An Analysis of Culture in Things Fall Apart free essay sample

The novel â€Å"Things Fall Apart† written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment. One of Achebe’s challenges was to illustrate the Ibo’s religious system. Even though the Ibo people had little contact with the outside world, they had developed their own beliefs and practices that became essential elements in their everyday lives. The Ibo religion played a role in the way they raised their families, communicated, entertained, and governed their society. Similar to those of the early Egyptian and Greek religions, the Ibo’s believed in several gods and goddesses that have been inspired from nature and its elements. Since the Ibo culture is dependent on agriculture and farming, they believe making peace with the gods will ensure a good harvest. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of Culture in Things Fall Apart or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is illustrated on page 17 when Unoka is being told that, â€Å"†¦when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm. This also demonstrates how the Ibo people believed their ancestors played an important role in religion, often consulting their spirits for advice and approval. It was believed that through good deeds and devotion to their gods and ancestors, that good fortune would follow. On page 27, Achebe introduces a proverb told by the Ibo, â€Å"†¦that when a person says yes, his chi says yes also,† demonstrating the Ibo belief that if one believes in their chi (another name for personal god), that they will support and ensure ones protection. But it was also believed that if one were to sin or do anything to offend the gods, that punishment might follow. A good example of this can be found on page 30 after Okonkwo beats his wife during the Week of Peace—a sacred time for the Ibo people. The priest of the earth goddess, Ezeani, tells him, â€Å"The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish. † He then tells him to, â€Å"†¦bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth and a hundred cowries,† in an effort to repent to Ani, the earth goddess. As well as maintaining good morals and values, the Ibo people further connected with their gods and ancestors through the act of sacrifice. The Ibo people would sacrifice anything from fruit, small animals and in some instances, people. On page 17, Unoka explains that, â€Å"before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land. It is the law of our fathers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams. † Although some of the practices of the Ibo religion may seem harsh, its primary goal is to maintain a peaceful and just society. Just as the Ibo celebrate religion with their gods, they also celebrate with each other. Later on page 97, Tortoise explains that he has, â€Å"†¦learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself,† which demonstrates how the Ibo people followed principles similar to that of the â€Å"golden rule† found in many other religions of the time. Achebe also illustrates the Ibo judiciary and political system throughout the entire story. Similar to those in other cultures, the Ibo people had a very structured social order. In the beginning of the story on page 18, Achebe describes Nwakibie’s status in the Ibo village by stating he, â€Å"†¦had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan. † He is described as very wealthy, with â€Å"three huge large barns† and â€Å"nine wives and thirty children. † When the missionaries later arrive to the Ibo village (on page 148), they ask to speak to the king, but where told, â€Å"†¦there was no king. We have men of high title and the chief priests and the elders. † In the Ibo culture, men of high power were said to be given a high â€Å"title†. This system of hierarchy is similar to the ranks that governors and senators hold in the United States—and it appears that promiscuity is still common in both political systems (take John Edwards for example†¦). Whenever Ibo villagers needed to settle disputes, they would call upon the spirits of their ancestors (called egwugwu) to make communal decisions in court. On page 87, nine egwugwu are summoned to settle a dispute between a husband and his wife, Mgbafo. The trail is centered around what’s called the â€Å"egwugwu house† (equivalent to the home of a judge) judged by the leader of the egwugwu, named â€Å"Evil forest. On page 89, Achebe describes the beginning of the trial, â€Å"He (Evil Forest) took the first of the empty stools, and the eight other egwugwu began to sit in order of seniority after him,† which is very similar to the practices of the modern day US judiciary system when the judge is seated and members of the jury do so afterwar ds. In this case, Mgbafo has been accused of leaving her husband without returning her bride-price (money paid at the wedding) after he had beaten her. On page 92, it is states, â€Å"The law of Umuofia is that if a woman uns away from her husband her bride-price is returned,† which verifies that the Ibo people had laws just as any other culture would. Evil Forest heard the testimony and, â€Å"the nine egwugwu then went away to consult together in their house,† just as a modern-day jury would. Evil Forest soon returns and states, â€Å"We have heard both sides of the case†¦Our duty is not to blame this man or to praise that, but to settle the dispute,† and declares Mgbafo the winner, claiming she did it out of self defense. For disputes that are more political, the courts may be disregarded. For example, on page 12, a dispute arises between a neighboring clan and Umuofia after a Umuofian woman is killed. Umuofia then engages in a war against the neighboring village, and justice is served with a compromise, â€Å"at the end they decided†¦that the girl should go to Ogbuefi Udo to replace his murdered wife. † For disputes that are more spiritual, the Ibo villagers often consulted with the â€Å"Oracle of the Hills and the Caves† (a spirit that speaks the word of god) for advice and decisions. On page 16, Achebe describes how, â€Å"people came from far and near to consult it. They came when misfortune dogged their steps or when they had a dispute with their neighbors. † Earlier on page 12, Achebe writes, â€Å"†¦there were indeed occasions when the Oracle had forbidden Umuofia to wage a war,† which describes how the Oracle has also taken part in the Ibo political and judiciary system. Not only does Achebe elaborate on how the Ibo maintained a functional religious, political and judiciary system, but he also illustrates how they enjoyed daily life. The Ibo had a very efficient economic system, similar to that of a modern day society. Agriculture was very important in the Ibo society and was considered one of the best paying jobs. Farmers spent most of their days cultivating yams and selling them in local markets in exchange for their currency, named the â€Å"cowry†. But when the Ibo people weren’t on the field, they were celebrating with song and dance. Whether they spent their days enjoying a wrestling match, or preparing for the New Year’s festivities, they always found a way to entertain themselves. To mark the beginning of each New Year, the Ibo village would hold a special feast called â€Å"The Feast of the New Yam. On pages 37 and 38, Achebe describes the feast as an, â€Å"†¦occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. † Members of the Umuofia village enjoy â€Å"Yam foo-foo and vegetable soup† and know that in the past, â€Å"†¦there was always a large quantity of food left over†¦. † Achebe describes how Okonkwo’s wives, â€Å"scrubbed the walls and the huts with red earth until they reflect light,† and â€Å"†¦drew patterns on them in white, yellow and dark green,† in an effort to add decor. The people also decorated their bodies, â€Å"painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and on their backs. † The following day marks the day of the great wrestling match between Okonkwo’s village and the neighboring clan. On page 46, Achebe describes the event, â€Å"They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free,† painting the picture of a special occasion. An image of drummers, â€Å"†¦beating them with sticks, working feverishly from one drum to another,† appears, to which Achebe describes them as being, â€Å"possessed by the spirit of the drums. Spectators watch the match as the wrestlers fight to the rhythm of the roaring crowd, until the entertainment is over. During the regular year, the Ibo villagers still find time for entertainment. At various times throughout the year, small traditional celebrations are held for the various gods. These celebrations are enjoyed with food and often kola nuts, which are offered to each member’s chi. At various points in the story, the elders of the community also tell traditional folk tales and use proverbs to spread wisdom to the community. On page 100, Ekwefi and Enzima share a story about Tortoise and Cat. She even begins with, â€Å"Once upon a time,† just as many Europeans begin their own stories. In conclusion, Achebe provides evidence throughout â€Å"Things Fall Apart† that the Ibo people had an established, moral culture before the arrival of the Europeans. Achebe has shown that Ibo were an extremely spiritual, political and hard-working society, filled with function and pursuit—the perfect ingredients to a peaceful and just society.

Hardships of Southern Sharecropping essays

Hardships of Southern Sharecropping essays For many people in the 1930s living conditions were not as adequate as they needed to be. The stock market had just crashed in 1928, and the US was in the midst of the Great Depression. Many people suffered from lack of money, and many others suffered from lack of food. One group of people who suffered greatly during this time period were the southern share croppers. Factors that caused the substandard living conditions of the southern share croppers in the 1930s include lack of education, poor health care, and inadequate living facilities. The first factor that caused the substandard living conditions of the southern share croppers was their lack of education. There were several reasons the share croppers didnt get the education they needed. One main reason was because many children didnt go to school. Harold Walker writes that Southern cotton states ranked lower in rate of attendance for each student enrolled than any of the other states in the nation (4). A factor that contributed to this was their excessive mobility, which inhibited many children from going to school (Corder 27). It is common knowledge that any child who constantly moves around will not be able to attend school on a regular basis, and even if they go to a school when they get a chance they will be so far behind they would have a difficult time catching up. Another factor that impeded on a childs attendance at school was the fact that they never went to school when there was cotton to be picked (Walker 8). This may not seem like a large task, but some times it could take weeks to pick all the cotton. These few weeks that a child spent picking cotton was valuable learning time, and missing it could put a child too far behind to catch up. Another reason share croppers didnt get the education they needed was because many southern rural schools had short...

See instructions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

See instructions - Essay Example According to John Elkington, the best framework to measure performance and maintain sustainability in organization is the triple bottom line. The triple bottom line is defined as the accounting framework and structure which consist of three parts such as financial, ecological and social. Several businesses has implemented triple bottom line framework within the organization to evaluate and estimate its performance. John Elkington coined the triple bottle line which takes in to account the environmental and social performance of organization. Three measures of triple bottom line introduced by Elkington include people, planet and profit. In case of people, it includes favourable and reasonable business performs. According to the theory of triple bottom line, planet can be measured by the lessening of environmental effect and usage of sustainable environmental performs. The profit of organization can be measured by evaluation of economic value which is formed by the business. Elkington argued that it is vital for organization to change their focal point on finance to the environmental, economic and social impact of the company. The prime purpose of the project is to provide detailed analysis about the concept of the triple bottom line. Furthermore, the paper also discussed about the complications of measuring environmental and social influences towards a business. In 1994, John Elkington coined the triple bottom line. The argument of Elkington is that every organization should be prepared to measure three bottom lines such as profit, planet and people. The triple bottom line is defined as the implementation of actions and policies to measure the environmental, social and financial effect on organization (Adrian, 2000, p.18). Moreover, this framework helps to regulate the feasibility of organization for being sustainable. There is no secret that the environment of business and world is altering. Therefore, it is vital

Psychology of lifespan development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Psychology of lifespan development - Essay Example Discussing these stages, characterized by several general characteristics in physical, cognitive and social/emotional development that the individual must meet and come to terms with, this paper will focus on infancy/early childhood, middle children, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood as well as how specific behavior patterns can be traced through the various life stages. Sensory and motor domain development is most noticeable during the first year of life with physical growth beginning to slow at about one year of age. Parents may notice a decreased appetite at this time as they observe that their children seem to eat virtually nothing comparatively yet continue to grow and are healthy. As children begin to walk, their posture appears as if there may be cause for parental concern but the bow-legged child with their belly sticking out and inward curved back is quite normal for this age. Children are half grown already by the age of two. By age three, the body becomes leaner as the child’s proportion of body fat decreases and muscles increase in tone. By this age, the vast majority of children are physically able to control their bodily functions. Most children follow a predictable pattern of physical growth. Visits to the doctor enable parents to monitor growth in relation to other children of similar age and also allows for comparisons of wei ght gain to height gain. During the preschool years, growth in height and weight is steady. Variations may occur in physical growth during the period of middle childhood, though there is a great deal of predictability. The body continues to change in both height and weight. Weight gain in this period typically varies ranging on average from 3-5 pounds gained annually. Body height may increase by as much as 2-3 inches annually as well. The head of the child remains proportionally larger than the rest

Snowmobiles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Snowmobiles - Research Paper Example An interesting feature of a sled is the fact that it does not move on wheels. It has a long belt of rubber moving along the bottom of its body which forms a track for the sled to move on. Because of this track the sled does not slip and slide in the snow as it provides it with sufficient grip to keep it in control of the rider (DuBois 30). Snowmobiles use large amount of gasoline to run (Mara 1998). Hence, their popularity was greatly reduced during the 1970’s when the prices of gasoline reached sky high. Today there are only four major manufacturers of snowmobiles – Polaris, Arctic cat, Ski-doo and Yamaha (Mara 7). In snowmobiler’s parlance, these companies are called â€Å"big four† (DuBois 7). These companies manufacture these vehicles for various purposes which could be for personal use like transportation or for racers. Snowmobile racing is a very popular sporting activity during the snow fall season in various countries. This can be seen from the fac t that in North America alone there are more than 3000 clubs for snowmobilers (Mara 7). Major countries where people enjoy this sport are US, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The cost of snowmobiles manufactured for this specific purpose is twice the price of ordinary use snowmobiles. Brief history of snowmobiles Snowmobiles were born out of the need for means of transport in snow covered areas. ... These were put to use for warfare in the World War II by the soldiers. Thus, though the early invention of this vehicle dates back to the 1920’s, it was mostly used for work and not for fun. It was only in the 1960’s that the idea of using them in sports caught the fancy of the inventors (Sommers 12). Carl Eliason built his first hand made Motor Toboggan in a small garage. He patented this machine in 1924. It was at that time made up of a long wooden sled and powered by 2.5 horse power engine which was attached on its outer board. Bicycle parts were used to make the dual trail track and it also had a radiator to cool the motor when it overheated (Sommers 11). Over a period of 15 years Eliason sold 24 such vehicles, each one being different from the other. His major buyers were the hunters and utility workers (Sommers 17). The biggest order of these vehicles (150 of them) was from the US army during the World War II. However, after this peak period there was a slowdown i n demand. By the 1950s, Canada became the production base for snowmobiles. However by this time, Eliason had a strong competitor, a superior quality product Ski-Doos which was invented by Joseph-Armand Bombardier and had taken over the snowmobile market with its unique design. This product had a design which still sets standards for today’s snowmobiles. A lot of inventors started taking interest in finding better and more efficient designs and â€Å"by 1972, there were more that 100 snowmobile companies† operating in this business (Sommers 19). However, as mentioned earlier, today the â€Å"big four† are the major players in this arena after an intense activity of mergers and acquisitions over the past three decades. Evolution of the designs The earlier design of snowmobiles was that of a sleigh

Generalized Cross Correlation With Phase Transform Information Technology Essay

Generalized Cross Correlation With Phase Transform Information Technology Essay The sound signal from a source is captured by a pair of microphones. The analog signal from the microphone must be amplified and converted into digital for further processing. Hence, an analog to digital converter external to the FPGA is used. After the analog signal is digitized, the signal is fed into FPGA for source localization. The digital signals are first saved into input buffer. In our case, we have used First in First out (FIFO) as a memory controller. The signals in time domain are then converted into frequency domain by using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Generalized cross correlation (GCC) is used for the estimation of time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the sound signals from the microphone pair. After TDOA is estimated, we then calculate the direction from which the sound signal is arriving which we refer to as direction of arrival (DOA). The appropriate degree is used by the stepper motor controller module which controls the rotation and speed of the stepper motor. The signal from stepper motor controller module is fed into stepper motor driver circuit which is responsible in energizing the appropriate coils of the stepper motor in particular sequence so as to rotate the stepper motor to the direction of the sound source. 4.2 Time difference of arrival (TDOA) estimation: Consider a sound source and a pair of microphones located at some distance from the source. As sound travels through air with constant speed, it takes time to arrive from source to the microphone location. The farther a microphone is located from the sound source, the longer it will take for the sound to reach the microphone. Two microphones located at different places will receive the same sound (plus noise) at a different time. The TDOA method takes advantage of this delayed arrival to estimate the location of the source. [ref mediatech4] For a source signal s(t) propagated through a noisy and reverberant environment, the sensor signals of two spatially separated microphones and and can be expressed as: (4.1) (4.2) where is the attenuation factor, and are the time delays, and the additive term includes the channel noise in the microphone system as well as any ambient noise for the sensor. This noise is assumed to be uncorrelated with . The TDOA estimation calculates the relative delay of the time delays and of the two recorded microphone signals and defined as: [ref 10.1.1.9.3680] (4.3) Now formulae (4.1) and (4.2) can be written as (4.4) (4.5) The Fourier transform of captured signal from microphones and is expressed as: (4.6) (4.7) HELLO!! I am here! Fourier Transform GCC-PHAT Inverse Fourier Transform Max value to give TDOA xi(t) xj(t) Fig 4.2 Block for estimating TDOA Cross correlation between the two signals is calculated to estimate the time difference of arrival. The cross correlation of signals and is (4.8) The cross correlation, reaches its maximum at the time delay (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  t). is the fourier transform of the cross correlation spectrum and is obtained from the individual spectra of and : (4.9) where is the Fourier transform of and is the complex conjugate of the Fourier transform of . And may be expanded using equation (4.6) (4.10) It is assumed that the average energy of the captured signals is significantly greater than the interfering noise, such that (4.11) The last three terms of equation (4.10) are negligible compared to first term based on the above assumption. Expression (4.10) now reduces to: (4.12) The can be found by evaluating (4.13) where IFT stands for inverse Fourier transform Generalized Cross Correlation with Phase Transform (GCC-PHAT) A major limitation of the approach is that it is highly influenced by noise and reverberation. To minimize its influence on TDOA estimation, we need to whiten the cross correlation by using Generalized Cross Correlation with Phase Transform (GCC-PHAT) (4.14) And its time domain counterpart is: (4.15) Where FT stands for Fourier transform and IFT stands for inverse Fourier transform The output of the GCCPHAT function is delta like with peak at . The above analysis is based on analog signals and stationary . For digital processing, the are sampled and become discrete sequences . Also the are not stationary as the source of sound is liable to change location. For analysis, finite frames are also required due to computational constraints. Hence the usual windowing techniques are applied and the sampled signals are broken into analysis frames. [10.1.1.43.5850] After conversion into the discrete finite sequence domain, equation (4.15) becomes: (4.16) Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation It is possible to compute the position of the source through geometrical calculation once TDOA is estimated. We consider a simple model based on far field assumption. Microphone i Microphone j source direction  Ã‚ ¦  Ã‚ ± Figure 4.3 Computing source direction from TDOA Consider the Figure 4.3, which illustrates the case of 2 microphone array with a source in the far field. Using cosine law, we state that: (4.16) where is a unit vector pointing in the direction of the source and is the vector that goes from microphone i to microphone j. It can also be stated that: (4.17) where c is the velocity of sound. Taking microphone i as reference, we place stepper motor in the position of microphone i. The angle of sound signal arrival is given by (90- Ã‚ ¦) as shown in Figure 4.4. Also, from the figure, (90- Ã‚ ¦) =  Ã‚ ±.  Ã‚ ¦  Ã‚ ± stepper motor position 90- Ã‚ ¦ Microphone i Microphone j source direction Figure 4.4 Stepper motor position and estimation of direction of sound source. Fast Fourier Transform: Frequency analysis of discrete time signals is usually and most suitably performed on a digital signal processor, which may be a specially designed digital hardware or a general purpose digital computer. We convert the time-domain sequence to an equivalent frequency domain representation to perform frequency analysis on a discrete-time signal {x[n]}. We consider the representation of a sequence {x[n]} by samples of its spectrum X( Ã‚ ·). Such a frequency domain representation leads to the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), which is a powerful computational tool for performing frequency analysis of discrete time signals. In the view of the importance of the DFT in various digital signal processing applications, such as correlation analysis, linear filtering, spectrum analysis, its efficient computation is a topic that has received considerable attention by many mathematicians, engineers, and applied scientists[ ]. The number of complex multiplication and addition operations required by the simple forms both the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) is of order N2 as there are N data points to calculate, each of which requires N complex arithmetic operations. For length n input vector x, the DFT is a length n vector X, with n elements: (4.18) Basically, DFT computes the sequence {X(k)} of N complex valued numbers given another sequence of data {x(n)} of length N, according to the formula (4.19) Where, Similarly, Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) is given by, (4.20) The DFT and IDFT involve essentially the same type of computations. Therefore, efficient computational algorithms for the DFT also apply to the efficient computation of the IDFT. Direct computation of X(k) involves N complex multiplications or each value of k, 4N real multiplications and N-1 complex additions (4N-2 real additions). Hence to compute all N values of the DFT requires N2 complex multiplications and N2-N complex additions. We may say they have algorithmic complexity O(N2) and hence is not a very efficient method. Hence, DFT will not be very useful for the majority of practical DSP applications if we cant do any better than this. However, there are a number of different Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms that enable the calculation the Fourier transform of a signal much faster than a DFT. FFT exploits the symmetry and periodicity properties of the phase factor WN. In particular these two properties are: Symmetry property: (4.21) Periodicity property: (4.22) As the name suggests, FFTs are algorithms for quick calculation of discrete Fourier transform of a data vector. The FFT is a DFT algorithm which reduces the number of computations needed for N points from O(N 2) to O(N log2 N). The response of an FFT looks like a sinc function (sinx) / x, if the function to be transformed is not harmonically related to the sampling frequency, Radix 2 algorithm: It is one of the commonly used FFT algorithms. The Radix 2 algorithms are useful if N is a regular power of 2 (N=2p). If we assume that algorithmic complexity provides a direct measure of execution time and that the relevant logarithm base is 2 then as shown in Table 4.1, ratio of execution times for the (DFT) vs. (Radix 2 FFT) (denoted as Speed Improvement Factor) increases tremendously with increase in N. [fft.pdf] Number of points, N Complex multiplications in direct computation N2 Complex multiplications in FFT algorithm (N/2)log2N Speed improvement factor 4 16 4 4.0 8 64 12 5.3 16 256 32 8.0 32 1024 80 12.8 64 4096 192 21.3 128 16384 448 36.6 256 65536 1024 64.0 512 262144 2304 113.8 1024 1048576 5120 204.8 Table 4.1 Comparison of execution times, DFT and Radix -2 FFT There are two different radix 2 algorithms, Decimation in Time (DIT) and Decimation in frequency (DIF) algorithm. They both rely on the recursive decomposition of an N point transform into 2 (N/2) point transforms. This decomposition process can be applied to any composite (non prime) N. The method is particularly simple if N is divisible by 2 and if N is a regular power of 2, the decomposition can be applied repeatedly until the trivial 1 point transform is reached. Divide and conquer method is used to obtain the radix -2 decimation in frequency FFT. Figure 4.5 shows the first stage of the 8 point DIF algorithm. The decimation causes shuffling in data. -1 -1 -1 -1 x[0] x[1] x[2] x[4] x[3] x[5] x[6] x[7] X[0] X[1] X[2] X[3] X[5] X[4] X[6] X[7] N/2 Point DFT N/2 Point DFT g[0] g[2] g[1] g[3] h[0] h[1] h[2] h[3] WN0 WN1 WN2 WN3 Figure 4.5 First stage of 8 point Decimation in Frequency Algorithm The entire process involves v = log2N stages of decimation, where each stage involves N/2 butterflies of the type shown in the Figure 4.6. Here is the Twiddle factor. a b A=a+b B=(a-b)WN WN Figure 4.6 Butterfly scheme Consequently, the computation of N-point DFT via this algorithm requires (N/2) log2N complex multiplications. For illustrative purposes, the eight-point decimation-in frequency algorithm is shown in the Figure 4.7 below. We observe that the output sequence occurs in bit-reversed order with respect to the input. X[0] X[1] X[2] X[3] X[4] X[5] X[6] X[7] -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN0 WN2 WN0 WN2 WN0 WN1 WN2 WN3 x[0] x[1] x[2] x[3] x[4] x[5] x[6] x[7] Figure 4.7 8 point decimation in frequency algorithm Matlab Simulation Figure 4.8 Simulink model for verification of TDOA algorithm Simulink model is used to verify the algorithm for calculating the time difference of arrival (TDOA). Samples of audio signal is read from a wave file hello_8000.wav at 8kHz Windowing is done to take certain number of samples of the signal each time for further processing in order to estimate the TDOA . Audio signals are taken through two channels, where each channel assumes to be the signal from each microphone with certain delay samples added to one channel. From Figure 4.8 we can observe that 25 delay samples have been considered. Noise has been added externally using Gaussian Noise Generator block to check the resistance of the system against ambient noise. Our system showes good resistance to noise after analyzing with different noise conditions added to two channels. Figure 4.9 Plot of samples of time delay as viewed in scope The plot for samples of time delay obtained for simulation time of 20 sec is shown in figure 4.9. We see that a straight line is obtained at delay sample of 25. But, we can also see variations in between, with maximum value of delay samples shooting to 128. But the maximum probability we obtained is of 25 delay samples. Figure 4.10 Plot of time delay (secs) as viewed in scope Corresponding to the delay samples, we then calculate the time delay in seconds between the signals in the two channels. For 25 delay samples, we obtain the time delay as 0.003125 sec. The plot for the time delay obtained is shown in figure 4.10. Figure 4.11 Stepper motor drive model Figure 4.11 shows a Simulink model of stepper motor drive using 2 phase hybrid stepper motor. The motor phases are fed by two H-bridge MOSFET PWM converters. 28 V DC voltage source provides the voltage required for the driver module. The movement of stepper motor drive is controlled by the STEP and DIR signals generated from the Signal Builder block. Square-wave current references are generated using the current amplitude and the step frequency parameters specified in the dialog window of the Signal Builder block. The STEP signal from the Signal Builder block controls the movement of the stepper motor. A positive value of STEP signal will rotate the motor whereas a zero value will stop the rotation. The DIR signal controls the direction in which the motor rotates. A positive value of DIR rotates the motor is one direction while a negative value will impose the reverse direction. Consider simulation time of 0.25 sec. The STEP and DIR input is shown in figure 4.12. The resulting waveforms are given in figure 4.13. The stepper motor rotates in positive direction for 0.1 sec, stops for 0.05 sec and then rotates in the opposite direction for 0.05 sec and then stops. Figure 4.12 Signal Builder for generating the STEP and DIR signals Figure 4.13 Waveforms as viewed in the scope STEPPER MOTOR A stepper motor is an electromechanical device which converts electrical pulses into discrete mechanical movements. The shaft or spindle of a stepper motor rotates in discrete step increments when electrical command pulses are applied to it in the proper sequence. The motors rotation has several direct relationships to these applied input pulses. The sequence of the applied pulses is directly related to the direction of motor shafts rotation. The speed of the motor shafts rotation is directly related to the frequency of the input pulses and the length of rotation is directly related to the number of input pulses applied. [motorbas.pdf] Figure 3.13 Stepper motor Whenever controlled movement is required, stepper motor can be a good choice. They are effective in applications where you need to control rotation angle, position, speed and synchronism. Stepper motors have found their place in different applications like printers, plotters, medical equipment, hard disk drives, automotive and many more. One of the most important advantages of a stepper motor is that it can be accurately controlled in an open loop system. Open loop control means no feedback information about position is needed. The position is known simply back tracking the input step pulses. Hence, taking into account these advantages, we have used a stepper motor for pointing to the direction of a sound source. A magnetic flux is developed in the stator when a phase winding of a stepper motor is energized with current. The direction of this flux is determined by the right hand rule. Consider figure , when phase B is energized with winding current in the direction shown, rotor aligns itself to minimize the flux opposition. In this case the motor would rotate clockwise so that its south pole aligns with the north pole of the stator B at position 2 and its north pole aligns with the south pole of stator B at position 6. Hence, in order to rotate the motor, we must provide a sequence of energizing the stator windings providing a rotating magnetic flux which the rotor follows due to magnetic attraction. [motorbas.pdf] Figure 3.14 Stator and rotor of stepper motor showing the current direction We have used a stepper motor with half step drive stepping mode has. In this case, every second step only one phase is energized and during the other steps, one phase on each stator is energized. The stator is energized according to the sequence: and the rotor steps from position: Table: Excitation sequences for different drive modes Stepper motor driver circuit: Q1 + R2 R3 D3 D5 D2 Q2 D1 D4 B1 R4 D6 GND2 GND1 R1 Stepper Coil Figure. Driver Circuit for stepper motor coil Components: Resistors: R1=330 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R2=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R3=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ R4=2.2 kà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ Q1 is optoisolator, PC 817 Diodes D1, D4 are 1N 4007 Diodes D2, D3 are 15 volt zener diode Diodes D5 and D6 are LEDs Q2 is IRF540N n-channel MOSFET B1 is 12 V supply for motor GND1 is FPGA ground GND2 is motor supply ground Operation: The MOSFET generally remains off due to the pull down of the gate voltage by the series connection of the resistor R3 and LED D5. When the input from FPGA is of high logic the diode of the optoisolator is turned on biasing the transistor, increasing the gate voltage which turns the MOSFET on. This way the winding of the stepper motor is energized. When the input from the FPGA is of low logic, the MOSFET is turned off, which de-energizes the winding. MOSFET is highly sensitive to high voltage and gets damaged if the gate to source voltage exceeds 20V. Hence, for protection 15V zener diode is used. The protection for high reverse voltage is obtained by using diodes D1 and D4. MULTIPLIER Figure The Multiplier core can be configured in either parallel architecture or constant-coefficient architecture. In parallel architecture, the multiplier accepts inputs on buses A and B and generates the product of these two values. While in constant-coefficient architecture, the multiplier accepts the data on the A input bus and multiplies it by a user defined constant value. The multiplier core generates fixed point parallel multipliers and constant coefficient multipliers for twos complement signed or unsigned data. It supports input ranging from 1 to 64 bits wide and outputs ranging from 1 to 128 bits wide. Input signal: A[17:0] : A operand input bus, 18 bits wide B[17:0] : B operand input bus, 18 bits wide (parallel multipliers only) CLK: Rising edge clock input Output signal: P[35:0]: Product output bit 35 downto bit 0 6. EPILOGUE 6.1 System Required To deploy any system, both supporting hardware and software must be good enough to make the system work properly. The major requirements in our system are mainly FPGA, microphones, audio amplifiers, stepper motor, MOSFETs and the necessary software for VHDL coding and simulation. Hardware: Microphones Audio amplifiers Connectors and cables Proto board Resistors, capacitors MOSFETs Power supply Software: Xilinx ISE Modelsim Matlab Proteus Windows XP, Vista COST INCURRED We have presented here, the cost incurred during the undertaking of the project. Input section: S.No. Component Quantity Rate (NRs) Cost (NRs) 1 Microphone 2 10 20 2 ADC (0808 CCN) 1 450 450 3 Buffer (HEF4050BP) 2 50 100 4 Audio Amplifier (LM 386) 2 25 50 5 Resistor 1 pack 50 50 6 Capacitor 1 pack 200 200 7 Miscellaneous 400 Total 1,270 Output section: S.No. Component Quantity Rate (NRs) Cost (NRs) 1 Stepper motor 1 500 500 2 12 V battery 1 1000 1,100 3 Optoisolator (PC 817) 4 25 100 4 MOSFET (IRF540N) 4 45 180 5 15 V zener diode 8 5 40 6 Resistor 1 pack 50 50 7 Diode 20 1 20 8 Miscellaneous 250 Total 2,240 TOTAL COST (NRs) = 3,510 Note: Spartan 3E starter kit was provided by the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering. Communication and transportation cost has not been included.

Thinking and Decision Making Essay -- Critical Thinking

Thinking and Decision Making When it comes to the reasoning and problem solving of any issue there are various ways to come to a decision; thinking is the mental process that allows the people in the world to deal with it effectively, according to set goals, plans, ideas, and desires. Thinking involves the gathering of information that forms concepts and engages in problem solving, reasoning, and making precise decisions for the benefit of whom is concerned. Thinking according to Kirby and Goodpaster (2007),"is an internal mental process that uses information as input, integrates that information into previous learned material and the result may be knowledge or may be nothing". Creative thinking, logical thinking, and persuasive thinking are three types of thinking. Each of these types of thinking affects the critical thinking process in various ways. The three thinking types will be compared and contrasted, as well as applied to affects they have in the critical thinking process. Every person has a primary style of thinking that is used most to help in his or her decisions. Finally, critical thinking will be applied to the decision making process by using workplace examples. Creative Thinking This is one of the types of thinking styles. Creative thinking involves creating something new or original. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagery, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, and forced relationships. The aim of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. When an individual learns to expand their way of thinking to incorporate metaphorical ideas, they will spark the creative thinking process... ... way. The important thing is that we become more aware of which learning style and thinking style works best for us. Once we know our own style, we can then analyse the others. This will help us understand other people better. It will make us more flexible. And perhaps we can all pick up tips from each other on how to be more effective. References Kirby, G.R. & Goodpaster, J.R. (2007) Creative Thinking. Fourth Edition Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Albrecht, K. (1984) Brain Building: Easy Games to develop your problem solving skills. Prentice Hall. Audiblox. (n.d.). Logical thinking: Helping children to become smarter. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. http://www.audiblox.com/logical_thinking.htm Schafersman, S. D. (1991). Critical thinking: Introduction to Critical Thinking. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html

Chaucers View

It is said that Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the greatest English writers of all times. With Chaucer's straight forward personality, it is not shocking that he would express his arguments or beliefs through his work. One main points he made apparent in his writing was corruption going on in the Catholic Church During Chaucer's time, indulgences were of great controversy and Chaucer, along with many other people, were against them. He took this time to voice his feelings about the situation and wrote one of his most famous works; The Canterbury Tales.The Canterbury Tales is a series of tales, told by pilgrims on their journey to the shrine of Saint Becket. Many thought that Chaucer was simply telling a story, but little did people know he was criticizing the Catholic Church. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church. Within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the tales of certain characters t o symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins and corruption. The fabliau, as it took new form under Chaucer's compelling interest in characterization, brought him up against problems of mortality that were to become basic in the developed Canterbury Tales† (Owen 226). He uses tales such as The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, The Reeve's Tale, and The Parson's Tale which was a sermon itself. Notice he uses characters such as the pardoner and parson; members of the clergy to show that sinning was taking place in a holy place like the Catholic Church. Chaucer makes sure that he displays all the Seven Deadly Sins in his tales and some tales represent more than one of the sins.The Seven Deadly Sins consist of Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Anger, Jealousy, and Pride. According to New Advent, Lust is the inordinate craving for, or indulgence of, the carnal pleasure which is experienced in the human organs of generation. Sloth is said to be the disinclination to labor or exertion. Gluttony means excessive indulgence. Avarice is the inordinate loves for riches. Anger is defined as the desire of vengeance. Jealousy is a sorrow which one entertains at another's well-being because of their view that one's own excellence is in consequence lessened.Lastly, Pride is the excessive love of one's own excellence (Delany). Everyone of these sins are used in the following tales. One of the first tales in The Canterbury Tales to symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins was The Knight's Tale. In The Knight's Tale, Duke Theseus of Athens, is on his way home from attacking Scythia. While he was there, he wins over a wife and what now is a sister-in-law; Emily. Along the way, Theseus runs into a group of crying women. They beg Theseus to take revenge on Creon, the King of Thebes, because he refuses to bury their husbands.The oldest women stated â€Å"Their bodies were dragged out onto the plain into a heap, and there, as we have learnt, they neither may have burial nor be b urnt, but he makes dogs devour them, in scorn† (28). Theseus decides to fight Creon, and beats him. After winning against Creon, he takes two of his men; Palamon and Arcite to be servants for his castle. The servants are thrown in the tower to work without ransom. Over time, they both fall in love with Emily after watching her through the tower window. One day Arcite is let go, but with the promise of never returning.Arcite is envious of Palamon being able to see Emily everyday. On the other hand, Palamon was envious of Arcite being able to form an army to get Emily back. Arcite comes back in disguise and Palamon escapes, they run into one another and decide to fight over Emily. Arcite wins the battle, but with complications that caused death. Emily ends up marrying Palamon in the end, â€Å"That is called matrimony, also marriage, by counsel of the Duke and all his peerage. And thus with every bliss and melody Palamon was espoused to Emily† (86). The sins associated wi th this tale are Lust, Anger, Sloth and Jealousy.Since the characters in the tale did wrong and committed these sins, they had consequences. When Arcite and Palamon both Lust over Emily, it makes tension among them and makes it harder on themselves because they have no way of showing her affection. When Creon refuses to bury the bodies of the husbands, that shows Sloth, because of this Creon and Duke Theseus fight. Jealousy shows when Arcite and Palamon envy one other for being able to see Emily, this leads to them being angry at each another which eventually leads to greater problems. Anger shows up when Arcite and Palamon fight over Emily, which ends up with Arcite dying.This shows that with sinning, comes consequences. The next tale that Chaucer uses to preach is The Miller's Tale. The Miller's Tale is the tale of a carpenter, his young wife and two students. To make money, John rents rooms in his house to a boy named Nicholas. Nicholas soon has his eye set on Alison. Another boy in town, Absalon also has his eye on Alison. The trouble begins when John leaves home on a trip. While John is out, Nicholas and Alison have an affair. Not much longer after the affair, Alison goes to church where she is hit on by Absalon. She shows no affection towards him because she is in love with Nicholas.Alison and Nicholas think of a plan to trick John so they can have more alone time. Nicholas convinces John that God is sending a flood. â€Å"Rain is to fall in torrents, such a scud it will be twice as bad as Noah's Flood. This world,' he said, ‘in just about an hour, Shall all be drowned, it's such a hideous shower, and all mankind, with total loss of life† (97). He says that God told him they should hang three large buckets from the ceiling to sleep in and when the water got high, they would cut the ropes. John believes him and goes along with the plan.John thinks his wife is in her bucket, but little does he know that she is with Nicholas. Later that night, Absalon comes to the window and asks Alison to give him a kiss Instead of her lips, she sticks her butt out the window. Angry, Absalon gets a hot brand to brand Alison, but Nicholas sticks his butt out. Absalon brands Nicolas and he yells out â€Å"Water. † John thinks the flood is here and cuts his rope. The whole town hears about the situation and makes fun of John. The two sins tied into this tale are Lust and Anger. Lust is shown when both Absalon and Nicholas lust over the young wife of John.Since Nicholas lusted over her, it caused them to have an affair and Absalon lusting over made him go to the bedroom window which caused more problems. Anger sets in when Alison sticks her butt out of the window instead of her lips, when Absalon realizes, he turns angry and gets the hot brand and ends up branding Nicholas instead. This makes Nicholas yell out and than John cuts the ropes and makes a mockery out of himself by the town. Chaucer did not stop at just one or two tales, he decided to take it even further and use The Pardoner's Tale to help further his voice.In the Pardoner's tale, he starts off by going on a rant about young Flemish people who spend their time drinking, gambling, and swearing. He than starts back to his story. Three rioters are drinking and talking about a friend who was killed earlier by a thing called Death, â€Å"Many and grisly were the oaths they swore, tearing Christ's blessed body to a shred; ‘if we can only catch him, Death is Dead† (251). Outraged about their friend dying, the men go on a hunt to find and kill Death. On their way, they run into an old man who tells them that they can find Death underneath an oak tree. Pleased, the men rush to the tree to only find gold.They plan to steal the gold, but wait until night. During the wait, they send one man to go get wine and bread. While he is gone, they plot to kill him in order to split the gold. The man who went to fetch the bread, and wine was also thinking sim ilarly. He poisons the other two's wine and heads back to the tree, but to only get killed when he arrived. Excited about the gold, they drink the dead man's poisoned wine and they soon die. He goes to end his story, but forgets he had pardons and relics in his bag and asks for contribution. There are both Avarice and Gluttony take place in the Pardoner's Tale.We see Avarice take place when they set their eyes on the gold, all men are eager to get all the gold and in the end, their greed kills them all. We also see Gluttony, it takes place when the pardoner starts off talking about the Flemish boys, we also see it when the men are drinking too much in the bar. Them drinking too much in the bar, lead to them making stupid plans to kill Death. In the end they end up dead because of greed and a little too much to drink. The Reeves Tale's is yet another tale used by Chaucer to preach. The Reeve's Tale is about a miller named Simpkin who likes to fight and enjoys wrestling.Most people do n't talk to him and he cheats his customers by robbing corn from them. He also â€Å"paddles† their flour cheap substances. When the manciple of a school gets sick, the miller takes the opportunity to cheat the school even more. Two students, Alan and John are sent to do it for the school so they will not be cheated. When they arrive at the mill, Alan and John tell Simpkin that they will watch the corn being ground so they are not cheated. Simpkin gets angry and he unties their horses. When they find out the horses are missing, they go looking for them, giving Simpkin time to steal flour from them.He later has his wife bake a cake with it. Having wasted the whole day, Alan and John decide to stay the night at Simpkin's house Alan sneaks and has intercourse with Simpkin's daughter. John does the same with Simpkin's wife. He does this by moving the cradle to her bed to his so she will climb in with him. When Alan goes to bed he mistakes the cradle and goes into bed with Simpkin . Thinking he is John, Alan tells Simpkin that he had intercourse with the miller's daughter. Enraged, Simpkin rises out of bed and punches Alan in the nose. Alan and John beat Simpkin up, then run away picking up the cake made of their robbed flour on the way out.In the Reeve's Tale, there are many sins. We see Avarice, Anger, and Pride. We see avarice when the miller robs all the corn and flour, which results in the boys sleeping with his daughter and wife. We see Anger when the boys find out about the miller robbing them and anger when the miller finds out about the boys sleeping with the women, which causes a fight. We also see pride when Alan brags about sleeping with the miller's daughter to which he thought was John, which caused the miller to throw the first punch. â€Å"Chaucer had in mind the other Tales, when he finally conducted the Parsons through his against the Vices they illustrate?To me the conclusion seems unavoidable that this division of the Parson's sermon is b ut the culmination of the frequently recurring motifs of the Seven Deadly Sins† (Tupper 117). The Parson splits his sermon up into the three parts. He speaks of contrition, he talks of confession and he goes into depth about each of the seven deadly sins. Throughout the tale, the Parson recites several passages from the Bible. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church.It is obvious that he used tales such as the Knight's tale, the Miller's Tale, the Pardoner's tale, the Reeve's tale and especially the Parson's tale to get his point across. Even though The Canterbury Tales was never finished by Chaucer, it was a strong enough work to make people ask questions and think about the corruption going in the Catholic Church. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffery. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Penguin Classics, 1997. Delany, Joseph. †Anger. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New Yor k: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/01489a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Avarice. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Gluttony. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å" Jealousy. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/08326b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Lust. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. rg/cathen/09438a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Pride. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/12405a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Å"Sloth. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/14057c. htm;. Owen, Charles A. Jr. â€Å"Mortality as a Comic Motif in the Canterbury Tales. †Ã‚  National Council of Teachers of English. 16. 4 (1955): 226-232. Print. Tupper, Fredrick Jr. â€Å"Chaucer and The Seven Deadly Sins. â€Å"Modern Language Association America. XXIX. 1 (1914): 117. Print.

Account for the Geographical Characteristics of the Southern Chesapeake colonies at the end of the eighteenth century

The Southern Chesapeake colonies consist of Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina and Georgia. The settlement of the Southern Colonies started at Jamestown Virginia and it was led by Captain John Smith who also became the first Governor of Virginia. The Southern and Northern Settlements both grew up for different reasons. Whilst the Northern settlements grew up to seek refuge from Religious persecution (Jenkins, P, 1997) the Southern Colonists went out to make money and produce goods for England, mainly Mediterranean goods such as citrus fruits, wines and silk. Richard Hakluyt, who was a geographer for the court of James 1st and advisor to the London Plymouth Company, advised that the Southern Colonies would be ideal place to settle. However his choice of settlement was based purely on assumptions and it was not taken into account the East coast of a country was very different to the West coast (Mitchell, R, D, 1983). As a result tobacco became the staple crop and Virginia, which has been described as growing from smoke. This essay will look at how the Southern colonies continued to grow during the 18th Century and the geographical characteristics of that growth. At the start of the 18th century the population of the colonies was only 250,000, however by 1785 this had risen to around 2. 5 million. The population was growing fast and by 1820 the population of the United States had overtaken Britain. Due to the rapid explosion of the population, it was forced to distribute over a greater area of land. In the Southern colonies the population occupied almost all of the land east of the Appalachians, which included many fertile mountain valleys, ideal for growing crops and rearing animals (McIlwraith, T. F, et al, 2001). After about 1740 Maryland and Virginia experienced settlement change. The Piedomont and Great Valley regions filled with settlers that imitated the Northern colonies with a mixture of grain and livestock farming. The population of the South was rapidly increasing yet it was still predominately rural as people took up more land than they actually needed. This was due to the fact that there was a big lust for ownership of land at the time and it was desirable to own land. In 1786, 3 years after the Treaty of Paris, there was a surge to claim it as there was a cadastrol survey of the land, by the Land Ordnance. Middleton, R, 2002). People wanted to claim the land before it was surveyed in the hope that they could claim the rights to it. The urbanization of the Chesapeake region up to the 1700's had been very slight, as it had been built up as a fragmented and rural society. As opposed to the North, who were there to be independent from England, the Southern Colonies were there to produce goods for England and the rest of the world. Thomas Jefferson said â€Å"We have no Towns of any significance† (Thomas Jeffereson, 1801), because of how fragmented the Chesapeake society was and because there was very little social cohesion. Thomas Jefferson proposed that the land be split up into rectangles and the land, along with the title, be given free to the yeomanary (Earle, C, 2003). However this is not how it happened, and Congress intervened insisting that land would be sold in order to produce revenue for Government. Consequently, speculators, land companies and individuals eyed obvious town sites, rivers, fording points, junctions of two rivers, harbours and defensive positions that lay well ahead of the frontier and surveyed land. Actual Settlers, as they were known, were confronted by angry natives not happy at their land being squatted on by these hopefuls. As a result battles ensued and the army was called in to enforce order and in some cases expel settlers from the land that they had tried to lay claim too. The South, which was dominated by a labour intensive agricultural system, had a much longer growing season than the Northern Colonies. As a result of this they convinced themselves of the need for slave labour and continued to use imported slaves well into the 19th Century (McIlwraith, T. F, et al, 2001). Slaves were a major factor behind the growth of the South, without them there would have been a great shortage of labour. Plantation owners found that slaves were cheap when compared to indentured labour. This was labour that would work for their employer for a set number of years and then be free to go and work where ever they wanted. The cost to a plantation owner of a free white servant would be ar ound i20 per year. For an extra i7-8 a planter could have â€Å"a slave for life! † (Middleton, R, 2002). This reliance on slaves left the South with a very unskilled labour force, the full affect of this not being felt until the start of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. In the South skilled workers like smiths, joiners, wheelwrights and leather workers were all moving out to the countryside to become plantation owners. The expense of free labour forced people into this (Middleton, R 2002). Not only was it a skilled labour force that was missing but also there was a lack of merchants, traders and artificers, these people being crucial in exporting and selling the goods. However this did not cause a problem in the tobacco region of Virginia because they exported directly from their plantations. It was is the Carolinas that this lack of merchants was apparent because they did not ship from their own plantations but had to transport their goods to central warehouses. As the Southern colonies adopted a more northern approach to agriculture, the need for slave labour should have been reduced, but this was not the case due to the fact that there was a big demand for cotton, which was very labour intensive. This was a result of the revolution in America and the industrial revolution in Britain, This had a big impact on the industry in the southern colonies both socially and spatially. One aspect of this industrialisation process was the iron industry. In 1775 the colonial iron industry turned out 15% of world production (McIlwraith, T. F, 2001). The geographical influences of iron was bog ore, which was used to produce the iron, which was reduced in furnaces. These furnaces were heated by hardwood, located in the hill country, which was cut to make charcoal. The owners were able to control large areas of woodland and also influence settlement due to the huge demand that the iron industry had on labour. The products that they produced remained mainly in America but it was important process in the industrialisation of America. Another aspect was the huge demand for cotton and Britain became a major importer of American Cotton. The cotton industry had its origins in the coastal regions of South Carolina. Cash crops like Rice, Indigo and cotton were plantation crops grown on the chain of Sea Islands situated along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia (McIlwraith, T,F, et al, 2001). However due to market and environmental factors rice and indigo quickly vanished as cash crops but as settlements moved further inland it was cotton that was deemed to be the staple crop. It was suited well to the climate and the soil conditions and the people readily exploited this by mono cropping. By doing this they were never giving the soil a chance to recover and its implication on settlements was that it pushed them further and further west in search of quality fertile land. Further South stood the capital, Charleston, which was established in 1692. Originally it experienced very slow growth but from about 1730 onwards it steadily grew and by 1775 the population had grown to 12,000. Charleston, South Carolina, became the leading port and trading centre of the South. There the settlers quickly learned to combine agriculture and commerce, and the marketplace became a major source of prosperity. The naval stores industry was very important to the Southern Colonies. The South was an area that had a rich supply of pine trees, pitch, tar and resin that was required by the Royal Navy (Knox, P et al, 1998). It was able to provide some of the best ship building materials in the world. Up until the 18th century the Royal navy had obtained its supplies from the Baltic, but due to uncertainties of supply they switched their source to the Carolinas. The production soon shifted to North Carolina as rice production became of greater importance in South Carolina. Unlike Virginia, the Carolinas were not bound to a single crop, making them a more economically sound area to settle. The land enabled them to extract raw materials but also grow goods that could be exported. As a result of the Carolinas producing different crops, and the need to keep moving on, there was a difference in the type settlements that emerged. In contrast to South Carolina, the urbanization of North Carolina was very slight and it was only a very few inland areas that urbanized, an example being Salem, whilst its coastal areas, such as Wilmington, remained very small. This can be put down to the fact that North Carolina was not concentrating on a crop but extracting raw materials, so movement would have been regular (Earle, C, 1992). The late 18th Century southern colonies can be characterized in many different ways geographically. At Virginia, the major geographical characteristic was the land. The Jamestown Settlement was made up as a profit orientated trading station rather than a socially cohesive agricultural settlement. People needed to grow tobacco to sell to England, so the rich planters had a lot of control over society. This meant that their plantations doubled up as urban places offering many services that you would expect to find (Middleton, R (2002). Further South, as well as the need of land for the cotton industry, was the need of the raw materials, needed for the naval industry. Due to the high use of slave labour, rurality of the settlements was not a problem. If labour was short they imported it, they never had to go looking for it. In the Southern regions they liked to invest in areas where they knew they could make the most money from the land that was available. Major outside influences on the Southern Colonies was the industrial revolution in England, which meant that there was big demand for cotton. As a result people were constantly on the look out for good fertile land and the population continued to spread. The industrial revolution brought with it factories and demand for products which added momentum to the spread and organization of the Southern Colonies.

Keatss chief strengths and preoccupations Essays

Keatss chief strengths and preoccupations Essays Keatss chief strengths and preoccupations Essay Keatss chief strengths and preoccupations Essay From your reading so far what seems to be Keatss chief strengths and preoccupations? At the time when John Keats was born it was said that, poets are born, not made. Poets at the time were either gentlemen from the upper class, or well educated with intellectual backgrounds. Keatss background, at the time, was definitely of the lower classes; he did not have any social advantages that many of his contemporary poets took for granted. As well as this, there was nothing, in his early life that was suggestive of his poetic talent. He had to be a self-made poet. Keats grew up in a time of upheaval in every way, a time of new political thinking, of social and humanitarian reform, a revolutionary time that had earlier spawned the French Revolution which in turned had strengthened the will to change everywhere in the early nineteenth century. These times brought with them the Romantic Movement. Romanticism was a rebellion. It was a reaction against the stiff views of poetry in the previous century, where technique was prized higher than inspiration and common sense higher than passion. The popular poetry of the period was over decorated and given to telling uninspired entertaining little tales. The poetic accent wasnt Romantic, it was romanticized. Keats wanted to be distinguished from the Romanticism crowd. Romantic poets could not escape being affected by the tendencies of their time and Keats certainly had his love for women, especially Fanny Brawne. However, in romanticized poetry the English countryside was a pastoral idyll. It was a place of great oaks looming above soft turf, warm sunlight or soft moonlight, brooks and great flower banks. While in reality it was a place of thigh deep mud, filthy animals, oppressed illiterate workers living no better than their animals and doing gruesome work in all weathers. However, a good deal of the fashionable romanticized poetry found its way into Keatss poetry too, especially in his early poems, with his lack of coherence and rhyming lead to him being overlooked by critics; his early attempts at writing long poems had failed. Much of this romanticism came about because of Keatss exposure to the work of a minor poet named Leigh Hunt. Keats picked up more of the Huntian style than his immature poetry could carry. On the other hand, Keats was an ardent admirer of William Shakespeare. Like Keats Shakespeare was an ordinary man whose poetic gift was at odds with his station in life and after an initial bout of uncertainty over his own talents, Keats quickly found his strength and he knew it; Keats knew that critical opinion was necessary for any success. Shakespeare inspired him to write his most famous poem in 1816, On First Looking Into Chapmans Homer. Although the title refers to a specific literary work, Chapmans Homer, the subject of the poem is the experience of discovery and vision; emphasising imagination as a getaway to freedom reference to Romanticism. The picture of Cortez standing on the mountaintop gazing out to sea and, specifically, the focus on visual imagery eagle eyes, stard at, lookd at, convey an almost light-headed sensation of prospect and vision. Upon reading Chapmans Homer, Keats experienced such a feeling of exhilaration and expansiveness. Keats exploits the sonnet form to reinforce the rhetorical progression of the metaphors. After eight lines that establish the general analogy between reading poetry and exploring the world, Keats focuses on the specific discovery at the heart of the poem. The colon at the end of line eight contributes to this emphasis by suggesting that the whole poem has been preparing for the image presented in the final six lines of the sonnet. (Interestingly, Keats uses this approach in many of his poems, sub-dividing them into 4,4,6.) As the focus and tempo intensify in the last few lines, metaphor is replaced by simile. In the final section, the speaker tries to convey what his experience felt like. This step into a more explicit acknowledgment of the metaphoric process corresponds with the sense that the experience was so amazing that it may elude the powers of language; after all, Cortez and his men are almost dumbfounded at the spectacle. Throughout many of his poems, Keats places an emphasis on Greek mythology and nature, a fascination that is exploited many times over. In To Autumn, for example, Keats treats autumn as a kind of god or goddess whose presence can be felt in many occurrences of late and early fall. The weather, crops, plants and animals, whilst relating directly to nature, are more subtly turned into images of the gods presence. Keats did not believe in gods and goddesses. He did, however, take a great interest in the poetry of ancient Greece and To Autumn is the sixth in his sequence of odes, poems that ancient Greeks wrote to various gods. The poem is essentially an ode to autumn and the change of seasons. Keats was inspired by observing nature; his detailed description of natural occurrences has a pleasant appeal to the readers senses Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness The beauty of autumn is emphasized through phrases like; `ripeness to the core`, `swell the gord`, ` overbrimmed their clammy cells. . Keats use of the adjective `plump` as a verb excels this `ripeness` and together intensifies the beauty, which is emphasized through the repetition of `more` and `still more`. Keats almost forces his subject at us. Towards the end of his poetic career Keats was suffering, at that time, from tuberculosis. His poems were marked with sadness partly because he was too poor to marry Fanny Brawne. Keats broke off his engagement and began what he called a posthumous existence. When I have fears that I may cease to be is an expression of Keatss melancholy. When he wrote this poem, he was still quite sick and it was obvious that his ill health was not improving. Consequently, he developed a negative outlook on life. He expressed himself with the following poem, one I consider to be among his finest. In conclusion, few poets ascend to the level of John Keats, and even fewer ascend to that level at such an early age. John Keats was only 26 years old when he died however; he was considered, along with Wordsworth, to be the Romantic poet of the 19th century. He was the archetype of the Romantic writer. While still in good health, Keats was ambitious of doing the world some good, instead of focusing on his own sensitive soul. Keats felt that the deepest meaning of life lay in the apprehension of material beauty, although his mature poems reveal his fascination with a world of death and decay.

Royal Bank of Scotland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Royal Bank of Scotland - Essay Example Majority of the bank’s success in the last decade has been accomplished by a combination of internal innovation, organic growth, and significant acquisitions (Aoki, 2000). The performance of the bank in 2005 demonstrated the capability of the company’s growth, with the growth of customers in all its divisions. The average customer loans and average customer deposits were up to 23 percent and 17 percent respectively during this period. However, the bank has had its pitfalls and failures leading to resignation of the CEO, Fred Godwin with hefty pension (Barba, 2005). This brings up the questions, what are the reasons behind the failures of Royal Bank of Scotland? To what extent were the corporate governance practices responsible for these failures? And how could Royal Bank of Scotland avoid these failures? In order to answer these questions, this paper will discuss the case of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s corporate governance. ... Royal Bank of Scotland functions as an international financial and banking service group offering a broad range of services and products to commercial, personal, and big institutional and corporate customers through its two major subsidiaries. Royal Bank of Scotland was behind the launch of the first successful UK offset account of mortgage with Virgin. This model has currently been translated to the US and Germany successfully. The primary aspect of the Royal Bank of Scotland strategy is to establish the strategic options and the constituent flexibility and diversity mean that growth is independent of one specific market development or economic scenario. This kind of approach and its associated benefits are reflected in the results of Royal Bank of Scotland (Citrin, and Smith, 2003). In 2005, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s total income rose by about 14% contributed to mainly by its organic growth. This accounted for 70% of the increase. The company’s income ratio and cri tical cost was up held at 41%. Continued growth in profits, income and earnings are seemingly certain due to the innovation teams who operate in both the insurance and retail banking areas of the business. The developments of the 2005’s internal innovation included the Royal Bank of Scotland being the very first main international bank to publicly declare that it went live with the FX spot streaming trading through the Bloomberg Professional Service (Clarke, 2004). This kind of development of model electronic commerce complemented the existing electronic trading capabilities of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Bloomberg enabling the clients to trade Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange online from a single platform. Nevertheless,

The Gaming and Console Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Gaming and Console Industry - Essay Example Among the notable improvements in the computer world that attribute their success to the gaming industry, including sound cards, graphics cards, and 3D graphics accelerators. CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives also base their invention in the gaming industry (Hooper 1991). Sony has been in the industry for a considerable number of years and has been the key provider of the video games with its PlayStation devices. Regardless of the increased competition, the industry’s future is still very promising as more people buy and use games. Sony has been in the industry for a long time, but its sales and revenue from the business has been declining considerably with time. This is due to various reasons, some of which the company has control over, while others it cannot control. As more people use games, more players come to the market, increasing competition. Changing customer tastes, substitution by other forms of games and environmental factors could be a reason for the decline in the perfor mance. However, despite this, the company is likely to remain in the business for a long time. Q 1 Porter’s five competitive forces Competitive rivalry Sony is operating in a very competitive industry, with many firms coming up with different forms of gaming. With the increase and technological revolution, many companies have started providing games via digital devices, for example, smartphones. Other companies have gone a step further to provide online streaming of games for their customers where people can play games online from the internet. Regardless of the stiff competition, the company is currently facing, Sony’s consoles are not about to be edged out of the market anytime soon due to increased innovation and inclusion of a variety of features if the recent launch of PlayStation 4 is anything to go by. Although prospects are high in the gaming business, expectations are that in future, the profits will keep on dwindling and the next generation of games will neve r rake even half of what the current is making. Stakes are high, risks have increased to the point that currently, Sony is struggling to command superiority in the same market that it had previously dominated. With increased uptake of technology, research, and experiments in the industry, more and more developments are coming to place.