Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Liberty - Essay Example Other academicians have related life to existence in state of nature under a social contract. Liberty is connoted into two major different kinds. Classical liberalists and individualists have conceptualized liberty as consisting of individual freedom outside coercision and compulsion, this is the kind of liberty known as Negative liberty.Whereas, social liberalists conceptualize liberty with emphasis to the social structure and agency, this is the second kind of liberty known as Positive liberty .In summary we basically have two kinds of liberty which are: positive liberty and negative liberty. Positive liberty explains that a person can find freedom in his ability to exercise agency, by having adequate power and resources to enable him to do his will without being misled by societal views such as sexism, structuralism and racism. Thomas Hobbes explains that``a free man is he that†¦.is not hindered to do what he hath the will to do `` Hobbes (235).John Stuart Mill was the first to recognize that there is a difference between liberty as a freedom of action or to act and liberty as an absence of coercion. According to Berlin (221), the difference between the two perspectives as opposite concepts of liberty; positive liberty and negative liberty where the latter manifested a negative condition of individual protection from tyranny as well as arbitrary exercise to authority. Whereas the former meant the ability to have means or opportunity other than to lack restraint of doing things or acting. The term negative liberty has different noteworthy aspects.Firstly; it defines zones or realms of freedom in the aspect of science (science of law) Hobbes (197).The distinguishing idea between the two kinds of liberty is traced back to Kant who examined it in the year 1940s; he explained that the two kinds of liberty are not merely different but rivals. Positive liberty requires not

Soft System Methodology

Soft System Methodology Andrzej Werner   Soft System Methodology can be described as a 7-step process aimed to help provide a solution to real life problematic situation caused by two different perceptions by implementing defensible and sensible models for comparison with the situation in real life in order to assist in making decisions or recommendations as to the solution or response for the problem. Those models are referred to as Conceptual models, those models logically represent what steps needs to be undertaken, in order to achieve desired effect stated in root definitions which are created based on the roles, norms and values taken from the identified problem. In another words conceptual models are models that show what a good standard looks like as to compare it with the real life situation to see what needs to be done to achieve that good quality standard. (Burge 1-14) A Law firm by the name of Crane, Poole and Schmidt is a professional law company with 15 years of experience; their reputation is well known as one of the law firms with unbeatable and compassionate lawyers.   In order to keep on top of the competitors, the companys IT department requires upgrading their infrastructure to be more efficient and reliable for research and documents to be exchanged. However the company is limited in the amount of money they can spend on the upgrade and cloud computing alternatives are not cheap. In order to develop accurate conceptual models for comparison of different possible solutions to the situation, first the problem has to be identified by recognizing the roles, norms and values for the people involved within the problem. In case of Crane, Poole and Schmidt the IT department wants to upgrade their infrastructure in order to benefit from the could-computing increasing the company efficiency, productivity and income. As Crane, Poole and Schmidt would be the first company to adopt could-computing technologies, that would give them a significant advantage and more modern approach over competitor companies. The first step is to identify the roles; those roles are social positions being involved within the problem. Those roles are categorized by expected norms or behaviors in it, which is judged by the local values or standards that the person within the position of the role needs to achieve and accomplish. (Checkland 13-328) Role Board of directors   CEO The role of the Board of directors CEO is to manage the firm as well as conclude board meetings in case of larger scale decisions such as upgrade of the IT infrastructure within the Company. They are also responsible for any major contractors and partner companies, as well as conducting and applying new strategies to be ahead of the competitors in their profession. This board is also responsible for granting permissions to any larger scale projects within the company, as well as allowing the required/allocated budget and resources. Norms The standard norms that Board of directors with the CEO should perform include: To carefully analyze the need for a change or the upgrade or the company Monitor financial aspects and act accordingly to the companys best interest Make informed decisions within the best interest of the company Values The values which the role should perform are for the greater good of company so the Board of directors with the CEO will be judged based on the local standards or values: Allocate appropriate budget for the projects Make correct decisions for approval and disapproval, when it comes to projects within the company, strategies used to stay on top of the competitors and/or choice of partners with the firm Role System Analyst The system analyst is responsible for analyzing the current system and its implications, and what could be done to improve it. System analyst will analyze the current system, then design and implement new IT infrastructure. This role is very vital for the upgrade of the IT infrastructure because system analyst will design and implement upgraded IT infrastructure, including both software and hardware requirements. Norms A system analyst has certain norms that his role requires to perform, these norms include: Study the current infrastructure to identify its strong and weak points Design a new infrastructure with necessary hardware and software requirements Implement and test new infrastructure and report back to the IT Department Administrator Values As for the values which the role is expected to achieve, are as follows: Managing the upgrade within the deadline Managing the upgrade within a given budget Reviewing the progress of the implementation Determine possible options for the upgrade, including hardware and software requirements. Communication with the IT department and third-party online cloud based solutions. Role IT Department Administrator The administrator of the IT department (henceforth admin) is a crucial role to a company; because the administration department is responsible for smooth flow of information between different departments within the company. The role of administrator of any department comes with specific responsibilities which need to be fulfilled. In this case: managing the IT department, any projects that incorporate the IT department, manage the performance of department and its impact on the company, as well as managing the approved budget for the department and IT infrastructure of the company. (Mishra) Norms With the role of an admin of a department there are specific norms that the role should exhibit, these involve: To be able to improve employees capability to manage and organize the workplace in professional and effective manner Advance a suitable assets management approach Advance a suitable workplace management approach Capable of creating administrative procedures Capable of planning and controlling given budget for the department Values A role of administrator also requires specific values to be achieved by occupant of that role. As for the occupant of the role these values are what the occupant is judged on. The occupant needs to be able to manage and plan budget well for the department Admin also is required to manage the department to ensure professional and efficient working standard Admin is also required to ensure the IT infrastructure of the firm is working without any complications Role Financial Manager The role of a financial manager is to be responsible for financial condition of the company; their job involves data analysis and advising senior managers on different strategies for maximizing the company profit. The financial manager will be responsible for calculating the budget for the upgrade of the IT infrastructure; they will calculate costs for upgrade of the infrastructure but also the estimated savings achieved by this upgrade. (Derweesh, Schnitzer and Stettin) Norms The standards that the financial manager must achieve in his performance are as follows: Organize business motion reports and financial statements Ensure legal requirements are achieved by observing over the financial details Assist the management in financial judgments Analyze company financial records and position and seek a new strategies for cost reduction Perform analysis of the market to spot potential possibilities for increase of the company and obtaining new companies Values A role of financial manager is not easy and often requires working in-collaboration with executives group, CEOs and administrative boards. This role is assessed by certain values which include: Financial condition of the firm Net income of the company Costs and Cost reduction strategies Making sure that all of the legal requirements are met for any transaction performed by the company. Role End-user The end-user group is a role in which the employees of the firm, is a role that is important where each employee is doing their designated tasks in order to improve the growth, efficiency and functionality of the firm. Those employees are using the companys IT infrastructure on daily basis changing it will also have a specific impact on those end-users. Norms Norms that belong to end-user role are: Performing their part in the company and professionally and efficiently deal with the tasks assigned Be responsible for customer data safety and integrity Use the company IT services for work on daily basis Values The values which this role should exhibit are: Perform the job/task professionally, ethically, lawfully and efficiently Work with customers and their data Always represent company in a good name Do not use companys IT services for reasons not associated with work Role Third-Party Companies Another role involved with this upgrade is third-party cloud companies,   which will be used in the upgrade of the infrastructure. Those companies occupy a role where they are responsible for providing cloud-based service to the company and all of its employees, as well as ensuring the safety of the firm and customer data. Norms The norms that this role should exhibit are as follows: 99.9% uptime of the servers and the service Good data security Good customer support Variable price range and different package options Good back-up and disaster recovery planning Values This role also has its values which need to be achieved in order to be recognized as a professional company and service in the industry. Those values are what the companies providing the service are judged on, these include: Uptime of the servers providing the service Amount of security breaches the company has had Techniques for security of the data Price being comparable to the competitors Quality of the customer support Quality of the service Rich Picture The root definitions are used to logically figure out what steps the company will need to undertake, to achieve the desired outcome of the definition. The root definition comes from CATWOE analysis which consists of six stages, including; client, actors, transformation, world view, owner and environment. (Simonsen 1-18), (Williams 1-20) C Client As the receiving party, client in this scenario are the end-users of the system (employees using the current IT infrastructure), the main issue that the client has is that they are comfortable with the current IT infrastructure and they do not want any changes, additionally the end-users are not happy that they have to go through additional training to get used to new system while dealing with the customers. Even though the clients like the idea of a cloud based infrastructure, they are afraid about their ability to perform their tasks on a new system, thinking that the company will increase its profits while the employees will have to work with new and unfamiliar infrastructure. A Actors The actors are the roles which will perform the Transformation (T), people involved in the upgrade of the IT infrastructure are the board of directors and CEOs, IT department admin, financial manager and system analyst. The impact which they will experience is additional work for most of the sides, as well as additional costs to higher system analyst and the budget for the upgrade. The final decision is going to be made by the board of directors and CEOs whether the upgrade is possible/ required or neither. The actors which work in the company may not be happy about additional costs and work, however they know the reason for this upgrade is to constantly stand out above the competitors, at the same time they see benefits for the work flow within the company. T- Transformation The process of transformation in this case is the process of taking inputs which are the opinions of the employees as to see what they think about the cloud based infrastructure and transforming that into the system requirements for the end-users. As well as taking current IT system hardware and software resources and transforming them into an extra budget for the upgrade, what resources are needed and which can be sold that decision will be made by the IT department administrator. The overall budget will be allocated by the board of directors and CEOs influenced by the opinion from the financial manager. In order for the transformation to be successful certain steps need to be undertaken. First step would be for the CEOs to decide whether the upgrade is required or not, after which they would consult with the financial manager which could calculate estimated budget available for the upgrade. The approval for the upgrade along with the budget would be given to the admin of the IT department which then will be required to employ system analyst who will handle the upgrade within the estimated budget, and they will be responsible for finding system requirements by obtaining opinion from the end-users. System analyst will also be required to deal with 3rd party cloud service providers. (Simonsen 1-18) The output from this transformation will be increased working efficiency as the end-users will be able to perform some of the tasks in the comfort of their own home; additionally the reduction in hardware will increase company income as well as reduction in the personnel due to surplus to requirements will increase the company savings. The admin of the IT department will then develop a training program for the end-users. W World View The upgrade of the IT infrastructure is necessary for the company to stand out above the competitor in the industry, overall increasing the company productivity and profits. In a greater scheme of things, law firms are very strict about their working ethics and are not keen for any big changes as this could have an impact not only on the working efficiency of the employees but also on the customers which put trust into the company. As technology progresses increasing the benefits for many businesses, law firms also need to adapt to stay within the market and be viable to the target audience. In the bigger picture companies with a fast and reliable IT system can process and handle more customers at once increasing the profit, however as law firms are recognized as very respectful companies any mistakes made can have a dramatic impact on the customer basis and their trust. The wider impact of the solution is to not only increase company profit by upgrading to cloud but also to reduce hardware resources in effect becoming more eco-friendly, allowing the employees to work from home by connecting to cloud services as a result increasing the area of work to work with more customers, aside from cost and staff reduction the company will be noticeable as more modern with the same professional and ethical approach which will increase its popularity with the industry. O Owner The owner which is responsible for the upgrade and the IT system is the admin of the IT department, however the main owner are the CEOs of the firm, ultimately every bigger decision goes through them and they decide what to do as they give out the permission for the process and the budget. The owner is limited in the amount of assistance they can provide due to dealing with other projects, contracts and competitors, they can provide the permission for the upgrade and the budget but the rest of decision making and responsibility lies with the admin of the IT department. If the main owner would be constantly changing their mind on the allocated budget or the admin of the IT department would not be able to implement and manage the new system that could get in the way. However with a good level of communication with the CEOs is kept and all the benefits along with the design of the new system would be presented to them, that could potentially lead the owner to help out even more by for example making the budget more flexible. E Environment When it comes to changes within the system and how to company operates there are environmental constraints that need to be fellfield, these can range from simple in company rules/ guidelines to legislations and regulations necessary for the company lawful functionality. There are current laws and regulations which the company has to follow such as Data Protection Act 1998, Legal Services Act 2007, the Health and Safety Act 1974 and Companies Act 2006. All of those regulations and legislations are in place as the firm is responsible for protecting and promoting the public interest. Aside from the laws and regulations already in place, in order to perform transformation processes there are environmental aspects to take into consideration when picking partners which will provide the service. As the law firms deals with not only the company data but also customer data, when performing the upgrade the service provides should ensure the full Safe Harbour agreement if any or all information would be stored outside the EEA. The service provider also should ensure that the communication between the employees that are working on the move is secured, as well as the provider should ensure 24h access to the service. Additionally the service should have compliance with ISO 20071 and must include requirements of the SRA Code of Conduct. Root definition One A system administered by the admin of the IT department owned by CEOs Crane, Poole and Schmidt, requires upgrade due to the system being slow and not secure. Upgrading to cloud based alternatives would sort out the matter of security as well as storage. By upgrading to cloud computing as a result there will be a reduction of human resources in the office allowing the end-users to travel to client locations increasing in company productivity, reputation and services. Because of the transformation certain new legislations and policy comes into place, not only keeping the use of service for professional and ethical reasons, ensuring data integrity by following Data Protection Act 1998 and ensure that no end-user will breach regulations such as Computer Misuse Act 1990. By moving into the cloud computing some new challenges could be created where some of the customer basis could have a doubt about their private data being stored somewhere in an unknown location. Using the service providers that are based only within the EEA is a must as it ensures data protection laws additionally the service provider should ideally also follow SRA Code of Conduct. However another way to ease those in doubt would be to implement a hybrid system where some of the data is stored locally and some of the data is stored on secure servers in the cloud. Also the use of encryption software to automatically encrypt company documents and customer data would put additional level of security in place. (Burge 1-14) C Client As a client in this case customers are the main recipients of the benefit from the upgrade of the infrastructure as they will be able appointments done not only in the office but also over the internet and in the comfort of their own home. The employees will be able to carry their data and files with them to the customer location and present all the information there by accessing the company data, stored on a secure server in the cloud. A Actors As for the people performing the transformation, actors include the main directors and CEOs which will be able to approve and provide the budget for the upgrade, financial manager will assist CEOs in budget allocation and admin of the IT department with budget management. The admin will be responsible for management of the upgrade and training for the end-users, he will also employ a system analyst for advice and guidance during the upgrade. T Transformation Transformation is focused on reduction of the redundant resources and implementing a cloud-based infrastructure which will be used by end-users to do the honors for the customers, increasing the employee productivity, company income and customer satisfaction. The entities responsible for the upgrade are the admin of the IT department with the assistance of system analyst and financial manager. Another important factor of the transformation is the review of the performance and income to be able to take improvement action to constantly improve. W World View A good and well respected company in the industry always has to take into consideration their impact and opinion on society, target audience, customers and other parties. Cloud computing is a new technology that grows rapidly, enabling companies to be more flexible in their line of work and benefiting customers by delivering the service to them, additionally reduction in hardware resources will also make the company more eco-friendly. O Owner The real owner of this project is the board of directors CEOs as they make the main and final decisions for the well health being of the company, they are also the entity that has the complete control over the budget designated for the upgrade. By providing sufficient budget and approval for the upgrade the owner assists the actors and improves company reputation, income and efficiency. E Environment As for the environment variable which affect the impacts the upgrade and the company are law legislations, guidelines and regulations which the company has to ensure in order to develop and maintain professional trust with the customers and partners. These legislations would include Data Protection Act 1998, Health and Safety Act 1974 and Legal Services Act 2007. Additionally the company should ensure that the service providers will follow appropriate laws and regulations, such as SRA Code of Conduct (Solicitors Regulation Authority) and ISO 2007/1 guidelines. Root definition Two A system owned by the law firm Crane, Poole and Schmidt, which is under the supervision of the administrator of the IT department serves the end-users which deal with customers on daily basis increasing the company reputation and income. The upgrade of the system is necessary to increase the company productivity and efficiency, by expanding to cloud computing the firm and its employees can work from anywhere at any given time increases the customer base and enhancing the companys productivity and efficiency. As dealing with customer data is crucial for the company functionality, data integrity has to be kept and all of the legislations and regulations to do with the business and customer relations and data have to be followed. (Williams 1-20), (Burge 1-14) (Williams 1-20), (Checkland 13-328) Burge, Stuart. An Overview Of The Soft Systems Methodology. 1st ed. Burge Hughes Walsh, 2015. Web. 3 Mar. 2017. Checkland, Peter. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. 1st ed. Chichester: Wiley, 2002. Print. Derweesh, Zayd, Tom Schnitzer, and Jessie Stettin. The Role Of Financial Managers. Boundless. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Mar. 2017. Mishra, Pankaj. Effective Role Of Administration In An Organization. linkedin.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2017. Simonsen, Jesper. Soft Systems Methodology. 1st ed. semanticscholar, 1994. Web. 9 Mar. 2017. Williams, Bob. Rich Pictures And CATWOE: Simple Yet Powerful Scope-Modelling Techniques. 1st ed. bobwilliams, 2005. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

The Role of the Nativity in Magi and Carol of the Brown King :: Magi Carol Brown King Essays

The Role of the Nativity in "Magi" and "Carol of the Brown King"  Ã‚  Ã‚   What were the Three Wise Men searching for when they followed the North Star? They were obviously seeking the Christ child, but they were also searching for the truth and righteousness that he represents. Sylvia Plath in her poem "Magi" and Langston Hughes in his poem "Carol of the Brown King" discuss the merit of their respective minority groups through allusions to the nativity. Plath uses the journey to discuss both the ignorance of philosophers' quest for the "truth" and its neglect of females, and Hughes uses the righteousness of the nativity to emphasize the importance of blacks.    Plath's poem "Magi" ridicules the intellectual's theory-based search for truth: "They mistake their star, these papery godfolk" (15). Instead of searching for the meaning to life through living, they seek it in inanimate books. Plath says of the abstracts, "They're the real thing, all right: the Good, the True," however, her other references to them are contradictory, indicating that this is mockery (6). When she remarks that they "hover like dull angels," she explains that they are not spoiled with anything "so vulgar as a nose or an eye," and yet, what is a face without features (1-2)? These abstracts are "pure as boiled water, loveless as the multiplication table," but how could something so lifeless describe life (8)? By describing the dullness of the abstracts, Plath indicates their unsuitability to guide the search for truth. While the abstracts lead the "papery godfolk" to the "crib of some lamp-headed Plato," Plath leads her readers to the crib of a baby girl (16). While the abstracts are "pure as boiled water" the infant is also pure: "the heavy notion of Evil attending her cot is less than a belly ache" (7,13). However, although the theory-filled abstracts are "loveless as the multiplication table," the child is nourished by "Love the mother of milk, no theory" (8,14). The abstracts' truth is founded in theory; the baby's truth is founded in love. Plath is content that the "papery godfolk" do not seek the crib of her baby girl. "What girl ever flourished in such company?" (18). This question attacks the male-dominated hierarchy in which no women of her time prospered. The main message of Plath's poem is that we learn truth in the school of life, but why did she use a baby girl instead of a boy?

A Game of Thrones Chapter Eight

Bran The hunt left at dawn. The king wanted wild boar at the feast tonight. Prince Joffrey rode with his father, so Robb had been allowed to join the hunters as well. Uncle Benjen, Jory, Theon Greyjoy, Ser Rodrik, and even the queen's funny little brother had all ridden out with them. It was the last hunt, after all. On the morrow they left for the south. Bran had been left behind with Jon and the girls and Rickon. But Rickon was only a baby and the girls were only girls and Jon and his wolf were nowhere to be found. Bran did not look for him very hard. He thought Jon was angry at him. Jon seemed to be angry at everyone these days. Bran did not know why. He was going with Uncle Ben to the Wall, to join the Night's Watch. That was almost as good as going south with the king. Robb was the one they were leaving behind, not Jon. For days, Bran could scarcely wait to be off. He was going to ride the kingsroad on a horse of his own, not a pony but a real horse. His father would be the Hand of the King, and they were going to live in the red castle at King's Landing, the castle the Dragonlords had built. Old Nan said there were ghosts there, and dungeons where terrible things had been done, and dragon heads on the walls. It gave Bran a shiver just to think of it, but he was not afraid. How could he be afraid? His father would be with him, and the king with all his knights and sworn swords. Bran was going to be a knight himself someday, one of the Kingsguard. Old Nan said they were the finest swords in all the realm. There were only seven of them, and they wore white armor and had no wives or children, but lived only to serve the king. Bran knew all the stories. Their names were like music to him. Serwyn of the Mirror Shield. Ser Ryam Redwyne. Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. The twins Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, who had died on one another's swords hundreds of years ago, when brother fought sister in the war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons. The White Bull, Gerold Hightower. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Barristan the Bold. Two of the Kingsguard had come north with King Robert. Bran had watched them with fascination, never quite daring to speak to them. Ser Boros was a bald man with a jowly face, and Ser Meryn had droopy eyes and a beard the color of rust. Ser Jaime Lannister looked more like the knights in the stories, and he was of the Kingsguard too, but Robb said he had killed the old mad king and shouldn't count anymore. The greatest living knight was Ser Barristan Selmy, Barristan the Bold, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Father had promised that they would meet Ser Barristan when they reached King's Landing, and Bran had been marking the days on his wall, eager to depart, to see a world he had only dreamed of and begin a life he could scarcely imagine. Yet now that the last day was at hand, suddenly Bran felt lost. Winterfell had been the only home he had ever known. His father had told him that he ought to say his farewells today, and he had tried. After the hunt had ridden out, he wandered through the castle with his wolf at his side, intending to visit the ones who would be left behind, Old Nan and Gage the cook, Mikken in his smithy, Hodor the stableboy who smiled so much and took care of his pony and never said anything but â€Å"Hodor,† the man in the glass gardens who gave him a blackberry when he came to visit . . . But it was no good. He had gone to the stable first, and seen his pony there in its stall, except it wasn't his pony anymore, he was getting a real horse and leaving the pony behind, and all of a sudden Bran just wanted to sit down and cry. He turned and ran off before Hodor and the other stableboys could see the tears in his eyes. That was the end of his farewells. Instead Bran spent the morning alone in the godswood, trying to teach his wolf to fetch a stick, and failing. The wolfling was smarter than any of the hounds in his father's kennel and Bran would have sworn he understood every word that was said to him, but he showed very little interest in chasing sticks. He was still trying to decide on a name. Robb was calling his Grey Wind, because he ran so fast. Sansa had named hers Lady, and Arya named hers after some old witch queen in the songs, and little Rickon called his Shaggydog, which Bran thought was a pretty stupid name for a direwolf. Jon's wolf, the white one, was Ghost. Bran wished he had thought of that first, even though his wolf wasn't white. He had tried a hundred names in the last fortnight, but none of them sounded right. Finally he got tired of the stick game and decided to go climbing. He hadn't been up to the broken tower for weeks with everything that had happened, and this might be his last chance. He raced across the godswood, taking the long way around to avoid the pool where the heart tree grew. The heart tree had always frightened him; trees ought not have eyes, Bran thought, or leaves that looked like hands. His wolf came sprinting at his heels. â€Å"You stay here,† he told him at the base of the sentinel tree near the armory wall. â€Å"Lie down. That's right. Now stay—† The wolf did as he was told. Bran scratched him behind the ears, then turned away, jumped, grabbed a low branch, and pulled himself up. He was halfway up the tree, moving easily from limb to limb, when the wolf got to his feet and began to howl. Bran looked back down. His wolf fell silent, staring up at him through slitted yellow eyes. A strange chill went through him. He began to climb again. Once more the wolf howled. â€Å"Quiet,† he yelled. â€Å"Sit down. Stay. You're worse than Mother.† The howling chased him all the way up the tree, until finally he jumped off onto the armory roof and out of sight. The rooftops of Winterfell were Bran's second home. His mother often said that Bran could climb before he could walk. Bran could not remember when he first learned to walk, but he could not remember when he started to climb either, so he supposed it must be true. To a boy, Winterfell was a grey stone labyrinth of walls and towers and courtyards and tunnels spreading out in all directions. In the older parts of the castle, the halls slanted up and down so that you couldn't even be sure what floor you were on. The place had grown over the centuries like some monstrous stone tree, Maester Luwin told him once, and its branches were gnarled and thick and twisted, its roots sunk deep into the earth. When he got out from under it and scrambled up near the sky, Bran could see all of Winterfell in a glance. He liked the way it looked, spread out beneath him, only birds wheeling over his head while all the life of the castle went on below. Bran could perch for hours among the shapeless, rain-worn gargoyles that brooded over the First Keep, watching it all: the men drilling with wood and steel in the yard, the cooks tending their vegetables in the glass garden, restless dogs running back and forth in the kennels, the silence of the godswood, the girls gossiping beside the washing well. It made him feel like he was lord of the castle, in a way even Robb would never know. It taught him Winterfell's secrets too. The builders had not even leveled the earth; there were hills and valleys behind the walls of Winterfell. There was a covered bridge that went from the fourth floor of the bell tower across to the second floor of the rookery. Bran knew about that. And he knew you could get inside the inner wall by the south gate, climb three floors and run all the way around Winterfell through a narrow tunnel in the stone, and then come out on ground level at the north gate, with a hundred feet of wall looming over you. Even Maester Luwin didn't know that, Bran was convinced. His mother was terrified that one day Bran would slip off a wall and kill himself. He told her that he wouldn't, but she never believed him. Once she made him promise that he would stay on the ground. He had managed to keep that promise for almost a fortnight, miserable every day, until one night he had gone out the window of his bedroom when his brothers were fast asleep. He confessed his crime the next day in a fit of guilt. Lord Eddard ordered him to the godswood to cleanse himself. Guards were posted to see that Bran remained there alone all night to reflect on his disobedience. The next morning Bran was nowhere to be seen. They finally found him fast asleep in the upper branches of the tallest sentinel in the grove. As angry as he was, his father could not help but laugh. â€Å"You're not my son,† he told Bran when they fetched him down, â€Å"you're a squirrel. So be it. If you must climb, then climb, but try not to let your mother see you.† Bran did his best, although he did not think he ever really fooled her. Since his father would not forbid it, she turned to others. Old Nan told him a story about a bad little boy who climbed too high and was struck down by lightning, and how afterward the crows came to peck out his eyes. Bran was not impressed. There were crows' nests atop the broken tower, where no one ever went but him, and sometimes he filled his pockets with corn before he climbed up there and the crows ate it right out of his hand. None of them had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in pecking out his eyes. Later, Maester Luwin built a little pottery boy and dressed him in Bran's clothes and flung him off the wall into the yard below, to demonstrate what would happen to Bran if he fell. That had been fun, but afterward Bran just looked at the maester and said, â€Å"I'm not made of clay. And anyhow, I never fall.† Then for a while the guards would chase him whenever they saw him on the roofs, and try to haul him down. That was the best time of all. It was like playing a game with his brothers, except that Bran always won. None of the guards could climb half so well as Bran, not even Jory. Most of the time they never saw him anyway. People never looked up. That was another thing he liked about climbing; it was almost like being invisible. He liked how it felt too, pulling himself up a wall stone by stone, fingers and toes digging hard into the small crevices between. He always took off his boots and went barefoot when he climbed; it made him feel as if he had four hands instead of two. He liked the deep, sweet ache it left in the muscles afterward. He liked the way the air tasted way up high, sweet and cold as a winter peach. He liked the birds: the crows in the broken tower, the tiny little sparrows that nested in cracks between the stones, the ancient owl that slept in the dusty loft above the old armory. Bran knew them all. Most of all, he liked going places that no one else could go, and seeing the grey sprawl of Winterfell in a way that no one else ever saw it. It made the whole castle Bran's secret place. His favorite haunt was the broken tower. Once it had been a watchtower, the tallest in Winterfell. A long time ago, a hundred years before even his father had been born, a lightning strike had set it afire. The top third of the structure had collapsed inward, and the tower had never been rebuilt. Sometimes his father sent ratters into the base of the tower, to clean out the nests they always found among the jumble of fallen stones and charred and rotten beams. But no one ever got up to the jagged top of the structure now except for Bran and the crows. He knew two ways to get there. You could climb straight up the side of the tower itself, but the stones were loose, the mortar that held them together long gone to ash, and Bran never liked to put his full weight on them. The best way was to start from the godswood, shinny up the tall sentinel, and cross over the armory and the guards hall, leaping roof to roof, barefoot so the guards wouldn't hear you overhead. That brought you up to the blind side of the First Keep, the oldest part of the castle, a squat round fortress that was taller than it looked. Only rats and spiders lived there now but the old stones still made for good climbing. You could go straight up to where the gargoyles leaned out blindly over empty space, and swing from gargoyle to gargoyle, hand over hand, around to the north side. From there, if you really stretched, you could reach out and pull yourself over to the broken tower where it leaned close. The last part was the scramble up the blackened stones to the eyrie, no more than ten feet, and then the crows would come round to see if you'd brought any corn. Bran was moving from gargoyle to gargoyle with the ease of long practice when he heard the voices. He was so startled he almost lost his grip. The First Keep had been empty all his life. â€Å"I do not like it,† a woman was saying. There was a row of windows beneath him, and the voice was drifting out of the last window on this side. â€Å"You should be the Hand.† â€Å"Gods forbid,† a man's voice replied lazily. â€Å"It's not an honor I'd want. There's far too much work involved.† Bran hung, listening, suddenly afraid to go on. They might glimpse his feet if he tried to swing by. â€Å"Don't you see the danger this puts us in?† the woman said. â€Å"Robert loves the man like a brother.† â€Å"Robert can barely stomach his brothers. Not that I blame him. Stannis would be enough to give anyone indigestion.† â€Å"Don't play the fool. Stannis and Renly are one thing, and Eddard Stark is quite another. Robert will listen to Stark. Damn them both. I should have insisted that he name you, but I was certain Stark would refuse him.† â€Å"We ought to count ourselves fortunate,† the man said. â€Å"The king might as easily have named one of his brothers, or even Littlefinger, gods help us. Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I'll sleep more easily by night.† They were talking about Father, Bran realized. He wanted to hear more. A few more feet . . . but they would see him if he swung out in front of the window. â€Å"We will have to watch him carefully,† the woman said. â€Å"I would sooner watch you,† the man said. He sounded bored. â€Å"Come back here.† â€Å"Lord Eddard has never taken any interest in anything that happened south of the Neck,† the woman said. â€Å"Never. I tell you, he means to move against us. Why else would he leave the seat of his power?† â€Å"A hundred reasons. Duty. Honor. He yearns to write his name large across the book of history, to get away from his wife, or both. Perhaps he just wants to be warm for once in his life.† â€Å"His wife is Lady Arryn's sister. It's a wonder Lysa was not here to greet us with her accusations.† Bran looked down. There was a narrow ledge beneath the window, only a few inches wide. He tried to lower himself toward it. Too far. He would never reach. â€Å"You fret too much. Lysa Arryn is a frightened cow.† â€Å"That frightened cow shared Jon Arryn's bed.† â€Å"If she knew anything, she would have gone to Robert before she fled King's Landing.† â€Å"When he had already agreed to foster that weakling son of hers at Casterly Rock? I think not. She knew the boy's life would be hostage to her silence. She may grow bolder now that he's safe atop the Eyrie.† â€Å"Mothers.† The man made the word sound like a curse. â€Å"I think birthing does something to your minds. You are all mad.† He laughed. It was a bitter sound. â€Å"Let Lady Arryn grow as bold as she likes. Whatever she knows, whatever she thinks she knows, she has no proof.† He paused a moment. â€Å"Or does she?† â€Å"Do you think the king will require proof?† the woman said. â€Å"I tell you, he loves me not.† â€Å"And whose fault is that, sweet sister?† Bran studied the ledge. He could drop down. It was too narrow to land on, but if he could catch hold as he fell past, pull himself up . . . except that might make a noise, draw them to the window. He was not sure what he was hearing, but he knew it was not meant for his ears. â€Å"You are as blind as Robert,† the woman was saying. â€Å"If you mean I see the same thing, yes,† the man said. â€Å"I see a man who would sooner die than betray his king.† â€Å"He betrayed one already, or have you forgotten?† the woman said. â€Å"Oh, I don't deny he's loyal to Robert, that's obvious. What happens when Robert dies and Joff takes the throne? And the sooner that comes to pass, the safer we'll all be. My husband grows more restless every day. Having Stark beside him will only make him worse. He's still in love with the sister, the insipid little dead sixteen-year-old. How long till he decides to put me aside for some new Lyanna?† Bran was suddenly very frightened. He wanted nothing so much as to go back the way he had come, to find his brothers. Only what would he tell them? He had to get closer, Bran realized. He had to see who was talking. The man sighed. â€Å"You should think less about the future and more about the pleasures at hand.† â€Å"Stop that!† the woman said. Bran heard the sudden slap of flesh on flesh, then the man's laughter. Bran pulled himself up, climbed over the gargoyle, crawled out onto the roof. This was the easy way. He moved across the roof to the next gargoyle, right above the window of the room where they were talking. â€Å"All this talk is getting very tiresome, sister,† the man said. â€Å"Come here and be quiet.† Bran sat astride the gargoyle, tightened his legs around it, and swung himself around, upside down. He hung by his legs and slowly stretched his head down toward the window. The world looked strange upside down. A courtyard swam dizzily below him, its stones still wet with melted snow. Bran looked in the window. Inside the room, a man and a woman were wrestling. They were both naked. Bran could not tell who they were. The man's back was to him, and his body screened the woman from view as he pushed her up against a wall. There were soft, wet sounds. Bran realized they were kissing. He watched, wide-eyed and frightened, his breath tight in his throat. The man had a hand down between her legs, and he must have been hurting her there, because the woman started to moan, low in her throat. â€Å"Stop it,† she said, â€Å"stop it, stop it. Oh, please . . . † But her voice was low and weak, and she did not push him away. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, his tangled golden hair, and pulled his face down to her breast. Bran saw her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open, moaning. Her golden hair swung from side to side as her head moved back and forth, but still he recognized the queen. He must have made a noise. Suddenly her eyes opened, and she was staring right at him. She screamed. Everything happened at once then. ‘ The woman pushed the man away wildly, shouting and pointing. Bran tried to pull himself up, bending double as he reached for the gargoyle. He was in too much of a hurry. His hand scraped uselessly across smooth stone, and in his panic his legs slipped, and suddenly he was failing. There was an instant of vertigo, a sickening lurch as the window flashed past. He shot out a hand, grabbed for the ledge, lost it, caught it again with his other hand. He swung against the building, hard. The impact took the breath out of him. Bran dangled, one-handed, panting. Faces appeared in the window above him. The queen. And now Bran recognized the man beside her. They looked as much alike as reflections in a mirror. â€Å"He saw us,† the woman said shrilly. â€Å"So he did,† the man said. Bran's fingers started to slip. He grabbed the ledge with his other hand. Fingernails dug into unyielding stone. The man reached down. â€Å"Take my hand,† he said. â€Å"Before you fall.† Bran seized his arm and held on tight with all his strength. The man yanked him up to the ledge. â€Å"What are you doing?† the woman demanded. The man ignored her. He was very strong. He stood Bran up on the sill. â€Å"How old are you, boy?† â€Å"Seven,† Bran said, shaking with relief. His fingers had dug deep gouges in the man's forearm. He let go sheepishly. The man looked over at the woman. â€Å"The things I do for love,† he said with loathing. He gave Bran a shove. Screaming, Bran went backward out the window into empty air. There was nothing to grab on to. The courtyard rushed up to meet him. Somewhere off in the distance, a wolf was howling. Crows circled the broken tower, waiting for corn.

Madoff Case

20102004 Thi Ngoc Thuy Do 1. What are the ethical issues involved in the Madoff case? Bernard Madoff was accused of fraud and creation of a Ponzi scheme which lead to a $65 billion investment loss for hundreds of investors in over the world. Bernard Madoff started a legal business by buying and selling over the counter stocks that were not listed on NYSE. He deceived many people into thinking his operation as legitimate, and completely abused his respectable name and position of power for his own personal advances.He lied to his friends and clients from the beginning and as later documented in his allocution, he never invested any of the money he got. He became a thief. Madoff started a Ponzi scheme on levels never seen before. Madoff stole from friends, family and investors. Madoff did not invest the money as he promised; he simply used it to pay off the first set of investors at very high return rates (10-12%), so he could attract more money. There were also jobs given to family me mbers who could have helped the scheme. Madoff’s daughter was also married to a former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney.His company’s financial reports were never made public during the time of the scheme. I wonder how his company passed the tax audition imposed question on the SEC internal system. There is a big question for US government system. 2. Do you believe that Bernard Madoff worked alone, or do you think he had help in creating and sustaining his Ponzi scheme? Would this represent a conflict of interest? â€Å"Speaking as a Jew on Christmas, I would be less shocked if Santa Claus showed up to my house than if Bernie Madoff pulled off this fraud alone,† says Ron Geffner, a partner at law firm.So,I definitely believe Bernard Madoff did not work alone, he had help in creating and sustaining his Poniz scheme for 30 years. Without his accountants, family members, and other employees covering up his tracks, he wouldn't have gotten away with mislea ding so many officials who certified his operation as legitimate. Since these people were satisfied with the constant returns. They all shared in an expensive living condition, nobody questioned was made. Without these people, Madoff wouldn't have held up his operation for so long. Why internal accounting and auditing make no sense or Madoffs action. How Madoff elude investigation of SEC by transfer between his account and his familys account, those questions show that   Bernard Madoff need others help, he could not do these alone. The motivation of Madoff to set  Ponze scheme is very pure which only for money. The conflict of interest exists, the conflict  is between personal interest and public interest, Madoff and his family enjoys their luxury life style by cheating, public interest gets hurt. 3. What should be done to help ensure that Ponzi schemes like Madoff's do not happen in the future?In order to prevent Ponzi schemes from recurring, internal controls and compliance standards that detect misconduct must be implemented. Awareness on these types of crimes needs to be raised as well. Investors should pay closer attention and realize that just because someone may seem to have a perfect resume, doesn't mean they're completely well fit and will act ethically. The market is unpredictable, so no one can ensure 100% for your interest in future. Furthermore, Government should run SEC effectively, so people can trust them before incident occur.

How does Shakespeare Create Comedy in A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay Example

How does Shakespeare Create Comedy in A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay Example How does Shakespeare Create Comedy in A Midsummer Nights Dream Paper How does Shakespeare Create Comedy in A Midsummer Nights Dream Paper Essay Topic: Literature I am writing an essay based on the several ways Shakespeare creates comedy in A Midsummer Nights Dream. I will start by explaining the visual humour first, followed by the aural humour and ending with my conclusion that gives an overall evaluation of Shakespeares presentation of humour in this play. Doing this I will hope to find out how a contemporary audience still finds the play humorous just as an Elizabethan audience did four hundred years ago. Plays are meant to be performed and therefore the visual aspect of them is very important when examining an aspect of the play. They are not like books where the reader must imagine the pictures in his/her head. Some plays can be performed over the radio but they rely completely on aural skills to be appreciated. A Midsummer Nights Dream would lose much of its humour were the audience only able to listen to it. There is a lot of visual humour to be appreciated within this play. An example of this is when the lovers chase each other through the woods. Both men, Lysander and Demetrius, are in love with only one woman, Hermia. Helena just follows Demetrius like a lost puppy, obsessively declaring her love for him. Demetrius: Ill run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, and leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts. Helena: The wildest hath not such a heart as you. Run when you will. The story shall be changed. No matter how repulsed Demetrius seems, Helena will not take no for an answer and maintains stalking him throughout the woods. After Lysander falls in blind love with Helena, she becomes suspicious and confused making it impossible for the audience not to laugh when Hermia and Helena provide one of the most comical scenes of the play, the catfight. Together they scream amusing accusations to each other as then men start to fight. Hermia: O me, you juggler, you canker-blossom, you thief of love. What, have you come by night and stolen my loves heart from him? Helena: Have you no modesty, no maiden shame, no touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear impatient answers from my gentle tongue? Fie, fie, you counterfeit, you puppet, you! An Elizabethan audience as well as a contemporary audience would have found this hilarious, considering how this it is such a weak argument. Shakespeare also shows a great deal of hilarity when all of the Elizabethan workmen take a shot at acting. Bottom recommends a prologue, to show he is in reality Bottom and the lion was in fact snug the joiner so that the ladies would not become frightened and hysterical. He suggested they also cut out all the fighting. This would make the play look very funny considering the play was essentially based on fighting. To top off the whole performance, the men play the rolls of the ladies, and attempt high-pitched voices just to feel the part. Bottom, in my opinion, is the funniest character in the whole. For instance, they are all in the forest and are each given part to play. Bottom is given the part of Pyramus, the manly man that would be perfect for him. is given the part of Thisby, but Bottom jumps at the chance and pleads to get this part and virtually every other part Quince assigns. Its funny the way he over-performs each part to be in the spotlight. Whilst A Midsummer Nights Dream is visually comic, a lot would be lost were there no sound to go with it. The play is rich in Shakespeares language as a tool for creating comedy. I am now going to explore the various ways that the language is used to this effect. A lot of enjoyable malapropism is in this play. Bottom displays this plenty of times when rehearsing and performing the play. Annoying Quince, he tends to say ninny quite a lot of times instead of Ninus, ninny meaning stupid or foolish. Quince also makes the same mistake when Bottoms head is turned into an ass head. Quince confuses his words and tells him thou art translated when really he intended to say transformed. Bottom says, What do you see? You see an ass-head of your own do you? This is ironic, bearing in mind only the audience can see that he himself has the head of an ass and he just happens to come out with this. His voice as a donkey is very funny and husky in comparison to Titanias gentle voice, and when she speaks to him as though is any ordinary person, it will leave the audience in hysterics. The four lovers bring aural comedy into the play with their content of language. Just the manner of the words Demetrius uses is enough to make anyone laugh when he says; I would rather feed his (Lysanders) carcass to my hounds. Shakespeare has took a pleasant man and fed him funny language used in context in this way. Hermia gets labelled a lot of things, and all because of her size. One of the things Lysander identifies her with, is a bead. But he does not stop there, and continues to compare her with an acorn of all things. I believe the whole play relies on every form of comedy. It would not have the same hysteria if it had only the aural comedy and equally the other way round with Visual humour. I dont feel that the play would have had as much of a humorous affect if it had a miserable ending. The audience would see the unhappy ending and have that fixed in their head blocking out the funny side of the play. Shakespeares made this play comical by using witty humour, offending characters in an amusing way and even providing visual hilarious scenes that not only an Elizabethan audience would find funny but a contemporary audience would, just as much. But saying that, there were a lot of scenes where it just wouldnt be funny to a contemporary audience because the humour has matured a lot more than it wouldve been in the sixteenth century. For example, all the men who played the womens parts, this would be extremely amusing for a sixteenth century audience because in those days things were different and it was uncommon. An audience today would have seen this so many times in reality that the funny side of it would have just worn off. I personally only found slight parts of the book funny and the video moderately funny. Whether Id find the film funny or not I think relies totally on the director and whether he feels the comedy he adds in is appropriate or pointless. Hes the only one who can decide the comedy involved in the play and just hope the audience enjoy it.

Compare Contrst Greek And Roman Women Essays - Ancient Rome

Compare Contrst Greek And Roman Women Essays - Ancient Rome Compare Contrst Greek And Roman Women 21 September 2000 A Comparison Between Greek and Roman Families Through research I have concluded that there are differences and similarities in Greek and Roman families. I hope to prove this fact in the following essay. The Greek family was mostly a nuclear family. It usually consisted of a husband, wife, and their children. The family was considered part of an economic unit. Their primary function in life was to make new citizens. The male of the household was the only person to take part in a social life. Most males thought they owned the polis, the town they lived. They controlled the government and everyone in it. Women were permitted to go to festivals or join religious cults, but they werent permitted to join in political events or be outside the household without an escort. There were exceptions to this if the family was too poor to have slaves to do the shopping. Women were allowed to own small personal items, but not Harper 2 property. Womens main purpose was to keep up the household and to have children. Women received no formal education but they may have a tutor when they were young. They were taught how to do the work expected of them when they were young. Women were also permitted to attend festivals of some kind or a funeral. They were also expected to make all the clothes, blankets and other cloth items. Women were usually married between the ages of 14 and 15. Womens lives were greatly eased if the family had slaves. Then the womens main duties were to watch the slaves to make sure they did the housework. The slaves jobs would include making clothes, farming, shopping and any other task that was needed that day. In Greek life there was a strong presentence of homosexuality. This relationship was usually between a young male and an older man. The older male supposedly taught the younger male about the Greek way of life. It is suggested that a common man did not practice in homosexuality. (Spielvogel, Jackson. 1999 pp.63-64) The Roman families had some similarities and some differences from the Greeks. The dominant male of the family was the paterfamilias he headed the Roman family and kept legal control of his wife and daughter. Unlike the Greeks this household included the paterfamilias, his wife, his sons, his sons wifes, and their children and slaves. The paterfamilias made sure that the religious ceremonies were followed correctly Harper 3 and he ruled over the family. If the paterfamilias died then the oldest male of the family took over. Then he was the legal guardian of the females. As in the Greek world men thought women were weak and should stay in the household, although some women were starting to become successful poets and artists. All fathers arranged their daughters weddings. When married a womens legal control went from her father to her husband. Women had to have legal control by a male until the first century. Then they were married with their fathers legal control. When most women were married the fathers were dead so the women obtained her personal legal control. They could decide what to do and they may own property to make this possible. This allowed for divorces to take place, but they werent introduced until the third century. Women were legally allowed to be married at age 12, but doctors documented that they advised against this act. Just like the Greek world most women were married between the ages of 14 and 15. Most upper class families provided formal education for their daughters rather than as seen in the Greek life. Some of the upper class families bought tutors for their daughters. Women in upper class families had much more freedom and control than others. They were usually not allowed to enter a post school career. (Spielvogel. Jackson 1999 pp. 96-98) Harper 4 In review, there are a few similarities between the Greek and Roman culture some are obvious and some deserve closer examination. 21 September 2000 A Comparison Between Greek and Roman Families Through research I have concluded that there are differences and similarities in Greek and Roman families. I hope to prove this fact