guns, deaths and injuries caused by them came to be recorded in greater number: â€Å"In 1442, John Payntour, an English esquire, was killed by a culverin shot at La Rà ©ole. Four years previously, Don Pedro, brother of the king of Castile, had been decapitated by a gunshot during the siege of the castle of Capuana at Naples†¦In April 1422, one Michael Bouyer, esquire, was languishing in prison at Meaux, ‘gravely ill and mutilated in one of his legs by a cannon shot, in such a way that he cannot aid himself’†¦It was becoming obvious that the gun could not only batter down fortifications, but could kill, and kill selectively from afar.† It is clear that by 1500, guns had come to be an everyday part of European armies. While the use of firearms on the battlefield tended to be limited to handguns, these were gradually replacing the older bows as the main auxiliary shot weapon. Cannons had made a huge impact on the conduct of siege warfare, bringing sieges to an end comparatively swiftly, and becoming indispensable in great armies. Although there were bound to be initial troubles with what was after all a relatively new weapon, notable successes were being recorded, especially in sieges, and the gun was definitely here to stay. To constitute a revolution, though, the growing use of such weapons would have to have changed not only the methods of making war, but also the outcome and the character of conflicts. What, then, were the consequences of the increased use of gunpowder? One of the largest series of changes happened in the area where the new guns were at their most effective, that of siege warfare. The advantages which a defending army could gain by hiding within fortifications had been understood for a long time. During the ‘High Middle Ages’, the war zones of Western Europe had become studded with castles and forts, and wars came to be characterised not by swift manoeuvre and open field battles, but more through long, drawn-out sieges. The failure of an attacking army to take a castle was likely to cause it a great deal of problems. If bypassed by an army, a defending garrison could retake control of the surrounding countryside from its secure central base and conduct raids on the enemy’s army and supplies (especially as fortifications tended to be located at  communications centres). Failure to take a large number of castles could result in their garrisons uniting to form an army capable of defeating the enemy force in the open field. In short, territory could not be conquered without gaining control of the fortifications within it. The effect of the introduction of effective siege guns with the capability of breaching the walls of castles was to bring the advantage in siege warfare away from defence and more towards the attacking force. With guns able to bring about the capitulation of fortresses within a few weeks or even a few days, there was a diminishing prospect of the defending country being able to organise an army in time to relieve the besieged. It would seem that the introduction of cannons had, for a time at least, called into question the efficacy of defence by small, dispersed garrisons defending fortifications. Had the use of siege guns not produced a defensive reaction, it seems possible that the castle could have been made redundant and defensive armies driven to do battle in the open field on equal terms with their adversaries. Attacking innovation, however, did produce defensive reaction, which in turn provoked counter-reaction from besiegers, and this greatly altered the nature of siege warfare during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Guns, of course, were not exclusively weapons of attack. Defensive firearms were an early experiment which had some effect in maintaining some sort of defensability of fortifications in two ways. Firstly, by firing at the besieging army from the castle walls, defensive marksmen and cannoneers could take advantage of the short range of early guns by making it very hard to position bombards close enough to the walls to cause damage. By refusing to give the besieging army the freedom to position guns wherever they liked, the defenders could in this way keep the enemy at ‘arms length’. The second way in which guns could be used to defend fortifications was not to defend the walls from destruction by cannon fire, but to provide crossfire against enemy troops when the time came for them to attempt to storm the castle, a function which crossbows were able to perform, but were of inferior effectiveness and more expensive than handguns. This use of defensive firearms caused changes in the way in which attackers  approached sieges. Guns being fired into the besiegers’ camp necessitated the greater use of cover, in particular for the bombards which were placed nearest to the castle walls for much of the siege. To this end, trenches were dug and wooden shields or hoardings were constructed to protect the soldiers and their guns. Trenches provided some degree of effective protection against most weapons, while the hoardings gave protection to the guns, which usually had to be positioned in more exposed locations in order that they could target the walls before them, against everything but powerful firearms. â€Å"Jean de Bueil could advocate the siting of a besieger’s camp before a beleaguered fortress on the model of the fortified entrenchments dug at Maulà ©on, Guissen, Cherbourg, Dax, and Castillon fifteen years before. Trenches, he wrote, were to be dug from one part of the siege to another, covered by hoardings. Ease of contact and movement between the units of the encircling forces could thus be ensured.† Further success could be gained by the besieging forces by employing not only large bombards to break down the walls, but also smaller guns to pick off individual defending troops. This would not only prevent defensive gunners from having the luxury of completely free shots at their enemies, but would limit the effectiveness of attempts to repair breaches in the walls. The use of guns in both attack and defence produced perhaps the biggest changes in siege warfare in the form of changes to the fortifications themselves. The castles which existed before the widespread use of cannons were ill-suited to withstand the accurate and powerful impact of cannonballs. Trebuchà ©ts had been of more use in lobbing stones over the walls to cause damage inside castles than in actually causing breaches, and so the walls were built tall and flat so as to be better able to resist being scaled by soldiers. Such walls provided a large target for cannon fire, and their flatness meant that the full force of the shot was directed straight into them. Rather than rebuild entire castles, lords were often forced through reasons of cost to opt for the next-best solution of adaptation. Scarping the walls with banks of earth or masonry was tried in an attempt both to thicken the walls, and to turn the blows of cannons into more glancing shots, with the added bonus that sloping walls meant that siege ladders became ineffective. While it was a sound theory to avoid  square-on impacts from cannonballs, scarping was of limited value, and where this was an adaptation to an older castle, in many cases it weakened the walls by placing extra weight on them. Gunports were a further adaptation to fortifications which occurred as a result of the introduction of guns. These were holes put in the walls of the castles, often where arrow slits had been, to allow small guns to be fired from a position of relative safety. They were frequently positioned in the towers or gatehouses of castles to provide flanking fire along the walls where it was anticipated any attacking soldiers would have to stop before being able to push on into the castle. This modification was quite cheap and easy to put in place, and was used across Europe. One method of improving the efficacy of defensive fire both against attacking troops and forces sitting back and besieging was the greater use of defensive outworks built of earth or masonry. Not only could this ‘forward defensive’ strategy force enemy guns further back from the castle proper, but it also provided a further opportunity to enfilade soldiers as they advanced. Boulevards or artillery towers could be built in ditches forward of the walls with a clear line of fire along the trench. As the enemy soldiers advanced, they would have to spend time negotiating the ditch during which the fire from the outworks could take its toll. â€Å"At Dax, Guissen and Cadillac, in 1449 and 1451, the French encountered heavy resistance from such outer works constructed by the defenders.† The ultimate defence against besiegers armed with guns, though, was the fortification based on the angled bastion. It was this defence which was coming increasingly into use by 1500 which decisively swung the balance of power back in favour of the defenders. The bastion was essentially a gun platform for siting heavy guns which needed the freedom to be turned and fired against the enemy camp wherever it was in relation to the castle, a freedom which could not be obtained firing through gunports. These towers were thrust forward of the walls to keep the enemy back and were built the same height as the rest of the castle (unlike traditional towers), perhaps to facilitate the movement of guns around the walls, or perhaps because of the high cost of taller towers. The entire structure was squat, making it a smaller target and allowing the guns at the top of the walls to maintain fire at targets close to the foot of the fortification, and scarped to produce more glancing blows from cannonballs. This last objective was also achieved by projecting the bastions at a different angle to the rest of the wall, so that in effect only the wall would receive square-on blows. It could be said that round castles and round towers would present no flat surfaces to be hit squarely, but to build such fortifications would make flanking fire along the walls at best difficult. Round bastions were built, but left dead ground where guns could not reach, while entire castles built on a circular model would need many projecting towers to provide fire along the walls. With the angled bastion, fire could be given along the entire base of the tower from guns positioned in the walls, while fire along the walls could be provided from gunports in alcoves in the bastion. It seemed for a while that the destructive power of cannons would lead to a decisive shift towards the attackers in siege warfare which would perhaps bring an end to the dominant role of fortifications in warfare. However, defensive tactics adapted to the situation in a number of ways, ensuring the survival of the castle and the siege. It can be said, though, that although the nature of warfare overall was not changed, the nature of sieges changed significantly as a result of the use by both attackers and defenders of gunpowder weapons, and because a new type of castle had been born. If guns provided a temporary revolution in the balance of sieges, then the bastion was equally as revolutionary in restoring the old balance. â€Å"By resisting the new artillery and providing platforms for heavy guns [the bastion] revolutionised the defensive-offensive pattern of warfare.† While cannons produced many changes in the conduct of sieges, changes of similar magnitude cannot be seen in open field warfare. Cannons, lacking effective carriages to allow them to keep pace with their armies and to manoeuvre on the battlefield, were little used until the late fifteenth century. Handguns, despite coming to be as accepted a weapon as the crossbow, failed to produce any noteworthy changes. Possessing greater hitting power than the crossbow, but similar weaknesses, including slow rate  of fire, they were unable to establish themselves as anything more than an auxiliary weapon. While the Swiss were to use handguns in their successful pike square formations, their role could be (and often was) performed equally well by crossbowmen, and European armies continued to be based on knightly cavalry and close-combat infantry. The handgun of the fifteenth century was simply another auxiliary shot weapon, and, â€Å"The arquebus, or match-lock musket, did not finally oust the crossbow from French armies until 1567.† Nonetheless, the importance of guns increased during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries until they became an essential part of major wars. One of the results of this was to make war a much more large-scale thing in terms of money, and to put serious warfare (involving conquest and therefore sieges) out of reach of the pockets of anybody but princes. Artillery was very expensive. â€Å"It was one thing, in accordance with ancient ways, to expect a man at arms to come to the host equipped with his own horses and armour, but no one, in the new conditions of war, expected a master of artillery to provide his own cannon.† On a national level, the introduction of guns further widened the gap in military potential between rich and poor countries, underlining the superiority of countries like France over countries like the Italian states. It can be asked to what extent gunpowder weapons revolutionised notions of chivalry and whether the attitudes of people altered as a result of their experiences of the new guns. There is a good deal of late mediaeval literature which shows that many people despised them. They were an indiscriminate weapon which had no respect for social status, meaning that princes could now be killed from afar by peasants and artisans. This went against the traditional chivalric notion of individual combat among equals. Guns were also seen as cowardly, because of the belief that the gunner, hiding behind the smoke from his gun, did not put himself in mortal danger by firing, yet could still take the lives of others. Many saw guns as being instruments of the devil, with the noise and fire created being seen as having come from Hell itself. A popular attitude during the early days of guns in Europe is shown by Cervantes when he wrote, blessed be those happy  ages that were strangers to the dreadful fury of these devilish instruments of artillery, whose inventor I am satisfied is now in Hell, receiving the reward of his cursed invention, which is cause that very often a cowardly base hand takes away the life of the bravest gentleman; and that in the midst of that vigour and resolution which animates and inflames the bold, a chance bullet (shot perhaps by one who fled, and was frightened by the very flash the mischievous piece gave, when it went off) coming nobody knows how, or from where, in a moment puts a period to the brave designs and the life of one that deserved to have survived many years†¦ It is unlikely, however, that this attitude was held by the majority of people at the time. Shot weapons were nothing new, and had been in existence and used on a large scale for many years. There was little difference between a knight being killed by an arquebus or by a longbow. The large-scale use of guns by most European armies demonstrates that while there might have been some degree of chauvinism against firearms, princes were still quite prepared to use them, and indeed the church positively encouraged their use at a time when the Turkish threat to Christendom was increasing. There is little evidence that captured gunners were treated any differently to any other captured commoners (and by 1500 it was by no means guaranteed that gunners would not in fact be noble), and overall, society had little difficulty in accepting the place of artillery in modern warfare. Guns were ‘domesticated’ and given names, taking on characters of their own, and, â€Å"By the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the early modern era, gunpowder weaponry had simply become a feature of everyday life. Guns had become so conventional that they began to be used in celebrations, in fashion, and in crime. Ultimately, guns even became virility symbols.† This growing acceptance represents in part a change in attitudes brought about by the realisation that guns were of considerable use, but mainly it is a result of the rather superficial nature of chivalry at that time. There was a tendency for people only to behave according to the rules of chivalry when either it suited them to or when they could afford to. Princes, when faced with an adversary armed with artillery could not afford to confine themselves to criticising such ‘bad sportsmanship’ but had to respond in kind, an option which they were more than willing to take. In assessing whether gunpowder’s introduction caused revolutionary changes in Europe before 1500, it is necessary not only to examine the specific changes which arose, but moreover to assess whether warfare in 1300 had significantly changed in character by 1500 as a result of the use of guns. The answer to this has to be a definite no. The armies of 1500 made extensive use of guns, but these had not revolutionised the makeup of armed forces. The dominance of cavalry had persisted throughout the two centuries, and its only serious challenge had come in the late fifteenth century with the pike square, which by no means relied on guns. While the use of cannons had transformed the methods used in conducting sieges, only temporarily had there been the prospect of altering the nature of war away from the innumerable fortress battles which characterised the period. Gunpowder weapons had failed to bring an end to the siege as an important aspect of war, and could only act as a supplem entary weapon on the battlefield. Overall, despite the numerous changes which the increasing use of guns had caused, it is possible to agree with J. R. Hale’s assertion: â€Å"Gunpowder, in short, revolutionised the conduct but not the outcome of wars.†

Wid and Gad

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (WID) APPROACH AND THE GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD) Gender by definition refers to the characteristics, trades, attributes or even roles that are expected for males and females by a given culture or society. Some can say the general social meaning of being male or female. The WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (WID) this approach was developed in the early 1970’s this came to use during the United Nation Decade of women (1972-1985).This approach viewed women as passive beneficiaries of the development according to Miller, C and Razavi, S 1995 , in actual fact there was a growing realization that women were being left out of the economic development or that they were not benefiting significantly from it. The WID therefore views women’s lack o participation as the main problem. While on the other hand the GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD) approach emerged in the early 1980’s , it emerged from the limitations of both the WID and WAD (WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT) its main objective was to remove disparities in social, economic and political equality between men and women.Back to the WID it mainly focused on women, the approach seeks to integrate women into economic development through legal and administrative support. The WID approach has enhanced peoples und erstanding of the women’s developmental needs particularly the need to improve statistical measures of women’s work and to provide women with more opportunities for education and employment. WID has helped mainstream gender issues in many developed agencies and polices as well as increase women’s visibility. However the GAD approach argues that women’s status in society is in the national, regional and global economies .It is not just on moment but also on the social relations between women and men, be it the workplace or in other settings. Gender relations are seen as the key determinant of women’s position in society , not as immutable reflections of order but as socially constructed patterns of behavior. The GAD approach sees gender division of labour the work done by women in the household. Women are usually in a disadvantage position in the work place as compared to men , promotion of gender equality implies explicit attention to women’ s needs , interest and perspectives .The GAD approach looks at the impact of development on both women and men, it seeks to ensure that both men and women participate in and benefit from development. However the GAD also recognizes that women’s may be involved in development but not necessarily benefit from it (Moyoyeta, 2004). The GAD also pays special attension to the oppression of women in the family or the â€Å"family sphere† of women’s lives as a result we have seen projects develop addressing issues such as domestic violence, and violence against women. The GAD approach assumptions were that they were unequal power ratios between man and womenPrevents equitable developments (Makombe, 2010) Moreover the biggest contribution of GAD is the inclusion of man into the approach, it does not exclusively emphasize the solidarity of women. This approach acknowledges that women spent a lot of time bearing, raising children , cooking , washing , fetching water caring for the sick and elderly attending to fields and small stock. It also observes that women have no control over their fertility and over productive resources. It also helped us to understand that the gender division of labor gives triple roles thus the reproductive productive and community to women in society.The WID had the following limitations that however as already mentioned led to the formation of the GAD, the limitations of the WID are by exclusively targeting women WID creates tension, suspicion and hostility. It also does not challenge gender relations and assumes that these will change as women become economic partners in development. Furthermore the approach focuses on integration of women into ongoing development strategies. In as much as the GAD was a better approach to WID it also had its limitations, the GAD advocates for the re-examination or deconstruction of gender roles hence it is likely to depend on the goodwill of men.In a nutshell the GAD approach was a better approach to the WID; therefore the gad approach liberates, empowers and promotes partnership and equitable distribution of resources and benefits. WHICH OF THE TWO APPROACHES HAS CONTRIBUTED MORE TO INVOLVEMENT OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT [4] The WID approach hoped to bring women into development through providing them with opportunities for employment or engaging them in income generating projects. This would, as it were, remove them from the private sphere into the public sphere.The GAD approach goes beyond seeing development as mainly economic well being but also that the social and mental well being of a person is important. It should also be noted that the biggest contribution of GAD is the inclusion of men into the approach. The approach brings in the part played by some women in perpetuating gender inequality when these women connive with patriarchy to exploit, subordinate and oppress young women in the third world. Women in Development wanted to remove patriarchy and replace it with matriarchy as they believed that every man has a woman to exploit, oppress and subordinate.GAD concentrate more on the idea that women must be lifted from poverty and contribute more to the developments efforts. It argues that women have a role to play both in reproduction and in production process, it acknowledges their economic roles and class decisions for development to take place. GAD argues that understanding women and men`s roles and responsibilities as part of the planning of development interventions helps to improve project effectiveness and ensures that both men and women plays their part in national development activities.GAD approach does not only concentrate on economic development for women and men only but it also views the social and mental being of person as very important. 1. Boserup, E (1970) Women's Role in Economic Development. St. Martin’s Press, New York 2. Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden, (2000) Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions, ins titute of Development, Brighton 3. Schaefer, RT 2006 , Sociology: A brief introduction, 6th Ed , McGraw Hill, New York. 4. Makombe K . (2010) â€Å"Young Women Speak† Sable Press : Harare 5.MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY Faculty of Science and Technology Name Christine T Mhike Reg Number R12960Y Programme BSc Computer Science Mode of Entry Conventional ModuleGS 201 – Gender Studies Lecturer Mrs Mukoni Level 2. 1 Due date22 March 2013

Social Influences on Childhood Obesity

Overweight and obese children are a major problem in the United States and the rates are unfortunately rising, especially in children. Obesity is the leading cause for health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, gallstones, depression, anxiety, poor academic performance, and many other long-term health problems especially if obesity occurs early in life. I believe this is a social issue because the major causes of obesity are diet and lifestyle. In America, the diet consists of fried and greasy foods such as fast foods, the lifestyle lacks enough physical activities that are necessary to increase the metabolism and prevent weight gain that leads to obesity. The children of the United States spend much more time watching TV or playing video games than doing activities that include physical exercise, such as sports, running, hiking, biking, or even just walking. Obesity in children in America is a problem. The sociological factors that cause obesity in children include sociocultural evolution and built environments, especially the advancement of technology, and social control which includes media, advertisements, and peer-pressure. More than one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 are now considered overweight. The issue of obesity is related to the obvious factor of over eating and also the lack of physical activity. American families over feed their children without realizing it because they want to make sure their children are not hungry or starving. Our bodies adjust their need and requirement of food based on the amount we regularly eat, therefore over feeding children in their early years increases their need for food throughout their lifetime. Food and over eating can become an addiction, which leads to obesity and many health problems. â€Å"If the definition of addiction is the habitual use or uncontrollable craving for something, then we (Americans) are addicted to food. Food is the drug of preference in this country. † (Freeman-Fobbs 2003: 95). Other factors also contribute to childhood obesity. Family demographics, parenting beliefs and practices, child television watching and physical activity have all evidenced associations with behaviors that can lead to early obesity. † (Gable and Lutz, 2000: 49). Sociocultural evolution is a factor that contributes to childhood obesity because of the drastic increase in technology or material resources that are replaced with physical activity. Another sociological conce pt is social control; parents conform or go along with the social norms which could be certain behaviors or beliefs that contribute to lifestyles leading to obesity in children. The built environment in today’s American society, children have an abundant amount variety of video games and television shows to choose from for their entertainment. The built environment can both facilitate and hinder physical activity and healthful eating. Sociocultural evolution refers to the changes that human society undergoes over time by developing new means that are used to fulfill necessities and wishes. All the material resources that are available cause the children to stay indoors most of the time and therefore limit physical activities, such as sports or other outdoors activities. Research shows that spending one hour per day in front of the television or playing video games may double the child’s risk for obesity. Screen time is widely blamed for the tripling of obesity rates in children since the 1980s. According to the Surgeon General, in 1999 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight; this prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades, the same time period in which technology has greatly advanced. Technology gives rise to a sedentary lifestyle not only indoor but even in outdoor activities. Children today seem less likely to walk to school and to be traveling more in cars than they were during the early 1970s, perhaps because of changes in the built environment; children also spend more time viewing television and using computers. † (Anderson and Butcher, 2006: 16) Parents drive children to school instead of letting them walk; kids ride motorized car s and scooters rather than pedal bikes; teens manipulate a joystick instead of a baseball bat. One may argue that technology provides value, convenience and entertainment, but it should be utilized in moderation and definitely not take the place of movement and active play. Another sociological factor that contributes to childhood obesity is social control. Social control is the society’s attempt to regulate people’s thoughts and behaviors. Parents are usually guilty of giving in or conforming to certain behaviors that put their children at risk for obesity. For example, a parent might be aware of the fact that video games create an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. If the child insists that he or she needs those games because all their friends have them as well; the parent is very likely to give in to this peer pressure and buy the video games. These parents don’t want to be different from other parents, or they don’t want to be thought of as ‘bad parents’ because they don’t buy their kids these ‘cool games’ that all the other kids have. Eating unhealthy foods such as fast-foods and a lot of sugars is another factor that leads to childhood obesity. This is also an issue of social control, since the foods that people see as easily available in this country such as fast-food and pre-prepared foods are highly promoted socially via the media. School lunch programs also fail to provide healthy and nutritious foods for children, and many children prefer to buy lunch at school rather than have lunch packed at home, because they might be seen as different if they don’t eat the same thing that all the other kids are eating. Changes in the family, particularly an increase in dual-career or single-parent working families have also increased the demand for food away from home or pre-prepared foods, which can lead to obesity in children. Advertisements for these foods air often during television shows which children watch often, making the children crave and request that their parents get them these foods. Social control regarding the foods that our children eat is therefore manifested in many different ways, with media and peer-pressure being the biggest factors. Childhood obesity is greatly influenced by sociological factors and it must be prevented to avoid illnesses that can become critical in childhood and have damaging effects the rest of one’s life. The sociological factors that cause obesity in children include sociocultural evolution and built environments. These are all very complex sociocultural issues that can sometimes be hard to identify by people who are caught up in everyday life routines. Therefore, there is no simple solution to preventing and ending childhood obesity; it takes a lot of effort and major lifestyle changes for the entire family; for example, cooking more meals at home, using organic foods which can be more expensive sometimes, limiting sweets especially for children, limiting screen time, and increasing outdoor physical activities. Making these changes usually takes a lot of hard work and persistence. Kids may refuse to eat healthier foods and be more active, especially if they are in their middle or late childhood years. Writing this paper has made me even more aware of how the society plays such a big role in the issue of obesity in children. Before writing this paper I would have said that the number one factor leading to obesity in children is bad parenting, but after analyzing all the sociocultural issues I can say that our society and lifestyle are the number one factor. Parents do play a major role by the way they raise their children. The statistics are very sad in terms of how rapidly this issue is increasing in this country.

Market Research Proposal, With questionnaire (NO PRIMARY DATA Essay

Market Research Proposal, With questionnaire (NO PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION REQUIRED) - Essay Example A survey by Ernst and Young conducted amongst 23 matured and emerging market that were negatively affected by the credit crunch suggested that the customers of UK are seen to have low level of confidence on the banking system. About 63% has reported that their trust on the UK banks has completely fallen, whereas about 36% were completely dissatisfied (Flower, 2012). As all the banks generally deal with similar, undifferentiated category of products, so quality of the service becomes a primary weapon for winning the competition. The banks that display an excellent service quality are supposed to have a distinct marketing edge in terms of improved cross-selling rates, elevated revenues, better customer retention capabilities (Bennett and Higgins, 1988) and prolonged market share (Brown and Hedges, 1993). As defined by Ghobadian, Speller and Jones (1994) quality signifies how well the organizations cater to the requirement of the customers. The definition given by Deming (1986), Ishikaw a (1985), Feigenbaum (1986), and Juran et al. (1974) also fall under the same category. This approach suggests that the organization should first understand and determine the requirements of the customers and then meet unto them. The service quality can only be judged either during or after the consumption is made (Audhesh et al., 2005). The performance of the service provider is the primary source of value creation for the service that is signified as the service quality. It may be very trivial service performance by the service provider but is likely to create a huge impact on the perception of the customers about the service quality of the provider. Barclays Plc, one of the major banks of United Kingdom (UK) has been involved in the scandal of mis-selling of PPI due to which they had to pay huge compensation to the customers (PPI Claim Company, n.d.; BBC News, 2011). Lloyds Banking Group has also suffered problems with the Faster Payments System that is responsible for transferri ng of funds in and out of the accounts of the customers. This problem has given rise to a knock-on effect on the customers of the bank (BBC News, 2013a; Winch, 2013). Earlier in the year 2012 due to system failure the customer of Lloyds using TSB debit cards, online banking and ATM have also faced problem (BBC news, 2012b; Salmon, 2012). Same is the case with NatWest whose customers have also faced problems with online banking, cash withdrawal etc (BBC News, 2013b; Bachelor, 2013; Farrow, 2012). HSBC of UK has also reported the same problems in the year 2011 and 2012 (BBC News, 2012a; Rojas, 2012; Osborne and Bachelor, 2011). This situation has given rise to a growing concern for all these four banks that are eager to know what the expectations of their customers are. Thus the current study tries to find an answer to this question. Objectives The main objective of the research is to understand the perception of the customers towards banks as well as gaining knowledge about the wants of the customers. In this context the closely done study on the current status of the banking organizations suggests that the financial crisis as well as the recent

Research Question Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Question - Research Paper Example The user can make the computer more fault tolerant by a way of thinking how the computer or the devices of the network may seems to fail as well as, taking the required steps so that the faults can be prevented whenever they occur (Qian, 2008 p 101). For this case, the steps to be followed when improving the network’s fault tolerance include. The user should by all the time have his or her computer or the networks running on the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). UPS provides the backup power source when there is a power outage (blackout), or a power surge. UPS provides additional time for the computer to shut down by providing the power to the computer from where it was stored. However, the user should also have the system messages that are sent to every network so as to let the administrators know when the power goes off or when computer shut down because of the failure of the power. If there is no UPS which is connected on the computer or the UPS fails to provide the surge fortification, the surge protector may be connected to the network devices or the computer so as to help prevent those devices from failing during the power surge (Briggs, 2009, p 13). The user should all the time run backups on the computer. Running of the backups may be done daily or at least every month if only the relevant information is stored in them. The user should make sure that he/she creates a mirror of data on the alternate location. When the computer devices are connected to the network, the user should make sure that the firewall are set up. A firewall is normally the software utility that can limit the accessing of the network on the computer by blocking or restricting the ports. Firewalls are extremely significant since it helps preventing un-authorized members from accessing to the company network or a network which is at home.

Study to look at nurses' knowledge of elder abuse in long term care Essay

Study to look at nurses' knowledge of elder abuse in long term care setting - Essay Example Studies have shown that people of all socio-economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds are vulnerable to abuse including countries where the traditional system of family care exists. Furthermore, it is increasingly being seen as an important problem and one that is likely to grow as many countries experience rapidly growing ageing populations. It is predicted that by the year 2025 the global population of those aged 60 years and older will more than double, from 542 million in 1995 to about 1.2 billion (1). Although there is an increasing awareness that some older people are victims of abuse, neglect and mistreatment there is strong evidence to indicate that much abuse goes unrecognized and is hidden from public awareness (3). prompted scientific and governmental activity throughout the world. Although the vast majority of older people enjoy the benefits of family life, there has been a growing awareness, during the past twenty years in particular, that older people are sometimes abused, neglected or mistreated. Progress on building a response to elder abuse has been difficult, however, as the issue is shrouded in secrecy, denial and guilt. It is acknowledged that abuse can occur within the home or care facility (4). Any form of abuse is unacceptable. Nurses have a duty of care to the older people in their care to prevent this from happening. Although nurses who care for older persons can expect to encounter cases of abuse our knowledge of the incidence and cause of such abuse remains limited (5). While the study of elder abuse has much to learn from responses to other forms of adult abuse, it is vital that the abuse of older people is dealt with separately, to ensure clarity when defining and measuring the problem and to help focus responses to abuse. Elder abuse is defined as a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where