Sound Waves Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sound Waves - Lab Report Example Fourier Transform essentially incorporates a time series of pressure intensity in the determination of the perfect pitched frequencies summation. It also incorporates the level of the amplitude to recreate the original sound. Series of data aids in telling the amplitude of the sound as a function of time to a corresponding series data that determines the amplitude of the frequencies for recreation of the sound. Based on the graphs collected the ambiguity within the time durations and frequencies measured for diverse sound waves emanated from the errors in the measurement Logger Pro. The percentage error amidst the tuning fork frequency and corresponding measured frequencies was less that 1%, which is relatively safe. The percentage error amidst the printed frequency and the measured frequency was 0.58% as depicted by the sine curve. Undertaking the curve fit is relatively more precise measurement method regarding finding the frequency since it is not subjective to many of individual’s errors. The concept of Fourier Transforms is fundamental in the examination of the sound waves. Moreover, it integrates a time series of pressure intensity in the resolving the perfect pitched frequencies summation. Series of data display amplitude of the sound as a function of time to a corresponding series data that determines the amplitude of the frequencies for recreation of the sound. There was certain error in the lab experiment that mainly occurs due to the individual’s point of view of the underlying maximum intensity, within is not fundamental to other

Change in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Change in Schools - Essay Example However, the judgments made on these ruling have raised various questions with regards to whether the courts had the interests of the children at heart. According to California State Laws, courts, in their endeavors of making various decisions concerning children including custody and placement, permanency and safety planning, education and parental rights determination are faced with the burden of ensuring that their decisions are in the best interests of children (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2010). One notable court case, the Eliezer Williams, et al., vs. State of California, et al. case, filed in San Francisco in 2000 as a class action against the State of California and its education agencies such as CDE, California Department of Education by more than 110 students. The suit was based on the fact that the education agencies in California failed in providing students with equal access to safe and decent school facilities, instructional material and qualified teachers. In 2004, this case was decided, and it was settled that additional funding was to be allocated by the state to be used for improving the quality of instructional materials, facilitating access to decent and safe facilities and hiring of qualified teachers, in the light of ensuring that the academic performance indices of schools in tire one and two significantly improves (California Department of Education, 2012). In this particular case, it is clear that the settlement reached by the court, was in the best inte rest of the children-students-who will benefit from equal access to safe and decent school facilities, instructional material and qualified teachers. In another separate court case ruling with regards to change in schooling with regards to lower crime rate, the Robles-Wong v. California case in 2010, settled that parents are allowed to remove their children from one school to another on the basis of crime rate (Kemerer, Sansom, & Sansom, 2009). The ruling of this

General Trends of English Politics Before The Viking Invasions Essay Example for Free

General Trends of English Politics Before The Viking Invasions Essay Do you detect any general trend or trends in the pattern of English politics before the Viking invasions? Although there were sporadic Viking attacks on the coasts of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from 793 onwards, the Viking invasions, when large forces started to appear for sustained campaigns, should probably be seen as beginning in 865, when a heathen army encamped on Thanet.1 Before this time, we see a trend in English politics of increasingly extensive overlordship of some kings over others. There is debate about the extent of these overlordships, but it seems reasonable to suggest that certain kings at certain times were able to dominate other kingdoms, and also that there was some increase in the area a king might aspire to control. However, there is more argument about what this trend might mean, and particularly whether it can be seen as part of an inexorable progression towards the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the ninth and tenth centuries. I shall argue that the pattern tended to a limit, and that there is no reason to see unification as its inevitable result, for three main reasons. Firstly, we see another trend that, as kingdoms grew both in size and strength, it became harder to convert overlordship into amalgamation, although this is seen in some cases. Secondly, I shall contend that the overlordship seen was based upon opportunism, with little or no institutional continuity between different overlords. Thirdly, the nature of Anglo-Saxon politics was such that no kingdom before the Viking invasions could sustain its ascendancy sufficiently for the trends to represent long-term moves towards unification. The best way to explain the eventual unification is not as a result of long-term trends, but as West Saxon opportunism at a time when the other kingdoms were weak, buttressed by a latent sense of united ecclesiastical identity, which the Viking threat brought to the surface. The main trend that we see in the pre-Viking Anglo-Saxon kingdoms is the growth of overlordship, whereby one political unit, while retaining a degree of separate identity, and quite possibly its own ruler, was dominated by another. Bede uses a variety of terms to refer to different rulers, including rex, princeps and subregulus. The impression that one gets from this is a complex patchwork of kings, with some subordinate to others: Dumville and Campbell both justifiably point out that the terminological variety suggests that there was no universal pattern, but a web of dependent relationships; this is similar to the situation in Ireland at the same time. It is likely that such relationships go back to the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period; Kirby points out that this would hardly be surprising, since Tacitus describes similar hierarchies in Germany. However, we do see overlordship being exercised over increasingly large areas: the traditional starting point here is Bedes list of sev en kings who ruled over all the southern kingdoms. 2 The evidence does generally support the view that these kings exercised considerable power over large parts of England. Keynes asserts that it is inconceivable that Aelle of Sussex and Ceawlin of Wessex, the first two rulers, could have wide ranging power. We know little about them, but the Chronicle entries do suggest that they were significant and had successes, particularly against the Britons.3 Furthermore, Myres studies of the distribution of pottery fragments suggest that both rulers exercised some authority in the Midlands and East Anglia, since pottery finds match those in their native kingdoms. The evidence is not sufficient to suggest that they had control as far north as the Humber, but we would be unwise to dismiss the idea that these kings had some form of overlordship over much of southern England. Furthermore, Keynes is sceptical about Aethelbert of Kents power, suggesting that Bedes reiteration of the claim that he was king of all the land south of the Humber4 shows that this was dubious, requiring repetition to convince readers. However, the papal appeal that Aethelbert should spread the Word to his subjects suggests that he had considerable power, as Higham argues, even if he was not literally king of the English, the style accorded to him by the appeal.5 It is less easy to rebut Keynes diminution of Raedwald of East Anglia, since we know very little about him. If we could be more certain that the person buried at Sutton Hoo is indeed Raedwald (as many historians posit), we could assume that he was a very rich and powerful king; however, Keynes does not give us any positive reason to doubt Bedes claim regarding Raedwalds wide overlordship. Although Keynes asserts that Bede makes inflated claims about the scope of the influence of Edwin, Oswald and Oswiu of Northumbria, there is no strong evidence to support this: Bedes account is internally consistent, giving examples of these kings intervening in the Mevanian Islands (Angelsey and Man),6 Wessex,7 East Anglia,8 and Mercia9 at various times. These interventions could be entirely military (as is implied for the islands) or could involve peaceful shows of power, such as Oswalds participation in the baptism of Cynigils of Wessex. It seems reasonable to conclude that these kings did exert influence across large parts of Southumbria and it appears that the areas they could control increased; Keynes attempt to deny extensive overlordship in this period to strengthen his (already strong) case against a formal Bretwaldic institution is not particularly convincing. Furthermore, overlordship did not end with Oswiu: indeed, the later Mercian kings were possibly even more successful in securing practical overlordship across much of Southumbria. Bede acknowledges that the southern kingdoms were subject to Aethelbald at the time he was writing,10 supporting Dumvilles conclusion that the omission of the Mercian kings from the earlier list was prompted by concern to curtail the digression from Aethelberts death, rather than Northumbrian bias. There is evidence of Mercian hegemony in the south before Aethelbald: Bede explicitly states that the South Saxons were subject to Wulfhere11 and Eddius refers to Wulfheres ability to draw forces from all the southern kingdoms.12 Furthermore, charters give us evidence that Mercian kings were overlords in Southumbria: in the Ismere Diploma, Aethelbald is styled king not only of the Mercians but also of all provinces which are called by the general name South English';13 Offa could confirm a land grant by an ealdorman of the South Saxons;14 Offa was apparently the most beloved lord of the Hwicce;15 Offa was in a position to revoke a grant of land by the King Egbert of Kent;16 Wiglaf could grant land in Worcestershire;17 and Brihtwulf could do the same in Berkshire.18 This charter evidence is very important: it demonstrates that the kings of Mercia in this period claimed authority over other southern kingdoms and also implies that this authority could have practical manifestations, such as the right to grant land or at least to confirm grants made by their underkings. The extent of their authority seems to decline after Offa, but the principle of overlordship, in a more limited sense, continued. One of the most debated possible indicators of widespread Mercian overlordship is the document known as the Tribal Hidage. The difficulties and ambiguities of this text are such that the charter evidence cited is a far stronger sign of extensive Mercian overlordship, but there is a significant possibility that the Tribal Hidage is a Mercian tribute list, estimating the tribute that the Mercian kings hoped to collect from southern kingdoms. Highams bold self-confidence in dismissing a Mercian origin is unwise, in that such levels of certainty are wholly inappropriate in this context: all we can do is suggest hypotheses, while accepting that other hypotheses may be valid. As Featherstone and Sawyer point out, the methodical arrangement, with the kingdoms being arranged in an approximately clockwise order around Mercia, hints at a Mercian origin. The inclusion of a figure for Mercia, which Higham sees as evidence that the document is a Northumbrian tribute list, might be an assessment of internal food renders, Featherstone suggests. The preservation and copying of the Tribal Hidage imply that there was some practical purpose in estimating the hidation of Southumbria: it is still possible to accept tentatively the claims of Davies and Vierck that the Tribal Hidage is an indicator of widespread Mercian overlordship. There is some agreement that Egbert of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle appends to Bedes list of overlords and styles Bretwalda (Manuscript A ruler of Britain) or Brytenwalda (other Manuscripts wide ruler), was overlord of extensive territories. Keynes accepts the Chronicles claim that Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and everything south of the Humber;19 this statement must cast doubt upon Stentons assertion that the extent of Egberts overlordship was not comparable to Offas. Nevertheless, Keynes claim that Egbert was the first, not the eighth, wide ruler is dubious: the evidence very strongly suggests that overlordship had been an aspect of Anglo-Saxon politics for centuries. However, the territories being brought under a single overlord were tending to increase in scale: the archaeological record suggests that the early great kings, like Aelle and Ceawlin, could aspire to rule much of the land south of the Humber, but nothing like as much as the later Mercians and Egbert. This trend was not relentless: in the period between Offa and Egbert, there is little evidence of comprehensive overlordship on the scale of either of these rulers. Although we observe this trend towards the formation of more extensive overlordships, we should not conclude, as Stenton and John do, that this trend could be extrapolated to encompass the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the first place, it seems to have been increasingly difficult to convert overlordship into the actual amalgamation of kingdoms. Initially, with small kingdoms, it may not have been unduly difficult to effect such assimilation: Yorke points out that East Kent seems to have consumed West Kent sometime during the sixth century. Indeed, much amalgamation probably occurred in the sixth century, before the various kingdoms that we see emerged. Furthermore, it was often possible for a larger kingdom to digest a smaller one: this is seen in the cases of Deira (eventually subsumed into Bernicia after 651) and the Hwicce (gradually divested of independence by Mercia in the eighth century). However, integration was not always smooth: despite being united under Aethelfrith and Edwin, Deira was ruled separately under Oswine from 642 until 651. In the latter part of the pre-Viking period, it would have been very difficult for one of the greater kingdoms to consume another permanently: this is suggested by the fact that, despite their struggles and periods of subjection to one another, Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex all survived until the Viking onslaught. An illustration of this difficulty is the case of Mercia: Oswiu of Northumbria was only able to rule Mercia directly for three years after his victory in 655; he was driven out by the Mercian ealdormen in 658. Similarly, Egberts domination of Mercia was not secure: he was recognised as king by the Mercians in 829 but Wiglaf was restored in 830. Indeed, it would seem that political union was most successful when it was pursued gently: unlike Offas aggressive attempts to dominate Kent from 764 until 785, Wessexs absorption of Kent and Sussex was done with sensitivity to the local nobles; this did, however, mean that the sense of union was perhaps not cemented, as is suggested by Aethelwulfs proposed division of Greater Wessex, with Aethelbert succeeding in the East and his other sons taking Wessex itself in turn. However, unification in the ninth and tenth centuries can be explained in that the situation after the coming of the Vikings was different, since Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria were seriously weakened by the attacks, aiding Wessexs expansion. Moreover, the overlordship that we see was probably highly opportunistic, without institutional underpinnings. Yorke is probably right that the principal motivation for overlordship was the collection of tribute: Bede mentions tribute in connection with overlordship20 and Eddius says that Wulfheres purpose in attacking Northumbria was to gain tribute.21 Furthermore, the Mercians could presumably have conquered a tribe like the Hicca (assessed at a mere 300 hides in the Tribal Hidage), had they wished to do so; that such tribes existed as notionally independent entities suggests that, if the Tribal Hidage is a Mercian tribute list, the Mercians were content with tribute rather than political union. However, John argues that there was some kind of institutional framework and that overlordship was being gradually translated into unification. Key to this argument is the adoption of formal titles by kings: John contends that the ideal of a united Britain was a real one in kings minds, citing the use of various titles. The most famous of these is Bretwalda or, as John prefers, Brytenwalda, which appear in different versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;22 I shall not become drawn into an argument about which style is the original, because the ambiguity and confusion is sufficient of itself, as Wormald argues, to cast doubt upon the existence of such an institution in reality. Clearly, whoever was copying the manuscripts was not familiar with the term, which suggests that it was a literary construct devised retrospectively to describe Egbert; its frequent application to kings like Aelle and Raedwald is therefore probably anachronistic and Kirbys vision of kings striving to become Bretwalda23 is most likely to be fanciful. John also argues that other titles imply the existence of some kind of abstract concept of overlordship separate from the individual kings who happened to be overlords. For example, he highlights that Adomnan says that Oswald was ordained by God as emperor of all of Britain24 and that Boniface refers to Aethelbald wielding the glorious sceptre of imperial rule over the English.25 This evidence, combined with the point about Bretwaldas, is a rather thin basis for a case: it is quite possible that the titles were simply being used for flattery; the fact that Boniface calls Aethelbald king of the Mercians in his letter asking Herefrith to deliver the previous communication suggests that the imperial title used in the letter to Aethelbald was unofficial.26 Moreover, Offa is also generally styled king of the Mercians,27 as is Cenwulf.28 In their charters, they tend to claim to be kings of various kingdoms, rather than stressing titles of institutional overlordship. If there was no institution of overlordship, each de facto overlordship would have to start afresh in trying to create cohesion: the trend of increasingly extensive overlordship was not therefore destined to result in the formation of England, since there was often little continuity between the different overlords. The sense of common identity that began to emerge by the later ninth century (Alfred could speak of Angelkynn and Englisc) probably had far more to do with religious unity in the face of the pagan Viking threat. As Wormald argues, the Church, rather than the so-called Bretwaldas, was the institution that provided a common reference point for the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, by stressing that the Gens Anglorum was a chosen people, selected to receive the Word. Given that there were most probably no institutions to produce continuity in overlordship, momentum towards unification could only be maintained as long as a particular kingdom was in the ascendant; however, the nature of Anglo-Saxon politics in this period was such that success tended to be transient. We see this is Northumbria, whose hegemony collapsed very quickly after defeats at the Battle of the Trent (679) and Nechtansmere (685). Likewise, Mercian hegemony seems to have declined gradually after Offa. There was, to a significant extent, a natural instability in the pattern of politics: kings required land to grant to warriors (to secure their support), which required the conquest of land, which required more warriors; this pattern was clearly unsustainable in the longer term. The importance of giving gifts to warriors is seen in Beowulf, where Hrothgar says that he will dispense / his God-given goods to young and old;29 Bede shows that such gifts were necessary in the real world, expressing concern that excessive endowment of secularised monasteries had left Northumbria with insufficient land to grant to warriors. 30 There is evidence to suggest that warriors would desert their lord, if he ceased to provide them with treasure and land: Aldhelm expresses disapproval of those who do this in his letter to the clergy of Bishop Wilfrid.31 Probably, the importance of conquering new lands explains why the initiative shifted away from the south-east to Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex: these kingdoms could, at least for a while, conquer land from Britons, in a way that kingdoms like Kent could not. A notable feature of both Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon politics is that kingdoms tended to come to grief sooner or later; success was rarely lasting. Another source of instability was internal dynastic politics: there seem to have been frequent civil wars. This is hardly surprising given that, according to Dumville, any aetheling could claim the throne through descent in the male line from the founder of the kingdom: the multiplicity of aethelings32 would not infrequently compete for the kingship. The Historia Regum attributed to Simeon of Durham demonstrates that four different dynasties competed for the Northumbrian throne between 759 and 796, with murders, exiles and (probably forced) tonsures being common.33 Similarly, there is evidence of the threat of dynastic instability in Mercia, in that Offa decided to eliminate his son Cenwulfs potential competitors; Alcuin attributes conflict in Cenwulfs reign to this policy and says that this was not the strengthening of his kingdom, but its ruin. 34 Given that there were such internal problems, it is hardly surprising that kingdoms could lose overlordship quickly, as dynastic politics came to predominate. The importance of dynastic stability is seen in the eventual rise of Wessex: Egberts successes against Mercia came when the latter was probably engaged in dynastic wrangles; Campbell suspects that neither Ludeca (825-7) nor Wiglaf (827-40) were related to their predecessors. On the other hand, the West Saxon succession was more stable, as Dumville points out: this is seen in the succession in turn of Aethelwulfs sons, even if it did not conform entirely to Aethelwulfs intentions. However, dynastic tension was generally a feature of the pre-Viking period: this contributed to the rapid rise and fall of kingdoms, meaning that overlordship could not consolidate into unification. We do therefore see a trend towards greater overlordships in this period, though it must be noted that this trend was gradual and not entirely linear. Nevertheless, it is clear that certain kings were able to exert influence over far larger areas just before the Viking invasions than others could at the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period. However, it would be unwise to extrapolate this trend and interpret it as some kind of progression towards the eventual unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms under the West Saxons. It became harder to translate overlordship into political amalgamation as kingdoms grew, and overlordship was not itself stable, given the internal vicissitudes of kingdoms. We see that, before the later ninth and tenth centuries, no kingdom could sustain overlordship for long and, in the absence of recognised institutions of overlordship, this meant that whatever progress might conceivably have been made towards unification under one overlord was lost when his kingdoms power waned. The rise of Wessex was predicated upon factors that mostly could not have been foreseen: it was able to take advantage of the weakness of the other English kingdoms in the wake of the Viking attacks and could exploit the latent sense of religious unity, which was probably made stronger by the common, external, pagan threat. Bassetts extended metaphor of a knockout football competition, which inevitably produces a single winner, is not particularly apposite; while we might nowadays modify Kembles nineteenth century allusions (he described overlordship as a mere fluctuating superiority such as we may find in Hawaii, Tahiti or New Zealand, due to success in war and lost in turn by defeat35), his basic conclusion, that the overlordships that we see in the pre-Viking Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were not leading inexorably towards unification, still seems entirely reasonable. Bibliography Sources: Adomnan, Life of Columba, ed. and trans. R. Sharpe (1995) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in English Historical Documents, i, 1, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Beowulf, trans. S. Heaney (1999) Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ed. and trans. B. Colgrave and R.A.B. Mynors (1969) Bede, Letter to Egbert, in English Historical Documents, i, 170, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Eddius, Life of St Wilfred, in English Historical Documents, i, 154, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Simeon of Durham, Historia Regum, in English Historical Documents, i, 3, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Charters: in English Historical Documents, i, 54, 66-7, 76-7, 79-80, 85-7 Letters: in English Historical Documents, i, 165-6, 177-9, 191-3, 195, 197-200, 202, 204-5, 208-10, ed. and trans. D. Whitelock (1955) Secondary works: S. Bassett (ed.), The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (1989) M.P. Brown and C.A. Farr (eds.), Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe (2001) J. Campbell, Bedes Reges and Principes (Jarrow Lecture 1979), in J. Campbell, Essays in Anglo-Saxon History (1986) J. Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (1982) J. Campbell, The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery on the Study of Anglo-Saxon History, in J. Campbell, The Anglo-Saxon State (2000) W. Davies and H. Vierck, The Contexts of the Tribal Hidage: Social Aggregates and Settlement Patterns, in Frà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½hmittelalterliche Studien 8 (1974) D.N. Dumville, The Aetheling: a study in Anglo-Saxon Constitutional History, in Anglo-Saxon England 8 (1979) D.N. Dumville, The Terminology of Overkingship in Early Anglo-Saxon England, in The Anglo-Saxons from the Migration Period to the Eighth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective, ed. J. Hines (1997) N.J. Higham, An English Empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings (1995) D. Hill, Offas Dyke: Pattern and Purpose, in Antiquaries Journal 80 (2000) E. John, Orbis Britanniae and the Anglo-Saxon Kings, in E. John, Orbis Britanniae (1966) J.M. Kemble, The Saxons in England, ed. and revised W. De G. Birch (1876) S. Keynes, Raedwald the Bretwalda, in Voyage to the Other World: the Legacy of Sutton Hoo, ed. C.B. Kendall and P.S. Wells (1992) S. Keynes, England 700-900, in The New Cambridge Medieval History II, c.700-c.900, ed. R. McKitterick (1995) D.P. Kirby, The Making of Early England (1967) D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991) J.N.L. Myres, Anglo-Saxon Pottery and the Settlement of England (1969) P.H. Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England (1998) F.M. Stenton, The Supremacy of the Mercian Kings (1918), in F.M. Stenton, Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England (1970) F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (1971) A. Williams, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England c.500-1066 (1999) P. Wormald, Bede, the Bretwaldas and the Origins of the Gens Anglorum, in Ideal and Reality in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Society: Studies presented to J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, ed. P. Wormald et al. (1983) P. Wormald, The Venerable Bede and the Church of the English, The English Religious Tradition and the Genius of Anglicanism, ed. G. Rowell (1992) B. Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (1990) 1 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 865 2 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 5 3 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 485, 491, 568, 577, 584 4 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, i, 25; ii, 3; ii, 5 5 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, i, 32 6 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 5; ii, 9 7 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 9; iii, 7 8 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 14 9 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 16 10 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, v, 23 11 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, iii, 30 12 Eddius, Life of St Wilfred, 20 13 English Historical Documents, i, 67 14 English Historical Documents, i, 76 15 English Historical Documents, i, 77 16 English Historical Documents, i, 80 17 English Historical Documents, i, 85 18 English Historical Documents, i, 87 19 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 829 20 Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii, 5; iii, 24 21 Eddius, Life of St Wilfred, 20 22 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 829 23 Kirby, The Making of Early England, p 54 24 Adomnan, Life of Columba, i, 1 25 English Historical Documents, i, 177 26 English Historical Documents, i, 178 27 English Historical Documents, i, 191, 198, 210 28 English Historical Documents, i, 204, 205 29 Beowulf, lines 72-3 30 Bede, Letter to Egbert 31 English Historical Documents, i, 165 32 Dumville, The aetheling: a study in Anglo-Saxon constitutional history, p 13 33 Simeon of Durham, Historia Regum, in English Historical Documents, i, 3 34 English Historical Documents, i, 202 35 Kemble, The Saxons in England, volume ii, p 17

E-commerce Internet Shopping

E-commerce Internet Shopping Is e-commerce boundary-less? Effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping. Abstract: Regardless of the unusual growth of internet during the last few years, the enormous business potentials of the internet remain largely untapped. There is a general observation that with the internet, national and international boundaries should become irrelevant when engaging in business exchanges. There exist two national cultural dimensions, individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance and their interaction that influences internet shopping rates across a wide spectrum of countries. For countries lower in uncertainty avoidance, individualistic cultures show higher internet shopping rates than do collectivist cultures. Implications for national and internet firm-level web design strategies are discussed. Problem Statement: Is e-commerce boundary-less? Effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping. Although the adoption rate of internet shopping is relatively high in the west, it is still generally unpopular in the east. In spite the promises of the greater global customer reach and potential profits; internet shopping adoption is still systematically affected by cultural differences. National wealth also contributes towards the adoption of internet shopping, because money is needed for necessary internet access infrastructure, subscription of internet services, and online purchases. Although national wealth alone cannot account for the vastly different internet shopping rates among high gross GDP countries. The adoption of internet shopping is jointly effected by a set of contextual factors i.e. national income and educational level as well as two major cultural factors, namely, individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. Research Objectives: The objective of this research is to find the effects of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance on internet shopping keeping under consideration the Internet shopping adoption rate, individualism index, uncertainty avoidance index, per capita GDP, educational level, unemployment rate, and crime rate. Hypothesis 1: Internet shopping adoption rates are higher for countries with relatively lower uncertainty avoidance levels. Hypothesis 2: Internet shopping adoption rates are higher for individualist than for collectivist countries. Hypothesis 3a: For countries with high relatively high uncertainty avoidance levels, individualism-collectivism shows little impact on internet shopping rates. Hypothesis 3b: for countries with relatively low uncertainty avoidance levels, the individualist countries show higher Internet shopping adoption rates than the collectivist countries. Importance / benefit of study: The importance of this study is that it addresses the issues and problems related to internet shopping and will also help in working around these issues and problems. It will also help in the regulation of e-commerce activities in a proper and efficient manner. Research Design: Exploration: Quantitative. The data was mainly collected from Global e-Commerce Report, Hofstede, World Fact book and United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Data Analysis: The dependent variable under observation is Internet shopping adoption rate by country. Internet shopping adoption rate is the percentage of internet users, who have bought goods or services during the past month. Data on internet shopping adoption rate were obtained from the Global e-Commerce Report of Taylor Nelson Sofres (2001). This report consists of data from 36 countries derived from interviewing a total of 42,742 people. The two independent variables are individualism index and uncertainty avoidance index. The data for both these variables was obtained from Hofstede, which includes 50 countries. The control variables are per capita GDP, educational level, unemployment rate, and crime rate. The data for GDP and unemployment rate was collected from World Fact book, The International Monetary Fund (2001). Data for educational level was obtained from United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Data for internet crime rate was derived from the total sum of the number of offences contained in national crime statistics and major categories of reported crime in each of the Interpol member countries. Nature and Form of Results Schedule: The results which can be concluded from the whole study are: Higher the income levels of a country, the higher the internet penetration rate. It can also be concluded from the case that taking income into consideration, educational level, unemployment rate, crime rate, and economic growth rate do not significantly affect internet penetration. Internet shopping adoption rate is negatively correlated with uncertainty avoidance, but positively correlated with individualism-collectivism. The relationship of uncertainty avoidance with internet shopping adoption is not as strong as expected, and is not significant. All the results support our hypotheses. National income plays a very important rate in both internet penetration rate and adoption rate of internet shopping. It can also be said that whether it is online or offline shopping, the higher the income level, the higher the purchasing power. Cultural factors also play an important role in affecting internet shopping behavior, over and above the effect due to national income and educational levels. Internet shopping is still at its infancy for some countries. The result also support that dimensions of national culture affect internet shopping rate. The national government level, macro level policies that are designed to suit the local culture can be implemented to stimulate the adoption of internet shopping. Facilities and Resources: The resources of this case study are Global e-Commerce Report, Hofstede, World Fact book and United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Institute for statistics online base. Bibliography: References: Anderson, J.C. Naurus, A. (1990) ‘A model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working partnerships, Journal of marketing 54(1): 42-58 Hirschey, M. and Pappas, J.L (1993) Managerial Economics, 7th edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers: Orlando, FL. Hofstede, C.H. (2001) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind, McGraw -Hill: London. Leung, K. and Bond, M.H (2004) ‘Social exioms: a model for social beliefs in multicultural perspective, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 36: 119-197. Lynn, R. and Martin, T. (1995) ‘National differences for 37 nations in extroversion, neuroticism psychoticism and economic, demographic and other correlates, Personality and Individual Differences 19: 403-406. Morris, M.W., Williams, K.Y., Leung, K., Larrick, R., Mendoza, (1998) ‘Conflict management style: accounting for cross national differences, Journal for International Business studies 29(4): 729-747. The International Police Organization (Interpol) (2003) Online data, http://www.interpol.com The International Monetary Fund (2001) ‘World economic outlook data.

The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality by

There are many branches of feministic theorems. As Judith Lorber wrote in her article, The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality feminist denominations arose from different views, making many contributions to improve women’s status. Lorber discusses the views of, â€Å"gender reform feminisms, gender resistant feminisms, and gender revolution feminisms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (1) etcetera, all which have fought to improve women’s rights. Though there are many different aspects of viewing feminism, writer and contributor of owl.purdue.edu, Allen Brizee suggests that the main ideology that holds those aspects together is the oppression of women in general. Though, it is when talking about male dominance, women’s resistance, and women’s social roles, that the views on feminism changes. In the book, The Awakening, Kate Chopin greatly reveals women’s resistance within a male dominated society through her main character Edna Pontellier. Si milarly, in her short, The Story of an Hour, Chopin emphasized the oppression that married women went through with their husbands during the late 1800s. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman compelled readers, showing how women’s roles seemed insignificant during the early 1900s. The feminist theory suggested by Brizee can be seen within each of these narratives, and their protagonists. Even to present day, the belief of societies being male-centered still stands. Yet, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was clearer that the patriarchal lifestyle was happening. Married women of the era were seen as ‘property’ to their husbands. Robert, Edna’s lover from The Awakening, described her as, â€Å"-not free; you were Mr. Pontellier’s wife. I couldn’t help loving you†¦ so long as I went away from y... ... by her difference from male norms and values.† Sadly many women became exactly what the male powered societies want them to be, because unconsciously, those societies have influenced them to also believe it is the right thing for them to do. Works Cited Brizee, Allen. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism. Ed. J. Case Tompkins. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Avon, 1972. Print. Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning, 2001. Print. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Feminist, 1973. Print. Hall, Donald. Literacy and Cultural Theory. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 2001. 199-213. Lorber, Judith. The Variety of Feminisms and their Contribution to Gender Equality. Roxbury Pub. 1998. 1-15.

Guenevers Love Triangle Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Once and Futu

Nowadays you hear about people cheating on each other and think of it as nothing. In the time period T.H. White’s, The Once and Future King was set, it was a crime as sinful as killing a person. Guenever is a heartless and conniving woman, who gets away with ‘murder’, just because she is the Queen of England. Throughout the book, Guenever is characterized as weak and evil, because her decisions and behavior affect Arthur, Lancelot, and herself negatively. To begin, Guenever manipulates Lancelot’s feelings. She is the majority of his problems and dilemmas. Lancelot tries not to betray Arthur’s trust and save his virtue, but his love for Guenever is making his decisions that much harder. She would tell him to â€Å"’Come back soon’† (340) and leave as she pleased. It affects Lancelot’s ability to maintain his integrity, because Guenever is confusing him, by giving him mixed signals. She makes him think about going against Christianity and the idea of chivalry, two things that he lives by. â€Å"You have won him, and you have broken him. What will you do with him next?† said Elaine (396). Lancelot is confused and he can’t focus on anything other than Guenever, no matter where he is. She is breaking him down emotionally, to the extent where he starts hating himself for loving her. Then, when Guenever finds out about Lancelot and Elaine sleeping together in her castle, she goes ballis tic. â€Å"’Get out of my castle,’ screamed the queen at the top of her voice. ‘Never show your face in it again, your evil, ugly, beastlike face,’† (395). Having his beloved say this to him causes him to lose it, leading him to jump out of the window. No one knew what happened to him. A couple of years later when Lancelot was living with Elaine, the mother of his child... ...y close friends. In all, twenty knights were killed, including Gaheris and Gareth, who were unarmed. Their deaths and the Guenever’s illegitimate relationship are grounds to begin a war on. This war eventually leads to King Arthur’s death. Guenever made Arthur’s life more difficult, rather than supporting him like a good wife should have. Guenever not only affects Arthur and Lancelot negatively throughout their lives, but also numerous people around her. She is Arthur’s and Lancelot’s largest weakness. Guenever gets herself and the people around her into trouble, and makes their lives miserable in some way or another. Ultimately Guenever’s bad judgment and decisions made she was the source of a lot of problems and controversies. Cheating on someone you love was much more scandalous in that period of time than it is now, but it is still not the right thing to do.

Reading Philosophies

Reading Philosophies Katy J. Kaldenberg Grand Canyon University: EED-470 Curriculum, Methods and Assessment: Literacy and Language Arts K-3 Monday, March 11, 2013 Reading Philosophies Chart Reading Philosophy| Brief Description| Reading Activities| Reading Assessments| Constructivist Reading Instruction| Constructivists view the student as an active participant in the learning process who constructs a personal meaning from each experience (Ying-Tien & Chin-Chung, 2005). One Constructivist reading activity for teaching a student a new word is that the student is taught to use picture cues to learn to read (Ying-Tien, & Chin-Chung, 2005). For example, if the student cannot read a word, he or she is taught to look at the picture then go back and to the word and guess the meaning. Another activity for constructivist reading instruction would be that the teacher would have students work in small groups to discuss a book that was read to the class. The small groups of students may then als o create their own story. Constructivist reading assessments would include the teacher collecting daily performance samples of work, observing and recording student’s behavior, audio and videotaping students in different situations, and building a portfolio filled with information about each student (Ying-Tien & Chin-Chung, 2005). The evaluation process is for the teacher, parent, and child. Conferences can also be held to discuss progress. | Explicit Reading Instruction| Explicit reading instruction is teacher directed (Goeke, 2009).The teacher uses explanation and demonstration to teach specific reading skills and strategies (Goeke, 2009). The teacher also provides corrective feedback to his or her students as the students attempt to apply the new knowledge (Goeke, 2009). | An example of explicit reading instruction would be that the teacher would state the sound and spelling of a specific letter-sound correspondence and then demonstrate by modeling how to read words that i nclude that feature to the class (Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2002).The students then would practice but only after the teacher has modeled the process first. A second example of explicit reading instruction would be to teach decoding to students that have deficits in word reading. A third example of explicit reading instruction would be having students use the mnemonic DISSECT (Discover the context, Isolate the prefix, Separate the suffix, Say the stem, Examine the stem, Check with someone, and Try the dictionary) to read unknown words (Adams & Engelmann, 1996). The teacher would teach each strategy step explicitly (Adams & Engelmann, 1996).An important part of explicit reading instruction is that the teacher always describes the strategy, provides the rationale for its use, and states how and when to implement a strategy explicitly to the students and the instruction is always implemented systematically (Adams & Engelmann, 1996). | Explicit reading assessments would in clude having student answer multiple-choice questions about selected text passage; decoding assessments can also be given (Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2002).One example of a decoding assessment would be that the student is given isolated words one at a time, and the student is asked to say the word aloud. The words selected for a decoding assessment should be words that are within the student’s spoken vocabulary, and should contain a mix of phonetically regular and phonetically irregular words (Goeke, 2009). Another type of assessment is that of standardized tests such as the Diagnostic Assessments of Reading (DAR) and the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR). | Reading Philosophies Summary The educational realm is not free from disputes.Disputes on reading instructional practices have been ongoing for more than half a century. On one side of this debate is composed of those who believe that students learn best when they are able to discover and c onstruct the essential information for themselves. This type of instruction is often called student-centered or constructivist instruction (Confrey, 1990). On the opposite side of this debate are those who believe that students only thrive when full, explicit instruction is given and student should not have to discover essential content (Goeke, 2009).This type of instruction is often referred to as direct or explicit instruction (Goeke, 2009). When speaking about reading instruction, this debate has often been coined as the â€Å"reading wars†. Constructivist Reading Instruction is derived from the theory of constructivism. One could assume that constructivism is derived from Piaget’s own reference to his views as being a â€Å"constructivist† or possible from Bruner’s description of learning discovery as â€Å"constructionist† (Gruber & Voheche, 1977).Some other terms that have been used to reference a constructivist way of learning include genera tive learning, situated learning, authentic learning, and educational semiotic (Wittrock, 1985; Cunningham, 1992). Constructivists believe that all learning should be student centered. They think that knowledge is obtained only during a meaning-making search where the student is involved in the process of constructing their own interpretations of their experiences.Constructivist generally agree that students much construct their own learning, all new learning is dependent on the student’s existing understanding, social interaction plays a critical role in learning, and authentic learning tasks are necessary for learning to be meaningful (Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, 1995; Pressley, Harris, & Marks, 1992). According to constructivists, in order for a student to construct new meaning he or she needs to make every effort to make sense of all new experiences and then must relate those to experiences to what is already known (Confrey, 1990).Constructivists also claim that a catalys t for acquiring knowledge is dialogue and social interaction facilitates understanding (Brown, 1994). Constructivist teachers aim to provide cooperative learning tasks and peer tutoring for their students. Constructivist teacher often believe that students learn faster when they are actively involved in dialog with their peers about significant problems (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). The constructivist classroom would be filled with students roaming about the classroom obtaining supplies, conferring with peers or the teacher, and working on self-directed projects (Brooks & Brooks, 1993).Constructivist teachers pride themselves in asking big questions, providing time for student to think and explore to find answers (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). In an actual classroom, there are many flaws involved in practicing constructivist instruction. The first major problem is that often only the brightest students make the discovery that is needed (Pace, 2011). Another issue is that many students become f rustrated. This frustration many cause some students to disengage and other students may simply copy whatever their peers are doing regardless in either case the students never actually discover anything (Pace, 2011).A third issue is that some students may believe they have made a discovery but in fact, they have only learned a misconception (Pace, 2011). These misconceptions can then interfere with future learning and problem solving (Pace, 2011). Studies have shown that once a student has believed one of these misconceptions that even after they have been show the correct answer they are still likely to recall the original discovery and not the correction (Pace, 2011). Along with the above four issues studies have shown that constructivist instruction can result in an increase in achievement gap (Pace, 2011).Decades of research has validated that explicit instruction is much more effective for reading instruction when compared to constructivist reading instruction. Kirschner, Swel ler, and Clark (2006) states, â€Å"After a half-century of advocacy associated with instruction using minimal guidance, it appears that there is no body of research supporting the technique. In so far as there is any evidence from controlled studies, it almost uniformly supports direct, strong instructional guidance rather than constructivist-based minimal guidance. Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) also reports, â€Å"†¦ Not only is unguided instruction normally less effective; there is also evidence that it may have negative results when students acquire misconceptions or incomplete or disorganized knowledge. † Research has shown that when teaching new skills and content to students, providing explicit instructions accompanied with practice and feedback is more effective than requiring students to discover many aspects of what they are to learn (Hall, 2002). Explicit instruction is teacher directed.The teacher provides the students with a full explanation of the n ew skill or concept that the student is required to learn (Hall, 2002). The teacher also uses a variety of accommodations such as lecturing, modeling, videos and other media, and demonstration to provide the students with proper guidance (Hall, 2002). Students need to be explicitly shown what to do and how to do something first and then they need to be given the opportunity to practice doing it while they receive corrective feedback from the teacher (Hall, 2002). Extensive research supports explicit instruction’s success as an evidence-based practice.Adams and Engelmann (1996) found thirty-seven research publications validating the effectiveness of explicit instruction. These research publications all reported that explicit instruction had a significant outcome on reading instruction. Research also found explicit instruction to be as valuable for typical students, as for students with disabilities. The National Follow-Through Project studied multiple models of instruction to determine the most effective instructional models for students who were economically disadvantaged (Rosenshine, 1995; Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2002).The results concluded that children who received explicit instruction in literacy and mathematics scored above those taught with other approaches. An additional result was increased self-esteem due to success in school (Rosenshine, 1995; Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2002). The National Follow-Through Project belonged to a group of studies on teacher effectiveness, which determined that explicit instruction effectively taught students what they needed to learn (Rosenshine, 1995; Taylor, Peterson, Pearson, & Rodriguez, 2002).Baumann and Duffy (2001) reported on five years of research that showed that reading skills and strategies are most effectively taught with systematic and explicit instruction. In conclusion, explicit instruction is vital for initial instruction in skill acquisition (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989). This is especially the case for struggling readers, who often require intense support to acquire reading skills (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989). Beginning reading instruction should emphasize explicit instruction, particularly for phonics instruction (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989).Constructivist instruction is important when generalizing skills to other contexts (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989). It can also be used when children explore children’s literature. Story structure can be taught with constructivist instruction and may be more meaningful to children than teaching it explicitly (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989). The Whole Language Movement is built upon Constructivist principles (Goodman, Goodman, & Hood, 1989). References Adams, G. and Engelmann, S. (1996).Research on Direct Instruction: 25 years beyond DISTAR. Seattle, WA: Educational Achievement Systems. Brooks, J. G. & Brooks, M. G. (1994). In search of understanding: The case for constructivist classroo ms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Brown, A. L. (1994). The advancement of learning. Educational Researcher 23: 4-12. Bruning, R. H. , Schraw, G. J. & Ronning, R. R (1995). Cognitive psychology and instruction, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Baumann, J. F. , & Duffy, A.M. (2001). Teacher-research methodology: Themes, variations, and possibilities. The Reading Teacher, 54, 608-615. Confrey, J. (1990). What constructivism implies for teaching. In R. B. Davis, C. A. Maher & N. Noddings (Eds. ), Constructivist views of the teaching and learning of mathematics (Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Monograph No. 4, pp. 107-122). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Cunningham, D. J. (1992). Beyond educational psychology: Steps toward an educational semiotic.Educational Psychology Review 4: 165-194. Goeke J. L. (2009). Explicit instruction: Strategies for meaningful direct teaching. Boston: Merrill/Pearson . Goodman, K. , Goodman, Y. & Hood, W. (1989). The whole language evaluation book. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Hall, T. (2002). Explicit instruction. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved Wednesday, March 13, 2013 from http://aim. cast. org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/explicit_instruction. Kirschner, P. A. , Sweller, J. , & Clark, R. (2006).Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41, 75–86 Pace, D. (2011). Best practice: The use of explicit instruction and culturally responsive teaching. Insights on Learning Disabilities, 8(2), 5-14. Pressley, M. , Harris, K. R. , & Marks, M. B. (1992). But good strategy instructors are constructivists! Educational Psychology Review 4: 3-31. Rosenshine, B. (1995). Advances in research on instruction. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 262â⠂¬â€œ268.Stanovich, K. E. (1994). Constructivism in reading education. Journal of Special Education, 28(3), 259. Taylor, B. M. , Peterson, D. S. , Pearson, P. D. , & Rodriguez, M. C. (2002). Looking inside classrooms: Reflecting on the â€Å"how† as well as the â€Å"what† in effective reading instruction. The Reading Teacher, 56, 270–279. Wittrock, W. C. (1985). The generative learning model and its implications for science education. Studies in Science Education 12: 59-87. Ying-Tien, W. , & Chin-Chung, T. (2005). Effects of constructivist-oriented instruction on