Comment of the way Blake uses imagery in Songs of Innocence andSongs of Experience Essay

Comment of the way Blake uses imagery in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience to give different perspectives on the human condition. Blake portrays very different views on the human condition in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by using imagery. He uses different sorts of imagery to build a picture in the readers mind. Blake may intend to use language to associate words to a larger picture, perhaps by using connotations. This method adds a lot of depth and meaning to the poem. An example of this can be found in ‘LONDON’. The use of the word ‘blackning’ may appear simple and straighforward, yet Blake may of intended this word to have several meanings. Black is a sinister colour which may be associated with evil, as well as suggesting Londons filth. This foreboding connotation would complement the poems tone and imply rather pessimistic views on the human condition. Blake often uses bold and striking descriptions, which appeal to the readers imaginations and often helps them relate to the poems setting, characters, or overall meaning on a more personal level. In ‘Nurse’s Song’, Blake builds an idealised setting in the readers mind. This gives a happy and postive view on life, by describing a setting typical of dreams, or fairy stories in which evil is non-existent. This is a huge contrast from the descriptive language used in poems from Songs of Experience. Here, stronger and perhaps more realistic and brutal images are portrayed. For example, in ‘The Tyger’, the first two lines set a very specific scene. ‘Forests of the night’ is a fairly simple yet strikingly threatening line. A dark forest is the place the reader would least like to be, especially accompanied by a tiger. The use of alliteration, ‘burning bright’ emphasises the harsh and strong ‘b’ sound, and helps set the scene. Perhaps this use of the word burning is supposed to put the idea of hell into the readers mind. The physical and mechanical language used later on is extremely vivid, and one cannot help associating this with the industrial revolution, which would of been occuring at the time Blake wrote his poems.

Opposition to the War of 1812 From Americans

Opposition to the War of 1812 From Americans When the United States declared war against Britain in June 1812, the vote on the declaration of war in the Congress was fairly close, reflecting how unpopular the war was to large segments of the American public. Though one of the main reasons for the war had to do with the rights of sailors on the high seas and the protection of American shipping, the senators and representatives from the maritine states of New England tended to vote against the war. Sentiment for war was perhaps strongest in the western states and territories, where a faction known as the War Hawks believed that the United States could invade present day Canada and seize territory from the British. The debate about the war had been going on for many months, with newspapers, which tended to be highly partisan in that era, proclaiming pro-war or anti-war positions. The declaration of war was signed by President James Madison on June 18, 1812, but for many that did not settle the matter. Opposition to the war continued. Newspapers blasted the Madison administration, and some state governments went so far as to essentially obstruct the war effort. In some cases opponents to the war engaged in protests, and in one noteworthy incident, a mob in Baltimore attacked a group which opposed the war. One of the victims of the mob violence in Baltimore, who suffered serious injuries from which he never fully recovered, was the father of Robert E. Lee. Newspapers Attacked the Madison Administration Move Toward War The War of 1812 began against a backdrop of intense political battling within the United States. The Federalists of New England were opposed to the idea of war, and the Jeffersonian Republicans, including President James Madison, were very suspicious of them. A huge controversy broke out when it was revealed that the Madison administration had paid a former British agent for information on Federalists and their suspected connections to the British government. The information provided by the spy, a shady character named John Henry, never amounted to anything that could be proven. But the bad feelings engendered by Madison and members of his administration influenced partisan newspapers early in 1812. Northeastern newspapers regularly denounced Madison as corrupt and venal. There was a strong suspicion among the Federalists that Madison and his political allies wanted to go to war with Britain to bring the United States closer to the France of Napoleon Bonaparte. Newspapers on the other side of the argument argued that the Federalists were an English party in the United States that wanted to splinter the nation and somehow return it to British rule. Debate over the war - even after it had been declared - dominated the summer of 1812. At a public gathering for the Fourth of July in New Hampshire, a young New England attorney, Daniel Webster, gave an oration which was quickly printed and circulated. Webster, who had not yet run for public office, denounced the war, but made a legal point: It is now the law of the land, and as such we are bound to regard it. State Governments Opposed the War Effort One of the arguments against the war was that the United States was simply not prepared, as it had a very small army. There was an assumption that state militias would bolster the regular forces, but as the war began the governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts refused to comply with the federal request for militia troops. The position of the New England state governors was that the president of the United States could only requisition the state militia to defend the nation in the event of an invasion, and no invasion of the country was imminent. The state legislature in New Jersey passed a resolution condemning the declaration of war, terming it inexpedient, ill-timed, and most dangerously impolitic, sacrificing at once countless blessings. The legislature in Pennsylvania took the opposite approach, and passed a resolution condemning the New England governors who were opposing the war effort. Other state governments issued resolutions taking sides. And it is clear that in the summer of 1812 the United States was going to war despite a large split in the country. A Mob in Baltimore Attacked Opponents of the War In Baltimore, a thriving seaport at the beginning of the war, public opinion generally tended to favor the declaration of war. In fact, privateers from Baltimore were already setting sail to raid British shipping in the summer of 1812, and the city would eventually become, two years later, the focus of a British attack. On June 20, 1812, two days after war was declared, a Baltimore newspaper, the Federal Republican, published a blistering editorial denouncing the war and the Madison administration. The article angered many citizens of the city, and two days later, on June 22, a mob descended on the newspapers office and destroyed its printing press. The publisher of the Federal Republican, Alexander C. Hanson, fled the city for Rockville, Maryland. But Hanson was determined to return and continue publishing his attacks on the federal government. With a group of supporters, including two notable veterans of the Revolutionary War, James Lingan and General Henry Lee (the father of Robert E. Lee), Hanson arrived back in Baltimore a month later, on July 26, 1812. Hanson and his associates moved into a brick house in the city. The men were armed, and they essentially fortified the house, fully expecting another visit from an angry mob. A group of boys gathered outside the house, shouting taunts and throwing stones. Guns, presumably loaded with blank cartridges, were fired from an upper floor of the house to disperse the growing crowd outside. The stone throwing became more intense, and windows of the house were shattered. The men in the house began shooting live ammunition, and a number of people in the street were wounded. A local doctor was killed by a musket ball. The mob was driven to a frenzy. Responding to the scene, the authorities negotiated the surrender of the men in the house. About 20 men were escorted to the local jail, where they were housed for their own protection. A mob assembled outside the jail on the night of July 28, 1812, forced its way inside, and attacked the prisoners. Most of the men were severely beaten, and James Lingan, an elderly veteran of the American Revolution, was killed, reportedly by being struck in the head with a hammer. General Henry Lee was beaten senseless, and his injuries probably contributed to his death several years later. Hanson, the publisher of the Federal Republican, survived, but was also severely beaten. One of Hansons associates, John Thompson, was beaten by the mob, dragged through the streets, and tarred and feathered. Lurid accounts of the Baltimore riot were printed in American newspapers. People were particularly shocked by the killing of James Lingam, who had been wounded while serving as an officer in the Revolutionary War and had been a friend of George Washington. Following the riot, tempers cooled in Baltimore. Alexander Hanson moved to Georgetown, on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where he continued to publish a newspaper denouncing the war and mocking the government. Opposition to the war continued in some parts of the country. But over time the debate cooled off and more patriotic concerns, and a desire to defeat the British, took precedence. At the end of the war, Albert Gallatin, the nations treasury secretary, expressed a belief that the war had unified the nation in many ways, and had lessened a focus on purely local or regional interests. Of the American people at the end of the war, Gallatin wrote: They are more Americans; they feel and act more as a nation; and I hope that the permanency of the Union is thereby better secured. Regional differences, of course, would remain a permanent part of American life. Before the war had officially ended, legislators from the New England states gathered at the Hartford Convention and argued for changes in the U.S. Constitution. The members of the Hartford Convention were essentially federalists who had opposed the war. Some of them argued that states which had not wanted the war should split from the federal government. The talk of secession, more than four decades before the Civil War, did not lead to any substantial action. The official end of the War of 1812 with the Treaty of Ghent occurred and the ideas of the Hartford Convention faded away. Later events, events such as the Nullification Crisis, the prolonged debates about slavery in America, the secession crisis, and the Civil War  still pointed to regional splits in the nation. But Gallatins larger point, that the debate over the war ultimately bound the country together, had some validity.

Blacks Of The Bible Essay Research Paper

Blacks Of The Bible Essay, Research Paper Blacks of the Bible Any effort to set up a universally recognized statement as to the presence of inkinesss in the Old Testament would be futile for several grounds. First, current definitions of a black or Negro individual may differ greatly dependent on the context of their use, and hence any survey aimed to demo the presence of inkinesss in the Bible would be limited to the definition used by either the writer or the reader of such a survey. Besides, the construct of race defined on a footing of skin colour entirely has been the comparatively immature creative activity of the Euro-centric western universe, station seventeenth century. Due to this fact, it is sometimes hard to find clearly the race of assorted peoples or individuals in the Bible ; the people of scriptural times do non portion the same construct of race that we carry today. In fact the Hebrew peoples themselves seem non to be of a pure racial strain of any colour, but instead the family tree of the Hebrew people, as will be shown subsequently, seems to be scattered with interracial matrimonies and people of most all races including the Negro race. Therefore, it is non my effort with this essay to show an thorough or important history of all the black peoples and individuals in the Old Testament. Rather it was my hope to get down to research the significance people of the Negro race clasp in these ancient texts, to happen out the function that these people held in the rise and autumn of the Hebrew state, and the portion that was played by Negroes in the working out of God? s will for his people. The history that I will supply is based most mostly on similar surveies presented by Afro-american scriptural bookmans Cain Hope Felder and Charles B. Copher. However, I have non taken the words of these work forces without a grain of salt, and I was certain to read their survey with their book in one manus and the Bible in the other. What I found was that people of dark tegument played an of import function in merely about every coevals dating about back to God? s creative activity of adult male. I had expected to happen a few scattered mentions to African peoples or a few random histories of persons who had traveled from the African continent, but my survey revealed that people of dark tegument, who really good may be considered black by today? s racial criterions, were found scattered about the states of the ancient universe. Beginnings of the Negro Race One of the first or most obvious inquiries that may be asked when get downing to look for the presence of inkinesss in the Old Testament is with respect to the beginning of dark skinned races. A logical topographic point to get down this hunt may be in the tabular array of states presented in Genesis 10:1-14 and once more listed in 1 Histories 1:8-16. This list begins with Noah and histories for the dispersing of his boies to get down repopulating the Earth after the great inundation history in Genesis. In this tabular array of states we find that two of the named boies of Ham are known dark skinned races. These being the posterities of Cush and the posterities of Canaan. The most normally accepted ground for the sudden visual aspect dark tegument within the family tree is related to the expletive Noah set upon Ham in Genesis 9:25-27. Although non explicitly stated in the text, it is by and large accepted that Ham? s tegument was turned dark as a consequence of this expletive, and hi s posterities were so destined to transport the same grade. There are, nevertheless, other hypotheses for the beginning of the black races. The first of these theories, expressed in antediluvian Babylonian myth, suggests that Ham defiled himself in a sexual act with the Canis familiaris while on the Ark. For this act of befoulment, expletives were placed on both the Canis familiaris and Ham. Ham? s expletive was that he and his posterities would be black-skinned. The following theory suggests that the Negro race really began back with Adam and Eve? s foremost boy Cain, who was turned black by the ashes of his inappropriate offering to God. The theory that Cain was in fact the male parent of the Negro race was a slightly prevailing idea among Europeans back every bit far as the twelfth century, and perchance farther as Cain? s posterities are depicted as black skinned in the narrative of Beowulf. However, this theory has merely been made philosophy in the Mormon church. This theory is closely tied to the narrative of Ham, by proposing that Ham took a descendent of Cain as his married woman, thereby bring forthing dark skinned offspring in Cush and Canaan. Still others theorize that the tabular array of states shown in Genesis and 1 Corinthians is a list of states that is merely inclusive of the states within the range of cognition of the writer, and in fact all of the races listed there are Caucasoid races. Among those excluded from this list would be the Indians, Chinese, Mongolians, Malaysians, and the Negroes. The theory suggests that there were other races of independent line of descent that were unknown to the writer at the clip of the Hagiographas. It seems that this would be strongly discredited by the established ideal that the great inundation was intended to pass over all people from the Earth, salvage Noah? s household. It would thereby be assumed that all races of the Earth are descendent of Noah. Whatever the account for the beginning of dark skinned races, Negro people clearly have been descendent of Noah? s boy Ham, and it is told in Genesis that Ham? s offspring were those who settled and built such great ancient metropoliss as Babylon, Nineveh, Sodom, and Gomorrah. In the Patriarchal Period Harmonizing to Genesis 11:31 Abraham, so Abram, was born and raised in the metropolis of Ur of the Chaldeans, whose dwellers included many dark skinned people descendant most likely from Babylonian colonists. Included among these people were the Sumarian people who referred to themselves as the # 8220 ; black headed 1s, # 8221 ; indicative of tegument colour non merely black hair. Abram took his married woman Sarai while still populating in Ur. Granted there is no expressed indicant that either Abraham or his married woman was born into a household with Negro heritage, but the great black presence in the part of his household? s beginning surely means that one must at least entertain that possibility. So it would be sensible to believe that the great patriarch himself, the male parent of the Hebrew people, may hold had some black blood in him. Regardless of the presence of Negro blood in Abraham? s line of descent it is surely clear that he had much contact with dark skinned people in the clip that he and Sarah spent in Egypt and Canaan. Both of these countries were settled by the posterities of Ham, and were inhabited most mostly by dark skinned people. Abraham and Sarah took an Egyptian housemaid named Hagar when they headed to Canaan, out of Egypt. It was subsequently through the Egyptian, Hagar, that Abraham bore his first boy Ishmael. Because Ishmael was born outside God? s compact with Abraham, he and his female parent were finally sent off, but they settled in the part merely E of Egypt and it is by and large believed that he took an Egyptian married woman and fathered the Arab race. In Egypt and the Exodus Egypt was a land of people of all colourss, but it has become more and more evident in recent scholarship that the great state of Egypt has been more a derived function of the African states descendant of Cush than of any in-between eastern peoples. In add-on to this, although most Egyptians were non as dark skinned as their Ethiopian neighbours to the South, the huge bulk of Egyptians had adequate black blood in them that they would surely hold been considered Negroes by most any definition used today. This fact is merely reinforced by the observation that the Psalms repeatedly poetically refer to Egypt as # 8220 ; the land of Ham # 8221 ; ( Ps. 78:51, 105:23, 106:22 ) . It must be remembered besides that the Hebrew people lived in bondage in Egypt for over four hundred old ages. Coevals after coevals of Hebrew was born, lived, died and was buried in the land of the Egyptian. During this extended clip period there is indi cation of at least a smattering of Hebrew adult females being taken by Egyptian work forces for a married woman, and one of Pharaoh? s girls, Bithiah, married a Hebrew adult male, and their kids are included among the kins of Judah after the expatriate, in 1 Histories 4:17-18. Through all the coevalss that came and passed while in the land of Egypt it is certain that some of these people came out of the land with a assorted heritage. A perfect illustration of this assorted heritage is in the blood line of Moses. Many of the members of Moses? household bear distinctively Egyptian names, most notably: Aaron, Hophni, Merari, Miriam, Putiel, Phinehas, and even the name of Moses himself. While most of these names may perchance hold been picked by opportunity and non to propose Egyptian, or Negro blood, the name Phinehas stands out as a possible index of the black blood that ran in Moses household. Eleazar, Moses nephew through his brother Aaron, named his first born Phinehas ( Ex. 6:25 ) which literally means # 8220 ; the Nubian # 8221 ; or # 8220 ; the Negro. # 8221 ; In add-on to the possibility of black blood running in Moses? lineage it without a uncertainty ran through his posterities, through his Midian married woman Zipporah. At one point after the flight from Egypt, Aaron and Miriam really spoke unfavourably of Moses and his # 8220 ; Cu*censored*e # 8221 ; married woman, Zipporah ( Num. 12:1 ) . In Israel and Judah Through the clip of the Judges we continue to see the outgrowth of Egyptian heritage in the blood lines of Moses and Aaron. The history of Eli and his two boies, from Aaron? s line, in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2, shows another illustration of Hebrew leaders with distinctively Egyptian names. In fact, Eli? s boies are named Hophni and, interestingly plenty, Phinehas, once more proposing a unequivocal black visual aspect. During the period of the incorporate Israel, there are several mentions to African or Cu*censored*e adult females that occur during Solomon? s reign. First is the history of Solomon? s favourite married woman, and Egyptian adult female. Offered to Solomon as confidence of an confederation with Egypt ( 1 Kgs. 3:1 ) , this nameless married woman was really Pharaoh? s girl. Many suggest that this is the same maiden that is written of in Solomon? s Song of Songs. Although the true individuality of this married woman unknown, other theories associate her with Moses? Cu*censored*e married woman, or suggest that it may hold been Abishag the Shunammite virgin that was brought to King David to soothe him in his old age and who was so inherited by Solomon upon David? s decease. No affair what the existent name of the inaugural written of in Song of Songs, this adult female was most surely dark skinned ( SS 1:5-6 ) . The following history that we find sing a black person during the clip of the incorporate Israel is that history of the Queen of Sheba, given in both 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 1 Chronicles 9:1-12. This queen over a part most likely found in southwest Arabia or Africa was most decidedly of African descent and had heard of Solomon? s great wisdom spoken of in her land. She came to Israel with rather a noteworthy train, genuinely demoing her wealth and power. She spent some clip with King Solomon inquiring him all of the inquiries that had been on her head. There was nil that he could non explicate to her, and she left rather impressed with the male monarch. The visual aspect of this queen is surely important as it relates to the black presence in the bible, as this is the first black adult female shown in a noteworthy place of power, and she is portrayed in a most positive and respectable mode. Through the clip of the Prophetss during the split lands of Judah and Israel, the lone mention to people of a Negro blood outside of the assorted Hebrew race is limited to occupying ground forcess and prognostications sing the autumn of the great African lands of Egypt and Ethiopia. These invasions and prognostications continued after the autumn of Israel, during the staying being of Judah, but there are a few noteworthy references. In the book of Amos the people of Israel are compared to the Cu*censored*es of the Ethiopian imperium. Traditional Euro-centric scholarship has interpreted verse 9:7 to propose that the Lord is looking instead unfavourably upon Israel, comparing them to a distant and detested people. However, it does non take much excavation to recognize that the Ethiopian land was at its prime at the clip when Amos was vaticinating. In the context of the transition, where God is reflecting on all the times that he has blessed Israel and picked her out of the quag, it see ms more appropriate that the mention to the Cu*censored*es is made to connote that God has non left the people and in fact he seems to assure that he bless them in the same mode that he has blessed the Ethiopian imperium of that peculiar dynasty. The book of Zephaniah provides a alone expression at the black presence in the Old Testament, through the suggestion that the writer himself may be dark skinned. The family tree that is given in Zephaniah 1:1 hints his blood line back four coevalss to Hezekiah, most likely the Judean male monarch. The most interesting portion of the family tree is non, nevertheless, the possible relation of the prophesier to Hezekiah, but instead his male parent? s name, Cushi. As is the instance with any scriptural inquiry where there is no expressed mention to the adult male? s race, there are multiple theories that attempt to explicate the name, or the mention, or the inclusion of the family tree in a mode as to wipe out the presence of black blood in one of the writers of the Bible. However, it seems that we have already shown that the Hebrew race was a assorted race, and with the full cognition of the scriptural tradition of names keeping important significance, it seems no stretch of the imagin ativeness to propose that Cushi was in fact a native Judean, but more than that, he was a most likely a Judean who besides happened to be a black adult male. Knowing that Zephaniah was born to Cushi, it seems merely logical that he excessively would be a native black Judean adult male, who the Lord spoke through as one of the minor Prophetss. After the autumn of Judah, there seem to be no more outstanding figures spoken of who had a definite black heritage, but through the expatriate the prognostications abound refering Egypt and Ethiopia? s autumn and ulterior reemergence. However, it may be worthy to observe that this period of expatriate took topographic point in Babylonia, whose native people were straight descendant of Cush. What Does it Mean?# 8220 ; It appears in literature from many periods of Old Testament history: in historical histories and prophetic prophets ; in Psalms and in the literature of love, the Song of Songs. From slaves to swayers, from tribunal functionaries to writers who wrote parts of the Old Testament itself, from lawmakers to Prophetss, black peoples and their lands and single black individuals appear legion times. In the venas of the Hebrew-Isrealite-Judahite-Jewish people flowed black blood. # 8221 ; This quotation mark Charles B. Copher used to shut his survey on the presence of the black/Negro in the Old Testament, and it seems the most appropriate manner to shut this essay every bit good. The black adult male and the black adult female played a critical function in the narrative of God? s people. The Negro was a portion of the narrative non merely as a friend at times or enemies at others, break ones back one coevals and maestro the following, but the black races besides fre quently played the portion of brother and sister, male parent and female parent, boy and girl. The narrative of the Hebrew is non the narrative of a purely Caucasic race that lived contemning his distant Negro neighbours. Rather the narrative of the Hebrew is the narrative of a assorted race of people, non concerned with a colour defined race, but unified under a common God through good times and bad, whether slave or free. Bibliography Felder, Cain Hope. Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation. Fortress Press: Minneapolis, MN. 1991 The Holy Bible: New International Version. Broadman A ; Holman Publishers: Nashville, TN. 1986 New Bible Dictionary: Third Edition. Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester, England. 1996 32d

The Ethical Issues Concerning Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Ethical Issues Concerning Abortion - Essay Example Normally I would say it is a bad idea to totally base one’s argument of an assumption, and I think that that is usually a good rule of thumb to follow when constructing an argument, especially if there can be found a hole in your argument based on the assumption that you made right from the start! However, in this instance, I feel that her assumption if somewhat justified. The writer attempts to back up their argument by tossing around names of other people who believe as she does, and instead of trying to argue against them she decides to assume they are correct and argue with them. It is an interesting stylistic way to present an argument. It does solve the problem of having to argue that point, as she comes off right from the bat stating that she will not argue that and that the whole argument is based off the idea that is taken for an assumption. And while I originally thought it would be ineffective and not work well in the thought process of an argument, it ends up worki ng out quite well for the writer throughout the course of the article. It works for one reason, and it is because of this that I think it is justified to use that assumption. I can find no holes in that assumption, and it is a very fit and sound one to start off an argument. For is the whole abortion debate not over whether or not a fetus is a person? The whole idea is debated over whether or a not a fetus is a person unfit to kill or not, and the assumption that the whole argument is based off that is correct because that is the entirety of the abortion argument. Now, you might think that there is more to the argument than that, but the author debunks that idea in their next paragraph and states that this whole argument is going to be base on the ethics of abortion; not the subtleties that exist in various cases. And with these ideas, she starts up and opens what is followed by a very sound argument, one that totally supports the sound assumption it is based on. I found myself bein g impressed, as I originally was holding out to bust the earlier assumption, and soon found myself thinking that it really is all about the idea of a fetus and if they are in fact people or not. In the end, I believe it is a totally justifiable assumption, and it works exceedingly well in the course of the written argument, even though I did not think that to begin with.  Ã‚  

ALCESTIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

ALCESTIS - Essay Example On Alcestis and Admetos’ wedding day, the groom is faced with imminent death for failing to sacrifice Artemis. To atone for this failure and avoid death, Admetos is forced to exchange his life for another person. However, to his disappointment, there is no one from his household who is willing to lay down their life for his. It is during this moment that Alcestis, his wife, offers to die for him. This paper aims to address the notion that Alcestis should have never died for Admetos, considering his character, was a serious mistake. Admetos was well aware of the customs, tradition and rites that were practiced by his people. His failure to perform the rite of sacrificing to Artemis, the god who determined an individual’s destiny, was an act of ignorance on his part. He should have followed the right protocol required of any man in his society when marrying. Admetos showed kindness and generosity towards his wife, but this does not justify that he should accept her sacrifice to die for him. He says, â€Å"Old men’s prayers for death are lying prayers, in which they abuse old age and long extent of life. But when death draws near, not one is willing to die, and age no longer is a burden to then (Euripides et al. 219). This is because his acts of kindness and generosity do not dictate or demand that his wife bear the burden if his mistakes. If Admetos truly loved his wife, he should not have allowed her to sacrifice herself for him, and this clearly illustrated when Apollo battles death to save Alce stis. When Apollo realizes that nobody, in the house of Admetos, gave their life for him apart from his wife, he rectifies the mistake done by rescuing Alcestis from Hades and restoring her back to life with the help of Heracles. It was a grave mistake for Alcestis, to lay down her life for Admetos because, even if she was his wife, he did not love her for his heart belonged to a god. The mistake is highlighted by Apollo’s act of setting out to rescue her from Hades

Hate Crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hate Crimes - Essay Example These prejudices are not inborn but rather they are a result of the prejudices which children are exposed to through their families, friends, teachers and the media. This prejudices and biases lead to various stereotypes of different groups. Even the parenting style and personality factors were found to have an effect on the offenders of hate crimes. Creating a stereotype image of a certain group often lead to bad judgments. Hate crimes can be prevented if even at an early age, children are taught that not all people are alike, that each one is a unique person. As such, individuals must learn to respect and accept the diversity of people in communities. Bias and prejudices may not be totally eradicated but they should be kept at a level which does not develop into hate so as not to lead to violent crimes. Tolerance of other people’s differences must be instilled in children at an early age. The government has led the way in preventing hate crimes by making policies and regulations which prevent racial discrimination and promote equality especially in the workplace. Government should provide economic opportunities to minority groups since it is believed that there is a link between economics and hate crimes. Local community leaders must be more aware of the presence of extremist groups who are tremendously prejudiced against certain groups. Reading the chapter makes one think whether hate crimes can be prevented or at the very least, be minimized. Another question is whether there is a way of detecting a person who will most likely commit a hate crime and if detected, can he be swayed into doing otherwise? Is there a way of controlling or limiting one’s prejudices and biases so as not to move one from committing a hate

Dove and Axe Campaigns Controversy

Dove and Axe Campaigns Controversy Unilever: Axe / Dove Controversy Unilever is a leading multinational corporation which was formed by Anglo-Dutch cooperation in 1930 as a result of merging the Soap maker Lever brother and Dutch company Margarine Unie. The merger resulted to a large export of palm oil product which promoted the growth of the company. The Company has expanded since then opening branches all over the world. It has so many outlets in the world and has a large share of het world consumer product market with several brands in the catalog. The company also owns foods and beverage brands, cleaning brands and other personal care brands. The company has a large work force of more than 180,000 people in the world with revenue of more that US$58 billion. The company was established from Roternd and London companies which also act as the mother companies for all other branches in the world. (Unilever, 2008b) Recently the company has been engulfed in one of the most heated controversy in the history of business world arising from its advertisement. The company has been engaged in a various criticisms before but the recent one seems to have attracted the attention of unlikely quarters from politicians to the human reign activists. It has become a subject to social conversation all over the world due to its mode of advertisement. There have been many blogs in the internet that have been used against the company and its advertisement strategy especially the recent one Axe/dove advertisement which has attracted most criticism even before they make their impact on the market. The market of the two brands Axe and Dove have attracted the advocacy groups who have been campaigning for the need to have commercial-free childhood advertisements. The campaign has in form of writing several letters to the company in order to force it to withdraw the advertisement from the market. What is in the controversy about these products? The dove product advertisement has been used as a marketing strategy that is said to be promoting real beauty. In the advertisement there is a dove that is promising the girls a good care if they use the products. In this regard no one can understand how a dove can promise the girl a good care. The company has however described the advertisement as showing the need to have real beauty rather than acting as an advisement to encourage girls to use the products and has therefore started a campaign that is aimed at funning projects for girl child. But this is contradicted by another advertisement of its products Axe deodorant which has been described as having an effect of ‘epitomizing the sexist and degrading making that has been undermining girls’. This has been shone to be a potential harm to the health development of grid as contradicted to the other advertisement of the Dove which promotes health self-image for all women. (Newman, 2007) The company has been on the defense saying that the Dove brand is meant to show women the need of feel beautiful always which has been expressed by wide way in the today’s stereotyping of beauty and it is meant to inspire women to be taking car of them. For this reason the company has created Dove Self-Esteem Fund that is meant to educate and act as inspiration to girls. On the other hand the Axe campaign shows ‘the mating game’ and expressed the desire of men to get noticed by women. (High, 2007) The above advertisement has been causign a lot of criticisms for the company not only from the civil activists but also from political arena. It has been descried as the higher hypocrisy in marketing and there have been threat of taking of civil action by not allowing the Dove Fund to take seminars to school unless the Axe advertisement is changed. Let us analyze the effect of the advertisement and the impact they may have on the company and its businesses. SWOT analysis of the advertisement Being a large multinational company, there are several advantages that the company can enjoy amid such a criticism of the advertisement. At the same time there are some weakness in the controversy that may make the company lose its credibility in the market and therefore loss of sales. Let us look closely at the SWOT analyze of ht advertisement and their implications. Strengths Unilever is a large multinational company that has been in the market for along time now. In this regard, the company has been able to establish its operation in all the markets ands therefore it has a world wide appeal. Due to the fact that is has been able to operate in many countries, the controversy may not cause any effect on it sales. This is due to the fact that the company is known for famous brands that have been satisfying the needs of the consumers. Therefore there may not be many customers who will be affected by the controversy and who are likely to change their preference of its brands due to the controversy. Therefore the current controversy may not affect its international market though it may affect some of the regions where this campaign is concentrated. Those who are involved in the criticism may not be able to reach all the regions of the world. With such wide of brands in the market, the company sales may not be affected even if it withdraws just one brand in the market. (Pandya, 2001) The company has been able to cut a niche in the market and therefore no any amount of criticism that may destroy its images. There has been a new trend in the market where the value of a product is not evaluated by the level of criticism on the level of support that the products receive but by the level of individual satisfaction on the brand. For this reason a lot of people may not be looking at the controversy that has been created around the brands but they would rather focus on the effect fullness for the brands. Since there has not been any criticism about the product to the consumers, there is likelihood that it will not have effect on the marketing of the product. All the consumers of the brands have not presented any complain to the company about the effectfulnes of the brand and therefore they are likely to ignore any call not to use the brand. There could have been a negative effect on the marketing of the brand if there have been reported physical effects on the users. But the controversy is surrounding the advertisements and therefore it is not likely to have any effect on the marketing. In most cases the marketing of a product is affected by the effects of the particular product to the consumers. If the criticism is based on the health effect of the brands, it may have raised serious concerns about the marketing of the product but the controversy is centered about ‘hypocrisy’ which does not attract the attention for the uses of the products. Another strength that the company has on the position of the brand is in the target consumers. The company is targeting the young people who are likely to be influenced most by the advertisement. The specific target of ‘the mating game’ is one of the most influential things that are likely to attract many young people to the product. It should be understood that these young people do not understand the effects of what you can argue all day on ethics in advisement. They are simply attracted to what they can relate with and what makes them feel like others. Therefore they are not likely to change their perception about the product based on the criticism on the advertisement. (Georges, 1999) Most of those how are involved in the criticism are not within age bracket of the target customers of the products. Most of those who are involve in the criticism of the product are not young and even if they coordinate comparing to send letters to the company not many young people are likely to send their letters. Therefore the strength that the company has on this advertisement is that the target customers are not the one who are involved in the criticism and are not likely to change their perception of the products. This is not likely to have a negative effect on marketing of both brands to the target customers. (Unilever, 2007a) It has also been observed that not all people are in crisis of the campaign. Some have descried it as a genius market strategic that is likely to lead to high sales for the product. Therefore the company is likely to get positive support from those how do not see it in negative view. Weaknesses At the same time that are some weakness that are linked to the criticism that the company has been receiving. There is likelihood that the conflict will affect the image of the product in the market. The strength of the brand in the market depends on the positive notes that it receives from thee market. Positive notes are likely to affect the perception for the brand in the market by all consumers. It has been shown that bad perception on products is likely to have a negative impact on the sales. Therefore the more positive comment that a products receives from the market, the more positive impact it is likely to get from the market. In this regard, the criticism is likely to have negative impacts on the perception of the company in the market. In this sense the customers are likely to change their perception about the products of the company in the market. The company has been enjoying a good perception in the market based on the quality of products that it has been offering to the consumer. However this is changing with time as the consumer become more aware of their rights. one of the characteristic of modern consumers is that they have become more powerful in the market and are likely to have an impact on the way a company makes its sales. Therefore the current criticism of the company may impose a consumer led campaign that is likely to tarnish the name of the company. In this regard, the company is likely to lose a lot in case the consumers change their perception. (Golin, 2007) There is also a likelihood that the current controversy is likely to affect the sales of the product due to the influence the civil activists may have on the company. Most of those who are criticizing the company are parents who have a lot of influence on their children. As such they are likely to influence their children depending on the comments that they make about the products. In this regard they are likely to influence their children not to buy the products with the fact that most of them especially the females are unlikely to buy it. In this regard the brands are unlikely to acquire new customers. The survival of brand in the market depends on the way it attracts, and retains new consumers. With such criticism, the brands are not likely to attract new customers which may have an effect of reducing the overall consumption of the brand. (McManis, 2007) The criticism on the brand may extend it on other brands on the company. Once the costumers changes there perception about the company, they are likely to change their overall perception of the products of the company. In this sense the company may start recording low sales even on other brands. The increased use of information technology and the posting of the comments about the products in the internet are likely to attract the attention of more people which is likely to have damage on the reputation of the product in the market. In this regard there is likelihood of having a worldwide customer changed perception on the brands which is likely to affect their sales all over the world. The ‘onslaught’ videos that have been released on the crisis are likely to affect the operation of the company. Already there is a threat by civil groups that they will stop the Dove-Fund from holding seminars in schools and other area whether the company targets the young people. This is likely to have a negative effect on the programs of the company and in a way may lead to disruption of is normal flow of programs of a failure of the whole program all together. Opportunity There are a lot of opportunities that the company can still exploit in order to market its brand in the market. Already the company has clarified on the intention of the advertisements as being to encourage beauty and give women a reason to be more beautiful and the other being to show mating game and the desire for men to be also clean and attracted to women. In this regard the company has an opportunity to prove its critics wrong by appealing more to the target customer who may be affected by the controversy. The company has already started the Dove-Fund which is taking care of the education for girl. This is one of the opportunities which the company can use in order to clear the air about its products and the criticism that it is getting from the activists. This is because under the program the company would be making a direct appeal tot the consumer rather than the activists. The company should also start the same fund for men in order to embrace the youth. Through close interaction with the youth, the company is likely to presence the brands in the market and helps them to defy criticism of the brands. (Gillete, 2007) There is also an opportunity of the company to change the name of the brand or to change the whole advertising strategy before the brand has devastating effect in the market. In this regard the company can the name of the brand in the market or change the advertising strategies if it sees that the brands are likely to cause negative effects in the market. This will give the company a time to preserve the brands in the market and also preserve the name of the company in face of the rising criticism. The company can also produce another advertisement which contradicts the first ones and which gives a positive message as claimed by the activists. This would be in line with contradicting the issues that have been raised by the activists and to showing the genuinely of the company rather than the hypocrisy as has been expressed by the activists. This will help to save the company from the onslaught by the activists. Threats There are many threats the company may be facing as a result of the advertisements. First it is to be understood that this is no the first criticism of the company and it has been criticized on other areas of being unethical in business. For example the company has been criticized of buying palm oil from dealers who have been destructing forest cover. Therefore there is a threat of the current conflict attracting the attention of the consumer on all other conflicts that have been there about the company. This is likely to have a damaging effect on the name of the company especially at this time when the concept of ethics in business has taken root in consumers. (Moore, 2008) There is a threat of he company making loses on the brand and withdrawing them from the market which may affect the operation of the company not only in the domestic market but also in the international market.