Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Humanities - Essay Example These conditions and poverty levels presented challenges that needed improved laws and law system. Consequently, the authorities’ emphasized on laws, leading to revision and incorporation of new clauses in the existing laws. The justice system continues to influence laws and school of thoughts. Ancient Greek during this time was marked with increased philosophical and medical studies that led to political, education and social changes (Covert 44). However, it is necessary to determine the factors that led to civilization. One has to determine whether geography and Greek are responsible. It is also necessary to compare Greek civilization with Eastern civilization and determine its superiority. Greek civilization, noted as Ancient Greece is a period stretching from 8th century B.C to 600AD. It succeeds the Dark Ages of Greek that was a period marked with orthodox ideas and misguided practices. The Greek civilization succeeds starting in a period called archaic period and ends wi th end of antiquity period. The beginning of the civilization features the influence of five cultures that helped shape Greece to its largely adopted culture. These cultures include Egyptian, Assyrian, Syro-Hittite and Phoenicians (Solway 3) During the onset of the civilization period, several changes began happening that made the period stand out from previous minor civilizations. Coining of the Greek alphabets from Phoenician scripts is one of the first changes. This occurred in the archaic period leading to emergence of written accounts. Water bodies characterize the geographical structure of Greek. Additionally, mountainous structures separate all neighboring community states. The coin emerged during this period that challenged the governing aristocratic regimes because the newfound trading methods led to the rise of a mercantile group that ended up desiring political power. This marks the period of societal governance change to democracy (Solway 23). The population grew in this period causing shortage of land and a deepening gap between the poor and rich. During this conflict, a social change occurred when Spartans males had to join the military whether one is an elite, rich or humble background. This is a period marred with civil wars. For example, Athens encountered land problems and agricultural misgivings that led to civil war. Law became the only solution in countering the conflicts. Initial attempt at settling the conflict failed but later succeeded after Solon reforms successfully established power to the aristocracy and improved the plight of the poor. This depicts the development of social structures, authorities and their shift with the changing economic, political, and educational aspects (Covert 3). Increased population growth led to migration and settlement into other areas that later would be collectively referred to as Greece. The migrations expanded the cultural practices and linguistic styles of the Ancient Greek. This further facilitated economy growth and adoption of the coin within the original states and overseas to the newly conquered colonies. Improvements became apparent in the people’s standards of living (Solway 34) The geographical outlook of the Greece territory was mountainous with numerous valleys and plains. As a result, numerous small communities lived separately, each with its own language, cultural practices and identity. This resulted in a larger community with diverse practices.

The Optical Character Reader Essay Example for Free

The Optical Character Reader Essay The Optical Character Reader has traditionally been well-known in the area of scanning of handwritten documents (preprinted such as utility bills filled in with meter readings by human readers) and process the numbers or text from the scanning process into computer readable formats through software. The OCR is one of the best methods to use when there is a need for the capture of neat handwritten documents. SAT tests, electronic bill calculation and MCQ quizzes are part of the applications of the OCR. This paper will however, research the OCR comparing it with other available methods/devices for data capture and evaluate the usefulness of the OCR against them. THE RESEARCH GOCR: Historically, GOCR software has not been one of the toppers in this field. With high error rates in character recognition (98% for version 0.4), it is just worth giving a test try at most. Although the subsequent versions had those bugs fixed, the efficiency of GOCR has always been lower than the other OCR software.   GOCR works in two modes: reading off black text off white backgrounds as well as reading off white text off black backgrounds. The latter was however, more difficult to program for the developers and still has high margin of errors. Its ability to recognize handwritten characters with a lot of deviation is poor. Although much work has been done in the later versions to improve this, optical character recognition accuracy is still one of the biggest issues for GOCR. The GOCR has the highest number of characters recognized incorrectly. Therefore, â€Å"I†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s are recognized wrongly as â€Å"l†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s and â€Å"v†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s are recognized as â€Å"u†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s. GOCR is useful in situations where the handwriting is exceptionally neat or the document error rate is not a matter of concern (which of course will be a rare case). Also it should be noted that GOCR is open-source software. This means that GOCR code is readily available free of cost. Therefore, different versions floating around are actually revisions by different programmers on the basis of their knowledge. Thus, GOCR offers a few features that are unique: the ability to work with a different variety of formats of images (which is also found in others, but with one or two omissions). Tesseract OCR: One of the reviews of this software went like this: â€Å"It sounds like it Tesseract OCR I unusable at the current moment, but the developments made by Google in the subsequent versions leave a promising note for the future.† In short, Tesseract is one of those open source optical character reading software that is not considered to be one of the most efficient software suites. In fact, one of the drawbacks of Tesseract is the command line interface with the user. This seems most absurd for software that deals with pictures and graphics. However, the software is configured to accept picture or graphics from hardware and then automatically read it and transform it into text. This OCR software has yet to come to a more user friendly state for it to be more popular as well as efficient. The error rate of 25% is not very low. However, considering the interface, this is quite an achievement for developers who could not or simply did not want to make an interactive software to achieve 75% success in recognizing handwritten characters. The main aim of an OCR is to reduce the need for manual typing in either large volumes or in the case of transfer of data (programmers often use it as disaster recovery plans). Thus it is necessary that the software for OCR be fool-proof to high degree. It should provide accuracy, reliability as well as be able to work with deviations from normal. Both GOCR and Tesseract OCR are able to recognize characters in printed images and files, but the main problem arises in handwriting. Apart from that too, there are evident problems described above. Thus, the third software for comparison, Microsoft Document Imaging, coupled with Microsoft Word OCR capabilities overcomes these problems and provides a cost effective solution. It should be noted that this is not single software. Instead there are two complementary software working towards reaching the desired result. Microsoft Document Imaging with Microsoft Word OCR capability: This is without any doubt the strongest software suit available for the purpose of accurate and effective optical character recognition. Microsoft document Imaging provides the first process service: scanning the image and making it ready for the software by converting the physical input to a machine readable format. In the next step the scanned file is given to Microsoft Word. This has in-built OCR capabilities that are strong, efficient as well as user-friendly. The OCR recognizes the characters with up to a 98% accuracy level, allowing a very small room for errors. Apart from that, this software also provides the capability of recognizing handwritten characters to stay at par with the standard OCR software. It is an effective software solution with a powerful interface, speedy solution as well as a cost-effective solution. It has all the features that make it overcome the problems discussed in GOCR and Tesseract OCR.   Microsoft Document Imaging and Word complement each other perfectly and thus they are the choice of any OCR requiring scenario. The capability of this suite to handle images with accuracy and speed drives up its performance greatly. It is clear from the above comparisons done that the third option has the strongest and most cost effective benefits over the other software. It is quickest and the cheapest form of input of handwritten characters into the computer so that they can also be edited. It also provides the best recognition capability of deviating characters.

Impact of E-banking on Traditional Banking Services

Impact of E-banking on Traditional Banking Services Introduction: In order to introduce e-banking and traditional banking this part of the article is explained a short background of established bank, problem statements, research question and the research intention. Also, a concise overview of e-commerce activity on e-banking and traditional bank has been presented in this chapter. Bank and business are intimately connected to each other. At the beginning, the original type of commercial bank that handled customer deposits and made investment loans to businesses. Franlin (1995) illustrated that the traditional banks only entities legally able to issue checking accounts prior to the 1980s. While still dominant in the banking industry, traditional banks are joined by savings and loan associations, credit unions, and mutual savings banks. In a recent decade, traditional banks adopted e-commerce and converted to e-bank that is an important component of business development plan. During better times, business is easier to acquire and maintain. An extreme view speculates that the e-banking will destroy old models of banking services (DeYoung, 2001a). This extreme view proved that banks take advantage of this new technology that depends on their assessment of the profitability and established e-banking services (Malhotra and Singh, 2009). For example, Titrade (2008) demonstrated that e-banking services offer customers to get online benefits those are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ achieve information about accounts and loans, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ transfer money to different accounts, even between external banks, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Paying bills, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Buying and selling stocks and bonds by depot, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Buying and selling fund shares Magdalena and Luminita (2009) reported that banking services through internet have, generally, operational and transactional costs cheaper than usual banking services. In the meantime, banking industry must adapt to the electronics age, which in its turn is changing all the time In addition, Berger (2003) revealed that industry analysis outlining the potential impact of e-banking on cost savings, revenue growth and risk profile of the banks have also generated considerable interest and speculation about the impact of the e-banking industry on traditional bank. However, one of the issues currently being addressed (Titrade, 2008) is the impact of e-banking on traditional banking. Rogers (1998) points out that the impact of traditional bank measures based only on traditional balance sheet figures where as largely ignored non-traditional activities. On the other hand, Panait (2009) argued that the impact of e-banking evaluates to customer information under the existing regulations. Ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information; Protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information; Save from unauthorized access to or use of such information that could result harm or problem to any customer. Researchers important activities and usefulness course of action have prompted a search for better methods for reducing impact of traditional banking service. Although a number of methods have been reported, simple and efficient approaches still remain scare. In recent years much effort has been devoted to study the effect of different measuring extreme systematic risk process (Olivier, 2008). In this paper it will be discussed how e-banks are different from the traditional banks in terms of profitability, cost efficiency, asset quality and other characteristics by examining bank financial statements. The present study will examine a comprehensive a set of measurements of financial performance that allow us to look inside the black box of e-banking performance. By developing a deeper understanding of these phenomena, we can draw more insightful inferences about the impact of e-banking strategies, production processes and financial performance. Background: Research significance: The need and demand of e-banking possesses a great challenge for traditional banking service. In order to meet a high-quality service in business sector traditional banking service has to be optimized to e-banking. The significant of research associated with e-bank itself and e-commerce, off course, lies in its availability. Ineligible banking progress and decisions may amplify a financial strategic risk (Cezar et al.). Carter and Garcia (2009) made it clear that traditional banking system and transactions have recognized that they are not as permanent as previously assumed. The loss of confidence in traditional banking system has revealed by the recent financial system fall down. Panait (2009) made it understandable that banking operations hazard arises from fraud, handling errors, system trouble, or other unexpected actions. This risk continues in each item for consumption and service offered. Funding and investment-related risks could increase with an institutions e-banking initiatives depending on the volatility and pricing of the acquired deposits. On the other hand, the drawback lies in its security factors and complexity. Both of them have profound impact of e-banking traditional banking service. It may appear form social and organizational perspective (Ioannis, 2009) and may arise due to a failure of some relevant integrity or all the lack of authentic and confidential information. From the above point of view, it is clear that traditional banking faced a lot of problems from different user and non user. The study can be extend this examine to all banks offering online banking sectors. Problem statement: Main area of this study is impact e-banking on traditional bank services and several drawbacks of some traditional banking. There are few reasons for directed on this topic: 1) Most traditional bank activities, such as banks acting as derivatives dealers, expose banks to risks and moral hazard problems failure to get customer satisfaction (Franlin, 1995). 2) A potential commercial market for e-banking services are successful, but old model banks getting lose to manage their vast expenses (Yuan, 2010). 3) The banking sector has been most successful with online transaction, easy internet access, the availability of secure, high standard online banking functionality, cost savings, and the necessity of banking services (AC Nielsen Consulting 2000; Laforet Li, 2005). Besides that poor public image, customer dissatisfaction, competition and specialization had made the practice of much more difficult to deal traditional banking. Research Question: The research questions of this study relate to the factors that influence the adoption and implementation of e-commerce in particular reference to the traditional banking industry. The specific questions to be examined are: What impact factors verify the adoption of ecommerce in traditional banks? According to the present study I initiated following question: How e-banks are different from the traditional banks? How the traditional banks financial performance affected by e-banking? General responsible of bank is public funding operation such as; payment and deposits then why bank are regulated? In comparison with e-banking why traditional bank services failed to get customer satisfaction? How to utilize the new digital products and services to create a more sustainable future. Aim and object: Aims: In view of the extensive occurrence of traditional banking in our society, specifically in public sector and organizations as well as their important activities of the e-banking, it is planned to search for better methods and recommendation for developing banking systems. Objectives: The study is designed to correspond with the objectives of assessing the impacts of e-banking, specifically focusing e-banking on the traditional banking service. The following objectives are discussed: Understanding e-banking and traditional banking terms of profitability. To assess the impact of e-banking on traditional banking service. To identify and highlight potential improvements what reduces the impacts of traditional banking. To highlight the different products or services distribution strategies which increases resource of efficiency and customers satisfaction? 2. Literature review: 2.1. E-banking VS traditional banking: The banking sector is an integral part of the economy. Bjelica and Dejan (2010) addressed that traditional banks are considered to be financial institutions which deal with financial activities in terms of collecting deposits and giving loans. An e-banking, on the other hand, is consists of several distribution channels that can supply several information about transaction (Karjaluoto (2002a). Similarly, Daniel (1999) illustrated that e-banking is the delivery system of banks which provides information and services to customers via different delivery policy that can be used with a variety of devices such as a internet accessory, cell phone and desktop, telephone or digital television. Under the traditional bank payment transactions, we assume every payment which is done via a bank or some other similar organization concerning any kind of legal affairs (Bjelica and Dejan, 2010). However, the Internet is a main delivery channel for e-banking and its value to customers and banks is continuously increasing its delivery systems (Karjaluoto, 2002; Mattila, 2001). But, the payment transactions system does not include only cash payments, i.e. when a debtor gives money to a creditor. Definition of traditional banking transactions system extended by Bjelica and Dejan,( 2010) that all natural and legal persons are on the side of the applicants while the authorized organizations for payment transactions (banks, PTT exchange, savings banks) are on the side of the recipients. Conversely, e-banking is the automated delivery system to customers through internet, interior message channels (Daniel, 1999; Sathye, 1999). According to Basel Committee report on banking supervision (2008) it refers to the provision of retail and banking products and services through electronic channels. Thus in the most encompassing definition, electronic banking would run the gamut from direct deposit, ATMs, credit and debit cards, telephone banking, to electronic bill payment and web-based banking. 2.2. Movement of e-banking According to Karjaluoto (2002), the consumer movement from traditional branch banking to e-banking has meant that new strategies to attract new customers and retain existing ones become critical. Ranaweera and Prabhu (2003) argue that ideally, firms should aim at a combined strategy that makes switching costs act as a complement to customer satisfaction. While customer satisfaction may be one important driver of customer retention, switching costs are also likely to influence customer retention (Lee et al., 2001; Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003). Portal providers are likely to attract the most significant share of banking profits. Indeed banks could become glorified It required much more effort to manage and sustain a successful practice. 2.3. The impact of traditional bank: In the last two decades the impact of traditional banks tainted a great deal. Therefore the understanding of the essence of this banking system has been changed as well. Bjelica and Dejan (2010) illustrated that many aspects prejudiced this trend. For example; internationalization, globalization, the increase in number of financial services, the progress of competition, technological development and the appearance of a great number of innovations have changed banking system. In addition, Altunbas et al., (2001), Iannotta et al. (2007) argued that the impact of traditional bank is focused on ownership of different types banking service such as; the state ownership (Porta et al.,2002), Berger et al. (2005), Micco et al. (2007), foreign ownership (Berger et al. (2005), Lensink et al. (2008), Staikouras et al. (2008)) and block holder ownership (Caprio et al. (2007), Laeven Levine (2008)) are on the banking performance. Furthermore, DeYoung et al. (2001) was studied to examine the impac t of the level of management and board ownership on bank efficiency. By separating management and board ownership, It address the criticism presented in Demsetz Villalonga (2001) that many studies on the impact of management ownership has included board ownership in the management or insider ownership variable even though the interests of the management and board are different. 2.4. Potential improvements that reduces the impacts of traditional banking Goski et al.(2007) concentrated on the frustrations of accessing credit facilities compel from formal banking systems to informal enterprises which is non banking activities and informal arrangements to access funds for their business operations. De Wulf et al. (2001) realize that building a profitable and sustainable long term relationship with customers is central to the relationship marketing theory. Correspondingly, increasing customers retention, developing and maintaining trust and commitment between sellers and customers (Gaur Xu, 2009) are part of theory. In addition, Gaurav, (2008) appreciated that achieving high customers loyalty and more customers satisfaction is the main objectives of an organization. Also, cost reduction due to the better understanding of customers needs (Ndubisi, 2004) equally important of marketing theory. The application of relationship marketing theory has even extended into financial services, due to the deregulation policy (Yavas Yasin, 2001). The removal of restrictions between banks, building societies and insurance companies (Speed and Smith, 1992) and the vast expansion in the adoption and use of information technologies (Bergeron et al, 2008) is important factor. There are outlined specific actions that organization should consider in implementing a security program (Ramball M. (2008)). These measures include: Identifying and assessing the risks that may threaten consumer information; Developing a written plan containing policies and procedures to manage and control these risks; Implementing and testing the plan; Adjusting the plan on a continuing basis to account for changes in technology, the sensitivity of customer information, and internal or external threats to information security. There are also outlined the responsibilities of management to oversee the protection of customer information including the security of customer information maintained or processed by service providers. Titrade, (2008) afraid that in opportunity of e-banking and its allegation are uncertain. The points of view in favor are as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ E-banking transactions are much low-priced than branch or even phone transactions. This could be a large competitive advantage for e-banking, that allow e-banks to undercut bricks-and-mortar banks. This is commonly known as the beached dinosaur theory. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ E-banking will lead to al other banking sector that is currently enjoyed by the major UK banks. 2.5. Products or services which increase resource of efficiency and customers satisfaction: Traditional banks may simply be left with payment and settlement business even this could be cast into doubt and customers unhappiness. The idea of customer pleasure has been exercised since the early 1980 (Bailey Pearson, 1983; Ives, Olson, Baroudi, 1983) and its have been studied since the 1980 (Bailey Pearson, 1983; J. Chin, Diehl, Norman, 1988; Ives et al., 1983; Rivard Huff, 1988; Rushinek Rushinek, 1986). Bailey et al. (1983) state that several factors affect the user satisfaction and it can be seen as a bi-dimensional attitude. The user satisfaction can be seen sum of users feeling and attitudes toward several factors that affect the usage situation (Bailey et al., 1983). Recently, there has been growing interest in traditional bank user experience (Hiltunen et al., 2002; Lindgaard Dudek, 2003; Wilson Sasse, 2004), which can be seen as much larger concept of consumers satisfaction. User experience has become an important factor in e-banking because the end user often pays for the majority of new products and services, which indicates that new products characteristics such as; security, ease of use, Digital products/services, transaction and payments, and innovation contents(Khanfar, 2006). From this perspective, assessing the user experience is essential for many technology products and services (Wilson Sasse, 2004). 3.2. Theoretical framework: From the practical point of view, there are mainly two kinds of venture, one of which is adaptation of e-commerce and other is development of e-banking. Kyu and Bipin (2001) provided both theoretical explanations and empirical validation on the adoption of e-commerce for traditional banking services. Regarding the adoption of e-banking, they enabled to offer specific recommendations on marketing strategies for practitioners. Ronald (2003) observed that law and right and the increase of internet facilities moved up the transaction. Elias (2000) explored the status of e-commerce in the banking industry. Many researches focused on the user of e-banking that have been done on adoption of e-commerce, and the following factors influencing it. Security: The quality or state of being secure to be free from danger. Ease of Use: A method that the bank Availableness it for the customer who through it use the procedures of banks easily. Digital Products/Services: Goods and services that can be transformed to digital format and deliver upper the internet banking. Transaction and Payment: services and procedures that the bank availableness for the customer who through it able to payment and other borrow and other transaction form banks online. Information Content: content at a web site that need to be changed continually to keep it up to date. Innovation: the innovation of new ideas such as new technologies, design and best practice that permit bank to compete efficiently in the worldwide environment. When an enterprise realized danger, it will takes a series of examine on the basis of tthree hypothesizes. This study tries to make relationship and linkage between e-business and networking technology. HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT The proposed model depicts that a customers assessment of traditional banking service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction and his/her willingness to recommend and will decrease his/her likelihood to complain. On the other hand, if the customers assessment of the traditional banking service quality is negative, the customer will engage in unfavorable behavioral intentions. Therefore, the following hypotheses are developed: H1: There is a significant difference between customers expectations and their perceptions of service quality offered by traditional banking. H2: There is a significant relationship between traditional banking service quality and customer satisfaction. H3: There is a significant relationship between internet banking service quality and customer behavioral intentions H4: Customers at are dissatisfied with banks environment and location. There is a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and customer behavioral intentions 3. Methodology: The methodology will be based on a cross- sectional survey method with three (3) main components. These included Reviews, Contacts and Field Activities. The review was conducted through desk research of online resources, research papers, working documents, conference documents, and other publications. The contacts were made through one on one discussion and/or small group discussions by visiting offices and officials of banks whether, semi informal or formal. A self developed instrument was used for the field exercise. The study classified the system into three categories based on the classification by (Basu et al., 2004) in an IMF working paper. The suggested method which is also applicable in the study is the use of the questionnaires wherein the banks can determine the level of understanding of the customers about the online banking and the other related services. Also through the help of the questionnaires, the banks can measure the influence or the impact of the interactive banking in finding solutions out of the clients busy life. All of the information created out of the questionnaires will lead to the determination of the various perceptions of the customers in the services that is offered through the use of Internet. Investigation will be prepared by collecting data, analyzing, comparing and interpreting the results according to literature procedure. The course of action will be ready by gathering data from several years to current published journal. The data will be monitored by comprising with several aspects. The accumulated data will be justified based on analytical data obtained from internet publication. Rationale: The important networking activities and usefulness as natural process have prompted a search for better methods of producing e-business. Although a number of synthetic methods for judging of e-business have been reported, simple and efficient approaches still remain scare. Limitation: To collect more information from present fast moving situation, manage formal and informal interview within the time will be main problem for this study. Anyway, more limitation will be including actually when I will handing out data. Reflection: e-banking is the real output of the impact of traditional bank. Timetable: Task Start End Research proposal 10/11/2010 18/11/2010 Topic selection 19/10/2010 22/11/2010 Finding 23/11/2010 30/11/2010 Literature review 01/12/2010 10/12/2010 Problem identification 11/12/2010 15/12/2010 Methodology 15/12/2010 20/12/2010 Drafting 21/12/2010 27/12/2010 Submission of research proposal 28/12/2010 08/12/2010 Conclusion: The result of this study shows that traditional bank users are not completely satisfied in comparison with online banking system. Traditional bank did not provide sufficient facilities to their clients that they obtained from online bank organizers. For instant, e-bank consumers are achieving several benefits such as; ATM, internet banking, credit card and a range of buying or selling option. As a result, most of the customers are moving to e-banking system. Usefulness, perceived ease of use; consumer awareness and perceived risk are the important determinants of e-banking banking adoption. This study meets the desired objective; but it suffers from one setback. Study concludes that a majority of customers are accepting e-banking since of many positive issues. We concluded that value, effortlessness of use of the system and the awareness about online banking and risks related to it. Those are real thing to accept online banking system. These factors have a strong and positive effect on customers to accept online banking system. These researches provide a rapid entry to justify business market in all conditions. This methodology is expected to be widely used in e-banking sector. Therefore, the process will provide a new entry into the active system for improving traditional banking system.

Hero Status for Chief Joseph :: American History Essays

Hero Status for Chief Joseph A modest and humble monument was raised to this giant Indian. A seven and a half foot white marble shaft sets atop a barren hill where a lone, half dead elm tree stands, 14 miles north of the Grand Coulee Dam, in a small Indian Village on the Colville Indian Reservation. The acre or so of ground is delineated by wire fence. Weeds have overgrown mounds where graves are left unidentified and only apparent by small mounds of rock. The elm stands, gnarled, over his grave. White chipped rock fill a rectangle edged with one by four wood planking, smaller in length than this man stood in all of this grown years. To his honor had been placed a coin purse, cigarettes, a dog tag, dried flowers in mason jars, an arrowhead, keys, notes under rocks, a dream catcher hanging on the tree, where I placed a Nez Perce bead necklace. My heart was sad by the desolation of this mans grave. My heart was sadder, knowing that his last days were spent begging James McLaughlin, Indian Inspector, to let him to return to his beloved home in the Wallowa Valley. Æ’Â ±For Joseph it was a kind of pilgrimage to his ancestral home. When he gazed once more upon the grave of his father...the tears brimmed over in the old chiefÆ’Â ­s eyes.Æ’Â ° McLaughlin issued an adverse report to the government, never allowing the chief and his people to return to Oregon. Æ’Â ±Joseph, silent and brooding for weeks sat stoically for entire days at a time without moving or speaking. Sitting before his fire on September 21, 1904, he fell forward on his face.Æ’Â ° He died of a broken heart. This Indian colossus, this gentle Napoleon-Gandhi that led his people in a feat that will likely be handed down as a legend, accomplished miracles and mysteries that make him misunderstood by the white people and the Nez Perce. Tom and I arrived in Nespelem at about 4:15 in the afternoon after a near four hour drive. 185 miles from Moscow and 100 miles northeast of Spokane. No signs. No historic landmarks. You just have to know that if you are looking for the grave of Æ’Â ±The Red NapoleonÆ’Â ° you must stop and ask at the gas station. Professor Swagerty, history professor at the University of Idaho, had given these directions when he responded to my email about location of the grave site.

Fiction Essay: A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay

The choices that we make determine who we truly are. The immense pressure of certain situations in which we are faced will ultimately differentiate the type person that we think we are, from the kind of person that we actually are. In the short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find â€Å"Author Flannery O’Connor tells a story about a family that includes a Grandmother and her superficial beliefs. The family ultimately crosses paths with â€Å"The Misfit† that is on the loose, who represents the total opposite of what the grandmother is perceived to be. O’Conner uses the characterization of both the Misfit and the grandmother throughout the plot in order to reveal the theme of this piece which is achieved when the grandmother is finally brought to grace. In the start of the piece O’Conner brings the reader into a conversation that is taking place between the grandmother and her only son Bailey. The family is planning a trip to Florida in which the Grandmother is strongly opposed. She attempts to find every reason that she can possibly come up with to convince her son to change the destination of the trip from Florida to Tennessee. Throughout the story the grandmother gives the impression that she is a figure of grace, dignity and prestige. Although she did not want to attend the trip she is the first person in the car the next morning, ready to go. She is dressed very carefully because she sees herself as lady who is very polite and astute and she must be seen by others in the same manner. She also takes advantage of every opportunity to correct her grandchildren when making remarks that are less than courteous. When the children see the black child sitting on the porch they begin to giggle, she quickly reminds them that â€Å"black children in the country don’t have the things we do†. She tries to teach the children to respect the land in their native state of Georgia when the children try to throw trash out the window of the car and June Star makes the comment that Tennessee is â€Å"a hillbilly dumping ground and Georgia is a lousy state too. †The grandmother again hisses at June Star when she makes the impolite statement that â€Å"I wouldn’t live in a broken down place like this for a million bucks†. One of the ways that O’Conner characterized the grandmother is being manipulative. Knowing what to do and say in order for her to achieve whatever it was that she wanted. An example of this being true is by her sneaking the cat into the car against her son’s wishes. Another is after the family had left The Tower and she manipulated the children into believing that the house she wanted to visit had a secret a panel. After getting the children riled up about the secret panel they nagged until Bailey finally had no choice to but to turn around and go down the deserted dirt road. After traveling down this dirt road a while the grandmother realizes that the house that she remembered was in Tennessee. As she comes to this realization the cat springs out and frightens Bailey and he drives the car over the embankment. The grandmother hopes that she is injured so that her son will have sympathy for her and she would not have to reveal her mistaking the location of the house. O’Conner has used the characterization of the grandmother and her family as well as the plot to this point in order to give an account of what type of person the grandmother is based off her actions. A man with two others arrived in a car and they got out and to help the family. The grandmother reveals that the man is â€Å"The Misfit† that she had seen in the newspaper. It seems as if the misfit’s attention had suddenly reverted from assisting the family to now killing the family based on her recognition of him. The Misfit has Hiram and Bobby Lee to take Bailey and John Wesley out to the woods first because they could be the most troublesome of the bunch. Shortly after, they take the mother and her baby into the woods and June star takes Bobby Lee’s hand and follows. As stated in Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"Spoiled Prophet† written by T. W. Hendricks, â€Å"the family members enter the fatal woods without resisting†. This is said to be because they are accustomed to doing what is expected of them. They are not capable of acting on their own interest because none of them truly know who they are. The only exception to this being the grandmother who is considered to be a round character whose personality has been fully developed throughout the story. While Bobby Lee and Hiram are in the process of murdering the rest of her family she is pleading with the Misfit to spare her life. He rejects all of her attempts to talk him out of his murderous intentions. The story then goes on to the duel, what O’Conner considers to be the theme of the story. This conflict is between the grandmother’s belief that she is morally superior to everyone, and the misfits close examination of his life as well as his self awareness that he is not a good man. This critical part of the story takes place during the dialogue that ensues between the misfit and the grandmother. The grandmother insists that the misfit is too good a man to shoot a lady. With this attempt to save her own life she is appealing the decency of the man. The grandmother tells his that â€Å"I know you must come from nice people. † He says that he does come from the finest people in the world, but the he is not a good man. The grandmother begins to lose her voice as she realizes that her son and grandson were killed and that her daughter in law as well the rest of her grandchildren were about to be killed, and that she would soon follow. The misfit goes on to explain to the grandmother that Jesus has thrown everything off balance. He compared himself to Jesus in the sense that he had been punished but hadn’t committed any crimes. The Fact that Jesus was also able to know what he was being punished for ate at him because he had no idea what he was being punished for. He had come to the conclusion that the punishments that he had gone through did not fit the crime that he was accused of. The grandmother repeatedly urged the Misfit to pray. Praying would not help the misfit because he doesn’t see what he has done as being a sin. The misfit believes that there is no hope for a good life in this world or any hope for bliss in the next life. He says that â€Å"it’s nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can—by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. † This is considered to be the Misfit’s motivation for him committing these murders. The grandmother see’s something in the Misfit that makes him like one of her own children, one of her sheep that have only strayed off course. The grandmother reaches out to touch the misfit both spiritually and physically but instead of breaking down, the misfit jumps back and fire 3 shots into her chest. O’Conner intended for the grandmothers last moments to be led by grace. In the end she was personally connected with the misfit and genuinely concerned about him as a person. It is this connection to being compared to a child that the misfit takes issue with. He mistakes her gesture for a form of belittlement. In the short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† the characters, characterization of the characters, the occurrences throughout the plot as well as the conflict are all literary elements critical to reaching the final â€Å"coming to grace† theme of the story.

Analyzing Gender Roles in Billy Elliot Essay

During his first visit to The Bahamas and representing the Queen abroad for the Diamond Jubilee, Prince Harry addressed crowds of dignitaries and admirers in the capital, Nassau. The Island-hopping Prince Harry continues his 10-day Diamond Jubilee tour through the Caribbean in Jamaica this week after stops in Belize and the Bahamas over the weekend in honor of the Queen’s 60thyear on the throne. Proving to be a skilled diplomat with the common touch that characterized his late mother Princess Diana, Harry favored solo interviews with the local press and spent a great deal of time with the everyday people of the former British Honduras. The prince laid a wreath for British soldiers at Price Barracks in Belize City before departing the English-speaking Central American nation for the Bahamas. The young royal caused quite a stir in Nassau Sunday when he appeared in public for the first time ever in his crisp white ceremonial uniform, also known as the No. 1 Tropical Dress of the Blues and Royals. His uniform was punctuated with the first public reveal of the Diamond Jubilee medal. Throngs of fans lined the streets as Harry made his way to the Christ Church Cathedral to meet and greet. Though he mingled with several dignitaries in his special outfit, his encounter with Miss Bahamas, Anastagia Pierre, got tabloids buzzing. â€Å"I’m here to fall in love with Harry,† Pierre told reporters on Sunday. â€Å"He’s hot! He is single now so I would marry him, yes. † Harry brushed the comments aside and he seemed to truly enjoy himself in the Bahamas. In a speech he delivered a message from the Queen to the people of the Bahamas. Video1 Harry called at Government House in Nassau to pay his respects to the Governor General of the Bahamas and other members of the cabinet. The iconic pink-painted house is where his late great-great uncle the Duke of Windsor lived during the Second World War in his role as Governor General of the region. 3 Earlier in the day, Harry was meant to join the crew of a Royal Bahamian Defense Force patrol boat on a naval exercise but had to move to a media boat after the military vessel broke down. He eventually landed on tiny Harbor Island where he was greeted by crowds of tourists and locals. Harry will continue his Diamond Jubilee tour with a stop in Jamaica beginning Monday and end in Brazil where he will help launch a government trade mission in Rio.