Karl Marx Notion Of Ideologies

Karl Marx Notion Of Ideologies This paper critically explores how Antonio Gramsci builds on Karl Marxs notion of ideology. It also compares Antonio Gramsci and Max Weber with regard to class, status and political party. The paper is organized on the major aspects and deficiencies of Marxist ideology which Gramsci builds on and as such, how Gramsci builds on Marxist ideology is based on: ideological basis, hegemony, historicism, class differences, historicism, materialistic theory of history and its concepts, Economic determinism, dialectic views, realism and modernism. The last sections of this paper focus on Gramsci and Weber with regard to class, status and political party. Antonio Gramsci work of the 19th century to a large extent was built on Marxist thinking about ideology and consciousness as it gave ideology (initially developed by Karl Marx ) a more active role in history and politics than in classical historical materialism. According to Gramsci, the proletariat is able to influence terms of its consciousness resulting in an extended struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat regarding how the existing social reality is represented. He continues to suggest that the bourgeoisie in general exercises hegemony over the terms of ideology through its control of the consciousness and its instruments. However, according to Gramsci, the proletariat is able to exert its influence through cultural institutions initially mentioned above thus introducing major changes in classical ideological theories by denial of the subordinate class which is compared to the passive tool of dominant ideology. Gramsci uses the concept of hegemony which was previously used by Marxists to indicate the political influences of the working class in a democratic revolution. He develops this concept into an acute analysis to explain the reason for the socialist revolution predicted by orthodox Marxism not having occurred by the early 20th century. By developing on the Marxists concept, he suggests that capitalism remained entrenched than ever and it maintained control ideologically through a hegemonic culture and through violence, political and economic coercion. Therefore according to Gramsci, when a culture develops in which Marxists owners of the means of production identified their own good with the good of the bourgeoisie, and facilitated the maintenance of the status quo which Marxists attribute to class differences. Gramscis further builds on Marxists ideology of class differences by suggesting that for any aspiring class to dominate in modernism it has to go beyond its own economic-corporate interests, to exert intellectual and moral leadership, and to make alliances and compromises with a variety of forces, which he refers to as a historic bloc which forms the determinant to a particular social order that produces and re-produces the hegemony of the dominant class. This is built on Marxist ideology on the materialistic theory of history concept of relations of production in which he points out that the non owners of the means of production in order to produce a means of livelihood facilitate the economic dominance of the dominating class further creating class differences in society (p.33). Like Karl Marx, Gramsci was an ardent proponent of historicism. Gramscis view like Marxs points out that all meaning derives from the relation between human practical activities of which part is historical and social processes which are objective. He further builds on Marxs ideology by asserting that Ideas cannot be understood outside their social and historical context, apart from their function and origin. According to Gramsci, the basis of organization of knowledge of the world is not primarily derived from peoples relationship to things but between the social relations between the users of such concepts therefore the issue of unchanging human nature does not occur. He suggests that philosophy and science dont portray independence of man in reality but are only reliable if they express the real development trends of a given historical situation. This is further elucidated by the fact of Gramsci belief that Marxism was truthful socio-pragmatically because by articulating the class consciousness of the proletariat, it highlighted the truth of tits times better than any other theory. While criticizing Marxist capitalist forces of production, Gramsci builds his argument by claiming that the revolution in Russia had made the idea of socialist revolution awaiting the full development of capitalist forces of production invalid and he suggests that the primacy of the forces of production according to Marxists was a misconception because both economic and cultural changes are expressions of the basic historical process and none has primacy over the other. Therefore according to Gramsci, Marxism is a philosophy of praxis, and it cant depnd on historical laws which are not seen as the agents of social change. Gramscis inspiration is derived from Marx, but he expresses disagreement with Marxs focus on economic importance. According to Marx, the economy was predetermined through history and is a determinant of the rest of society (economic determinism) Building on this, Gramsci saw that the depiction of the superstructure (civil society), focused only on the economy and did not mention cultural realm as an important factor and is therefore negligent that culture has the ability to effect change. While Marx withheld negative perception that ideology was a distortion of what people perceive as reality that is achieved through the ruling classs ability who make their interests appear to be the interests of everyone, Gramsci, on the other hand, perceives ideology positively, and acknowledges many groups in society despite those based in class which compete with each other and have different perspectives. He calls the winning of consent as hegemony which operates through sustained reproduction o f ideology over a period of time till the perspectives of dominant groups are perceived to be legitimate and incase of absence of consent, it is through coercion to enforce dominance. According to Gramsci, consent is achieved through civil society (family, church, education system, and media). Marxs ideological concept regarding ideology was epistemological as it pointed out that ideology opposed knowledge which was grounded ion science and reasoning. According to Gramsci, people have two theoretical consciousnesses: one which is implicit in activity and another which is superficially explicit or verbal which is uncritically absorbed from the past. A large number of Gramscis theoretical concerns are almost similar and therefore built on the general questions of ideology and Marxist aesthetics, particularly because they have been highlighted as a result of the work of George Lukà ¡cs, one of the major proponents in the realism/modernism debate who is also a major Marxist aesthetician. For example, Gramsci builds on the way which Lukà ¡cs aesthetically and culturally confronted the immediate advent of fascism (Holub Renate, p.3). According to Holub Renate (3), Gramsci builds on and exceeds many concerns of received Marxism when he relates realism and modernism problems to transformations in structural modern world, examines phenomena related to effect and production of industrialization due to culture, studies production of significance in linguistic and phenomenological framework which anticipates a cluster of structural linguistics and a kind of a phenomenological critical theory , carries out a critical practice which is suggestive in terms of contemporary critical theory in terms of differential pragmatics. Holub Renate, (p. 6) suggests that Gramsci builds on Marx ideology by rethinking and Reconsidering Marxist theory and strategy with reference from dialectic questions to ideological theories, culture and the state. He further suggests that the rethinking of formidable occurrences in history resulted to key notions (political and civil society, hegemony, counter-hegemony his idea of the intellectual/organic intellectual) being conceptualized and such notions were later associated with him. In Gramscis concept of the intellectual, as perceived by Holub Renate Gramsci conceptualizes directed reproduction and dissemination of an effective hegemony, and collaborates in the Marxist intellectuals theoretical project hence using this approach, Gramsci builds on Marxist ideology. Additionally, Holub Renate (11) refers to Marxis text as being representative, along with those of Korsch and Lukà ¡cs, of early western Marxism. Gramscis further builds on Marx ideology regarding his treatment of realism in the context of Marxist aesthetics. Though Gramsci does not share some theoretical assumptions with Lukacs, his texts evolve against a background or a structure of concerns which he has in common with Lukà ¡cs (12), who is an ardent Marxist aesthetician. Again, the way in which Gramscis work displays its theory is homologous to many pivotal twentieth-century Marxist ways of theorizing for example when he relates realism and modernism problems to structural al transformations of the modern life world. He also builds on Lukà ¡cs work of cultural-aesthetic confrontation of the immediate advent of fascism and according to Holub Renate (15) he replays the realist/modernist drama, enacted by Lukà ¡cs {a Marxist Aeathetecian} on the one hand and by supporters of modernism on the other hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ his mode of approaching the problems of modernism and modernity, his way of posing questions and problemati zing issues of technologization, is similar to Marxist approach and therefore he builds on the ideology of Marxism. Holub Renate views Gramscis analysis of modernisms cultural problems, reflections on an anticipatory sensibility to very complex socio-cultural transformations and flexibility in adjusting previous concepts (by Marxists and other sociologists) as a building block in his new experiments and inventions so as to grasp new political and social realities .according to Holub Renate in his writings about Gramsci ideology, he confesses that he finds it difficult to separate Gramsci from the Marxist crowd in order to exclusively identify him with the German critical theory of the 19th century possibly as his work is built on the Marxist perception. Holub Renate further suggests that Marxist intellectuals are interested in literary problems, but Gramsci refused to perceive literature as unrelated to social life and political activity. So when Gramsci re-examined the significance of literature and how it is related to politics i.e. the failed revolution on one hand and fascism on the other, he builds on basic premises of Marxist aesthetics which states problems of culture are not separable from the realm of politics and hence production and circulation of cultural goods e.g. literature are related to production and circulation of political, ethical and moral values and norms. Gramscis thoughts in most cases are homologous or built on the critical theories of modernism and therefore there are multiple relations between his thinking and various other forms of critical theory forms of critical theory an example being neo-Marxism, Marxist linguistics, Frankfurt School modernism and critical phenomenology. Gramscis analyses relations of power and function performed by intellectual activities in the course of these relations and he builds on this to formulate the intellectual theory with models such as the traditional intellectual: artist, philosopher and poet, structure of feeling, intellectual community à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The organic intellectual à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the critical specialistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the universal intellectual. Therefore, these models incorporate instances of power and is therefore built on a Marxist account and idealism of social function and responsibilities of the individualas it outlines the non neutrality of knowledge and ideas and partiality of the producers and disseminators of knowledge therefore the political trigger of the intellectual that inscribes power and domination (i.e. social classes having owners and non owners of the means of production according to Karl marx). Therefore Gramsci by deriving the intellectual models was primarily focusing on a determinate body of knowledge which is depicted in Marx and Engels writings as well as in the anti-Marxist writings of philosophers of the twentieth century Italian cultural history e.g. Benedetto Croce. According to Holub Renate, he terms Gramcis work as as aesthetic fragments under the general heading of Marxism and literature, therefore depicting the notion that Gramscis work is a fragment of Marxism or is derived from Marxist ide ology. Gramsci builds on Marxist ideology by deploying his skills to attempt to amend Marxist theories where they are most deficient and vulnerable (39) e.g. by relating superstructure to Marxs infrastructure which changes the perception of Marxs forces of production and relations of production as being the major concepts of materialistic history of theory. Therefore Gramsci derives and build on Lukacs definitive Marxist aesthetics and ideology by organizing his work around a cultural and political critique in his philosophy of praxis. Gramsci builds on the deficiency of Marxist ideology in exploring the ways that the superstructure, its culture, politics and ideology are linked to the base, and by exploring the several ways which the state, culture and politics result in production of ideology, power and authority. His unrelenting interest in the realm of the superstructure unlike the base was just an attempt to build on Marxist ideology by attempting to correct Marxist theory in the areas which it looked very deficient. According to Holub Renate (42), he argues that Gramsci built on Marxist dialectic on superstructure as he was a student and proponent of the work of Antonio Labriola who was an Italian Marxist who opted for a Hegelian basis of interpreting Marx dialectic amidst the theoreticians of the second international. He further strengthens his argument that: Marxist aesthetics, particularly in the Lukà ¡csian version, tended to ignore new cultural formations when measuring art against a new set of aesthetics. Gramsci does both and more (48). Gramscis ideology had a different view of Marxist historical materialism which he saw as infantilism. According to him, political acts were an organisational matter which facilitated party, group and societal coherence. These parallels are eminent with Webers status groups, though Weber criticizes the economism of certain aspects of historical materialism which he highlighted in his Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. On the other hand, Gramscis thoughts were anti-economist, but relied liberalism that claimed that the economy was a pure determinant of socio-political relations. His statement suggests that in certain ways, Gramcis perceptions are in agreement with Webers anti-positivism which gives the suggestion that both Weber and Gramcis works criticised both Marxist and liberal economism and positivism. The most pararrelism between Weber and Gramsci emanates from Weberian views on individual action. Regarding this concept, Weber perceives collectivities to be results of certain individual acts while Gramsci on the other hand perceives a collective will embodied in the party. According to Weber inexorable social forces were not a causative factor of conduct and Weber seems to disagree with Gramscis hegemony though Weber agrees that actors are sometimes unconscious with their actions. Weber perceives collectivities as being conceptual abstractions, but he is unable to account for structural inequalities, while Gramscis State and party can be perceived as ideal-type constructs according to his perspective of class of class action. Thus on several aspects, Gramsci accounts for deficiencies in Webers account on both bourgeois and proletarian classes unlike the individual. According to Weber class is heterogeneous in collective action and it is through status groups that the means for Gramcis hegemony are portrayed and the difference according to Weber is one of interpretation as was not convinced that values or ideology could result in a difference in realities of social structure at a bureaucratic stage. Gramcis ideology dominated and it is here that Gramsci and Weber agree. According to Gramscis philosophy of praxis, ideologies are arbitrary and must be combated for reasons of political struggle so as to make the governed to feel intellectually independent (Gramsci, 1988: 196). This is built on Webers argument of collectivities being results of the sum of individual actions. Gramsci continues to build on these ideas by defending ideology as being a social fact, hence he states that: To reinforce the conception of historical bloc in which precisely material forces are the content and ideologies are the form, though this distinction between form and content has purely indicative value, since the material forces would be inconceivable historically without form and the individual fancies without the material forces. (Gramsci, 1988: 200). Conclusion Gramsci explores factors which might play a role in arresting historical change as he (Gramsci) shifts his attention away from the material, economic and objective factor of Marx dialectic to the theoretical, subjective or supernatural factor and Holub Renate calls this shift as the beginning of western Marxism (50) because on the basis of Marxist paradigm contexts, Gramsci develops interest in understanding the complexity of the real of the super-structural while relating it to the economic basis There are crossovers in Weberian perception of legitimate domination and Gramscis imposed hegemony as they are both dependent on concept and Max Weber admits that the aspect of legitimacy has to be perceived in the same way as Gramscis hegemony. Does it mean that they shared a similar methodology? This question arises since they were both anti-economist and to some degree anti-positivistic. Critical analysis of their views makes one wonder whether Gramsci knew effects of Weberian status groups in civil society as he took the hegemonistic idea above the basis of economicism even though domination according to Gramsci was based on class.

Cyberculture and the Future of Print :: Writing Technology Technological Papers

I remember a time, when I would actually sit down and write out an assignment, with a pencil and paper before going to the computer and typing it. Those days are long gone. Now when I have a writing assignment to do, I simply go to my computer desk, sit down, and begin to type. The technologies that once were have become something of the past, and we are faced with these high powered machines that connect to the World Wide Web in a matter of minutes, or link you to anyone across the United States for a one on one instant message conversation. Within a ten year time period, we have become a very cyber centered society, and I dont expect a change any time soon. The purpose of this paper, is to explain how cyberculture has changed the way that we think about writing, and ourselves in particular as writers. As young adults, it is always instilled in us, that there is a right way to do something and a wrong way to do something. I was taught growing up to sit down and write out a draft for my paper(s) along with an outline before getting started. That was the right way. Doing it this way was supposed to provide the main idea and key points that I was going to use in my paper. Now 4 years later, I find that when I have to write a paper, I donwrite anything out. I sit at the computer and let it flow. I am not saying that this is the right way of doing things, its just my way. A way that has, for the most part worked for 4 years I try to think of myself as a very objective person. Just because I can appreciate all that a computer can do, does not mean that I do not see any problems with it. Many people argue that just sitting down and typing your assignments with no previous drafts wont work because people tend to think faster than they can write. This is true. But I feel that just as easily as you can forget to type a word, you can forget to write it. Landow said it best, when he said that All the strengths of electronic text, including adaptability, infinite duplicability, and speed of transport make these changes ultimately a means of saving time, energy, and other resources, particularly paper (Landow, p.

Satellite Radio :: Technology Essays

Satellite Radio When I drive my car around town running errands and going from place to place, it’s nice to listen to the radio. Now since this distance I am traveling seems to be within a 30-40 mile radius, flipping through the stations is not much of a problem for me. Now on the other hand, I do travel out of town frequently, and I hate it when I want to listen to the radio and there is no signal. The reason why none of us can is because radio signals don’t carry much farther than the town’s radius. Trying to find a station in the static is very annoying. Most of the time (especially in Iowa it seems) there are no stations for miles. Now who would honestly like to travel like that? Not me that is for sure. There is an alternative though. It’s not very expensive to get either. Satellite radio is the key to traveling without boredom. Satellite radio’s signals are cast from over 22,000 miles away from the earth’s surface. There is no static interferen ce either! From personal experience, I have sold these radios for a company. I don’t want to persuade anyone either way towards one brand or the other. AS I have researched though, there are subtle differences in each provider. For instance, if price is an issue, there are plenty of options that are affordable. The bills are monthly for the two that I have looked into, but depending on the different perks, the price can really make all the difference. â€Å"Radio to the Power of X†, is the slogan used for XM satellite radio. There is no contract requirement any longer to listen to premium quality music, with few to zero commercials. It’s only 9.99$ per month for any service plan. Here are a few perks for XM radio; †¢ 68 commercial free music channels. †¢ 33 channels of sports, news, talk & entertainment †¢ 21 channels with instant traffic and weather †¢ Delphi Unit-portable or fixed in a car. †¢ Receiver lists the artist and song. †¢ 2 satellites orbiting the earth †¢ Only 9.95$ per month These are just a few of the perks that XM has to offer. XM has teamed up with pioneer, Jensen, and audiovox to create the car decks that are â€Å"XM ready† so the price of the equipment can be very affordable. The Delphi unit is a little more expensive, but depending on when you want to listen to radio, whether it is at home or in the office, this unit is a prime choice.

Operations Management Review Questions

INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Spring 2012-ASSIGNMENT # 1 Name 1: ————————————————— ID # ———————————————— Name 2: ————————————————— ID # ———————————————— Question # 1 [15 Marks] Bob Richards, the production manager of Zychol Chemicals, is preparing his quarterly report, which is to include a productivity analysis for his department. One of the inputs is production data prepared by Sharon Walford, his operation analyst. The report, which she gave him this morning, showed the following. |2011 |2012 | |Production (units) |4,5 00 |6,000 | |Raw material used (barrel of petroleum by-products) |700 |900 | |Labor hour |22,000 |28,000 | |Capital cost applied to the department ($) |375,000 |620,000 |Bob new the his labor cost per hour has increased from average of $13 per hour to an average of $14 per hour, primarily due to a move by management to become more competitive with a new company that had just opened a plant in the area. He also knew that his average cost per barrel of raw material had increased from $320 to $360. He was concerned about the accounting procedures that increased his capital cost from $375,000 to $620,000, but earlier discussions with his boss suggested that there was nothing that could be done about the allocation. Bob wondered if his productivity had increased at all.He called Sharon into the office and conveyed the above information to her and asked her to prepare this part of the report. Discussion Question; 1- Prepare the productivity part of the report for Mr Richards. He probably expects some analysis of productivity inputs for all factors, as well as a multifactor analysis for both years with the change in productivity (up or down) and the amount noted. 2- Assume additional information related to the cost of production were available. The cost per unit for 2011 was $120 and for 2012 was $125. Considering the increase in the cost is there a change in multifactor productivity growth? Solution Q1:Question # 2 [15 Marks] Forecasts based on average. Given the following data: (Stevenson page 96) |Period |Number of Complaints | |1 |60 | |2 |65 | |3 |55 | |4 |58 | |5 |64 | Prepare a forecast using each of these approaches: a. The appropriate naive approach. [2 marks] b. A three period moving average. [3 marks] c. A weighted average using weight of 0. (most recent), 0. 3 and 0. 2. [4 marks] d. Exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant of 0. 4. [6 marks] Solution Q2: Question # 3 [15 Marks] Using seasonal relatives, Apple’s Citrus Fruit Farm ships boxed fruit anywhere in Middle East. Using the following information, forecast shipments for the first four months of next year. |Month |Seasonal Relatives |Month |Seasonal Relatives | |January |1. 2 |July |0. 8 | |February |1. 3 |August |0. | |March |1. 3 |September |0. 7 | |April |1. 1 |October |1. 0 | |May |0. 8 |November |1. 1 | |June |0. 7 |December |1. 4 | The monthly equation being used is Yt = 402 + 3t Where t = 0 correspond to January of two years ago Yt = Number of boxes of fruits expected to ship in month t. Solution Q3:Question # 4 [15 Marks] Consider the following two techniques for forecasting F1 and F2. The actual and the two sets of forecast are as follows |Period |Demand |F1 |F2 | |1 |68 |66 |66 | |2 |75 |68 |68 | |3 |70 |72 |70 | |4 |74 |71 |72 | |5 |69 |72 |74 | |6 |72 |70 |76 | |7 |80 |71 |78 | . Calculate the MAD, for each set of forecast. Given your results, which technique appears to be more accurate? Explain b. Calculate the MSE, for each set of forecast. Given you r results, which technique appears to be more accurate? c. Calculate the MAPE, for each set of forecast. Given your results, which technique appears to be more accurate? Solution Q4: Question # 5 [10 Marks] Rick Wing, salesperson for Wave Soldering Systems, Inc. (WSSI), has provided you with a proposal for improving the temperature control on your present machine.The machine uses a hot-air knife to cleanly remove excess solder from printed circuit boards; this is a great concept, but the hot-air temperature control lacks reliability. According to Wing, engineers at WSSI have improved the reliability of the critical temperature controls. The new system still has the four sensitive integrated circuits controlling the temperature, but the new machine has a backup for each. The four integrated circuits have reliabilities of 0. 90, 0. 92, 0. 94, and 0. 96. The four backup circuits all have a reliability of 0. 90. ) What is the reliability of the new temperature controller? b) If you pay a premium, Wing says he can improve all four of the backup units to 0. 93. What is the reliability of this option? Solution Q5: Question # 6 [15 Marks] A weather satellite has an expected life of 16 years from the time it is place into earth’s orbit. Determine its probability of failure after each of the following lengths of service. (Assume Exponential distribution is appropriate. ) [2. 5 marks each a, b, c, and d] a. More than 9 years b. Less than 12 years c. More than 9 years but less than 12 years . At least 21 years Solution Q6: Question # 7 [15 Marks] An office manager has received a report from a consultant that includes a section on equipment replacement. The report indicates the scanners have a service life time that is Normally distributed with a mean of 41 months and standard deviation of 4 months. On the basis of this information, determine the percentage of scanners can be expected to fail in the following time periods. a. Before 38 months of service b. Between 4 0 and 45 months of service c. Within 2 months of the mean life Solution Q7:

Food and the Endless Waltz Essay

Akira Kurosawa’s seminal work Seven Samurai is a stirring and heart-rending commentary on 16th century Japan. The movie focuses on the rigid caste system of Japan where warriors fight while peasants farm to support them. The film’s artistic value makes it worthy of being called a Kurosawa masterpiece. However, it is in the lesson the film seeks to impart that is perhaps where the true genius of Kurosawa is seen. Set in the Sengoku Jidai, the century of war, the haughty warrior class are locked in an endless waltz of bloodshed while the food producing peasant, the true heart of Japan, are ignored though they always win in the end. For pure production value alone Seven Samurai was a masterpiece. Kurosawa introduced a number of filming techniques that would soon be mainstream fare for action films the world over. One example is the use of slow motion filming to emphasize the death of a main character. It was also the most expensive Japanese film of its time and is possibly the most successful Japanese film period. The premise of the film is as common as rice in Sengoku Jidai Japan. A group of bandits, either masterless samurai called Ronin or desperate peasants driven to banditry by the loss of their farms to the constant warfare, are terrorizing a village. Peasants lacking the skills and weapons to fight back they seek help from the Gentleman Warrior class known as Samurai. After much hardship they find Seven Samurai, well six considering that Kikuchiyo was just a pretender, who after much blood shed succeed in fending of the bandit. Ironically, instead of a victory parade or laurels they are ostracized by the people they just bled for. The main theme is the separation between the Warrior class and the peasants. The peasants humbly admit that they are incapable of fighting and are forced to go to the city and recruit Samurai who are willing to fight for mere three meals a day since that is all they can afford to pay. The haughty Samurai reject this offer since, as member of the gentleman warrior class they deserve better than three peasant meals a day as wages for their services. With the help of a grizzled veteran Samurai named Kanbei they managed to recruit Six Samurai plus a straggler named Kikuchiyo. They receive a cold welcome from the other villagers who fear them as much as they feared the bandits. This theme continues to be played out during the movie. In the past wounded, fleeing Samurai were killed and robbed by the villagers when the Samurai sought refuge there. The Seven Samurai are enraged at this brutality and nearly turn on their employers. The farmers are worried that the Samurai would take their young women and in fact one of the Samurai does carry on an affair with a village daughter. All this is the result of the age old tradition that only certain worthy individuals could become Samurai warriors. The rest of the rural folk are consigned to becoming peasants. The Samurai choose to break this tradition by training the local peasants to help them defend the village, albeit with limited success. The end of the movie displays the most poignant scene in the whole film. Four of the Samurai are slain but the village is sucessfully defended. Instead of showing gratitude, the villagers ignore the surviving Samurai and busy themselves with planting next year’s crop. Kanbei lament that â€Å"He has never won a battle† is given new meaning. Doubtless, the three surviving Samurai will move on to another of the endless battles of the era known as â€Å"The century of war† leaving the villagers in peace. Victory belongs not to the slain bandits nor the ostracized surviving Samurai but to the common peasants. They won because their life can now go back to normal to planting the life giving rice that sustains Japan to this day. True, they are maltreated by their lords, helplessly slaughtered in the battles, and at times forcibly conscripted as they were in the film. But the peasant’s life will continue, planting rice, water and tend the crop, then harvest just as he had for centuries, just as he will continue to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another theme is the superiority of modern technology over the old. Many subplots in the movie are about disabling the firearms of the bandits. There are fourty bandits and only seven Samurai but the Samurai are better skilled only the firearms give the bandits the upper hand. In fact all four of the Samurai killed died due to gunfire and not in honorable single combat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally there is the wisdom of Kikuchiyo. He was a phony Samurai lacking the high-birth of a proper member of the warrior class. Yet with the exception of Kanbei perhaps he had the most significant role in the movie. He is the one who sucessfully breaks the ice and convinces the Villagers to flee from their hiding places and meet the other Samurai. He was also the one who pointed out that the reason the fleeing Samurai are maltreated by the villagers is because they too absorbed cruel treatment from the warrior class. It was mainly through his wisdom and understanding, he is not actually a Samurai but a farmer’s son, that the Samurai and the villagers are able to work together in harmony. Truly, despite his unworthy roots and oafish behavior he is probably the most ‘Samurai’ of the seven. He dies a noble and worthy death avenging a fallen comrade and slaying the leader of the bandits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As stated earlier, Seven Samurai is a testimony to the skill of Akira Kurosawa in both writing and directing. The films shows the suffering of the peasants during the Sengoku Jidai. The Samurai win victories only to waltz on to another of the endless battles perhaps to win or perhaps to die. But after the warrirors leave the food producing peasant will stay in his field and contiue planting his life giving crop. Sources Kurosawa, Akira â€Å"Seven Samurai† (26 April 1954)   

Improving High Schools Service Quality in America Essay

Improving High Schools Service Quality in America - Essay Example There are many pieces of evidence that prove that the students are not very happy with the education system and this has made the education system very fickle and ineffective. Hence, the argument lies on the fact that the whole system of education needs modification that caters to the students as well as to the teachers as both of them to need to work together to make an education system a success. The article, â€Å"Put Teachers to the Test† by Diane Ravitch (2008) provides implications to the problems as it provides reasons of increased dropout rate. There are many reasons for a poor education system and one of the examples can be quoted in this article. An investigation was carried out regarding teacher’s role and to everybody’s surprise; it was found that the teachers themselves were not proficient enough to educate the students. When teachers were asked to take a test of 11th grade, a very small percentage of teachers could answer it correctly. Moreover, Diane (2008) states that there is a very less number of High schools teachers who have related education and experience of what they teach. This gap is disastrous for students as the teaching style may not be appropriate, accurate, relevant and reliable. In this regard, it is argued that the education system should have a policy that every teacher should have the license to teach. It is essential that the teachers should have knowledge about pedagogical methods of teaching as well as have information relating to child psychology in order to teach students effectively. The number of low-grade students and dropouts is due to these issues and the evidence is given by Diane (2008)as she states that research was conducted relating to unqualified teachers.

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

Capstone - Research Paper Example The company also deals with ensuring that the personnel can provide renovation services. The main purpose of the company is to provide advice and assessment services for individuals who wish to be qualified in building and renovating. Capstone is aimed at laying out the mechanisms of support of enhancing the technical skills of individuals who hope to further their understanding on building. The company ensures that individuals are provided with a qualified builder’s license to have properly designed and safe buildings. Building an engineering school at Lynn University requires implementing a proper layout structure of the site and the environment that surrounds the building. The successful completion of an attractive engineering complex requires a package that meets the technical approach utilized in the licensing state body. As investors, reading at the background of capstone is inevitable that it will provide a properly elevated engineering school at the University of Lynn. 2. Culture Capstone empowers its superior people to ensure that they deliver to their subordinates. Empowering the superiors gives light to the subordinates as they are directed towards the correct path. The company holds a culture of freedom as the employees are allowed to air their thoughts on given designs and layouts. In the building and construction industry it is important to give rise to new designs that may facilitate a better engineering building. Considering that the construction should cater for a growing institution, the design should facilitate the different number of students that will be using the new building. The company recruits individuals that hold a high passion for construction. Pride in what the employees does is emphasizes as they are the direct marketers of the company. Strong relevance on persistence and strong work ethics is an important aspect in ensuring that the integrity of the company continues to flourish with time. The culture of holding high integ ral values sets to set the company apart from their competitive companies. 3. Mission Statement Capstone Construction Company’s mission is to provide value added services to the customers through generating lasting partnerships in the construction process. The company’s aim is to continue providing reliable customers to existing and new customers (Breton & Wintrobe, 1995). 4. Product The product of capstone will include in ensuring that it provide a post modern engineering building will be divided in different sections of the building process. The foundation, the form building and the roofing will act as a guideline of producing the finished product. Foundation building is important as it will determine the ability of the building to stand alone. The building aesthetic will also determine the products used for construction. Lastly the finishing plays an important role as it will attract other projects of the similar design. The type of products to be used includes wood , stone, glass, concrete and masonry tools. The roof will be pre-engineered to support the structural wall systems 5. Gantt Chart Diagram This is an analysis of the processes involved in making one project process move. It will emulate the different steps of the building process from the foundation to the roofing and finishing process. Construction of the engineering building will require an articulate process that will show progress from the commencement to the finishing of the process. Continued assessment will also be included to aid in the report making and