Steps of the New Induction Program

SWelcomes the new comer to the organization. 2. Explain the overall objectives of the company and the department. 3. Explain the employees’ role in achieving the objectives. 4. Show the location or place of work. 5. Handover the rules and job descriptions. 6. Give detail the training opportunities and promotional advancement. 7. Discuss the working conditions. 8. Furnish all details regarding salary and benefits. 9. Guide the employees through a tour of entire of the organization. 10.The induction program usually done either by formal induction program and or by informal induction program. Some large organizations follow the formal induction program, which carefully planned induction-orientation training program helps a new employee to quickly adjust to the new surroundings, assimilate the new culture, and Reduce Insecurity, Reduced Anxiety, Reduced Cultural Shock, and Reduced Exploitation. In some medium and small organizations informal induction program is carried out either by Supervisor system and or Buddy or Sponsor system.Elements of good Induction Programme A good induction programme has three main elements which is described below: 1. Introductory Information: Introductory information regarding the history of the company and company’s products, its organizational structure, policies, rules and regulations etc. should be given informally or in group session in the personnel department. It will help the candidates to understand the company and the organizational policies and standards well. 2.On the Job Information: Further information should be given to the new employee by the department supervisor in the department concerned where he is placed on the job about departmental facilities and requirements such as nature of the job, the extent of his liability and the employee activities such as recreational facilities, safety measures, job routine etc. 3. Follow up Interviews: A follow up interview should be arranged several weeks after the emp loyee has been on the job by the supervisor or a representative of the personnel department to answer the problems that are a new employee may have on the job. . 7 EMPLOYEE SEPARATION Employees separate from the campus in a variety of ways. Some separations are voluntary and initiated by the employee, such as resignation or retirement. Others are involuntary and initiated by management, such as lay off or medical separation. The death of an employee or dismissal for cause creates unique challenges. Each type of separation requires specific, different actions by you, though some processes are common to all. Your common sense and good judgment will serve you well in response to the special circumstances that arise with each employee’s separation.Whatever the circumstances, every employee leaving the campus, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, should feel they were treated with respect. Keep this goal in mind as you review the guidelines for different types of separations in t his chapter. ? Death of an Employee ? Dismissal ? Exit Interviews ? Job Abandonment ? Lay off ? Medical Separation ? Resignation ? Retirement Training benefits There are numerous reasons for supervisors to conduct training among employees. These reasons include: ? Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees. Increased employee motivation. ? Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain. ? Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods. ? Increased innovation in strategies and products. ? Reduced employee turnover. ? Enhanced company image, e. g. , conducting ethics training (not a good reason for ethics raining! ). Reasons for emphasizing the growth and development of personnel include: ? Creating a pool of readily available and adequate replacements for personnel who may leave or move up in the organization. Enhancing the company’s ability to adopt and use advances in technology because of a sufficiently knowledgeable staff. ? Building a more efficient, effective and highly motivated team, which enhances the company’s competitive position and improves employee morale. ? Ensuring adequate human resources for expansion into new programs. Research has shown specific benefits that a small business receives from training and developing its workers, including: ? Increased productivity. ? Reduced employee turnover. ? Increased efficiency resulting in financial gains. Decreased need for supervision.EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES: AN INDIAN 1. 7 PERSPECTIVE Kautilya’s Period: Kautilya provides a systematic treatment of management of human resources as early as in the 4th Century B. C. in his treatise titled ‘Arthashastra’. ? There prevailed logical procedures and principles in respect of labour organizations such as ‘Shreni’ or Guild system and the cooperative sector. ? The wages were paid strictly in terms of quantity and quality of work turned out, and punishments were imposed for unnecessary delaying the work or spoiling it. Kautilya provides an excellent discussion on staffing and personnel management embracing job descriptions, qualifications for job, selection procedure, and executive development, incentive systems (Carrot and Stick approach). Varnasharm: There are several indications regarding the operations of principles of the divisions of labour. The concept of Varnashram or caste system was originally based on these principles: ? The individuals, who used to earn their livelihood by engaging themselves in activities such as teaching, sacrifice or state management, were designed as Brahmins. Individuals engaged in the areas of trade, business and agriculture were called ‘Vaishyas’ and those devoting themselves to manual work were known as ‘Shudras’. Later on, these professions emerged to be heredity which facilitated the transfer of skills and training from one generation to another. The Medieval: (As regard to In dian Economy in Medieval India): Although there were a lull because of numerous foreign aggressions for around 700 years, during the Mughal Rule, the Indian trade and commerce were reviewed.Several ‘Karkhanas’ were established at Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Ahmedabad and various other places. ? A majority of the artisans and the craftsmen had extremely poor conditions of existences and lived on starvation level. ? The productivity of workers was very low, low wages, climatic conditions and poor physique were the major factors responsible for it. British Period: There prevailed laissez-faire policy towards business. ? As it is evidenced in the report of the Indigo Commission, the working conditions were appalling, living conditions were subhuman, and several abuses prevailed in Indigo plantations.Again, as regards tea plantation, several cases of inhuman cruelties caused to the workers are encountered. ? Even the Plantation Act of 1863 makes provisions that if the workers faile d to complete their period of contract, they should be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three months. ? The labourers who attempted to run away were subjected to imprisonment whipping and allied extreme punishments. ? Accordingly, the workers were entirely helpless in the face of organized and powerful European Planters. The above conditions prevailed till the enactment of the Factory Act of 1881.According to the Act; the workers employed in the factories were allowed a weekly off day, and provisions were also made for inspection as well as limiting the hours of work for women workers to 11 per day. The Act further provided that the minimum age of children for employment should be seven years and that the maximum working hours for them should not exceed seven hours a day and that too in the day shift. In 1890, the first labour organization designated as ‘Bombay Mill Hands Association’ was established.Subsequently, in 1905, the Printers Union at Calcutta and in 1907 , the Postal Union at Bombay were established. The Madras Labour Union was organized thereafter in 1918. In 1920, the indentured labour system involving migration of Indian labour to other countries on contract basis, was abolished as a result of a strong national movement. In the same year, the Central Labour Board was established to federate the different unions in the Bombay city and the All India Trade Union Congress was organized.In 1923, for the first time in the organized sector, Tata Steel appointed K. A. Naoroji as a labour or welfare officer to look after labour issues in the various departments of the steel work. The formal implementation of the Indian Trade Union Act, 1926 forms a landmark in the history of industrial relations in this country. The Royal Commission on Labour (1929–1931) recommended the appointment of labour officers or liaison officers to deal with recruitment as measures to prevent corrupt practices in Indian industry.They were considered a recru itment officers directly reporting to general manager. As the commission observed, ‘No employee should be engaged except by the labour officer personally in consultation with the departmental head, and none should be dismissed without his consent except by the manager after hearing what the labour officer had to say’ accordingly, the Bombay Mill Owners Association and the Indian Jute Mills Association appointed labour officers in 1935 and 1938, respectively.During World War II, the need for mobilizing labour support was felt and thus, several welfare officers were appointed to deal with working conditions, canteen, ration shops, recreations, medical facilities, worker’s housing and allied fringe benefits. Post-Independence Period: With the emergence of compulsory adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the welfare officers were made responsible for handling the disputes and adjudication pertaining to the conditions of services including wages, leave s, retirement benefits and bonus.Thus, they became industrial relations officers and started performing industrial relations functions such as collective bargaining, conciliation, and adjudication. Employment Exchange (Compulsory notification of vacancies) Act, 1959 and the Apprentices Act, 1961 were passed to regulate recruitment and training of workers, respectively. In the view of growing labour legislation commencing with the right to hire and ending with right to fire, the employees tended to employ welfare or labour officers with a legal background. 21st session of standing Labour conference held in Dec. 963 recommended that the functions of welfare officer and personnel officers should be precisely demarcated and that the former should not be responsible for dealing with disciplinary cases against workers or appears in court on behalf of the management against the workers in labour dispute cases. Personnel Management during 1970s: In the early seventies, as Punekar observes, the personnel field covered under three major areas of professional disciplines: (1) Labour welfare, (2) Industrial relations, and (3) Personnel administration.These three areas revealed the chronological order of the development of the personnel field. Immediately after industrialization, labour welfare, mainly social reformist in nature, came into the picture. The inevitable emergence of trade unions resistance organizations to employers opened the field of industrial (or Union-Management) relations. Lastly, with the development of scientific management of industry, personnel administration took root.The three areas of labour welfare, industrial relations and personnel administration were being looked after the three professional functionaries: (1) Welfare officer, (2) Labour officer, and (3) Personnel officer. However, in the early 80s, the area of labour officer largely merged with personnel administration and refers to as personnel management. Personnel Management during 1980s: In 1980s HRM was regarded as a specialized rofession such as that of other professional functions. In addition to industrial relations functions (although sometimes the industrial relations formed a separate branch), the personnel branch was responsible for varied functions i. e. , employment, safety training, wages and salary administration and research and development. Indeed, the activities involved in the personnel department were akin to those performed in this department in other western countries.Specially, where the personnel, industrial relations and welfare functions were combined in one department, three categories of activities relating to these functions were obtained. The personnel department involves in technical and allied services. Thus, industrial relation activities including contract negotiations, grievance handling, preparation and presentation of arbitration cases and research in labour problems; for educational activities including employee training, supervis ory training, organizational planning and management development, communication programs etc. for wage and salary administration, including preparation of job descriptions, job evaluations, incentive and profits sharing systems and executive compensation; for employment activities, such as recruiting, psychological testing, medical examination, interviewing, and employee record keeping; and technical services: health and welfare measures. The personnel manager’s role is to advice. Usually, advise the line and top management in respect of legal matters regarding the termination of services and transfer, human relations problems confronting the line managers and technical procedures in areas, such as wages and salary administration.In some instances, the personnel manager was required to advise management regarding the improvement of human climate in the organization. Human Resource Management during 1990s: During 1990s a new human resources management has emerged, especially a s a result of the globalization and liberalization. The economy and the policy of India is fast changing in the wake of liberalization policies mooted in year 1990. Consequently the form and content of capitalist relations between the various factors of production are undergoing a change.What has emerged a new era of HR Management? As a result of liberalization and globalization the human resources management and industrial relations have acquired strategic importance. The success of the new policies mostly depends on to a large extent, on the introduction of new industrial relations and human resources policies at the national and the organizational levels. The pressure of change is already visible in the economy and witnessed in the industrial relations and HRM areas.The world economic order is also changing rapidly. Evolutionary changes are taking place at revolutionary pace, largely influenced by the external forces, arising out of a desire to increase competitiveness and effici ency. Centrally planned economics are opening up to have their tryst with counterpart of free market economy. Structural adjustments and reforms are holding sway establishing primary of economic imperatives over dogmatic political compulsions.Organization today working in a commercially competitive global economic environment are struggling for their own survival and growth. The liberalizations and bold economic reforms by Government have thrown out many challenges and opportunities to the Indian industry. With explosion of the Information and communication technology, increased global competition, fast changing market conditions, the deregulations etc. organizations have to redesign their strategies and outlook to HRM.

Edexcel History Part B Royal Family Essay

Do you agree with the view that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy? There is evidence to suggest that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy. However there is also a case to argue that increasing media coverage of the royal family had other significant effects. Source 15 supports the view that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy when it says the slapstick gameshow ‘It’s a Royal Knockout’, which many members of the royal family took part in ‘seriously dented their dignity: the nation was not amused’, which suggests the people of Britain lost respect for the royal family as a result of media coverage. This is supported in source 16 when it says ‘We hope the Windsors and their ad visors are watching the mood on the streets and learning from it’, which implies that the royal family should be careful how they act so they do not lose any further respect from the public. Source 17 also supports the view the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy when it talks about a ‘time of uncertainty’. This suggests that due to the influence of the media, people were uncertain of how to view the royal family, as they were beginning to be portrayed as less high up in society, and therefore commanding less respect. This is supported in source 15, which says ‘their magic began to wane’. This implies that although a certain amount of respect remained for the royal family, they were beginning to be seen as less remarkable to the British public. Events such as ‘It’s a Knockout’ were aattempts at modernising the relationship between the royal family and the people of Britain, but they reduced the mystique of the family and eroded respect. Source 17 contradicts the view that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family fro m the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy when it says that two programmes about the lives of the monarchy ‘were two of the decade’s biggest televisual events’ suggesting that one significant effect of the increasing media coverage was to increase the interest and awareness of the royal family. Previously, apart from Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, there was little knowledge of the lives of the monarchy, and more media coverage meant that people could find out more about them, and see that they are actually normal people. This would allow some relation between ordinary people and the royal family, perhaps gaining them some popularity. This is supported in source 15 which says ‘they could laugh at themselves’, suggesting the royal family were increasingly being seen as regular, fun-loving people just like everyone else. This is a stark contrast to how they would have been viewed in previous years, as they were viewed by the public as more traditional, conservative and perhaps even dull. Source 16 contradicts the view that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy when it says that the royal family have ‘grasped the lesson of Diana’s popularityâ€⠄¢, implying that the royal family’s reputation is not being ruined by media coverage and rather that it is increasing their popularity. This is supported in source 17 which says ‘the monarchy was still respected as Britain’s most prestigious institution’ also suggesting that the royal family’s reputation had not been damaged by media coverage, they had just become more popular and maintained their prestigious status in the meantime. From 1981 onwards there was huge media interest in Diana, Princess of Wales. This has a largely negative impact on the royal family, supporting the view that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy. Not only did it reduce respect for the royal family, making them more into ‘celebrities’ than well-respected figures, it also arguably led to the death of Princess Diana. The Princess of Wales died in a car crash whilst being pursued b ya car full of paparazzi. This tragic event is a perfect example of how the image of the monarch ywas damaged by increased media inter est; they were no longer really seen as real people, let alone respected. Newspaper articles about them were hugely sensationalised and focused on scandals, rather than trying to maintain the high status of the monarchy. For example, telephone scandals amongst the royal family were widely reported. The ‘Camillagate’ and ‘Squidgygate’ stories concerned taped phone conversations that were evidence for extra-marital affairs, and were quite graphic in parts. This led to a dramatic change in how many people saw the Windsor family. It gave people a reason to look down upon them, and people did not think members of the family should engage in such acts when they were supposed to be setting an example to the country. Another prime example of how media influence damaged the image of the royal family was when the Royal Family failed to publically display their grief for the loss of Diana. Previously, this would not have been a problem but such was the extent of the media coverage of the royal family by this time, people were expecting to hear from the Windsors about Diana’s death. When a message of grief did not come, people thought the royal family were uncaring and rather out of touch with the public. In conclusion, I agree that the main effect of increasing media coverage of the royal family from the 1970s onwards was to damage the image of the monarchy. Source 15 argues this case by saying the royal family were beginning ‘to acquire a negative, less tasteful kind of glamour’. This source is from a textbook, so it is likely that the information is accurate and unbiased, and therefore quite useful as a source. However there is also evidence that increasing media coverage of the royal family had other significant effects, such as increasing the popularity of the royal family and interest in their lives. This keeps the royal family relevant to our society as a symbol of Britain, so it is quite important. As well as this more coverage of the private lives of the royal family would have allowed people to relate better to them, and therefore support them more. This is significant because a monarchy is often seen as useless in our current society, so for the royal family to continue existing there needs to be continual public support. This view is discussed in source 17 which says ‘the monarch ywas stil lrespected as Britain’s most prestigious institution’, suggesting media had positive effects on the royal family rather that just damaging their reputation. Source 17 is quite a reliable source as it is from a textbook, and seems to present quite a balanced view of the media’s influence on the royal family. Source 16 on the other hand is less useful to either argument and talks in quite a patronising way about the royal family, saying they hope the Windsors are ‘learning from’ the ‘mood on the streets’. It is an editorial from the Independent newspaper, so may be sensationalised and therefore less accurate.

Palmers Limited Case Study

Cost's they overlook the quality. While BC tries to look pretty to their customer, Cost pay less attention to their look and more to provide the lowest prices for their members. From 1997 to 2001, Wall-Mart store numbers were increased by 53, Bi's stores went up by 50, but Cost went up by 91 . Cost's business strategy Is very simple, â€Å"To generate high sales volumes and rapid Inventory turnover by offering members very low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and select private-label products In a wide range of merchandise categories† (Thompson, 2008) .They have able to implement this strategy very successfully. They have also been very successful in making their customer believe that product is a better quality than their competitors, interestingly their competitors in most cases don't carry the same kind of product. Cost's marketing strategy is simple yet effective, the idea of providing the lowest price and good quality product is a strategy to be reckon with. Plus there marketing idea of â€Å"Treasure Hunt† has allowed them to saved tons of money from broad advertisement.After a membership base Is established In an area, most new memberships came from word of mouth. This simple marketing and advertisement strategy has allowed Cost to keep Its marketing expenses low relative to those at typical retailers, discounter, and supermarkets. Cost is also known for its price strategy. They have become a master in providing top quality products even including some brand products at the lowest price possible to their customers.Instead of marking up their cap to 20 or 50 percent like their competitors they decided to cap their mark up to only 14 percent, which itself a key element in Cost's pricing strategy. This also indicates that Cost is trying to do what it takes to please their customer to increase their profits so they can make their shareholders happy at same time. It's this price strategy that has allows Cost to only only make profit over the year, but Increase their member to $110. Cost's product selection strategy Is also very Impressive. Unlike their competitor who carry from where from 40000 to 1 50000 SKU items , Cost decided to selecting Ana prove only auto mess I en last Includes everyday Items sun as kitchen supplies, Electronics, health and beauty products, automotive supplies, gasoline, games, cleaning supplies, canned goods, Food. They categories their product in commercial and professional use. Plus, Cost's treasure hunt merchandising strategy is also an attention grabber. Out of the 4000 items on the floor about 1000 were the treasure hunt product, meaning their prices with constantly changing.In most cases these were higher end products like furniture and TV. Cost's growth strategy is also quite remarkable. On average they have been opening about 20 to 25 new stores each year. Most of them in American but some internationally as well including; Canada, Korea, I-J, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. In recent year they experimented by opening independent Furniture store to sell high end bigger furniture items which resulted in good success. Later rather than opening more stores they instead added extra space about 45000 square feet to the Cost it self and called it Cost Home.Now the furniture category has become on of the tope 5 selling items on Cost's website. They are very innovative when it comes to their warehouse and management strategy. Cost's CEO, Jim Senegal, quoted, â€Å"Cost is able to offer lower prices and deter values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers, including salespeople, fancy buildings, delivery, billing, and accounts receivable. We run a tight operation with extremely low overhead which enables us to pass on dramatic savings to our members†. They stored the inventory on racks above the items being sold in the warehouse. That reduced their labor cost and saved them a lo t time on handling and stocking. They treat their manager as entrepreneur and allows them to decide what item should be sold in their store. They adored most of the inventory directly from the manufactures. It either came directly to the store or went to their distribution center called crosschecking depots. The point of these depots were to reduce the transportation cost by making sure all truck are full when they come the store.As an investor I wouldn't would want to invest in a company that has a good reputation, consistently growing, good sustainable growth, and good future plans. Let's talk about sustainable growth rate, which basically means that a firm can grow while keeping its profitability and financial policies unchanged. Sustainable growth model allows us to segregate reasons or changes that have led as a company to substantial growth so at the same time we can segregate the causes for those change. It is represented in four steps.

360 Degree Performance Appraisal within IKH ZASAG University of Mongo Essay - 1

360 Degree Performance Appraisal within IKH ZASAG University of Mongolia - Essay Example The 360-degree feedback must not be applied only for appraisal, but can also help in the improvement of employees along with the progress of the institute. This will help the employee to understand the feedback and further use it for performance improvement. A 360-degree system should be an ongoing activity, rather than one time one. 360-degree feedback creates a culture, which engages everyone in the development process and helps in building a system to align individual performance with organizational expectations. This leads to improvement in organizational performance, as well as employee development.In today's changing and volatile world, organizations are continually looking for ways to improve performance and satisfy the demands of all stakeholders. Achieving this position inevitably involves change, which then becomes the pivotal dynamic for success. An organization's success depends on the people it employs and whether they adopt innovative changes. They should know their lev el of current performance and improvements needed in it. This is the area where 360Â ° feedback plays a vital role in organizations. It has the ability to provide structured and in-depth information about current performance and the required performance of an individual in future. The worth of effectual performance appraisal systems, especially360Â ° feedback method, might be related to the overall progress of the firms and its importance is being appreciated by leaders and managers of topical times.The 360-degree feedback is well reputed as the "multi-rater feedback," or "multisource feedback," process. This procedure of obtaining feedback centers on an employee and feedbacks are derived from his surroundings. The people receiving the feedback to sketch their training and development, career objectives of the employees, and to organize a performance development graph often find the results from 360-degree method quite helpful.

US Immigration History Reading Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

US Immigration History Reading Journal - Essay Example Adams (242) criticizes the exploitation by immigrant parents of their children’s earnings, and extols the role of public schools as Americanizing agencies: school-going daughters educate their immigrant mothers. The third sociologist (244) depicts the patriarchal immigrant family, in which arranged marriages are the norm, and children automatically assume responsibility for their parents. The the three Italian-American males (246), regret the undermining of traditional parental authority and the American-like freedom granted to immigrant women. The accounts of Swedish-Americans (248) demonstrate the economic and personal freedom gained by immigrant women in the USA. The Mexican ballads (249) echo the earlier Italian chauvinistic protest against liberalization of female behavior. The narrative of a Chinese prostitute (250) shows that, in some cases, female exploitation by ethnic groups continues even after immigration. Diner’s essay (252) depicts how low marital rates, late marriages, desertion by husbands and prevalent domestic violence, combined with Irish women’s long stint in the labor force, effectively raises women’s authority and status within the family order. Finally, Ruiz’s (262) essay uses oral testimony from Chicano women to show the tension between expected adherence to traditional culture and the attraction of the American way of life. World War 11 brings new employment opportunities and hastens the Americanization of Chicano immigrants. By the judicious choice and mix of primary sources, the author has succeeded in giving a very vivid picture of the life of women in traditional immigrant families and the changes brought about by contact with American society. It is evident that it is the women who served as the most active agents of change and accelerated the assimilation of immigrants into American

Methods of enquiry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Methods of enquiry - Essay Example A Qualitative method of study differs from the usual quantitative methods (used in the study of pure sciences) in the sense that it tends to be far more subjective. This is in sharp contrast to the methods used in pure sciences which are exclusively objective. The research methods for marketing are a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Being open to qualitative methods of study also allows social scientists to incorporate non-quantitative data (i.e. non-numerical data, such as words, images, gestures, impressions etc.) in their study. Since human beings tend to operate in terms of such data and not in terms of the terminology used in ordinary sciences this broader outlook is far more applicable in the study of social sciences. In keeping with the methodology employed in marketing researches the theories too are formulated and used keeping in mind that they are not necessarily applicable to all conditions. Be it psychology, history, political science or economics human events are most likely to influence the rules which define the basic theories of a marketing subject. Success in the field of marketing researches can therefore be achieved if and only if it is understood that the subject has no space or opportunity for watertight methodologies or theories. (Lamb, 2004) The basic advantages of qualitative measures are multi-fold. Firstly, it presents a completely realistic approach that the statistical analysis and numerical data used in research based on quantitative research cannot provide. Another advantage of qualitative measures is that it is more flexible in nature in terms of collected information interpretation, subsequent analysis and data collection. It also presents a holistic point of view of the investigation. Furthermore, this approach of research allows the subjects to be comfortable thus be more accurate

Terrorism 5.4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Terrorism 5.4 - Essay Example In the early history of terrorism, to be killed by invaders meant there was a great reward waiting for you in heaven as presented by suicidal martyrdom. This dates back to thousands of years in most religions and societies. Terrorism against an enemy can therefore be viewed as an act of religion. However it is viewed as crime against humanity by the victims of an attack. In the modern terrorism, it has been a tool used by both sides of colonial conflicts mainly in the mid-20th century. The frequency of religion based terrorism gained roots in the last 20 years of 20th century hence becoming more and more frequent. There is also another kind of terrorism today that brings about destruction to industrial and agricultural systems. This can be termed as economic terrorism. The underground mass transit system is a vulnerable place for a suicide bomb attack. This is because in these subways there is life and vibrancy especially during week days when people are scrambling to get to work on time. The number of commuters that could potentially lose their lives is alarmingly high making it a possible threat. The international airports area also poses a potential site for terrorism. This is because of the many inbounding and out bounding flights every day. This gives a chance to any terrorist who would want to bomb the area by strapping it to his body. The aircraft may also be skyjacked and be forced to land in a country to the terrorists. The terrorist may also fire indiscriminately and throw grenades to the thousands of people in the airport. Terrorists may also target large public areas like the major university which contains a big number of students, the convention center that attract tourists and the campus football stadium that holds a large number of football fans. This can be done by sneaking in the bomb amidst the large masses of people or throwing grenades. They could also execute it by kidnapping some of the students. Another possible

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Assignment - Essay Example ng bewildered, a middle-aged woman in black corporate attire suddenly laughed and exclaimed that she forgot her access pass at home after going to a vacation leave with her friends at church. In a matter of seconds, she was already chatting with me as she most probably gleaned that I was the insecure first-timer who was supposed to show up that day. Even from the start of our meeting, I already noticed that she had a very pleasant personality and she was very sociable in her own way. This account manager, or â€Å"relationship manager† as our division terms it, eventually became one of my good mentors. For me, she was a good mentor not just because she was friendly and approachable, but rather because she didn’t judge other people, including me, by how they merely look. After that incident, I’ve met different kinds of people in our company, with different ages, occupations, and income. And I was certain that though other people may seem different, we should never be indifferent in our relationships with them. Everyday that I went to work, I was never sure what my mentors would ask me to work on or what they would have me do. Was I going to sit all day long in meetings with clients and bosses, or perhaps scan complete documents, or maybe create project IDs and service requests then endorse them to other employees? How should I act when I’m in front of clients, or bosses, or when I ask other employees in my division for help in operating the systems of my division? I really wasn’t sure. But with everyday passing as a trainee, I figured precisely how to answer all of these questions. Aside from all the technicalities of the business, to be courteous, to be considerate, and to be polite were all part of our company’s corporate culture. As our mentor in human resources helped me understand, working in a firm is, like being a music lover or an urban dweller, a lifestyle preference. Most employees in our company, if not all, were sure to stay with the company

The history of witch hunting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The history of witch hunting - Essay Example Position of women and transition to capitalism Federici points out the issue of witch hunting as a continuous and relevant discourse from the middle ages to the contemporary times. She argues that witch hunting, one of the basest ways of subjugating women, has its roots in the history of capitalism. Prior to the advent of capitalistic concepts, the position and function of women in society were never discriminated from that of men. Federici accounts for the lifestyle of women where they were attributed with work within the house as well as outside. But as capitalism with the concerted effort of the state and the church sought its way into power, it tended to manipulate, undermine and distort established constructs of reality to meet its ends of ‘primitive accumulation’. According to Federici: â€Å"capitalism was the counter-revolution that destroyed the possibilities that had emerged from the anti-feudal struggle—possibilities which, if realized, might have spar ed us immense destruction of lives and the natural environment that has marked the advance of capitalist relations worldwide†. Relation between primitive accumulation and oppression on women The basis of capitalism is considered to be primitive accumulation which means accumulating land and labor. ... ation of differences and divisions within the working class, whereby hierarchies built upon gender, as well as â€Å"race† and age became constitutive of class rule and the formation of the modern proletariat. (Federici, 63-64) Federici points out that one of the main objectives of capitalism was to break the solidarity between the genders that gives a community its strength and nurtures healthy social life. Devaluing women was made into a discourse and misogynistic attitude was provoked to create mutual distrust and antagonism between genders. Federici argues that the logic behind legalizing prostitution on one hand and decriminalizing rape on the other was purely a capitalistic tactic of deliberately underrating women. From this perspective it could be said that capitalism was formed on the motto of dividing and rule policy and it did not spare human relationships. Repressing women power by dehumanizing women: platform for witch hunt The act of witch hunting, which is nothin g but persecuting women on some utterly vague assumptions, points to the desperation of the need to repress women power. The propagators of capitalism particularly targeted to control women’s power of reproduction to have access to manpower resource. It shows that the role of women was dehumanized to that of labor producing machine. The body-as-machine was made the discourse of the early capitalist era that also explains the medieval ideology of the body-mind dichotomy upheld by the church. Accordingly, any kind of unproductive physical indulgence was tabooed as corporeal sin and women were made its worst victim. Women were banished from outdoor activities of community life, stigmatized in any attempt to do so and robbed of privacy. Federici, by giving a detail account of how women were not

Thomas Malthus Thomas Jefferson Essay Example for Free

Thomas Malthus Thomas Jefferson Essay Thomas Malthus is popular for his Malthusian theory of population where he presents a mathematical perspective to express his ideology about population. To him, the population grows at a geometric rate while the food supply grows at an arithmetic progression and the resultant effect of this is that the population would out do the food supply. Consequently there would be increased rates of starvation and extreme poverty. Although he was aware of technological advancement he did not appreciate the fact that it would have a significant effect on the food production and hence the adverse effects of population growth would not be felt. He argues that the population would be checked by natural calamities like drought, war, famine as well as moral restraint where some people may not get married or others would delay marriage to bear few children. He also cited high infant mortality rates as a means of controlling the population.   Although many dismissed his theory citing it as one full of pessimism, Thomas Jefferson partly supported it. To him, it would best explain the European situation but not the American state. It is actually true the American land was very vast that it would accommodate many people. Population growth would consequently be seen as a means of ensuring that the unoccupied lands were utilized. (Faragher J, 2002). If the Americans worked hard to increase labor effectiveness then the food supply would be adequate for the increasing population. He argued that both the food supply and the population would increase at a geometric progression and hence no cause for alarm.   Thomas Jefferson did not seem to favor industrialization and advocated for increased agriculture. He distinguished Europe and America where he was quick to note that Europe had abundant labor and if it utilized its land to the optimal it would be able to overcome the adverse effects of population growth. (Wood J, 1994). To him, Europe should aim at maximizing its labor potential. He further argued that the European political economy was in a manner that needed to be changed as it was exploitative and to this respect he favored the democratic American population. Population policies did not exist to control the population but natural means favored it. It is important to note that immigrants were excluded but this was not due to economic reasons but due to racial as well as religious reasons. (Wood J, 1994).   He explained how the European population had doubled in a span of 23-24 years which is equivalent to a 3% increase per annum making it necessary to retain the previous reserves as they would be needed by the increasing population. However, for the American case he argues that population growth would be a mechanism of ensuring that vacant lands were occupied. (Wood J, 1994).   Ã‚  I think that both Malthus and Jefferson had a misconception regarding population growth and food supply. They underrated people’s innovation abilities. The theory was based on historical data and consequently a way of explaining historical trends and hence ineffective in explaining future population trends. It is inappropriate to justify the applicability of the theory because Europe population seemed to be increasing in a regular pattern. The linear or rather arithmetic progression of food supply was not based on experimentation but rather on convenient assumptions. (West B and Deering W, 1995). Population does not seem to increase exponentially as they both argued. In fact in the face of industrialization people tend to concentrate more in improving the quality of life rather than the population size. Again, the notion that population growth and food supply being independent on each other is also wrong. Malthusian theory does not bear any truth in today’s society as people’s birth rates have declined. A major advantage of increased physical mobility in the American society is that it ensured the provision of labor in areas where it is demanded and this was vital in the industrialization process. The physical mobility is also vital as it ensures the transfer of technological know how which is very significant in economic growth.   (Bergsten F, 2005). Social evils like crime and prostitution are bound to rise due to increased mobility. The political organization must also be affected as with time some immigrants become permanent citizens and have to air their views which is not necessarily the wish of the natives. Discrimination also emerged especially against the immigrants and this led to the rise of classes. The immigrants recorded lower living standards as compared to the natives. (Bergsten F, 2005). References: John MacK Faragher 2002. Out of Many: A History of the American People, 4th ed. Prentice Hall Publisher. Fred Bergsten. 2005. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the immigrants. Peterson Institute Publishers.   Bruce West and William Deering. 1995. The Lure of Modern Science: Fractal Thinking World Scientific Science Publishers. John Cunningham Wood. 1994. Thomas Robert Malthus: Critical Assessments. Routledge Publishers.

History of Sensory Theatre

History of Sensory Theatre What does sensory theatre mean to the modern audience? Asone of the oldest art forms and as one of the primeval kinds of humanexpression, the nature of theatre is as varied across the continents aspainting, pottery, sculpture or any of the classic art-forms. Each civilization, each society, each gathering of humankind has had its personalform of theatrical performance from street artists to court jesters to nomadicplayers. Many would say that this variety at the very core of theatrical achievement is what has permitted theatre to take such a respected and crucialpart of our modern societies. Too often it is claimed that our present daylifestyles leave little time for abstract thinking and artistic appreciation orachievement. This is lamentable but thankfully not usually true. One need only observe the continuation of events such as the Welsh National Eisteddfod forhundreds of years to realize that the human desire and need for theatre willnever diminish. However, this is not to say that modern society has not changed theatre. It is only natural that artistic output should be modeled by the lifestyle surrounding it. After all, warlike civilizations such as the Vikings delighted in the narrating of age-old sagas whereas more enlightened peoples like the Ancient Greeks would draw inspiration from mythical dramas which detailed the flaws at the heart of humanity and their relationships with their gods, representing a search for elements greater than themselves. However,we can take it as certain that the theatrical productions of the last fiftyyears have overwhelmingly been part of a resurgence of theatrical diversity. Asthe free market has made nations more accessible to each other, a rise ininterest for all sorts of artistic expression has been felt around the world.Herein, we shall focus on the analysis and comprehension of one of these.Sensory theatre, or at least the old meaning of the term, is not a new concept.At its very core, much of what constitutes theatre relies heavily on the senses,both those of the audience and that of the actors. Nevertheless, at a time whenour fast-paced lifestyle seems to reject anything out of the ordinary or whichcan be labeled as different, it is refreshing to feel that this resurgence hasregenerated one of the truly great aspects of theatre, oft labeled as post-modernistbut one which links so much of relatively recent artistic output across theboundaries of different art forms: Post-modernity,in attacking the perceived elitist approach of Modernism, sought greaterconnection with broader audiences. This is often labelled accessibility andis a central point of dispute in the question of the value of postmodern art.It has also embraced the mixing of words with art, collage and other movementsin modernity, in an attempt to create more multiplicity of medium and message.Much of this centers on a shift of basic subject matter: postmodern artistsregard the mass media as a fundamental subject for art, and use forms, tropes,and materials such as banks of video monitors, found art, and depictions ofmedia objects as focal points for their artPostmodernisms critical stance isinterlinked with presenting new appraisals of previous works. As implied abovethe works of the Dada movement received greater attention, as didcollagists such as Robert Rauschenberg, whose works were initiallyconsidered unimportant in the context of the modernism of the 1950s, but who, bythe 1980 s, beganto be seen as seminal. Post-modernism also elevated the importance of cinema in artisticdiscussions, placing it on a peer level with the other fine arts. This is bothbecause of the blurring of distinctions between high andlow forms, and because of the recognition that cinema representedthe creation of simulacra which was later duplicated in the other arts. (Wikipedia,2005) Inthis dissertation, we shall be analyzing aspects of sensory theatre as has beenexplored and toyed with by some great artisans of the craft. Despite anyproblems we have with wholesale rejection of this type of theatre, in the interestof fair-minded and complete research, we shall pay due attention to theAristotelian school of thought. That which claims that theatre is a particulartype of experience, one from which the audience member should feel cleansed andhave learnt a lesson. This is a valid point of view, one which we shallthoroughly explore in order to see if it is indeed more artisticallyjustifiable than sensory theatre. Afterexploring Aristotles opinions, we shall look in further depth at the nature ofsensory theatre. What does this term mean? How is each sense tapped? Can themelding of experiences of several senses which are simultaneously stimulatedprovide an elevating experience? For this exploration, we shall use the casestudy of Dwr (water in Welsh), a sensory piece of theatre put on in2003, using water, light and various materials to explore reactions amongst itsaudience. The reasons for using this play are that it was an audiovisualexperience as well as a mere theatrical one as projections and cameras were anintegral part of the performance. Furthermore, the sensory effect of theaudience can be better analyzed as members of the audience were also used inthe play, their reactions helping to define the type of sensory experience. However, Dwr also gives us a good example of Brechtian theatre for the number of levels the play takes on. The actors themselves act as facilitators for the audience to receive personal sensory experiences. With only a minority of audience members taking part in the play, we can gain two further levels of emotional depth and complexity. The general background of the audience will see their emotions and senses assailed by the movements, gestures and decisions of those taking part while this minority will be subjected to sensory input and emit feedback with no room for forethought or planning ahead. Thus, we shall provide a very definite and interesting example to back up any clear defining of sensory theatre we come to. We shall also look at how Dwr fits into the patterns of sensory theatre created by Brecht and Artaud and how its attitude towards its audience defines this multi-tiered theatre as one of the crucial points of sensory theatre. However,no analysis of sensory theatre without detailed research into the works ofpioneers of the genre. Here, we have chosen to look at Bertolt Brecht andAntonin Artaud, each for specific reasons. Brechts attitude, utterly inconflict with the age-old Aristotelian views of theatre, helped build hisreputation as an agitateur who decided to stamp his own distinctive markupon an art form he viewed as static. Thus, the habits of Brechtian theatre oftotal acknowledgement of the audience caused as much mirth as it did anger. Onthe other hand, Artaud provided his audience with a completely integralexperience. By using sensory theatre to deny audience members their usual rightto involve themselves in a performance to a degree of their choice, Artaud madesure his plays would deeply shock his audiences. We will be exploring Artaudstechniques as well as his reasons for providing this kind of theatre. It is the goal of this dissertation to highlight the differences that make sensory theatre an integral genre of its own, containing so many outlets for creativity, expression and emotional impact as to make it not only an interesting part of theatre but an essential one. Its recent resurgence will thus provide us with an ideal platform from which to assess its meaning to a modern audience. TheAristotelian view of theatrical norms Goodoratory can blow the walls off brick buildings. Not just in the real world ofpolitical speeches or rallies but in the arts as well. As one of the only formsof human expression where no point of view is unheard, no eventuality unconsidered,no leaf left unturned, theatre has throughout its history naturally overthrownand shrugged off any shackles or conventions attached to it. This idea couldgive rise to an impression of mayhem and anarchy in an art form that had runaway with its own importance. As one of the leading figures in the history ofliterature, Aristotles views on the nature and importance of theatre arewell-documented and naturally thought of as still relevant today. Aristotlehad the very human characteristic of harking back to the good old days, andthinking them much better than the days in which he lived. Taking scant accountof Aeschylus,he regarded Sophoclesand Euripidesas models in tragedy. His chief complaints were that the poets of his own timespoiled their work by rhetorical display; that the actor was often of moreimportance than the play; and that the poets tampered with the plot in order togive a favorite actor an opportunity of displaying his special talent. He saidthat the poets were deficient in the power of portraying character, and that itwas not even fair to compare them with the giants of the former era. (FletcherBellinger, pp.61, 1967) However,in the matter of sensory theatre, we run into an area of some problems. Beingof a conservative mind-set which appreciated theatre for the moral lessonscontained within the narrative, Aristotle worshipped Sophocles with hisstraight and narrow approach to theatrical drama whilst eschewing the work ofhis contemporaries as being too popular, too watered down to meet the needs ofa public desirous of less preaching and more fun within the theatre. Aristotlepossessed perhaps what could be interpreted as a rather narrow view in that hesaw tragedy as the greatest form of dramatic expression, almost utterly passingoff on comedy as mere fluff as compared to tragedy with the great lessonscontained within it. Furthermore, Aristotle also considered tragedy to bemagnificent when it also contained a clear and well constructed narrativeframework and mythological references to the deeds of greater men and gods in anobler past. Although Aristotles writings on these topics did make a lot ofsense, they are considered somewhat restrictive and far too imbued with theirown authority to be seen as of much use today. After all, in a society wherethe possibilities of theatre are slowly catching up with those of television orcinema as directors, playwrights and stage designers are always exploring newavenues of performance, Aristotles three unities of time, place and actionseem ready to be retired. Their far-too stringent requirements of both cast andcrew make them almost impossible to operate in the modern world of freetheatre. This is no longer a society where the writings of one man, whoever he may be, carry enough influence to truly make as significant an impact as in Ancient Greece. It is not to say that Aristotle should be disregarded but concerning sensory theatre, rules relating how plot should be more important than character and how all the action in a tragedy should be centered around a personage of importance to better capture the attention of a fickle audience seem slightly moot. Its relevance is in the fact that much of what is known of theatrical conventions among a lay audience is heavily based on Ancient Greek theatrical philosophy, particularly Aristotle. It is precisely this philosophy that sensory theatre will have to overcome in order to claim its place as a rightful and deserving genre of theatrical achievement across the globe. Visual,auditory, tactileDwr Choosingan example to illustrate the nature of sensory theatre is a tricky balancingact as one must therefore, in some way at least, pre-define ones understandingof the genre. How do we choose between the senses? After all, since the name ofsensory theatre does not make any kind of distinction, do we consider thesenses of sight and hearing more important than the other three since they areoverwhelmingly the most stimulated in matters of theatre? A distinction such asthis would make sense certainly but since sensory theatre is often seen asstanding alone from usual theatre, perhaps it would be unfair to appraise itthanks to assumptions based on more conventional modes of theatre. Instead,the best way to gain a true idea of sensory theatres range of potentialimpacts would be to base an example upon several criteria. Firstly, although itwould be somewhat over-expectant to try and find a play which could tap allfive of our senses, several attempts at sensory theatre have successfullyenga ged audiences on three senses, if not four. Herein has been chosen Dwr,a Welsh piece put on in 2003 in Aberystwyth and then broadcast on S4C on thearts programme, Croma. Theset-up of the piece was simple. The audience were seated on one side of thestage on a raised-up area, overlooking a long perpendicular dinner table. Theinside of the table, rather than being an ordinary flat surface, had beenhollowed in order to form a shallow pool about six inches deep along thetables entire length. The pool was filled with a level amount of clear waterat the bottom of which a table had been set ready for dinner, complete withplates, cutlery, glasses and napkins. Above the audience, shining down upon thetable was a strong projector which reflected the pool of water onto a backprojection screen in a way which magnified and increased the shadows cast byany ripples in the water. Six audience members were asked to be seated at thetable, as if for dinner before being submitted to a range of experiences by theactors whilst cameras recorded their reactions. These sensory experiments allinvolved stimulation of an audience member in matters of sight, sound, taste orfeelin g. We shall look at the manner in which each of these senses was tappedas well as Dwrs technical set-up. Firstof all, if one were to ask any theatre-goers, it would be certain that even themost intermittent of these would claim the two most stimulated senses in thetheatre are that of sight and hearing. Whilst conventional thinking would allowthis to be true, a cynical perspective would add that since our behinds orfeet, depending on posture, contribute much to the enjoyment of a theatricalperformance three senses, not two, must all be satisfied for a performance tobe considered praise-worthy. After all, although stage design is an oftforgotten art among those who are not privileged to the inner workings oftheatre, the choice of venue often signifies how an audience will feel duringthe performance. Stage design is often considered only in terms of sets, propsand technical apparatus whilst the idea of crowd comfort is often overlooked. In the case of Dwr, the crowd comfort was adequate but the truly interesting phenomenon for the audience of this play was that their peers were submitted to the action contained within it. The stage design was such that the light poured onto the water was bright enough to cause the right amount of shadow reflection whilst not blinding either the audience or the actors. This careful use of projection in order to achieve the desired effect was a technique made famous of Josef Svoboda who pioneered the use of audiovisual projection in theatre to enhance the general experience. The stimulation capabilities of a performance, when combined with camera and sound equipment, is vastly heightened thus cementing Svoboda as one of the great names of sensory theatre. Asfar as the audience members who became a part of the performance itself, thesenses stimulated were done so in a way which gave every sense the time tofully absorb the impact of its experience. First of all, each audience memberwas seated at the table in the guise of a dinner guest but asked not to talk toeach other or carry out any action except if indicated to do so by one of thesurrounding cast. First of all, each dinner guest was asked to remove theirshoes and socks before climbing onto the table into the water. The stage itselfwas kept at a warm temperature in contrast to the cold water, making the changein surroundings quite drastic. Then, the audience member was asked to burst aplastic bag full of water with a long hooked pole. The water would thus droponto the audience member along with a fake plaster egg. The audience member would then be lead back to their seat, given a towel to dry off before being given two chopsticks. After breaking the egg on the side of the table, the contents would then be spilt onto the plate just below the surface of the water. Each egg contained some food coloring, spreading across the table along with the ripples, along with a small piece of paper. Each piece of paper showed the face of a man, wearing different emotions, whilst a brief poem on the back seemed to explain the expression, a poem that would be read by one of the surrounding cast to the relevant audience member. The relationship between the pictures and the poems may not have been immediately obvious but the reactions of the audience members were still assured to be both personal, if not natural due to unusual surroundings and odd experiences. These reactions were filmed by the technical crew on video cameras, adding another level of complexity to the performance as the traditional boundaries between cast and crew become blurred. Furthermore, Dwrs entire performance was played out under a constantly shifting pattern of music which although always instrumental would speed up in tone or gently slow down in function of events happening in the play. Thepurpose of using Dwr as an illustration of the modern applications ofsensory theatre and its meaning to a present-day audience is threefold. Firstof all, the timing of the piece and its broadcasting on a national channelalong with subsequent interviews with the chosen audience members proves theinterest placed in it by a major broadcaster as the BBC has major impact uponS4C scheduling. Secondly, the sensual experience of the show provided afascinating outlet for the audience members, both for those who took an activepart or a passive part, to find out more about what constitutes modern sensorytheatre. Although the audience numbers for this show were relatively small and thus can only provide us with a minor cross-section of theatre-goers, the positive feedback gained at the end during the interviews can give a lot of hope as to the future of sensory theatre. Finally, to use an example such as Dwr gives us a view as to what kind of reaction this genre of theatre would meet with. Dwr covers a broad base of sensory theatre as its performance, not only stimulating several of the senses themselves, dealt with a range of theatrical theories and ideologies which we shall look at in further detail. By separating audience members from each other, creating many layers of reality between crew and cast, audience and cast and audience and crew, Dwr rejectedmany traditional aspects of theatrical performance. However, by engaging its audience/cast members with an individual experience through the messages contained within the eggshells and filming their response, Dwr could be said to have engaged with a more conservative Aristotelian version of theatre. Each audience member not involved with the show directly as a dinner guest will have experience the play as a visual and auditive experience but it is for the six members of the audience at each performance that Dwr transcended the limits of ordinary theatre and became a emotional and sensory journey felt by each in their own individual way. Below, we will be casting an eye at the ways in which theatrical pioneers such as Brecht and Artaud tackled the rigours and the conventions of an art form that they viewed as being a free form, lacking in any structural restrictions. Before doing so, we can still observe that even if Dwr did pander even the slightest bit towards an Aristotelian theatre, the main body of its performance was firmly in the territory of Artaud as we can see when applying this passage to precisely the type of theatre Dwr tries to avoid. If people are out of thehabit of going to the theater, if we have all finally come to think of theateras an inferior art, a means of popular distraction, and to use it as an outletfor our worst instincts, it is because we have learned too well what thetheater has been, namely, falsehood and illusion. It is because we have beenaccustomed for four hundred years, that is since the Renaissance, to a purelydescriptive and narrative theater storytelling psychology; it is becauseevery possible ingenuity has been exerted in bringing to life on the stageplausible but detached beings, with the spectacle on one side, the public onthe other and because the public is no longer shown anything but the mirrorof itself. Shakespeare himself is responsible for this aberration and decline,this disinterested idea of the theater which wishes a theatrical performance toleave the public intact, without setting off one image that will shake theorganism to its foundations and leave an ineffaceable scar. If, in Shakespeare,man is sometimes preoccupied with what transcends him, it is always in order todetermine the ultimate consequences of this preoccupation within him, i.e.,psychology. (Artaud,No More Masterpieces, 1976) Evensuch divides as between audience and actors, theatrical conventions that are sohabitual as to often be altogether forgotten, were not sacrosanct enough fordirectors, playwrights and actors such as Brecht, Artaud and Svoboda. TheBrechtian impact or the alienation of theatrical tradition Earlierin this dissertation, it was suggested that Aristotles views on theatre andsubsequent impact thereon had diminished somewhat with the dawn of a time wherethe philosophies of the Ancient Greeks mattered little. However, the centuriesthat his views transcended have signified that they could not dissipate soquickly. Many modern opinions on theatre, however avant-garde or post-modernistthey wish or claim to be, are still formed largely on the back of the opinionsof men such as Aristotle. However, this obstacle would be taken to piece by menand women like Brecht, who wished not to merely co-exist with existing viewsbut confront their defenders and destroy the ideological entrenchment that manytheatre critics had resorted to in the face of the changes sweeping throughtheir beloved art form. In his early plays, Brechtexperimented with dada and expressionism, but in his later work, he developed astyle more suited his own unique vision. He detested theAristotelian drama and its attempts to lure the spectator into akind of trance-like state, a total identification with the hero to the point ofcomplete self-oblivion, resulting in feelings of terror and pity and,ultimately, an emotional catharsis. He didnt want his audience to feelemotionshe wanted them to thinkand towards this end, he determined todestroy the theatrical illusion, and, thus, that dull trance-like state he sodespised. The result of Brechts research was a technique known asverfremdungseffekt or the alienation effect. It wasdesigned to encourage the audience to retain their critical detachment. (Imagi-nation,2003) Thisis not to say though that to achieve such an accomplishment was possible formerely any theatrical commentator. It took men of special gumption, gravitasand guts to dare attack such a powerful establishment as that of traditionaltheatre. Bertolt Brecht was one of these. Blessed with the ability to fightbattles on several fronts whilst still maintaining a clear head, Brecht beganto cause controversy early on in his career. Looking to fulfill a desire formore relevant and modern theatre amongst German theatre-going audiences,Brecht, through plays such as Drums in the Night and with therecognition of director Erich Engel, flirted with an expressionistic style thatbefitted his rising status but left Brecht himself feeling uncomfortable.Although his style was becoming fashionable and it would undoubtedly havebrought him his time in the spotlight, Brecht felt that he should discover aplaywriting identity which was his own and not borrowed from anybody else. Ifwe consider that at this ti me Brecht was writing in post World War I Germany,we can observe the bravery it must have taken for him to make this type ofdecision. Duringthe turbulent years of the socialist rise in Germany and the Weimar Republic,Brecht knew a modest amount of success in both theatre and literature thanks toplays such as In the Jungle of the Cities and his partnership with Engeland Hans Eisler but he was only just beginning to find his feet in a style allof his own. The final step in this direction would be his years with his owncollective of writers, the most famous fruit of which would be the Lehrstuckewhich would form the root of the theatrical changes and theories we thinkof as Brechtian today. Lehrstucke propounded that passive audiences werea thing of the past in matters of theatre and that it was necessary foraudiences to become more actively involved in a performance whilst keeping astrong level of emotional distance in order to remain capable of rational thoughtand criticism. This collection of thoughts would slowly pass into commonpractice in theatrical troupes and communities around the world, a practiceknown as epic theatre. Epictheatre today may seem as historical and passÃÆ'ÂÂ © as Aristotles views did forBrecht but the truth is that the numerous and varied adaptations of epictheatre have formed much of todays common theatrical practices. Before Brecht,the demarcation between the audience and the actors was sacrosanct. SinceAristotle, the status of the star actor had risen so much that now actors wouldmerely be cast in a role that was known to be in their repertoire, a fact whichcould lead to truly spectacular levels of diva treatment or ridiculouscastings. Take for example Sarah Bernhardt whose notoriety had reached suchproportions that she cast herself as Hamlet. This is not to say there isanything wrong with female actors playing traditionally male Shakespeareanparts but it is the manner in which Bernhardt carried out this casting that madethe situation ridiculous. Aristotle lamented this type of situation as beingone of the great plagues striking tragedy theatre whilst Brecht merely laughedat it and lambasted it in his own style. His patented Verfremdungseffekt (or estrangement effect) was a sweepingly original style which not only acknowledged the audience as a part of a theatrical production and encouraged them to change their own attitudes to theatre. Instead of allowing traditional suspension of disbelief and letting audiences feel as if they were watching a truthful event, Brecht went out of his way to remind them that what they saw was a representation, a mirror onto reality and never reality itself. This was carried out by having actors suddenly break character and address the audience to explain the plot, grossly over-exaggerated props or sets in the middle of an otherwise serious play or great placards on the stage asking the audience to behave in a certain way by ignoring a particular happening or to stare less romantically. These unusual situations for an audience confused them and alienated them from the play, hence the name alienation or estrangement effect. This separation from conventional thea trical theory became very fashionable after the war in both America where he lived until being pestered by HUAC and in communist East Germany where he resided until his death in 1953. The appeal of Brechts type of theatre across the globe speaks volumes about how the traditions of theatre were rejected by a large section of theatre going audiences. The sensory feel of the Verfremdungseffekt were indirect but by creating this new separation of audience and stage in an allegorical as well as in a physical sense, Brechtian theatre enabled its audiences and directors to experiment with new sensations. The greatest example of this is in some of Brechts later plays such as The Good Person of Szechwan and Galileo. For example, in Galileo, the portrait he paints of the astronomer is of a tortured soul wracked between his scientific duty to tell the truth to an unsuspecting world and the threat of vengeance from the dark figure of the Grand Inquisitor. This moral dilemma was planned by Brecht as a way to get his audience to think rationally about the situation and contemplate what they would do in such a situation rather than feeling sorry for Galileo. However, if Brecht had one failing, it was that despite his ability to meld together a myriad of sources into a convincing single narrative, he did not understand the human nature of his public. Persuaded that with the right play, he could force his audience into abandoning their emotional side, whether he realized it or not Brecht was asking people to set aside the precise reason most of them came to the theatre. His theories resulted in a number of epic dramas, among them Mother Courage and Her Children which tells the story of a travelling merchant who earns her living by following the Swedish and Imperial armies with her covered wagon and selling them supplies: clothing, food, brandy, etc As the war grows heated, Mother Courage finds that this profession has put her and her children in danger, but the old woman doggedly refuses to give up her wagon. Mother Courage and Her Children was both a triumph and a failure for Brecht. Although the play was a great success, he never managed to achieve in his audience the unemotional, analytical response he desired. Audiences never fail to be moved by the plight of the stubborn old woman. (Imagi-nation, 2003) Anemotional journey where characters could and should be empathized with orcondemned was much of what has always constituted theatres engagement. Eventhe averagely smart and aware audience member does not need the moral absolutesof right and wrong as claimed by Aristotle but the desire to identify with oneor more of the central characters instead of merely rationalizing about theirfates without feeling was too strong in the vast majority of theatre-goers. Brechtis claimed doubly to be both a modernist or one of the first post-modernists.Although some claims have been made that a taste for his kind of theatre quicklyinspires in the face of so much cynicism, his importance and the size of hisimpact upon world theatre cannot be underplayed. Today, many of his conventionsare so common as to be taken for granted whilst a collective of Brechtiansstill operates and remains as long-standing proof to the glory of his genius. Conventionalrelief in theatre and Artauds rejection of it Everygeneration is locked in a perpetual struggle with those that come both beforeand after to break free from the shackles of their ancestral traditions, carvetheir own identity and thus prepare the way for a similar fight with thegenerations that are to follow. Although social morays may seem to remain stilland constant, this is only an illusion, one that can only too easily be piercedby artistic expression. Artists have often been marginalized as second-ratemembers of society, ones that are not indispensable to the everyday running ofour lives. Seen as not producing useful since all their efforts did not feed,clothe or warm anybody, it became a painful reality that if actors or musicianswanted to survive, they were required to curtail any creativity and pander toprecisely what their audiences desired. While this unfortunate turn of events could be passed off as a mere passage in the history of theatre, it left behind some highly tell-tale signs. The simplest of these is that from the Renaissance onward through the Classical period, theatre had become significant with escapism. The majority of plays, and here one cannot deny Aristotles continuing influence, harked back to former days lamenting a fallen age of glory, honour and noble deeds. Whilst this fond reminiscing was unimpeachable in its desire to awaken a better side of humanity in audiences, it often met with boredom and