How the Vietnam war changed the u.s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How the Vietnam war changed the u.s - Essay Example They are of the view that it changed the manner in which the American society perceived their Constitutional rights, the media, as well as the government (Lawrence, 2008). While the War torn the country apart to some extent, it brought the country in a different and new ways. The controversial nature of the war spurred a huge many sources of protest, against how power is used by the government, how far could the freedom of expression be stretched, and mainly against the war itself (Franklin, 2000). In order to understand the effects of the Vietnam War in to the American society, this paper will discuss how the war changed the U.S. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, majority of the American public believed that the United States involvement in the war was justified. Most of the Americans supported the containment strategy as a way of protecting the interests of the United States (Nulty, 2007). They saw the need for thousands of the Americans to fight and protect their country. However, as the war progressed, Americans realized that the whole concept of the Vietnam War was flawed. As a result of this realization, there were demonstrations and protests across America against the war. The defeat of the United States in the war severely demoralized the American people. The citizens of America had liked to perceive themselves and their country as being invincible and therefore losing the war meant that their self confidence as well as pride would be lost (Hagopian, 2009). The war led to a reappraisal of America’s glory and power, as well as dampening the self confidence of the American people. It also led to economic woes and increased debts considering the huge amount of resources that was used in during the war. The eventualities of the war weakened the public support in the American government, as well as the competence and honesty of its leaders. A high degree of suspicion and skepticism were the main characterized

Jonhson Matthey case study analysis teacher guide Essay Example for Free

Jonhson Matthey case study analysis teacher guide Essay Suggested resources activities related to PEST analysis and Johnson Matthey Full Johnson Matthey case study MP3 of the Johnson Matthey case study External influences PowerPoint Johnson Matthey crossword Johnson Matthey word search Suggested timings for the session 10 mins 5 mins 5 mins 10 mins 20 mins 10 mins Starter e.g. Johnson Matthey crossword Use the external influences PowerPoint to discuss the topic Read the case study Questions Task – mind map What have you learned? Answers to questions 1. What does PEST stand for? PEST stands for: †¢ Political (includes legal) †¢ Economic †¢ Social (includes environmental) †¢ Technological 2. Describe what is meant by the ‘external business environment’. The external environment refers to those things outside of the operations of an organisation which impact upon it but over which the business has no control. 3. Analyse why PEST analysis is used by firms. PEST analysis is used by firms to assess the external business environment in which they operate. Managers and directors can then make decisions on their findings. PEST analysis therefore will inform any new objectives being set and the marketing strategy for the firm. 4. Evaluate the impact that the 2008 banking crisis had on Johnson Matthey. The 2008 banking crisis which lead to the recession: †¢ Meant a fall in demand for its products †¢ Increased efficiency within the company -reducing the use of natural resources and decrease waste through lean production techniques. †¢ Efficiencies made the company more sustainable saving the company money whilst at the same time conserving the planet’s valuable natural resources. What have you learned? Expected learning is likely to include: †¢ Definition of the external business environment †¢ PEST factors †¢ Use of PEST analysis to develop marketing strategy †¢ How firms respond to external factors †¢ Examples of these factors

Girl Interrupted vs. The Yellow Wallpaper -- essays research papers

The main character in Susanna Kaysen’s, â€Å"Girl, Interrupted† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† are similar in the fact that they both were suppressed by male dominants. Be it therapist or physicians who either aided in their mental deformities or created them. They are similar in the sense that they are both restricted to confinement and must endure life under the watchful eye of overseers. However similar their situations may be, their responses are different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the stories, there were both positive and negative aspects and characteristics that the two protagonists possessed. Both women were thought insane and although they may not have been originally, being locked up made other characters question their sanity. In, â€Å"Girl, Interrupted,† Kaysen’s character was a passive yet promiscuous eighteen year old woman. Ten minutes into her visit with an analyst, Kaysen is being told she’s tired and that she needs a rest. The therapist makes a couple of phone calls, puts Kaysen in a cab and sends her off to the psychiatric ward at McLean Hospital. In the cab, she doesn’t put up a fight or try and escape and once she arrives at the hospital, she signs herself in because she is of age. Even before then, while she was still in the therapists’ office she showed no sign of struggling against the force that was her doctor. Instead she willingly accepted the fact that she was tired and to go then rather than on Friday to the hospital. This passiveness is a dominant characteristic of Kaysen throughout the rest of the story. But I view the trait as both a positive and a negative one. It seems like it would be a positive because Kaysen allowed herself to enjoy her time in the hospital. She made an effort to make the best of the situation. However, it’s also a negative trait to possess for the simple fact that had she fought or argued with the doctor or the cab driver, she would never had to go near McLean. During her taxi ride to the hospital she said, â€Å"I let my head fall back against the seat and shut my eyes. I was glad to be riding in a taxi instead of having to wait for the train.† This passive act, not only wins Kaysen a spot at McLean but doesn’t help change her therapist opinions on her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While reading, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† I realized that Gilman also is a passive person. But I feel Gi... ... appearances which is why I think she does what her husband and brother prescribe. She even says, â€Å"If a physicican of high-standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?† This brings me to the point that women in those times had to follow their husbands orders. Anything else was unheard of!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the end of both stories, the women had changed. Kaysen for the better and Gilman, I feel changed for the worse. In â€Å"Girl, Interrupted,† Kaysen meets friends, learn about life, love, and herself and gets out of McLean. She meets a very wealthy bachelor and they date. I feel she had the more positive ending of the two stories. Gilman in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† on the other hand, should be sent to a real phsychiatric hospital. She did not have such a positive outcome. Basically, Gilman had her freedom and sanity stripped from her by her husband. Living in solitary confinement, I would have gone insane two. But in those times, she had no choice but to do what her husband requested. However sad, that was life at the time.

Reading Written Works And Watching TV Essay

Books are known as the first medium bearing the function of conveying information to people; they were invented about 5000 years ago. If books can be considered as the traditional medium, television is the modern one. In fact, it was first introduced in public in the late 1920s and soon became a significant part of the daily life. Both of these media provide people with information, news as well as knowledge, but each kind has some distinct features. The similarities as well as the differences between reading books and watching TV vary, but they can be divided into three main aspects: the activity factor, entertainment and social interaction. The first critical aspect differentiating reading written works and watching television is the activity factor. The activeness of mental activity between reading and watching TV is significantly different. While reading book, one can readily imagine the scene of the book in his or her mind and decode what the author means, which can help one imp rove his or her imagination. see more:tv is better than books In contrast, watching TV makes one receive images passively, which means his or her imagination is controlled by others. Ordway (2010) states that compared to reading books, watching TV is noticeably less strenuous. In addition, when reading, one can control his or her time and activated more effectively than watching TV. For instance, one can either increase or reduce his or her reading speech, re-read pages or chapters he or she likes, all of which one cannot do while watching TV. However, both reading printed works and watching TV are involved in little physical activities. Secondly, the similarities and differences between reading and watching TV can be demonstrated through the entertainment. In general, the target that both reading and watching TV aim at is to entertain people. People often either read books or watch TV when they have free time or want to relax after a hard working day. However, the levels of entertainment are not the same. Reading books requires one more power and time to transfer words into images; thus, one is more likely to keep in his or her mind the content of the books. As a result, it can be said that reading a deeper level of entertainment. However, every stick has two ends; certain kinds of entertainment may not be available in books such as live sports, news, etc. Meanwhile, one can watch a live football march or a performance on TV.  Through watching TV, one can relax and enjoy many kinds of entertainment with fewer attempts (Rubenoff, 2012). In short, watching TV has greater variety of entertainment. The last aspect displaying the similarities and differences between reading and watching TV is: social interaction. Both of them can be used as conversation starters. The information shown on TV or books can be a favorite subject for everyone to discuss with each other. Moreover, reading book and watching TV are activities that can ease the sense of isolation. When being home alone, one can lie in bed and watch TV or read books. The sound and images on the screen or books can distract one’s attention from the loneliness and the negative thinking. However, one is more likely to get addicted to watching TV; he or she may spend much time watching TV, become a couch potato and not feel like communicating with others. On the other hand, reading books is different. One can also enjoy a book himself or herself so much that he or she â€Å"gets lost† in it. â€Å"In other words, his brain simulates real experiences, just as if he were living them himself† (Hilary, 2012). However, unlike those who watch TV, readers are less likely to get addicted; when their eyes get tired, they can put the books down and go out for a walk or talk with friends. As a result, readers may interact with society better than viewers. To sum up, reading written works and watching TV have both similarities and differences in the activity factor, entertainment and social interaction. Through reading, one can extend the boundary of his or her imagination and relax without being afraid of getting addicted to it. In comparison, watching TV requires less thinking and is easier to become addicted to, but it can supply one with various kinds of entertainment. Taking everything into account, we can say that both reading and watching TV have pros and cons; the point is that we need to know how to balance between them and benefit from them the most. References Hilary, F. (2012, August 25). Getting lost in a good book can help you keep healthy. Retrieved August 19, 2014, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2193496/Getting-lost-good-book-help-healthy.html Ordway, H. (2010, Jan 17). Reading Versus Television: Which is better? Retrieved August 18, 2014 from http://www.hieropraxis.com/2010/01/reading-versus-television-which-is-better/ Rubenoff, T. (2012, October 23). Television vs. Book? Retrieved August 16, 2014 from http://tomrubenoff.hubpages.com/hub/Television-or-Book

Bohemian Rhapsody Lyrics Meaning

Wow. I had no idea there were so many interpretations of this song. For me it's always been clear: the song is about an execution. Please bear with me as I construct a detailed argument for this interpretation. Here's the set-up (all of this is proven later): The narrator has committed murder. He might have done this out of malice, or self-defense, or anything in between; we don't know. The fact is that he killed someone, was caught and sentenced, and is now on Death Row. The man is not an important person, so to speak. He is not famous, nor rich, nor anything of the kind.He has no high-priced lawyers and no â€Å"connections† to help him in his plight. The narrator implies that, if he had higher social status, if he had money or fame or whatever, then he would stand a good chance of escaping death. But alas, he is merely a â€Å"poor boy† (aka ordinary person), and has no such power. His family and friends are attending the execution (or have otherwise heard about it), and are very distressed. Conversely, the family and friends of the dead man want revenge and they can't wait to see the narrator executed.The song takes place just prior to the execution, and involves the narrator talking to (or perhaps just thinking about) his mother, just before he dies. If you're still reading, you have my thanks. Here's the line-by-line analysis: *We start with the narrator's thoughts: â€Å"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? † *The narrator is overwhelmed by the idea that he's going to die. He almost wonders whether this is all a nightmare or something. â€Å"Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality† Again, he feels overwhelmed, but he can't really deny that he's about to be killed. Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,† Looking up to heaven, wondering about life etc. â€Å"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low† Here he is quoting the common perspective: he's just a poor man (â€Å"boy†), and he doesn't deserve sympathy. Much of the song is about how no one seems to care for the narrator, even though he seems mournful and regretful for his actions. â€Å"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me† Now that he's going to die, nothing more matters. He has no future, no hopes or dreams or goals.He's going to die within the hour, and there's nothing he can do about it. He feels very hopeless, and from his perspective nothing really matters. â€Å"Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead† This part is obvious. He committed murder. I don't he's confessing to his mother here, as surely she would already know by the time of the execution. I think that he's really just sadly reflecting on what he's done, and he mentions this to his mother (or perhaps he's just thinking about her) â€Å"Mama, life had just begunBut now I've gone and thrown it all away† He was a young man, in his 20s perhaps. He had the chance to live a meaningful life, but instead he killed a man, thus causing his own death via execution. The narrator laments, noting that he could have saved his own life by choosing not to murder. But now the deed is done, and the narrator will face justice. â€Å"Mama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry If I'm not back again this time tomorrow carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters† Again he's sorry for his actions, and regrets that his mother now weeps for him, as he will soon be killed.The execution will take place within the hour, so if he's not back again this time tomorrow, it will mean that the execution happened on schedule, that he failed to escape it via pardon or other means. The narrator tells his mother that, even if he dies, she should carry on living, almost as if his death didn't matter to her. â€Å"Too late, my time has come† The execution is imminent. â€Å"Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time† These are symptoms of his intense fear. â€Å"Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go† He says a final farewell to his family and friends. Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth† The truth is that he killed a man, and now he faces strict justice. He will die. â€Å"Mama, ooh, I don't want to die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all† This much is obvious. He doesn't want to be killed, and indeed he wonders if it would have been better never to have been born in the first place. A new voice starts singing; this voice represents his friends and family who are (or have been previously) protesting his execution. â€Å"I see a little silhouetto of a man† The narrator seems so poor and pitiful, â€Å"a shadow of what he once was†, so to speak Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango† Honestly, I don't know what this means â€Å"Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me† Both he and them are afraid that he'll be killed. The â€Å"lighting† part might indicate that he's to be killed with the electric chair, or it might just be symbolic. â€Å"(Galileo. ) Galileo. (Galileo. ) Galileo, Galileo figaro† Galileo was unfairly persecuted by the authorities of his time. Granted, Galileo didn't commit murder, but the narrator's advocates still draw a parallel, insisting that he doesn't deserve the punishment he's receiving. â€Å"Magnifico.I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me† The narrator repeats the common belief. â€Å"He's just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity† His friends and family argue that, because he's a poor boy, he deserves sympathy and compassion, not death. â€Å"Easy come, easy go, will you let me go† Here the narrator pleads for his life. He basically says â€Å"You don't seem to care about me; I'm ‘easy come, easy go'. You don't really care if I live or die. So, if you don't re ally care whether I live or die, can't you just let me live? Can't you grant me a pardon or something? â€Å"Then the opposite group, the friends and family of the dead man (and/or the execution authorities) respond to these pleas. â€Å"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go† The other group wants the narrator to be executed. â€Å"(Let him go! ) Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let him go! ) Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let me go. ) Will not let you go (Let me go. ) Will not let you go. (Let me go. ) Ah No, no, no, no, no, no, no. † The two groups have a spirited argument. â€Å"(Oh mama mia, mama mia. ) Mama mia, let me go† Here the chorus of friends and family says â€Å"let me go†, but I really think they mean â€Å"let him go.Don't kill the narrator† â€Å"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me† Beelzebub means Satan. The narrator feels (or speculates) that Satan is out to torment him by leading him to such a sa d fate. After all, it was probably a devil that tempted him to commit murder in the first place. Likewise, his family feels Satan is tormenting them as well, by killing the narrator to make them feel sad. Perhaps even the dead man's family joins in on this chorus; they feel that it was Satan who told the narrator to commit murder in the first place, and now they insist that execution is the only holy esponse to such a sin. Throughout this, the narrator has been lethargic and morose. But right before the end, he has a sudden burst of passion. â€Å"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here! † I'm not sure if he's talking to anyone specific here, or if he's just ranting with passion, screaming at everyone and everything involved. As I imagine it, the narrator throws off his guards and fights to escape from his shackles.In the ensuing musical piece, he struggles with the executioners, knocking the room into disarray. The two families watch closely, but everyone knows it's a useless struggle; there's simply no way for the narrator to escape. And the end of the musical piece, he is beaten down and finally subdued. Once again he become morose and dispirited, and the executioners drag him to his place of death (electric chair, perhaps). In his last few moments before death, the narrator resumes his previous state of mind. Nothing really matters, Anyone can see Nothing really matters Nothing really matters to me† Again, because he's about to die, nothing really matters to him. He has no purpose, no hope, nothing. â€Å"Any way the wind blows†¦ † This is an allusion to the begining of the song, where this image was used along with â€Å"nothing really matters† So†¦ yeah. I think that's a pretty thorough interpretation. Bohemian Rhapsody is about a remorseful murderer as he's about to be ex ecuted. Questions? Comments? Did anybody even read all that?