Corrugated Box Industry

CASE STUDY: EDMUNDS CORRUGATED PARTS AND SERVICES. Larry Edmunds grimaced as he tossed his company’s latest quarterly earnings onto his desk. When Virginia-based Edmunds Corrugated Parts & Service Company’s sales surged past the $10 million mark a while back, he was certain the company was well positioned for steady growth. Today, the company, which provided precision machine parts and service to the domestic corrugated box industry, still enjoys a dominant market share and is showing profit, although not quite the profit seen in years past.However, it is no longer possible to ignore the fact that revenues were beginning to show clear signs of stagnation. More than two decades ago, Larry’s grandfather loaned him the money to start the business and then handed over the barn on what has been the family’s Shenandoah Valley farm to serve as his first factory. Today, he operates from a 50,000 square-foot factory located near I-81 just a few miles from that old barn. The business allowed him to realize what had once seemed an almost impossible goal: He was making a good living without having to leave his close-knit extended family and rural roots.He also felt a sense of satisfaction at employing about 100 people, many of them neighbors. They were among the most hard-working, loyal workers you’d find anywhere. However, many of his original employees were now nearing retirement. Replacing those skilled workers was going to be difficult, he realized from experience. The area’s brightest and best young people were much more likely to move away in search of employment than their parents had been. Those who remained behind just didn’t seem to have the work ethic Larry had come to expect in his employees.He didn’t feel pressured by the emergence of any new direct competitors. After slipping slightly a couple years ago, Edmunds’s formidable market share – based on its reputation for reliability and excepti onal, personalized service – was holding steady at 75 percent. He did feel plagued, however, by higher raw material costs resulting from the steep increase in steel prices. But the main source of concern stemmed from changes in the box industry itself. The industry had never been particularly recession resistant, with demand fluctuating with manufacturing output.Now alternative shipping products were beginning to make their appearance, mostly flexible plastic films and reusable plastic containers. It remained to be seen how much of a dent they’d make in the demand for boxes. More worrying, consolidation in the paper industry had wiped out hundreds of the U. S. plants that Edmunds once served, with many of the survivors either opening overseas facilities or entering into joint ventures abroad. The surviving manufacturers were investing in higher quality machines that broke down less frequently, thus requiring fewer of Edmund’s parts.Still, he had to admit that al though the highly fragmented U. S. corrugated box industry certainly qualified as a mature one, no one seriously expected U. S. manufacturers to be dislodged from their position as major producers for both the domestic and export markets. Edmunds was clearly at a crossroads. If Larry wanted that steady growth he’d assumed he could count on not so long ago, he suspect that business as usual wasn’t going to work. But if he wanted the company to grow, what was the best way to achieve that goal?All he knew for sure was that once he decided where to take the company from here, he would sleep better. QUESTIONS 1. What would the SWOT analysis look like for this company? 2. What role do you expect the Internet to play in the corrugated box industry? What are some ways that Edmunds could better use the Internet to foster growth? 3. Which of Porter’s competitive strategies would you recommend that Edmunds follow? Which of the strategies do you think would be least likely to succeed?

Brain Development Essay

The first eight years of a child’s life are not only the most important years of a child’s life, but also the most rapid period of human development throughout a human life. These years are critical to the emotional and physical growth of a child. By the age of four, half of a person’s intelligence potential has already been developed and early childhood experiences can have a lasting effect on personality, behavior, and learning. (Early, 2001) These first eight years of life are broken down into the first two years, early childhood, and middle childhood. Throughout these three stages of life, the brain does most of its developing and determines the life that person will lead. The developing of a child’s brain falls upon the interactions and experiences a child has with its parents and any other primary caregivers in the beginning of life. During the first two years of a child’s life, a lot occurs in their brain which is essential to their life. Whe n a child is born, about seventy percent of their neurons are located in their cortex. (Berger, 2010) In an infant, the cortex is made up of thin layers of tissues that cover the brain and make the thought process possible. The layers related to the basic senses tend to mature pretty early in an infant’s life, but the prefrontal cortex is one that matures late. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for anticipation, planning, and impulse control and is practically inoperative during the first few months of life. It doesn’t start to mature until childhood and continues to through adolescence and adulthood. (Boyd, 2010) Areas of the brain are very important for basic needs to live such as breathing and heartbeat deep in the skull. Emotions and impulses are controlled somewhere in the middle of the brain and perception and cognition are in the cortex. Even though at birth the brain contains more neurons than it needs, it contains fewer dendrites and synapses than it will obtain throughout life. In the cortex, the growth of synapses, axons, and dendrites takes place quickly in the first months and years of an infant’s life. This causes the brain weight to triple by the age of two. In addition, five times as many dendrites and one hundred trillion synapses are present by the age of two. This large growth of dendrites is followed by pruning. Pruning is the process by which unused connections in the brain atrophy and die, so that new ones can grow. (Berger, 2010) Pruning is very important in the development of a healthy  brain. If there is too much or too little pruning going on, problems can oc cur. When there is too little pruning, children make have intellectual disabilities that makes thinking difficult, such as autism. When there is too much pruning, it can lead to a reduction of brain activity. (Berger, 2010) Infant brains to not develop correctly if they lack certain experiences that all humans need, such as stimulation. Babies need to be played with and talked to during their first years in order to encourage movement and allow sensations. If babies are not talked to or played with, it can stunt the brain. Infants are satisfied with even the most simple objects and facial expressions. Human brains are designed to grow and adapt with whatever object they have available and whoever provides them with every day attention. Every baby will go through a stressful experience here and there, but it is patterns of mistreatment that harm their brain, not moments. (Berger, 2010) The most important parts of the brain develop during early childhood. Between the ages of two and six, planning, thinking, social awareness, and language occur in the cortex. It is during early childhood when the prefrontal cortex starts to mature. This allows young children to begin to plan ahead and even think about the past. (Berger, 2010) The biggest increase in brain weight after the first two years is because of myelination. Myelination continues for years and it is a life-long process, but is most apparent in early childhood. It speeds the transmission of nerve impulses between neurons and becomes pivotal when multiple thoughts and actions have to take place all at once. (Boyd, 2010) By time m ost children turn six, they can see object and name them, catch a ball and throw it, and write and say their ABC’s in order. It is important that when children are doing these things, that the adults in their lives are patient. The only way children are going to learn how to tie their shoes, write their name, or get dressed, is if they do it on their own with a little help from a parent. If a parent is constantly yelling at a child to hurry or take over, their child will always think that they can’t do it by themselves. (Berger, 2010) In early childhood, children have the tendency to stick to a thought for a long time instead of switching to another. This is why children at this stage have difficulty sorting objects. Once a child is told to sort something by color and do it correctly, if they are told to next sort by shape, they try to sort by color again. However, something in  the brain matures between ages three and five that allows children to grow out of perseveration. (Berger, 2010) The corpus callosum grows rapidly during early childhood. This long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right sides of the brain ,make communication between the hemispheres better and allows children to coordinate both sides of the brain and the body. (Boyd, 2010) If the corpus callosum does not mature, it could result in serious disorders such as autism. It is important that children can coordinate both sides of the brain because both sides are normally involved in every skill, even though both sides do diff erent things. (Berger, 2010) The amygdala, the hippocampus, and the hypothalamus are crucial to emotional expression and regulation during early childhood. The amygdala registers positive and negative emotion, including fear. Increased activity in the amygdala can cause young children to have nightmares or phobias. (Berger, 2010) Located next to the amygdala, the hippocampus is in control of memory. Children are able to remember memories they had at certain locations that will follow them through adulthood. The hypothalamus responds to symbols from both of these parts of the brain. The hypothalamus produces a hormone called cortisol to activate parts of the brain and body. As all three of these parts of the brain develop, children pay close attention to their parents’ emotions. If they sense that their parent is scared or worried, they will also develop fear. (Berger, 2010) Brain maturation in young children is advanced, but like in infants, experience and parental relationships has an impact too. Brain maturation only increases more throughout middle childhood. Since the brain has no areas specific for reading like it does for talking, gestures, and expressions, humans have to learn to read on their own. This is possible because of massive interconnections between the parts of the brain that deal with sounds, vision, and comprehending. (Berger, 2010) These â€Å"massive interconnections† are not only needed for reading but for many other social skills as well. Several parts of the brain connect to enable for many activities, reading, writing, logic, and social decisions. Children require more connections than adults because they often use more parts of their brain for activities than adults do. (Boyd, 2010) The older that children get, the quicker their reaction time gets. In middle childhood, children are more efficient learners because of their more speedy reactions. In addition  to thinking quickly, children are able to pay more attention in middle childhood. As children get older, they get better at concentrating on one stimuli and ignoring others. They are more able to focus on one thing and not get distracted by others. This usually happens by the age of seven. (Berger, 2010) In middle childhood children also learn how to do math. They adopt newer, better strategies to solve math problems. Although they aren’t always perfect, they can usually find the right answer. In children during middle adulthood they may know the answer one day, but it isn’t permanently in their brain and they may not know they answer the next day. (Berger, 2010) Another way children advance in middle childhood is through memory. They are better at connecting their past knowledge to what they are doing in that moment. Children realize that some things should be remembered and they begin to strategies like repeating themselves in order to remember them. Th ey also use strategies like visual clues such as remember how a word looks or auditory clues like remembering how a word sounds. In middle childhood children’s memory becomes more adaptive and they are able to learn from their parents, teachers, and friends. (Berger, 2010) From the time children are born until they reach adolescence they are developing rapidly in their brain and bodies. Although most of the development of the brain during childhood is genetic, it is so important for parents to interact with their children, be patient with them, teach them new things, and set the best example they can for their children so they can become healthy adults. Brain development doesn’t stop after childhood, but continues to develop throughout adulthood. Almost all of the brain development takes place during childhood and the first several years of a person’s life are the most important to their personality and their future. â€Å"References† Early Childhood Development: The Key to a Full and Productive Life. New York: UNICEF, 2001. PDF. (Early, 2001) Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Life Span. Second ed. New York: Worth, 2010. Print. (Berger, 2010) Boyd, Denise Roberts., and Helen L. Bee. The Growing Child. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print. (Boyd, 2010)

Sure Thing

â€Å"Sure Thing† response essay In David Ives' play â€Å"Sure Thing,† the key and only characters are Bill and Betty. The two characters meet, by happenstance in a restaurant and the play unfolds from there with the punch line always being, â€Å"Sure thing†. The comedy is centered on a bell that one of the two characters ring when the exchange takes an unwanted twist; the bell signifies that the question asked or conversation being held begins anew with a different outcome.With the bell ringing, it is almost as if the characters get to do an instant replay, while editing, to bring about a different outcome, a cinematic mulligan, so to speak. The outcome, is that of the two saying and doing, all the right things at the right time and an implied happily ever after ending, How much easier life would be if you could just call â€Å"cut† or a little bell would ding every time you said or did something incorrectly. â€Å"Sure thing† is very similar to a commercial that is airing currently for the Nissan Altima.In the commercial every time the character does something incorrectly, a horn beeps to let him know that a mistake has been or is being made. I think all of us could use something like that at times. Unfortunately, we do not get that liberty, and are forced to live with our choices and decisions whether good, bad, or indifferent. I have personally made bad decisions, for instance, I once used the wrong weed killer on my grass and killed my entire lawn, how helpful a horn or bell would have been then.The line that stood out to me the most in the play was â€Å"Is this chair taken? † It is kind of an odd and rhetorical way to open a conversation, don’t you think? Clearly, Bill can see that no one is sitting in the chair yet he still asks the question. Sometimes people use a roundabout way to get where they are trying to go. For instance, Bill could have just as easily asked, if Betty minded if he sat there, and left it up to Betty to elaborate on the outcome. She then could have said yes, no, I am sorry someone is already sitting there, or whatever response she chose.To me it seems like a waste of time to ask a question if you already know the answer, or if you know that you will have to ask another question because of how you worded your first statement or question. Some people will argue that these rhetorical questions or statements are conversation starter. I would have to disagree with them. I am a firm believer in; just say what you are really trying to say. As you can see from the play when you try an around about method, it leaves too much room for interpretation and error. Had Bill just asked Betty â€Å"Would you mind if I sit here? † the possibility of a â€Å"Sure Thing† would have been much greater.

CONSENSUS PERSPECTIVE VS SOCIAL CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Essay

CONSENSUS PERSPECTIVE VS SOCIAL CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE - Essay Example Members of society are constrained by social facts through their way of thinking, acting and feelings (Ritzer, 23). Moreover, belief and moral codes are passed from one generation to another as they are shared by individuals who make up the society. He says that collective conscience and social stability can only be achieved through consensus that consists of â€Å"common beliefs and sentiments. Without this consensus, social solidarity could be impossible as human being will not integrate with each other† (Ritzer, 25). Durkheim argues that collective conscience restricts individual to behave in accordance with the societal norms. His argument is based on the fact that the society is composed of various parts or institutions which are integrated to form it in order to produce social order. According to consensus; contract comes as a result of the consensus or the meeting of minds. Of any contracting parties without consensus there is no contract and hence it continues to be important and very essential to most of the approaches to contract law (Ritzer, 24). Apparently, most of the participants in the development of this theory tend to think that the growth and the history of consensus theory give a greater knowledge of the foundations of modern contract law. In addition they view the history consensus theory as a testing ground for dissimilar conceptions. The social conflict perspective is one of the major sociological models of understanding the social world. Mainly, this perspective has got three components. First, is that it has conflict which is common and continuing in the society. Second, is that the society is comprised of several classes of populace who have contradictory values and interests. Third, is that the conflict that is present in the society occurs between the dominant and the subordinate who have stiff competition over scarce resources. In this perspective, Karl Marx uses two groups to explain the

Fundamentals of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Fundamentals of Leadership - Essay Example This paper presents a report on the leadership within the BMW Group in relation to various models and theories of leadership. Joachim Milberg, BMW’ CEO is a pragmatic leader who has led the company to achieve the most successful period in its history. The Great Man theory of leadership is a characteristic quality of leaders whose qualities lead to a great positive transformation of a company or business organization. The description of the qualities of leadership by Northouse (2010), illustrates that it is through the good attributes of a leader that positive change is made possible. The changes which have been brought about by Milberg especially in car production and the significant increase in sales of the company’s brands apparently illustrates that he is a great leader. Milberg can also be described in relation to the trait theory of leadership because it is through his unique traits that have made him to be a successful leader in causing positive change within the company. Milberg’s leadership traits demonstrate that he is a sensible leader who is also level headed in making leade rship decisions. It can be argued that the special traits of this leader are inherited because they are explicit and unique when compared with the previous CEO as demonstrated by his excellent performance as the CEO of BMW Group. As a result of his god leadership traits, Milberg is very respected by all members of the BMW Group. The participative theory of leadership is described by Northouse (2010) as the kind of leadership style which gives due consideration of the opinions and needs of those who are led in reaching decisions. Milberg’s leadership in the company encourages democratic or team leadership in which the management gives the employees a chance to give their views and ideas on various project issues before reaching the final decision. Therefore the company’s CEO engages the company in participative leadership. Seminars and workshops are held in the

Strategy, Policy and Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Strategy, Policy and Law - Essay Example In last year November, President Obama placed an executive order that cautioned more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation. In addition, the order gave them the right to work in the US as long as they have children who are citizens. The order also extended the Obama’s 2012 DACA program that gave temporary work permits and legal status to undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children (Leinwand & Kelly, 2015). According to a Fugate, a FEMA administrator, the standoff over the funding is derailing the operation of DHS’s agencies. DHS might be shut down if there will be no budget in place before the February 27 deadline. An agency such as FEMA will halt its grants program that aids local governments and states pay for emergency programs and operations personnel. DHS might also be forced to lay off some of its employees in the same way it did in October 2013. If that happens, some of the crucial services people get will come to an end. The country will be at a compromised position to provide proof against external aggression (Leinwand & Kelly, 2015). Leinwand, D., & Kelly, E. (2015, February 6). Fugate: FEMA mission compromised by fight over budget. Retrieved February 11, 2015, from

Labor Party in America Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labor Party in America - Case Study Example Three significant factors can be defined in order to explain the issue: a) repression level; b) religion; c) more strict communist position. It is a fact that in the United States labor movement has more severe communist principles. The level of repression in the United States is higher and the issues connected with religion are recognized as very important because in America religion plays a very important role for everybody choosing what party to adhere to. A great number of American citizens refused from being members of trade unions, because it is very important for many of them to be a Democrat or a Republican. The active popularization of human rights also explains why Americans are inclined to accept socialist principles and leave trade unions. Trottier states: In the 1990s, there was the beginning of a labor party in the US, but the vast majority of the unions in this country refused to break with the Democrats and Republicans and join this party. Even a few of the unions who supported the Labor Party also continued their support of some Democrats. The Labor Party could have played an educational role in developing a future mass labor party. It would have needed to organize rallies, mass meetings and run at least some candidates in a few elections. The fact that it did not do this led many people to drop out as they could not see it developing further (Trottier, 2009). Does America need labor party' A great number of American employees, who were on the side of Democrats, when the elections were held, now are not satisfied with their activity and with the absence of any positive changes. Now many people are inclined to build a labor party. They see it including trade unions with the rights to vote (Yates, 1998). The party will have local representations and special representation for young people who study or can't find job. The supporters are sure that there will be no lack of members because in the current political situation there are many people who can't find job or are afraid to be fired. Also there is a great number of Americans who want to stop wars abroad and bring American troops back home. Moreover, there are many former unions' members. Trottier states: We see the struggle to change the union leadership's policies of supporting the big business political parties as part of a struggle for more democratic unions that will the fight against give-backs to the boss and use more militant tactics to win strike battles. The Workers International League works with any and all who struggle for these changes in the unions. We also bring the issue of the need for a mass labor party to other campaigns such as the immigrants' rights and anti-war movements (Trottier, 2009). Conclusion The conclusion can be made that there are no relevant reasons or factors in the United States, which would not allow to have labor party. In the current political situation, when employment rates are getting higher, there is a question asked by many American citizens: does America need labor party founded on trade unions' Dissatisfied with the current polit

Business Environment In South Africa Research Paper

Business Environment In South Africa - Research Paper Example In addition, the country has a sophisticated business environment that enables business to easily export and import goods. This is also advantageous to the global businesses that enter the marker because it increases their global competitiveness. Most global companies prefer South Africa because its manufacturing base for product exports is also not expensive. This is because it is easier to access other markets such as the Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and South American markets from the country (Chalmers & Godfrey 273). In addition, businesses that enter the market have high opportunities to grow. This is because of the faster economic growth in the country. Furthermore, it is easier to enter the marker because of the political stability that has contributed to the creation of the friendly business environment. Political stability has enabled most of the global business to operate effectively because it makes the country integrated into the global market system. It is also easier to do business in the county because of the cultural diversity. Most global businesses find it easier to team up with the local citizens because of the many different cultures. For instance, the country has about 11 common languages of which English is the most used. This implies that there are no misunderstandings due to communication difficulties. Entering the market is also easier because corruption is not very high in the country. Researches show that among the 163 countries, South Africa is rated number 54 for its tran sparency. (Chalmers & Godfrey 273). The country’s company law regime The South African government has implemented various business laws that aim at promoting the competitiveness of the businesses that enter its market. The English law has influenced the favorable legal environment in the country. It easier for global firms to perform effectively since the businesses legal practices relating to transactions and agreement are applicable internationally. This is because the laws have been aligned with the global norms and conventions. For instance, the country’s constitution is excellent and promotes the autonomy of the judiciary. This implies that most businesses operate under the free economy framework. In addition, the legal system is opened to all the businesspersons including the foreigners on equal legal term. The commercial law also ensures that the businesspersons’ rights are protected by the independent courts. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is among the lead ing stock exchanges globally due to the country’s favorable commercial legal system. The JSE limited helps in ensuring that all companies in the market increase their capital in a comfortable and reasonably regulated market environment. The JSE also helps in increasing the quality of its companies by ensuring that all the companies in the stock market achieve higher standards compared to other world- class exchanges. This ensures that shareholders enjoy competent and secure market (South Africa Info.1). State-owned enterprises The state-owned enterprises (SOE) are the government owned corporations or entities in South Africa that perform certain functions as required by the law. They play a great role in creating a comfortable business environment in the country. For instance, they improve the country’s infrastructure and other services industries such as transportation and water that help in

The Doctrine Of Insurable Interest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The Doctrine Of Insurable Interest - Essay Example The earliest references to insurable interest simply emphasised this characteristic of insurance. Since the insurer's contractual undertaking was to indemnify the insured for patrimonial loss, the latter had to prove that he had a financial interest upon the happening of the insured event because there could be no loss without an interest. In this very respect insurance was considered to differ from a wager because wagers did not contain an indemnity clause. The English common law was much to the same effect until 1774 when the Life Assurance Act3 was adopted. This Act introduced some important changes. South Africa inherited the English doctrine of insurable interest. This was brought about by certain colonial legislation4 which adopted English insurance law in the then Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. For this reason English law must be considered. In the recent case of Feasey v Sun Life Insurance Corp of Canada the Court confirmed that the interest necessary for life assurance must sound in money. At the same time it acknowledged the differences between indemnity and non-indemnity insurance. Special emphasis is put on the question of precisely what interest the parties intended to insure. It is clear that English law has not made much progre... It has even been suggested that insurable interest in life assurance in many respects is clearly out of touch with reality and that reform is necessary. Some important aspects of the English rules on insurable interest have indeed become firmly entrenched by trade usage and no turn-around seems possible, e.g. the rule that a person may insure his or her own life and that of his or her spouse for any amount he or she deems appropriate. On the other hand, some important matters must after the repeal of the provincial ordinances be considered as being open. Thus the question may be asked whether the existence of an actual insurable interest at the time of contracting is a separate requirement in law for the validity of a true contract of insurance. May a future interest for instance be insured on condition that the interest materialises before occurrence of the insured event (http://www.ombud.co.za/res/pdf/INSURABLE%20INTEREST%20IN%20THE%20CONTEXT%20OF%20LONG.pdf) Here there are in effect two questions. The issue raised most commonly is whether the definition of insurable interest is too narrow. Should unmarried cohabitants not be able to insure each other's life even in the absence of financial dependency Should the requirement of a proprietary interest be retained The more fundamental issue is whether it is obligatory to keep hold of the doctrine of insurable interest at all. In United Kingdom it seems to have been eliminated for definite types of business.1 The problem will have to be measured in the light of apprehensions about moral risks and, at a lawful level, the probable result of the Gambling Act 2005, which makes gambling contracts enforceable. Although the 2005 Act has not

Positivism as an Epistemological System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Positivism as an Epistemological System - Essay Example Thus, there can be no room for any mystical abstractions in explaining phenomena. In the second wave of positivist thought, a second form of positivism, i.e. logical positivism took place, and â€Å"took advantage of the further progress made in the hard sciences to insist on purging all metaphysics from the scientific method† (Jordan, 2004, p.28). â€Å"Logical positivist views about science and knowledge were based on a general theory of language. †¦This theory of language featured two main ideas, the analytic-synthetic distinction and the verifiability theory of meaning† (Godfrey-Smith, 2003, p.25). I will discuss these ideas in detail in the next section. The third wave of positivism is generally attributed to a group called the Vienna Circle. â€Å"The Vienna Circle was established by Moritz Schlick and Otto Neurath. †¦But from the early days through the end, a central intellectual figure here was Rudolf Carnap† (Godfrey-Smith, 2003, p.22). In this stage, positivism was carried in its logical form. However, some positivists prefer to regard this latter period as logical or scientific empiricism (Greetham, 2006, p.121), to distinguish it from the previous logical positivist movement. In this essay, I shall use the term logical positivism to refer to the whole of 20th century positivism, to distinguish it from Comte’s 19th century positivism. Positivism as Epistemology From a general perspective, positivism is considered to be an epistemological system through its advocacy of attaining empirical knowledge through sense perception, and its adherence to the scientific method i.e. induction. However when logical positivism stepped into the picture, it was made clear that â€Å"logical positivism had other roots... The first part of the paper consists of an historical analysis of 19th century positivism, logical positivism, up until the period of the Vienna Circle. The second part covers the epistemological implications of positivism. Here,the main tenets of logical positivism and its adherence to epistemology are discussed. A main figure that it will be discussed here is Karl Popper. Finally, this paper is concluded by discussing the fall of positivism. The paper stresses that progress and development in knowledge is an endless endeavor. Since the birth of positivism up until its downfall, positivism nevertheless shaped the manner by which we do science. The authod talks that one is the breakdown of the view of language that formed the basis of many logical positivist and logical empiricist ideas. Another is pressure from holistic arguments. A third is the frustrating history of attempts to develop an inductive logic. A fourth is the development of a new role for fields like history and psychology in the philosophy of science. The report makes a conclusion that positivism succeeded in developing a systematic method of approaching reality. And scientific knowledge was the very basis for reconstructing reality, with scientific laws as central in research. If epistemology is the study of knowledge, then positivism is a valid epistemological system. For if there is one thing that positivism established, it is no other than a coherent reconstruction of human knowledge based on the methods and principles of science itself. It is in this regard that positivism, despite its fall, proved to be influential throughout history.

The Unity of Heaven and Human Essay Example for Free

The Unity of Heaven and Human Essay Your assignment is to write a paper that compares and contrasts the ideas of any two of the following three philosophers: Confucius (aka Kongzi), Mozi, Zhuangzi. In your comments, you should try to adopt the perspective of one of these three thinkers. For example, if you are comparing Confucius and Zhuangzi you might present Zhuangzi’s perspective on Confucius: Which of his ideas are similar to your own and therefore worthy of praise? Which ideas are different from your own and therefore reprehensible? Six different permutations are possible: Confucius on Mozi Mozi on Confucius Zhuangzi on Mozi Mozi on Zhuangzi Zhuangzi on Confucius Confucius on Zhuangzi The paper should be 3 pages (typed, double-spaced, with no unusually sized type fonts). It is due in class on Wednesday, October 16. Late papers will lose one grade step (e. g. B+ to B) immediately and an additional step every day until they are turned in. For your reference, I am putting the following books on Reserve in Hale Library: Vitaly Rubin, Individual and State in Ancient China. Arthur Waley, Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu, translated by Burton Watson Sources of Chinese Tradition, edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary The use of these books or any other sources apart from assigned class readings is entirely optional. Bear in mind that if you borrow any ideas from any printed sources (including books, articles and Web sites) you should indicate your source, and if you borrow their exact words you must use quotation marks. There is no need, however, to cite me for material in your notes that is based on class lectures and discussions. For course purposes, such material is considered to be in the â€Å"public domain. † In citing sources, for assigned reading and any of the four books listed above it’s OK to use a parenthetical citation such as (Ivanhoe, p. 109) or (Rubin, p. 25). If you cite any other sources, it would be best to provide a footnote or endnote providing full bibliographical information in the first instance. Please check with me if you are unsure how to proceed.

Civil Rights Campaign During the Years 1945-57 Essay Example for Free

Civil Rights Campaign During the Years 1945-57 Essay There were many factors which contributed to the eventual success of the Civil Rights Movement during the years 1945- 57, a key example being the campaigns and peaceful protests of the NAACP which worked through the Supreme Court in the U. S. to tackle â€Å"de jure† discrimination. The group’s membership grew from 50,000 to 450,000 by 1945 and was the largest civil rights organisation at the time. Overall, the group had significant success in the years 1945- 57. However, the work of the NAACP alone was not solely responsible for the success of the Civil Rights campaign and other factors which contributed to this include, the influence of key figures such as Martin Luther King and the actions of the Federal Government, including both Congress, the Supreme Court and Presidents, the work of other known civil rights groups and the second World War, which alongside the NAACP, influenced black Americans awareness. It cannot be denied that the actions of the Civil Rights campaigning group, the NAACP, played a significant role in addressing â€Å"de jure† discrimination in particular before Martin Luther King was on the scene. The group supported Black Americans through the Supreme Court rulings in attempts to put an end to â€Å"de jure† discrimination. A significant example of how the NAACP was successful is the case of Brown V. Board of Education 2 in 1955; although successful during the first Brown case in 1954, the judgement of desegregating public schools was not enforced leading to the Brown case 2 which did successfully enforce the ruling. The judgement overruled the Plessy V Ferguson case of 1896 which allowed Jim Crow Laws. Plessy V. Ferguson was essentially the beginning of the ‘separate but equal’ ideology. Although a success in terms of â€Å"de jure† discrimination, it is important to remember that the NAACP did not deal with â€Å"de facto† discrimination, something which did hold the desegregation of public schools back in the first Brown case. Another key example of how the NAACP was successful is the case of Morgan V. Virginia in 1946 in which the group tried to put an end to segregation on public transport. As a whole, the NAACP did play a significant role in the progress towards improving the status of black Americans as it not only presented black Americans as united but also built up a positive representation of the minorities through their peaceful protests and campaigns. However, if there was to be any criticism of the NAACP, it would be their neglect of addressing â€Å"de facto† discrimination. Although the de jure victories were a success, they could not fully be successful as on some occasions, they could not be fully enforced due to the hostility of Southern White Americans in particular. A key example of this is the radical group the Ku Klux Klan who opposed African Americans violently and attempted to prevent Black Americans from making de fact and de jure change by intimidating them and subjecting them to extreme racial discrimination. It is also important to remember that although the NAACP was successful with the majority of their campaigns, it was ultimately down to the rulings of the Supreme Court to ensure that the judgements were passed. In terms of the Federal government, the extent of their influence during the years 1945- 55 is questionable as Congress in particular opposed most essentially positive developments put forward. For example, when Truman put forward his document, ‘To Secure These Rights’ which included an anti- lynching policy and voting rights for black Americans, congress denounced the document. However, Truman did have some positive contributions towards the Civil Rights Movement, for example, he did desegregate the armed forces something which Congress had no influence over. Although a positive development, it can be argued that Truman was not persistent enough to pursue trying to bring about racial equality. Unlike Truman, who appeared to favour the Civil Rights campaign, Eisenhower seemed less supportive of the movement. Nonetheless, he did enforce integration of a public school in1957 during the Little Rock campaign and towards the end of his Presidency he did enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1957 which focused on the voting rights of African Americans. Looking at the influence the Second World War had on black Americans, it cannot be denied that it did affect the Civil Rights campaign significantly. During the war, the U. S. needed the support the black community. As a result, the Fair Employment Practices Commission was set up to ensure that black Americans received fair treatment in government hiring. However, although on the service this seems like a success for the progress of the Civil Rights campaign, its success was limited as only a small number of black Americans were actually employed in the government. However, the war did increase prosperity amongst the Black community as many did have some form of employment. The involvement of black Americans fighting in the war also meant that many travelled abroad and became increasingly aware of the discrimination they were exposed to back in the U. S. The fact that the Second World War was about freedom and the U. S. were fighting to stop the persecution of minorities, in particular Jews, almost made the U. S. look like hypocrites as they themselves were actively discriminating against ethnic minorities. Overall, the impact of the Second World War is undeniable as it was also responsible for many black Americans migrating from the South to the North in order to find employment after 1945. This migration led to large tensions in Northern Ghetto’s and widespread riots which did bring about negative opinions of the black community and the civil rights campaign. It cannot be denied however, that the increase in Black consciousness did help the NAACP as it increased membership and support for the civil rights campaign. Probably the most well known and essentially influential figure involved in the Civil Rights campaign is Martin Luther King. Although he did not become largely involved in the campaign until 1955 during the Montgomery Bus boycott which did lead to the NAACP’s court case, Browder V.  Gayle, ruling segregation on buses illegal, King was successful in providing the Black communities with a political voice and building up widespread awareness through the media, something which helped to gain the civil rights movement more sympathy from White Americans, particularly in the North. King also founded the SCLC in 1957 which also helped contributed to the movement. However, during the early years of the campaign the NAACP can be seen as the most successful organisation in campaigning towards improving the status of Black Americans in the U. S. In conclusion, I believe that the NAACP was largely responsible for the success of the Civil Rights campaign in the years 1945- 57. However, I also believe that the group would not have been as successful in fighting de jure discrimination in the U. S. if it wasn’t for the actions of the Federal Government, in particularly the Supreme Court and the Presidents as these were essentially the ones responsible for the enforcing change. I also believe that the Second World War is also responsible, to some extent, in increasing awareness amongst the Black community which essentially led to increased popularity for the NAACP and its success.

Principles of Social Crime Prevention Practices

Principles of Social Crime Prevention Practices This essay shall evaluate the impact of Social Crime Prevention Principles on the Development of Effective Crime Prevention Practices. However, it has been suggested that the underlying Principles of Social philosophy of Crime Prevention have little to offer either towards the Development of Effective Crime Prevention Strategies or the actual Prevention of Crimes. There have been various arguments on this matter however, this essay will re-evaluate various and valid theories to establish the above argument while focusing on such effects on Youth Offending in the UK. Crime is an act or omission that violates the law and is punishable upon conviction. It includes Criminal Code offences against a person or property, drug offences, motor vehicle offences and other provincial or federal statute offences. This definition has also been buttressed by the definition from Oxford dictionary as. An action or omission which constitutes an offence and its punishable by law or an action or activity considered to be evil, shameful or wrong: (Online Oxford English Dictionary, 2010:n.p.). However it has been further explained in the Criminal Justice Reform of British Columbia that not every act could be classed as Criminal act. For instance, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Disorderly behaviour such as aggressive panhandling, public urination and sleeping in the street are not necessarily criminal acts, but they do affect communities by a gradual erosion of the quality of life. (Criminal Justice Reform, 2010:n.p.). Therefore, it will be important to mention here that some factors have to be present in order to establish weather a Crime has been committed or not. These factors are; suitable target, motivational offender and non availability of capable guardian. (Clark Eck, 2003). Meanwhile, Social Crime Prevention is a Crime Prevention strategy that could adapt to the changing Social environment rather then the physical environment. This strategy involves engaging the offending age in various community based activities which invariably bring together children, youths and some marginalised groups in the community. The term Social Crime Prevention can simply implies the introduction of any program which endeavour to change patterns of behaviour, social conditions, self-discipline or values in order to reduce the possibility of offending. One could argue that amongst some of the viable social crime prevention initiatives are parental support programs, early childhood training such as personal discipline and self respect, publicity programs to change male thoughts about the use of violence in resolving domestic disputes, supports for disadvantaged families and provision of good, relevant education such as inclusion of black history month and extra curriculum support for the children. Social Crime Prevention can be categorised into the following areas; 1. Prevention which focuses on institutions such as schools and employers rather than on individuals. 2. Preventative Diversion programs for at risk groups. 3. Community Development approaches. 4. Media and other publicity aimed at changing Social Values. 5. Early childhood or Developmental Prevention. The aim of Social Crime Prevention is to support community relationships by increasing the levels of informal Social Control, and consequently deterring determined or potential offenders. Social Crime Prevention could centre on making those who are at risk of offending feel more reckon with in the community. For instance, a Youth Social club and activity group. On the other hand a scheme such as Neighbourhood Watch could be designed to strengthening unofficial protection in the community as a way to fight Youth Crime in which community members are keeping an eye out for one another, increasing surveillance. Social Crime Prevention measures also have significant benefit in areas other than Youth Crime. For instance, in encouraging young people to stay at school which reduces truancy, in setting up support networks for people which addresses issues of loneliness and safety. Neighbourhood watch is generally understood to be a community-based activity supported by local police that is directed towards crime prevention. It involves residents becoming more responsive to the risk of crime and taking action to protect their own and their neighbours property. (Heal et al, 1988). Youth offending is not just a question of rational choice by young people, it is also the result of lack of structural opportunities for young people in terms of education, employment, housing, adequate income and construction of leisure opportunities. (Barry McNeill, 2009). Considering various strategies to control Youth offending, Community-focused Prevention programmes could be classified as follows: i) Community organisation This typically build community based associations, and linkages to local schools, churches, etc. which however can provide effective socialisation for young people, to include local adults as positive role models. (Hope, 1995). ii) Community defence This approach is targeted at preventing victimisation by deterring of offending by the people who are not members of the community. For example, this may include housing authorities cordoning and restricting access to problematic estates to residence only. Other crime prevention strategies could be brought to bear through environmental design (CPTED), defensible space measures, and the purposeful organising of community close watch through Neighbourhood Watch; iii) Theory of broken windows which could also be called zero tolerance seeks to control both physical disorder like graffiti, litter, vandalism; rowdy street behaviour and threatening neighbours. iv) Risk based programmes are relatively recent approaches that seek to identify risk factors amid the entire community populations, to identify those most at risk, and to deliver preventive resources specifically for them. However, the pattern and believe behind this concept is that changes in community can be brought about by changing individuals rather than vice versa. This is contrarily to the earlier crime prevention strategies. These strategies include approaches targeted on victimisation, e.g., strategies aimed at the protection of victims and the deterrence of repeat victimisation and those aimed at the improvement. (Home Office Research Study 187, 1998). Structural change has a similar concept to community development. These strategies see the core changes in society with the utmost consequences for crime diminution as stemming principally from the operation of more overall level policies in economic improvement, employment, housing markets, education, health provision, and the delivery of welfare, benefits and other social services. In this view, much of the space for action against community level social dislocation to include crime depends on the interaction of social policies which even though experienced locally may not be agreeable to amend at the local level. (Home Office research, 1998). Crime Prevention through Social Development or Social Crime Prevention as contained in the UN Guidelines 2002 could be; promote the well-being of people and encourage pro-social behaviour through social, economic, health and educational measures, with a particular emphasis on children and youth, and focus on the risk and protective factors associated with crime and victimization. (Para, 6a). It is progressively more known that modernization and adaptation of initiatives are essential rather than modification, if they are to be relevant to solving problems faced in developing contexts, the resources available, and the capacity of the local state or civil society. International organizations in particular have stressed the scale of the challenges presented for developing countries. Young populations, rapid socio-economic changes, lack of education and/or sufficiently good quality and relevant training, inequality of opportunity, poverty and social exclusion, rapid urbanization and globalization, have all contributed to high rates of offending among young people, and on a scale beyond that experienced in the North. (Shaw Travers, Ed. 2007). The nature of interventions that can be integrated into social and educational crime prevention may include those that are of general programmes, or those targeted specifically to areas or individuals, long or short term programmes, one-off events such as education or training programmes, and could also be targeted on family, community or schools or institution-based. However, many early-intervention schemes have afterwards been introduced in other countries e.g. Nurse Family Partnerships in the US, the Netherlands (Every opportunity for every child-youth and family programme 2007-2011); and the UK (Pilot schemes were extended to 20 sites in 2008); The Healthy Families programme in the USA, Canada; Switzerland; Germany and the Czech Republic. (Crime Prevention Strategy 2008-11). It is believed that children who are given clear standards of behaviour and have positive social bonding with adults are less likely to get involved in crime. (Crawford A, 2007). Sports, cultural and learning have long been integrated into crime prevention strategies. International organizations such as UNESCO, UNODC and UN-HABITAT have all sustained such initiatives in recent years. The use of youth sports and leisure activities in the prevention of crime has a long history, and that it has sometimes been criticized or dismissed as unsuccessful or that is limited when considering the long-term value it has in preventing offending. Much of the criticism was as a result of failure to evaluate programmes, and simple assumptions that playing basketball at midnight will by some means keep young people out of violence. It has been observed in a recent study of sports and leisure industry in the UK, that most councils and local agencies have commissioned sport and leisure activities targeted to at risk groups, rather than providing universal activities. (Audit Commission, 2009). The review stressed the need for coordinated long-term national and local funding of such activities in areas of high deprivation, and for young people to be consulted in the planning of activities to ensure that they are accessible and relevant, as well as attention to evaluation (only 27% of the schemes could be evaluated). Beyond their objective of diverting youth from the temptation of committing a crime, sports and cultural activities are seen to encourage self expression and esteem, life skills and social skills, and education, as well as providing diversionary activities to reduce opportunities for offending, or exposure to risks of offending. Examples included programmes developed by local authorities or services, which aim to reduce the risk of street gang recruitment Projet Les Couleurs de la Justice,Montreal, Canada.(National Crime Prevention Strategy, Public Security Ministry, Quebec). In Brazil, young people have themselves set up innovative initiatives, such as the AfroReggae Cultural Group, Brazil. This group seeks to improve relations between police and young people in disadvantaged areas, teaching the police about reggae, drumming, break dancing and graffiti art. The results have been positive, and have led this group to work in partnerships with other countries such as Haiti and the UK to develop similar projects (e.g. Afro Reggae Partnership, UK). (http://www.favelarising.com/about-afroreggae.html). There is considerable diversity in the aims and provision of sports and cultural projects. In any way, causes of Youth Offending motivational factors shall also be looked into in this context. Quantitatively, there is no single cause of youth crime that can be pointed out. However, researches in a number of countries have consistently identified factors in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood that could increase the risk of a young person offending. These risk factors can be categorised under the following sub-categories; Family When the parents are involved in criminal activities; Or poor parental supervision and control; Neglect from parents and those acting in the capacity of guardianship, Exposure to erratic discipline or being treated harshly Low family income or partial isolation from the community; Family conflict and domestic violence; School Lack of motivation and commitment to go to school Truancy in school without the knowledge of parents Disruptive behaviour at school (including bullying) Low achievers as role models Expulsion from school due to attitude or behaviours Community Lack of unity amongst the dwellers in the community Conspicuous opportunities for crime Easy access to drugs and weapons High children population densities Personal Their personality Lack of sense of belonging in matters that concerns or affects the society Early participation in irrational behaviour Associating with peers that are involved in anti-social behaviour Exposure to hanging out with friends unsupervised. Early adulthood They have no academic or vocational qualifications They have no work experience or any tangible skill Unemployment or on a low income They receive no advice or support or lack of mentoring Homelessness, or are threatened with homelessness However, is worth mentioning here that the list is far more comprehensive that this but have limited the extract to just a few for the purpose of this essay. (Bienhart et al, 2002). Effective monitoring of the youth justice system is necessary for a successful delivery of the aim of preventing offending by children and young people. It is very essential to understand the patterns of youth crime, its causes and the success of different strategies of intervention in preventing further offending which can help in planning youth justice services, target resources and inform sentencing decisions. Amongst the duties of Youth Justice Board is monitoring the function of the youth justice system and the work of youth offending teams across England and Wales. Local monitoring and the sharing of monitoring information locally are also important. Local agencies need to have an accurate measure of local youth crime and the related risk factors. The basic test must be are we reducing youth crime (Home Office document, 1998). There are various Youth crime prevention strategies which are backed by government and organisations. However, Government plans to build on and support existing initiatives such as Grants for Education Support and Training which was aimed at providing  £1.5 million to support drug education and crime prevention programmes between 1997-1998. There is Home Office-sponsored Safer Cities programmes and Crime Concerns, Youth Crime Prevention work, including Youth Action Groups which entails using young people to tackle problems such as bullying, graffiti, vandalism and drug misuse. Crime Concerns work is partly funded by an annual Government grant of  £750,000. However, work with the National Neighbourhood Watch Association and the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders to encourage young people to be part of the solution to crime, not part of the problem. (Audit Commission, 1996. ISBN 1862400075). It was considered by the government that it will be necessary to reform the criminal justice system in England and Wales to enable them have more constructive outcomes with young offenders. Its proposals for reform build on ideology underlying the concept of restorative justice which is restoration, reintegration and responsibility; Restoration involves young offenders apologising to their victims and making amends for the damage they have done while Reintegration is all about young offenders paying their debt to society, putting their crime behind them and integrating into the law abiding community. The responsibility of the consequences of their offending behaviours lies in their hand and their parents who need to ensure that further offending is prevented. Meanwhile, the new approach is intends to ensure that the most serious offenders continue to be dealt with in a criminal court to provide punishment, protect the public and prevent re-offending. Also, provide an opportunity for less serious offending to be dealt with in a new non-criminal panel, enforced by a criminal court. It aims at allowing young people to be actively and effectively involved in decisions about themselves by encouraging them to admit their faults and face the consequences of their behaviour in whatever way it comes. This also involves the victim in proceedings, but only with their active permission; and Concentrate on preventing offending. (Mirrlees-Black et al, 1993). Television and movies have made popular the cult of heroes, which promotes justice through the physical eradication of enemies. Many researchers have concluded that young people who watch violence behaviours or acts tend to behave more aggressively or violently, principally when annoyed. This is mainly characteristic of 8- to 12-year-old boys, who are more susceptible to such influences. Individuals are brought into violence by the Media in three ways. First, movies that show violent acts which excite viewers and the belligerent energy can then be transferred to everyday life, causing an individual to be involved in physical doings on the streets. This type of influence is momentary, which could last from several hours to several days. Secondly, television can portray ordinary daily violence committed by parents or colleagues or peers. It is very common nowadays to find television shows that do portray such patterns of violence, because viewer endorsement of this type of programming has ensured its continuation. As a result, children are repeatedly exposed to the use of violence in different circumstances and the number of violent acts on television appears to be ever-increasing. And lastly, violence depicted in the media is illusory and has a surrealistic quality but the real pain and agony resulting from violent actions are very hardly ever shown. The penalties of violent behaviour often seem negligible. Over time, television causes a shift in the system of human values and indirectly leads children believe and think violence as a desirable and even courageous way of re-establishing justice. It has been concluded by The American Psychological Association that television violence accounts for about 10 per cent of violent behaviours among children. (APA Commission on Violence and Youth, Washington, D.C., 1993). In conclusion, it appears there are disparities among the theoretical nuances uttered through the various Social and developmental based programmes propounded by the academics with vested political enterprise such as the succession of theories provided by the home office intelligentsia and the perpetual re-offending by some Youths especially in deprived Communities. Although vast sums of tax payers money have been thrown on such initiatives without much to show for it in terms of impeding the tide to re-offending it appears therefore especially in recessionary times such as this when the government is concerned more about savings than anything else, one could perhaps take solace on Lord Judge the Lord Chief Justice contentions that re-offenders should be brought to justice without considering the costs which could undermine the rule of law.

Soung And That Fury :: essays research papers

There are four Compson children, and four chapters in The Sound and the Fury. Each of the three previous chapters has been narrated by one of the Compson children; the only one left is Caddy. Since Caddy is in many ways the most important character in the book, it would be natural to expect Caddy to be the narrator of the fourth section. But instead, Caddy is cut out of the novel completely: this chapter is narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator, and the focus of the section, bewilderingly, is on Dilsey, the Compsons' Negro cook. The end of the novel, and the symbolic ending of the Compson clan, does not occur with a climactic bang, but rather with a kind of fizzling away into insignificance. Jason's loss of the seven thousand dollars--four of which did not belong to him (hence his claim to the sheriff that he had lost three thousand dollars)--and his subsequent, ineffectual chase of Miss Quentin and the man in the red tie are hardly exciting, moving, or tragic events. More important is Dilsey's simple, strong, protective presence, the only thing holding the Compson family together. Dilsey's simple piety enables her to love Benjy and feel unashamed when she takes him to church. Faulkner once called the Compsons "tragic" people and Dilsey a "good" person. This contrast sheds light on the roles of the characters throughout the novel. Dilsey is not obsessed with the passage of time, and is not overcome by the chaos of experience in the same way as the "tragic" characters. Rather, she simply endures through happiness and sadness with the same incorruptible faith and the same will to protect those she cares about. For just a split second at the end of the novel we are taken back into the mind of Benjy,

Lean Management :: Business, Manufacturing

Lean management is a thought process and a philosophy, not a tool, used to look at a business weather it is manufacturing, service or any other activity with a supplier and a customer relation with the goal of eliminating non-value added tasks (Womack, Jones, Ross, 1990). The principles of lean production include teamwork, communication, efficient use of resources and continuous improvement (Kaizen). It can be said that they pioneered the idea of applying the concepts outside of manufacturing environments. The objective of lean production is a system for organising and managing product development, operations, suppliers, and customer relation that requires less human effort, less space, less capital, less material and less time to make products with fewer defects to precise customer desires, compared with the previous system of mass production (Marchwinski & Shook, 2004). The concepts of both Ohno (1988) and Womack and Jones (2003) search for ways to reduce lead time by eliminating w aste it can be said that the terms â€Å"Lean† and â€Å"Toyota Production System† are synonymous. Lean management is not restricted to the actions that take place in the manufacturing function of a company, rather it relates to activities range from product development, procurement and manufacturing over to distribution. Together these areas create the lean enterprise. The ultimate goal of implementing lean production in an organization is to have the customer in focus when improving productivity, enhancing quality, shortening lead times, reducing costs etc. These are factors representing the performance of a lean production system. The determinants of a lean production system are the actions taken, the principles implemented and the changes made to the organization to achieve the desired performance (Karlsson & Ahlstrom, 1996) There are multiple ways to combine the individual practices to represent the multi-dimensional nature of lean manufacturing. In combining these practices, the researcher has to compete with the technique used to combine and the actual content of the combinations. The dominant method in operations management literature has been to use exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis to combine individual practices in a multiplicative function to form orthogonal and unidimensional factors (Flynn et al., 1995; Cua et al., 2001; Shah & Goldstein, 2006). A review of research from organization theory, and labour and human resource management shows less reliance on factor analysis and offers multiple ways for combining individual practices and creating an index. One such method is the additive index used by Osterman (1994) and MacDuffie (1995) in developing â€Å"bundles† of interrelated human-resource management practices.

An Analysis of Representing Representation Essay -- Fried, Michael

The Studio of the Painter portrays the social and cultural position of the artist. The center group consists of a nude female model, a young peasant boy, and Courbet himself working on a landscape. To the left is a group of people who represent a cross spectrum of society and the various social classes; while to the right are some of the artist’s friends—including the well-known essayist Baudelaire. This painting, along with several others, was hung in Courbet’s Pavilion of Realism; the exhibit was created after Courbet refused to paint to the rules of the French Academy in order to be shown at the Exposition Universelles des Beaux-Arts. Rather than portraying a woman as the traditional allegory, Courbet uses her as the inspiration behind the landscape painting thus creating a connection between the standard female nude and nature. The painting has connections to the theory of absorption by Courbet portraying all of the figures being absorbed in their own thoug hts so that the viewer is being ignored and is rendered unnecessary. Like a play at a theatre, the scene portrayed can be seen as a theatre production being performed for the viewer and essentially makes the viewer believe that they are uninvolved. Overall, the painting is a statement of Courbet’s desire to go beyond traditional painting and viewer roles and create a new way of separating art from the collective eye. Michael Fried’s article Representing Representation focuses on the central group of Courbet’s Studio of the Painter as a â€Å"desire to reduce to an absolute minimum all sense of distance between [the] painting and beholder.† As his introduction, he states that he will compare the painter in the Studio to one of Courbet’s well-known self portraits—The Man with t... ...s from what he is actually trying to say and could frustrate a reader who just wants to learn about Courbet’s Studio. If Fried had covered only one of the topics that he writes about the essay could have been much stronger and more focused than what he has produced rather than a conglomeration of several ideas that the reader has to process in order to get the main idea of what the author originally set out to do. Fried’s analysis is well-written and well-supported and in the beginning he clearly sets out what he is going to cover, but overall it is a lot of information being covered in a portentous style that disconnects the reader from the writing—much like Courbet set to disconnect the viewer from the painting. Works Cited Fried, Michael. "Representing Representation: On the Central Group in Courbet's "Studio"." Art in America, September 1981, 127-133, 168-173.

Reaction Paper About a Play

Reyjin C. Balas Nov. 16, 2012 DAM5PROFES1 BS-Industrial Design Page 1 DULAANG FILIPINO Presents â€Å" E † The Dulaang Filipino is the College’s resident theater company. It is empowered to educate its audience on various social issues afflicting today’s society. This theatrical show was held at the 5F School of Design and Arts Theater (DLS-CSB SDA Campus). In this play, the story began in a musical way, showing their creative costumes, sounds, colourful lighings, all the characters were dancing, singing, saying out loud their dialogues one by one. The story was all about the mystery that was happening behind the so called â€Å"greatest show on Earth. There was this general manager of the world's largest railroad circus who has a number of problems on his hands for the upcoming season. Then there is his maid that knows all what was happening in their place. Other main characters in the story were the two agents who tried to solve the problem / mystery up to the end of the story, it wasn’t solved by the two. Up to the end of the story, I was still confused about the story and the characters because there was also a killing part where there were parts of the human body that were thrown everywhere on the stage, those hands, feet and the head that was taken off, I don’t know who’s head was that, but that part was very creepy for me, the light effects helped a lot because there was also a smoke effect and the color of the lights at that time was red. What I liked the most in the show was the roles of the two agents. I was amazed on the way they deliver their dialogues, kung ako ang nasa lugar nila, siguro malilito at Balas 2 mabubulol na ako sa pagsasalita. The second that I liked was the part that almost all of them were walking and dancing while wearing roller blades and they’re even on the stage. May part na kinabahan ako dahil baka may biglang mahulog sa platform na gawa nila, may mga maliliit din na gulong kasi ung ilalim. The third thing that I liked was that they got my full attention for the whole time of play, and I liked their costumes, colourful and creative, even though other props were not that made well and if I’m going to rate it out of ten, I will give them an eight.

Precarious Condition of Primary Education Essay

The status of the primary education given in the ZP run schools of the backward districts of Dhule & Nandurbar is a big mess & the administrators of both the Zilla Parishads are seem to be at their wits end because of the irresponsible teachers, & negligent staff. The trouble is doubled recently because of the increasing number of drunkard teachers who hardly attend the school & whenever they turn up they come up in dead drunk state. There have been incidences where the frustrated villagers have locked up the school after seeing that the deputed teachers don’t attend the school for weeks, & if at all they attend the school turn by turn. The headmasters, the teachers & the staff of the schools are hand in gloves in the conspiracy of absence from the school & whenever the authorities pay a surprise visit they try to cover up the matter. The CEO of Dhule ZP, Deependrasingh Kushwah last week suspended the headmasters of two schools & issued show cause notices to the staff teachers of two schools on account of the serious discrepancies in the number of students dubiously enrolled & the actual number of the students in these schools. Many schools in the mountain area of these districts are single teacher schools because the staff appointed never joins the duty & if at all join it is only on the paper. The teachers use their political connections & also grease the palms of the responsible officers to cancel their transfers to unwanted places in the hilly terrains of Shirpur, Dhadgaon, Taloda, Akkalkuwa, Shahada Tehsils of Dhule & Nandurbar districts. The level of the education & the training of the teachers amongst the ZP run schools is another problem & one doubts if the teachers have really complied the eligibility criterion for the appointment as a teacher. Sometime back when he was a CEO of ZP Dhule, Purushottam Bhapkar inspected some of the ZP run schools & was surprised to see that the teachers could not spell the simple word †Week†, they could not write correctly the spellings of the weekdays, many could not count beyond 100 & were unable to remember the tables beyond 10. The increasing number of alcohol addicted teachers in ZP school is another menace in these schools these days & in a recent Nandurbar ZP meeting the sitting standing committee member & Nandurbar District BJP president Nagesh Padwi raised this serious issue & appealed the administration & the standing committee chairman Jipalsingh Rawal to take serious action against the teachers found drunk in the school. Such is the peril of the incidences of drunken teachers attending the school that the demand of keeping alcohol test kit in ZP schools is tabled in this meeting by the members. Nandurbar ZP has decided to go for Dress Code for the teachers in ZP school so that the misbehaving teacher could be noticed. There is a demand from the villagers & the parents of the students where these schools are, to keep a biometric instrument which will keep the record of the attendance of the teachers & staff so that the defaulters could be brought to books. The members of the standing committee also pointed out in this meeting that there are many schools running in the district only on paper & the authorities also have a record of such schools but because of the political influence, interference no action is taken on the teachers & the staff involved. The members of ZP, the administration claim that it is the teachers & staff of the school having the backing from the political leaders of the districts, is responsible for the rack & ruin of the education in these schools. Overall the situation of the primary education & the ambitious Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Scheme of the government in ZP run schools of Dhule & Nandurbar Districts is really a weltering one. ———————————————————————————————-

Exploring the Chinese Distribution Strategy for Gallo

According to China Research and Intelligence (2010), distribution channels are still the key factor to success. Since the Chinese and Hong Kong markets show a slight preference for on-trade channels, especially concerning exclusive products such as wine, E&J Gallo Rose concentrates on them (China Research and Intelligence, 2010). According to Hollensen (2011), given that Gallo Rose is a high quality product selective distribution would be the appropriate form of distribution as Gallo Rose would be targeting a specific market. Gallo would depend on Chinese and Hong Kong wholesalers to distribute the wine to hotels and supermarkets, preferably those whom the competitors are not currently using. Therefore, a range of intermediaries has to be chosen carefully: mid to high price restaurants offering Western food, international pubs and lounges build a trading base. Once the wine is established, cooperation with high class Chinese and Hong Kong establishments could be considered. However, a presence in high segment supermarkets will be obligatory to make the product accessible. Jenster and Cheng (2008) stress the rise of other off-trade channels, such as specialty wine stores and online wine-sites. The former is particularly important for new Chinese wine drinkers. The latter will be a part of Gallo’s distribution chain as soon as it reaches a higher market share. As outlined by Bretherton and Carswell (2001), the Chinese distribution system is improving slowly. To set up in Hong Kong and coastal areas of China is relatively easy, as the infrastructure is excellent. Direct exports with the support of an executive office are sufficient. Nonetheless, further expansion will conflict with trade barriers and local protectionism. Areas have to be treated separately and high transaction costs are necessary to build own distribution channels. However, the advantages of higher reliance and lower control costs are obvious. Import taxes in China are lowered according to WTO agreements (9), but still 14% (Yu and Sun et al, 2009) plus value-added and consumption tax. On the other hand, Hong Kong tries to create a wine trading hub with the exemption of import taxes since 2008 (Winechina. com, 2010).

Nature Writing, and the Problem of Canonical Elision Essay

The research paper is quite possibly the most common assignment in English courses at CGU. For tips on how to approach your research papers, see our brochure on Writing in English Courses. The Paper| The struggle now being waged in the professoriate over which writers deserve canonical status is not just a struggle over the relative merits of literary geniuses; it is a struggle among contending factions for the right to be represented in the picture America draws of itself. (Tompkins 201) In 1850, with the help of her well-known father, James Fenimore Cooper, Susan Fenimore Cooper publishedRural Hours, a natural historical account of one year in the Otsego Lake area of New York state. I mention her father’s name in order to situate Susan Fenimore Cooper in literary history, or, more accurately, to position her book in relation to our understandings of literary history. For truthfully, if literary history were faithful to the developments of, and reactions to, literature of the past, Susan Fenimore Cooper’s name would be well-known to all scholars of nineteenth-century American literature. Her book was immensely popular both in America and abroad; it went through six printings by 1854, the publication year of Thoreau’s Walden. Rural Hours was reissued with a new chapter in 1868, reprinted again in 1876, and then abridged by 199 pages and reissued in 1887. When critics praised Rural Hours1 and the volume sold well, Susan Fenimore Cooper achieved literary fame as a writer of natural history. However, while many of her contemporaries knew her name, most scholars in the 1990s know only of her father. Why this oversight in the construction of literary history?2 In 1968, David Jones, a visitor to the Otsego Lake region in New York, reissued the 1887 edition of Cooper’s book. In his introduction he compares Rural Hours to the canonically established Walden and claims, â€Å"Rural Hours is not, like Walden, a multi-level book† (xxxvii). Instead Cooper’s text, Jones asserts, â€Å"tells us as [well] as a book can†¦how a representative part of the rural northeastern United States looked, sounded,  smelled, and even felt in the middle of the nineteenth century† (xxxvii-viii). Admittedly, portraying a location so fully is no small task, and although Jones intimates that Rural Hours provides enjoyable light reading, he clearly believes that Thoreau’s text far surpasses Cooper’s in its complexity and depth. I want to suggest that Jones’s evaluation of Rural Hours overlooks subtle but important textual intricacies, that Cooper’s text is multi-levelled, and is, in fact, concerned with much more than the local flora and fauna of the Otsego Lake region. One problem in determining the literary value of Rural Hours lies in our inability to classify its genre. The book takes the form of a nonfictional journal, but Rural Hours cannot be classified as autobiography in the traditional sense of one writer imparting the story of his or her life experiences. Cooper portrays her outside world as much as her personal experiences, and she relates her writings to her community more than to her own life. One is tempted to call Rural Hours â€Å"nature writing† and, in fact, her contemporary supporters do classify her text as such, but Cooper’s text does not meet the typical criteria for this genre, either. This is in part because of the imprecision of definitions of nature writing itself. Critics generally agree that nature writing is non-fictional prose in which the writer functions as an observer of the outside world, attempts to represent that outside world in language, and typically, reflects on the process of giving language to the natural world. It is commonly agreed that nature writing also evinces the author’s reflections of his or her individual spiritual growth. Sharon Cameron, in writing about Thoreau, suggests that â€Å"to write about nature is to write about how the mind sees nature, and sometimes about how the mind sees itself† (44). In his recent study of several nature writers, Scott Slovic echoes and expands Cameron’s definition: â€Å"[Nature writers] are not merely, or even primarily, analysts of nature or appreciators of nature–rather, they are students of the human mind† (3). We find, then, that according to our current definitions, â€Å"nature writers† write about their environment, but they also consider their personal relationship to it. Therefore, a writer like Cooper, who concerns herself more directly with her surroundings and less with her personal  reactions to them, somehow does not quite fit the criteria for the genre. How can a book such asRural Hours, rich with observations on the botany, ornithology, and natural history of an area, not be considered nature writing? I submit that we have been trained to read books about the natural world and the human relationship to it in ways that affect our abilities to find value in texts that deviate from the canonical Thoreauvian form–a form based on personal reflections regarding one’s relationship with nature, one’s connection to the community, the difficulties of conveying perceptions through language, and, most importantly, perhaps, the process of forming identity. When contemporary readers realize and examine the expectations that they bring to Rural Hours, and willingly suspend those expectations, thereby allowing the text to reveal its own agenda and voice its own concerns, they will discover that Cooper’s work is rich with insights regarding nineteenth-century America’s social, natural, and historical politics. Rural Hours is not so directly involved in exploring â€Å"how the mind sees nature† or â€Å"how the mind sees itself.† Instead, Cooper concerns herself with the ominous task of giving words to each aspect of her natural surroundings and to exploring the implications of this environment not for herself as an individual, but for her larger community, and ultimately, for the entire nation. We must ask, then, not only if Rural Hours has literary value, but also if we as critics can consider expanding our current conceptions of nature writing to accommodate a book such as Rural Hours. In his attempt to summarize what he considers to be the weaknesses of Cooper’s book, Jones quotes a description of autumn in Rural Hours and uses Cooper’s words to create an analogy concerning her prose: autumn, like Cooper’s prose, is â€Å"variable, changeable, not alike twice in succession, gay and brilliant yesterday, more languid and pale today† (xxxvii). â€Å"As literature,† Jones further explains, â€Å"Rural Hours varies from ‘brilliant’ in one passage to ‘languid and pale’ in another† (xxxvii). Jones offers very little support for this critical assessment of the book and, therefore, I cannot help but wonder why he truly found the narrative to be â€Å"languid and pale.† As we will see, Jones’s explanation for the â€Å"weakness of Miss  Cooper’s work† is circular and underdeveloped, and supports the conventional notion that quality nature writing portrays less of nature, and more of the author’s engagement with the natural world. Further examination of his criticisms will help to explain the exclusion of Rural Hours from most records of literary history. Jones explains, â€Å"[Cooper] brought realism and vitality to her portrait of rural life by revealing its ‘variable’ and ‘changeable’ nature, to be sure, but the very act produced a major flaw in the book† (xxxvii). Jones here suggests that Cooper’s realistic portrayal of the natural world is the very downfall of her book. However, her narrative dedication to the natural world, to its vitality and constancy, necessitates that portions of the text be purely descriptive. Jones thus seems to contradict himself: the â€Å"one level† at which Cooper’s text is â€Å"unsurpassed,† he asserts, is in its ability to so accurately and faithfully describe the natural world. This strength, however, is also the weakness of the book. Finally, Jones does not define this â€Å"flaw† at all; instead, he proceeds to discuss Thoreau’s Walden. Jones assumes throughout his introduction that Thoreau’s book is far superior to Cooper’s, that readers ofRural Hours will agree with this assessment, and that, therefore, his assessment requires no justification. This method of reasoning also presupposes that Walden and Rural Hours afford the same criteria for judgement, or, that they exhibit similar attempts at representing nature.3 If Cooper and Thoreau actually engage similar projects, this assessment is valid. If, however, these writers differ in their purposes, or represent–and react to–the natural world in distinct ways, then we need to examine these criteria of evaluation. How do we approach a text that attempts to represent the natural world on its own terms? Have we been taught to read texts whose straightforward depiction of the natural world is, seemingly, their main goal?4 If, as Jones suggests, Cooper’s prose remains so loyal to her subject that it is too realistic, and therefore borders on boring, we need to ask how we expect Cooper to represent nature so as to hold our attentions and why her  contemporaries were not also bored by her book. Many questions arise: what are contemporary readers’ expectations of writing that engages the natural world? How do our expectations differ from those of readers in the nineteenth century? Assuming that readers bought and consumed Cooper’s text because they found interest in both its subject matter and its perspective, how does Cooper’s direct conveyance of the natural world reflect her culture’s interests and concerns?5 What is the role of nature in such a text, as opposed to the role of people? How often do we require that a â€Å"realistic† portrayal of nature be replaced by metaphor or symbolism, thereby preventing â€Å"languid and pale† prose? How often do we want to read specifically about nature, and how often are we more interested in exploring the human presence in nature? Finally, is Rural Hours actually poorly written, or boring? Such questions, originating from an attempt to understand the immense success and warm reception of Rural Hours in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, cause us to examine our conceptions of how writers should relate to nature, how their relations should be represented through language, and how we–as readers–should read such texts. Read within our common understandings of nature writing, a conception that stresses writings influenced by the Romantics, Cooper’s prose may seem languid and pale, but if we approach Cooper’s text in other ways, as I will demonstrate, we will discern the richness of Rural Hours. Interest in writing that depicts the environment has increased in recent years. Clearly, texts such as Emerson’s â€Å"Nature† and Thoreau’s Walden have dominated our reading lists, but studies such as Cecelia Tichi’sNew World, New Earth and Annette Kolodny’s The Lay of the Land and The Land Before Her investigate the history of American interest in the environment and invite us to consider a variety of literary forms as important in understanding how Americans have related to their natural environment through the centuries. Tichi states, â€Å"Consistently since the seventeenth century [environmental reform] has formed an integral and important part of our cultural and literary history† (x). American interest in the land infiltrates our earliest documents, as Tichi proves in her study. In early  America, â€Å"the American spirit and the American continent were bonded ideologically,† and arguably continue to be bonded ideologically, albeit in different ways (Tichi ix). Another important study of Americans’ conceptions of the wilderness as reflected in literature is Bernard Rosenthal’s City of Nature. Rosenthal’s study focuses on Cooper’s predecessors and contemporaries, and concludes that two ideas of nature emerge in the writings of the American Romantics. He locates one idea of nature in the conception of wilderness as the space to be assumed by the emerging American city. The second idea of nature concerns the â€Å"new religious myth,† an individual journey into nature for the purpose of establishing what Rosenthal terms â€Å"the city of the self† (27). Put another way, â€Å"two irreconcilable connotations emerged as the most important definitions of the word nature†: one in which â€Å"nature represented commodity being transformed into civilization,† and one in which â€Å"nature became the metaphor for a new spiritual mythology† for the nineteenth-century individual (Rosenthal 31).6 Rosenthal suggests that, during the nineteenth century, the majority of Americans conceived of nature in this first way, and that most of the American Romantic writers worked within the second understanding of nature (71).7 These two conceptions of nature largely inform our readings of nineteenth-century texts that center, in some way, around the natural world. We have been taught not only to conceive of the natural world as a metaphor for our own society, but also to read texts that depict the natural world in terms of what they impart regarding the individual human spirit.8 We therefore approach texts that describe the natural world and that share personal reflections regarding the landscape with the expectation that they will either consider â€Å"the transformation of nature into its purest form, civilization,† or that they will explore nature â€Å"as spiritual place,† as the site of â€Å"an interior journey to a private place† in the spirit (Rosenthal 18), or that the author will attempt both visions of nature. 9 As readers we are taught that while purely descriptive prose may be poetically beautiful, it is boring, contains no metaphor or symbolism, and therefore lacks importance because it does not pertain to individual  spiritual growth. In the words of a colleague, â€Å"We skim over the flowers and birds and pretty things and look for what really happens.† However, what â€Å"really happens† often happens within the descriptive prose that we overlook. In relying on metaphor for our readings of such texts — either the metaphor of nature as civilization or nature as self — we fail to investigate the implications of capturing nature in language or the process by which a writer envisions elements of nature and transforms that vision into linguistic representation. We fail, finally, to ask how this investigation into the natural world functions not only for the individual or for society, but for the natural world itself. At this point, some may accuse me of oversimplifying nature writing; some may argue that metaphor and symbolism are the more complicated ways in which authors employ language, and that to dismiss these linguistic forms is to reduce nature writing to the parroting of knowledge of natural history, or the meaningless naming of colors, sounds, and sights. I am not, however, suggesting that nature writing texts not be considered for their metaphorical value, only that we consider the implications of only considering them in this way. Susan K. Harris makes a similar point in her study of nineteenth-century women’s sentimental novels written between 1840 and 1870: There appears to be an unspoken agreement not to submit nineteenth-century American women’s novels to extended analytical evaluation, largely†¦ because the evaluative modes most of us were taught devalue this literature a priori. (44) While Harris’s study focuses on fictional writings, the implications of her study for the study of nature writing and Susan Fenimore Cooper’s text are multiple and deserving of some attention. Harris finds that the criteria upon which scholars often scrutinize texts in order to determine their literary merit and the methods they employ in â€Å"analyzing† texts disregard important alternative aspects of texts. Harris suggests reading texts through a method she calls â€Å"process analysis,† a method of reading and interpreting a text that â€Å"foregrounds the relationship of the literary critical task to the critic’s stance in her own time† (145) and that considers the public, political and social context from which the  text emerged.10 Harris explains her belief that it is â€Å"important to establish the terms of the debate(s) in which the text participates the positions it takes, and how these positions are embodied in its textual structure† (46).11 Thus, as the language of the text is foregrounded, we look at the text as â€Å"both reactive and creative,† and disregard the traditional concern that the text â€Å"self-consciously embody ‘timeless truths'† (45). A text such as Cooper’s Rural Hours faces many of the obstacles in contemporary criticism that the sentimental novels that interest Harris face, especially when considered as part of the category of writing that has come to be called nature writing. Not only does Cooper’s book adopt a prosaic style that is contrary to those of canonized texts, but her book also forms part of a genre that itself is not very well established in the canon. She is, finally, a woman writing in a denigrated style within in a genre largely ignored by traditional scholarship. As critics have only recently begun to realize, historical and contemporary writers who represent their relationships to their surrounding environments exemplify differing ways of using language, and the linguistic methods these writers employ to represent and conceive of the natural world reflect, in complicated ways, the ideological implications of our cultural conceptions of nature. An understanding of the content of such writings, the issues they raise, and the methods of linguistic construction they employ will enable us, as literary scholars and historians, to realize how our language reflects our attitudes toward the earth, and more pointedly, how such attitudes have determined, prevented, or justified our actions against, and reactions to, the earth. The traditional approaches to such texts consider â€Å"timeless truths† in the forms of metaphors concerning nature as civilization or journeys to nature as journeys to the self. But these views often neglect to consider the author’s interest in the political and social opinions of the time concerning the proper relationship of society and the earth, and how writers in our society throughout history have coded such opinions in language.12 Studies such as Harris’s often center on cultural conceptions of gender in women’s fiction.13 The recent critical focus on issues of gender differentiation has lead contemporary critics to ask if women â€Å"naturally† relate to the outside world differently than men. In keeping with this interest, Annette Kolodny suggested in her 1975 study,The Lay of the Land, â€Å"that women’s writings and linguistic usages have all along been offering us alternate means of expression and perception† (ix) and that an examination of women’s writings on the subject of nature could yield better understandings of American conceptions of the wilderness. Kolodny also states that â€Å"a conscious and determined struggle to formulate for themselves the meaning of their landscape characterizes the writings of nineteenth-century Americans† (Lay of the Land 71). Certainly both Cooper and Thoreau’s texts engage in this struggle, although their engagements take different forms. Although I am not aware of any critical investigations as to whether Cooper’s and Thoreau’s alternative narrative styles are based in gender differences,14 most recent critics of Cooper (of which there are few) do seize on the issue of gender when exploring her text. Unlike Jones, they quickly dismiss Thoreau from their studies, and instead suggest that Cooper’s text presents a representative depiction of woman’s relationship to the natural world in nineteenth-century America.15 The most recent study of Rural Hours appears in Vera Norwood’s Made from This Earth, in which the author devotes a chapter to Susan Fenimore Cooper and her arguable influence on the women nature writers subsequent to her.16 Norwood argues that Cooper represented a â€Å"literary domestic,†17 a woman writer who wrote to deliver the â€Å"scenes and values of middle-class homes to a wide readership† (27). Thus, Norwood suggests, Cooper used the occasion of her book not only to describe her natural surroundings, but also to impart valuable lessons to her readers in a non-threatening manner. Norwood asserts that Cooper turned to nature to discover what nature teaches about the roles of women in the domestic realm.18 For example, Cooper describes robins and praises the mother robin’s dedication to her young, implicitly suggesting that human mothers should emulate the robin’s self-sacrificing nature (Cooper 39-40/Norwood 37-8). Thus, Norwood sees a conversation in Rural Hours, a dialogue that Cooper creates in her text between the  natural and human worlds in which gender roles in nature inform and enlighten gender roles in human society. Finally, Norwood claims that Cooper â€Å"was consumed with understanding what nature suggests about female roles and family responsibilities, and how gender definitions and familial arrangements help people comprehend what they see in nature† (37). Cooper does occasionally focus on gender roles and responsibilities in Rural Hours, but to state that she is â€Å"consumed† with such issues greatly exaggerates her narrative interests. As Norwood points out, Cooper ruminates on the devoted mother robin, but she also, interestingly, refers to the â€Å"voluntary imprisonment† of the mother, and to her â€Å"generous, enduring patience† (Cooper 40). While this patience is clearly â€Å"a noble attribute of parental affection† for Cooper, the scene leaves her somewhat incredulous and stunned by the mother’s consistent, uncomplaining waiting: Cooper admits this is a â€Å"striking instance† of parental devotion (40). While she may advocate human parental devotion, she also recognizes that the natural world is more willingly generous than the human world,19 and that whereas humans can learn from nature, there are also aspects of the natural world beyond human comprehension.20 Interestingly, and perhaps even provocatively, Norwood does not point out that the voluntarily imprisoned mothering robin is accompanied by the â€Å"male† of the â€Å"little family,† who â€Å"occasionally relieves his mate by taking her place awhile† and â€Å"exerts himself to bring her food, and to sing for her amusement† (40). Cooper includes his participation in her description of â€Å"voluntary imprisonment†; his is also a â€Å"striking instance† of parental affection. If Cooper invokes the mother robin as a testament to giving mothering, her invocation of the father bird suggests his necessary assistance around the â€Å"nest.† Ultimately, then, to read Cooper’s text in terms of its interest in gender affords some intriguing insights: Cooper clearly remains within her position as a middle- to upper-class â€Å"lady† throughout her narrative and, just as clearly, seeks confirmation of gender divisions and domestic roles from the natural world.21 These instances, though, are rare in Cooper’s  text. The themes and issues that arise more often in Rural Hours concern the establishment of a national identity and history, and while Cooper does not divorce her gender from the concerns that inform her larger agenda, she also does not encompass her interest in nationalism within explorations of domesticity. Certainly one aspect of Cooper’s desire to explore the natural world in order to formulate a national identity concerns the place of women in society, but to read Rural Hours solely in terms of its attempt to explore the implications of gender roles as exemplified in the natural environment greatly simplifies the complexities and layers of Cooper’s book. I do not wish to suggest that traditional feminist readings of Cooper’s text are unwarranted or unnecessary, nor that such readings will prove unproductive. I do believe, however, that reading Cooper’s book through too narrow a focus is hazardous not only in seeking to establish her in the canon of â€Å"serious† and â€Å"teachable† writers, but also in that such a reading sidesteps many larger cultural issues that her text engages. A critical reading of Cooper’s text should investigate her representations and explorations of gender roles in mid-nineteenth century America as well as her other complex and overt concerns, such as the creation of an American history, the treatment of American Indians, the problems of deforestation, and the religious connotations of the natural world, all of which fall under the rubric, in Cooper’s text, of the establishment of a national identity.22 As Jones points out, the majority of Cooper’s text contains descriptions of her surroundings. Her reflections are not always couched in metaphor, as Jones also suggests, but this does not detract from the value of Cooper’s text, nor does it indicate that Cooper does not entertain significant issues in her writing. Cooper’s descriptions of her surroundings reflect and embody her larger concern for the development of a national identity based in the land. In her view, the establishment of a national identity is linked to individual conceptions of the land, its flora and fauna, its people, and the relationship of the country’s peoples to the land. Cooper depicts the landscape of Otsego Lake, relates the history of the land and  its peoples, and describes the indigenous plants, animals, and waters of the area in an attempt to create an identity of place. The landscape, and the life the land supports, create the identity of this place. Cooper’s â€Å"literature of place†23 serves not only to create a natural identity for the Otsego Lake region, but also to assert the need for a similarly constructed national identity. The creation of a national identity, then, is the â€Å"cultural work† of Cooper’s text; she seeks to locate the â€Å"natural† identity of her new nation. Cooper’s development of this theme — a national identity rooted in the landscape — is subtle and calculated, but a scrupulous reading of Rural Hours reveals the careful construction of Cooper’s text. The opening pages ofRural Hours share observations that reflect the intentions of the book as stated in Cooper’s 1850 preface: The following notes contain, in a journal form, the simple record of those little events which make up the course of the seasons in rural life. In wandering about the fields, . . . one naturally gleans many trifling observations. . . The following pages were written in perfect good faith, all the trifling incidents alluded to having occurred as they are recorded. (Preface) In her first chapter, we read of the coming of spring: snow thaws, buds appear, robins return to the area. These are seemingly â€Å"little events,† â€Å"trifling† in their lack of worldly significance. One almost immediately notices, however, the pride Cooper takes in plants and animals â€Å"peculiar† to her â€Å"native land,† those that are uniquely America’s own. In contrast to the European robin, â€Å"our robin never builds [a nest] on the ground† (21), and the â€Å"pretty† white-bellied swallow, which â€Å"has been confounded with the European martin† is, Cooper assures, â€Å"peculiar to America† (56). Cooper also explains the uniqueness of American plants, complaining that the â€Å"wild natives of the woods† are often crowded out by European plants that were introduced by the colonists and that â€Å"[drive] away the prettier natives† (81).24 In her discussion of autumn in America, Cooper ruminates, â€Å"Had the woods of England been as rich as our own† English writers would  have praised the season in their writings long ago (336). Instead, â€Å"one is led to believe that the American autumn has helped to set the fashions for the sister season of the Old World† (335). American writers’ reflections on the landscape have encouraged English writers to do the same, Cooper suggests. These â€Å"trifling† observations begin to speak together, and we find Cooper asserting the importance of knowing the natural forms indigenous to one’s place. Thus, for Cooper, determining which birds, animals, and plants are native to America, as well as which of these are unknown to Europeans, helps to define the American landscape, and therefore helps to establish a national identity. She takes pride in her land and in its natural wealth. Cooper also mourns the losses that her land incurs, suggesting that any depletion of the natural aspects of a place drastically alter its identity. Like her seemingly innocent cataloging of natural plants and animals indigenous to America, which emerges as a plea for national pride and definition based on the natural world, her repeated lamentings of disappearing or decreasing portions of the natural world emerge as a plea for the preservation of the wilderness. Like Cooper’s gently emerging concern for identifying indigenous plants and animals, Cooper gradually develops this theme of loss throughout her text. â€Å"Little events,† when taken cumulatively, have large implications. Cooper observes wild pigeons in early March, for instance, and recalls a previous season when â€Å"they passed over the valley in†¦ large unbroken flocks several miles in extent succeeding each other.† Then she remarks, â€Å"There have not been so many here since that season† (18). The reader might dismiss this observation due to its early position in her book, but as one progresses through the text and continually comes across this motif of longing for previous times when–somehow–nature was more complete, one realizes that Cooper is truly concerned about the changes taking place in her surroundings. Her concern becomes much more overt, but not until much later in the book.25 Cooper’s seemingly minor concern for the losses of groups of  birds or plants culminates in her consideration of the rapid deforestation occurring in the country.26 She returns to the subject many times throughout the course of Rural Hours and, further along in the book, strongly criticizes people for their careless use of timber: One would think that by this time, when the forest has fallen in all the valleys — when the hills are becoming more bare every day–when timber and fuel are rising in prices, and new uses are found for even indifferent woods–some forethought and care in this respect would be natural in people laying claim to common sense. (213-14) Clearly, Cooper is warning her contemporaries by suggesting that they discontinue the destruction of trees for purposes of fueling their homes. The continual destruction of the forests so radically alters the landscape that Cooper cannot conceive of continued deforestation. She not only seeks to educate her audience regarding the benefits of preservation; she also makes the preservation of the American landscape a moral imperative. This moral duty for national preservation becomes linked to Cooper’s feelings regarding the â€Å"red man,† or Native Americans (93). Again, Cooper subtly portrays this sense of the loss of the indigenous peoples early in Rural Hours. When standing beside a clear running spring, she states, â€Å"one seems naturally to remember the red man; recollections of his vanished race linger there in a more definite form than elsewhere† (93). The rolling, clear water somehow evokes the â€Å"vanished† race: â€Å"yesterday they were here, to-day scarce a vestige of their existence can be pointed out among us† (94). However, later in Rural Hours, Cooper more overtly conveys her feelings regarding the colonists’ treatment of the indigenous peoples, which she finds integral to the colonists’ treatment of the landscape. While viewing a forest grove, she laments: â€Å"It needs but a few short minutes to bring one of these trees to the ground† (193). She reminds her readers that entire generations will come and go in the time that it takes for one of these mature trees to reach such magnificent heights: The stout arm so ready to raise the axe to-day, must grow weak with age, it must drop into the grave; its bone and sinew must crumble into dust long before another tree, tall and great as those, shall have grown from the  cone in our hand (193-94). In the same paragraph, Cooper calls for a reinstitution of wilderness, claiming that the wild deer, the wolf and the bear â€Å"must return from beyond the great lakes,† and then, significantly, that â€Å"the bones of the savage men buried under our feet must arise and move again. . . ere trees like those† ever appear again, so large, so wild (194).27 The mistreatment of Native Americans emerges as a large theme in Cooper’s text. She advocates retaining the names they gave to places and portions of the natural world, partly because of the beauty in â€Å"Indian words,† which â€Å"[unite] both sound and meaning† (484). In the creation of a national identity, Cooper intimates, the power of names is very suggestive: names reveal history and meaning, and the Indians words capture both elements. She argues against re-naming places not only due to the beauty of the Native American’s languages, however, but also because she believes that somehow European-Americans owe the indigenous peoples something. The refrain of loss that resonates throughout Cooper’s text reaches its climax in the following passage. I quote at length to impart Cooper’s passion: There are many reasons for preserving every Indian name which can be accurately placed; generally, they are recommended by their beauty; but even when harsh in sound, they still have a claim to be kept up on account of their historical interest, and their connection with the dialects of the different tribes. A name is all we leave them, let us at least preserve that monument to their memory; as we travel through the country, and pass river after river, lake after lake, we may thus learn how many were the tribes who have melted away before us, whose very existence would have been utterly forgotten but for the word which recalls the name they once bore. (485) As these words suggest, Cooper’s concerns in Rural Hours are far-reaching. Cooper finds little distinction between the establishment of a national identity based in the uniqueness of the land, the preservation of the wilderness, and the maintenance of the influence of indigenous cultures.28 The â€Å"natural† history of this place and its people provide its meaning. These enmeshed issues resonate even more strongly when Cooper places them in accordance with her religious ideals. Although her Christianity by no means permeates the text, its presence offers a cohesion between her many areas of interest. Cooper envisions each and every aspect of the natural world as belonging to part of God’s plan for Americans. For example, while admiring a particularly beautiful sky, Cooper says, At hours like these, the immeasurable goodness, the infinite wisdom of our Heavenly Father, are displayed in so great a degree of condescending tenderness to unworthy, sinful man, as must appear quite incomprehensible- entirely incredible to reason alone–were it not for the recollection of the mercies of past years, the positive proofs of experience†¦.What have the best of us done to merit one such day in a lifetime of follies and failings and sins? (73-74) I do want to stress that these moments are rare in Cooper’s text, that her homilies are short and few, but that they clearly convey her sense of wonder about the natural world.29 She finds value in each aspect of the natural world, and seeks to preserve the world as a testament of her faith in God. While maintaining the Puritan notion that the â€Å"new world† was intended for the colonists to cultivate, and that their duties included imparting Christianity to the Native Americans,30 Cooper also stresses the need to balance the human presence on, and cultivation of, the land with careful preservation of it. She envisions a society that works with the land, not against it, and that creates a national identity based on its intimate knowledge of, and respect for, the natural world. She suggests this balance between humans and nature lightheartedly, saying â€Å"Many birds like a village life; they seem to think man is a very good-natured animal, building chimneys and roofs, planting groves, and digging gardens for their especial benefit† (63). But she also asserts the seriousness of her belief in admiring her village, â€Å"rural and unambitious,† and â€Å"quite in proportion with surrounding objects† (114). Cooper further explains her belief in a â€Å"rural ideal,†31 a sustainable balance between civilization and nature, in an essay collected in The Home  Book of the Picturesque, which was published in 1851: The hand of man generally improves a landscape. The earth has been given to him, and his presence in Eden is natural; he gives life and spirit to the garden. It is only when he endeavors to rise above his true part of laborer and husbandman, when he assumes the character of creator, and piles you up hills, pumps you a river, scatters stones, or sprinkles cascades, that he is apt to fail. Generally the grassy meadow in the valley, the winding road climbing the hill-side, the cheerful village on the bank of the stream, give a higher additional interest to the view; or where there is something amiss in the scene, it is when there is some evident want of judgement, or good sense, or perhaps some proof of selfish avarice, or wastefulness, as when a country is stripped of its wood to fill the pockets or feed the fires of one generation. (82) This interest in creating a national identity based upon a balance of civilization, nature, and the preservation of religious ideologies forms the basic underlying motif in Cooper’s text. While her words often convey seemingly simple observations about her surroundings, Cooper’s linking of the natural world and the human treatment of it with the necessity of establishing a national conception of the proper human relationship to nature forms a complex, intricate portrayal of the myriad concerns of nineteenth-century life. Rural Hours also reveals how issues surrounding the formation of national concepts of environmental treatment were intertwined with the establishment of pride in a new country. Additional readings of Rural Hours will undoubtedly uncover themes and tropes unexplored in the present essay. In order for this to occur, however, we must continually ask ourselves how our preconceptions may prohibit finding value in texts that do not meet established, too often unchallenged, criteria for judgements. One can approach Rural Hours, finally, as a natural history engaged in creating the story of a region and as an attempt to appreciate nature on its own terms: not as a commodity for human use, but as beautiful, powerful, and suggestive of God’s greatness. In writing a balance between humans and nature, Cooper sets an agenda not only for her region, but for the country as a whole. Her text is filled with natural history, but it also expounds upon the concerns of an age in America’s  history. As such, it greatly contributes to our understandings of the human presence on the land. Sample Research Paper for an English Course| [1]. Cunningham offers an overview of critical reactions to Rural Hours (339-40) as do Jones (xvii-xxv) and Norwood (27). BACK [2]. The reading of Cooper’s text that follows, as well as my consideration of issues of literary historiography and canon construction owes much to Jane Tompkins’s work, as suggested by my epigraph, but also to Cathy N. Davidson’s study, Revolution and the Word. There Davidson states, â€Å"The issue here is not that literature provides an inaccurate reflection of history but that no documents can simply be ‘read’ as if they were objective, scientific data produced or preserved as some pure product of a people and the abiding record of their time. The record always suppresses more than it tells. Why, we must ask, are certain records kept in the first place? Why are they saved? The whole process of historiography, the archive itself, must be subjected to rigorous analysis. Who is keeping the records and for what purpose? Who is writing, to whom, and why?† (Revolution 2). These are some of the issues and concerns I will address with regard to Susan Fenimore Cooper and Nature Writing. BACK [3]. In her study, Writing Nature: Henry Thoreau’s Journal, Sharon Cameron considers Thoreau’s attempts at representing nature in his journals, and also contrasts this to Walden. BACK [4]. Obviously, I do not think that Cooper’s and Thoreau’s text engage nature similarly. While both writers reflect upon their surroundings and offer descriptions of elements of the natural world, each writer raises his/her own personal areas for concern. Chapters such as Thoreau’s â€Å"Where I Lived†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"Economy† are totally absent from Cooper’s record of days. Sections concerned with environmental peril, such as Cooper’s reflections on the hazards of deforestation, which I will discuss later in this paper, are unparalleled in Thoreau’s text. While certainly some similar criteria exist for comparison, Thoreau’s Walden is finally a philosophical investigation of individual man’s â€Å"economy† and â€Å"wakefulness,† in Thoreau’s sense of those words, and Rural Hours does not concern the individual so much as the nation, or the community. Together, these texts offer interesting insights into different conceptions of the natural world in relation of humankind in mid-nineteenth century  America. BACK [5]. Jane Tompkins writes, â€Å"The text that becomes exceptional in the sense of reaching an exceptionally large audience does so not because of its departure from the ordinary and conventional, but through its embrace of what is most widely shared† (xvi). Like Tompkins, I assume that when many readers buy and read a book, they find value in that book, and that when a book’s success is marked by many reprintings and re-issuings, this reflects a cultural interest in the subject matter and in the implicit concerns of the book. BACK [6]. In both conceptions of nature, there is a religious ideology informing notions of meaning and direction. As Tichi so aptly explores in her New World, New Earth, the colonists conceived of the land as God’s gift to them, and their taming of the wilderness as therefore ordained by God. BACK [7]. Rosenthal states, â€Å"In America, the abstractions called nature came to be defined as the civilization that emerged from the wilderness; for the Romantics, who found their vocabulary in the country they inhabited, nature came to be equated with the civilization of the self, the world of inner vision† (71). He divides European and American Romantic writers in this way, but then admits the difficulty of such a radical division, especially when considering Thoreau’s Walden. Ultimately, Rosenthal suggests, American writers conceived of nature in both ways, as their texts reveal. BACK [8]. It interests me that the books of Cooper’s contemporary writers whom we do read in literature classes — Emerson, Thoreau, and, in a particularly daring syllabus, Margaret Fuller — were not nearly as successful during their lifetimes as Cooper’s. Furthermore, as many recent critics of nature writing note, the writings of these three authors more often concerned the human world than the natural world. What does it mean that readers in the nineteenth century were more interested in Cooper’s more focused portrayal of the natural world than in Thoreau’s symbolic and metaphorical vision of nature? BACK [9]. I do not mean to criticize Rosenthal for instituting these methods of reading texts that portray nature. Most readings of the canonical texts that engage nature maintain his model of two alternative ways of seeing the importance of nature, and I appreciate his clear delineation of these versions. BACK [10]. Another important context in which to examine such a text is in its relation to the literary heritage from which it originates. This seems especially crucial when considering a  text such as Cooper’s, because she was so clearly influenced by the place of literature in American society. Her father concerned himself with establishing a literary history in the country; Susan Cooper was extremely well-read (as her text evidences: see pgs. 220, 226-7, and her numerous references to writers), and the theme of the construction of a written history of America surfaces in Rural Hours. An analysis of Cooper’s thoughts regarding literature and the contribution her text will make to an emerging literary tradition in her country would certainly prove valuable in understanding the cultural interest in creating an American literary heritage. BACK [11]. Jane Tompkins raises very similar questions in her 1985 study, Sensational Designs. Tompkins asserts that contemporary critics often read our modern-day concerns into older texts — â€Å"questions about the self, the body, the possibilities of knowledge, the limits of language† — instead of heeding the text’s own concerns, such as the â€Å"religious beliefs, social practices, and economic and po litical circumstances† that may have influenced the author and her contemporaries. BACK [12]. Harris delineates the critical implications for such an approach; although, again, her focus is nineteenth-century women’s sentimental novels: â€Å"Structure and language, then, are the dual focuses of process analysis. Each demands three levels of study: the first, contextual, places the text within its own time; the second, rhetorical, examines narrator/narratee contracts and the ways in which the text may play with cultural significances; the third, retrospective, searches for traces of changing consciousness, building blocks for an ideologically self-conscious literary history. Together, they offer a paradigm that produces evaluative as well as investigate questions† (59). BACK [13]. Such studies, in addition to Harris’s, include Cathy N. Davidson’s Introduction to her edition of Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte Temple, and Jane Tompkins’s study of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in her book, Sensational Designs. Much contemporary feminist criticism similarly engages issues of cultural definitions and determinations of gender roles. BACK [14]. Critics inevitably mention Thoreau in their analyses of Rural Hours, but they mention his text as a benchmark, as a starting-off point (see Cunningham 341, Jones xxxvii, Norwood 26, and Patterson 2). It is very interesting that Thoreau’s text is used to describe Cooper’s when Cooper’s text preceded his, and her text sold well, whereas his did not. BACK   [15]. For such examinations, see Cunningham and Maddox. Cunningham’s essay is the older of these two (published in 1944), and celebrates Cooper’s prominence in Cooperstown while expressing frustration with Cooper’s â€Å"failure to face the obligations of her talent† (348). Cunningham speculates on reasons why Cooper’s Rural Hours was not followed up with more book-length writings, and suggests that â€Å"neither her immediate family circle nor the century into which she was born gave a woman freedom to develop creative talents† (349-50). Cooper’s family kept a very strict hold on both her personal and business affairs, and family duties perhaps curtailed her writing. Maddox’s study, which appeared in 1988, states that the strongest theme in Cooper’s writing is the American woman’s duty as inheritor and guardian of a legacy left by pioneering males. Woman is keeper of nature, maintainer of harmony and balance between nature and culture, and it is woman’s responsibility to ensure the harmony between the domestic and external realms. BACK [16]. Norwood bases her reading largely on Lucy B. Maddox’s study and focuses on similar motifs in her reading of Cooper’s text. BACK [17]. Norwood credits Mary Kelley with this phrase (Norwood 27). BACK [18]. Norwood’s tone and overall reading of Cooper’s text perplex me, as will become clear in this paper. On this particular point, for instance, Norwood explains Cooper’s conjoining of home and nature in a disparaging comment: â€Å"So, parasol in hand, Susan Cooper sallied forth from her domestic hearth to the gardens and woods of her home to speak to all Americans about their native land, in a voice blending lessons from the woman’s sphere with knowledge garnered from the scientist-naturalists whose company she kept and books she read† (30, emphasis added). Norwood writes to praise Cooper’s text, but moments like this one seem to belittle Cooper’s position and purpose. Furthermore, Cooper did not merely parrot the books she read and the naturalists with whom she spent time; in fact, many of Cooper’s references to other naturalists serve to correct their mistakes and to challenge their previous findings. Finally, Norwood overlooks many of the complexities in Cooper’s text, and perhaps too willingly accepts Lucy B. Maddox’s views o f Cooper’s text. BACK [19]. This remarkably â€Å"generous† quality of the natural world is, I will argue, a recurring theme in Rural Hours. BACK [20]. I will return to this theme in Cooper’s text later in this paper. BACK [21]. The publishing business at this time emphasized  Cooper’s status as a â€Å"lady† in their first editions of the book: Cooper was not named as author, but rather Rural Hours was â€Å"By a Lady.† Norwood considers the implications of the author’s anonymity (Norwood 27). BACK [22]. Hans Huth offers an insightful reading of the role of national identity in writings of this period. BACK [23]. Pamela Regis asserts a tradition of works and writers that comprise this â€Å"literature of place† genre. See her Describing Early America: Bartram, Jefferson, Crevecoeur, and the Rhetoric of Natural History (xii). BACK [24]. William Cronon’s study of the ecology of colonial New England confirms many of Cooper’s observations regarding plant life and also supports and provides reasons for some of her concerns regarding deforestation practices in nineteenth-century A merica. Cronon’s text is an interesting compliment to Cooper’s first-hand depiction of the imperiled landscape. BACK [25]. I cannot help but believe that Cooper intentionally placed this overt cultural criticism late in the book. Readers became engaged with her text, enticed by her â€Å"lady-like† view of Otsego Lake and its community, drawn in by her â€Å"trifling† observations and records of â€Å"little events,† and then Cooper subtly weaves in her threads of cultural criticism, hidden, as it were, between the plants, birds, and trees. Her society could easily overlook any questionable criticisms Cooper made because they were so buried in Cooper’s text. BACK [26]. Cronon also investigates the rapid deforestation occurring at this time in his Changes in the Land (pp. 108-126). BACK [27]. Cooper experiences a similar desire for a return to an earlier, wilder state of the land in her essay, â€Å"A Dissolving View.† In a fantasy, her view of a rolling, but populated, landscape dissolves into wilderness replete with forests. Finally, though, the â€Å"dissolving view† of her title is implicitly, of course, the dissolving wilderness. In a particularly direct passage, Cooper asserts â€Å"Indeed it would seem as if man had no sooner mastered the art of architecture, than he aimed at rivalling the dignity and durability of the works of nature which served as his models† (84). BACK [28]. Cooper clearly supports the indigenous cultures; however, she also reinforces the white man’s â€Å"duty† in â€Å"educating† and â€Å"civilizing† them. â€Å"This general fertility, this blending of the fields of man and his tillage with the woods, the great husbandry of Providence, gives a fine character to the country, which it could not claim when the lonely savage roamed through  wooded valleys. . .† (224). Later, she states, â€Å"The time seems to have come at last when their own eyes are opening to the real good of civilization, the advantages of knowledge, the blessings of Christianity† (181-82). BACK [29]. This devotion to God and his creation also, I believe, helps explain Cooper’s distance from the natural world. She admires the creation, but has no need to participate in the creation of the world. She seeks only to preserve the work of God, to thank him for his giving to her â€Å"despite our. . .unworthiness† (72). BACK [30]. See Tichi for an exploration of many documents from early America, including sermons and letters, that share this view of the continent. BACK [31]. This is Patterson’s phrase for Cooper’s conception of a relationship between human culture and the natural world. BACK Works Cited| Baym, Nina. Woman’s Fiction: A Guide to Novels by and about Women in America, 1820-1870. 2nd. ed. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Cameron, Sharon. Writing Nature: Henry Thoreau’s Journal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Cooper, Susan Fenimore. â€Å"A Dissolving View.† in The Home Book of the Picturesque: Or American Scenery, Art, and Literature. Introduction by Motley F. Deakin. Gainesville: Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints, 1967. (Facsimile Reproduction) pp. 79- 94. – -. Rural Hours. New York: Putnam, 1850. Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. New York: Hill and Wang, 1983. 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City of Nature: Journeys to Nature in the Age of American Romanticism. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1980. Slovic, Scott. Seeking Awareness in American N ature Writing: Henry David Thoreau, Annie Dillard, Edward Addey, Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden in The Portable Thoreau, ed. Carl Bode. New York: Penguin Books, 1982. Tichi, Cecelia. New World, New Earth: Environmental Reform in American Literature from the Puritans through Whitman. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.