Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Questions for Organizational Structure Assignment

Questions for Organizational Structure - Assignment Example It is most suitable for firms that deal in single line of product or services. He above mentioned company equally fits to this structure since it deals with single product line. Functional structures have become the most common type of organization structures and are quickly evolving from high levels of specialization to higher levels of efficiency. Therefore, of the middle sized firm in Sothern Florida, the following functional organization structure would be most suitable for their operations. The functional organization formed by this company needs to consist of a single authority known as the top management. Under the top management, there are many small specialized units that report to it. The top management is where power is emanating from, downwards to the other simple organizational units. The specialized units on the others need to contain people grouped in terms of similarities i.e. possessing various skills. Within this structure, each of these units is meant to handle an aspect of the product or service being dealt with. Since this is a building and construction company, there is need for group specialization i.e. people specialized in a given area placed together to perform a given task. This leads to high levels of accuracy as well as consistency in the quality. The top management however holds the responsibility of coordination the units together and making them works as a team towards achievement of their job objectives. Functional organizational structure is known to bring people possessing similar knowledge together. Constant interaction of such personalities can easily lead to emergence of specialists within the group. Introduction of performance management helps in exposing individuals’ ability and level of expertise hence making it easier to train and coach others in the similar. One advantage of using this structure is that it exposes employees to in-depth training thus making them pursue a single career path. This construction comp any can thus enjoy great performance by employees who are specialized on specific fields hence leading to perfection. One main advantage of choosing the functional organization structure is to consolidate all the human efforts and abilities. Through this, superiors can share their skills and expertise with their subordinates hence making them develop similar skills. In the building and construction industry, new workers especially fresh minds are never experienced enough to handle certain duties, putting them together with more experienced and knowledgeable persons can help in boosting their knowledge. It also helps in prevention of resource misuse by the members of the organization. In such a system the most competitive employees are placed within the areas where they are highly specialized. This enhances high levels of performance. Despite enjoying the above benefits, this system can face some setbacks which greatly paralyse its activities. For instance when levels of specializati on and production rise, the system develop a communication system that is slow as well as a similar decision making process. This comes as a result of independence of the specialized units having ability to make their decisions hence dragging the process. With a communication breakdown within the various departments, there is poor coordination between various departments hence making it hard for the processes to flow smoothly. 2. Realizing that projects are the dominant form of their business, the firm described in part (a) above is

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Indian Independence And Partition History Essay

Indian Independence And Partition History Essay It began with the idea of Mahatma Gandhi to free India from the control of the British, in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi proposed a non-violence march to protest the British Salt Tax. To understand why the British salt tax was so oppressive to the Indian people, it helps to know a bit about the subcontinents climate and culture. Indias hot weather promotes  sweating, which drains the human body of its salt supply. Since Indians dont eat much meat a natural source of salt they relied on supplementary salt to maintain a healthy amount in the body. Taxing the mineral that Indian people relied on for survival was just one way that the British government kept Indians under its thumb. As salt is necessary in everyones daily diet, everyone in India was affected and upon realizing the scheme of the British, the salt march was set in motion. Before embarking on a 240 miles march from Sabarmati to Dandi to protest the salt tax, Gandhi sent a letter to the Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India, forewarning their plans of civil disobedience: If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws.   I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor mans standpoint.   As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning will be made with this evil. (Gandhi) Acknowledged of this action, the viceroy could have arrested him easily but by doing so could spark an intense backlash so he only replied: [Gandhi was] contemplating a course of action which is clearly bound to involve violation of the law and danger to the public peace. As promised, on March 12, 1930, Gandhi and 78 male satyagrahis (activists of truth and resolution) started marching toward the Arabian Sea. It has been told that along his way, the roads were watered, and fresh flowers and green leaves strewn on the path; and as the satyagrahis walked, they did so to the tune of one of Gandhis favorite bhajans,  Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, sung by the great Hindustani vocalist, Pandit Paluskar.  Each village he passed by, he convinced government officials to resign in protest and to encourage people to pledge nonviolence, therefore, more and more men joined the march. On April 5, 1930, after a 24 day-long journey, Gandhi and his followers reached the coast, he collected a chunk of salt and immediately broke the law. No sooner had Gandhi violated the law than everyone started following him, picking up salt off the coast. A month after Gandhi completed his march he was arrested for breaking the law and soon after Indias prisons were full with 60.00 0 others practicing this simple act of civil disobedience. (Hatt, (2002).  p. 33) Women Again, though women were full and active members of Gandhis community, and many were to be closely associated with him over a lengthy period of time, as he went so far to say that the women have come to look upon me as one of themselves., no women were present among the 78 people chosen to accompany him on the march. An explanation for this was that Gandhi felt women wouldnt provoke law enforcers like their male counterparts, making the officers react violently to non-violence. As salt is an important household  necessity, Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of women. He especially recruited women to participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products.( Norvell, 1997.) Sarma (1994) had concluded that by enlisting women in his campaigns, including the salt tax campaign, anti-untouchability campaign and the peasant movement, Gandhi had gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian public life. Folk Hero Gandhi was portrayed as a messiah (the long-awaited savior of an entire people), a way of incorporating radical forces within the peasantry into the nonviolent resistance movement. It was told that in thousand of villages, plays were performed presenting Gandhi as the rebirth of earlier Indian nationalist leaders, or even as a demigod. The plays built support among illiterate peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture. Similar messianic imagery appeared in popular songs and poems, and in Congress-sponsored religious pageants and celebrations.  In this way, not only a folk hero image of Gandhi was made, but also, the Congress was seen as his sacred instrument. .( Murali, (1985) Negotiations The government, represented by  Lord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact  was signed in March 1931. The agreement between Gandhi and Irwin was signed on March 5, 1931. Following are the salient points of this agreement: The Congress would discontinue the Civil Disobedience Movement. The Congress would participate in the Round Table Conference. The Government would withdraw all ordinances issued to curb the Congress. The Government would withdraw all prosecutions relating to offenses not involving violence. The Government would release all persons undergoing sentences of imprisonment for their activities in the civil disobedience movement. The pact shows that the British Government was anxious to bring the Congress to the conference table. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the discontinuation  of the civil disobedience movement. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi was sent by the Congress as its sole representative, but the negotiations proved to be disappointing, for the most part that various other Indian communities had been encouraged by the British to send a representative and make the claim that they were not prepared to live in an India under the domination of the Congress. Furthermore, it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power.  Ã‚  Yet never before had the British consented to negotiate directly with the Congress, and Gandhi met Irwin as his equal. In this respect, the man who most loathed Ga ndhi, Winston Churchill, understood the level of Gandhis achievement when he stated it alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the viceregal palace, while he is still organizing and conducting a defiant campaign of civil disobedience, to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor.  The result was unexpected as Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers. (Herman (20080.  pp. 375-377) World War II and Quit India. When World War II broke out in 1939, Britain turned to its colonies, including  India, for soldiers.   His attitude during the war years was difficult to define; he felt very concerned about the rise of fascism around the world, but he also had become a committed pacifist)  For one thing, he would never compromise over pacifism. War, for whatever cause, was in his view a bad thing. Though evil must be resisted, it could never be fought effectively by violence, for violence was the root of all evil. Resistance to Germany and Japan must therefore be by the same means of non-violence which he had himself used in India against the British. No doubt, he remembered the lessons of the Boer War and World War I loyalty to the colonial government during war did not result in better treatment afterwards. The crisis in the war-time relations between Mr Gandhi and the British Government came during the Cripps mission in the spring of 1942. Sir Stafford Cripps took with him proposals for establishing in India immediately after the war Dominion status of full self-government, with the right to declare independence, the minimum provision being made to render the scheme acceptable to Moslems. In March of 1942, British cabinet minister Sir Stafford Cripps offered the Indians a form of autonomy within the British Empire in exchange for military support. The Cripps offer included a plan to separate the Hindu and Muslim sections of India, which Gandhi found unacceptable. The Indian independence movement rejected the plan. That summer, Gandhi issued a call for Britain to Quit India immediately. The crucial issue was immediate independence, on which Congress insisted. This was Gandhis and the Congress Partys most ultimate upheaval aimed at securing the British exit from India. (Gandhi,1990, p.309.) The manner in which British control was to be withdrawn and a provisional Government substituted was set out along with a threat of mass civil disobedience, under Gandhis direction. This made Quit India  the most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale. The colonial government reacted by arresting all of the Congress leadership, including Gandhi and his wife Kasturba. As anti-colonial protests grew, the Raj government arrested and jailed hundreds of thousands of Indians. Tragically, his wife Kasturba died in February 1944 after 18 months in prison. Gandhi became seriously ill with malaria, so the British released him from prison upon realizing that the political repercussions would have been intensive, if he had also died while imprisoned and enrage the entire nation beyond control. Indian Independence and Partition In 1944, Britain pledged to grant independence to India once the war was over. Gandhi called for the Congress to reject the proposal once more, since it proposed a division of India among Hindu, Muslim, and  Sikh  states. As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to the concept of  partition  as it contradicted his vision of religious unity. (Reprinted in  The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas, Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 106-108.) When sectarian violence rocked Indias cities in 1946, leaving more than 5,000 dead, Congress members convinced Gandhi that the only options were partition or civil war. He reluctantly agreed, and then went on a hunger strike that single-handedly stopped the violence in Delhi and Calcutta. On August 14, 1947, the  Indian Independence Act  was invoked. In border areas some 10-12 million people moved from one side to another and upwards of a half million were killed in communal riots pitting Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.  According to to prominent Norwegian historian,  Jens Arup Seip there perhaps could have been much more bloodshed during the partition if there hadnt been for his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Mathematics of Microscope Resolving Power :: Math

Missing Figures Imagine this, you are walking through the forest when all of a sudden you come across the most fascinating insect (perhaps insects may not seem too fascinating at first but once you learn a little about them they are the most fascinating creatures). Well, back to the story, so you find this insect and you realize that it seems very different from those you've previously encountered. Well, being the curious scientist that you are, you take out your trusty magnifying glass and take a look. You move the lens back and forth until you find the perfect image. You see the insect's wonderful colours and patterns which you would not be able to see with your naked eye. What just happened? You simply placed a piece of glass between you and the insect and all of a sudden you get this wonderful view of nature which would otherwise be missed. Well, if you are at all curious as to know how magnifying glasses and microscopes work, then read on and find out. An Introduction to Microscopes The two types of microscopes that will be focused on in this webpage are the simple microscope and the compound microscope. The simple microscope, also known as the magnifying glass, is composed of a single converging lens. The compound microscope is composed of at least two lenses and is generally referred to as a microscope. There are two main purposes of a microscope: 1) to increase the magnification of an object 2) to have a high resolving power Both of these will be examined; however, a greater emphasis will be placed on the resolving power. Magnifying Power (brief overview) Magnifying power: is also called angular magnification. Figure 1a shows an object y in front of a lens. Rays of light reflect off the object through the lens and a now larger image, y', of y can be seen. Once, the image is brought further from the lens, as in figure 1b, the image, y', is even larger. (So as to no discrepency: in figures 1a and 1b, the observer is on the right of the lens looking towards the image y') The magnifying power, M, is given by the following: M = 1 + d/f, where f is the focal distance and d is the distance between the object and the lens Proof of M = 1 + d/f: Figure 1c is the view of the object Y from point C without a magnifying glass. Mathematics of Microscope Resolving Power :: Math Missing Figures Imagine this, you are walking through the forest when all of a sudden you come across the most fascinating insect (perhaps insects may not seem too fascinating at first but once you learn a little about them they are the most fascinating creatures). Well, back to the story, so you find this insect and you realize that it seems very different from those you've previously encountered. Well, being the curious scientist that you are, you take out your trusty magnifying glass and take a look. You move the lens back and forth until you find the perfect image. You see the insect's wonderful colours and patterns which you would not be able to see with your naked eye. What just happened? You simply placed a piece of glass between you and the insect and all of a sudden you get this wonderful view of nature which would otherwise be missed. Well, if you are at all curious as to know how magnifying glasses and microscopes work, then read on and find out. An Introduction to Microscopes The two types of microscopes that will be focused on in this webpage are the simple microscope and the compound microscope. The simple microscope, also known as the magnifying glass, is composed of a single converging lens. The compound microscope is composed of at least two lenses and is generally referred to as a microscope. There are two main purposes of a microscope: 1) to increase the magnification of an object 2) to have a high resolving power Both of these will be examined; however, a greater emphasis will be placed on the resolving power. Magnifying Power (brief overview) Magnifying power: is also called angular magnification. Figure 1a shows an object y in front of a lens. Rays of light reflect off the object through the lens and a now larger image, y', of y can be seen. Once, the image is brought further from the lens, as in figure 1b, the image, y', is even larger. (So as to no discrepency: in figures 1a and 1b, the observer is on the right of the lens looking towards the image y') The magnifying power, M, is given by the following: M = 1 + d/f, where f is the focal distance and d is the distance between the object and the lens Proof of M = 1 + d/f: Figure 1c is the view of the object Y from point C without a magnifying glass.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

“I Go Back to May 1937” Essay

– One paragraph on imagery in the poem – One paragraph on a literary element of your choice (metaphors, similes, etc.) â€Å"I Go Back to May 1937† is a wonderfully crafted poem by Sharon Olds. This poem has more meaning than you give it, for the imagery and foreshadowing it is filled with. This poem tells you a story of how the narrator’s father and mother met and how their life expanded from there.†I see my father strolling out / under the ochre sandstone arch, the / red tiles glinting like bent/plates of blood behind his head† (2-5) feels like it’s such a wonderful day. New young people are graduating into the real world and everyone’s proud of them. Yet, reading closely shows you that the red tiles are bent â€Å"like plates of blood† is not just a color description. There is something so mysterious and foreboding behind him on such beautiful a graduation day. The ominous scene appears again at â€Å"I/ see my mother with a few light books at her hip/ standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks/ the wrought iron gate still open behind her, its/ sword-tips aglow in the May air† (5-9) This time, the author puts in â€Å"sword-tips aglow in the May air†. Is it because the gate shall close on her life again and she will never be able to receive the happiness she should have gotten? The sharp knife finally cuts and twists into you when the narrator says, â€Å"You are going to suffer in ways you have not heard of/You are going to want to die† (18-19). After this one graduation day, everything breaks into pieces. The narrator is still worrying years later, even when he/she is finally an adult. The poem sends great images of how everything happened. Every word is carefully crafted so it fits and gives you the story the poet wishes to give you. The first two lines already give you an image of a young man leaving his college, strolling through this arch into his life, into his future. He is confident with his stride, not skipping, nor trudging. During the fifth and sixth line, there is a young woman there. She is more fragile, like carefully blown glass. She is the intellectual type as shown holding a few books, and lingering there at the gate, not moving. She is anticipating the time that she enters the world as a woman. Toward the end of the poem, the poet says â€Å"Take them up like the male and female/ paper dolls and bang them together/ at the hips, like chips of flint, as if to/ strike sparks from them† (26-29). This is where you see just two dolls, who’s expressions change and they cry out as the narrator hits them at each other. In the end though, the anger just burns out and all the narrator can do is decide â€Å"Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it† (30).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Bartolome de las Casas’s Destruction of the Indies Essay

Bartolomà © de las Casas was a Spanish historian and a social reformer who was writing in the 16th century, during the time of the Spanish occupation of the Indies. In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Casas provides a scathing commentary on the cruelty exercised by the Spanish colonizers on the natives of Hispaniola—as well as explain the aims that motivated this behavior. The account acts as not only an observation on the practices of the colonizers, but is also a reflection of the imperial policies of the Spanish Empire. Through writing A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Casas aims at bringing the Spanish Crown’s attention to the atrocities committed by the citizens of the empire on the natives. In keeping with that aim, he utilizes a rhetoric that seeks to arouse the sympathy of his readers towards the natives and a sense of horror over how they are being treated. Right from the beginning of the account, in the preface, he paints an i mage of the natives as being simple, and harmless. He describes them as, â€Å"the simplest people in the world†¦they are without malice or guilt†¦never quarrelsome or belligerent or boisterous, they harbour no grudges†¦indeed the notions of revenge, rancour and hatred are quite foreign to them†. In contrast to that, he describes the Spaniards as â€Å"ravening wolves† who fell upon the natives like â€Å"tigers or savage lions who had not eaten meat for days .â€Å" Casas sets up a comparison between the helplessness of the natives and the savagery of the Spaniards, and this comparison holds throughout the document. Examples of this comparison are in the frequent accounts he gives of the before and after native population levels once the Spanish occupy an area—â€Å"when the Spanish first journeyed here, the indigenous population of the island of Hispaniola stood at some three million; today only two hundred survive† or â€Å"not a living soul remains today on any of the islands of the Bahamas.† Casas uses concrete numbers in describing the decline in the population level, in the number deaths—he does this as a means of stressing the official nature of the document, to lend it a sense authority. These numbers also help in giving his reade rs a very clear idea of the terrifying extent of the Spanish cruelty. He enumerates the different ways through which the locals are being exterminated, which gives a fair idea of the general colonial practices in the Indies— through â€Å"forcible expatriation†, â€Å"unjust†¦tyrannical war,† working the natives to the  point of death—Casas gives an example of a man who worked the natives under him so hard that within a month, out of three hundred, only thirty survived. More importantly, Casas reveals the motives behind the widespread cruelty as being simple, materialistic greed. He explains that the greed for the gold that the natives have is the driving force behind the actions of the Spanish. The one instance that effectively reflects this fanatical greed is of the local lord who makes an offering of nine thousand castilians to the Spanish and is still seized and tortured for more gold—â€Å"tying him in a sitting position to a stake set in the ground, lit a fire under his outstretched feet to induce him to hand over yet more gold†¦when he produced no further gold, they carried on until all the marrow ran out through the soles of his feet.† What is worth noting is that Casas when first talking about this greed, refers to the Spanish as Christians—â€Å"the reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed.† Casas obviously uses the term â€Å"Christian† ironically to draw attention to the un-Christian behavior that the Spanish are displaying in the colonies. Casas was the Bishop of Chiapas. He was a clerical man, and so his primary concern was the un-Christian activities that were taking place in the colonies. He exclaims that the colonizers have â€Å"little concern over their [natives] souls as for their bodies, all the millions that have perished, having gone to their deaths with no knowledge of God.† This clearly defines exactly what A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies as a text is—it is not a text that is arguing for equal rights, it is instead a text that shows the priorities and concerns of a man living under the Spanish Empire at the time. Casas views the natives not as people equal to the Spaniards, but as potential Christians. He describes them as being, â€Å"innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue.† Casas is outraged because the Spanish policy of â€Å"conversion a nd saving of souls as first priority† was not being followed. Instead, it was being used as an excuse—â€Å"The gulf that yawns between theory and practice has meant that, in fact, the’ local people have been presented with an ultimatum: either they adopt the Christian religion and swear allegiance to the Crown of Castile, or they will find themselves faced with  military action.† He describes how the Spanish would unnecessarily pillage an area, but would essentially be within their legal rights as they would make sure that they presented the natives with the royal ultimatum. Casas’ account is a good reflection of the general imperial policy of expansion of the Spanish Empire. The Spanish Empire used religion as a tool to further its aims—the Spanish Inquisition, for example, was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella as a way of increasing their political authority via religion and to suppress any tension that may arise from social and cultural differences. While the activities of the colonizers wasn’t the same as the inquisition, as Casas points out, the Spanish in the colonies were using religion in a similar way. Therefore, Casas’A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies gives important insight into the practices of the Spanish Empire. It also presents an interesting perspective from someone who is a part and within the empire—who is aware and recognizes the malpractices of the Crown and more importantly, is attempting to do something to put a stop to it. It’s also important that the way he goes about this, is through literature—it shows us the importance of the written word in the process of trying to affect a change. Though Casas’ sentiment in the account might not be a common one at the time, it does signal a rising awareness of the moral blindness displayed in the activities of the empires/colonies. Works Cited Bartolomà © de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, trans. Nigel Griffin (London: Penguin Classics, 2004), 9-37. Bartolomà © de las Casas, â€Å"Bartolomà © de las Casas,† in Norton Anthology of American Literature, ed. Nina Bayme and Robert S. Levine. (New York: WW Norton & Co, 2012), 38.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Immigration in the US essays

Immigration in the US essays Girl" was first published in 1983 in At the Bottom of the River, a collection of stories which won the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. "Girl" is a short piece that shows the dialogue between an older woman and a younger girl, probably a mother and her adolescent daughter. In the piece, the mother instructs her daughter on many subjects, from cooking and cleaning to social skills and love. Despite its brevity, "Girl" is a work which accurately and intimately portrays a mother-daughter relationship and The title of the piece, "Girl", is an integral part of the work itself. The title serves several purposes. First, the title represents the age of the daughter. She is not a woman, not yet on her own, but a girl, still dependent on another, still with much to learn. Second, the title represents the mother's perception of her daughter. She does not consider her a woman or a young lady, but a naive girl in need of constant instruction and supervision. A third purpose of the title is that it represents the daughter's struggle to find her own emerging identity in the shadow of her mother and the shadow of the identity her mother wants her to take on. She is not named in the piece, nor is her place defined; she is not "daughter", "sister", "mother", or "wife", but "girl". "Girl" depicts the mother-daughter relationship that appears when the daughter reaches adolescence, a time of great change in the relationship. Kincaid uses Caribbean idioms and speech patterns to lend realism to the dialogue. The dialogue borders on monologue on the part of the mother. The girl is hardly able to squeeze in a word, having only two brief sentences in the entire work. Very likely, however, this is not even one speech by the mother, but a compilation of several bits of advice. To the daughter's ears, the plethora of advice and rules ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Solare Energy Through Relays

Solare Energy Through Relays Free Online Research Papers INTRODUCTION: Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. The Earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of incoming solar radiation at the upper atmosphere. Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The total solar energy absorbed by Earths atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year. The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earths non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined. Solar energys uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, day lighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process h eat for industrial purposes. To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use solar panels which are oriented in a specific direction. PURPOSE OF PROJECT: Since the solar panel is oriented in a specific direction, it uses the maximum possible solar energy when the Sun is exactly in front of it (i.e. the sun rays are normal to the solar panel). As the Earth moves around the sun or about its own axis, the solar energy striking the panel decreases and, therefore, the production of electricity from the panel decreases. In order to get the maximum benefit of solar energy, the solar panel must move relative to the Sun, as the Earth moves, without using any manpower. In this project, we have made the solar panel to move as the source of light moves to achieve the target of maximum electricity production with less labour. MATERIALS USED: Relays, Transistors, LDR, Motor, 12 volt supply METHOD: In this project, two LDRs control the motion of panel through motor. When the light falling on these LDRs is same the motor brings the panel in static condition by stopping its rotation. As the light source moves, it changes the intensities of light on both LDRs i.e. more intensity on the LDR which is near to the source of light. This results in the rotation of motor in order to move the panel so that the light falling on both LDRs becomes equal. The polarity of the motor is controlled by H-bridge which is made by means of relays. A third LDR, whose sensitivity is greater than the two LDRs, is also used in order to cut the main supply when the two LDRs are in dark. CONCLUSION: Since the solar energy is very much available and is also a safe source from environmental point of view, its use is increasing day by day. Still we are not making the most of solar energy but the benefits of solar energy can be increased to a large extent if use solar energy tracking systems like this in order to meet the recent demands of energy in the World. This system requires no labour to change the orientation of solar panel. So it is also attracting from economical point of view. AKNOWLEDGMENT: In the making of this project, a great support of our university, teachers and friends is also involved. We are very thankful to all our teachers and friends who helped us and gave their valuable time as well as guidance to us. Research Papers on Solare Energy Through RelaysBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementMind TravelGenetic EngineeringRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanThe Project Managment Office SystemThe Spring and AutumnIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalOpen Architechture a white paper

Sunday, October 20, 2019

About The Deadly Tangshan Earthquake

About The Deadly Tangshan Earthquake At 3:42 a.m. on July 28, 1976, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the sleeping city of Tangshan, in northeastern China. The very large earthquake, striking an area where it was totally unexpected, obliterated the city of Tangshan and killed over 240,000 people - making it the deadliest earthquake of the twentieth century. Fireballs and Animals Give Warning Though scientific earthquake prediction is in its nascent stages, nature often gives some advance warning of an impending earthquake. In a village outside of Tangshan, well water reportedly rose and fell three times the day before the earthquake. In another village, gas began to spout out the water well on July 12 and then increased on July 25th and 26th. Other wells throughout the area showed signs of cracking. Animals also gave a warning that something was about to happen. One thousand chickens in Baiguantuan refused to eat and ran around excitedly chirping. Mice and yellow weasels were seen running around looking for a place to hide. In one household in the city of Tangshan, a goldfish began jumping wildly in its bowl. At 2 a.m. on July 28, shortly before the earthquake struck, the goldfish jumped out of its bowl. Once its owner had returned him to his bowl, the goldfish continued to jump out of its bowl until the earthquake hit.1 Strange? Indeed. These were isolated incidents, spread across a city of a million people and a countryside scattered with villages. But nature gave additional warnings. The night preceding the earthquake, July 27-28, many people reported seeing strange lights as well as loud sounds. The lights were seen in a multitude of hues. Some people saw flashes of light; others witnessed fireballs flying across the sky. Loud, roaring noises followed the lights and fireballs. Workers at the Tangshan airport described the noises as louder than that of an airplane.2 The Earthquake Strikes When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Tangshan at 3:42 a.m. on July 28, over a million people lay sleeping, unaware of the disaster that was to befall them. As the earth began to shake, a few people who were awake had the forethought to dive under a table or other heavy piece of furniture, but most were asleep and did not have time. The entire earthquake lasted approximately 14 to 16 seconds. Once the quake was over, the people who could, scrambled out into the open, only to see the entire city levelled. After an initial period of shock, the survivors began to dig through debris to answer the muffled calls for help as well as find loved ones still under rubble. As injured people were saved from under the rubble, they were lain on the side of the road. Many of the medical personnel were also trapped under debris or killed by the earthquake. The medical centers were destroyed as well as the roads to get there. Survivors were faced with no water, no food, and no electricity. All but one of the roads into Tangshan was undrivable. Unfortunately, relief workers accidentally clogged the one remaining road, leaving them and their supplies stuck for hours in the traffic jam. People needed help immediately; survivors could not wait for help to arrive. Survivors formed groups to dig for others. They set up medical areas where emergency procedures were conducted with the minimum of supplies. They searched for food and set up temporary shelters. Though 80 percent of the people trapped under rubble were saved, a 7.1 magnitude aftershock that hit in the afternoon of July 28 sealed the fate for many who had been waiting under the rubble for help. After the earthquake hit, 242,419 people lay dead or dying, along with another 164,581 people who were severely injured. In 7,218 households, all members of the family were killed by the earthquake. Corpses were buried quickly, usually close to the residences in which they perished. This later caused health problems, especially after it rained and the bodies were again exposed. Workers had to find these impromptu graves, dig up the bodies, and then move and rebury the corpses outside of the city.3 Damage and Recovery Before the 1976 earthquake, scientists didnt think Tangshan was susceptible to a large earthquake; thus, the area was zoned an intensity level of VI on the Chinese intensity scale (similar to the Mercalli scale). The 7.8 earthquake that hit Tangshan was given an intensity level of XI (out of XII). The buildings in Tangshan were not built to withstand such a large earthquake. Ninety-three percent of residential buildings and 78 percent of industrial buildings were completely destroyed. Eighty percent of the water pumping stations were seriously damaged and the water pipes were damaged throughout the city. Fourteen percent of the sewage pipes were severely damaged. The foundations of bridges gave way, causing the bridges to collapse. Railroad lines bent. Roads were covered with debris as well as riddled with fissures. With so much damage, recovery was not easy. Food was a high priority. Some food was parachuted in, but the distribution was uneven. Water, even just for drinking, was extremely scarce. Many people drank out of pools or other locations that had become contaminated during the earthquake. Relief workers eventually got water trucks and others to transport clean drinking water into the affected areas. After the emergency care was given, the rebuilding of Tangshan began almost immediately. Though it took time, the entire city was rebuilt and is again home to over a million people, earning Tangshan the name Brave City of China. Notes 1. Chen Yong, et al, The Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976: An Anatomy of Disaster (New York: Pergamon Press, 1988) 53.2. Yong, Great Tangshan 53.3. Yong, Great Tangshan 70. Bibliography Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything, 1999. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 1998. Yong, Chen, et al. The Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976: An Anatomy of Disaster. New York: Pergamon Press, 1988.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Academic Case Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Academic Case Report - Assignment Example The company started to bring about few changes in the company business policies which has brought many problems in the company’s culture and has reduced the morale of the employees (Boeing, 2014). It did face many problems in implementing the latest technology in the business operations and mainly in its production process thus struggled in huge way to maintain the efficiency of the employees and also the productivity of the company has gone down by huge percentage. In this case analysis the Six-Box Organizational Model is been used to get the exact cause of the problems that Boeing is facing based on which certain recommendations are been given to the company so that the company can improve it its operations. The model will help the company to understand the right cause where it needs to concentrate and improve upon to make sure that they don’t face the same problem again in future. The model used to analyze this case is the six-box organization model. The organizational diagnosis for the change is done by defining the problem and using a particular pattern for correctly analyzing the problem in the company, collection of the data, than analyzing the particular data based on which the right problems can be understood. This will help the company to understand the exact things that are to be done to solve the problems and improve the current situation. Marvin R. Weisbord developed the Six-Box model for analyzing the problems in the organization. This model has six main categories which are been used to conduct the diagnosis of the organizations current scenario. These six categories are relationships, helpful mechanisms, rewards, purpose, structure and leadership. To perform this model it is very necessary to know the exact reason behind the diagnosis and what is really to be diagnosed. The identification and solving of the problem is been done in a systematic ma nner and by the same people thus

Friday, October 18, 2019

Communication Method Preferred By Workers Statistics Project

Communication Method Preferred By Workers - Statistics Project Example The results saw more company employees suggest to side with formal communication. Basing on the sample used, the results were as follows. Eighteen of the employees suggested that the best communication method for them would be the formal communication method, only eight members believed that informal methods like grapevine could aid in communication in the company while only four employees remained neutral with no particular side to support. According to the graph, the results remain in support of the employee communication as a means of people to create a force that works together and more bound. According to the graph, many of the employees rather supported the use of formal means of communication rating it than using the informal means. The neutral part remained accounted for but only four voted believing that they had no particular side of communication. These results indicated that the use of formal communication means could help hasten up the operations of the company despite the different disadvantages of the two. The informal means include the use of grape vine, which may also cause difficulties in interactions. The informal means provides the unofficial way of propelling information (DuBrin,

Paolo's Pizza Parlour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Paolo's Pizza Parlour - Essay Example In our situation, the offer of Gino was to sell the next consignment of salami to Paolo. He did not say that he is offering his current supply of goods or the goods, which are already in his possession. It could be that the goods are still to be acquired subject to the acceptance of Paolo of the offer to sell by Gino. The fact that Marco informed Palo that Gino sold all his salami to the owner of the Italian Restaurant is of no consequence. The offer to sell is between Gino and Paolo and Marco has no legal part in it. My advice to Paolo would be to go on accepting the offer of Gino as agreed. The fact that he is given until Friday to communicate his acceptance of the offer, he can avail of such time. On the part of Gino, the acceptance of Paolo is biding upon him since he did not withdraw his offer to sell before the time it was accepted. Situation 2 gives us a picture of an employee-employer relationship and a promise to give extra pay for the services rendered by the employee. Paolo offered Alfonso a bonus if there pizza can be delivered on time. Alfonso accepted the offer and he worked extra hours to get the job done and the pizza delivered on time. However, Paolo refused to honour his promise on the claim that the services performed by Alfonso is within the normal course of business for which he is paid for. Is Paolo right? Under the GUARANTEE PAYMENTS PL724 (Rev 2), the normal working hours should be clear from an employees written statement of employment particulars taken together with any relevant collective agreement. They may include overtime hours, where the contract of employment requires both the employee to work them and the employer to provide and pay for overtime work. Under normal circumstances, the employee and the employer agree a specific number of hours when the employee may render services for the salary given by the employer. Such activities include the normal business transaction of the employer. Following the facts of the

Rhetorical Analysis of President Obamas Inaugural Speech Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of President Obamas Inaugural Speech - Essay Example The speech feels like the fresh morning dew that soothes our doubting soul as we traverse the scorching heat and difficulty of a financial crisis. The speech intended to lift us from our debilitating skepticism about ourselves and our world to believe once more in the enduring spirit that made America â€Å"the prosperous, most powerful nation on earth†. It is a speech where all the three rhetorical concepts of pathos, ethos, and logos were astutely utilized not only to deliver a message but also to touch and affect its audience. To underscore further President Obama’s message of hope, he used pathos or emotion as a primary medium for him to get his message across and for the audience to relate to him. It is very noticeable in that inaugural address, that the word â€Å"I† was sparingly used and was only mentioned twice. First, it was only mentioned in the opening statement which was in the context of humility that he is grateful of the trust that was bestowed up on him and â€Å"mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors†.   The second time that President Obama mentioned it was in a collective context involving the audience by saying â€Å"today I say to you that the challenges we face are real†. ...He was inviting sympathy without even asking by subliminally hinting that he, a black man, suffered too just like many of the audiences yet the opportunity of America enabled him to rise above his circumstances and now bestowed a position of great honor. Subconsciously, he was playing an underdog while calling for America to rise above the challenge, to unite and to once more take the challenge of leadership. In a way, he was subconsciously saying that if he was able to be where he is right now when before blacks cannot be even served at a local restaurant, then the rest of America can also overcome the challenges that they are facing as he did. President Obama’s used of emotional appeal or pathos is reinforced by hi s own credibility or ethos. As a political leader, he is known as a man of integrity and has never involved in any compromising political situation.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Evaluate Various Organizational Perspectives Essay

Evaluate Various Organizational Perspectives - Essay Example in place, an organization can be described as a unit or group of people that utilizes skills (knowledge) to perform tasks that achieve a universal goal. An organization has a systematic structure that consists of management with components based on regulations such as laws (form and nature) (Draft, 2007). Organization theory is a collection of principles that suggests an appropriate way of organizational management. Organizational theories encompass the organizational structures and designs. Another aspect of organizational theory is that it articulates internal and external relationships of organizations (Argyris, 2001). Organizational theory is multidisciplinary as it derives its principles from arts, sciences and humanities. The multidisciplinary aspect of organizational theory makes studying organization theory fascinating and challenging. Most scholars like the challenge of thinking in an interdisciplinary manner. A second reason to study organizational theory is that with the right attitude an individual will acquire or improve his/her managerial skills. Organizational theory covers crucial management areas such as strategic finance, marketing, human resource, operations communication and information technology (Grint, 2005). A cogent theory should have a clear non-complex design. The theory should also reflect on culture in regard to its principles. Finally, a theory should outline principles that act as guidelines in the course of change. This calls for theories to be flexible in order for them to meet these standards (Grint, 2005). The multiple perspectives in organization theory create open mindedness especially in regard to management of the organization. This is because various perspectives provide for different causes of action for situations. This aspect of diversity is also necessary when it comes to dealing with change as the theories provide alternative courses of action (Hales,

In what ways can terrorism be distinguished from other forms of Essay - 1

In what ways can terrorism be distinguished from other forms of violent conflict Can terrorism ever be justified - Essay Example context, it has been noticed that ‘an alternative public policy might target high-risk technologies (civilian airlines, nuclear reactors, etc.) as the source of vulnerability to terrorism, thereby protecting civil liberties by reducing or eliminating the use of such technologies’ (Jurgensen, 2004, 55). The above suggestions could possibly help towards the limitation of violent conflicts in countries worldwide; however this outcome could not be regarded as guaranteed; the appearance and the development of violent conflicts in states internationally cannot be eliminated; it could only be appropriately controlled ensuring that no case of risk for the public safety will occur – a target that can be characterized as quite challenging especially if taking into account the post-September 11th events. The expansion of terrorism worldwide cannot be doubted. Through the years, the measures taken by governments for the limitation of the phenomenon are proved to be inadequate. In accordance with Fleming (1998, 27) ‘an ever-increasing reality in the world today is the threat of terrorism; the significance of the threat cannot be overstated because terrorism transcends both geographic and demographic boundaries; no community or organization is immune from acts of terrorism’. Various other views have been stated in literature regarding the reasons for the appearance and the development of terrorism worldwide; it seems that terrorism is related with specific political options that are contradicted with the interests of particular groups of people – or in some cases with the interests of nations. It should be noticed that in practice terrorist attacks are divided into five major categories: ‘(1) biological, (2) chemical, (3) explosive, (4) incendiary, and (5) nuc lear; while most terroristic events involve one of these, the use of multiple types of terrorism against a target cannot be ruled out’ (Fleming, 1998, 27). The reference to these categories is made in

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Evaluate Various Organizational Perspectives Essay

Evaluate Various Organizational Perspectives - Essay Example in place, an organization can be described as a unit or group of people that utilizes skills (knowledge) to perform tasks that achieve a universal goal. An organization has a systematic structure that consists of management with components based on regulations such as laws (form and nature) (Draft, 2007). Organization theory is a collection of principles that suggests an appropriate way of organizational management. Organizational theories encompass the organizational structures and designs. Another aspect of organizational theory is that it articulates internal and external relationships of organizations (Argyris, 2001). Organizational theory is multidisciplinary as it derives its principles from arts, sciences and humanities. The multidisciplinary aspect of organizational theory makes studying organization theory fascinating and challenging. Most scholars like the challenge of thinking in an interdisciplinary manner. A second reason to study organizational theory is that with the right attitude an individual will acquire or improve his/her managerial skills. Organizational theory covers crucial management areas such as strategic finance, marketing, human resource, operations communication and information technology (Grint, 2005). A cogent theory should have a clear non-complex design. The theory should also reflect on culture in regard to its principles. Finally, a theory should outline principles that act as guidelines in the course of change. This calls for theories to be flexible in order for them to meet these standards (Grint, 2005). The multiple perspectives in organization theory create open mindedness especially in regard to management of the organization. This is because various perspectives provide for different causes of action for situations. This aspect of diversity is also necessary when it comes to dealing with change as the theories provide alternative courses of action (Hales,

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Week 4 question 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 4 question 8 - Assignment Example On the other hand, an organization that focuses on cost minimisation like Wal-Mart should have a mechanistic structure. Through centralization of power and authority, it can be observed that the nature of business follows a particular routine and costs are minimised since there are few people involved in the decision making process that is vital for the operations of the organization as a whole. 2. Organizational culture refers to â€Å"a system of shared meaning held by the members that distinguishes the organization from the other organizations,† (Sanchez, 2014, p.4). In many ways, organizational culture is beneficial when it fosters innovation and risk taking. Organizational culture is also beneficial when the employees are innovative. More importantly, organizational culture is beneficial when it is people, organization and team oriented. Another sign that shows that organizational culture is beneficial is when it creates stability in the firm. However, organizational culture becomes a liability if it is resistant to change since it will be counterproductive. A culture that hinders diversity in the organization is also a liability. A diverse workforce is productive since the members can share their ideas and

Monday, October 14, 2019

Analysis of the Term Victorian Through Literature

Analysis of the Term Victorian Through Literature The era of Queen Victorias reign witnessed the passing of milestones in social, economic, and personal progress. It was the age of industrialisation, a time of travel, a battleground for the conflict between science and religion. Yet further to these great markers by which many of us recognise the nineteenth century, and indeed because of them, Victorias reign inspired change within the individual; a revaluation of what it meant to be a human being. The literary artists gave new form to the questions on the lips of the society around them: questions that were no longer so easily answered by Christianity. This dissertation will explore how the term Victorian does or doesnt fit into the context from which it supposedly arises. I will look at trends such as the development of literary criticism, pioneering scientific discoveries, the exploration into psychic phenomenon, the increasing independence of women, the mapping of the world, all of which contribute to what we know and understand as Victorian, and have in some way shaped the work of authors such as Eliot, Conan Doyle, and H.G Wells. Using some close textual analysis I hope to identify the nature of the inspiration behind the literature of the time and whether or not such work transcends the limits of the term Victorian. Many great literary minds of the time such as Arnold, Dickens, and Ruskin helped define the era in their critical attitudes towards it. (Davis 2002, p.10). Criticism appears to have become a form of exploration in an attempt to turn what concerned and worried the artist into something that questioned and reassured. Arnold, in his dissertations in Criticism (Arnold 1865, p.V) explains how he perceives the difference between logical and artistic thought The truth is I have never been able to ht it off happily with the logicians, and it would be mere affectation in me to give myself the airs of doing so. They imagine truth something to be proved, I something to be seen; they something to be manufactured, I as something to be found. It is this growing awareness of difference that was to become a defining feature of Victorian literature. Differences appeared in the very perception of things, which led to feelings of isolation, despair, alienation all prominent themes in nineteenth century work. In Arnolds A Summer Night (http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/A/ArnoldMatthew/verse/EmpedoclesonEtna/summernight.html) we see the poetic mind struggling to find meaning on a moonlit street where the windows, like hostile faces, are silent and white, unopening down: And the calm moonlight seems to say Hast thou then still the old unquiet breast That neither deadens into rest Nor ever feels the fiery glow That whirls the spirit front itself away, 30 But fluctuates to and fro Never by passion quite possessd And never quite benumbd by the worlds sway? And I, I know not if to pray Still to be what I am, or yield, and be Like all the other men I see. Arnold recognises that the society around him is unfulfilled, that men are giving their lives to some unmeaning taskwork and he questions whether he should be questioning at all. He is aware of a gap between the reality of working life and life outside of work; a difference that he strives to find explanation for. Arnold appears to be lost amidst the streets of his own mind afraid of not being able to define who he is, what he is. These feelings in part express what it meant to be a Victorian struggling to place thoughts and feelings which appear to no longer fit into society. The Victorian era contained much of what had past and much of what was still to come it cannot be seen as an isolated time, nor as an isolated term. It contained aspects of the Romantic period for instance in Arnolds poem, The Buried Life, we see vestiges of Wordsworths legacy of Ode to Immortality. In both poems there is a sense of something lost an old passion or instinct that has gone with the passing of time yet Arnold, unlike Wordsworth, finds it more difficult to come to terms with this: A longing to inquire / Into the mystery of this heart that beats / So wild, so deep in us, to know / Whence our thoughts come and where they go. (http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Arnold_M/Buried.htm). The language is more passionately discontent than the resolute tone of Wordsworths visionary acceptance: We will grieve not, rather find/Strength in what remains behind. (Wordsworth 1928, p.136). The styles are obviously connected, but the trouble with defining the era using literary terminology is that it is clearly neither a quirky extension of the Romantics vision, nor is it a straightforward path to the modernists. The 1870s saw the maturation of authors such as Anthony Trollope who brought out his later novels, yet only twenty years later in 1896 these publications are sitting beside the considerably different form and subject matter of work such as H.G. Wellls The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau, with literary experiments with the modern such as Richard Jefferies The Story of My Heart (a spiritual autobiography) -occurring between in 1883. A growing concern in nineteenth century life was the potential loss of the Romantic link between human nature and the natural world, and the gap which sudden industrial progress highlighted between nature and mechanisation. As technology developed so did the notion of artificiality. It is worth noting J.S.Mills dissertation on Nature (Mill 1874, p.65) where he says that it is mans nature to be artificial, to remedy nature by artificial pruning and intervention. Further to this, a contemporary of Mills Richard Jennings also drew a line between the province of human nature and the external world. (Lightman 1997, p.80). In the countryside more efficient methods of farming were employed (see the contrast between Henchards methods and Farfraes ciphering and mensuration in Hardys Mayor of Casterbridge, (Hardy 1886, p.122)), and new machines introduced which no longer required the labour force to run them, encouraging people to migrate to towns and cities. The urban reality was harsh in 1851 roughly four million people were employed in trade and manufacture and mining, leaving only one and a half million in agriculture. (Davis 2002, p.13). City life, as portrayed by Dickens, was a cruel, unhealthy and unwholesome existence for many. Working conditions in cities were often cramped, unhygienic and poorly ventilated, and living conditions could be even worse. Mrs. Gaskell, living in Manchester, witnessed the appalling pressures that these conditions forced upon family life, and in North and South depicts the difficulties of urban living, offering that salvation for the working classes lay with themselves and their employers, working together. However, city life was not all desolate based in cities, the development of the detective novel brought the city back to human scale (Lehan, p.84). Detectives pieced together and reconstructed past events through clues for example, the murder of Bartholomew Sholto in The Sign of Four by Conan Doyl e: As far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr Sholtos person, but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father had been carried off. The discovery was first made by Mr Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson () Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the Norwood police station () Mr Jones well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window but must have made their way across the roof of the building, and so through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. (p.66) The city provided an exciting backdrop to crime scenes its labyrinthine streets similar to the mapping of the pathways of the human mind so that the two became inextricably linked. As Joseph McLaughlin says in Writing the Urban Jungle, the urban jungle is a space that calls forth a pleasurable acquiescence to something greater, more powerful, and, indeed, sublime () also an imaginative domain that calls forth heroic action: exploring, conquering, enlightening, purifying, taming, besting. (McLaughlin 2000, p.3). Further to what McLaughlin suggests, the Victorians perception of time and space in the city and the countryside was changing radically from the medieval perceptions that still existed in the Romantic period. People saw the finished products in both manufacturing and farming no longer involving the long, drawn-out means to an end, instead the end result was being achieved faster and with more control. Here developed the root of modern industry which continues today in intensive farming and factory lines. Yet here too the beginnings of waste and excess. Richard Jefferies, a nineteenth century naturalist and mystic, known for his dissertations on nature, remarks on the abundance of food in the natural world in his dissertation Meadow Thoughts: The surface of the earth offers to us far more than we can consume the grains, the seeds, the fruits, the animals, the abounding products are beyond the power of all the human race to devour. They can, too, be multiplied a thousandfold. There is no natural lack. Whenever there is lack among us it is from artificial causes, which intelligence should remove. (Jefferies 1994, p.26). Unfortunately there was plenty for those who could afford it but not enough to spare for the poorer lower classes. (Ritvo 1997, p.194). Trends of over production and wastage which became a worry in Victorian times are reflected in the literary concerns of Jefferies childrens story, Bevis, where words, despite their abundance, are in danger of becoming an insufficient medium of expression and not filling the metaphysical space on the page. In describing a sunrise and the thoughts and feelings associated with watching it, Jefferies struggles to articulate the beauty before him: The sun had not yet stood out from the orient, but his precedent light shone through the translucent blue. Yet it was not blue, nor is there any word, nor is a word possible to convey the feeling. (Jefferies 1881, p.391) We see too in James Thomsons City of Dreadful Night (Thomson 1892, p.2) the desperateness of trying to articulate thoughts and feelings: Because a cold rage seizes one at whiles To show the bitter old and wrinkled truth Stripped naked of all vesture that beguiles, False dreams, false hopes, false masks and modes of youth; Because it gives some sense of power and passion In helpless impotence to try to fashion Our woe in living words howeer uncouth. In both passages there is a sense of trying to convey so much more than the words will allow. And that is the essence of the problem of defining the era with a word which the era itself selected Victorian like the authors of its time struggles to convey the enormity and the condensed nature of its changing environment. Victorian literature is thus perhaps best studied between the lines of its texts rather than for what it offers at face value. Thomsons words to try to fashion our woe in living words although appearing dismal could actually withhold a more positive message: it deals with the notion of perseverance that by creating words, however difficult, the author is refusing to give in to despair by trying to transform it into creative energy. There is a sense of crisis in the work of Thomson, just as there is to be found in Jefferies futuristic After London where the lone explorer Felix discovers the land after humanity has overreached itself to sociological disaster and has lost the harmonious relationship between mankind and nature. London becomes no more than a crystallised ruin in a ground oozing with poison unctuous and slimy, like a thick oil. (Jefferies 1885, p.205). Through work like this we see that Victorian was an era of possibility where visions of the future suddenly became tangible concerns and possible realities, and where contemporary conceptions of language and life might no longer hold up to the pressures of the time. In H.G. Wells the Time Machine, the time traveller discovers a land in the year 802,701: The air was free from gnats, the earth from weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The ideal of preventative medicine was attained. diseases had been stamped out. I saw no evidence of any contagious diseases during all my stay. And i shall have to tell you later that even the processes of putrefaction and decay had been profoundly affected by these changes. (Wells 1995, p.28) In this description of a futuristic age the Victorian imagination still retains the idea of a paradise a place full of butterflies and flowers. This Christian concept is a literary hangover from Miltons Paradise Lost, and remains an important theme for the moderns such as D.H. Lawrence. The Victorian age suffered from a dualistic split between a bright future on the one hand promised by leaps in technology, education and economical success and an increasingly alienated, confused society on the other. There were those writers like Huxley who believed that by human intervention within a political and economic framework humans could evolve out of their condition seeing no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will () may modify the conditions of existence (Huxley, 1893, Evolution and Ethics, The Romanes Lecture (http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE9/E-E.html), and there were those like Hardy whose characters were destined to fail because they were not emotionally fitted into the cosmos out of which they evolved . It was the nineteenth century spiritual crisis which precipitated the literary shift into the new genre of the realist novel. By the mid-nineteenth century, society had begun to grow away from the idea of atonement for sin within an omnipotent religion, where judgement would come solely in heaven, and towards the more humanistic idea of God as in-dwelling, so that salvation could be achieved on earth: We have now come to regard the world not as a machine, but as an organism, a system in which, while the parts contribute to the growth of the whole, the whole also reacts upon the development of the parts; and whose primary purpose is its own perfection, something that is contained within and not outside itself, an internal end: while in their turn the myriad parts of this universal organism are also lesser organisms, ends in and for themselves, pursuing each its lonely ideal of individual completeness. (Gore (ed) 1890, p.211) A spiritual lack created a need to define, order and categorise a world that suddenly appeared chaotic. When Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 he raised issues of public concern as to the truth of the bible and the essence of Christianity. However, its content and its methodology were seriously criticised (Appleman 2001, p.200). It was a difficult work to accept as it caused the public to rethink and redefine their history that they were a product of evolution and not a tailor made being came as a shock. The future of thought and literature was suddenly changed as people tried to sew together the threads of the past. Natural Science became a national obsession exotic flora and fauna from across the world were brought into London daily, to be displayed in the British Museum or Kew Gardens (Lightman, 1997 p.1). In literature, we see the author begin to play the part of evolutionist: Eliots Middlemarch although concerned with the evolving character of Dorothea Brooke follows the threads of sub-plots and the successes and failures of other characters which form a pattern of development. As Gillian Beer says: There is not one primitive tissue, just as there is not one key to all mythologies () emphasis upon plurality, rather than upon singleness, is crucial to the developing argument of Middlemarch. (Beer 2000, p.143). Gone is the tradition of the valiant hero or heroine singularly conquering their environment (a trend set by classics such as Homers The Odyssey (1967)) and in its place a landscape upon which the author grafts and nurtures developing shoots of life. It is this sort of growth that is in danger of remaining unseen to the contemporary historian or critic as it can become shrouded by generalising concepts which are so often prescribed to the term Victorian concepts such as repression, old-fashioned and prudish. (http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor4.html). These sort of terms restrict the individuals perception of the era when it was a time when growth was encouraged rather than restricted. Authors used the metaphor of pruning and nurturing plant life to symbolise the development of the self for example in North and South Gaskell discusses the problem of the working individual who struggles to reach his or her potential when the manufacturers are unsparingly cutting away all off-shoots in the direction of literature or high mental cultivation, in hopes of throwing the whole strength and vigour of the plant into commerce. (Gaskell 1865, p.69). For Gaskell, it is through the everyday interaction between people that such difficulties are given the chance to be overcome. And this was the essence of the realist novel set amidst a world which had witnessed such alteration to transform the lostness felt by society into a seeing of the smaller things in life which could withhold qualities of greater spiritual value. As Philip Davis says, the realist novel was the holding ground, the meeting point, for the overlapping of common life. (Davis 2002, p.144). And it was within this common life that a more calm acceptance of the new state could be achieved. Gillian Beer suggests that through her novels organisation Eliot creates order and understanding of the evolving process of novel-writing. In Middlemarch, the naming of Casaubons books Waiting for Death, Two Temptations, Three Love Problems draws attention to the books organisation by emphasising categorisation: But the process of reading leads into divergence and variability. Even while we are observing how closely human beings conform in the taxonomy of events we learn how differently they feel and think. For Dorothea and Casaubon waiting for death means something very different from what it means for Mary Garth and Featherstone. The relations are different. The distances between people are different. Lydgate, here at one with the project of the book, longed to demonstrate the more intimate relations of living structure (1:15:225). In this double emphasis on conformity and variability George Eliot intensifies older literary organisations by means of recent scientific theory. In Darwinian theory, variability is the creative principle, but the type makes it possible for us to track common ancestry and common kinship. (Beer 2000, pp.143-4) Writing itself was becoming an almost divine representation, an inner order of a chaotic external world. The idea that humans had evolved from primates meant that the boundaries between what was one thing and what was another were no longer so clearly defined. There developed a fear of the animate and a fear of the inanimate, and efforts were sought to understand them. As Harriet Ritvo says in The Platypus and the Mermaid: Depending on the beholder, an anomaly might be viewed as embodying a challenge to the established order, whether social, natural, or divine; the containment of that challenge; the incomprehensibility of the creation by human intelligence; or simply the endless and diverting variety of the world. And beholders who agreed on the content of the representation could still disagree strongly about its moral valence whether it was good or bad, entrancing or disgusting. (Ritvo 1997, p.148). In a world where categorisation was important but not so easily achievable, the novel too became neither one thing nor another; realism became a melting pot for ideas, a sort of hybrid of styles. In Eliots The Lifted Veil realism is used as a vehicle for the exploration of her ideas into psychology and psychic phenomena. Latimers clairvoyance forces him to endure a painful insight into the minds of the people around him: I began to be aware of a phase in my abnormal sensibility, to which, from the languid and slight nature of my intercourse with others since my illness, I had not been alive before. This was the obtrusion on my mind of the mental process going forward in first one person, and then another, with whom I happened to be in contact: the vagrant, frivolous ideas and emotions of some uninteresting acquaintanceMrs Filmore, for examplewould force themselves on my consciousness like an importunate, ill-played musical instrument, or the loud activity of an imprisoned insect. But this superadded consciousness, wearying and annoying enough when it urged on me the trivial experience of indifferent people, became an intense pain and grief when it seemed to be opening to me the souls of those who were in a close relation to me when the rational talk, the graceful attentions, the wittily-turned phrases, and the kindly deeds, which used to make the web of their characters, were seen as if thrust asunder by a microscopic vision, that showed all the intermediate frivolities, all the suppressed egoism, all the struggling chaos of puerilities, meanness, vague capricious memories, and indolent make-shift thoughts, from which human words and deeds emerge like leaflets covering a fermenting heap.(Eliot 1859, pp.13-14) Latimer is no longer caught up in the web of peoples characters. Eliot plays with the idea that his consciousness has the ability to transcend the mundane the rational talk, the kindly deeds in order to gain insight into an alternative and not so rosy vision of the mechanics of the human mind where thoughts are make-shift and chaotic. The nineteenth century saw the acceptance of the concept of otherworldly phenomena into the working classes. Robert Owen, a social reformer, who influenced the British Labor movement (Oppenheim 1985, p.40) encouraged many working class Owenites to follow him into the spiritualist fold, where they enthusiastically continued their ongoing search for the new moral world. Interests such as spiritualism and psychology which had previously been more underground pursuits, were brought out into the open. The concept of telepathy, a term coined by Frederic Myers in 1882 (Luckhurst 2002, p.1) even helped to theorize the uneasy cross-cultural encounters at the colonial frontier. (Luckhurst 2002, p.3) These developments suggest that the Victorians felt imbued with the power of their age they felt confident of their ability to communicate on different planes of consciousness. So it could be argued that Victorian was not simply a time devoted to the discovery of the self and the workings of the inner mind, but a time that also focused on the projection of ideas and thoughts outside of the self; ideas which themselves stand outside of the category Victorian. In 1869 the Spiritualist Newspaper began selling first as a fortnightly, then as a weekly publication. (Oppenheim 1985, p.45). This draws the discussion to the point of representation the social nature of Victorians seems to suggest that they enjoyed the focus being on themselves. Self-obsession is an aspect of the time which the term Victorian usefully represents: by specifically referring to the rule of the Queen the term draws attention to the importance of the individual. The era saw the development of many different styles of fashion and the use of photography. As part of the Freudian influence great importance was placed on childhood and it was during the nineteenth century that the first laws concerning child welfare were passed. (Mavor quoted from Brown (ed) 2001, p.i) The focus on the central, the ego, was paramount. As Mavor says, it was as if the camera had to be invented in order to document what would soon be lost, childhood itself; and childhood had to be invented in order for the camera to document childhood (a fantasy of innocence) as real. (Brown (ed) 2001, p.27). Perhaps because of societys awareness of change there seems to have been a necessity to record and keep track of the world around. Discovery took place on a much grander scale in the exploration of the world. The British Empire was global, yet as Patrick Brantlinger suggests in Rule of Darkness, (Brantlinger 1988, p.4) imperialism was not generally reflected in the literature of the time. What we do see evidence of however is the mapping of new worlds and territories (Richard Jefferies Bevis). The development of the adventure story suggests that Victorians desired to explore what lay outside of what they knew and in this respect the term Victorian which people can think of as representing a society closed within in itself is misleading. The rise of imperialism began to shape the ideological dimensions of subjects studied in school (Bristow 1991, p.20) and so through literature the Victorian child was offered an exciting world of sophisticated representation and ideas with the knowledge that the world was theirs to explore. Does the term then encourage us to think of the society as a class of people set apart from the rest of the world? In The Island of Dr. Moreau it is not just the future of science that is explored but the concept of a new territory and its effects on the mind. For example, when the protagonist first sees the beast-servant on board the ship he is immediately frightened: I did not know then that a reddish luminosity, at least, is not uncommon in human eyes. The figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind. Then the effect passed as it had come. An uncouth black figure of a man, a figure of no particular import, hung over the taffrail, against the starlight. (Wells 1997, p.31). The circumstances of being at sea is disorientating and causes the imagination to play tricks so that the man is first one thing a figure with its eyes of fire and then suddenly becomes an uncouth black figure of a man. The effect is that the protagonist suddenly regresses to the forgotten horrors of childhood. This sudden fluctuation is important as it represents the fluidity of the era and how change and discovery on a global scale, although empowering, also caused instability within the individual. Therefore, when considering the age in the context of its name we can understand that the term was perhaps created out of both the desire to represent achievement but also out of a need to belong. This desire to belong which manifested itself during an age ruled by one woman placed great importance on the role of the female in society. It was a time when women began to travel and write without the necessity of using a pseudonym (see Cheryl McEwan on Kingsley in West Africa, (2000, p.73)). In books such as Hardys Tess of the DUrbervilles the idea of the fallen woman is tested when Tesss crucial lack of belief in herself causes her never to discover the paradise with Clare that might have been. The nineteenth century began to be more explicit concerning issues of gender: for example, the relationship between Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick (see McClintock 1995, pp.132-138) where Cullwick is photographed cross-dressed as a farm worker. A Victorian man however appears to have had more stigma attached to him and in this context the term is commonly associated with heroism and English valour (Ridley/Dawson 1994, p.110). There is less flexibility surrounding the notion of Victorian men -as if the term somehow threatened their masculinity. However, this did not seem to affect the male authors of the time. Lewis Carroll captured the public imagination through Alices Adventures in Wonderland, which although following the story of a little girl, depicts many male characters. (see Carroll 2000). In conclusion, the term Victorian although useful to refer to a specific time period in history, does however encourage us to make sweeping generalisations without investigating how diverse the era was. In terms of the subject matter of Victorian Literature there is no clear cut distinction between early, middle and late Victorian for example, Bulwer-Lytton attempts at the beginning of the century what Richard Jefferies does at the end the difference is in style and form. Within that time frame there was condensed an incredible diversity of styles, tastes and attitudes, yet the term suffers from being associated with prejudices and assumptions about Victorians. However, it is worth bearing in mind that prejudices were indeed a part of Victorian society. When the Victorians explored the rest of the world they made generalisations and assumptions based on what they found (eg: The Island of Dr. Moreau) where experience and the nature of what is discovered defines behaviour. As a critic in 1858 wrote we are living in an age of transition (quoted from Houghton 1957, p.1); therefore when considering the Victorian age we should remember that values and trends were evolving it was not a static time governed by repression or old fashioned values. From the research carried out for this dissertation it appears that through the gaining of knowledge, Victorians also realised how little they knew and how much more there was to discover. As Arnold says in A Summer Night: How fair a lot to fill / Is left to each man still. (http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/A/ArnoldMatthew/verse/EmpedoclesonEtna/summernight.html). In this context the term Victorian can be dualistically representative: discoveries of the time, although revolutionary, were often rudimentary in nature, and it was humbling for the individual to consider how much further knowledge and discovery had yet to go. On the other hand, the term suffers too from being inadequate: a single word is too smaller term for the vast wealth and diversity of discovery, and it could be argued that the era is better realised if seen as a second revolution. Like the Victorian authors themselves we are left with no suitable words to convey the entirety of an era as John Lawton says in his introduction to The Time Machine (1995, p.xxvi) the term Victorian is used too loosely to encompass a sequence of eras, the diverse reign of a woman who lent her name to objects as diverse as a railway terminus and a plum. When studying Victorian Literature it is worth bearing in mind the fluidity of the time and the changeability which arose out of living on the cusp between the passing away of old values and the unknown territory of the new. Realism recognised the gaps which were forming in society such as the distancing of the self from religion and offered to paper the cracks through its vision of bringing people together on a mundane level. Its territory stretched to include the darkest recesses of the mind to the smallest of everyday events, celebrating the grey area between extremes as we now know as Victorian. Bibliography Arnold, M., Reprint of 1865 ed. dissertations in Criticism With the addition of Two dissertations not hitherto reprinted. London: Routledge. Appleman, P, 2001, Darwin. London: Norton Beer, G., 2000, Darwins Plots. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brantlinger, P, 1988, Rule of Darkness:British Literature and Imperialism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press Bristow, J., 1991, Empire Boys:Adventures in a Mans World. London: Harper Collins. Brown, M., 2001, (ed) Picturing Children. Aldershot: Ashgate Bulwer-Lytton, E., 1853, A Strange Story. Analysis of the Term Victorian Through Literature Analysis of the Term Victorian Through Literature The era of Queen Victorias reign witnessed the passing of milestones in social, economic, and personal progress. It was the age of industrialisation, a time of travel, a battleground for the conflict between science and religion. Yet further to these great markers by which many of us recognise the nineteenth century, and indeed because of them, Victorias reign inspired change within the individual; a revaluation of what it meant to be a human being. The literary artists gave new form to the questions on the lips of the society around them: questions that were no longer so easily answered by Christianity. This dissertation will explore how the term Victorian does or doesnt fit into the context from which it supposedly arises. I will look at trends such as the development of literary criticism, pioneering scientific discoveries, the exploration into psychic phenomenon, the increasing independence of women, the mapping of the world, all of which contribute to what we know and understand as Victorian, and have in some way shaped the work of authors such as Eliot, Conan Doyle, and H.G Wells. Using some close textual analysis I hope to identify the nature of the inspiration behind the literature of the time and whether or not such work transcends the limits of the term Victorian. Many great literary minds of the time such as Arnold, Dickens, and Ruskin helped define the era in their critical attitudes towards it. (Davis 2002, p.10). Criticism appears to have become a form of exploration in an attempt to turn what concerned and worried the artist into something that questioned and reassured. Arnold, in his dissertations in Criticism (Arnold 1865, p.V) explains how he perceives the difference between logical and artistic thought The truth is I have never been able to ht it off happily with the logicians, and it would be mere affectation in me to give myself the airs of doing so. They imagine truth something to be proved, I something to be seen; they something to be manufactured, I as something to be found. It is this growing awareness of difference that was to become a defining feature of Victorian literature. Differences appeared in the very perception of things, which led to feelings of isolation, despair, alienation all prominent themes in nineteenth century work. In Arnolds A Summer Night (http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/A/ArnoldMatthew/verse/EmpedoclesonEtna/summernight.html) we see the poetic mind struggling to find meaning on a moonlit street where the windows, like hostile faces, are silent and white, unopening down: And the calm moonlight seems to say Hast thou then still the old unquiet breast That neither deadens into rest Nor ever feels the fiery glow That whirls the spirit front itself away, 30 But fluctuates to and fro Never by passion quite possessd And never quite benumbd by the worlds sway? And I, I know not if to pray Still to be what I am, or yield, and be Like all the other men I see. Arnold recognises that the society around him is unfulfilled, that men are giving their lives to some unmeaning taskwork and he questions whether he should be questioning at all. He is aware of a gap between the reality of working life and life outside of work; a difference that he strives to find explanation for. Arnold appears to be lost amidst the streets of his own mind afraid of not being able to define who he is, what he is. These feelings in part express what it meant to be a Victorian struggling to place thoughts and feelings which appear to no longer fit into society. The Victorian era contained much of what had past and much of what was still to come it cannot be seen as an isolated time, nor as an isolated term. It contained aspects of the Romantic period for instance in Arnolds poem, The Buried Life, we see vestiges of Wordsworths legacy of Ode to Immortality. In both poems there is a sense of something lost an old passion or instinct that has gone with the passing of time yet Arnold, unlike Wordsworth, finds it more difficult to come to terms with this: A longing to inquire / Into the mystery of this heart that beats / So wild, so deep in us, to know / Whence our thoughts come and where they go. (http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Arnold_M/Buried.htm). The language is more passionately discontent than the resolute tone of Wordsworths visionary acceptance: We will grieve not, rather find/Strength in what remains behind. (Wordsworth 1928, p.136). The styles are obviously connected, but the trouble with defining the era using literary terminology is that it is clearly neither a quirky extension of the Romantics vision, nor is it a straightforward path to the modernists. The 1870s saw the maturation of authors such as Anthony Trollope who brought out his later novels, yet only twenty years later in 1896 these publications are sitting beside the considerably different form and subject matter of work such as H.G. Wellls The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau, with literary experiments with the modern such as Richard Jefferies The Story of My Heart (a spiritual autobiography) -occurring between in 1883. A growing concern in nineteenth century life was the potential loss of the Romantic link between human nature and the natural world, and the gap which sudden industrial progress highlighted between nature and mechanisation. As technology developed so did the notion of artificiality. It is worth noting J.S.Mills dissertation on Nature (Mill 1874, p.65) where he says that it is mans nature to be artificial, to remedy nature by artificial pruning and intervention. Further to this, a contemporary of Mills Richard Jennings also drew a line between the province of human nature and the external world. (Lightman 1997, p.80). In the countryside more efficient methods of farming were employed (see the contrast between Henchards methods and Farfraes ciphering and mensuration in Hardys Mayor of Casterbridge, (Hardy 1886, p.122)), and new machines introduced which no longer required the labour force to run them, encouraging people to migrate to towns and cities. The urban reality was harsh in 1851 roughly four million people were employed in trade and manufacture and mining, leaving only one and a half million in agriculture. (Davis 2002, p.13). City life, as portrayed by Dickens, was a cruel, unhealthy and unwholesome existence for many. Working conditions in cities were often cramped, unhygienic and poorly ventilated, and living conditions could be even worse. Mrs. Gaskell, living in Manchester, witnessed the appalling pressures that these conditions forced upon family life, and in North and South depicts the difficulties of urban living, offering that salvation for the working classes lay with themselves and their employers, working together. However, city life was not all desolate based in cities, the development of the detective novel brought the city back to human scale (Lehan, p.84). Detectives pieced together and reconstructed past events through clues for example, the murder of Bartholomew Sholto in The Sign of Four by Conan Doyl e: As far as we can learn, no actual traces of violence were found upon Mr Sholtos person, but a valuable collection of Indian gems which the deceased gentleman had inherited from his father had been carried off. The discovery was first made by Mr Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson () Mr. Athelney Jones, the well-known member of the detective police force, happened to be at the Norwood police station () Mr Jones well-known technical knowledge and his powers of minute observation have enabled him to prove conclusively that the miscreants could not have entered by the door or by the window but must have made their way across the roof of the building, and so through a trapdoor into a room which communicated with that in which the body was found. (p.66) The city provided an exciting backdrop to crime scenes its labyrinthine streets similar to the mapping of the pathways of the human mind so that the two became inextricably linked. As Joseph McLaughlin says in Writing the Urban Jungle, the urban jungle is a space that calls forth a pleasurable acquiescence to something greater, more powerful, and, indeed, sublime () also an imaginative domain that calls forth heroic action: exploring, conquering, enlightening, purifying, taming, besting. (McLaughlin 2000, p.3). Further to what McLaughlin suggests, the Victorians perception of time and space in the city and the countryside was changing radically from the medieval perceptions that still existed in the Romantic period. People saw the finished products in both manufacturing and farming no longer involving the long, drawn-out means to an end, instead the end result was being achieved faster and with more control. Here developed the root of modern industry which continues today in intensive farming and factory lines. Yet here too the beginnings of waste and excess. Richard Jefferies, a nineteenth century naturalist and mystic, known for his dissertations on nature, remarks on the abundance of food in the natural world in his dissertation Meadow Thoughts: The surface of the earth offers to us far more than we can consume the grains, the seeds, the fruits, the animals, the abounding products are beyond the power of all the human race to devour. They can, too, be multiplied a thousandfold. There is no natural lack. Whenever there is lack among us it is from artificial causes, which intelligence should remove. (Jefferies 1994, p.26). Unfortunately there was plenty for those who could afford it but not enough to spare for the poorer lower classes. (Ritvo 1997, p.194). Trends of over production and wastage which became a worry in Victorian times are reflected in the literary concerns of Jefferies childrens story, Bevis, where words, despite their abundance, are in danger of becoming an insufficient medium of expression and not filling the metaphysical space on the page. In describing a sunrise and the thoughts and feelings associated with watching it, Jefferies struggles to articulate the beauty before him: The sun had not yet stood out from the orient, but his precedent light shone through the translucent blue. Yet it was not blue, nor is there any word, nor is a word possible to convey the feeling. (Jefferies 1881, p.391) We see too in James Thomsons City of Dreadful Night (Thomson 1892, p.2) the desperateness of trying to articulate thoughts and feelings: Because a cold rage seizes one at whiles To show the bitter old and wrinkled truth Stripped naked of all vesture that beguiles, False dreams, false hopes, false masks and modes of youth; Because it gives some sense of power and passion In helpless impotence to try to fashion Our woe in living words howeer uncouth. In both passages there is a sense of trying to convey so much more than the words will allow. And that is the essence of the problem of defining the era with a word which the era itself selected Victorian like the authors of its time struggles to convey the enormity and the condensed nature of its changing environment. Victorian literature is thus perhaps best studied between the lines of its texts rather than for what it offers at face value. Thomsons words to try to fashion our woe in living words although appearing dismal could actually withhold a more positive message: it deals with the notion of perseverance that by creating words, however difficult, the author is refusing to give in to despair by trying to transform it into creative energy. There is a sense of crisis in the work of Thomson, just as there is to be found in Jefferies futuristic After London where the lone explorer Felix discovers the land after humanity has overreached itself to sociological disaster and has lost the harmonious relationship between mankind and nature. London becomes no more than a crystallised ruin in a ground oozing with poison unctuous and slimy, like a thick oil. (Jefferies 1885, p.205). Through work like this we see that Victorian was an era of possibility where visions of the future suddenly became tangible concerns and possible realities, and where contemporary conceptions of language and life might no longer hold up to the pressures of the time. In H.G. Wells the Time Machine, the time traveller discovers a land in the year 802,701: The air was free from gnats, the earth from weeds or fungi; everywhere were fruits and sweet and delightful flowers; brilliant butterflies flew hither and thither. The ideal of preventative medicine was attained. diseases had been stamped out. I saw no evidence of any contagious diseases during all my stay. And i shall have to tell you later that even the processes of putrefaction and decay had been profoundly affected by these changes. (Wells 1995, p.28) In this description of a futuristic age the Victorian imagination still retains the idea of a paradise a place full of butterflies and flowers. This Christian concept is a literary hangover from Miltons Paradise Lost, and remains an important theme for the moderns such as D.H. Lawrence. The Victorian age suffered from a dualistic split between a bright future on the one hand promised by leaps in technology, education and economical success and an increasingly alienated, confused society on the other. There were those writers like Huxley who believed that by human intervention within a political and economic framework humans could evolve out of their condition seeing no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will () may modify the conditions of existence (Huxley, 1893, Evolution and Ethics, The Romanes Lecture (http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE9/E-E.html), and there were those like Hardy whose characters were destined to fail because they were not emotionally fitted into the cosmos out of which they evolved . It was the nineteenth century spiritual crisis which precipitated the literary shift into the new genre of the realist novel. By the mid-nineteenth century, society had begun to grow away from the idea of atonement for sin within an omnipotent religion, where judgement would come solely in heaven, and towards the more humanistic idea of God as in-dwelling, so that salvation could be achieved on earth: We have now come to regard the world not as a machine, but as an organism, a system in which, while the parts contribute to the growth of the whole, the whole also reacts upon the development of the parts; and whose primary purpose is its own perfection, something that is contained within and not outside itself, an internal end: while in their turn the myriad parts of this universal organism are also lesser organisms, ends in and for themselves, pursuing each its lonely ideal of individual completeness. (Gore (ed) 1890, p.211) A spiritual lack created a need to define, order and categorise a world that suddenly appeared chaotic. When Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 he raised issues of public concern as to the truth of the bible and the essence of Christianity. However, its content and its methodology were seriously criticised (Appleman 2001, p.200). It was a difficult work to accept as it caused the public to rethink and redefine their history that they were a product of evolution and not a tailor made being came as a shock. The future of thought and literature was suddenly changed as people tried to sew together the threads of the past. Natural Science became a national obsession exotic flora and fauna from across the world were brought into London daily, to be displayed in the British Museum or Kew Gardens (Lightman, 1997 p.1). In literature, we see the author begin to play the part of evolutionist: Eliots Middlemarch although concerned with the evolving character of Dorothea Brooke follows the threads of sub-plots and the successes and failures of other characters which form a pattern of development. As Gillian Beer says: There is not one primitive tissue, just as there is not one key to all mythologies () emphasis upon plurality, rather than upon singleness, is crucial to the developing argument of Middlemarch. (Beer 2000, p.143). Gone is the tradition of the valiant hero or heroine singularly conquering their environment (a trend set by classics such as Homers The Odyssey (1967)) and in its place a landscape upon which the author grafts and nurtures developing shoots of life. It is this sort of growth that is in danger of remaining unseen to the contemporary historian or critic as it can become shrouded by generalising concepts which are so often prescribed to the term Victorian concepts such as repression, old-fashioned and prudish. (http://www.victorianweb.org/vn/victor4.html). These sort of terms restrict the individuals perception of the era when it was a time when growth was encouraged rather than restricted. Authors used the metaphor of pruning and nurturing plant life to symbolise the development of the self for example in North and South Gaskell discusses the problem of the working individual who struggles to reach his or her potential when the manufacturers are unsparingly cutting away all off-shoots in the direction of literature or high mental cultivation, in hopes of throwing the whole strength and vigour of the plant into commerce. (Gaskell 1865, p.69). For Gaskell, it is through the everyday interaction between people that such difficulties are given the chance to be overcome. And this was the essence of the realist novel set amidst a world which had witnessed such alteration to transform the lostness felt by society into a seeing of the smaller things in life which could withhold qualities of greater spiritual value. As Philip Davis says, the realist novel was the holding ground, the meeting point, for the overlapping of common life. (Davis 2002, p.144). And it was within this common life that a more calm acceptance of the new state could be achieved. Gillian Beer suggests that through her novels organisation Eliot creates order and understanding of the evolving process of novel-writing. In Middlemarch, the naming of Casaubons books Waiting for Death, Two Temptations, Three Love Problems draws attention to the books organisation by emphasising categorisation: But the process of reading leads into divergence and variability. Even while we are observing how closely human beings conform in the taxonomy of events we learn how differently they feel and think. For Dorothea and Casaubon waiting for death means something very different from what it means for Mary Garth and Featherstone. The relations are different. The distances between people are different. Lydgate, here at one with the project of the book, longed to demonstrate the more intimate relations of living structure (1:15:225). In this double emphasis on conformity and variability George Eliot intensifies older literary organisations by means of recent scientific theory. In Darwinian theory, variability is the creative principle, but the type makes it possible for us to track common ancestry and common kinship. (Beer 2000, pp.143-4) Writing itself was becoming an almost divine representation, an inner order of a chaotic external world. The idea that humans had evolved from primates meant that the boundaries between what was one thing and what was another were no longer so clearly defined. There developed a fear of the animate and a fear of the inanimate, and efforts were sought to understand them. As Harriet Ritvo says in The Platypus and the Mermaid: Depending on the beholder, an anomaly might be viewed as embodying a challenge to the established order, whether social, natural, or divine; the containment of that challenge; the incomprehensibility of the creation by human intelligence; or simply the endless and diverting variety of the world. And beholders who agreed on the content of the representation could still disagree strongly about its moral valence whether it was good or bad, entrancing or disgusting. (Ritvo 1997, p.148). In a world where categorisation was important but not so easily achievable, the novel too became neither one thing nor another; realism became a melting pot for ideas, a sort of hybrid of styles. In Eliots The Lifted Veil realism is used as a vehicle for the exploration of her ideas into psychology and psychic phenomena. Latimers clairvoyance forces him to endure a painful insight into the minds of the people around him: I began to be aware of a phase in my abnormal sensibility, to which, from the languid and slight nature of my intercourse with others since my illness, I had not been alive before. This was the obtrusion on my mind of the mental process going forward in first one person, and then another, with whom I happened to be in contact: the vagrant, frivolous ideas and emotions of some uninteresting acquaintanceMrs Filmore, for examplewould force themselves on my consciousness like an importunate, ill-played musical instrument, or the loud activity of an imprisoned insect. But this superadded consciousness, wearying and annoying enough when it urged on me the trivial experience of indifferent people, became an intense pain and grief when it seemed to be opening to me the souls of those who were in a close relation to me when the rational talk, the graceful attentions, the wittily-turned phrases, and the kindly deeds, which used to make the web of their characters, were seen as if thrust asunder by a microscopic vision, that showed all the intermediate frivolities, all the suppressed egoism, all the struggling chaos of puerilities, meanness, vague capricious memories, and indolent make-shift thoughts, from which human words and deeds emerge like leaflets covering a fermenting heap.(Eliot 1859, pp.13-14) Latimer is no longer caught up in the web of peoples characters. Eliot plays with the idea that his consciousness has the ability to transcend the mundane the rational talk, the kindly deeds in order to gain insight into an alternative and not so rosy vision of the mechanics of the human mind where thoughts are make-shift and chaotic. The nineteenth century saw the acceptance of the concept of otherworldly phenomena into the working classes. Robert Owen, a social reformer, who influenced the British Labor movement (Oppenheim 1985, p.40) encouraged many working class Owenites to follow him into the spiritualist fold, where they enthusiastically continued their ongoing search for the new moral world. Interests such as spiritualism and psychology which had previously been more underground pursuits, were brought out into the open. The concept of telepathy, a term coined by Frederic Myers in 1882 (Luckhurst 2002, p.1) even helped to theorize the uneasy cross-cultural encounters at the colonial frontier. (Luckhurst 2002, p.3) These developments suggest that the Victorians felt imbued with the power of their age they felt confident of their ability to communicate on different planes of consciousness. So it could be argued that Victorian was not simply a time devoted to the discovery of the self and the workings of the inner mind, but a time that also focused on the projection of ideas and thoughts outside of the self; ideas which themselves stand outside of the category Victorian. In 1869 the Spiritualist Newspaper began selling first as a fortnightly, then as a weekly publication. (Oppenheim 1985, p.45). This draws the discussion to the point of representation the social nature of Victorians seems to suggest that they enjoyed the focus being on themselves. Self-obsession is an aspect of the time which the term Victorian usefully represents: by specifically referring to the rule of the Queen the term draws attention to the importance of the individual. The era saw the development of many different styles of fashion and the use of photography. As part of the Freudian influence great importance was placed on childhood and it was during the nineteenth century that the first laws concerning child welfare were passed. (Mavor quoted from Brown (ed) 2001, p.i) The focus on the central, the ego, was paramount. As Mavor says, it was as if the camera had to be invented in order to document what would soon be lost, childhood itself; and childhood had to be invented in order for the camera to document childhood (a fantasy of innocence) as real. (Brown (ed) 2001, p.27). Perhaps because of societys awareness of change there seems to have been a necessity to record and keep track of the world around. Discovery took place on a much grander scale in the exploration of the world. The British Empire was global, yet as Patrick Brantlinger suggests in Rule of Darkness, (Brantlinger 1988, p.4) imperialism was not generally reflected in the literature of the time. What we do see evidence of however is the mapping of new worlds and territories (Richard Jefferies Bevis). The development of the adventure story suggests that Victorians desired to explore what lay outside of what they knew and in this respect the term Victorian which people can think of as representing a society closed within in itself is misleading. The rise of imperialism began to shape the ideological dimensions of subjects studied in school (Bristow 1991, p.20) and so through literature the Victorian child was offered an exciting world of sophisticated representation and ideas with the knowledge that the world was theirs to explore. Does the term then encourage us to think of the society as a class of people set apart from the rest of the world? In The Island of Dr. Moreau it is not just the future of science that is explored but the concept of a new territory and its effects on the mind. For example, when the protagonist first sees the beast-servant on board the ship he is immediately frightened: I did not know then that a reddish luminosity, at least, is not uncommon in human eyes. The figure, with its eyes of fire, struck down through all my adult thoughts and feelings, and for a moment the forgotten horrors of childhood came back to my mind. Then the effect passed as it had come. An uncouth black figure of a man, a figure of no particular import, hung over the taffrail, against the starlight. (Wells 1997, p.31). The circumstances of being at sea is disorientating and causes the imagination to play tricks so that the man is first one thing a figure with its eyes of fire and then suddenly becomes an uncouth black figure of a man. The effect is that the protagonist suddenly regresses to the forgotten horrors of childhood. This sudden fluctuation is important as it represents the fluidity of the era and how change and discovery on a global scale, although empowering, also caused instability within the individual. Therefore, when considering the age in the context of its name we can understand that the term was perhaps created out of both the desire to represent achievement but also out of a need to belong. This desire to belong which manifested itself during an age ruled by one woman placed great importance on the role of the female in society. It was a time when women began to travel and write without the necessity of using a pseudonym (see Cheryl McEwan on Kingsley in West Africa, (2000, p.73)). In books such as Hardys Tess of the DUrbervilles the idea of the fallen woman is tested when Tesss crucial lack of belief in herself causes her never to discover the paradise with Clare that might have been. The nineteenth century began to be more explicit concerning issues of gender: for example, the relationship between Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick (see McClintock 1995, pp.132-138) where Cullwick is photographed cross-dressed as a farm worker. A Victorian man however appears to have had more stigma attached to him and in this context the term is commonly associated with heroism and English valour (Ridley/Dawson 1994, p.110). There is less flexibility surrounding the notion of Victorian men -as if the term somehow threatened their masculinity. However, this did not seem to affect the male authors of the time. Lewis Carroll captured the public imagination through Alices Adventures in Wonderland, which although following the story of a little girl, depicts many male characters. (see Carroll 2000). In conclusion, the term Victorian although useful to refer to a specific time period in history, does however encourage us to make sweeping generalisations without investigating how diverse the era was. In terms of the subject matter of Victorian Literature there is no clear cut distinction between early, middle and late Victorian for example, Bulwer-Lytton attempts at the beginning of the century what Richard Jefferies does at the end the difference is in style and form. Within that time frame there was condensed an incredible diversity of styles, tastes and attitudes, yet the term suffers from being associated with prejudices and assumptions about Victorians. However, it is worth bearing in mind that prejudices were indeed a part of Victorian society. When the Victorians explored the rest of the world they made generalisations and assumptions based on what they found (eg: The Island of Dr. Moreau) where experience and the nature of what is discovered defines behaviour. As a critic in 1858 wrote we are living in an age of transition (quoted from Houghton 1957, p.1); therefore when considering the Victorian age we should remember that values and trends were evolving it was not a static time governed by repression or old fashioned values. From the research carried out for this dissertation it appears that through the gaining of knowledge, Victorians also realised how little they knew and how much more there was to discover. As Arnold says in A Summer Night: How fair a lot to fill / Is left to each man still. (http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/A/ArnoldMatthew/verse/EmpedoclesonEtna/summernight.html). In this context the term Victorian can be dualistically representative: discoveries of the time, although revolutionary, were often rudimentary in nature, and it was humbling for the individual to consider how much further knowledge and discovery had yet to go. On the other hand, the term suffers too from being inadequate: a single word is too smaller term for the vast wealth and diversity of discovery, and it could be argued that the era is better realised if seen as a second revolution. Like the Victorian authors themselves we are left with no suitable words to convey the entirety of an era as John Lawton says in his introduction to The Time Machine (1995, p.xxvi) the term Victorian is used too loosely to encompass a sequence of eras, the diverse reign of a woman who lent her name to objects as diverse as a railway terminus and a plum. When studying Victorian Literature it is worth bearing in mind the fluidity of the time and the changeability which arose out of living on the cusp between the passing away of old values and the unknown territory of the new. Realism recognised the gaps which were forming in society such as the distancing of the self from religion and offered to paper the cracks through its vision of bringing people together on a mundane level. Its territory stretched to include the darkest recesses of the mind to the smallest of everyday events, celebrating the grey area between extremes as we now know as Victorian. Bibliography Arnold, M., Reprint of 1865 ed. dissertations in Criticism With the addition of Two dissertations not hitherto reprinted. London: Routledge. Appleman, P, 2001, Darwin. London: Norton Beer, G., 2000, Darwins Plots. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brantlinger, P, 1988, Rule of Darkness:British Literature and Imperialism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press Bristow, J., 1991, Empire Boys:Adventures in a Mans World. London: Harper Collins. Brown, M., 2001, (ed) Picturing Children. Aldershot: Ashgate Bulwer-Lytton, E., 1853, A Strange Story.