Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Counterproductive Work Behaviour Essay

Organisational behaviour is the study of human behaviour in the workplace, the interaction between people and the organisation, and organisation itself (Dubrin 2002, p. 2). In most of the organisational behaviour literature review, the following five types of behaviours are often highlighted- task performance, organisational citizenship, counterproductive work behaviours, joining and staying with the organisation and work attendance (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2009). These individual-level dependent variables are present in most OB research which has a significant impact on the effectiveness of organisations. In my following essay, I will be highlighting on two of the above factors-mainly Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and Counterproductive Work Behaviour (CWB). I will be discussing on how various authors agree that different personalities and positive affectivity levels contributes to the emergence of OCB and that how different authors view the stand of considering all OCB as voluntary acts based on own accord. In addition, I will also be discussing the issue in which a consensus has been reached by most authors that job dissatisfaction is one contributing factor of CWB and that CWB, being defined as harmful in nature, has been challenged by some authors to be a justifiable act. OCB Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) has been defined as individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization (Organ, cited in Vigoda-Gadot, 2006, p. 3) or as individual behavior that promotes the goals of the organization by contributing to its social and psychological environment (Organ; Rotundo & Sackett, cited in Vigoda-Gadot, 2006, p. 3). Personality and Positive Affectivity Personality refers to the enduring, inner characteristics of individuals that organise their behaviour (Derlega et al, cited in Rothmann & Cooper, 2008, p. 24) and personality traits predict what a person will do as opposed to what he or she can do (Rothmann & Cooper 2008, p. 24). As such, it is agreed that citizenship performance is well predicted by personality variables (Penner, Allen, & Motowidlo, 2001; Hurtz & Donovan, cited in Barrick & Ryan 2003). It is also stated that differences in citizenship performance by the employees are clearly tied to the differences in their personalities and attitudes (Landy & Conte 2004) and feelings about their work, also known as affects (Lee & Allen 2002). I came across this survey done by (Bierhoff, Klein & Kramp, ed. Murphy 1996) in which ‘first aiders’ who rushed to the aid of the accident victims almost immediately scored lower on a measure of egocentrism- the absorption with one self’s lives and family. They also scored higher on a measure of empathy in which they expressed a greater level of concern for others (ed. Murphy 1996). From the above results, I feel that various personality factors do influence the tendency of one to render help to others thereby performing citizenship performance which benefits the organisation as a whole. In addition to the above, I have learnt that the higher the level of positive affect, the higher the level of willingness to help is in individuals (ed. Murphy 1996). Besides the helping behaviour, I have also learnt that maintaining a positive mood in the course of our work may also inadvertently lead us to performing extra role behaviours (e.g.: protecting the organisation and developing oneself in terms of upgrading one’s skills to the benefit of the organisation) (George and Brief, cited in Lee & Allen, 2002). To my surprise, I found that positive affect is not just influenced on a personal level but also due to external environmental factors. These include the differences in shades of lightings at our workplaces (Baron et al, cited in ed. Murphy 1996) and even presence of pleasant smelling artificial fragrances in our workplaces (Baron & Bronfen 1994, cited in ed. Murphy 1996). Performed based on free will? Most of the recent studies and researches on OCB have pointed out that it is based on voluntary helping behaviours. However, (Vigoda-Gadot E 2006, p. 1 ) pointed out on focusing on the exploitative and abusive tendency of supervisors and managements to impose so-called ‘‘voluntary’’ or ‘‘extra-role† activities via compulsory mechanisms in the workplace, thereby refuting the conventional definition of OCB being performed based on ‘good will’ and free choice. In fact, some of these behaviours categorised under OCB may well be categorised under Compulsory Citizenship Behavior (CCB) (Vigoda-Gadot 2006, p. 1). By reviewing the Expectancy Theory (Griffin & Ebert 2005, p. 246) in which people are motivated to work towards rewards that they want and that they believe they have a reasonable chance or expectancy of obtaining it in mind, I have actually agreed with the view that there is much possibility that OCB can also arise from other motives, some of them less voluntary or less self-initiated. Among these motivations are the abusive and exploitative behavior of immediate supervisors and the pressure by management or peers to become involved in activities in which the employee would otherwise not involve himself (Tepper, cited in Vigoda-Gadot 2006, p. 3). CWB Counterproductive Work Behaviours (CWB) is defined as voluntary behaviours that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organisation (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione T, 2009, p. 18). Job Dissatisfaction Job dissatisfaction is defined as a set of unfavourable feelings and emotions with which employees view their work (Newstrom & Davis 1997, p. 255). It seems that authors have a consensus on job dissatisfaction contributing to the emergence and high levels of CWB. It is stated that dissatisfied employees may engage in psychological withdrawal (e.g.: daydreaming during job), physical withdrawal (eg: unauthorized absence, early departures, extended breaks, work slowdowns) or even overt acts of aggression and retaliation for presumed wrong. There are many factors influencing job dissatisfaction which includes organisational factors like pay and promotion opportunities and the working condition itself. Group factors like the role of supervisor and co-workers; personal factors like needs and aspiration and how are these met, and how individuals views he instrumental benefits of the job also contributes to job dissatisfaction( Rothmann & Cooper 2008, p. 24). Though I am in agreement that job dissatisfaction is a strong contributor to the performance of CWB, I feel that CWB may also be induced by other factors like accumulated work stress leading to the emergence of violence which is one form of CWB. Similarly, theft cases in the company, which is another form of CWB, may just be a personal justification of the employees due to a perception of lost equity in the course of their work (Newstrom & Davis 1997). Justifiable Act Various authors held on to their individual stands regarding the topic on CWB. In most of my readings, authors agreed that CWB are actually harmful acts towards either individuals or towards the organisation itself. However, (Fox 2002) had presented a different point of view discussing the view that CWB may could well be a justifiable act which is clearly challenging the most conventional definition of CWB which is being negative in nature. (Fox 2002, p. 2) expanded the definition of CWB to include unintentional harm, as long as the act itself is volitional- an act which is motivated by other reasons to cause harm. Hence with this expanded definition, it raises the possibility of constructive CWB. In their article, they have considered on 3 categories of arguments which are moral issues, role conflicts and productivity arguments. I personally feel strongly for the argument on role conflicts. Many of the withdrawal behaviours may be seen as counterproductive in the perspective of managers or even organisations. However, these behaviours shown may be required to be fulfilled by the employees in the perspectives of their family and even the community. Putting in simpler terms, employees may be expected by the society to perform these behaviours so as to be able to strike a work-life balance. Hence, I feel that CWB should not be seen as just a negative behaviour which is purely deviant from an organisation’s objectives as I strongly feel for the presence of positive CWB. Key Findings In this modern age, to adapt and survive in a workplace, other than equipping oneself with the generic skill of problem solving, it is also vital to place great importance on understanding fellow colleagues as this will lead to self knowledge and self insight (Dubrin 2002, p. 4). By understanding what motivates others to perform OCB through the study of organisational behaviour, it will also in turn allow employees to gain an understanding on what motivates them to have similar behaviours. Inadvertently, this may bring them to a greater level of job satisfaction which also leads to greater organisational effectiveness as a whole. In addition, studying organisational behaviours enhances a professional or manager’s effectiveness relating to their interpersonal skills. Hence, if solid interpersonal skills are added on to one’s professional or managerial knowledge, it will certainly be a bonus towards an organisation’s overall service and productivity. Hence, information about organisational behaviours is vital to be known to the employees in organisations. Reflection If I were given a chance to assume the role of manager in an organisation, the notion of having OCB being induced by compulsion as mentioned earlier on will certainly be omitted by me as I feel that though it is an important goal of managers everywhere to make employees aware of the benefits of OCB and ideally, encourage it, it is far more important to conduct it through a legitimate way and not by other means such as abusive or exploitative activities. In this way, I believe conventional OCB will indeed be truly promoted as the employees will be serving and going the extra mile for the organisation in the most genuine way as I agree with the view that a person who engages in OCB might receive appreciation and recognition that induce positive moods and there will be a greater likelihood of repeating the OCB (Miles et al, cited in Zirgham 2009, p. 85) which will greatly benefit the organisation. A discrepancy often exists among managers and employees about the definition of certain work tasks being â€Å"in-role† or â€Å"extra-role†. Each behaviour may be different for different people as every employee in an organization perceives job requirements differently (e.g.: for service sectors), helping others may be a routine, but some may see it as beyond their job scope. By acknowledging this in the position of an employee, I will be able to anticipate this possible occurrence of conflict between managers and employees and thus, expand the boundaries for the definition of my job scope. In this way, I believe that my chances of managerial exploitation and workplace abuse by supervisors to perform compulsive OCB will be reduced to the minimum. Conclusion OCB is a stable behaviour emerging in workplaces and it will always act as a value adding criterion in one’s performance. However, it will only act as a value adding criterion only when it is performed through the free choice of employees and not by coercion means and negative external pressures. Thus, we have to be aware and alert so as to preserve the original positive results of OCB being performed, leading to a more successful and healthy establishment of an organisation. CWB is always seen as a conduct having an adverse relationship with OCB. However, as the saying goes- there are always two sides to the same coin; we should probably broaden our perspectives in our view towards CWB and accept the notion that CWB may not be necessary all detrimental in nature.

Pro gay marriage Essay

How would you feel if someone tried to deny you the right to marriage? Does the government have the right to define marriage and decide who may marry? Marriage is one of the most common and powerful ways to show love and secure rights in that relationship. Marriage is many times taken for granted and even abused by many people. People tend to forget that the right to marry is not available to all people everywhere in the United States; some people have gone as far as proposing an amendment to the Constitution that denies same sex marriage. While churches can base their practice on their religious beliefs, civil rights, including the right to marry, should not be denied to anyone.How would you feel if someone tried to deny you the right to marriage? Does the government have the right to define marriage and decide who may marry? Marriage is one of the most common and powerful ways to show love and secure rights in that relationship. Marriage is many times taken for granted and even abu sed by many people. People tend to forget that the right to marry is not available to all people everywhere in the United States; some people have gone as far as proposing an amendment to the Constitution that denies same sex marriage. While churches can base their practice on their religious beliefs, civil rights, including the right to marry, should not be denied to anyone. In a country governed by the rule of law, the right to marry for homosexuals is inconsistently applied; and even when allowed, it is inconstantly recognized. Why should this be? The 1st amendment of the Constitution states that a person’s religious beliefs, or a lack of thereof, must be protected. Legislatures also cannot discriminate against marriages of the minority portions of the population; homosexual people fall into that category. There is also an amendment stating there is separation of church and state; therefore, religion cannot play a role in the civil rights issues of same sex marriage. Not t oo long ago, interracial marriage was frowned upon just like same sex marriage is today. (source 1) Imagine waking up one day to a world that was completely opposite from the world we knew when falling asleep, meaning gay people were now straight and all straight people were now gay. Do you think we would be willing to fight for our rights or have them denied; personally I would fight for my right to marry whom I choose, just as millions of Americans are currently doing. America is the land of the free, but we are not free to marry whomever we would like. We are equals in this world whether we are Black, White,  Hispanic, Indian, or any other race for that matter. Why should we not be equals based on sexual orientation? Churches must base their practices on their teachings; but basic civil rights under the law must be assured to all. No one in this nation is a second class citizen: marriage is a right under our legal guarantees of equality. Even though gay marriage should be legalized, some people have different beliefs. In most religions including Christianity, Islam, and Orthodox Judaism, same sex preferences may be a sin. Some decree that only homosexual activity is sinful. People believe in procreation to repopulate the world, but are against gay marriage and homosexuals adopting children to have the family they cannot create on their own. If this is truly the key issue against gay marriage, then it would only seem reasonable that only people w ho are fertile and want to procreate should be able to get married according to this bias. America has never really given gay marriage a chance, but seems to believe gay marriage will weaken this institution by leading to high divorce rates. Divorce rates are already high, even though most churches are not in favor of divorce. â€Å"One reason legislatures are denying gay marriage is because they are fearful that opening the door to allowing gay marriages will open the door to polygamy as well. This would also mean reopening cases about polygamy in the past which they are not willing to do.† (source 4) Others are fearful for children’s futures, and they fear being raised by two fathers or by two mothers may compromise children’s mental capacities and confuse their moral understandings. Marriage, based on true affection for another person, is not only a social intuition but an economic and safety measure as well. In places where gay marriages are banned, the gay couples are not able to have the same benefits as others. When filing for health care or insurance through a job, gay couples are not able to add each other on to their accounts. Most loved ones, such as a spouse or a child, in a straight marriage, can make life altering decisions in a hospital if need be. Since gay marriage is not legal, said person’s spouse is not recognized as the next of kin and care is delayed or wishes denied. (Source 2) California, Hawaii, New York, and the District of Columbia all have domestic partnership laws and civil partnerships, meaning it is a marriage without the religious factor. Civil partnerships also give couples the ability to have joint bank accounts, live in the same house, and pay bills together. Homosexual couples  are not entitled to this in most states. Ma rriage benefits should be available to all couples, no matter what. Parenthood is a benefit of marriage but gay couples cannot have children by themselves, without some type of help. They often look to adoption agencies. In some cases, gay couples are put on longer waiting lists or denied completely. There are other benefits to being married as well, such as tax breaks, a shared last name and adoption sharing as well as legal standing in society. It would seem that the solution to the question of same sex marriage would be easy; allow an individual the right to choose a partner and marry whom he or she wants. However, the issue in our society is intertwined in questions or religion, politics, ethnicity, and tradition. These factors affect every major issue in the nation today. Although I and many others support the right to marry, overcoming societal hurdles will not be easily accomplished. We must be heard on this issue, however long it takes to make the needed changes. It would seem that the solution to the question of same sex marriage would be easy; allow an individual the right to choose a partner and marry whom he or she wants. However, the issue in our society is intertwined in questions or religion, politics, ethnicity, and tradition. These factors affect every major issue in the nation today. Although I and many others support the right to marry, overcoming societal hurdles will not be easily accomplished. We must be heard on this issue, however long it takes to make the needed changes.

Research Project Information Security Management Paper

Project Information Security Management - Research Paper Example Basically, it is a small firm that produces products related to air conditioning, heating and refrigeration and is located in Sharpsburg, Pa. However, the details closed in an email were accessed and stolen as a result of this attack. In this scenario, attackers used malicious software to attack Fazio and this attack started almost two months prior to the attack that was launched against Target Corp. In fact, the attackers made use of these stolen information to steal card data from more than one thousand cash register. The investigation shows that the attackers made use of Citadel tool that is particularly used as a password-stealing bot application. In addition, this application is derived from ZeuS that is a well-known banking Trojan (KrebsonSecurity). In addition, the investigation showed that when the attackers entered into their network, the Target’s security team was able to determine only some of their actions. However, the security team carefully evaluated their actions and responded accordingly. Addition, in the light of their evaluations they identified that the action did not deserve instant follow up. In result of this attack, Target’s shares started to fall quickly. In fact, the attackers were able to steal more than 40 million credit card details as well as more than 70 million other personal details of their customers such as telephone numbers, home address and email addresses. As a result of this attack, Target had to face many possible class-action proceedings as well as serious warnings from a number of banks those are looking for compensation for millions of dollars that they lost because of this attack and the fee of card alternates. Though, Target uses a very useful tool known as FireEye that repea tedly removes malicious code or software, however the Target’s security team had turned it off before this attack (KrebsonSecurity). Up till now, more than 90 charges have been registered in

South African News Reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

South African News Reports - Essay Example Rens recalled an incident in which Oscar thought that a burglar had entered his house only to realize that it was nothing more than a tumbler dryer. This was not a particular incident since the prosecution cited a tweeter update in November 2012 when Pistorius talked about going into ‘core-red’ mode after entering his house but later realized that he had left the washing machine on. Additionally, the defense supported their claims about his trigger-happy nature by citing 10 visits to the shooting range.The primary witness on Monday clarified that Oscar understood private gun ownership laws in the land. All purchasers are required to fill a questionnaire that tests their knowledge of these laws. Some of the questions seek to find out if the buyer understands conditions for use of the guns. When asked whether one should shoot buglers stealing a TV, Oscar replied negatively because no life was in danger. Additionally, he selected an ideal shooting incident as a condition wh ere burglars were pursuing the gun owner, were armed and no barrier existed between them. The questionnaire ended with a final question in which the gun owner is always expected to know their target as well as what lies beyond. 18th March, Tuesday was police captain Chris Magena’s day. He explained how he reconstructed the scene in order to establish how the crime occurred.It came to light that he was not wearing his prosthetics since the bullet trajectories supported this conclusion. The chief investigator measured the athlete.

Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Executive Summary - Essay Example Once this is achieved, the productivity will be enhanced automatically. This approach was selected to solve the problem of the Polska Pipe Works and make it a successful joint venture between the Americans and thee Polish because the pros of this approach far outweigh the cons. The approach would improve communication system which in turn, will enable the management to identify issues in their nascent stage by addressing them immediately. This will eradicate differences between the management and the employees and a culture of mutual harmony would materialize. The threat of this approach was of the opportunity cost of resources and time which were to be allocated to the various production aspects. This challenge has been met by staging the approach into six parts, and preparing a schedule covering 14 months for that. This planning and scheduling helps lower the costs of resources. This paper discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of establishing a joint venture named â€Å"Polska Pipe Works† in Poland between a renowned American company named â€Å"Stewer Technologies† and a Polish company. The strengths of the business include an opportunity for the Polish to benefit from the experience and technological expertise of the Americans. The weaknesses of the business include difficulty of cultural integration and addressing of the employees’ motivational concerns. Opportunities include government support to the foreign investors in Poland, and huge market value of the product. Threats include lost quality of work and productivity because of the weaknesses of a joint venture between the Americans and the Polish. While the American employees are facing difficulty adjusting in the Polish culture, Polish workers are more concerned about benefits of working with the American employer than learning skills

The death of the moth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The death of the moth - Essay Example The essay is also an excellent picture of the struggle endured by living creatures for their mortality. Each creature has its own views and goals in life even in the case of the day moth which the author describes as not being somber like other moths or gay that the butterfly. The setting of the story is in September and from the being the author attempts to install sympathy for the moth from the readers’ perspective for the misplaced moth. The author personifies the creature and further shows potential joys that the moth could endure in the morning and the joys enjoyed by other species, with only the life of the moth lacking any fruitfulness. At the end, despite all the struggles experienced by the moth, the final one is one that is uniform among all creatures and the author boils all the moth’s experiences to a bead of life. Even at the end, when there seemed to be no hope, the moth fought to remain alive in its presumably insignificant

Determining Training needs at Summit Credit Union Case Study

Determining Training needs at Summit Credit Union - Case Study Example Summit credit union noted that newly employed lenders did not have the needed skills and information to take up the job and the problem attribute to the way the training curriculum was organized. The problem identification will be through conducting a needs assessment. A needs assessment is the process of identifying and analyzing a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with an aim of improving to achieve the company goals and initiatives. The first step in a needs assessment would be an organizational analysis to determine the skill and abilities the organization needs. The analysis establishes whether the training would benefit the company and whether the required resources are available. The analysis also identifies the merits and opportunities of the company and helps to focus on the demerits and threats. The second step is to do a personal analysis to establish who will receive the training and who will conduct the training (Boyer Management Group, 2014). This analysis establishes the level of the existing competency and the areas that require more training. Thirdly, this will involve analyzing the job and the requirements. This analysis will identify the main duties, experience, skills, and competency required to take the job and perform well. The forth step would be to perform an analysis on the performance of the specific task and establish whether it is below the expectations and whether the training will help bridge the gap between the actual performance and the expected performance. Next would be to do an analysis on the content of the training to identify the appropriate content that is in line with the requirements of the specific job. This will help in delivering the appropriate training to the employees. The next step is to establish whether training will solve the employment or there are other underlying reasons of not performing well (Employee Opinion Survey, 2014). Lastly, a cost benefit analysis

How convincing is Porters model of national competitive advantage in Essay - 8

How convincing is Porters model of national competitive advantage in explaining the characteristics and performance of the business systems of major economies - Essay Example However, irrespective of the individual firms, some countries as a whole have achieved a higher competitive position as compared to other firms (Baker, 2007). This paper will shed some light on how the nations achieve competitive advantage by using Porter’s Diamond Model. This model focuses on the determining factors of national competitive advantage. The paper will discuss the issues and loopholes of the Porter’s Diamond Model and how they fail to answer certain circumstantial problems. Porter (1990) explained the competitiveness of a nation based on the four different parameters, which includes; factor conditions, demand conditions, supporting industries and firms’ strategy, structure and rivalry. Factor Conditions: The factor conditions include the production factors of a nation, like human resources and human capital, physical resources, knowledge base, financial strength. The quantity and quality of the available human resources determine the national production capabilities. Demand Conditions: The demand conditions explain the level of demands of products in the home country. The higher level of demand influences the pace of product innovation and improves service quality. Firms’ Strategy structure Rivalry: This parameter suggests how the firms in a country are organized and how they determine the domestic competitiveness. It mostly reflects the organizational cultural trends of the nation. Certain organizational behaviour and pattern of activities provide added advantage to them in terms of other foreign companies. Relating and supporting industries: The presence of other industries influences the competitive position of an organization. The domestic firms can leverage the presence of other industries in order to create competitive advantage. The four parameters of the Diamond model are mostly industry oriented. The diamond model is focused on achieving a competitive advantage in a particular industry.

American View of Slavery from 1790 to 1820s Essay

American View of Slavery from 1790 to 1820s - Essay Example Slave Trade: The Europeans justified the slave trade by proclaiming that they were providing an opportunity for Africans to become Christians. By the 17th century the removal of slaves from Africa became a holy cause that had the full support of the Christian church.(Walvin 1983). Also, race and racism provided the excuse slave owners needed to allow themselves to own slaves without feeling guilty. â€Å"Slavery was not a side show in American history†, says Dr. James Horton of George Washington University; â€Å"It was the main event†. In his book American Slavery – American Freedom, Edmund S. Morgan makes a searching study of the tragic contradiction which was at the core of America, as seen in Virginia. It was the first state to start the freedom struggle through the Revolution and was also the largest slave holder in the country. The labor of enslaved Africans proved crucial in the development of South Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland, and contributed indirect ly through commerce to the fortunes of New York, Massachussetts, and Pennsylvania. The Africans were made to work on fields to grow rice, cotton, indigo, sugarcane, tobacco, etc.They also worked in the commercial economy and as domestic servants . Slavery took deepest root in Louisiana and other territories in the South. Several revolts and uprisings took place, in protest against the inhuman conditions and treatment meted out to the Africans.

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay Example for Free

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay 1.1 Description of the Area of Research Title of the Study: Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School. Phonics is letter-sound correspondences. The units of sound can be syllables, onsets rimes, or phonemes (EdResearch.info). Phonics Primer is a way of learning the sounds of the alphabet in order to decode the English language. It is recognized by a quick pace of teaching letter and the sound or grapheme and phoneme matches and immediately getting students to use this knowledge to read and spell regular words. Words are read by using the phonological skill of blending the sounds together synthesis (hence the term synthetic phonics). Words are spelled by using the phonological skill of hearing the sounds in words (segmentation) by means of which words are segmented into their constituent phonemes (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Research Questions 1. What is the strategy in teaching synthetic phonics? 2. Can the method be successfully taught in shorter periods? 3. Can the 44 sounds of Phonics Primer help in teaching non-English speakers who have other sounds that is found in English? 4. Can Phonics Primer be used to teach cohorts in higher levels with reading difficulties? Research Variables The instruments that I will use in my research will be: 1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews 3. Classroom Observation Checklist 4. Tests 5. Document Reviews Gay and Airasian (20030 defined population as â€Å"The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalized†. The respondents of the research will be for remedial students from the outskirt of Sarikei in Sarawak. The majority of the students will be of the Iban race. The research will be conducted on two groups of selected students. One group will be used for study, called the experimental group. Another group would be the controlled group and they will be taught with the conventional teaching procedure during English lessons. Both groups will be cohorts who will need assistant in reading. About six students will be involved in this study. They will be remedial students from the cohort of year five students who are in the remedial class. The respected students and school will be chosen simply to fulfill the requirements of the research that will use the Primers phonics approach to teach reading for remedia l students. 1.2 Theoretical Framework Often we find that in schools, there are always students who are very poor in reading English. It is even worst when the students cannot read in a language that is very similar to theirs. This means that the students are having problems in basic reading. We can say that these students are too slow in picking up during their reading lessons in English. In classes where we have been teaching, oftentimes we see that students cannot recognize words and even there are some who cannot read. The students in rural Sarikei, in Sarawak, specifically are mostly Ibans. They are non-English speakers. They only encounter the language when they come to school. English therefore is very unfamiliar to them. Many English sounds don’t even exist in their mother tongue. Synthetic phonics has all the 44 sounds of the English Language. It is a very systematic way to teach basic reading in English. By using the method of teaching, students can read faster and easier. The method of teaching and the instruments used in teaching it can enable the remedial students of the primary schools to remember the sounds made by the letters and enable them to read. Research instrument are devices to measure the objects of the study. Instruments come in multiple forms. For this research, the researcher will be using multiple forms like questionnaires, observation forms, interview forms and tests to get information. The questionnaires and interviews will be used to get information about experiences, suggestions and ideas related to the study. The observation forms will be used to make observations during the study. From observation forms, the researcher will be able to see weaknesses and strengths during the teaching of Phonics Primer and also the current teaching method used by the school to make comparisons. The tests which will be given before and after teaching Phonics Primer will help the researcher to find out if the case study that they are doing is suitable and good for teaching remedial students. Questionnaires Questionnaires are familiar to most people (Berdie, Anderson, and Niebuhr, 1986).It is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects, consisting of a set of questions to be submitted to one or more persons (Your Dictionary.Com) It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. A questionnaire is defined as a group of printed questions used to elicit information from subjects by means of self report. Questionnaires will be distributed to both experimental and controlled group. Teacher Questionnaires. A teacher questionnaire is designed to gather information administered to English teachers in school. The questionnaire will be done two times, that is before the start of the Phonics Programme. A second questionnaire will follow at the end of the programme. This is to find out the status of remedial reading before and after the programme. If there are any differences before and after the programme, it will be noted down for analysis in the research later. Students’ Questionnaires Students’ questionnaire will also be done. It will be done with students who are involved with the study. They are the experimental group of students and also the controlled group of students for comparison later. Questionnaires can help the researcher discover the experiences, knowledge and backgrounds of the students and the school which is related to the case study that is going to be done. These information will help the researcher to know more and understand more about the stand of the students involved in the study. The questionnaire is also important in helping the researcher to make conclusion and give suggestions for future study of similar case. Interview The interview is a dialogue between the teachers with the researcher. The most commonly accepted objective of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the candidates education, experience, interest and goals and the goals of the researcher related to the study for which the researcher is interviewing. In this study, the researcher conducts the interview with the remedial students’ teacher. This interview is designed to elicit data using a set of predetermined questions that are expected to elicit the subjects thoughts, opinions and attitudes regarding the teaching of reading to remedial students. Group Interviews with Teachers. To identify the major issues surrounding the planning and implementation of reading instruction in schools of a rural school, group interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers. An interview will be used to facilitate discussion. Responses to the uniform standard questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Individual Interviews with Teachers. To investigate all of the major research questions. presented earlier, interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers in the selected schools. An interview will be used to facilitate information gathering. Responses to the questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Observation Instruments Observation is a technique of gathering data through direct contact with the subjects. In this study, the researcher will observe two classes. The researcher will observe ongoing class using Primer Phonics and the normal teaching of remedial students in the school. Observation instrument is necessary to detect any strength and weaknesses for both types of methodology in teaching remedial students. The detections will be noted down in the researcher’s note book for making analysis, conclusion and suggestions for future researches. Classroom Observation Classroom observation will be done to make sure that Primer Phonics is taught accordingly. A checklist will be used. Classroom observations will also be done for the normal teaching of remedial students in the same school. The need for making observation for the normal method of teaching is to enable comparison among the two types of methodology later. Additional data collection and review will occur during the observations. Researchers summarized notes after each observation. Test The researcher will conduct two types of tests, the Pre test and the Post test, for two groups of students from the remedial class only. The students will be divided into the experimental and controlled group. A Pre test will be used to see the students’ ability to read before teaching using the Primers Phonic Method. The Post test will be used to see the achievements made after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. Both the experimental and the controlled groups will take the tests so the researcher can compare if there will be any differences in the achievements after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method for the experimental group. The Controlled group will be taught by their own remedial teachers using the usual syllabus in the school. In the tests, subjects are to read a short text of about 150 words. These tests aims to see how good the students can or cannot read before and after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. To assess the students reading, 5 criteria will be ticked accordingly. Students who gets two out of five ‘Yes’ are considered to have pass the Pre Test or the Post test Document Review Document review will inform the research process to varying degrees. Among the documents analyzed were student work samples, report cards, forms, letters to parents, lesson plans, lists of reading books, and other relevant documents pertinent to current reading instruction. The Theoretical Framework Diagram 1: The Diagram depicts the theoretical framework. 1.3 Review of Related Literature The literature reviews forwarded here will help us to understand more about the case study that will be done. A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or methodological approaches on a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as theses, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. A well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic I would like to make a review of related literature which is in my area of research, Instruction, Development, and Achievement of Struggling Primary Grade Readers by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, Ellen McIntyre, and Joseph M Petrosko. Reading Research and Instruction. Coral Gables: Spring 2006. Their study examined the phonics and reading achievement of 117 primary grade students in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Students received instruction in one of six different reading programs or models based upon the school they attended. Through qualitative data collection and analysis of specific instructional practices, they determined that no model or program proved more effective for the learning of phonics in the first grade after one year of instruction. Purpose The purpose of their study was to examine the phonics and reading achievement of primary grade students receiving instruction in six different instructional programs or models (referred to as models in reference to their study). Then, through a qualitative analysis of the specific instructional practices within these models and their understanding of young childrens literacy development, they explain the relative differences in achievement gains of these primary grade struggling readers. Method They examined the instructional practices and achievement of low performing students in first through third grade classrooms in which teachers used one of the following reading models: Breakthrough to Literacy (www.btl.com); Early Success (Cooper, et al., 1997); Early Intervention (Taylor, Medo, Strait, 1995); Four Blocks (Cunningham, Hall, DeFee, 1991); SRA Reading Mastery (Engelmann Bruner, 1997); or Together We Can, a locally developed model based on small group guided reading and explicit teaching of reading strategies and skills. Participants The study included 117 struggling primary-grade readers in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Schools that had recently received a state grant to implement one of the reading models were invited to participate. They then contacted the principals, asking them to recommend teachers who were particularly successful at implementing the instructional model for at least one year; they believed that principals would avoid selecting teachers who were struggling with the model, classroom management, student diversity, or any of the myriad complexities that teachers face daily. Independently, they checked the teachers credentials by using a state-developed data base and found that the majority of them held advanced rank in the profession; 73% had earned at least 30 credit hours beyond the bachelors degree. They also found that 84% of the teachers had taught in their current state of employment for more than five years. The principals distributed consent forms to interested teachers, and when they were returned, the researchers explained to each teacher that the children they wanted to study were those struggling with reading or learning to read. They had no control of the models that were proposed or the schools that were selected to receive the grants. Like many states under accountability mandates, their state is becoming heavily invested in direct instruction models of reading and mathematics, and this predilection was seen in the numbers of students who received scripted early intervention in reading. They asked that by October 1 of the first year of the study, the teachers identify the lowest achieving 20% in their classes. Again, they did not control for socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity of the identified children or in any way second-guess the teachers selection. Consenting students became the targeted group of children the researchers tested on the phonics application and reading tasks. There were two to five children in each of the classrooms, although due to attrition and a few flawed tests, this number was reduced in some classrooms. Researchers studied one group of children from the beginning of first grade through the end of second grade, documenting growth in phonics for one year. These children are hereafter referred to as first graders, even though they followed them through the end of second grade. The children in this group were all served by a single reading model one of the five models that appear in Appendix A across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in second grade). The study followed a second group from the beginning of second grade through the end of third grade, also documenting growth after two years. These children are hereafter referred to as second graders, even though they followed them through the end of third grade. Like the first graders, the children in this group were served by the same reading model across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in third grade). Table 1 lists the participants by model. Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis of Student Achievement Instruments The researcher pre- and post-tested first grade children on clays Hearing Sounds in Words Test (1993), a phonics application task that included encoding a sentence. This measure was conducted only with first graders, as this was the norming sample. It will hereafter be referred to as the phonics measure or phonics achievement. On the clay test, the examiner reads two sentences to the child, The bus is coming fast. It will stop here to let me get on. Then the sentences are read again, word by word, and children encode the sentence as the researcher dictates. The children are encouraged to do the best they can with the spelling and use the sounds of words to write as much as you can. The children score a point for each letter or group of letters they write that correctly correspond to the sounds in the words. Children can score from O to 37 on this test. The researchers selected this test because they believed it to be a more authentic assessment of phonics understanding and use than phonological tests on which children call out letter sounds they see or sound out semantically disconnected word lists. Data collection Researchers were trained using each of the testing instruments given. The training involved an explanation and demonstration of the testing procedures and observation of videotapes of the project director testing various children. The researchers scored those children, discussed results, and adjusted their expectations through more explanation and demonstration by the director. Children were pre-tested during the months of September and post-tested during the month of May during each of the two years of the study. Children were tested in one-on-one situations in quiet places, arranged by the classroom teacher or grant administrator for periods of no more than 30 minutes at a time. While the pre-testing took approximately 30 minutes per child, the post-testing took 60-90 minutes per child for most children, thus each child was met two or three times. The researchers attempted to make the children comfortable and rewarded them afterwards with stickers. All reading passages were tape-recorded. Quantitative analysis of achievement data For ease in comparing achievement, the researchers used the benchmarks provided by each of the tests. Clays Hearing Sounds in Words phonics test has a range of 1-37, with intervals of 1. Two trained researchers individually scored every Clay test, and these scores were compared against one another for accuracy. Where there was discrepancy in scoring, a third researcher also reviewed the data, and the group negotiated the final score. Scores were entered into a data base, and two team members reviewed each of them for accuracy in data entry. In this study, test score data were statistically analyzed in two ways. First, pretest scores were subtracted from posttest scores. The resulting gain scores were used as dependent variables in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the reading models as the independent variables. Test 1 was a comparison of phonics achievement of students in the different reading models (one-year gain). For each test, students achievement in only five models was compared. Importantly, due to the unequal number of students in each of the comparison groups, and the small numbers of participants in some of the models, the interpretations about the findings of these tests are made with caution and based on trends in the data. Data Collection and Analysis of Instructional Practices The researchers collected data on the instructional models in three ways: a) by observing the teachers and taking field notes, b) by interviewing the teachers about their practices, and c) by completing an observation instrument after leaving the site (which required reflection and quantification of what was observed). For this analysis, they specifically gathered data on: 1) the focus of instruction, 2) the primary literacy activities conducted, and 3) the length of time children spent reading connected text. Other salient characteristics of the models, such as whether the model was considered an intervention for struggling readers or a whole class model, are also described. Observations and interviews Schools were contacted and arrangements were made to observe the teachers who had been previously identified as fully implementing the instructional model adopted through the state program. The researchers visited each teacher four times and observed between 90-180 minutes during each visit, depending on how long literacy instruction was conducted in that classroom. Researchers sat in the room and recorded what the teacher said and did in the form of field notes. One important feature in our field notes was the regular marking of time. In an effort to understand how teachers distributed their instructional time for various activities, they recorded the time in the margins of their field notes approximately every five minutes. After each visit, the researchers interviewed the classroom teacher the same day the observations were made. Among the questions they asked were about how typical the observed instruction was and how the children were selected for testing to ensure that they ind eed were studying the bottom 20%. Observation instrument After exiting the field site, the researcher used the field notes and interview to complete an observation instrument that summarized and quantified instructional patterns. A small section of instrument was used to help determine the teachers focus of instruction. The instrument, the field notes, and the interview made a data set for analysis. Analysis of instruction In the first phase of analysis, researchers gathered to examine the data sets. Using a form created by the project director, the researchers summarized what happened during each of the visits. From these summaries of the field notes and interviews, the project director created a set of codes that reflected much of the data, a content analysis of sorts (Miles Huberman, 1994). Then, the research team partitioned the field notes into activity settings (Tharp Gallimore, 1988) in order to create smaller, bounded units of analysis. This meant that whenever there was a change in activity (the people, place, or product of instruction), the ensuing activity was considered a unit of analysis and coded separately. The Researcher did not consider as change in setting instances in which children had to leave a group early or if a lesson was interrupted. Thus, the lessons were coded holistically by setting. Settings lasted from five to 45 minutes. For example, one setting for analysis might be a 10-minute whole class lesson on which the teacher guided the children to correct a message she had written without punctuation. When the same teacher signaled to the children it was time to work in learning centers, a new unit of analysis was begun. Sometimes there were multiple simultaneous activity settings, and the researcher usually made the decision to follow the teacher. For each activity setting, they coded the teachers primary activity, followed by what researchers interpreted, from both observations and interviews, was the teachers focus for the activity-either to help students develop phonologically (ACTIV-phon), or to help students learn something else (ACTIV-other). The primary instructional activities observed in each class were listed on the summary sheet. Finally, to determine the time children spent reading connected text, they used an earlier analysis of these data (Authors, 2005). They first defined connected text as texts of meaningful sentences or longer; that is, more than one connected sentence; although, in this study, connected text was usually an entire story. Then, they clarified activities that comprised examples of opportunities to read connected text. The following practices were categorized as such: choral reading; echo reading (even though technically the teacher was doing half of the reading); guided silent reading; guided oral reading; and established periods for independent reading. Activities not included as opportunities for reading connected text included read aloud story time, times when the teacher was directly teaching something, times when students completed worksheets that included only words or unrelated sentences, drill of individual words, or time on non-print responses to literature. Then, the researchers highlighted in field notes when students were provided opportunities to read connected text. They calculated the percentage of time in such activity against the total time designated for language arts instruction. They examined all four observations of each teacher together as a unit because they knew they were going to categorize them. Using group consensus, they defined classrooms as having much opportunity to read connected text during all four observations, a moderate amount of time, or little time. After each data set was analyzed and each teacher categorized, they compared instructional foci and practices across models. They listed all the teachers in a given model together, and looked across these data sets for patterns.

Study On The Tangshan Earthquake

Study On The Tangshan Earthquake Throughout history there have been various natural disasters that have caused great destruction. One of these very disasters includes the Tangshan earthquake on July 29, 1976, below Tangshan City in the Hebei Province of northern China. The earthquake, measured at a magnitude of 7.5 lead to 242,400 deaths, with many severely injured. In addition, the city of Tangshan and surrounding regions faced infrastructure damages, including complete destruction of 97% of residential areas, 78% of industrial buildings and additional damage to railways, bridges, and roads. Statement of Aim This report will discuss the role of plate tectonics in the Tangshan earthquake. In addition, this report will cover the details of the earthquake pre-cursors, the main quake and aftershocks. Finally, this report will discuss the occurrence of destruction, casualties, relief response and response to similar events in the future. Plate Tectonics of North-East China It is important to develop some general knowledge what causes earthquakes, in order to gain a better understanding about the Tangshan event. Earths crust is broken into major tectonic plates that move towards and away from each other in different directions. Debated driving forces behind this movement includes Earths rotation, gravity related forces and mantle dynamics. Generally, it is accepted that tectonic plates are able to move because of the relative density of oceanic lithosphere and the relative weakness of the asthenosphere. While these plates are moving, they can collide or slide past each other creating high energy phenomena such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Specific to earthquakes, the edge of one plate is forced under another. This process is called subduction and results in intense vibrations in Earths crust. More specifically to Northeast China, the tectonic environment is driven by collisions between the Indian and Asian plates, and Pacific and Asian plates. An important component of the Tangshan earthquake is the role of an extensive strike-slip fault system, known as Tancheng-Lujiang, or Tan-Lu. This system extends in a north-northeast direction for more than 3,200 miles from the north bank of the Yangtze River in eastern China to the west across the Russian border. It is an intertwined zone of faults 5000km long and 1000km wide, neighbored by other sub-faults. These collectively played a significant part in what resulted in the Tangshan earthquake. In fact, the Tangshan earthquake sequence has been explained as the result of sequential ruptures of the Tangshan fault produced by NNE extensive faulting and associated NE-SW regional compression. The earthquake sequence then initiated at the bending region (near Tangshan City) due to continued tectonic stress that had been increasing for a long time. The relationship between the rupture geometries of the Tangshan earthquake sequence and the regional compression stresses. The Tangshan Event Pre-cursors Earthquakes have occurred in the surrounding area in the past, including 22 earthquakes of magnitude 4.75 or greater since 1485. Despite these previous activities, there were no foreshocks or clear precursory phenomenon prior to the Tangshan earthquake. However, there had been a series of abnormal signals observed in the regions of Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Bohai and Zhangjiakou. Tangshan indicated that there was a consistent drop in the pumping rate (and hence groundwater levels) in the years before the event with a sharp increase in the days prior to the earthquake. Additionally, survivors interviewed following the earthquake noted that well water levels changed abruptly in the hours before the event e.g. with rises of over a meter in at least on village in the region. There was also strange animal behavior reported, including city dwellers from the downtown area who had fish discovered that the fish were restless, jumping out of the aquarium as if wanting to escape. Unfortunate ly the anomalous precursory phenomena were widely scattered and inconclusive. The main quake The main quake struck Tangshan at 3:42 am on July 28, 1976, and lasted approximately 23 seconds. This short lived quake was at an intensity of XI (out of XII), according to the State Seismological Bureau report, with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. Although the epicenter was located in the city of Tangshan, the earthquake was felt in fourteen provinces of China, and as far as Xian, in Beijing and in Tientsin. The stress of the Tangshan quake was caused by the compression along the plate boundaries of the Indian and Asian plates, as well as the compression along the boundaries of the Pacific and Asian plates. The quake ruptured a five-mile (8 km) section of a 25-mile long fault that passes through the city Tangshan. In addition, along the west side the ground moved laterally for about five feet, in a north/northeast direction sub parallel to the major axis of the meizoseismic zone with some areas with horizontal ground displacements of up to 7 meters. On the eastern side of the rupture, the ground block tipped upward near the south end and downward at the northern end. Although the earthquake was a shallow focal depth of 15 kilometers, it created both horizontal and vertical movement, causing the ground to rent apart by several feet, cave in to form craters, previously flat agricultural land being undulated, and soil liquefaction. Aftershocks Following the main earthquake, the many aftershocks also had devastating effects. There were two major aftershocks which caused additional damage to the region. On July 28, 1976 at 6:45 pm local time an Mw 7.0 earthquake struck, centered in Shangjialin Luanxian to the northeast of Tangshan. This caused 50 km (31 mi) rupture along the Luanxian-Laoting fault. The second major aftershock of Mw 6.4 struck on November 15, 1976 at 9:53 pm local time, centered south of Lutai to the southwest of Tangshan. This aftershock ruptured 20 km (12 mi) of the Jing Canal fault. In all, over 850 aftershocks occurred through the end of 1978 and were distributed throughout an area approximately 140 km (87 mi) in length and 50 km (31 mi) in width along a northeast trend, indicating the Tangshan fault as the main fault rupture. Destruction and Casualties The destruction of the earthquake included 242,400 deaths; 164,600 people severely wounded; 3,800 people disabled; 360,000 people suffering minor injuries; and various damages to residential areas, industrial areas, roads, railways and sewage systems. Here, the report will examine what effects the earthquake had on infrastructure and casualties. Infrastructure Before the 1976 earthquake, scientists did not believe Tangshan was susceptible to a large earthquake. Thus, the seismic design code for the area was zoned an intensity level of VI and the buildings in Tangshan were not built to withstand such a large earthquake. Furthermore, the city of Tangshan is located in the center of an area surrounded with major faults, where many of its structures had been built on unstable, alluvial soils. The 7.8 earthquake that hit Tangshan was given an intensity level of XI and left hundreds of thousands of buildings destroyed. The infrastructure damage affected many different areas. Ninety-three percent of residential buildings and 78 percent of industrial buildings were completely destroyed. Eighty percent of the water pumping stations and fourteen percent of the sewage pipes were seriously damaged. In addition, the foundations of bridges gave way, bridges collapsed, railroad lines bent, closed roads were covered with debris, highway bridges and at least two dams collapsed, all telephone and radio communications systems stopped functioning and almost all of the irrigation wells became inoperative. The seismic waves of the earthquake spread the damage to various regions, such as Qinhuangdao and Tianjin, and a few buildings as far away as Beijing. As was the case in Tangshan city, earthquake resistance was not generally considered in the design of buildings in these other regions. Newer buildings with seismic capacity and any buildings strengthened after the 1975 Haicheng Earthquake performed much better during the Tangshan Earthquake than those designed without seismic design considerations. Casualty Along with infrastructure damage, there were devastating amounts of casualties. As mentioned earlier, the earthquake struck just before 4 am, when many people were asleep and unprepared. Before the earthquake, the total population of Tangshan city was approximately 1.2 million, with 2 million within 40 km (25 mi) of the epicenter. As mentioned earlier, the official death count from the earthquake was 242,400; however, other sources have cited the death toll to be as high as 655,000 to 779,000 people. Contributing to the high number of casualties was the structure of residential buildings. Most residential structures in Tangshan and surrounding rural regions consisted of older, single-story brick or stone wall homes with only few newer multi-story brick apartment buildings built in the 1960s. Due to this structure, many buildings collapsed because of the lack of proper connections between the walls and roof, as did many reinforced concrete and masonry industrial buildings with heavy roofs, weighing as much as 400 kg (890 lbs). Finally, another contributing factor to the high death toll was the density of buildings and population in Tangshan city being extremely high. This concentration contributed to the seriousness of the loss in particular because the source of the earthquake was directly beneath the city. Relief Response The earthquake disaster required both short-term and long-term response. To begin, the Chinese government refused to accept international aid from the United Nations, and insisted on self reliance. This required rescue workers accompanied by appropriate equipment in order to rescue people from the collapsed buildings, as well as a pre-established plan to coordinate the effort, which was made difficult since vehicular traffic brought the few clear streets to a standstill. Also, since most of the population lost their homes due to the infrastructure destruction, there was a great need for temporary shelters. Clearing of the debris did not begin in earnest until September 1981, leaving the vast majority of the population not being able to live in permanent housing until 1985. In addition, there was the need for long-term strategic planning. Much of this had to do with future design codes for the city. The Tangshan Earthquake led to a major update to the seismic design code, released in 1978. The study of the Tangshan Earthquake and its tectonic setting also resulted in the reclassification of hazard zonation of the Hebei province (particularly the Tangshan region). Updates to the code included performance criteria increases with the raising of expected ground shaking intensity, the introduction of a new understanding of how the liquefaction of underlying soils impacts building foundations, and the inclusion of increased vertical forces from seismic loads good building practice from the collapsed buildings in Tangshan. The earthquake also highlighted the requirement for redundancy in the provision of lifelines, accompanied by the assessment of the appropriate design standards to guarantee the minimum necessary function of roads, bridges, or utility supplie s which were greatly affected by the earthquake. The relief responses resulting from the Tangshan Earthquake created the opportunity to build and incorporate increased earthquake resistance for future seismic events. Moreover, the layout of the city was planned to reduce both the number of casualties and injured, in addition to increasing the efficacy of emergency relief and disaster rehabilitation. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake had the same measurement on the Richter scale at 8.0 in magnitude. It, however, occurred in a mountainous region where relief efforts were noticeably hampered by the geographical makeup of the land nearby. The Sichuan earthquake also had a much quicker and more organized response system than Tangshan, as the political, social and technological environment was different. Discussion Conclusion In summary, this report has presented many important concepts to gain an understanding about the Tangshan Earthquake. It has examined the underlying driving forces, such as the Tancheng-Lujiang fault system and Tangshan fault; the various effects from the precursors, main quake, aftershocks; the destruction and casualties from the disaster, including factors that lead to an increased death toll and infrastructure damage; the relief response to the disaster and how it affected future earthquake responses; and a discussion of how amateur seismologists and professionals made predictions about the Tangshan Earthquake. Discussing these topics brings awareness on the importance of understanding natural disasters, and how a population can learn and prepare itself for future natural disasters.

An Examination of Rubyfruit Jungle and Her Critics Essay -- Rubyfruit

An Examination of Rubyfruit Jungle and Her Critics  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Rita Mae Brown's first novel, Rubyfruit Jungle made waves when it was first released in 1973. Its influence has not gone away over the years and is in its seventh printing. While mainstream critics failed to acknowledge Rubyfruit Jungle in their papers, magazines and discussions on contemporary literature, there are plenty of non-mainstream voices to fill the void. While these lesser-known sources are not always credible, and certainly not always accurate they have created a word-of-mouth reputation of the novel and have facilitated its continuous success. The problem in researching such a novel is that there is very little criticism. One cannot rely on book reviews from unknown magazines and personal websites in order to properly examine secondary sources. Knowing that there is virtually no critical analysis on Rubyfruit Jungle changes the questions that the novel itself raises, and forces one to examine why this novel was not worthy of discussion. There could be several answers to this mystery, the most obvious being that it was written by and is about a lesbian. America has never fully allowed people to "come out" without reprimand and up until the time of this novel, the only fiction that focused on lesbians emphasized their shame and grief over their sexual identity. The idea that Rubyfruit Jungle has not been looked at in academic circles simply because it is a novel about a lesbian who feels no shame or guilt about her sexuality is only part of the problem, it is not the only reason why Brown's first novel is not discussed. While Molly Bolt is a lesbian and proud of it, other lesbians are not so proud of her and what she stands for. Rubyfruit ... ...unity that is still often ignored in literature. Could it be that one must wait until the next millennium in order to find voices in literature that accurately represent the society in which it is portraying?    Works Cited    Brown, Rita Mae. "Book Reviews." Rita Mae Brown Homepage. 2 December   1999.<http://www.ritamaebrown.com/books/rmb.html>.    Brown, Rita Mae. Rubyfruit Jungle. New York: Daughters Publishing Company,   1973.    Fishbein, Leslie. "Rubyfruit Jungle: Lesbianism, Feminism, and Narcissism." International Journal of Women's Studies 7.2 (1984): 155-159.    Innes, Charlotte. "Rita Meter Maid." Los Angeles Times 30 Nov. 1997: 3.    Ward, Carol. Rita Mae Brown. New York: Twain Publishers, 1993.    Webb, Marilyn. "Daughters, Inc.: A Publishing House is Born." Ms. Magazine   2:6 (1974): 37.   

Choose Or Lose :: Voting Vote Politics Political Essays

Choose Or Lose The election of 2004 is being talked about all over the country. It is one of the most publicized elections I can remember, and yet I still do not feel that involved. My decision to vote this November depends on how informed I am at the time. I think you need to be an informed voter to be a good voter. Voting for someone you think speaks well or looks good is wrong. What is it that causes so many young voters like me to not vote? A lot of people think it is a lack of concern that causes young people not to go to the voting booth that first Tuesday in November, but I think it's something more. Our government is based on participation and being apathetic about voting is no excuse. Without active involvement from the people democracy will fail. The 26th Amendment granted those who are 18 years of age the right to vote. This privilege has long been abused by those ages 18-24. Since the Amendment was passed in 1972, the percentage of eligible voters ages 18-24 who actually vote has dropped 13%. The article by Carrie Donovan and Mark Lopez, "Youth and Adult Voter Turnout From 1972-2002," states that in 1972, 55% of youths voted and in 2000, 42% of youths voted. This is appalling compared to the 70% of citizens that are 25 + and voted in the 2000 election. This dramatic drop in voting among the young adult population is eating away at democracy. The election affects everyone, but unfortunately, not everyone recognizes that fact. Those who do not vote have no right to complain about the outcome of an election, and nor the right to protest the decisions made by those elected to office. If this is true then why doesn't every eligible citizen vote? Politics affect EVERYONE. Those who are currently going to school most likely have a student loan. The student loan interest rate is controlled by the government, and I'm sure there isn't one student who is looking forward to paying more interest. Anyone who votes most likely has a job and is therefore paying taxes.

Depression and Finding Help Essay -- Depression Psychiatry Psychology

Depression and Finding Help Depression is defined as an illness; the feelings of depression persist and interfere with a child or adolescent’s ability to function. Depression can be a very difficult and painful experience that affects not only the individual suffering from it, but also the people around them. There comes a point in some peoples’ lives where social isolation, low energy, sadness, low self-esteem, and the feeling of hopelessness, cannot be taken anymore. The feelings are so strong and persistent, that the victim becomes severely unhappy, which can then result in depression. Clinical depression has many related symptoms trouble sleeping, eating disorders, withdrawal and inactivity, self-punishment, and loss of pleasure. People that are depressed do not like to do things they may usually like to. However, there are many differences between feeling depressed and actually suffering from depression, the disease. Any person feels depressed at some time or another in their life. They feel worthless, tired and tend to want to be alone without human interaction, this is normal. Depression brings on poor concentration or inability to think and make decisions (Kist 26). Surveys that have been taken that show approximately 20 in 100 people suffer from depression at any one time. About one if four Americans will suffer from a depression over the course of their lifetime. Depression strikes men and women of all ages, in all races, but most studies indicate that women are more often afflicted. Depression comes in many different types: major, manic and dysthymia are a few. A chronic, physical illness, drug habit, death of a loved one; or a problem in a marriage cause major depression. Even though most people with major depression will recover, half will suffer another episode (Hales 38). People with severe cases of major depression can’t work, study, or interact and eventually can’t feed, clothe or clean themselves (Hales 38).Manic depression is a type of depres sion that goes from a person being extremely happy and then becoming severely depressed (Kist 107). Being in a depressed state can be life threatening. People suffering from manic depression show many symptoms. A few major ones are hyperactivity; talking fast, inability, fear of dying, and jumping from one topic to another during a conversation (Kist 39). Another type is Psychoanalysis. Psychoanaly... ...on to a better, more productive lifestyle. Overall, there are many causes of this unbearable disease, and often many times a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors are involved in the onset of a depressive disorder. However, the big risk factor in major depression is suicide. Within five years of suffering from major depression, an estimated 25% of sufferers try to kill themselves. Therefore, it is important to take action when confronted with the symptoms of this disease. Depression reaches many people and that is why I chose this as my topic. Depression is maybe the most painful illness, but it can be overcome. Hopefully everyone with depression seeks help either through medication or therapy. Bibliography Blackman, Maurice. You Asked about †¦ Adolescent Depression. Available at http://www.mental.health.com/mag1/pgs51-dp01.html Hales, Dianne. Depression. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, Philadelphia, 1989. Kist, Jay. "Dealing with Depression† Current Health 2 Jan.1997 25-28. Lytle, Victoria. The dark clouds of Depression. NEA Today Dec.1994. Spike Milligan and Anthony Clare. Depression and how to Survive it. Arrow 1994.

School of Athens by Raphael Analization

The School Of Athens by Raphael Nii Teiko Tagoe 9/11/12 LBTS 1105 The School of Athens by Raphael is a painting that really relates to classical philosophy and humanism. It is one of the greatest paintings in the high Renaissance, and it was painted in one of the greatest most extraordinarily decorated rooms in the Vatican, the name of the room was the Stanza della Segnatura. † The school of Athens† was painted by Raphael between 1508 and 1511, and it was right around the time Michelangelo was painting the 16th chapel.One of the things that makes this painting so special is that â€Å"The School of Athens† represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from classical antiquity gathered together sharing their ideas and learning from each other. These figures all lived at different times, but here they are gathered together under one roof. The painting consists of generic and geometric shapes there is a good balance of both in the painting.On e of the first things that stand out to me is all the decoration that is surrounding the fresco in the painting and also the monochromatic sculptures at the base that are supporting the fresco. When you look close to the painting you can see that it was done in a one point perspective, the vanishing point and the horizon line run right through the center of the picture and sort of terminate behind the two central figures heads, and those two are Plato and Aristotle. The vanishing point almost divides the painting into two as its right in the middle of those two figures.The only place that I see a two point perspective being used in this painting is the block of stone on the floor that Michelangelo is leaning on. I also see some illusionism giving a sense of space going on as pertaining to the use of one point perspective, through the floors and the coffers and the celling. The use of simulated and actual texture and repetition in these areas also help create some of these illusions. There are different elements used, such as line, texture and repetition that helps strengthen Raphael’s painting.Overall Raphael’s use of warm colors in most areas of the painting could be looked at symbolically, such as the use of red demonstrating wisdom and power as it is used on the main figures in the painting. The colors in general are light but not too bight to keep a sense of seriousness in the painting. The warm light is focused more on the people in the back, and shadow is slightly casted upon the figures towards the front. Raphael used chiaroscuro to show underlying body structure in each of the figures and to also show and create depth and shape in the painting. he painting overall has a lot of analogous color schemes going on, with the characters, and the same analogous color scheme going on with the walls, the windows the floors and the back ground in general. But the color scheme in the characters pertaining to the background is complimentary when it co mes to certain figures. Overall this is a wonderful piece of art and Raphael did a great job over all of depicting each individual character and brings life into them in the painting.

The casino industry in Australia

The casino industry in Australia operates under an environment of uncertainty. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australia†s 13 casinos recorded a total operating loss of $288 million in 97-98. Outsiders predict a gloomy future for the casino industry in the next few years due to the reduction in international high rollers and the low level of management talent in Australia†s young casino industry. In this business environment Crown must implement business strategies will carry it into the next century as one of the worlds most successful casino complexes. The Crown was set up as a multimillion-dollar establishment in order to attract international gamblers especially the Asian junket gamblers. However with the economic meltdown of countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia Asian gamblers are fewer and have less money to gamble. The present focus of Crown casino towards the Asian market is fruitless as its competing in a highly saturated international market. International casinos have a much better operational efficiency compared to Crown due to the high levels of tax and intense monitoring experienced by Australian casinos. Nevertheless this excessive regulation reduces the perception of corruption which can be used to market Crown as a reputable operator in the world stage. Its current strategy of focusing on the Asian market is an inefficient management of resources. Crown should focus on the growing local market, which would stabilise the balancesheet, as the focus should be on maintaining a high volume of local gamblers as opposed to a small number of high rollers. The current volatile earning figures for Crown are caused due its reliance on Asian junket gamblers. In the current business environment buyer power is high as Crown focuses on few high volume gamblers this should be reduced, as it should concentrate on a higher numbers of smaller gamblers. The recent increases in the gambling to HDI ratio as a result of better domestic economic conditions should be exploited by Crown. In order to broaden its local market advertising campaigns to lure the suburban poker machine players towards the city and away from RSL clubs and bars should be undertaken. The recent acquisition of Crown by the media giant PBL should ensure that Crown promotions reach a wider audience through the magazine/television business with little cost. The main issue for Crown in the future is to maintain a consistent rate of turn over in slot machines and tables. This should be achieved not only through advertising moreover by offering patrons the latest technologies and gaming programs. Once the parton numbers are increased loyalty schemes targeting the lower end of the gaming market should be under taken to maintain the flow of customers. Crown should better take advantage of it regional monopoly and reputation for offering ‘ world of entertainment† by hiring top rating international performers. This would not only boost revenue to the Crown entertainment complex but to the casino as well. Online gambling is luring more and more customers away from physical casinos. This new frontier of gaming is thriving due to its ease of access to customers and many online operators are benefiting from the lack of regulatory and tax burdens. This industry is expected to grow from $US5 billion to $US25.4 billion by next year. In Crown ‘s strategic outlook it should attempt to tap into this booming market. Crown would be able to use its globally recognised name and add credibility to this undisciplined market. With the cooperation of PBL namely ECORP its Internet Company Crown would be able to offer unrivalled Internet gambling services which are regulated by the Australian government. At present US based enterprises are unable to provide Internet gaming which would provide Crown with an opportune time to enter into this market and gain a foothold. (an operational efficiency.) The capacity exists for Crown to from strategic alliances with other off shore gambling facilities overseas in the hope of attracting more international gamblers. Such a venture could offer joint accommodation deals more lucrative jackpots and discounts to valued customers in reciprocal venues. This should compensate for Melbourne†s low level of International tourism. In addition relationships should be built up between Crown and the Victorian Tourism board to induce tourism into Melbourne. Michel Porter suggested that the ‘essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do† in the current competitive environment Crown is able to do this by offering a complete package of entertainment and gaming which is unparalleled in Australia.

Indianization Term Essay

Question 1 What does the term `Indianization` or `sinicization` refer to when used to describe government administrations headed by invaders or foreign powers? Please give at least 2 examples.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These two terms refer to a general cultural assimilation of the foreign government.   Over time, occupying powers in China and India became familiar with the local culture and began to blend in, appearing more and more as locals than foreigners.   In the case of these two countries, this process led to locals being promoted to government positions that were initially reserved for the foreign or invading power.   The nation gradually looks less and less like a conquered state, as more of its own people are placed in positions of power and its populace regains greater self-determination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In India, this process was introduced by the British in the 1920’s and was actually termed Indianisation.   The British appointed Indians to fill senior military ranks and government positions, and set up specific officers to handle this process in a deliberate manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The example is perhaps clearer in China, where Kublai Khan fell in love with Chinese culture in his youth.   In 1271, after being Khan for 20 years, Kublai created the Yuan dynasty which covered the area of China under Mongole rule.   The Yuan dynasty was initially a Mongol administration and was part of the Mongol empire, but with time, successive rulers saw themselves as Chinese emperors rather than Mongol lords.   The Yuan dynasty lost influence over Mongol lands outside of China, and became a true Chinese empire until conquered by the Ming dynasty in 1388 (Saunders, 2001). Question 2 What developments in Southern Song China resemble the Industrial Revolution of the West? Why were the emperors during the Song period so successful when their predecessors were not?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Song period was one of great growth and development in China’s industry and infrastructure.   One of the largest factors of this was the introduction of paper money, leading to a normalized market economy.   This was also a time of development of cities, as opposed to the agrarian economy that had characterized earlier periods.   Cities became centers of trade and industry, leading to the development of a merchant class similar to the later Bourgeoise in Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chinese industry grew along with the merchant class during the Song period.   While finding exact numbers from the time period is difficult, Robert Hartwell notes that Chinese iron production lept sixfold from the early 800’s to 1078, where he notes that Chinese iron production reached 125,000 tons (Hartwell, 1962), far beyond that of the Western powers.   This abundance of iron allowed China to manufacture tools, machinery, and trade goods.   The result was that China’s economy grew dramatically, leading to China surpassing Western Europe in per capita income during the Song dynasty (Maddison, 2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Several factors contributed to the occurrence of this Chinese â€Å"Industrial Revolution† under the Song dynasty.   One was the establishment of a civil bureaucracy as opposed to rule by warlords.   This helped to encourage the development of trade and industry, as well as education, as commoners could achieve these posts via taking the imperial examination.   Another factor was technological innovation, marked by developments such as gunpowder and movable type.   Such social and technological innovation led to expanded opportunities for the peasant class and allowed many to migrate from farms to cities to pursue the newer career paths available to them. Question 3 What combination of Mongol attributes and Song weaknesses made the Mongol conquest successful? Please analyze it detail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The single largest factor leading to the successful Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty was the attitudes of each culture towards war.   The Mongols were born and bred for it.   Their culture glorified battle and conquest.   The Mongol empire had been growing for centuries, winning victory after victory, which surely inspired fear and doubt in any army forced to stand against them.   The Song were not pacifists by any means, but they were not warriors in the same vein as the Mongols.   When they broke the Mongol alliance to recapture former lost cities, they were not prepared for the war they had unleashed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One major Song weakness was that the initial battlefields of the war were not favorable positions to hold.   Kaifeng, Luoynag, and Chang’an were already ruined by war.   The Song strategy of defense also played into the Mongols’ hands, allowing the horsewarriors to choose the time and place of battles and ensure local superiority.   This led to the Song being driven back, finally retreating to Guangdong and losing their leader, Emperor Gong, in the process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Song dynasty was now left effectively leaderless.   The two heirs were mere children.   Without a decisive and strong leader, further efforts at resistance were to prove futile.   The final defeat of the Song at the Battle of Yamen in 1279 was almost a foregone conclusion, as the demoralized and cornered Song were beaten soundly by Kublai Khan’s naval forces, leading to the death of the final Song emperor and the assimilation of Song lands. Question 4 Why did Chinese culture become so popular and accepted in Japan? What are the major differences and similarities between the Chinese and Japanese culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many aspects of Chinese culture passed to Japan in the earlier centuries AD, when China was a more advanced society and the Japanese eager to learn and advance themselves.   This hunger for learning and improvement of their culture was the primary factor that allowed Chinese cultural influence to infiltrate Japanese society.   When the two cultures first made contact Japan had no formal written language and adopted that of the Chinese, which would later be evolved to a similar but distinct written form.   Japan also modelled its imperial bureaucracy after that of China, and the courts of the two nations ended up being very similar in the ranks and titles used.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The largest form of cultural influence, though, was religion.   Both Confucianism and Buddhism made strong inroads in Japan, which at the time had a much less sophisticated form of religion.   Both of the Chinese religions imparted practical knowledge about how to run a society and live one’s daily life, and this proved attractive to the Japanese.   This influence led to the development of Zen Buddhism and the famous Japanese samurai culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With these similarities, differences between the two cultures remained.   One of the strongest was the samurai culture, the code of Bushido.   The Japanese samurai evolved to be a warrior caste, something which did not have a counterpart in China on nearly the same scale.   As a result of this, Japan evolved to a more feudal society, with peasant-serfs supporting the samurai nobility in a system of lesser warlords (daimyo) owing fealty to the imperial court (in reality, the Shogun).   Chinese culture, especially in the Ming period, treated the peasantry more as independent landowners rather than as the lowest tier in the feudal machine. Question 5 What impact did Buddhism have on the development of Japanese culture and lifestyles? Give examples in both art and literature where Buddhism was a major factor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Japanese Zen Buddhism infiltrated and permeated every aspect of Japanese culture, influencing the way they thought, governed, created, even loved and made war.   The Japanese have long been famous for appearing reserved, for keeping emotion private.   This is a very Buddhist trait coming from the teachings of the Middle Path, the path of moderation.   Excess is frowned upon.   Discipline and focus are encouraged.   Those two words have formed the foundation of Japanese lifestyles for centuries.   The formalized ritual of the tea ceremony also demonstrates Buddhist influences over such a simple thing as the drinking of tea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The samurai give excellent examples of how Buddhism affected Japanese culture.   The samurai were the ruling class, and as the elite, the commoners would seek to emulate them.   The samurai were known for their unshakeable dedication to their duty, that of serving their daimyo, or leige.   They paid particular emphasis to Samadhi, one of three branches of Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path.   The teachings of Samadhi emphasized right effort (continual self-improvement, via constant training at their disciplines), right mindfulness (awareness of one’s surroundings, seeing the world clearly), and right concentration (self-awareness, accomplished via meditation and self-reflection).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Buddhism’s influences also spread into the art and literature of the period.   The clearest example in art is in Japanese gardens and architecture.   Japanese homes were sparse and minimalist, rejecting luxury in favor of the simple necessities, in which the Japanese took joy.   Their gardens were designed and grown as places for tranquility, as places of meditation.   Buddhist influence over literature is seen in such writings as â€Å"An Account of My Hut† by Chomei, an argument for a life of peaceful meditation and tranquility. Question 6 How did a Japanese emperor differ from the Chinese emperor? Which would you consider more superior and why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The primary difference was in the power they wielded.   Chinese emperors tended to wield far more power over their territory and ruling in a monarchial fashion.   While many Chinese emperors were overthrown in the end by court intrigue, regicide, or revolution; during their time on the throne a Chinese emperor was his nation’s absolute ruler.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In constrast the Japanese emperors were mostly figureheads.   Though viewed by the populace as a living god, in truth their power was very limited.   For most of the last 1,000 years the real power in Japan was held by the Shogun, the primary warlord who had gained dominance over the others.   Within that period were also many times of strife where Japan had no strong leader but was instead fragmented into many separate warring states, led by Daimyo.   The emperor still reigned during these periods but had no power to stop the warfare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chinese emperors fit more closely with the western idea of monarchy, whereas Japanese emperors were described by European explorers as being more akin to the Pope: a spiritual leader with little political clout, while the Shoguns were mentioned as being similar to the European monarchs (Howe, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In absolute terms, Chinese emperors seem to be superior to Japanese by virtue of the greater power they wield.   Argument could be made that monarchial institutions have the inherent weakness of relying too much on one man who may or may not be qualified to rule (just look at the damage some of the Roman emperors such as Nero and Caligula caused), that is beyond the scope of this work.   For the purposes of this discussion, I will argue that Chinese emperors were superior as the Japanese emperors were for the most part figureheads. Question 7 What characteristics of the nomadic peoples made them `barbaric` to the civilizations of India and China?   What characteristics of the nomadic peoples would you consider to be strengths?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   China and India viewed their nomadic neighbors as barbarians due to what was seen as an overall lack of civilization.   Most of the nomadic cultures lacked such â€Å"civilizing† characteristics as a large and detailed government system, with most using a system that was very feudal in nature, chieftains owing fealty to greater warlords.   They also lacked what were seen as other civilizing characteristics, such as advanced agriculture with public works projects like canals to support it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another major factor was that of religion.   China and India had very sophisticated religious belief systems, as opposed to the less developed beliefs of the various nomadic groups around them.   As has been seen throughout history in all parts of the world, religion is commonly used as a barometer to judge the level of civilization of a culture, such as in Europe where Christians viewed non-Christians are barbarians. Based on this barometer, the Chinese and Indian cultures viewed others with simpler belief structures as not being as advanced spiritually and philosophically.   Finally, many of the neighboring nomadic cultures had not developed a fully-functional form of written language, often borrowing from Chinese writing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And yet despite these â€Å"disadvantages†, nomadic cultures such as the Mongols would end up conquering the great civilized empires.   Their active tribal lifestyle bred them as warriors, not farmers.   Their lifestyle also led them to be superior horsemen, which proved yet another advantage in warfare.   Their people were hardy, used to living without luxury, and well-suited to conducting long campaigns. These cultures that were dismissed as â€Å"barbaric† would end up proving mightier than expected. Question 8 When did the Mughal dynasty rule India. What achievements occurred during this dynasty? What led to the decline of Mughal rule in India?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Mughal dynasty began in 1504 when Babur of the Timurids conquered Kabul.   His force was a Muslim army of Mongols and other more local peoples (such as Afghans and Persians).   This and the following decades of consolidation of power with battles fought against smaller regional powers established the Mughal dynasty, and brought Islam to the front in the Indian subcontinent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of note, though, is that the Mughals exercised a religious tolerance rarely seen in the time period.   Though Islam was the primary religion throughout most of the dynasty, Hindus and other religions were rarely persecuted.   The reign of Akar from 1556-1605 brought about the most dramatic change of all, with a policy of direct attempts at reconciliation with Hindus, promoting them to high government office and abolishing the poll tax on non-Muslims.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another major and lasting achievement of the Mughals was their architecture.   They were renowned for massive construction projects, including large fortress-palaces such as the monstrous Red Fort in Dehli.   There is also the Taj Mahal, perhaps the most famous lasting architectural sample, built in Agra and completed in 1648.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The decline of the Mughal empire was a long process.   The reign of the last of the strong Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb from 1658 to 1707, saw the empire hold together but the decay had begun and his policies, while temporarily effective, added to the long-term problems.   Wars demonstrated Mughal military might, but drained the treasury; and new anti-Hindu policies led to resentment and rebellion at home and class struggle (Habib, 2001).   This led the way to foreign invasion from the neighboring Marathas, Persians, and Afghans, eating away at the empire until the commonly accepted date of the empire’s final ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar   who was exiled in 1857. Question 9 Ironically, while Europeans later fought wars over control of the sea routes in the Asian region, China abandoned its dominant position. Why did the Ming court decide to end the maritime voyages of Zheng He just as China reached domination of the Asian seas? Was this a poor decision or one that strengthened China? Please explain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There were multiple factors that seem to be present in the Ming’s decision to suspend Zheng He’s voyages.   Zheng He did most of his exploring during the time of the Yongle Emperor, and when he died in 1424 his successors seemed to view Zheng He’s growing influence at court as a threat.   Curbing his travels that made him famous would be a good way to reduce his influence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cost was also a major factor, as China became embroiled in conflict with its Mongolian neighbors to the north.   Having been once conquered by the Mongolians, the Ming court took this threat very seriously, and devoted every effort to protecting their borders and resisting the Mongols.   Zheng He’s expedition fleet was massive, and the cost of the journeys was thus immense, as he went as an emissary and explorer rather than a trader.   His journeys did not result in wealth pouring into Chinese coffers as did that of the European explorers from the colonies they founded and trade routes they started.   The Ming needed their resources to fight the Mongols, and thus cut back in other areas, such as these naval expeditions in order to meet the Mongol threat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is difficult to say whether this was a wise decision or not in retrospect.   The money saved on naval excursions surely assisted the Ming in their mostly successful efforts to resist the Mongols, culminating in the expansion of the Great Wall of China.   Perhaps if Zheng He’s costly voyages had continued, the resources would not have been available to hold off the Mongols.   And yet there was a cost, which is that when the European nations began arriving in force, the Chinese were not able to resist them.   Overall I would say the decision was wise, in facing the immediate threat rather than a potential and vague future threat that might never materialize. Question 10 Who founded the Ming Dynasty and what were main characteristics of rule during this period? What were the major achievements of the Ming Dynasty? What is meant by saying that the `sprouts of capitalism` can be found in the Ming Dynasty?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ming dynasty was founded in 1368 by Zhu Yuanzhang, a man of peasant birth and monastery education who was one of the leaders of a series of revolts that destroyed the Yuan dynasty.   Upon ascending to the position of emperor, he took the name Hongwu.   Some major traits of Ming rule were favor given to the poor, a strong military, a strong internal focus, and the replacement of the prime minister post with that of the Grand secretary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ming period was a good one for the peasantry.   Hongwu seemed to favor the poor, and gave land to peasants to farm.   Peasants who moved to and farmed unused land could claim it as their own and be free from taxation on it.   This led to an agricultural class much like that to be found later in America, with free citizens owning and cultivating land rather than a feudal serf system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The early Ming favored agriculture over trade, and would eventually forbid oceangoing trade ships from leaving China.   Despite this, trade flourished due to other factors, such as the introduction of silver to the economy which established currency and limited barter.   Another major achievement of the Ming dynasty was its refinement of the Chinese legal code.   The laws were designed to be fair and understandable, so that they could not be taken advantage of by the upper class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Capitalism in China flourished during the Ming period.   The empire was stable politically, the lower class more prosperous than ever before.   Owning their own land meant that they received the benefits from their work rather than owing most of the fruits of their labor to a leige.   This was the beginning of a free market, and combined with increased trade, Chinese citizens were rewarded for their hard work and this encouraged them to do well. Bibliography Habib, I. (2001). The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1526-1707. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hartwell, R. (1962). A Revolution in the Chinese Iron and Coal Industries During the Northern Sung, 960-1126 A.D. The Journal of Asian Studies , 21 (2), pp. 153-162. Howe, C. (1999). The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy. Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Maddison, A. (2006). The World Economy: Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Saunders, J. J. (2001). History of the Mongol Conquests. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.