Book summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book summary - Essay Example Mercator projections typically hanged on pentagon offices and classroom walls usually place the US in the middle where it is separated from Europe to its East by the big Atlantic Ocean and from Asia by to its West by the Pacific Ocean. Our preference for the perspective reflects a particular national egocentrism and has for a bigger part of the past two centuries made a recommendable deal of a strategic sense (Kaplan, 154). Through a big part of the 19th century, oceanic moats made possible the era of free security as a historian by the name C. Van Woodward called it. United States then projected much of its power primarily towards East Asia and Europe as it stepped on the World stage and grew stronger. In the 20th century, America would wage wars, cold and hot, aiming to protect vital regions against the dominion of hostile forces. Their earlier purposes, notwithstanding, the ancient maps are no longer meaningful having outlived their usefulness. After the cold war had come to an end, with much intensity and speed since 9/11, focus shifted towards South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and towards the western Pacific waters. Robert D. Kaplan in monsoon argues that fresh ways of viewing the World are needed. This is needed mostly in seeing those parts that are integral elements despite being split by old projections (Kaplan, 165). Kaplan’s goal was providing his fellow countrymen with a similar map centered the Greater Indian Ocean, the region that stretched eastward right from the Horn of Africa going past the Arabian Peninsula, Iranian plateau as well as the Indian subcontinent going all the way to Indonesian archipelago and even beyond. He was glad that the monsoon winds shifted direction regularly at six month intervals, making connecting of the far-flung shores by waters to be readily navigable even when there were primitive sailing vessels. The greater Indian Ocean was initially linked by Muslim merchants, later Portugal

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Leadership - Essay Example as observed that , transformational leaders who may happen to have narcissistic tendencies can apply a very powerful influence over followers, who may give them trust and respect (Stone, Russel and Patterson, 2003, p.4) as to manipulate the latter. Manipulating followers may actually be violating the latter’s very freedom as the act would amount to misleading them to choosing what is proper as free human beings. These followers may virtually submit their wills to their leaders. The possibility of this argument is due to the appeal to emotions which a key ingredient to practice transformational leadership. The source of the first criticism is the fact that there are allegedly people who were transformational leaders who led their people to destruction. Used as examples are the cases of Rev Jim Jones and Hitler. In the case of Jones, the leader caused massive Jonestown suicide after convincing his people of the value of his proposition no matter how evil it may be (Krans, B. 2007). Which could be more evil than taking one’s life by the instigation of a leader who is supposed to espouse and value life and on the greatest values on human being? The case of Hitler is too familiar to escape mentioning the same when it comes to leaders who could move their followers to attainment of objectives and goals of the group. Who could imagine that Hitler was able to have the command of his followers to exterminate millions of Jews as to offend the sensibility of human kind? Hitler and Himmler, his fanatical racist and ultimate bureaucrat what able to take control of anti-Jewish initiatives and Hitler was the ideological and political author of the Holocaust (Farmer, 2010). The reasoning behind the criticism is assumption that there is a tendency by the transformational leaders to take advantage of the emotions of the followers who may forget about the supremacy of reason because they have virtually submitted their beliefs and wills to their leader because of their

Local Politician Event in Ireland Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Local Politician Event in Ireland - Assignment Example In here, the work starts in planning, staffing, delegating, handling of resources and finances, monitoring the flow of the plan, execution of plan, implementation and post production endeavors. In other words, in handling a certain event one has to understand the 3 P's of it- The Pre Production, Production and the post production. There are several varieties of even and production with different purposes. In dealing with such things, one has to understand the nature of the event and intended outcome. This paper will deal on handling even wherein there is a fundraising event for a local politician running for election. This paper will delve on things and key aspects with regards in realizing the success of an event in this kind of nature and how areas of concern are addressed in order to fulfill the objective of the event. In order to determine the necessary steps in handling events, the aid of relevant literature is crucial in determining the needed tasks and process in order to fulfill the requisites needed by a certain event. Special events magazine have described and defined common problems encircling issues with regards to event handling. "OFTEN, EVENT planners have a fairly consistent set of questions on their mind: I have a limited budget, yet I need AV - how do I set priorities in my budget If I want lighting, sound, video, staging and decor, should I just give each part of the production a smaller piece to make sure I get some of everything (Poulos 2005)" Dealing with events and production requires knowledge, expertise and views of critics explaining the tasks and essence of handling events and productions. Also, locolobo events (2007) further stated that "Event planning can come from anywhere; parties you've attended, magazines and library resources or more conveniently, the internet. Before you initiate the research process, create a task list. Do this by visualizing your definition of a flawless event, then note all the intricate details you need to create that winning outcome. Your list should contain all the elements needed for seamless event production. Venue selection, catering, tent or flatware rentals, entertainment, invitations and favors are just a snippet of the planning and preparation that goes into event production. The responsibility can be overwhelming for many people, especially for those trying to juggle event production with their every day responsibilities. With the right event planning tips, throwing a soiree do esn't have to be taxing." Local politician event in Ireland (Chinese National Day Ball Dublin) 3 Proposal to the client Before entering a discussion to the client regarding budget and related concerns with regards to event that is to be handled, one has to find and research possible information regarding the client and the event that he wanted to realize. Upon knowing this information, the client would know that you are interested in doing business with him and this thing would further strengthen the chance in obtaining the deal with him. In relation to this, the event organizer must also know if the client is new in encountering the event or has previous experiences which would be a basis in giving your proposal to him. The proposal must contain the

What Is An Historical Fact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What Is An Historical Fact - Essay Example A prolonged conflict may, at times, culminate or involve historical facts. According to Carr, historians of times to come do not expect production of decisive history (7). This is because they possess expectations that their history will experience archaism after every undefined period. The notions that past knowledge originate from human thoughts make them conclude that knowledge is devoid of elemental aspects as would be in elements as atoms with nothing to transform (Carr 7). Further investigations suggest scholars to involve their self in skepticism depicting historical judgments of lacking succinct truths. The reliance emanate from the notions that judgments as found in history, entail the ideas of humans (Carr 8). Controversy arises where the pundits in opposition leave space for questions. Some historians would brand some works emanating from the recent past as outdated because they have no idea if the work is updated (Carr 9). The issue of inquiry in historical facts and the need to unravel the succinctness of information brings out the nature of history. Regarding on how to answer such queries, every historian will rely on current issues to an extent of including the ideas of the communities they dwell (Carr 9). Various historians suggest 19th century era as successful period entailing various issues of history transformed into facts of history. Historians emanating from France and Britain were optimistic and wanted to expose to the people their suggestions plus evident indicating history as science (Carr 10). They thought of a unique approach such as ascertaining factual issues and drawing assumptions from them. The notions of history are evident, mainly, in Britain where they conform to the tradition of empiricism whose dominance is viewable from philosophical notions of philosophers in the region. Empiricism dominance is evident in differentiating the subjects plus objects. Various facts of history originate from the observer, and are self-sufficien t (Davidson & Mark 9). Empiricism would define a historic fact as one possessing a datum of experience, and having dissimilarities from conclusions. Historian’s view facts availed to them from materials such as documents. Carr equates them to â€Å"fish on the fish mongers chunk† in order to draw the meaning of historical facts to concerned individuals (Carr 8). It is the accountability of the historian to filter and transform facts to anything that is pleasant to him. Interpretation of facts requires sound approach including freedom when choosing opinion and how to portray those facts (Carr 8). Carr uses an example of Caesar making it across Rubicon, and the presence of an object in a room to represent facts that are comparable (Carr 11). The facts hold similar aims as seen by a knowing person. However, this culminates to a thought development that facts, though there may be evidence of their occurrence, cannot attain the status of being regarded as historical facts, unless the historian himself decides to separate them from other events of the past (Carr 9). In order to define a historical fact, one has to consider the common facts which form the basis of the entire history. Some historical facts should remain no matter the direction that a historian decides to embrace to ensure that certain facts are rigid (Davidson & Mark 9). In order to give attracting implications of historical facts, Carr uses examples to convey his message. Facts like â€Å"battle of Hastings occurring in 1066† should remain because they indicate the time plus the place the event occurred (Carr 10). Accuracy is an aspect that every historian builds and portrays in his work. To enhance accuracy in history, the historian incorporates science in his work by embracing archaeology,

A critical response to Donald Davidsons views of self-deception Essay

A critical response to Donald Davidsons views of self-deception - Essay Example Such event, according to the theory, will "permit" the idea that an individual may at any given time cling to incongruous viewpoints and ambiguous judgments about her/him or about a given state of affairs. The concept, Davidson contends, is that if parts of the mind are, to some degree or level, independent, we can comprehend how they are able to entertain and embrace inconsistencies, contradictions and variations, and to intermingle and cooperate on a causal level. This, I beg to disagree. If we take a cursory glimpse, Davidson's account offers a fascinating depiction of self-deception. It seemed to naturally and readily settle the absurdity and the irony of the concept. Nonetheless, if we investigate seriously the sketch of this phenomenon on the "divided-mind" paradigm, grave doubts and opposing protestations will come to our mind.However, before explicitly elucidating my disagreement, let me first discuss another angle that runs parallel to Davidson's idea of the divided-mind occ urrence - Freud's embodiment of the human mind consisting of an ego, super-ego, and id. To the Freudian picture, the ego matches up with the conscious part of the mind, while the super-ego and the id, to the unconscious. The id is steered by impulses, cravings and desires; as the super-ego flushes out the "undesirables" conceived by the id, the ego puts things into action. A Freudian version of self-deception, then, would justify for the absurd possession of diametrically opposed beliefs. The unconscious id discerns and understands that p, but is compelled by a desire to believe that not-p, so it "cooperates" or "works together" with the super-ego to deceive the ego. In this scenario, the agent may deliberately and knowingly assumes a belief this same agent instinctively knows to be false, but the fact that this belief is false is one way or another "concealed" from such agent. In this manner, self-deception becomes unequivocally comparable to interpersonal deception, with two agent -like structures misleading/deceiving a third into believing something they know to be false. Though desisting to succumb to the Freudian concepts of ego, super-ego and id, Davidson concurs with Freud that particular facets of the mind must be put forward in order to explain self-deception or absurdity of any kind: [First,]the mind is to be regarded as having two or more semi-autonomous structures. [Second, we assign] a particular kind of structure to one or more subdivisions of the mind: a structure similar to that needed to explain ordinary actions. [Third,]certain mental events take on the character of mere causes relative to some other mental events in the same mind. [I]n order to accommodate [this feature] we must allow a degree of autonomy to parts of the mind (Davidson 1982) As Davidson puts it, one psychological event can be a cause of but not a sufficient reason for another mental event. Certainly, this framework can be a probable occurrence in interpersonal interaction. For instance -- I yearn for Mr. X to be inside my bedroom, so, I positioned a hundred scented candles of different sizes and colors in strategic places, allow some erotic music to reverberate inside the room and open the door a few inches apart just enough for Mr. X to have a wondrous peek of what's inside and what he can expect if he gets in. As he saw what's in store for him inside that room, he then craves to enter and will want to

Are Teen Age Years The Best Essay Example for Free

Are Teen Age Years The Best Essay Are Teenage year the best of your life? The teenage years are considered the best years of your life that is what magazine. Im going to tell you why they are not. First you are always looked at to succeed by your parents, the lack of freedom we get and last but not least we are considered lairs and criminal among todays society. One of the disadvantages of being a teenager is that we are always looked to succeed in school so you can do and be better then them. They also say if we fool around the future for us is going the extinguished. Other disadvantage of being a teen is the lack of freedom we get. Sure we might live in a free country but are we all free? The freedom that Im talking about is staying up late, working and school. Staying up late I dont know about you but I have to get home before my parents I cant even be in front of my house to the wee hours of the morning. Working is another one we another one we cant work on weekdays because my Dad says it will effect my school work how will he know if he doesnt give it a chance. School is the worst of all we cant even wear earrings because its not part of the uniform I understand that but the shaving is just stupid how could you order someone to do something that comes in naturally. It is like telling someone you have to get a hair cut every week. Its violating our freedom of expressing. The worst part of being a teenager is that we are considered lairs and criminals among our society. For example if a bunch of teens walk into a variety store the owners automatically think we are going to rob them but the only thing we want is a little snack. The other thing is lying adults never believe teens why you ask? I dont really know. For example a teacher and a student get into an argument and its the teachers fault the principle is going to believe the teacher because they dont tell lies. So with the facts that I just stated that is why I have to say the teenage years are not what people say they are.

What led to the development of postmodernism in architecture

What led to the development of postmodernism in architecture Post modernism was devised from its previous movement, modernism and first began to emerge around the states of America in the 1960s but really took off around the early 1970s when it came to England and Europe and became a movement. It still continues to influence modern architecture today. The most obvious design traits can be seen in architecture; features that best represent this style include bold, visual exteriors, designs that are functional yet contain architectural characteristics that have been seen before but combining these with exciting, colourful, fresh designs. An example of this is the Portland building; Oregon designed by Michael Graves. (See Fig.1) This block of government offices built in 1980 has a very decorative exterior and has become an icon of Post modernism. Post modernism came about when modernist views were being rejected by many people and architects although there where still some whom where in favour of the current modernist ideas, yet still recognized the need for further development within this style to take place as the world fast continued to modernise around them, this saw the beginnings of Postmodernism. This quote from Michael Graves gives his view on how modernism designed everything to be machine like, which worked, although buildings should be made decorative and not so set in the modernist ways: While any architectural language, to be built, will always exist within the technical realm, it is important to keep the technical expression parallel to an equal and complementary expression of ritual and symbol. It could be argued that the Modern Movement did this, that as well as its internal language; it expressed the symbol of the machine, and therefore practiced cultural symbolism. But in this case, the machine is retroactive, for the machine itself is a utility. So this symbol is not an external allusion, but rather a second, internalized reading. A significant architecture must incorporate both internal and external expressions. The external language, which engages inventions of culture at large, is rooted in a figurative, associational and anthropomorphic attitude.1 In this quote Graves refers to the modernist movement and how they designed their buildings to be like machines, extremely clean, sleek and purely functional with no needless design features. His view is not to think that the inside of a building should be run as a machine but to think of the building as a whole and to think outside the modernists clean cut lines and un decorative architecture. Unlike the modernist architecture previous to this movement the post modernism architecture is usually quite ornamental, new but also borrowing some features from the past, such as bringing colour back into architecture which taken away for modernist era. There is quite a lot of rivalry between the two movements, modernists strongly believe in form follows function, their architecture showing functional, formalized shapes and spaces, where post modernists believe in not necessarily form over function but making their functional buildings a lot more visually dynamic and I suppose more of an experience. There is no true reality not even your own2 This is a saying from the late 90s which reflects post modernists views. They felt you need to question reality and think outside the box where as the modernists believed in questioning authority, their thinking that if people looked into why things are designed the way they are and the truth is to be discovered then tradition would be questioned. The postmodern architecture features shameless aesthetics different from anything before, they have a more organic feel and stand out. The post modern era also found the use of different materials being used with in architecture than before, whether it be the colour or the specification of the material that was to be desired. The two main materials used in postmodern architecture are stone and glass. The stone is bold and comes in a very wide range of colours, which stuck to the postmodernist ideas. The glass was used a lot especially in America and large city buildings, office blocks and skyscrapers such as Le 1000 de la Gauchetiere in Canada, its the tallest skyscraper in Montreal. (See fig.2) This was built a bit later on, in 1992 but still shows strong postmodern values. For example the distinctive triangular copper roof and four copper capped entrances at each of the tower base corners. The structural core is constructed from concrete and steel and the exterior consists of glass in a metal frame. The form used in postmodern buildings is also very contemporary, the building function is still important for the designers but compared to the modernist buildings the forms, shapes and look of the buildings are almost there for the designers sake, not for any specific reason other than good aesthetics. As I said before there is almost a collision of beliefs between the two movements, though most of the dislike at the time was focused towards the post modern architecture as the modernist architectures such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had put the belief into the people that a building that was almost wholly based on function was the best way. So when post modern architects such as Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi and Eero Saarinen started designing buildings that where thinking outside the slick, functional, simple design box of modernism and completely aesthetical and almost quite wacky there was quite an uproar and possibly a confusion as people started t o question what was right for the future of architecture? Were the new buildings functional enough and would the new buildings stand the test of time? As the people began to accept the more complex designs of the post-modern world the buildings began to become popular and more and more architectures began to come round to the idea. In todays architecture you can clearly see the inspiration from these initial designs and that architects and designers have turned modernist ideas on their head, by carrying on the idea of aesthetically pleasing designs and almost having more fun with their design rather than just focusing on the function. So how exactly did Postmodernism come about? Well as I have just confirmed the strongest link/lead to postmodernism was obviously the modernist designs lack of decoration, but I also looked at some other factors that could have lead to the development of postmodern architecture. As is well known, the lead to postmodernism was when people started to reject the views of the modernist movement, though how did this come about? And why did people start to reject the modernist ways? The rejection of modernism first came from architects In their works. In Europe Aldo Rossi documented his views of the current art movement, while in America Raunch and Scott Brown expressed similar views on the need for development of the modernist architecture. Though the most influential change came from the work of Robert Venturi. He famously wrote the book Complexity and Contradiction in architecture in 1966 which attacked the modernism of international style, with his strong views on his dislike for modernism. In the writing he replaces Miles van der Rohes (a modernist architect) modernist phrase less is more with : less is a bore. Blatant simplification means bland architecture This quote is just a brief look to his views in the piece, he continues throughout rejecting the moral, clean cut ways of modern architecture for elements that are more a blend of features than pure. Frank Gehry seems to be a name that frequently appears when investigating post modernism architecture. His Designs were very contemporary, bold and different to what had been seen before. He denied that his work was post modernist or that it even fit into any category other than something totally new. This would not happen with a modernist architect as; although the designs are different all modernists buildings tend to have the same features, sleek and following function so much that there is not a lot of individuality between the designs. Where as post modernist architecture is all so decorative and ornamental that each design is unique. Just by looking at a few of Frank Gehrys designs you can definitely tell that they are individual although they do fit in with the post modern category his architecture has moved beyond the modernist era being based on geometric and organic forms. As Gehry says himself : Not every person has the same kinds of talents, so you discover what yours are and work with them. Dont try to be me, or try to be Frank Lloyd Wright, or try to be I M Pei. Try to be yourself. You have to understand what drives people to build buildings. 4 One of Gehrys most creative pieces that represent this is The Frederick R Weisman Art Museum at the university of Minnesota, 1993(See Fig 3). The University officials chose Frank Gehry to design the teaching museum for the campus because of his attention to needs of people that use his buildings and his unique stunning designs. The museums exterior is constructed of amazing, sticking shapes made from brushed stainless steel on one side over looking the Mississippi river creating an abstract image of a waterfall and a fish. The other side of the building is on the side of the campus and blends in with the existing sandstone and brick buildings by using terra cotta coloured bricks. Frank Gehry was also commissioned to design an expansion to the building that was meant to have been completed in 2009 though due to financial reasons it will be built by next year. This shows that post modernism continues to inspired designers today and is still popular. An example of an architect that is continuing post modernism design to todays architecture is Santiago Calatrava. Born in 1951 when the postmodern movement was just starting to come about, Calatrava grew up with the organic architecture from the era. Obviously heavily inspired by it he has continued post modernism on in his own works. He has designed many buildings, which are very well known such as the Museum of tomorrow in Rio de Janerio in Brazil and Liege Guillemins TGV station in Belgium. La Rioja, Bodegas Ysios in Spain is one of his designs, which is not so famous though still unique, and particularly show his postmodernism inspiration (See Fig 4). This building is situated amongst vineyards in Spain where la Rioja Alavesa wine is produced, the company wanted a building that would store the made wine and be a place where guests can test the wine. The design definitely meets the criteria and is very functional; there is separate part for the storing of the wine, making it and a tasting area. Although this could have been enough just in a plain rectangular building but in true post modernist style he has also added some amazing design features, the main feature is that the roof, it continues the shapes of the surrounding hills, creating a wavy organic shape. The material he has used for the roof design is aluminium panelling, which reflects the sunlight making it look even more special contrasting with the calm vineyard surrounding. I have researched the lead to post modern architecture and touched on how it has affected modern design today. Now to conclude this essay I will some up my findings of what led to post modernism in architecture. Post modernism first emerged in the 1960s and became a movement in the early 1970s, its routes stemmed from its previous movement, modernism. Modernists had a very strong belief in form follows function, their views where that a building should be purely functional and machine like which worked well but didnt leave a lot of an imagination for design features and all the buildings began to have a lot of the same features. In the 1960s some architects began to recognise this and voiced their opinions in their written works, which made people realize that designs could be a bit more exciting. The most influential architect in this realisation was Robert Venturi, in his well known writing complexity and contradiction in architecture he strongly expressed his dislike for modernist architecture, stating that less is a bore and that buildings do not have to be all about function, they can still be functional and have design features. This contributed to the lead to post modernism. One of the architects I found whos name kept appearing when looking at post modern architecture is Frank Gehry. His designs are functional but with amazing design features using organic forms and patterns to shape the buildings. As is with most post modernist architecture different organic and bold shapes are a big feature of the building making every design unique unlike the similar designs of the modernist era. Although Gehry do es not class his buildings to be post modernist or in fact fit into any category, his designs are definitely fitting with the era and he seems to share the same views as the post modernists. Buildings like Frank Gehrys continue to influence designers today such as Santiago Calatrava whos modern day designs very much resembles that of post modernist architecture. Part II Book review on: 20th Century Architecture by Jonathan Glancey The 20th Century Architecture explores the roots of modern architecture and explains how the history and the ever-changing social and political conditions helped shape and build the world we live in today. In this book, as the foreword states, by writing the book Jonathan Glancey attempts to achieve informing the reader of an introduction to architecture of the 20th Century, not to cover every aspect of the subject, as he says himself, The subject is very vast and no book can realistically cover the entire history of the twentieth century architecture. If I could it would either be too heavy to carry or else set in such a tiny type that it would be unreadable. This quote also I think captures the way the book is written, very informative yet quite light hearted. The book covers 8 of movements of 20th century architecture: Arts and Crafts, Classicism, organic, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Robotic, Cities and Futures. Each movement has a its own section which is started by a page for a brief explanation of the movement then examples of architecture significant to that time. Each piece of architecture has its own page with a full colour photo to show what it looks like and a section about the designer and the building, why it was built and how it relates to the movement and others in that time. I found the book easy to read, and was able put down at any time and pick back up from where I left off. I particularly like the no jargon take and the fact that you dont have to know an awful lot if anything on architecture or the history of the 20th century. The book is very informative if you read the whole thing or if you just flick to a specific section you are interested in. I originally did this but found that I wanted to read on further. This is as Jonathan Glancey intended as would most authors, wanting to get the attention of the reader and want to read on from their own will, as he says in the book: If this makes you want to find out more then it has done its job. If it encourages you to want to be an architect then good luck. I think he has definitely achieved his original intentions for the book. I borrowed this book from the local library but I would definitely consider buying a copy to keep as a reference book. From reading and sourcing from other architectural books, I think this fits in to the subject very well. Id says it is more aimed at students, people who are interested in architecture and starting architectures. I dont think the book would be so suitable for experienced architects and architect fanatics as it informs you of buildings and architects that this group would probably already know of, thought the may still find it informative about the movements and to find out when the movements happened and why. Over all I think this is a good book and deserves the positive comments it has picked up from press and other readers.