ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
One of the tragic consequences of any war is that it demolishes the traditional values and drastically changes the perceptions of the world by those who have gone through its horrors. Coming back to normal life appears a torture to such people since their vision of future existence runs counter to the standards of the peace time. While civilian population seeks shelter from the harshness of the angry world in the safe harbor of family life, soldiers who come back from the war find themselves incompatible with the traditional pattern of life. Such dramatic situation is described in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Soldier’s Home”, where the character of Harold Krebs reveals itself as a tragic hero who is opposed to the traditional world represented in the characters of the average citizens. To unfold the characterization of Harold Krebs in “Soldier’s Home”, Hemingway employs a whole range of means. For one thing, Krebs’ character opens up through his actions, thoughts and reactions to the surrounding world. From the very beginning of the story the reader faces a series of monotonous repetitions that reflect an objective, dull, almost mechanical state of Harold’s mind: multiple reiterations of phrases like “There is a picture…”, “He liked…”, “He did not want…”, “It was simply not worth it” reflect Harold’s emotional deadness and indifference caused by the terrors of the war (Hemingway 165–167). War was not the only cause for Harold’s apathy: he was met with estrangement by his own community who wanted not the truth but the embellished tales that were far from the war reality. Revolted by the necessity to tell those lies, Harold rejects the reality which is false for him and creates his own existence opposite to the conventional routine: instead of finding a job and settling down with a girl, he sleeps, reads books, plays pool and the clarinet. Thus he explicitly opposes himself to the society by means of his words and deeds. For another thing, Harold’s surname is significant: Hemingway borrowed it from his friend married to a woman old enough to be his mother (Lynn 258). This fact signifies the importance placed on the dramatic conflict between Harold’s world-view and that of his mother’s. Hemingway launches this conflict to provide a deeper understanding of Harold’s incompatibility with his environment. Setting off Harold’s lack of determination and definite life objectives, the foil character of his mother embodies all the traditional values: in trying to convince her son of the necessity for settling down and finding a job, Harold’s mother acts as a herald of conventional lifestyle that rather repulses than inspires Harold. Harold’s relaxed existence appears meaningless to his mother, who represents the traditional Protestant values of work and family, of everyone’s life subordinated to the eternal laws of the Kingdom of God. The more painful and uncomfortable for Harold is his mother’s attempt to place hi
The term ‘Civilization’ has many connotations. Different cultures have differing view of what constitutes civilization. Henry Smith Williams, eminent doctor, lawyer and historian through his article titled Civilization written in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910 and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, lawyer, social activist, philosopher writing in his book Hind Swaraj, or Indian Home Rule , 1909 offer two strikingly contrasting views, which in parts; have some similarities as to what civilization means. Henry Smith Williams (1863-1943) was a typical enlightened intellectual of his times. A practicing doctor in New York, Williams believed in scientific reasoning and utilitarian principles of life and hence all his writings have slant towards explaining issues in a simple, practical and pragmatic manner. MK Gandhi (1869-1948) was a world figure born in India, who practiced as a lawyer in South Africa and later returned to India to lead a freedom struggle. Gandhi pioneered the concept of satyagraha or the peaceful protest movement. Gandhi’s’ lifelong beliefs in Ahimsa or non-violence, his version of humanism that emphasized the dignity of man that included a moral code and duty towards his nation, society and man in general were instrumental in capitulating him to World wide renown. This essay examines the nuances of ‘Civilization’ as understood and explained by the two luminaries with a view to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the term. Williams approaches the issue through an analytical Western treatment of the term that comes natural to the person’s nationality, upbringing and education. Gandhi’s approach is more syncretistic and nuanced owing to his Eastern origins, life experiences and adherence to a different philosophy of life that eschews materialism. According to Williams the word ‘civilization’ is a derivative of the Latin civis , a citizen, and civilis , pertaining to a citizen 1 . Williams proceeds by giving an etymological treatment to the concept of civilization linking it to human progress where man developed system of writings and technological advancement. Gandhi on the other hand, describes civilization as a state of things wherein its “true test lies in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life” 2 and that such actions should lead to promote bodily happiness. The subtle difference is that while William’s emphasis is on the material aspects of civilization, Gandhi’s is steeped towards humanism. Williams offers the western outlook of the various ages of man and uses the term ‘savages’ that reflects an unconscious sentiment of superiority in stating that ‘savages’ are savage because they had not developed into civilized races of today. Gandhi castigates this tendency by observing that Westerners consider other people to have become civilized out of savagery only when they adopt European clothing 3 , thus pointing to obvious racial overtones. Williams assumes that elaborate system of writings evolved approximately six thousand years before the Christian era 4 and that period could be termed
Introduction The travel and tourism industries form one of the most important sectors in the economy of any country. In 1999 the tourism and travel industry formed 5% of UK GDP. The travel and tourism sector serves the demand for travel of residents in and out of the country as well as travel for visitors from overseas. The travel and tourism industry has made tremendous steps of growth over time while responding to the constant challenges facing the dynamic industry. The challenges facing the travel and tourism industry are drawn from within the country as well as from global impacts and demands. Travel and tourism, in addition to the high contribution to the economy, integrate a lot of other industries proving employment opportunities to a vast population in the country. The travel industry involves road, air, rail, and water transport sectors. The development of the travel industry in the UK has directly led to positive impacts on the tourism sector, especially when responding to dynamic challenges. Development of package holidays Initially, the tourism industry involved tour operators who arranged holiday packages for customers. This involved provision of accommodation means of travel, and choice of activities that were pre-arranged, etc. These arrangements were done to suit the operations of the tour operators. The recent development in this area has been the shift to a situation where the consumers make choices that suit them. This has been made possible through the use of online booking systems where the consumer chooses from thousands of options provided, thanks to the development of information and communication technology. This involves research on the area of preference, booking a flight, accommodation, plan routes, hire cars, and book a train or ferry, etc all possible by clicking a mouse. Availability of this service has prompted the consumers to buy directly from the suppliers while the suppliers sell directly to the consumers e.g. Budget Airlines offers real-time online bookings at varying prices. Development of travel agents The shift of the operations in the travel and tour operations from supplier-driven to consumer-driven operations has lead to direct interactions of the consumer and the supplier of travel services. The above-indicated concept has posed a great challenge to the businesses of travel agents where the number of clients in travel agencies is constantly reducing. This shift has posed a great challenge to the tour operators and several companies have merged to create a market dominated by two major service providers. In October 2008, Worldchoice and Travel Trade Association (TTA) merged to beef up operations against the Triton Travel Group. While the tour operators have rendered the consumers independent to make the
In modern society, teenagers face difficult situations in their life due to the psychological and physical changes they undergo. Moreover, they often encounter both negative and positive issues, such as sexuality, morality, family, identity, substance abuse, that significantly broaden their experience and learn them to cope with new challenges. Besides, learning at high school also implies communicating with peers who often create pressure, which is hard for adolescents to deal with. For this adolescent observation project, I have chosen to identify and describe the developmental stage of a 15-year-old girl, named Elizabeth. She studies at high school and is fond of many disciplines, including philosophy and literature. Elizabeth can easily communicate with both her peers and parents. She is not afraid of meeting new people and exploring new opportunities. Although she is extremely curious and sociable, sometimes she prefers staying alone. Elizabeth has a younger brother Eric, who attends the same school. I observed the girl after she had returned from school and was making her homework. While conducting a one-hour interview, I learned about her friends, hobby, relationships with parents, and problems at school. After interviewing Elizabeth and her parents for 60 minutes, I have developed the observational report that focuses on the physical, cognitive, social, and psychological development of the girl. The main purpose of the report consists of evaluating the impact of social environment on adolescent’s ability to communicate and identify any psychological, cognitive, and emotional barriers. Additionally, the analysis will be premised on recent developmental theories of adolescent behavior. Specific attention is paid to the theories of psychological development provided by Piaget and Kohlberg to define how environmental factors affect an adolescent’s reaction to social and cultural settings. Elizabeth was very excited when she learned about the interview. Although she was a bit reserved and confused, she demonstrated her willingness to communicate. Her calmness, tactfulness, and respect for the interview explained her readiness to respond to the questions honestly and with detail. During the interview, I noticed that the girl was more concerned with her school problems rather than with the family relationship. While discussing Elizabeth’s hobbies, she expressed her great interest in dancing and drawing. However, parents persuaded Elizabeth to go to the art sch
Coraline is a masterpiece of modern animation directed by Henry Selick. Initially, it was created by Neil Gaiman, and for the first time, this character and the whole universe appeared in the author’s children’s story with the same name back in 2002. Having moved to a new house, Coraline tries to live an ordinary life; parents are busy with their affairs and have little interaction with their daughter. One fine day, the girl discovers a door that leads her to an alternative life, where her parents surround her with care, and everything seems different (Selick). However, one day, Coraline realizes something is wrong with the “other parents,” when the girl is offered to replace her eyes with buttons. She decides to outwit the “other mother” to save the true parents and escape the fantasy world that has become a nightmare. The adequacy of the plot, courage, and common sense of the main character are the main reasons why the picture resonates with the audience. The real world, where the real Jones family lives with their neighbors, is painted in gray and dull colors. In another one, everything is completely different: bright and tasty food for dinner, delicious popcorn with cotton candy in the circus, but something is still wrong. The fact is that in the reality, Coraline feels out of place, and no one cares about her and her desires. It is noteworthy that people and their clothes in the real world stand out noticeably against a gray background. In an ideal world, the characters merge with the background or look lighter. This difference can be explained by the fact that the real parents of the girl, as well as their neighbors, are real people, not fictional. They all have dreams, desires, goals, and thoughts, unlike dolls, which only play their roles in the world of the witch. In an ideal world, only the scenery and background are ideal, but people are the true value in the present. The main lesson learned from a frightening fairy tale is that every seemingly ideal world, no matter how similar it looks to the true one, turns out to be only a clever fake. Work Cited Selick, Henry, director. Coraline. Pandemonium Films, 2009.
The research, which has been carried out, is aimed at analyzing leadership frameworks and their applicability to educational institutions. Overall, it is worth mentioning that managers and scholars have not yet come to a consensus as to which approach will be the most beneficial because, under certain circumstances, all of them can be very productive and helpful. First, it should be pointed out that there are several leadership theories studying the qualities that a leader should possess. In addition to that, scholars often place special emphasis on behavioral patterns, in other words, the steps that a person should take to become a successful leader and organize the staff in the most effective way. It is quite possible for us to single out the following leadership theories: for instance, situational, moral (or transformational), credibility theories, etc. Certainly, this list is not complete, and it can be easily continued, but these approaches are now considered to be the most prominent ones. While discussing credibility theory, we should say that it is mostly based on the analysis of public opinion, namely, employees perception of the “perfect” manager. According to such an approach, a manager has to possess such qualities as honesty, the ability to inspire, competence, and foresight in order to become successful (Birgit Schyns, 2005). It stands to reason that these traits are compulsory for any educator, but a teacher performs a more complicated task. The credibility theory is applicable in companies, though its usefulness in schools may be questioned. As it has been mentioned before, it is based on the analysis of employees opinions, which may be subjective or even
Dreams of Avarice Niall Ferguson pointed out the reasons why certain groups of people clamor for the establishment of a cash-less society. History provides gruesome tales of how human beings were treated like beasts of burden because of the pursuit of money. The author tells how Europeans exploited the native inhabitants of South America to mine precious metals. The evil schemes that were perpetuated due to the people’s love for money seemed to justify the need to eradicate the financial system based on coins and paper money. However, Ferguson was quick to explain that the advantage of money is manifested in its ability to eliminate the inefficiencies inherent in the barter system. Besides, paper money and coins enable human beings to enter into economic transactions over long periods, and the need to conduct business transactions that cover significant geographical distances. This insight into the importance of a reliable financial system is not a byproduct of enlightened minds or modern thinking. The author asserted that the earliest known coins were dated as early as 600 B.C. The concept was so important to human progress that the evolution of the financial system needed to support social and economic development resulted in the establishment of the banking system known today. The author was correct in his assertion that money is a necessary evil. The romantic notion of a cash-less society exists only in works of fiction. Primitive societies that survived without the benefit of a financial system are characterized as barbaric people prone to violence because of the desperate need to secure the needs related to food, clothing, and shelter. Of Human Bondage The author asserted that the modern world created the bond market to facilitate the borrowing of money to sustain government expenditures. He also pointed out that this new system of borrowing traced its roots to the medieval warfare that plagued Europe. Traditional warfare was characterized by local inhabitants or citizens of the state defending its property and resources against invaders. However, the military conflict described during Europe’s medieval age involved battles that were fought not by the citizens of the realm but by mercenaries. It is interesting to note that the bond market started as compulsory investments when wealthy citizens were compelled to lend money to the state to pay for the cost of war. Thus, bonds evolved into a financial instrument that kept nations afloat. However, its weakness is too glaring to ignore. The author was correct when he said that human beings are in bondage to the bond market. People’s behavior towards bonds is comparable to a drug addict with perfect knowledge of the risks involved in consuming prohibited drugs but has no power to stop. It is interesting to note that bonds are prone to produce declining yields. It is also important to
The play “A Doll’s House,” written by Henrik Ibsen, is an interesting piece from the perspective of people’s struggles in society. Their challenges are presented by the need to comply with the norms in terms of appearance and behavior while neglecting their own desires and motivation. Thus, in the story, the main theme, which is the sacrificial role of female characters, is supported by the conflict of societal standards and personal intentions alongside symbolic elements. The narrative clarifies the necessity for women to be victims in certain ways when telling about the issues Nora and Mrs. Linde face. The latter claims that her existence is “unspeakably empty” since all she has to think about is her family needs while having no chance to be with the man she loves (Ibsen 12). In turn, the former says that the necessity to conform is determined by men’s opinions of her as “incapable of anything really serious” (Ibsen 13). Both characters share the same conflict, which is the requirement to comply with societal norms while neglecting themselves, underpinned by symbols. For example, Nora saying “doll is taken away from you” means the specified attitude of her husband (Ibsen 95). When leaving him, she explains the impossibility of living with a person who does not respect her, and this ending proves that this comparison defines the general perceptions of females in this piece. In conclusion, the relation between the described conflict and the theme can be viewed as the dependence of the position of victims on societal norms. These components are connected by the inclusion of dolls as the symbols speaking of men’s attitudes towards women. Thus, the play effectively presents all these elements intertwined in the narrative to portray the link between the individual and collective needs that cannot be balanced. Work Cited Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Dodo Press, 2005.
The Misery Index and the US share of the global GDP from 1960 to 2007 is as shown below (figure 1). The GDP share declined steeply in the 1970s when oil producing countries increased share portion. This trend levelled-off in the 1980s. Even with the strong emergence of the information-technology in the 1990s; the US share has been on the downward trend and lately, steeply. To respond to the short supply of the petroleum commodity in the 1970s; the US used expansionary policies intended to influence monetary and fiscal schemes. The expansionary intentions exceeded productivity resulting in higher inflation. This scenario popularly known as stagflation has recurred again in the recent recession. Recent US governing regimes have adopted a protectionist approach due to increase in job losses. There has been a rising trend of back-office outsourcing propelled by the globalisation of the economy. Protectionist tendencies incldes the near sanction action reported by Rowley, against the China currency in 2011. Figure 1: % of Global GDP and Misery Index, United States, 1960–2008 Sourced from Levine (13) Figure 2: Expansionary monetary policy Sourced from Mbemba (193) Figure 3: Contractionary monetary policy Sourced from Mbemba (193) Globalisation of the economy results in inflation depending on the prices of inbound goods (imports) because of competition between imports and exports. This influences the pricing power of suppliers and productivity growth. With a globalised market, those supplying the US with commodities and labour face-off competition-wise because prices and wages are determined within the local and international markets. That’s why more products found in the US markets (like textile) are from Asian countries because of lower manufacturing and labour costs. Trade competitively lowers prices; but, not inflation. In the past, US tax laws have made it cheaper to produce abroad resulting in a trade deficit. That’s why China and India have emerged as stronger economic powers driven by trade booms. To address this, the US introduced counter measures like tax laws and declining exchange-rate. The intended effect is to transfer spending power to the rest of the world as redress for trade imbalances. Thus, there is a relative decline compared to the income in the rest of the world. This explains the US trade deficit experiences. When the US spends highly, the demand curve shift outwards to RD W1 ; resulting in a higher value (PU/EP T ) as the new equilibrium. Thus, the terms-of-trade in the US improve with a rise in exchange to (PU/EP T ) 1 . The higher the transfer (of trade) from the global economy, the greater the increase in the US terms-of-trade. Other factors like foreign tastes and technology have an effect on terms-of-trade. Preferences for US goods result in right shift in the RD T and smaller upward change in the RD U line. When there is a negative slope, the US’ stronger terms-of-trade are associated with a broader US trade deficit (TT). This moves US-economy from A to B and the trade deficit from C to D. Figure 4: Terms-of-Trad