Friday, December 27, 2019

Bulfinchs Version of the Story of Apollo and Daphne

The slime with which the earth was covered by the waters of the flood produced an excessive fertility, which called forth every variety of production, both bad and good. Among the rest, Python, an enormous serpent, crept forth, the terror of the people, and lurked in the caves of Mount Parnassus. Apollo slew him with his arrows - weapons which he had not before used against any but feeble animals, hares, wild goats, and such game. In commemoration of this illustrious conquest he instituted the Pythian games, in which the victor in feats of strength, swiftness of foot, or in the chariot race was crowned with a wreath of beech leaves; for the laurel was not yet adopted by Apollo as his own tree. The famous statue of Apollo called the Belvedere represents the god after this victory over the serpent Python. To this Byron alludes in his Childe Harold, iv. 161: ...The lord of the unerring bow,The god of life, and poetry, and light,The Sun, in human limbs arrayed, and browAll radiant from his triumph in the fight.The shaft has just been shot; the arrow brightWith an immortals vengeance; in his eyeAnd nostril, beautiful disdain, and mightAnd majesty flash their full lightnings by,Developing in that one glance the Deity. Apollo and Daphne Daphne was​ Apollos first love. It was not brought about by accident, but by the malice of Cupid. Apollo saw the boy playing with his bow and arrows; and being himself elated with his recent victory over Python, he said to him, What have you to do with warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave them for hands worthy of them, Behold the conquest I have won by means of them over the vast serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of the plain! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle with my weapons. Venuss boy heard these words, and rejoined, Your arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you. So saying, he took his stand on a rock of Parnassus, and drew from his quiver two arrows of different workmanship, one to excite love, the other to repel it. The former was of gold and sharp pointed, the latter blunt and tipped with lead. With the leaden shaft he struck the nymph Daphne , the daughter of the river god Peneus, and with the golden one Apollo, through the heart. Forthwith the god was seized with love for the maiden, and she abhorred the thought of loving. Her delight was in woodland sports and in the spoils of the chase. lovers sought her, but she spurned them all, ranging the woods, and taking no thought of Cupid nor of Hymen. Her father often said to her, Daughter, you owe me a son-in-law; you owe me grandchildren. She, hating the thought of marriage as a crime, with her beautiful face tinged all over with blushes, threw her arms around her fathers neck, and said, Dearest father, grant me this favour, that I may always remain unmarried, like Diana. He consented, but at the same time said, Your own face will forbid it. Apollo loved her, and longed to obtain her; and he who gives oracles to all the world was not wise enough to look into his own fortunes. He saw her hair flung loose over her shoulders, and said, If so charming, in disorder, what would it be if arranged? He saw her eyes bright as stars; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only seeing them. He admired her hands and arms, naked to the shoulder, and whatever was hidden from view he imagined more beautiful still. He followed her; she fled, swifter than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his entreaties. Stay, said he, daughter of Peneus; I am not a foe. Do not fly me as a lamb flies the wolf, or a dove the hawk. It is for love I pursue you. You make me miserable, for fear you should fall and hurt yourself on these stones, and I should be the cause. Pray run slower, and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant. Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and know all things, present and future. I am th e god of song and the lyre. My arrows fly true to the mark; but, alas! an arrow more fatal than mine has pierced my heart! I am the god of medicine, and know the virtues of all healing plants. Alas! I suffer a malady that no balm. can cure! The nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half uttered. And even as she fled she charmed him. The wind blew her garments, and her unbound hair streamed loose behind her. The god grew impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the race. It was like a hound pursuing a hare, with open jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts forward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew the god and the virgin- he on the wings of love, and she on those of fear. The pursuer is the more rapid, however, and gains upon her, and his panting breath blows upon her hair. Her strength begins to fail, and, ready to sink, she calls upon her father, the river god: Help me, Peneus! open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger! Scarcely had she spoken, when a stiffness seized all her limbs; her bosom began to be enclosed in a tender bark; her hair became leaves; her arms became branches; her foot stuck fast in the grou nd, as a root; her face became a tree-top, retaining nothing of its former self but its beauty, Apollo stood amazed. He touched the stem, and felt the flesh tremble under the new bark. He embraced the branches, and lavished kisses on the wood. The branches shrank from his lips. Since you cannot be my wife, said he, you shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown; I will decorate with you my harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall be always green, and your leaf know no decay. The nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed its head in grateful acknowledgment. That Apollo should be the god both of music and poetry will not appear strange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his province, may. The poet Armstrong, himself a physician, thus accounts for it: Music exalts each joy, allays each grief,Expels diseases, softens every pain;And hence the wise of ancient days adoredOne power of physic, melody, and song. The story of Apollo and Daphne is of ten alluded to by the poets. Waller applies it to the case of one whose amatory verses, though they did not soften the heart of his mistress, yet won for the poet wide-spread fame: Yet what he sung in his immortal strain,Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain.All but the nymph that should redress his wrong,Attend his passion and approve his song.Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise,He caught at love and filled his arms with bays. The following stanza from Shelleys Adonais alludes to Byrons early quarrel with the reviewers: The herded wolves, bold only to pursue;The obscene ravens, clamorous oer the dead;The vultures, to the conquerors banner true,Who feed where Desolation first has fed,And whose wings rain contagion: how they fled,When like Apollo, from his golden bow,The Pythian of the age one arrow spedAnd smiled! The spoilers tempt no second blow;They fawn on the proud feet that spurn them as they go. More Stories From Greek Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch Dragons TeethMinotaurPomegranate SeedsPyramus and Thisbe

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Childhood Obesity A Gowing Problem Around the World

Obesity is a growing problem all around the world for far too many children. Obesity means a person has too much body fat. Body fat is measured by a person’s body mass index. When one is measuring a person’s body mass index, they are finding their height and body weight then comparing it to the recommendations made by doctors for each age and gender. After doctors calculate it, they then find a percentile rank to determine present and future health issues. Around the world, childhood obesity has become a growing problem; until the children and their parents realize how deadly obesity can be, more and more children are going to face the many health risks associated with obesity. â€Å"The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk† (Brainy Quote,1). There are many problems that are associated with childhood obesity. The causes of obesity can be life threatening or fatal. Some problems that are caused by obesity include heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes (Obesity Epidemic,1). Obesity can also cause sleeping disorders that can cause children to do poorly in school due to a lack of sleep. During school activities, 69% of children worldwide do not attend Physical Activity classes daily (Obesity Epidemic,1). Childhood obesity leads to health problems that are sometimes out of a person’s control. â€Å"We must pay greater attention to keeping our bodies and minds healthy and able to heal. Yet we are making it difficult for our

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Business Planning & Strategy -Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Is the current wayWestpacreports on sustainability an example of best practice?What, if any, changes do you recommend? Answer: Introduction: Sustainability planning takes of the future uncertainties. Thus, it is a complete process, which an organisation undertakes on in a span of over several months (Baumgartner 2014). The current assignment aims to identify as well as evaluate the most considerable recent or expected developments in sustainability reporting in Australia. After such evaluation, the sustainability strategies at Westpac have been assessed to find out whether the bank has adopted such identified developments to improve its overall sustainability reporting. The final segment of the assignment sheds light on suggesting some sustainability strategies for the bank that would help in improving its overall business performance in the eyes of its stakeholders in future (Neugebauer, Figge and Hahn 2016). Most significant current or expected developments in sustainability reporting: There are numerous existing or expected developments in the global including Australian sustainability reporting strategy, out of which two of the most significant strategies are discussed as follows: Sustainability data exchange: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published the upcoming era of corporate disclosure in the form of responsible, interactive and digital disclosures through a digital publication. This depicts an overview of the future sustainability reporting and disclosure (Iasplus.com 2017). As per GRI, the future would take into account new formats with the firms, as they are needed to shift from annual reports to sustainability data exchange. The concentration would be to focus on the primary challenges like human rights and climate change. It has been observed that GRI is involved in producing articles, videos and analysis papers throughout 2015 by interviewing with the business executives and other professionals belonging to different fields and industries and this reporting format is expected to be initiated by the end of 2025 (Lozano 2015). During this period, the organisations and the investors would include the critical sustainability information into the utmost core of their processes of decision-making and definition of strategy. Moreover, the organisations are needed to make additional disclosures about the impact on society and the global natural resources. The stakeholders would find the access to the information about business performance from diverse sources (Benn, Dunphy and Griffiths 2014). Thus, this existing development would be of immense value for the stakeholders, as they could dissect the value creation of the organisations in a more effective and broader manner. Advancement of corporate reporting on sustainable development goals: The collaboration of the GRI and the United Nations Global Compact has initiated SDG Leadership through Reporting. This has been a new initiative in advancing and promoting the corporate reporting on sustainable development goals. The two organisations would work in partnership for creating a list of disclosures in order to track business contributions to the SDGs and a publication would be released on the reporting pertaining to SDG (Orsato et al. 2015). Both the organisations would penetrate into their respective networks for developing multi-stakeholder working groups that take into account leading businesses, reporting experts and data users that would work to modify corporate reporting on SDGs. In addition, these organisations would form partnership with Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) for enhancing the value of disclosures related to corporate sustainability (Neugebauer, Figge and Hahn 2016). Sustainability strategies at Westpac: According to the sustainability strategy evaluated from the annual report of Westpac, the bank has created a five-year sustainability strategy with three measurable objectives across three broad priority areas (annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au 2017). These objectives take into account the following: Improving the lifestyle of the society and the people: In order to make this strategy a success, Westpac has been involved in partnership with Career Seekers for facilitating paid internships for the refugees and asylum-seekers like mid-career professionals or students. In addition, it has developed a new technique of enabling the culturally diverse customers to gain an insight of the products and services through a statement of product disclosure using more images and diagrams. This matches with the expected development of sustainability data exchange, as Westpac has developed new formats to make additional disclosures to the customers about its products (Christ, Burritt and Varsei 2017). Figure 1: Contribution of Westpac to the society and individuals (Source: 2016annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au 2017) Environmental solutions: Westpac has managed to raise $500 million through the Westpac Climate Bond Issue. The funds accumulated have been distributed to five carbon commercial properties and seven wind energy facilities in compliance with the Climate Bonds Standard (v1). Moreover, the bank has participated to support transition of a clean energy future (Dasgupta and Vaghela 2015). For instance, it has raised the percentage of renewable energy financing from 45% to 59% in the portfolio of overall electricity generation since 2011. Furthermore, it has formed a new program of energy efficiency for its business customers. Verdia, a well-known energy specialist in Australia, has provided assistance to the bank in this program as well. The intention is to provide the business customers with an overview of identifying, funding and installing equipment for enhancing the energy efficiency of their businesses (Epstein and Buhovac 2014). These initiatives match with the sustainability data exchange related to climate change, as Westpac is involved in financing businesses to adopt environmental-friendly solutions. Figure 2: Contribution of Westpac to the environmental concerns (Source: 2016annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au 2017) Better financial future: Westpac has initiated Wealth Review for BT Financial Group in order to help them in obtaining an insight of its financial position and the necessities to accomplish the financial objectives. Moreover, it has launched CashNav, an application for the Kiwi customers in managing spending by automatic categorisation of banking transactions into needs and notifying customers about their spending (Dumay 2016). Furthermore, it has released Financial Inclusion Action Plan in 2016 for enhancing financial access and resilience to fund the individuals going through financial hardship. Thus, it has created additional disclosures in its sustainability performance report about the advancement of corporate reporting on sustainable development goals. However, it has not involved the data users to involve in corporate reporting and thus, this advancement has only been partially achieved (Klettner, Clarke and Boersma 2014). Figure 3: Contribution of Westpac to enhance financial future (Source: 2016annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au 2017) Recommended Sustainability Strategies at Westpac: This segment of the assignment sheds light on suggesting some sustainability strategies for the bank that would help in improving its overall business performance in the eyes of its stakeholders in future. Such recommendations are explained below: Maintaining societal change through analysing the future requirements of aging and culturally diverse consumers is one of the effective sustainability strategies of Westpac Bank. Considering such strategy, the bank focuses on developing services and financial products that supports financial wellbeing increase. The bank should also focus on analysing the physical, market along with regulatory effects of climate change. Effective financial futures strategies are to be developed by Westpac bank in order to offer solutions that can facilitate consumers for adapting with environmental challenges. Considering such strategy the company will consider launching important services or products that can facilitate to respond to several pressures arising from the environmental challenges. Environmental solutions are also recommended for Westpac bank that is focussed on decreasing environmental footprint. The bank must consider offering a range of advice related solutions based on the ways in which consumers might prefer advancing by the banks advice along with private bank businesses. In order to attain sustenance financial futures serves as a different challenge for Westpac bank. Geography and poor infrastructure of the region along with maintaining sustenance livelihoods is resulting in difficult financial inclusion of people. For such reasons, strategy of Westpac Company must be focused on offering access to affordable and basic banking to all its target consumers among which 50% will be women. Moreover, the banks strategy must be maintaining a combination of basic choice account, in-store banking along with developing a new model of financial literacy model. Conclusion: The current assignment intended to identify as well as evaluate the most considerable recent or expected developments in sustainability reporting in Australia. After such evaluation, the sustainability strategies at Westpac have been assessed to find out whether the bank has adopted such identified developments to improve its overall sustainability reporting. It was gathered that as per GRI, the future would take into account new formats with the firms, as they are needed to shift from annual reports to sustainability data exchange. The concentration would be to focus on the primary challenges like human rights and climate change. It was also gathered that in order to make this strategy a success, Westpac has been involved in partnership with Career Seekers for facilitating paid internships for the refugees and asylum-seekers like mid-career professionals or students. In addition, it has developed a new technique of enabling the culturally diverse customers to gain an insight of the products and services through a statement of product disclosure using more images and diagrams. This matches with the expected development of sustainability data exchange, as Westpac has developed new formats to make additional disclosures to the customers about its products. References: Annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au. (2017). [online] Available at: https://2016annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au/ [Accessed 28 Aug. 2017]. Baumgartner, R.J., 2014. Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual framework combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable development.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,21(5), pp.258-271. Benn, S., Dunphy, D. and Griffiths, A., 2014.Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Christ, K.L., Burritt, R.L. and Varsei, M., 2017. Coopetition as a Potential Strategy for Corporate Sustainability.Business Strategy and the Environment. Dasgupta, M. and Vaghela, D., 2015. Integrating Organization Culture with Corporate Sustainability Strategy: A Review. Dumay, J., 2016. A critical reflection on the future of intellectual capital: from reporting to disclosure.Journal of Intellectual capital,17(1), pp.168-184. Epstein, M.J. and Buhovac, A.R., 2014.Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Iasplus.com. (2017).Recent sustainability reporting developments. [online] Available at: https://www.iasplus.com/en/news/2016/03/sustainability [Accessed 28 Aug. 2017]. Klettner, A., Clarke, T. and Boersma, M., 2014. The governance of corporate sustainability: Empirical insights into the development, leadership and implementation of responsible business strategy.Journal of Business Ethics,122(1), pp.145-165. Lozano, R., 2015. A holistic perspective on corporate sustainability drivers.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,22(1), pp.32-44. Neugebauer, F., Figge, F. and Hahn, T., 2016. Planned or emergent strategy making? Exploring the formation of corporate sustainability strategies.Business strategy and the environment,25(5), pp.323-336. Orsato, R.J., Garcia, A., Mendes-Da-Silva, W., Simonetti, R. and Monzoni, M., 2015. Sustainability indexes: why join in? A study of the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE)in Brazil.Journal of Cleaner Production,96, pp.161-170.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The Life of Kurt Vonnegut Essay Example For Students

The Life of Kurt Vonnegut Essay The life of Kurt Vonnegut was filled with great accomplishments and great tragedies. The biggest tragedy that he faced had to be the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II. This is the topic of his book Slaughterhouse-Five. The book talks about one of Vonneguts friends who slips in and out of reality, having flashbacks of the experience at Dresden. Kurt Vonnegut was born in November of 1922 in Indianapolis. This is where he eventually met and married Jane Cox. Vonneguts life has been a struggle, starting with his mothers constant bouts with depression. In 1943, when Vonnegut enlisted, his others depression grew deeper. Because of that Private Vonnegut asked permission to visit home to surprise her on Mothers Day. She overdosed on sleeping pills the night before he arrived (Walker 206). Surprisingly, this tragedy was overshadowed by another incident in his life that happened just a year and a half after his mothers death, the fire bombing of Dresden. In late 1944, Vonnegut was captured by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. On the night of February 13, 1945 exactly 100 American P. O. W. s and five German soldiers took shelter in a meat locker while the Royal Air Force joined by U. S bombers attacked and successfully annihilated the city of Dresden in one of the most vicious air raids ever. We will write a custom essay on The Life of Kurt Vonnegut specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The firestorm left over 130,000 people dead and many more missing. This event became a major influence in his writing career (The Biographies of Kurt Vonnegut 775). Vonnegut started writing novels in 1947, when he went to work for General Electric Research Laboratory. The job gave him the storyline for his first novel Player Piano. In 1951, he resigned from his job at G. E to pursue a full time writing career. He wrote many short stories, which in 1969 were assembled into a collection called Welcome o the Monkey House. The next novel was Cats Cradle in 1963, then The Sirens of the Titans and God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater in 1965 (Litz, 758). In Sluaghterhouse-Five, Vonnegut conveys the message that World War II was fought by children. He makes the vivid image of 17 and 18 year old boys in a far away place fighting for their country. That is the reason for the popular alternative title for the book, The Childrens Crusade. Vonnegut was one of the oldest men in his unit at 20 years old. He tells how he got captured by three German soldiers, one 25 and the other two 12 and 13 years old. At the end of the book as Vonnegut and the other men walk through what used to be Dresden, he doesnt know how to feel, having just been bombed by his own country (Litz 768). The book is not just about the war, but mostly about an outcast of society named Billy Pilgrim who travels through time from the present to the past, all in his own head, though it all seems very real to him. He believes that he has this ability because of his abduction by aliens called Talfamadorians. These aliens hold him on their planet and then release him later. The ingenious narration of the book makes us actually believe that we ravel from 1965, back to Dresden in 1944. Billy Pilgrims problems in the present obviously stemmed from his horrific experience in Dresden. In the book, he later becomes an optometrist and while flying to a convention with 30 other optometrists, the plane crashes and everyone dies except him. While he is recuperating in the hospital from a fractured skull, his wife dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .postImageUrl , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:hover , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:visited , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:active { border:0!important; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:active , .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80 .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ube03af7ebff49aa25b2987ddcbb0cf80:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Analysis of Iago Act 1 and 2 EssayBilly Pilgrim is a protagonist who Vonnegut modeled after himself. The name Billy Pilgrim itself implies that he represents an ordinary man in a different sort of pilgrimage, as you see him at every stage of his life. It is obvious by the second chapter of the book that Billy Pilgrim, is in fact, a type of Pilgrim going into places he has never been before, for a cause he believes in enough to be willing to sacrifice his life. Just like Vonnegut did in 1943, by dropping out of college to join the military. The innocence, vulnerability, and eagerness, to please is likened to Adam and Eve. Several times Billys description appears in terms of allusions to Jesus Christ, particularly as a silently suffering victim. Pilgrim is more autobiographical than any other character Vonnegut has come up with, yet is also profoundly different (Reed 774). One tool that is most fascinating about Vonneguts writing is his use of recapitulation, which is an important part of the structure of Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut himself best sums up the novel on the title page, as a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore (Slaughterhouse- Five). The main idea of the Tralfamadorian is that they see everything at the same time. They can see the past, present, or future. Their form of writing is based on a clump of symbols in a brief, urgent message, describing what is going on. They dont read one at a time, yet all at once. In this fascinating way, Vonnegut portrayed a life that has no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, and no effects (The Biography of Kurt Vonnegut 201). Vonnegut emphasized that Pilgrim is not simply an established identity who undergoes a series of changes, but all the different things he is at different times. The same principles that govern the person also governs the act as well. Vonnegut states that Dresden is led up to, as it were, by events that precede and follow it. It is surrounded by allusions that lead up to other devastating events in history (Reed 205). The historical allusions that Vonnegut uses are very repetitious. War seems to be a type of metaphor for the condition of people in the world and Dresden is the end result. It is Vonneguts basis for what he thinks about society and human behavior. His cynical approach to war makes the book somewhat funny, yet every joke had a profound meaning. The narration doesnt start until the second chapter, which he starts off by saying Listen. This is a crucial attention getter because Pilgrim and his platoon are soon swept into a raging battle and then captured. When Slaughterhouse-Five first came out in 1969, it became very popular specially among college students. The sales, and the movie based on it, assured Vonneguts success. He started getting invitations to speak at places like Brown University and to the graduating class at Bennington University. He was also invited to teach creative writing at Harvard University. Vonnegut won many awards for Slaughterhouse-Five including an honorary L. H. D degree from Indiana University and the Literature Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters (Litz 759). The reason the book was so popular among younger people was because of its strong antiwar message at a time when war wasnt too popular because of Vietnam. It was mandatory reading in some Universities, yet some schools and libraries banned it from their shelves. He was one of the most popular authors of the late 60s (Reed 770). The experience in Dresden was the reason that Vonnegut started writing stories. He couldnt write about it until 1969 partly because he didnt have a publisher but also because it was too terrible to talk about it right after the war. All his books that he wrote before Slaughterhouse-Five had to do with some aspect of war or had a protagonist like Billy Pilgrim in them. Vonnegut wrote It seemed categorical imperative that I write bout Dresden, the firebombing of Dresden, since it was the largest massacre in the history of Europe and I am a person of European extraction and I, a writer, had been present. I had to say something (The Biography of Kurt Vonnegut). .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .postImageUrl , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:hover , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:visited , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:active { border:0!important; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:active , .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62 .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u5c8db060e7272117e8d98d691eab3d62:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Clash Of Civilizations EssayVonnegut was also quoted as saying the Dresden book wouldnt have been as big a deal if it wasnt so popular. I think that the book wouldnt have been a big deal if it had come out in the late 40s up to the late 50s instead of when it did. Timing of the book was perfect for this book. Young People wanted a book telling about the devastation of war and Vonnegut provided that. Vonnegut was 46 when Slaughterhouse-Five came out. Most men in their 40s were strongly for the war, yet Vonnegut took a stand against all wars in this book. What is interesting about this book is that, in it, he never says war is bad or it shouldnt happen, because by just describing the devastation in Dresden you get a vivid picture of what he is trying to get across, and how much suffering goes on. He wrote the book in such a way that you could actually imagine the anguish that the P. O. W. s were going through at Slaughterhouse-Five. In conclusion, Slaughterhouse-Five is not just an interesting book that is enjoyable o read, but a book that makes a statement. It shows what war is like from a soldiers point of view and how it can affect them for the rest of their lives. Thats what it did for Billy Pilgrim and also for Kurt Vonnegut, who just couldnt stop thinking about a war that happened 24 years earlier. The life of Kurt Vonnegut was filled with great accomplishments and great tragedies. The biggest tragedy that he faced had to be the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II. This is the topic of his book Slaughterhouse-Five. The book talks about one of Vonneguts friends who slips in and out of reality, having flashbacks of the xperience at Dresden. Kurt Vonnegut was born in November of 1922 in Indianapolis. This is where he eventually met and married Jane Cox. Vonneguts life has been a struggle, starting with his mothers constant bouts with depression. In 1943, when Vonnegut enlisted, his mothers depression grew deeper. Because of that Private Vonnegut asked permission to visit home to surprise her on Mothers Day. She overdosed on sleeping pills the night before he arrived (Walker 206). Surprisingly, this tragedy was overshadowed by another incident in his life that happened just a year and a half after his mothers death, the fire bombing of Dresden. In late 1944, Vonnegut was captured by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. On the night of February 13, 1945 exactly 100 American P. O. W. s and five German soldiers took shelter in a meat locker while the Royal Air Force joined by U. S bombers attacked and successfully annihilated the city of Dresden in one of the most vicious air raids ever. The firestorm left over 130,000 people dead and many more missing. This event became a major influence in his writing career (The Biographies of Kurt Vonnegut 775). Vonnegut started writing novels in 1947, when he went to work for General Electric Research Laboratory.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Creating New Employment and Business Opportunities

Creating New Employment and Business Opportunities Introduction Job creation remains one of the most important economic engagements for any business or organization. This process is normally coupled with economic development. Therefore, creating new employment and business opportunities is a contributor to economic development. Currently, world economies are struggling with a slow economy characterized by job cuts, layoffs and organizational restructuring.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Creating New Employment and Business Opportunities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to this, an organization’s management faces various challenges while trying to re-adjust in order to remain competitive and profitable. This is the reason why the private sector is currently awash with innovations and technologies that are being tried and tested to ensure corporate competitiveness and profitability. While a balance within the private sector can be competitively achieved, t here is always a challenge as far as the public sector is concerned. Therefore, public sector organizations will cautiously and selectively apply practices that contribute to sustainable development. The reason for such a trend is most likely due to the public sector organizations’ resistance to restructuring. It can be noted also that the essence of such organizations is based on their defined structure. Olympics development authority (ODA) is a public sector organization under the department of culture, media and sports of the UK government. This organization is responsible for the organization of Olympics and Paralympics in London in the year 2012. ODA is working together with close to fifteen other stakeholders including Her Majesty’s government to ensure that the Olympic Games are a success and that the UK gets the long term benefits as the host. ODA has developed a number of related policies on various issues that are considered crucial to the success of the 2012 Olympic Games. The intention of this study is to highlight and assess the challenges facing ODA in ensuring the delivery of its employment and business objective which is to create new employment (job creation) and business opportunities locally, regionally and nationally.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Literature Review An evaluation of the ODA’s policy on the management of the upcoming games reveals an elaborate sustainability development policy framework. Indeed ODA has gone to great lengths to develop an employment creation and environment policy for the games. Presently, there are few facts on how an economy can be affected by a sustainable development approach. Nonetheless, ODA has professionally postulated such a sustainable development plan to manage the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics games. Research indicates that numerous economic models have been developed lately alluding to the fact that various economies across the globe are seriously considering implementing environmentally driven policies. However, it remains obvious that sustainability development planning and implementation remains a challenge basically because of social and political barriers. Towards a more positive note on this include research findings from recently held studies indicating positive employment and business impact as a result of sustainability development policy implementation. However, these findings suggest that a societal saturation point is what will ultimately result into such phenomenon. It is on the basis of such findings that ODA has focused in order to derive its policy framework for the games. At this point a foreseeable challenge facing ODA would likely be the context of applying this policy framework. It is likely to take enormous economic, political and social energy to ensure that this policy is seamlessly adopted among ODAâ€℠¢s fourteen partners working on the hosting of the games. Further still if these partners had a consensus on this policy, their approach and rates of implementation will vary greatly. Sustainable development researchers have asserted that employee involvement is increasingly showing a noticeable effect on pollution prevention activities. These findings are likely to be the reason behind restructured employment policies across Europe and the world over being evident in current employment trends that now advocate green jobs (Casey 2004; Jacob 2011; Lefresne 1999). This state is supported by the rapid growth in environmental technology sectors around Europe and beyond. Most importantly though is the fact that the focus in the near future is projected to be on pollution prevention and clean technologies (Hawken 2010; Hawken and Lovins 2008).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Creating New Employment and Business Opportunities specifically for you for only $16.0 5 $11/page Learn More Basing on this trend, ODA has endeavored to ensure these facts are considered during the planning process for the games and evidently so, the committee is focused on setting up a clean energy generation plant to serve the games and the community thereafter (Olympic Development Authority (ODA), 2011). While attempting to link the employment and environmental policies, this study is intended to identify the correlation between these two variables and highlight the likely challenges with a focus on the planners of the 2012 games in London. According to Hewett and Foley 2000, â€Å"there appears to be plenty of evidence and research addressing the employment effects of environmental policies† (p.10). Therefore, ODA proposes an employment and business strategy that will focus on creating new employment and business opportunities locally, regionally and nationally during and after the 2012 games. Accordingly, ODA proposes new employment opportu nities at some stage in the infrastructure building phases of the games venues (ODA 2011). An important area of focus related to ODA’s preparation is the relocation of IBC/MPC close to Hackney Wick. This facility has been offering employment opportunities and this is expected to continue during and after the upcoming games. IBC/MPC will later be converted to legacy use as an educational or commercial centre providing full time employment. The venue itself and the park around it will attract further human resource requirements. This will be the source of employment at the Olympics Park and the neighbouring areas. The physical construction of the park itself is likely to be a labour intensive exercise leading to increase employment opportunities. ODA’s sustainability plan will cover a number of aims including the following: Ensuring that the recruitment and engagement process is fair and offers an opportunity to all. Ensuring that as much as possible and within the cons traints of time and budget, communities have access to training and work placement that will eventually result into sustainable employment opportunities. Ensuring that procurement of work and goods as well as services is transparently and competitively carried out to attract maximum diverse categories of suppliers. Therefore, a deliberate consideration by ODA for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has been earmarked. These SMEs’ services as subcontractors will expand the employment opportunities bracket as new business opportunities are unveiled.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More ODA’s reliance on social media and internet based methods to reach out with information is aimed at creating awareness about the opportunities for business and employment available due to the hosting of the games. ODA runs a website which has a facility to enable businesses to register their interests concerning tendering for contracts related to the games. ODA will forecast the labour demands and skill requirements to assess the current requirements. This information can then be availed to key partners who will provide funds for training to meet ODA’s supply chain requirements. On a regional scale, ODA will work with members of the five boroughs partnership board sharing all the information necessary to create employment and business opportunities. This will be achieved through the five borough employment brokerage service (ODA 2011). Apparently partnerships here are vital to the success of ODA’s sustainability development plan on business and employment. Some of these partners include the London employment and skills taskforce (LEST) which is an initiative that looks beyond the games focusing on them just as a catalyst for comprehensive regeneration and improved productivity in London for the next two decades. There is also the local employment and training framework (LETF), which focuses on tackling employment barriers and enterprise competitiveness during start up. This is intended to reduce disparities in labour market outcomes, improve skills and maximize the potential for productivity and innovation (ODA 2011). Rationale and Justification of the Data Collection Methods Generally research approaches are either qualitative or quantitative. The qualitative approach to research is an explorative method used to collect data, analyze it and report the data analysis findings based on a certain research question or case study. Under this approach, the research area is identified and a purpose for the research is specified before the data is collected and analyzed and thereafter the results reported and recorded. Data organization and coding is a feature within the qualitative research approach. Quantitative research approach is the other option. This approach requires beginning with a theory. As the research progresses samples are selected based on a scientific theory. This approach also involves the use of mathematical models as a method of data validation. For this study the qualitative approach will be used because this approach allows for the development of ideas and interpretations and case studying which is what has been used here to get data from various ODA publications on policy and planning. The internet has also been used in this research to collect more data in relation to development and implementation of sustainable development strategy with a focus on creation of employment and business opportunities. Findings Analysis and Discussion At the moment a clear relationship between sustainable development age nda such as the one proposed by ODA and how this relates to the creation of employment opportunities may not be well defined. However, conclusions can be drawn from the general trend based on government targets as well as scholarly evaluation reports on future options that involve technological change (Hitchcock and Willard 2009; Illinitch and Schaltegger 2000). Technological change is a direct indicator of new opportunities that require job creation. Currently, the UK government’s climate change strategy intends to establish policies to cut UK CO2 emissions by 20% by 2010 (Harvard Business School Press 2007). It is also proposed to deliver 10% of electricity from renewable sources in the same period. Other government strategies like the landfill and waste have their targets as well. The bottom line to achieving these targets will probably involve increased implementation of clean technology which requires new or combined job skills (Senge, Smith, Kruschwitz, Laur and Schley 2010). All of these targets affect economies in different ways. The government will be preparing for employment consequences. Generally, the government policy in creating the right market framework to encourage sustainable development and planning is an important contributor towards the success of such policies as that laid down by ODA. ODA which comprises the committee responsible for organizing the 2012 London Olympics is going to face a number of challenges based on the committee’s employment and business objective. It is definite that a slowing global economy is not an incentive to business growth let alone employment. With this in mind, ODA is likely to experience challenges in creating these new employment opportunities. It is likely that the sustainability development plan proposed by ODA requires more funds to successfully implement. These funds must be used to try and reduce the disparities arising from diverse perceptions that may be held by ODA’s partners in planning of the games. Lobbying has been known to be one of the ways this can be achieved considering that sustainability strategy development continues to attract social and political barriers to implement (Casey 2004; Nichols and Ball 2006). As such ensuring the creation of employment and business opportunities requires a consideration of the various factors that will cause increased implementation costs. Typically, the UK government is focused on implementing a carbon free city by the turn of a few decades. However, with such a consideration is the need to reassess natural resource utilization that provides the sustainability indicators. Within this campaign and as a government affiliated organization, ODA relies on other partners to facilitate the planning of the London Olympics games 2012. ODA is currently challenged at having a collaborative approach towards sustainable development planning which may not be totally achieved. Since ODA will rely on other partners for funding a nd logistical support, it remains unlikely that all of these partners can fully subscribe to the sustainability development framework proposed by ODA. Therefore, at the local level ODA may easily implement sustainability policies related to employment opportunities which though remain short-lived probably lasting slightly beyond the games season unless a collaborated approach to the strategy implementation is adopted. Though sustainable development planning is considered as a government policy, the real cost of its implementation remains a challenge not just in the culture, media and sports department but in many other sectors within the government and beyond. Research has revealed that a general notion currently in the public domain proposes that the implementation of sustainability development policies will cause job losses. It is expected that this is the public perspective and ODA is likely to face skepticism even in trying to realize their objective of creation of employment op portunities, locally, regionally and nationally as proposed. Convincing the general public otherwise is definitely a cost intensive undertaking which is an indirect challenge as well. Therefore, it might be necessary for ODA to invest much more in public awareness campaign to amplify the employment opportunities that will be created locally, regionally and nationally by a successful implementation of the sustainability development plan for the games. It has been known for some time now that environmental issues have no social or political boundaries. As such it may be necessary for ODA to consider bringing on board all the stakeholders within the five boroughs involved in the planning (Reeves 2005). Conclusion Strategy formulation remains one of the most vital managerial undertakings. Apart from drafting the strategy to run the organization, there is a need to anchor the strategy on a competitive and profitable framework. Currently sustainable development strategy is considered as t he standard strategy formulation of the future. Sustainable development is a major feature in the UK’s government’s which focuses at future scenarios and technologies in the UK. The initial stage is the development and improvement of current technologies, especially within heavy industries thereby creating some ‘breathing space’ during which time policies can be altered to transform the model of economic behaviour. This is going to include the development of cleaner processing technologies which have improved energy efficiency. Most sectors in the UK are currently within this stage. The second stage involves preparing for the change. The change includes increased uptake of renewable energy technologies, transport modes that are sustainable and construction techniques that are less energy intensive. Therefore, the government’s targets for renewables, the decade long transport plan and waste strategy are featured as an attempt by the government to mov e the UK into the preparation for change stage. This stage will also promise increased employment and business opportunities. However, it will be noted that changes in behaviour and technology will not necessarily happen all at once as timing may depend on technological progress or events which change public attitudes. Hewett and Foley, 2000 in their writing indicate that: The University of Bath study also looked at a ‘bottom-up’ methodology developed by AEA Technology to examine the employment impact of energy taxation on manufacturing industry across Europe. The ‘bottom up’ modelling relies on specific information on the costs and characteristics of individual technologies available across different manufacturing sectors. The study concludes that both top down and bottom up models show the potential for modest employment gains flowing from an environmental tax reform. (p.12) ODA has drawn its sustainable development plan for the games based on such findin gs and the government strategy framework. Therefore, though the implementation may still be a little far off especially for certain areas of the policy, the accomplishment of the creation of employment and business opportunities remains in line with the government’s target indicators for achieving sustainable development although this may only be realized on a local level for a start. Recommendations Sustainable development planning is gaining support from many economies and governments around the world especially the developed nations that are quickly drawing and aligning their policies to this framework. These policies propose a green jobs boom as economies finally adapt and implement this strategy framework. However, the challenge lies with a determination of the exact cost of policy implementation based on such a strategy. It is basically true that most of the framework implementation is still in the infancy stages. Considering this fact, ODA will face various challenges when trying to measure the levels of success in creation of employment opportunities (Bach 2005). However, studies are showing that at an appropriate time, organizations around the world will eventually resort to sustainable development planning with noticeable benefits in the human resource sector (Price 2011). The implementation phase of such a plan is going to be actualized in a longer time frame than what was anticipated. As such, creation of employment opportunities as proposed by ODA in their sustainable policy on the games will be realized on local proportions. A more elaborate and sustainable result for such an objective will only be achievable after other related sectors have adopted similar strategy framework probably as formulated by the UK government. Therefore, at the moment challenges towards successful implementation are likely. Reference List Bach, S. ed., 2005. Managing human resources: Personnel management in transition. 4th ed. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Casey, B. , 2004. The OECD jobs strategy and European employment strategy: Two views of the labour market and welfare state. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 10(3), pp.329-352. Casey, B., 2005. Building social partnership? Strengths and shortcomings of the European employment strategy. Transfer: European Review of Labour Research, 11(1), pp.45-63. Harvard Business School Press, 2007. Harvard business review on green business strategy (Harvard business review) Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Hawken, P., 2010. The ecology of commerce revised edition: A declaration of sustainability (Collins Business Essentials). London: Harper. Hawken, P. and Lovins, A., 2008. Natural capitalism: Creating the next industrial revolution. Boston: Back Bay Books. Hewett, C. and Foley, J., 2000. Employment creation and environmental policy a literature review. [Online] Web. Hitchcock, D. and Willard, M., 2009. The business guide to sustainability: Practical strategies and tools for organizations. 2n d ed. New York: Routledge. Illinitch, A., and Schaltegger, S., 2000. Developing a green business portfolio Long Range Planning, 28(3), pp. 29-38. Jacob, S., 2011. Employment policy confronted with new patterns of governance centred on coordination and performance. International Review of Administrative Science, 77(3), pp. 531-553. Lefresne, F., 1999. Employability at the heart of the European employment strategy. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 5(4), pp.460-480. Nichols, K. and Ball, C., 2006. Organization theory: A public and nonprofit perspective 3rd ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing. Olympic Development Authority (ODA), 2011. Sustainable development strategy. [Online] Available at: https://www.olympic.org/documents Price, A., 2011. Fundamentals of human resource management. London, UK: Cengage Learning Emea. Reeves, T., 2005. Cases in public human resource management. 2nd ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing. Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J., and Sch ley, S., 2010. The necessary revolution: Working together to create a sustainable world. New York: Crown Business.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Paradise Lost essays

Paradise Lost essays John Milton is considered to be one of the greatest Writers of all time. In the epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton divides the characters into two sides, one side under God representing good and glory, and the other side under Satan, in representation of all evil. First Milton introduces the reader to the character Satin and his allegiance of fallen angels that aided in his revolt against God. Later in the poem the all-powerful God is introduced to the reader, he is known as the leader and creator of mankind. This levy of good vs. evil carries on throughout the poem with the interaction of Satan and his fallen angels with God and his son of Heaven. The interaction between good and evil in the poem represents the decisions in life that we all have to make, and we see this through the actions of Satan and God. The common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God, Satan. His name means enemy of God, he was the former high angel form Heaven named Lucifer. Satan became jealous of God and Heaven, he formed an allegiance of angels to battle against God, only to be banned form Heaven and cast into Hell. Satan was the type of person that would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. Much of Satans reliance on getting things accomplished came from his ability to lie and deceive. He had to hide his true identity in order to get people to follow and believe in him. Satan showed the reader a large amount of anger and destructiveness when he planned his revenge on God. Satan found pleasure in the pain and destruction of people among other things. It is clear the feelings and views of Satan represent evil and destruction. Milton introduced the reader to good and virtue by introducing God himself. God is the true symbol of all that is good in the world. God is the creator of mankind and was able to keep control with his mighty powers. God was sur ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

What does the surviving evidence from Pompeii suggest about the ways Essay

What does the surviving evidence from Pompeii suggest about the ways in which Pompeians spent their time - Essay Example Vesuvius to have been recorded. In 1748, it is when staid excavations start and since then, it has been a tourist trap. Besides, all learning institutions are teaching of this city, with each and every other individual having the desire to make a visit. The historian might be better positioned in eloquently waxing how Pompeii is a city â€Å"frozen in time† as well as how the eruption turned out to be a blessing in disguise to the generation of the present time. On the contrary, the Romans had a totally different view of the destruction of Pompeii and the neighboring cities. In their viewpoint, this eruption was among the worst ever natural disaster to have ever occurred in the history of the world. It is believed that things would have been worse (Cooper 1). Despite the fact that modern day newspaper stories report that twenty thousand people passed on during this eruption, the exact figure of the people who lived there is hardly known. The 20,000 figure is seemingly the most common figure availed, but other sources have the same figure 10,000 lower. Either way, the agreeable guess figure is that over 35000 people died and in Pompeii alone, between 1600 and 2000 were trapped in the eruption. What remains is the surviving evidence to tell us how the situation was like (Cooper 1). The surviving evidence presents us with one of the very best glimpses of what the everyday life was like in a Roman city. Being a resort town as well as a center of commerce, the surviving evidence depicts how the rich in the society had come to this town so as to free themselves from the hassles of living in Rome, and ships put into the Bay of Naples from all corners of the globe. In addition, the surviving evidence presents both the aura and the prosperity of e njoyment that seems to have been in prevalence (Maiuri and Battaglia 652). These two (the prosperity and the aura of enjoyment) have hardly been shared in any other of the workaday towns. From this evidence, we are lured to believe that hardly was there peace and harmony in Pompeii. By the virtue of there being an excess of the rich in the society it is probable that there was a big-me/little-you division with the ordinary town folks. Tis same scenario was in Rome and from the judgment of how things are as regards to what was left, the inhabitants of Pompeii undeniably knew very well how to enjoy themselves (Gore 556). It is worth noting that historians may not be totally certain of the number of days in each of the Roman Months. The thought of these historians is that the roman months just resemble ours, though there is enough uncertainty for any given date to be off by a couple of days. The surviving evidence also testifies that the Pompeians rose up early in the morning, as is th e case with the present Romans. Besides, it can be told from the very first glance that they were respectable middle class persons. If this was not the case, there would have been an evidence of a slave waking then up and probably helping them dress. This may actually sound somewhat strange since the Pompeian’s’ clothes, from the surviving evidence, were unpretentious in the extreme (Harris 56). For each and every Roman national, irrespective of whether poor, middle class or rich, tunic was the main piece of clothing. Having been made of wool, the tunic was simply a two-square piece cloth sewn together, with holes having been left for the arms and the head. From the surviving evidence, the tunic- having been as wide as it was broad hung loosely on all but the heftiest frame. Moreover, the cut had been made in such a way that the excess clothe did form sleeves of a sort, with its appearance resembling a long shirt dropping somewhere between the calf and the