Monday, December 30, 2019

The Financial Infrastructure Of The Industrial Revolution

The financial infrastructure that allowed Western Europe to rise to prominence during the Industrial Revolution was mainly created during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. During this period, one saw financial innovations including the creation of basic banking systems and the arrival of multinational firms. In this essay, Carlos and Nicholas’ Early Chartered Companies: Analogues of the Modern Multinationals will be analyzed along with Liam Brunt’s Rediscovering Risk: Country Banks as Venture Capital Firms in the Industrial Revolution in order to further understand the similarities and differences between country banks and joint-stock companies as well as to see how the financial foundation was built in the era that became the industrial revolution. In order to clearly compare and contrast country banks and joint-stock companies, it is first imperative to define them. Research by Haber, Maurer, Lamoereaux, Temin and Voth show that country banks provided a lot of the same services that modern banks do, including â€Å"taking deposits and making loans† as well as â€Å"offering safety deposit services, means of remittance, and holding and trading securities for clients.† On the other hand, joint-stock companies or ‘chartered companies’ were early trading companies that allowed retail (individual) investors to buy and sell shares of a firm. While on the surface, the two ideas seem vastly different, there were many commonalities between them. One common theme between country banks andShow MoreRelatedThe Industrial Revolution in Europe1217 Words   |  5 Pagesliberalism, the enlightened age, Infrastructure, and the economic climate allowed Great Britain to seek new job opportunities and exploit new business ideas. In addition, literacy, public education and the middle class was rising immensely. Concepts like partnerships and selling shares were introduced during this time period. The process of the Industrial Revolution was rapid in Western Europe however, by the 1900 all of Europe was involved. Over all, the effects of the revolution changed the way materialsRead MoreRole Of Infrastructure And Rural Development1243 Words   |  5 PagesResearch Question For my dissertation, I am to examine The Role of Infrastructure and Rural Development in Explaining the Banking-Growth Nexus in India: Evidence from State Level Data.The relation between financial development and economic growth has been under debate for a long time, despite there being evidences of financial and banking sector devolvement playing an important role in economic development the evidences from within the developing economies is rather mixed. Literature Review EconomistsRead MoreBritain During The 19th Century809 Words   |  4 Pagescreated steam engine, industries such as the iron and textile developed into major providers of wealth in the trade network of Britain. With growing industries and a source connection to new technologies, Britain simultaneously became the first urban industrial society. (Harley 396). However, no great progression occurs without a form of opposition. Britain’s complex system of coins, which included pences, shillings, pounds, crowns, farthings, guineas, marks and nobles, became a target for counterfeitingRead MoreImportant Factors Leading to Industrial Revolution1606 Words   |  7 PagesNowadays, it is almost taken for granted that the industrial revolutions are the result of changing technology and the proper application of that in the industrial production. However, from my point of view, these two factors did play a vital role in stimulating industrial revolutions, but they were not the only catalyzer propelling monumental development in industry. Influentially, the improvements in organizations of politics, social patterns, commerce, finance, and transportation alsoRead MoreThe Dynamics of Military Revolution1505 Words   |  6 Pages1918, western warfare went through four periods that saw such profound change that it can fairly be said that a military revolution occurred. According to historians MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray, military revolutions fundamentally change the framework of war and recast society and the state as well as military organizations. While all of the military revolutions studied in H100 were important in the evolution of warfare, one clearly stimulated greater change than the others. ThesisRead MoreThe Industrial Revolution And The French Revolution1264 Words   |  6 PagesBoth the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution induced great social transformations from the end of the 18th century on. The revolutions laid the foundation for the journey of modernization for Great Britain and France. Although the two countries were merely separated by the English Channel, the relatively low degree of pre-industrial international communications hindered the interaction of both events. Nevertheless, it is not coincidental that the revolutions occurred roughly at the sameRead MoreTheories or Concept Practices of Developing Countries1234 Words   |  5 Pagespractices of Developing Countries Developing nations have undergone many transformations in terms of governance, education, infrastructure, economy and on human rights issues. Developing countries have utilized a lot of concepts and practices in order to meet society needs. Over the last decade, African countries had dictatorial leaders, but since the beginning of this century, revolutions have taken place, a very good example is the fall of Gaddafis, Mubaraks governments in Libya and Egypt respectivelyRead MoreThe Industrial Revolution936 Words   |  4 Pageseconomist Robert Emerson Lucas wrote in regards to the Industrial revolution: For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth. The novelty of the discovery that a human society has this potential for generating sustained improvement in the material aspects of the lives of all its members, not just the ruling elite, cannot be overstressed.† (Lucas 2002). The revolution itself was centred in Britain before spreading to theRead MoreThe Industrial Revolution Was A Movement1335 Words   |  6 PagesThe Industrial Revolution was a movement which contributed to significant progress in America which began in the later 1700’s throughout the later 1800’s. During the industrial revolution, dramatic economic and cultural shifts took place. The discovery of the mineral wealth, technological advancements, and the construction of a nationwide railway changed the transportation industry as well as its labor force. These changes ushered in an intense need for manufacturing factories, laborers, and resourcesRead MoreSummary : Forging The National Economy1664 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom all over the country were pushed west in search of cheap land and opportunity, alongside European immigrants Newly invented machinery quickened the cultivation of crops and manufacturing of goods, with more laboring working demands Better infrastructure and transportation helped move people, raw materials, and manufactured goods The recent momentum led to a more dynamic national economy The Westward Movement The rise of the first western president exemplified westward expansion The nation

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Reaganomics and Its Effect on Minority Groups - 1519 Words

The most noteworthy component of Ronald Reagan’s two terms as leader of the free world are the laws, regulations, and policies passed under his two terms as President of the United States. These regulations soon became known as â€Å"Reaganomics†, a term that is still used today to describe these policies. Hidden underneath the manufactured depiction of Reaganomics policies by mass media lies a controversial observation: these policies may have created a permanent shift in American society which, as a result, disenfranchised minorities since they went into effect over thirty years ago. This particular idea or theory is exceptionally contradictory and has been distorted by not only various media outlets but by subsequent pro-Reaganomics†¦show more content†¦The income received by the top 5% of highest incomes increased by 5%. This also increased the income wage gap between races (primarily white and black) and the wage gap between social classes (middle class a nd wealthy) as the number of Americans below the poverty line increased by more than 2 million. Despite its successes on the American economical structure and more significantly, its benefits for the rich, Reaganomics jeopardized the welfare of Americans of the lower class as Reagan’s administration cut 60% of funding towards social programs that primarily assisted mothers, children, and minorities like Social Security, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and federal education programs. The administration also proved to be detrimental to the citizens in the urban area with budget cuts to federal legal services for the poor as well as decreased funding for public transportation and the eliminated anti-poverty programs such as the Community Development Block program. When Reagan first came into office, city budgets used over 20 percent of federal funding but towards 1988, it decreased to 6 percent. The results of these cuts were so destructive that many inner city schools, public libraries, hospital/clinics, police and fire departments were forced to close down indefinitely. With thirty percent of African Americans below the poverty line, these spending cuts sparked the onset of several implications for African American family life, such as the halving of the housing andShow MoreRelatedThe Changing American Culture Essay1324 Words   |  6 Pagessolution. According to Peter Ferrara in â€Å"Reaganomics vs Obamanomics† Ronald Reagan said in his speech during his first inauguration â€Å" In this present crisis government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem†. This shows that people of his generation tended to be more independent and solve their own problems rather than be dependent and expect the government to do it for them. According to William Niskanen in â€Å"Reaganomics† Ronald Reagan adjusted the tax code soRead MoreThe 80s Of Ronald Reagan1441 Words   |  6 Pagesconservatism that liberals have not succeeded in reversing. Reagan is part of a select group of political leaders, including Thomas Jefferson and W. Wilson, whose names because watchwords for political creeds and stances toward Reagan was indeed the guy for the job as his ideals and promises couldn t been more like what the people wanted. Regan after cleverly dealing with Congress, he obtained legislation known as Reaganomics, based on liberal doctrines of stimulation of economic growth, reduction of inflationRead MoreGender Analysis : The War On Drugs 3624 Words   |  15 PagesReagan administration. The War on Drugs led to lots of arrests because the stereotypical drug user was African Americans. Police also used corrupt practices targeting African Americans. Media defined the typical criminal as an African American male. Minority neighborhoods are a focus of police. Officers are given an unacceptable amount of discretion that creates racism. When these people get issued a sentence that adds more racism. When released from prison, they face an unsupportive uncompassionateRead MoreEssay about The Many Benefits of Affirmative Action2038 Words   |  9 PagesAffirmative Action   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action has helped the income, promotion and labor force participation rates of both women and minorities. For example, between 1982 and 1995, the percentage of female managers and professionals in the U.S. rose from 40.5 to 48.0 percent; blacks from 5.5 to 7.5 percent, and Hispanics from 5.2 to 7.6 percent. By comparison, these groups form 51.2 percent, 12.6 percent, and 10.2 percent of the population, respectively. Progress has been steady, but still incompleteRead MoreEconomics And Classical Liberal Economics1900 Words   |  8 Pagessystem in most countries around the world. However, this soon changed after the oil crisis in the 1970’s and after government intervention was blamed for stagflation, paving the way for the rise in neoliberal economics dominated by Thatcherism and Reaganomics. The difference between neoliberal economics and classical liberal economics is the rejection of Adam Smith’s theory of the invisible hand of supply and demand and believe it will worsen the economy. However, even though neoliberal economics thrivedRead MoreUs History Reagan, H.W Bush, Clinton, Reaganomics3670 Words   |  15 PagesJohnson had brought into action a policy that ensured underprivileged minorities and women access to education, jobs, and promotion. However, in 1978 during the landmark Supreme Court case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, a white man, Bakke, applied twice to a California medical school but was rejected both times on the grounds of his age and also because the medical school had sixteen reserved seats for minority applicants. The final verdict of the court case declared that collegeRead MoreEssay about Occupy Wall Street Movement1817 Words   |  8 Pageseconomic implication is that â€Å"†¦they really owe us [the taxpayers] for saving their necks. It’s high time they started paying what they owe.† (Haidt, 2011) http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/30/the-moral-foundations-of-occupy-wall-str The minority of OWS is the view of those on Wall Street (â€Å"the 1 percent†). In order to justify their amount of wealth, they make the claim that everybody gets what they deserve, and a person must earn his way. They argue that the stories of rising from ragsRead MoreEssay His 135 Week 9 Final Project3576 Words   |  15 Pagesviewpoints, and the Senator J. McCarthy’s allegations. (Halberstam, 1994). The Civil Rights Movement, in the 1950s, did have some rather impressive improvements. These improvements occurred not because of an individual person or single group, but of a movement that seemed to unite and solidify even through adversity. Possibly it was the best time cause, Blacks had served in World War II, exposing some White Americans to race issues for the first time; the country was centered on anti-communismRead MoreLeadership Style of Sir Richard Branson2305 Words   |  10 Pagesangry with me that he urged my impeachment. I was very relaxed. The odds were that, if the issue ever did reach the president, he would just have a good laugh. Of course, the threat of my impeachment quickly evaporated. Lesson 5: Use Humor to Good Effect. Yes, Ronald Reagan loved to tell funny stories. One of his favorite ones concerned the boy who was digging through a manure pile. His explanation for that strange action was that there had to be a pony in it somewhere. But usually the presidentRead MorePre-Columbian Period9302 Words   |  38 Pagesago.[10] Some of these groups migrated south and east, and over time spread throughout the Americas. These were the ancestors to modern Native Americans in the United States and Alaskan Native peoples, as well as all indigenous peoples of the Americas. Many indigenous peoples were semi-nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers; others were sedentary and agricultural civilizations. Many formed new tribes or confederations in response to European colonization. Well-known groups included the Huron, Apache

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Explain “The Time Machine’s” View Of Humanity Free Essays

H. G. Wells was fascinated by the theory of evolution and how far that mankind could control its own destiny. We will write a custom essay sample on Explain â€Å"The Time Machine’s† View Of Humanity? or any similar topic only for you Order Now This is evident in other novels of Wells such as â€Å"War of the Worlds† and â€Å"The Shape of Things to Come†. However nowhere is his fear for mankind’s future more evident than in his novel â€Å"The Time Machine†. His love of humanity in crisis and scientific theories have produced this great book, that has a surprising reflection of what could be seen as the views and pessimistic jitters of the author. Personally I believe there are two characters in the novel that present Wells’ views. I believe that the main character of the book named â€Å"The Time Traveller† was meant to represent the author’s fear and disillusion for the future of humanity. The other character being â€Å"Filby† who is the â€Å"Time Traveller’s† best friend seems to be an eternal optimist whom is hoping that one day mankind will see the error of its ways and make an about turn from the fate that Wells portrays to be that of man in the future. To study in depth the â€Å"Time Machine’s† portrayal of humanity we must further look into the different societies at different periods of the novel and find out the â€Å"Time Machine’s † views on these social groups. Being strictly chronological, the first society that we must look at in order to make a comparison was the society of law and order to which he belonged, Victorian England. A poor time and place to live in, the common folk scarcely made enough money to survive and disease soon spread among the cities and eventually caused London to smell repulsively. These times were of flourish to those in the upper classes who wallowed in more money than one ordinary human could ever aspire to accumulate. These people thought of themselves only as as the upper class this was to the extent that those lower would not be allowed to address the upper class citizens. Unjustly those poorer than themselves were not treated as a society in poverty but they were treated as lazy ungrateful mob that were treated as slaves. At this point in history child labour had not yet been abolished and children were still treated like slaves carrying out all the tasks that the upper class would have never even known how to complete. Most citizens of the lower classes were poorly spoken and were uneducated, these people new of only their trade that could earn them a small amount of money to eat and sleep. In comparison to this grueling shameful era, Wells, in the early part of the book is using Filby as the narrator and the only part of this society that is touched upon by the novel is the upper class. I think this shows an ignorance to the people below him almost to the extent where one could say that Wells was ashamed or embarrassed to live in the era that he did and he portrayed this through the early chapters of The Time Machine. We can tell this by looking at the complexity of scientific understanding that Filby and The Time Traveller posses. In and around that period in history only the very upper class would be this finely schooled. Further evidence to support this claim of ignorance towards the lower class is that only the high ranking important local figures are present at the introduction and demonstration of the time machine. Such figures include a Provincial Mayor, a psychologist, a medical man and an Editor. These high class figures all well spoken and showed good understanding of the Time Traveller’s theories. I think that all this shows that Wells who is portraying his views through the novel is not happy with the scum and diseased era in which he resides but will do anything to get out into the future. At this point social status played a key part in society and it seems that Wells wants to experience a world with out this binding moral code. After the The Time Traveller takes his first dive into the future he encounters a new society in the very distant future. Which for no apparent reason he names the Eloi. This new society functions in very different way to what The Time Traveller is used to. â€Å"Apparently, the house or even the idea of a household, had vanished. â€Å",†Ã¢â‚¬ËœCommunism! ‘† I said to myself. † These two quotes show The Time Traveller’s great shock to seeing the degrading of society, if you could call it society. He reaches the conclusion that the human species had eventually evolved so far that they no longer had any need to fend for themselves or work at all. All work equal in this new communist society and meat was not anywhere on the menu. The Eloi strictly feasted on the fruits that they each harvest when they feel like it from the large fruit garden which is now earth. All reminiscence of architecture and civilization has completed vanished without trace from mankind. The Time Traveller seems to be disappointed at the simple relaxed society he has entered in the far future. As it seems to him that the all of mankind’s history and long evolutionary process has all been for nothing. He found nothing that would please him in this place. I think that at this point Wells becomes pessimistic about what mankind’s future could hold. When The Time Traveller sees that man has evolved into simple communist beings his hopes of meeting an advanced modern world are destroyed and he will begin to explore the new world to find something that will give him a reinvestment of hope to keep him motivated. Later on in the story The Time Traveller discovers a second underground race. He draws the conclusion that the Eloi or upper world may have evolved from the once favored aristocracy or upper class and the underworld society or â€Å"The Morlocks† by name given by The Time Traveller evolved from the labouring mechanical servants of that very aristocracy. The Morlocks hunted and fed on the Eloi. They hunted in packs and banded together showing the strong social bond similar quest for survival and social gain that the lower classes of Victorian England showed. Discovering the new race did not make The Time Traveller anymore optimistic, in fact this may of even made him even more hopeless than before. Now he has seen the future result of two races evolving to form a simple body of simple beings doing nothing more than providing for their needs and pleasure. There was no technological advance or social advanced. Almost like the human race had reached a peak many years before The Time Traveller had stopped to examine things and then began to devolve into simple happy communist beings that were all equal. I think that The Time Traveller’s final view of humanity is not one of hope or optimism, â€Å"Once again I saw the dim shadows, that were evidence of decadent humanity†. This is his final point of view, he has seen the end. He has seen what is referred to in the novel as the sunset of mankind. He has nothing to look forward to. He knows that man is one day or another to become extinct. So do we all, but we still have the greatest hope that our final hour won’t be so soon. The Time Traveller gives up all hope of ever being able to change the world enough to avoid the terrible decadence of our race. I think it is hard to tell whether Wells’ is a pessimist or not through the actions and words of his characters. I think The Time Traveller’s personality is inconsistent. He started out as an optimist with every hope of going forward or back in time and saving or changing humanity for the better. But as The Time Traveller sees more and more of the dim and distant future he becomes a pessimist with nothing in his aspirations. Whereas Filby, has a positive outlook from the onset of the story and in the epilogue gives his opinion and motivational summary to spur on the human race to do well and stay dominant. I think it would be very difficult to decide whether Wells’ is representing himself through The Time Traveller or through Filby. But I have come to the conclusion that Wells is the optimist with a positive outlook on life. I think this although without the epilogue the book would have an inappropriate cinematic ending it still is the only place, I believe, where Wells has put his true hopes for humanity into the story. I think Wells has used the Time Traveller to convey some of his other views and theories into World. In conclusion I think that Wells would not have described today’s modern world as a dystopia. This is because all that humanity has worked for over the years is in effect and benefiting a lot of people. There is still social order and a justice system. Wells’ final view is one of distant but prosperous hope, and I think so long as the book leads the reader to believe this it will draw their ideal world into a brighter future. How to cite Explain â€Å"The Time Machine’s† View Of Humanity?, Essays

Friday, December 6, 2019

Failure is the stepping stone to success free essay sample

?Rahmat (Chhabi Biswas), a middle-aged fruit seller from Afghanistan, comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise and befriends a small Bengali girl called Mini (Tinku Thakur) who reminds him of his own daughter back in Afghanistan. He puts up at a boarding house along with his countrymen. One day Rehmat receives news of his daughter’s illness through a letter from his country and he decides to leave for his country. Since he is short of money he decides to sell his goods on credit for increasing his business. Later, when he goes to collect on his money, one of his customers abuses him and in the fight that ensues Rehmat warns that he will not tolerate abuse and stabs the guy when he does not stop the abuse. In the court Rehmats lawyer tries to obfuscate the facts but in his characteristic and simple fashion Rehmat states the truth in a matter of fact way. The judge, pleased with Rehmats honesty, gives him 10 years rigorous imprisonment instead of the death sentence. On the day of his release he goes to meet Mini but discovers that she has grown up into a 14-year old girl and is about to get married. Mini does not recognize Rehmat, who realizes that his own daughter must have forgotten him too. Minis father gives Rehmat the money for travel out of Minis wedding budget to which Mini agrees; she also sends a gift for Rehmats daughter. Summary[edit] Abdur Rehman Khan (Balraj Sahni), a middle-aged dry fruit seller from Kabul (Afghanistan), comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise and befriends a small Bengali girl called Mini the daughter of Rabindranath Tagore who reminds him of his own daughter Amina back in Afghanistan. He puts up at a boarding house along with his countrymen. Since he is short of money he decides to sell his goods on credit for increasing his business. Later, when he goes to collect his money, one of his customers abuses him and in the fight that ensues Rehman warns that he will not tolerate abuse and stabs the man when he does not stop the abuse. In the court Rehmans lawyer tries to obfuscate the facts but in his characteristic and simple fashion Rehman states the truth in a matter of fact way. The judge, pleased with Rehmans honesty, gives him 10 years rigorous imprisonment instead of the death sentence. On the day of his release, he goes to meet Mini but discovers that she has grown up into a woman and is about to get married. Mini does not recognize Rehman, he realises that his own daughter must have forgotten him too. Minis father gives Rehman the money for travelling back to Afghanistan out of Minis wedding budget to which Mini agrees; she also sends a gift for Rehmans daughter. The film ends with Rehman travelling back to his homeland. Dinesh Raheja Kabuliwala, a cinematic adaptation of Rabindranath Tagores famously poignant short story, brings a lump to your throat each time you watch it. It makes you wish that more filmmakers would emulate Sanjay Leela Bhansali (who has recently adapted Sarat Chandras popular classic, Devdas) and tap into the rich treasure trove of literary works. The opening frames of Kabuliwala establish an idyllic middle class Bengali family of three, comprising a genial father (Sajjan), a contented hausfrau Rama (Usha Kiron), and their full-of-beans child, Mini, who has an imaginative mind and the curiosity of a puppy. Like in Roys Sujata, the Hemen Gupta-directed Kabuliwala too felicitously captures the ethos of a middle-class but educated and essentially progressive family. When a Kabuliwala (Balraj Sahni) knocks at their door to sell his spices and dry fruits, Mini, dressed in a mini sari and blouse, hides below her fathers writing desk her favourite hideaway. When her indulgent father cajoles her to speak to the Kabuliwala, little Mini innocently asks, Kabuliwala, mujhe jhole mein daalkar le gaya toh? [What if Kabuliwala carries me off in his sack? ] It is a fear that has been encouraged by her mother (Usha Kiron), who does not want the gullible Mini to talk to strangers. But the Kabuliwala soon wins the childs confidence with his gift of the gab. He tells Mini that his sack contains an elephant and produces a fistful of dry fruits for her. Mischievous Mini reminds the lonely-at-heart Kabuliwala of his own motherless daughter who he has left behind in his native Kabul. A close bond is established between Kabuliwala and Mini as he proves to be attentive listener and also a magnanimous admirer. When Mini warbles, he raves, Tum toh bulbul se bhi jyaada achha gaata hai. [You sing better than a Nightingale. ] This portion of the film is touching in its portrayal of an innocent childs unabashed fascination for adults who treat them as individuals; and the need for affection that is common to all humanity. Meanwhile, a disapproving Rama, in a bid to prevent Mini sneaking out to meet the Kabuliwala, makes her wear payals [anklets]. But the sparkly-eyed Mini outsmarts her and tiptoes to meet her Kabuliwala. However, when the Kabuliwala brings red bangles for Mini on her birthday, he is not allowed to meet her. Next morning, she scours the city for the Kabuliwala, while her frantic father anxiously sets out in search of her. Kabuliwala chances upon Mini and kisses her small hands while she feeds him mithai [sweetmeats]. The search party arrives just then and the prejudiced adults, misread the Kabuliwalas intentions they think he is going to kidnap her. They pounce on him and pound him to pulp while Minis cries rent the air. A series of further crisis crisscross their lives, but their bond remains unbroken. The Kabuliwala, in a moment of rage, stabs a debtor. A weeping Mini wants to know why the handcuffed Kabuliwala is being led away. Harking back to an earlier conversation about Mini going to her sasural [inlaws house] after marriage, the Kabuliwala gently replies, Bachchi woh aaj hamare sasural ke ghar ko jaatee hai. [I am on my way to your inlaws house] When the Kabuliwala returns from his jail term, 10 long years have elapsed. The world has moved on, unrelentingly, but time seems to have frozen for the Kabuliwala. He buys red bangles that would fit a toddler and goes to meet Mini. But the realisation that Mini has grown into a girl about to be married, coupled with the fact that Mini now has no recollection of the Kabuliwala, shatters the old spiceseller. He is apprehensive if his daughter will remember him at all. The high point of the climax is Minis father gifting away the money set aside for Minis wedding lights to the Kabuliwala to pay the Kabuliwalas fare to his wattan [homeland] and his eventual reunion with his daughter. As he reasons with his wife, Ek majboor baap ko uski aankhon ka noor mil jaye, toh yehi sabse badi roshni hogi. [What can be better than seeing a hapless father re-unite with his daughter? ] Mini supports him and offers her gold bangle for Kabuliwalas daughter. Please keep a kerchief around to muffle your sobs. As one father prepares to part with his daughter; another father prepares to meet his long-lost offspring. The films biggest strength is the evocative story and the heartfelt performances by Balraj Sahni as Kabuliwala and Sonnu as Mini. Sahnis interactions with Mini are suffused with tenderness, his laughter robust, his walk, regal. To give his character a more rounded feel, he is belligerent and boisterous with the adults including a tuneless singer, and has a philosophical side too as reflected in his response to Ganga aaye kahan se, Ganga jaaye kahan re. Sonnu as Mini is uninhibited, the camera seems to be her best ally. Homespun wisdom and everyday humour is abundant in S Khalils dialogue. When Minis father gently reprimands her for telling lies with, Jo jhooth bolte hai unka chhera bigad jaata hai[Liars end up with a distorted face] Mini spontaneously recalls her domestic Bhola and queries, Bhole ka chehra aisa kyon hain? Woh bahut jhooth bolta hain? [How come Bhola does not look any different? He lies all the time. ] Kabuliwalas philosophy, Pyar mohabbat mein ehsaan nahin hota, sirf pyar mohabbat hota hain [One does not do favours in love, just gives unconditionally] is admittedly not the most eye-opening definition of love. Nevertheless, when woven into a story with as much affection as Kabuliwala mends Minis cloth doll, it holds you enthralled Sidelights: * Before he joined films, Balraj Sahni had taught Hindi and English at Rabindranath Tagores famed institution of learning, Shantiniketan. Its therefore fitting that Sahni be chosen to play the title role of this Tagore story. * Though she plays a deglamorised role here, Usha Kiron had done films with Dev Anand (Patita) and Dilip Kumar (Musafir) in the 1950s and played the crucial role of Raj Kapoors wife in Nazrana in the same year as Kabuliwala! * Director Hemen Gupta had worked with Balraj Sahni earlier in the stark Taksaal [1956]. * Kabuliwala had been made five years earlier in Bengali by Tapan Sinha with the renowned Bengali actor Chabhi Biswas in Sahnis role. Bemen Gupta is the second Indian director to bring Rabindranath Tagores tale about a man and his struggles in a foreign land, to the silver screen. The stranger is from Afghanistan, and when he sets out for India to make enough money to save his farm, he is heartbroken at leaving his little daughter behind. Once in India, the people in the neighborhood where he settles nickname him the Kabuliwala the wala or vendor from Kabul (Afghanistans capital). He finds an emotional stand-in for his daughter in the daughter of a famous poet, and while constantly remembering his own offspring, he showers attention on the adopted little girl. Then one day a corrupt landlord drives him to commit murder and his future with his own daughter and the surrogate daughter suddenly takes a downward turn as he goes off to prison for ten years. Not maudlin or mawkish, this drama by Gupta occasionally still strays toward that emotional end of the spectrum. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi A poor Afghani leaves his family behind to earn a living as a dried fruit vendor in India. Profoundly homesick, he befriends a young girl who reminds him of his own daughter. Meanwhile, the locals are distrustful of all foreigners. Storyline Widowed Abdul Rehman Khan is an Afghani Pathan who lives a simple and poor lifestyle with his widowed mom, and daughter, Amina, in Kabul. He owes money to a money-lender that he had borrowed for Aminas medical treatment, and is unable to re-pay it. He decides to secretly re-locate to Hindustan, without the knowledge of Amina, and he does so in the dark of the night. Upon arrival in Hindustan, he finds that the locals actually fear him and his kind, and blame them for kidnapping young children. A depressed Abdul is unable to get Amina out of his mind, and spends a week without doing any business. After that he sets out to sell dry fruits on the streets. It is here that he meets a young girl, Mini, who lives with her mom, Rama, and her dad, a Writer. Rama is overly cautious and will not permit Mini to see Abdul, while her dad permits her to do so. Abdul sees Amina in Mini and visits her everyday, pampering her with dry fruits. On her birthday Mini misses him and goes to look for him Widowed Abdul Rehman Khan is an Afghani Pathan who lives a simple and poor lifestyle with his widowed mom, and daughter, Amina, in Kabul. He owes money to a money-lender that he had borrowed for Aminas medical treatment, and is unable to re-pay it. He decides to secretly re-locate to Hindustan, without the knowledge of Amina, and he does so in the dark of the night. Upon arrival in Hindustan, he finds that the locals actually fear him and his kind, and blame them for kidnapping young children. A depressed Abdul is unable to get Amina out of his mind, and spends a week without doing any business. After that he sets out to sell dry fruits on the streets. It is here that he meets a young girl, Mini, who lives with her mom, Rama, and her dad, a Writer. Rama is overly cautious and will not permit Mini to see Abdul, while her dad permits her to do so. Abdul sees Amina in Mini and visits her everyday, pampering her with dry fruits. On her birthday Mini misses him and goes to look for him and gets lost. Rama thinks that Abdul has abducted her, so does an angry crowd, who find her with him and beat him. Minis dad apologizes to Abdul when he finds out the truth. But this outing has a serious repercussion on Mini and she becomes very ill, but with prayers from Rama and Abdul, she does recover. Then their lives are again turned upside down when Abdul is arrested by the Police for knifing to death a man named Ram Bharose. Watch what happens when Abdul is found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Synopsis Rehmat (Chhabi Biswas), a middle-aged fruit seller from Afghanistan comes to Calcutta to hawk his merchandise and befriends a small Bengali girl called Minnie (Tinku Thakur) who reminds him of his own daughter back in Afghanistan. He puts up at a boarding house along with his countrymen, which is owned by a rude landlord. One day Rehmat receives news of his daughters illness through a letter from his country and he decides to leave for his country. When the landlord demands rent from him an argument ensues and Rehmat stabs the man. He is arrested and put behind bars for 8 years. On the day of his release he goes to meet Minnie but discovers that she has grown up to a 14-year old girl and is about to get married. Rehmat realizes that his own daughter also has grown up and he sets out for his country after 10 long years Upperstall Review The character of the kabuliwala swathed in his long loose garments and an intimidating but fanciful turban and carrying a huge mysterious sack slung across his sturdy shoulder that contained god knows what, had an iconic presence in the Bengali mindscape till at least 15 years ago. The advent of globalization has gradually displaced this moneylender whose tales of extracting dues by unfair means from debtors at high rate of interests evoked mostly fear and loathing in the minds of the timid Bengali middle-class. To build a story around such an appalling character and his relationship with a little frolicking girl was a masterly stroke of imagination. The story was already there and it was left to the temerity of a young director to take the risk of translating it into the big screen and bring it to huge commercial success, specially since it did not involve a regular boy meets girl stuff. Tapan Sinhas Kabuliwala remains a favourite diet of Bengali cinegoers till date. In fact, the charm of the film lies in its simplistic narration, which is actually not so simple if one looked at the original source material, a popular short story by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagores stories have always been difficult to film because they are not plot driven but read more like a narration told in first person in this case by the father of the little girl. Director Tapan Sinha does a commendable job in working up situations and incidents and subplots and threading them together to form a cohesive narrative despite a tad too long 8-minute exposition of Afghanistan at the beginning. The bulk of the film of course is the relationship between the protagonist and the 6-year old Minnie played absolutely wonderfully by Tinku Thakur, the younger sister of Sharmila Tagore. Undoubtedly, she is the USP of the film and it is a wonder why she was never seen in any other film later. The indomitable Chhabi Biswas who essays the role of the swarthy trader from Afghanistan perfectly catches the nuances and accents of the rugged foreigner despite over done makeup by todays standards. In fact, all the actors deliver commendable performances, be it Radhamohan Bhattacharya as the father of the child who is a writer of romantic adventures or the beautiful Manju Dey as the paranoid and finicky mother who keeps the entire household in tenterhooks with her undue demands on hygiene and imagined tales of child lifting and slavery in a faraway land called Afghanistan. The actress playing the elderly maid servant and fills her mistresss mind against the Afghani stranger and the popular Johor Roy who plays the servant add the right light notes in the film. The whole family represents an old world charm belonging to a bygone era but is identifiable and immensely likable. In fact it is a feel good film with all the correct notes and even the jailors and guards in the jail where the protagonist is lodged come across as nice souls despite their assumed strictness. The main track of Minnie and Rehmat is well worked out, starting from the moment when Rehmat first spots Minnie amongst a group of kids who teases him on the streets and she runs for her dear life when the tall kabuliwala looks at her. Minnie spots him again few days later from her window and runs to her father in panic and it is left to her refined father to melt the ice between the improbable pair. Rehmat begins to bribe her with nuts and raisins and gradually warms himself into her little heart till she has the big man swirling around her little finger. In perhaps the films most memorable scene, she even makes him sing and dance to a popular Tagore song but not with much success. Each time they meet it not only sets off sparks between the two characters where the elderly kabuliwala regales her with fanciful stories and raisins, but also gives rise to a whole lot of tensions in the minds of the kids mother and the elderly maid servant, quite natural reactions in people who have led cloistered lives throughout and suspect people who do not belong to their ilk and language group. It is only the sensitive father who does not bother about this relationship but in fact pampers it; if there is one thing he does not quite like it is the free nuts and raisins that the kabuliwala loads on the little girl and he forces him to take money for it much to the embarrassment of the otherwise no-nonsense trader. The major turning point comes an hour into film when Rehmat refuses to part with the 5-rupee note that has been personally given to him by Minnie on the eve of his departure to Afghanistan; this leads to a scuffle with the owner of the lodge that culminates in Rehmat stabbing the man. He is packed off to jail for a period of 8 years where his good behaviour earns him the kudos and respect of his jailors. Minnie and his family conveniently forget him over the period and when he comes out of jail after 8 years and goes to meet her, it is the day of her marriage. Rehmat thinks that she is still the little girl and is blissfully unaware of the unrelenting passage of time. Realisation dawns on him as the grown up Minnie, now 14 years old, does not recognize him and after a brief unspoken meeting between the two old friends, she turns and goes back inside her house. It is a heartrending climax; he realizes that his daughter, if she is still alive would also be of Minnies age. Rehmat also turns back and is about to step out of the courtyard of the house when Minnies mother has a change of heart; she hands the money saved to put up electric lights on the facade of the house and hire an English band to play at her daughters wedding to her husband and asks him to give it to Rehmat so that he can take it back to his land and meet his daughter. The two fathers look at each other as Minnies father hands over the money to Rehmat. It is a very poignant moment in the film; only a father can understand the pain of another father. Rehmat takes the money and embarks on his long journey back. The few tracks in this otherwise old-fashioned feel-good sentimental tale, which could have been avoided and helped reduce the length, are the subplots of the death of a convicts girl (Kali Banerjee in a cameo role as the convict) and the false charge of theft that is heaped on Rahamat when he is accused of stealing the necklace of a young girl who happens to be the daughter of the jailors boss. One feels that these are overloaded subplots added primarily to underline the protagonists pain of separation from his own daughter and Minnies memories. Ravi Shankars score does not impinge on the film and goes with the subject. But a point here. The use of Tagores songs are more of an obligation since the story belonged to him and perhaps could have been avoided; but then it was prestigious to have a couple of the Nobel laureates songs for commercial reasons and more importantly also to gain respectability. The art direction is elementary and the city of Calcutta is also not well exploited in this urban tale except the scenes set in the parks. The interior scenes look most set-like and stand out like sore thumbs against the real locations of the city. Kabuliwala won the Presidents Gold Medal for the Best Film for the year 1956 and inspired a Hindi remake five years later starring Balraj Sahni and Usha Kiron. The Hindi version was directed by Hemen Gupta and produced by Bimal Roy with music by Salil Choudhury. The Hindi version is a fine film in its own right but die hard Bengali cinema fans still swear by this 1956 film as the definitive version of Tagores short story. The film also won a special mention for its music at Berlin in 1957. synopsis Kabuliwala was adapted from a story by Indian novelist Rabindranath Tagores. The central character is a farmer who hopes to strike it rich in the big city. Forced to leave his daughter behind, the hero all but adopts the offspring of a renowned poet. Sentenced to jail for 10 years for resorting to violence with a crooked landlord, the farmer seeks out his daughter-substitute, only to find that she is irrevocably beyond his reach. Returning home, he learns that his natural daughter has likewise grown away from him. The honest sentiment of Kabuliwala is compromised by the films substandard technical credits.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down Essay Example

Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down Essay It was a necessary realization to me how much living among excess clutter could harm my health, physically and emotionally. We may think it is just a cleaning process, but the depth of the problem will open our eyes to realize how and why the effect of clutter weighs us down. Why it is hard to unclutter? Why can’t it be organized? Why is more clutter mounting up? Emotionally attached objects are hard to get rid of. New attractive items are found in markets all the time. Consequently, clutter can easily mount up in one’s life. Clutter and disorganization impairs productivity. By knowing these facts as problems, we can start searching for the solutions to make our life so much easier. I wanted to find solutions as I was living with excess clutter! I will be introducing a practical method to end excess clutter called â€Å"Danshari. † Danshari is a new notion of de-cluttering that has been prevalent in Japan. The idea includes the concept of removing the emotional burden that comes with having too many items. Furthermore, Danshari teaches people to let go of their burdens and make clear plans for a better future. We need to understand that clutter is created by unorganized people who are creating physical and mental danger for themselves. Physically, if one lives in a cluttered house, one probably doesn’t eat well, because the kitchen isn’t functional. The person most likely doesn’t even know what is in the refrigerator and whether or not their food is contaminated. We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Our Life Is Affected by Excess Clutter That Weighs Us Down specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer People start to realize the need of de-cluttering when there is a distinct element of danger due to the excess clutter. However, unless one is highly organized, one would most likely understate the problem. People may think it is an issue of space when they approach the problem of de-cluttering. However, this subjectively viewed space problem can be solved by organizing accordingly by acquiring trash bags and containers. According to David F. Tolin, Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT, and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Yale, â€Å"Hoarding is not just a house problem; it’s also a person problem. † (Tolin, Frost, Steketee, 2007) The person needs to fundamentally change their behavior. The victims of this excess clutter problem would be the clinically defined hoarders; however, many people can find problems similar to the hoarder’s behaviors. I must state that the hoarders I am referring to are different from collectors, as an expert explains as follows: A definition of hoarding that discriminates clinical hoarding syndromes from collecting and normal saving involves: (a) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value; (b) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed; (c) significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding. † (Steketee Frost, 2006) Hoarding has been reported in a variety of disorders. One of the problems is that hoarding involves the inability to discard worthless or worn out items. Some individuals firmly believe that all personal objects have emotional attachments. Consequently, they are unable to separate themselves from emotionally charged items that they feel holds some sort of personal memory. Those people may object to an uncluttering proposal because they may think and feel that all items are essential and they are unable to differentiate between essential and non-essential items. It is an understandable time consuming process; however, one must realize that failure to organize and de-clutter will often result in decreased feelings of well-being. Kupfermann (2011) in the New York Times article â€Å"The hoarder fights back,† opposes the notion that de-cluttering increases the level of mental health by demonstrating the traumatic experience of the de-cluttering process at her house. Kupfermann (2011) argued that de-cluttering, Zen-like simplicity, or Feng-Shui practice would drain our feelings and leave us with emptiness. When Kupfermann was urged to clean her house for her child’s wedding, she reluctantly agreed to de-clutter objects with her minimalist friend who suggested going through the de-cluttering process. As Kupfermann’s memorable objects went into trash bags by the friend’s hand, she felt embarrassment, distress, and anger. After the friend declared gleefully there were ten containers to de-clutter, Kupfermann felt emptiness in her mind by losing irreplaceable memorial objects. Kupfermann (2011) addressed a noticeable drawback of de-cluttering, â€Å"Feng-shui experts will tell you that clearing the clutter is like weeding a garden to let the flowers emerge. Clear the decks and youll make space to let new things into your life. Kupfermann opposed, â€Å"less is not always more; sometimes it really is less. † As a self-identified hoarder, Kupfermann falls into the expert definition of a hoarder; (a) the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value. It appears that Kupfermann’s feeling was fear that many hoarders experience. According to empirical evidence, many hoarder’s fear is derived from the belief that they must keep items in sight, otherwise they will lose or forget the personal value these items hold. Kupfermann experienced emptiness which made her feel insecure. The feeling of distress, insecurity, and anxiety caused by the notion of de-cluttering is the factor that interferes most with the hoarder’s problem of organization and systematization. Furthermore, compulsive buying disorder is featured in hoarding. Donald W. Black, MD, Professor at the University of Iowa, stated that compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is characterized by excessive shopping cognitions and buying behavior that leads to distress or impairment. Black, 2007) The study of hoarders’ brain activity by Tolin, Frost, Steketee (2007) provides evidence that hoarders have difficulty in decision making, organizing, and planning. Hoarders’ brain activities were scanned and tracked while they looked at various possessions and made decisions about whether to keep them or throw them away. The items were shredded in front of them, so they knew the decision was irreversible. When a hoarder was making de cisions about throwing away items, there was increasing activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision making, organizing, and planning. Tolin, 2012) Moreover, since hoarding is associated with difficulties in organizing possessions, acquiring more clutter results in an endless chain of problems for hoarders. Materialism is another dimension that contributed to hoarding problems in today’s society. A new line of products always allures shoppers despite the marketing strategy of manufactures. The shoppers can have the instant gratification of purchasing an item to improve social status and that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence. It is apparent that oods have an important place in most consumers’ dreams, if not in their hearts. Yet it is not the goods themselves that people desire, but rather the benefit those goods provide, i. e. , an increase in comfort or pleasure, the ability to accomplish new tasks, and the perce ption of others when they regard what we own. Holdbrook (2002), the W. T. Dillard Professor of Marketing in the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, defined materialism in his book, Consumer Value : A Framework for Analysis and Research reported on the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions. According to Holdbrook (2002), materialism is a value orientation in which individuals, 1) place possessions and their acquisition at the center of their lives, and 2) believe that possessions lead to important life satisfactions. If one doesn’t see a hoarding problem, one might not identify hoarding behaviors as a high-priority problem. The awareness of a potential hoarding problem and its solution could be beneficial to anyone who is willing to consider an alternative living context and overcome problems of indecisiveness. The process may take a long time depending on the person; however, the advantages are multidimensional. As mentioned earlier, individuals who see objects as value refers to the emotional meaning attached to the possession. With items that have a personal symbolic meaning, such as a particularly important time in their life, a radically different decision making process as a result of organization and structure will most likely take considerable time. Kupfermann’s (2011) experience with her minimalist friend resulted in her rejecting the beneficial aspects of de-cluttering. Clutter should not be referred to as weeds, as those items hold some very important memories of people’s lives. Her friend was not attuned to Kupfermann’s feelings and item attributions, therefore Kupfermann had a traumatic experience resulting in the emergence of feelings and cognitions counter to the process of de-cluttering. One could argue that if the items are reassuring one’s feelings, one should keep the items and not necessarily discard them. It is important to take time to organize those memorable items. Through the process of organization, we will find out which objects reassure positive feelings and which do not. Memories are not in the objects themselves but they are within the individual. If one thinks every object reassures positive feelings, one is presumably living in the past, not in present. People will achieve a significant relationship with de-cluttering objects, finding essential objects in their life. The difference is how the individual took care of these memorable items; whether to treat them as clutter or keep them as cherished memories, neatly organized and even beautifully displayed. If the item is important enough to keep as a memorable item, one would not just put the item somewhere that is hard to find, one would organize it and possibly proudly display the item. This type of cognitive attribution and style of thought is the difference between the collectors and the hoarders. Another possible drawback of this proposal would be the time for the decision making processes that will enter into making a choice between essential and non-essential personal items. A person may raise the question as to whether or not the decision to unclutter would be correct which may cause a certain level of distress. Most people think they don’t have enough time in their day. When will people find the time to organize and dispose of items when there are numerous simultaneous decisions that need to be made? People are proficient at making excuses. Nevertheless, we should realize that in the long term, the time it takes to search and find a cluttered item will most likely be temporally similar as the process of de-cluttering and organizing. I would like to describe â€Å"Danshari (Yamashita ,2012)†, the notion of de-cluttering that is sweeping Japan. It is written with three chinese characters that indicates respectively, refusal, disposal and separation. The proposer, Hideko Yamashita, learned this notion through the study of Yoga which taught her to â€Å"let go,† as signified with the three chinese characters. There are psychological and religious dimensions mostly from zen which suggests the disposal of mental burden, along with the physical excess of clutter. As I am from Japan, this notion was easily accepted knowing the meaning of each chinese character. It is important to acquire the ability to distinguish what is essential to us and what is not essential in order to live positively with organized thought. It is the ability to make firm and logical decisions about what to keep and what to reject, and then engaging in the behavioral expression of disposal. One will gain control and personal reedom from the ability to emotionally separate oneself from those items that are no longer needed. There are many tips to being able to detach from emotionally charged objects. I will introduce a couple of tips; in regards to gifted items purchased by other people, if these gifts are undesirable, appreciate the kindness of the purchaser, then give the gift away to someone who can use it. When purch asing an item, consider if you already possess an item or similar item, and what is the purpose of the item you are considering purchasing. Key phrases to remember are â€Å"optimum amount,† â€Å"optimum quality†, and â€Å"optimum relationship. Keeping these concepts in one’s mind teaches a sense of function and practicality. Danshari (2002) teaches us to discard our lingering, illogical, and impractical senses. The de-cluttering practice allows us to realize and recognize the culminating effect of clutter, restricted space, and crowding which interferes with people’s ability to think clearly and act accordingly. As clutter becomes less prominent and cognitions become clearer and free of distraction, the mental condition improves and people’s quality of life improves. The most important impact achieved by Danshari (2002) is high self-affirmation. Humans are sensitive to environmental conditions. Living in a space where all objects suit one’s preference and need, one will feel welcomed by the space. Additionally, quality objects with the highest level of emotional attachment still remain by practicing the careful selection of memorable goods. Moreover, the Danshari (2002) practice will strengthen the ability for the discernible selection of activities and people. Danshari is also utilized as a training module to help people view themselves from another perspective on how much people cling to the past. By being able to re-orient themselves to the here-and-now, people will start to feel for the moment. References 1. Black. D. A review of compulsive buying disorder ncbi. nlm. nih. gov. World Psychiatry. 6 February, 2007. Web. 24 April. 2012 2. Tolin, D. F. , Frost, R. O. , Steketee, G. Buried in treasures: help for compulsive acquiring, saving, and hoarding. Oxford University Press, 2007. 3. Holdbrook, M. B. Consumer Value: A Framework for Analysis and Research† Taylor Francis e-Library ed. Routledge. 2002. 4. Francine, J. Minimalism around the World: Danshari. Miss minimalist, 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 April 2012. 5. Kupfermann, J. The hoarder fights back. Solo Syndication Ltd. News Paper article. January 2, 2011. 6. Tolin, D. F. â€Å"A Clutter Too Deep for Mere Bins and Shelves. † Nytimes. com. The New York Times, 1 January, 2008. Web. 28 April. 2012 7. Steketee, Gail Frost, Randy. Compulsive Hoarding and Acquiring: Workbook. Oxford University Press, Nov 2006. 8. Ya mshita, H. â€Å"Danshari – Hideko Yamashita official site. † Danshari. com. Keiei Kagaku public, co, ltd. 20 April, 2010. Web. 26 April. 2012

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Role of African Americans in the American Revolution.

The Role of African Americans in the American Revolution. While the Patriots were ultimately victorious in the American Revolution, choosing sides and deciding whether to fight in the war was far from an easy choice for American colonists. The great majority were neutral or Loyalist. For the African Americans, what mattered most was freedom. As the Revolutionary War spread through every region, those in slavery sided with whichever army promised them freedom. The British actively recruited slaves belonging to Patriot masters and, consequently, more African Americans fought for the British. An estimated 20,000 African Americans offered their services to the British. They had many roles, such as laborers, orderlies, scouts, and spies. Since they had lived in the areas of the battles, they knew the local roads and rivers, which made them excellent scouts and spies. On the American side, slaves were not given guns at first, because they were feared to revolt. Soon, they were needed, and Rhode Island offered to set any slave free who volunteered for the regiment.This (attributed to ) originally appeared during t...At the end of the war, 100,000 slaves were either freed or had escaped.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Food Security in International Background Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food Security in International Background - Essay Example Such factors as global warming, climate changing and natural disasters put the growth of products and their quality under the threat. The food security exists when all members of the society have the access to its enough quantity for healthy life and well-being. People who live under the conditions of poverty and products insecurity experience fear and have the limited abilities. The definition of food security, formulated at the Rome meeting, includes the following elements: Food policy is seen as a set of measures designed to meet systematically and effectively not only the challenges of development of production, foreign trade, storage and processing, but also a fair distribution of basic food products, as well as social development of rural areas. Food security is one of the main objectives of agricultural and economic policy. It generates a motion vector of any national food system to the ideal state. â€Å"Large numbers of people in the world are chronically hungry, meaning th ey are undernourished because they don’t receive enough energy to live active lives. While chronic hunger has been an issue of global concern for decades, recent events, including a global recession and rising food prices have significantly increased the number of chronically hungry people† (McDonald, B., 2010, 4). The United Nations Agriculture organization stated that there were one billion of hungry people throughout the world in 2009. This condition motivated the increase of food supplies in the global sense by means of development of infrastructure and reduction of poverty. As we can see, the state authorities work intensively on this issue, trying to prevent the future growth of hunger level in the world. The national policy is aimed to create the more sustainable food systems. If we take the USA as an example, we can see that the farmers have to wait three years, after the usage of pesticides, before these products are recognized as organic  and ready for consu mption.  

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Management Decision Support Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Management Decision Support Systems - Essay Example Decision Support Systems (DSS) are developed based on generally two sets of assumptions. Firstly, it assumes that gaining of the right quality of information contributes in effective decision making. Secondly, the knowledge of use of computers by the managers contributes in enhancing the level of managerial decision making activities. Use of computers contributes in helping the managers gain the right quality of information and analytical tools which tend to be used for effective decision making. In the modern world, the development of World Wide Web and also other technological interfaces like e-commerce requires the development of the concept and use of DSS (Power). The paper intends to reflect on an effective review of the earlier studies conducted relating to Decision Support Systems (DSS). It further aims to reflect on the development of models and analytical concepts for use of DSS in e-commerce platform. Druzdzel and Flynn (2002) observe Decision Support Systems (DSS) as computer based interactive systems that contribute in helping the users take the right type of decision and choice relating to various activities. DSS also helps in retrieving and storage of effective data in terms of enhancing the existing mode of data accessing and storing functions. The system also generates potential support for the building of data modeling and reasoning activities based on the creation of different types of analytical models. DSS systems as a whole contribute in three different types of functions related to framing of decisions, generation of models and finally in formulating solutions based on the models created. Decision Support Systems gain key usage in managerial and planning activities related to different sectors like healthcare, business management and also in military operations. The system relating to the above areas contribute in fulfilling the objectives relating to complex decision making

Monday, November 18, 2019

Paraphrase creditor rights, remedies, and insurance as a component of Essay - 1

Paraphrase creditor rights, remedies, and insurance as a component of risk management - Essay Example The scenario given involves Eagle Sales Company who owned a warehouse after obtaining a mortgage from First National Bank. The two companies obtained insurance policies separately from the Good Hands Insurance Company to insure the warehouse. Later on, Eagle Inc. sold the warehouse to Interstate Distribution Company but kept the insurance policy. Furthermore, the bank agreed to be Interstate’s mortgagee, and Interstate also obtained an insurance policy from Good Hands Inc. to cover the warehouse. If a fire destroys the property, the companies that will recover an amount of the loss are Interstate and the mortgagee. Eagle Sales Company cannot have any share because they have no insurable interest for the warehouse. This is because the only person who should recover from the loss is the owner of the property (Miller, 2011). Eagle cannot recover from the loss even if they had retained the insurance policy of the warehouse since, they do not have the insurable interest of the property. For instance, Eagle Inc. can only be entitled to a refund of premiums paid to the Good Hands Insurance Company. Insurance interests are not dependent on the premium payers of the insurance policy. Therefore, Good Hands risk was under the insurance policy that it sold to Interstate Distribution Corporation. This case is also unbelievable based on the fact that there is only a single insurance policy to any property insured. Insurance companies cannot offer multiple insurance policies on the same property. If an insurance company does this, then it will have to compensate the multiple claimants who had insurance policies for the property (Cheeseman, 2009). In this scenario, First National Bank and Interstate Distribution Company are the only claimants who can claim compensation for the loss of property. The information given clearly shows that the mortgagee who is represented by the First National Bank and the Interstate Distribution Company sites them

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English 1. INTRODUCTION The more students talk, the better they learn; Speaking skill is not given special significance in the teaching of English in Vietnamese universities. Traditional English education in Vietnam focuses heavily on reading skill. Also, many Vietnamese students and even teachers have examination-orientation. In the first semester, students start the elementary level with the textbooks Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001). The textbook cover four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The assessment at the end of each semester is based on a written test involving reading and writing skills only. As a result, pre intermediate students spend more time improving reading and writing skills and mostly ignoring listening and speaking skills. This fact happens at not a single university in Vietnam but across the country. In the first semester, pre intermediate students do not have many chances to communicate in English; therefore, their speaking skill is restricted with lack of naturalness, reaction and pronunciation. Many are shy to speak out in English as they are afraid that listeners cant understand well what they say. Role play is considered one teaching method which motivates pre intermediate students to get involved in speaking lessons. In opinion of James G. Clawson (1997, p.2), role play is a superb vehicle for bringing the distiction between concept and reality to the fore. During role play, students are motivated to perform and act and speak in English class. They are challenged to use their English words in mind to apply into simple conversation in daily life. This indeed enables them to get familiar with normal conversation in their real life. Also, motivation influences how and why people learn as well as how they perform (Chin Chun Shih, 2001). While role play contributes to affect students attitudes positively and improve their English speaking skills, there is little research examining its effectiveness towards pre intermediate students in universities. In Vietnam, much of the research focuses on role play aiming at junior high schools students in foreign countries like Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. There is little research that indicates how role-play could influence students learning attitudes directly. Scarcella Oxford (1992, p.54) also pointed out that most researchers talk about using cooperative learning activities or student-centered learning in order not to put too much pressure on an individual student in front of the class. Therefore, this particular research is intended to focus on the effectiveness of role play in teaching speaking skills for pre intermediate students. Based on the above rationale, this research tends to seek answers to two below research questions: What are pre-intermediate students attitudes toward the role-play activity? In what way does role play improve pre-intermediate students speaking skills? Generally, this research aims at making clear two important aspects of role play: affecting attitudes positively and improving speaking skills properly. Firstly, this research shows how role -play has a direct effect on learners attitudes. Secondly, this research intends to point out how role play help improve their speaking skills in particular. The structure of this research includes the context and methodology as the qualitative method. Data will be collected via oral test, interview and observation, which will then described and analyzed in item data analysis. Next, the content of reflection shows what is gained and which possibly further research questions are. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of terms Role-play can be divided into role and play. Gillian (2002, p.7) refers role as to play a part (either their own or somebody elses) in a specific situation. He also indicates that Play represents the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible (p.5). This teaching method enables students to enjoy the experience of having conversations with people in real life so as to develop their social communication. The function of role-play in language learning Teaching English in Vietnam mostly concentrates on grammar translation methods and is examination oriented. Adian Doff and Maxwell (2002, 1997) pointed out the problems of those English teaching methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more diverse English teaching methods or activities. Vietnamese students have common weakness reportedly as their speaking ability. They have little chance to practice conversation, even in the second language classrooms. In order to encourage students to speak in public, role -play is often used by teachers as one of the teaching methods. Maxwell (1997) holds the opinion that the purpose of role-play is to improve students verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schemas, in both structured and improvised situations (p.1). This viewpoint shows that role -play could improve students in verbal or nonverbal communication while they are performing the roles in the dialogue. James G. Clawson (1997, p. 4) pointed that A common theme in the benefits of using role play is that the techninque can bring abstract discussions alive, make them live, and in so doing, open up students willingness to learn When taking part in the dialogues created by teachers or extracted from the text books, students will be required to act as the characters in the dialogues, therefore, they will find it easier to use the conversation in daily lives. Daily conversation will create lots of unpredictable situations that make students confused how to deal with. As noted by Salies (1995, p.6), role-play helps learn ers to deal with unpredictability, motivating them by adding emotion and increase the awareness of the listeners. Accordingly, role-play helps create a safe environment for students to practice their language skills. The influence of role play on attitudes Attitude plays an important role in learning English speaking skill. Without adequate and appropriate attitudes, pre-intermediate students are usually unwilling to learn what their teachers try to teach them. To make a change about students learning attitudes, teachers can use role play to increase their confidence because role-play proves to be a good choice for them to understand and handle the learning content. James G. Clawson (1997, p4) indicated that role play helps improve learners abilities to communicate their thoughts and feelings in effective and productive ways among peers. They will find themselves better motivated to learn if they are recognized as a part of the class. Motivation is important because it helps create good start. Role-play can also help reinforce students knowledge gained through constant practice and acting. Also, students learn to how to cooperate well with each other through working and discussing English together, which will lead to mutual affection. He pointed that emotional climate is a good motivation during learning process (Ray, 1992, p.9). Students can gain more confidence in a safe environment brought by role play method. The learning environment ha s become particularly important for students. Ray (1992) also agreed that students prefer a consistent learning environment with good order at which they feel safe. (p.5). In other words, students can learn better in a little pressure environment. Furthermore, role-play helps create peer relationships which have become very important in improving attitudes. Ray said that the main motivational factor for pre intermediate students is the social incentives reflected in peer relationships (1992, p.13). The speaking and practicing subjects would be their classmates, who are familiar to the students and cause them less pressure and nervousness. Students work in small or big groups and there is a competitiveness among these groups. By this kind of stimulus, students are able to increase their learning attitudes, and to learn the second language further. Therefore, in the context of this research study, the findings above show that role-play could affect students attitudes positively in four aspects: improving students confidence, motivating their participation, creating interest in speaking lessons, and improving peer relationships through moderate competition. In conclusion, the literature above may lead to the fact that the main function of role-play is to help students improve speaking skills. Below context will indicate that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate students speaking ability in Vietnams education environment. 3. CONTEXT In Vietnam, the teaching of English has been criticized with lack of practice and heavy focus on written examination. In most universities in Vietnam, students are tested in written form, meanwhile, oral tests are ignored since they are time consuming and too difficult for students. Many pre- intermediate students are reported with lack of English communicative ability due to their emphasis on the written exam in previous grades. Adian Doff (2002) stated that teachers would look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test or test objectives (p.2). The Entrance Exam is the main examination for high school students to enter university. There are two parts of questions. The first part include multiple choice grammar questions for each of which students must choose the best answer. The second part is a reading comprehension assessment that includes cloze tests (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999). Thus, students focus on writing and reading rather than speaking skills. Also, starting their learning in universities, pre-intermediate students are lack of chance to improve their speaking skills. They feel shy and can hardly speak and listen to English in their daily lives. Although they are taught the curriculum Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001) with four skills, the speaking skills are often ignored due to limited time in one period. Grammar or reading exercises are taken greater priority. Besides, teaching speaking seems to put a lot of effort into and not every teacher will be successful in a speaking lesson. As a matter of fact, so many teachers of English in Vietnam universities are trained with grammar translation method. That is the reason why they will face a big challenge to create an environment in which students are given more opportunities to use English as a means of communication. It has become more and more difficult for Vietnamese teachers when they have to work with large classes which are more suitable to give lectures instead of asking students to work in small groups. Teachers of English make it impossible to control such large classes if they have intention of teaching English in communicative way. A serious problem teachers in Vietnam have to tackle is that although there is a number of a method of teaching speaking skill, it is not easy at all to find out appropriate methods which help Vietnamese students, especially those at pre-intermediate leve l make some improvements in speaking skill. Researchers argue that role-play can help learners improve it. Firstly, role-play helps improve students listening ability. In viewpoint of Salies (1995, p.8), role-play makes students aware of the listener. Therefore, listening ability is as important as speaking ability and role-play might help to improve this skill. Secondly, role -play contributes to improve speaking ability. In order to speak well in a daily conversation, one should take consideration about the pronunciation as well because clear pronunciation helps speaking become two-way communication. In this case, while students are performing in speaking lessons, teachers will be able to listen to each students pronunciation and correct him/her individually during speaking sessions. In conclusion, the context above is critical because it indicates that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate pre intermediate students speaking ability in Vietnams universities. 4. METHODOLOGY According to C. Pope and N. Mays (1995), the goal of qualitative research is the development of concepts which help us to understand social phenomena in natural (rather than experimental) settings, giving due emphasis to the meanings, experiences, and views of all the participants. In the researchers viewpoint, qualitative method is proper to discover pre-students attitudes towards role play and how role play motivates them in speaking lessons. This part presents subjects, data collection instruments consisting of oral tests, interview and observation via two role play activities. 4.1. Subjects Participants Six students are randomly chosen. All are between the age of 19 and 20 and study English at pre-intermediate level. Students at pre-intermediate level but not other levels are chosen as they have more chance to take part in communication activities. In order to get an exact result, the participants English speaking ability is different. The backgrounds of participants are stated below. Name Sex Background English Level Nam Male He is quite good at English. He performs enthusiastically and confidently in English class. Good Mai Female Her English is at medium. However, she is willing to learn and perform in class. Medium Trung Male He is a person who is enthusiastic in English lesson even though his English is not as good as others. Medium Hoa Female Her English level is medium. She is very shy. She likes English, especially English speaking skill. But she is too shy to perform in class. Medium Sy Male He likes taking part in all games in class. Although his English is not good, he is not afraid to speak English. Not good Phuong Female She likes to talk loud in class, but not in English. Due to her weakness at English she seems to be very quiet in English lessons. Not good Teaching materials The main pilot teaching material is The New Headway Pre-intermediate textbook compiled by Liz John Soars. There are two dialogues used in this research. The researcher asked the informants to play the roles of the dialogues. Students are voluntarily encouraged to contribute their own ideas to make the play role activities more creative and interesting. 4.2. Instruments of data collection 4.2.1. Oral tests and Interviews Two oral tests and interviews were conducted for this study with the participation of six students. The first oral test was done before the two-week experiment, and the second oral test was held after the experiment of the two-week experiment. Moreover, during the interview the researcher asked them related questions to clarify the purpose of the study. Yes-no questions and WH- questions that students have to answer are included in oral test questions. Yes-no questions are for students who can not have long answers, and WH- questions are for students who are at better learners. The questions are displayed in Appendix A. After finishing the pre-oral test, the study proceeded to the main part, which was role-play. During role-play, I interviewed every student individually. The interview questions were based on some basic questions but might be changed to adapt the situations and students reactions (see Appendix C). Moreover, students were interviewed in their mother tongue so that they felt at ease to express their feelings. When the pre-oral test, two role play activities and interview were finished, it was time to examine how students improve their speaking ability. And the post-oral test was done to compare the students performances from the beginning to the end (see Appendix A). 4.2.2. Observation The researcher observed six pre-intermediate students participation during two role play activities. The observation in this study was done via my note-taking or keeping diary, and tape-recording through the pilot teaching. The purpose of this part is to see what pre-intermediate students behaviors are when role play is employed as a speaking activity. Furthermore, during the pilot teaching, tape recording was also carried out to get the data for the research. The students utterances were recorded and analyzed later to find out how the role play was used and how it motivated students. 5. DATA ANALYSIS Descriptive data are analyzed by qualitative method. 5.1. Descriptive data of oral tests The oral tests were arranged and conducted at the participants convenience. The oral tests (see Appendix A) were given before and after the two-week experiment. In order to give descriptive data of oral tests, interviews and observation, I have based on seven criteria to review pre-intermediate students English speaking ability including: 1) the influency of speaking, 2) the frequency of using words that have been taught, 3) the accuracy of grammar application, 4) the listening skills absorption, 5) the anxiety of students, 6) the accuracy of pronunciation, 7) the pause while interviewing. The oral tests showed that students speaking ability did improve after the use of role-play. Specifically, three fourth of the participants spoke more fluently. While doing the oral test, I also felt that students would try hard to answer in English. They might not give complete sentences, but they would manage to use the words they had learned. They also tried to use correct grammar when giving answers. However, some students who were not good at English such as Sy and Phuong sometimes produced wrong grammar sentences. Moreover, students not only understood what I asked during the oral tests, but also tried hard to listen to whole sentences and digested them. I, myself, had a strong feeling that students tried very hard to pay attention to the post-oral test, because most students had enthusiastic responses with me. Moreover, students anxiety had been decreased during the second oral test. One of the reasons that the researcher postulated was that students were familiar with the res earcher, and might not be afraid to speak English. They also learned how to pay due attention to their pronunciation while performing in front of their classmates. This also made them have better pronunciation during the oral tests. Some of them even tried to improve their pronunciation by making repetition of what they spoke. The pause frequency of interviewees was really high during the first oral tests, but it seemed lower during the second. Some students said I dont know or I have no idea when they could not find the answers to the questions. In general, the oral-tests showed that role-play had a positive influence on pre-elementary students speaking skill. Most students might not have the ability to answer in complete sentences, but they showed positive attitudes during the oral tests. They paid due attention to the questions, and answered the questions using the vocabulary they had learnt, which showed their willingness to attempt to learn English in general and speak English in particular. Therefore, I can conclude that role-play not only stimulated students when they learned English in speaking lessons, but also made them eager to learn more. 5.2. Descriptive data of observation In order to assess the participation and effectiveness of using role-play in speaking lessons, I based on four levels: 1-3 (bad), 4-6 (medium), 7-9 (good), 10 (excellent). In this part, I would like to use two dialogues and asked participants to play role (see appendix B). For the first role play activity, the researcher used the telephone conversation between the receptionist and client in book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.77, unit 9). I asked the participants to work in pairs which mean three couples did the same role play. In order to make the role play more effective and to have an exact observation, I asked Nam to work with Mai, Trung with Phuong, and Sy with Hoa. Nam, Trung, Sy played the role of the receptionist whereas Mai, Phuong, Hoa played the role of the client. The researcher instructed first and three pairs presented in turn. During the role play activity, I would observe, take notes, and record. The first role play is easy and simple so that students can feel comfortable and confident to take part in. The results of observation basing on the four levels are presented as below. For the second role play activity, the researcher used a more difficult role play activity which was extracted from the book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.57, unit 7). This role play was an interview with the band Style. Participants had to play the role of an interviewer a journalist and the role of two interviewees Suzie and Guy. In this part, students worked in group of three. Nam, Mai, Sy were the first group. Trung, Hoa, Phuong were the second group. Nam, Hoa who are better at English were the interviewers. The rest were the interviewees in which Mai, Phuong played the role of Suzie, and Sy, Trung played the role of Guy. Similar to the first role play, the researcher instructed first, and the two groups presented in turn. The results of observation from the second role play activity basing on the four levels are stated as below. The second role play After experiencing the two role-play activities, the researcher found that the pre-elementary students English speaking ability has been improved. Specifically, four out of six participants made a clear progress in the influence of speaking ability, and the ability of expressing him/her self. Moreover, half of participants used grammar more correctly. Also, half of participants became more confident such as Mai, Trung, Sy. In addition, Nam the best participant at English speaking improved his vocabulary. Thus, the observations results show that pre-students English speaking skill has been improved when the researcher uses the role play in speaking lessons. 5.3. Descriptive data of interview The interview was conducted during and after role play. All the students were interviewed once. Additionally, the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese. During the interviews, the whole procedure was recorded and taken notes. The questions of interview are available in Appendix C When being asked to compare the traditional teaching method most of the students answered that they really like the role-play teaching method. They explained that role-play gave them a joyful feeling and avoid being sleepy in class. In general, most students feel that role play is an interesting teaching activity and they really like it. In other words, their feeling of this teaching method is positive. For example, one of the interviewees, Hoa, expressed that: Well, I extremely like this teaching activity. It helps me be more confident in speaking English. Especially, it makes me more interested in lesson instead of being sleepy. I always feel bored and sleepy in lessons which are given in a traditional way. Another participant Nam said that: I think using role play in speaking lessons is good because we get more confident when playing role and speaking in front of other friends. I like this teaching method than the traditional method. For the second question Do you think that your speaking skill has been improved after doing role-play in class? all participants answer Yes. For example, Sy pointed out that role-play can help him improve his speaking skill: I thinkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ my speaking is better after doing role-play several times. My speaking ability seems to be more fluent. Andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.I feel more confident. When replying this question, Trung also determined that his speaking English skill had been improved. He said Ummà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.You know that now I can speak English a little bit fluently. I feel more confident to speak in front of other students. Does it mean that my English speaking skill has been improved? Furthermore, I asked the participants whether there are any negative sides when applying role-play in class. And most of them answered that the problem is the class order was not very good in that case. Sometimes, there was too much noise for students to act in class. Participants, however, still show a positive attitude. Mai said: I think noise is unavoidable when we learn speaking skill. I really like this kind of teaching activity. It is fun. It makes me want to study English and want to speak English in class. However, in order to add to the negative sides of using role play in class, Hoa stated that Sometimes role play takes much time. In my opinion, it is a negative side of role play. I asked the students if it was tiring or stressful for them to plan the dialogues beforehand. As a result, most students showed a positive response to the preparation. Phuong who is not good at English expressed that I feel difficult to have a good preparation at first. My English is not very good. I can not study it at home without teachers instruction. However, after preparing for the class for several times, I start to feel that preview is really important. I know the lesson prior to class and I can understand what the teacher talks about in class. Furthermore, as I have had preparation before class, I become less nervous and shy when speaking on the stage in English. Similarly, Trung said eagerly: Well, my teacher also asked us to prepare in advance. For the first time I felt quiet tired because I didnt get familiar with this learning method. But for the third time, everything seemed to be better. And now I have no problem with preparation in advance. When observing participants doing the first role-play, the researcher recognized that some of the students were very extroverted. However when they were asked to perform the role play in class, they started to keep avoiding from this opportunity. I wanted to know what resulted in such a reaction. Some students told me that they were really shy; some of them could not find out the proper way to act. However, after doing the second role-play the participants responses seemed to be more positive. They participated to the activity more enthusiastically. They did not appear to be shy any more. For example, Trung said that I am an extroverted person. However, I dont feel confident when speaking English in class because I know that my English is not good and as a result, I dont want to speak English in class. But now I feel better. After doing the first and the second role-play activities I recognize that theres no reason to be shyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦please take part in the activity, please spea k. Wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is really good. In short, most of the participants hold the positive attitudes to the role-play teaching activity in speaking lessons. For example, students showed more interest in learning speaking English with the role -play activity, students agreed that role-play helped improve their speaking skills, and they showed higher willingness to perform in public. 6. REFLECTION This study was designed to research the effectiveness of using the role-play to motivate pre-intermediate students in speaking lessons. There were six participants in the research. Also, the researcher used qualitative method to do the research in which oral tests, interviews, and observation are used to collect data. Based on the results of the study, the findings have been drawn. These findings are: (1) participants have a positive attitude to role-play in speaking lessons. (2) Role-play motivates pre-intermediate students in learning speaking. Moreover, the findings of this study may offer three practical implications for English teachers in Vietnam to help students develop speaking ability. The first implication for English teachers is that they should apply a communicative teaching technique in English speaking classes such as role play. However, role play should be merged with the traditional English teaching. The second implication is that teachers can affect students learning attitudes/motivation positively by lively activities. The last implication is to provide a safe environment with tender discipline in class because this will make student feel more comfortable and eager to learn, especially to speak English in class. In other words, English teaching in Vietnam should be added lively and interesting communicative teaching methods in class, especially in English speaking class. I believe that the study is successful. Also, it is proper to use the qualitative method for this study. However, there is one limitation which may influence the outcome of the study. The limitation referred in this study is time limitation. Because of limited time, I can only give two role-play activities to experience and test the effectiveness of role-play on pre-intermediate students. Suggestions for further research In order to have a more accurate and complete result, further study can be done with the cooperation of the involved students English teacher. Working with the English teacher is advantageous as he/she might help me understand every students English level in a short time. Moreover, it would be better to have two instructors to review students during oral tests and performances. Besides role-play, I would like to add some other activities to class and think of some interesting topics for students to act in role-play. It would be boring if the whole period of class was proceeding in the role-play teaching activity only, thus, added activities may help students concentrate in class more effectively. The dialogues in students textbooks did not really attract them. Students already had those contents in their regular English classes. It would affect students attitudes/motivation positively if there were more interesting topics for students to discuss and act. Last but not least, in a future research, I may have more chances to videotape the whole process of the experiment which includes the oral tests, interviews and performances. Students gestures, facial expressions or body languages could serve as the sources to interpret their intentions as well. Besides, some non-verbal languages could appear beyond expectation, so those expressions are also important for descriptive data. 7. CONCLUSION I would like to conclude my research in two aspects. Firstly, role play is not beneficial only for the pre intermediate students but even students of upper levels as well as lower levels. Role play proves to be a good way to motivate English learners to speak out what they want to say. In fact, students have to experience different situations in real life. The final and the most important goal of teaching English is none other than helping students use English in those situations. Role-play creates many daily situations for students to practice their English. In addition, it really creates a safe environment and productive learning environment in language class which would be interesting to absorb knowledge. Secondly, although role play works well in speaking lessons as well as with pre-intermediate university students, it is not the only method for teachers to apply in every lesson. In other words, there are numerous different ways Vietnamese teachers are offered to apply to motivate students communicate in English naturally and effectively, to affect their attitudes positively and to increase s