Two Accounts of The Battle of Pharsalus Essay Example

Two Accounts of The Battle of Pharsalus Essay The battle of Pharsalus, which took place on August 9th 48 BC, was the turning point in the Roman civil wars fought from 49-44 BC. These wars arose primarily from a struggle between the two powerful members of the First Triumvirate, Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. Pompeys defeat by Caesar at Pharsalus resulted directly in his own death and Caesars rise to unimpeachable power in the Roman Republic. The focus on individual leaders as the center of military and political power that was exemplified by the battle of Pharsalus became the overarching structure of governance in Rome, eventually bringing about the end of the Senate-led Republic and the beginning of imperial rule. Thefirst source describing the battle of Pharsalus is found in the seventh book of Lucans epic poem Pharsalia. Lucan was a Roman poet who began writing this poem in 61 AD. It was left unfinished upon his death in 65 AD., therefore the poem is only ten books long ending with Caesars arrival in Egypt in 48 BC. He b ecame successful under Neros reign in Rome, however, there seemed to be an increasing dispute growing between the two after the Pharsalia was published. Many critics assume the cause of the dispute to be based on Lucans anti-imperialistic views that he expresses throughout the poem. The second source describing the battle of Pharsalus is found in book 3.72-99 of Caesars Civil Wars. Caesar himself writes in 48 BC an account of his war against Pompey and the Senate. Book 3.72 begins after Caesars regroups his army in Thessaly because of his defeat at the battle of Dyrrhacium by Pompeys army. Caesar justifies his actions of fighting against Pompey and the senate based on his ultimate goal, which was that of restoring order to the Roman people by bringing an end to the civil wars that had plagued Rome for the past couple of years. In an indirect way h

Factors affecting health and well being essays

Factors affecting health and well being essays The health status of a particular group or community is dependant upon many factors. In the main, you can think of different communities as being of different social classes. A persons social status is almost directly related to that persons health and the social group that you belong to will have a potential affect on your health and life chances. The types of social groups in the community vary from the very top class to the lowest. If we take geographical location , for example, in Britain you would expect people with the highest income to be situated toward the south, south east area due to their being higher wages and more employment. The financial position of a group in a community will have an effect on peoples life chances. In the north of England, a place like Blackburn in some districts, can have lower social class communities made up of low skilled or unskilled people and therefore have high levels of poverty, deprivation with poor, damp housing e.g. old high rise flats with illness related to these damp conditions. On the other hand, other districts, with higher social class families will have a better standard of living with quality housing, parks and better access to leisure facilities and supermarkets which in turn will give them a better health status. Financial position will also affect the level of healt h care people receive. A wealthy person may adopt to paying for more intense, private care like BUPA hospital care for example. The location of groups in a community will render whether or not peoples quality and access to good health care service is available. In certain areas of the country, access to treatment and services may be more readily available compared to others. This boils down to the provision of services and allocation of funds by the government. The prioritisation of funding towards services in certain areas will mean that not everyone will receive the same standard ...

Social Class in the US Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Class in the US - Assignment Example However, as can be gleaned from the lessons and insights provided by the materials in Chapter 8, the belief that the US is the land of opportunity is all but a myth. For, while thousands of opportunities are available for everyone interested, factors like language, educational and cultural factors can severely impede immigrants’ success, including those with professional credentials which they earned from their own homelands. Sawhill, Isabel (2006) in a Policy Brief stated that while the US economy performed well, most of the benefits of such success were reaped by those at half top of the income distribution strata, especially those at the top one percent (or those with income of more than about $400,000 in 2006). Society, stressing that it takes at least five generations to totally free one from circumstances of birth or family background. Sawhill adds that as the gap widens among the income levels or groups, it has become harder for people to move up, as the topmost of the ladder becomes more and more solid and strong, accumulating more and more wealth. Immigrants, illegal or otherwise, represent cheap, reliable labor for the American businesses. The documented and legal immigrants mostly have no education or reached only high school level, which makes it harder for them to land on high-paying jobs. Even their children tend to not continue to go to school but instead engage in jobs to augment their families’ incomes. Education, they say, is the great leveler. However, the US does not provide equal access to quality education to its people. Majority of the immigrants’ kids go to public schools which are below par the other schools across the nation. Even the funding for Bilingual Education has been debated upon, most probably towards its abolition. It is therefore no wonder that recent trends had been that these immigrants are going back to their homes, primarily to seek better opportunities

Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Resource - Essay Example Employee motivation is inducement or incentive which may be self-generated or from external forces, that promotes satisfaction and an urge towards improvement in performance. Productivity is defined as â€Å"the efficient as well as the effective use of resources to achieve outcomes† (Berman, Bowman, West & Van Wart 2005: 309). Productivity depends on the quality of human resources and their levels of performance. In contemporary organizations, there is growing emphasis on implementing high performance work practices based on all aspects of organizational operations. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to explain analytically how a firm’s Human Resource strategy could be its source of competitive advantage. HRM strategies implemented according to policies based on relevant theories on workforce motivation for achieving increased productivity outcomes will be examined. The HRM Strategy of Promoting Employee Motivation In studying employee motivation and human resource management strategies to improve motivation, the factors that affect how people behave at work should be taken into consideration. These factors encompass the fundamental characteristics of people which include: individual differences pertaining to competencies based on abilities, intelligence and skills; constructs or the conceptual framework of how people perceive their environment; expectations from own and others’ behaviours, values or what people believe to be important, and self-regulatory plans or goals and how they intended to achieve them (Armstrong 2006). Other important characteristics of people that impact employees’ behaviour at work are: their attitudes, their causes, manifestations and influences on behaviour; attribution theory or how other people are judged; orientation or approaches adopted to work; and roles played by employees to carry out their work (Armstrong 2006). Besides the employees’ personal characteristics, environmental var iables include the type of work that individuals carry out; the culture, climate and organizational style in the organization; the social group within which individuals work; and the reference groups that individuals use for comparative purposes such as comparing conditions of work between various categories of employees. There is an increasing trend for human resources to be considered as the main differentiating factors contributing to a company’s competitive advantage. This underscores the belief that the knowledge and skills of employees is much more difficult to imitate, as compared to other resources. Thus, HRM believes employees to be valued assets, with the potential to ensure competitive advantage based on their commitment, adaptability and high quality skills. A study conducted by Pathak, Budhwar, Singh and Hannas (2005) examined the relationship between the implementation of HR best practices and employees’ positive psychological contract, higher commitment and greater motivation. The evidence indicates that employees experiencing a high number of best practices were more motivated as compared to those who experienced few best practices. Thus, best human resource management practices led to increased employees’ performance resulting in high levels of the company’

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Example for Free

Cultural Issues in Middle School Essay Middle school is one of the most difficult situations of transition. Middle schoolers are awkward, hard to deal with and confused. They aren’t children but certainly not adults. They are egocentric to say the least and have little concern for the consequences of their actions. Yet, they are also one of the best ages to work with, if one is willing to try to understand their difficult lives. The culture in middle school can be broken down as such: sexuality, intellect, and social status. Sexually, these students have to deal with their changing bodies and feelings. They also have to try to understand how these feelings and changes fit in appropriately within the community. This is the area they are most sensitive toward. Intellectually, students have to decide if being â€Å"smart† is something they are willing to do. In some environments, being smart is cool, so those students who are gifted have no trouble fitting in. In other schools, these students are outcasts. When it is not cool to be smart, many students have a hard decision to make. If they show their gifts, they may sacrifice social standing. When it is cool, the struggling students feel even more left out and troubled. At times, these students may even act dumber to try to hide how much they truly struggle. Social status varies with each school environment. Wealth, possessions, address, family legacy and athletic ability are all indicators of success. Middle school is a contest and students are constantly scrutinizing each other to see who will win, popularity being the prize, of course. There are leaders and followers; the status symbols then change as the leaders themselves change. Whether it is the newest clothing label, shoe or track star, the culture of middle school is dominated by judgment. Evaluation The Illuminative Model of Evaluation rests its assessment on process. It appraises based on qualitative analysis of a situation in order to understand its initiation as clearly as its conclusion. Thus, in order to evaluate a situation, one must observe the effects of the process not simply look at data. The following tools of assessment are based upon that model and are applied to the curriculum overall. Several lessons will be used that typify the learning environment created within the classroom. Evaluation One: How does this lesson provide skills that work outside the testing environment? To evaluate this lesson, the calendar of lessons was assessed. Questions were asked such as, how do the lessons flow and what overall messages are the students receiving? Can they define, find and apply the concepts discussed in class? Upon reviewing the lessons, they seem to present isolated concepts. The entire unit is research process and narrative writing techniques which are two genres and should be taught separately. These lessons are trying to do way too much too fast. Middle school students are more successful when you break the process down and connect it to real world reasons for completing the work. If they would’ve started with day five, â€Å"reading the memoir,† then they could use the text to help define and find the language. Once they can do that, then they can apply the concepts such as writing dialogue, good word choice and using sensory language. The lesson plans as they are, present interesting skill sets but they aren’t connected to the question of, how do I apply this to reading and writing outside school. These skills might help them pass a test, but if you ask them to write dialogue, they will not know how. The non-fiction author board is a great idea but is not developed. They are completing tasks that have a function. This project should be enhanced by having students read Georgia authors and doing actual research and a research project on their author. This schedule needs to be totally revamped in order to serve the real world needs of the students. Evaluation Two: Does this lesson connect to a home environment? As is, there is no connection with the home environment. This will lessen the importance of the work and disconnect the families from what the students are learning. To enhance the process, when having the students write narratives, why not have them collect narratives from family members? This validates the home environment while creating an interest in the school environment at home. For the research section, they could research their family tree or conduct a survey at home regarding their family’s favorite authors. The greater the involvement from the home, the greater opportunity to work with the family for the student’s well being. Evaluation Three: What purpose does technology serve? This also needs improvement. There is no use of technology which works against evaluative point number one. In the larger society, students must be technologically literate. Students should research using the internet, present their projects via power point, and utilize online oral history collections to hear memoirs. Computers should not only be used to type in language arts but should be used as a tool for diversification of learning styles and presentation methods. Conclusion Overall, the learning process in this curriculum model needs to be improved. The questions of evaluation, based on the Illuminative Model, show that the process is flawed. Although there are many interesting lessons, they don’t flow together to teach an entire concept that can be applied to a real world learning situation. The terms need to be taught as part of an entire concept. Students can then define, find and apply what they have learned rather than simply be occupied for a 45 minute block of time. According to this model, students are more successful when the process is improved. The product should be the last point of evaluation rather than the first.

Free Essays on William Faulkners A Rose for Emily - Homicide :: A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner

A Homicide for Emily   Ã¢â‚¬Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short intriguing story written by William Faulkner.   This is because the way Emily’s character is portrayed, the mysterious death of Homer Barron, and the way Faulkner uses the narrator to tell the story.   Emily is portrayed as a woman who kept to herself throughout her whole life.   In her younger years her father had driven all her suitors away.   No man was good enough for Emily.   Emily’s solitude was especially evident after her father died and when her boyfriend Homer disappeared.   Her hair had turned an irony gray after her father died.   She had a black manservant throughout her whole life that went to the market, cooked and gardened for her.   During the end of her life the manservant’s visits were the only way that the townspeople knew that she was still alive.   After her father died Emily kept his body in her house.   A few days after Emily’s father’s death a couple of ladies came to give their condolences.   But Emily came to the door dressed in casual clothes and showed no signs of grief.   The townspeople were about to resort to law enforcement when she finally broke down and told them that her father was dead.   The townspeople did not believe she was crazy, even though they knew insanity ran in her family.   They thought Emily did this because they remembered how the father drove all the young men away.   Now she was a figure that could be pitied by the town, alone and penniless.   Eventually Emily met Homer, a Yankee who came into town to pave sidewalks during the summer of Emily’s father’s death.   They started seeing each other but Homer would rather hang out with the guys than hang out with Emily.   He was not the marrying type.   When Emily figured this out she bought some arsenic from a druggist.   The townspeople thought she was going to use the arsenic to kill herself.   However the next week they were sure homer and Emily would get married because Emily had been seen at the jeweler’s ordering a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece.  Ã‚   Two days later she was seen buying a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt.   Homer was not seen for a week or so but he eventually came back into town and a neighbor saw the manservant let him in at the kitchen door.

Internet Search Synopsis Essay

The first website, National Institute of Mental Health, deals with different mental illnesses including eating disorders. This website is considered to be credible because of many factors. The number one factor would be that it is recently updated. It is indicated that the website was last reviewed on April 22, 2009. This is important because it means that the latest news regarding mental illnesses and eating disorders can be found. It also means that the people behind the website checks the site if there are errors. It also has an About Us page and a Contact Us page so people can obtain further information about mental illnesses. The organization also has a Privacy Policy, which is important because â€Å"the presence of privacy policies also appears to influence the perceptions of website credibility† (Lazar, Meiselwitz, & Feng, 2007, p.18). The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) offers assistance to people who may have gambling problems. They promote public awareness regarding the problem and can be contacted to obtain counselors who deal with this type of problem. Unlike the previous website, NCPG does not have a privacy policy nor does it indicate when the website was last updated. However, it has an About Us page and contact details are posted on the web site’s homepage. It also has a domain extension of .org, which can be a determinant of the site’s credibility. The National Eating Disorders Association is the third website to be reviewed. The About Us page contains videos that talk about what the organization is all about. It does have a Contact Us page for those who want to avail of the organization’s services. The site also offers users links to other resources that might be helpful when researching about eating disorders. It appears that the three websites are accurate and authoritative, which make them credible. â€Å"†Accuracy is one indicator of quality and suggests the author or host feels a degree of responsibility for the image or content that’s put forth† (Friedman, 2004, p.159). However, the National Institute of Mental Health’s website is the most credible of all three websites reviewed due to the completeness of the requirements of a good website.