Bond Market Power

The reasons behind James Carville's quote stating that if he would want to be reincarnated as the Bond Market as appose to a political figure or religious leader (Ferguson, N, 2008) is clear, the Bond market since its inception over 800 years ago has been the most influential financial instrument throughout history. Its longevity and power far surpasses any leader. It affects the outcome of wars, the success and failures of even the largest economies and also touches the lives of individual people. The below paper will discuss the history and origins of such a Debt Instrument, its rise in America inspiring James Carville's quote. Also how the Bond Market works, its components and its power over economies throughout history using examples to support this. Concluding this analysis with the Bond Market in Ireland and how it has been greatly affected by the current economic climate. Origins and Early History of the Bond Market: Nations, races and religions have been at war since the dawn of time and has seen many wars; there have been countless debates as to what ultimately plays the most important role in winning a war. Many people would argue that it is the size of an army, some would say it is the General at the forefront of a battlefield, others would denote it to technological advances in weaponry. These arguments all have one factor in common, they all need to be funded by money; money to pay soldiers, to reward Generals and to pay for arms. The amount of money which a town, country or kingdom has to fund a war is what determines victory. Niall Ferguson outlines the historic origins of the Bond Market very informatively in †The Ascent of Money† tracing the use of Bonds, to as far back as the early 14th century in Italy. Throughout the 14th and 15th Century, Italian cities were at war with one and other. Florence, Pisa and Siena being the main cities at war with each other among others. As concluded above, it is money which is the most influential strategy or weapon to be victorious against the other cities and in the case of Florence we see that by funding their wars they landed their town into major debt. How could Florence pay back this debt? Imposing tax increases would lead to upheaval, they therefore came up with the revolutionary idea of a commonly coined term: â€Å"Government IOU's† (Ferguson, N 2008); the wealthier citizens would lend the Government money over an agreed period of time receiving regular interest payments on said loan. The ideal factor in this agreement is that these IOUS's could be sold to other citizens prior to their maturity making them a liquid asset. This debt instrument saw the birth of the Bond Market. By the early 14th Century, two thirds of households were the Florentine Governments prime lenders in financing their â€Å"Mountain of Debt†. (Ferguson, N 2008). While it seems like a win-win situation for both investors and the Government a critical point arose, if a Government kept going to war and kept issuing Bonds to pay for such wars, how could an investor be guaranteed the investment would be returned. It is this point which highlights the link between the Bond Market and is power over economies. Governments undertaking this idea grew throughout the 16th and 17th century, some using towns as intermediaries; France with Paris hotel de ville, Spain utilizing Genoas Casa di San Girgio and Antwerp's beurs. (Ferguson, N, 2008) But it is the 18th Century and the British consol which paints the most relevant picture as to the rise of the Bond Market and the extent of its power, both from the perspective of winning battles and to be capitalized as a rewarding investment; The Battle of Waterloo being the best example of this. Nathan Rothschild was the most prominent figure at that time in the UK financial world and due to this and his reputation of being a successful Gold smuggler, he was given the task by the British Government of using funds from the issuance of Bonds to purchase amounts of gold to finance the Duke of Wellingtons battles. Rothschild was commissioned to deliver  £600,000 worth of Gold but instead collected  £2 million worth of bullion reserves. It is when the war was announced over and won by the British in 1815 that Rothschild had a problem of having an overly excessive gold reserve from his gold piling mission. He then, in a clear way of capitalizing on the Bond Markets in such a historic way, made one of the best investment decisions of his life. Post being informed of the Duke of Wellingtons victory, Rothschild purchased the British Bonds before the market had an opportunity to react, expecting the price to rise with increased stability of the Government due to the victory at Waterloo. Rothschild purchased the British Consol initially on 20 July 1815 and then again in subsequent years until selling at a peak in late 1817 at an increase of 40%. It is this display of financial valour and a clear inter connection between Government economies and the Bond Market which saw its rise to power in the global financial world. (Ferguson, N 2008). Linking the above to America and ultimately James Carville's quote, we can begin with the oldest impact of the Bond Market on American History, the American Civil War. The South approached the Rothschilds to back them as they did Britain in Waterloo but the Rothschild decided to opt out, this resonated throughout the entire European quarter which led to the an ingenious idea by the Confederacy to offer â€Å"cotton backed bonds† to the Europeans which basically guaranteed the bonds with Cotton making them a less risky initiative. Because the south monopolised the global cotton supply, they could influence prices thus making the cotton backed bonds more expensive leading to the increase in Bond price and ultimately funding for the Civil War. This is why it is said that the fall of New Orleans (cotton producer of the south) in April 1862 was the true definitive moment in the American Civil War, as a result the Bond prices fell astronomically and hence the financial backing for the Confederacy, the end of the war being 1865 with the North claiming victory. (Ferguson, N 2008). Bond Market America 1900's – 1990's Clinton Administration: In terms of the US Treasury Bond Market, it began as part funding for World War I. The war was financed through a rise in taxes and through the sale of war bonds, called â€Å"Liberty Bonds†. Over $21 billion dollars of debt were raised in maturities that came due after the war. Budget surpluses were not enough to cover the debt and so converted into T-bills, notes and bonds. These amounts were paid down regularly until borrowings were increased during the Great Depression of 1929. Foreign governments became holders of United States debt as they began to have surpluses in the balance of trade. As the Government deficit rose during World War II and accelerated during the Vietnam war, the debt markets and the rise of debt related trading instruments has dominated financial markets. In the early 1980s, bond yields rose substantially due to increases in commodity prices, labor wage increases and expanding deficits. Bond prices anticipate rising amounts of future debt and thus yields rise. (www.ehow.com). U.S. interest rates beginning in 1900-2010: (observationsandnotes.blogspot.com) The graph above shows U.S. interest rates beginning in 1900. From 1953 onward, the rates are 10-year U.S. Treasury Note rates, plotted monthly; prior to 1953, they're the less granular. This can support the previous paragraph's historical perspective in the ascent of the US Bond Market, in that we see how the interest rates drop from the depression and how it slowly began to rise post the Vietnam War in the late 60's early 70's.( observationsandnotes.blogspot.com). Placing the James Carville quote into perspective and in line with the time at which it was stated, during the Clinton administration. We can see according to some the destruction of the Bond Market happen in the US in 1994 entirely caused by the policies of said Administration. In 1993 President Clinton began with a plan to kick push the economy. His view was that all he needed to push the economy was lower interest rates. Short-term interest rates can fall for many reasons; public expectations change, increased savings increase, the market or as Adam Smith coined the â€Å"Invisible Hand† drives down interest rates as a signal for more investment. (Smith, A 1991). The same can happen artificially as the central bank expands credit and intentionally causes increased money supply within the economy, the central bank creates distortions in the capital structure, including stocks and bonds, while an increase in private savings allows steady economic growth. The Clinton administration, pushed the Federal reserve to lower short-term interest rates. Making money cheap and plentiful to pump up spending. But there is a fine line between plenty of money and plenty of devalued money. One is higher prices or in other words Inflation, lowers the purchasing power of money, which forces the Fed, sooner or later, to raise the interest rates back to a higher level. The usual consequence is an economic slowdown or even recession. A by-product may be a lower exchange rate internationally. But the actual consequence in the time of the Clinton administration was the bond market collapse. (Pongracic, I, 1995) So far we have tracked the history of the Bond Market from its origins in Italy to its rise within the US economy, but what is the Bond Market technically and how can we analyze the Bond Market and break it down to see how it operates within the financial system in today's terms? The Bond Market and How it works: When dissecting the bond market and its relevance and importance in today's terms we do not associate it too much to the funding of wars or the financing of battles, as we did with Waterloo, The American Civil War and Vietnam, we view it like Nathan Rothschild did, as an investment tool. Stocks historically produce higher rates of return than other investments but at the same time carry with a substantial amount of risk, also noting that it is at the Board of Directors discretion to pay out dividends on common stocks. The alternative being Bonds on the other hand have a maturity date at which time the Bond is redeemed at the issuing price. US Treasury Bonds interest and redemption payments are backed by the U.S Treasury thus rendering them â€Å"risk free† . (Faerber, Esme, 1993) The word †BOND† means contract, agreement, or guarantee. An investor who purchases a bond is lending money to the issuer , and the bond represents the issuer's contractual promise to pay the interest and repay the principle according to specified terms. The issuers themselves can be the National Government, Lower Levels of Government , Corporations and Securitisation Vehicles. (Levinson, M, 2000). Bonds are traded on both the Primary and Secondary Capital Markets along with Stocks and Mortgages, they are first introduced as initial public offerings or IPO's on the primary market and then can be traded or sold on the secondary market before maturity. The Par, face or maturity value of the Bond is the amount the issuer must pay at maturity. The coupon rate is the rate of interest paid on the bond. If the repayment of Bond are not met, the holder can claim on the assets of the issuer, (in the above Civil War example, the South's cotton). Long term bonds traded in the capital market include long term government notes and bonds, municipal bonds and corporate bonds. When dealing in Corporate Bonds, Default risk is an important factor of Bonds, as it is the main factor which influences a Bonds Interest Rate. This can be explained to be the risk that the issuer will not be able to meet interest payments and pay the principle back to the investor. If the possibility of default increases because the corporation is suffering losses the default risk will increase and their expected return on these bonds will decrease. Due to this importance, it is the credit rating agencies which assess the risk of default of Companies and Governments alike and rate them according to likeliness of default. (Mishkin, F.S, 2006) When buying and selling bonds, investors can utilize brokerage firms as they do with other investments and in the case of U.S Treasury Bonds can purchase them directly, it is when successfully realising where its best to buy and sell bonds which leads the investor in gaining from both differences in bond pricing and in commission costs. The Irish Economy & its Bond Market a midst the crisis: As displayed above, the main way for countries to raise fund when required are theough the Bond Markets. They are also a a key indicator as to the economic position of that country. This is because the more concerns the markets have about a nations financial stability, the more expensive it is for that government to issue its Bonds and raise money. A midst the Irish Financial Crisis and the troubles of Irelands Banks, mainly due to the blanket guarantee annoiunced by the Irish Finance Minister John Lenihan, Ireland have found it so much more costly to attract interest in their bonds this year. This is due to the Government accepting responsibility for Commercial Bank’s risky Loan Books, considering these loans will more than likely be defaulted so is the risk that the Irish Government will default on their soveirgn debt. Due to the above, the market prices of Irish Bonds have fallen in recent months, pushing up the yields. The yield on a 10-year Irish bond reached about 9% at one point. That is very high. The UK government – in spite of all its financial difficulties – can borrow for 10 years at just over 3%. (bbc.co.uk).

General Theory of Relativity Essay

The universe consists of many fascinating objects. Unfortunately, some of which cannot be known with just the naked eye. This is because it cannot be seen from Earth, and other technological advancements are needed to fully determine its nature. This is also the reason why several people have acquired false notions of what those objects are. One of those objects is the black hole. Science fiction films and and television shows have given the public a different view of black holes (Lochner 2006), poles apart from what they really are. This research paper seeks to discuss the definition and characteristics of black holes. Before the characteristics of a black hole can be discussed, it is first necessary to define what it is. An introduction is in order. So what is black hole? According to Lochner (2006), it is the â€Å"evolutionary end point of massive stars (p. 2). † There are stars which has sizes much bigger than that of the Sun. In fact, some of them are â€Å"at least 10 to 15 times as massive as the Sun (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † When a star of this size sustains a supernova explosion, it leaves behind some stellar residue. Since in space there are no other forces to fight gravity, the residue will crumble unto itself. Lochner (2006) narrates, â€Å"The star eventually collapses to the point of zero volume and infinite density, creating what is known as a ‘singularity’ (p. 2). † Eventually, density will increase; the light rays which is diffused by the star will then be encircling the star. â€Å"Any emitted photons are trapped into an orbit by the intense gravitational field; they will never leave it (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † The moment the star reaches the point of no density, all the light is trapped. Hence, it is called the black hole. The phrase ‘black hole’ was coined by John Archibald Wheeler (Bunn, 1995). Prior to that, the objects were called frozen stars (Bunn, 1995). Even in the time of Isaac Newton, the existence of objects as such has been thought of. Now it is more accurately explained using Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. This is â€Å"a geometric theory of gravitation, which incorporates and extends the theory of special relativity to accelerated frames of reference and introducing the principle that gravitational and inertial forces are equivalent (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). † This theory then explains the possibility for such occurrences like bent light caused by massive objects and the very nature of black holes. Such theory enables the event wherein â€Å"space and time become so warped that time practically stops in the vicinity of a black hole (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). † Black holes are identified to have an estimated mass of 4-15 Suns. Since black holes are formed after the death of a star, or supernova explosions, these explosions in turn have after-effects. These effects give way to X-ray binaries which is referred to as black hole candidates (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). Moreover, there exists galaxy-mass black holes. These massive black holes are usually placed in Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGN. AGN is a â€Å"class of galaxies which spew massive amounts of energy from their centers, far more than ordinary galaxies (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). † The black holes in question are said to have a mass of 10-100 billion Suns (Lochner, 2006, p. 1), a testament to how enormous they really are. The mass of one of these enormous black holes was recently determined by radio astronomy (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). The black hole has been portrayed by pop culture as one which sucks objects in; Lochner (2006) refers to the black hole’s inaccurate depiction as â€Å"a cosmic vacuum cleaner (p. 2). † He notes, â€Å"If our Sun was suddenly replaced with a black hole of the same mass, the earth’s orbit around the Sun would be unchanged†¦ Of course the Earth’s temperature would change, and there would be no solar wind or solar magnetic storms affecting us (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † This is because a black hole can â€Å"exert the same force on something far away from it as any other object of the same mass would (Lochner, 2006, p. 1). † If in any instance, an object gets â€Å"sucked† into the hole, that very same object will pass through what is called â€Å"Schwarzschild radius (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † â€Å"This is the radius r of the event horizon for a Schwarzschild black hole (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † In the Schwarzschild radius, the escape speed and light speed is equal. Therefore, in the instance that light passes through, the light would not be able to escape. Say for example, a black hole with the same mass as the Sun, takes its place. Then the radius will still be different. The Sun’s radius is estimated at 700,000 km, while the Schwarzschild radius is only 3km (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). This would entail that the Earth must be of closer proximity to get sucked in a black hole in the center of our solar system. From where we are it is impossible to see the black holes. How do we then determine their existence? Since black holes are merely massive star remains, it would mean that they are of a small size. Also, because all the light gets trapped into itself, it would be impossible to see. Nonetheless, there are instances wherein a black hole can make itself perceivable. According to Lochner (2006), â€Å"if a black hole passes through a cloud of interstellar matter, or is close to another â€Å"normal† star, the black hole can accrete matter into itself. As the matter falls or is pulled towards the black hole, it gains kinetic energy, heats up and is squeezed by tidal forces. The heating ionizes the atoms and when the atoms reach a few million degrees Kelvin, they emit X-rays. The X-rays are sent off into space before the matter crosses the Schwarzschild radius and crashes into the singularity. Thus we can see this X-ray emission (p. 1). † Thus, black holes are dependent on other stars to make its presence known. The very same X-rays are also determinants of â€Å"black hole candidates (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † It was said that a â€Å"companion star is a perfect source of infalling material for a black hole (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † Because the X-ray sources are binary, a binary system is also enforced. This system makes the computation of the black hole candidate’s mass possible. The moment the mass is calculated, it can be deduced whether the said candidate is a black hole or a neuron star. What is a neuron star? It is â€Å"the imploded core of a massive star produced by a supernova explosion (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † Now these neuron stars are characterized by masses which are estimated to be 1. 5 times more than the sun. Moreover, if there exists random variation of emitted X-rays, this is also a signifier of a black hole’s presence. Lochner (2006) states, â€Å"The infalling matter that emits X-rays does not fall into the black hole at a steady rate, but rather more sporadically, which causes an observable variation in X-ray intensity(p. 2). † In addition, â€Å"if the X-ray source is in a binary system, the X-rays will be periodically cut off as the source is eclipsed by the companion star (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † All these characteristics are considered in identifying possible black hole candidates. For further identification, there are X-ray satellites which examines the skies for X-ray sources that may point out black hole candidates. For the longest time, there has been an identified black hole candidate in the name of Cygnus X-1 (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). â€Å"It is a highly variable and irregular source with X-ray emission that flickers in hundredths of a second (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † When one exhibits such an irregularity, it becomes a black hole candidate. How? It is because it is impossible for an object â€Å"to flicker faster than the time required for light to travel across the object (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † Lochner (2006) highlights this fact: â€Å"In a hundredth of a second, light travels 3000 kilometers. This is one fourth of Earth’s diameter (p. 2)! † From this, it can be concluded that the region from which the x-rays surrounding Cygnus X-1 are derived, is relatively small. Now Cygnus X-1 has a companion star with the name HDE 226868. This companion star is â€Å"a B0 supergiant with a surface temperature of about 31,000 K (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † Now observations found that the spectral lines of HDE 226868, which is the â€Å"light given off at a specific frequency by an atom or molecule (Lochner, 2006, p. 2),† had been changing within 5. 6 days. It was also said that the mass of HDE 226868 is estimated to be 30 times greater than the Sun’s mass. This would mean that Cygnus X-1may possess at least a mass of 7 solar masses. Why 7 solar masses? This is what is required to create the tremendous gravitational pull that would result in the fluctuation in the spectral lines of HDE 226868. Astronomers thought that since 7 masses does not characterize a neuron star or a white dwarf, which is a star that has exhausted most or all of its nuclear fuel and has collapsed to a very small size, it must then be a black hole. However, this issue about Cygnus X-1being a black hole has also been surrounded by much skepticism. There is some speculation that the HDE 226868 may be too small for its spectral category, which in turn implies that Cygnus X-1is smaller than was previously declared. Moreover, uncertainty also shrouds the the mass calculations. It is because â€Å"uncertainties in the distance to the binary system would also influence mass calculations (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † If the computations are inaccurate, the Cygnus X-1may end up only having 3 solar masses. If Cygnus X-1 has only 3 solar masses, it could be classified as merely being a neuron star, and not a black hole. The good news is that there are more binaries which reveal the possibility of a black hole, that which is much stronger than in Cygnus X-1 (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). In the year 1975, an X-ray transient known as A0620-00 was discovered. In the mid-80s, it was found that the mass of this object was more than 3. 5 solar masses. This fact alone eradicates the possibility of a neuron star, since neuron stars usually possess solar masses of 1. 5. In fact, the discovery of A0620-00 may have put into question the feasibility of other theories. Nonetheless, the best finding regarding black holes is V404 Cygni. This star was found to have an estimated 10 solar masses. Several journals have also written about the existence of black holes. In the 1995 edition of â€Å"Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics,†there was a review conducted by Kormendy and Richstone, which implied the eight galaxies were thought to have â€Å"massive dark objects in their centers (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). † These cores were found to have masses which range from 1 million to several billion times that of the sun. Their massiveness was determined by noting how â€Å"the speed with which stars and gas orbit around the center of the galaxy: the faster the orbital speeds, the stronger the gravitational force required to hold the stars and gas in their orbits (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). † In fact, this is how astronomy usually measures masses. There are two reasons why these massive galactic centers were deemed as black holes. To begin with, the centers are â€Å"too dense and dark (Bunn, 1995, p. 1)† to even be considered as a group of stars, or just merely stars. â€Å"Second, the only promising theory to explain the enigmatic objects known as quasars and active galaxies postulates that such galaxies have supermassive black holes at their cores (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). † Even though these reasons point out that the galactic centers are really black holes, there is no sufficient evidence to prove it. Nonetheless, there is a continuous discovery for proofs that systems do include black holes. According to Bunn (1995), â€Å"a nearby active galaxy was found to have a â€Å"water maser† system (a very powerful source of microwave radiation) near its nucleus. Using the technique of very-long-baseline interferometry, a group of researchers was able to map the velocity distribution of the gas with very fine resolution (p. 1). † They also determined that the velocity was â€Å"less than half a light-year of the center of the galaxy (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). † It is from this fact that they deemed the object as a black hole, simply because only a black hole can have that much mass concentrated in such a small volume (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). All these results are included in January 12, 1995 issue of Nature, vol. 373. , as was reported by Miyoshi et al (Bunn, 1995, p. 1). Is there a possibility that the Sun can be a black hole? No. According to Bunn (1995), â€Å"only stars that weigh considerably more than the Sun end their lives as black holes (p. 1). † For about five billion years, the Sun will remain in its present state. After that, the Sun will undergo a phase wherein it will be a red giant star. The Sun will then end its life as a white dwarf star. If there are black holes, are there white ones? According to Bunn (1995), â€Å"the equations of general relativity have an interesting mathematical property: they are symmetric in time. That means that you can take any solution to the equations and imagine that time flows backwards rather than forwards, and you’ll get another valid solution to the equations. If you apply this rule to the solution that describes black holes, you get an object known as a white hole (p. 1). † If a black hole then pulls objects in, a white hole would then push things out. The former sucks in, the latter spits out. However, there is no proof that white holes exist, and there are no studies to point out if their existence is a possibility. There has also been speculations about the existence of what is called worm holes. What is a worm hole? It is â€Å"a theoretical opening in space-time that one could use to travel to far away places very quickly (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † It is characterized by â€Å"two copies of the black hole geometry connected by a throat – the throat, or passageway, is called an Einstein-Rosen bridge (Lochner, 2006, p. 2). † As is indicated in the definition, it is merely theoretical. There is no scientific basis nor experimental evidence for such existence. However, it is indeed amazing to think that such existence is possible. Do black holes disappear or evaporate? Even astronomers are not sure as to how black holes end their existence. Bunn (1995) notes that â€Å"Back in the 1970’s, Stephen Hawking came up with theoretical arguments showing that black holes are not really entirely black: due to quantum-mechanical effects, they emit radiation. The energy that produces the radiation comes from the mass of the black hole. Consequently, the black hole gradually shrinks. It turns out that the rate of radiation increases as the mass decreases, so the black hole continues to radiate more and more intensely and to shrink more and more rapidly until it presumably vanishes entirely (p. 1)† This is a mere theory. There have been no proof or scientific conclusions as to how black holes really diminish. Black holes are just one of the many things included in the vast universe we are a part of. Thanks to science and the technological advancements at present, we can have greater awareness and knowledge of what is within our universe but beyond our reach. References Bunn, T. (1995). Black Hole FAQ List. Retrieved December 13, 2007, from http://cosmology. berkeley. edu/Education/BHfaq. html. Lochner, J. (2007). Black Holes. Retrieved December 13, 2007, from http://imagine. gsfc. nasa. gov/docs/science/know_l2/black_holes. html.

Affect of team sport on children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Affect of team sport on children - Essay Example Children who get involve in team sports from a very early age tend to learn more than those who lag behind in physical activities (Taylor, Blair and Cummings). Sports deal with three basic spheres of personality development; physiological, psycho-social, and cognition. The biological growth of a child is optimized through physical activity. It offers development of muscles, increases in height, prevents obesity, and induces the habit of regular exercise. Social facilitation is the phenomenon that explains why people tend to perform well in an activity while doing it with others. The idea of promoting children to play team sports is to use the principle of social facilitation, in order to motivate them to strive hard towards achieving their goals. Another important role of sports in early years of life is related to cognitive development. Sportsmen spirit and fair play are the two qualities that are best learnt by getting involved in sports. Coordination and cooperation are the two main elements of a team sport. One of the purposes of encouraging children to involve in team based sports is to sharpen their social skills. A team is no less than an organization that offers interdependence between team members. A child can learn a lot of things by playing team sports. These games offer children an opportunity to learn how to behave in an organization. Further, a child, who is regularly involved in playing team sports, learns how to deal with competitive environment. Team sports, enhance interpersonal communication skills, moreover, they teach tolerance and acceptance within an individual. The quality of teamwork determines the success of an organization; a successful organization is one in which all the team members work in collaboration to each other (Cabane and Clark). Collaboration refers to the synchronization of individual activities in pursuing a single goal. For instance, in soccer the main aim of a team is to score maximum goals, however, there are only two

Leadership and change management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership and change management - Essay Example (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Changes viewed also by management may also not be looked upon as change by outsiders like competitors or suppliers. This has led to the categorizing of change in various ways, some of which include strategic and non-strategic change, incremental and radical change, changes of identity, co-ordination and control, planned and emergent change, change in terms of scale, human-centered change in terms of individual, group and inter-group or organizational level, quantum change and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187; Todnem, 2005, p372). Changes can also be structural, that is dealing with the physical alteration of an organization like its buildings and equipment or even employees. (Bennett & Durkin, 2000). On the other hand, it may be a change in process, that is, the way the related group of tasks are combined to create value for a target customer. (Cao et al, 2000, p188). A change can as well be in functions, that is, the decision system or policy and resource alloc ation duties of a particular element of an organization. There can also be changes in values, beliefs and human behavior in terms of social rules and relationships and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). ... There can also be changes in values, beliefs and human behavior in terms of social rules and relationships and so on. (Cao et al, 2000, p187). Lastly, there can be changes in the distribution of power and level of influence with an organization. These four types of change have different implications on the their total quality management as can be seen in the table below. Table 1. Change Management Classification. Change management classifications Total Quality Management Process change Focuses on process ahead of the other three types of organizational change. Function (structural) change Says little about organizational structure Values (cultural) change Relies on but cannot influence culture Changes in power Is distorted by power in the organization With all the above determinants and types of change outlined, we can then define change management as 'the process of updating on a continuous basis and organization's direction, structure and capabilities to serve the ever evolving needs of the indigenous and exogenous clients'. (Todnem, 2005, p369). It involves identifying the future organizational needs and managing the changes required within the present system to be able to meet these future needs. It is therefore, much linked to organizational strategy. (Todnem, 2005, p369). For the purpose of simplicity, we The first part of the paper looked at the need for change in an organisation. The second part of the paper looks at two different change models. Part three focuses on the implications of change particularly on human behavior. It also develops a plan that addresses the human variables and potential resistance to this change. It will also look at the respective reasons why people are

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Essay Example The title 'the Unready', or more accurately 'the Ill-Advised', given to Alfred's successor derives largely from the writer of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle who was an admirer of Alfred and disappointed in his successor. The author seems so much unknown of the real dilemma that he has kept the then public views in his mind while writing and the chronicle is not written keeping the real circumstances in consideration Ethelred had to face in that era, but its all about the reiterate defeats of Ethelred. This is the main reason as to why Ethelred has gained nothing but only the bad reputation in history. Another reason is while writing 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', he has been compared to Alfred. In 1979 the year after the accession of King Aethelred, the Danish invasions, long unintermitted under Edgar the Peaceful, recommenced as their main objective was to plunder only, not conquest, and they repeatedly attacked in 981, 982 and 988. A period of peace in the middle of the tenth century, in which took place a great monastic reform and revival of learning, was followed by renewed Danish attacks, which continued throughout the reign of Aethelred the Unready and culminated in the conquest by Cnut. In 991 the Danes burned Ipswich, and defeated and slew the East Saxon ealdorman Brihtnoth at Maldon. After this incident, Aethelred realizing the eruption of law and order offered them a price of freedom of 10,000, just to bring peace and serenity in England. As the Danes had to give something in the form of desistion from their ravages, they were still allowed to stay in England. Next year Aethelred himself broke the peace by an attack on the Danish ships. Despite the treachery of A elfric, the English were victorious and the Danes sailed off to devastate Lindsey and Northumbria. In 994 Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, and King of Denmark, Sweyn Forkbeard united in a great invasion and attacked London. Frustrated by the bravery of the citizens, they sailed away and harried the coast from Essex to Hampshire. Now Aethelred had no option left except for paying another price of England, and once again he bought peace for 16,000 with a promise of supplies. Olaf after receiving such great favors assured Aethelred that he would never again come to England with hostile intent, an engagement that he faithfully kept. One of the reasons why he is acknowledged as 'The Unready' is he was not sure who to trust and who not to trust. For his defeat lies in the fact he trusted the wrong people. This led him towards the failure one after the next and finally the King of Denmark defeated him. The promise was made to Olaf Tryggvason, the King of Norway; Sweyn (the King of Denmark) was devoid of any kind of commitment made to Aethelred so he repeatedly attacked England in 997, 998, 999, and in 1000. These frequent attacks break down the national defense and made the Government weak. However Aethelred in these crucial state of affairs did what anyone could have done for the survival of his country, he offered the then Danes the sum of 24,000, but at the same time he ordered the slaughter of each and every Danish men who were in England, which was his greatest blunder. Such a violent behavior on part of the Aethelred made the situation worse and caused Sweyn to return for revenge and remained here for two yea rs. In 1005

How to Write a Criminal Investigative Report Essay

How to Write a Criminal Investigative Report - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the criminal investigative report must contain a narrative for the events that occur. In constructing this investigative report the main challenge was the conflicting information given by different witnesses. Upon arriving at the scene of the murder at the home there was a collection of witnesses that were at the location during the shooting. While the forensic evidence had not been collected, the witnesses provided a number of opposing accounts. The first individual the author interviewed indicated that the shooting occurred as a result of a drunken accident. His claim was that the deceased and another individual were playing with the loaded gun and as a result of one individual falling the gun discharged and the bullet lodged in the individual’s forehead. The second witness that was spoken to indicated that while he did not witness the actual shooting, he had overheard the two individuals arguing in a fight that grew increasingl y loud before gunshots went off. The final witness was the individual involved in the actual incident who stated the deceased shot himself with the gun not knowing there was ammunition in the chamber. While the exact incidence of the shooting is not known, it’s believed that the first witness, who is also the brother of the individual that was involved in the shooting, is covering for his brother. It’s believed the second witness is being accurate in his description of the conflict that occurred before the shooting. Finally, believed that the individual involved in the shooting is lying to cover his involvement in the crime.

Electronic commerce as the concept of marketing Essay

Electronic commerce as the concept of marketing - Essay Example Electronic commerce as the concept of marketing Information technology plays an important role in the development and growth of industries of any economy.. Incorporation of information technologies has changed the business process of all the industries whether they are small-scale or large scale. It has entirely changed the aspects of market competitiveness in terms of products and processes. The amalgamation of information technology into business sector recompenses for size and distance and enables companies to expand and to work in a global market. Using new innovative tools and techniques of information distribution, they can no longer be isolated from international market. Such technologies includes electronic/video conferencing, mailing, tele-conferencing, electronic commerce, electronic networking etc. Internet is pool that can be used to access any kind of information without compensating on quality, legal and regulatory requirements, fiscal regulations and opportunities. It becomes very simple and easy to attain, collect any kind of information on technologies and markets with the use of various networking components. The acquired information can be used as a source of analysis to increase the productivity, profit and market share of the enterprise. The information is accessible with in a few seconds.Evolution in the world of computing and in the era of communications takes the form of global information networking. The net result of this innovation is that it decreases the cost, the time for collection the required valuable information no matter how far that information is. Along with this, the ability to collect, analyze and the frequency of transmission of data has enhanced extremely. Local knowledge can be assimilated, distributed among economic agents and then can be merged with global knowledge to give the valuable piece of information. The net effect of all these activities and use of communications technology has drastically decreased the transaction costs; expedite the triumph of scope with the familiar rapid and continuous customization. Such transmissions undermine authoritative controls since the hoarding of information is no longer possible. For all the Internet's promise as the consummate commercial marketing vehicle many companies are skeptical of their ability to accurately judge the return on their cyberspace investment. The development of internet-based technologies opens endless opportunities for Marketers. Drawing coop concentration to the ethical facet of the use of web-based technologies in the area of business might comprise of differentiating force for proactive firms. So, eCommerce is everywhere whether it is e Mail and messaging or shopping cart or order processing system or domestic or international payment systems. But in this rapidly changing environment of e business, business executives need to react immediately and sufficiently by converting their traditional business strategies to e-commerce processes. In doing so, they must assess opportunitie s and threats by examining closely the economic, demographic, political, cultural and technological factors that affect businesses trading online. Economic Factors With the emergence of whole world as global market, the significance of e

Library Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Library Research - Essay Example Students find it imperative to find information that is scholarly as well as peer-reviewed like the journal articles. In addition, there are other sources of information which are non-reviewed such as Wikipedia that might be helpful for background, although these sources contain information which frequently lack depth and may exhibit a lot of errors (Jay, 1983). Nonetheless, the North Central Library contains extensive holdings in any field, and with the assistance of the librarians, students are capable of finding any information they require. The Activity Resources found in this library contains information literary which helps the students in familiarizing themselves with information literacy, while at the same time testing their information literacy skills. Apart from that, the searching library provides a wealth of databases, which is helpful when looking for scholarly information, as well as tutorials on the usage of these databases. The library also provides a chance for stude nts to develop into experts in particular areas. On the other hand, library can also help students’ exhibit expertise through a certain projects. This can be in regardless of whether the student is going into the program and having an interest in a particular

Juvenile Detention Facility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Juvenile Detention Facility - Essay Example The detainees are predominantly criminal offenders, but children requiring supervision and traffic violators occasionally serve time at James River. As it is with most detention centers, the focus at James River is on providing detainees with the programs and services to ease the transition back in to their communities and to foster a crime free future. In order to ensure the best possible results, there is close supervision from all three counties and they have implemented educational, religious and recreational programs as well as psychological screening. The cornerstone of the rehabilitation effort at the James River Detention Center is the educational program. The program is composed of individual and group learning classes, personally tailored to address the individual needs of the detainee. Individual Education Programs (IEP), are used to simulate the curriculum of the respective detainee's home school. This is important because an efficient transition back into the school system aids in the overall rehabilitation process. While it is difficult to properly gauge the effectiveness of this center's success, they certainly appear to have the right idea with regards to their educational programs. Conversely, it seems that James River Regional Juvenile Detention Center has some proverbial "red flags." For instance, three counties currently have administrative voices in the operations, which presents a potential problem. As previ

Gym usage in afro Caribbean men and its influence on acquiring the Essay

Gym usage in afro Caribbean men and its influence on acquiring the perfect body - Essay Example The thesis aims to identify some of the main aspects of gym use among Afro Caribbean men. The quest for beauty is not limited to women only. Men and women both have from time immemorial strived for better looking features and physique. While the standards of beauty have continued to evolve, the quest remains the same. The growth of the fashion, beauty and health care industry has been significant in increasing awareness about the physical aspects of the body to a new level that was never before. Previously, only women seemed to be affected by the societal and media demands of having the perfect physique and facial features. Now, even men are not spared with the new wave of fashion industry putting men under as tight scrutiny as women. Therefore, the new beauty trend is not only woman, but also man (Hatoum et al, 2004). This is however, only one aspect of the growing awareness about the physical features and their aesthetic requirements. The effect of these projections on the media and the social adverse reactions to other forms of physique have created effect on almost all, and therefore, the newer generations are becoming increasingly brand and beauty conscious. There is no family and parents spared now, who do not complain about the vanity that has entered their children’s mind, instead of the good moral and personal qualities. The introduction of the thousands of brands for skin, hair, nails, and makeup and others has increased this madcap rush towards beautification. This along with the increase in the number gyms, health spas, beauty salons and various beauty service providers with uncounted names continue to increase this desire for more beautiful bodies. Part of this need for beauty is not entirely false. The social prerequisites became more physical and material with the advent of the industrial age. There is now a certain image and look to be

Conflict Resolution Essay Example for Free

Conflict Resolution Essay Leaders must learn how to deal with issues that may arise among their followers. Some of these issues may consist of the leader managing conflicts, handling communication challenges among team members, or addressing organizational communication needs. The communication process is important step for the transfer and understanding of meaning between individuals when working toward a goal together (Robbins Judge, 2013). With the correct style of communication utilized leaders can help to avoid conflicts among groups. Storybook #1 How would you react when a team member is being vague and trying to spin bad news to sound more positive, thereby making it harder for the team to actually approach and resolve the issue? Communication is an essential tool for the group’s success when working together as a team. When a team member chooses to be evasive or sugar coat issues or problems with a project can result in a missed deadline or complete failure depending on how bad the problem is. If a problem arises, the best thing to do is discuss it with the entire team as soon as possible to allow time to address the issue and come up with an alternative plan. How could you encourage someone to continue to voice his or her opinion or to share an idea when you know he or she is hesitant to do so? For someone who is hesitant to share his or her opinion or idea, leaders should encourage their participation by offering some their own opinions and ideas on the matter and asking a question or two regarding his or her thoughts. Through back and forth dialogue, slowly the leader would obtain the individuals ideas and opinions on the project. By obtaining everyone on the teams thoughts, a well-informed final decision can be made on how to proceed. By doing this, the reluctant team member will believe that they have contributed to the project. Storybook #2 As a manager, how would you relay an important negative message with as little impact on your team as possible? Why would you choose this method?  As a manager, delivering any negative message is a hard thing to do. It is even harder when you are trying to do it with little impact on your team.  Communicating a negative message is a difficult task and must be handled delicately to minimize the demotivating impact of the message. Negative message routinely pop up in the business world and can impact personal relationships. It is important for managers to determine the most appropriate way to deliver a negative message to employees. Managers can deliver bad news either with the direct approach or the indirect approach. The direct approach seems to be the best used when managers want to get to the point quickly and when the bad news is not too serious. When individuals compromise they are using a direct approach to resolving conflict by giving up something to gain something (Duggan Media, n.d.). The indirect approach is best used when you need to prepare the audience for what he or she is about to discover. This method is an excellent approach because it shows compassion and shows that the leader is actually making an effort to provide options. What is the best way to handle gossip before it spreads? The best way to handle gossip before it spreads it to try to catch it as it happens. Gossip usually spreads fast therefore; I would try to capture the gossip before it gets out of hand. As a manager, gossip is the negatively spreading of rumors about someone or something so by capturing the event is a great way to establish a nice working environment for everyone. How might you handle your team’s feelings after a negative situation has occurred that does not directly affect your team but affects others around them? There are several ways to handle a team’s feelings after a negative situation has occurred. As a manager, you have to know all your team’s personalities because everyone in a negative situation handles things differently. Some may need to be left alone whereas others need more of an explanation further on the negative situation. Handling negative feelings with a team depends on the team’s individual personalities. Storybook #3: What strategies would you use to help your team alleviate stress caused by deadlines before any conflict arises? Each day managers are confronted with scenarios that require attention. These can range from balancing a budget, customer service, and conflicts within teams. Managers must determine the best way to handle these situations on a case-by-case basis.  Managers must choose the best option based upon corporate culture, persons affected, and the nature of the scenario. Conflict in the workplace is inevitable and healthy. It breeds new ideas and creativity when handled properly. Conflict among teams that disrupts productivity and risks deadlines should be handled immediately. Allowing disruptive conflict in the workplace to linger, presents a threat of missed deadlines, which results in decreased revenue. This can devalue the company and the manager’s reputation, and cause the company to miss out on future opportunities for revenue in the marketplace. An important leadership responsibility is to interpret confusing events and build consensus around. Reacting to a disruptive conflict in the workplace immediately would demonstrate the manager taking on this important role. A leader immediately stepping in willing to meet with the individual’s one-on-one and as a whole to come to an agreement demonstrates what an effective leader he or she is. A manager could easily spend minutes, hours or even days trying to figure out what is standing in the way of a team coming together and successfully meeting their deadlines, but a great leader intervenes and help everybody come together to resolve conflicts to meet his or her deadlines. Multiple perspectives often conflict with one another and it is difficult to determine the best solution. Actions sometimes support one perspective. When faced with a dilemma the leader needs clarity in identifying varying perspectives to make the best decision. Opening a communication channel between emp loyees and management is a key step in establishing a comfortable environment. Conclusion Each of the Storybook scenarios demonstrates how leaders must use different methods of communication to avoid conflicts. Leaders must analyze the situation to determine which principle or style of communication is best suited for the particular circumstance. It is the leader’s responsibility to avoid conflicts among the group and to ensure that communication is being exchanged in the correct matter among team members. References Duggan, T., Media, D. (n.d.). Indirect Direct Approaches to Conflict. Retrieved from http://www.smallbusiness.chron.com Robbins, S. R., Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Macbeth Essay Essay Example for Free

Macbeth Essay Essay Shakespeare uses ghosts and witches into many of his plays and work. But in no other play did he make them so horrible and demon like as he did the witches in Macbeth. The way in which they were described, made Macbeth a popular play. Superstition is a very shrewd belief in the supernatural. Supernatural is an attribute to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. When it is referred to as the supernatural, then it means supernatural appearances or events. Both of the two terms that I have just explained, superstition and supernatural, are present a lot of the time during the play Macbeth, and many of the supernatural events which occur during the play tend to lead into other happenings. The witches are actually an important part of the play and the supernatural, because they start the play along with the supernatural. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare sets the scene for the witches by using thunder and lightening and naming location of the scene A Desolate Place. Upon the heath and there to meet Macbeth The witches announce that they will meet with Macbeth upon a heath. They then disappear into filthy air as mysteriously as they arrived. Later in the play, Banquo refers to the witches exit as the earth hath bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them what he means by this is that the witches can disappear in the same way as bubbles do. In the first scene the supernatural theme is present due to the witches being there. They speak of Macbeth and involve him in supernatural matters, and we can tell that they influence him, and this also blooms as the play develops. The words that the witches use are also of a supernatural nature. Some link together sometimes in a chant like way, such as Fair is foul, and foul is fair, and this sounds rather unpleasant and evil. We can also blame them for some of the things that happen later on in the play which are involved in the downfall of Macbeth. Later in the play Macbeth is found echoing some of the phrases that the witches have used. This occurs just before the witches give their predictions to Macbeth and Banquo. This could be coincidence, but could also be because they have influenced him. Therefore, they could have influenced him in what to do, and what he does is evil. This is a good example of how the supernatural leads to his downfall. The main turning point in the play is when Macbeth meets with the witches when he is with Banquo and when the predictions are made. Macbeth is told that he shall be the thane of Glamis, then the than of Cawdor and shall then go on to be King. We can tell that he is interested as the first thing that he says after these predictions have been made is Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more, which is meant to make Banquo and the audience to think that he does not believe them, but tells the witches to carry on as he is curious as to what they have to say, but they vanish and we know that he has taken them seriously as he desperate for them to come back. Banquo has a different view and says The instruments tell us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray in deepest consequence. What Banquo means by this is that the witches may have only told them their possible future so that they act on what they have been told. By saying this, Banquo is implying that the witches have evil intentions. Banquo advises Macbeth to steer clear o the witches and what they have said, but he ignores him as he is greedy and over ambitious. This is where we know that the supernatural has influenced Macbeth and has begun to change him. At the time of the predictions Macbeth was already Thane of Glamis, and was shortly made the Thane of cawdor. This made him believe that the predictions were true. Macbeth believed that if the first two predictions were correct, the third prediction would also be correct. Lady Macbeth also helped Macbeth become a victim of his own destiny. She was behind him during the murder of King Duncan and was the reason for Macbeth doing it because she continued to assure that all would turn out in their favour. She also made him feel guilty and like a wimp by saying Art thou afeard and live a coward in thane own esteem. This is quite an important thing as she is questioning his masculinity. Macbeth is at this time known as a warrior, and when he is faced with this comment he is going to try and prove it wrong. She can also be found using witchcraft when she asks the spirits to change her into a fearless, ruthless human being making her able to help Macbeth in killing Duncan. She says Unsex me here and Come you spirits which shows that she would be able to influence what Macbeth does, like the witches can. As the play continues we can see that they grow apart and Macbeth decides to make more important decisions on his own and does not include her. As I have already said, the witches build up a large part of the supernatural in the play, but other elements add to this, so we can not put it all down to the witches. Although they were responsible for directing Macbeth in the killing, and the hallucinations may have encouraged him, a character who was close to him was also involved, Lady Macbeth. However, when Macbeth murdered Banquo, and Macduffs family, they were his own decisions. I think that he went solo because all of the predictions had been achieved, and now the supernatural has abandoned him. Before he could have blamed it on the supernatural but when he took matters into his own hands he was to blame. Macbeth starts to arouse suspicion as soon as he starts making decisions for himself and so, this is why he ends up dead because Banquo suspects him. You could say that all of the deaths in Macbeth were caused by the supernatural, because the witches had quite a lot to do with Macbeth, and the Murder of Duncan was directed by witchcraft. Macbeth was provoked by the witches and pressurised by his wife, who we know used witchcraft at some time during the play, and did carry out the actions herself, but we could say that it is not his fault. However, the witches may have just been making suggestions and so; Macbeth never had to follow them. After this of course, the murders are down to one man, Macbeth. I think that the supernatural does indeed lead to Macbeths downfall, but really, he is to blame, and becomes a monster. I think that the main reason is his own ambition.

Autonomous Learner Characteristics

Autonomous Learner Characteristics INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Looking back in time, English language were used once during the Cambodian Republic Regime (1970 1975), but thereafter, English was completely banned during the Genocidal Regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; in 1993, for the first National Election in Cambodia, English language emerged again in this country with the arrival of United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) (Narith, 2008). Since then the popularity of English language has gradually grown among Cambodian people. According to Crystal (1997) indicates that English language gains its popularity in the world due to political power, military power and economic power. In Cambodia, because of local and international business, international non-governmental organizations, job requirements, consumerism, computers and mass media, young people are encouraged to learn English as a foreign language (Narith, 2008). Further, Igawa (2008) studies about English language and its education in Cambodia states that communicat ive competence in English means a better job and a better pay for Cambodian people. That is why English language is encouraged and promoted to learn. Concerning English language learning, Cambodian students culturally seem to be respectful, obedient, and passive towards their teachers. This happens because of the traditional classroom, which is commonly practiced and mainly focused on teacher-centered approach. This approach offers fewer opportunities to students to engage in their learning, because the teacher always plays a role as a knowledge transmitter to students. Moreover, there is little interaction among teachers and students. The teacher usually spends a great deal of time speaking and explaining in the class; while students are required to sit passively and listen to the teacher attentively (Wang, 2007). However, after the communicative language teaching has emerged in Cambodia over the last ten years, the role of teacher and student has been gradually changed in modern classroom. In other words, there is a shift from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered approach, which offers students more possibilities to actively engage in their learning process. Since this shift occurs, learners are viewed as the main source of information for learning process, which the practice of learner autonomy begins to grow in language learning and teaching (Benson, 2001). Holec (1981) was the first person who coined the term learner autonomy and defined it as the ability to take charge of ones own learning. Autonomous learning encourages a very active role of learners and focuses on greater students initiative rather teacher-centered direction. (Eyob, 2008). Tudor (1993) also states that learner-centeredness is not a method, nor may it be decreased to a set of rules. It is, however, an approach, which views students to have more active and participatory roles in the learning and teaching process than in traditional approaches. Additionally, this approach requires different classroom activities, the structures of which are decided by students themselves resulting in increases in students involvement and motivation. There is also a parallel change in the teachers role in learner-centered classrooms. The teacher is less likely to dominate classroom events in contrast to traditional classrooms where the learning environment is teacher-centered and teachers are considered as authorities. According to, Nunan (1996) there are two complementary aims of learner-center. One of them focuses on language content, the other focuses on learning process. To achieve these aims, leaner need to decide what they want to learn and how they want to learn at their own pace, and make a decision regarding their own language competence. Thus, it is the teachers duties to create such autonomous learning conditions in which students can acquire skills and knowledge while making choices about the process and content of their learning. Likewise, Tudor (1993) suggests that if teachers are to foster autonomous learning conditions, student will be able to get more benefit from the teaching and learning process, particularly in the following areas: (a) more relevant goal setting with the contributions of students, (b) more effective learning enriched with students preferences, (c) more benefit from activities, the content of which decided by students, (d) more efficient study program with more s tudent involvement. Learner autonomy is considered as a crucial concept that students actively manage their learning in and out of the classroom. That is, they are independent in terms of selecting their own goals and purposes, deciding on materials, choosing ways of learning and tasks, and opting for criteria for self-evaluation (Eyob, 2008). Besides, autonomous learning can be achieved by certain conditions such as using cognitive and metacognitive strategies, learner attitudes and motivation, self-esteem, and learners awareness and knowledge about language learning (Thanassoluas, 2007). Similarly, Cotterall (1999) indentifies learning strategies as one of the most important factors in autonomous language learning. She also claims that the learners will have difficulties in classroom promoting autonomous learning without strategies training. Additionally, Chan (2001) states that increasing the level of learner control will increase the level of self-determination; thereby increasing overall motivation in the development of learner autonomy. Therefore, learners need to be self-directed and to determine the direction of their own language learning process. In brief, developing and promoting autonomous learning is vital as the aim of all education is to help people think, act and learn independently in relevant areas of their lives. In this respect, a strategy for developing and fostering autonomy in language teaching will require enhanced cognitive and metacognitive skills, self-awareness to improve motivation and willingness to take charge of learning. 1.2 Problem Statement With this novel concept, learner autonomy, Cambodian students are expected to take more responsibilities to demonstrate a great deal of autonomy in their learning process in order to succeed academically. However, Many English language teachers have become frustrated with investing endless amounts of energy in their students and getting very little response. Most teachers have had groups of students who never did their homework, who were reluctant to use the target language in pair or group work, who did not learn from their mistakes, who did not listen to each other, who did not use opportunities to learn outside the classroom, and so on. These reveal that students are not making efforts in their learning. Moreover, most of them are not likely to be aware of their roles in their learning process, and particularly they lack learning strategies to enable them to excel in their language performance. Regarding this issue, students make slow progress in their learning, performing poorly, thereby affecting their ultimate achievement in English language learning. And to the best of our knowledge, there is little research conducted on assessing learner autonomy in Cambodian EFL context. Thus, the aim of the present work is to identify learners perspectives about their learning responsibly and their actual practice of learner autonomy in Cambodian Youths Future Institute (CYFI). 1.3 Research Questions: The study on the current practice of learner autonomy is aimed at answering the two main questions and the two sub questions below in order to meet the objectives 1. How do the CYFI students perceive their own and their teachers responsibilities in learning English? -Are there any differences in the learners perceptions of their own and their teachers responsibilities in learning English regarding their gender? 2. To what extent, are the Autonomous learning strategies (inside and outside the classroom) used in learning English by ESL learners at CYFI? -Are there any differences in the learning strategies according to their gender? 1.4 Significance of the study This study is expected to provide empirical support for the identification of factors considered to be significant for the promotion of autonomy in foreign language classrooms and examines the claims made in language learning literature about each of these factors. By exploring them, teachers could also construct a shared understanding of the essential foundation of learner autonomy and obtain considerable insights into what roles they have to play in order to facilitate learner autonomy. Furthermore, it can increase learners awareness of how to be in charge of their own learning and inform the learners which learning strategies that they need to learn more and apply in their learning process. Similarly, it will help learners change their behavior by encouraging them to take responsibility for their own language learning, to change their attitudes towards the English class, and to deal with their foreign language learning problems. And finally, it may serve as a preliminary idea for any interested researchers in the area. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The Literature in this review was found from the Hun Sen Library of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), and by using the websites of Asian EFL Journal, Cambridge, Google Scholar, Oxford and Zunia to identify relevant books, journals and articles focusing on Autonomy in English langue learning. Other reviews was obtained from numerous articles and the list of references by several well-known scholars such as, Beson, , Gardner, Holec, Lee, Little ,Tudor and Wenden. These scholars are long established writers in this field and have written and conducted many researches about this area. The key words used to identify the articles are Lerner Autonomy, Learner Responsibility, Self-regulated Learner and Self-access Learner. 2.1 What is learner autonomy? The definition of learner autonomy seems to interpret in many different ways. Holec (1981, p.3) was the person who first coined the term learner autonomy and defines the term as the ability to take charge of ones own direct learning. Dickinson (1995) characterizes autonomous learners as those who have the capacity for being active and independent in the learning process. While Higgs (1988, p.41) views it as a process, in which the learner works on a learning task or activity and largely independent of the teacher who acts as manager of the learning programme and as resource person. In fact, learners attain autonomy depends on a variety of factors, including learners ability to take responsibility, personal constructs, teacher support, peer support, availability and flexibility in learning environment (Little, 1990; McDevitt, 1997; Lee, 1998). Even though there is a slightly different interpretation of learner autonomy, those meanings may contribute to the understanding deeply of the term. According to Benson and Voller (1997) there are five categories of the term learner autonomy, including situations in which learners study entirely on their own, a set of skills which can be learned and applied in self-directed learning, an inborn capacity which is suppressed by institutional education, the exercise of learners responsibility for their own learning, and the right of learners to determine the direction of their own learning. However, there is also a great deal of misconceptions about the definition of autonomous language learning. Esch (1996) thinks that autonomy is not self-instruction or learning without a teacher, does not mean that intervention or initiative on the part of a teacher is banned, is not something teachers do to learners, is not a single easily identifiable behavior, and is not a steady state achieved by learners once and for all. 2.2 Why learner autonomy? In fact, the cultivation of learner autonomy is a long process. Teacher should help students develop gradually from teacher dependence to autonomy. As an old Chinese saying goes Give a man a fish, and you feed him a day; teach him how to fish, and feed him for a life time. Moreover, the saying you can bring the horse to water, but you cannot make him drink can clearly illustrate why we need learner autonomy in teaching learning process. In language learning, a teacher can offer all the necessary tools and input, but learning can only occur if learners are willing to get involved and participate (Scharle Szabo, 2000). Further, Scharle and Szabo (2000, p.4) indicate that learners can be successful in learning when they have a responsible attitude. Therefore, we can understand that learners need a great deal of responsibility and active involvement in conducting learning activities in order to accomplish tremendous achievement in language learning. Eyob (2008) also states that learners accept responsibility for their learning, they constantly reflect on what they are learning, why they are learning, and with what degree of success; and their learning is fully integrated with the rest of what they are. 2.3 Characteristics of Autonomous Learners We understand that autonomous learners have to be responsible for all decisions that they have to make in their own learning. In other words, they are self-directed in the sense that they act independently of the teacher without remaining passive or waiting to be told what to do from teachers. According to Hedge (2000) characterized autonomous learners as those who: know their needs and work productively with the teacher towards the achievement of their objectives. learn both inside and outside the classroom. can take classroom based material and can build on it. know how to use resources independently. learn with active thinking. adjust their learning strategies when necessary to improve learning. manage and divide the time in learning properly. do not think the teacher is a god who can give them ability to master the language. Further, Wenden (1991) also characterized autonomous learners as those who: are willing and have the capacity to control or supervise learning. are motivated to learn. are good guessers. choose material, methods and tasks. exercise choice and purpose in organizing and carrying out the chosen task. select the criteria for evaluation. take an active approach to the task. make and reject hypothesis. pay attention to both form and content. are willing to take risks. 2.4 The Role of Teachers and Students to Promote Learner Autonomy Holden and Usuki (1999) who questioned Japanese students perceptions of learner autonomy concluded that it was not the learners who were innately passive, but it was the teachers that created an environment which discouraged learner autonomy. Moreover, it also concluded that the vast majority of students view their instructor as playing a major role in the development of their language skills. However, it stresses that learner autonomy, is not something that teachers do to learners, or another teaching method that can be taught (Little ,1990; Benson, 2001). Also, Dickinson (1987) states that, the learner is totally responsible for all of the decision concerned with his learning and the implementation of those decisions. In a full learner autonomy there is no involvement of a teacher or an institution. And learners are also independent of specially prepared materials. For instance, the early research on language learning strategies carried out by such researchers as Rubin (1975) indic ated that good learners have an active involvement with language learning, that they have clear ideas about the best ways for them to go about language learning, and that they set up their own learning objectives. However, this research has no strong reason to support that autonomous learning requires teachers or institutions, does not mean that it must proceed independent of them. Even there is a contradiction between the role of the teacher and the learner in promoting learner autonomy, McCarthy (2000) and Scharer (2000) argue that, in developing learner autonomy, the teacher-student relationship is crucial. The trust and cooperation between the teacher and the students makes the students feel comfortable and secure in the classroom. Only then can the students have the confidence to adventure in language learning. Benson and Vollers (1997) study also found that teachers have a significant role to play in launching learners into self-access and in helping them to stay afloat. In this investigation, it was found that there is a great change for both teachers and learners. Teachers are no longer in their dominant position as speakers in class while learners are not passive receivers any more. However, it does not necessarily mean teachers are less important. On the contrary, the teachers job is more demanding and challenging in helping students grow up as creati ve and independent learners. Teachers must focus their attention on how to learn instead of how to teach. They must play different role in class as guides, facilitators and counselors. Therefore, adjusting the teachers and students roles, and establishing proper relationship are the keys to the success in promoting autonomous learning (Benson Vollers, 1997). 2.5 Language Learning Strategies There are a number of researchers who have defined the term language learning strategies (LLS) in different ways. Wenden (1991) defines LLS as, mental steps or operations that learners use to learn a new language and to regulate their efforts to do so. OMalley and Chamot (1990) defined LLS as the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information. By understanding various definitions from different researchers, we can see that learning strategies are very important in learning a language. Hence, all students have to be trained on how to use them appropriately in order to be successful learners. According to Hedge (2000), there are four types of learning strategies utilized by language learners, including cognitive strategies, meta-cognitive strategies, socio-affective strategies, and communication strategies. 2.5.1 Cognitive Strategies Hedge (2000) defines cognitive strategies as thought processes used directly in learning which enables learners to deal with the information presented in tasks and materials by working on it in different ways. According to Tudor (1996), cognitive strategies include: Repetition: repeating a chunk of language (a word or phrase) in the course of performing language language task. Resourcing: Using available reference sources of information about the target language, including dictionaries, textbooks, and prior work. Grouping: Ordering, classifying or labeling material used in a language task based on common attributes; recalling information based on grouping previously done. Note taking: Writing down key words and concepts in abbreviated verbal, graphic, or numerical form to assist performance of a language task. Deduction/ Induction: consciously applying learned or self-developed rules to produce or understand the target language. Substitution: selecting alternative approaches, revised plans, or different words or phrases to accomplish a language task. Elaboration: Relating new information to prior knowledge; relating different parts of new information to each other; making meaningful personal associations to information presented. Summarization: Making a mental or written summary of language and information presented in a task. Translation: rendering ideas from one language to another in a relatively verbatim manner. Transfer: using previously acquired linguistic knowledge to facilitate a language task. Inference: Using available information to guess the meanings or usage of unfamiliar language items associated with language tasks, to predict outcomes, or to fill in missing information. 2.5.2 Meta-cognitive Strategies According to Oxford (1990), metacognitive strategies are actions which go beyond purely cognitive devices, which provide a way for learners to coordinate their own learning process. Oxford also mentions that there are three metacognitive strategies such as centering learning, arranging and planning learning, and evaluating learning. Moreover, Tudor (1996, p.205) also states that metacognitive strategies consist of planning, monitoring and evaluating; some of these strategies are: Planning: previewing the organizing concept or principle of an anticipated learning task (advance organization); proposing strategies for handling an upcoming task; generating a plan for the parts, sequence, main ideas, or language functions to be used in handling a task (organizational planning). Directed attention: Deciding in advance to attend in general to a learning task and to ignore irrelevant destructors; maintaining attention during task execution. Selective attention: deciding in advance to attend to specific aspects of language input or situational details that assist in performance of a task; attending to specific aspects of language input during task execution. Self-management: understanding the conditions that help one successfully accomplish language tasks and arranging for the presence of those conditions controlling ones language performance to maximize use of what is already known. Self-monitoring: checking, verifying, or correcting ones comprehension or performance in the course of a language task. Problem identification: Explicitly identifying the central point needing resolution in a task or identifying an aspect of the task that hinders its successful completion. Self-evaluation: checking the outcomes of ones own language performance against an internal measure of completeness and accuracy; checking ones language repertoire, strategy use, or ability to perform the task. Thus, it is very essential to teach students about metacognitive strategies in order to make their language learning effectively. 2.5.3 Socio-Affective Strategies Oxford (1990) the term affective strategies refer to emotion, motivation, attitudes, and values. He claims that affective strategies are concerned with the affective elements of the learners such as self-esteem, attitudes, confidence, motivation, and anxiety. Oxford (1990) also suggests that there are three main sets of affective strategies: lowering your anxiety, encouraging yourself, and taking your emotional temperature. While Tudor (1996) suggests some of the affective strategies are: Questioning for clarification: asking for explanations, verification, rephrasing, or examples about the material; asking for clarification or verification about the task; posing questions to the self. Cooperation: working together with peers to solve a problem, pool information, check a learning task, model a language activity, or get feedback on oral or written performance. Self-talk: Reducing anxiety by using mental techniques that make one feel competent to do the learning task. Self-reinforcement: providing personal motivation by arranging rewards for one self when a language activity has been successfully completed. Therefore, good language learners should know how to control their emotions and attitudes about learning (Oxford 1990). 2.5.4 Communication Strategies According to Hismanoglu (2000), communication strategies are employed by speakers when confronted with some difficulties because of the fact that their communication was misunderstood or was not caught clearly. Hedge (2000) also states that learners use communication strategies in order to make them understood and to maintain a conversation; these strategies contain gesture, mime, synonym, and paraphrases. The significance of these strategies is to help learners get involved in conversations when they practice the language and to assist learners in getting their message across or clarify what the speaker conveyed. 2.6 Learner Attitudes, Motivation and Self-Esteem Benson and Voller (1997) state that language learning is not merely a cognitive task; Learners do not reflect on their learning in terms of the language input to which they are exposed. Rather, the success of a learning activity is partially contingent upon learners stance towards the world and the learning activity in particular, their sense of self, and their desire to learn. That is, language learning involves affective elements such as attitudes, motivation and self-esteem. The term attitudes refer to learned motivations, value beliefs, evaluations, what one believes is acceptable, or responses oriented towards approaching or avoiding (Wenden, 1998, pp, 52-53). There are two kinds of attitudes which are very essential: attitudes learners hold about their role in the learning process, and their capability as learner. Thus, it appears that if learners have positive attitudes towards their learning, then those attitudes will play an important role in increasing learners motivation, and contribute to their achievements in learning. In educational context, many researchers or experts have defined the term motivation differently. So there is little agreement on the exact meaning of the term. According to Dornyei (2001) the father of motivational strategies refers the term motivation as a keen, committed, and enthusiastic learner who has good reasons for learning. Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity (Dornyei, 2001, p.7). Furthermore, according to Gardner and Macintyre (1993) indicate that motivation consist of three elements, including desire to achieve a goal, effort extended in this direction and satisfaction with the task. Indeed, people are motivated in different ways and to different degrees. And learners should encourage focusing more on their intrinsic motivation because it emerges with the inner drive or interest of the learners in doing something which they can sustain their motivation longer. Therefore, motivation is a key factor that contributes to the success of language learning. If learners are more aware of the importance of motivation, then they will be more likely to achieve their desire goals or outcomes. Indeed, attitudes and motivation are the concept of self-esteem (Thanasoulas, 2007). James (1983) defines self-esteem as a ratio found by dividing ones achievements in areas of life of importance to a given individual by the failures in them or ones success. According to Branden (2001), self-esteem is the sum of self-confidence (a feeling of personal capacity) and self-respect (a feeling of personal worth). If learners have a high self-esteem, then they may achieve highly in their learning process. Conversely, if they have a low self-esteem, then it can lead to negative attitudes towards their learning, possibly deteriorate their cognitive perform and lowering their success (Wenden, 1991, p.57). All in all, learners have to be willing to take charge of their own learning. They should use the right strategies plus having positive attitudes, intrinsic motivation and high self-esteem. And all of these do contribute a lot in leading them to largely succeed in language learning. Most importantly, they should use every opportunity that they obtain in order to learn the language effectively and successfully. Thus, teachers and students should be responsible in fostering autonomous learning (Eyob 2008). CHAPTER THREE Methods 3.1 Research Design To conduct this study, the researcher utilizes a survey research in order to describe the current practice of autonomous learning by CYFI students. By using this method, it also assists to illustrate the fundamental problems that challenge the practice. The method is suitable in attempting to describe the attitudes, opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a sample or the entire population (Creswell, 2005). Additionally, it included cross-sectional studies using questionnaires and focus group interviews for data collection. 3.2 Data collection tools Chamot (2004) suggests that appropriate methods in conducting this kind of the study need to be utilized. Those recommending researches tools in data collection are group focus, interview and questionnaire and these methods can help researchers to ensure the reliability and validity 3.2.1 Questionnaire The self-administered questionnaire is used in order to obtain descriptive and frequencies data of the study. The researcher employs this questionnaire because it is able to be administered with or without the presence of the researcher and it is easy to analyze with many computer software packages (Wilson Mclean, 1994). In addition, Questionnaire is familiar to most people. Nearly everyone has had some experience completing questionnaires and they generally do not make people apprehensive. Questionnaire also reduces bias; there is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. Also, the researchers own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner because there are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent. Nevertheless, the researcher need to invest great amount of time to develop, pilot, and refine questionnaire and data collected may lack of flexibility of responding (Wilson Mclean,1994). The rate of return can also be a m ajor concern when the researcher uses this data collecting tool (Anderson Arsenault, 1998). 3.2.2 Focus Group Discussion The researcher uses a focus group discussion as a second data collection tool for this study. In order to verify the data collected from the questionnaire and to make the data more enriched and valid. By using focus group discussion, the researcher can explore more insights in some particular areas found from the results of the questionnaire and can cross check and probe more information about the study. Moreover, focus group will offer a collective view rather than an individual view and it is economical and less time-consuming. It also produce a large amount of data (Mogan, 1988). However, focus group may yield the data less than the survey and data may lack overall reliability as group disagreement and even conflicts may arise. Also, Data obtained from focus group will be difficult to analyze concisely. 3.3 Sample size and Sampling technique The research is conducted in the form of a case study. The target populations of this study are Level 07 CYFI students whose levels are pre-intermediate. The sample of about 60 students of the entire population is chosen purposively to complete the questionnaire study. Besides, 4 to 6 students are also selected purposively to involve in the focus group discussion. The researcher intends to choose a non-probabilistic convenient sampling procedure for the study because, as its name suggests, it is convenient, fast, low cost and less-time consuming. Also, it is easy to conduct and the participants are available and voluntary to participate in the study (Cohen, Manion Morrison, 2007). And yet, the sampling may fails to represent the whole population and be limited to make a generalizability of the findings due to its nature. 3.4 Data collection process The self-administered questionnaires are administered to the participants at the end of their class. Since there are two kinds of self-administered questionnaires, the participants have a choice to complete questionnaires either in the presence or in the absence of the researcher, assistants and their teachers. If the participants decide to fil

The Virtue of Discrimination Essay examples -- Virtues Discriminate Es

The Virtue of Discrimination Discrimination is a word that has taken on a negative connotation in today's society. Since the beginning of the equal rights movement, the perceived meaning of the word discrimination has shifted from that of a useful virtue to one of an insulting, derogatory word. Robert Keith Miller wrote an essay for Newsweek in the summer of 1980 that focuses on the discrepancies in the use of the word discrimination. â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue† points out the differences in the dictionary’s definition of the word discrimination and the perceived societal definition of the word. Miller explains the confusion of the word discrimination with the words discriminate against and worries that discrimination may be forever viewed as a fault rather than a virtue. He encourages his readers to not discriminate against individuals or groups, but to remember that there are still distinctions to be made (86). Robert Keith Miller presents a convincing argument for the necessity of discrimination by using a comparison and contrast argument to appeal to the readers emotions in his article â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue†. Robert Keith Miller was a writer for Newsweek in 1980. As a writer for a nationally renowned magazine, he can be trusted as a professional journalist. Miller writes his article â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue† for the readers of Newsweek. The audience of the magazine are predominately educated professionals in society. They are the very people that he is attempting to remind of the true definition of discrimination. Millers audience is intelligent enough to be able to realize the differences in â€Å"discriminating against† and â€Å"discrimination† but may be unaware of the problem this confusion is causi... ...then and personalize those points. His comparison of the dictionary’s definition of discrimination and society’s understanding of the word illustrate the contradiction at hand. The examples illustrate the need for discrimination in today’s society. He reminds us, even with the title of the paper, that discrimination once was and still should be an esteemed virtue. The use of discrimination in our decision making and policy’s is necessary for them to be as effective as possible. While this article was written over twenty years ago, its message is still relevant for today’s Newsweek readers. Discrimination is a virtue that each of us could use a little more of. Work Cited Gruber, Sibylle, ed. Constructing Others, Constructing Ourselves. Dubuque: Kendal Hunt Publishing Co, 2002. Miller, Robert Keith. â€Å"Discrimination Is a Virtue.† Gruber 85-87.

Struggle Between Hindu and Secular Nationalisms in India Essay

Struggle Between Hindu and Secular Nationalisms in India India holds a prominent place in the history of imperialism and decolonization, making recent events in this country of nearly one billion especially important to the current day citizen. India also faces problems associated with accommodating religion and diversity within a large federal republic, making their experience important for Americans concerned with these issues. India faces growing action of governing which invites the use of violence to achieve political objectives. In spite of India's size and importance, it is hard for an American to gain an understanding of the issues and conflicts which have set the stage for the most recent revival of Hindu nationalism. The central feature of this new reform in Indian federal politics is the clash between Hindu and secular nationalists. The overview of this situation comes from the perspective of an American born Indian student interested in Indian history and federal systems, so the observations are intended as suggestions designed to encourage more progressive work both in India and the United States. While the prominence of Hindu themes affects many levels of Indian government, this paper will focus only on India's central government on Hindu Nationalism. This conflict is crucial to understanding the current situation in India. Indian democracy and secularism face a menace from the forces of militant Hinduism which hope to turn India into a Hindu state. What is the nature of the present challenge to secularism in India? What do Hindu nationalists hope to achieve by making their government more assertively Hindu? One can begin to answer these questions by examining the large body of writing on secularism recently produced by Indians. Academics, lawyers, journalists, and political citizens have explored the many facets of Indian secularism. These works provide clues to the nature of Hindu nationalism's appeal in contemporary Indian politics. These writings are interesting for what they reveal about India and its versions of nationalism. Sudipta Kaviraj, a scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, admits that, "among those who consider themselves secular individuals there is an intensifying sense of crisis†. What are the criticisms of secularism which lead to the perception of a predicament? At first glance, the challenge appears minuscule, ... ...d world", comparisons to the United States may prove more fruitful. Second, excessive use of historical analogy from other periods in time runs the risk of incorporating outmoded assumptions regarding development stages so prominent in modernization theory. India's current problems relate directly to developments in this phase of world history; one could go so far to say that India's problems foreshadow those the United States is likely to face when the resources used to lubricate the machinery of a diverse federation can no longer be borrowed. Furthermore, those familiar with the constitutional debate over the separation of church and state in the United States and Stephen Carter's recent book The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion understand that questions regarding religion and politics are by no means confined to the so-called "developing" world. Rather than grappling with issues already solved by Western countries, India faces dilemmas associated with the modern state. Understanding India's experien ce in confronting these problems may provide unanticipated insights into problems faced by federal government in the United States.

Free Essay on Miltons Paradise Lost - Paradise Lost as an Epic :: Milton Paradise Lost Essays

Paradise Lost as an Epic  Ã‚   The Oxford English Dictionary defines "cosmos" as "the world or universe as an ordered and harmonious system," from the Greek, "kosmos," referring to an ordered and/or ornamental thing. Though Pythagoras is credited with first using this term to describe the Universe, probably since he is also the one most commonly cited for ideas of harmony and the Musica Mundana, cosmos is generally a contrast to "chaos"-"the first state of the universe." In explaining the theology and cosmology of Paradise Lost, Milton writes, "the heavens and earth/ Rose out of Chaos," describing the move from the formless mass to the ordered whole. (I:9-10) As much as this delineates the structure of the world, however, its culmination seems to appear in the Spirit, as Milton has conceived it-the free, reasoning, integrated Consciousness. Though many have found a hero in the English epic from its dramatis personae-from Adam to Satan to God/Son himself-the most encompassing heroism seems that of Milton himself, a s a manifestation of this most supreme of creations: the wholesome mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An instance in which Milton's views on the sovereignty of the Spirit appear in some of the conversations of the Arch Fiend himself with his fellows-which is quite ironic, considering that the story is an extrapolation upon Christian Scripture. One of Satan's "compeers" says, during a discussion after their exile from Heaven: Too well I see and rue the dire event That, with sad overthrow and foul defeat, Hath lost us Heaven, and all this mighty host In horrible destruction laid thus low, As far as Gods and heavenly Essences Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains Invincible, and vigour soon returns, Though all our glory extinct, and happy state Here swallowed up in endless misery (I:135-140).    The invincibility of "the mind and spirit" is something which even the foes of God understand. Though the fallen angels corrupt their "heavenly Essences" with disobedience and revolt, they still have a keen understanding of the powers of perception, of personal reaction to one's environment-"for neither do the Spirits damned/ Lose all their virtue" (2:482-483). Satan boldly speaks to his fellows, asking What though the field be lost? All is not lost-the unconquerable will . . . And courage never to submit or yield (I:105-108).    Like a true hero, Satan refers to conquest and courage, a response to the tyranny he and his cohorts have received from the hand of God.