Polonius has sometimes been presented Essay

There has been much debate amongst critics and directors alike on the depth of Polonius’s character, and his purpose in the play. There are those, such as critic Myron Taylor, who view him as a more sinister persona, arguing ‘his ineffectuality does not excuse his moral deviousness. Appearance has become his reality’, thus implying he is used for menacing dramatic effect. However others take a more sympathetic view, for example Elkin Calhoun Wilson; ‘that dotage repeatedly amuses us in his fondness for lecturing and giving advice, however sound, to his meandering young;’, therefore interpreting him as a more bumbling and comical element to an otherwise serious play. Despite understanding both these views I still, like Hamlet, see Polonius as a ‘rash, intruding fool’ [Act. 3Scene. 4 line33]and believe anything done that may appear enigmatic or ominous can only have occurred unintentionally (in the script) or through exaggeration in directing. Similarly to Wilson, I can see how Polonius would add light-hearted, comic relief to the play, especially when paired with quick-witted Hamlet, highlighting the cracks in Polonius’s delusional ‘wise’ role he has adopted. Polonius has traditionally been played as a sinister character, with exaggerations on his spying and sneaking around castles, as is portrayed in Franco Zeffirelli’s version, though many productions in the 20th Century have instead portrayed him as older and more bumbling to bring a comic element to the play. There are two sides of Polonius shown in Act 1 Scene 3 and Act 2 Scene 1. These focus on his relationships with Ophelia and Laertes, and to me portray him as foolish again, though not unintelligent. He appears authoritative ‘Look to’t I charge you; come your ways’ [Scene3 line. 135 to Ophelia] and gives further instructions to Laertes ‘Aboard, aboard.. neither a borrower nor a lender be’ [lines55+75]. This particular line enforces the idea he is comical/foolish; advising Laertes to leave else he’ll miss his crossing, yet proceeding to bombard him with a lengthy advisory speech that states what is obvious. It does seem that he is rambling here as well, as of course Laertes is returning to university, not just starting, making the well-meant advice effectively knowledge that Laertes already has. Both his offspring create an impression of having to be patient with him, replying in just short sentences as if to make up for time lost ‘Most humbly do I take leave my lord’ [Laertes line 81]. The audience’s knowledge that he isn’t as respected as he thinks himself to be can be humorous, developing an almost ‘bumbling’ man who is held in higher esteem by himself than even his long-suffering, and in the case of Ophelia, oppressed, children. With Ophelia, there is a significant difference their relationship than that with Laertes; Polonius seems highly insensitive to her feelings, and Ophelia’s replies become more restrained and subservient. When speaking to Ophelia, for example, Polonius advises her on her relationship with Hamlet ‘Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers’ [Act 1 sc. 3 line 127]; in Kenneth Branagh’s production of the play, Ophelia has already slept with Hamlet, and Branagh makes use of flashbacks in Ophelia’s mind of their sexual relations as she listens absent-mindedly to her father. This helps back up an image of Polonius as rather ignorant, especially as Ophelia’s reply is so submissive, building an impression of an advisor of little use to anybody, which in turn strengthens his role as a comic. However, this display of likeability could be argued to be compromised in Act 2 Scene 1 as Polonius plots to send spies after Laertes ‘put on him What forgeries you please,’ [Act 2 sc. 1 lines19+20], potentially revealing a darker side to him, yet for me this is ruined later on in dialogue ‘And then, sir, does’a this-he does-what was I about to say? ‘ suggesting he puts on an act whilst playing up his deviousness, as the inconsistency in language, dashes and faltering punctuation portray an inconsistent mind that runs away too easily and is not to be taken seriously; quite like the character itself: not intended to be a serious one. With relevance to Claudius, when both in a scene, Polonius can either be argued to be more devious or even more of a fool. The former view could have been picked up on because of the spying and meddling that occurs between the two of them, such as in Act 3 Sc. 1 ‘Her father and myself, lawful espials, Will so bestow ourselves†¦ ‘ [ lines 32+33] and to some may show a more sinister shade to his persona. In Branagh’s full-length version, Polonius is shown to be slyer, with the including of his (spying) scene with Reynaldo; a scene some directors cut out to enhance their own, more positive view of the character, due to his scheming. Polonius is in a superior position in the court, which has been argued to be deliberate to use his status power to a menacingly-inclined advantage, but is this because of his wisdom (as critic Harry Levin believes â€Å"[Polonius is] quotable because of the wisdom of his comments†), or because Claudius just needs a friend? There is a theory which might explain his position, interpreting him as someone who once had a great mind, but is now losing control of it. This is Polonius in a more tragic light, though Claudius evidently still relies on him and trusts him, as he follows Polonius’s advice regarding spying, but also agreeing to a meeting between Hamlet and the Queen before Hamlet is sent to England. The latter theory is the viewpoint that perhaps Claudius and Gertrude see him as a fool. When Polonius in Act 2 Sc. 2 gets carried away in his own wordiness â€Å"Why day is day, night night†¦ † [line 88] unintentionally, he is opposing himself to the idea of his speech â€Å"brevity is the soul of wit† [line 90], and Gertrude even remarks â€Å"More matter with less art. † [line 95], in other words, bluntly pointing out that Polonius’s act as a wise advisor is conjured by himself; that he is not the mind he thinks himself to be. Act 3 Scene 1 reconfirms my original theory, as Polonius guesses-incorrectly and slightly hypocritically-that the cause of Hamlet’s madness is down to Ophelia’s rejection, again giving Hamlet, and the audience, the upper hand ‘yet do I believe The origin and commencement of his grief/ Sprung from neglected love’. Even when it is confirmed that hamlet’s madness has nothing to do with Ophelia, Polonius sticks to his theory despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. Far from appearing sinister then, the two (Claudius and Polonius) together appear foolish, like puppets with Hamlet as their master, manipulating and playing their minds. This is demonstrated earlier in the play, as Polonius tells Ophelia not to believe his vows â€Å"for they are brokers† [Act 1 sc. 3 line 127], yet here, he himself is taken in by Hamlet’s performance. It is also worth noting that Polonius had previously told Ophelia ‘Affection? Pooh, you speak like a green girl’ [Act 1 Sc. 3, lines 127, + 101], showing he is proving to be stubborn on a matter he previously disagreed with-and seemed so ready to persuade Ophelia likewise of- himself. Polonius is often contrasted with Hamlet. It could be argued his place in the play is to emphasise Hamlet’s quick-wittedness and intelligent nature. He seems not to understand the Prince is teasing him conversationally; ‘I did enact Julius Caesar, I was killed I’ th’ Capitol; Brutus killed me’ [Polonius Act 3 Sc. 2lines 105+106] ‘It was a brute part of him to kill so capitol a calf there’ [Hamlet lines 107+8]. Scenes like this also help to contrast Hamlet’s sharp dialogue with Polonius’s slow, lengthy style of speech, particularly when he is with the King or Queen and uses it to impress: as Elkin Calhoun Wilson has noticed ‘†¦ and over-elaborating it [his ‘wisdom’] in speech with the King and Queen’. Hamlet further makes Polonius the butt of his jokes in Act 3 Scene 2 ‘By th’ mass and ’tis, like a camel indeed’ [Polonius line 375] ‘Methinks it is like a weasel’ [Hamlet line 376] and has more fun at the old diplomat’s expense. It also quite blatantly makes a joke out of Polonius, the laughs in the audience this time actually being against him, as he remains too involved in the sound of his own voice to properly register what Hamlet is saying, establishing him unarguably as a comic character. Hamlet is a character with an excellent command over language in the play though, and is naturally clever without striving to be, whereas Polonius speaks in dragging, slow bouts and wants to be considered wise. There is clearly little respect towards Polonius from Hamlet (â€Å"you are a fishmonger† [Act.2 Sc. 2 line 174], and, as he is the protagonist of the play, this sways the audience’s opinion towards him. He is almost too cruel towards him at some points though, e. g. â€Å"old men have grey beards†¦ they have a plentiful lack of wit† [Act. 2 Sc. 2 lines 197-201], clearly describing Polonius, and so perhaps enforcing the idea of him as a tragic character. Right until the end, Hamlet still treats Polonius as a second-class person; showing no remorse at his death and branding him a ‘rash, intruding fool’ [Act 3 Scene 4 line 33] which of course he was. The words ‘intruding’ convey a completely different meaning to ‘cleverly inquisitive’ and ‘rash’ doesn’t invite the praise ‘spontaneous’ would. He was then labelled a fool during his time in the play, and labelled a fool again upon his exit. It is ironic Polonius’s death should be so unceremonious [Act 3 Scene 4, stage directions ‘Exit Hamlet dragging in Polonius’ line 219] given that his persona in the play was one of elaboration and false grandeur. This is almost like a last, bittersweet laugh against him, exactly the opposite of how he would have liked to have exited, the word ‘dragged’ being of particular importance, as when performed on stage this would have been so undignified as to have crossed slightly into black humour territory, depending on the director (â€Å"I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room†, Hamlet, Act. 3 Scene. 4, line 213)It is also exposing that Polonius should have been killed from behind the arras, and in a foolish way too. It would have been wiser to remain hidden, and so by shouting, symbolically, perhaps Polonius was revealing the shallowness there was to his ‘sinister’ persona. Hamlet’s reaction is one of brevity and disrespect ‘I took thee for thy better’ [line 134]. However, his death does act as a catalyst for the race towards the ending of the play; Hamlet is sent to England to meet his death, though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are killed instead. This proceeds to him finally taking revenge on Claudius, and results in the murders of Gertrude, Hamlet, Laertes and Claudius. Whether this increases his worth or not in the play is open to interpretation. Elkin Calhoun Wilson decides ‘Polonius has a minor tragic dimension as well as a major comic’ boasting ‘[my] eyes catch a more embracive view of him than Hamlet’s possibly can’ and with this I can, to an extent, agree. It is tragic he should be cast off in such a way, and in him there was not just the ‘doddering old fool’, but also, as Elkin writes, a ‘comic appendage’. Overall then, looking at various views and studying the text thoroughly, I can stick by my judgement of Polonius as a foolish, though comic, character. Although considered unimportant by those in the play, I believe him to bring a welcome relief from the drama and tragedy entangled in the plot which would otherwise make for a very depressing production. Of course, it is down to personal interpretation how a director would present the character, but to me the lengthy and self-important dialogue is unavoidable, and the undignified death inevitable, making Polonius -arguably- doomed to lack credible menace void of irony and humour, and therefore set firmly as a foolish ‘prating’ character. 1999 words Sophie Mayall. Bibliography: Websites used:http://www. metroactive. com/papers/metro/02. 20. 97/branagh-9708. html http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Polonius www. jstor. org- Studies in English Literature 1500-1900: Vol. 8, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean England www. jstor. org- Shakespeare Quarterly: Vol. 9, No. 1 (Winter 1958), pp. 83-85 Films: Kenneth Branagh’s film version Hamlet: 1996 Franco Zeffirelli’s film version Hamlet: 1990 Copies of the text: Cambridge School Shakespeare First Edition, published 1994 Heinemann Advanced Shakespeare, published 2000 Journals: Shakespeare Quarterly: Vol. 9 (winter 2005), Vol. 8 No. 2 (spring 1968).

Prequel to Of Mice and Men Essay

   Said George.. †The must beautiful woman ive ever seen in my sad and lonely life†, answered Jackson. Jackson paused for a moment and stared, †Quick come ‘ere†, said Jackson as he waved Lennie and George towards the door,. †Set your eyes on that boys†. Lennie and George rushed to the door and peered out, they could see a perfectly figured woman with slick brown hair wearing a rosy red dress down to her knees with her crafted legs shining in the Californian sun, she seemed like a fairy tale walking with a red wild orchid in her hand. George said, †Who is she? What’s a beautiful gal like that doing in a hell hole of a place with a ranch? †. †She’s the boss’s daughter I believe, she doesn’t come here often, she just comes to visit her father once in a while, she loves it here, all peaceful and all o’ men, the hell I do for a gal like her†, Jackson replied with a sigh. †then why don’t you go out there and talk to her? † asked Lennie still staring at the beautifully coloured girl. †Hell no, if the boss finds out I been talking to his daughter he’d kick me out of the ranch without any pay! it’s a fools game to go playing around with any boss’s daughter†. George with his hands on his hips turned away and said, †Yeah well that’s just another thing guys like us cant have in this world†. Jackson looked at George and sighed once more and walked out past Lennie who was still stood at the door. †What you doin’ Lennie? †. Lennie looked straight to the floor and replied, N.. n†¦ nothing George I was, I was jus’ looking at that pretty lady out on the†¦. the†, before Lennie could finish George interrupted and walked up to Lennie and said in a unwelcoming manor, †Listen Lennie, you stay away from her you hear me? † †Yes George†, said Lennie in an apologetic sense. †I mean it Lennie, stay away from her and stay out o’ trouble†. †Ye ye yes George I promise†, stuttered Lennie. † Lets get some sleep, gone be a hard day tomorrow†, George said assertively. Lennie walked towards his bed with his hand in his pocket, he turned to face the wall, George looked at his back and could see his arms twitching as if he was moving his fingers, †What you doing Lennie? † George said sternly. Lennie jumped and put something in his pocket and quickly stood up, †What’s that you just put in your pocket Lennie? † †Nothing George†. †I said what’s that in your pocket Lennie! †, repeated George raising his voice. †Empty your pocket! †, George exclaimed. Lennie slowly put his hand in his pocket and picked out a little mouse that seemed to be dead, †Lennie what have I told you about those damn mice, you killed the poor little thing by petting it too damn hard, you got to be careful, you cant go round killin’ little animals all the time†,. †I didn’t mean to George it was just in my pocket and I†¦ †, Lennie said in a stutter George grabbed the mouse from Lennies strong hands and threw it out the window, when George turned round he saw that Lennie had moved onto his bed all curled up and facing the wall. George sighed and tucked himself into bed. The next morning the men were woken up by a bell and the sun was shooting through the tattered window of the ranch house, birds were singing and there was a gentle breeze in the air to comfort the stabbing rays of sunlight bearing down on the vast brown crop filled landscape5/10/2007. Lennie and George got up for breakfast and were happy to finally have a nice warm day. George was getting ready putting his gloves on to start carrying grain bags when he noticed that his partner Lennie was with him, George carried on working because he knew that the boss wouldn’t be happy if he stopped working. Soon the lunch break came and George was worried about if Lennie got lost of in trouble of some sort, George went searching for him all over the ranch and he came to the barns where they keep important machinery and stacks of hay weighing tonnes 20 feet high, George could hear talking in one of them, he stopped outside and listened and he could hear that it was Lennie talking inside with also a soft womans voice aswell. †Whats a big boy like you doing in this barn? †, asked the girl. †I was just looking for , for a mouse I saw run in here†, replied Lennie with his eyes gazing at the floor not even looking at the girl. †A mouse? Why you looking for a mouse? Aren’t you supposed to be working? †, asked the girl, Lennie looked up and could see it was the girl he saw last night and she was wearing that same rosy red dress that he couldn’t keep his eyes off, †I like your dress†, said Lennie smiling with a huge smile on his face, †Why thank you young man†, the girl said starting to blush, the girl moved closer to Lennie and Lennie shot his head facing the floor again. †What’s the matter big guy? †, asked the beautiful girl, Lennie looked up again and stared at the girls dress for a moment, he reached out his hand and touched the bottom cloth of the dress and he has a smile of his face that could have been seen miles away, suddenly the girl cried out squawking is disarray as if she had been attacked, George rushed in and could see Lennie holding onto this girls dress and his face all confused and scared, as the girl was fighting Lennie just gripped on tighter because he didn’t know what to do, George shouted at Lennie, †Let go Lennie! Leg go! †. Lennie wouldn’t let go, he was all messed up about the whole thing, in the end George had to sock him over the head to make him let go, the girl ran off shouting to the top of her voice, George drabbed Lennie and told him, †We gotta get out o’ here now Lennie you stupid son of a bitch! †. George could hear more shouting coming from the fields and dogs barking, George shouted at Lennie , †You always have to touch things don’t ya Lennie, anything you like you just have to touch! †. George and Lennie ran towards the empty ranch house and grabbed what they needed quickly, the barking dogs were getting louder and closer and they knew that they had to leave Weed fast. They made their way behind the ranch house into a long but narrow barley field that hadn’t been harvested yet, there were small irrigation ditches either side of the field filled with murky stagnant water which had been boiling in the baking heat of the midday. Lennie and George sprinted as fast as they could running down the left edge of the field, the dogs and the angry mob were just popping over the view of George and Lennie, †Quick down here†, George shouted as he grabbed Lennie’s arm and tugged him into the warm unpleasant water, there was a big splash as Lennie entered the water, †Come to the edge Lennie quick! †, ordered George, Lennie scuttled moving great forces of water to reach George. They both cooped themselves tight against the bank hiding among reeds hoping not to be seen by a passing patrol, †Now keep quiet Lennie, we don’t want to get into any more trouble†, Said George, †Ok George im sorry I didn’t mean to get in no trouble I didn’t†, Lennie answered while covering his head with wild grass. The day went on longingly, with them still hiding from the men back in the ranch who still pursued their search. To the south west there was a great wood filled with pine trees standing tall, the sun was setting casting a reddened shadow across them. †When it gets dark enough Lennie were going to make our way over in them trees†, George said sternly, †Ok George ok†. The sun set still leaving a glow over the vast landscape, George and Lennie made their way into the woods. A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.

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Changes in marketing of beer - Assignment Example but now it is primarily made from barley (Hornsey, pg. 14). Hops are another ingredient which imparts a characteristic flavour to beer. Beer usually has a low level of alcohol (7-13%) compared to hard liquors like whiskey, gin or rum and is usually taken undiluted and in a chilled state which makes it convenient as well as easy to drink without the risk of high inebriation. This is the reason of its popularity hence making it a popular product both for the manufacturer as well as the consumer. During the 1950-60s the world was in a rebuilding process after the Second World War and countries in Europe were re-establishing their economic and business infrastructure. In fact the whole world was affected by the aftermaths of war and businesses including the brewery industries had not spread beyond the national boundaries. The United States of America was the only country where business had thrived up to some extent during the war. Hence most of the advertising campaigns seen for beer mostly come from that part of the world. Some of the popular advertisements were in the form of short television clips which correlated beer drinking with hard work (video.google.com). The video site shows a number of popular beer advertisements and jingles of that era. Most of the videos incorporate glamour, adventure, outdoor life and humour in the advertisements and eulogise the quality of different brands. Some of the popular brands of that era include Budweiser, Altoona, Old Tavern, Lone Sta r, Falstaff, C.I.O., Golden Gate, Coors, etc. (www.vintagedepotdirect.com). Product designs were though quite creative and impressive even in that era and showed a lot of ingenuity with liberal use of glamour which went into beer advertising. A lot of memorabilia like badges, crockery, souvenirs’, etc. were put up on sale which promoted particular brands and kept reminding the collectors about the qualities

The Statute of David Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Statute of David - Essay Example Commissioned by the Cathedral Works Committee in 1501, Michelangelo created The Statute of David, which was his testimony to the beauty of God’s creation. The sculpture was a representation of King David in the Bible. During the critical times of the Florence Republic’s threatening and powerful rival states along with their rival the Hegemony of the Medici Family, the Statute of David symbolized the defense of civil liberties. The Statute of David or â€Å"the Eyes of David† was later turned towards Rome. In 1873, the Statute of David was placed in the Accademia Gallery in Florence. The original location of the Statute of David was replaced with a replica of the sculpture. Michelangelo’s deeply spiritual faith to do God’s Will was an influence in his creation of the Madonna Della Pieta or the bust of the Virgin Mary. The sculpture was created for the St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Michelangelo sculpted the compassion and serenity in the Virgi n Mary’s face. His purpose for the Madonna Della Pieta was to embody â€Å"the spiritual beauty of the infinite beauty of God.† The Madonna Della Pieta was Michelangelo’s testimony to his eternal love for God. The sculpture is a symbol of the Christian faith. Michelangelo’s spiritual obedience to do God’s Will influenced his artistic work. His spiritual faith allowed him to create many artistic masterpieces that influenced the Italian Renaissance. He created inspirational masterpieces for the world. He is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, â€Å"the divine one.†

A man to be admired Essay Example for Free

A man to be admired Essay Looking at the holy concept, the fact that Proctors death was part of the reason why it stopped steadily, it seems as Miller depicts him as a 17th century version of Jesus. How Christians believe he died for their sins; Proctor dies for the welfare of those accused and the stop of this fundamental accusations. He did do wrong: he committed a sin. But doesnt religion teach us about the road to redemption? Religious morals even allow sinners into heaven or paradise if in salvation. So therefore Proctor should be admired as he knows he has done wrong and which leads him to becoming a better man.. All throughout the play, there is friction between Proctor and Elizabeth, obviously due to the incident between Proctor and Abigail, but hope is at the horizon because funnily enough, the worst case scenario brings their relationship and marriage to its strongest point. Proctor attempts all that he can to regain her trust and forgiveness; even bribing her with land is attempted. Elizabeth, being supremely virtuous but with a flair of coldness, tries to forgive but the sense of Christian judgment still lays in her mind. Pride, revenge, fear, honesty, puritan ethics, and honesty are some of the themes in The Crucible, but these are the ones that apply to Proctor. Revenge had put Proctor in fear of losing his beloved wife, Elizabeth, by Abigail. Abigail had seen Elizabeth from more than an inconvenience to a threat. Proctor restricted himself from his feelings and even the subject, when spoken to her. This now showed her only vulnerability, her feelings for him, which is ultimately the reason for this havoc. Self-interest. Fear is what drove the hysteria on; the risk of facing the devil had put people in positions of self-interest and paranoia. How can a man of such caliber be down played? He had raised a family, even though he divorced his 1st wife and married Elizabeth, brought them up in religious fashion, tend his land, helped those in need, is respected by the village and does good deeds. To conclude, John Proctors integrity has such a overcoming substance, and the way Miller captures it is just admirable. He faces death, just to keep his name clean, to live or die with respect. For him to go through so many calamities and distress that the only time he feels at peace is when he dies. And he still remains as an admirable figure after hes public confession of being an adulterer. He put his own wife in front of himself, just to receive her forgiveness and trust. He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! Elizabeth accepts it, the only way; his death is the answer to all their problems. His Christian morals and beliefs lead him to becoming a better man; a man with faith is a man to be admired in my opinion. He knows that even if he confesses a lie, he can not base the remainder of his life on another lie, which will then jeopardize his relationship; other innocent people will die and will evidently never forgive himself. Overall, Proctor is a: religious, emancipated, loving, family, integrity-filled and respected man, and if these are not the quality of being admirable then I do not know what is. John Proctor, a man to be admired. Discuss. By Ranja Faraj Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Kautilyas Arthasastra: Military Aspects

Kautilyas Arthasastra: Military Aspects CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1. Army has been regarded from time immemorial as one of the essential instruments for the maintenance of a state. Kings, not only in India but throughout the ancient world, maintained well organised and well equipped armies both for the defence and expansion of their kingdoms. History is abounds in instances that whenever any ruler or state neglected the proper maintenance of their armies, unpleasant results in the form of loss of sovereignty or territory have occurred. The study of the organisation and administration of the army of a particular country in a particular period shall always give clues of its basic fabric. The topic under study deals with the role of Kautilyas Arthasastra in organising and administrating large armies and its relevance in todays world armies. 2. Kautilyas Arthasastra had never been forgotten in India and is often mentioned in later literature, sometimes eulogistically and sometimes derisively. But the text itself was not available in modern times until, dramatically, a full text on palm leaf in the grantha script , along with a fragment of an old commentary by Bhattasvamin, came into the hands of Dr R Shamasastry of Mysore in 1904 who was then the Librarian of the Mysore Government Oriental Library. He published not only the text (1909) and an English translation (1915) but also an index Verborum in three volumes listing every word in the text. Subsequently another original manuscript and some fragments, in a variety of scripts, were discovered as well as old commentaries of the text. An another author Dr RP Kangle of the University of Bombay devoted many years of painstaking edition and comparing the various texts and translations. His monumental three volume edition of the Arthashastra was first published between 1960 a nd 1965 with detailed note.[1] 3. Kautilyas Arthasastra is a treatise on artha and sastra. [3]. Artha is an all- embracing word with a variety of meanings in 1.7.6-7 , it is used in the sense of material well being; in 15.1.1 livelihood; in 1.4.3, economically productive activity, particularly in agriculture, cattle rearing and trade ; and, in general, wealth as in the wealth of nations. Arthashastra is thus the science of politics as it is used in 1.1.1 or 1.4.3 .It is the art of governance in its widest sense. The subjects covered include administration; law, order and justice; taxation, revenue and expenditure; foreign policy; defence and war. 4. Kautilyas Arthasastra contains fifteen adhikaranas or books. Of these the first five deal with tantra or the internal administration of the state. The next eight deals with avapa or its relation with the neighbouring states and the last two are miscellaneous in character. The eighth adhikarna or book is concerned with vyasanas, that is, the calamities ,shortcomings or weakness affecting the various prakritis. It is necessary to overcome the shortcomings before any aggressive activity can be undertaken. The ninth adhikarna deals with preparation for war and describe the kinds of troops that should be mobilised for an expedition, the proper seasons for starting an expedition, the precautions to be taken and the dangers to be guarded against before starting and so on . The tenth book deals with fighting, and describes the camping of the army, its march, various modes of fighting, types of battle arrays and other topics.[4]Thus this study shall primarily concentrate on book eight, nin e and ten in particular and other books in general. 5. The Legend K autilya : This mastermind, who could write a definitive treatise on economics and government at a time when large parts of the world was steeped in intellectual darkness? All sources of Indian tradition – Brahmanical , Buddist and jain-agree that Kautilya (also refer to as Vishnugupta in a stanza included at the end of the work) destroyed the Nanda dynasty and installed Chandra Gupta Maurya in the throne of Magadha. The name Kautilya denotes that he is of the Kutila gotra ; Chanakya shows him to be the son of Chanaka and Vishnugupta was his personal name[6] Kautilya then retired from active life and reflected on all that he had learnt during the process of overthrowing Dhana-Nanda. Since he found the earlier works on statecraft unsatisfactory in many respects, he composed his own definitive work presenting his ideas concerning the ways in which a ruler should gain power and maintain his authority. He was way ahead of his times in his thinking and covered every conceivable aspect on th e art of politics and warfare, which could be imagined at the time he lived. For Kautilya, military strategy was an integral part of the science of polity and he made no distinction between military techniques and statecraft. Kautilyas Arthashastra is a practical work which could have been written only by one who had implemented the tactics which he preached. How to form alliances, how to organise and administer them, how to attack a powerful king, how to deal with revolts in rear, what tricks to play on gullible people- there is plenty of evidence in the text to indicate that the author was giving real life answers to every conceivable hypothetical situation. 6. Statecraft and battle craft have changed over the centuries due to the fast changing technology and increasing requirements of human beings. Kautilya a mastermind contributed immensely to the development of the same, his extraordinary arrangement of battle groups in war and administering them during peace keeping all extraneous factors in mind still remains a masterpiece for century armies. CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY Statement of Problem 7. To study the military aspects as enunciated by Kautilya in Arthashastra with a specific reference to organisation and administration and analyse its relevance for todays armies. Justification of the Study 8. The Legend Kautilya in his renowned work ARTHASHASTRA has dealt with various contemporary subjects which formed the basis of Chandragupta Mauryas rule and victories, in fact there is a general view that Kautilyas Arthashastra deals only with matters of foreign policy and economy. It is seldom realised that a great portion of this book does in fact, deal extensively with matters of military, he indeed consolidated all the prevailing grand strategy and tactics of those times and gave his expert opinion on the subjects, which ultimately led to victories of Chandragupta Maurya , who never lost a single campaign. It thus emerges that the brilliance of Kautilya was not only in diplomacy but also in warfare, but the fact that strikes out is that he was able to lay down methods to organise and manage the armed forces in a vast empire. The concepts of military administration and organisation in war and peace were inadvertently covered and spread out in all the adhikaranas, thus leading for topic of research for bringing forth, integrating and analysing those sublime aspects of organisation and administration which formed the bed rock of administering and organising large armies as of Mauryan empire, and at the same time analyse its relevance for 20th century armies. Scope 9. This study concentrates on the relevance of Kautilyas teachings with regard to military aspects in general and organisational and administrational aspects in detail including the aspects of tactics, strategy. The study aims to focus on aspects, which are still relevant for the better management of a large army like ours. 10. Methods of Data Collection. The information has been gathered from books, journals and the internet. The bibliography of sources is appended at the end of the text. Chapterisation 11. The subject under study shall be covered under following chapters: CHAPTER III : ORGANISATION OF ARMY 12. Chandragupta maintained a large standing army , though he acquired a big army from his Nanda predecessors, he made impressive accretions to its strength, so that it stood at six lakh infantry,30000 horses,9000 elephants and 8000 chariots . An efficient war office supervised this powerful army. Its thirty members were divided into five member boards . The six boards were : (a) Admirality. (b) Transport. (c) Commissariat and Army Service Infantry. (d) Cavalry. (e) Chariots. (f) Elephants. 13. Kautilya had divided the army into four arms i.e Patti or Padati(Infantry), Asva(Cavalry), Ratha(Chariots) and Hast (Elephants) and hence it was named as Chaturangabala or the four limbed army headed by their respective Adyakshas or Superintendents[7]. They had Following roles to play: (a) War Elephants. The king relied mainly on elephants for achieving victory in battles. They were the premium arm of the army and relied on their strength and shock effect to route the enemy from the battle field. They were required to destroy all arms of the service of the enemy and to break his battle formations. Kautilya has laid much emphasis on the use of elephants as a battle winning factor with following functions: (i) Marching in front, making new roads. (ii) Protecting the flanks. (iii) Helping to cross water and climb and descend from mountains. (iv) Breaking up enemys unbroken ranks, trampling enemys army. (v) Causing terror, capturing battle positions. (vi) Destroying ramparts, gates, and towers. (b) The Cavalry. The cavalry being the most mobile arm in the army was used to influence the battle. It was tasked for the following. (i) Reconnoitring battle grounds, camping sites, forests. (ii) Securing level grounds, water supply sources. (iii) Destroying enemies and protecting own supplies and reinforcements. (iv) Extending the range of raids. (v) Assault the enemys battle formation. (vi) Attack the enemy from the rear. (vii) Cut off the enemys line of supply. (viii) Isolate the enemys strong point. (ix) Feign retreat so as to persuade the en to pursue, once the enemy lost its cohesion the cavalry was supposed to turn around and rout him. (x) Restoration of sit by plugging gaps in own def made by enemys assault. (xi) Making the initial attack, penetrating or breaking through (xii) Pursue the defeated en. (xiii) Rallying the troops.[8] (c) Chariots. The war chariots had lost their effectiveness particularly against well trained cavalry, Maurian army retained war chariots as an independent arm, and they were restricted to a single offensive role of launching a charge against infantry and a near static defensive role. The arm lacked versatility and was too sensitive to terrain; it could produce result only under ideal conditions. According to Kautilya the chariots were to act as the mainstay of the formation in offensive and defensive roles. Their main function was to break up the opponents battle formation during offensive operations and repulse the enemy assault own formation and recapture lost ground by counter attack. (d) Infantry. There were primarily two types of infantry in Mauryan times, archers and spearmen and both were employed together. Archers performed the role of close support weapons as well as artillery and spearman carried out close combat. The spearman carried a large shield for protection. Chandragupta Maurya had turned the infantry into large standing force like the other three arms in the service. Infantry was the main fighting arm as it had the ability to fight over all types of terrain during all seasons and both by day and night. They were also used to protect captured grounds. Apart from the tasks mentioned above, the infantry was also supposed to give close support to the other arms ie the Elephants and the Chariots[9]. Organizational Structure 14. Kautilya had emphasised on hierarchal system for administration of army. The structure of the defence forces at the highest levels was as shown below: Commander -in- Chief Senapati(Chief of Defence) Chief Commanders of Chariot Corps Elephant Corps Cavalry Infantry Divisional Commanders 28. The chief of the four wings were subordinates to the chief of defense. Under the Chief Commanders, there were Divisional commanders. There were other officers such as Camp Superintendents who were given specific functions during the march to battle. The structure below the level of Divisional Commanders is specific to battles. 29. Every division of the formation had its own distinguishing trumpet sound, flags and banners, these were be used to signal the commands to the division-dividing themselves in to sections, joining together ,halting, advancing, turning and attacking. Battalion commanders and Divisional Commanders were responsible for moblisation and demoblisation. Secret agents, prostitutes, artists and artisans and retired military officers were kept to watch over the loyalty or otherwise of soldiers. Duties of Defence Officials 30. The Chief of Defence. (a) Qualifications. The chief of defence was suppose to be an expert in the use of all kinds of weapons used in warfare, riding elephants, horses and chariots and he was conversant with the relative strength of the four wings of the army and how to deploy them in battle. (b) Responsibilities. (i) Discipline in armed forces. (ii) Formations. (iii) Strategy and Tactics. (aa) Choose the best time to start an expedition. (ab) Choose the best terrain and the best season for fighting. (ac) Arrange the disposition of own forces (in the light of the enemies array). (ad) Plan the breakup of the enemies rank. (ae) Destroy enemies scattered troops. (af) Besiege and destroy enemy forts. 31. The Chief Commander Of Elephant Corps. Responsibilities were:- (a) Protection of elephants. (b) Construction and Maintenance of stables, stalls. (c) Training of elephants. (d) Assigning tasks to them. (e) Equipping them for war 32. The Chief Commanders Of Other Corps. Responsibilities Common to all were: (a) Knowledge of different type of equipment needed for his wing and use of such equipment in war. (b) Giving appropriate training. (c) Keeping account of equipment and animals under his charge. (d) Maintaining their equipment in good condition and repairing them when necessary. (e) Supervising the work of all employed by him. (f) Maintaining Discipline. (g) Reporting to the king the state of readiness of his troops[10]. 33. Other Commanders:- (a) Commander of the Kings Guard (Antarvamsika). This very high official, who ranked just below the seven highest paid officials including the senapati, must have been an army general, promoted after having held the appointment of director-general of his own arm. He was directly in line for promotion to senapati. He was in the pay scale of 24,000 pannas, in the same scale as the kings chamberlain and the chancellor. His importance was due to his responsibility for the security of the king and other members of the royal family in the palace. There must have been two other officers directly under his command who assisted him in ensuring the safety and security of the king and the royal family. One was the commander of the male guards who guarded the palace and the commander of the female archers who were detailed as immediate guards for the kings person and his personal quarters. (b) Commander of the Marches (Antapala) The antapala was responsible for guarding the borders of the State. For this purpose border posts were established; their primary purpose was a check on entry of enemy agents, undesirable elements, collection of customs duties and control over the entry of foreigners. Kautilya advocates the establishment of only four border posts, one in each direction of the compass. The siting of border posts on naturally defensible terrain is advocated so these must have served a defensive purpose as well. The antapala must have been a military officer, possibly with detachments from the army for the protection of his posts. (c) Durgapala. Durgapala (fort commanders) must have been army officers who also commanded detachments of regular troops which acted as garrisons, Kautilya mentions at least one fortified city or capital of the State which needed a durgapala. In the text, he refers to other forts. sited to take advantage of naturally defensible terrain. Larger States obviously had more than one fort which acted as bases for military operations and offered refuge in case of need. Types of Troops 33. Kautilya lists six types of troops which may become available to a king and examines the relative merits. The troops are maula (standing army), bhrta (local volunteers auxiliaries), serni (organized mercenaries), mitra ( trops of an ally), amrta ( enemy deserters) and atavi ( tribal levies). [11] (a) Maula Troops. These are the standing army of a state composed of soldiers who may have served the kings family for several generations. They are residents of the state and their interest coincides with those of the king. Their loyalty is assured, their weapons, equipments and the animals are the best the state can provide and their motivation and state of training is high. It is however only prudent that a proportion of this force be left behind for the security of the state. Kautilya recommends that around one- fourth of the maula troops be left in the capital. The maula troops should form a large part of an expeditionary force if : (i) The enemys troops are well trained. (ii) The campaign is expected to be difficult and hard. (iii) Other available troops are unreliable. (iv) Surplus maula troops are available after fully meeting the requirements of the capital and the rest of the state. (b) Bhrta troops. These are locally raised volunteers engaged for the duration of the campaign. They are either veterans or first time volunteers, usually trained in the handling of personals weapons. By profession they were either farmers or small traders who decided to take part in a campaign. As natives they have a stake in the security and welfare of the state. Such troops are reverted back to their professions after the end of the campaign. Their employment is recommended if:- (i) The enemy is weak and a large number of volunteers are available. (ii) The campaign is expected to be easy with little actual fighting. (iii) Success is more or less assured by the use of other means like covert operations or diplomatic efforts. (c) Sreni troops. These were trained, equipped and organised bodies of mercenaries under their own leaders who were available for hire to fight for a specified period of time. Their employment is recommended when:- (i) The opposing forces consist of primarily mercenaries. (ii) Much hard fighting is not anticipated. (iii) Sreni troops are available in adequate numbers for the campaign as well as for the defence of the capital. (d) Mitra troops. These are troops loaned for a campaign by an ally. Their utilisation is advocated if :- (i) Such troops are available in large numbers. (ii) A short campaign is anticipated because of good chances of early success of diplomatic moves underway. (iii) To oblige an ally. (iv) It is proposed to deal at first with the irregular part of enemys army, with his allies and his population centres, prior to attacking his main forces. (e) Amrita troops. These comprise enemy deserters and prisoners of war. They are not to be trusted but their employment is recommended if the eventual outcome of battle is of little consequence. (f) Atavi Levies. These were bands of tribesmen from the jungle who join the king under the command of their own chiefs with the primary purpose of collecting loot. These bands and amitra troops are unreliable and Kautilya considers both categories as dangerous as a snake. The above two categories of troops may be employed if:- (i) If they are available in large numbers to attack the enemys cities and irregular troops. (ii) It is proposed to delay the employment of the main force. (iii) It is Politic to get rid of them because their loyalty is suspect. Atavi troops may be employed as guides or to counter the use of similar to levies by the enemy both categorys of troops. 34. An army composed of units recruited from diverse sources and ready to fight for plunder may be an energetic army. On the other hand, an army whose soldiers belong to the same region, caste or profession is a mighty army; it will continue to fight even if its pay is in arrears and there is shortage of food. It shows bravery even in adverse conditions and its loyalty cannot be subverted. 35. A king should make efforts to obstruct the mobilisation of his opponent. His potential recruits should be intercepted and if necessary recruited into own army. Such personnel should however be discharged at the right time but well before the commencement of actual operations. Analysis 36. A close analysis of Organisational structure propounded by Kautilya in his Arthashastra is a sterling resemblance of what is followed in Indian Army with slight modifications. And it is clearly evident that the basic finer intricacies of the organisation remained the same though the gross structure underwent a change keeping latest technological development in mind. 37. Kautilya was way ahead in his times with clear vision and military thinking thus created an organisational structure catering for civil supremacy and ensured effective coordination between various components of the army which is still relevant at large. Chandra Gupta Maurya had a large standing army to manage similar to that of Indian Army and without a sound organisational structure it would have been virtually impossible to achieve victories which he had set for himself. 38. Kautilya had clearly categorised his army into various corps i.e Cavalry, Elephants, Infantry, Chariots etc with a clear division of roles in war, which is very much akin to our present system of various line directorates in our armies. He had also formed clear command and control structure with minimum scope for ambiguity. He had emphasised on Hierarchical system Command and control in armed forces some 2300 years ago which is still relevant in todays times. 39. The organisation of the Maruan army was little different than the one followed in our army today. Though a striking similarity is the presence of the adyakshas that can be related to our line directorate which are too led by a Lieutenant General. The rank structure is not restricted to any arm but common throughout the army. To elaborate, the pattika was a rank not belonging to a particular arm but he commanded elements of all the arms. This helped in better command and control. This also ensured of a clear demarcation of command structure which was irrespective of the arm, this practice is still followed. 40. When coming to appointment of heads of departments, Kautilya had ensured that they had requisite degree of qualifications for tenanting that kind of appointment and had a clear defined standards and roles for all of them, which is still largely relevant in our armies where selection processes ensure that the said officer had undergone necessary courses and has a requisite skills suitable for tenanting that kind of appointment. 41. Kautilya had imposed various degrees of confidence in terms of loyalty and integrity depending upon the community of troops, probably a relevant thing in those times, but in present times it is debatable whether it is relevant or not as for some community specific armies it may hold good but in Indian context, though the Indian army still have pure regiments based on caste system but the pedestal of loyalty and integrity attributed to each community is the same thus this particular thing is not relevant to Indian Army of present times. 42. Kautilya proposed to have a standing core army consisting of officials down to the Pattika and the regular soldiers to be recruited for the period of war. Specialists like elephant riders archers etc were also recommended to be retained as permanent soldiers. Though India has a large standing army which is used both for protection of its borders and for launching offensive. There is no differentiation in the kind of troops used for both the tasks as envisaged by Kautilya. Probably We can have smaller standing army which can be well trained and equipped with the best of the equipment. On the other hand we can have a larger component of Territorial Army that can be mobilised before an operation. The defensive formation can have Territorial Army and some of the regular troops where as the strike formations can be composed of regular troops. This will help in reducing the defence expenditure and the money saved could be better used for equipping and training of the regular troops. CHAPTER IV: ORGANISATI ON OF LAND FORCES IN OPERATIONS Brave men, giving up their lives in good battles, reach in one moment even beyond those (worlds), which Brahmins, desirous of heaven, reach by a large number of sacrifices, by penance and by many gifts to worthy persons- Kautilya 43. Kauilya gives an exhaustive description of how to arrange the land forces for a set piece of battle, starting with positioning various kinds of forces at various echelons of battle field after giving due considerations to planning parameters. War fighting as propounded by Kautilya has an uncanny resemblance to the methodology in practice today. He was a believer of a strong central force along with two wings which can manoeuvre and the importance of reserves. He is perhaps one of the first thinkers to suggest a tactical grouping of forces with a clear cut commander. This helped in easier organisation of the forces as well as downsizing the army when not in need. Tactical Grouping. 44. Grouping of arms for battle at the lowest level has been practised in ancient India since epic times. Kautilya suggested a standard form of grouping of all arms, for the first time ever. The suggested groups corresponds to a remarkable degree with the current practice in modern armies adopted well after WW II . The lowest grouping was at platoon level, a group now referred to as combat team. Because of this remarkable similarity, the modern designations of combat team, combat group and combat command.[12] Each horse was supported by six foot soldiers three of which were archers (Pratiyodhas) and the remaining three were armed with a sword, spear and a shield (Pratigopas) Initially the archers were placed in front so that they could exploit the range of their weapons and as the battle came to close contact, they would recede and the pratigopas would come in front. 45. Patti. Each elephant or a chariot enjoyed the support of five horse groups. This entire group including an elephant / chariot, five horses, 15 Pratiyodhas and 15 Pratigopas formed the lowest tactically grouped sub unit called the Patti. The patti was commanded by a Pattika. 46. Sena. Consisted of ten patties and was commanded by a Senapati or a battle group under a battalion/regimental commander and ten or less senas formed a brigade commanded by a Nayaka. 47. Intervals .There are two sets of intervals or gaps between the files and ranks laid down by Kautilya, one is a narrow gap with the proviso to increase it by double or three times and the other is a larger gap between archers which extends to other arms. It is possible that smaller gaps are for forming up on ceremonial and drill purposes (close order) were archers do not need extended space and larger intervals (open order) for battle information. In a battle formation adopted in an open order the minimum gap between two files of archers was one dhanu(bow) of five hastas(forearm) or 2.5 mtrs, between horses it was three dhanu(7.5 mtrs) and between elephants or Chariots it was five dhanus(12.5 mtrs). The interval between the centre and a wing as well as a wing and its flank was also 12.5 mtr. Kautilya does not indicate the gap to be maintained between ranks but it may safely be assumed that the interval between sub ranks,ie. Within a rank of elephant or chariots, i.e between a sub rank of patiyodhas and a horse would be three dhanus and between ranks, i.e the rare sub rank or padagopas of the front rank and the front sub rank of patiyodhas of the second or centre rank would be five dhanus(12.5 mtrs). These intervals could be increased in accordance with the ground available for battle and the size of the force to be deployed. 48. Reserves. Reserves held an important place in the battle formations as per Kautilya, reserves were directly involved in shaping of the battle field and were placed directly under the control of the king. A firm base was to be established on a suitable terrain approximately 600 -700 m behind the army and it was here that the reserves were placed. The reserve consisted of about one third of the best available troops. The king was advised to be stationed at this firm base after the actual fighting commenced and be in a position to influence the battle by sending reinforcement when and where needed and to make the firm base as a rallying point in case of a reverse.[13] 49. Standard battle formation (vyuha). A standard brigade group was formed for battle is referred to as a standard battle formation or array. Additions and alterations were made to it, according to a formula, in order to accommodate additional troops available for deployment. The standard brigade group deployed five senas each which contained nine to ten pattis; total troops deployed were: (a) Elephants or Chariots : 45 (b) Horses : 225 (c) Patiyodhas(archers) : 675 (d) Padagopas(foot soldiers) : 675 This force of five senas formed up in five groups i.e centre (urasysa) in middle, the right wing (kaksa) and the left wing (kaksa) after an interval of 12.5 mtrs on both sides and after another similar interval the right flank and the left flank (paksa). Each of these groups or senas formed up for battle in three ranks of three elephants each (three patti). Each elephant had three horse groups in front and two behind it with standard deployment as illustrated earlier. Thus making a total of 27 archers a head of each sena. The archers could effectively utilise their long range capability before close contact was made with the enemy and the change over placed them with the spearmen behind the horses, just prior to the two sides engaged in close combat. However in such a deployment the interval between elephants was at around nine dhanus or 22 mtrs which is tactically unsound and out of supporting range of neighbouring elephants , in any case Kautilya places the suitable gap between ele phants at 12.5 mtrs. The only solution seems to be to for

Interpretations of Slavery Essay -- Slavery Essays

Interpretations of Slavery INTRODUCTION Slavery is known to have existed as early as the 18th century B.C. during the Shang Dynasty of China. Slavery was widely practiced in many other countries, including, Korea, India, Greece, Mexico and Africa. (Britannica 288-89). When most people consider slavery, however, they think of Western slavery in North America because it is well documented and it was such a horrible institution. Even though there is no one definition of slavery, the people who study it (historians, anthropologists and sociologists) agree that certain characteristics are present in all forms of slavery. Slaves were property and objects, not subjects of the law. Slaves had few rights, always fewer than their owners. Slave were also limited to few social activities and were not allowed to participate in political decisions. Finally, any earnings aquired by slaves by law belonged to their master. Also, slaves were prevented from making their own choices regarding physical reproduction. Western slavery took each o f these slave characteristics to a new level and as a result there are many authors who wrote about the evil institution of slavery in the Colonies. American literature is full of authors who describe, condone or oppose slavery, the most informative and influential of whom were Black writers because many were able to give a personal perspective on slavery. These Black writers had to struggle to be accepted as literary writers before they could get their message across. "The tradition of black writing in the United States is, in many ways, a history of attempts at literary liberation from racism-attempts to articulate in a specifically black context the characteristic American themes of freedom and self-determ... ...d by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Penguin Group Publishing, New York, 1987. Costanzo, Angelo. Surprizing Narrative, Olaudah Equiano and the Beginnings of the Black Autobiography, New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Penguin Group Publishing, New York, 1987. Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Penguin Group Publishing, New York, 1987. Hughes, Langston, Milton Meltzon. A Pictorial History of the Negro and America, New York: Crown, 1968. O'Neale Sondra. "Olaudah Equiano," Dictionary of Literary Biography, American Writers of the Early Republic, ed. Emory Elliot. Vol 37. Princeton: Bruccoli, Clark and Layman Book, 1985. "Slavery." The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1995 ed.

Asian Champion on Ice: Michelle Kwan :: Biography Biographies Skating Essays

Asian Champion on Ice: Michelle Kwan I was flipping through the channel one day, searching for something interesting to watch. Then I came across to a figure skating competition on TV, and I saw an Asian girl doing a triple loop. Her moves were mind-blowingly beautiful and she looked confident. It turned it was Michelle Kwan. After watching that competition, I couldn’t help doing some research on this amazing figure skater. Michelle Kwan was born on July 7, 1980 in Torrance, California. She was the third child born to Danny and Estella Kwan. She has an older brother named Ron and an older sister named Karen. Michelle’s parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970s from Hong Kong. Michelle and her older sister Karen wanted to learn how to figure skate after watching their brother Ron practice hockey. So they started taking skating lessons at the local rink. They loved the ice. As time went by, they became skilled and learned moves. Later, they took private lessons with coach Derek James to learn more advanced moves. Michelle fell many times on the cold and hard ice. But she didn’t give up; she’d get up and tried again. Once her skills improved, Michelle, along with her sister, entered the local competitions. There, Michelle won her first gold medal at the age of 7. That’s when she decided skating was going to be her career. She wanted to go to the Olympics . At the age of 11, Michelle won a gold medal at the Southwest Pacific Regionals and a bronze at the Pacific Coast Sectionals. She qualified for the Junior Nationals. Her talents caught the attention of Frank Carroll, so he asked her to be his pupil. Michelle’s persistence continued; she wanted to move up. So without her coach’s permission, she asked her parents to take her to take the â€Å"gold test,† which she passed, bringing her to the senior level. Two years later, her determination brought her to third rank in the United States just behind Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. In January 1994, during the U.S. Nationals, Kerrigan was attacked which caused her to unable to perform in the competition. So Michelle became an alternate and travel with the Olympic team. While she was watching the skaters from the sidelines, she was telling herself that she will be just like them and better.

The Maturation of Pip in Great Expectations :: Free Great Expectations Essays

The Maturation of Pip in Great Expectations In Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, the author begins the tale by revealing Pip's arrogance towards previous companions. By the end of the story, we learn of Pip's love and compassion for everyone. In Great Expectations, during the middle of the book, Pip creates a rather low opinion of himself acting arrogant and conceited to others. For example, When Joe is coming to visit Pip, Pip thinks to himself, "I was looking forward to Joe's coming not with pleasure, thought that I was bound to him... If I could have kept him away by paying money, I would have paid money (pg.841). Evan though Joe protected and assisted Pip throughout his juvenile years, Pip was still embarrassed by him. Pip is an ungrateful person showing Joe no gratitude. In addition, when Pip learned who his benefactor was he replied, "The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast (pg.876). Pip is surprised by this intrusion of his mind realizing that Miss Havisham did not raise him to be with Estella. Evan though Pip was not raised to be with Estella he is an vicious human being thinking such vile thoughts against a man that gave him the life of a gentleman. In relation, as Provis lays down to sleep Pip reflects on meeting him, "Then came the reflection that I had seen him with my childish eyes to be a desperate violent man:" (pg.879). Pip can only think of what horrible things Provis performed. Pip is an unforgiving person, still thinking of Provis as a convict after all he did for him. Pip displays himself as a heartless feign, believing himself to be of upper society and forgetting people who helped him through his journey of life. In the end of the novel, Great Expectations, Pip redefines himself as a dependable honorable character. For example, when Pip is hovering over Provis' deathbed he says, "Dear Magwitch, I must tell you, now at last, You had a child once whom you loved and lost, she lived and found powerful friends. The Maturation of Pip in Great Expectations :: Free Great Expectations Essays The Maturation of Pip in Great Expectations In Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, the author begins the tale by revealing Pip's arrogance towards previous companions. By the end of the story, we learn of Pip's love and compassion for everyone. In Great Expectations, during the middle of the book, Pip creates a rather low opinion of himself acting arrogant and conceited to others. For example, When Joe is coming to visit Pip, Pip thinks to himself, "I was looking forward to Joe's coming not with pleasure, thought that I was bound to him... If I could have kept him away by paying money, I would have paid money (pg.841). Evan though Joe protected and assisted Pip throughout his juvenile years, Pip was still embarrassed by him. Pip is an ungrateful person showing Joe no gratitude. In addition, when Pip learned who his benefactor was he replied, "The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast (pg.876). Pip is surprised by this intrusion of his mind realizing that Miss Havisham did not raise him to be with Estella. Evan though Pip was not raised to be with Estella he is an vicious human being thinking such vile thoughts against a man that gave him the life of a gentleman. In relation, as Provis lays down to sleep Pip reflects on meeting him, "Then came the reflection that I had seen him with my childish eyes to be a desperate violent man:" (pg.879). Pip can only think of what horrible things Provis performed. Pip is an unforgiving person, still thinking of Provis as a convict after all he did for him. Pip displays himself as a heartless feign, believing himself to be of upper society and forgetting people who helped him through his journey of life. In the end of the novel, Great Expectations, Pip redefines himself as a dependable honorable character. For example, when Pip is hovering over Provis' deathbed he says, "Dear Magwitch, I must tell you, now at last, You had a child once whom you loved and lost, she lived and found powerful friends.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Pan-Islamic terrorism in the Middle East Essay

Being unique is what sets us apart from others; it gives us the edge over other people. Differences amongst us have been one of the most unique features God has granted human beings. One look and the differences are evident, making it clear no one is the same and no one will end-up in the same way. Human beings not only vary physically but also in lifestyle, culture, emotions, perspective in life, and in religion. At times human set aside these differences for the greater good, for the cause of peace and prosperity, but most of the time they fight for what they believe in even if it costs them or others life. Countless wars have been waged for the cause of justice, freedom and sovereignty over a piece of property. One dispute over a piece of land known to the world is the dispute between Israel and Palestine over the Land of Israel/Palestine. Israelites are Jews while the Palestinians are Arabs, but, this does not mean that the dispute is a religious one, it is solely a dispute over a 10,000 sq. mile property where both party claim rights over it. The reason for such a 60-year old dispute is based on the history of the land each party is trying to claim. According to the History Guy1, historically, the ancient Jews from Biblical times called their land Israel, Canaan, Judea, etc. and that in the days of the Bible God gave the land to the ancient Jews known as the Hebrews. But due to massive killings brought about by the Roman Empire, Jews were forced to move out from their land resulting to â€Å"The Diaspora†. But after some years, the Palestinians settled, earning them as the majority ethnic group in the land, thus Palestines claim the right over it. And since the Jews have returned, they also want their rights over the land given that it was granted to them by God. Both of these groups struggle to keep what they believe is theirs, by law or by nature. But the Palestinians went over board. They have inflicted intolerable pain to the world. Where Palestinians send out death threats, destroying infrastructures as well as eliminating __________________________ 1 â€Å"The Israeli-Palestiniam Conflict†, The History Guy. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from The History Guy Website. http://www. historyguy. com/israeli-palestinian_conflict. html job opportunities, and worse, destroying the lives of countless innocent souls now forever shadowed by fear. Terrorism as defined by Britannica Online2, is the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. Many Islamic groups have arisen in different parts of the earth to spread terrorism in the face of the planet. The Al-Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf and others are examples of the different Islamic groups present in different locations on Earth with one mission in mind, to inflict pain. Islamic issues on terrorism have stopped the world in its tracks, as the massive killings became worse. The world became spectators as bomb after bomb set off, killing people stripping them of their right to live. The world watched in horror as the World Trade Center where many employees work, were blown off to pieces. Some were found severely injured, others were never found under dusts and pile of debris. No one surely knows the reason for such terrorism; could it be that these Palestinians want to rule the world? Or they just want to prove something? There are many speculations on the cause of the terrorism brought about by these Arabs. But a certain speculation reveals that this terrorism was started by the dispute of the Palestinians and Israelites over the piece of property. That due to this dispute over a piece of property, the Palestinians brought terrorism to the world to inflict fear and pain in order to get what they want, and eliminating those who stand in their way. And as these Palestinians see it, the only way to get what they want, and in this circumstance that piece of land, force has to be used. Believing that inflicting pain and fear to the masses can weaken their decisions and give these Arabs what they want. These Palestinians truly believe that the piece of land they are fighting for is truly theirs. And they will fight for the right over it even if it takes how many lives or how much blood shall be spilled, as long as this goal is achieved.  2 terrorism. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved June 5, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9071797 References: terrorism. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved June 5, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9071797 â€Å"The Israeli-Palestiniam Conflict†, The History Guy. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from The History Guy Website. Being unique is what sets us apart from others; it gives us the edge over other people. Differences amongst us have been one of the most unique features God has granted human beings. One look and the differences are evident, making it clear no one is the same and no one will end-up in the same way. Human beings not only vary physically but also in lifestyle, culture, emotions, perspective in life, and in religion. At times human set aside these differences for the greater good, for the cause of peace and prosperity, but most of the time they fight for what they believe in even if it costs them or others life. Countless wars have been waged for the cause of justice, freedom and sovereignty over a piece of property. One dispute over a piece of land known to the world is the dispute between Israel and Palestine over the Land of Israel/Palestine. Israelites are Jews while the Palestinians are Arabs, but, this does not mean that the dispute is a religious one, it is solely a dispute over a 10,000 sq. mile property where both party claim rights over it. The reason for such a 60-year old dispute is based on the history of the land each party is trying to claim. According to the History Guy1, historically, the ancient Jews from Biblical times called their land Israel, Canaan, Judea, etc. and that in the days of the Bible God gave the land to the ancient Jews known as the Hebrews. But due to massive killings brought about by the Roman Empire, Jews were forced to move out from their land resulting to â€Å"The Diaspora†. But after some years, the Palestinians settled, earning them as the majority ethnic group in the land, thus Palestines claim the right over it. And since the Jews have returned, they also want their rights over the land given that it was granted to them by God. Both of these groups struggle to keep what they believe is theirs, by law or by nature. But the Palestinians went over board. They have inflicted intolerable pain to the world. Where Palestinians send out death threats, destroying infrastructures as well as eliminating __________________________ 1 â€Å"The Israeli-Palestiniam Conflict†, The History Guy. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from The History Guy Website. http://www. historyguy. com/israeli-palestinian_conflict. html job opportunities, and worse, destroying the lives of countless innocent souls now forever shadowed by fear. Terrorism as defined by Britannica Online2, is the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. Many Islamic groups have arisen in different parts of the earth to spread terrorism in the face of the planet. The Al-Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf and others are examples of the different Islamic groups present in different locations on Earth with one mission in mind, to inflict pain. Islamic issues on terrorism have stopped the world in its tracks, as the massive killings became worse. The world became spectators as bomb after bomb set off, killing people stripping them of their right to live. The world watched in horror as the World Trade Center where many employees work, were blown off to pieces. Some were found severely injured, others were never found under dusts and pile of debris. No one surely knows the reason for such terrorism; could it be that these Palestinians want to rule the world? Or they just want to prove something? There are many speculations on the cause of the terrorism brought about by these Arabs. But a certain speculation reveals that this terrorism was started by the dispute of the Palestinians and Israelites over the piece of property. That due to this dispute over a piece of property, the Palestinians brought terrorism to the world to inflict fear and pain in order to get what they want, and eliminating those who stand in their way. And as these Palestinians see it, the only way to get what they want, and in this circumstance that piece of land, force has to be used. Believing that inflicting pain and fear to the masses can weaken their decisions and give these Arabs what they want. These Palestinians truly believe that the piece of land they are fighting for is truly theirs. And they will fight for the right over it even if it takes how many lives or how much blood shall be spilled, as long as this goal is achieved. __________________________ 2 terrorism. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved June 5, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9071797 References: terrorism. (2007). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved June 5, 2007, from Encyclop? dia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9071797 â€Å"The Israeli-Palestiniam Conflict†, The History Guy. Retrieved June 5, 2007 from The History Guy Website. http://www. historyguy. com/israeli-palestinian_conflict. html.

Disappearing Frogs

Why are Frogs disappearing around the world? Around the world, frogs are declining at an alarming rate due to threats like pollution, disease and climate change, which makes them the first indicators of ecosystem changes. Many Frogs all around the world are vanishing because the rapid changes in the environment are killing them. Also frogs, and all amphibians, may be sensitive indicators of water quality because they absorb gases and chemicals directly through the skin. Vanishing frogs could be an early warning of serious water problems in the environment. Though fungi and habitat destruction have been implicated in the disappearances, the frogs’ problem comes down to one problem: Amphibians are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. Amphibians’ physiology and complex water-and-land life cycle expose them to more environmental changes than most animals, and though they have survived climate changes before, today's changes are accelerating too rapidly for frogs to keep pace. Also, frogs’ eggs have no shells, exposing embryos to increased UV-B radiation levels, which can cause harmful mutations. Pollution has contaminated the water frogs thrive in and global climate change is causing higher levels of infectious diseases. What can be done to protect threatened frogs? In some cases, nothing very effective. There are a number of species that now live only in carefully controlled zoo or laboratory environments, and it may or may not be possible to reintroduce them into the wild. In many cases, others thinks it's better to concentrate on saving habitats and letting their endangered amphibians survive or perish in the wild than to catch the remaining animals and keep them in a modern ark in hopes of a later opportunity to reintroduce them somewhere. Part of the reason is that climate change is altering habitats in ways that we can't predict very well, so that conditions that might be ideal in a particular spot might be ephemeral. In the United States, an unofficial Partnership for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation advises private land owners of things they can do to protect frogs and other living things, for example, fencing off just a part of a pond where cattle drink.

PlayStation 3 Case †Planning and Strategy Essay

There is very little Sony can do to turn around the sales of the PlayStation 3. It has been nearly six years since its launch, the full lifetime of most gaming consoles. While the Nintendo Wii and Micrsoft Xbox360 have drastically lowered their prices to move existing stock, Sony has only dropped their price in the last 2 years. Now priced at $300, the PS3 is still over $100 more expensive than the competitors. At this point in time, it would be wise for Sony to discontinue the manufacture the sale of the PS3 and focus on its next game console. Sony’s strategic approach to new product development has always been to be a market leader in new, innovative technology. This approach has brought them huge success, but also some notable failures. For instance, the Sony Betamax, which was introduced in 1975, was supposed to be a direct competitor to VHS. It provided higher quality images, but did not offer the longer playtime of VHS. Sony stubbornly refused to change its format for eight years, but eventually switched over to the far more popular and cheaper VHS. Despite this notable failure, the Sony Walkman was one of its greatest successes, with 100 million units sold within its first decade. The key success factors in the video gaming industry today are content, price, availability, and compatibility. These have remained factors since consoles first began emerging in the late 70s. For gamers around the world â€Å"Content is King. † It doesn’t matter how crisp and beautiful the quality of the images if there are only fifteen games, which, coincidently was the number of games with which the PS3 launched. Gamers who rushed out to buy the PS3 quickly realized that the limited number of games made the PS3 little more than an expensive TV attachment. Sony tried to counter this by touting the Blu-Ray capability of the PS3, but gamers weren’t interested in watching movies on their PS3, they wanted to play new games. Another factor in the success in video gaming is the price. At $600, the PS3 was, and still is, the most expensive gaming console ever sold. While the original PlayStation and the PS2 were priced at $299, the PS3 nearly priced itself out of the market. With the Xbox and Wii selling for around $300, the ludicrously expensive PS3 couldn’t possibly hope to live up to the expectations its price was promising. When gamers realized that the PS3 was not better than the Xbox in gaming quality, they quickly rushed back to stores to return them. By 2007, more PS3s were being returned than were being sold. The last two factors in video gaming success, availability and compatibility, are also weaknesses in the launch of the PS3. Initially Sony planning on manufacturing one million consoles. On November 7, 2006, North American retailers had fewer than 200,000 units. By the time retailers had enough units to meet demand; gamers had begun to return their units at an alarming rate. With compatibility, the PS3 initially promised backwards compatibility with the PS2 games. This seemed to vary per unit, with some units, like the upgraded unit being able to play Sony Platform games like Final Fantasy, but the base model not being able to play any PS2 games. The launch of the PS3 was one of the largest in video gaming history. Sony spent over $150 million in advertising that aimed to convince gamers to hold off purchasing an Xbox 360 and wait for the PS3. IN 2006, they developed the slogan â€Å"Play Beyond† for the Electronic Entertaiment Expo . Unfortunately, people soon because spoofing the slogan and replacing it with â€Å"Pay Beyond,† protesting the high cost of the console. The competitive advantage of the PS3 was supposed to be in its superior gaming quality. IT was supposed to be the most advanced, the most practical and the most visually stunning video game platform in history. The PS3 promised free online play, Blu-Ray capability, online surfing ability, and using the PS3 for pictures, videos and music storage. The weaknesses in the PlayStation3 were numerous. There were only 15 games available initially, of which, only about five were interesting to avid gamers. The video quality was equal to the much cheaper Xbox360. The free online play had limited and fairly useless content. The online surfing was cumbersome and useless for users who already owned computers. This was also true of the music, video, and picture storage, which customers could already use on their computers or even their iPods. With their limited initial availability, and spotty backwards compatibility, the PS3 was too much money for too little content. When compared with the marketing program of the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 seemed to target the avid gamer. Traditionally men aged 15-35; these men were interested in serious gaming. They want high quality content and high quality visuals. The Nintendo Wii chose another market, the family. While the PS3 touted its amazing video quality, the Wii emphasized fun and togetherness. They offered fun games for multiple players of all ages who could enjoy the physical activity of using the Wii controller. They put of silly, colorful, low-resolution games at a reasonable price or bundled in with new Wii consoles. Nintendo also had the advantage of two major game legacies, Mario and Zelda, which had been favorites of serious gamers and children alike. While Wii was selling fun, the PS3 was selling serious. Families were much more willing to buy a Wii that the whole family could use for less than $400, than spend over $600 on a gaming system that did not offer a range of games for all ages.

Health of Indigenous Peoples Essay

This essay seeks to demonstrate that whilst Indigenous health policy may have been on the Australian public policy agenda since the1960s, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health has remained. A brief description of the lives of Indigenous Australians prior to the colonisation of Australia is given, followed by a description of various policies that have been introduced by the Australian government to combat these inequalities. This essay demonstrates why these policies have been inadequate, in turn highlighting why the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge in creating Indigenous health policies is important. This essay closes with a brief examination of the Closing the Gap policy, which is utilising the knowledge of Indigenous Australians in creating culturally sensitive Indigenous health policies. In conclusion, this essay demonstrates that by including Indigenous Australians in the policymaking process, we might be starting to close the gap. The health inequality of Indigenous Australians has long been a concern for Australia and the world. Whilst the overall health of Australia has continued to improve, the health of Indigenous Australians remains at levels below those of non-indigenous Australians. Whilst it may seem that there is a lot being done to address these issues, the statistics demonstrate that policies implemented to address these issues have not been effective (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet 2010; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 29). The thesis of this essay is that whilst the government has been seen as attempting to address the issues of health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, it is only in recent times that the government has implemented programs that are anywhere near close to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. To demonstrate this thesis, this essay will firstly discuss the history of Indigenous health prior to colonisation. This will be done to highlight how Indigenous health has declined dramatically since colonisation. This essay will then discuss what the government has been doing since the 1967 referendum, in which Indigenous Australians were formally recognised in the Constitution, to address issues of health inequalities (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet 2010). In the next section, a discussion on the reasons why there is a large gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous health will occur. This will be followed by a discussion on the utilisation of Indigenous knowledge to provide adequate health services. This essay will finally discuss the current Closing The Gap policy (Australian Human Rights Commission 2011), which has been introduced to address issues that previous policies have failed to. This will be done to highlight the fact that whilst it may seem that as the Indigenous population require the knowledge and assistance of its non-indigenous counter parts, what is evident is that health of Indigenous populations has in fact declined since the colonisation of Australia. Failing to recognise the correlation between colonisation and declining health of Indigenous people, will only see a continuation of the problem rather than seeing a positive change. Whilst the information pertaining to the health of Indigenous Australians prior to colonisation in 1788 appears to be scarce, what is known is that Indigenous health has been on the decline since the arrival of European settlers. Indigenous Australians were considered to be healthier than those of their colonisers (Flood 2006, p. 120). Prior to colonisation, there was no contact with the outside world and therefore infectious diseases were minimal. Due to the introduction of new illnesses from colonisation, the population of Indigenous Australians declined (Carson 2007, p. 43). It was also common for Indigenous women to contract sexual diseases from the often non-consensual contact with the colonisers (Carson 2007, p. 44). Health was also impacted upon by change in diet. Prior to colonisation, Indigenous Australians maintained a diet of protein and vegetables due to the animals and plants available to them (Flood 2006, p.120), as well as the exercise they maintained from hunting and gathering (Flood 2006, p. 122). After colonisation, the Indigenous diet included many foods which saw an increase in obesity, diabetes and heart disease (O’Dea 1991, p. 233). It was not just the introduction of disease and change in die that impacted upon Indigenous Australians’ health. Anthropological studies surrounding Indigenous culture have shown that Indigenous populations have close ties to the land, as the land is incorporated into their sense of being. Pieces of land belonged to particular groups of individuals, and the objects from the natural landscape were considered to be part of their history (Carson 2007, p. 180). It was the failure of colonisers to understand this worldview that has contributed to the deterioration of mental health amongst Indigenous Australians, as they were forced off their lands and into settlements and reserves (Carson 2007, p. 49). This contributed to the feeling of being disconnected from land and family, exacerbating feelings of not be longing, lack of identity and low self-esteem (Ypinazar et al.2007,p. 474). As one can see, the issue of health amongst Indigenous Australians is a complex one, complicated by the differing world views of Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It is due to this lack of understanding that has resulted in a myriad of health policies that have attempted to address the issue of health inequality of Indigenous Australians. The first health policy to address the health issues of Indigenous Australians was implemented in 1968, with thirty five adjustments made between then and 2006. Without going into the details of every amendment or new policy, what was common throughout this timeline, was that there were various bodies and institutions created to address the issues that had not been adequately addressed previously, responsibilities were allocated by the government to the states and territories, and programs were implemented to address health issues. Change in governments also meant that policies were constantly changing, which meant that the ways in which health issues were seen and therefore addressed also changed (Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet 2010). When attempting to implement a policy that will adequately address the issue, what has been found is that comparative analysis has been used to determine how health issues have been addressed in other countries. Whilst this kind of analysis may be sufficient in some circumstances, it does not suit such a situation where our Indigenous population’s culture and worldview is unlike that of any other. For example, whilst health issues may be similar to those of Indigenous populations elsewhere, worldviews which impact upon health and wellbeing will vary and may not be able to be applied from one culture to another (Tsey et al.2003, p. 36). One event that highlights the differing views on how issues should be addressed, was the closing down of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) by the John Howard Government in 2004 (Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet2010). What was significant about this was that Indigenous health policy had been the responsibility of ATSIC. This action effectively removed the responsibility of Indigenous health from the Indigenous people and placed the responsibility with mainstream departments that were also responsible for non-indigenous health. By doing this, the government had  wound back many years of work to address the health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, perceiving Indigenous Australians as a culture that could not look after themselves and needed instead the knowledge and expertise of the superior colonialists (Kay & Perrin 2007, p. 19). By removing the responsibility of Indigenous health from ATSIC and placing it in the hands of a body that was also responsible for non-indigenous health, the government failed to understand the intricacies of Indigenous Australian culture and the implications that this kind of action can have on Indigenous health. Whilst the overall health of Australians is amongst the top third of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 8). There is a clear disparity between Indigenous and non-indigenous health, when one considers that even in this day and age of modern medicine, Indigenous Australians are expected to live twelve years less than their non-indigenous counterparts for males, and ten years less for females (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 29). So what are considered to be the reasons for this inequality? What has already been highlighted, is that Indigenous health has suffered from the introduction to changes in diet, introduction of diseases both airborne and venereal, and the impact upon mental health due to dispossession of land and loss of kinship. Mental health issues can also be connected to the economic and social disadvantage of many Indigenous individuals, which can lead to substance abuse and other issues (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 33). The failure to adequately address mental health issues has resulted in deaths by suicide being the second biggest reason for deaths by injury (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010, p. 30). These figures demonstrate that policies have clearly not been working. A salient point to note is that Indigenous Australians are the least likely group of the whole population, to access important health services. So what are the reasons behind this lack of access to services? It can be as simple as the kind of service that an individual receives. From personal experience of serving Indigenous customers, tone of voice can be misinterpreted. What may be considered polite in most circumstances, can be misconstrued as being conceited by others. Use of language can also be a barrier. For example, (again from personal experience), language has to be altered to manoeuvre these barriers, such as replacing the term ‘bank account’ with the word ‘kitty’. Other barriers may include the fact that in remote communities, health professionals may also be the town judge, which may deter Indigenous people from accessing the services from a person who might have also been responsible for sentencing an individual or a member of their family (Paul 1998, p.67). Barriers such as the remote locations of individuals in comparison to the services, and the cost of services also have to be taken into account. For example, if a service is some distance away from an individual, the cost of travelling may be too high. The cost of services close by may also be too expensive for individuals, or individuals may receive poor treatment due to either being turned away from services, or mistreatment due to racialist beliefs. This may result in individuals travelling long distances due to this very mistreatment in their own communities (Paul 1998, pp.67-68). The misconception that all Indigenous Australians are one group of people can also result in culturally inadequate services, deterring individuals from accessing important health services (Paul 1998, p. 68). This lack of understanding about Indigenous cultures when providing health services has resulted in a rise in the provision of health services that are either run by Indigenous individuals, or have been created in consultation with Indigenous individuals, to ensure that the services being provided are culturally adequate. An example that highlights this can be seen in the creation of a program in 1998in the Northern Territory that was attempting to address the health inequalities of Indigenous children (Campbell et al 2005, p. 153). There were many problems with this programme because the people that were overseeing the programme did not have cultural knowledge that was a factor in the health and wellbeing of the children. What resulted was a program which was implemented in an Indigenous remote community, which utilised the knowledge of Indigenous people from the community itself. This allowed for the programme to be altered when issues were addressed and individuals within the community were able to provide solutions to issues, rather than being told what was going to happen by an outside authority (Campbell etal. 2005, p. 155). Whilst this programme realised that a bottom-up approach was more beneficial than a top-down one which usually occurs in policy implementation, there were issues because the programme also involved people from the outside that were there to manage the programme, who were unwilling to give total control to the community, generating feelings of disempowerment, resentment and marginalisation (Campbell et al. 2005, p. 156). Whilst there are many examples of programs that have been implemented to address the health inequalities of Indigenous Australians, one that deserves mentioning because of success that it has had are the men’s groups in Yaba Bimbie and Ma’Ddaimba Balas (McCalman et al. 2010, p. 160). What was found was that these programs were successful because they were run by Indigenous men who had direct knowledge of the cultural issues and needs of the community as they also lived there. They were also successful because the men felt included in their communities by having control, rather than being controlled by an outside source. Due to these men’s groups, individuals were able to come together and share their concerns about their community, and as the others also were from the same community, they were able to contribute to solutions to the problems by feeling able to speak freely about their concerns. One such concern was anger management issues, which were exacerbated by the social issues that the individuals faced (McCalman et al. 2010, p. 163). Whilst, issues like this may seem to be separate, they in fact contribute to other areas, as has been mentioned earlier in regards to mental health and suicide, which flow on to other members of the community, when there may be no one in the family who is able to earn an income, which contributes to poverty. This may in turn, render an individual unable to access services as previously mentioned. As one can see, when individuals who are directly impacted by issues, are included in finding solutions to address these issues, there is more success than when they are not included. It is the understanding of this that has seen the implementation of the Close The Gap policy (Australian Human Rights Commission 2011). This policy is based on the understanding that the concept of health is different in the eyes of Indigenous Australians than that of non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2009). This policy has sought to reduce the gap of inequality between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians by reducing the gap in life expectancy by 2031, halving mortality rates of children by2018, ensuring equal access to early childhood education by 2013, halving the gap in the area of inability to read and write by 2018, halving the gap of individuals who attain their Year 12 education by 2020 and halving the gap of unemployment rates by 2018 (Gillard2011, p. 2). Various programmes have been implemented to address these issues, with a common theme of inclusion. That is, the programs all involve Indigenous Australians who have a better cultural understanding than non-indigenous Australians. This has allowed for individuals to work with their own communities, various levels of government, non-government organisations and businesses (Gillard 2011, p. 6). By doing so, it has provided individuals with a sense of control and purpose over their own lives, which has seen a decrease in the mortality rates of Indigenous Australians (Gillard2011, p. 12), as well as a reduction in the rates of reading and writing problems (Gillard 2011, p. 14). There has also been a significant increase in the numbers of Indigenous Australians aiming towards their Year 12 qualifications (Gillard 2011, p. 16), as well as a decrease in the number of unemployed in the Indigenous population (Gillard 2011, p. 17). Whilst these figures are promising, one has to look at some of the programs that have been implemented as a result of this policy, to see if lessons have been learned from past mistakes, or if similar mistakes are being made. One such program that is deemed to be addressing issues of inequality is the Welfare Payment Reform act, which allowed the government to withhold portions of welfare payments (Gruenstein 2008, p. 468). This was to ensure that portions of the payment were going to required living expenses before going to things such as alcohol. Whilst this may seem as though it is an important step in addressing issues within communities, what is important to note is that policies such as these are in direct violation of the Racial Discrimination Convention because they directly target Indigenous individuals solely because they are Indigenous and are not necessarily in need of intervention (Gruenstein, 2008, p. 469). Whilst the Closing the Gap policy has good intentions, it can result in actions that treat Indigenous Australians as a homogenous group, rather than recognising the variation of issues. In conclusion, this essay has demonstrated that Australia has come a long way in addressing the issues of inequality amongst Indigenous Australians. It has been demonstrated that Indigenous Australians were in good health prior to colonisation, and only since colonisation has the health of Indigenous Australians has declined. This essay has also shown that the different governments have varied between allowing Indigenous Australians self-determination, or be included in the process of policy making, to the government seizing control of the issues, excluding the Indigenous community from decision making. Whilst it has been shown that the government has been addressing issues for well over 40 years, it has only been in recent times that issues of inequality have begun to be adequately addressed. By understanding that it is Indigenous Australians who are better able to understand their issues, which stem from the actions of non-indigenous peoples and allowing Indigenous Australians to take control of their own lives, will we start to close the gap of health inequality between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.