The American Reaction To The Halocaust Essays - Human Rights Abuses

The American Reaction To The Halocaust In the years of the Second World War, American leaders were aware of the plan of the Germans to exterminate all the Jews in Europe, yet they did not act to save them. The attitude in society and the state of the economy in the years leading up to the war made for conditions that did not make saving them likely. Most Germans despised the Weimar Republic, which held control of Germany at the time they signed the Versailles Treaty. This treaty crippled Germany after they lost The First Great War. The proud Germans saw this republic as weak. Adolph Hitler, an Austrian born man of German lineage, claimed that the only true Germans were Aryans and that the Jewish influence in the Weimar Republic was the reason for their weakness. He published a famous propaganda novel entitled Mein Kampf, which helped to catapult him and his political party, the National Socialist German Workers Party, into power. (Barber) Hitlers political position was simple: Germans were always right and the Jews were to blame for everything. After the outbreak of war by all the major powers of the world, Germany immediately turned a major part of their concern towards the extermination of the entire Jewish race. It began with the Einsatzgrupen, a special mobile unit of who moved behind frontline troops in the attacks on Russia and Poland, whose sole purpose was to round up the local Jewish families and kill them. They dug massive graves intended for entire Jewish communities. Their victims were lined up, stripped naked and shot. One reporter observed that not every shot was fatal and the poor civilians were made to suffer in the pits till they were sufficiently buried alive by their own brethren. The first sweep of this unit between January and December of 1941 yielded about 500,000 Jewish deaths. The second rampage, which ranged from the fall of 1941 through 1942, took 900,000 Jewish lives. (Wyman) Even with such massive extermination the German leaders were unsatisfied and demanded a more efficient and permanent answer to the problem. The directive to exterminate all the Jews in Europe was issued on July 31, 1941. In December of that year, a law banning Jews from leaving any German territories was put into effect. Then finally, on January 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich came up with what was termed the final solution to the of the Jewish question. He proposed a plan to erect six camps built for killing large numbers of people. The Germans built six such camps in the two years to follow, Belzec, Majdanek, Treblinka, Sobibor, Auschwitz, and Chelmno. Chelmno was the first of the camps to be built. It used large trucks into which they crammed as many Jews as possible who choked on the trucks own exhaust fumes. Most of the other camps had permanent gas chambers, which killed by the fumes of a stationary engine. Although Auschwitz used Zyklon B, a type of hydrogen cyanide. These venues of death were host to over 3 million Jews who lost their lives. (Wyman) The conditions in the camps were so terrible that they drove the poor Jews who lived through it into madness. One such survivor published his experiences in a book entitled Night. Elie Weisel, the books author, reports of conditions so horrible that he lost his faith and his sense of humanity. Weisel and his whole family are shipped to Auschwitz in railcars previously used to transport cattle. They were packed in so tight that many died on the journey. The weak were separated and killed immediately upon entering the camps. This often meant most women and all children. Weisel witnessed a pile where they were burning babies. The strong men who survived were put to work, Elie in an electrical-fitting factory. They were under the constant threat of selections in which the weak and sick were weeded out and put into the gas chambers. The prisoners got their only solace from their faith, Zionism, and the comfort of their fellow prisoners. However, long exposure to camp life often left some concerned only for their personal survival and became cruel and inhuman to the other Jews in the camp. (Weisel) How could the

Why the Crusades occurred Essays - 2nd Millennium, Christianization

Why the Crusades occurred Essays - 2nd Millennium, Christianization Why the Crusades occurred By Adam Quinlan center351218500 center698500 Task 1: Primary sources- Pope Urban ll's speech (paper document): On November 27, 1095 in front of the Council of Clermont in Clermont, France Pope Urban ll pronounced a speech that saved the Christian religion "if you wish to be the friends of God, gladly do the things which you know will please him. You must especially let all matters that pertain to the church be controlled by the law of the church" and which almost destroyed the Muslim religion. The purpose of his speech was to announce he was calling a Crusade against the Muslims who were invading Jerusalem (the holy land). In his speech Pope Urban ll told his people that no matter what, if they went to fight the Muslims they would receive a great reward being either going to heaven after death or being drowned in riches if they lived. His proposal of rewards convinced many to join the Crusade and help fight with the Byzantine Empire. Although the purpose of the Crusade was to save Jerusalem, it is believed most people only joined the Crusade because of Pope Urban ll's rewarding offer. Without the Pope's speech would there have been less soldiers fighting against the Muslims and would that have then lead to the Christian Religion's corruption? Pope Urban ll's speech helps us understand the reasoning of the Crusade from the Council's point of view (to save Jerusalem) and from the Soldiers point of view. (Great rewards) An anonymous chronicler's record of the capturing of Jerusalem (letter): In this letter written by an un-known chronicler to his wife, the capturing of Jerusalem by the Crusaders sounds both triumphant and horrific "rejoicing and weeping from extreme joy, our men went to worship our saviour Jesus The Saracens who were still alive dragged the dead ones out in front of the gates, and made huge piles of them, as big as houses and the piles of Muslim bodies were even higher" The letter says that after they captured Jerusalem the crusaders killed many Saracens for fun' and piled their bodies in mountains higher than houses, after this the letter then says that the crusaders stole everything from the village such as silver, gold, horses and mules. This tells historians that the battle in Jerusalem was horrific with thousands of people dying and many badly injured, this also shows us that the crusaders had no respect for the Muslims as they killed them all off for fun' and piled up their bo dies. The letter also lets us know that the reason most of the crusaders joined the battle was partly so they could get rich from the things they found in Jerusalem. This letter is extremely helpful because it gives us a strong idea on what the battle was really like on the inside and it also tells us that maybe the crusaders weren't the good guys in the end, slaying innocent people and showing no respect to their own holy land at times. . These sources both show that the crusaders weren't just fighting to save Jerusalem but they were also going to become rich with gold and silver and many other riches they found during the battles. Essay: Task 2: Why did the Crusades occur? The crusades were cultural wars all conducted by either kings or persons of high rank in the Christian religion, in all there were 9 crusades although only seven of those were thought to be major and relevant. Reasoning for the crusades include things such as A holy place being taken over by foreign rulers following different religions (the first, second, third and also partly the reasoning for the fourth, fifth and sixth crusades) or any region of Christian dominance being threatened. Not all of the Crusades were a success, we know this thanks to letters from crusaders to their loved ones stressing about how they were being overpowered by enemy forces (fifth through to the last crusade). The first, second and third crusade were all successful in re-claiming the holy land (Jerusalem) according to letters written by crusaders from the first crusade their victory over the Turks came quite easily, in fact one chronicler from the first

Creating a Learning Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creating a Learning Organization - Essay Example The learning organizations have flatter organizational structures, cross-functional teams, supportive organizational culture and commitment to excellence (Belasen, 2000). Proper leadership will facilitate a learning culture that enables the employees to remain creative and innovative thus facilitating the implementation of new ideas and suggestions in the organization (Belasen, 2000). Leadership is essential in encouraging creative learning through intellectual stimulation and encouraging innovativeness of their followers. Leadership enables the employees to continuously expand their knowledge and skills in creating desirable results for the organization. Employees are capable of attaining personal mastery of their skills and assist their workmates in meeting their job performance expectations (Mello, 2014). Leaders act as motivators by communicating optimism and addressing the concerns of employees in creating a learning organization. The leader is capable of communicating the shared vision powerfully and managing any obstacles that may hinder the attainment of the vision (Achua & Lussier, 2010). Leadership plays a role on implementing mechanisms of nurturing creative ideas for innovation through providing an environment whereby employees can learn from their past mistake and implement new perspectives in solving problems. Leadership builds the confidence and capacity of the employees to adapt to changes in the organization. Leaders are expected to provide their followers with opportunities to solve problems within their business units in order to build their confidence and develop pride for their success (Lussier, 2012). The familiarity with the change and learning process enables the organization to respond to threats and opportunities and appreciate the importance of flexibility and adaptation in the organization. The leaders encourage experimentation whereby all subordinates are expected to contribute ideas. The leadership

Qualitative Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualitative Analysis - Assignment Example Considering the at the beginning of the first transcript on the basis of single handed lady FLICKA(Trish), staged in home port Columbia, the transcript is a conversation between Carolin who is an interviewee and Trish who is an interviewer. According to this first script, an issue of age is raised and this shows that an interviewee who is Carolin is more concerned with getting a clue of Trish’s personal details and the way of life she is living. As questions are articulated we administer an essence of misappropriate between the two people since the question raised by Carolin about the age has been channelized into Trisha’s life history. Meanwhile, Trish is so open to analyze all that she administered in Guinea specifically in the year 1979 showing that the interviewee is concerned to know what she encountered while delivering her best on the basis of sailing women school (Trish, 2005). The interviewee uses a motivational theme especially when she asked Carolin if she encountered and acquired skills that has helped her to develop personal traits on her daily time boating to cruising. However, the interviewee uses her ability to express her concern about Trish. She went forward by telling Trisha that she is not supposed to worry what somebody did and that the best thing is to be there, to justify that you are a good sailor. From this script, it becomes vice versa as Carolin becomes an interviewee as well as Trish becoming an interviewer. The aspect of concerned is raised here with an essence of getting out more on what Trish have on about the marine environment. In her response she articulates that she is a conservationist as she is engaged in doing things naturally. There is a connection between sailing boat as ascertained by Carolin from the first script and what Trish is engaging in as she term herself as a conservationist. Getting problems that cruising communities goes through was also

Factors Influencing Process Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Factors Influencing Process Design - Essay Example The choice of materials is one factor that affects the process design of products. In the process of choosing the right material for products, there are a number of factors that are considered in relation to material choice (Cresswell, 2002). Quantity of products to be manufactured, market costs and product use are the factors associated with material choice. The material to be used should consider what environment and the product will be used. For example, when manufacturing cups for taking tea, the material used should be able to withstand hot or cold temperatures and washing. The quantity of products to be manufacturedrelates to the amount required to be sold to the target market. For example, a large amount of cups can be manufactured if many orders are required by the client. Moreover, marketing cost refers to the final product costs. The end costs of products should not exceed the cost that product will be sold in the market so long as it can perform the function it was manufac tured for and reflects the quality (Kalakul et al, 2014).Product purpose fitness and durabilityare other factors that influence product design. This means that the product should do the function it was designed for. For example, a cup is manufactured for the purposes of taking liquids such as tea. Other factors such as weight and size should be considered when designing products.The weight and size should be reasonable in order to perform its intended purpose. Therefore, when considering product fitness, designers should establish all the important elements of the product

The Strategy of Setting Price for Products and Services

The Strategy of Setting Price for Products and Services Introduction Pricing is a basic and interesting topic in the business. This paper will be described the strategy of setting prices for products and services; especially it will focus on one specific strategy called price discrimination, which is to charge different prices to different customers for the same or similar product and service. Price discrimination is one of the most effective strategy to maximize a company’s profits when compared with a single pricing. However, it represents a transfer of value from consumers to companies and people may argue it benefits less to customers than to companies. In the following, three types of price discrimination will be described, and real examples will be used to illustrate them. The advantages and disadvantages of price discrimination as well as its benefit to consumers and society will be discussed. The first type of price discrimination The first type of price discrimination is based on two concepts: reservation price and consumer surplus. For a product and service, the reservation price is defined as the maximum price that a customer is willing to pay (Pindyck Rubinfeld, 2001, p.371), and the consumer surplus is difference between the reservation price and the price the consumer actually pays (Hubbard OBrien, 2012, p.98). The goal of the first type of price discrimination is to capture the consumer surplus and turn it into its profit for a company. For example, a tea shop sells a good brand of tea. For a cup of the tea, the competitive price (offered by many competitive suppliers) and the monopoly price (offered by few dominant suppliers) are $3.50 and $4 respectively. It is supposed that there are three customers to buy the tea, and the reservation price of these three customers are $6, $5 and $3.5 respectively. Based on the competitive market price ($3.5), their consumer surplus would be $2.5, $1.5 and $0 respectively. By using the first type of discrimination, the tea shop can ask different prices to these three customers which is $6, $5 and $3.5. By doing so the shop will sell three cups of the tea, and all consumer surplus ($4) would be captured. However, if the shop sets a single price $4, then it can only sell two cups of tea, and the third customer would be eliminated from service. Therefore, not only the profit is reduced but also the number of customers served is reduced as well. Although it sounds great that a company can increase their profits and the quantity of products sold as well as the number of customers serviced, in practice it is hard to conduct. There are two reasons: first, it is difficult to know each customer’s reservation price; second, in order to know customer’s reservation price, companies need a lot of efforts in marketing research and investigation, which adds extra cost to the product and then reduces the product’s profit. Therefore, it is more suitable for some professional people such as dentists, lawyers and accountants, as they know their customers relatively well. For example, a lawyer may offer a reduced service fee to low-income client, but may charge a higher service fee to upper-income clients as they have the ability to pay. The possible problem is some customers who pay higher price may object price discrimination and argue that it represents a transfer of consumer surplus from customers to companies, whic h benefits less to customers than to companies such resulting an unfairness to rich people. The second type of price discrimination A company can discriminate prices according to the quantity purchased. The practice of setting different prices per unit for different quantities is called the second type of price discrimination or â€Å"block† pricing (Pindyck Rubinfeld, 2001, p.374). There are many companies who use this type of price discrimination such as grocery stores, suppliers of electricity, water and natural gas. For example, for electric power, consumers are charged different price per kilowatt depending on the quantity consumed. It’s usual, as an instance, the first 100 kilowatts of electricity consumed are charged at a higher rate, and after the first 100 kilowatts, consumers are charged at a lower rate per kilowatt. This price strategy allows a company to convert part of consumer surplus into producer’s profit, and at mean time it increases the product’s quantities sold and the number of consumers served. Even though it has greater benefit to the company, it cannot be widely used in some business regions or areas. For examples, in China, it has huge population but limited water and power resources, so single pricing for power and water would be more suitable than price discrimination. The price discrimination may encourage people to use more power and water; such may result in resources shortage and air pollution, and eventually may damage the environment. Therefore, price discrimination should be applied under conditions, and only if it is used correctly, then it would create positive impact on the environment and society. The third type of price discrimination Third-degree price discrimination is based on two steps: dividing consumers into two or more groups and charging different prices to each group (Pindyck Rubinfeld, 2001, p.376). One group may have the ability to pay a higher price such as upper-income customers; another group may only be able to pay a lower price such as students and seniors. Companies also would charge customers a higher price if the customers’ demand for it is inelastic such as a service is urgent and it must be done immediately, and charge other customers a lower price if their demand for the service is elastic. This strategy may cause price competition among suppliers to offer discount to different groups, such competition may result in lower price for products. If it is used by few suppliers in some period of time, then it may encourage consumers to buy more products. However, if it is used from wide range of suppliers over long period of time, then it may make the product permanently reduce price, and s ome companies may have difficulty to get profits. To practice this type of price discrimination companies often set prices based on the consumers’ occupation, age, income, preference, time of use. Some of them will be discussed in the following: (a) Based on occupation and income: Hubbard and OBrien (2012) noted, â€Å"In mid-2009, Apple was selling an iMac desktop with a 24-inch display †¦for $1,499† to general public, â€Å"but university students and faculty members could buy the same computer from Apple for $1,399† (p.498). In this example, apple assumed the manufacturing cost of a computer is $400, so selling one iMac to university user would get profit $999, and selling one iMac to general user would get profit $1,099. In that period Apple sold 20,000 iMac to university users and 30,500 computers to general public users. The total profit from these sales is $53,499,500 ($999*20,000 + $1,099*30,500). However, if Apple used a single pricing, and if it also charged $1,399 in the general public market, it would sell 32,500 iMac (Hubbard OBrien, 2012, p.499), and then the profit from these sales would become $52,447,500 ($999*20,000 + $999*32,500). The difference of the profit made between using price di scrimination and setting single pricing is $1,052,000 ($53,499,500 $52,447,500). This example shows this strategy increased Apple’s profit. However, from another point of view that the total iMac sold was reduced from 52,500 (single price) to 50,500 (price discrimination), price discrimination reduced the number of products made/sold, and in turn it may influence the number of people employed and also may generate negative effect on the society. (b) Based on preference and time: one example is that early adopters of new products would pay a higher price, such as new type cell phones, new books, new released music DVDs. Airlines usually charge ticket differently according to time. During the holiday such as Christmas and New Year, the tickets price is normally higher than other times. Customers sometimes are argue that the airline gets extra profit by exaction of customer’s surplus and leaves very little to customers. Conclusions This paper provides analysis on three types of price discrimination. Price discrimination is one of the most effective strategy to maximize a company’s profit when it is compared with a single pricing for the products and services. All three types of price discrimination raise a company’s profit, and they all have both positive and negative effect on the society. I personally think that price discrimination is a reality and it is acceptable to many customers in most situations. It exists in our daily life, and it is used widely in various industries. References Aguirre, I., Cowan, S., Vickers, J. (2010, September). Monopoly price discrimination and demand curvature. The American Economic Review, 100(4), 1601-1615. doi: 10.1257/aer.100.4.1601 Armstrong, M. (2006, October). Price discrimination. Retrieved from http://else.econ.ucl.ac.uk/papers/uploaded/222.pdf Hubbard, R. G., OBrien, A. P. (2012). Microeconomics (4th edition). Prentice Hall. Pettinger, T. (2013, March 6). Examples of price discrimination. Retrieved from http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/7042/economics/examples-of-price-discrimination/ Pindyck, R. S., Rubinfeld, D. L. (2001). Microeconomics (5th edition). Prentice Hall. Round, D. K., McIver, R. P. (2006, Spring). Teaching third-degree price discrimination. The Journal of Economic Education, 37(2), 236-243. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042708 Shmanske, S. (1991). Price discrimination and monopolistic competition. Studies in Economics and Finance, 14(1), 25-48. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb028698

Andrew Jackson :: Biography Biographies

Andrew Jackson There have been many arguments made about President Andrew Jackson. A war hero, standing tall and strong, he tried to represented the idea of reform in government and in the American ways. Jackson is often credited to be one of the United States’ greatest presidents, but there are many powerful reasons for doubting that claim. From the beginning, in 1824, Jackson has tried to do what is best for our nation, but evidence like the spoils system, Trail of Tears, and the Bank veto, has shown that in fact most of what he accomplished is now looked on as only causing problems for the Untied States as a whole. With the presidency of Jackson came the spoils system, which in theory is rewarding political supporters with public office. While this basic idea is â€Å" as old as politics,† (The American Pageant p.271) it is Jackson that extended the system to involve more of the common person. In theory, this would re-enforce loyalties as well as making it possible for politics to become a full-time career. Instead it made government positions more about the spoils than the responsibilities. The seventh president created the idea of â€Å"rotation in office.† Jackson was trying to make â€Å"clean sweeps† in the government, cleaning out the ex-president Adams and his â€Å"dishonest† supporters like Clay. In the end, he only dismissed one-fifth of the old corrupt government leaving nine thousand out of the original eleven thousand in office. His system not only didn’t succeed in cleaning the government but it was a demoralizing practice that reached a national scale. Citizens were discouraged from entering public service because of the insecurity now found in holding such positions. Jackson made the holding official positions in government a matter of what could this person do for Jackson’s presidency and not the question of what he could do for their country. Jackson’s system was inevitably accompanied by scandal. Men openly began to buy their government positions. â€Å"Illiterates, incompetents, and plain crooks were given positions of public trust,† (p.272) and officials were more interested in the spoils of the office rather than the duties. A perfect example of the corruption that Jackson brought to the government is Samuel Swartwout. He was awarded the high salaried post of collector of customs in New York. Nine years later he left the United States with more than a million dollars.

Market Growth of Imported Wine in China

Market Growth of Imported Wine in China By Yuki Mabuchi Brief Introduction With rapid growth of Chinese GDP over the past few years, China is now the world's fastest growing wine consumption market and yet still has huge potential as a market growth. Since Wine drinking is considered a healthier alternative to spirits and somewhat trendy, red wine is particularly popular in China. However, 90% of the wine consumed in China is still produced locally, and it is marketed as low price wines.Therefore, it is impossible for imported wines to compete with Chinese wines on the price. Each imported wine company are challenged to find their differentiation and own marketing tools. Even though market percentage for imported wines is 10%, the prospects for continued growth are huge because of the rapid increase in wealth and increasing urbanization of the population. The main topic for my research is to analyze market growth of imported wines in China followed by Chinese WTO regulations.The rese arch estimates the impact of market growth according to import tariff rate which declined to 14% since China joined WTO. In addition, all imported wines are subject to a range of additional taxes, duties or fees, such as liquor tax, education tax, value-added taxes and consumption taxes. These taxes, duties and fees are taken into account in the analysis which estimates the impact of a tariff reduction on the retail price of imported wines in China.The research will show statistic analysis of imported wine market from different countries different point of view. Furthermore, the research will concentrate to a specific country such as Australia and New Zealand. In the past five years, Australia has been gradually gaining market share of bottled wines from traditional market leaders including France, Italy and Spain. However, since a zero tariff has been applied to Australia’s neighbor country New Zealand, going forward with Australian wine industry will face challenges.The cas e study will demonstrate the challenges posed by import tariffs on the Australian wines sector by comparing New Zealand wine market in China. Outline Arrangement of every section; I. Introduction * Explain why this topic is interesting which is to study market structure of imported wines from different countries and their competition and challenges for having tariffs and taxes in China. * Explain how I will distribute this research which will include statistics of imported wine products or company in China and graph of market growth.II. Literature review * Development of imported wine market since China joined WT? ?. WTO Regulatory Overview 1. Import Tariff on wine 2. Import duty and taxes 3. Labeling Regulations 4. Intellectual Property IV. Market Overview 1. China wine market size 2. Consumer profiles 3. Distribution Channels * Economic analysis of how import duties affect price on the imported wine. * Statistic analysis by different country’s wine distribution V. Australia n wine VS New Zealand wine * Introduction of Australian and New Zealand wine Statistic analysis on both market in China * The impact of trade size after zero tariff on New Zealand * Challenge of Australian wine VI. Conclusion * Prediction of market growth for imported wine in the future. * Challenge of future achievement and fight between local produced Schedule of my thesis Plan to finish in 4 months period * December/January – Find as many materials as possible and group all the materials by section and take memos * January / February – Write thesis * March / April – Finalize thesis w = 1 * ROMAN Iith supervisor

Colossus at Rhodes essays

Colossus at Rhodes essays Ancient Greece, a land of great history, was home to one of the seven ancient wonders, the Colossus of Rhodes. In 408 BC, three city-states in Greece, (which are states consisting of sovereign cities), Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos, united and formed one area. This was to become Rhodes, the capital of the three city-states. Rhodes then established itself as a powerful city, becoming economically and commercially powerful while allying with Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. However, in 305 BC, the Antigonids, who were powerful political leaders in Macedonia, rivaled with the Ptolemies and attempted to take over Rhodes in order to disconnect the alliance between the Egyptian and Rhode peoples. The Antigonids leader was Antigous, who sent his son, Demitrius, along with 40,000 men and Aegean pirates, to conquer Rhodes (Unmuseum). The Antigonids attempts were futile; they could not break through into the city. A strong, tall tower protected the city, which was wooden and armed with catapults that could be moved on the wall. Fortunately for Rhodes, the Antigonids left behind their weaponry and embraced a peace agreement. In celebration of their victory, the Rhodians sold the weapons and erected the Colossus, a massive statue, which they dedicated to the sun God, Helios (The Seven Wonders). To build the statue, they melted down bronze from the war machines. It was made from the bronze plates and it stood over an iron framework. According to the book of Pilon of Byzantium, 15 tons of bronze and 9 tons of iron were used to build the Colossus. The statue had several stone columns within it and iron beams were driven into the stone and connected with the bronze outer skin (Unmuseum). The Colossus stood one hundred and ten feet high upon a fifty-foot pedestal. According to Pliny the Elder, a Historian, the statue was a product of twelve years of hard work. The Colossus is located off the Southwestern tip of A ...

War And Peace Essays - French Invasion Of Russia, War And Peace

War And Peace Essays - French Invasion Of Russia, War And Peace War And Peace War and Peace The famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace in 1865. It is a story about the lives of the Russian royal family from 1805 to 1815. This book depicts things and events that happened during the war. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, Austrian, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Britain. However, the novel mainly focuses on Russia. It reflects the different views and participation in the war of Russian aristocracy. Showing the war, Tolstoy describes Napoleon's attack on Russia, the battle of Borodino, the slow retrieval of the Russian army, the conquest of Moscow by Napoleon, the fire in Moscow, and the retrieval of Napoleon's army during a deadly winter. Napoleon had to retreat from Russia under attacks by Russian peasants and horsemen on those who fell behind. His army also suffers from cold and hunger, since the Russians destroyed all food supplies. The takeover of Moscow by Napoleon proved to be useless, and in the long run, destroyed a large part of his army. Alongside with these historical events, Tolstoy describes the different classes of Russian society in the terms of their participation in the war and what kind of an impact war had on their lives. In the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class, which was in the czar's circle, wanted Russia to participate in the war. They wanted a quick victory and pride for the Russian nobility. They did not anticipate that the war would destroy homes, agriculture, and take many Russian lives. There are the good people, and of course, the bad. The good people being Natasha Rostov, a teenage girl who grows and matures throughout the book and Pierre Bezuhov, the son of Kirill Vladmirovitch Bezuhov, who speaks much of the novel expressing his purpose on earth. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, the leader of the Bolkonsky family and a great war hero. The bad people are the protagonists themselves, as they torment themselves and Napoleon Bonaparte, (who, by some, is believed to be an impostor) the emperor and military leader of France, whom is bent on world domination. The Secondary characters are the families of Bolkonsky and Kuragin, Anna Pavolvna, a famous St. Petersburg socialite and Kutuzof, the military leader of the Russian forces. This class is shown in Anna Pavlova Sharer's salon, with its upper class aristocracy, who talk only in French, viewing the Russian language as uncivilized and useful only for peasants. They adopted French culture and wear French style clothing, and at the same time they want to fight Napoleon. However, the majority of this class doesn't want to participate themselves in the war, but want to win the war with the hands of the peasants. These aristocrats, despite their high education and power, will do nothing to help win the war. They live like parasites on the body of Russia's society. This is how Tolstoy describes this class in general, but he also depicts two representatives of this upper class, Andrew Bolkonsky and Pierre Bisuhov, who were the more intellectual ones, and whose lives and views of war and life changed as the result of the war. Depicting the Rostov family, who were also wealthy nobles, but were not in the czar's circle and lived in rural parts of Russia, Tolstoy showed a typical Russian family who were devoted to their country and Russian traditions. All of Tolstoy's sympathy is on their side and he presents them in a positive way. They sing Russian folklore, which the higher aristocrats would not dream of doing. Depicting this class, Tolstoy describes simple and eternal problems such as birth, love, forgiveness, and death. The main national characteristics are in the Russian peasants. Through these people, who hate war, we are shown that they are forced to participate in the war because the have no other choice. They show real heroism during war. Captain Tushin and a soldier, Timohin, give their lives to save their army. Historical figures such as Napoleon and Kutuzov oppose the views of the aristocratic class in the czar's circle. This class of people didn't like Kutuzov, who became the general of the Russian army. They thought he was too

A Letter to my High School Counselor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Letter to my High School Counselor - Essay Example As an initial matter, I realize that many people go to college in order to secure a high paying job. My family has reminded me, for instance, that college is expensive and a huge investment in my future. There is no question that I will be forced to find a job in order to pay back my student loans. In addition, I further recognize that employers value students with particular types of degrees and who graduate from highly-ranked universities. Had I chosen to pursue my engineering studies at Berkeley, there is no doubt that I would have been granted access to elite employers from around the world. Finally, I recognize that many colleges today are rethinking their programs and their curriculums. There is a growing amount of pressure for colleges to prepare students for employment; more particularly, prospective students are very interested in knowing the average employment rates and the average salaries of each college's graduates. This, in turn, has led to an emphasis on programs which cater to engineering, science, and business. In the final analysis, both students and colleges seem to be more interested in seeing colleges prepare students for high-paying jobs. These imperatives are both economic and practical given the increasing costs of education and the value which employers and society place on particular types of education and skills. Despite these arguments, many of which are valid, I am not persuaded that short-term employment prospects are strong enough to change my mind. I may be a traditionalist, but I have always envisioned education as something much broader and much more significant than a sort of quasi-vocational training. I have chosen to major in English literature because I believe that college is more about training the mind in a more interdisciplinary manner.

Mental Health and Mental Disorders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mental Health and Mental Disorders - Essay Example He worked out Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. This author stated that emotions derive from "an interaction between events in the environment and beliefs and expectations which we have". (qtd in Clark, p. 130) Sometimes these beliefs are so powerful that they affect person's emotional conditional. The purpose of emotive behaviour therapy is to make these emotions less powerful and not badly influence person's emotional condition. (Clark). According to the concepts of cognitive theory, specialists counseling in mental disorders, should focus on mental condition of the client and investigate his identity, rather than treat his physical body with the help of medicines that may have side effects. Another famous author who worked in the field of cognitive therapy was Aaron Beck. He worked out a special methodology and strategies to treat depression and anxiety that were based upon the conceptions of cognitive theory. Clients are to perform a dialogue within his inner world to define the patterns that are to be changed to improve client's condition. Treatment strategies worked by Beck help a client to find out depressive beliefs and change his way of thinking. The commentators describe the essence of Beck's approach as following: "According to Beck and Emery, the way we process information is governed by structures called schemata. These schemata are made up of rules for explaining incoming information, and for retrieving what we have already learned. They are capable of exerting powerful effects on how we experience and relate to the world. For example, the schemata of a person with a social phobia cause them to become anxious and avoidant by explaining incoming information a nd memories in terms of social threat. Treatment consists of correcting faulty or illogical thinking by repeatedly confronting cognitive schemata with discrepant information from role-playing and homework assignments." (Abela, p.117) Modern medicine includes treating depression and anxiety with psychotherapy or medications, or combining both these treatments. The experiments and researches show that a combination of these two methods is mostly effective, especially because antidepressants rarely result in dependence. Companies that produce medicine encourage doctors to prefer medical treatment to psychotherapy, but there are cases in which referring to a specialist in psychotherapy is necessary. In case the person takes antidepressants and this brings no results, a visit to professional in mental health may be more effective. (Clark) Cognitive theory and therapy based upon it provide for a theoretical basis allowing specialists better understand the reasons for anxiety and depression to appear, to treat them effectively. This theory is regarded as effective even in comparison with other popular theories. To better understand the impact of cognitive theory into modern psychotherapy it is necessary to observe its perspective on mental illnesses and anxiety in particular. According to the cognitive theory, the reasons for depression, anxiety and worries appear due to several reasons: Sometimes it is enough just to see a model of behavior to take it over, when a person expresses intense fears or nervous condition. Sensitive people often answer such behaviour the same way. Sometimes a person inadequately estimates the situation and interactions with people