Analysis of the Hospitality and Tourism Provision in Portsmouth Essay

Analysis of the Hospitality and Tourism Provision in Portsmouth - Essay Example the funding provided to the council was utilised for improving the notorious accident prone areas and a number of road junctions (The Berkeley Group, 2012). Approximately 31 cities and night time economy centres of the UK have been granted the Purple Flag status. These include, Bournemouth, Bristol, Leicester Square, and Winchester. Upon adopting this methodology for improving evening and night time offer, Gunwharf Quays can acquire the Purple Flag accreditation. In addition, it will be able to provide better and varied evening and night time fare for those who reside, work, study or visit Portsmouth (Shaping the Future of Portsmouth, 2013). As such, the Purple Flag accreditation informs visitors that there is vibrant, easy and safe access to evening entertainment. Moreover, it would provide businesses with a lucrative area to invest in. This accreditation emerged from the research project conducted by the Civic Trust. This project discerned that centres are used to a greater extent at night, only when they are accessible, safe and provide variety (Shaping the Future of Portsmouth, 2013). Moreover, the presence of a diverse clientele enhances perceptions. In this context, the Portsmouth Community Safety Survey 2012 demonstrated the presence of a substantial difference betwixt the perception of crime and anti-social behaviour, in comparison to the actual experience of such crime. Furthermore, the presence of a vast array of attractions and consumers results in long term economic viability and improved tourism (Shaping the Future of Portsmouth, 2013). A pragmatic and all inclusive audit of the evening and late night economy is provided by the Purple Flag accreditation process of the Association of Town Centre Managers. The evaluation is on the basis of certain specific criteria. Some of these are appeal or the wide variety of venues providing several different types of activity. Movement or the presence of safe, well managed and affordable public transport. Such

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Assignment - Essay Example The only goals they need are how to conform to the traditional, typical place of females within that society. You are a girl so you can only become and wife and mother, any other aspirations are unrealistic, foolish, and in some cultures, blasphemous in the eyes of some faiths and philosophies. Women have been discriminated against throughout history for a number of societal, philosophical, traditional, and religious reasons; they are at the mercy of highly patriarchal environments. In some locations of the world the key element that deprives most women of realizing their greatest potential is the lack of education. Women, it is believed, do not need to be educated and are often legally not allowed to be educated in many cultures in the world even today. The human rights violation represented by denying education to female citizens literally cripples and impedes their quality life from the day they are born to their day their life ends. This essay will prove the potential human rights violations with a long list of negative side-effects related to denial of female education throughout the world Lack education maintains female disadvantage in the labor force, disadvantage economically, confines them to their society’s defined gender roles, and is a distinct violation of the individual human rights of women. Education is the most valuable tool and greatest means to positive opportunities in the future, hence its denial to women have led to serious quality of life concerns. Firstly, understanding some of the history of gender inequality reveals just how common discriminations against girls and women truly are. It some ways the denial of female education may be the oldest of all human rights violations. Then by delving further in to how the lack of female education contributes directly to the inequality in the labor force, as foundational and higher education dictate the quality of employment and incomes they are able to earn.

The Biggest Cause Of Waste On Building Sites Construction Essay

The Biggest Cause Of Waste On Building Sites Construction Essay One of the major problems in the construction industry is the wastage of materials. The construction industry generates more waste than the household sector and can account for more than 50% of the deposited material in a typical landfill. Construction waste can be separated into three major categories: material, labour and machinery waste (Ekanayake and Ofori 2000). Material waste however is a greater concern as it is extremely expensive and is made up of non-renewable resources. According to H Lau (2008), large amounts of material wastes are generated from construction sites. Great amounts of costs on construction projects are directly increased through the wastage of materials. Construction waste is an international problem as In the UK construction waste results for more than 50% of waste deposited in a landfill (Ferguson et al. 1995) and according to Rogoff and Williams (1994) 29% of solid-waste in the USA consisted of construction waste. Levels of waste within the construction industry need to be reduced for environmental and financial reasons. The current unrestrained use of natural resources and the pollution levels resulting thereof are becoming unsustainable (Chong, Tang Larsen 2001) Waste management is a low project priority and there is a lack of appropriate resources and incentives to support it (Loosemore, 2001). Judging by the aforementioned statement one can already assume that waste management is something contractors are not too keen on. The minimising and disposal of waste has become one of the most significant environmental issues of recent years, especially as the total volume of available landfill is decreasing (Institute of civil engineers). A landfill can be defined as a method of solid waste disposal in which refuse is buried between layers of dirt with the aim to fill in or retain low-lying ground. One can clearly assume that sometime in the future landfill space will eventually run out. This is indeed a problem in Cape Town. The disposal of construction waste is becoming a major cost in construction projects. Many case studies have been done to monitor construction waste trends on construction sites and the impacts that it has on costs. In South Africa the construction industry generates an estimated 5 8 million tons of construction and demolition waste per annum. Over one million tonnes of building rubble reach landfill sites every year throughout the country (Macozoma, 2002). In order for contractors in the construction industry to be competitive, ways of minimising construction waste need to be addressed with benefits of lower construction costs and higher productivity. This can be beneficial to the contractor in terms of cost and it can assist in contractors doing their duties towards a good clean environment. Objectives of the study Aim of study: The aim of this research is to identify what is the major cause of materials wastage on site. Research Objectives: The main objective of this research is to find out what elements is causing wastage on construction projects. The research will be supported by a literature review showing the current wastage situation that the construction industry is faced with. Importance of the study According to Chang and Chen (1998) every business is started for earning profit. Waste has a negative impact on producing profit as it results in increasing expenses. One of this studies objectives is to investigate and recommend steps to eliminate wastage which will automatically reduce the companies expenses and therefore increase its profit. When materials are damaged and cannot be used for its intended purpose it is considered to be a waste. This leaves the material useless with no other alternative but to dispose of it. All this waste eventually adds to the already increasing negative statistics concerning construction waste. Many contractors fail to adopt a proper controlling procedure as they see it as an expensive and time consuming process (Illingworth Thain 1987). The approach has been that it is more efficient to allow losses to occur than to involve the use of extra resources to control them. Contractors require some sort of incentive to enable them to be more motivated when it comes to monitoring waste on site. 1.5 Research design and methodology The method of research to be used for this investigation will be in the form of qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative data will be gathered from interviews taken to determine the nature of the problems with regards to construction waste and what contractors are doing to control it from competent staff in the building industry. A literature review will be done by gathering information from various textbooks, the Internet, web pages and journals etc relating to the research topic. All interviews will have pre-determined questions which were formulated before the interview, without the individual knowing about them, so as to effectively use the time. Quantitative data will also be obtained by sending out a questionnaire to various construction companies in Cape Town. The results will then be recorded and various graphs and charts will be drawn up to represent the data collection process. 2: Literature review 2.1 Construction waste It is important to understand the concept of construction waste. Listed below are definitions of waste. 2.1.1 Definitions: According to Mossman (2009) Material waste can be defined as anything that is not required to create value for the end-user. Waste can also be defined as an excessive use or carelessness of material (Chandler 1978). Construction and demolition waste means non-hazardous waste resulting from the construction, repair and demolition of structures. 2.1.2 Types of waste Construction and demolition waste can be categorised into five categories, namely roadwork material, excavated soil, demolition waste, site clearance waste and renovation waste (Alarcon 1995). It also results from natural disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes. Construction and waste includes but is not limited to concrete, bricks, asphalt, glass, carpeting, roofing, site clearance, excavation material and site sweepings. Waste such as timber, plastics and steel should be recycled as they form majority of the waste material 2.1.2.1 Direct waste: According to Skoyles (1987) this type of waste is the physical loss of a material. It is the complete loss of materials which are damaged and cannot be repaired or used. Below are forms in which direct waste occurs: Deliveries waste comprises all loses in transit to the site, unloading and placing into the initial storage. Site storage and internal site transit waste comprise losses due to bad stacking and initial storage, including movement and unloading around the site to stack at the work place or placing into position. Conversion waste comprises losses due to cutting uneconomical shapes, e.g. timber and sheeted goods. Fixing waste comprises materials dropped, spoiled or discarded during the fixing operation. Cutting waste include losses caused by cutting materials to size and to irregular shapes. Application waste includes materials such as mortar for brickwork, paint spilled or dropped during application. Similarly, materials left in containers or cans that are not resealed. Mixed materials like mortar and plaster left to harden at the end of the working day. Waste due to the incorrect type or quality of materials. This includes waste stemming from materials wrongly specified, waste due to errors, particularly in the bills of quantities and specification. 2.1.2.2 Indirect waste: Indirect waste is distinguished from direct waste in that the materials are not usually lost physically only the payment or part or the whole of the value. Indirect waste is normally only a monetary lost and can be referred to as materials used for purposes other than that for which they were ordered (Skoyles 1987). Below are forms in which indirect waste occurs: Substitution, where materials are used for purposes other than those specified. Production waste, where materials are used in excess of those indicated or not clearly defined in contract documents, e.g. additional concrete in trenches, which are dug wider than was designed, because no appropriately sized digger bucket is available. Operational waste, where materials are used for temporary site work for which no quantity or other allowances have been made in the contract documentation, e.g. tower-crane bases, site paths, temporary protection. Negligent waste, where materials are used in addition to the amount required by the contract owing to the contractors own negligence 2.1.2.3 Natural waste: Natural wastes are wastes which cannot be avoided and is therefore inevitable. Cuttings required for tiles and timber and resulting in unusable material or off cuts are examples of natural waste. (Skoyles 1987) 2.1.3 Causes of building waste on site Waste is generally caused by a series of events and not due to a remote aspect (Skoyles and Hassey 1974). Guthrie (1998) mentions however that wastage of material can be directly involved to one of the following: damage and spillage, contamination, storage beyond expiry date, over supply, out of specification, theft and vandalism. There are many contributory factors and theses factors are outlined in the diagram below: Figure 2.1: the origin of waste (Department of Civil and Building Engineering) Low and Tan (1997) states that construction waste can be classified into seven types: Transportation and storage Over-production Delays Unnecessary processing Surplus inventory Unnecessary movement Defects Table 2.1 sources and causes of construction waste (Gavilan and Bernold 1994) Source Cause Design Error in contract documents Design Contract documents incomplete at commencement of construction Design Changes in design procurement Ordering error and over ordering procurement Suppliers error Materials handling Damaged during transportation to site Materials handling Inappropriate storage Operation Error by tradesmen or labourer Operation Equipment malfunction Operation Inclement weather Operation accidents Operation Damage caused by subsequent trades Operation Use of incorrect material Residual Conversion waste from cutting uneconomical shapes Residual Off cuts from cutting material to length Residual Over mixing of material due to lack of knowledge Residual Waste from application process Residual packaging Other Criminal waste due to damage or theft Other Lack of onsite materials control and waste management planning 2.1.3.1 Theft and vandalism 2.1.3.1.1 Theft According to Skoyles (1987) criminal activities cause waste. The construction industry in South Africa is constantly challenged with the high crime rate in our country and theft is an everlasting setback from staff on site to the public off site. Theft has a huge impact on time, money and productivity because material has to be reordered and more money has to be given out for the purchase of new material (K Brulliard 2005). Criminal waste is inevitable and the cost of extra security has an additional cost on the contract sum. Contractors must establish their own security measures like taking more caution and recording any irregular activities. 2.1.3.1.2 Vandalism The construction project is most vulnerable to vandalism during the finishing stages. Graffiti artist and children tend to play a big role in vandalism which ranges from breaking windows to spray painting freshly painted walls. Vandalism is an international problem, even occurring in the Soviet Union (Skoyles 1987). There are two types of vandalism namely: intentional and unintentional. Intentional vandalism is hard to prevent as these are people who get pleasure out of ruining other peoples property but boosting up security should sort out the issue. To prevent acts of unintentional vandalism tougher and stronger material should be used that resist damage like special paints and glazes to resist scratches (Skoyles 1987). 2.1.3.1.3 Principal points to control criminal waste Cause Preventative measures Minor items stolen Keep all valuable goods in lockable storage and keep a record of all materials withdrawn. Theft Control access to site and prohibit strangers from entering. Vandalism Make sure there is security during work and after work. Prevent items from being accessible which are vulnerable to vandalism. Trespass: By public Keep boundaries defined. By children Advise schools of how dangerous building sites are. By builder Ensure drawings and setting out are carefully checked near boundaries and make sure deliveries are supervised and always placed on site. Table 2.2 Skoyles (1987) As soon as graffiti is noticed it should be removed to prevent encouragement of further graffiti. After hour security should be hired to prevent any unauthorized entry. No Trespassing signs should be put up around the construction site to daunt unauthorized entry. 2.1.3.2 Sub-contractors Many main contractors are adopting a new attitude towards sub-contracting a large portion of their work so that their work load can be decreased. According to Costantino (2001) main contractors sub-contract a large portion of their work to cut down on the high overhead expenses which is needed to manage a large work force. There are two types of sub-contractors the first one is labour only sub-contractor. They are groups of artisans and labourers and are usually employed by the main contractor to undertake labour intensive work such as brickwork, plastering and formwork. The second category of sub-contractors performs specialist work on site such as the construction of piles and installation of escalators or lift systems (Wong, 1990). Sub-contractors are usually employed to provide labour only on a job. This type of sub-contractor is called a labour only sub-contractor as they will be providing labour and the main contractor will provide the material required. It is therefore imperative for the main contractor to have control over the sub-contractors usage of material and to encourage the sub-contractor to have a wasteful attitude. Since large portions of the main contractors work are being sub-contracted, sub-contractors are therefore to blame for wastage. Sub-contractors see waste minimization activities as an extra workload and are seemed to be irrelevant (Lingard et al. 2004). The main contractor is the principal player and must set a good example of waste minimisation by motivating an attitude which puts reuse and recycling in use (Ofori and Ekanayake, 2003). Material planning and waste control policies should be included in the invitation for sub-contracts to cover the main contractor from any risk caused from waste (Skoyles and Skoyles 1987). Disciplinary clauses should be inserted to prevent and discourage wastage from labour only sub-contractors. Wasted materials are wasted profits and waste concerns everyone involved from the client and contracts director to the sub-contractor and labourer. Providing adequate training for sub-contractors will improve their attitude to minimize waste and will lead to more efficient and productive waste minimization. The contractor will by incur a small expense from the training but will gain a large return as the construction process proceeds. 2.1.3.2.1 Most common causes of waste by sub-contractor and effect on building operations. Labour only sub-contractor 1 Waste of materials causes profit loss to main contractor 2 Waste causes delay to sub-contract operations 3 May become liable if penalizing clauses used Labour and material sub-contractor 1 Loss to business for material wasted 2 Delay and consequential waste to own and contractors work 3 Can add to waste accumulating on site and therefore adding to contractors waste 4 May be liable for penalizing clauses in sub-contract for consequential waste, particularly damage to other trades Table 2.3 Skoyles and Skoyles 1987 2.1.3.3 Design A building is designed without any consideration of the method of construction being used. The size of materials is not taken into consideration and a vast amount of wastage results from cutting and excess use of materials (Skoyles and Skoyles 1987). It is recommended that designers should prepare designs which have less potential to cause site waste (Ekanayake and Ofori 2000). One of the major contributors to waste is the change in design while construction has already commenced. It is therefore imperative for the parties involved in the construction and design to co-operate closely to avoid any unnecessary waste related to design issues (Ekanayake and Ofori 2000). Wasteful practice should start in the design stage already by specifying materials that will reduce the amount of wastage and also resist any harmful activities against vandalism and theft. Designers should educate themselves with the sizes and lengths materials come in so that unnecessary cuttings will not occur (Skoyles and Skoyles 1987). 2.1.3.4 Manufacturers Most of materials are manufactured in standard sizes and comes in standard packaging. Materials should be manufactured in such a manner that it is in favour of the contractor. A typical example is cement, this product comes in a 50kg bag which most labour find extremely tricky to handle. This product is extremely heavy and strenuous handling results in the packaging being damaged and the product being wasted. Suppliers should give the end users necessary knowledge on how to handle, store and transport their products (Skoyles and Skoyles 1987). Mehta (2008) states that a large amount of waste results directly from the packaging the material is stored in and more environmental friendly packaging should be used which can be used on site after the goods are unpacked. Materials are usually damaged when they are delivered because buyers do not state the requirements. When material is transported it should be protected against rain or dirt from the road. Careful checking should be taken when materials are delivered and any damaged goods should be reported immediately. Manufacturers can reduce waste by: Placing appropriate protection around materials. Sizes of bags of cement to made available for easier handling. Metal banded goods to be protected from the weather Delivery vehicles to be designed to guarantee that materials will be protected during transit. Loaded vehicles should Have less loose material delivered. 2.1.3.5 Storage and handling Skoyles (1978) identified that storage and handling were the major causes of waste. Majority of the labour in the construction industry are unskilled. Unskilled labour is available at abundance as the country is currently faced with a recession and people are desperate for work. The availability of this cheap unskilled labour has a major impact on construction wastage. Poor workmanship and incorrect use of tools are key factors which contribute to wastage. Skilled tradesmen are less cautious about wastage as they can rely on the unskilled labour to clean up after them. Proper site supervision should be instituted at all construction sites to encourage workers to minimize wastage. Workers should be trained to make use of building materials effectively and efficiently. A well trained employee should be given the responsibility of keeping control of all materials. Storage facilities should be well managed and correct inventory list must constantly be attended to. The location of the storage area is vital to avoid double handling and travelling long distances to the place of work. There should be sufficient space at storage areas to accommodate for all the materials. Expensive materials should be stored in a lockable room to prevent theft and material should be stored in such a manner to prevent any damage. Material with a high value should not be stored on the job site any longer than necessary. 2.1.3.6 Delivery of materials All deliveries should be thoroughly checked for any shortages or damages. It is important for deliveries to be properly planned to reduce the risk of materials laying around that will only be used in the future. Contractors should make use of appropriate material delivery planning systems. Copies of the schedules should be kept on site to assist site management in the control of materials. Proper material delivery management will eliminate double handling and reduce wastage dramatically. Expensive materials should be delivered only when it is required on site. 2.1.3.7 Site security Access points to the site should always be locked and controlled. All access points should have gates so that it can be locked after hours. There should always be someone monitoring the access points to restrict any unauthorised entry. Lighting the site is very useful. Thieves are generally more comfortable in the dark and by lighting up the site the public will be able to see if any criminal activities are taking place A good fenced site will reduce the risk of theft and vandalism dramatically. Barb wire on top of the fence will secure the site even further. 2.1.4 Summary of literature review It is inevitable for a Construction company to produce waste. Identifying and categorizing the types and causes of waste help in minimization. It is important to enlist the cooperation of all parties involved in the construction project because they are the parties using the construction materials. Through proper planning and control, material wastage can be minimized without compromising on quality and time of completion. 2.2 Construction waste management 2.2.1 Introduction to waste management In terms of Schedule 5B of the Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), waste management is a local government proficiency that must be executed to protect human and environmental health (Constitution, S.24). Macozoma (2006) stated that 40% of a countrys waste is contributed by the construction industry and 15% of materials purchased ends up as waste. Waste dumping has huge effects like filling landfills and damaging the environment. It is vital for construction companies to get involved with waste management so that pollution levels, natural resources and energy can be reduced. The key component in waste management is waste minimisation (WBDG 2010). The definition of waste minimisation is: any activity that can prevent the amount, supply and environmental impact of waste (City of Cape Town 2010). The following are benefits from waste minimisation (Camm and Nuttall 1995): Reducing the amount of landfill space Saving natural resources Saving energy Minimizing pollution 2.2.2 What is a waste management plan? According to Macozoma (2002) it is a plan that gives the guidelines and conditions to how waste should be handled and managed on site. Waste management should not only be the contractors responsibility but everyone involved in the project. A typical waste management plan will contain the following fundamentals: Waste management goals Waste prevention strategies Waste salvage strategies Material storage strategies Recycling methods A waste audit Waste disposal options Waste handling requirements Transportation requirements The following are benefits from good waste management practice (Clacksweb 2010): Decrease in disposal costs Decrease in waste transportation costs Increase in the reuse of materials Decrease in levels of material wastage 2.2.3 Why construction wastes management? The following are answers generated from Oikos (2010) 2.2.3.1 Cost By re-using materials you are cutting down cost by not purchasing new materials and you are therefore increasing your profits. 2.2.3.2 Efficiency Material should be salvaged to prevent ordering of new materials. 2.2.3.3 Resource Conservation Contractors can conserve natural resources by recycling their wastage materials. 2.2.3.4 Liability Contractors should take responsibility by getting rid of their waste through legal sources 2.2.3.5 Marketing Contractors who make use of waste management planning will have a positive situation in the market. 2.2.4 Summary of literature review Construction waste management planning is vital to the construction industry and to the environment. By applying waste manageable construction pollution levels will drop and contractors will reap the benefit of producing larger profits. South Africa is a growing country and should follow first world countries by adapting to waste management. 3: Fieldwork 3.1 Introduction The design of the data collection was undertaken in two parts. In Part one a questionnaire was drawn up based on the literature review and part in part two personal interviews were done to establish further information in concluding this research. 3.2 Questionnaire A questionnaire was drawn up relating to Table 1.1 sources and causes of construction waste (Gavilan and Bernold 1994). The questionnaire had 15 short questions which had to be rated on a scale of one to five. One was were the person strongly agreed and five was were the person strongly disagreed. The person who under took the questionnaire had to state their job title in order to get results from competent staff. The questionnaires were sent via email to 25 building companies in Cape Town out of the 25 companies only 22 responded. The data is therefore a representation of only 22 companies opposed to 25. (Refer to appendix A for copy of the questionnaire) 3.2.1 Questionnaire response 22/25*100=88% response to questionnaire The response received is more than sufficient. A failure to respond rate was targeted at 20% and an actual failure to respond rate of 12% was achieved. 3.2.2 Position of Respondents who under took the questionnaire This was vital because the questionnaire was designed for competent staff to fill out. Chart 3.2 Respondents positions According to the results received all the questionnaires were filled out by competent staff and all the questionnaires can be used for the data collection process. Quantity surveyors: 9/22*100=41% Site managers: 7/22*100=32% Contracts manager 2/22*100=9% Buyer: 2/22*100=9% Contracts director: 1/22*100=4.5% Foreman: 1/22*100=4.5% 3.2.3 Data analysis Chart 3.3 Survey response Table 3.1 Data recorded 1-strongly agree 2-agree 3-neutral 4-disagree 5-strongly disagree question 1 16 4 2 question 2 15 2 3 2 question 3 4 8 2 6 2 question 4 11 1 7 2 1 question 5 12 6 4 question 6 2 6 12 2 question 7 2 9 9 2 question 8 4 2 6 7 3 question 9 4 10 6 2 question 10 1 9 7 5 question 11 2 4 7 8 1 question 12 3 5 11 3 question 13 7 7 8 question 14 4 3 5 6 4 question 15 2 3 14 3 3.2.3.1 Analysis of questions Question 1 73% of the respondents felt that errors in the contract documents caused wastage. Question 2 68% of the respondents strongly agreed that a variation in the contract causes wastage. Question 3 Only 54% of the respondents thought that a lack of waste management planning causes wastage. Question 4 50% of the respondents believed sub-contractors have a major influence on wastage. Question 5 0% of the respondents disagreed that cutting of standard material to sizes causes waste. Question 6 54% of the respondents had a neutral feeling that vandalism and theft influences waste. Question 7 50% of the respondents believed proper storage has an effect on waste. Question 8 45% of the respondents disagreed that security could minimize waste. Question 9 63% of the respondents believed unskilled labour influences waste. Question 10 54% of the respondents believed that are not any waste caused from the transportation of material from the suppliers. Question 11 40% of the respondents disagreed that waste is caused due to machinery malfunctioning. Question 12 50% of the respondents had a neutral feeling that waste could be resulted from the lack of waste minimization training on site. Question 13 The sum of 5% of the respondents felt that over ordering influenced waste. Question 14 45% of the respondents believed over production causes waste. Question 15 63% of the respondents had a neutral feeling to waste minimization being of any importance. 3.2.3.2 Ranking of questions A ranking of the questions was done in order to clearly illustrate the main cause of waste according to the questionnaire. Neutral answers were ignored and strongly agree and agree were joined together to form yes and strongly disagree and disagree were joined together to form no. Table 3.2 Ranking of questions yes no total Question 1 20 0 20 Question 5 18 0 18 Question 2 17 2 19 Question 9 14 2 16 Question 3 12 8 20 Question 4 12 <

Using Music to Teach Ethos :: Personal Narrative Teaching Essays

Using Music to Teach Ethos Introduction After teaching high school English reading and writing for four years, life led me to apply for a position teaching English at a state university. I was hired as an adjunct faculty member, but in my eyes, I was basically a utility man in the Major Leagues. The brief hour-long meeting with the adjunct coordinator was my first exposure to rhetoric and anything related to it. I knew what a rhetorical question was—don’t we all?—and I had heard people make comments such as â€Å"He might think he knows what he’s doing, but in all reality, his talk is all rhetoric.† Still, did I know how to teach this stuff to other people? On the college level? I sat down with the information the coordinator had given me and I found many helpful hints, ideas, and terms. I love terms. If I am given a list of terms, I can often use the definitions to find the common links and make the material teachable. I did an online search and found a Web site that broke down the various elements of rhetoric and included a list of terms. I was in heaven, rhetorically speaking. This first exposure to rhetoric was, I must admit, dull and dreary, much like Latin seemed to be where I used to teach. Dead languages, dead concepts—were the Ancient cultures good for anything other than art, stories, language, and great food? I decided that this seemingly dry material would have to be souped up a bit to attract college freshmen whose attention spans run between 10 and 15 minutes. Then, as Red Skelton might say, I had an apostrophe. I realized that the compositions my students write are comprised of sections, each an entity unto itself which contributes something to the overall essay. I remembered my senior year at UGA, taking â€Å"History and Analysis of Rock and Roll Music,† and the lessons we learned about the different sections of a song and how those sections are merged to create one complete unit. After reading a bit more about rhetorical appeals—ethical, logical, and emotional—I realized that the songs we listen to every day can be linked to this previously unknown, dry material.

Can Riots/Public Demonstration Bring Change?

Can Riots/Public Demonstrations Bring Change? A  demonstration  is an action by a group of people in favor of a  political  or other cause. It normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint to hear speakers. Actions such as blockades and  sit-ins  may also be referred to as demonstrations. Demonstrations can be  violent or nonviolent. Nonviolent demonstrations can turn into violent demonstrations depending on the circumstances. Demonstrations are used around the world to take a stand on issues that the public find important.Demonstrations allow a person’s voice to be heard. These demonstrations range from civil rights marches against discrimination to demonstrations supporting nuclear disarmament. Demonstrations can make a very real difference in changing policies and laws. Demonstrations allow people to come together to stand up against oppression from governments and can prove to be a very ef fective way of promoting change. A demonstration is one of many tactics which are needed to challenge existing power structures and bring progressive change.When combined with media support, public opinion, and voting power demonstration plays a crucial role in change. Demonstrations can bring change because it increases the visibility of a cause and raises awareness. Demonstrations capture the attention of bystanders, politicians, and the media, attaching an issue to real people and consequently inviting persuasion and change. A protest, regardless of size, will almost always make at least one person see the cause with new eyes. Demonstration events can take all kinds of forms. Depending on your goal, different movements can be just as powerful in promoting change as demonstrations.Whether it’s taking part in a vigil, participating in a walkout, agreeing to wear a specific color or symbol, or even getting people to turn off their lights for an hour, the message is the same: something is wrong and we’re ready to do something about it. (Head â€Å"Why Protest Events Are Not a Waste of Time) Demonstrations exhibit power. In March of 2013 schools Chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced she wanted to close 54 schools and 61 school buildings come June (FitzPatrick and Dudek â€Å"Protesters block downtown streets over school closings†).A large a group of people planned a demonstration over the closing of public schools. The Chicago Police officially put the crowds at 700 to 900 people, though a police department source at the scene estimated it at about 2,000 around the time the crowd began moving to City Hall (FitzPatrick and Dudek â€Å"Protesters block downtown streets over school closings†). Not only did public school officials but families and students, who are upset with the school closing, rallied together downtown in hopes to save the schools from being closed.We wanted to make a statement about our schools closing that people woul d remember and hope more people will decide to get involved (FitzPatrick and Dudek â€Å"Protesters block downtown streets over school closings†). This demonstration was held in hopes to change the view of those who are intending to close the schools. They want people to understand the need to keep the m open. A demonstration like this does not bring change immediately but hopefully over time the change will happen. There have been many demonstrations in many states to legalize gay marriage. The demonstrations did not have an immediate impact.However, over time, these demonstrations have persuaded law makers to legalize gay marriages in many states. The demonstrations in other states and in our own city have made law makers reevaluate whether gay marriage should be allowed. When large numbers of people take to the streets in protest, politicians and other key decision-makers take notice. They don't always act, but they notice. Demonstrations promote a sense of solidarity. You may or may not feel like part of the movement even if you happen to agree with it. It is one thing to support same-sex marriage in the comfort of your own home.It is another thing entirely to pick up a picket sign and support it in public to stand together with others to represent a movement. Demonstrations make the cause feel more  real  to participants. Demonstrations put warm bodies and heavy feet out there representing an issue, taking up real space and real time, attaching the cause to real faces and real voices who care enough about the cause to go out there (Head â€Å"Why Protest Events Are Not a Waste of Time). A successful demonstration energizes participants. It causes people to get excited over their cause. People feel as though their voices are being heard.Demonstrations make people feel proud and good about themselves because they took a stand on an issue. A good demonstration has an almost religious effect on people, charging their batteries and inspiring them t o get up and fight again another day (Head â€Å"Why Protest Events Are Not a Waste of Time). The religious effect is very helpful to the demonstrators giving them a reason to fight for their cause. It is very helpful for veteran activists because it gives them a second wind which is just as helpful to the cause. It is when demonstrations become violent that change does not happen.When demonstrations become violent they are know to be riots. A  riot  is a form of  civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of  violence against  authority, people,  or property. Riots often occur in reaction to a  grievance. Riots typically involve vandalism and the destruction of private and public property. The specific property to be targeted varies depending on the riot and the inclinations of those involved. Targets can include shops, cars, restaurants, state-owned institutions, and religious buildings.Du ring the  1992 Los Angeles, 2,383 people were injured, 8,000 were arrested, 51 were killed and over 700 businesses burned. Property damage was estimated at over 1 billion dollars. Of the 51 killed,  at least ten of them were shot by police or National Guard forces (â€Å"Riots erupt in Los Angeles†). The effects of riots in terms of economic and political consequences are as complex as the socioeconomic origins of such events (â€Å"Riots erupt in Los Angeles†). Widespread property destruction and harm to individuals are often measurable effects. Riots do not help to change any cause because of the violence and the damage that is left behind.After a riot is under control there can be many people hurt, even dead. Buildings can be burned and the damage left behind can be devastating. Riots attract attention of the media and politicians to demand a change. People riot to get there voices heard but in a violence manner that brings them negative attention. This is when their voices do not get heard. People only focus their attention on the destruction left from a riot. Riots are a type of demonstration that usually don’t cause change because of the negative attention that comes with it.Riots take away from a cause and are no way to solve a problem or fight for cause. Riots bring attention to the actions of the people not the message they were trying to get across. In conclusion demonstrations can cause change. Demonstrators may organize a protest as a way of publicly making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy. A demonstration can attract attention to a certain issue that people feel that needs to be changed or stopped. When combined with media and public opinion demonstrations can play a role in change.It brings attention to issues that people feel that need to be changed. Demonstrations can help with change overtime. Demonstrations help to keep the attention focused at the matter on hand. The media notices when a demonstration happens. The public takes notice when a demonstration happens. Politicians notice when a demonstration happens. If the demonstration is staged well, it will make somebody look at the cause with new eyes. Demonstrations are not persuasive in and of themselves, but they invite persuasion. They invite change. â€Å"Riots erupt in Los Angeles. † 2013.The History Channel website. Apr 9 2013, 12:06 ;http://www. history. com/this-day-in-history/riots-erupt-in-los-angeles. htm;. Dudek, Mitch and FitzPatrick, Lauren. â€Å"Protesters block downtown streets over school closings. † March 27, 2013. The Sun-Times website. Apr 9 2013, 12:15 ;http://www. suntimes. com/news/education/protesters-block-downtown-streets-over-school-closings. htm; Head, Tom. â€Å"Why Protest Events Are Not a Waste of Time. † 2013. The About. Com website. Apr 9 2013 1:05 ttp://www. about. com/civilliberty/od/historyprofiles/tp/Why-Protest. htm;.

The Covenant Between God And The Isrealites

Covenant is a word that seems complicated to analyze and discuss by so many people and this is the reason why many people fail to keep covenant among them, even back in the old testament of the bible written 2000BC, the Israelites often fail in the covenant between them and God and only God who is perfect never fails.â€Å"The distance between God and the creature is so great,† says the Westminster Confession (VII. I), â€Å"that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant. † Exactly!So biblical doctrine, first to last, has to do with covenantal relationships between God and man; biblical ethics has to do with expressing God's covenantal relationship to us in covenantal relationships between ourselves and others; and Christian religion has the nature of cov enant life, in which God is the direct object of our faith, hope, love, worship, and service, all animated by gratitude for grace.Our theme is the life-embracing bedrock reality of the covenant relationship between the Creator and Christians, and it is high time we defined exactly what we are talking about. A covenant relationship is a voluntary mutual commitment that binds each party to the other. Whether it is negotiated, like a modern business deal or a marriage contract, or unilaterally imposed, as all God's covenants are, is irrelevant to the commitment itself; the reality of the relationship depends simply on the fact that mutual obligations have been accepted and pledged on both sides.Luther is held to have said that Christianity is a matter of personal pronouns, in the sense that everything depends on knowing that Jesus died for me, to be my Savior, and that his Father is my God and Father, personally committed to love, nurture, uphold, and glorify me. This already is covena nt thinking, for this is the essential substance of the covenant relationship: God's covenant is precisely a matter of these personal pronouns, used in this way, as a basis for a life with God of friendship, peace and communicated love.Going back to the Old Testament of the Bible, when God tells Abraham, â€Å"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you . . . to be your God . . . I will be their God† (Gen. 17:6-8), the personal pronouns are the key words: God is committing himself to Abraham and Abraham's seed in a way in which he does not commit himself to others. God's covenant commitment expresses eternal election; his covenant love to individuals sinners flows from his choice of them to be his for ever in the peace of justification and the joy of glorification.The verbal commitment in which electing sovereignty thus shows itself has the nature of a promise, the fulfillment of which is guaranteed by God's absolu te fidelity and trustworthiness — the quality that David Livingstone the explorer celebrated by describing God as â€Å"an honorable gentleman who never breaks his word. † The covenant promise itself, â€Å"I will be your God,† is an unconditional undertaking on God's part to be â€Å"for us† (Rom. 8:31), â€Å"on our side† (Ps. 124:1-5), using all his resources for the furthering of the ultimate good of those (â€Å"us†) to whom he thus pledges himself.â€Å"I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God† (Ex. 6:7), the covenant promise constantly repeated throughout both testaments (Gen. 17:6-8; Ex. 20:2, 29:45 Ezek. 11:20, 34:30 f. , 36:28; 2 Cor. 6:16-18; Rev. 21:2 f. ; etc. ), may fairly be called the pantechnicon promise, inasmuch as every particular promise that God makes is packed into it — fellowship and communion first (â€Å"I will be with you,† â€Å"I will dwell among them,† â€Å"I will li ve among you,† etc.), and then the supply of every real need, here and hereafter. Sovereignty and salvation, love and largesse, election and enjoyment, affirmation and assurance, fidelity and fullness thus appear as the spectrum of themes (the second of each pair being the fruit of the first as its root) that combine to form the white light, glowing and glorious, of the gracious self-giving of God to sinners that covenant theology proclaims.The God-given covenant carries, of course, obligations. The life of faith and repentance, and the obedience to which faith leads, constitute the covenant-keeping through which God's people receive the fullness of God's covenant blessing. â€Å"I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession† (Ex. 19:4 f. ).Covenant faithfulness is the condition and means of receiving covenant benefits, and there is nothing arbitrary in that; for the blessings flow from the relationship, and human rebelliousness and unfaithfulness stop the flow by disrupting the relationship. Israel's infidelity was constantly doing this throughout the Old Testament story, and the New Testament makes it plain that churches and Christians will lose blessings that would otherwise be theirs, should covenant fidelity be lacking in their lives.The very first covenant that could be read in the bible is that of our first father and mother who destroyed the covenant just because of a fruit given to them by a camouflaged Satan. This original covenantal arrangement, usually called the Covenant of Works, was one whereby God undertook to prolong and augment for all subsequent humanity the happy state in which he had made the first human pair — provided that the man observed, as part of the humble obedience that was then natural to him, one prohibition, specified in the narrative as not eating a forbidden fruit.The devil, presented as a serpent, seduced Adam and Eve into disobeying, so that they fell under the penal sanctions of the Covenant of Works (loss of good, and corruption of nature). But God at once revealed to them in embryo a redemptive economy that had in it both the covering of sin, and a prospective victory for the woman's seed (a human Savior) over the serpent and his malice.The redemptive purpose of this new arrangement became clearer as God called Abraham, made a nation from his descendants, saved them from slavery, named himself not only their God but also their King and Father, taught them his law (the family code), drilled them in sacrificial liturgies, disciplined their disobedience, and sent messengers to hold up before them his holiness and his promise of a Savior King and a saving kingdom; which in due course became reality.The Westminster Confession summarizes what was going on in and through all this. â€Å"Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by (the first) covenant, t he Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace: wherein he freely offered unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe. . .â€Å"This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel; under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all fore signifying Christ to come, which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the old Testament.â€Å"Under the gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper . . . in them, it is held forth in more fullness, evidence and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the new Testament. There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations† (VII. iii. v. vi).So the unifying strands that bind together the books of the Bible are, first, the one covenant promise, sloganized as â€Å"I will be your God, and you shall be my people,† which God was fulfilling to his elect all through his successive orderings of covenant faith and life; second, the one messenger and mediator of the covenant, Jesus Christ the God-man, prophet and king, priest and sacrifice, the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy and New Testament proclamation; third, the one people of God, the covenant community, the company of the elect, whom God brings to faith and keeps in faith, from Abel, Noah and Abraham through the remnant of Israel to the worldwide New Testament church of believing Jews and Gentiles; and fourth, the one pattern of covenant piety, consisting of faith, repentance, love, joy, praise, hope, hatred of sin, desire for sanctity, a spirit of prayer, and readiness to battle the world, the flesh, and the devil in order to glorify God . . . a pattern displayed most fully, perhaps, in Luther's â€Å"little Bible,† the Psalter, but seen also in the lives of God's servants in both Testaments and reflected more or less fully in each single one of the Old and New Testament books.Covenant theologians insist that every book of the Bible in effect asks to be read in terms of these unities, and as contributing to the exposition of them, and is actually misunderstood if it is not so read. Some of the major covenant between God and man in the old testament would be discussed to show the importance and effec t of a covenant as an agreement. THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE ISREALITES According to the Bible the history of Israel began when Abraham was called by God to leave his family and his home and settle in Canaan. His son Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob, lived there until Jacob was forced by famine to flee to Egypt with his remaining sons, where one of them, Joseph, already held a position of prominence after a grass to grace encounter. The descendants of Jacob were enslaved in Egypt.God charged Moses with the deliverance of his people from bondage. This he did with the aid of God, who dried up the ‘Red Sea' so that the Israelites could cross in safety, while the pursuing Egyptian army drowned. Moses and his people continued to Mount Sinai, where a covenant was concluded establishing God as the Lord of his chosen people, Israel. The conditions of the covenant were laid down in a law including the Ten Commandments. However, because of the people's disobedience their march toward the Promised Land turned into forty years of wanderings in the wilderness. Finally, after the death of Moses, the people of Israel entered Canaan from the east, crossing the River Jordan.Under the leadership of Joshua they sacked Jericho; after the city walls came tumbling down rather miraculously, and then went on to conquer the rest of Canaan. THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE ABRAHAM † Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, â€Å"You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. â€Å"And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bor e him Ishmael. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, â€Å"I am God Almighty;† walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous. † Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, â€Å"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God. â €  God said to Abraham, â€Å"As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. † God said to Abraham, â€Å"As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.† Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, â€Å"Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? † And Abraham said to God, â€Å"O that Ishmael might live in your sight! † God said, â€Å"No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year. † And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.Then Abraham took h is son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; and all the men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. . The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now S arah said, â€Å"God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me. † And she said, â€Å"Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. † The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.So she said to Abraham, â€Å"Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac. † The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, â€Å"Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring. † So Abraham ros e early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, â€Å"Do not let me look on the death of the child. † And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, â€Å"What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand for I will make a great nation of him. † Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. † THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE NOAH Centuries before the time of Abraham, God made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He would never again destroy the world by flood (Gen. 9). Noah lived at a time when the whole earth was filled with violence and corruption — yet Noah did not allow the evil standards of his day to rob him of fellowship with God. He stood out as the only one who â€Å"walked with God† (Gen. 6:9), as was also true of his great-grandfather Enoch (Gen. 5:22). â€Å"Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations† (Gen. 6:9).The Lord singled out Noah from among all his contemporaries and chose him as the man to accomplish a great work. When God saw the wickedness that prevailed in the world (Gen. 6:5), He told Noah of His intention to destroy the ancient world by a universal flood. God instructed Noah to build an ark (a large barge) in which he and his family would survive the universal deluge. Noah believed God and â€Å"according to all that God commanded him, so he did† (Gen. 6:22). Noah is listed among the heroes of faith. â€Å"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith† (Heb. 11:7).With steadfast confidence in God, Noah started building the ark. During this time, Noah continued to preach God's judgment and mercy, warning the ungodly of their approaching doom. Peter reminds us of how God â€Å"did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly† (2 Pet. 2:5). Noah preached for 120 years, apparently without any converts. At the end of that time, â€Å"whe n †¦ the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah †¦ eight souls were saved through water† (1 Pet. 3:20). People continued in their evil ways and ignored his pleadings and warnings until the flood overtook them.When the ark was ready, Noah entered in with all kinds of animals â€Å"and the Lord shut him in† (Gen. 7:16), cut off completely from the rest of mankind. Noah was grateful to the Lord who had delivered him from the flood. After the flood, he built an altar to God (Gen. 8:20) and made a sacrifice, which was accepted graciously, for in it â€Å"the Lord smelled a soothing aroma† (Gen. 8:21). The Lord promised Noah and his descendants that He would never destroy the world again with a universal flood (Gen. 9:15). The Lord made an everlasting covenant with Noah and his descendants, establishing the rainbow as the sign of His promise (Gen. 9:1-17). Another part of the covenant involved the sanctity of human life, i. e., that â€Å"whoever sh eds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man† (Gen. 9:6). Every time we see a rainbow today we are reminded of that agreement — this covenant has not been done away with. As long as God still sends rainbows after a storm, capital punishment will still be a part of God's law for the human race. THE MOSAIC COVENANT The Israelites moved to Egypt during the time of Joseph. A new Pharaoh came upon the scene and turned the Israelites into common slaves. The people cried out to the God of their forefathers. â€Å"So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob† (Exo. 2:24).After a series of ten plagues upon the land of Egypt, God brought the Israelites out â€Å"of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand† (Exo. 32:11). Three months after leaving the land of Egypt, the children of Israel camped at the base of Mount Sinai (Exo. 19:1). God promised to make a covenant with the Israelites (Exo. 19:3-6). Before they even knew the conditions of the contract, the people agreed to abide by whatever God said (Exo. 19:8). This covenant was between God and the people of Israel — you and I are not a party in this contract (and never have been). The Ten Commandments are the foundation of the covenant, but they are not the entirety of it.After giving the first ten commands, the people asked the Lord to speak no more (Exo. 20:18-20). Moses then drew near to the presence of God to hear the rest of the covenant (Exo. 20:21). After receiving the Law, Moses spoke the words of the covenant to all of the people, and the people agreed to obey (Exo. 24:4). Moses then wrote the conditions of the covenant down, offered sacrifices to God, and then sprinkled both the book and the people with blood to seal the covenant (Exo. 24:8). This covenant between God and the people of Israel was temporary — God promised a day when He would make a new covenant, not on ly with Israel but also with all mankind.â€Å"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people† (Jer. 31:31-34). The old testament of the Bible, from Genesis to Malachi, are, as was said earlier, God's own record of the progressive unfolding of his purpose to have a people in covenant with himself here on earth. The covenantal character of God's relationships with human beings, first to last, has already been underlined, and is in fact reflected one way and anot her on just about every page of the Bible.The transition in Eden from the covenant of works to the covenant of grace, and the further transition from all that was involved in the preliminary (old) form of that covenant to its final (new) form, brought in through the death of Jesus Christ and now administered by him from his throne, are the key events in the covenant story. The significance of the fact that God caused his book of instruction to mankind to be put together with the history of his covenant as its backbone can hardly be overestimated. Covenant relationships between God and men, established by God's initiative, bringing temporal and eternal blessings to individuals and creating community among them, so that they have a corporate identity as God's people, are in fact the pervasive themes of the whole Bible; and it compels thoughtful readers to take note of the covenant as being central to God's concern.Finally, with all these examples and explanations on the covenant in th e old testament of the bible, it would be seen that covenant is not just a thing to be handled slightly, if you know you have no capacity to involve in a covenant is better you refrain so that you will not spend years in the wilderness for disobedience. SOURCES Old Testament of the King James Version of the Holy bible. The Five Great Bible Covenant by David Padfield God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology by Michael Horton Truman G. Madsen and Seth Ward (2001). Covenant and Chosenness in Judaism and Mormonism. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. People of the Covenant : an Introduction To the Hebrew Bible (4TH 96 Edition) by Henry J. Flanders and Robert W. Crapps and David A. Smith

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Awesome Blog Posts - Freewrite Store

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Awesome Blog Posts - Freewrite Store These days, everyone seems to be blogging. It’s the ‘cool’ thing to do. Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress make starting your own blog simple. But you only have to spend a short time perusing other blogs to discover that there’s much more to it than making it look pretty. Virtually anyone can write a blog post. Writing awesome blog posts that others are eager to read takes much more effort and skill. When you’re just starting out, that can seem like looking up a huge mountain. You wonder if you can achieve those blogging dreams. I know.   I’ve been blogging for almost ten years and I’m still learning new tricks to make my posts more engaging and readable. One question I get asked most as a writing coach is if there’s an easy way to consistently write awesome blog posts. I’d never describe writing captivating content as easy - but it’s easierwhen you have the right tools. In this ultimate guide, I’ll show you how. The Key Ingredients Fine-dining chefs know that the quality of their culinary masterpieces depends on the quality of their ingredients. Likewise, the best blog writers understand that the quality of their writing depends on a set of ingredients that can’t be compromised on. As a writer, you’ll know that different types of writing need different skills. Writing a blog post isn’t like writing a novel - and if you’re used to writing long pieces of content, writing blog posts can be a sharp learning curve. To make it more complex, there are different types of blog posts, too. Listicles, articles, how-to-guides†¦ the list is endless. But, blog posts of all kinds share common key ingredients you can use as a kind of formula to create blog posts that your readers will find irresistible. 1. Hard-Working Headline Headlines are like hooks that snare your readers in and entice them to keep reading. For centuries, newspaper editors have been using headline psychology to increase readership. Yet when it comes to blogging, writers often fall into the trap of thinking the body of your posts matters more than the headline. It doesn’t. Well, technically the content matters more to give value to your readers - but without a hard-working headline, no one will read the blog post, anyway. You can see how that’s a problem. I know writers who spend more time writing their headlines than they do their content - and they’re the writers who see their blog posts go viral. Go figure. So, what makes a headline hard-working? These kinds of headlines are powerful, persuasive - and tell the reader what to expect. Smart bloggers use psychology to get into the heads of their audience and write headlines that can’t be ignored. The best way to learn how to write these kinds of headlines is to Google your topic - and see what the top ranking blog headlines are. Study them. Learn from other bloggers who’ve been where you are now and have reached that pinnacle of success you’re aiming for. Want to perfect your headline-writing technique to make creating epic blog posts easier? Spend an hour every day writing headlines - and re-writing them to make them better. Practice makes perfect - plus, you’ll be generating hundreds of blog post titles for future use. Types of headlines include: How-to... List (tip - use an odd number, e.g. 7, 13, 45) Warning! (exploit the reader’s FOMO) The ultimate guide to... Why... Headlines that tease your reader without giving too much away virtually guarantee they’ll read your post. Put yourself in the shoes of your readers - and write the kinds of headlines that would make you click and read.   2. Irresistible Intro The headline hooks your reader. The intro convinces them to keep reading. To write irresistible intros you need to understand your readers, be able to relate to their problems, know what they’re looking for - and speak to them in a language they ‘get’. My background is in Linguistics, so when I first wrote blog posts, they were dire. Not because I didn’t know how to write - but because I was used to writing academic papers. My blogs would have delighted my professors - but they didn’t speak to my readers. A powerful and irresistible intro uses empathy to convince your readers you get them. You care about them. You want to help them with some problem or give them something they’re looking for. Exploiting emotions is another trick you can use to craft enticing intros. Which emotions you exploit depends on the post you’re writing - but before you start writing, know what feelings you want to cultivate in your reader. Learn from bloggers who’ve been in your shoes. Look at how they do it. The top ranking bloggers are at the top of the search results because they’re at the top of their game. Study their techniques - and start practicing. 3. Epic, Valuable Advice Want your readers to love your blog so much they can’t wait to share it on Facebook or Twitter? Of course you do - that’s how you grow your readership and build your reputation as a kick-ass writer. But we’re a consumer-culture. You don’t get anything for nothing. You want your readers to do something at the end of the post? Give them something valuable in return. I don’t mean you have to buytheir recommendation. You want to compel them to take action, not force them. The value is in what your blog post offers them. Do you have a solution to their problem that no one else has suggested? Can you help them learn a skill they need? Figure out what your readers will value most, and give it to them. Prove that you know what you’re talking about - and get them eager to read your next blog posts, too. But don’t just stop there. Give them more than they’re expecting from a blog post. The more you give them, the more they’ll love you. It’s really that simple. If other bloggers are giving 10 tips for something, give 15, 20 or even 25 - and maybe throw in a PDF they can download (in exchange for their email address). Make your advice easy for them to read, digest, and act on. This part of your blog post is the meat - and if you don’t make it easy to digest, you risk losing your reader - no matter how valuable your advice is. Subheadings and short paragraphs are the blogger’s best friend. If a paragraph is over four lines long, it’s too long and needs breaking up. Watch the length of your sentences, too. Tons of people read blogs and more on smartphones - and long paragraphs on a desktop are even longer on a smartphone. You’re aiming to improve your reader’s life - so don’t make it hard for them to read! 4. Kick-Ass Conclusion Finishing your blog post strong is sometimes harder than starting it. How do you close your post off with a bang when you’ve already delivered so much? It takes practice to get this part right. You want to motivate your readers and get them coming back for more. But you also need to keep it short and punchy. What you must avoid in your conclusion is adding new information. Readers hate that. All the hard work you’ve done so far can be undone with a poorly thought out conclusion. The key to writing a powerful, motivating conclusion is to write it to yourself. Yes, that sounds weird, but it works. You’re an expert on the topic, so you’ve been in your reader’s shoes. So, what would you write to your former self now you’ve overcome the challenges? What did you wish someone had said to you back then? What encouragement did you long to hear? Maybe you didhear it. So give your readers a pep talk, empower them - and give them the confidence to put all your valuable advice into action. Style Matters That’s the ingredients taken care of. But you can’t throw a load of ingredients into a pot and expect a culinary masterpiece to emerge. There’s more to producing consistently awesome blog posts than the ingredients. Your style matters, too. The style of your posts will vary according to your audience. It’s easy to forget you’re writing for them, not for you. Don’t make that mistake. To write to your readers and forthem: Use the language and style they use Speak to them directly Avoid jargon they won’t understand Present information logically Readability Readability is a big thing in the blogging world. The Flesch Reading Ease scale is a great tool for bloggers to use to check how easy your writing is to read. There are tons of different tools you can use to measure it. Keeping an eye on your readability score can really improve your blog writing. It helps you focus on your reader’s comprehension, not on using big words and technical jargon. You should aim for a readability score of 60 or more. Since I’ve been using a readability tool, my score’s gone from an average of 58-60 to an average of 78-82. It works. Putting in Your Personality Allowing your personality to shine through your writing adds a personal touch to your blog posts that readers love. They’re more likely to subscribe to your blog posts - or at least bookmark your blog - when you add that human element. It creates a kind of relationship - and makes your blog posts sound different from all the other blog posts competing for your readers’ attention. Breaking Grammar Rules Writing consistently awesome blog posts means you have to break rules. Grammar rules, that is. All those things you were taught in school about split infinitives and contractions - your readers (mostly) don’t care about. Unless you’re writing a blog about grammar, of course. Blogs are much more informal. You’re speaking to your readers, not writing them an essay. Writing in a style they can relate to matters so much more than maintaining the rules of grammar. Polishing Your Posts Never hit the publish button until you’ve polished your posts. Ever. Your first draft might be perfect. It might be utterly awesome and epic. But don’t publish it yet. Please. Every writer’s different. Some leave their writing for a few days before they edit. Others leave it a few hours. It’s up to you - as long as you edit. When you come back to your blog post, you’re looking to polish till it’s perfect: Cut unnecessary words Add more emotion Break up any paragraphs that look too long Fact check Check the flow Add highlights Spark the senses Check your consistency Creating Irresistible Content, Consistently You want to write irresistible blog posts your readers will love, and you want to do it easily. The good news is that you’ve now got a formula for awesome blog posts. The bad news is that the formula makes it easier rather than easy. Writing awesome blog posts takes effort. It takes time. It takes practice. But you can do it. You’ve got all the tools you need to write blogs your readers will love. Yes, you’ll have moments of doubt. We all do. That’s just part of being a writer. You’ll look at the blog posts that the top ranking bloggers have written and wonder if you can ever compete. You can. You can’t let fear or intimidation stop you. You wouldn’t be reading this post if you didn’t believe, somewhere deep down inside, that you have it in you to write consistently awesome blogs. Learn from the writers who have gone before you - but don’t be intimidated by them. They were in your shoes not so long ago, and look where they are now. You’ll never get there if you don’t start, though. Start today. Start with hard-working headlines, and work your way up until it’s your blog that’s sitting at the top of the rankings and you that the world is turning to for advice.       About the author: Ariella is an experienced copywriter, editor, and digital marketing consultant. Driven by a passion for writing and content creation she takes pride in producing articles that deliver the latest information in an engaging manner and marketing campaigns that deliver exceptional results. Ariella has a BA (Hons) in English Language and Creative Writing (First), an MA in Theology and Ministry, and is a published author of three novels and a bestselling non-fiction book. A creative at heart, Ariella has 14 years’ industry experience and always aims to keep abreast of current trends and developments. She lives in the UK with her three beagles Zeke, Hope, and Sandy, who always make life interesting. The Ultimate Guide to Writing Awesome Blog Posts - Freewrite Store These days, everyone seems to be blogging. It’s the ‘cool’ thing to do. Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress make starting your own blog simple. But you only have to spend a short time perusing other blogs to discover that there’s much more to it than making it look pretty. Virtually anyone can write a blog post. Writing awesome blog posts that others are eager to read takes much more effort and skill. When you’re just starting out, that can seem like looking up a huge mountain. You wonder if you can achieve those blogging dreams. I know.   I’ve been blogging for almost ten years and I’m still learning new tricks to make my posts more engaging and readable. One question I get asked most as a writing coach is if there’s an easy way to consistently write awesome blog posts. I’d never describe writing captivating content as easy - but it’s easierwhen you have the right tools. In this ultimate guide, I’ll show you how. The Key Ingredients Fine-dining chefs know that the quality of their culinary masterpieces depends on the quality of their ingredients. Likewise, the best blog writers understand that the quality of their writing depends on a set of ingredients that can’t be compromised on. As a writer, you’ll know that different types of writing need different skills. Writing a blog post isn’t like writing a novel - and if you’re used to writing long pieces of content, writing blog posts can be a sharp learning curve. To make it more complex, there are different types of blog posts, too. Listicles, articles, how-to-guides†¦ the list is endless. But, blog posts of all kinds share common key ingredients you can use as a kind of formula to create blog posts that your readers will find irresistible. 1. Hard-Working Headline Headlines are like hooks that snare your readers in and entice them to keep reading. For centuries, newspaper editors have been using headline psychology to increase readership. Yet when it comes to blogging, writers often fall into the trap of thinking the body of your posts matters more than the headline. It doesn’t. Well, technically the content matters more to give value to your readers - but without a hard-working headline, no one will read the blog post, anyway. You can see how that’s a problem. I know writers who spend more time writing their headlines than they do their content - and they’re the writers who see their blog posts go viral. Go figure. So, what makes a headline hard-working? These kinds of headlines are powerful, persuasive - and tell the reader what to expect. Smart bloggers use psychology to get into the heads of their audience and write headlines that can’t be ignored. The best way to learn how to write these kinds of headlines is to Google your topic - and see what the top ranking blog headlines are. Study them. Learn from other bloggers who’ve been where you are now and have reached that pinnacle of success you’re aiming for. Want to perfect your headline-writing technique to make creating epic blog posts easier? Spend an hour every day writing headlines - and re-writing them to make them better. Practice makes perfect - plus, you’ll be generating hundreds of blog post titles for future use. Types of headlines include: How-to... List (tip - use an odd number, e.g. 7, 13, 45) Warning! (exploit the reader’s FOMO) The ultimate guide to... Why... Headlines that tease your reader without giving too much away virtually guarantee they’ll read your post. Put yourself in the shoes of your readers - and write the kinds of headlines that would make you click and read.   2. Irresistible Intro The headline hooks your reader. The intro convinces them to keep reading. To write irresistible intros you need to understand your readers, be able to relate to their problems, know what they’re looking for - and speak to them in a language they ‘get’. My background is in Linguistics, so when I first wrote blog posts, they were dire. Not because I didn’t know how to write - but because I was used to writing academic papers. My blogs would have delighted my professors - but they didn’t speak to my readers. A powerful and irresistible intro uses empathy to convince your readers you get them. You care about them. You want to help them with some problem or give them something they’re looking for. Exploiting emotions is another trick you can use to craft enticing intros. Which emotions you exploit depends on the post you’re writing - but before you start writing, know what feelings you want to cultivate in your reader. Learn from bloggers who’ve been in your shoes. Look at how they do it. The top ranking bloggers are at the top of the search results because they’re at the top of their game. Study their techniques - and start practicing. 3. Epic, Valuable Advice Want your readers to love your blog so much they can’t wait to share it on Facebook or Twitter? Of course you do - that’s how you grow your readership and build your reputation as a kick-ass writer. But we’re a consumer-culture. You don’t get anything for nothing. You want your readers to do something at the end of the post? Give them something valuable in return. I don’t mean you have to buytheir recommendation. You want to compel them to take action, not force them. The value is in what your blog post offers them. Do you have a solution to their problem that no one else has suggested? Can you help them learn a skill they need? Figure out what your readers will value most, and give it to them. Prove that you know what you’re talking about - and get them eager to read your next blog posts, too. But don’t just stop there. Give them more than they’re expecting from a blog post. The more you give them, the more they’ll love you. It’s really that simple. If other bloggers are giving 10 tips for something, give 15, 20 or even 25 - and maybe throw in a PDF they can download (in exchange for their email address). Make your advice easy for them to read, digest, and act on. This part of your blog post is the meat - and if you don’t make it easy to digest, you risk losing your reader - no matter how valuable your advice is. Subheadings and short paragraphs are the blogger’s best friend. If a paragraph is over four lines long, it’s too long and needs breaking up. Watch the length of your sentences, too. Tons of people read blogs and more on smartphones - and long paragraphs on a desktop are even longer on a smartphone. You’re aiming to improve your reader’s life - so don’t make it hard for them to read! 4. Kick-Ass Conclusion Finishing your blog post strong is sometimes harder than starting it. How do you close your post off with a bang when you’ve already delivered so much? It takes practice to get this part right. You want to motivate your readers and get them coming back for more. But you also need to keep it short and punchy. What you must avoid in your conclusion is adding new information. Readers hate that. All the hard work you’ve done so far can be undone with a poorly thought out conclusion. The key to writing a powerful, motivating conclusion is to write it to yourself. Yes, that sounds weird, but it works. You’re an expert on the topic, so you’ve been in your reader’s shoes. So, what would you write to your former self now you’ve overcome the challenges? What did you wish someone had said to you back then? What encouragement did you long to hear? Maybe you didhear it. So give your readers a pep talk, empower them - and give them the confidence to put all your valuable advice into action. Style Matters That’s the ingredients taken care of. But you can’t throw a load of ingredients into a pot and expect a culinary masterpiece to emerge. There’s more to producing consistently awesome blog posts than the ingredients. Your style matters, too. The style of your posts will vary according to your audience. It’s easy to forget you’re writing for them, not for you. Don’t make that mistake. To write to your readers and forthem: Use the language and style they use Speak to them directly Avoid jargon they won’t understand Present information logically Readability Readability is a big thing in the blogging world. The Flesch Reading Ease scale is a great tool for bloggers to use to check how easy your writing is to read. There are tons of different tools you can use to measure it. Keeping an eye on your readability score can really improve your blog writing. It helps you focus on your reader’s comprehension, not on using big words and technical jargon. You should aim for a readability score of 60 or more. Since I’ve been using a readability tool, my score’s gone from an average of 58-60 to an average of 78-82. It works. Putting in Your Personality Allowing your personality to shine through your writing adds a personal touch to your blog posts that readers love. They’re more likely to subscribe to your blog posts - or at least bookmark your blog - when you add that human element. It creates a kind of relationship - and makes your blog posts sound different from all the other blog posts competing for your readers’ attention. Breaking Grammar Rules Writing consistently awesome blog posts means you have to break rules. Grammar rules, that is. All those things you were taught in school about split infinitives and contractions - your readers (mostly) don’t care about. Unless you’re writing a blog about grammar, of course. Blogs are much more informal. You’re speaking to your readers, not writing them an essay. Writing in a style they can relate to matters so much more than maintaining the rules of grammar. Polishing Your Posts Never hit the publish button until you’ve polished your posts. Ever. Your first draft might be perfect. It might be utterly awesome and epic. But don’t publish it yet. Please. Every writer’s different. Some leave their writing for a few days before they edit. Others leave it a few hours. It’s up to you - as long as you edit. When you come back to your blog post, you’re looking to polish till it’s perfect: Cut unnecessary words Add more emotion Break up any paragraphs that look too long Fact check Check the flow Add highlights Spark the senses Check your consistency Creating Irresistible Content, Consistently You want to write irresistible blog posts your readers will love, and you want to do it easily. The good news is that you’ve now got a formula for awesome blog posts. The bad news is that the formula makes it easier rather than easy. Writing awesome blog posts takes effort. It takes time. It takes practice. But you can do it. You’ve got all the tools you need to write blogs your readers will love. Yes, you’ll have moments of doubt. We all do. That’s just part of being a writer. You’ll look at the blog posts that the top ranking bloggers have written and wonder if you can ever compete. You can. You can’t let fear or intimidation stop you. You wouldn’t be reading this post if you didn’t believe, somewhere deep down inside, that you have it in you to write consistently awesome blogs. Learn from the writers who have gone before you - but don’t be intimidated by them. They were in your shoes not so long ago, and look where they are now. You’ll never get there if you don’t start, though. Start today. Start with hard-working headlines, and work your way up until it’s your blog that’s sitting at the top of the rankings and you that the world is turning to for advice.       About the author: Ariella is an experienced copywriter, editor, and digital marketing consultant. Driven by a passion for writing and content creation she takes pride in producing articles that deliver the latest information in an engaging manner and marketing campaigns that deliver exceptional results. Ariella has a BA (Hons) in English Language and Creative Writing (First), an MA in Theology and Ministry, and is a published author of three novels and a bestselling non-fiction book. A creative at heart, Ariella has 14 years’ industry experience and always aims to keep abreast of current trends and developments. She lives in the UK with her three beagles Zeke, Hope, and Sandy, who always make life interesting.

Definition and Examples of Clang Association

Definition and Examples of Clang Association Clang association is word choice determined not by logic or meaning but by a words similarity in sound to another word. Also known as an association by sound  or  clanging. Clang association sometimes influences semantic change. For example, originally the noun fruition meant enjoyment, pleasure before its association with fruit developed the sense fulfillment, realization (John Algeo in The Cambridge History of the English Language: 1776-1997). Clang Association and Semantic Change Similarity or identity of sound may likewise influence meaning. Fay, from the Old French fae fairy has influenced fey, from Old English fà ¦ge fated, doomed to die to such an extent that fey is practically always used nowadays in the sense spritely, fairlylike. The two words are pronounced alike, and there is an association of meaning at one small point: fairies are mysterious; so is being fated to die, even though we are all so fated. There are many other instances of such confusion through clang association (that is, association by sound rather than meaning). For example, in conservative use fulsome means offensively insincere as in fulsome praise, but it is often used in the sense extensive because of the clang with full; fruition is from Latin frui to enjoy by way of Old French, and the term originally meant enjoyment but now usually means state of bearing fruit, completion (Rex, 1969); fortuitous earlier meant occurring by chance but now is generally used as a synonym for fortu nate because of its similarity to that word. (T. Pyles and J. Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language. Harcourt, 1982) President George W. Bushs Clang Associations [George] Bushs spontaneous public statements also suggest that he listens to and uses words based on their sound, not on their meaninga practice known in psychology as clang association. This accounts for many of his famous malapropisms: commending American astronauts as courageous spacial entrepreneurs, referring to the press as the punditry, wondering whether his policies resignate with the people, warning Saddam Hussein that he would be persecuted as a war criminal after the fall of Iraq. (Justin Frank, Bush on the Couch. Harper, 2004) Clang Association in the Language of Schizophrenics [E]arly investigations into the language of schizophrenics (see Kasanin 1944) came upon the phenomenon of a spate of talk being touched off by the sound of some word in a prior utterance (so-called clang association), a phenomenon which students of conversation will recognize as not uncommon in ordinary talk. But having found it through the close examination of schizophrenic talk (talk which could be so closely examined by virtue of its speakers disgnoses), it was taken as specially characteristic of such talk. So also with childrens talk, etc.(Emanuel A. Schegloff, Reflections on Talk and Social Structure. Talk and Social Structure: Studies in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis, ed. by Deirdre Boden and Don H. Zimmerman. University of California Press, 1991) The Lighter Side of Clang Associations All right, Cranberry said. Your trouble is, you cant pass a word up. Youre a compulsive punner. . . .There is something we call Klang associations. Its a sort of chain punning, and is characteristic of certain encysted types. Your pattern is a complex and refined variation of these word salads.It is also, I answered coolly, if I am not mistaken, the method by which James Joyce constructed Finnegans Wake. . . .At length, my habit cleared up. . . . [W]hen a dinner companion exclaimed that she had glimpsed three wedges of southbound geese over her rooftop in one day, I [did not] succumb to the temptation to murmur, Migratious!(Peter De Vries, Compulsion. Without a Stitch in Time. Little Brown, 1972)

Bay Of Pigs The Failed Invasion Essay

Bay Of Pigs: The Failed Invasion Essay, Research Paper Bay of Pigs: The Failed Invasion The narrative of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs is one of misdirection, certitude, and deficiency of security. The incrimination for the failure of the operation falls straight in the lap of the Central Intelligence Agency and a immature president along with his advisers. The autumn out from the invasion caused a rise in tenseness between the two great world powers and ironically, 38 old ages after the event, the individual whom the invasion was meant to tumble, Fidel Castro is still in power. To understand the beginnings of the invasion and its branchings for the hereafter, it is first necessary to look at the invasion and its beginnings. The Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961, started a few yearss before the bombardment of Cuba on April fifteenth by what appeared to be deserting Cuban air force pilots. At 6 a.m. on that Saturday, B-26 bombers bombed three Cuban military bases. The landing fields at Camp Libertad, San Antonio de Los Banos and Antonio Maceo airdrome at Santiago de Cuba were fired upon. Seven people were killed at Libertad and 47 people were killed at other sites on the island. Two of the B-26s left Cuba and flew to Miami, seemingly to desert to the United States. The Cuban Revolutionary Council, the authorities in expatriate, in New York City released a statement stating, ? The bombardments in Cuba were carried out by? Cubans inside Cuba? who were? in contact with? the top bid of the Revolutionary Council. ? The New York Times newsman covering the narrative alluded to something being incorrect with the whole state of affairs. He wondered how the council knew the pilots were coming if the pilots had merely decided to go forth Cuba on Thursday after a suspected treachery by a fellow pilot had precipitated a secret plan to strike. Whatever the instance, the planes came down in Miami subsequently that forenoon. One landed at Key West Naval Air Station at 7:00 a.m. and the other at Miami International Airport at 8:20 a.m. Both planes were severely damaged and their fuel armored combat vehicles were about empty. On the front page of The New York Times the following twenty-four hours, a image of a B-26 was shown along with a image of one of the pilots have oning a baseball chapeau and concealing behind dark dark glassess. His name was withheld. Even at this early phase, a sense of confederacy had begun to unknot the events of that hebdomad. In the early hours of April seventeenth, the assault on the Bay of Pigs began in a cloak and sticker manner. The assault began at 2 a.m. with a squad of? divers? traveling ashore with orders to put up set downing visible radiations. Those visible radiations indicated to the chief assault force the precise location of their aims, every bit good as to unclutter the country of anything that may hinder the chief landing squads when they arrived at 2:30 a.m. At 3:00 ante meridiem, two battalions came ashore at Playa Gir? N and one battalion at Playa Larga beaches. The military personnels at Playa Gir? N had orders to travel west, north-west, up the seashore and meet with the military personnels at Playa Larga in the center of the bay. A little group of work forces were so to be sent North to the town of Jaguey Grande to procure it every bit good. When looking at a modern map of Cuba it is obvious that military personnels would hold jobs in the country that was chosen for them to set down. The country around the Bay of Pigs is a boggy fen land country which would be hard on the military personnels. The Cuban forces were speedy to respond and Castro ordered his T-33 trainer jets, along with two Sea Furies, and two B-26s into the air to halt the invading forces. Off the seashore were the bid and control ship and another vas transporting supplies for the invading forces. The Cuban air force made speedy work of the supply ships, droping the bid vas, Marsopa, and the supply ship, Houston, blaring them to pieces with five-inch projectiles. Lost with the Houston was the 5th battalion every bit good as the supplies for the landing squads and eight other smaller vass. With some of the invading forces? ships destroyed, and no bid and control ship, the logistics of the operation shortly broke down as the other supply ships were kept at bay by Casto? s air force. As with many failed military escapades, one of the jobs with this 1 was with providing the military personnels. In th e air, Castro had easy won high quality over the incursive force. His fast traveling T-33s, although unimpressive by today? s criterions, made short work of the slow traveling B-26s of the occupying force. On Tuesday, two were shot out of the sky and by Wednesday, the encroachers had lost 10 of their 12 aircraft. With air power steadfastly in control of Castro? s forces, the terminal was near for the incursive ground forces. During the seventy-two-hour invasion, the Cubans pounded the occupying force of about 1500 work forces. The encroachers? arms were no lucifer for Castro? s 122mm Howitzers, 22mm cannons, and armored combat vehicle fire. By Wednesday the encroachers were pushed back to their landing zone at Playa Gir? N. Surrounded by Castro? s forces, some surrendered while others fled into the hills. One hundred 14 work forces were killed in the slaughter while 36 died as captives in Cuban cells. Others were to populate out twenty old ages or more in those cells for plotting to tumble the authorities of Castro. The work forces of the occupying force neer had a opportunity for success from about the first yearss in the planning phase of the operation. Operation Pluto, as it came to be known, has its beginnings in the last yearss of the Eisenhower Administration and the cloudy clip period during the passage of power to the freshly elected president, John F. Kennedy. In late 1958, Castro was still contending a guerilla war against the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista. Before he came to power, there was an incident between his military personnels and some vacationing American military personnels from the nearby American naval base at Guantanamo Bay. During the incident, some US Marines were held confined by Casto? s forces but were subsequently released after a ransom was in secret paid. This episode soured dealingss between Castro and the United States. The head of U.S. Naval Operations, Admiral Burke, suggested sending in the Marines to destruct Castro? s forces, but Secretary of State Foster Dulles disagreed. Originally Castro was non a Communist ; he even had meetings with Vice President Richard Nixon. Fearful of Castro? s revolution, people with money, including physicians, attorneies, and the Mafia, left Cuba for the United States. To forestall the loss of more capital Castro? s solution was to nationalise some of the concerns in Cuba. In the procedure of nationalising some concern? he came into struggle with American involvements. Legitimate U.S. concerns were taken over, and the procedure of socialisation begun with small if any talk of compensation. Following rumours of Cuban engagement in be aftering to occupy Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, the US Government refused Castro any economic assistance. After being rejected by the Americans, he met with Russia? s foreign curate Anasta Mikoyan to procure a $ 100 million loan from the Soviet Union. It was in this ambiance that American Intelligence and Foreign Relations communities decided that Castro was tilting towards co mmunism and had to be dealt with. In the spring of 1960, President Eisenhower approved a program to direct little groups of trained Americans, Cuban exiles, to work in the resistance as guerillas to subvert Castro. By the autumn, the program was changed to a full invasion with air support by expatriate Cubans in American supplied planes. The original group was to be trained in Panama, but with the growing of the operation and the accelerating gait of events in Cuba, it was decided to travel things to a base in Guatemala. The program was going rushed and this would get down to demo. The adult male in charge of the operation, CIA Deputy Director Bissell said, ? There didn? T seem to be clip to maintain to the original program and have a big group trained by this initial cell of immature Cubans. So the larger group was formed and established at La Finca, in Guatemala, and at that place the preparation was conducted wholly by Americans. ? By now it was autumn and President John F. Kennedy had replaced President Eisenhower. President Kennedy could hold stopped the invasion if he wanted to, but he likely did non make so for several grounds. First, he had campaigned for some signifier of action against Cuba and it was besides the tallness of the cold war. To endorse out now would intend holding groups of Cuban expatriates going around the Earth claiming the Americans had backed down on the Cuban issue. In competition with the Soviet Union, endorsing out would do the Americans appear as chickens on the international scene. On the domestic place forepart, the new president would be seen as endorsing off from one of his run promises. The failure at the CIA led to Kennedy doing hapless determinations, impacting future dealingss with Cuba and the Soviet Union. Three grounds caused failure at the CIA central office. First, the incorrect people were managing the operation ; secondly, the bureau in charge of the operation was besides the one supplying all the intelligence for the operation ; and thirdly, the operation had security jobs. In charge of the operation was the Director of Central Intelligence, Allan Dulles and chief duty for the operation was left to one of his deputies, Richard Bissell. In an intelligence community geared chiefly for European operations against the USSR, both work forces lacked experience in Latin American personal businesss. Those in charge of Operation Pluto based this new operation on the success of the Guatemalan escapade, but the state of affairs in Cuba was much different than that in Guatemala. In Guatemala, the state of affairs was still helter-skelter and John Arbenz neer had the same control over the state like Castro had on Cuba. The CIA had the United States Ambassador, John Puerifoy, working on the interior of Guatemala organizing the attempt. In Cuba, they had none of this while the Soviet block was providing Castro. Furthermore, after the overthrow of the authorities in Guatemala, Castro was cognizant that this may go on to him every bit good and likely had his guard up waiting for anything that my indicate an invasion was at hand. The 2nd job was the nature of the bureaucratism itself. The CIA was a new child on the block, and experiencing it had to turn out itself, saw its chance in Cuba. Obsessed with secretiveness, it kept the figure of people involved to a lower limit. The intelligence wing of CIA was kept out of it, although their Board of National Estimates could hold provided information on the state of affairs in Cuba and the opportunities for an rebellion against Castro one time the invasion started. Besides kept out of the cringle were the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff who could hold provided aid on the military side of the escapade. In the terminal, the CIA kept all the information for itself and passed on to the president O nly what it thought he should see. Lucien S. Vandenbroucke, in Political Science Quarterly of 1984, based his analysis of the Bay of Pigs failure on organisational behaviour theory. He says, ? The CIA supplied President Kennedy and his advisors with chosen studies on the undependability of Castro? s forces and the extent of Cuban dissent. ? Of the CIA? s behaviour he concludes, ? By fall backing to the typical organisation scheme of specifying the options and supplying the information required to measure them, the CIA therefore structured the job in a manner that maximized the likeliness the president would take the bureau? s preferred option. ? The CIA made certain the deck was stacked in their favour when the clip came to make up ones mind whether a undertaking they sponsored was sound or non. President Kennedy? s Secretary of State at the clip was Dean Rusk. In his autobiography he stated, ? The CIA told us all kinds of things about the state of affairs in Cuba and what would go on one time the brigade got ashore. President Kennedy received information that merely was non right. For illustration, he was told the elements of the Cuban armed forces would desert and fall in the brigade. Besides there would be popular rebellions throughout Cuba when the brigade hit the beach, and if the expatriate force got into problem, its members would merely run into the countryside and go guerillas, merely as Castro had done. ? As for senior White House Plutos, most of them disagreed with the program every bit good, but Rusk said, ? Kennedy went with what the CIA had to say. ? As for himself, he said, ? He did non function President Kennedy really good, ? and he should hold voiced his resistance louder. He concluded, ? I should hold made my resistance clear in the meetings themselves bec ause he ( Kennedy ) was under force per unit area from those who wanted to proceed. ? When the president was faced with colored information from quiet advisers and the CIA, there was no inquiry why the president decided to travel in front with the operation. For an organisation that deals with security issues, the CIA? s deficiency of security in the Bay of Pigs operation is dry. Security began to interrupt down before the invasion when The New York Times reporter Tad Szulc? . . . learned of Operation Pluto from Cuban friends. . . ? earlier that twelvemonth while in Costa Rica covering an Organization of American States meeting. Another dislocation in security was at the preparation base in Florida. Local occupants near Homestead Air Force Base had seen Cubans boring and heard their speaker units at a farm. As a gag, some bangers were thrown into the compound. The resulting incident saw the Cubans firing their guns and the federal governments holding to convert the local governments non to press charges. Operation Pluto was get downing to be blown broad unfastened, the advantage of surprise was lost even this early in the game. After the initial bombardment foray of April fifteenth, and the landing of the B-26s in Florida, images of the planes were taken and published in newspapers. In the exposure of one of the planes, the olfactory organ of it is opaque whereas the theoretical account of the B-26 the Cubans truly used had a Plexiglas olfactory organ. The CIA had taken the planes to mask the B-26 with? FAR? markers ( Cuban Air Force ) . The bureau overlooked a important item that was spotted instantly by professional perceivers. Castro? s people merely had to read the newspapers to larn something was traveling to go on. The planes that bombed them were non their ain but American. In The New York Times on the twenty-first of April, stories about the beginnings of the operation in the Eisenhower disposal appeared with headlines, ? CIA Had a Role in Exiles? Plan s, ? uncovering the CIA? s engagement. By the twenty-second, the narrative is broad unfastened with headlines in The New York Times saying, ? CIA is accused by Bitter Rebels? and on the 2nd page of that twenty-four hours? s issue is a full article on the inside informations of the operation from its beginnings. The decision one can pull from the articles in The New York Times is, if newsmans knew the whole narrative by the twenty-second, it can be expected that Castro? s intelligence service along with the Soviet Union knew about the planned invasion every bit good. Tad Szulc? s study in the April 22nd edition of The New York Times says it all, . . . ? As has been an unfastened secret in Florida and Central America for months, the CIA planned, coordinated and directed the operations that ended in licking on a beachhead in southern Cuba Wednesday. ? It is clear now ; portion of the failure of the operation was caused by a deficiency of security and attending to detail on the portion of the Central Intelligence Agency, and misinformation given to the president. On the international scene, the Bay of Pigs invasion lead straight to increased tensenesss between the United States and the Soviet Union. During the invasion, messages were exchanged between Kennedy and Khrushchev sing the events in C uba. Khrushchev accused the Americans of being involved in the invasion. Stating in one of his messages, ? That a alleged? little war? can bring forth a concatenation reaction in all parts of the universe. We shall render the Cuban people and their Government all necessary aid in crushing back the armed onslaught on Cuba. ? Kennedy replied, giving American positions on democracy and the containment of communism. He besides warned against Soviet engagement in Cuba, stating to Khrushchev, ? In the event of any military intercession by outside force we will instantly honour our duties under the inter-American system to protect this hemisphere against external aggression. ? However, this crisis passed, but it set the phase for the following major crisis over Soviet atomic missiles in Cuba and likely led to the Soviets increasing their military support for Castro. In the disposal itself, the Bay of Pigs crisis led to a few alterations. First, person had to take the incrimination for the matter and, as Director of Central Intelligence, Allen Dulles was forced to vacate and left CIA in November of 1961. Internally, the CIA was neer the same, and although it continued with covert operations against Castro, it was on a much-reduced graduated table. Harmonizing to a study of the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence, ? Future operations were to nurture a spirit of opposition and alienation which could take to important desertions and other byproducts of unrest. ? The CIA besides now came under the supervising of the president? s brother Bobby, the Attorney General. Harmonizing to Lucien S. Vandenbroucke, the result of the Bay of Pigs failure besides made th e White House suspicious of an operation that everyone agreed to, made them less loath to oppugn the experts, and made them play? annoy? s advocators? when oppugning them. In the terminal, the lessons learned from the Bay of Pigs failure may hold contributed to the successful handling of the Cuban missile crisis that followed. The long-run branchings of the Bay of Pigs invasion are a small harder to measure. The ultimate indicant of the invasion failure is that 38 old ages subsequently Castro is still in power. This non merely indicates the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, but American policy towards Cuba in general. The American policy instead than sabotaging Castro? s support, has likely contributed to it. As with many wars, even a cold one, the leader is able to beat up his people around him against an attacker. No longer having aid from the Soviet Union, things were get downing to alter. He has opened the Cuban economic system for some investing, chiefly in telecommunication s, oil geographic expedition, and joint ventures. In an effort to remain in power, he is seeking to accommodate his state to the new world of the universe. Rather than stamp downing the educated elite, he is giving them a topographic point in steering Cuba. The inquiry is, will they finally want more power and a right to command Cuba? s destiny without Castro? s counsel and support? If the prostration of past governments is any indicant, they will finally desire more power. When Castro came to power in 1959, his major American oppositions, as with Guatemala, were the concern involvements who were losing out as a consequence of his constabularies. The major force per unit area for the Americans to make something came, non merely from the Cuban expatriates in Florida, but from those concerns. Today, the tabular arraies are turned and concerns are losing out because of the American trade stoppage against Cuba. It is estimated that if the trade stoppage were lifted, $ 1 billion of concern would be generated for US companies the first twelvemonth. As of now, 100 houses have talked to Cuba about making concern at that place after the trade stoppage is lifted. Will American policy alteration toward Cuba because of force per unit area from concern involvements and turning jobs with refugees from Cuba? Given the grounds why the United States got involved in Latin American political relations in the first topographic point, it is really likely their place will al ter if they can happen a face salvaging manner to make so. American policy at this clip though is still stuck in the cold war. The president of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jesse Helms said, ? Whether Castro leaves Cuba in a perpendicular or horizontal place is up to him and the Cuban people. But he must and will go forth Cuba. ? Misinformation and misdirection caused the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. The effects were the? egg in the face? for the Americans and an addition in tenseness between the world powers at the tallness of the cold war. We will merely hold to wait and see if the Americans have truly learned their lesson and will non lose another chance to put things right in Cuba. ? This image was taken of President Kennedy walking with three Cuban Exiles in 1961. Fedarko, Kevin. ? Bereft of Patrons: Desperate to Rescue his Economy, Fidel Turns to an Unusual Solution: Capitalism. ? Time Magazine, hebdomad of February 20th, 1995. Internet, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.timeinc.com, 1995. Meyer, Karl E. and Szulc, Tad. The Cuban Invasion: The Chronicle of a Disaster. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1962 and 1968. Mosley, Leonard. Dulles: A Biography of Eleanor, Allen, and John Foster Dulles and their Family Network. New York: The Dail Press/James Wade, 1978. Prados, John. Presidents? Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations Since World War II. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. , 1986. Ranelagh, John. CIA: A History. London: BBC Books, 1992. Rositzke, Harry, Ph.d. The CIA? s Secret Operationss: Espionage, Counterespionage, and Covert Action. New York: Reader? s Digest Press, 1977. Rusk, Dean and Richard. As I Saw It. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 1990. The New York Times. 16 April to 22 April, 1961. New York: The New York Times, 1961. Vandenbroucke, Lucien S. ? Anatomy of a Failure: The Decision to Land at the Bay of Pigs. ? Political Science Quarterly, Volume 99, Number 3, Fall 1984.