Thursday, January 30, 2020

In what ways do poets portray the exprience of war in Dulce et Decorum Est and in For the Fallen Essay Example for Free

In what ways do poets portray the exprience of war in Dulce et Decorum Est and in For the Fallen Essay Laurence Binyon wrote For the Fallen in 1914, at the beginning of the Great War, while Wilfred Owen composed his Dulce et Decorum Est in 1917-18, by the end of the conflict. This difference in time means that there might be inconsistencies in the portrayal of the war, due to the changing perspectives of the fighting, which in turn would provoke irregularities in the purpose, style and nature of the two poems. In Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen tries to prove us that war has no mighty purpose behind it and that it is just a waste of lives. He describes one soldier dying with verbs such as guttering, choking, drowning and gives an account of the blood which came gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs. This strikingly visceral portrayal of loss of life suggests that he sees nothing spiritual or divine in the sacrifices that the soldiers make for their country. He prefers to depict the experience of the war as true and cruel as it is in reality without sparing the reader. In the poem we are informed about two deaths. The first is due to harsh conditions, when some soldiers dropped behind, while the second is caused by lethal gas that one of the soldier inhales. In both of these cases, the young mens deaths didnt contribute in any way to the protection of their country and they werent even fighting when they passed away. This suggests that war is just a waste of human life which wont secure Englands peace. In For the Fallen, Binyon tells us that the soldiers have fallen in the cause of the free, thus suggesting that they try to make the world a better place, that they fight for something good. This gives war a mighty purpose and to the deaths meaning. This idea of for the greater good is further highlighted in the phrase a glory that shines upon our tears, which conveys the idea that the sacrifices of the soldiers contribute to the welfare of society and thats why everybody should be proud of those who are fighting. It is clear that the two poems depict the meaning and purpose of the war very differently. While Owen indicates that war is a meaningless and cruel waste, Binyon tries to cast a better light upon the deaths of the soldiers, giving their sacrifices a higher significance and thus implying that war with all its faults is for the greater good. In Owens poem the soldiers going to the fight are like old beggars under sacks, coughing like hags blood shot and drunk with fatigue. Many had lost their boots, implying that they cannot face the harsh conditions of the war and that they are even unable to look after their essential belongings. The description of bootless beggars is humiliating, while their tiredness and the hag simile suggests that there are lethargic and hopeless. Their physical appearance isnt attractive either. All these depict the soldiers as tired, old and humiliated men who are unable to face life and are completely incompetent in war. However, in Binyons version the soldiers went with songs to the battle, suggesting their fearlessness and gaiety. They were young, straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. This phrase conveys an admiration for the almost divine soldiers who seem to be the incarnation of some hero from a childs tale powerful, handsome and determined men who save the world. This image of glorious warriors seems to be taken out of a happy-end story rather than the realism to satisfy the audience. Once again the dissimilarity between the two accounts is obvious. Owen sticks to the merciless truth, while Binyon sees something beyond the harsh experience of the war. Actually, he seems to use the brutality of the fighting and the deaths to emphasise the greatness and divinity of the soldiers. In Dulce et decorum Est soldiers die either to the harsh conditions of the war, or due to poisonous gas. The soldier who experienced the later, plunges at the nearest men choking and drowning an image of a helpless, suffering person. Unlike the soldiers in Owens poem, in For the Fallen, the fighters fell with their faces to the foe, not to their companions in the middle of the battle, fearless and brave. The determination which they seem to possess suggests that they believe that their deaths have a higher purpose. This encourages the reader and the mourning families to have faith that their loved ones lives werent wasted, but contrarily represented a salvage for humanity. It seems that the greatest difference between the two poems lies in the way they portray death and their significance. In Dulce et Decorum Est the dying soldiers face is like a devils sick of sin with writhing eyes. The phrase implies that the soldiers committed the greatest sins, most probably killing, which this altered the way they viewed life forever. They seem to be sick not only of the war, but of the persons in which the war transformed them, into devils. The writhing eyes suggests the violent ending that they had, and it possibly implies that they never found peace. The mention of the devil together with this, insinuates that they will never go to heaven, but rather to hell. The phrase incurable sores on innocent tongues further emphasises the idea that the experience of the war severely damaged their character in a negative and irredeemable way. Incurable sores implies that the greatest wounds were not physical, but psychological, and this might be the reason why they will never find peace, not even the moment they die. In For the Fallen death is august and royal, thus dignified and splendid, something rather positive and good. This is because the sacrificed soldiers songs go to up into immortal spheres, suggesting the place where the dead soldiers found peace. This idea is repeated throughout the whole poem. The phrase they shall not grow old, as we that are left to grow old implies that the deceased soldiers are divine, angelic and eternal beings. Due to their valiant death, their gift is that of eternity, as if their vibrant, determined and brave souls were immortalised, and thus they will be forever young, forever in the best of their condition. The deceased soldiers march in the heavenly plains is as the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness. Heavenly and stars suggest that the divine fighters will always light upon the mortal humans, guiding and protecting them. Time of our darkness refers to the war, and how young men, in the hardest periods of their life, left their homes to save their loved ones, as they will always do from heaven. Binyon sees a continuation of life after death, and thats why the choice of the word fallen in the title, because the sacrificed young men never die. Contrarily, they seem to receive a better, divine existence, incomparable to that of their living fellows. This idea might very well surprise Owen, who suggests that the experience of the war turned the innocent soldiers into devils, who will never find peace in heaven, but will burn in hell thus the violent death of the soldier and the obscene cancer which infects him. The differences between the portrayals of the experience of war in the two poems in striking. Binyons account is patriotic one, which glorifies the fallen soldiers and gives meaning and divinity to their deaths. However, considering the time when it was written at the beginning of the Great War we can get a better understanding of the poets reasons for such an idyllic portrayal of the fighting. At the start of it, the government needed to make the idea of warfare an appealing one in order to have young men risking their lives in the battle . Thus the attractive and heroic depiction of the combating soldiers. At the same time, the poem tries to soothe the mourning families, and this explains the almost holly aura that encircles the deaths on the front. However, as time went on, people got tired of the war and the increasing number of deaths. Soldiers returning from the battle spread the world about appalling conditions and cruel, meaningless deaths. Owen, who wrote the poem by the e nd of the conflict, seems to be well informed about the direct experience of the war and at the same time he is aware of the patriotic and idyllic accounts that existed at the beginning of the fighting. This explains the angry, visceral and meaningless deaths which he depicts in his poem, almost as if he was angry about people lying and making war seem a worthy, purposeful thing. And indeed, his poem ends with a call to other people not to tell with such high zest/To children ardent for some glory, / the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori (It is sweet, and honourable to die for ones country). Owen wrote as an answer to other poems such as Binyons which glorify the experience of war, and this is why he chose the title Dulce et decorum est, to arise the memory of the patriotic accounts from the beginning of the war, and then throughout his poem to shatter the old Lie. He personifies this lie with the capital letter, making it seem as a destructive, evil person. This is the reason why Owen sticks to visceral descriptions he prefers not to spare the reader, because he believes that the Lie is even crueller than the merciless reality of the war.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Epilepsy :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Epilepsy Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by seizures which occur when neurons fire uncontrollably and chaotically. The four most common categories of seizures are: simple partial, complex partial, secondary generalized tonic-clonic, and generalized tonic-clonic. A partial seizure is one in which epileptic activity stays in a focused area of the brain. During a simple partial seizure, the patient maintains full consciousness and experiences hallucinations, illusions and/or muscle jerking. A patient experiencing a complex partial seizure has impaired consciousness and often makes automated movements. A generalized tonic-clonic (GTC) seizure is characterized by complete loss of consciousness, rhythmic jerking, and a period of unresponsiveness. A secondary generalized tonic-clonic (SGTC) seizure is one in which the epileptic activity of a partial seizure spreads to the entire brain, resulting in a generalized seizure.(3). Epilepsy has a variety of different pathologies. These include genetic factors, poisoning, and brain injury. High levels of excitatory neurotransmitters, low levels of inhibitory neurotransmitters, and abnormal wiring are all thought to be causes of seizures. Possibly, abnormalities in the cell membrane play a part in causing seizures. (3). This makes sense since the cell membrane essentially controls the polarization of the cell, which in turn controls the activation of signaling between cells. Often, seizures are caused by a deficiency of GABA, a neurotransmitter which inhibits the passing of information from one neuron to another. (1). Seizures which are caused by lack of inhibitor could, in a way, be likened to the example of a chicken which runs around for some time after its head is cut off. The spastic wild activity of the chicken is due to the fact that the inhibitory neurons are all in the head, which was removed. There is nothing to control the excitatory neurons. Similarly, without enough inhibiting GABA, many neurons send signals all at once, and there is nothing to stop them. One of the more recent forms of treatment for epilepsy is called Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS). The first VNS device was implanted into a human in 1988. ((2).) The vagus nerve is a cranial nerve controlling muscles involved with swallowing, speaking and coughing. The nerve is also involved with receiving input from and sending information about the heart, stomach and lungs to the brain. (6). The Vagus Nerve Stimulator is a small generator which sends electrical activity to the brain to prevent seizures. (5).

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Agricultural enterprises seeking to employ management accounting techniques Essay

Yes. I think the case study with its proposed solutions would be useful to the agricultural enterprises seeking to employ management accounting techniques. It is because the study adopts the activity-based method of costing product and cost allocations. Activities are the main focus on activity-based costing. The main theory in ABC is that overhead costs are originated by an array of movements, and those different products make use of these activities in a heterogeneous way. Costing the activity is normally an in-between step in the distribution of overhead costs to products, to acquire more precise product cost information. However, occasionally the activity itself is the cost object of interest. Like for example, manager of a company might desire to know how much the company spends to acquire their raw materials, as input in a sourcing judgment. The activity of acquiring the raw materials incurs costs associated with negotiating prices with suppliers, issuing purchase orders, receiving fabric, inspecting fabric, and processing payments and returns. The steps to product costing are: 1) Identify the cost; 2) Identify the direct costs associated with the cost object; 3) Identify overhead costs; 4) Select the cost allocation base for assigning overhead costs to the cost object; and 5) Develop the overhead rate per unit for allocating overhead to the cost object. ABC improves steps #3 and #4 dividing large heterogeneous cost groups into multiple smaller, homogeneous cost groups. ABC then tries to choose, as the cost allocation base for each overhead cost pool, a cost driver that best takes hold the cause and effect relationship between the cost object and the incurrence of overhead costs. Usually the best cost driver is a non-financial variable. ABC can moderately turn out to be elaborate. For example, it is frequently helpful to use a two-stage allocation method whereby overhead costs are allocated to intermediate cost groups in the first phase, and then allocated from these intermediate cost groups to products in the second phase. Intermediate step is useful because it permits the introduction of multiple cost drivers for a single overhead cost item. Cost pools are usually established for each level in a hierarchy of costs in an activity-based costing. The following cost hierarchy is commonly identified for manufacturing firms: Unit-level costs. These costs change in a more-or-less linear manner with the number of units produced for any given product. For example, fabric and thread are unit-level costs for a clothing manufacturer; if the company would like to increase production by 100%, it will need twice as much fabric and thread. Batch-level costs. These costs change in a more-or-less linear mode with the number of batches run. Machine setup costs are regularly batch-level costs. The time needed to prepare a machine to run one batch of product is usually independent of the number of units in the batch; the same time required in preparing the machine to run a batch of 100 units as a batch of 50 units. Consequently, batch level costs do not necessarily differ in a linear way with the number of units processed. Product-level costs: These costs are regularly fixed and direct with respect to a given product. An example is the salary of a product manager with responsibility for only one product. The product manager’s salary is a fixed cost to the company for a wide range of production volume levels. However, if the company removes the product totally, the product manager is not anymore needed. Facility-level costs. These costs are usually fixed and direct with respect to the facility. An example is property taxes on the facility, or the salaries of front office personnel such as the receptionist and office manager. ABC provides more exact product cost information because traditional costing systems commonly distribute all overhead, including batch-level overhead, using an allocation base that is suitable only for unit-level costs. The traditional costing system distributes all overhead based on number of units produced. ABC method clearly identifies the cost  hierarchy would correct this problem. ABC could be effectively applied in merchandising and service companies as well as manufacturing firms. Although, originally ABC is attributed to manufacturing companies in the 1980s, by then hospitals were already allocating overhead costs to departments and then to patient services using methods comparable to ABC. Implementations of relatively sophisticated allocation processes were required in hospitals to comply with Medicare reimbursement rules. Other non-manufacturing industries that have benefited from ABC include financial services firms and retailers. 2. If the Farm Council Case did not use Activity Based Costing, identify several dysfunctional decisions that could be made using traditional cost allocation. Which solution do you prefer, the initial or alternative solution proposed in the case? Unlike ABC, the traditional costing system distributes all overhead based on number of units produced which resulted to inappropriate identification of the cost hierarchy. Thus product costing and pricing is not at all very precise and effective.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Individual Differences Approach to Personality...

The Individual Differences Approach to Personality: Personality is a term that has largely been considered an unproblematic concept and primarily refers to the varying kinds of characteristics of individuals. Despite this assumption, psychologists have constantly used the word in different ways. The varying views in the use of this concept or term are fueled by the fact that psychology usually makes generalizations regarding individuals. Generally, personality seeks to examine the many differences and similarities between individuals. Formal evaluation and study of personality have mainly focused on patterns of similarities versus patterns of differences among individuals. When evaluating patterns of differences, the concept of†¦show more content†¦Unlike the nomothetic approach, idiographic uses a case study method in order to provide a detailed account of the behaviors, feelings, subjective experiences, and lives of singles individuals. One of the major examples of i diographic approach in examining individual differences is the case study of the psychoanalytic approach as a means of thinking about personality. The study of individual differences has basically been based on nomothetic personality research despite the focus of this approach on making generalizations and establishing personality structures for every individual. The use of this approach is based on the fact that it does not explore individuality but identifying global dimensions for the entire population of people. The scores of individuals on these dimensions are then used as the basis for differentiation and comparison of people. Explanation of Personality with Reference to Genes: The individual differences approach to assessing personality goes beyond personality descriptions in order to determine the causes of differences in personality. One of the ways that the causes of differences are examined in these studies is through the use of biological systems in light of the probable contributions of genetics to personality (Thomas, n.d., 295). In this case, psychologists have attempted to map individual differences in personality according to brain structure or function. These