In what ways did humanists have an effect on cultural and religious Research Paper - 1

In what ways did humanists have an effect on cultural and religious development - Research Paper Example The intellectuals not only lament over the pathetic moral decline of their fellow beings, but also strive to make corrections in the individual and collective life of the masses through their verbal or written preaching. Consequently, an overwhelming majority of the general public belonging to their contemporary society turns against the philosophers by declaring them breakers of law and traditions. However, they remain as firm as rock in the face of hardships, and stick to showing the people the very path of glory and wisdom. This state of affairs is not confined to one social establishment only; rather, the humanists have left indelible impact of their broad and humane thoughtfulness on every cultural set up of the globe without discrimination. The present paper aims to throw light on the valuable services of the philosophers and writers with special reference to the works created by celebrated 14th century Italian writer, poet and reformer Giovanni Boccaccio and 15th century Dutch writer Desiderius Erasmus. Boccaccio’s allegorical work The Decameron serves as a great satire on the malpractices and hypocrisy existing in his contemporary Italian culture. Through his simple but thought-provoking short fables and tales, he censures the avaricious and condemnable nature of the clergymen, who sell the word of the Scriptures for their own purpose. The priests, parsons and other churchmen, as the tales view, are considered to be the noblest, holiest and most reliable individuals, who are administering the spiritual and social activities by inviting the people towards the way of God. However, instead of fulfilling their sacred mission of guiding the masses, they are misguiding them by offering the permission to enter the paradise. Since the Lord has not bestowed upon the priests the power to make false promises in respect of granting permission to enter the heavens, the act of such barter for pecuniary gains on the part of the priests is actually a

Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Essay Example for Free

Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Essay In planning we set short term and long term objectives and it is relevant that we anticipate worst case scenarios. That is why planning should be strategic and scientific. Planning should be strategic because every method formulated in planning is integral and interrelated. The strategic characteristic of planning is often applied in military planning not just to produce tangible and intangible results but to establish the greatest possibility of victory. The book entitled Art of War written by Sun Tzu which contains series of formula, tactics, and strategies that has been proven through time is an example of a book which is based on planning. In this book the writer stressed out that â€Å"Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a competitive environment, competing plans collide creating situations that no one plans†. In this analysis of the book, the possibility of the occurrences of uncontrolled variables can be solved if one is able to make a strategic planning. In as much as planning perse is important, planning with strategy is more important. In strategic planning you deepen the planning methods to identify the strengths and weaknesses and the complexities of formulated plans. This process will enable planners to illustrate more alternatives, do more rigorous thinking and be ready to face more challenges. Scientific planning can be taken out of consideration because without this planning is not actually done. We call something scientific if it is â€Å"regulated by or conforming to the principles of exact science: scientific procedures†. Therefore, scientific planning is based on empirical evidences that have been gathered which resulted to verifiable data. So, results are product of tested hypothesis, accurate experimentation, and conclusive results. In doing short term plans which oftentimes have long term effects planning becomes critical. In establishing short term plans the main consideration is the period of time while having limited resources and scope. But since short term planning is more limited in terms of time the planners should be prepared for great and accurate details. Normally the length of short term plans is a week long or a year long wherein two years is the most. It still depends on how complex and extensive the goals are. Projects and activities which need short term planning include doing lesson plans in the part of teachers, planning a wedding ceremony, deciding which course a student will take, family meal planning, or small business planning. For the long term planning there could be two possible ways in doing this. First, the project or event is being planned as a continuity of short term planning. In this case, the assumption is the short term plans were successful thus a long term plan is needed for bigger results. This case often happens in television to film productions, small businesses’ expansions, and career growth and development of a person. For the long term planning a set of actions is adapted not just for today but making future as the major consideration. Though, long term planning needs a protracted time, victory is often at hand. Mao Zedong, the leader of Communist Party of China was able to lead the Chinese revolution composed of mostly peasants victoriously. His effective, scientific, and strategic planning has been admired. This made him one of the most important figures in modern world history. Planning for retirement is another perfect example of a long term plan wherein intelligent planning is a must. In fact there are many professionals who are ready to give assistance to those who want to identify their financial goals and stability in the future. Since, long term planning involves making definite decisions the plans being made still depend on different contexts which need different approaches. Educational planning and marriage planning on the other side are other two examples of contexts that require long term planning and should be handled using appropriate approaches. A classic instance of this long term planning which is familiar to general readers is the parents’ obligations in preparing for the educational needs of their children towards a better future. That is why before entering into family life a couple should be able to carefully plan the â€Å"blue print† of their life from becoming a couple to becoming future parents. So the question Why plan? can be answered practically or relying on products of successful events, knowledge and backgrounds of reliable people, and empirical evidences. The arguments and premises provided in this paper are helpful notes and materials to those who do not know how to answer how important planning is. The answers need not to perfect but they need to be analyzed intelligently by every person who thinks planning is important in making one’s existence purposive and having logical directions in life, whether it will be a short term planning or long term planning. Source Porter, M (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. NY: New York Free Press.

Image as Icon: Recognising the Enigma’ by Tracey Warr

Image as Icon: Recognising the Enigma’ by Tracey Warr In Tracey Warr’s essay, ‘Image as Icon: Recognising the Enigma’, she identifies and discusses four discourses of performance photography–the document, the icon, the simulacrum and the live act–and what is at stake in these discourses is the ‘truth’. What she describes as ‘contradictory’ and contentious between the discourses, I believe what she has shown is the different ways in which photography is utilised and read as a medium for documenting and presenting a live performance. Although these photographs may offer themselves as an accurate record of the event, or the complete ‘truth’, Warr shows how incomplete, though necessary, photography is in depicting the experience of the live performance. Adrian George offers a loose definition of live performance art as primarily consisting of a living ‘human presence–a body (or bodies) in space and at a specific moment, or for a definite period’. What is difficult about performance art is that most people expect to see ‘art’ in a traditional sense, which is an art object. Performances do not have a ‘fixed referential basis’, much like Robert Smithson’s earthwork, Spiral Jetty 1970, whose spiral formation no longer exists physically due to erosion by the sea. Because performances and works like Spiral Jetty ‘continue to exist only through an accumulation of documentation and discourse’ documenting these works become very important in placing them in a historical context. In Warr’s discourses of performance photography as the document and the simulacra, we have what appear to be two polarising discourses–the ‘real’ evidence and the simulation; however, her development of both discourses arrives at similar conclusions about truth telling. Warr defines the discourse of the document as ‘the image perform[ing] the role of materialist evidence and proof–showing us exactly what happened so we can ‘know’ it’ while the discourse of the simulacra ‘explores fakery, the performative and representation’. According to Susan Sontag, unlike writing or even paintings and drawings which are perceived as ‘interpretations’, the photograph is perceived not so much as ’statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire’. However, both Warr and Sontag debunk the myth that the photograph is objective or factual. The perfo rmance is filtered through the photographer and camera through the process of framing, cropping and composing the photograph. Then there is the process of choosing the best photographs to represent the entire performance, which Warr points out are usually the most composed photographs. In addition to this process of reduction, the experience of ’sound, time, space, [and] often the audience’ are missing from the photograph. The photograph as document is exposed, so to speak, as being like the simulacra, a mere representation or a simulation–the document is a construction. In reference to Hans Namuth’s photographs depicting Jackson Pollock painting, Fred Orton and Griselda Pollocks’ pose the question: ‘how far does the photographer document what happened and how far does he or she create the ‘documented’ phenomenon?’ Although Namuth’s photographs can be read as historical documents of the painter, Warr points out that these images are actually ‘Namuth and Pollock staging Pollock’. Another question that could be asked is how much does the artist perform for the audience and how much does the artist perform for the camera? Many performances during the 60s and 70s are ‘hybrid performance photography’ which were performed especially for the camera as opposed to a live audience. This kind of performance photography subverts the function of the photograph as an objective, unobtrusive document as the hybrid performance photography blatantly uses the camera as an accomplice to stage its performance. Hybrid performance photography also subverts the central idea in the discourse of the live act. In this discourse, documentation is relegated to a mere ’subsidiary status’ while the live performance itself is ‘primary, cathartic, witnessed and ontological’. Here, documentation is supposed to be as ‘unobtrusive’ as possible because the most important aspect is the interaction between the performer and the audience, an aspect that comes from the traditions of the theatre. However, trying to capture the experience of the interaction between the performer and the audience is problematic as not only is the photograph incomplete as a truth teller as mentioned already but the viewer of the photograph cannot intervene with the performance. During the live performance, there is an opportunity for the audience to react ‘with a corporeal response’ but when viewing the performance through a photograph, the viewer is ‘already in interpretation mode’. Trying to decipher whether or not the photograph of Chris Burden’s nail-scarred hands in Trans-fixed 1999 is real or staged is an example of being in the interpretation mode. Because the live performance lacks a fixed referent, the performance photograph itself is liable to become an icon. Here, the photograph functions beyond just a mere document or a staged image. In this discourse of performance photography, the ‘icon presents us with a manifestation of the unknowable and an encounter with that manifestation in a state of belief’. Warr points out that the role of the photograph as an icon is riddled with contradictions and compromise. The icon ‘is both indexical and documentary’, presenting itself as tangible evidence but in doing so it also ‘compromises it status as a manifestation of an unknowable to be believed’–conjuring up issues of fakery. The icon is a paradox because the iconic ‘must be universally familiar and †¦enigmatic’, or ‘the known and the unknowable’. In the world of art, the photographs of Jackson Pollock and Joseph Beuys–images of two famous and well-k nown artists–are as much icons as are their artwork. Warr’s exploration of the four discourses presents contradictions between the discourses but at times they also complement each other. However, all four discourses point to the conclusion that even performance photography, like the art object, has no fixed meaning nor is there a fixed relationship between photography and performance. As Warr has shown us, it is a relationship that is highly complex.

Compare & Contrast 3 Essays -- essays research papers

The three essays, "Thank God For The Atom Bomb" by Paul Fussel, "Democracy" by Carl Becker, and "Chief Seattle: Letter to President Pierce, 1855" are three different rhetorical modes of writing that exposits theoretical, personal reasoning on the realities of certain controversial historical topics. The main focus of the essays are in proving a steadfast view of an ambiguous subject through sarcastic criticism of opposing ideas and by applying clever use of irony; the authors’ sentiments vary from imperialistic to anti-imperialistic, and from attesting to detesting a past event."Thank God For The Atom Bomb" is a straightforward imperialistic literature which analyzes cause and effect to justify the use of the Atomic bomb during World War 2. The author continuously criticizes the evil of the Japanese in an attempt to convince the reader why the "Japs" deserved what they got. He sites a Japanese pilot saying, "All Japanese must become soldiers and die for the Emperor" to prove his point that the general mentality of the enemy was just that –"implacable, treacherous, barbaric"(p460), and savage. He consistently acknowledges his up-close experience with the war to inform the reader that he has sufficient basis for his analysis. But to reinforce his authenticity that his view is not just possessed by himself, he borrows many statements and examples used by others who share his ideas. The U.S. war committee already drew out plans for a full-scale coastal assault and that was about to take action anytime; if the bomb was not to be dropped, an armed invasion on the mainland would call for a hellish massacre of unpredictable proportions on both the American and Japanese side. He noted a British observer saying "But for the atomic bombs, ... they would have annihilated the lot of us"(p457). Just preventing an anticipated one million American casualties was sufficient cause for the Nagasaki bomb that "led to peace"(p459).The effect of the bomb should be obvious that "the killing was all going to be over, and peace was actually going to be the state of things"(p462). Though not a very compassionate statement, it is true to the fact that the war was over and the killing has come to an end; the reason being that the Japanese has already been killed. "We were going... ...an’s dreams are hidden from us"(p409) concludes the sarcasm in referring to the white man’s destructive motives as his endeavorous dream, something obscured from his inferior red counterpart.These three pieces of literature are exclusively fanatical essays preaching the oblivious existence of ethical errors in people and in the general society through different expository styles. All three rationalizes on ego superiority, the foundation of imperialism. Yet their philosophies are not exactly conforming with one another. It can be derived from "Democracy" that the author dislikes people for labeling any fascist government as democratic - thus a superior state - to justify for unrelated wars or revolutions (i.e. the Nazi imperialism); while "Thank God For The Atom Bomb" attests American righteous-superiority during the Pacific Wars and criticizes people who thinks his ideas imperialistic. Chief Seattle who detested against imperialism, can no d oubt be seen as also possessing self superiority for it can be judged that he believes the red man to be superior, at least from a moral point of view. Therefore concludes the similarities and differences of the essays.

Financial Management Essay

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 157 defines what is fair value as understood in terms of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and it also increases disclosure requirement about fair value measurements. This latest Statement, effective this 2007 is being made applicable to other accounting pronouncements made earlier where there is a requirement or allowance for use fair value measurements of an accounting entities’ assets, liabilities and equity accounts. (Bernstein, 1993; Brigham and Houston, 2002). SFAS 157 therefore does not require any new fair value measurements on the basis of the Financial Accounting Standards Board having earlier determined that that fair value is the relevant measurement attribute (FASB, n. d. ). As to why the FASB needed to issue this SFAS, it may be recalled that before this Statement, the Accounting profession has already been exposed to different definitions of fair value but only had limited guidance for applying those definitions in GAAP (Meigs and Meigs, 1995). This is not to mention the fact that that guidance to accountants was found in many accounting pronouncements that require fair value measurements, thereby generating differences that strong enough to create possible inconsistencies of these guidelines hence may be held contrary into the FASB objective of applying GAA less complex. Increased consistency and comparability in fair value measurements and for expanded disclosures about fair value measurements appears to be the clear objective of FASB in enacting this SFAS 157 (FASB, n. d. ). As to how this differs from other fair value pronouncements, the argued may be framed on the following points: First, since the changes to current practice resulting from the application of this Statement relate to the definition of fair value, the methods used to measure fair value, and the expanded disclosures about fair value measurements, the differences should only be expected to arise on said points. Specifically, the present definition of fair value under SFAS 157 preserves the exchange price notion in earlier definitions of fair value. SFAS 157 however now makes the clarification that â€Å"the exchange price is the price in an orderly transaction between market participants to sell the asset or transfer the liability in the market in which the reporting entity would transact for the asset or liability, that is, the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability. † (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). The new statement treats the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability as a hypothetical transaction at the measurement date, considered from the perspective of a market participant that holds the asset or owes the liability. It is therefore clear to see focus of the definition made on the price that would be received to sell the asset or paid to transfer the liability (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). Such definition of price is of course different and should be distinguished on the price that would be paid to acquire the asset or received to assume the liability. It needs to be emphasized also that SFAS treats fair value as a market-based measurement, not an entity-specific measurement, hence measurement is determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). 3. Select one public company in the last 3 years that has had asset impairments and have a one page explanation of what the impairment was about and under what standard it was calculated. The company is selected is Standard Register. Using its 2006 Annual Report, the company (Standard Register 2007b) has indeed asset impairment Net Assets Held for Sale based on its notes to FS which provides: â€Å"In conjunction with the closing of the Terre Haute plant, in 2006 the Company recorded $1,474 of asset impairments, primarily related to equipment. The carrying value of the Terre Haute building and equipment was adjusted to its fair value less costs to sell, considering recent sales of similar properties and real estate valuations† This paper submits that the impairment may have been calculated under SFAS No. 154, made effective on January 2, 2006, on Accounting Changes and Error Corrections which is a replacement of APB Opinion No. 20 and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Statement No. 3. (Standard Register 2007a) 4. Submit the title page of SFAS 157 from the FASB or FARS site. See Next Page. 5. Submit a copy of the page of the company 10-K that indicates the impairment Bernstein, Financial Statement Analysis, IRWIN, Sydney, Australia, (1993) Brigham and Houston, Fundamentals of Financial Management, Thomson South-Western, US, 2002 FASB, Summary of Statement No. 157 Fair Value Measurements, (n. d. ) http://www. fasb. org/st/summary/stsum157. shtml, {www document} URL, Accessed October 7, 2007 Meigs and Meigs, Financial Accounting, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA, 1995 Standard Register, 2006 Annual Report, Form 10 – K, (2007a) {www document} URL http://media. corporate-ir. net/media_files/irol/95/95849/2006annualreport2. pdf, Accessed October 7, 2007 Standard Register, Company Website, (2007b) {www document} URL, http://www. standardregister. com/, Accessed October 7, 2007

Brutus’s Speech vs. Antony’s

The Speech That Changed Everything In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Mark Antony must win the support of the Romans by making a speech to them. The two former friends become enemies. They share different beliefs in what is right in their eyes. Brutus wants to take the place of Caesar and become powerful. Antony wants justice for his best friend, Caesar. However, Shakespeare pits Mark Antony’s speech against Brutus’ speech. Antony’s speech is persuasive, and heartfelt. He understands the Romans unlike Brutus. Brutus’ speech is brief and not heartfelt.Mark Antony becomes victorious in winning the hearts of the Romans by having his speech be more rhetoric and effective than Brutus’ speech. Brutus’ â€Å"Romans, Countrymen, and Lovers† speech is brief, precise, and gets to the point. He tells the people of Rome that Caesar is ambitious even though he does not prove that he was ambitious. Brutus also tells the Romans that Caesar w ill mostly likely be corrupt because all the other rulers before him were corrupt. For example, Brutus says, â€Å"Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? (3. 2. 3-24)† He tells the people of Rome that if Caesar was ruler, everyone would be slaves. Brutus tells them that he actually did them a favor. Brutus convinced the Romans, but he didn’t convince them for long. If he understood how they felt he would have fully convinced them. Mark Antony’s â€Å"Friends, Romans, Countrymen† speech is more rhetoric, persuasive and he put a lot of thought into it. After Brutus called Caesar ambitious, Antony gave excellent reasons on why he actually wasn’t ambitious. For example, Mark Antony says, â€Å"When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man (3. 2. 94-97). † Mark Antony was ab le to turn the word honorable around to mean dishonorable. He put it in a respectful, but sarcastic way. Antony understands how the Romans feel about the death of Julius Caesar. They are angry, confused, and sad just like Antony. Antony relates to the Romans by saying, â€Å"My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me (3. 2. 108-109). † By saying these powerful words the Romans and Antony share the same amount of suffering towards Caesar’s death.Mark Antony was able to convince an audience, who at first were against him, to be on his side. Mark Antony and Brutus both tried to make their speeches convincing and persuading. Mark Antony’s speech was very successful unlike Brutus’. His speech is also better than Brutus’. The people of Rome rooted for Brutus until Antony made his speech. If Brutus went after Antony, he might have been the more successful one. The people of Rome will follow anyone which is why th ey rooted for Antony because he spoke last. As Cassius puts it, â€Å"the Romans are but sheep (1. 3. 106). Mark Antony used more rhetorical questions in his speech to help persuade the Romans and Brutus did not. Brutus was less persuasive than Antony. He also treats the Romans like they are nothing but peasants. Antony calls the Romans his friends. Shakespeare does pit Mark Antony’s speech against Brutus’ speech. Even though Brutus gained the support of the Romans, it was not for long. Brutus just wanted power so he didn’t really have a passion in his speech. Mark Antony wanted justice for Caesar who made him passionate and sincere in his speech. Overall, Mark Antony’s speech won the hearts of the Romans.