Anna Karenina: a Different Kind of Love Essay

Progress is â€Å"the development of an individual or society in a direction considered more beneficial than and superior to the previous level (Dictionary.reference.com)†. Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy, is a book filled with tragedy, love and choices. This novel can be interpreted in several different ways, but the most common interpretation is that Anna’s husband Alexis Karenin represents the old fading traditions in Russia and Count Vronsky, Anna’s lover, represents the progress of Russia; Anna who is torn between choosing her husband and young son and her lover represents Russia itself, faced with the choice between the old traditions and the new â€Å"progressive† era. This â€Å"progressive† interpretation of Anna Karenina is the best and most accurate understanding of the book because of its meaning, its origination, and the affect it has on the characters. In Leo Tolstoy’s book Anna Karenina, the theme of â€Å"progression† plays a major role throughout the whole of the book. Count Alexis Kirillovich Vronsky, Anna Karenina’s lover, is an officer in the Russian army who is handsome, young, and charming, but morally unstable. When Vronsky first meets Anna he is mesmerized by her beauty and, for him, it is love at first sight; for a while his chief goal in life was to make Anna his own. Vronsky is a significant character throughout the novel because he embodies the modernization and progress of Russia. In contrast, Karenin personifies the old and dying customs of Russia. Because Anna decided to have an affair with Vronsky, she symbolizes Russia struggling while choosing between the old, Karenin, and the new, Vronsky. Because Anna chose Vronsky, at least at first, and forsook Karenin, or the old ways, she fell to ruin. As a result of her choices, Anna went mad with uncertainty; because she committed adultery, she began to doubt Vronsky’s faithfulness to her. Soon, Anna became wholly dependent of Vronsky, so much that he grew tired of her, believing that her new way of clinging to him was old fashioned and annoying. Convinced that Vronsky no longer loved her, Anna threw herself under a moving train at the train station where she was supposed to meet up with Vronsky. Anna did not realize that although there are certain things about progress that are virtuous, too much of anything, even a good thing is bad. The topic of â€Å"progress† seen throughout the book Anna Karenina was implied due to the setting of the book. Leo Tolstoy, the author, placed the book in the 1870s. From the 1850s to early 1900s Russia had the fastest and largest population growth rate out of all the important major powers after the U.S.A.; during this time Russia’s population nearly doubled. In 1870 the czar or Russia authorized city councils to be made that raised taxes and charged labor to help with city expenses, such as: roads, local schools, public healthcare, food supplies, and jails (Wikipedia.org, History of Russia; geographic.org). During the 1960s and 1970s the percentage of working age people with at least a minor education nearly doubled. All of this â€Å"progress† steadily affected the characters of Anna Karenina. This kind of modernization helped instigate Anna to be discontent with her life as Karenin’s wife and desire to be with Vronsky. If Anna had not desired life to be exciting, as modern ideas portrayed life to be, she would have easily been satisfied with a dull life with her old husband Karenin. All through the entirety of Anna Karenina, one can see how Anna’s choosing Vronsky over Karenin (the new over the old) affected her and the people around her. Before Anna met Vronsky she was much more contented with her life; after she met Vronsky and had grown to know him, her life, her husband and her son, seemed dull and boring in comparison. Upon getting to know Vronsky, Anna began to crave love, the kind that was exciting, and the kind that Vronsky offered her. Slowly, Anna realized how tedious her relationship with Karenin was; she realized that before Vronsky had come into her life, she had poured out all her love on her son. In the beginning, Anna did not wish to affiliate with Vronsky because she knew that an affair with another man would not only affect her and her place in society, but it would also affect her young son and her relationship with him. Not long after Vronsky had proclaimed his love to her, Anna told him â€Å"What you are saying is wrong, and if you are a good man, I beg you to forget it, as I will forget it (Part 1, Chapter 30, and Page 2).† From this quote an individual can see that, Anna was a conscientious woman, who knew right from wrong, and chose, at first, to do what was right. However, she was tempted by evil and sadly she gave in. Later on in the story, Anna discovered that she was pregnant with Vronsky’s child; in her confused frightened state of mind, she told Karenin, her husband, that she was Vronsky’s mistress. One would think that this would be a significant turning point in the book, but instead of breaking off their marriage Karenin decided that he wanted to put an end to their affair as privately as possible and have his marriage with Anna appear as it had before. For the longest time, Karenin had been suspicious, but he trusted his wife and believed she would never be disloyal to him; in his heart of hearts Karenin realizes that he is jealous of Vronsky because Vronsky is young, handsome, and the embodiment of progress and modernization. In comparison, Karenin was old; he was twenty years senior to Anna. A successful marriage is built around love and trust; in Anna and Karenin’s marriage there had been no true and enduring love; this caused Anna to be unfaithful to Karenin, which caused Karenin to be envious of Vronsky, and as a result of it all no love or trust remained between them. In comparison, two other character’s relationship was quite the opposite. Anna’s brother’s wife’s sister was a young woman named Kitty; near the end of the book Kitty married a man named Levin, who was also an old friend of Anna’s brother. Earlier in the book, even before Anna met Vronsky, Kitty had rejected Levin’s proposal believing that Vronsky intended to propose to her. However, after Vronsky had met Anna he stopped going to see Kitty and went instead to follow Anna wherever she went. Well along in the story, Kitty regrets rejecting Levin and after a while they get back together. Because of how Anna had stolen Vronsky from her Kitty, for the longest time, was envious of Anna and Levin was jealous of Vronsky because Vronsky had also taken his love. Since Kitty’s and Levin’s love was much deeper than that of Anna’s and Karenin’s, they were able to overcome these trifles and (basically) lived happily ever after. In conclusion, the understanding of â€Å"progress† seen throughout the book Anna Karenina is accurate because of its meaning, origination, and overall effect of the characters. The interpretation of Alexis Karenin representing the fading old area of Russia, Vronsky symbolizing â€Å"progress†, and Anna herself signifying Russia is most relevant because of how significant it is throughout the entire book.

Is Striving to Achieve a Goal Always the Best Course of Action?

Topic:Is striving to achieve a goal always the best course of action, or should people give up if they are not making progress? We are blase about the mentality people hold toward success, especially in this modern society, that don't waste time on something any more if you haven't achieved accomplishment. While, I still cannot help but believe despite my own cynicism that persistence is the panacea to reach the goal.When it comes to the clash between insistence and relinquishment, a well-known saying originates from the British dramatist, William Shakespeare, appears before my eyes, that is†Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to effect. † Nowhere has the significance of determinedness been so vividly and accurately expressed as by Jack Welch and the King' s Speech. I cannot imagine the GE without Jack Welch, but I am sure that if he left GE at that time, we will lose the â€Å"most revered CEO†. Welch joined General Electric in 1960. At first, he worked as a junior engineer, at a salary of $10,500 annually.Welch was displeased with the $1,000 raise he was offered after his first year, as well as the strict bureaucracy within GE. However, Reuben Gutoff, a young executive two levels higher than Welch, persuaded Welch and tried to convince him to stay. After deliberation, he gave up the idea of resigning and resolved the thought to change the bureaucracy. If he resigned at that time, he would not have such success in the future. After many years hard-working, Welch eventually took his oath of CEO and brought GE ushering in a prosperous era. During his office, Welch took many measures to reform the corporation system.For example, he shuted down factories, reduced payrolls and cut lack-luster old-line units. What's more, Welch fired the bottom 10% of his managers resolutely. Because of his actions, many staff rejected him and a man who was fired by him even tried to kill him. Confronting these frustrations, he never tho ught about withdrawing, but executed his regulations more unswerving. I wonder if he gave up his ideas just due to so many difficulties, GE might not have such achievements. Jack Welch attained his goals by his firm actions and the spirit of never saying die.Bernard Shaw said that â€Å"Success covers a multitude of blunders. † Obviously, successful people's accomplishments are based on the experience of failure. Jack Welch tells us like that, and the King' s story also corroborate this truth. The King's Speech, just like its title, describes a king who overcomes the impedance of stammer and eventually becomes the symbol of resisting spirit of Britain during the World War Two depends on his inspiring speech. At first, because of his stammer, George VI doesn't want to take the oath, but after a series of accidents, he is forced to become the king.Fortunately, Geroge VI encounters the language impedance therapist Lionel, who helps him cures his stutter. During the treatment, Ge roge VI gives up for so many times, but by virtue of his wife's encouragement and Lionel's genuine, he conquers his difficult and achieves following attainments. If he surrenders to the illness, maybe today we just know that there is a stammer king in the history of Britain, but not a great king. All in all, resoluteness is not only a sort of attitude toward failure, but also a key element of success which we cannot never ignore just like Jack Welch and Geroge VI.

An Analysis Of Plato And Rousseau Ideologies Theology Religion Essay

An Analysis Of Plato And Rousseau Ideologies Theology Religion Essay The general definition of education is the transmission and learning of cultural technique by a group of individuals that is able to satisfy its general needs, to protect each other against the hostility of physical and biological environment, and to work and live together peacefully. These all techniques are usually called culture, and a human society could not survive without its background of custom and culture. This concept can be applied in civil and primitive society; the primitive society is characterized by the role of education finalized to guarantee the immutability of the cultural techniques. On the other hand, in a civil society the education gives the opportunity to face new and mutable situations. At this point we can define two different forms of education: the one, which simply transmits the technique of work and behavior to maintain the natural immutability of human beings, and this concept is related to moral and religious education. The second form interests the r ole of education into a civic society. Its aim is to forge the individuals’ personalities by giving them the capacity to correct and improve their own education. This civic form of education analyzes the human being’s process of forming his own culture, and even the education becomes the aim and the goal of the entire process. For this reason, education has always been an important theme in political and social background. Since ancient age philosophers and scholars wrote about the main principles and general foundations of public and private education in a state. Famous emperors such as Charles the Great who attributed importance to the role of education into his empire, even if he was not a cultured king, considered education a relevant instrument for creating an homogeneous ruling class loyal to the empire and capable to create a unity for the formation of cultural traditions and customs. Therefore, education is a natural part of human beings’ development; it allows individuals to acquire some basic and relevant skills in attitude and mental thought that staying in animal stage they are not able to learn. The aim of this essay is to define the right definition of education in political theory field through the main and significant works of Plato and Rousseau, and to analyze its importance in the social and political common good. As it is mentioned before, both Plato and Rousseau have elaborated different ideas regarding the same topic of the role of education, the pedagogy, the formation of perfect philosopher-king and good social figure in their own conception of society. This essay wants to begin an analysis by comparing and contrasting the political and philosophical theories of there two thinkers. First of all, Plato’s Republic has defined more as an educational treatise rather than a political book (Rousseau 57); in fact, Plato’s philosophy is concentrated on ethics, he is interested in what and â€Å"how is the best to live† (Meckenzie 88). According to Plato, education is the base of the philosophical education of guardians and future citizens of the ideal city of the Politeia. Plato elaborates a new kind of education in line with the Socratic philosophy; in fact, the main speaker of dialogues in the Republic is Socrates himself, who embodies the philosophical soul and figure of which should be the skills and characteristics of the perfect philosopher-king. The conception of education in the Republic is explained through the philosophical concept of the Myth of the Cave; it is not a case that Plato decided to present education in the way of the myth. In ancient cultures, in particular in Greek culture, the myth indeed had been considered a kid of tale with a underlying meaning that through the heroic deeds of gods and semi-gods should have convey a specific learning for human beings. According to Arthur A. Krentz of Luther College in his Play and Education in Plato’s states: â₠¬Å"The Myth of the Cave is presented as a metaphor of education (paideia, 7.514a) but it may also serve as a model of the role of an educational mentor, such as Socrates. Thus we can compare Socrates to the free, philosophical wise man who reenters the nether-world of the dark caveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in order to attempt to rescue those who live in this shadowy worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  With this quotation, we can understand that Plato-Socrates wants to outline a fixed model of elite education regarding to those people who are by natural inclinations more talented to cover the role of the guardian. In the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society, in the paragraph of The State as an Education Entity is expressed how Plato considers Education the core of his Republic alike the research of the meaning of justice. In fact, Plato is firmly persuaded that if guardian and future children are educated through Socratic philosophical ideas, the pursuit of the Public Good bec omes the principle at the base of the just City-State. Therefore, the passage that the other spokesmen have to understand before starting the investigation of justice is â€Å"what is the best education for philosopher-kings and in what does consist it?† In the opinion of Ariel Dillon â€Å"the ability to know is always within a man-faltering, but useful only depending on whether it is focused on the truth (518e)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ anyone could be a philosopher with the right trainingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the purpose of the philosopher-kings’ education is eventually teach children how to distinguish right from wrong showing them the whole truth†. The knowledge and development process that philosophers undertake from the cave to the new world is long and difficult, but they are motivated by the inner truth that they own to achieve the common good for a just state. After the release from the cave where human beings are imprisoned and forced to see projected figures on the wa ll, philosophers start they path out of the cave; they will encounter the powerful light of the Sun and they are blinded by it, but afterwards a period of familiarization with the external world they acquire the truth and the capacity to become the real philosopher king and guardian. According to Arthur A. Krentz â€Å"the aim of the educational process is the fostering of the growth and development of the learner toward the ultimate objective of the individual’s contribution to a good society and the vision of the Good itself.† Plato has a altruistic vision of education in fact as Ariel Dillon states in her article Education in Plato’s Republic: † [the philosophers] must escape the cave, be educated in the good through philosophy (512c), and then return to the cave to rile and enlighten others (519d).

Farm Credit System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Farm Credit System - Essay Example To present day, this system has continually serve the farmers and also prolonged its dominancy source in terms of long term farm debt. Statistics indicate that this dominant force has grown continually from 20 percent of real estate farm debt to 40 percent from a presided long period of time thus from 1960- 2006 (Bitter and Gordon 45). It is important to have knowledge of its consumer base which includes farmers, various producers of aquatic products, ranchers, select rural communications and energy companies, agricultural cooperatives, rural homeowners including other eligible entities as a whole. History The farm credit system can basically be described as a nationwide network of various cooperative banks including other associations that are capable of providing credit to farmers. They are also capable of attending agricultural concerns including various related business. It was created in 1916 by the United States parliament and the federal government supported it by funding it. This ensured that the American agriculture had at least a dependable source of revenue or credit. At the moment, it is now independent and self funding since it is owned by member borrower. The farm credit system has undergone several rounds changes in its structure that has dated back since its inception in Roosevelt era of administration. Trough creation of federal land banks in an estimated area of about 12 regions in the United States, the federal farm loan act developed a credit delivery system to the large agricultural sector. A kind of a fund chain was developed where the land banks provided funds to the regional banks including associations. The regional banks were then supposed to support farmers by providing them with long term mortgage thus financing them in their various projects. The farm credit act of 1933 born during the great depression period was imposed to booster agricultural production. This was by simply funneling short term credits thus by the 12 production cre dit associations incorporated by 13 bank capable of supporting agricultural cooperatives (Bitter and Gordon 48). The emergency farm mortgage act was mobilized to refund the FLBs to stand as a help package for farmers who were facing foreclosures including debt complications. In 1987, every credit agency existing was transformed to a farm credit administration. Economic Impact The farm credit system provides loans for a variety of purposes. This includes funding agricultural processing including other market activities, farm related businesses, rural housing initiatives, rural utilities including both foreign and domestic companies that are involved in the agricultural trade. It also provides access to various critically required rural areas where national including regional banks control. It has also abandoned it intended mission as it consolidates into one of the largest headquartered scores. This is through distancing itself from farmers including the ranchers they are supposed to primarily serve. In fact, the traditional notion of a cooperative which is member ran for the purpose of benefiting members gives away to one administration. This is through hired managers intends on structuring GSE empires as long as FCS associations continues to grow (Zachman 32). This empire building has led to the abandonment of the intended mission by the farm credit system instead led to a different direction of focusing on large borrowers. This is at the expense of serving YBS farmers thus termed as the little guy of the American culture. The farm system associations now consolidate a huge association which is directly more to their marketing efforts. This is intended towards making bigger and more profitable loans on large scale

Culinary Tourism Food and Drink Product Inventory Assignment

Culinary Tourism Food and Drink Product Inventory - Assignment Example If the tourist people obtain their home country food in outside nations, they become highly attractive and visit the same in a frequent way (Knight, 2012). In relation to the above context, the assignment intends to create a food and drink inventory and likewise prepare a report based on culinary tourism food and drink products of a destination i.e. Sussex located in New Brunswick in the nation of Canada. Secondary method of data collection is appropriate for this research study to collect information for preparing the food and drink inventory report. It will be vital to mention in this regard that journals, articles and online sources relevant to specific topic of a study are deemed to be the decisive sources of secondary data collection method through which valuable and relevant information can be acquired. Through secondary sources, it is possible to gather accurate and recent information about any stated topic. Secondary data collection is also important for this research study to identify any sort of persisted research problem and derive effective solutions to resolve the same. It will be vital to mention in relation to the above context that the adoption as well as the review of varied secondary sources would certainly provide a better comprehension about how to promote the progression of culinary tourism specifically in Sussex, which is positioned in Canada. Apart from this, s uch sources would aid in examining the varied food products that persist in this specific region (Ut, 2013). It has been earlier mentioned that culinary tourism can also be related to food and drink tourism, which signifies that it is not only limited to food and drink sector, but also correlated to cultural aspects tourism. It can be ascertained that the food as well as drink menu is deemed to be different from one nation to another.

Individual case study analysis(Ireland's Tiger Economy) Essay

Individual case study analysis(Ireland's Tiger Economy) - Essay Example A stiff prohibition on foreign ownership of firms and high tariff barriers from the 1930s to the late 1950s hindered Ireland’s economic growth (Barry,1995). By the 1950s, it was evident that policies, which aimed at giving local investors the priority was not beneficial at all (Barry,1995). This was because infant industries had not matured and were not sufficiently competitive to generate sizable exports. As a result, Irish policy makers changed tact. The â€Å"control of manufacturers’ act†, which gave local investors priority, was abolished. Policy makers engineered the development of the foreign direct investment. The first step was to introduce zero corporate profits tax on manufactured exports. Secondly, policy makers initiated attractive investment grants to foreign investors. Thirdly, policy makers abolished tariff barriers. The Irish economy in the past three decades is strongly linked to FDI. The investment platform has significantly changed. Currently, foreigners who own export-oriented firms, additionally, own almost sixty percent of gross output and forty-five percent of employment in manufacturing. U.S. investors are the majority of foreign investors operating firms in Ireland followed by UK and Germany (Barrell, 1996). Amazingly, a majority of foreign manufacturing firms in Ireland imports their raw and semi processed materials. This is because FDI has abolished barriers, which hinder investment making the cost of investment extremely affordable. Current data indicates that companies, which are owned by the locals, export only 35 percent of output (Barry, 1996). On the other hand, foreign owned manufacturing companies exports a whopping 86 percent of the output (Barry, 1996). This indicates that Ireland’s economy cannot strive without the investment from foreign firms. The success of Ireland’s economy is also because of a solid political economy. Furthermore, the political, economic and legal systems of any give n country take a huge role in determining the economic well being of that particular country. Ireland’s political economy and legal systems offer a perfect environment to foreign investors. Although, seen as the most successful economy in Europe and the world at large, Ireland’s economy was greatly affected by the global financial crisis. Between 2002 and 2007, the economic prowess that Ireland enjoyed changed in fundamental ways. At that moment, the economy continued to grow steadily owing to the rapid expansion of credit cards and an increase in personal indebtedness by the Irish natives. Rising property prices were seen as one of the igniters of this situation. Between 2002 and 2007, construction activities grew rapidly, accounting for the economic boost and rise in employment (ESRI, 1997). Amazingly, the rampant growth in the construction industry was supported by huge bank lending. At that moment, the balance sheets of many Irish banks expanded relative to the siz e of the economy. Reports indicate that a majority of the banks relied, on their deposit base, to fund loans. Unfortunately, greater financial integration, which was initiated partly by the introduction of the euro, forced local banks to source funds from abroad. In addition, the same period realized an increate appetite in financial markets, which caught Irish banks with surprise. A concentration in risky lending practices and lending in property

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster risk management plan Case Study

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster risk management plan - Case Study Example From the data provided, it appears that a risk management plan was in existence. Some of the management plans were applied whereas some of the plans were not applicable due to some reasons. One of the examples of a risk management plan was to design a space shuttle program that would utilize both the liquid and solid propellants. The liquid propellant system is more reliable as compared to the solid propellant system. The flow of the liquid propellant from the storage tanks to the engine can be throttled and shut down in case of emergency whereas a solid propellant cannot function in the same manner. One of the drawbacks associated with the liquid propellants was that they are comparatively expensive than the solid propellants and hence it was impossible for NASA to hire a system totally functional on liquid propellant. A combination of both was manufactured. In 1972, NASA chose Rocker for the building of the orbiter. According to many industry leaders, the Rocker package did not include an escape system. An escape system is very effective and necessary in case of emergencies. NASA officials ignored the escape system and hence the Space Shuttle Program became the first the first U.S. aircraft which did not include an escape system for the crew. According to Mr. Moore, (NASA's deputy administrator for space flight), weather plays an important role. According to him, the specifications on the wind velocity need to be checked in order to avoid exceeding of crosswinds. This is done so that the commanders can have a clear view of the runway and so forth. In order to avoid any accidents that may be related to weather, crosswinds limits are maintained. These issues clearly enhance the project management factor. Some of the risk management plans were implied whereas some of them could not be reinforced. 2. Would there had been a better way to handle risk management planning at NASA assuming sixteen flights per year, twenty live flights per year or as originally planned, sixty flights per year Why is the number of flights per year critical in designing a formalized risk management plan The planner that was originally planned comprised of sixteen flights per year. With the increase in flights, the paper work tended to increase. The requirement for paper work completion was that it was supposed to be submitted approximately one week before every flight. The increase in paper work meant that the accomplishment of goals was getting difficult. With the increase in paperwork, the formulation of a risk management plan was almost impossible because half of the time was consumed in the paperwork of the flights. The employees of NASA were working very hard to cope up with the paperwork which was increasing with the increase in the number of flights. Increase in paperwork meant that the personnel had to work overtime which included the weekends. According to an interoffice memo that was sent from Scot Stein to Bob Lund the paperwork was making it difficult for them to handle the problems and formulating a risk management plan because half the time was taken up by the paperwork. He said that it was necessary to make