Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Challenges Of Internet Banking And Personal Information Information Technology Essay Essays

Challenges Of Internet Banking And Personal Information Information Technology Essay Essays Challenges Of Internet Banking And Personal Information Information Technology Essay Essay Challenges Of Internet Banking And Personal Information Information Technology Essay Essay 2007 ) . From the above account, digital certifications provides designation of the user on entree to the site without usernames and watchwords, grounds of the minutess made and it can besides interchange encrypted paperss and electronic mails between two or more transacting parties, this saves clip and attempt of both the administration and client. By following this engineering, the hazard of unwanted revelation of personal information will be reduced. Customers besides play a large function in cut downing the hazard of unwanted revelation of their personal information ; therefore they should take duty for the client side of the cyberspace deal. In order to maintain their personal information secure, clients should do usage of anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall security package. CRITICAL EVALUATION AND SYNTHESIS OF THE ABOVE AND SUMMARY OF THE LESSONS THAT CAN BE LEARNT FOR INDIVIDUALS AND HOW TO BE AWARE OF THE RISKS AND LESSONS FOR ORGANISATIONS DEALING WITH PERSONAL INFORMATION. Due to the society s dependence on Information Systems, the challenges of protecting personal information are increasing and really upseting. Information Systems is non merely of import in the cyberspace banking society but it is indispensable in about every facet of life: administrations, persons, authoritiess all invest in security direction mechanisms in order to heighten information security. As Information Systems are meeting, there go chances for greater harm. Presently there are several 1000000s of cyberspace banking users worldwide, some of them which are non to the full cognizant of the dangers of non protecting personal information. Educating incognizant persons is a large measure towards cut downing the challenges of protecting personal information. Administrations could take enterprises such as making web sites, information kits, pictures, and cusps to alarm clients about the demand to procure their personal information. For illustration, the Information Commissioner s Of fice ( ICO ) in UK has a personal information toolkit to inform persons on how to protect and utilize their personal information ( ico, ) , Canada besides has a Consumer Measures Committee which developed an ID larceny information kit that informs administrations on how to cut down the hazard of unwanted revelation of their clients information ( Acoca, 2008 ) . The following are lessons that can be learnt for persons to cut down and be cognizant of this hazard: Be Vigilant persons should mind of people who contact them out of the blue to demand personal information or bank inside informations, they may claim to be from a known and legitimate administration such as fiscal establishments, local council or even the jurisprudence enforcement bureaus. Pay Attention to Billing Cycles Persons should reach creditors if their measures arrive tardily. A losing measures may intend a cyber condemnable have stolen your bank inside informations and changed your charge reference. Check Credit Report Persons should on a regular basis look into their recognition study to do certain no 1 has illicitly obtained recognition in their name. Use anti malware plans on computing machines: Persons should guarantee they have antivirus, anti spyware, firewall, and on a regular basis update them. Administrations that deal with personal information should take necessary steps in cut downing the challenges of protecting personal information such as: Informing employees about the hazard and challenges of protecting personal information by making a set of guidelines refering the storage, processing and sharing of personal information, both online and offline. Destroying by tear uping unwanted paperss and information. Guaranting that old computing machines are formatted before being disposed. A regular cheque on spouses, sellers and clients individuality, authenticating solutions are offered by several bureaus to verify the individualities to guarantee that they exist and are who they claim they are. Registering with Companies House and subscribing up to their, PROOF and Monitor services, this will forestall cyber felons from altering personal information of clients and employees. Decision This paper has provided a selective overview of step and techniques that can observe, prevent and cut down the challenges of protecting personal information. It has besides described how persons and the populace should be cognizant of the lifting issue,

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Find the Best Firewood for Burning

How to Find the Best Firewood for Burning Finding Firewood If you are looking for firewood to cut, you need a wood source that is relatively close to your storage area and easily accessible by your vehicle. If you have a place to store and season the cut wood, inexpensive wood can be found nearly anywhere trees are being removed because of storms, right-of-way clearing, or logging. Places to look for wood include sawmill yards, national forests, logging and arboricultural operations and even your own property. The old saying, the best firewood is free firewood has some merit if you have the desire and equipment to process it and a place to store it. Many urban firewood users purchase processed wood because of its convenience, availability, and deliverability. It takes a lot less room to store the wood and is usually processed to fit the fireplace or stove. Processed firewood comes at a premium cost associated with its preparation, handling, and transportation. You should acquaint yourself with the value of firewood in your area and pay a fair price. You can find plenty of great dealers online and in the phone book. The Easiest Wood to Split Various woods have different splitting characteristics which are important to consider. Some woods split with little effort while others can be tough, stringy, and difficult to split. Splitting enables the wood to dry out faster and reduces the size of the sticks to stove or fireplace size. Some wood has to be split to use in a stove. Tree species to avoid because of splitting difficulties are elm, sycamore, and gum. Tree species especially easy to split are most conifers, oaks, ash and hard maple. Woods with interlocking grain like elm, gum or sycamore are to be avoided and are difficult to split even with a mechanical log splitter. A couple  rules of thumb should also be remembered: green wood will split more easily than dry wood and softwoods will generally split more easily than hardwoods. How Wood Burns Every species of wood provides different quantities (BTUs) of usable heat when burnedwe will discuss this, further in the next section. Heating efficiency of firewood depends on how that wood progresses through the three stages of burning.   In the first stage, wood is heated to the point where moisture within the wood cells is driven off and the cells are drying out. As the wood is losing moisture, it is chemically changing into charcoal, which is famous for its volatile gasses and liquids. Stopping the process at this point is where the charcoal industry packages their products. In the second stage, actual flames burn off the volatile gasses and  liquids to the point at which the charcoal has lost most of these volatile fuels. Much of the woods fuel energy is lost during this stage and premium wood burning systems can improve their efficiency. The third and final stage occurs when the charcoal burns and produce visible, glowing embers. This is called coaling. At this point, heat is radiated from the burning bed of coals. Different species of wood burn and expend energy differently throughout these three stages. Good firewood species should be dry, should burn through the second stage without sparks with a minimum of smoke production, and should spend a long time burning in the third coaling phase. Wood That Burns Best The heating potential of wood depends upon the increased density of that wood. A woods density is genetically determined by the tree species. Dense or heavy wood contains higher heating values, in British thermal units per unit volume, than lighter wood. A British thermal unit (BTU) measures the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. Most of us dont realize that air dried wood will produce about 7,000 BTU’s per pound. Regardless of the species, all wood burns with the same value. The complication here is in the density variation between different species, which can be significant. As an example, one unit of heavy oak wood will produce roughly as much heat as two units of cottonwood when measuring BTU output. Therefore,  lighter woods like cottonwood and willow will produce the same heat per pound as the heavier oak and hickory woods. This means that a greater volume of cottonwood is needed than oak to produce the same amount of heat. Also consider that some species of wood start easier than others but give off more smoke and more sparks than others. Easy starting wood is not necessarily the best wood to use for heating. Remember that different species of wood will last longer and have better coaling qualities than others. It is important to consider these factors when selecting firewood. The Needle and the Leaf Debate Then comes the  issue of burning needled conifers and softer wood species. Harder wood species that are very dense, and typically called hardwoods, are the firewood of choice in North America. However, not everyone has access to wood from the Eastern hardwood forest. Conifers and softwoods have served well in those regions with limited hardwoods but the limitations are overcome with proper preparation and appropriate wood burning systems. On the positive side, conifers are easier to ignite because they are resinous. Still, these softwoods tend to burn rapidly with a high, hot flame and burn out quickly, requiring frequent attention. Finding a wood heating unit that can store this quick heat and distribute it through time is critical. Red cedar and other trees with high-resin will often hold moisture pockets which can be both irritating and dangerous without the proper burning hardware. When heated these trapped gasses will pop and cause sparks. This can present a significant fire risk, especially when burned in open fireplaces without screens. Hardwoods will burn longer but less vigorously when compared to softwoods. The wood is harder to start and conifers are often used to kindle the wood burning process. Hardwoods make the best fuel because they tend to produce more coals, a process called coaling, that lasts longer than softwoods. A well-seasoned oak makes an excellent fuel because it produces a uniformly short flame and provides heat preserving coals.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How revolutionary was the American Revolution Essay

How revolutionary was the American Revolution - Essay Example British forces in Boston massacre in1770 butchered many blacks. One-third colonists remain neutral and one third supported revolution. Rest of people supported British act in colonies. Ultimately, the revolution ended in 1783 (Frey, 1999). Slaves were imported to work as labour force for Cotton and tobacco crops in southern states of America for cheap labour. Slaves did produce great output in raising the agricultural exports of America (Quarles, 1961). Blacks were ruthlessly used as labour and their culture and lifestyle saw a decline. White people of America made every effort to tease the blacks by social inequality and kept all sorts of educational facilities away from the reach of blacks (Quarles, 1961). Slave markets were introduced in America and women and children were separated from the men. This created a lot of hatred against white Americans in the hearts of black. There were no labour or social law and blacks were punished brutally for any mistakes. Slave masters sexually harassed young black women in the absence of women rights. Women were not allowed to raise voice against social and moral inequality (Frey, 1999). Inhuman policies made people to take revolutionary steps for their rights. Many events eventually led to revolution. Black African wanted to live lives as per their social and cultural values. Finally, blacks were successful to some extent to snatch their rights from American authorities (Quarles,

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Marketing Financial Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Marketing Financial Services - Essay Example Hence, they started to follow and implement free trade policies that encourage multinational companies to enter into the global markets. Ultimately, overall market became competitive and matured. Monopoly market structure has become very rare and oligopoly becomes prominent. Hope and Maeleng have defined free trade policy as â€Å"competition-enhancing device† (Hope and Maeleng, 1998, p.52). The international and domestic countries started to compete with each other on price, better service, customer satisfaction etc for achieving greater market share. In this respect, to gain competitive advantage in market, the post modern organisations are using latest management tools, theories and models developed by many experts, critics and scholars. Financial services industry consist a number of financial services sectors like banking sectors, insurance, security market, factoring, credit ratings etc. With increased activities of trade and business and intensified competition, the imp ortance of these financial services sectors has grown significantly. This paper will attempt to present and SWOT analysis of American International Group (AIG) which is one the most popular financial service organisation. In order to indentify its major internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, this paper will analyse important areas of this organisation like its customer relationship managements, marketing tools used the company, major issues and its mechanism of control system. Finally, the overall findings of this paper will be summed up in the conclusion. Brief Overview of American International Group (AIG) American International Group Inc. (AIG) is one of the popular insurance services providers in US and in global market. Primarily, it is a New York-based company and it is considered to be one of the most prominent market leaders in global insurance sector. AIG is a multinational company and offers its insurance services in more than 130 countries in the world. The company has acquired a large base of customers and its consumers primarily consist of institutional, commercial and individual clients. The major market share of the company comes from its domestic market i.e. from United States. In this market, the AIG offer retirement services and life insurance. With better performance, it has acquired an upper hand position in U.S. insurance sector. Along with the domestic market, AIG’s stocks are also listed in Tokyo and Ireland Stock exchange (American International Group, Inc-a, 2011). While tracing the history of AIG, its primary origin is found in Shanghai, China during 1919. However, later during the 1940s due to political issues, the company withdrew from the Chinese market. â€Å"AIG abandoned China completely in 1949, as the Communist People’s Liberation Army, led by Mao Zeding, advanced on Shanghai† ( H.W. Wilson Company, 2000, p.247). In U.S., the AIG had been formed by consolidating three compan ies and its multiple affiliates. These leading three companies are New Hampshire Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Company and National Union Fire Insurance Company. Since its inception, AIG has undergone through many significant occurrences like mergers and acquisitions. SunAmerica Inc was merged with AIG on January 01, 1999. In November 2000, the company

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The Victorian era Essay Example for Free

The Victorian era Essay The Victorian era which lasted sixty-four years has been one of the most influential periods of history. Today, more than a century later, it is still one of the most unforgettable pasts that has left its imprints everywhere in the world. The controversial issue on gender roles, particularly of women, allegedly began to surface and to be seriously dealt with during that very colorful past age. Women repression, which seems to have taken root and heightened somewhere around this era, was also greatly criticized by the major reformist thinkers of those days. As a result, women’s rights were upgraded and women began to participate in areas they could never have put a finger on before. The Victorian culture, which dominated the world in the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, has been a world power that brought its influence to cultures remotely infiltrated by the British empire. For its influence all over the world, it may arguably be partly blamed for the on-going repression of women in different parts of the world. Up to this point, there is still very weak showing that this social problem of gender inequality has been completely resolved, despite the evident strong participation of a good number of women in different fields of endeavor such as commerce, politics, and industry. There is not still a definite conclusion that equality of the sexes has been established; nor is there a clear-cut definition of the unique gender roles of men and women in the democratic world. Today, women all over the earth are still struggling to shell out its â€Å"weaker sex† reputation in the hearts and minds of their male counterparts. The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language defines culture as the training and development of the mind; the refinement of taste and manners acquired by such training; the social and religious structures, and intellectual and artistic manifestation that characterize a society. Everyone who is part of any community may most readily agree that the culture of any society is the hardest thing to eradicate. General psychology tells us that this culture creates social attitudes, beliefs, feelings and tendencies in people (Gaerlan, Limpingco, Tria Birion, 152). These attitudes or concepts teach us to classify people in many ways, such as age or, most frequently, sex. There is no explanation where a certain culture originates. It comes naturally as a product of years; a sum-total of experiences that produce generalities about life. Culture, somehow, solidifies society. It is the collective integrity and identity of a certain group of people. Nevertheless, its unifying force for many may be the same force that brings about the â€Å"repellants† of society. In a certain degree, human beings’ innate uniqueness has caused them to struggle with the norms of culture which they have to comply with. The most safe and convenient way is to achieve peace and balance by conformance. But there are also those who take up the challenge to challenge whatever wrong they find. They speak out in the hope of making a difference; despite the risk of clashing against the established advocates of the time-honored culture of the land. The Victorian culture, though superior and imposing to the rest of the world, was one that never escaped this challenge. Its rise raised up independent brilliant thinkers who thought, read, spoke and wrote, and catalyzed its downfall. This ironic truth brings about much attention and attraction to this bygone age. The famous Victorian culture came to be called Victorianism. Javines (246) explained that it is a word referring to a conservative system of values. It connotes a keen concern and preoccupation with propriety, rigorous correctness and conformity to certain Puritanical standards of behavior. Although Queen Victoria’s monarchy itself was a model of uprightness, conservatism and domestic virtues (McDonnell, Nakadate, Pfordresher Shoemate 360), Javines said that the reign of Queen Victoria had little to do with the â€Å"phenomenon of Victorianism†. He added that it is in fact a result of the ascendancy of the puritan middle-class during that era. McDonnell et al. (360) confirmed that this class was made up of self-made men and women who dominated England commercially. They were strictly disciplined and intensely religious, and believed their success was a result of God’s favor. Rising to power gave these middle-classes a share in governance, where they were able to advance the tested principles which they believed would stabilize society. These principles, considered as Victorianism, were made up of moral and cultural values that were appropriate to their aspirations, and were basically puritan ideals. But this was only the onset of a trend that was assimilated into the culture of the era and had taken many twists and turns beyond expectations. Somehow, along the way, Victorianism became a culture that took a toll on the role and rights of women in society. An offshoot of this culture was a law that trespassed on the woman as a person. Thomas (1) researched and described for us the place of women in the Victorian society: A woman’s place was in the home; marriage was the only respectable career they could go for. In the hope of a man who would either fall in love with her or would be gracious enough to ask for her hand in marriage, every girl was groomed to be the ideal wife and mother of a preferably large and comfortable household. Aside from skills in home economics, the talents she was expected to have were singing, playing an instrument, and speaking a little French and Italian. Whether married or single all Victorian women were expected to be weak and helpless, a fragile delicate flower incapable of making decisions beyond selecting the menu and ensuring her many children were taught moral values. She was to be a gentlewoman who ensured that the home was a place of comfort for her husband and family from the stresses of Industrial Britain. She was not expected to have political opinions; rather she was to be skillful in household affairs saving her husband from worrying over domestic concerns. He was to assume that his house was being run smoothly so that he could go on making money. She was to be biddable, virtuous, innocent, dutiful, and able to teach moral values to her children. A wealthy wife’s daily duties usually consisted of spending time reading, sewing, receiving guests, going visiting, letter writing, seeing to the servants and dressing for the part as her husbands social representative. She was expected to be faithful to her husband, though the latter may have his mistress. If he did, it was no shock to the public. Any unmarried woman could become a mistress to any man and it was acceptable to society. It was a flaunting of masculinity. A woman, however, with an adulterous affair was cut off from humanity as immoral. Moreover, a divorced woman had no chance of acceptance from society again; and rights of access to her children were removed. This type of cultural milieu triggered many, especially writers, to revolt through their writings and brand this period as the â€Å"hypocritical period†. To name a few, Ruskin, Arnold, Butler, Dickens, and Kipling, were some of the writers who never ceased to din into the ears of their fellow citizens that there was something deeply wrong in their civilization. Adjectives like â€Å"barbarian,† â€Å"Philistine,† and â€Å"ignorant† were designated to the British aristocracy, the middle class, and the working class, respectively (Javines 247). In his essay â€Å"The Subjection of Women† (as featured in England in Literature, 436-438), John Stuart Mill bashed on the prevailing social relations between the two sexes—the legal subordination of one sex over the other. He pointed out that this inequality had no sensible grounds, owing to the fact that women’s muscular inferiority to men was idiotically converted into a legal right in favor of men. He compared it to the relations between a slave and a master; women were entirely at the mercy of men. All the moralities tell them that it is the duty of women†¦it is their nature to live for others; to make complete abnegation of themselves, and to have no life but in their affections†¦those the men with whom they are connected, or to the children who constitute an additional and indefeasible tie between them and a man†¦every privilege or pleasure she has being either his gift, or depending entirely on his will†¦that the principal object of human pursuit, consideration, and all objects of social ambition, can in general be sought or obtained by her only through him. Stuart called this condition an artificial thing, a forced repression and an unnatural stimulation made for the pleasure of their masters. Charlotte Bronte, one of the leading novelists of the day, created a tragic heroine that embodied this picture given by this essay. The novel Villete which was written in 1853 tells about Lucy Snowe, a woman who aspires for freedom and happiness in the only way she knows—the love of a man. In the final part of the novel, her affections for a schoolmaster bid her to wait upon his arrival, their reunion, where she expects to finally give her hand in marriage. However, a storm interrupts this gap of waiting, and ends the narration. We, the readers, are left to decide whether she ends up happy or grieving over his death. Beyond the romance, Bronte drew for us a reality that leaves us thinking. There could have been so many women in those days as intelligent and promising as Lucy Snowe, yet their future had to wholly reside upon the love of a man because there was neither other greener pasture nor honor left for a woman. The uncanny way of leaving the ending to hands of the readers as â€Å"fate-directors† creates a tragic effect on Lucy Snowe’s plight. No matter how much she was worth as a good governess and schoolmaster, everything she held on to in life, both romantically and socially, was fully dependent on a man, her redeemer. Mill called this inhuman because it brought women to a much lower position compared to men. To agree with Mill, one mysterious thing is how this woman repression came to be such a powerful force and how the supposedly sacred love between a man and a woman bonded by marriage become so artificial and tainted. Though many rationalize it as a puritan or Biblical discipline, this may well be called pure heresy. Though the Bible strongly commands the leadership of men over the home, it never teaches to place women in the level of a material possession or a housemaid. This may be proved in the following Biblical lines: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (New International Version, Eph 5:25,)†¦Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the [physically] weaker partner (NIV 1 Pe 3:7)†¦For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and they will be one flesh (NIV Gen2:24). Biblically, men ought to treat women as they treat their own body. Moreover, Jesus Christ, the God of Christianity, in several occasions went out of his way to rescue some women (Mary Magdalene before the crowd of stoners) and have conversations with them (the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well). It is common knowledge that the Bible recounts about Christ’s friendship with women like Mary and Martha of Bethany, Mary his mother, etc. Recognizing this, Mill posited in his essay that the unjust perception towards women in those days were ungrounded; and, to this critic, un-puritan and certainly un-Christlike. He also added that in truth the differences in the roles of men and women are very difficult to identify. Spending so much effort as trying to differentiate every gender’s responsibility would be like slicing a strand of hair into two†¦ This is, an analytic study of the most important department of psychology, the laws of the influence of circumstance on character. This is a very cunning line that implies there may really be no differences between men and women; circumstances are what make human beings who they are. Mill furthered that even if medical practitioners can ascertain the differences in the bodily constitutions of men and women, medical practitioners are not psychologists who can tell the mental characteristics of women. Psychologists themselves, however, have never made any reliable observations in this area. If they do, the branch and essence of psychology itself would prevent us from making any conclusions; psychology is made up of endless, theoretical and inconclusive studies of the human mind. This must be because it is very hard to make generalizations about any human being and what he/she is capable of. This leaves everyone no excuse to repress, manipulate, or control or place prejudices on anyone regardless of gender. The endless possibilities about the woman’s psyche were given life in the many celebrated women characters created by the authors of the most powerful genre of literature in the Victorian era, the novel. Taking advantage of people’s addiction to reading novels, our great Victorian novelists endeavored to pen stories that tell of charismatic unconventional women, to revolt against women-subjugation. Two of these powerful fictional personas are Lucy Snowe, the pitiful and tragic woman in Charlotte Bronte’s Villete; and Sue Bridehead, the illicit and incestuous lover of Jude in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895). These were women plagued by two different predicaments yet both showed a strong-willed passion to have what they wanted. While Lucy Snowe was the typical Victorian woman who loved and wanted to marry a man, Sue was the rebellious type who struggled to break away from her marriage bonds with a husband she never loved, to consummate an illicit and incestuous love affair with her cousin, Jude Fawley. Together they have two children with another young boy from Jude’s last marriage. We see the eager determination of a mother and a lover in Sue as she follows her heart despite the harms posted by an intensely religious and moralistic society. What words could describe the pitiful existence of these women? Perhaps Jude Fawley’s words in the final chapter of part sixth of the novel which were also borrowed from the litany of Job can best suffice description: Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man-child conceived†¦ Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? For now should I have lain still†¦ It must have been as if all the meaning of life is purged out from within you simply because of the inhumane precepts that society incongruously called â€Å"law†. Yet in these words of Jude, we find that not only women had to suffer from the cruelties of Victorian culture. Men who did not embrace the conventions of the time doubly struggled in their existence. Hardy gives us a closer look into the life of men who had to respond to the high callings of a gentleman: a steady household, a dignified reputation, and a good financial standing. Jude was one of those we can brand as self-made man who strove with all his strength to do well, yet to no avail. From the onset of the novel, we see him as a boy, teachable and ambitious. Yet, being exposed to the kind of world he was in led him to confront the bitter contradictions of life. Today in an advancing humanistic society, a man of this account will most likely elicit an element of attraction and exaltation. Jude, however, lived in a time and place where men of his caste fell into obscurity.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Mortuary Practices and Afterlife of the Choctaw Essay -- Sociology, Tr

The Choctaws thrived in the fertile sandy, red-clay soil, rolling hills, and dense forests, located in the Central Hills of the east-central region of Mississippi. The estimated population after early European contact was between 15,000 and 20,000 and was the second largest group of Native Americans in the Southeast (Blitz 1988:127). The Choctaws in the Southeast were a matrilineal society. Traditionally, women preformed tasks related to domestic life. Among these responsibilities were creating pottery and utensils, food preparation, and planting and harvesting crops. The majority of their diet consisted of agricultural products such as corn, pumpkins, squash, and beans. Women would also accompany men on hunting excursions in order to provide food preparation. After the hunt, women were responsible for transporting the slain animal back to the village for processing of skins, bone, and meat (Carson 1995:495-6). The greatest responsibilities of the Choctaw men were hunting and warfare. During the fall and winter months, their primary food source was deer. Their accomplishments on hunting adventures directly reflected upon their social status and importance within the tribe. When a Choctaw tribal member became terminally ill, it was common practice for the medicine man to inform the family of impending death (Swanton 1931:170). Upon death, the Choctaws believed that the spirit of the dead continued on a voyage to either the good hunting ground or the bad hunting ground. This journey would take many days, which would require the proper provisions. A dog would sometimes be slain in order to accompany his master on the long journey. After the introduction of horses, they, too, were killed so that the spirit had means of t... ...uilt or fear, and attempt to dodge the stones. Slipping from the log, he would fall into the raging river and over the waterfall, landing in rapidly swirling pool of water. Pulling his beaten, tattered, and unclothed body from the water, the shilup, begins his journey into the bad hunting grounds. Every step is filled with the pain from briars, thorny trees, chestnut burs. The sun never shines and cold winds are always present. Every spirit encountered is an enemy with no safe place to take refuge. Food is scarce, due to unfertile soil, and hunger is constant. The bad hunting grounds are perpetually lonely, with only the joyous sounds coming from the other side of the mountains. The doomed spirits constantly struggle to climb the treacherous mountains, but to no avail. They are eternally destined to an afterlife of desolation (Campbell 1959:149-52).

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

In What Ways Do Atticus Finch and Robert Ewell Differ and What Do They Have in Common Essay

Atticus Finch and Robert Ewell are two very different characters, but are similar in some ways. They both live in Maycomb, Alabama, but are respected differently in their communities as Atticus is seen as a brave and courageous man, while Robert Ewell is seen as a drunken coward. Atticus ‘lives on the main residential street in town’, and Robert Ewell lives in ‘what was once a negro cabin’, but it is falling apart. The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening on to a shotgun hall uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone. ’ The Ewell’s scavenge a lot in the county dump they live behind to find bits and pieces for their house. Atticus Finch is a lawyer and has fought many battles in the court room, and has mostly won them. He is one of a handful of members in his community who can see the inequality and racism towards black people. Robert Ewell doesn’t have a job, and ‘lives off county cheques, but spends them on green bottle whisky’. He doesn’t even make an effort to try and provide for his family, and is also prejudice and racist. The men’s jobs, or lack of them, reflect their social status in Maycomb. The Ewell’s have lived and behaved in this manner for generations, while the Finches have been successful. Both the men have lost their wives, so have single-handedly raised their children. Atticus sets a good example, and ‘plays with them, reads to them and treats them with courteous detachment’. Atticus also has a maid called Calpurnia, who ‘treats the children like she’s their mother, not their maid’, unlike other maids who favour and are never strict with children. She has been with the family since Jeremy was born. His children are always well kept and polite, and have many friends at school. In contrast, Robert Ewell’s children are dirty, rude and ‘disease ridden’. They all attend school on the first day of every term, but always get sent home for having lice, or being extremely rude to the teacher and fellow classmates. Robert Ewell neglects his children, and it has now become clear that he abuses them, when it is proven that Tom Robinson didn’t harm Mayella Ewell. ‘Nobody is ever sure how many children there are, as there are always several dirty children’s faces peering out the window’. By Harper Lee describing how poor and unfortunate the children are, where they live, and how they behave, shows how neglected they are by their father and the community, and how poverty can seriously affect a family. When the case is first spoken about, people automatically favour Mayella Ewell, due to racism and prejudice, and are rude to Atticus for representing Tom Robinson. He gets called many names such as ‘nigger-lover’, and his children also get a hard time at school, but Atticus continues to defend Tom and ignores the rude remarks and names. By doing so, he still gets basic respect from the people of Maycomb, and still presents himself in a courteous manner. In the trials, he is fair to every person he defends, and always tries his best to make the jury believe that they are not guilty. He also abides by the law, making sure his children attend school; he’s not racist and wanting Jem to speak about the incident where Robert Ewell is murdered, in court. Meanwhile, Robert Ewell is a law breaker, and gets away with it. He lets his children truant from school, and goes out hunting, even though it is illegal in Maycomb. He lies a lot too, like in court he makes up which side Mayella was beat up on, and denies doing it himself. His language in the courtroom is also very bad, as he uses slang and behaves in an uncourteous manner, and his appearance is scruffy, and he doesn’t make an effort to be smart. On the other hand, Atticus looks smart and speaks properly, making sure what he says is true and says it in a clever way, so it means one thing, but implies something else. This is how he proves Tom Robinsons innocence to the spectators, even though the jury think he’s guilty. At the end of the book, Atticus decides to break the law on one occasion, and go along with Heck Tate’s version of the event, as he doesn’t want Jem growing up being told he was let off innocent, as his dad’s a lawyer. It was also easier, as Tom Robinson was dead for no reason, because of Robert Ewell, so it was fair to ‘let the dead bury the dead’. With Atticus being a polite, fair, hardworking and a responsible man, he and Robert Ewell are nothing alike. However, neither fit into their communities perfectly, but none of them are ‘normal’. So, with their being some credible similarities, Robert Ewell is a rude drunk and Atticus is courageous, so therefore Harper Lee has portrayed them to be two different completely characters.