E.P Thompsons The making of the English Working Class Essay -- Thomps

E.P Thompson's The making of the English Working Class From looking at The making of the English Working Class it seems quite obvious that E.P Thompson’s main arguments throughout his book are about the notion of ‘class’, in particular the ‘making of the working class’ ; and in order to evaluate his theories we must attempt to look at other historians opinions about his book, and his suggested theories, in order to come to an impartial evaluation. Many historians have their own interpretations when trying to define class, like Bourke who links class to characteristics such as accent, clothing; Marx who states that class was ‘no more or less than an objective social category’; and E.P.Thompson’s definition, that class happens ‘as a result of class conscious experience.’ Therefore it is quite clear that class is a contested concept as there is no exact definition, thus making it more difficult for historians to come to a conclusion with evidence to prove it. The Making of the English Working Class is according to Kaye and McClelland, ‘the obligatory starting point for any contemporary discussion of the history of the working-class formation.’ This gives us the indication that Thompson had not just written another piece on the concepts of class but that his book ‘opened interpretive eyes to a new way of seeing class.’ In his book Thompson’s main purpose was to write adjacent to the grain of economic history by implying that ‘the working class did not rise like the sun at the appointed time. It was present in its own making.’ In this we can see how Thompson seems to envoke the working class experience in a vivid way, which is arguably one of the reasons why his book received such appraise. However his book also received much criticism, as Kaye and McClelland point that his ‘own theory of how class formation is determined remains highly ambiguous.’ This suggests that perhaps Thompson did not go into specific detail on how class was formed and when, which remains a highly debated topic. The fact that Thompson argues ‘thus the working- class presence was, in 1832, the most significant factor in British political life’, is argued by the Marxist historian Anderson, that class was not specifically made in the 1830’s due to its decline, but was perhaps made in the 1880’s. The fact that he insinuates that the English working class was not ‘made’ by the ... ...analysed the ‘master narrative’ in order to come to the conclusion that ‘the terminology of class was not the favoured language of radicals in Thompson’s period and after, rather the construct ‘the people’ predominated and tended towards inclusiveness and harmony between classes.’ From looking at various historians opinions regarding E.P.Thompson’s book The making of the English Working Class, it is quite evident that there are many opposing views about his work that have led to many criticisms as well as many appraisals. The topic of class is highly debatable due to the fact there is no specific definition of it. It is also debateable where it originated from and so we cannot just look at one historian’s interpretation of the subject but we need to look at many in order to come to our own conclusions of the concept of ‘class consciousnesses and ‘class identity’. Thompson has produced an ‘outstanding’ interpretation of his theories on what made the working class and many historians have made valid criticisms that allow us to question some of his main arguments within the book, meaning that the notion of class is still a contested concept for which there is no specific answer.

The Voice of Reason

At the end of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Lord Capulet and Lord Montague decide to make peace. Lord Montague promises to raise a gold statue of Juliet and Lord Capulet vows to do the same for Romeo. By this point in the story, there is no doubt that the families will keep their word. However, one is left thinking whether the peace will last or not. The deaths of Mercutio, Tybalt, Juliet and Romeo were all caused by the feud between the two families, yet it took Juliet’s death, combined with Romeo’s to end the feud.The lives that were lost might be enough to maintain harmony between them for a long time, maybe forever. The Prince is the voice of reason in Romeo and Juliet. He was the one who forbade the Capulet’s and the Montague’s from fighting in the streets because they would disturb the peace. Either way, Mercutio and Tybalt died, resulting in the banishment of Romeo. However, while the Prince tried to maintain the peace, he never qui te laid down the law with the battling families. It’s like they say, if you can’t see it, it’s not there.Once the Capulet’s and the Montague’s were battling in full view of the people of Verona, the Prince just couldn’t ignore it anymore. Yet what he did had no impact on the families whatsoever. Threats didn’t scare them. So they continued hating each other. â€Å"Where be these enemies? /Capulet! Montague! /See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,/That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. /And I for winking at your discords too/Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd. †(V. 3. 291-296) . In this quote, the prince is berating himself for doing almost nothing about the feud.He exclaims that because of their hatred for each other, the heavens punished them by taking their children, Juliet and Romeo. Finally understanding the horrors the feud had created, Lord Capulet and Lord Montague make amends to each other by agreeing to end the feud and raising gold statues in honor of Romeo and Juliet‘s deaths. â€Å"Capulet: O brother Montague, give me thy hand: This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more Can I demand. Montague: But I can give thee more:For I will raise her statue in pure gold;That while Verona by that name is known,There shall no figure at such rate be setAs that of true and faithful Juliet.Capulet: As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie;Poor sacrifices of our enmity! † (V. 3. 297-306) For generations to come, the story of Romeo and Juliet will be passed down from Capulet to Montague to Capulet, maintaining the peace and uniting the families. Maybe there will be another Montague who falls in love with a Capulet and maybe this time, the ending will be a happy one. As the Prince mournfully states â€Å" Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:For never was a story of more woeThan this of Juliet and her Romeo. †(V. 3. 308-310)

Refugee Blues and Disabled Comparison Essay

The subject of war and the loss of human life has had a deep influence on poetry of the first half of the 20th century. Many poets from around the world had felt the direct impact of earth-shattering wars and went on to express their opinions through their works. It was during wartime eras that the poems â€Å"Disabled† and â€Å"Refugee Blues† were written by Wilfred Owen and W.H. Auden respectively. Both of the given war poems are considered to be some of the most significant pieces of poetry of their time and the fact that they were written during times of worldwide conflict explains their brutal honesty, grim atmospheres and the poets’ desire to convey both shock and sadness through their interpreted image of war. â€Å"Disabled† was written by Wilfred Owen when he was in England to recover from war trauma. The title gives a glimpse of what the poem is about – a lonely soldier forced to be amputated. Although it is only a single piece of his str ing of anti-war poems, â€Å"Disabled† is arguably one of his most effective and significant works. The context of the poem takes place in Britain during its involvement in the Great War and tells a story of a disabled (hence the title) soldier who resides in a hospital. To shock the readers, Owen reveals that the soldier is actually a young adolescent, aged 17-19, who returning from the Western Front, was forced to have his limbs amputated. In contrast, â€Å"Refugee Blues† is a poetical work of W.H. Auden in 1939 – the year World War Two broke out. The name of the title is a reference to an old musical genre – blues. They were originally sang by early African slaves on American soil. The songs of the particular genre were mostly about sadness and depression. This, combined with the term ‘refugee’, create an interesting title, that is useful to identify what type of person is the protagonist and why the structure of the poem is reminiscent of a (blues) song. Although compared to â€Å"Disabled† it is slightly less heavy in terms of tone and atmosphere, the second (or third) reading of the poem should convince most readers that the horrors of war are actually very prominent and are shown through the terrified eyes of an innocent citizen. The story within tells about a German Jew and his wife, both taking numerous attempts to escape their homeland in hopes for salvation as their life becomes that of downward spiral following the rise of the fascist regime. Although the poets Wilfred Owen and W.H. Auden express their attitudes differently, it can be considered that both voice their opinion on the same side of the arguement. As said above, both â€Å"Disabled† and â€Å"Refugee Blues† share anti-war ideals, however they refer to different issues. This is most probably because, the two poems were written during different political eras, the Great War and the Second World War. â€Å"Disabled†, written in 1917, addresses the brutality experienced by British soldiers on the Western Front and how the youth was fooled into volunteering by the older members of the nation’s upper class who did nothing but scrutinized them, living in their safe, comfortable English homes while their sons died in the name of â€Å"patriotism†. Nonetheless, Owen’s poetry expands on that point to show that it is not only old men who do the trickery, but it is also ordinary people who encourage and ultimately, let down the soldiers. An example of that would be â€Å"Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts†. This only us what led the disabled trooper to his tragedy, but to make his existence in this world even more depressing and sad, Owen goes on with â€Å"How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come?† The readers are shown that after the war ends, whether the soldier is dead or alive, there won’t be much good left to him, as their somewhat ignorant society decides to abandon the men who put their lives on stake for their flag. Perhaps this serves to state that true patriotism is ultimately pointless and obsolete, or that no matter what form it takes, it does more harm than good by painting a false image of â€Å"glory† in people’s minds. It can be said that â€Å"Disabled† is written to show how soldiers adapt to a wartime/post-war society. The poem is a reflection of Owen’s surroundings while in fighting in France and resting at the military hospital in England. A widely-considered opinion that soldiers are state-sponsored killers is being turned down by the poet to show how these young, inexperienced and unwilling men are being put in position that is a matter of life and death, from which, most who manage to return are either scarred mentally or broken physically. Looking at the language of the poem, Owen’s overall attitude can be interpreted as more pessimistic, as he leaves a rather sour taste about the subject of war. W.O. tries to convince the readers that the war does not necessarily make one a hero, and neither does it bring true pride to combatants, rather using it to lure the men to their death. In fact, if there was anyone to feel a sense of glory or pride, it would be those who didn’t participate or lacked the courage to face the horrific effects of war, which is the idea Wilfred was trying to bring across to future generations. It should be noted that this poem, among his many others, was written during the brief period in-between Owen’s deployments to France, which gives it a feeling of raw energy that came from his recently-seen experiences at the front, which resulted in the brutal honesty of the poem. Whereas W.O. wrote about volunteers and how they were ignored and exploited by citizens, Auden seems to be more concerned about innocent people rather than troops, specifically minorities, almost as if â€Å"Refugee Blues† is the flip-side of â€Å"Disabled†. There is only one occasion in the entire poem where the soldiers (who serve the regime) appear – at the very end. Their primary purpose there was to destroy any sense of optimism l eft in the poem. The quote to represent that is: â€Å"Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro: looking for you and me, my dear†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The fact that none of the soldiers were described or weren’t given any personal development is a rather bland effort by Auden (in my opinion, of course) because it is well known that despite a high morale, there were members of the Wehrmacht who did not see eye-to-eye to Hitler or his policies and were renegades and deserters. Therefore, it is implied that Auden saw all German soldiers within the same group – anti-Semitists. On the other hand, he had a good arguement for the plight of refugees, after all, they were German nationals no matter their religion/ethinity, but were hunted down anyways. This shows how inhumane the regime was to their countrymen and allows the reader to understand that racial and religious topics could be used to kill innocents, rather than to promote peace. Regarding attitudes, the two poets ultimately bring the same me ssage: they wished to bring an end to the wars that revolved around their lives. Differences, however, should be noted between the two: Owen displays his attitude quite clearly, criticizing the Great War at every possible turn – literally and figuratively. This is because of his prior military history and the fact that he was fooled into serving by being a staunch supporter of his country – he should have known better. W.H. Auden is indifferent to what happens to the troops, instead, he writes from a civilian’s point of view to represent their agony. There is still some optimism in him, however. For example in the quotation: â€Å"But we are still alive my dear, we are still alive†. He isn’t as harsh a critic of war as Owen due the fact that the latter served as a Sergeant and went through though times such as defending trenches from bombings and seeing his men die, all experienced first-hand. Another reason could be that the Second World War was just beginning when the poem was written (1939) and its main focus was on the Holocaust. Therefore the comparison between the two should not be about war, but about inhuman conditions and about betrayal – Jews in â€Å"Refugee Blues† and soldiers in â €Å"Disabled†. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be assumed that Auden wasn’t exposed to war – he was a civilian asset for the Republic during the Spanish Civil War as well as travelling to China during their war with Japan to write â€Å"A Journey to War†. Poems â€Å"Disabled† and â€Å"Refugee Blues† employ slightly different structures. â€Å"Disabled† is written in regular stanzas consisting of six to eight lines each. The stanzas are used by the poet to tell a narrative that takes time in past, present and future. Every stanza switches between past and present to describe his life in a â€Å"before† and â€Å"after† scenario. This way of poetic storytelling is quite effective, because in this case it allows us to see how far armed conflicts and wars evolve average individuals. The last stanza is written in a future tense in order to show what it (future) would bring to the disabled veteran’s life. It can be said that not much good will come out of it. In a way, Owen makes the atmosphere seem somewhat dystopian, seeing how there was very little reason to continue to live for that soldier, and how his future is already predicted and how he will have to follow regulations set by others†¦ for doing nothing, other than serving his country. This makes it shocking, considering WWI happened before. Another noticeable feature within the structure of â€Å"Disabled† is that it contains a stanza that stands out from the norm. This referred stanza is used to show that there actually were people who could show a sense of appreciation, for example a man in line 2. This is demonstrated in the lines: â€Å"Only a solemn man who brought him fruits†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Thanked him†¦.†. This quotation is important because Owen embraces the fact that among the spoiled, hypocritical and ungrateful citizens, there were certain individuals who remained committed and loyal to their heroes no matter how ugly the war was going. This stanza lasts only three lines to reflect on the point that the soldier’s life only had very rare and brief moments of hope and that the rest of his time in the institution was boring and agonizing, just like the length of the poem. Regarding rhyming, â€Å"Disabled† is inconsistent in that aspect, as it lacks a rhyming pattern to unify and join the stanzas together. For example: the first stanza rhymes as A,B,A,C,B,C while the second stanza is A,B,C,B,C,D,B. Perhaps the inconsistency of the rhyme is intended to represent either the volatile nature of war or the uncertainty regarding the soldier’s future, although the latter is an unlikely theory. With â€Å"Refugee Blues†, the structure of the poem is fairly simple – Auden wrote it as a recreation of blues song. Every stanza within the poem consists of three lines. The poem’s narrative goes within a chronological order, although the stanzas all represent flashbacks, it is most likely that they are in order. Auden’s poem follows a simple rhyming pattern – A,A,B for most of the time. At the end of each stanza, there is a third line which acts as a summary for the two previous lines and uses repetition. All third lines in the poem include the words â€Å"my dear† to represent a long-lasting hope within the hopeless atmosphere. One of the similarities between the structures of the two poems is that both â€Å"Refugee Blues† and â€Å"Disabled† contain at least one stanza which is three lines in length, albeit for different reasons – Owen wrote it as unique stanza to stand out since it is of lighter tone than the rest of the poem, while Auden constructed his poem to contain no more than three lines for the sake of structuring it as a blues song. On the other hand, there are much more contrasts between the two, for example â€Å"R.B.† rhymes most of the time, thanks to its organized structure – the fact that each stanza is only three line long helps maintain the pacing while reading it and therefore, the words rhyme as they s hould. â€Å"Disabled† is less restrictive and relies less on rhyming. Owen’s piece contains average stanzas with six to eight lines in length. Lastly the other noticeable difference is that â€Å"Refugee Blues† has a narrative that follows a chronological order, while W.O.’s poem switches between past and present with each stanza. Both poets W.H. Auden and Wilfred Owen use an expansive variety of different language techniques, such as metaphors, personification, senses, repetition and similes. Most notably, both poems feature similes and repetition. In â€Å"Disabled†, similes are used to create an irrational comparison between the protagonist and unrelated, vile, almost animalistic (to display how low he had sank on a social level) things, in this case, disease. A prime example of that would be the quotation: â€Å"All of them touch him like some queer disease†. This quote conveys the poet’s feelings towards how many war veterans were undeservingly alienated from their society. Alternatively, W.H. Auden uses the same technique to compare the extent of liberty given to an animal (fish) and a â€Å"sub-human† (as believed by fascists). To show the misery the Jews had to face, this point is given directly from the protagonist. As shown in the subsequent lines: â€Å"Saw the fish swimming as if they were free†. From here we can observe the fact that the poem’s main characters – the Jewish refugees had little to no rights at all as their agony made them wish to live as animals – fish in the harbour. Although this being a somewhat far-fetched attempt, it can be possible to infer that Auden may hold the value of freedom as above of civilization and progress, since it could be assumed that the characters would much rather live a primitive, yet free life than holding a place within an established society. It is ultimately clear that average, innocent citizens, as well as front-line soldiers had their lives greatly affected (in a negative way) by unnecessary wars which doomed their future, and although subtle, similes are a powerful way to depict their struggles. UNFINISHED(repetition/improve similes and do comparison/personification/senses/metaphors)

My Favorite Movie: Avatar Essay

Avatar, the epic movie by James Cameron, the director behind Titanic, is a project that has caused pop-culture ripples. James Cameron conceived the idea of Avatar back when he was working on Titanic. But the technology was not available then to bring his vision to life in the big screen. So instead of making the movie with sub-quality effects, he basically threw it in the drawer and it was not until 2005 that he decided to bring his masterpiece to life. In 2005, Cameron, along with Vince Pace, invented new ways of capturing the performances of the actors. Their team developed a brand-new image-based facial performance capture system which utilizes a head-rig camera and is able to record even the tiniest of facial movements. Avatar was filmed in stereoscopic 3-D using the brand new Fusion Camera System, which took seven years for Cameron and Pace to create, and is now the most advanced system of its kind. That is the reason why the actions of the natives looked so life-like and realistic, and that is because these parts were played by the actors, and the bodies of the Avatars were built around this motion, making each performance different, and making the Avatars more like the actor than any animated character would be. see more:my favourite movie essay Hence, Avatar was very much a live action film, not an animated film. The story took place on the planet Pandora, which, according to 20th Century Fox’s production notes, is â€Å"a moon with an Earth-like environment that orbits a gas-giant planet called Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri. At 4.5 light years away, Alpha Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor. And when it is discovered that Pandora is rich in a rare-earth mineral called Unobtainium, the race is on to mine the new world’s resources.† In the movie, Sam Worthington who starred as the film’s hero, Jake Sully, a disabled ex-marine, was called to help the humans convince the Na’vis give up their home tree. But as Jake Sully lived the life of Na’vis through his Avatar, he has learned to love the ways of life and beliefs of of the Na’vis. Sully, having realized what his fellow humans would cause to Pandora and the lives of the natives, eventually turned his back from the orders given to him, and helped the natives fight for their home. The film became a huge hit. It has reached the Five Hundred Million US Dollar mark in 32 days and became the highest-grossing film on January 26th,  2010, with a final worldwide gross of Two point Eight Billion US Dollars, beating Titanic, the previous record-holder and was also written and directed by Cameron, with a worldwide gross of One point Nine Billion Dollars. Sources: Avatar Production and Facts Wikia.com Imdb.com

Cubas' Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Cubas' Criminal Justice System - Essay Example be seen in the fact that Cuba gained economic strength and the quest for independence became a most pressing one as over the course of centuries (CIA-The World Factbook—Cuba, https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cu.html). This led to the Spanish-American war of 1898 where Spain was defeated as a direct result of the intervention of the United States. After suffering a profound defeat, Cuba gained its independence from Spain only to realize that they were now under American rule (Library of Congress/Spanish American War, http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/trask.html). For the next four years Cuba remained under American rule and obtained its independence on May 20, 1902. Cuba has since been a republic operating under the basic tenets of the Communist Manifesto as delineated by Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto delineates a system of government wherein the majority of the power within the society resides with the active economic contributors—the workers (T he Communist Manifesto, http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html). The legal system of Cuba is one which represents an eclectic blend of elements from the Spanish and American legal system with the majority of its components arising from the Soviet Union’s application of the basic tenets of the Communist Manifesto. This legal system has not gained the acceptance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction (CIA-The World Factbook—Cuba, https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cu.html). Located in Eastern Asia, China had been at the forefront of academia in the fields of arts and the sciences for centuries and under the various dynasties. This took a turn for the worst in the late 19th and early 20th century when civil unrest, feminine and military defeats served to change the dynamics with regards to the role of China in the grand scheme of world economics, politics and the arts and sciences. In 1912, China’s form of government changed from rule

Leadership and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership and Management - Essay Example Let us discuss both concepts in detail in order clarify that leadership and management have no clear differences. Leadership refers to the act of guiding people towards the achievement of goals and objectives. Leaders within organizations are people who encourage followers to utilize their full potential and get new opportunities to learn (Cherry, 2010). Leaders view the need for change as an opportunity for individuals to grow in their professional lives and increase their levels of productivity (Elkington, 2010). Leaders motivate people to put all of their efforts to achieve their goals. The goals can be personal, social, political, or organizational depending upon the circumstances. The role of leaders in the whole process of achievement of goals is to identify the need of the followers, making them aware of the need to fulfill those needs, giving followers a well-designed and effective strategy to follow to achieve those goals, and motivating people to continue their efforts in case of any problem. Leaders are the people whom their followers believe. Followers have full confidence in the ac ts and thoughts of their leaders and they do exactly what their leaders ask them to do in the process of achieving goals and objectives. On the other hand, managers manage the activities of their employees. They do so to achieve organizational goals without any delay and in an effective manner. As Simmons (2012) states, â€Å"managers always realize that effectiveness is the real goal, and efficiency is necessary but not sufficient for sustaining a healthy organization†. Managers guide their employees whenever they feel some difficulty in their assigned job tasks, plan activities, do proper scheduling of tasks, organize the activities of employees, lead and motivate them, control all issues related to workplace so that no delay occurs in the achievement of goals. Management generally deals with doing things

What are the main issues which an organisation must consider when Essay

What are the main issues which an organisation must consider when implementing strategic change - Essay Example me main issues which organizations must consider in the strategic implementation process are focusing on the redesigning and restructuring of the organization. Another significant issue may be caused by the ambiguous flow of communication and the manner in which information is handled. Measuring competencies and planning resources is another challenge. Most firms have resorted to utilizing shared resources and competencies. This is especially true for mergers and acquisitions or even in situations when two departments or divisions may be merged. One more critical problem in the implementation stage may be created due to the inability to translate the aims developed in the strategic change stage. In order to take care of these issues, a maturity model has been developed which is associated with sustainability and have diverse elements of evaluation and resourcing, results, managing capability and capacity, strategy and policy and managing programs. The change management maturity matri x in this case defines various stages of strategic change implementation by classifying them as immature, early maturity period, defined, managed and optimization. The last state is the one which a firm needs to attain when it has optimum allocation of resources and garners optimum levels of revenue by implementing strategic change. Another core issue in handling strategic change is lack of effective leadership in the organization. It is important to have an effective leader who is able to deftly handle change management strategy and drive motivation and employee engagement. Organizations also face issues in strategic implementation while managing the employees. Major hurdles are faced because strategic change efforts are resisted by personnel. The role of non financial and financial...Scholars have focused on certain elements encompassing strategy. These are as follows: a) Depending on uncertain market conditions, strategies are revised and reformulated. b) Strategies demonstrate t he manner in which resources may be utilized to fulfill the desires of entrepreneurs c) They provide a direction to in developing the organization d) Strategies are aimed to make and develop long term prospects of success by gaining competitive edge over rival firms (Markiewicz, 2011). Implementation of strategic change is a very challenging task. Successful strategic change implementation leads to business success whereas failure in implementing strategic change may lead to catastrophic outcomes which may sometimes wipe out the business enterprise. Critical strategic change process happens when supervisors use symbolic resources and discourses in order to obliterate existing systems in meanings and find out new ones to try to set a direction to the strategy formulated and implemented (Buchanan & Dawson, 2007). In fact, a survey conducted in the year 2009, comprising of 190 staff and line managers confessed that strategic change implementation is critically significant in the strate gic implementation process. There are several hindrances in the strategic change implementation processes. Sometimes time management in formulating and implementing the new strategy may also lead to failure in the strategic change process.