Beowulf Essays (792 words) - Geats, Beowulf, English-language Films

Beowulf And Street Gangs We often think of the "Old English" time as an era filled with mighty pagan warriors gathered in a dark wooden room, drinking ale to celebrate their victory in a brutish bloody battle. Or maybe we picture brawny Vikings with dirty faces wearing animal skins while sailing in large wooden ships. You may even imagine the crude but lovable Hagar the Horrible from the popular comic strip. Regardless to which of these views you take, we always think of the "Old English" as a time far in the past. Even though we may not notice, the strong brutal men of this past era infiltrate our everyday lives. These barbaric warriors are found in our society as street gangs. Although they have different appearances, weapons, and transportation, these two civilizations conduct their lives in the same way. Street gangs are so prevalent that they are all over the media, appearing in films, music, and television. Although street gangsters and pagan warriors lived at very different times, both groups embody the same ideals: strength, violence, and loyalty to their group. In the "Old English" epic, Beowulf, the pagan warriors were proud of their physical strength and abilities. Beowulf himself was well-known for his great strength and prowess. These warriors were large men with great muscular power who won many battles with brute force. Many battles were fought with manual weapons, such as clubs or swords, that required great power from the arms. The strongest men, such as Beowulf, were the ones that were the subject of stories told in many lands. Similar to this, street gangsters are also quite proud of their strength and abilities. But their strength does not primarily come from physical attributes. Their strength is measured by the amount of weapons, money, and power they hold. The strongest man is not the one with the biggest muscles. He is the one with the most guns and the most influence over other gang members. Whereas Beowulf has remained a legend for years now, gang leaders come and go in a matter of months. Just as Beowulf longed to be a legend, street gangs also strive for that same notoriety, wanting to be well-known in many places. In Beowulf's time, most warriors were quite violent. They often engaged in battles with enemies until death, or with opponents until the end of the match. The pagan warriors are remembered as brutal, killing those necessary to protect their village or steal another's. They were also known to use violence to obtain riches or ships from other warriors. Similar to pirates, they used brute force to take what they wanted. Street gangs also use such violence. Whether it be to protect their property or members, or to steal from others, gangsters use various weapons to obtain what they want. Just as pagan warriors fought battles with rival villages, street gangs also engage in battles with rival gangs or sometimes with police. Gang violence can vary from street fights to drive-by shootings, often involving innocent victims. This horrible violence is evident in the media. It varies from gansta rap such as 2Pac or Dr. Dre, to movies such as New Jack City or Juice, and can even be seen in such TV shows as "New York Undercover" and "NYPD Blue". A less obvious example of gangs is in the new version of Romeo and Juliet. In this rendition of the old Shakespeare classic, the Capulets and Montagues are no longer just rival families, but now rival gangs who engage in tremendous violence against each other to keep the two lovers apart. But gang violence is also felt quite close to home. The guard for NC State's basketball team, Anthony Grundy, experienced gang- related violence, causing him to carry a gun to his high school in Louisville. Both gangs and pagan warriors found violence necessary to maintain individual and group status. A third similarity between these two societies is their loyalty to their groups. Beowulf fought for his kingdom and his fellow warriors. They were a group, a family of sorts, that stuck together for support, enjoyment, and love. Gangs also stick together for these reasons. Beowulf's loyalty ran so deep that he put his life on the line for his king many times, and eventually died for his kingdom. Similarly, gangsters are extremely loyal to their gangs and leaders. They remain members for life and are willing to sacrifice their lives for their fellow members. An example of this bond is a record company which is infamous for violence and gang-relations,

Analytical Essay on Native American Health Beginnings of Substance Abuse

Analytical Essay on Native American Health Beginnings of Substance Abuse Native American Heath issues predominantly stemmed from the beginning of western colonization. In the past Indians roamed free, before the interruption of western civilizations they suffered from diseases that were common to them. Because of the fact that the diseases were common to them their bodies had also built up immunity. In this paper I intent to discuss the coming of western civilization to Indian country and how this affected the health of Native Americans and in many ways incorporated drug and alcohol abuse. When westerners came they brought many things with them, some of the many things they brought with them were diseases, which Native Americans had no immunity. They also introduce alcohol, which was also new to Native Americans, and they also didn’t have as high a Torrance or understanding of the substance that westerners had, which resulted in alcoholism to many. â€Å"In 1892, sharp-dealing speculators had extracted a ninety-nine-year lease to Salamancea’s site from the headmen of the Senecas, whose reservation snakes along the narrow valley of the Allegheny River. The way they accomplished it was by sequestering the Senecas in a local hotel and lubricating them with alcohol until they agreed to sign.† (introduction Brodewich) In many early federal dealings alcohol was used to reach an agreement between the Native Americans and the westerners in an attempt for the westerners to achieve their objective, ownership of the land. When western settlers came they brought alcohol, which was new to the Native Americans, they didn’t know anything about the substance and didn’t have the high tolerance the western settlers had. Today it is suggested that alcoholism is a biological disease that is inherited, Native Americans are reluctant to adopt this thought because in their view they see it as an excuse or a way of saying there is no cure. Also with the coming of western settlers came diseases that such as chicken pox and measles. These diseases didn’t mean much To the western settlers, they had built up immunities to the many of the illnesses they brought, but for the native Americans these illnesses whipped out thousands. Other diseases that thrived through Native American culture were S.T.D’s among those were syphilis. After being transferred to reservations, and finding the land barren, many Indians could not farm. The area also did not have animals for the Native American to hunt for food. Many of the Native women were forced to sell their bodies to solder’s in order to get food to survive. This caused the wide spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Today certain diseases and conditions are known to affect the Native American population with more frequency and/or severity than other populations. It is important for Native Americans to be informed and educated on these issues so that they may better understand how these disease processes may alter or impact on their lives.

Should the government provide free public education to children of Essay - 1

Should the government provide free public education to children of illegal immigrants - Essay Example Arguably, every young individual has dreams for a better future, and this can only be achieved from education. In addition, the schools are aimed at prepare an active participant in the future of American society when such attain maturity. Though illegally within the country, the government should understand that they are part of the country. As such, illegal immigrants should be provided with knowledge and skills to avoid making them dependants. They might be a vital asset in the future. If ignored, the immigrants may even cause problems to the country such as committing crimes. These crimes may even affect their home countries to extend of destroying the relationship between the countries (Grandrath, 2011). A scholar once stated that if a society governance values individuals, believes in both education and children, then it should be ready to take care and educate each child in its area of jurisdiction. In American government’s case as a society, it should then be ready to fund the education of these illegal immigrants irrespective of their race and origin to better individual’s and the country’s future (Grandrath, 2011). Education usually acts as stepping-stone for many people and denial to the right for education may lead to destruction of people’s goals. ... Some may be talented in many aspects of benefit to the country. They maybe even grow up to become great people in power and bring a change in government, coming up with policies and rights favoring each person in that country. Obama tries to sensitize the people on t he importance of each person in the nation. From the president’s sensitization speech, we get to know how innocent and important these children are to the nation. Therefore, ignoring them will lead to many problems to the entire nation. For instance, their lives will be affected. Since the immigrants are eventually part of the United States nation, Lack of education translates to unemployment, which means the rate of poverty will increase. This eventually affects the lives of most parts of the nation. Some of the effects caused by poverty may include prostitution, which is a social crime (Grandrath, 2011). From these social crimes, problems like spread of diseases like HIV/Aids will erupt. These may lead to loss o f lives and decline in the economy. This is because funds will be set aside for treatment purposes. Further still, education is important in a nation irrespective of the individual being educated since it helps one gain knowledge and skills in different fields. Therefore, failure to educate these aliens may lead to insufficient specialists in different fields and inadequate labor in the country. Denying such individuals access to education means important labor force is left out. As a result, labor import, which is expensive more compared to when labor was readily available, might turn to be the solution. In essence, education helps boost the labor market and hence the economy at large through increased per capita income. Changes in the Dream Act have enabled

Roles that political parties and interest groups play in mobilizing Essay

Roles that political parties and interest groups play in mobilizing electoral participation in contemporary U.S. society - Essay Example There are other minor parties within the system such as the Libertarian Party and the Reform Party. For the past century, political parties have played an important role in resolving political conflicts in the US. Political parties play an important role to a democratic society such as the US. It is clear that legislative politics may not be steady without political parties. Therefore, if legislators wish to achieve something and those that want to push their policies can do so using a political party (Ginsberg et. al 69). Consequently, it can be stated that political parties facilitate efficiency within democratic organizations. It can be stated that political parties mobilize voters that have similar interests towards voting in a particular way. Political parties perform a couple of important functions. They pool together the demands and interests of the voters and channel them to the appropriate authorities. It is important to note that political parties approximate the citizens to the government. Political figures are elected into power through parties and therefore take advantage of the party label for reasons of strategic voting as well as information economization (Ginsberg et. al 123). The party candidates belongs to enables voters to make more informed decisions on how their leaders are likely to behave while elected in power. Since national parties are viewed as vehicles of political competition, a limited market is left for the candidates. It has become clear that voters make their decisions based on political parties instead of candidates as they are afraid of wasting their votes. This is what has been taking place in the US since the start of the democratic political system. Voters have never considerably changed their decisions with regards to the choice of parties. They have repetitively adhered to the two party system (de facto). Even if there have been some attempts to integrate other parties into the political system, most of them have

Critical appraisal of the business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical appraisal of the business plan - Essay Example (Shane, 2003) Though I have a wide idea of the business market as far as importing and selling textile goods is concerned but I still have issues in grasping the finer details in this market. For example, I still have a hard time in distinguishing fabrics from South East Asian countries such as from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This may cause me to buy more expensive fabrics. The other key strength is my ability to regulate finances that I have sizable experience in by managing the finances for myself, my household and my uncle’s business at times. (Reynolds, 2007) I have a hard time grasping custom’s rules because I have paid little attention to them as yet but I would be able to deal with them given thorough study. My experience in working with foreign teams is also limited and I would have to sharpen up my cross cultural communication skills in order to make the business effort work. My business would be provided an opportunity to develop in limited com petition as the market is rebounding although the recovery is slow and may take another half a decade to become viable. I am targeting a market niche where market competition may not be as stiff either as I am not entering the mainstream market but a segregated portion of the textile market. (Ebbena & Johnson, 2006) However, my business venture is in dire threat due to shipping delays for any given reason. My study of the supply and demand in these products tells me that internal disturbances in the producing countries cause delayed shipments although this is not very frequent. However, every delayed shipment means that my rate of return on the investment would suffer considerably. The business sector also suffers from slowed consumer spending as mentioned earlier and this issue serves as a retardant while promoting opportunity too. (Duening et al., 2009) Most of these factors are derived from entrepreneurial traits I have developed over time as well as from a thorough study of the subject market. The targeted audience are middle income groups who are learning to increase their spending capabilities following the recent global economic crunch. This is augmented by the fact that the market was derided of small investors. Since this business model is moving into the space that the small investors left behind so there is a good chance for its workability. (Livingston, 2007) Hence, it is highly reasonable to expect that this business will grow into its niche and will garner the right kind of consumer base. Moreover, the resources needed to make this business model work are all SMART (specific, measurable, attainable and time bound). This ensures that the business is built on concrete ideas and on as little speculation as possible. (Entrerprise UK, 2011) I have a primary contact within the South East Asian manufacturing belt who is capable of getting goods manufactured to specification and shipped accordingly. Moreover, a storage area near the main display shop can easily be arranged given that such storage areas exist near markets and malls. A display area would be required to sell the product and such a retail area can well easily be located in a central shopping district. It would pay to have the business in as competitive and large a shopping district as possible but that would cost too much money for a business that is already dealing with decent finance levels. Most businesses fail in the longer run for want of finance and hiring a place that costs too much in terms of rent will more or less push the business into a state of insecurity in terms of finance. Moreover, it would be unreasonable to expe

Participation of children in football

Participation of children in football INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to provide information about the participation level of people of Scotland in Football. This report is based on the findings in the document from sportscotland: Sports Participation in Scotland 2007, Research Digest no. 108. Interviewing is done using the questions from the Scottish Opinion Survey (SOS) run by the TNS System Three. The results of the findings are based on interviewing about 1000 adults comprising approximately 480 men and 520 women and 250 children every month. This shows that there is a consistency in the sample size with age and sex of the people interviewed. Football has been one of the most popular and frequent participating sports among others both with children and adults of both sexes. This report will focus on a three year basis survey on the trends and the participation level in football. PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN IN FOOTBALL Football has been the most popular sports with children (8-15 years) during the survey years. According to the survey 52% children have participated in football at least once a month between 2005 and 2007. Swimming is ranked second with a participation level of 37% only. PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN BY SEX A more detailed approach can be made to explain the popularity of the sports considering the sex of the participants. With boys aged between 8 years and 15 years football has been the most popular sport with a very high participation level of 74.5%. Cycling is second to football with a participation level of only 36%. Popularity of the sport is considerably low with girls who are aged between 8 years and 15 years. Football participation is only 27% with girls of this age group who are more attracted to swimming (42.9%), cycling (34.8%) and dancing (31.1%). FREQUENCY OF PARTICIPATION WITH CHILDREN Frequency of participation refers to the average number of days participated in four weeks. With boys and girls aged between 8 years and 15 years the frequency has been calculated excluding the data from the peak months. The frequency of participation in football at least once a month for the three year period is 3.1 making it the most popular sport among the children. Average number of days participated in a month is 3.4 by boys of the age between 8 years and 15 years while with the girls of the same age group the number is 2.3. FOR CHILDREN FOOTBALL IS NOT A SEASONAL SPORT The findings show that participation of children in football remains the same all over the year both with boys and girls. Participation level in the peak months was found to be exactly the same as they were all over the year excluding the peak months. This suggests that football does not attract children only in the peak months. It is a sport where the children keep themselves engaged throughout a year hence not making it a seasonal sport. NATURE OF PARTICIPATION AMONG CHILDREN Participation in football has been in different forms. Children play their football in streets or gardens or wastelands where they are very relaxed and in a lesser competitive mood. They also participate in 11-a-side matches and 5-a-side indoor and outdoor matches. Majority of the children (34%) participating in the sport played in streets or gardens or wastelands the survey being done in peak months. Only 17% of them participate in 11-a-side games out of which 26% are boys and 6% are girls. Table 1: Participation of children (8-15 years) in different forms of the game by sex (at least once a month) 2005-07: peak months All % Boys % Girls % In street/garden/wasteland 34 49 17 11-a-side games 17 26 6 5-a-side games (all) 17 26 6 5-a-side games (outdoor) 13 20 4 5-a-side games (indoor) 8 11 4 Notes: Percentage of participation in football for children was 52. The figures in all participants column for street/garden/wasteland, 11-a-side games and 5-a-side games (all) sum up to 68, because of multiple participations. Similarly the figures of 5-a-side indoor and outdoor rows sum up to 21 instead of 17, because of multiple participations. This illustration holds true for the other columns also. Total participation for boys was 74% and for girls was 27%. PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN THROUGH CLUB MEMBERSHIP Participation in football in less competitive levels has resulted in low club memberships (28%). 31% of boys who play football are members of a club while only 16% of girls playing football have a club membership. This shows that boys were around twice as likely as girls to be the member of a football club. TRENDS IN PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS (1998-2007) Looking at the trends in participation in football for children (8-15 years) over the past 10 years on a 3 year basis survey it can be concluded that there has been a gradual decrease in participation level but it has been always above 50% making the sport most popular among others over the years. PARTICIPATION OF ADULTS IN FOOTBALL When it comes to adults (16+), the results are based on surveys during the peak months and in the same time frame participation level in football (10%) is only second to swimming (16%). This decline in participation is understandable as participation in sport is strongly age-related. The survey shows that participation in some type of sport is 96% with children aging between 8 years and 11 years (excluding PE). This figure goes down to 29% with the over 55 category. PARTICIPATION OF ADULTS BY SEX Considering sex of participants, football has been the most popular sport with men with a participation level of 18.9%. Results show that football loses its popularity with adult women considerably and the participation level is as low as 2.3%. These results are based on participation in peak months. FREQUENCY OF PARTICIPATION WITH ADULTS The frequency of participation of adults in football during the peak months is 1.6 and has not been among the most frequent sports with the likes of cycling (3.8), horse riding (3.2), etc. The average number of days when adult men participated in football is 1.6 while the figure is 1.5 with women. NATURE OF PARTICIPATION AMONG ADULTS Adult men and women have played their football in the different forms of the game. They have played in the streets, gardens or wastelands. They also have participated in 11-a-side and 5-a-side games. Unlike children, adult men have taken part in more competitive games than those who have played in streets, gardens or wastelands. Women have very little participation in competitive games with less than 0.5% participating in 11-a-side games and only 1% in 5-a-side games. Table 2: Participation of adults (16+) in different forms of the game by gender (at least once a month) 2005-07: peak months All % Men % Women % In street/garden/wasteland 4 5 2 11-a-side games 3 6 * 5-a-side games (all) 6 13 1 5-a-side games (outdoor) 4 9 * 5-a-side games (indoor) 4 7 * Note: Percentage of participation in football for adults was 10. The figures in all participants column for street/garden/wasteland, 11-a-side games and 5-a-side games (all) sum up to 13, because of multiple participations. Similarly the figures of 5-a-side indoor and outdoor rows sum up to 8 instead of 6, because of multiple participations. This illustration holds true for the other columns also. Total participation for men was 19% and for girls was 2%. The asterisk (*) indicates less than 0.5% participation. PARTICIPATION OF ADULTS THROUGH CLUB MEMBERSHIP Percentage of adult football participants who are the members of a club is 25. 27% of male football participants have a club membership while only 6% of female who play football are club members. This shows that men are four and a half times more likely to take a club membership as are women. TRENDS IN PARTICIPATION OVER THE LAST 13 YEARS (1994-2007) The trends in participation in football for adults over the past 13 years on a three year basis survey show a good consistency with the participation level ranging between 9% and 11%. CONCLUSION Club membership has been low in football for both children between 8 years and 15 years and adults over 16 years. Only a quarter (25%) of the adult participants in football is club members while with children the figure is just above the quarter mark (28%). This is mainly due to the nature of the participation. Around two-thirds (49% of the 74%) of the number of boys aged between 8 years and 15 years have played their football in streets or gardens or wastelands throughout the year. A major portion of the girls participating in football (17% of the 27%) have played in the same form of the game. This might also be considered as a reason for the gradual decrease in the trend of participation in football among children. Children might be encouraged to become members of different clubs by organizing free coaching sessions once or twice a week round the year for club members. Other attractions may include more competitive football matches between clubs in different forms of the game to en sure maximum participation. This might also encourage them to continue with participation at an older age.

Sports Agents Essay -- History Athletics Sport Agent Essays

Sports Agents People have been entertained by sport since before the gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. In the 20th century, the publics’ passion for sport consumes more and more of their free time. As sports figures became internationally recognized, athletes began to realize their need for professional representation. Thus, sports agents were born. The field of sports agents has grown since then into an enormous field. Agents now deal with every aspect of an athlete’s life. Agents can be considered professional mangers who find the best place for their client’s talent. Sports Agents have not been around for a long time. â€Å"Until the 1970’s, very few players had agents because teams would not deal with agents (Masteralexis, 244).† Many times players found that having an agent was a disadvantage to them. For example, â€Å"In 1964 Jim Ringo brought his financial advisor (agent) to help negotiate a contract with Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi excused himself for a minute, when he returned he told the agent that he was negotiating with the wrong team (Masteralexis, 244).† Agents had been around since prior to the 70’s, but were few and far between. C. C. â€Å"cash $ carry† Pyle is though to be the first Sports Agent. The first account of negotiations came when Pyle â€Å"Negotiated a deal with the Chicago Bears for Red Grange to earn $3,000 per game and $300,000 in endorsement and movie rights (Masteralexis, 244).† A few years later Babe Ruth allegedly consulted sports cartoonist Christy Walsh to serve as his financial consultant through the depression. These early accounts are the beginning of the Sports Agent. It took years for the agent to develop however.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the 1970’s the Sports Agency business has sky rocketed. There are five main factors that account for this. The reserve system is the first factor that lead to the growth of the Sports Agent. The reserve system was a restrictive system that limited the free, or open market. This enabled owners to retain rights to players and depress their salaries. Major League Baseball had the first system, which consisted of two parts, the reserve clause and the reserve list. The reserve clause stated that each player’s contract could be renewed by the team season after season, for as long as the club wished. The reserve list was sent to each team by the league. Teams had to place the names of r... ... sport, but is generally under five years. Therefore, it is the agent’s job to maximize earning potential during and after the athlete’s playing career. At the same time it is the agents job to protect the athlete from overexposure. â€Å"The agent must balance the need to maximize exposure with doing what is best personally and professionally for the athlete† (Masteralexis, 1998). This function also includes the agent investing time, energy, and money into the athlete’s career before the player has made it big. If the athlete’s career doesn’t take off, this results in the agent losing money. Dispute resolution follows career and post career planning on the list of functions. Dispute resolution is somewhat self-explanatory. It includes the agent resolving disputes with the league, team, teammates, fans, referees or umpires, the media, and endorsement companies. â€Å"Renowned baseball agent Dennis Gilbert likens the role of the agent to a shield, stating that it is the agent’s task to shield the athlete from the headaches that go along with resolving disputes† (Schwarz, 1996). This so called â€Å"shield† allows players to concentrate completely on their sport, without outside distractions.