How successful has the ANC been in addressing the key legacys of Essay

How successful has the ANC been in addressing the key legacys of apartheid - Essay Example The fact however was that the blacks were handicapped from exercising influence or any form of authority to issues concerning them in their immediate environment. Inferior treatments were meted out to the blacks in terms of the public services that were made available to them (Department of Health, 2004). Apartheid may have been a director consequence of British colonialism that sought to regulate the movement, of blacks to white occupied territories. More than ten different laws encapsulated the apartheid era. There was a laws prohibiting mixed marriages between whites and non-whites, it was considered a criminal act for a white to have sexual relations with other races. Citizens were registered on the basis of their skin colour. The country was partitioned into different areas with different governing structures put on ground for these different areas. There were further laws checking black migration to the cities and from sharing the same public amenities. Other laws mere the banks Education Act that brought black schooling directly under government control and thereby ending the running of schools by the missionaries, the law preventing i llegal squatting, the suppression of communism etc. These and many more characterized apartheid or â€Å"Separatism† by South Africa. The ANC is an acronym that stands for African National Congress and the currently ruling political party in South Africa with social-Democratic inclinations. South African blacks readily accepted this party as theirs because it had as it major mission, the welfare and the rights of South African Blacks. Formally called the South African native National congress, the ANC was founded in 1912 with initial founding members like John Lube and sole plaatje. The composition of the ANC at foundation included Local Chiefs, Representatives of the people, churches & etc with the

Color Scheme and the Work Place Essay Example for Free

Color Scheme and the Work Place Essay Color Scheme and Work Productivity 1 Running Head: Color Scheme and Work Productivity Color Scheme and Work Productivity How Does the Color Scheme of a Building Affect Work Productivity Introductory Psychology Research Paper Using APA Style Jessica N. Russell Milwaukee Area Technical College July 2008 Color Scheme and Work Productivity 2 Creating a productive work environment is a shift in both the blue collar and white collar work worlds that has the potential of influencing change in the wider arena of life. High work productivity while maintaining quality could have an extremely positive impact on the economy. Research indicates that employees produce a higher output of work when they are employed where there is a positive work environment. A huge part of the positive environment is the color scheme of the work building. Using color psychology when designing work environments can make a difference in attitude and work performance, thereby impacting the bottom line of a company. It is the higher work productivity and positive attitudes that are the focus of this research. Color Scheme and Work Productivity How Does the Color Scheme of a Building Affect Work Productivity Introductory Psychology Research Paper Using APA Style Introduction The author of this research paper has been in the workforce for over ten years. During this time, the author has worked in a wide variety of industries, including: clerical work, food service, sales and service, and collections. The author is most currently a team lead in the current position of collector. Working as an employee, and now in a somewhat supervisory role, the author has seen both high and low levels of productivity performed by employees. There is a noticeable pattern that Color Scheme and Work Productivity 3 either most employees are highly productive at some of the companies, or most of the employees are less productive than they should be at some of the companies. The one thing that has intrigued the author is the difference in attitudes and work productivity when moving from one workplace to another. In some work settings, people did unpleasant and difficult work tasks, yet they maintained a positive attitude and high productivity rates. In other work environments, people had a great job and worked in a pleasant environment, yet their attitudes were not upbeat to reflect that and work productivity was average or low. What in these work places makes the difference in work productivity? The author spoke of this project with employees at work. When the author referenced what in the â€Å"workplace environment† makes a difference, many employees stated things such as furnishings, ergonomic work stations, colors of the walls, windows and art in the workplace. The feedback that was given led to the topic for this research paper. It is important to know the answer to color schemes and their affect of work productivity, as work productivity is what affects a company’s bottom line. The company’s bottom line, in turn, has a huge affect on the economy. Since economic conditions affect all people in this world, it is important to Color Scheme and Work Productivity 4 research and find ways to increase worker productivity. Since there are many things that affect work productivity, the author narrowed the research down to one main thing that affects levels productivity. Does the color scheme of a building affect work productivity? Method There has been much research done on how to increase work productivity, going far back at the mid 1800s. However, most research has been on management style and hierarchies in the work place. Not as much emphasis has been put on researching the work environment in regards to color schemes. To find information for the research, the author looked in the library research database EBSCOHOST to find articles related to color psychology. The author also utilized a book written on the topic of contemporary management. Results and Findings The earliest known study in regards to the work environment was series of studies was conducted from 1924 to 1932 at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company. This research, now known as the Hawthorne Studies began as an attempt to investigate how characteristics of the work setting – Color Scheme and Work Productivity 5 specifically at the level of lighting or illumination – affect worker fatigue and performance. (Jones George, 2008, p. 65). The researchers conducted an experiment in which they systematically measured worker productivity at various levels of illumination. The experiment produced some unexpected results. The researchers discovered that regardless of whether they raised or lowered the level of illumination, productivity increased. In fact, productivity only began to fall when the level of illumination dropped to the level of moonlight, a level at which, presumably, workers could no longer see well enough to do their work efficiently. (Jones George, 2008, p. 65). It was concluded that the employees were just happy that people were paying attention to them, and seeing what caused them to work more productively. The Hawthorne Studies did not look at how illumination at higher or lower intervals for a set period of time affects the performance. This would have answered the question if the illumination affects work performance. Thus, from there, research could have been done in regards to the color schemes of a room. Also, much of the research cited for the Hawthorne Studies was perception based. This would suggest that it is important to ask the workers involved what their illumination preference, as well as their color, preference is. (Hart, 2004, Color Scheme and Work Productivity 6 P. 1). According to research completed by Blumber Capitals Partners, 80 percent of workers said the condition of their work environment affects their productivity, and 33 percent said they have actually left a job or taken a new one nased on the condition of the building and/or amenities offered. (Kampert, 2008, p. 1). In 1998, a study was conducted in regards to task type, posters, workspace color on mood, satisfaction and performance. This study was overseen by the department of psychology at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. There were 112 student participants. As part of the experiment, they either performed a low or high demand task in a blue or red workspace, with or without a scenic poster. (English and Stone, 1998, p. 175). Only hostility was affected by task type. Satisfaction and performance were not significantly affected by either the posters. Performance decreased for the high demand tasks and decreased for the low demand tasks. Posters made the workplace more pleasant, but also increased perceived task demand. Perceived task demand was marginally related to workplace color. Perceived task demand may moderate the effects of posters and workplace color on mood and other perceptions. Other date support the notion that cool Color Scheme and Work Productivity 7 colors are calming and warm colors are stimulating. (Stone English, 1998, p. 175). Many studies in regards to color have actually been done by interior designers who decorate homes,and some who decorate offices. Interior designers are aware that while people do not spend a lot of time thinking about room color, it affects every day of our lives. Room color influences our mood and thoughts. Colors affect people in many ways, depending on one’s age, gender, ethnic background, or local climate. (Corrigan, 2008, p. 3). Also,certain colors, or groups of colors tend to get a similar reaction from most people, regardless of their age, gender, ethnic background, or local climate. The overall difference is in the shades or tones that are used. To understand what colors work best in certain rooms in either a home or place of business, it is first important to understand the moods that colors evoke. Much research has been done in the area of color psychology – the study of colors and their affects on moods. Below you will see the colors listed and mood that are evoked. The descriptions come from a book titled Color and Human Response by Faber Birren. The colors and the moods they evoke can also be located on any internet site that discusses color psychology. Color Scheme and Work Productivity 8 Red – raise’s a room’s energy level. It stirs up excitement, but has also been shown to raise blood pressure, speed respiration and speed heart rate. Red can sometimes be too stimulating for a room. Crimson – makes people feel irritable. People sitting in a crimson room for a long period of time will likely break down any peace or harmony that one is striving to create. Overall red and crimson colors, should only be used in rooms that are used after dark where just a lamp makes the room have an elegant feel. Many steak restaurants like to use red and crimson. Yellow – captures the joy of sunshine and communicates happiness. Thought it is a cheerful color, it should only be used in kitchens, dining rooms and bathrooms. People are more likely to lose their tempers in a yellow room, as it tends to create feelings of frustration and anger in people. The color yellow is also fatiguing on the eyes. Blue – brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. It is considered calming, relaxing, and serene. Pastel blue, however, can come across as unpleasantly chilly, especially in a room that receives little natural light. Color Scheme and Work Productivity 9 Green – considered the most restful color on the eye. A sage or medium green cools things down, encourages unwinding, and promotes comfort and togetherness. Green is believed to relieve stress by helping people relax. Purple – in its darkest forms is rich, dramatic and sophisticated. Light purples have the same effect as pastel blues, but without the chilly effect. Orange – evokes excitement, enthusiasm, and is an energetic color. It is great for an exercise room. Orange was used in ancient cultures to increase energy levels. Neutrals (black, gray, white, and brown) – are calm colors. Black is used sparingly as trim, same as dark tones of brown, because too much of a dark color make a room feel smaller. White brightens up small areas.

An organisation climate analysis

An organisation climate analysis In this chapter, we will describe the research background which included a clear brief of organization climate, employee engagement, problem statement, research objective, and research question and significant of the research. Research Background The Organization Climate Organization climate usually do not have a clear definition and is simply explained as a perception that every employee in an organization feels, understood and shared (Kouzes, 1993). It is weather that a particular organization is having, reflecting how its system deal with the members. This is something that is difficult to be measured because it is senses or feels of employee perception toward the organization which is cannot be evaluated using tools. The combination of the perceptions reflects the actual work place of the organization. Organization climate is important for the junior employees to observe and adapt. Their observation and perceptions are usually is the better reflection of the truth than senior employees. This is because senior employees perceptions are affected by many factors in the organization. A positive organization climate that set by the executives could be a motivation for employees, resulting effective and efficiency in productivity. Organization climate is determined by factors from both internal and external environment. Internal environment refers to the factors that affect the perception of the employees which occur within the organization and external environment factors are occur from outside the organization which is difficult to predict and control. In our study, we focus in the internal environment rather than external environment. Background of Banking Industry in Malaysia The banking industry had gone through constant transformation over years in keeping up the changing needs of economy. Service quality is one of the important elements to the industry evolved trend (Brown and Kleiner, 2010). Today, excellent service quality had become a crucial factor for a business survival in the present banking industry. This is because the service quality is directly influencing the competitive advantages and corporate profitability. Thus, the majority banks in Malaysia is ongoing their focus in improvement of their service quality. Nowadays, to achieve the prior competitive advantages in the banking industry, the banks must increasing their demand on providing a better service quality, lower interest rate for loan and greater beneficial for the customers. The banks need to embrace changing and response pro-actively in order to maintain its competitive advantage. In the past decade, Malaysia banking industry had been transformed significantly and undertaking the effort of restructuring, placing the financial sector to a new and stronger foundation (Adbullah, Andrew and Boo, 2010). It had successfully integrate many business process and redeployed the resources to support the growth of new areas, increased the flexibility of the financial institutions, resulting in new business opportunity. Besides that, the banking and insurance sector had provide employment to over 123, 000 Malaysia citizens. The service from the sector had benefits many industry development and encouraging development of small business. Such consumers lending had increase from RM 134 billion to RM 343 billion while loan disbursed to small and medium enterprise. The domestic banking institution is expanding, building their strong position in the local country. According to Abdullah et al (2010), there are several trends in Malaysia banking sector. First of all, the trend is the changes in global economy configuration. This trend illustrate the rapid expanding in economy of many developing country had created many business opportunity for global banking sectors. The raise in India, China and South East Asia economies have increase Asias global role. The increment in countries output had boost up the economy in Asia and as a collectively region, Asia contribute about 40% of global and one-fourth of the world trade. This is an open tremendous business opportunity for Malaysia as a part of this dynamic growing region. Secondly, the trend is the current industry is shaping towards the integration of economic and financial regions. The merger and acquisition of many domestic bank with foreign bank had help the domestic bank emerge into a new market, generating a better profit and help the local bank industry expand their target market. The investment among Asias economics is increasing the financial activities. These activities involved merger and acquisition which require fund as capital rising. Thus, financial institutions of the related region are becoming the primary source for them to obtain funds. Thirdly, the trend is the Asia region is moving towards financial integration in helping on the development of financial sector. Many financial institutions were restructuring, improving their financial system in order to attract the investors. The new services or strategies that launch were private equity, structured products, Islamic finance, hedge funds and etc. In developed countries such as America and Europe countries, their financial institutions are sustain fully managed by their strong government in terms of strong economic background, beneficial policies, better living standard and etc. Malaysia, unlikely the developed countries, which is a developing country is unable to gain total control over external environment, therefore Malaysia have to rely on better control in internal environment. Trends of Employee Engagement Employee engagement can be defined as the commitment that an employee has towards the organization, attracted and inspired by the works (Rudledge, 2005). Engaged employees will put their organization in the first place to be concerned, physically and emotionally willing to play their role as part of their organization or sometimes exceeding their duty call to contribute their effort (Seigts and Crim, 2006). They will evaluate every possible alternative to maximize the benefits of their company. In year 2008, Macey and Schneider presented a framework for understanding the elements of employee engagement, illustrating that conditions of the workplace have both a direct and indirect impact on engagement. However, employee engagement required a two-way relationship among employer and employees. Employer is responsible in building clear roles for employees to take part and also figured the best ways to motivate the employees to be engaged. The first way is to remove roadblock of employees to be engaged. This roadblock refers to those barriers such as lack of confidence, negative perceptions towards the company, demotivated factors and others. The second way is creating an engaged culture that beliefs and values are wired spread along the organization. The culture can be effective only when everyone is understood and agreed upon. The third way is to set a proper reward system that is allowing the employees to perceive what they will get as the return from the engagement. Reward is a best way to serve as a motivating factor. When employer getting along with employee, he or she should communicating rather than announcing or listening rather than surveying and paying attention rather than getting attention. Thus, engagement is implemented through persuading rather than enforcing. Besides employer, employees should also play their part to be engaged in organization. They have to set their mindset that they willing to contribute towards the organization without any complaints. They have to observe what reasons that made the employee to be engaged. According to Nitin, (2007), he outlined that the levels of employee engagement can be categorized into engaged, not engaged and actively disengaged. Engaged employees form a bond between themselves and the organization, driving it to move forwards. Not engaged employees satisfied in what they have contributed. Although they are unhappy with the organization but they will not complain about that. They are putting in time but not contributing passion in their work. The last is actively disengaged. They are not only unhappy but also trying to influence others perception and denied others accomplishments. These three categories reflect the current organization climate of a company. Many organization trying to seek a way to influence their employees become engaged, result in creating a positive organization climate. In the other hands, if not engaged employees do not being pay attention, they will slowly become actively disengaged which will result in negative impact of organization climate. Problem Statement Employee engagement has long been a concern of organization climate of its construct to engagement in organizational behavioural. In engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. Employee engagement is very important to determine the future of the organization. Employee is a vital resource for nearly all organization and high performing employee is the organizations valuable asset. This mean when skill employee had started to leave the organization, it is an indication that the organization is in trouble. Nowadays, it is hard to having organization climate in an organization. There are few antecedent variables that will influence organizational climate toward banking industry such as leadership, communication, compensation, decision making and organization design. Based on the study, it revealed that older workers ages between 55 years old to 64 years old have been more loyal to their employers with a median of 9.3 years, while workers ages 25 to 34 have a median tenure of only 2.9 years. That means there is hardly possible to expect younger workers to spend their careers in one organization. They are more likely to resign in the particular organization if th ey get a better and attractive offer in other organization (Taylor, 2006). There is no one will sacrifice and perspiration in one organization without compensation, however, there is a complementary executive compensation strategy that employers should pursue, and it usually involves cash bonuses, stock awards, and deferred compensation plans. Any or all of these may be refined in a manner which are better positions the employer to seek judicial enforcement of loyalty covenants and provides for benefit forfeitures and claw-backs when disloyalty prevails. The lack of awareness regarding significant of employee commitment has caused the high turnover and uncomfortable among the employees. As you can see, some banks which are making huge profits and which have introduced performance appraisal systems do not give any rewards to the lowest category of workers whereas in the higher category they continue to give them huge bonuses (Solomon, 2010). As a result,  National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) members began to wearing of protest badges and slogans demanding a 30% pay increase. So, there is very hard to keep employee loyalty since there are some indistinct factors that influence the loyalty of employee. Nowadays, perhaps that the importance of employee engagement has been overlooked by the banking industry and the industry is more emphasize on looking the new employees and not retain the existing skill employees. However, the replacement can actually cost a company anywhere from 35% to 50% of an hourly workers salary. Based on the research run by loyalty research centre, for a technical or professional worker, the cost can go as high as 125% of that workers salary. According to the loyalty research centre, most of the managers do not realize that how expensive to lose a good worker, those who do their jobs well and productive. For anything less than a loyal, productive worker will cost a company; which is why performance goal setting and review are so important for weeding out the bad ones; or for providing additional training and support to those who can be developed or rehabilitated. Employee turnover is extremely costly to companies with large numbers of employees. In the banking industry, employee turnover can also mean the loss of valuable customer relationships. Hence, it is good to keep the employee rather than recruit new employee. Employee engagement is growing as more important construct, driving and influencing important factors of a business. On the other words, whether the business able to survive in the market is affecting by the employee engagement. Unfortunately, many companies struggle with measuring and improving engagement levels in their organization. Therefore, it is important for companies to have a strong understanding of engagement in order for them to be successful in improving the level of engagement. This study will look at best practices that companies can use to measure and use engagement data as their advantages. Overall, the purpose of this study is to find out where the lacuna is and to try and find what corrective measures can be taken to reserve this undesirable trend. The engagement levels of the entry level employees were observed. Besides that, various factors considered, and thereafter the attempt to address the problem of reducing the turnover level was undertaken. Research Objectives General Objective The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship of organization climate towards employee engagement in banking industry. Specific Objective To examine the impact and relationship of organization climate which are the leadership, communication, compensation, decision making and organization design towards employee engagement. Research Questions Answer all these question will give more understanding of the dimensions in organizational climate underlying the foundation of employee engagement in banking industry. Does the leadership significantly effect on employee engagement? Does the communication significantly effect on employee engagement? Does the compensation significantly effect on employee engagement? Does the decision making significantly effect on employee engagement? Does the organization design significantly effect on employee engagement? Does the organization climate associate with employee engagement? Hypotheses of the Study H1: There is significant positive relationship between leadership and employee engagement. H2: There is significant positive relationship between communication and employee engagement. H3: There is significant positive relationship between compensation and employee engagement. H4: There is significant positive relationship between decision making and employee engagement. H5: There is significant positive relationship between organizational design and employee engagement. H6: There is significant positive relationship between organizational climate and employee engagement Significance of the Study The main importance and contribution of this research is to improve the awareness and knowledge about employee engagement in private corporate, which is commercial bank. First, this research enables banks allocate in Malaysia to further study on employee engagement with factors that will lead to the loyalty of their employees. By conducting this research, it will recommend the banks effective ways of employee engagement in banking industry. Organizational performance and retention can have a greater impact on an organizations profitability. Therefore, the managers of the particular banks will find out what resources and benefits are most desired by employees and lead to satisfaction and loyalty in that organization by considering on the five dimensions of organization climate of this research and hence make the employer to retain the talented employees. There is hardly possible for corporate researcher to do such study on organizational climate and its influence towards employee engagement in banking industry, so we decided to do such research in order to help the corporate researchers and higher education institution to have better understanding on it as well as serve as a base for the future research towards banking industry. Other than banking industry, it also helps to improve higher education institution interests and concern in employee engagement in other industry. Then, our research studied on employee engagement is also very significant for government that who act as a policy maker. It enables government to uses the research to as the guidelines to amend the policy if necessary to enhance the employee engagement in the banking industry. For example, the current compensation benefit is likely unfair to the employee. Therefore, the government could amend the current policy to be more better, which that the employee will feel more satisfy to it. Chapter Layout This paper is organized into 5 chapters namely introduction, literature review, research methodology, data analysis and discussions, conclusion and implication. Chapter 1: Introduction In this chapter, we will explain the background of our study and clarify the research problems. Then, we will outline our research objectives and questions that to be answer by our result of research. The significant of study explain who will be benefit after reading our project. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter aims to review the critical points of published and unpublished information on the basis of secondary data on the topic. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source in a clear and logical manner. The aid of theoretical framework and theoretical model will be discuss in this chapter, enables a more understandable problem in this research. Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter encompasses the process of data gathering procedures. This chapter also will discuss the sampling design, data collection methods, sampling design, operational definitions of constructs, measurements scales, and method of data analysis. Chapter 4: Data Analysis This chapter provides the understanding on how data is being analyzed and how the survey data relate to the research questions. This chapter provides the analysis of the related hypotheses. Chapter 5: Discussions, Conclusion and Implication This chapter provides the linkage of all chapters. Also there will be discussions, conclusion and implication of this study. This chapter also will cover the statistical analysis, discussion and limitation of the study. Finally, recommendations and conclusion will be done for the whole research project. 1.8 Conclusion In first chapter, we introduce our topic starting with research background, developed our research problem statements, objectives of our study and also the research question. From the information gathered, we developed the hypothesis of our study.

Claude McKays Harlem Shadows Essay -- Harlem Shadows Claude McKay Ess

Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows" During the Harlem Renaissance, the black body was considered exotic and the "flavor" of the week. Society had an obsession towards black women, in general, blackness. However, the white race wanted to listen to their music, mingle with the women, and enjoy the other finer luxuries that the black society could afford. Even the art was captured by this idea of the exotic and contentment in being "black." The masquerade began as members of the white race tried to pass as black and during that experience gain some satisfaction from their own lost and confused existence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Claude McKay was unique in style and tone, yet still followed the other artists by topic. The exotic in Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows" is apparent. McKay is developing the exotic throughout the text and saying that black exoticism is the only way that Africans can survive in America. McKay wants the African American to embrace their bodies, but there is an element of pity to the work. He feels that embracing the exotic in your own body is the way that the black person can become African American. Ignoring the culture fails to guide black Americans to discovering his or her identity. As a Harlem Renaissance writer, Claude McKay tried to guide African Americans to accept the African culture along with the exotic characteristics involved in it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In "Harlem Shadows", McKay tries to express how a black woman survives everyday life in America. He writes, "I see the shapes of girls who pass/ to bend and barter at desires call." McKay identifies with the black desires that these women can not avoid. It is in their nature to turn and exchange their bodies. However, the most important reference McKay makes is the use of the word barter. The dictionary meaning of bartering is to exchange services without the exchange of money. These girls are not receiving money for each desire they fulfill. For the girls to continue satisfying desires without receiving anything in return, McKay implies they are enjoying the act. Also, that these woman need to complete these desires to survive. Another prominent aspect of the line is that McKay uses the term girls instead of women. Thus proving that even from an immature age, black females are not able to suppress their exotic nature and desires. Therefore, McKay is encouraging w omen to embrace their own African roots, n... ...ng, "Follow my example." That is how the girls can save the culture and realize their identity. He wants the girls to find a better way to exhibit their sexual tendencies and embrace the culture. The girls nightly behavior is shameful and not the way to living the culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout "Harlem Shadows," McKay is telling the young girls to express their natural sexuality, but to find a different way. The behavior that they are displaying is more disgraceful and should not be considered Black culture. McKay shows how the girls have lost their innocence and spread the black culture to the white race, yet McKay implies that their idea of the culture is tainted as the girls themselves are. Claude McKay makes reference to his example being the girl's saving grace to the true black culture and each girl's true identity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, in his message McKay has to make the girls exoticized and objectified before he can explain the way to change and the ultimate survival. By objectifying the girl's McKay attaches his poem along with the rest of the writers at the time. He is writing the same topic of exoticism, black culture, and resuscitation from a lost and confused existence.

Collectivisation: Political Philosophy and Stable Income Essay

?How accurate is it to say that the most important result of the collectivisation of agriculture was that it imposed communist control of the countryside? The result of collectivisation of agriculture was that it had imposed communist control as it meant that all farmers got an equal and fair rate exchange from their produce. However some areas were capitalist such as the use of NEP, the idea that the more you work the more you gain and that peasants eventually gained land for their own increasing each individual profit which is not along the lines of communist views. It is accurate to a strong extent that collectivisation of agriculture was that it imposed communist control as Stalin removed capitalist ideas eventually such as the NEP, but by allowing farmers to own their own land meant that communist ideas had to be altered in order for Stalin to keep the support of the people. The political ideas of Stalin were by far to impose communist control. Stalin’s position meant that he could alter existing ideas in order to make them fit in with communist ones and therefore allowing him to take control of areas that before hadn’t followed communist ideas. This is seen when Stalin eliminated the NEP. By doing this he eliminated capitalist ideas as peasants were forced to hand over any land they owned and work on communal farms creating equality and communist control. The collectivisation of these farms meant that all farmers earned the same amount imposing communist control as there wasn’t certain members that earned more and so could cheat the government by selling on products in secret and earning more than others. However, over time more farmers began selling produce to kulaks that would make more money and therefore not following communist ideas. In order to stop this Stalin had to allow a small amount of land to be owned by each farmer, which meant that some capitalist ideas had to be used in order to keep farmers content. This shows how one of the most important results of collectivisation was that it imposed communist control but as people were not happy with this it meant some other ideas had to be brought in to allow a widespread acceptance. The ideology of Stalin was to communise peasants and therefore the government would have a stable income of grain to export and get income from. By collectivising peasants it meant that the government could control the production of grain by having a fixed amount of grain going to the government. This meant that the government could export this grain for a stable income. This had a positive effect for a short period of time before peasants wanted more of a share of grain and so the government had to allow this. This is also an economic advantage from collectivisation as the stable income allowed income for Russia that could go back into the country and therefore improve it. The collectivisation imposed communist control as without it the government wouldn’t have got such a stable income from exports that boosted the economy. Socially controlling the people by keeping them consent was very important. When peasants starting to act against the government by breaking machinery and killing off animals rather then hand them over to the government this mean that the government needed to take action. In order to solve this problem Stalin bought in a scheme that allowed each peasant to own a small piece of land in which they could work on and keep all the harvest from that land for themselves. This created a widespread acceptance for peasants and meant that people would accept Stalin’s policies and the communist control. This shows that the collectivisation had some problems that the government had to deal with that meant communist control wasn’t successful and so other capitalist ideas were needed to keep farmers happy. In conclusion, the most important result of collectivisation was that it imposed communist control as it meant that the government had control of the people socially, by allowing them to have their own land, and politically. It also meant that the government had a stable income from exports of grain allowing Russia to use that income to improve other areas. Without this control the government wouldn’t of been able to have the economic boost.

Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure

The novel Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy, was first published unabridged in 1896. It narrates the doomed existence of the protagonist, Jude, from the moment he is still a boy at Marygreen and is inspired by a rural schoolmaster to think of a university education, to the moment in which he dies, alone and unattended. It tells the story of a man whose dreams and ambitions are gradually destroyed, and end up being shattered. Jude lives an enternal cyclical movement, in which he never gets any closer to whaever he is looking for, due to forces which seem to be operating against him all the time.In this essay, I will conduct an analysis of these social forces, in order to show that Hardy did create a realistic depiction of ninteenth century British society. According to Brooks [1], a realistic depiction is similar to the vision we have if go up a high tower and remove the housetops of the houses, to show what is really happening in the rooms exposed. It is a duty of the realistic write r, to dismantle appearances and not to reproduce the facade, and â€Å"to give us not only the world viewed, as well as the world comprehended . Hardy shows us that Jude is making choices at a certain level, referring to his personal life, but there are social and economic forces which operate on him so he does not take decisions, once these circumstances limit his choices. Early on in the novel, we see Jude struggling against the circumstances. The village of Marygreen is set in opposition to the university town of Christminster. The young Jude sees Christminster as an enlightened place of learning, relating it to his dreams of higher education and his vague notions of academic success.Yet while Jude lives quite close to Christminster and knows a man who is going to live there, the city is always only a distant vision in his mind. It is nearly within his reach but at the same time unattainable. This physical distance is a metaphor for the abstract distance between the impoverished Jude and the privileged Christminster students. For the first time in the novel we see Jude heading towards a destination, and being unable to reach it. At the start of the novel, Jude is portrayed as a determined and innocent young man who aspires to things greater than his background allows.He resists succumbing to the discouragement of those around him and does not fear the gap he is creating between himself and the other people of his village. He is seen as eccentric and perhaps impertinent, and his aspirations are dismissed as unrealistic. These circumstances might have led him to marry Arabella. All through his young adult life, he avoids going to Christminster. He appears to be afraid of the failure he might encounter there. In Arabella, he sees something attainable and instantly gratifying, as opposed to the university life, of which he fears he may never become a part.In this way Jude tries to avoid disappointment, but finds that he cannot live within the confines of an un happy marriage. The freedom he receives after Arabella leaves is only partially liberating: It lets him be independent in a physical sense, but because he is still married, it forbids him to achieve legitimate romantic happiness with someone else. Jude is attracted to Christminster because of Sue, who he seeks with a strange devotion, despite his aunt's warning that he should stay away from he.Taken together with her warning that marriages in their family never end well and with the fact that they are cousins, Jude's haste to find and fall in love with Sue creates a sense of foreboding about his fate. He finds that the Christminster colleges are not welcoming toward self-educated men, and when he accepts that he may not be able to study at the university after all, he starts drinking. â€Å" He began to see that the town life was a book of humanity infinitely more palpitating, varied, and compendious than the gown life.These struggling men and women before him were the reality of C hristminster, though they knew little of Christ or Minster. That was one of the humours of things. The floating population of students and teachers, who did know both in a way, were not Christminster in a local sense at all. † The narrator tells us how big the distance between his aspirations and his relaity is, since Jude works so hard that he can no longer dedicate himself to his studies at night: â€Å"So fatigued was he sometimes after his day's work that he could not aintain the critical attention necessary for thorough application. He felt that he wanted a coach – a friend at his elbow to tell him in a moment what sometimes would occupy him a weary month in extracting from unanticipative, clumsy books. † The episode in the pub, in which he recites Latin to a group of workmen and undergraduates, shows the contrast between Jude's intellect and his appearance. Christminster will not accept him because he belongs to the working class, yet he is intelligent and well-read through independent study, he is advised to remain in his own sphere.The realization that his learning will help him only to perform in pubs sits heavily with Jude, as we can tell from his reaction at the pub: â€Å"`You pack of fools! ‘ he cried. `Which one of you knows whether I have said it or no? It might have been the Ratcatcher's Daughter in double Dutch for all that your besotted heads can tell! See what I have brought myself to – the crew I have come among! ‘† He looks for consolation with Sue and shows her what he considers to be his worst side†: â€Å"†¦ `I am so wicked, Sue – my heart is nearly broken, and I could not bear my life as it was!So I have been drinking, and blaspheming, or next door to it, and saying holy things in disreputable quarters – repeating in idle bravado words which ought never to be uttered but reverently! Oh, do anything with me, Sue – kill me – I don't care! Only don't hat e me and despise me like all the rest of the world! ‘† Jude is comforted only by the idea of becoming a clergyman. Once again, he does have the ability to make a decision, but he only chooses to become a clergyman because his choices were limited by the conventions and prejudices of society.The moral implications of the friendship and romance between Jude and Sue emerge as an important issue. Jude's doomed existence is also shaped by other people's indecision. Sue shows herself to be both radical in her intellectual views and conservative in her social practices. She leaves the Training College because she discovers that its rules are intolerably strict, and she cannot conform to the rules of her establishment in Melchester either. She comes to see Jude as a protector, and reveals to be quite an impulsive character, and not to care much about Jude's intense feelings for her and the implications of her actions: Suddenly, however, quite a passionate letter arrived from Sue . She was quite lonely and miserable, she told him. She hated the place she was in; it was worse than the ecclesiastical designer's; worse than anywhere. She felt utterly friendless; could he come immediately? – though when he did come she would only be able to see him at limited times, the rules of the establishment she found herself in being strict to a degree. It was Mr. Phillotson who had advised her to come there, and she wished she had never listened to him. † †¦ Phillotson's suit was not exactly prospering, evidently; and Jude felt unreasonably glad. He packed up his things and went to Melchester with a lighter heart than he had known for months. † When they meet, the narrator describes her as unhappy and changed, but not anxious and desperate as she was when she wrote the letter, since Jude is the only one overcome by emotion: â€Å"Though she had been here such a short while, she was not as he had seen her last. All her bounding manner was gone; her curves of motion had become subdued lines. The screens and subtleties of convention had likewise disappeared.Yet neither was she quite the woman who had written the letter that summoned him. That had plainly been dashed off in an impulse which second thoughts had somewhat regretted; thoughts that were possibly of his recent self-disgrace. Jude was quite overcome with emotion. † â€Å"†¦ she had altogether the air of a woman clipped and pruned by severe discipline, an under-brightness shining through from the depths which that discipline had not yet been able to reach. † Sue makes it clear that she doesn't see Jude as a lover, and is annoyed by the fact that he is love with her.She goes back and forth in her protests, sometimes wanting to enter into a romantic relationship with Jude and sometimes believing it to be misguided. When he confesses that he is married, she accuses him of dishonesty, but there is a hint of disappointment in her tone because his marriage o nly adds a further obstruction to their possible romance. She marries Phillotson in this state of anger and frustration, and Jude feels that he cannot and should not dissuade her. By doing so, Sue hopes to protect her reputation and achieve the traditional lifestyle of a married woman.After Jude spends the night with Arabella, Sue tries to push him away again, then invites him to her home soon after. Sue does not know what she wants, but is slowly realizing that she finds Phillotson repulsive. She does not admit to loving Jude, but still turns to him to be her protector. She recognizes her own intellect and her potential for a satisfying career in teaching, and marries Phillotson partly out of a desire for a pleasant work environment. She resists a romantic relationship with Jude, but falls in love with him despite her misgivings.However, when it comes time to marry, she does not wish to enter into a legal contract in which she would again be confined and their financial difficultie s push them into a wandering life. The uncertainty surrounding their status foreshadows difficulties to come, as there is a sense of illegitimacy lingering in their relationship. Society dispproves of it, and the children and Sue's pregnancy only add to that. The tragic conclusion of the novel arises as the inevitable result of the difficulties faced by the two cousins.When Father Time kills himself and the other children, Sue is the one who cannot handle it and start regarding their relationship as sinful and the death of the children as punishment. She thinks the child of a legitimate union had punished the ones of an illegitimate one, as the result of her transgressions against the institution of marriage. She marries Philoston again in an act of hopelessness, almost masochistic behaviour, once she feels repulse for him and knows she will never love him. This action may be seen as an attempt to conform, but it is also a selfish act. Sue could have left Jude and lived on er own, k ept struggling against conventions as a divorced woman.She finds a solution which is, at the same time emotionally torturing and financially comortable for her, while Jude remains lonely and poor, having had both his academic and his romantic aspirations destroyed. Jude then enters a state of self mutilation and acceptance of the suffering. He goes back to Arabella, who once again represents the last and worse of his options, and an act of desistance. After Jude gets sick she imediatelly starts looking for another possible husband, and slowly reveals, throughout the novel, to be quite an animalistic character.She personifies the danger of a bad marriage, and is heartless to the point of being unable to sacrifice a boat race to be with him while he is dying or even to take care of his body after he dies. The Jude we see in the last chapter is a handicapped vesion of the young, ambitious one from the beginning of the novel. He is depicted as a man who is exhausted after having spent h is life fighting against a strong opponent, represented by nineteenth century British society. It ended up mutilating him and left him with nothing, longing for his death.The lack of conflicts' resolution and the sense of vagueness in Arabella's suggestion about Sue's miserable future reveal the modernity of the novel. Accroding to Schweik, Hardy successfully images life as first impulsive passion and confidence leading to disappointments, collapse of hopes, and death. [2] With its open ending, Jude the Obscure turns out to be a novel in which the relationship between form and content becomes the form itself.Bibliography: Brooks, Peter. Realist Vision. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005. Hardy, Thomas. Jude The Obscure. Penguin Popular Classics, England,1994. Schweik, Robert C. â€Å"The Modernity of Hardy in Jude the Obscure†. In: A Spacious Vision: Essays on Hardy. Newmill, The Patten Press, 1994, p. 49-64. Stern, J. P. â€Å"On Realismâ€Å". In: Concepts of Literature. Routledge ; Kegan Paul, 1973. Watt, Ian. â€Å" Realism and the Novelâ€Å". In: Essays in Criticism II, p. 376-396, 1952. ———————– [1] Brooks, Peter. Realist Vision. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2005. [2] Schweik, Robert C. â€Å"The Modernity of Hardy in Jude the Obscure†. In: A Spacious Vision: Essays on Hardy. Newmill, The Patten Press, 1994, p. 49-64.