Religion and Ethnic Diversity Paper Essay

According to Grace Communion International, people of the black churches believed much like the European Americans. They shared the belief that God’s past dealings give light of future life. The black churches tend to see America as the land of captivity rather than the promise land. The black churches shared similar beliefs to other groups but they did not always see quite the same, black churches tend to hold church into the late afternoon and felt they should try to help all members of the church with all aspects of life, other groups did not hold church for many hours. The historically black churches took it upon themselves to care for blacks, not just spiritually but physically as well because they felt they were discriminated against. The churches made it their job to try to care for the people who had no one else to care for them. Many churches offered services to blacks and whites, even though they did this the blacks were still segregated from the whites. It was stand ard practice for things of this nature to be done before there were churches built specifically for them, some didn’t even allow their presence. The black churches received a lot of discrimination, hatred, and prejudice from the white community. Often times they were not treated equal to white people as they should have been. I feel that reading a little bit about the black churches has given me a lot more history on it but it has not really helped me to understand the religion more than I already did. I have visited a black church and while they do not believe very different they practice their religion very differently. Black of the African decent are otherwise known as African Americans differ from many other groups based on their hair, skin tones, physical appearance, and the way they talk. Black people even have beliefs about how children should be raised and cared for. They may have similar qualities of other groups but there are many more differences. African Americans have had many, many experiences with other groups and how they differ from them and what qualities they display. Blacks are often discriminated against by many groups for the choices they make and the beliefs they practice. Blacks as a group tend to keep to their own and mind their business. Blacks originally over from Africa bring many things to the American culture such as food, clothing styles, music and much more. The African decent in foods has altered spices and more, and clothing varies by pattern and style of clothing but both have made a rather large impact. For many years in history  blacks were made to be slaves and were bought, sold and bartered for in America and even other countries. They were enslaved for a very long time until the north and south finally went to war over the matter and they gained their American right to freedom. Blacks were also segregated from whites for many years. Blacks were very heavily discriminated against by many groups but especially whites. Whites made enslaving blacks very important in their lives, while whites were the main source of slave drivers, there were also very wealthy black people who chose to have black slaves. Blacks received discrimination from many directions. I feel that I already had a very fair amount of information on blacks and the discrimination and prejudice they have received in the past and continue to receive. Blacks are often not given enough credit for all that they have to put up with, but society in my opinion has lightened up tremendously. Prejudice and discrimination in historically black churches and blacks are very similar, they were made to remain segregated for many years, and they were also discriminated against by many especially the whites, both groups revolve around blacks which make the prejudice and discrimination very similar. The prejudice and discrimination that blacks and the historically black church differ in the fact that the churches were not enslaved. There are not that many differences due to the fact that the churches are for the blacks. There are far more similarities than differences in the groups. From my personal knowledge of these two groups I can conclude that blacks are mostly discriminated against by whites, especially further back in history. Other groups discriminate against blacks and the historically black church but whites much more commonly discriminate against them and are prejudice. The more time that passes the better the circumstances become between groups.

Goodnight Mr. Tom

Goodnight Mr. Tom Mr. Tom: He is a bit gruff, but caring in the end. He is mostly a loner but opens his heart, when Willie arrives. William Beech: Scared, abused child who comes to stay with Mr. Tom during the war and later finds out the true feeling of family. Afraid of the belt. George: A friend of Will's at Little Weirwold. Carrie: A friend of Willie, who is fiercely independent and later goes on to attend high school. Zack: An outgoing, funloving boy who is also an evacuee from London staying with a Little Wierwold family. A loyal friend who helps William come out of his shell.Ginnie: Carrie's sister. Annie Hartridge: The beautiful and kind schoolteacher with violet blue eyes and a single long blonde braid. Has a baby, just after Willie starts in her class. Mrs. Fletcher: Caretaker for Mr Tom's house. Geoffrey: An artist living in Spooky Cott after his time at Dunkirk. Recognizes Willie's drawing talent and becomes his art mentor. Emilia Thorne: William's second teacher. Later de velops a relationship with Geoffrey. Mrs. Clarence: A middle-aged woman living in Salmouth, who takes Mr Tom, Willie and Zach in for their holidays. Dobbs: Mr.Tom's horse. Rachel: Mr. Tom's wife who died shortly after childbirth. After her death, Mr. Tom shut himself away from anyone who reminded him about her. Mrs. Black Mr. Bush Nance Mrs. Miller Mr. Peters Christine Trudy: Mrs. Beech's surprise baby. Later dies of mistreatment and malnutrition. Charlie Rudd: A local warden of Deptford. Shows Mr Tom Willie's house and assists in the rescue. Setting England Little Weirwold: The village Willie is evacuated to. Deptford: Willie's home town. Mr. Oakley later travels there. Expressions Wizzo: Expression akin to â€Å"Neato! † or â€Å"Great! Calloo Callay: Originally from Lewis Carroll's â€Å"Jabberwockey,† Calloo Callay is an expression of joy and excitement. Theme Power of Love Summary Abused boy goes to live with grumpy old man in the county because of war. Boy becom es happy, man becomes nice Willie Beech   is evacuated to stay with Mr Tom, where they bond after time. After time Mr Tom willingly adopts him. Quotes â€Å"He called me Dad, he whispered croakily into the darkness. â€Å"He called me Dad. † And, although he felt overwhelmed with happiness, the tears ran silently down his face. – Mr Tom (or Mr. Oakley)

How Has the Globalization of Markets and Production Benefitted Ikea?

How has the globalization of markets and production benefitted IKEA? Globalization as we know it is the phenomenon of the world economies becoming reliant and integrated with one another. This is otherwise known as the trend characterized by denationalization where the world now becomes a global marketplace. IKEA is recognized to be a globalized brand with the ability to spread their own culture and values to over 300 stores in over 38 countries. The globalization of market refers to the merging of taste and preferences of consumers from all around the world resulting in an emergence of a single global marketplace.IKEA has thus used this occurrence to their advantage by shaping their business model to emphasize on standardization, customization and functionality. IKEA’s motto â€Å" One design suits all† is a simple yet effective business model that has helped them cater to all the diverse markets around the world today. In general IKEA products are standardized across markets and have high functionality that cater to the needs of people in every country. IKEA also functions on the principle of offering furniture at low and affordable prices.Despite its low costs, products are still of high quality due to the ability to mass produce their products. Similar to Macdonaldization, IKEA has been able to answer to the uniform taste of consumers in todays society and at the same time spread its own culture identity internationally. IKEA only uses different marketing and advertising strategies for their various markets to better cater to the local consumers. Globalization of production refers to the outsourcing of raw goods and services to other locations around the world in order to maximize quality and minimize costs of various factors of production.In the case of IKEA, due to the high levels of standardization in all their products they are able to manufacture products in bulk and thus enjoy the cost savings from the economies of scale. This way, cost of production is kept low and goods are always efficiently produced. Furthermore, IKEA is also known to use a unique supply chain strategy where they outsource productions of product/furniture parts to low cost developing countries located nearby their store locations (e. . China, India). From this, IKEA is also able to establish good relations with local suppliers in many locations to negotiate mutually beneficial contracts to get high quality products at lower costs. This method of merging intercultural communication into their business model allows IKEA overcome potential problems and succeed in globalizing their production. At the same time this also helps IKEA drive local competition out of their way.

Audit and Assurance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Audit and Assurance - Assignment Example This assumption helps the organizations to be able to adequately finance its liabilities, realize its assets and seek refinancing if necessary. It is the duty of management to establish whether a business is a going concern, thus an auditor has to consider this implication on every audit they perform (Messier, Glover & Prawitt, 2008). The role of the auditor is segmented by giving reliable information on the performance of the business. An auditor has to review management assessment and the risks of material misstatements which touch on the business. An auditor is mandated with the task of assessing management opinions on the business as a going concern. It is this information which will add up to the data to be used by the auditor. Further, the auditor has to seek a written report regarding the future plans of the business from a management perspective. The auditor is required to review the information used by the clients who are basically the business management organs in establishing whether the going concern basis is appropriate. The financial statements offer a reference point of liquidity risk and going concern aspects. In cases of material uncertainty the auditor will be compelled to take a stand and make a decision. The auditor will make unqualified opinion if material uncertainty exists in the financial records. However, where the doubt has not been pinpointed in the financial statements the auditor will give a qualified opinion with a concrete explanation on the same (Messier, Glover & Prawitt, 2008). Auditors in trying to assess the operation ability of the entities need to take into perspective, this factor among other numerous factors to forecast and feed management with the right information to support going concern approach of the business. Periodicity is one of the key factors which need to be perceived by both management and the auditors in coming up with quantifiable clarifications. For instance, ISA 570 adopts a framework which

Diversity Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Diversity Identity - Essay Example They are very friendly, helpful. They do not bother about religion and are highly cultured persons. I remember my first contact with different religion person when I lived in turkey and joined a French school. We soon became friends; the encounter was very pleasant as we shared our thoughts on our cultures. I was brought up in a very diverse culture, religion. So when I grew up, I learnt that there is no religion created by god, only man started religions and god is one. It is really foolish to distinguish ourselves by our religions. Religions should be teaching unity, but that is not what happening. However, there are situations in my life that make me conscious of my religion even today. The terrorist attack on America on September 11 2001 is one of the worst nightmares in my life. I can still remember my neighbors were afraid to speak to us. It was a week before when I and my friends were talking about different religions; there were two Hindu friends of mine and a Christian one. The discussion just aroused out of curiosity in knowing other religions by my friend. We talked about Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism. These talks were very interesting as we could know the practices of different religions. As a part of our friendship, we all go to church and temple. Religion has never been a barrier for me to make friendship; I won't consider religion while making friends. So I love to make friends of any religion. I never felt like I was an outsider, as I was brought up in diverse culture, I never this sense of insecurity. Religion may affect me at my workplace, however, as I am experienced in such kind of culture, I am confident that I can tackle the situation and move forward. Interview 1: I was born in a Muslim family, my neighbors were Muslims. My family and friends all belong to the same religion. When I joined elementary school, I encountered a completely diverse group of children. However I didn't care about it at that tender age. This is a nice teaching for me as I still feel that this diverse culture had made me adaptable to any culture. My schooling was also of the same scenario. My co-workers were of different backgrounds as I work for a multinational company. It is my way of life to work with people of other religion as almost everyday I work with persons of different religions. I feel excited to work with them as they are from different cultures and there is a sort of cultural exchange among us. I don't really remember my first contact with a person of other religion. That person could be my elementary school mate. The contact should definitely be pleasant. I learned many things from people of different culture. The main thing I learned from Hindus is their readiness to accept any religion. The Christians have keen interest in studying other religions. Situations or topics like marriage make me conscious about my religion. My family wants me to marry only a Muslim boy. This makes me feel insecure and obviously is a negative experience for me. The topic of religion aroused when I and my friends were discussing on different cultures of the world. The talk was all about Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Islam. I was shocked when my Sikh friend said "it is ultimately your religious friend who will rescue you when the time arrives". There is no regular talk about it; it may arise once in a while. My friend group consists of 3 Muslims, 2 Hindus, 1 Sikh. I would love to add my friends list with different

Speech Analysis. First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt Essay

Speech Analysis. First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt - Essay Example Winning his first election campaign and outrunning his opponent Herbert Hoover Roosevelt has given a traditional oath to office after which the famous speech was performed. Above the traditional live audience consisted from something about 15 thousands of people newly president’s speech was heard on the radio by supposedly 10 million people all across the United States of America. It was crafted by Raymond Moley who was Roosevelt’s ally during the New Deal reforms. Speech lasted 20 minutes and itself is one of the best examples of spoken word in the 20th century. The incredible resemblance and significance of this speech depends greatly on the historical circumstances and general situation of the America which was deeply disintegrated and collapsed by The Great Depression. It is a classic example of how the times of historical, political or economic crisis bring the uprising of a strong, powerful and great leader. It was Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, Founding Fathers during the Revolution and it was Franklin Roosevelt, the only president so honorable to rule America for 13 years. Thirteen trouble years during which Mr. Roosevelt has defeated Depression and fought Nazi Third Reich, Fascist Italians and Japanese all for the prosperity of his own compatriots and the freedom of other countries suffering from tyranny and oppression (Coker 35). Being one of the most spectacular and influent presidents and not only a great politician but also a man of justice Mr. Roosevelt also made it worth to give a significant speech which preceded all hi s further noble achievements.

Consulting project Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Consulting project - Research Proposal Example In order to fix the problem the mothers of young kids use greasy hair oils, harmful chemicals, time consuming nit combs, visit exorbitantly priced spas and parlors but almost never get the desired result. The product to be marketed is a vacuum hose attachment with a nit comb attached to the front which provides a convenient, safe and environmentally friendly way for a speedy removal of lice from the head providing instant relief to children from head lice and it will be launched in the Indian market by the name:- LiceSuk International Comparison Program'(2005) suggests that India along with five countries account for nearly half the GDP of total world as measured in PPP. More than half of the world's total population lives in just two countries of the world -India and China. Moreover these are the developing countries of the world which offer higher growth rate as compared to the already developed markets; and the economically developed countries like US and Germany are facing greater heat of recession with surging economic crises. Therefore one can think of investment in either India or China. I took India as the country to develop LiceSuk because there is a need of this new product in an Indian Market and till now no other company has launched this type of product in the Indian Market. Our Vision: Our vision is for LiceSuk to be'accessible on shelves worldwide; providing a safe, environmentally friendly, fast and effective alternative method to remove head lice and lice eggs at an affordable price for all. About LiceSuk: LiceSuk is a vacuum hose attachment with a nit comb attached to the front which provides a convenient, safe and environmentally friendly way for the speedy removal of lice from the head providing instant relief for children from head lice. It is a comb attachment which fits into a standard vacuum hose, utilizing the suction and removing both lice and eggs instantly. The LiceSuk'model'is a simple, lightweight,'hand held device which'has been designed to be placed into a vacuum hose to utilize the suction power, sucking out head lice and lice eggs from the infested hair. LiceSuk'is a safe,'environmentally friendly'alternative method'to the current head lice removal process involving lotions and fine combing. LiceSuk provides instant relief for'all; the lice are removed (sucked out) almost immediately. Features and Benefits of LiceSuk: LiceSuk is a once off purchase and being only 15cm in length it'can be easily stored away'for later use,'it can be used over and over again on the whole family - No more repeatedly buying expensive shampoos and lotions again! LiceSuk is suitable for all hair types (2 comb option, thicker and thinner). LiceSuk saves time as it sucks the'lice and lice eggs out almost instantly - No need for leaving lotions in hair anymore! LiceSuk is a safe alternative method which eliminates the'use of harsh, toxic, smelly chemicals - Great for those with sensitive skin! LiceSuk provides instant relief from the uncomfortable itchy feeling caused from the lice. A modern and ergonomical model, LiceSuk has been designed for ease of use. Maintenance and cleaning is very easy,

Starbucks. PESTLE and Porter five force analyses Assignment

Starbucks. PESTLE and Porter five force analyses - Assignment Example It sells both cold and hot drinks, salads, sandwiches, snacks, pastries, coffee beans, and also other items like mugs, tumblers, etc. The revenue generated by the company in the year 2012 is $13.29 billion, and the operating income is $1.99 billion. The total number of employees is 149,000 till 2011. Starbucks was also the first to introduce the system of Starbucks Express. Through this system Starbucks can order online, so that when they visit the store their order would be ready for them and they would not have to wait. Even a Starbucks Card Apps was introduced for the iPhones and Android users to make payments online. This study aims at discussing the market environment of Starbucks through the strategic tools such as PESTLE and Porter five force analyses. An evaluation of the critical success factors would also be helpful in assessing the business environment further. In the next section the strategic analysis would be further done in details by identifying the strengths and weak nesses, resources, core competencies and the value chain of Starbucks. Finally the strategic fitness of Starbucks would ascertain the sustainability of the company.PESTEL is the macro environmental analysis tool, which is used for scrutinizing the political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. In this study the in-depth PESTLE analysis of UK would assist in understanding the business environment of Starbucks.... The present prime minister of UK is David Cameron, who has taken several initiatives in dealing with the ongoing recession and for diminishing the fiscal deficit of the country. Economical Factors Due to the economic slowdown and a decline of 0.8 percent in the growth rate, the rate of job cuts is also increasing in UK. The rate of unemployment was recorded to be 8.1 percent in 2011, and expectation of an increasing unemployment rate was high. It has been projected that by 2012, the unemployment rate would be 8.3 percent, which is the highest in 16 years. So it can be said that the economic conditions would also affect the customers who visited coffee shops and restaurants because the purchasing power of people has decreased. Social Factors The government of the country has to face many challenges for maintaining the stages of public services on recommendation. Since the budget deficits, slowing economic condition and other economic issues, so the authorities were not in a condition to maintain the level of expenditure on the projects associated with social welfare. (Marketline, 2012a, p. 4). In UK people prefer to have coffee more than tea, so though economic conditions are adverse, but people would not change their preference for coffee, which would also benefit Starbucks. Technological Factors UK has the second largest aerospace after US. The manufacturing sector of the country supports about 276,000 employees. The government of UK has also stated that the level of knowledge in science and innovation has increased in the country by 1.9 percent in the year 2004, and it is expected to rise to 2.5 percent by 2014. Even coffee shops in the country are technologically well equipped. It can be understood by

Marketing Fundamentals assignment (referral) 2 Essay

Marketing Fundamentals assignment (referral) 2 - Essay Example Hutchison Whampoa Limited is an international corporation having many diversified businesses including port operations, retail, property development and infrastructure, technology, and telecommunication operations. 3G Mobile Services is a mobile media company that operates from United Kingdom. The main businesses include communications, media and entertainment and information services (Hutchison 3G UK Limited, 2008). It is critical that target market for company's products and services is identified and analyzed. The target market where the company will operate and the customers to target pose significant insights into the demographics, market structure and other parameters. A proper research can provide credible results that can then be used to develop positioning and targeting strategies. Companies can access the market and capitalise on the endless opportunities only if these companies can understand the exact requirements of the target customers and modify their products and services accordingly. In addition to product and services development, the companies need to decide on the pricing of their products and services. The right price may spur the sales but too high or too low a price will definitely affect the company negatively. Pricing is a critical decision and hence can only be taken if exact market information is available. This decision has far reaching effects. Market is se Market is segmented based upon demographic factors like age, preferences, gender, and other factors related to potential customers; geographic factors like location, climate, population, etc; psychographic factors like attitude, lifestyle and values; and/ or behavioral factors like usage rate, brand loyalty, etc (Eztel Walker Stanton, 2003). Market Segmentation for 3G 3G has chosen United Kingdom as its primary target market based on its specific geographic factors like high population density, and relatively better law and order conditions, etc. This is also because of 3G's expertise and experience to operate in this region and the huge inroads that the company is able to create inside the big UK market for mobile communications. Being a mobile media company, it is critical for 3G to develop its products and services with specific focus on the UK's customer requirements. Based on the analysis carried out by 3G, the company identified various segments of mobile phone service market in UK. Some of these market segments that 3G identified during their market segmentation research are discussed in the following sections. With the advent of modern technology, only a small segment in the target market wants to use mobile phones for making and receiving phone calls only. They prefer various other features with their mobile phones. These factors are all based on the demographic, behavioral and psychographic factors that were considered by 3G during the research for market segmentation: Video Calls Many users (especially in the 15 - 40

A Man Defined by War Essay Example for Free

A Man Defined by War Essay Similar to many authors during the early part of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway uses his first hand experience to write meticulous novels conveying his struggles. Hemingways efforts are recorded using new techniques not yet seen before. Hemingway, the author of the celebrated A Farwell To Arms, incorporates meaningful diction, imagery, and syntax in Book 1 to convey his detached tone towards the Great War. Book 1 of A Farewell To Arms sets the groundwork for one of the most influential novels of all time. Lieutenant Frederick Henry, an American ambulance driver for the Italian army, seems stoic about his situation. Henry meets a British nurse, Catherine Barkley. After an evening with Catherine, he says to himself, I had treated seeing Catherine very lightly, I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgotten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow. (41). This is the first time Henry fully recognizes that he loves Catherine. His body drained of guilt, Henry utter, when I could not see her.I was feeling hollow. A lover without a clue, Henry lays his problems, the war, his love life, and his friends on the table. While away from Catherine, he feels he goes through the motions needed to live but can not actually be attached to the world. Catherine completes him. Just after the priest discusses God, Henry walks through Abruzzi. He thinks to himself, lovely was the fall to go hunting through the chestnut woods. The birds were all good because they fed on grapes and you never took a lunch because the peasants were always honored if you would eat with them at their houses.(73). Henrys thoughts are obviously disconnected from his main problems. Pondering the birds, Henry detaches himself from the rest of the war. Hemingways personal issues regarding the war are exemplified in Henrys speech. Vibrant, vivid imagery became one of Hemingways favorite structural devices. In the early stages of the tale, Henry, still getting accustomed to his surroundings, finds time to observe the less important items of his experience. While viewing the scenery around him, Henry observes, snow slanted across the wind, the bare ground was covered, the stumps of trees projected, there was snow on the guns and there was paths in the snow going back to the latrines behind trenches. (6). His world completely changed, Henry resorts to crafting detached images for himself from his surroundings. Snow generates a sense of permanence, just as the war itself has produced. With the same disinterest as he has in the war, Henry continues to show a lack of concern on his job and sometimes with his friends. Hemingway wants the reader to reconsider their opinion of the Great War and contemplate the lesser things in the world such as nature. While driving an ambulance to Pavla, Henrys car is demolished by a trench mortar. A general without his authority, Henry struggled through this tragedy using his unbelievable willpower and audacity. Just before the attack, Henry, ate the end of my piece of cheese and took a swallow of winethen there was a flash, as when a blast-furnace door is swung open, and a roar that started white and went red and on and on in a rushing wind. (54). The mortar blast that attacks Henrys ambulance furthers his dismal attitude towards the war. Hemingway knows that innocent men such as Henry have been injured and killed throughout this war and he knows this is not fair. Above all, he further detaches Henry from the world and the war for the readers own thoughts to form about the evilness of guiltless casualties. Syntactical devices are one of literatures most important and practical modes to get a point across in an exciting and interesting manner. Authors utilize such tools to get deeper meanings across to the reader. A variety of syntax Hemingway utilizes is known as subject. Additionally, while he is illustrating one of those most impressing scenes of Book 1, Henry must deal with other feelings and sights. Henry observes, The dead were off to one side. The doctors were working with their sleeves up to their shoulders and were red as butchers. There were not enough stretchers. Some of the wounded were noisy but most were quiet (56-57). To cope with his negative opinions towards the war, Henry draws up his inner strength to battle them. With the same resolve that drove him to the war, Henry eliminates feelings of sorrow and shows a lack of interest on the front. Another syntactical device utilizes repetition. To prepare the reader for the upcoming idea, Hemingway creates a brilliant structural masterpiece. During a mess hall scene in Book 1, Henry narrates, Yes, father. That is true, father. Perhaps, father. No, father. Well, maybe yes, father. You know more about it than I do father. (38). By repeating the same father over and over again, Hemmingway initiates a serious, monotonous tone to this excerpt. The repetition alone is a cautious statement bending the limits of literature itself. Dr. Robert Lamb believes repetition is key to creating great literature, but the author must know how to apply it. He states, the most remarkable aspect of the passage is Hemingwaysemployment of repetition. The repetition of key words like want and perfectlyare used [to] keep the dialogues relevant. (Hemingway and the Creation17). Hemingway effectively displays repetition demonstrating Henrys disinterest and detachment from the war and all of its horrors. The everlasting war establishes Henrys dismal tone as he struggles to survive the war. Out of Henrys struggles emerged his strengths. In conclusion, Ernest Hemingways innovative techniques in the fields of diction, imagery, and syntax generate the protagonists detachment from World War I in Book 1. Deriving from his disinterest comes his affection for a young British nurse. Hemingways own conflicts in World War I blend with his views from that war and congregate in this masterpiece.

Alu elements

Alu elements Introduction For centennials scientists and laymen alike have been awe-inspired and intrigued by the phenomena that is Alu elements. It is a family of short interspersed repeats that have mobilized throughout primate genomes by retrotransposition over the past 65 million years of primate evolution (Comas et al., 2001). Alu elements are regarded as Sort Interspersed Nuclear Elements (SINES) whose length spans 300bp. In close proximity to the centre of the Alu element itself, is a recognition site for the restriction enzyme Alu I, of which its name is ascertained. These Alu elements accounts for 5% of the human genome and is believed to have arisen from a gene that encodes the RNA component of the recognition molecule (Smith, 2005). Alu is a transposable DNA sequence that has the ability to repeatedly copy and insert itself into new chromosome loci i.e. jumping-genes. More specifically Alu is a retroposon it necessitates the retrovirus enzyme reverse transcriptase to produce an identical copy of itself that has the capacity to be mobile. This is achieved when the inserted Alu, by processes of RNA polymerases, is transcribed into mRNA. The newly formed mRNA is converted to a double stranded molecule. This is accomplished by the action of reverse transcriptase. In the end, at any new chromosomal locus at the site of a single or double stranded break, the DNA copy of Alu is integrated (Robinson, 2005). In order for an Alu element to self transcribe, each has an internal promoter for RNA polymerase III. Nevertheless, it lacks the ability to produce a copy of itself. Furthermore, to integrate this copy into a new chromosome position. But other transposons the very functions Alu lacks. One of these other transposons is L1, a Long Interspersed Nuclear Element (LINES), as a results of LINES ability to retain a functional reverse-transcriptase gene. In addition to LINES ability to reverse transcribe RNA to DNA , L1 reverse transcriptase is also able to produce single stranded nicks in DNA. If a chromosomal locus contains the sequence AATTT, the reverse transcriptase enzyme will produce a nick the polyadenalated tail of the Alu transcript hydrogen bonds to the TTT sequence at the nicked site. Thus creating a primer for for the reverse transcription. Enabling the DNA copy to migrate (Fisher, 2007). This representation depicts the efficiency of L1. Moreover, how L1 provieds the the fuctions for Alu tranposons. In essence, it shows how Alu is a parasite of L1 i.e. a remnant of an ancestoral retrovirus (Kass et al., 2007). This study examines PV92, a human-specific Alu insertion on chromosome 16 and which belong to the subfamily Alu Y. The PV92 genetic system has only two alleles indicating the presence (+) or absence (-) of the Alu transposable element on each of the paired chromosomes. It is aimed at extracting DNA, amplifying it and running it on a 2% agrose gel. The results attained will be analysed for the possible Alu insertion or deletion. It is hypothesised that with the aid of specific molecular biology techniques, analysis of the PV 92 Alu element can be achieved and the population will be in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. Method And Materials A) DNA Samples For approximately 1minute, sterile nylon swabs were rubbed inside the cheek. The swabs were then placed in 250 µl of QuickExtract and rotated in such a manner that no solution was spilt. Thereafter, swabs were pressed against the sides of the tubes, removed the tubes were closed. The tubes were vortexed for 10seconds and incubated for 1minute at 65 °C. A second vortex then followed for 1seconds. The tubes were then incubated for 4minutes at 98 °C. Upon completion, the tubes were re-vortexed for 15seconds. With the use of a nanodrop, the DNA of each tube could be quantified. The expected yield for each tube was 20ng/ µl. B) PCR Conditions In a final volume of 150 µl, a standard master mix was prepared. Each master mix comprised 1x reaction buffer, 200mM dNTP mix, 1.5mM MgCl2, 1 µM of each primer and 0.016U/ µl of Taq polymerase. Following a 1:1 dilution, the DNA stock was diluted to a concentration of 15ng/ µl. The reaction was set up by mixing 15ng of DNA to a master mix which was made up to a final volume of 25 µl. Finally, the preparation of the negative control followed containing 24 µl of master mix which was made up to a final volume of 25 µl. The reactions were then run for 30 cycles by means of the subsequent constraints: 95 °C 1min, 55.5 °C 1min, 72 °C 1min and 72 °C 7min. This was then held at 4 °C. C) Gel Electrophoresis In an Erlenmeyer flask, 2g of agrose powder was weighed out and 100ml of 1x TBE was added. The agrose was dissolved by heating in a microwave oven. The solution was then cooled and 1 µl of EtBr was added. The agrose was then poured into a casting tray with a comb and this was allowed to set at room temperature. Of the PCR product, 10 µl was mixed with 1 µl loading dye. Then 10 µl of the newly formed sample was loaded onto the gel alongside the MW marker. Using a UV light, the DNA fragments could be visualised and photographed. The size of the amplified product could then be attained. Results Frequencies for a class of 70 students ++ = 35 individuals +- = 30 individuals = 5 individuals Therefore the total number of alleles = 140 Allele frequency distribution of the ++ and allele in the Normal Population Allele frequency for ++ allele = [(++ x 2) + (+-)] à · (n), where n= number of alleles in the whole population Therefore: Allele frequency for ++ allele = [(35 x 2) + 30] à · (140) =0.714 =71.4% Allele frequency for allele = [( x 2) + (+-)] à · (n), where n= number of alleles in the whole population Therefore: Allele frequency for L allele = [(5 x 2) + 30] à · (140) =0.286 =28.6% Observed Frequencies (OF) OF = Number of individuals for a specific allele à · total number of individuals in the sample Therefore: ++ allele = 35 à · 70 = 0.50 +- allele = 30 à · 70 = 0.43 allele = 5 à · 70 = 0.07 Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) The formula for determining HWE = p2+2pq+q2 Therefore: HWE = (0.714)2 + [2(0.714 + 0.286)] + (0.286)2 = 1 Comparison of observed frequencies with expected frequencies Observed Expected (O-E)2 à · E ++ 50 51 0.0196 +- 43 41 0.0976 7 8 0.1250 Total ∑ 0.242 For degrees of freedom = 1 and a 95% probability, the critical value attained from the Chi square table is 3.843 Discussion The results attained depicted that 35 individuals in the sample were homozygous for the insertion, while 30 were homozygous for no insertion. Only 5 individuals in the sample were heterozygous. This shows that a greater percentage of the population can pass on the PV92 insertion to their offspring. The allele distribution frequencies of the ++ and +- allele in the normal population revealed that 71.4% of the population was ++ which is just below 2 ½ times more that the 28.6% attained for the allele. The observed frequencies materialised similar results. The ++ allele had the highest frequency with +- having the lowest. Once more, the allele was the intermediate. When comparing the observed frequencies to that of the expected frequencies, the critical value attained was 0.242. With the respects to the Chi square table, for degrees of freedom being 1 and for a 95% probability, the critical value was 3.843. The Hardy-Weinberg principle implies that both allele and genotype frequencies in a population remain stable i.e. equilibrium, from cohort to the next except if specific disturbing influences are launched. Those comprise non-random mating, mutations, selection, limited population size, overlapping generations, random genetic drift and gene flow (Wikipedia, 2010 and Roux, 1974). With the above mentioned, it was attained that the sample was found to be in equilibrium as the calculated critical value was less than the one attained from the Chi square table at a 95% probability. Therefore, it can be said with much certainty that the hypothesis made was true. References * Comas, D., Plaza, S., Calafell, F., Sanjantila, A. and Bertranpetit, J. (2001). Recent Insertion of an Alu Element Within a Polymorphic Human-Specific Alu Insertion European Journal of Pharmacology Molecular Pharmacology Section, 247, 239-248 * Fisher, L. (2007). Alu Frame-set. (Online) (Cited 28 March 2010) Available from http://www.geneticorigins.org/pv92/aluframeset.htm * Kass, D., Jamison, N., Mayberry, M. and Tecle, E. (2007). Identificatin of a unique based Alu-polymorophism and its use in Human Population studies. Journal of Genes. * Robinson, N. (2005). PV92 Locus Alu: How to Track Human Migration Following This Gene Insertion. (Online) (Cited 28 March 2010) Available from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1452910/pv92_locus_alu_how_to_track_human_migration_pg2.html?cat=58 * Roux, C. (1974) Hardy-Weinberg Equilibria in random mating populations. Theoretical population biology. 5: 393- 416 * Smith, A. (2005). What is PV92? (Online) (Cited 28 March 2010) Available from http://www.fbr.org/swksweb/pv92.html * Wkipedia (2010). Hardy-Weinberg principle (Online) (Cited 28 March 2010) Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardy%E2%80%93Weinberg_principle

Culture Impact On International Business Cultural Studies Essay

Culture Impact On International Business Cultural Studies Essay Culture always makes a great impact on international trade. Although there are similarities between various cultures, but there are also obvious differences, the ever-present different cultural backgrounds affect international trade. Different cultural products in international trade will have the name, trademarks, advertisements, and verbal and written communication translation impact. Therefore, cultural factors should be taken into account in the international trade, in order to avoid misunderstandings which may result in economic losses. In international trade, cultural background, language and customs and other cultural differences become the invisible barriers as cross-cultural communication in international trade. To analysis the differences of language and cultural factors and their impact, the crucial element to open the international market and expand International trade successfully is implementing cross-cultural exchange effectively. Many powerful companies failed in international business, the main reason are not the shortage of capital or technology, but due to ignoring the cultural differences impact on trade and communication. In the face of this, we should be aware of the importance of culture, find out the aspects of culture that impact on the international trade, and know how these points work. Relevance of Culture The impact on international trade of ubiquitous cultural factor is recessive and potential. Culture has the characteristic of group. As the common pattern of behaviour which accumulated in the history, people approve and follow their own culture they live with. Culture hybrid is the catalyst of economic development while culture conflict is the cancer cell of economic cooperation. 2.1 Concept of Culture Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas. (Alfons Trompenaars, Charles Hampden-Turner, 1993, P6) Culture is formed by the ideas, concepts, behaviour, customs, habits, representatives of a group in a given period and the overall sense from this group out of all the activities. 2.2 Values of Culture According to the importance of culture, it is necessary to know the culture well. When acquiring a language and know the accuracy meaning in the culture, we can communicate with others through it. By understanding the customs, we can anticipate how business partners and customers are likely to respond. By learning the partners or customers culture values, we can distinguish between what is considered right or wrong, acceptable or offensive. To know the different ways of thinking in different culture, we can identify with other managers, provide knowledge to meet and negotiation with them. 2.3 Levels of Culture As we learn from the lecture, we know there are at least three levels of culture: National/Regional Culture-Culture within a country/regional Corporate Culture-Culture within a specific organization Professional Culture-Culture of particular functions within an organization 3.0 How does culture work As we know, culture is a broad concept. So it can affect international trade in many ways both internal and external the enterprise. 3.1 National/Regional Culture Language Cultural difference is an important factor that restricts the translation of the words. Because translation involves different using principle of two different languages. In the translation process, if you dont know the different culture very well, this often occurs that the meaning is quite the opposite with the real meaning which can lead to the misunderstanding. For example, when the General Motors Corporation enters the market of Belgium, the slogan was Body in Belgium, but when translating the slogan into Flemish language, the meaning was corpse by Fisher. The strange slogan led to embarrassment and the customers confusion. Things followed were the dramatically slip of the sales volume until the administration became aware of this problem. This situation shows the significance of understanding the language in the different culture background. Custom Different countries have different customs, the tradition way of life, the hobby of people, the taboo, etc., all these show the culture diversity of the world. A bitter case shows the consequences of disrespect of custom. Lawrence Stessin, the anthropologist, pointed this in his report. A business man from North California wanted to purchase a textile machines company from Birmingham in UK to open the European market. Not long after he took over the company, the manager from America want to rectify a problem about the British teatime. Lawrence said, in British, every worker had the teatime of half an hour. During the time, workers can taste some wine in the large ounce container on their own preferences. The manager proposed reducing the teatime to 10 minutes and union agreed. But a week later, the workers rioted in the factory. They broke the windows, destroyed the machines and hooted the administrators. The manager tried to redeem for the loss, he installed the vending machines with the low capacity cups instead of the large ounce containers. Based on the American custom, the rules requested more contribution and loyalty of the workers bu t disrespected the local custom, the company ended in bankruptcy. Values As the result of the difference of countries historical development, the formation of culture differs a lot in the long history. People also have different opinions and values on the same thing. In international trade activities, people with different culture background show the obvious differences on the concept of time, decision-making and conflict management approach. Americans believe in free competition and individualism. Personal courage to assume responsibilities is a virtue in Americans eyes and its the positive performance. So in a negotiation, the representative wields the power to make his own decision within the authorized scope. On the contrary, Chinese people pay great attention on collective decision-making and emphasise the team wisdom. As the proverb says, Two heads are better than one. Especially in Japan, a collective country, team interests are higher than everything at any time. The difference between Asian and Western values leads to the different understanding to some things, which sometimes results in the barriers in the trade and verbal communication. Mode of thinking American linguist Robert B Kaplan(1966) proposed the Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education through the research of abroad students who speak different mother tongue. He believes that thinking is spiral Oriental while Western thinking is linear in. Once an American corporation wanted to enter the market of south China, they sent a representative to deal with the business. Also, China side wants to enlarge its trade. Since both sides were satisfied with the deal, the negotiation should be favouring. But the process of negotiation was not so simple. It was problem here that the different thinking way. To show humility and amiable, the Chinese manager always used some fuzzy words, like maybe, perhaps, whatever, etc.. All these made the American manager doubted whether the Chinese manager were pure-hearted to make the deal. So they didnt sign the contract in China. To show the respect to others, the Chinese manager didnt express his will to deal. After going back to America, the manager wrote a letter to China and directly express that he wanted to cooperate with China. The Chinese are happy to accept and wrote back. But in the long letter, he put the key point in the end with the long-winded matting before. At last there was no tr ansaction because of the misunderstanding which resulted from different mode of thinking. 3.2 Corporate Culture The relationship between staff-Tom Peters, American writer on business management practices, said that the only real resource to the enterprise is human. Therefore, the harmonious atmosphere among staff is quite important to the development of enterprise. It is quite normal for a transnational enterprise to hire talented persons. While unseemly ways of arranging employees led to a series of problem in an enterprise. To some extent, the appearance of these people leads to internal staff personnel psychological confrontation. This is a process of coordination and adjustment. But the administration ignored this serious point and just paid more attention to these talented persons. During this period, the spirit and morale of the old staff were affected. They became less loyal and negative and resulted in the decline in performance. Another situation will lead to the discord among employees. As a Chinese, we are used to it while which may offend people in other countries. Suppose there are three employees, A, B and C. When A and B are talking about something, C comes and interrupts their conversation or joins their talking. It is normal in China and people can accept. In western, however, people think they were not respected or even offended. They cant accept this behaviour. So if this situation happens in an enterprise with employees from different countries, the harmonious atmosphere will be broken and lead to the performance. The relationship between higher and lower levels-the relationship between boss and employee is interaction and help each other forward. In the Chinese and Western culture, this relationship shows some difference: Role difference-In China, the mainstream of Chinese culture emphasizes the group and social values. People pay more attention on the affiliation between individual and group. The actions and observation must be in accordance with the expectation of group. In contrast, western people emphasize individual rights and independence. For example, to respect peoples rights and freedom, the speaker always uses the phrasing like Would youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? Could youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.? Shall Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? etc. No matter how the relationship is between two persons. This different position of role leads to the misunderstanding between boss and employee from different culture background. Daily conversation-Because of the difference of different culture, a polite term in one culture may be considered as the impolite, inappropriate language in another culture. In China, people used to show the respect only to eldership or higher authorities. Among the western people, they always call each others first name, whether you are my eldership or boss or teacher. Instead of being impolite, they think its the way to show intimate among people. For example, in a transnational enterprise, the manager is a Chinese and the employee is a British. The manager will assign a task to the employee without the words like please thank you which may depresses the employee in some extent. The opposite situation, if the manager is a western people while the employee is a Chinese. Its normal when the manager call the name of the employee. As the junior employee, Chinese people always say its too late, youd better to go home or something like that to show concerning. But the manager may feel being interfered because time to go home is his own right. Nonverbal communication-during the conversation, not only the express are different, but also the space distance in different culture background. In UK, people divided the distance into four types: intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, public distance. In France, people will hug and kiss the face. While in China, there is no definite distance in social intercourse. The type of body touch is shaking hands or hugging which mostly happens among the same gender. Expect lovers, the situation of kissing and hugging will never happen among the opposite gender. And females always go out hand in hand if they are good friends which may be misunderstood in western countries. 3.3 Professional Culture Within an organization, both professional culture and organizational culture can shape the decisions, output and something else in it. The organisational culture is a system that has an impact on the whole organization. While the professional culture lays particular emphasis on individual effort. The coexistence of these two cultures can plan the development of organization much better. If the organization can recruit participants who have the characteristics it requires, it does not have to develop these characteristics through training and education.'(Amitai Etzioni, 1961) If the organizational culture is fixed, the goals, the competitor, the position are definite, the organization has to recruit employees with the specific characteristics. Here, the professional culture does make sense. As a collective country, Japanese employ own the high loyalty to their organization. The unique loyalty can be seen as the professional culture within an organization. The loyalty plays a particular and significant role in the enterprise. The intrinsic motivation of the workers loyalty originates from the trust mechanism. Therefore, the Japanese workers loyalty is one of the most important reasons that the Japanese corporate achieve success. A Chinese business man established a restaurant in Japan several years ago. In the first few years, he hired Chinese people because they are his compatriots. Before long, however, the employees were replaced by Japanese gradually. Some guests from China want to know the reason. He told them that Japanese are easy to manage. More importantly, the Japanese employees are always concerning more about the restaurant. Once he became the staff, he was a member of this team. The team grew better so that the staff got better. A manager of human resource department in a Japanese transnational enterprise once said, as individuals, Chinese people have the excellent working capability. But as a member of the organization, they lack compatibility and sufficient responsibility. This enterprise recruited 20 IT employees from China. And the administration wanted to inculcate a spirit of loyal to organization. But too much emphasis on this point sometimes led to their negative mentality. There is another phenomenon that we can only see in Japan. Some Chinese consultants had the business transactions with a Japanese newspaper office. They found strange that they could rarely see the boss himself appearing in the office during the several years. All the internal things were assigned to the manager. The boss was always staying at home by remote control. Everything was in perfect order. All the employees worked hard and dedicate without lazing. They all treated the enterprise and boss as their family because they know better the company was, much more money they could earn. Once a Japanese manager was asked a question, Why dont you start your own business and be your own boss with your talent? In that company, he deals with all the affairs. He can earn much more if he start his own business. But he said that he has been in the company for more than three decades from a staff to a manager. His growth cant be without the training and cultivate of the boss and enterprise. They are a big family. In Japan, employees are loyal to the company. Even if another company will pay more and provide better treatment, they wont change their minds easily. How to measure an employees loyalty? When buying things for the company, the staff never receive kickbacks; never use the company telephone to make personal international call; to be the first one to come, the last one to go back; meticulous, and so on. In the eyes of Japanese workers, these things are unalterable. The best way to show the employees loyalty is the company of their choice, or single-mindedness. And the boss defines the loyal staff as actively perform the spirit of sacrifice. Since the 90s from last century, Japans bubble economy collapsed. The problem of employees loyalty emerged. Japanese human resource instruction conducted a survey in 2002. Among Netherlands, Mexico, United States, Germany, Italy, Japan and some other countries, the employees loyalty of the first three countries was 73%, 72%, 68% respectively. That of Japan was only 50%. They were shocked by the results. This result indicates that the positive influence of professional culture needs a steady surrounding. Conclusion In the East-West cooperation business process, cultural backgrounds, different cultural mentality, customs, are often overlooked by many people. While the cultural factor is the key factor that determines the success or failure of business activities. Quite different from the normal trade, the international trade within different culture background request more. Dealers should know each others culture and custom very well. Its the guarantee of success. In international business, we should pay more attention to differences in cross-cultural communication. Correctly deal with cultural differences and prevent the barriers that may be caused by cultural patterns and cultural prejudices. Among the staff, everyone should respect each other and treat equality. The key to success in cross-culture communication is treating the culture difference properly; try to exclude cultural superiority, cultural patterns and cultural prejudices of the interference. This is the only way to carry out the international trade activities in cross-culture communication successfully. We can establish the international culture exchange centre; carry out the multi-level forms of culture display and exchange to eliminate the concept of custom, language and art appreciation and other aspects of trade barriers. The formulation of foreign trade policy for the enterprises should be syncretised with that the local culture. We cant always challenge a culture if its not suited to our system. It is necessary to create the countrys cultural products for sale, but also the manner and extent of pricing that people can accept, and try to find suitable local custom channels to purchase objects willing to accept the publicity. These links are indispensable, and only all of them are put together organically, the barriers can be broken. In conclusion, we stress that culture is the primary factor in business trade, and the major barrier is the difference between historical cultures. Cultural factors are unavoidable. Cultural universals are dominant, and cultural differences can be bridged by international trade. Moreover, with the development of cultural interpenetration, the influence of cultural differences will become smaller. The cross-culture communication activity will become easier than before.

Barbados Essay -- essays research papers

Barbados   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When one thinks of Barbados, one thinks of luscious, turquoise blue waters; soft white sand beaches; blue, white clouded skies; fresh fruits; exotic, delicious dishes and honeymoons. One, however, tends to forget the formation of this land. This Caribbean luxury Island has much history and great heritage. In this report, I will detail Barbados’s location, history, labor relations, population size and structure, industries, plus add a little zest with the beauty of the Island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Let’s begin with the location of Barbados. Barbados is an Island of a cluster of Caribbean Islands. Its location is on the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, in a somewhat strange location, if you may. The Island is 166 square miles and is located 13 degrees North, 59 degrees West, leaving it at around 270 miles north-east of Venezuela. Closest to the Island are the nations Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Barbados is generally a flat island, with a central highland; the highest point being Mount Hillaby which stands at 336 meters tall. Barbados is also known as â€Å"Little England† by the British. Barbados was named by Pedro A. Campos, a Portuguese explorer, who originally named the Island â€Å"Os Barbados’ (The Bearded Ones) because he believed that the islands fig trees looked like beards due to their drooping aerial roots. The capital of Barbados is Bridgetown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barbados holds a fairly reasonable climate, not assumed by many. The climate is tropical with few months of rainy weather from June to October. Assumptions by many lead one to believe that the weather may bring about hurricanes and tropical storms. In reality, storms do not hit except every 3.09 years, while hurricanes are not seen except for once every 26.6 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barbados’s flag was chosen with much meaning and significance. The flag represents freedom and the breakaway from a colonized past. The flag holds three equal bands, blue, gold, and blue respectively. The middle band being gold, holds a trident head, this head is what represents independence, freedom and past disconnection. The flag is shown below: Source: ExxUN.com   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The nationals of Barbados are known as Barbadians or Bajans. Barbados holds a population of 27... ...ongaline Festival and the Crop Over Festival. These are annual events, the Congaline Festival being the smaller of the two. This festival takes place during the last week of March. The Crop Over Carnival starts at the beginning of July and ends during the first week of August. Musical compitions and other traditional activities take place in this time of fun. The Crop Over festival closes with a large parade. Another economy growth, related to tourism, is the building of hotels, new homes, re-developments, office complexes, condos and mansions. By providing housing and resorts for tourists, the attraction will not only pull in tourists, but it will provide economic structure. Barbados is a country of much integrity, hospitability, and culture. Economic prospects are respected and growing. Tourism is an economic prospect that is growing for many reasons and one that is sure to lead Barbados in the right direction. References http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107321.html http://www.exxun.com/Barbados/c_pp.html http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0856844.html http://www.exxun.com/Barbados/a_fg.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados http://www.barbados.org/invest.htm

John-O-Lanterns :: essays research papers

â€Å"Witchcraft,† answered the seventeen year old honor student, Sebastian Holmes, at Lincoln Woods High.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Correct,† replied Lady Talla, the elderly Mythology teacher who also owned the town brothel, â€Å"Drec, wake up and pay attention!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"How can I pay attention to the same thing every year? You teachers need to teach us new things,† Drec barked.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was the day before Halloween and since this was the first year that Drec was too old to go Trick-or-Treating, he and Sebastian decided to dress up and petrify the local kids. They climbed into Sebastian’s Bronco and headed for the local costume parlor. Drec bought a very expensive, very gory costume of a man with a nail through his eye. Sebastian bought a costume of a skunk with a bow in its hair. Drec was never one to retain his opinions, so he told Sebastian that his skunk costume was the gayest thing he’d ever seen. Sebastian being the kind hearted person that he was, just ignored the comment and proceeded to the door. If it weren’t for Sebastian, Drec’s mouth would get him into all sorts of trouble.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the way home Drec saw something that he didn’t see on the way to the costume shop, it was a humongous field full of pumpkins. Sebastian pulled over to check the prices because his family still didn’t have any pumpkins for Halloween. There wasn’t anyone there, so the boys decided to â€Å"borrow† a couple of them. They weren’t going to waste them, they were going to carve them and put them out on Sebastian’s front porch. So they didn’t feel as bad about stealing. They loaded up the Bronco and headed home, hoping nobody saw them take the pumpkins. The first thing that they did when they got home was carve the pumpkins that they came across. It was late, so Drec went home and prepared for the next day of complete excitement. Little did they know, three hundred miles away, two men were planning to â€Å"borrow† a few things of their own. The next morning Sebastian’s parents were missing; there was no note or anything. So he called Drec, Drec has the same problem. Fifteen minutes later, Drec and Sebastian arrived at an empty police station with no clue where anyone is. They have already tried making calls on the radio and over the town broadcast system, but they had no luck.

A Comparative Essay between “Disabled” and “An Unknown Girl” Essay

Moniza Alvi reflects on India as her hand is hennaed by â€Å"an unknown girl† â€Å"in the evening bazaar†. The predominantly upbeat mood of this poem contrasts with the pessimistic mood in â€Å"Disabled† written by Wilfred Owen, a soldier in the First World War, stating his anti-war view through a poem on the life of a young soldier â€Å"sewn short at elbow†, crippled by war. In his poem, the difference between past and present allows Owen to reveal the regret and disappointment felt by the persona whereas, although Alvi portrays India as a magical, beautiful place where she experiences freedom, the ending reveals she will never be completely included. As such both poems illustrate longing but Alvi is longing for her identity whereas Owen is longing for his past life. To begin with, there is a difference in mood between â€Å"An Unknown Girl† and â€Å"Disabled† as Alvi creates an optimistic mood whereas Owen creates a predominantly depressing mood. Owen creates this by suggesting a theme of isolation felt by the persona which is implied in the first stanza when Owen says â€Å"mothered them from him†. The word â€Å"mothered† has caring, kind connotations but when used with â€Å"from†, it implies that he is not given the love and is actually an outcast which creates a strong negative mood as we can feel his seclusion. Similarly, â€Å"Espirit de corps† is said in an ironic tone which emphasises the fact that he is an outcast and that war does not leave you with glory or pride. This inspires pathos as everything has been taken away from him and he is no longer included, an idea which is further emphasised by the iambic pentameter in the first stanza, communicating the dull monotony of his life due to the isolation as he has no one to share anything with. Finally, the question at the end of the poem â€Å"Why don’t they come?† shows that he is literally waiting for someone to â€Å"put him into bed† as he is not able to do this himself. We can tell that he is waiting for night and the cyclical routine that repeats each day although he could be waiting for death as he has â€Å"a few sick years in Institutes† left which creates a powerful sorrow as he is still young. As this is the end of the poem, we are left with the image of him isolated and abandoned which is very striking. Owen further creates the pessimistic mood by suggesting the disappointment and lack of pride the persona has been left with after the war. Owen declares â€Å"no fears of Fear came yet† describing the persona before the war which groups all the fears and makes them seem overwhelming. This may suggest the persona is afraid of being a coward as he must appear strong and the personification of â€Å"Fear† makes him seem weak inside. This is emphasised by the use of â€Å"yet† as the persona now feels these fears after the horror of war. Later in the poem, the long stanza of hopes such as â€Å"For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes; And care of arms† contrasts with the short stanza for reality such as â€Å"Only a solemn man offered him fruits† revealing that his hopes for war were not met and he has been left with very little. This contrast is emphasised by the reaction of the people as he is â€Å"thanked† by â€Å"a solemn man† showing us that this â€Å"pity† makes him feel mocked. A miserable mood is portrayed as he has not received the celebratory â€Å"cheer† or â€Å"giddy jilts† he was expecting instead men â€Å"inquired about his soul† which portrays that the persona feels that these â€Å"cheers† are wrong therefore the man is making a mockery of him. The phrase â€Å"carried shoulder-high† depicts a glorious image to the reader as the persona recalls the excitement after a game of football. This excitement must have been similar to his expectations of war and when contrasted with the inglorious impression of life during and after war, the reader once again is forced to feel the sorrow and regret felt by the persona as Owen has effectively provided us with images and emotions. Furthermore, the persona appears bitter about going to war as he says â€Å"Smiling they wrote his lie† indicating their deception as they dropped â€Å"hints for young recruits† which is an exaggerated glorious image which Owen portrays as a lie. â€Å"Smiling† gives this a sinister feeling which emphasises the fact that he has been tricked and lied to in a bitter, uncaring way. We feel pathos as we can feel how powerful his bitterness is. Alternatively, to create an optimistic mood in â€Å"An Unknown Girl†, Alvi creates a theme of the magic that surrounds her in India. The repetition of the word â€Å"hennaing† emphasises the fact that it is external and decorative like a â€Å"shadow-stitched kameez†. This implies a beauty and since both objects are traditionally Indian, Alvi shows the reader that this is the overwhelming impression of magic she feels in India. The repetition of the word â€Å"neon† appeals to the visual sense as well as making the image it is used to describe seem more extreme with brighter, more defined colours. It seems almost too bright and colourful which creates a surreal and dreamlike atmosphere which portrays to the reader how enthralled Alvi is by the beauty of India she is witnessing. By describing her hennaed hand as â€Å"soft as a snail trail†, Alvi creates a magical mood by showing her astonishment. The word â€Å"soft† makes us feel comforted which is what the persona feels when in India. The sibilance in â€Å"soft† and â€Å"snail† creates a mysterious feeling which contrasts to the beauty of India, creating the longing Alvi feels for her identity. This is effectively emphasised by the childlike innocence portrayed to the reader through the words â€Å"balloons† and â€Å"icing†. In general, balloons are vividly coloured and could be used to symbolise the happiness and colour in the persona’s surroundings. The connotations we associate with â€Å"icing† are sweet and decorative which strongly suggests the happiness that Alvi is trying to portray. A â€Å"bazaar† is usually busy and crowded but Alvi foregrounds the colours and vibrancy to create a magical impression of the setting. This forces the reader to feel the magic Alvi is indicating. The image of a â€Å"peacock† is repeated as well as an â€Å"amber bird† which seems both magical and also beautiful and these are thing Alvi relates to India and the reader is forced to relate these as well. This is an intense image but could also be used to show that as a peacock can spread its tail, Alvi wishes to reveal a deeper truth about her identity. This very striking image is effective. Furthermore, the words â€Å"hushed†, â€Å"sleep† and â€Å"soft† subtly suggest to the reader the tranquil calm that Alvi feels while in India. This is contrasted with â€Å"firm† and â€Å"furious† to suggest exhilaration and happiness felt by Alvi as India has many different levels that we have been shown effectively throughout the poem. In contrast to the theme of isolation in â€Å"Disabled†, Alvi creates the impression of inclusion and reassurance that contribute to the upbeat mood. Alvi has written this poem to portray her search for personal identity as she was taken from her home in Pakistan while she was young so reassurance allows her to reconnect with the country of her heritage. The persona indicates her reassurance by creating a soft mood through the phrase â€Å"curtain cloth and sofa cloth canopy me† which is emphasised by the repetition of the word â€Å"cloth†. We also feel the inclusion Alvi is portraying as â€Å"canopy† gives the persona somewhere to hide and be protected so she is embraced. We feel this powerful yet soft inclusion throughout the poem. Alvi accents her inclusion with â€Å"I have new brown veins† as the verb â€Å"have† creates a tone of certainty. The implied pride allows us to feel that she does feel embraced by India and the reader feels embraced as well which allows us to join the lively mood. While having her hand hennaed, the persona depicts a â€Å"satin-peach knee† which relates to the skin or clothing of the Indian girl. The soft â€Å"s† sound in â€Å"satin† forces the reader to feel the calm, gentle atmosphere as well as depicting it as luxurious. Alvi implies that she relates these things to India which we then do and we feel a striking sense of her reassurance. Lastly the persona describes having her hand hennaed as â€Å"a peacock spread its lines† which shows that the India part of her identity is spreading itself too and she is becoming more at home. Although we do not feel at home, the reader can see the stunning beauty and can understand Alvi’s inclusion. Another difference in mood is the freedom created by Alvi contrasted with the dull gloom portrayed by Owen. Alvi displays a sense of freedom that originates from the beauty of India. There is no clear structure throughout the poem which to the reader may seem wild and chaotic but Alvi is powerfully trying to portray that this is part of her freedom. The short sentences create a fast pace which can be used to emphasise the emotion such as longing or desperation attached to longer sentences but also portrays a lively, excited feeling almost suggesting a sensory overload especially which is very effective as the reader too feels excited by the descriptions of India. The persona is trying to take in and communicate as much as possible. This is emphasised by the unequal line lengths which allows images such as â€Å"I am clinging† and emotions such as â€Å"are hushed† to be forced on the reader. These images and emotions are all subtly different as Alvi shows her freedom in India. The contrast between these further emphasises the freedom Alvi is portraying subtly. The dummies â€Å"tilt and stare† which contrasted with the dummies we consider normal creates the impression of disorganization which relates to all of India. Alvi feels this is her freedom and in this case, it is effective. On the other hand, Owen portrays the dull gloomy mood through the enjambment in the third and fourth line of the first stanza. It indicates how long the personas empty days are and is contrasted with the simple â€Å"play and pleasures† enjoyed by the young boys to create a dull atmosphere surrounding the lonely persona. This is very effective as the reader can feel this mood themselves. In the same stanza the phrase â€Å"saddening like a hymn† is used to create a gloomy atmosphere. In addition to the obvious connotations of saddening, Owens use of â€Å"hymn† suggests a solemn and mournful mood almost as though a part of him has died. By forcing the reader to feel these emotions, Owen has powerfully portrayed the persona’s melancholy. Due to his injury, the persona must now do what â€Å"the rules consider wise† which shows the persona no longer has freedom as â€Å"rules† have connotations of being strict which contrasts to the freedom and fun he experienced in the past. The word â€Å"wise† could also reflect on the fact that he has gained wisdom from the war due to bad decisions but this wisdom has come at the price of his happiness. This contrast shows the boring nature of his current life and the reader can feel his regret more powerfully with the image of his past happiness. The persona is described as wearing a â€Å"ghastly suit of grey† so the word â€Å"ghastly† forces the reader to think of a terrible image of the lonely man and then used with â€Å"grey† to make that image dull and lifeless. Overall this creates a gloomy visual image which is emphasised by the lack of emotion attached to the words creating an image which inspires sympathy from the reader. Finally Owen uses â€Å"shivered†, â€Å"cold and late† and â€Å"queer disease† to show how the despair is affecting the persona. He is literally cold although he may also feel cold inside as he has nothing left and is now isolated and alo ne. We can feel his sorrow which allows these words to effectively portray the dull mood to the reader. Owen also reveals a contrast inside â€Å"Disabled† as an alternate lively mood is portrayed in the past. The persona has â€Å"lost his colour† which is literally referring to the colour of his skin as he is now pale and he would have been flushed after playing football but additionally he has lost the bright glow of his youth during the war. The superficial meaning gives us a physical contrast between past and present but the alternate meaning allows the reader a glimpse at how his soul was affected. Owen distinguishes between this past excitement and the present day gloom. The persona is â€Å"waiting for dark† which is contrasted with the bright, colourful excitement felt in the past, portrayed in the second stanza. The word â€Å"waiting† implies that he is lonely because he has nothing left in his life which contrasts with â€Å"girls glanced lovelier† and romantic excitement from his past and is emphasised by the use of â€Å"dark† to suggest that he is waiting for night and the continuation of the cyclical routine that happens each day. The persona could also be waiting for death as this is a connotation of â€Å"dark†. These effective contrasts show his longing for the past and his dull life which inspires pathos from the reader. The reader also feels pathos because of the extreme contrast between past and present. Owen says â€Å"Town used to swing so gay† and the personification of â€Å"Town† gives it human emotions such as happiness that the reader is allowed to feel briefly. This creates a lively and upbeat mood in the past which is emphasised by â€Å"gay† but â€Å"used to† show the reader that this was in the past as it is written in past tense. This powerful contrast between past and present forces the reader to suffer the emotions the persona feels. Owen creates the impression of the excitement felt by the persona in the past through the contrast between leaving for war with â€Å"drums and cheers† and returning from war with â€Å"only a solemn man†. This contrast between his expectations and reality makes his past life seem exciting as he was popular but upon return, the persona feels bewildered by the lack of celebration. The difference between past and present shows us that this excitement was strong but short-lived and more pathos is inspired by that fact he feels pitied. Finally Owen says â€Å"Now, he is old;† which shows that the energetic past has gone. The word â€Å"old† is used to show that although his body is still young, the persona has physiologically aged and, in his current state, he is ancient. This contrast to his bright youth effectively makes us feel significant amounts of pathos. One of the main contrasts between these poems is within the theme of longing as Alvi portrays her persona longing for her identity whereas Owen suggests regret and longing for the past. Having been taken from her home whilst she was young, Alvi reveals that she longs for a home and to discover her personal identity in India through the repetition of â€Å"unknown†. Alvi implies that she needs to discover or recover the Indian part of her identity but additionally it is implied that she wishes to find her Indian blood so that she can reveal her full identity. This is powerful as we too feel the longing for her unknown identity and it is revealed further by the change in pace of â€Å"Now the furious streets are hushed† from fast to slow showing that she can’t hold onto the ever-changing India and her identity. This is emphasised by the use of â€Å"clinging† as this shows her desperation and the fact that India is constantly eluding her. This is very effective as we can feel her longing and have images to help. The â€Å"Dummies in shop-fronts† are described by Alvi using a tone of admiration illustrating a simple thing that clearly shows the intensity of her emotions and we too feel this intensity and passion for India. Lastly â€Å"float up† is implying a positive mood with â€Å"up† and a sense of freedom but it also shows that her identity keeps escaping and India keeps eluding her. Alternatively, Owen expresses the feeling of regret that comes from his longing which is emphasised by his realisation that his injury is his own fault although Owen depicts the persona’s anger towards the military which is similar to his own as Owen wrote most of his poetry whilst injured from war. Owen articulates â€Å"He thought he’d better join – He wonders why† and the pause after â€Å"he’d better join† shows that he is struggling to remember why he decided to fight in the war so therefore he is questioning his reasons. The phrase shows the insignificance of his reasons and leads to the persona regretting his decision. Similarly, the asyndeton in stanza five focuses on all the glorious things he briefly considered and indicates that he didn’t think about the effects of war, effectively portraying the impression of regret. Owen forces the reader to contrast the short time taken to make the decision with the lifetime he will have to suffer the consequences which evokes pathos as he does regret his choice. Owen describes the war as a â€Å"hot race† which provides a sense of chaos and disorder associated with the war by the reader. This gives the reader the strong feeling of exhilaration felt by the persona whilst fighting but the reader also gets the impression that this is different from the excitement and glory that the persona was expecting from war. This difference in emotion emphasises that the persona feels regret and the word â€Å"race† shows that although he will live with the consequences, the war was over quickly. This is very effective as we are forced to feel these emotions such as regret and exhilaration. The phrases â€Å"Poured away† and â€Å"threw away† show that the persona considers the choice he made wasteful sacrifice which emphasises the fact he feels regret for the foolish decision. The word â€Å"Poured† is foregrounded so he feels that he has done this to himself. This is very effective as we feel his regret strongly. Owen associates â€Å"giddy jilts† with going to war therefore showing that he was drunk and disorientated when he made the decision so he did it for foolish reasons and he now lives with regret. Ultimately the rhyme pattern that continues regularly throughout the poem could suggest that his decisions, made in the past, will carry on like the lines even after they have been made. Owen emphasises this regret by the longing created for the past. Owen contrasts â€Å"One time, he liked a blood smear† with the persona’s real injury to emphasis the fact that the persona is now â€Å"legless† but in those days he enjoyed the glorious side of injuries. This shows the powerful longing for the past but also indicates that the persona was more naà ¯ve in those days from the ironic tone. This is emphasised by â€Å"in the old times† as the tone is happy and warm but the use of â€Å"old† shows us that this was in the past and he no longer has these caring feelings. This illustrates the longing for the past although pathos is also created. The phrase â€Å"younger than his youth, last year† indicates that the persona wishes to have his past life back as his youth was the time of excitement and happiness and he no longer feels these things in the present. The pause shows he is struggling to compare the past and present which emphasises the fact the he wishes he could have his previous life back. This is a strong emotion and inspires much pathos from the reader. Finally the persona sees how the women’s eyes â€Å"Passed from him to the strong men that were whole† showing his longing for the past as he is comparing the way they look at him now to how they used to â€Å"glance lovelier†. This contrast shows how incomplete the persona feels as well as portraying to the reader that he is alone and deserted. This direct contrast between past and present allows the reader to feel precisely how strong the persona’s longing for the past is and how lonely he now feels. Although both Owen and Alvi both create an excited mood, there are different emotions created by the different types of excitement. The contrast between excitement and calm especially in the phrase â€Å"longing for the unknown girl in the neon bazaar† in â€Å"An Unknown Girl† allows Alvi to see both sides of India which makes her feel at home. The yearning showed by â€Å"longing† and â€Å"unknown† creates a calm atmosphere which is contrasted with â€Å"neon† to show both sides of India and give Alvi the feeling of her full identity. Alvi manages to force us to feel both the calm and excitement and we can almost feel the sense of belonging. In contrast, all the excitement in â€Å"Disabled† such as â€Å"he’d drunk a peg† and â€Å"he was drafted out† is used in the past tense which is then contrasted within the poem with the gloomy mood in the present to create a longing for the past and regret as well as the isolation of the persona. This inspires pathos as the images allow us to see how lonely the persona is and feel his regret. So therefore we can tell that the sensory overload that causes Alvi to feel such excitement and allows her to included in India contrasts with the past excitement making the persona in â€Å"Disabled† feel alone. But another way of looking at it is that this excitement pushes both persona’s away from the thing they desire; Alvi who desires to find her identity but is eluded due to the excitement in India and Owen who wishes for past enjoyment but now has a lack of vitality due to foolish excitement. However, one of the most striking differences between â€Å"An Unknown Girl† and â€Å"Disabled† is the persona’s choice and control of the situation. In â€Å"Disabled† Owen says â€Å"he asked to join† showing that not only was the persona given a choice but he chose to do the wrong thing although he was in control. This illustrates to the reader that it was the persona’s own fault and his decisions lead to his injury. He can’t blame the military for being â€Å"legless† although â€Å"smiling† and â€Å"lie† indicate his bitterness towards the commanders. Alvi portrays an image of the persona â€Å"hands outstretched† which shows that she is longing for this and is not in control although she is fighting from having her identity evade her again. She was not given a choice. This contrast makes Owen’s persona appear wasteful as he threw away his youth whereas Alvi has lost something she cares about. Alvi creates a subtle amount of pathos throughout the poem whereas we feel pathos for the persona in â€Å"Disabled† as he is having the realisation and it is already too late.

Cultural Understanding on the Movie Example “Bend It Like Beckham”

The main aim of this report is to describe, analyze and understand Indian culture and integration Indians with British culture in a connection to movie: â€Å"Bend it like Beckham†. The aim is also to assign every character to stage of intercultural sensitivity and define what kind of cultural development is possible for each of them. Findings: Jess: In my opinion she is on the fifth level of intercultural learning, she adapts to the british culture, she knows it and totally accept it, e. . she can greet in her language, she wears traditional dress during the engagement and the wedding, she knows that she suppose to have Indian husband, that she should not show her legs and the scar in front of the man. She tries to live like â€Å"normal† teenager from Europe, but she respects all the traditions of her family. She has got problem with learning how to cook traditional meals and when she was younger she often ate been on toast, which is common in UK. She likes british culture more, because it gives her more freedom, her idol is Beckham, she loves playing football, she would like to be independent to make her own choices in such easy issues like choosing shoes or outfit for the wedding. She would like to choose if she can play football or not. Her mum does not want her to play but she shows her resistance even though she should not , because in her mum’s opinion, it is spoiled behavior. She does not like to lie and she feels bad with that but she does not tell the truth because she has high respect to the elders. I can predict that in the future, of course if she stay in the UK, she will be totally integrated with the british culture. Mother: She is on the first level of intercultural learning. She does not like british culture, for her it is like pure evil. She does not want her children to integrate with the European culture. When they are complaining and Jess wants to choose the dress by herself for her sister’s wedding or she does not want to learn how to cook, for her mum it is spoiled behavior. She is scared that Jess will start to wear short skirts etc, that is why he does not let her to play football, because in her opinion the integration can go further than it should. She is defending herself but she even has not noticed that she is already connected to the british culture e. g everybody were checking their mobiles during the engagement, which is a part of fast lifestyle in the UK. She just want to protect the good name of family and she creates perfect image of the members, so that her children will have no problems with finding appropriate husband. Chances for further development: second level – because she finally agreed and accepted that her daughter is playing football, so she is not so closed like in the beginning. Father: Jess’ father seems to realize the differences between his own culture and British one but he thinks that this second one have too big bad influence on his doughter, Jess. He is afraid of this. He finds his own culture as better one that is why he tries to defend somehow against the bad influence of the other. Probably, that is why he does not want to accept that his younger doughter plays football. He thinks, it is a man sport and he does not understand how and why Jess can like it. The piority for her should be to find a good husband, be a good wife, who can cook and takes care of house. She should be also well educated. And it should give her happiness. In his opinion, girls or women should not have got such hobbies like playing football. Additionaly, he has got his own, bad experience with sport in the UK. When he was younger, he used to play cricket but his career did not finish very well because of his origin. It was in former times, so now everything has changed, but he is afraid that his doughter can also suffer as he did. Fortunately, his open-minded position and love to his doughter win and he lets her to play. During his older doughter’s wedding he tells Jess to go and play in final game of a tournament if it makes her happy. In the end the gives Jess the permission to play in the American’s proffessional team. He has got an opportunity to go on ‘higher level’ of the intercultural sensitivity (III) or even he has already achived it. Jules: A wonderful Jess’ friend, who from the very beggining have not seen any difficulties in â€Å"contact† with the other culture. Jules plays in a local football team and thanks to her Jess also has started. She encoureged her friend to play and to find solutions how to deal with the culture differences. Jules also has got some problems with her mother, as Jess has. Her mother is afraid that because of doughte’s hobbies she would not find a boyfriend. So it is not so different as in Jess’ home. Thankfully, Jules has got a great father, who totally accepts doughte’s interests. She is on a high adaptation level of the intercultural sensitivity. She does not have to deal with the cultural differences because for her it is just natural. She can see some problems, which are â€Å"normal† for every teenager (boys etc. ), not problems with other habits. In my opinion she does not have to achive other level of the intercultural sensitivity because this,where she already is, it is perfect.

Human rights legislation Essay

The issue of implementing a widely accepted Human Rights policy has become a serious hurdle in recent years for many non Western nations like China Iran and Africa. Over the past couple of decades many nations in Asia Africa and the middle East have found themselves embroiled in human rights violation controversies and have been at the receiving end of Western based criticism for these policies. (D. Bell 1996), Some have often faced severe financial penalties and boycotts from the Western world which has effected their economic development these controversies have given birth to a new philosophical debate on Universalist stance on human rights versus the relativist stance. The debate centres on the precept of whether the western based human right theories can be implemented in culturally diverse nations at a universal level. The Universalist theory of Human Rights is predominantly derived from Western philosophy and places tremendous importance on the rights of an individual. This theory has its roots in Greek philosophy, principles of Christianity and the philosophical musings of European Enlightenment thinkers. (D. Bell 1999), The universalist approach to Human Rights propagates that certain basic human rights are inherent to safeguard the existence of every human and can be identified by using either religion nature or reason This theory holds the percept that all individuals should be granted certain rights by the very virtue of their humanity and that these rights cannot be conditioned by gender or national or ethnic origin. (Donnelly 1999) The Universalist theory also propagates that these rights exist universally across all diversities of culture race and religion and can not be subordinated to another person or an institution ( Cultural relativism on the other hand is based on the notion that there should not be the prevalence of an adherence to specific objective standards by which a person or a nation be judged. The debate between universalism and relativism was an old one but its extension to the realm of cultural relativism is comparatively new and was influenced by the work of cultural anthropologists who demonstrated that all different cultures are equally worthy and exercise their own views regarding the rights of an individual.. Theories propagating culture relativism holds the view that there is no universal meaning to a moral value and that these values are influenced by culture. The theories also establish that there are profound differences between western legal theories and cultures and those of Africa, Asia, India and Islam. (E. Charney 1999 ) Theoretically speaking, the debate between universalism and culture fluctuates on a spectrum varying from radical aspects of universalism that propagates strict adherence to certain standards and radical aspects of relativism which holds culture to be the sole source of judging the validity of a moral value. This debate first came to the limelight in the arena of world politics in 1993 during a UN Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna. It was in this conference that a delegation led by China, Syria and Iran officially challenged the universality of Human Rights. These countries put forward some essential causes for their discontentment with the prevailing practice of adopting universality to Human Rights. This included the central percept that universal theories of Human Rights were not universal at all in their scope and were based on concepts and theories of Western morality. (T. Franck 2001 pg 91), They argued further that these human rights theories should not therefore be imposed as norms on non-western societies in disregard of those societies’ historical and economic development and in disregard of their cultural differences and perceptions of what is right and wrong. Furthermore they held that such imposition of ones own understanding and cultural interpretation of human rights on another culture without understanding the values of that culture is entirely unjust and reflects an imperialist attitude. The debate between these two perspectives examines the inherent strengths and weaknesses of both stances towards human rights. However when looking at the merits and de-merits of these two approaches it is essential to stay away from a philosophical discussion of the intrinsic value of each perspective and focus on the practical translation of these two stances and how each of them are used in modern day practice. The greatest strength of universalism is that it institutes a fundamental system of rights that guarantees the protection of individual’s basic freedoms from any government policies that might seek to constrain this to propagate their own doctrines. Most of the formal legislation on human rights propagates the existence of â€Å"negative† rights which seek to limit the interference of government in the lives of individuals and guarantee that an individual has certain basic freedoms that the government cannot infringe upon. Commonly defined these include the freedom to maintain ones privacy, freedom to speak freely without ear of persecution, freedom to hold exercise religious beliefs , freedom to hold and subscribe to opinions that may be political in nature and finally the freedom to associate with anybody that the individual desires to. Any government policy which seeks to infringe on these beliefs can be deemed unconstitutional and can be revoked by law. (D. Bell 1999), Perhaps the biggest weakness of universalism is that it is rooted and stems from Western belief and practice and works best with political system that are fashioned on western models of democracy and capitalism. ( An-Na’im, 1991 pg 22) There is no disputing the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is tailored and customized by western nations. It included the representation of only four African nations (An Naim 2001 pg 88). The majority of the drafts of the declaration are written in English. In fact all the legislation on Human Rights including International Bill of Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights heavily derives their content from the work of European Enlightenment philosophers namely Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. The belief that there are certain freedoms which the government cannot and shouldn’t interfere with underlies the political system of many modern western countries. It has been the underlying belief of the US Constitution and the US Bill of Rights as well as the French Constitution. Since the majority of Human rights legislation shares affinity with the believes propagated in the founding principles of many western democracies many believe that there is a close interdependency between instituting universal human right concepts and maintaining Western models of democracy. (M. Winston 2000) This has lead to the widespread Western ethnocentrism when it comes to the application of Human rights principles in countries which harbour different systems of government based on different religious beliefs