Velazquezs The Toilet of Venus Essay Example

Velazquezs The Toilet of Venus Paper One of the most stunning paintings in the National Gallery is The Toilet of Venus, which is also known as The Rokeby Venus because it was part of the Morritt Collection in Rokeby Hall in Yorkshire before being added to the Gallerys permanent collection. There are many spectacular things to note about this painting, beginning with its creator.Painted by Diego Vel;zquez, it is one of the most note-worthy of his works. Vel;zquez was the leading painter of the Spanish school. Born in Seville in 1599 his works fall into the Baroque period of art.From the young age of 11, Vel;zquez acted an apprentice. His earliest teachings were from Francisco de Herrera the elder, whom he soon left for the studio of Pacheco, where he remained for five years. This training is reflected in his works, especially early on, where there is a strong naturalistic quality. After marrying Pachecos daughter, he moved to Madrid.He remained there under the protection of the cond; de Olivares. He soon became a court p ainter.When famous baroque painter Rubens visited the Spanish court near the end of 1629, Vel;zquez was influenced to travel to Italy to observe and work. He returned to the Spanish court two years later, and entered into what is considered the second stage of his professional artistic life. Over the next two decades his work was a tribute to the Spanish school. He traveled to Italy for the King, of whom he was a personal friend, purchasing works for the royal collection. He is credited with significantly enriching the collection.This second trip to Italy led to his painting of The Rokeby Venus, his only surviving nude. The Rokeby Venusisfirst recorded in June 1651 as part of the collection of the Marqu;s del Carpio, son of the First Minister of Spain.Most likely, the painting was commissioned by the Marqu;s, and then displayed privately. That fact saved Vel;zquez from being targe

How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany Essays - Free Essays

How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany Essays - Free Essays How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany History How the Treaty of Versailles Effected Germany Wen World War I ended on November 11, 1918, peace talks went on for months due to the Allied leaders wanting to punish the enemy and dividing the spoils of war. A formal agreement to end the war was made and called the Treaty of Versailles. The issue that took the most time were the territorial issues because the empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman, and Germany had collapsed. These fallen empires had to be divided up and Americas President Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and David Lloyd George of Great Britain, were the main deciders of this deal. During 1918, Russia was knocked out of the war due to military defeats and the Bolshevik Revolution. Even though Russia had not been part of the Central Powers, Germany seized much of western Russia. After many months of arguing, the four men had made western Russia into the nations of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. The Treaty of Versailles was either a treaty of peace or a vengeance for the Germans. In April of 1919, Germany was previously captured and made to wait in a small house that was surrounded with barbed wire. The Allied, who captured Germany, wanted to make a peace treaty to end the fighting. The Germans agreed, but they wanted a treaty that was based on the Fourteen Points but obviously they were not going to get it because of the way they were treated; the barbed wire was unnecessary and should have tipped them off to what lay ahead. When the treaty was first introduced to the Germans, they declined to sign it. It forced the Germans to accept full responsibility for the war and strip themselves of its colonies, coal fields, and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. It also made them pay outrageous reparations to the Allies. Nevertheless, on June 28, 1919, the Germans reluctantly signed the treaty because the Allies refused to change one word. Out of the $33 billion dollars the Germans had to pay for damages, the country was only able to pay $4.5 billion of it. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles helped set the stage for another world war less than 20 years later because the Allied wanted to stop Germany from ever becoming imperialistic again and still have them pay the war reparations. Germany opposed these actions and was the most effected by the terms of the Versailles Treaty. Germany got the blunt end of the war and was desperate to find a new leader to get out of their depression. That leader was Adolf Hitler. World War I was won by the Allied in which a formal agreement was made called the Versailles Treaty. It both brought peace and war in the coming years. Due to the harsh life styles it forced Germany to live, World War II broke out within twenty years time from the treaty.

Globalization Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Globalization - Coursework Example Additionally, its E-commerce website caters to over 10 countries, employs 2.2 million workers, caters to over 245 million customers on a weekly basis, its sales amount is close to $450 billion annually and is now ranked by the Fortune 500, as the best in the retail chain sector. Callahan argues that, its global outlook and its unrivaled pursuit of low prices for their products, have led to its management adopting information systems that have made it a leading innovator. Its innovations include TPS and DSS systems that aid in tracking products, restocking the inventory that cut costs that are passed as savings to the customers. This has enabled Walmart to be considered successful in the concept of supply chain management. Recently, Walmart began embarking on establishing a global information technology system that will lead to the elimination of conventional reliance on local IT which curtails the growth of firms in the US (Callahan, 2011). According to Kizza, some of the obstacles curtailing the full implementation of a global information system include, shifting to an external software package, since most organizations have an in-house IT departments to spearhead such developments. Some of the solutions to this problem include the RFID wireless solution and the development of a global E-commerce platform that connects all the systems used in recent online operations in Europe and the US (Kizza,

Politica Science - society and state in contemporary russia Essay

Politica Science - society and state in contemporary russia - Essay Example A democracy can broadly be defined as a government that has been set up by the people which essentially means that all people living under that government should be entitled to have their opinion considered in everything that affects their lives. Furthermore, democracy can also be exercised directly or indirectly through which people elect their representatives. In light of this, it is absurd that two decades down the line despite the dissolution of USSR president Yeltsin failed to horn our promise to better democracy and improve the lives of Russian citizens. This just proves that Russia is still categorized as one of the authoritarian states in Europe. As much as most of the leaders have improved the country’s economic status both domestic and international policies it is believed that from the essays â€Å"not free† a lot of factors have hindered Russia’s democracy development (Motyl 2005). For the first time power within Kremlin changed through the 2000, elec tion this process not only took place but was conducted according to the constitution more than two thirds of the eligible voters participated. They appeared to be well informed of choices to make. However, up to now Russian political conditions do not meet the criteria of democracy; a political framework must be adopted to understand democracy adequately (Chomsky, et al 2003). Some political analysts such as Joseph Schumpeter describes democracy as an institutional arrangement for arriving at a political decision that help politicians in the acquisition of the power necessary for them to decide by way of their struggling to obtain votes from the citizens (Josephi 2010). Basically his definition may suggest that countries only differ in the degree to which institutional conditions are satisfied. Perhaps that is the reason why president Yeltsin ascended to power and failed to live up to his promises. Most Russians still point out that with the rioting on October 2nd the liberal regim e suppressed the angry communists. After a time period of approximately ten years since 23 Russian citizens lost their lives, the Russian government is still expounding on the myth that the crackdown was just to topple Mr. Yeltsin political opponents (Lucas 2009). This left many with the view that Mr. Yeltsin is a democratic hypocrite who never had the people’s interests at heart. All he had was his own vested interests. From that moment, descending from power without going to prison for him was inevitable; perhaps that is why he saw in an inherited presidency system as a scapegoat; perhaps that is why he ensured Mr. Vladimir Putin came to power (Marot 2012). When United Russia party chanced to win a working majority in the 2003 Russian Parliamentary elections, the Russian president Putin was seen to set out and attempt to critically undercut most of the opposition parties that were active in the country. He instigated changes in various electoral policies that allowed the go vernment to effectively manage to shut out a variety of the smaller political parties focusing mainly on those that had been perceived as being key advocates of liberal democracy. Other changes that were made caused it to become extremely difficult for parties to manage to field presidential candidates in a presidential ballot (Ethridge and Handelman 2012). Following the unexpected resignation of President Boris Yeltsin in 2000 Vladimir was assigned to

Human rights and civil liberties - Choose one of the rights listed Essay

Human rights and civil liberties - Choose one of the rights listed below. Explain how the European Convention on Human Rights seeks to uphold that right, highli - Essay Example Under the Treaty, inhuman and degrading punishment would violate the rights of an individual, or even a child, to freedom from arbitrary treatment - such as excessive punishment or torture under imprisonment. There have been allegations of inhuman and degrading treatment in prisons and the provisions of the Geneva Convention have been found inadequate in this regard. However, Article 3 of the European Convention addresses all such violations of the right to freedom from discriminatory treatment. Article 3 has been primarily applied in respect to international victims of torture and cruel, arbitrary treatment while imprisoned. However corporal punishment of children is also emerging as an area where the provisions of Article 3 would apply. Such punishment would be equivalent to mental and physical torture which is deemed to be unacceptable under the Convention. Yet traditional belief has held that corporal punishment is an essential part of discipline and this conflict between punishm ent and freedom from torture has generated controversy within the European Union. In view of the fact that â€Å"we live in a society in which violence is spreading like a plague†4 and incidents of terrorist violence and destruction are soaring, the provisions of Article 3 of the Convention help to protect individuals from violence. When the violence or torture is perpetrated on children through corporal punishment, there is a special cause of action that arises for the exercise of Article 3, since children are in a weaker position as compared to adults. Corporal punishment can sometimes be excessive and thereby constitute degrading treatment that harms the child physically, emotionally and mentally. Legal reforms have been undertaken in several countries to declare corporal punishment of children unlawful - a violation of the protection against torture and inhuman treatment guaranteed under Article

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.  British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495. Brief Summary There is common claim that class identity does not matter for American political behaviour. The researchers tried to find out the influence of social class identification on participatory orientations towards government. The researchers focus on class identity perspective which people use to interpret and interact with the political world. The researchers used panel-study data spanning thirty-two years and two generations. Research Description This study’s independent variable is social class identification. There are two approaches, the first respondents subjectively identified themselves, and the second one is objective assessment. The researchers distinguish two classes (working-class and middle-class) by levels of income, education, union membership, and occupation. This study’s dependent variable is participatory orientations towards government. The researchers employed four measures. All of these measures concern political involvement and engagement (political interest, political efficacy, conception of good citizen, and political participation). Because there were many variables in this research, the researchers used multivariate analysis. Two variables are control variables, they are gender and race. â€Å"In a multivariate analysis, a variable is said to controlled when its influence is removed. We control variable by holding its value constant† (Agresti, 1999, p.305). The methodology in that research was a quantitative approach. Creswell (2003, p.18) explained quantitative as â€Å"an approach which the investigator primarily uses post positivist claims for developing knowledge, employs strategies of inquiry such as experiments and survey, and collects data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data†. Because the purpose of this research is to make predictions about relation or effects of social class on political world, researchers used inferential statistics. â€Å"Inferential statistical analysis can predict characteristics of entire populations quite well by selecting samples that are small relative to the population size. In the past quarter-century, social scientists have increasingly recognized the power of inferential statistical methods†, (Agresti, 1999, p.5). This research used longitudinal research, from 1965-1997 with panel-study type. The sampling technique is proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample is 1,669 seniors from 97 secondary high schools in America in 1965 and also their parents. Furthermore, the instrument which researchers used is a questionnaire. Research Critique Clarity This research methods use inferential statistics to predict population characteristics by using sample, so the concept of population and sample must be clear. According to Babbie (1990, p.72), researchers must begin with a careful specification of population and should not mislead or deceive the readers. He gave example â€Å"Adult New Yorkers† is clearer than â€Å"American† because there is specification of the age and boundaries. In this study, the population all senior high school students in USA, and the unit analysis is an individual senior high school student in 1965. The sample is 1,669 students in 1965 and their parents. The researchers describe the different attitude between two generations. Besides that, the researchers also show the trend or the changing of respondents attitude using four wave panels for student generation in 1965 (G2) and three waves panel for their parents (G1). This article published in July 2004 and at the beginning of the article (p.469) clearly stated that it is about American political behavior. In addition, the brief result or answer for research question is â€Å"class may be particularly important in the present political context†. However the researchers used data survey in 1965, 1973, 1982, and 1997. The focus of research is one of issues here. Longitudinal research usually compares the changing of the subject time after time. One of types of longitudinal research is panel-study. â€Å"Panel studies involve the collection of data over time from the same sample respondents. The sample for such a study is called the panel†(Babbie, 1990, p.58). Researchers make claim the result particularly important for present political context instead of stated trend of last five decades or comparison of two generations. 2.2 Theory and Hypotheses â€Å"Theory has an important role in research and is an essential ally for the researcher. Researchers interweave a story about the operation of the social world (the theory) with what they observe when examine it systematically† (Neuman, 2007, p.24). Dennis Gilbert (2010, p.11) define social classes as â€Å"groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families above or below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth, and prestige†. Furthermore he figure out American social class structure become six parts: underclass (12%), working poor (13%), working class (30%), middle class (30%), upper-middle class (14%), and capitalist class (1%). Each of class has characteristics in terms of typical occupation and education. In this research, researchers just use two social classes. Justification to do that because based on previous research by Jackman and Jackman in 1975, the vast majority respondents identified as working-class (37 %) or middle-class (44 %). In subjective social class identification, respondents have to choose two options. As a result there are several respondents did not give answer. Instead of beginning with theories and concepts related to engagement in governmental affairs such as political participation and civic engagement, the researchers directly gave their measurement. They used four measurements to measure participatory orientations toward government (political interest, active citizen, political efficacy, and political participation). Based on the purpose of research to get to know relationship social class identification toward participatory orientations toward government, the simply hypothesis would be: H0 = There is no significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. Ha= There is significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. In analytical surveys usually are driven by theoretical questions. The purpose is to collect evidence which supports or contradict some hypothesis about the cause of people’s behavior. Buckingham and Saunders (2004, p.14) define hypotheses as â€Å"statements about what our theoretical propositions lead us to expect to find. They enable theories to be tested by predicting patterns of observations that should occur. Hypotheses therefore predict patterns of association in observed data as a means for testing causal theories†. 2.3 Research Design and Methodology â€Å"Research design is a strategy for collecting and analyzing data. It must be appropriate for answering the questions which the project is seeking to address, and it must take into account the practical constraints which the project is likely to encounter† (Buckingham and Saunders, 2004, p.294). The strategy which researchers used to collect data here is a survey. Sampling In order to get the view and attitude of population, the researchers used random sampling. This is the selection of a sample that should be representative of the population. The researchers choose from sampling frame available, and each individual has same opportunity. In this study, type of probability sampling which researchers used is proportionate stratified random sampling. The researchers said (p.473) â€Å"the students were distributed across a stratified sample of ninety-seven secondary schools, with the probability of schools selection being proportionate to size†. As described above, the sample took in 1965 from 97 schools with target subjects 1,669 students and one of their parents as well. We can ask questions, why the researchers used stratified random sampling? Why make a senior high school student as a unit analysis? Why there are four wave panels? Actually it is a series of data survey about political attitudes and behaviors by obtaining data on the same individuals as they aged from approximately 18 years of age in 1965 to 50 years of age in 1997. Based on that series of data survey, in 2004 the researchers make study about the effects of social identification on participatory towards government affairs. According to this information, we can assume the stratum here is the generation (G1 and G2). These four wave panels yielded 935 respondents for G2 (students) and 898 respondents for three wave panels G1 (parents). However, the surveys in 1973 and 1982 did not include social class questions. Because of geographical problem to make personal interview, the base panel survey in 1973 and 1982 are 728 for G1 and 659 for G2. One problem here, can we compare every wave panel, if the sample compositions are different? Instrumentation â€Å"A research instrument is a survey questionnaire or interview schedule that researcher uses to measure variables† (Neuman, 2007, p.168). The researchers used a questionnaire which conducted by several ways (face-to-face interview, computer-assisted personal interview, computer-assisted telephone interview, and self-enumerated questionnaire). This research used Logistic regression model for binary response variables which only has two possible outcomes. Education level: This index was scaled from 0 (less than high school) to 1 (PhD). Union Member: 0 = no; 1 = yes. Income: all of responses about household income were coded to the midpoint of the category and then rescaled within each wave and each generation from 0 (least) to 1 (highest). Occupation Skill Level Self-Employment and Homemaker For the better education level, income, and participate in union member would take into account in middle class status. However, for occupation indicators, the researchers just gave information about the consideration without description where those characteristics were placed. There are several questions in the questionnaire which measure political attitudes of American people. Researchers employed four measures, and it is categorized as a dichotomous dependent dummy variable. The value is most often a representation for a measured variable (Hagle, 2004). Political interest, 0 = hardly at all, 1 = most of the time Being an active citizen, 0 = if they did not volunteer such a response, 1 = respondents volunteered a response of this nature in any one of the responses. Political Efficacy, 0 = least efficacy, 1 = most efficacy Political participation, 0 = least active, 1 = most active The measurement scale which researchers used is an ordinal scale. Neuman (2007, p.375) defines ordinal level measurement as â€Å"a level of measurement that identifies a difference among categories of a variable and allows the categories to be rank order†. Even though just there are two categories (0 and 1), we can order it, which is 1 is more active than 0 in terms of political participation variable for example. Ordinal scale can have more than two options, for example (very interested, interested, uninterested, very uninterested). 2.4. Analysis of Data and Findings The researchers provide regression tables to describe their research result. In this study, researchers stated (p.479) that they used bivariate (type I) and multivariate regression models (type II). Bivariate analysis is an analysis of association between two variables. On the other hand, â€Å"multivariate analysis is statistical procedures which attempt to distinguish and measure the relative strength or significance of association between several independent variables and a dependent variables† (Buckingham and Sunders, p.292). The regression model formula: y= a + b1x1 + b2x2 + †¦ + e. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Interest The positive and significant coefficients on class identity in the bivariate models (I) indicate that middle-class identifiers display higher levels of interest. Generally, the stable middle-class identifiers are consistently and statistically significantly more interested in politics than are the stable working-class identifiers with p-value Relationship between Class Identity and Conception of Good Citizen as an Active Political Participant Middle-class identifiers are significantly more likely to emphasize the importance of being an active player in politics. In generation 2, the working-class mean drops from 0.53 to 0.41, whereas middle-class mean stays at 0.62. In model II, stable middle-class always more likely to mention active engagement than were stable working-class, 0.10 more in 1965 and 0.20 more in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Efficacy The bivariate models show the gaps between middle-class and working-class identifiers range from 0.14 to 0.21 for G1, and from 0.16 to 0.23 for G2 on the 0-1 efficacy scale. The dramatic decline of political efficacy happened from 1973 to 1992 (0.61 to 0.49) for G1 middle-class. On the other hand, for G2 slightly increase from 0.65 in 1982 become 0.67 in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Participation The constants and coefficients in the type I models demonstrate the expected life cycle: decreasing participation among parents as they become older and increasing participation among the offspring generation as they middle age. The type II models show that subjective identification becomes a less impressive predictor for G1 members as the coefficients on stable middle-class identity changed from 0.15 in 1965 to 0.09 in 1982. At confidence interval 95% and p-value (*p Limitation and Recommendation 3.1 Reliability and Outdated Neuman (2007, p.115) explain reliability as â€Å"dependability or consistency. It suggests that the same thing is repeated or recurs under the identical or very similar conditions†. This research seems like not reliable enough due to limited information given by the researchers. It may be difficult for the other researchers to conduct similar type of research in the future. The data which the researchers used derived from 1965-1997. Meanwhile, the research launched in 2004, and now 2014. Thus, this research could be less important to be used because the condition and preferences of people to participate on governmental affairs might be has been changed. 3.2 Sampling The representativeness is one of issues here. The researchers use data from their previous research. We can question, whether 1,669 students (with his parent) at 97 schools are representative? How about the distribution? Response rate from this study is just slightly more than a half of the total respondents, 935 of 1,669 or 56%. Then from 935 the researchers could only processed 728 data. Some of the reasons data not completed is because some respondents refuse to state their social class identity and geographical factor. It is easier for the researchers to focus on particular area or state. Besides that, the researchers can make shorter the range of research duration, only one decade for example. It is because not easy to keep the same and large respondents in long time period. 3.3 Data Analyzing The researchers not much explain about dependent variables in type II model, but from four those regression tables we know that, education and income are outstanding variables who make significant differences between working-class and middle-class. Research Good Practice and Contribution This study not only including subjective claim but also use objective indicator to determine of the social class of the respondents. Researchers effort to use panel study spanning two generations G1 and G2 for thirty-two years, allows the reader to check the trend of participation. The researcher concluded there is relevance of social class identification and participatory toward government affairs. It showed middle class with better income, education level, and occupation more contributive and active in political activity and civic engagement than working class. This research could be consideration for government to make strategies how to increase political participation like to vote in general election. Besides that, media, academician, and politicians could make effort to raise public awareness about how relevance and important of politics in their life. Conclusion To conclude this study, I would like to highlight back some points. Overall, it is a good research and useful in social political discipline. The researchers offered something new from previous research about social class and political participation. They used longitudinal research, compare two generations, and used objective measurement to determine social class. However, there are still few things need to be improved towards achieve a better result. Bibliography Agresti, A., Finlay, B. (1999) Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Buckingham, A., Saunders, P. (2004)The survey methods workbook: From design to analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press Creswell, J.W. (2009) Research Design – Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 3rd edition, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Hagle, T. M. (2004) Dichotomous Variablesin The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Ed. Michael Lewis-Beck, Alan Bryman and Tim Futing Liao. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Jackman, M. R., and Jackman R. W. (1983) Class Awareness in the United States. Barkeley: University of California Press. Neuman, W. L. (2007) Basic of Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education. Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495.

Christopher Columbus :: Christopher Columbus Essays

Christopher Columbus is the most well known explorer by most school age children. When children are young, teachers tell them that Columbus was a very good person, a hero even. To be politically correct though, Christopher Columbus brought death and destruction with him to the Americas. He stole, killed, and tortured the natives. Christopher Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage (August 3rd, 1492) to find a new route to the Indies there was no way that he could know that it would turn out the way it did. When he landed at the Caribbean Islands (October 12th, 1492), the people there were scared, but still friendly toward him. This next quote is from Columbus’ journal: â€Å"As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance, But they seemed on the whole to me, to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women. I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses† As you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take the m over and treat them badly because they had no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward people he knew couldn’t fight back. This is one proof of Christopher Columbus being a conqueror.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the movie we watched in class, it told us how Columbus was just out to get gold and riches. He ordered the natives to proclaim him governor of the lands. Since he was governor he made a law that said the natives had to bring him one bag of gold dust every three months. If they did not give him this gold (simply because their wasn’t that much gold on the islands) he would order to have their hands cut off, and they would bleed to death. If they escaped, then he would hunt them down with dogs. Christopher Columbus also ordered his men to hang and burn some natives that wouldn’t do exactly as he told them.