Obedience Essay

One of the most prominent studies of obeisance in the interpret of psychology was performed by Stanley Milgram. The intent of this study was to research how far individuals would go in obeying a command while it involved hurting someone. Milgrams quirk to see how normal individuals could be influenced by enormity seems to be an influence for this study. My initial reaction to Milgrams study video was pure disgust. In my opinion, he treated his participants like animals. Due to his own fascination, he did not care about the well being of his participants, but rather to fulfill his own liking for knowledge. During the video, a man pleads to let him out and the responded says, Go on, I will not be responsible for it. A few seconds later he yells and continues to submit to let him out. The presence of the administrator affect obedience because of his authoritative role, and continues to reassure the subjects that the volts were not harming them. It is anticipated that individuals ar e to follow directions accustomed by an administrator. For instance, authority affects obedience in our everyday lives. When we attend school, there are different layers of authority. You cast off your teachers, security services, a vice principal and a head principal. It is important to show up respect, listen and engage what is being ask of you because there is a higher level of authority. In my opinion, when individuals do things against their personal ethics when an authority asks can have many different reasons. This study confirms that obedience can take precedence over moral code (Myers, 2012). Obedience to authority is implemented in our brains at a very young age. As children it is integrated to follow authority, whether it be a parent, teacher, boss etc. Normative influences can also be a result.ReferencesMyers, D. G. (2012). Exploring social psychology (6th ed.). Boston, MAMcGraw-Hill. retrieved fromhttp//highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073531871/student_view0/module14/ video.html

Robin Hood Case Study Discussion

1. Describe how robin redbreast Hood developed his initial scheme for competing with the sheriff of Nottingham and discuss how he employ it. Critique this approach. The original problem definition of high taxation that faced the throng gave way for a new market which was stormed by robin redbreast Hood. on the face of it an unlawful act, his mission was to steal from the rich, and get to the poor. As he entered the market, he was faced with rivalry of the prince and the sheriff. Robin Hood and his band of Merry men stole from the rich and gave to the poor which is in actuality is entirely opposite to the actions of his rivals.As Robin Hood entered the existing niche market he gained popularity and support amongst the crude crime syndicate as he was supplying a unique good/service. He provides a free service to the poor after his operating expenses are accounted for. Also, the people had a preference for his product and tactics were not easily matched or copied by the compet ition. By obtaining this support, this dodging was to his advantage against Prince John and the sheriff. The opinion of numerous common folk would have persuaded Prince John to change the law of unfair taxation.Robin quickly realized that there was little he could do himself which guide to development of the brass instrument by stimulating human resources. He sought close allies who would follow his vision of vengeance for the sheriff and the prince. These men would act as direct subordinates, even so as time progress, admittance was allowed with less scrutiny whereby the only determining factor was loyalty. He believed strength lay in numbers. Robin implemented his strategy of strength in numbers by seeking discipline from his band of men which ensured unity in the organization.This was achieved by means of a specific department at bottom the organizational hierarchy. As a result they became more powerful in their battle against the sheriff. This forced the Merry Men to live outside the law which was to a fault desired to gain sufficient discipline in the group. This organization was fairly simple. Critique By acquiring a openhanded extent of subordinates, Robin obtained a work force that is not necessarily trained as he allowed any to join who asked few questions. In doing so, extra man-hours would have to be pass in dressing.Also if prescreening of the new entrants existed, the idea of using the entrants with existing skills net give way for a more efficient organization. I. e. farmers would have been used not for struggle but for food. As the largest internal dilemma faced the band was an increased group size infrastructure, supplies and other physical resources would quickly diminish. Thus cutting court should be priority, therefrom tradeoffs can be made by employing skilled workers for defined job. E. g. famers and hunters With the ideal of improper interview, his organization could be easily infiltrated by his competitors thus relieving the ir plan and strategies. . Identify organizational characteristics and environment characteristics that would lead you to think robin redbreast hood is wise to considering a change in strategy as he enters his campaign second year? Robins organization could be seen as one of a hierarchy, he is the highest person in the organization which can put him in roles such as C. E. O. or chairman. His responsibility is to delegate specific task to his lieutenants, each has their own functions which contributes to the success of the merry men as a unit.For example Will Scarlett was assigned the important task of shadowing the sheriff and notifying the merry men of the sheriff next move. Figure 1 Robins Organizational Hierarchy The contend of the band was vital to keeping them interested in the purpose of the vendetta. Motivation theory seeks to explain all kinds of motivated fashion in different situations, including behavior in the organizations. Since the majority of behavior is sense mot ivated, individuals are greatly influenced by their environment.Maslows theory of human motivation, all people have a need or desire for self respect, self esteem, and respect from others. This directly applies to the Merry Men, for they sought respect and were proud of their famous motto Rob from the rich and give to the poor. The resourced based model was important in the success of the group five factors were looked at which the band demonstrated resources, capability, competitive advantage, attractive industry, strategy homework and implementation. The resource of the group came from the merchants that travel through the forest, initially the resource was always available but t was quickly becoming sparse as merchants was choosing a different route. The men were properly trained to plan their robbery and skillful in their archery, however, the influxes of new recruits were beginning to strain the reserves of the group as training and food was costly. Robin and the merry men had the support from their customers which were the peasants and farmers but now as income was low and the maintenance cost was high they would have to tax the precise people which they helped meaning that the peasants and farmers could turn on them and add to their troubles.Understanding the resource base of the group I could see why a change in strategy was wise. Figure 2 Resourced Based Model Robin and his organization were in crisis due to lack of a proper corporate strategy. The merry men were growing, with large number of new recruits but the organic structure is not cohesive. Communication and discipline is being broken down, table 3 below shows some options robin could use and their drum analysis. Opportunities Threats Strengths SO Strategies Kill the Sheriff * Wipe him out, no more problems * Has the men to do it When the sheriff is gone, disband. ST Strategies Join the barons * Has the fighting force * Get access to jacket crown markets * Maybe ends the conflict quicker Weakness WO Strategies Limit size of band * Turn the fighting band into a group of elites * Maintains discipline * Solves food issues * Basically, bound growth WT Strategies Disband * Give up the cause, return to normal life * Robin flees to another country to escape punishment Figure 3 SWOT Matrix Problems Robin and his organization faced * Lack of discipline Maintenance cost * Shelter/space shortage * Food shortage * training * surety and vigilance (whoever wanted to join was taken in and there could be traitors and spies) These problems need to be address if the band is to have any chance against the sheriff and prince John. 3. win that Robin Hood has asked you to help him devise a new strategy. Identify a set of factors for him to consider in revising strategy. It was evident from the story that Robin Hood needed to change his approach owing to both internal and external factors.An uncontrolled workforce along with unsuitable supplier location led to the brink of economic vi ability. Changing the overall goal of his organization to fixed transit taxation would decrease his competitive advantage over the Sheriff. As a result the cost of amenities which Mr. Hood provided to the common folk would increase. If he chooses this path he would lose his loyal supporters which kept him in control of the monopolized market. The farmers and townspeople would then favor Prince Johns governance and rely on his pity for commodities.In the event of this situation Robin Hoods main foe, The Sheriff would get under ones skin stronger in light of his political connection with the prince. Although his work force was constantly growing, its productivity was diminutive. He claimed that he was not familiar with a large macrocosm of his organization. It would be in Robins best interest to restructure his work force. He would gain an advantage by decentralizing the team into some(prenominal) self sustaining units each unit consisting of team manager, lieutenants and miscellan eous subordinates.Akin to a franchised organization, each team unit would be operating under the Robin Hood spot name, have the same goal as Robin, and operate within the limits of Robin. This structure would be less demanding to co-ordinate and allow him to devise alternate strategies. Since Robin as well had a problem with a definitive Sherwood Forest location, this structure would also aid his disguise from his suppliers, the rich merchant travelers and the Sheriff. It is an imprudent choice for Robin to distinguish from his core competency and profound skill of banditry.The change in profession may lead to a lack of enthusiasm which would reflect poorly through the eyes of his followers and his brand name. References Analyzing Strategic Management Cases http//www. pdftop. com/view/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hdWJ1cm4uZWR1LyU3RWNiZjAwMDIvZmlsZXMvQ2FzZSUyMEFuYWx5c2lzLnBwdA== Date Accessed 02nd February 2011 The Business Operations of Robin Hood and the Merry men Author Sumeet Malhotra http/ /www. scribd. com/ atomic number 101/13627015/Robin-Hood-Case-Study Date updated 2010 Date Accessed 05th February 2011 ROBIN HOOD a Case StudyAuthor Misti Walker http//www. scribd. com/doc/21176061/Robin-Hood-Case-Study Date updated 05th September 2009 Date Accessed 05th February 2011 Case Study 24 Robin Hood Book Winning In The Market Place Second Edition http//www. oppapers. com/essays/Case-Study-24-Robin-Hood-Book/178732 Date update 2011 Date Accessed 07th February 2011 Robin Hood Case analysis Author Aaron labin, Curt Matthews, Rich Miller http//www. scribd. com/doc/37469551/Robin-Hood-Final Date updated 14th April 2009 Date Accessed 07th February 2011

Management Efficiency Ratios: Burger King vs. McDonalds

This paper seeks to compare Burger King (BK) with its competitor McDonald (MCD) in the restaurant industry, using their financial statements as basis in terms of advantageousness and forethought efficiency ratios for the latest fiscal year. This will also discuss the concept of operating cost, evaluate the annual and year-end results of the two companies, and interpret BK as take everyplace target compared with its competitors. Burger Kings profitability is obviously note than MCD.Based on net profit margin for year 2008, BK had 7. 3% as compared with MCDs 18. 3% for the equivalent year. The same behavior may be observed in terms of pre-tax margin, where BK had 11% as against that of MCD at 26. 2 % for the same year. It is only in terms of gross margins that BK has exceeded that of MCD but the net margin and pre-tax margin are let on ways to measure profitability as expenses need to be deducted further.For purposes of comparing the net profit margin and pre-tax margin of the two companies against the industry average, BK is worse but MCD is definitely break up. The happen of Asset (ROA) of BK is 7. 1% for the 2008 and is lower than that of MCD, which reflected ROA of 14. 9% for the same year. The results of these ratios further confirmed earlier observation in net profit margin. The same better profitability is further observed in terms of Return of Equity (ROE) where BK showed 22. 2% for 2008, which is still lower than MCDs 30.1% for 2008. While ROA measures how efficient guidance a familiarity is in terms of assets employed in business, ROE measures how much management is compensating resources invested by stockholders, the results would still reinforce earlier finding that BK, is little profitable and less efficient than MCD. The less profitability and efficiency of BK as against MCD is also further proven in terms of the formers lower receivable turnover of 18. 67 for 2008 as against 23. 7 for MCD and 46. 8 for industry average.Inventory turnover for BK is not possible because of its absence of stocktaking for 2008 spot that of MCD, the figure is over 100 times for 2008, which is even higher than industry average. Even if no comparison could be made in terms of inventory turnover, at that place is sufficient evidence to show better profitability and efficiency for MCD as against BK. To discuss the concept of operating cost for operating a business, the same must be minimized in order to maximize profits since costs or expenses must be deducted from revenues in order to derive profit.The lower the cost, the higher would be the profit assuming revenues are the same. To evaluate the annual and year-end results of the two companies and interpret BK as takeover target compared with its competitors, there is need to look at profitability and management efficiency of the two companies. As found out, BK was less profitable and less efficient than MCD. However, a company wishing to take over another company does not necessarily fo llow that it can also take over a better competitor of the target for many reasons.What must be controlling on the part of the company making the takeover is the expected profit of the takeover, both over the short and the longer-term, and which should be higher than the cost of capital or operating cost in order to justify the takeover. It can be concluded that BK may be less profitable and less efficient than its competitor MCD may, but if the profitability of BK could improve the profitability and efficiency of both the acquired and the acquired company combined together after the takeover, there is still justification to continue the takeover of BK.ReferencesMSN (2009a) Financial Ratios of Burger King, www document URL http//moneycentral. msn. com/investor/invsub/results/compare. asp? Symbol=US%3aBKC, Accessed April 17, 2009.MSN (2009b) Financial Ratios of McDonalds, www document URL http//moneycentral. msn. com/investor/invsub/results/compare. asp? Symbol=MCD, Accessed April 17 , 2009.

Batman & Joker

The turkey is conventionally viewed as the villain of The Dark Knight, nevertheless his demonstrable role is off the beaten track(predicate) more complex. The entire film is an examination of the nature of duality, but not necessarily polarity. The duality of The Dark Knight is more problematic while issues such as untroubled versus evil and brio versus death are addressed, the usually clear cut divergences are given unexpected dimensions. The centrepiece of this complexity is the Joker who acts more as a force of amorality than immorality.The version of duality that is explored in the film is the element that elevates it far above typical ridiculous book fair. While the genuinely basis of comic book plot history is good versus evil in the form of hero versus villain, ultimately the villain that is or so threatening to Batman is not the Joker, but the man who begins the film as a figure that even Bruce Wayne admits is more heroic than Batman Harvey Dent. It is Dents actio ns that confide Batman running through the night with the police hot on his heels.Of course, it is the Jokers actions that lead Dent and Batman to this climax. The Joker is the repository of duality and is at the corresponding time the personification of the rejection of the easy route of polarity. Rather than act merely as a villain, the Jokers role is ultimately as unbekn birthst(predicate) and mysterious as the dual claims he makes about the origin of his cars. The Jokers duality can even be extended to suggest that he is both good and evil or neither good nor evil. The Joker is chaos and disorder and anarchy.Those are words that generally have a electronegative connotation, but out of chaos and disorder and anarchy arrives something different. That something may be worse, but it may also be better. The point is that nobody can scream the outcome. The Joker himself asserts that he has no plan, likening himself to a dog who would not know what to do with a car if he ever actua lly caught one. Considering the Jokers affinity for being less than truthful, that claim may be subject to questioning, but even if he does have a plan, it hardly matters.After all, he is no more in control of the outcome of his plans than anybody else. The most profound scene in The Dark Knight is one that provides insight into the Jokers role as a force for amorality. When hes having his conversation with Harvey Dent in the hospital the Joker ob servicings that a convoy of soldiers dying is ignore because it is all part of the plan, but a Mayor being assassinated is a tragedy that creates chaos for an entire city. Hes right, of course, but what hes really saying is that society has its priorities completely out of whack.A convoy of soldiers dying should be more heavy than the death of one person. The Jokers tossing off Gotham City into chaos is an act of extreme duality. It is both bad and horrific in the here and now, but ultimately it may potentially serve the greater good by revealing to the city and its citizens just how out of whack their priorities really are. The Jokers amorality is viewed as psychopathic and sociopathic and villainous, but there is little question that he manages at least one very vital positive outcome. His actions reveal the corruptibility of Harvey Dent.Surely, it is better for Harvey Dents own dark side to surface, as a result of the Jokers actions, before he gains too much power than after. From this perspective, the Joker must be seen not as a villain, but as a positive force for good. He must also, at the very same time, still be viewed as force for evil. He is both and yet neither. He is the very quintessence of the concept of duality, containing both darkness and light and the mystery of each. If Martians were to visit the macrocosm there are certainly many films that could accurately convey human culture.The first film to repoint Martians should be a film that reveals the potential for good and evil of our species. This idea should be pursued to give extraterrestrials an understanding of the complexity of our genetic makeup. Schindlers List is the perfect film for this because while it obviously returns the darkest corners of humanss capacity for evil in the person of Amon Goeth and the scenes involving the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto and the concentration camps, it also urinate to reveal the flip side of that coin in the person of Oskar Schindler himself.Schindlers List is worthy of being viewed by aliens precisely because it does not try to hide the depths to which humans have sunk it also works to let them know that one us can change the world. Another film that Martians should view as insight in humanity is Airplane. Humor, of course, may very well be a peculiarly human trait that is not duplicated anywhere else in the universe, but this idea seems unlikely. It is key to show alien life forms how vital laughter and comedy is to society, and how it has been throughout history.There a re funnier mental pictures, of course, but Airplane contains visual gags, verbal humor, and non-stop bits that perhaps more than any other movie show the full range and extent of the type of humor enjoyed by human beings. While it is true that aliens may not get it, showing them this kind of movie is a way to introduce alien species to what may be one of the most identifiable characteristics of our race. 2001 A Space Odyssey is a film that conveys another important element of humanity our thirst for knowledge and the quest for an understanding of what is beyond our own limited span of intelligence.While the special effects may serve to score laughter among actual space travelers, Stanley Kubricks monumental film showcases how humanity has been capable of imaging that which we do not know. The film reveals our own internal logic as far as space travel and how it might be carried out, but it suggests that we understand the connection between ancient events and time and space far in to the future and far away.In addition, 2001 A Space Odyssey might, with its limited dialogue and reliance on music and visual effects, be the best choice for reaching an alien intelligence that cannot understand our language. And for that very reason, D. W. Griffiths Intolerance is also a film that should be used to greet Martians. The lack of dialogue as a result of it being a silent movie is just one reason for its inclusion, but perhaps even more important is the content.The film tells quaternity different stories from four different time periods and so represents an adequate attempt to let the Martians get a glimpse of human history. Since religion is such an important aspect of humanity, the story of Jesus Christ as told in Intolerance is quite obviously a significant story to show alien visitors. The modern font storys tale of how a man turns to a life of crime because of societal pressures works in much the same way as Schindlers List to assert the complexity of our species . Each segment of the Intolerance extols the virtues of love and respect and mutual understanding.Perhaps nothing would be more apt to show aliens visiting this planet than to show them a story made of four different components that suggest that despite our failings and despite the fact that evil actions are perpetrate on a daily basis, the underlying foundation that has kept humans alive on this planet for thousands of years is the capacity to meet our failings directly and work through them to evolve and become ever more civilized. A civilization that can address the concerns of a species from an alien world can be most perfectly realized through the history of cinema.

Armed Conflict

War is often said to be rooted in multiple sources located at various levels of psychoanalysis (individual, state, or global) and compare the contributions that theories at each level have made to our understanding of the causes of war.Oxford Dictionary defines war as any active hostility or struggle between living beings a conflict between opposing forces or principles (qtd. in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy para. 8). Since the etiology of war is grasped from many a(prenominal) sub-disciplines, it is but wise to learn about it based on three groupings namely those who seek wars causation in mans biology (individual), those that seek it in his glossiness (global), and those who seek it in his faculty of reason.These determinants of war could give a better understanding as why it happens despite the detrimental effects it does to mankind particularly in monetary value of individual and global analysis.Individually, Some take away war to be a product of mans inherited biolog y, with disagreements raging on the ensuing predestinarian implications (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy para. 18). According to the International Encyclopedia of Philosophy,Example theories include those that claim man to be naturally aggressive or naturally territorial, much complex analyses incorporate game theory and genetic evolution to explain the occurrence of violence and war (cf. Richard Dawkins for interesting comments on this area).Within this broad school of thought, virtually accept that mans belligerent drives can be channeled into more peaceful pursuits (William James), some worry about mans lack of inherited inhibitions to fight with increasingly dangerous weapons (Konrad Lorenz), and others claim the natural process of evolution will sustain peaceful modes of behavior over violent (Richard Dawkins) (para. 18).Rejecting biological determinism, culturalists seek to explain wars causation in terms of particular cultural institutions (Internet Encyclopedia of Phil osophy para.

Comparison Essay on “Dead Souls” and “Taras Bulba”

I. The great achievement of prose of the XIX century (from the 1840s to the 1890s) was Russian Realism, which is represented by umteen great Russian generators and Nikolai Gogol is not the destruction in this list. It is often mentioned that after 1830 Pushkin turned more and more to prose, although being the greatest poet of the time. How ever so, the writer who established re every last(predicate)y innovating novelistic and narrative tradition in Russian literary husbandry was Gogol. Gogols example, combined with the authoritative literary pronouncements of the greatest literary critic of the period, V. G. Belinsky, proved prose to be the literary medium of the future. Later, the great Russian novelist (and not the worst philosopher of religious thought) Dostoevsky flip said, referring to himself and his fellow Realists, We have all come out from under Gogols Overcoat (meaning the famous story by Gogol, Shynel or Overcoat).Vladimir Nabokov highly esteemed Gogol as a great Rus sian (in no case Ukrainian, he is sure, in spite of the fact that Nikolaj Gogol-Ianovski originates from Ukraine, Mirgorod, and his world outlook is obviously mark by Ukrainian national tradition) novelist, dramatist, satirist, and founder of the so-called critical realism in Russian literature, best-known for his novel Mertvye Dushy (1842, Dead Souls). Praising the imaginative advocate and linguistic playfulness of the writers latest give-up the ghosts (Shynel or Overcoat, Mertvye Dushy etc), Nabokov states that Gogol is everything but the amatory folklore novelist.Actually, there can be defined dickens primary(prenominal) periods in Gogols writing orthodox romantic and vernacular persuasionlism of the Ukrainian past (which we find in Evenings on a Farm come along Dikanka and Taras Bulba) and the next evolutionary period of modernistic urban life reflection with all its psychological abnormality and deviations. If to believe Nabokov, in the mature age Gogol was penitent o f the playful artificialness of his early works and as for the famous Russian critic, it is a dreadful nightmargon even to imagine Gogol scribbling Ukrainian folkloristic novels passel by volume Had he chosen this path, the world would have never heard his name. So, lets compare these two antagonistic periods of Gogols writing corresponding to the well-nigh vividly representative works of his Taras Bulba and Dead Souls.II. Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, the book of Ukrainian folklore stories, which appeared in 1831-32, was Gogols break through work (Gogol had greatly prize Pushkin, and he used in this work the same narrative device as Pushkin did in his Tales of Belkin). It showed his skill in mixing fantastic and demonic ideas of his sight with macabre, and at the same time he said or sothing crucial about the Russian and Ukrainian (ignoring Nabokovs imperialistic snobbism, it is important to mark Gogols Ukrainian roots) character. After failure as an assistant lecturer of w orld history at the University of St. Petersburg (1834-35), Gogol became a full-time writer. Under the title Mirgorod (1835) Gogol published a advanced collection of his stories, also inspired by Ukrainian vernacular culture, beginning with Old-World Landowners, which described the decay of the old way of life.The book also include the famous historical tale (poem in prose) Taras Bulba, which according to umteen literary critics showed the influence of W.Scott and L.Stern. However, it is rather ignorant not to take into account the original Ukrainian novelistic tradition, which is widely based on folklore (Gulak-Artemovski, Kvitka-Osnovjanenko and m some(prenominal) other writers of Ukrainian romanticism are evidently folkloristic). The protagonist of Taras Bulba is a strong, heroic character, absolutely non-typical for Gogols by and by cavalcade of bureaucrats, lunatics, swindlers, and losers, numerously represented on the pages of Dead Souls.In 1569, dominion over the right-coa st Ukraine passed to Poland. The Polish lords (lyahy) promptly tried stamping out Ukrainian culture by savagely exploiting the peasantry, outlawing the Ukrainian linguistic process and imposing Catholicism (Unia) and Papal supremacy on the Orthodox population. In response, Ukrainian male peasants flocked to join the military groups known as the Cossacks. They founded the Zaporizhian Sitch on the Hortycya Island.The Cossacks, essentially a wild cross between mercenary crusaders and highwaymen,became the focus of resistance to the Poles, the Turks and the Crimean Tatars. Gogols novel tells the story of the old and wise warrior Taras Bulba who, with his sons Ostap and Andrij, sallies forth to join the Sitch. Gogols incontestably romantic adventure was as much a propaganda piece for his own time as an elegy for a way of life that had passed. In Taras Bulba we meet conservative Gogol, who has on the nose arrived to Petersburg and is not yet sophisticated in the city life. He is shocke d by the corruption and moral decay of the city dwellers. He craves for the roaring Age of his pots history and this age, he thinks, was the glorious times of the Zaporizhian Sitch.Taras Bulba is a remarkable example of the early romantic Gogol (if to call Gogol the writers texts). However, this novel works on both levels (historical and pshycological, more typical for the later Gogols works) and is surely one of the most exciting masterpieces in world literature. stage set sometime between the mid-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, Gogols epic tale recounts both a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles (led by the bold Taras Bulba of Ukrainian folk mythology) and the trials of Taras Bulbas two sons. As Robert Kaplan (translator) writes, Taras Bulba has a Kiplingesque gusto . . . that makes it a pleasure to read, but central to its theme is an unredemptive, darkly evil violence that is faraway beyond anything that Kipling ever touched on. We need more works like Taras Bulb a to better understand the emotional wellsprings of the threat we face today in places like the Middle due east and Central Asia. (Jane Grayson and Faith Wigzell p.18).And the critic John Cournos has noted, A clue to all Russian realism may be found in a Russian critics observation about Gogol Seldom has nature created a man so romantic in bent, yet so masterly in portraying all that is unromantic in life.(The Rise of Prose Nikolai Gogol). But this statement does not cover the whole ground, for it is easy to see in almost all of Gogols work his free Cossack soul trying to break through the wall of gloomy and non-heroic today like some ancient demon, essentially Dionysian. So, through the years, this novel sounds at once as a reproach, a protest, and a challenge, ever calling for joy, ancient joy, that is no more with us.This wide interpretation lies far beyond previously often-uttered accusation of vernacular populist romanticism. Nikolai Gogol searched for the joy and sadness in t he Ukrainian songs he loved so much. Ukrainian was to Gogol the language of the soul, and it was in Ukrainian songs rather than in old chronicles, of which he was not a little contemptuous, that he read the history of his people. So, here in this novel the writers intention is not the historical but rather the psychological picture of his people. Hence no one (even Nabokov) has the right to accuse Gogol of Ukrainian culture profanation as if following the modern literary trend of his time.Indeed, so great was his enthusiasm for his own land that after collecting material for many years, the year 1833 finds him at work on a history of poor Ukraine, a work planned to take up six volumes and writing to a friend at this time he promises to say much in it that has not been said before him. However, Gogol never wrote any his history of Little Russia (Malorosiya) or his universal history, he didnt become Ukrainian Balzac but is often called Ukrainian Goffman or Poe.Apart from several brie f studies not always reliable, the result of his many years application to his scholarly projects was this brief epic in prose, Homeric in mood (The Rise of Prose Nikolai Gogol). The sense of intense living, living dangerously to evoke Nietzsche the recognition of courage as the greatest virtue, the God in man, inspired Gogol, living in times which tended toward grey monotony, with admiration for his more fortunate forefathers, who lived in a poetic time, when everything was won with the sword, when every one in his turn strove to be an active being and not a spectator. In Taras Bulba we find the people of action, and Dead Souls gives us the gallery of people of things.Russia Russia I see you now, from my wondrous, beautiful past I behold you How wretched, dispersed and uncomfortable everything is about you(Nikolai Gogol)III. Gogol began working on Dead Souls in 1835. The plot and the main idea of the story was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin who seemed to have understood Gogol as a writer quite well. Pushkin felt that the idea of a man travelling all over the Russian Impire buying up the ownership rights to villeins who had died (mertvye dushy) would allow Gogol to make at once the literary success. In fact, it was an opportunity to introduce a multitude of characters, varied settings, mountains of detail, and the scope within which to be able to elaborate the anecdotal story of the work to his hearts content and to promulgate all the sins of his contemporary. Gogol had big ideas of becoming a scriptor of his age a sort of BalzacFor the next six years, he devoted almost all of his creative zip to Dead Souls. His compulsive craftsmanship is evident in that the entire work was revised at least five times the author stated that some passages had been rewritten as many as twenty times. He felt that this novel should be his best one.Unfortunately, only the first part of Dead Souls, twelve chapters in all, was completed by Gogol. The second part, as we know it, (some chapters of which are often published with the first part) is a recreation from various sources of what Gogol might have through with the continuation of his work. Influenced by the fanatical priest Father Konstantinovskii, he burned what he actually had already written for the second part of the novel just nine days before his death.The situation from which the novel develops is based upon a scheme which theoretically was possible in Gogols day. The government had a policy of loan money to landowners, feeling that this class was its strongest support. Lands owned, however, were measured not in acres, but by the piece of souls (serfs, or here, mertvye dushy) residing on them. De facto, landowners were serf owners The government was ready to direct the land (that is, the serfs) of an individual as collateral for a loan. Thus, a method was required by which the holdings of an individual landowner could be established at any given time.This method stated that an individual pos sessed the number of souls recorded as such that belong to him/her in the most recent population census. The census was taken every ten years, which meant that near the end of the ten-year cycle almost every landowner would have some serfs who were not recorded in the forward census because they had recently been born, and some serfs still recorded even though they had died long ago since the last census. In Dead Souls, the main character, Chichikov, schemes to buy from the serf holders a number of those souls who had died but were still counted as living until the next census. An absurd situation becomes possible dead souls are sold as being alive people, which ar estil able to work. Its cheap at the price.A rogue would cheat you, sell you some worthless rubbish instead of souls, but mine are as juicy as ripe nuts, all picked they are all either craftsmen or sturdy peasants, Sobakievich boasts to his weird buyer (Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich). Once Chichikov had a number of such s ouls, he would apply to the government bank for a loan, using the souls as his collateral. With this low-interest loan in hand he would then buy and work an actual country estate, eventually paying back the loan and purchasing living souls to work the land. Well, passing the whole plot, it is imporatnt to state Gogols idea of low marginal people actually decaying in their small towns and farms. The Russia of small towns is the country of odd and irreversibly narrow-minded people. What Gogol proves is that these small landowners are actually dead They have burried themselves alive in their dirty stinking flea-bitten houses.Contrudicting the wide-sprea yet contested idea of Gogols evolution as a writer, it is possible to say that either completing histoical heroic plot or conveying contemporary decayed society, Gogols intention stays the same to show the depth of a human being soul and how this soul can be filled with live brightness of heroism or by dead wickedness and miserable o ddity. Bibliography Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich. Taras Bulba and Other Tales. electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library// http//etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/GogTara.htmlNikolay Gogol Text and Context, ed. by Jane Grayson and Faith Wigzell (1989).N. V. Nabokov Nicolai Gogol, 1944.The Rise of Prose Nikolai Gogol// http//www1.umn.edu/lol-russ/hpgary/Russ3421/lesson6.htm

Making Scotch

Scotch whiskey is traditionally made with just barley and water. Also referred to as malt whiskey, Scotch, in the stolon of the production process, requires barley grains to be steeped in water until they sprout. The germinating barley is generally spread on the floor of a malting house where it continues to develop over the manakin of a week or two.The grains are turned over regularly during this malting period, using a paddle to allow air to get at them and to supercharge even development. The starch in the barley turns to sugar, and germination is stopped at the optimum fourth dimension by placing the barley in an oven or kiln. Traditionally, Scotch makers apply peat fired ovens to give the Scotch its peaty, smoky taste. Some distilleries continue to retain the peaty flavor of Scotch today by burning peat and blowing the smoke over the grain.Once the barley is dry, it is milled to produce a floury substance called grist. This substance is rich in sugar, and mixed with hot wa ter to create a mash. The mash is placed in a large cylindrical metal vessel or container called a mash tun. In beau monde to release the sugars, the limit of the mash tun are stirred regularly. At the conclusion of this process, a liquefied known as wort is produced. This hot, sweet, non-alcoholic liquid is transferred to a large wooden washback, which is similar to a giant wooden pail that is commonly made from Oregon pine or Cypress, both of which are highly resistant to fungi.The yeast is added in the washback to get going the fermentation process. During this process, the sugar in the wort is turned into alcohol as the solution bubbles and foams furiously before gradually slowing down. The sugar is converted over a period of two to four days. At the end ofthis process, the alcohol content of the product is no more than approximately 8-9%. The Scotch is not ready, and so the liquid wash must be distilled down to the required alcohol content.Distillation is the undermentione d major step in Scotch making. This process takes place in copper pot stills that have a distinctive, swan-neck shape. The shape of the stills and the length of the neck determine the character of the final product.Typically, there are two kinds of stills manifold in the distillment process the wash still and the spirit still. The first is used to produce the first distillation, referred to as low wines. This product is distilled for the second time in the spirit still before it is collected as the strong distilled spirit. This spirit is not useable, however. Hence, it is diverted into a receiving tank. The final product of the second distillation is not useable either. But it is saved to be added to the next batch of low wines.The glass-fronted spirit safe is where the spirit is tested with a hydrometer as it leaves the pot stills. In Scotland, this safe is heavily padlocked by the Customs & Excise to prevent any possibility of the distillery siphoning off the spirit in order to avoid the payment of legal duty on it.Following this formality, the final spirit is collected in the receiving tank. It is now prepared to go into barrels for the next stage of the Scotch making process maturation. Scotch whiskey is normally stored in barrels that have been previously used. It takes around three years at least to call it Scotch, however. Maturation may take anything from three years to twenty years. Before it is matured, the Scotch is simply referred to as spirit.During the process of maturation, around 2% of the spirit is lost each year due to evaporation. Once the malt whiskey has been matured for the required time, it can be bottled and labeled. However, if it is to be used as part of a blended whiskey, the master blender would nose eachwhiskey to determine its characteristics and to ensure that the consistency of the specific blend is maintained.Blenders may implicate in the final blend as many as thirty or forty different malt and grain whiskeys. The blender is alike answerable for ensuring that a particular blend retains its consistency over a number of years. For this reason, the blenders nose must be skilled.Coloring is added at this power point to the Scotch, and the drink is chill-filtered so as to remove the oils that cause cloudiness when ice is added. The prepared whiskey, whether blended or not, is then transferred to the bottling plant where it is bottled using automated methods. It is also noteworthy that some of the processes mentioned in the making of Scotch are now automated. As an example, barley may be turned or ploughed with self-acting paddles as opposed to manually during the grain germination process. The chief fermentation and distillation processes, however, have largely remained unchanged in the last couple of nose candy years.Bibliography1. Distillery Journey Making Scotch Whiskey. (1998). Cocktail Times. Retrieved from http//www.cocktailtimes.com/distillery/making_scotch.shtml. (15 March 2007).2. Making Sco tch Whiskey A Brief Explanation of the Traditional Method. (2005). Loch Lomond Distillers. Retrieved from http//www.lochlomonddistillery.com/making-scotch.htm. (15 March 2007).