Revolutionary Mothers Essay Example for Free

Revolutionary Mothers Essay Women of varying races and classes experienced the American Revolution in different ways. Loyalist women over-estimated the power of their class position, Native American women would see their power within their societies diminish, and African American slave women saw their hope for power through freedom subsumed by racial inequality. Regardless of the relative positions of power for each of these classes of women, their experiences as victims of war were similar. The chaos of war and a changing political system left few women, if any, truly better off it its wake. Enslaved African American women, those with the least amount of social or political power before the American Revolution, were taunted with promises of freedom from British office holders and eventually British generals. However, these promises only came to fruition for a fraction of the tens of thousands of slaves who left their masters in search of freedom. Dunmore’s Proclamation of 1775 enticed slaves to fight for the British Army in exchange for freedom. Dunmore’s â€Å"Ethiopian Regiment† met with disaster through disease and capture. Half of the regiment and its female followers died of smallpox (124). When the regiment was captured by Americans, thirty people were sold back into slavery in the Caribbean as an example of what would happen to slaves who sided with the British (124). Four thousand slaves, men, women, and children, fled with General Cornwallis. When he was forced to surrender Charleston to the Americans, many of the slaves who were with him were sent to NY and eventually to freedom in Canada (125). Not all those who encountered the British Army were freed. When General Henry Clinton ordered that Patriot personal property be confiscated, that included slaves. Clinton treated these slaves as property of the British Army and forced women to do the soldier’s laundry and help build fortifications (127). African American women who did manage to escape to Canada, were victims of racial hierarchy. The best lands available went to white refugees rather than black refugees. Those who made it to Canada were subject to  violence from whites when they stepped outside of their accustomed economic and social roles (129). There are regional differences for African American women who did not did not flee during British promises of freedom. Gradual abolition in the North meant opportunities for freedom. However, these opportunities were limited by racial hierarchy. In the South, farmers and plantation owners relied on slave labor to rebuild the agrarian economy in the wake of the Revolutionary War (133). As slavery became further entrenched in the Southern economy and culture, freedom became nearly impossible. Of the tens of thousands of slaves who fled, the British formally granted only 1300 men, 914 women, and 740 children freedom (129). Many white loyalist women also escaped to Canada. However, many elite loyalist women overestimated the power granted to them by their class standing. Loyalist women left behind when their husbands went to fight for the British were powerless to prevent patriots from taking their property and removing them from their homes. Elite women’s marriages, property, children, and mere presence were politicized (98). Women who chose to flee or who fled to escape the violence of the patriots were unwanted burdens on their enemies and allies alike (100). Not all loyalist women were hapless victims. Those who chose to act as individual political agents by aiding British soldiers and passing intelligence forced an alteration to the American’s language surrounding traitors. Treason laws which previously read, â€Å"he,† were changed to include both men and women (103). Women who fled invariably faced hardships in the harsh travelling conditions. Wealthier women fared better than those of modest means. Wealthy women were more likely to survive the journey to Canada and find adequate shelter once they arrived. Women of less means lived in tents during harsh winters and faced starvation. By the end of the war, the elite social classes were rebuilding their societal structure in Canada (106). Though many were still bitter about losing their farms and possessions, they made a gentrified society out of the relative wilderness of Canada (106). Native American women lost the most in terms of position and power during the American Revolution. Women were an integral part of the political decision making process in Native American nations. Women leaders of the  Mohawk, Cherokee, and Munsee Delaware sought to coexist with white settlers, none were successful. Molly Brant, mistress to British Indian Agent William Johnson held considerable sway with both Mohawk and British. She relied upon for her diplomatic skills and remained loyal to her husband’s British background even after his death in 1774 (111). Nancy War attempted to keep the peace between Cherokee and white settlers from her position on the Cherokee General Council and as leader of the Women’s Council (115). When negotiating a treaty with white settlers, Queen Esther Montour of the Munsee Delaware suggested the white man with who she was negotiating take the proposed treaty back for him women to read. He was incredulous at the idea that his women would have anything to say in political matters (116). None of these women had â€Å"counterparts in American colonial society† (118). White men who wanted to trade or negotiate with Native Americans were forced to deal with women in positions of power. Molly Brant took political action when she warned her brother of American soldiers intent on providing support at Fort Stanwix. Her efforts made her an enemy to the Americans and an enemy of the Oneida, a tribe once united in Confederacy with her own Mohawk. Molly’s home war raided and she was forced to flee. At the end of the war, like so many other women, she was exiled to the relative safety of Canada. British men came to respect women like Molly Brant. However, it was much more common for European men to view the gender structure of Native American society as abhorrence against God’s natural law. Once America had secured its independence, Native American women’s positions of power within their cultures was subsumed by assimilation efforts of the new American nation. Native Americans refashioned their societies in the face of threats and pressures from Americans who pushed European norms onto Native Americans. The spiritual and political roles for women were lost in these efforts (119). Although these groups of women started out in very different circumstances before the war, and ended with different social circumstances, they shared a common thread of the necessity to flee. They even often shared a common location of safety and freedom: Canada. None of these women had a place of freedom or power within the new American Republic. Many more slaves remained as such than gained freedom during the American Revolution. Elite women  eventually regained status lost during the Revolution, but in a new, harsher land. Native American women’s social and political positions were devastated by the results of the American Revolution. Just as their nations slowly lost their sovereignty and autonomy, so did Native American women lose their power and freedom within their communities.

Media coverage of the african continent

Media coverage of the african continent Introduction This thesis contemplates long standing issues surrounding media coverage of the African continent. Previous studies have shown a systematic trend amongst Western journalists to depict current events in developing nations, particularly African nations, from a negative and oversimplified perspective. It examines why important events in less-developed parts of the world often have their reality distorted in the Western media. Unfortunate precedence has shown that this is particularly relevant to the Western media in the context of its questionable conduct in covering the African continent. The media portrayal of the unrest in Sudans troubled Darfur region appears to reflect the errors that often lurk amidst the work of journalists covering humanitarian catastrophes in distant lands. In spite of Gà ©rard Pruniers assessment of the violence as the â€Å"quintessential ‘African crisis: esoteric, extremely violent, rooted in complex ethnic and historical factors which few understood, and devoid of any identifiable practical interest for rich countries,† Darfur generated an unanticipated amount of interest in the West. It quickly became the cause cà ©là ¨bre amongst people on both sides of the political divide. Darfurs power to transcend politics was most apparent in April 2006 as thousands of Americans converged into the nations capital to appeal for greater action to end the alleged genocide in Sudan. Republican senators joined Democrats such as Barack Obama to urge the Bush administration to take a more decisive approach to tackle the crisis and help refu ges escaping the violence. Although the event attracted prominent speakers including celebrities, politicians, athletes and Noble Peace Prize winners such as Elie Wiesel, the bulk of the crowd was comprised of ordinary Americans who donned blindfolds to urge political decision makers not to look away from the atrocities taking place in Darfur. The medias part in this event cannot be overstated. As conflicts in remote areas of the globe have little impact on the lives of ordinary Western citizens, regardless of the magnitude of the violence, the extent to which an ordinary person knows and cares is entirely contingent on the level of media coverage a conflict is granted. As such, the mass media has massive power in shaping both a governments foreign policy and the publics imagination of situations around the globe. The medias influence in determining the perception of the Darfur conflict was particularly immeasurable because in most instances it was the only image outside observers in the West received of the crisis itself. As a consequence of the medias attentiveness to the unfolding catastrophe in Sudan, they were able to spark a sophisticated and popular human rights campaign. Coupled with advocacy organizations such as the Save Darfur Coalition, an unlikely alliance of liberal and conservative groups, the mainstream med ia in the United States exposed their audiences to the atrocities that were unfolding in the Sub-Saharan nation. Yet, as Darfur burst onto the worlds consciousness in mid-2004 and became the Western medias darling as far as coverage was concerned, depressingly similar outbreaks of violence in Africa at the time, including in Uganda and the Congo, were all but overlooked. As such, this thesis aims to understand how a ‘quintessential African crisis became an international issue that garnered Western empathy and generated an unexpected level of press interest. Essentially, how did an internal crisis in a remote area of Sudan, where the concerns were primarily local, manage to capture the attention of campaigners and writers in the West? If we are to accept Susan Moellers claims that audience sympathies towards foreign deaths have hardened, and that the American public is largely interested in news events related to their own country, how did the narrative of Darfur, a story that does not contain an obvious American connection, overcome public apathy when other tragediesinAfricaare often unab le to? To better understand why Darfur was prioritized in the Western media and to better ascertain why certain foreign events became news the way they do, this thesis will examine the media press coverage of Darfur in the Washington Post and the New York Times during the first three years of the conflict. These two American newspapers were initially chosen for this study because of their high circulation numbers (601,669 and 1.65 million respectively) and the value that both these media organizations place on covering international affairs despite their opposing political leanings. Moreover, during the preliminary selection process to decide which newspapers to analyze in this thesis, it quickly became evident that compared to their rivals, the Washington Post and the New York Times had not employed news wire services such as Reuters and the Associated Press for their articles. These two American newspapers mostly relied upon their own correspondents and journalists to deliver stories from the ground, either from Sudan itself or from neighboring Chad. In addition to the published articles from the Washington Post and the New York Times, Britains Guardian newspaper has been included in this study for critical examination as it offers a unique opportunity to investigate whether a newspapers national affiliation and political culture has any impact on the presentation of the Darfur issue. Methodological Approach And Organization Of This Thesis This thesis is divided into five sections. The second chapter will address the fundamental question: how did the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Guardian report on the Darfur conflict and what were the prominent themes and media framing devices evident in their articles? This chapter will examine the content (what the journalists covered) and the form (how the journalists covered the conflict). Due to the scope of examining three newspapers over a three year period, this thesis will concentrate on critical moments in media reportage of the Darfur disaster. As such, this chapter and the thesis at large is not a quantitative study of the media treatment of Darfur. Rather, it merely attempts to highlight the peaks and lows of media coverage in order to ascertain the reasons behind the fluctuating press interest. Five decisive moments will be studied: 2003 in its entirety, April 2004, June 2004, September 2004 and January 2005 The third chapter will provide an extensive critique of the media representation of the violence in Darfur and scrutinize the themes that emerged from the three newspapers in question. The purpose of this particular section is to address whether the Western newspapers in question appropriately covered or mishandled the Darfur crisis. By exploring the construction of Arab and African identity in the Sudanese context, this thesis will analyze and explain how through the use of emotive language and framing, the American press were able to create and solidify a misleading image of the crisis as a genocidal campaign instigated by Arabs against an indigenous African population. It will address the controversy surrounding Darfurs genocide status under international law. With this objective in mind, this thesis will refer to ‘genocide only as it was defined by the United Nations in 1948. This chapter also seeks to expose important dimensions to the conflict that many journalists overlo oked as they peddled one convenient version of the violence at the expense of critical evidence. The latter part of the thesis will draw upon seminal postcolonial theory to explain why Darfur captured the public imagination and the attention of Western journalists. It will examine whether the medias interest and frequent misrepresentation of Darfur can be read in the larger context of a new Orientalist discourse. This chapter will also endeavor to explore the possible reasons and motives behind the Western media interest in Darfur. Literature Review Foreign news stories related to the African continent are often characterized by images of tribal warfare, rampant disease, political instability, famine and despotic regimes. These unpleasant misrepresentations of African issues have been closely studied since the ‘New World Information and Communication Order debates of the 1970s. The historical media debates were instigated by developing non-aligned states as a response to the lopsided transfer of mass communication content from Western nations to poorer nations that often reflected the preferences of Western news agencies. Scholars such as Hassan M. El Zein, Anne Cooper and Melissa Wall have all acknowledged its relevance to contemporary media discussions. These scholars insist that the tendency amongst Western media organizations to disproportionately focus on the negative, the violent and the exotic when it comes to covering developing regions and particularly African issues did not end with the great media debates of the 1970s. Their findings are not dissimilar to Abiodun Goke-Pariolas contention that the Africa continent as a whole suffers from a long practice of media neglect and when African issues are eventually acknowledged in the Western press, the stories and images are permeated with stereotypes and tropes that have persisted since the time of slavery and imperialism. The fifty-three distinct nations that make the African continent are often treated as a homogenous entity comprised of uncivilized heathens who are unable to govern themselves. If and when Africans are shown in the western media, Goke-Pariola argues that they are regularly portrayed to be poor, helpless and malnourished. Michael Maren points out that such graphic descriptions and imagery work to advance the notion that the inhabitants of African are reliant on the compassionate West for their survival. Whilst reports in the Western press about conflicts on the African continent are frequently crisis-driven in such a way as to insinuate that the inhabitants are naturally more prone to violence, journalists rarely make mention of the Wests connection to the violence. In his article titled American Media and African Culture, Bosah Ebo emphasizes the lack of historical context in media stories about the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ebo notes that Western journalists covering Rwanda repeatedly failed to make the association between the ongoing civil war and the impact of the Belgian colonial legacy of politicizing Rwandan ethnicity by pitting Hutus against Tutsis in their ‘divide and rule strategy. Instead, the genocide was portrayed as another African crisis fuelled by irrational tribal hatred. Wall echoes similar sentiments in a comparative study of the Rwandan and Bosnian crises. In her analysis of American newspaper coverage of the two conflicts, Wall found that whilst the ethnically motivated violence in Bosnia was framed as an aberration for Europeans, despite the largest genocide occurring in Germany, the conflict in Rwanda was portrayed as standard behavior for Africans. David Gordon and Howard Wolpe have claimed that this level of misinterpretation and formulaic media treatment of the African ‘continent as little more than a gigantic basket case leaves Western audiences with an unconscious sense of cultural, intellectual and political superiority. As most Americans have never visited Africa and probably never will, the images of the African continent that most Americans hold to be real and authentic come courtesy of the media. This view of Africa as the ‘dark continent is primarily based on press coverage and is also ‘an outgrowth of a deeply burie d, fundamental set of cultural assumptions about race and civilization that have been building in Western culture for at least four hundred years. Despite this extensive scholarship on the mass medias portrayal of Africa, modest research exits in the field of Darfur and the media. Much like David Campbells Geopolitics and Visuality: Sighting the Darfur conflict, this thesis is limited to the study of contemporary events in Western Sudan. In his study of the photo-journalism of the Darfur conflict, Campbell found that most photos were graphic images of starving and dying women and babies in refugee camps. Unlike Campbells study however, this thesis attempts to go beyond content analysis that largely corroborates prior studies on media casing of African issues. It endeavors to comprehend the outpouring of humanitarian good will that the atrocities in Darfur produced in the West and the possibility that strategic geopolitical interests played a role in the medias intense interest in the conflict. Pippa Norris, Politics and the Press: The News Media and Their Influences (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1997), 23; Eronini R. Megwa and Ike S. Ndolo, â€Å"Media image and development: political and economic implications of U. S. media coverage of Africa,† in Development and democratization in the Third World: myths, hopes, and realties, ed. Kenneth E. Bauzon (Washington: Crane Russak, 1992), 267-272. Gà ©rard Prunier, Darfur: the ambiguous genocide (New York: Cornell University Press, 2005), 124. For a detailed analysis of media power and the CNN effect, the theory that postulates that the modern mass media have a significant bearing on the conduct of foreign policy, see Piers Robinson, â€Å"Operation Restore Hope and the Illusion of a News Driven Media Intervention.† Political Studies 49 (2001): 942. Prunier, Darfur: the ambiguous genocide, 124. Susan D. Moeller, Compassion fatigue: how the media sell disease, famine, war, and death (London: Routledge, 1999), 11. William Preston, Jr., Edward S. Herman, and Herbert I. Schiller, Hope folly: the United States and Unesco, 1945-1985 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989), 296. A.Goke-Pariola, Africa in the â€Å"New World Order†: Old Assumptions, Myths, and Reality, available from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED347842; [24 June 2009] Michael Maren, The road to hell: the ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity (New York: Free Press, 1997), 13. Bosah Ebo, â€Å"American Media and African Culture† in Africas media image, ed.Beverly G. Hawk (New York: Praeger, 1992), 18. Ibid. Melissa Wall, â€Å"A pernicious new strain of the Old Nazi virus and an orgy of tribal slaughter: A comparison of US news magazine coverage of the crises in Bosnia and Rwanda.† 59 (1997): 411-428 David F.Gordon, Howard Wolpe, â€Å"The Other Africa: An End to Afro-Pessimism.† World Policy Journal 15 (1998): 9 E. J. Murphy, The African Mythology: Old and New. (Storrs, CT: World Education Project, 1973), 1. David Campbell, â€Å"Geopolitics and visuality: Sighting the Darfur conflict,† Political Geography 26, (2007): 357-382.

History of Malaysia Airlines

History of Malaysia Airlines Basically, Malaysia Airlines was established from a joint initiative and venture of Imperial Airways and the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship of Singapore. This collaboration had piloted to a proposal towards the government of the Colonial Straits Settlement (CSS) to operate an air services between Penang and Singapore as these states are very well-known during that very era. On 12 October 1937, the agreement had result the incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) which is also the pioneer company for airlines industry in Malaysia during that particular time. Moreover, MAL had been brought to the skies with its initial commercial flight as the national airline of Malaya on April 1947. Equipped by a well-defined and vibrant team of visionaries, MAL had successfully become a major player in international airlines industry in less than a decade. In addition, after the formation of Malaysia back in the year of 1963, the airline company had altered its name to Malaysian Airlines Limited (MAL) and directly became the first national carrier of the country. Just within 2 decades, MAL had consistently grew from a single aircraft company into a company with more than 2,400 employees and engaged the then newest 6 F27s, Comet IV jet aircraft , 2 Pioneers, 8 DCs and so forth. However, the whole aviation platform in the industry had changed with the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in the year of 1965. With this unfavorable situation, MAL became a bi-national airline and was further renamed as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). Furthermore, a new business mission was introduced and the airline developed significantly with new routes to Perth, Taipei, Rome and London. Moreover, in 1973, the partners went separate ways and this had directly led to the formation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) which served the country till today. Nowadays , Malaysia Airlines flies almost 50,000 passengers daily and cover more than 95 destinations, cover across six continents while operating from its primary hub at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Kuala Lumpur. On top of that, Malaysia Airlines holds an excellence record of service as the company has prouldy received more than 120 for the past 10 years since its establishment. Specifically, the most notable recognitions is the Worlds Best Cabin Crew by Skytrax UK consecutively from 2001 until 2004, Number one for Economy Class Onboard Excellence 2006 and 5-star Airline in 2005 and 2006 as well. This credit will only applied to the other three airlines in the world and Malaysia Airlines was also ranked second among 88 contenders in Aviation Weeks Top Performing Companies, which measures the financial viability of an airline. Type of Business of Organization Initially, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have it own humble beginning since its incorporation until today. MAS have been well- perceived as the services company due to its nature core of business. Loads of achievements have been experienced by MAS due to its outstanding and remarkable services in the airline Industry. From a small private-owned company since its establishment, MAS had consistently growth to become one of the multinational companies in Airline Industry. This had shown that the services provided to its prospects had been well-accepted and recognized. Moreover, MAS is a public listed company that listed on the stock exchange of Bursa Malaysia under the name Malaysian Airline System Berhad. With the well projected business mission and goals, MAS had owned numbers of subsidiaries namely such as MASkargo, MAS Aerospace Engineering, MAS Academy Sdn. Bhd., MAS Golden Holidays Sdn. Bhd., FlyFirefly Sdn. Bhd., and newly created company MASwings. Malaysia Airlines business environment Basically, MAS is operated on the service-based entity that accommodates its customers with the excellence flying experiences. The services provided are always being reviewed from time to time as to stay relevant to the requirement from the customers. Moreover, the target market for MAS are consists of all the customers from the high-end till the low. This approach had been executed with the introduction of sales promotion via media and the establishment of subsidiaries within its business. Therefore, all customers can enjoy the five star services at the low price whenever they fly with MAS. On top of that, the main competitors for MAS are consisting of low-cost carrier such as Air Asia, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airlines and so forth. Therefore, due to the high numbers of competitors, MAS has continuously introduced its turnaround plan and its marketing strategy as to stay competitive in the Industry. Hence, with the well projected plan and initiatives, MAS has shown a great reputati on and successfully captured the market in South East Asia countries. Company Mission and Objectives Malaysia Airlines Mission To champion the meaning of fly code (Malaysian Hospitality, MH) and provide air travel and transport service that rank among the best in terms of safety, comfort and punctuality. To generate sustainable value for its stakeholders and offer the highest quality of care and services to its customers. To continuously explore innovative ways of doing business and stay relevance to its core and inspiring motto; Go Beyond Expectation. To provide a growth-oriented workplace that recognizes the interests, rights and ideas of its employees as well providing a corporate environment that encourages high integrity and ethical standards; and ensures compliance with all regulations and laws. Malaysia Airlines Objectives The primary objectives of the company were to furnish the people of Malaysia with a proficient and profitable air transport system which would enhance the placing of the country in the world. Moreover, as the Malaysia flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines had played a vital role in contributing to the economic and social integration of the country as a whole. Malaysia Airlines will consistently commit to its planning as to maximize market penetration with a reasonable number of aircraft type and fleet resources. Business Strategies and Success factors

Negative Impacts of Capitalism on Marginalised Social Groups Essay

Capitalism is the predominant political economic system in the developed world where citizens and companies are able to elect which goods and services to engender and how they will procure and disburse their earnings. It is highly based on private property and private profit however; the government controls some portions of the economy within nations. Although capitalism is beneficial for citizens in various ways, it also creates negative impacts on marginalised social groups due to uneven distribution of wealth. These communities have critiqued on capitalism as they debate that the economy system limits democracy, disobeys democratic principles of social justice and enables forms of human suffering and shortage in individual emancipation. These issues are further discussed in Greene’s (2003) studies as he examines how mega-events, slum clearance and global capital negatively impacts the lives of socially marginalised populations. Capitalism is an economic system driven by the endless pursuit of profits. In Seoul and Santo Domingo, however, capitalists believe that these benefits ...

History of Money Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

History of Money Let us consider a problem. You catch fish for your food supply, but you're tired of eating it every day. Instead you want to eat some bread. Fortunately, a baker lives next door. Trading the baker some fish for bread is an example of barter, the direct exchange of one good for another. However, barter is difficult when you try to obtain a good from a producer that doesn't want what you have. For example, how do you get shoes if the shoemaker doesn't like fish? The series of trades required to obtain shoes could be complicated and time consuming. Early societies faced these problems. The solution was money. Money is an item, or commodity, that is agreed to be accepted in trade. Over the years, people have used a wide variety of items for money, such as seashells, beads, tea, fish hooks, fur, cattle and even tobacco. There are numerous myths about the origins of money. The concept of money is often confused with coinage. Coins are a relatively modern form of money. Their first appearance was probably among the Lydians, in Asia Minor in the 7th century BC. And whether these coins were used as money in the modern sense has also been questioned. To determine the earliest use of money, we need to define what we mean by money. The early Persians deposited their grain in state or church grainaries. The receipts of deposit were then used as methods of payment in the economies. Thus, banks were invented before coins. Ancient Egypt had a similar system...

Comparing the Innocent Criminal in Black Boy, Uncle Toms Children, Nat

The Innocent Criminal in Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, Native Son, and The Outsider      Ã‚   "It is probably a mere accident that I never killed," Richard Wright commented offhandedly in an interview with Robert Moss (596).   After reading several of Wright's works, one can easily understand what Wright means by this statement.   In his books Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, Native Son, and The Outsider, Wright suggests that white society has transformed black people into criminals.   The source of this claim comes from Wright's personal experiences as a Negro in the Deep South.   Whether pushed to crime from necessity or for personal fulfillment and self-realization, the protagonists of Wright's works are innocent criminals; they know that the ultimate crime for which they are being punished is the crime of being black.   Circumstances created by a racist social order place the characters in intolerable positions that coerce them into villainous activities.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his autobiographical novel, Black Boy, Wright supports this theory using himself as an example.   In the tradition of the slave autobiography, Black Boy provides details of Wright's life from early childhood to his arrival in Chicago.   As Joyce Ann Joyce says, Black Boy:      Ã‚  Ã‚   ...is a realistic and poetic account of the hunger Wright endured as a child, his  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   closeness to his mother, the effect of his mother's illness, his problems with his father, his father's desertion, the violence he experienced from his mother's relatives, his love of words and books, his discovery of racism and his developing racial consciousness, his fight against his mother's and grandmother's religion, his scanty education, ... and the development of his individuality... ...chard Wright.   New York: Harcourt, 1969.   Rpt. in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Richard Wright's Native Son: Modern Critical Interpretations.   New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Moss, Robert F.   "Caged Misery."   Saturday Review.   Jan. 21, 1978, 45-7.   Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 14.   Detroit: Gale, 1980. Skerrett, Joseph T., Jr.   "Composing Bigger: Wright and the Making of Native Son." in Richard Wright's   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Native Son:   Modern Critical Interpretations.   New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Wright, Richard.   Black Boy.   New York: Harper, 1944. _____.   "How Bigger Was Born."   Saturday Review.   June 1, 1940, n.pag.   Rpt. in Native Son.   New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   York: Harper, 1940. _____.   Native Son.   New York: Harper, 1940. _____.   The Outsider.   New York: Harper, 1953. _____.   Uncle Tom's Children.   New York: Harper, 1936.

Access to the Bendee Essay

The availability of relevant local culture, indigenous practices and knowledge combined with new ideas in technology and science can generate successful sustainable community development through innovation. Indigenous knowledge will not only contribute to the success of intervention, but better still its sustainability into the future. Numerous indigenous communities worldwide have always developed, operated and acted to different life challenges using indigenous methods passed on from one generation to the next. Our main focus in this paper will be to study and design a simple bridge, highlighting the use of relevant traditional and indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage amongst the Aboriginal people and technology to create a way across the Nebine Creek. Introduction Access to the Bendee Downs site requires vehicles to cross the Nebine Creek which remains impassable during the wet seasons. The site is a ten hour car trip from Brisbane, the closest city with a major airport, and can be accessed via the Murra Murra Road off the Balonne Highway or the Munda Munda Road and east via Fernlee Road. See more: Analysis of Starbucks coffee company employees essay Nebine River is approximately twenty meters wide. The bridge design would respect the Nebine Creek’s cultural importance to the Kooma People; it provides a place where they can identify with their homeland and share their culture hence should be protected (EWB Challenge, 2010). The property has become a conservation icon for the region due to its conservation values. About 40km of the Nebine Creek flow through the properties and it has a 4km permanent waterhole behind the old homestead. During the rainy seasons, the wetlands render the river impassable yet still it hosts a vast diversity of birds and fauna hence rendering it regionally, nationally and internationally valuable (EWB Challenge, 2010). Our design had to borrow much from the indigenous knowledge of the local community in conserving the site to design a technologically sound bridge. The following were considered in the design process: †¢ The maximum load it can support at the middle. †¢ The maximum load divided by the weight of the bridge (a measure of efficient use of materials) †¢ Aesthetic appeal of the final project to give the conservation efforts a boost. †¢ The materials to be used. We settled on locally available materials like wood to make it affordable and to make use of indigenous knowledge. The design process was geared towards solving the problem of impassable road by building a beam wooden bridge that would be capable to allow even small vehicles to go across. This was supposed to present a creative solution and involve teamwork in implementing the design. Background Information Indigenous knowledge, sometimes referred to as ‘local knowledge’, ‘traditional science’ or ‘folk knowledge’ is a form of knowledge that is unique to a culture or society. It is passed from generation to generation by word of mouth and cultural rituals and has been applied in almost all forms of life including cooking, health care, agriculture, conservation, education and several other facets of life that have sustained societies the world over. The indigenous way of practical learning has been interrupted by the abstract form of formal and academic way of learning witnessed presently (Fien, 2010). As the indigenous knowledge disappears, with it goes the valuable knowledge about ways of living sustainably. In order to fulfil our objective of the design project, first we sought to find how the Aborigines lived and travelled in the past. This we did to help us understand the local conditions and provide a productive context for our design to help the community. Traditionally Aboriginal people carried as little as possible in their journeys and usually chose implements which were multi-purpose. They would revisit favourite campsites of previous years where they had left that were too heavy to carry. These items would be left closer to water so that it wouldn’t need to be carried far. The women carried items on their heads and would make a ring shaped cushion of human hair, manguri, to wear when carrying heavy loads such as a big wooden dish etc. Men sometimes after hunting would carry a kangaroo on their heads. They carried their babies in a pouch in the back of a possum skin cloak (Berowra Valley Regional Park, 2010). This knowledge was very important in choosing the best type of bridge. Types of Bridges Several types of bridges are in existence today such as: Beam Bridges, Box Girder Bridges, Arch Bridges, Truss Bridges, Suspension Bridges, Cable Stayed Bridges. Examples of these bridges are included in the appendix Beam Bridges A beam bridge is very simple. The farther apart its supports are, the weaker it becomes. Although the beam needs careful design, it is cheap and easy to manufacture but this compromises on its beauty. Box Girder Bridges This is similar to the beam bridge but with a girder, box shaped, which makes it stronger. The girder needs careful design; it is cheap and easy to manufacture but not very beautiful. The performance of a beam bridge can be improved by using supports i. e. arches, trusses, cables. Arch Bridges Being one of the oldest types of bridge, they have great natural strength. Instead of pushing straight down, its weight is carried outward along the curve of the arch to the supports at each end. These supports or abutments carry the load and keep its ends from spreading out. Although they are heavy, they are strong if well designed and can be very beautiful. Truss Bridges Truss bridges are mostly empty space, but very effective. They are made of thin triangulated assemblies of metal members. They have a very good strength to weight performance and can be incorporated into any design. They are usually very beautiful. Suspension Bridges A suspension bridge as its name suggests, suspends the roadway from huge main cables extending from one end of the bridge to the other. All the highly stressed parts of a suspension bridge are in tension apart from the towers. These cables which rest on top of towers are secured at each end by anchorages. They have a high aesthetic value, are light and strong. They span greater distances, are expensive and are susceptible to wobble if designed improperly. Cable-Stayed Bridges The cables are attached to the towers which bear the load alone. They are very beautiful and require less cable. They are easier and faster to build but require stronger towers. Core Material – The design process Design of an arch bridge. Initially, a suspension bridge and other options were considered but because of the sandy nature of the place and foundation limitations, we decided on an arch bridge. We set to design a timber bridge over the Nebine Creek not only capable of carrying pedestrians and animals but also motor vehicles. This bridge would be built on concrete and stone abutments for the many girder span designed. Instead of pushing straight down, the weight of the bridge (mainly made of laminated softwood) is carried outward along the curve of the arch to the supports at each end. These supports or abutments carry the load and keep its ends from spreading out. The abutments should carry a span of 22 meters. Four pairs of wooden beams, running lengthwise to the in relation to the bridge i. e. ‘longitudinal’, will rest on hammerhead bearings. The wooden beams are made of wooden pieces put in layers and glued together to form a larger beam. The layers, which are glued laminated wooden beams to make them more durable, are laid horizontally to form the main beam. Each pair measures 1 meter by 0. 5 meters, 15 centimetres thick. The span is 22 meters. The beams are to be made of softwoods like pine which are readily available in the community. To hold the pieces together firmly, metal brackets would be used to bolt the pieces together. On top of the stringers, small pieces of timber would be laid across and a coating of asphalt pavement would provide the road wearing surface. Since the stream has high banks and can hold rising waters caused by a flash flood during the rainy season, a concrete and stone arch bridge was chosen. The goal was to maintain the level of the road to allow for maximum potential stream flow. Traditionally, each family amongst the Aboriginal people would have a canoe, made from a single sheet of bark heated under low temperatures and then bent into shape. These canoes were used for fishing and crossing rivers especially during the rainy seasons. A base of clay built in the bottom of the canoe, would be used to light fire to cook some of the fish caught from the river. The remainder of the fish would be brought ashore to be shared amongst the rest of the people. Crossing rivers, they would put logs across minor streams and sometimes large rocks would be used (Berowra Valley Regional Park, 2010). Examples of these are shown in the appendix. A simple model would be made of wood to test the usability of the bridge. A bridge plan diagram was drawn to determine the amount necessary; this was done by tracing on the arch at the bottom with a pencil. On the model, an allowance of 10 inches is left from the end of the boards on the bottom cut to allow plenty of support on the stringers to carry the weight of the bridge. The amount of arch on the model was determined by using tack and string to make the arch. Wood glue is used to attach the pieces together, the cut out pieces are attached to the top of the stringer with a bead of wood glue and small screws (they are put on the underside so that they do not show. The pieces are then brought together to form the model beam.