The Emperor Charlemagne in La Chanson de Roland essays

The Emperor Charlemagne in La Chanson de Roland essays La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) is an Old French epic poem that belongs to the genre of the chanson de geste. Literally translated as song of deeds, they can be considered the foundation and beginning of French literature. Emperor Charlemagne is one of the main protagonists in the poem who is based on a historical figure but takes on epic proportions in the context of the chanson. It is evident from the text that, while Charlemagnes character is at its highest point of nobility in La Chanson de Roland, his character is simultaneously undermined. The ways in which Charlemagnes character is constructed in the chanson reflects changes in both the literary and historical worlds that occurred contemporaneous with the creation of the poem. This depiction of Charlemagnes character is a watershed in the evolution of the genre and of French Literature. A reader must always remember that the foremost theme of this poem is the triumph and superiority of Christianity over foreign religions and foreign civilizations (i.e. the Saracens). The Song of Roland evolves around the image of an old king whose mission is the establishment and constant defense of an empire beloved of God (Uitti, 65). Therefore Charlemagne, as the Holy Roman Emperor and leader of the religiously devoted Franks, is represented in the poem as the incarnation of Christianity on earth. The memory of the imperial power of the historical Charlemagne contributes potently to the original mystery of the epic king of France. But it was Charles the warrior, the right arm of the Church, the valiant defender of Christendom against pagan and Infidel invasion that comes most prominently into view (Comfort, 285). Charlemagne, with the help of his knights, has been divinely elected to carry out the all-important mission of spreading Christianity across Western Europe. They are engaging in what they interpret as God&apo...

Battle of Cannae in the Second Punic War

Battle of Cannae in the Second Punic War The Battle of Cannae took place during the Second Punic War (218-210 BC) between Rome and Carthage.  The battle occurred on August 2, 216 BC at Cannae in southeast Italy. Commanders and Armies Carthage Hannibal45,000-54,000 men Rome Gaius Terentius VarroLucius Aemilius Paullus54,000-87,000 men Background After the start of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal boldly crossed the Alps and invaded Italy. Winning battles at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), Hannibal defeated armies led by  Tiberius Sempronius Longus and  Gaius Flaminius Nepos. In the wake of these victories, he moved south plundering the countryside and working to make Romes allies defect to Carthages side. Reeling from these defeats, Rome appointed Fabius Maximus to deal with the Carthaginian threat.  Avoiding direct contact with Hannibals army, Fabius struck at the enemys supply lines and practiced the form of attritional warfare that later bore his name. Unhappy with this indirect approach, the Senate did not renew Fabius dictatorial powers when his term ended and command passed to the consuls  Gnaeus Servilius Geminus and Marcus Atilius Regulus.   In the spring of 216 BC, Hannibal seized the Roman supply depot at Cannae in southeast Italy. Situated on the Apulian Plain, this position allowed Hannibal to keep his men well fed. With Hannibal sitting astride Romes supply lines, the Roman Senate called for action. Raising an army of eight legions, the command was given to the Consuls Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus. The largest army ever assembled by Rome, this force advanced to face the Carthaginians. Marching south, the consuls found the enemy encamped on the left bank of the Aufidus River. As the situation developed, the Romans were hampered by an unwieldy command structure which required the two consuls to alternate command on a daily basis. Battle Preparations Approaching the Carthaginian camp on July 31, the Romans, with the aggressive Varro in command, defeated a small ambush set by Hannibals men. Though Varro was emboldened by the minor victory, command passed to the more conservative Paullus the next day. Unwilling to fight the Carthaginians on the open ground due to his armys smaller cavalry force, he elected to encamp two-thirds of the army east of the river while establishing a smaller camp on the opposite bank. The next day, aware that it would be Varros turn, Hannibal advanced his army and offered battle hoping the lure the reckless Roman forward.  Assessing the situation, Paullus successfully prevented his compatriot from engaging. Seeing that the Romans were unwilling to fight, Hannibal had his cavalry harass the Roman water-bearers and raid in the vicinity of Varro and Paullus camps.   Seeking battle on August 2, Varro and Paullus formed up their army for battle with their infantry densely packed in the center and the cavalry on the wings. The Consuls planned to use the infantry to quickly break the Carthaginian lines. Opposite, Hannibal placed his cavalry and most veteran infantry on the wings and his lighter infantry in the center. As the two sides advanced, Hannibals center moved forward, causing their line to bow in a crescent shape. On Hannibals left, his cavalry charged forward and routed the Roman horse. Rome Crushed To the right, Hannibals cavalry was engaged with that of Romes allies. Having destroyed their opposite number on the left, the Carthaginian cavalry rode behind the Roman army and assaulted the allied cavalry from the rear. Under attack from two directions, the allied cavalry fled the field. As the infantry began to engage, Hannibal had his center slowly retreat, while ordering the infantry on the wings to hold their position. The tightly packed Roman infantry continued to advance after the retreating Carthaginians, unaware of the trap that was about to be sprung. As the Romans were drawn in, Hannibal ordered the infantry on his wings to turn and attack the Roman flanks. This was coupled with a massive assault on the Roman rear by the Carthaginian cavalry, which completely surrounded the Consuls army. Trapped, the Romans became so compressed that many did not have space to raise their weapons. To speed the victory, Hannibal ordered his men to cut the hamstrings of each Roman and then move on to the next, commenting that the lamed could be slaughtered later at the Carthaginians leisure. The fighting continued until evening with approximately 600 Romans dying per minute. Casualties and Impact Various accounts of the Battle of Cannae show that 50,000-70,000 of the Romans, with 3,500-4,500 taken prisoner. It is known that approximately 14,000 were able to cut their way out and reach the town of Canusium. Hannibals army suffered around 6,000 killed and 10,000 wounded. Though encouraged by his officers to march on Rome, Hannibal resisted as he lacked the equipment and supplies for a major siege. While victorious at Cannae, Hannibal would ultimately be defeated at the Battle of Zama (202 BC), and Carthage would lose the Second Punic War.

Just answer some easy guiding questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Just answer some easy guiding questions - Essay Example Bioregionalism is thus seen to bring a host of challenges among them environmental degradation and psychological dissatisfaction in what life has to offer. The reason, why human being focuses more on developing new things is because of this psychological dissatisfaction. Frenkel further states that a lot has changed in terms of the relationship that the human being have with the natural environment. However, there is a little or no time to correct some of the damages that have already been done as a result of this detachment. Environmental determinism is defined as the collection of implicit theories that show the relationship between culture and the environment. In most of these theories, the environment has an overall impact on socio-economic developments that occur in day to day life. An example given to this relationship is climatic conditions. Nature or the environment is seen to play a great role in influencing the climatic conditions of a particular place. However, most geographers rejected the environmental determinism theory due to inadequate evidence and scientific shortcomings regarding how the climate and culture and related. Despite this rejection, environmental determinism has played a major role in the development of alternative theories such as possibilism and probabilism. The concept of bioregionalism and environmental determinism share a common ideology regarding the relationship between human culture and the environment. Frenkle cites an argument by previous scholars that the environment affects among other things; religion, literature, and thoughts. This implies that the environment of human beings affects how they do things and how they do it. The concept of the bioregion is also deep-rooted in the integrity of the natural order. Under this argument, it is humans who are trying to change how things are done. However, it is the environment that is supposed to dictate how humans behave or operate. Both environmental

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 64

Assignment Example (2010) studied the organizational culture of college universities that were being relatively newly established in Malaysia compared to universities. MacIntosh and Doherty (2007) selected a random sample of clients as participants in the research at five clubs across four different cities located in the province of Ontario, and asked them to complete a survey. Clients were at least 18 years old. Client’s perceptions were measured by focusing on the focal organization’s core values. Core values and many items were retrieved from the original survey conducted by MacIntosh and Doherty (2005). The study used a total of 42 items representing nine corporate values. Data was collected using 113 surveys from participants 59% of whom were women whereas 41% were men. On the other hand, in Ramachandran et al’s (2010) research, HEI is the unit of analysis divided into public and private strata. College universities were chosen because of their evolving OC. Data was gathered f rom a total of 594 faculty members of which 33.9% were from public HEIs whereas 52.8% taught in the private HEIs. Data was collected with the CVF. Ramachandran et al. (2010) stated that no definition of OC is widely accepted as the term has been defined differently by different scholars and authors. Organizational behaviour is affected by different regional and national cultural groupings. The different types of OCs can be classified by different parameters. Artefacts of an organization can be understood by studying the organization’s espoused values. Every organization is based on certain assumptions that are not challenged and are taken for granted by the employees. Values of an organization are more accessible than its artefacts or assumptions. The theoretical underpinning of this study is based on Cameron and Quinn’s (1999) operational definition. Denison’s (1990) four hypotheses i.e. the consistency hypothesis, the mission

The Man I Killed Essay Example for Free

The Man I Killed Essay â€Å"The Man I Killed† the author Tim O Brien is the character in the story but the story does not use first person. This is because the story is not revolved around him but revolved on the man he has just killed in the Vietnam war. The character in this story focuses on the dead mans physicality and the story he has fabricated for him. The character in this story seems to be in shock because he does not speak or stop looking at the dead soldier, â€Å"Kiowa shook his head. There was some silence before he said, â€Å"Stop staring Talk to me† (p. 797-798) In the story â€Å"The Lives of the Dead†, the narrator is Tim O Brien who tells the story of his first love who happens to be his first death. This story is in first person and he describes how he keeps those he has known alive by telling stories about them, â€Å"When I write about her now, three decades later, its tempting to dismiss it as a crush, an infatuation of childhood, but I know for a fact that what we felt for each other was as deep and rich as love can ever get. † Tim also describes his experiences in the war, â€Å"I remember the smell of burnt straw; I remember broken fences and torn-up trees and heaps of stone and brick and pottery. † (p. 799) The repetition of dialogue in â€Å"The Man I Killed† gives the readers a sense of truth in the story and imagery of what the dead man looked like for the character. As the character repeats over and over again what the man looked like and what his life was like before the war, it gives the readers a sense of the psychological affects the war had on men. Using these techniques of imager and dialogue repetition in this story allowed me to get a deeper feeling of what shock and guilt felt like for these men. Although the reader may not have intended for me to feel these emotions this is what I felt during the reading. It allowed me to understand how the character consoled himself and also punished himself. For me if I imagined the youngs mans life before the war and I took that away, I would consider this as a form of punishment. Imagery is very detailed in both stories because one of them describes the man he has just killed, â€Å"His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole † (p. 795) and the soldiers fabricated life story, â€Å"He had been born, maybe, in 1946 in the village of My Khe near the central coastline of Quan Ngai Province, where his parents farmed † (p. 795) In the other story he describes his first live, her death  at age 9, and his experiences in the war especially with death, â€Å"The place was deserted-no people, no animals- and the only confirmed kill was an old man who lay face up-near a pigpen at the center of the village. † (p. 799) The imagery of the people he has lost and his experiences with them allow the readers to get a feeling of how many people the narrator has lost or has seen died. We are allowed to get a feeling about death and the certain ways those around him coped with it and how he did too. In the story â€Å"The Man I Killed† the character copes with his first kill in war by providing him with a story. He gives the young man a story which in turn gives him symbolically life. His life becomes to have meaning and he is no longer thought as a dead man but a person who had dreams, a wife, and longing to be far away from war, â€Å"He had no stomach for violence. He loved mathematics And as he waited, in his final year at the university, he fell in love with a classmate, a girl of seventeen The use of Linda in the war story, â€Å"The Lives of the Dead† is to show his readers how he coped with his fisrt death who happened to be his first love. Linda, a girl at the age of 9 died from a brain tumor which devastates Tim O Brien who than begins to dream about her at night which provides him comfort knowing that in his dreams she still lived. This is how Brien coped with the deaths he experienced in war, â€Å"But ths too is true: stories can save us. Theyre all dead. But in a story, which is kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit uo and return to the world. † (p. 799) The author story tells, metafiction, to keep those that have lost their lives from truly dying. Through the form of story he keeps them living and although these are stories of fiction, to the author it is preserving their lives. In the story â€Å"The Man I killed† he preserves the fallen soldier by inventing a fictitious life for him. For Linda and his fellow comrades he gives them stories too. â€Å"But in a story I can steal her soul. I can revive, at least briefly, that which is absolute and unchanging. Its not the surface that matters, its the identity that lives inside. † Just as he imagines them and dreams of them, his stories become their new lives where they continue to live on. He knows if he continues to create these stories, they will never die and through this we can see the power of storytelling. â€Å"and sometimes I can even see Timmy skating with Linda under the yellow floodlights. Im young and happy. Ill never die. †

Making a new deal Essay -- essays papers

Making a new deal The politics of laborers have made them a vital and vibrant part of American history. One has only to study the underlying political causes of the first labor movements to understand why. Few will doubt that one of the most important parts of labor history occurred with the working-class experience in Chicago from the 1920s to the late 30s. During this era, many workers petitioned the government and employers for changes. Some groups of those workers were successful and others were not. Lizabeth Cohen, in Making a New Deal, takes a different approach from traditional labor historians. She examines the effects that ethnic workers had on the successes and failures of the earliest labor movements. Though striking workers were not endemic to Chicago, labor historians who begin their research in that city will be getting one national story (Cohen, 7). There are several reasons why Chicago is a logical beginning. In many ways, the nascent laborers of Chicago set the groundwork for the numerous benefits contemporary workers have. Earlier labor movements, like so much other history, were centered in Chicago (Cohen, 7). It just so happens that extraordinary political changes in labor took place during the interwar period, and Chicago was the largest industrial city in America then (Cohen, 7). Because Chicago was replete with ethnicity, it is also possible to conduct comparative labor studies. Finally, other than New York, no city had as many strikes as Chicago (Cohen, 12). By 1919, America had its first major strike in which four million people—or one in every five—Americans participated (Cohen, 12). These workers sought to protect their jobs and to solidify their wartime wages. One tool for doing so, of course, was the strike. Another was organizing a political party. Although local, futile, and ephemeral, a new political party was formed with the sole purpose of incorporating change into the common laborer’s working environment. Its candidates had no success in local elections; the party foundered. In fact, the 1919 strike was deemed a failure on the whole (Cohen, 13). Reasons for the failure abound, such as the â€Å"Red Scare tactics of government, employer combativeness, and the AFL’s ambivalence about organizing non-craft workers into unions† (Cohen, 13). In Chicago, there was one other significant reason why the labor movements th... ...ion leadership knew how to and did thwart the divide-and-conquer tactics of businesses. Legislation was more pro-worker, and striking became easier. Workers, no longer getting major benefits from their community, made greater demands from their employers in order to complement those benefits provided by the government. They were getting much of what they sought with relative ease after 1942. A legal pattern for addressing grievances had been set for the workers of today. Cohen adequately shows why ethnic workers should not be avoided in the study of labor history. She assiduously takes the workers of the 1920s and 30s out of their working environment and also examines them in a social setting. Using that method, Cohen proves that the ethnicity of certain workers is just as important as other traditional factors in studying labor history. Her work, consequently, will also be of significant use to political and social historians. While not an intention of Cohen, she shows that democracy was alive and well in a polyglot city. Lizabeth Cohen demonstrates in Making a New Deal that magnificant feats can be accomplished when ethnic prejudices are set aside and Americans come together.

Economics IA Commentary Coversheet Essay

November 11 2009 – The unemployment rate stands at 7.8% – up 0.1% over the quarter and 2.0% on last year. Nearly 29 million people were in work in the period July to September according to the labour force survey (LFS). The number of people employed was up by 6,000 this quarter but down by 490,000 on the last year. The working age employment rate is 72.5% – down 0.1% on the last quarter and down 1.9% on the last year. ILO-defined unemployment in July to September was 2.46 million (7.9%) – up by 30,000 unemployed on April-June and 629,000 from this time last year. The claimant count for key out-of-work benefits was 1.6395 million in October – up by 22,900 on last month, and up 632,700 on last year. Earnings growth over the year to August (including bonuses) was 1.6%, down 0.2% from the previous month. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Yvette Cooper said: â€Å"The figures show more people in work and a lot more young people taking up our offer of full time education and training, which is welcome news. â€Å"The fact that unemployment is significantly lower than everyone forecast at the beginning of the year shows the support for the economy is making a real difference. But we know things are still tough for a lot of families, and unemployment is expected to increase further next year. That’s why we’re determined to do more with an extra 35,000 youth jobs, more apprenticeships and education places so we can guarantee no young person gets stuck in long term unemployment.† The figures out today also reinforce the fact that the UK labour market is performing better than most major economies. They show UK unemployment at 7.8%, compared to an EU average of 9.2% and lower than 14 other EU countries including France (10.0%), Ireland (13.0%) and Spain (19.3%), as well as the US (10.2%) and Canada (8.6%).† Commenting on the latest statistics, John Philpott, Chief Economist and Director of Public Policy at the CIPD, said: â€Å"UK unemployment is continuing to rise but at a much slower pace than earlier in the year. While this is not unexpected the fact that the unemployment total remained below 2.5 million in the quarter ending in September is encouraging. However, the relative improvement should not be interpreted as evidence that the labour market is returning to health, with male unemployment and long-term unemployment continuing to rise and youth unemployment now at a record rate despite a surge in the number of young people staying on in education to avoid the dole. â€Å"Unemployment remained below 2.5 million in the three months to September primarily because there was a rise in part-time employment, temporary employment and contract working, the latter boosting self-employment. This more than offset a continued marked deterioration in full-time jobs for employees. Such a pattern is common in a labour market where overall demand for staff is weak and – as the Bank of England reiterated today in its latest quarterly Inflation Report – the economic outlook uncertain, with the road to recovery likely to be slow. At such times employers who need to recruit remain wary of hiring full-time staff and it is significant that today’s ONS figures do not show an improvement in the level of job vacancies. This pattern is also normally accompanied by a high rate of involuntary part-time working – there are now almost 1 million people working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job. â€Å"Women continue to be the main beneficiaries of a labour market where opportunities for part-time employment are increasing, while men lose out as full-time jobs are being lost. As a result the CIPD expects the rate of male unemployment to rise well above 10% in 2010, with the proportion of men in work set to fall to a record low. â€Å"The current pattern of demand for labour is also doing nothing to ease the plight of young people. The latest quarter saw a further large fall in the number of under-25s in work, with the unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds now at a record high. There is little consolation in the fact that the number of unemployed young people remained below 1 million. This is explained by a quarterly surge in the number of young people classed as ‘economically inactive’, which the ONS figures indicate is mainly due to more young people staying on at school or college, almost certainly as an alternative to the dole.† This article deals with unemployment in the UK. A person can be considered unemployed when he is involuntarily out of work, however is willing to work at current wage rates. One of the government’s main goals is to achieve full employment, where all people who are able and willing, are working. This is extremely beneficial for the economy because it can be considered working at maximum efficiency, which causes growth and development. A good way to illustrate a countries economy taking into account unemployment would be to use a PPF. The production possibility frontier is the orange line where the economy is working at full efficiency (full employment), using all of its resources. Point X is when the economy is not using all of its resources, and has people unemployed. http://i.investopedia.com/inv/dictionary/terms/ppf.gif Structural unemployment is a possible reason for the large decrease of workers. This specific type of unemployment focuses mainly on the loss of jobs under the condition that the demand for a certain product falls, or there is a shift of production abroad. In the category of disequilibrium unemployment, Demand deficient (Cyclical) Unemployment is most likely the number one cause for the UK’s labour force being downsized. Due to the global recession, consumers can afford less goods and services, therefore the aggregate demand decreases significantly (hence the name – demand deficient). If the demand for production has substantially fallen, then naturally the demand for labour will also fall. Demand deficient unemployment can be illustrated using a diagram. Due to the fall in the D of goods and services, demand for labour shifts inwards from D1 to D2. With this, disequilibrium unemployment occurs with the number of workers shifting from Q1 to Q2. When demand for labour is strong, companies don’t hesitate to rise wages, although when demand for labour falls, and wages need to be cut, workers will resist wage cuts, therefore it is very hard for the company to cut wages for a large amount of workers without causing some kind disturbance or complications within the firm. If the company does chose to do this, the labour force will become angry and will want to retaliate somehow, perhaps going on strike. Due to a situation like this, parts of the company will not be producing/working, resulting in inefficiency. Aside from that, it will be very hectic, attracting negative attention from consumers and media, which is of course the company’s last need. In conclusion, the company will not be in control, when this is in fact their main priority, to sustain the stability and optimal working functionality. That is why the company prefers to downsize workers, and keep themselves running as best and as efficiently as possible. In order to deal with demand deficient unemployment the government should impose fiscalor monetary policies to raise aggregate demand and thus raise the demand for jobs. In the short run, when the AD shifts to the right (from AD1 to AD2) this causes and increase in real GDP (shift from Q1 to Q2 and P1 to P2). If AD would continue to grow in the short run, the country would reach a maximum supply. This constant struggle for the country to meet AD by increasing output would cause inflation instead of growth. However if the pressure is relatively small in the SR (short run) then it would be much easier to deal with AD in the LR. Supply side policies are government policies designed to increase output, and should also be imposed in order to cope with unemployment. Using a LRAS (long run aggregate supply) diagram is a good way to show the effects of supply side policies. If the Government were to impose supply side policies, the LRAS curve would shift right from LRAS1 – LRAS2. The price would then fall from P1 to P2 and the quantity (output + jobs) would increase from Q1 to Q2. Conclusivley the Government should investigate the best strategy to decrease unemployment. By imposing appropriate regulations and policies.