Dante And His Inferno Essays - Divine Comedy, Afterlife, Italy

Dante And His Inferno Dante And His Inferno Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages, was born in Florence, Italy, supposedly around May 29, 1265, to a middle-class Florentine family. A year later, on Easter Sunday, he was baptized, later describing this as his first step toward salvation. At an early age, he began to write poetry and became fascinated with lyrics. In 1274, during his adolescence, Dante fell in love with a beautiful girl named Beatrice Portinari. This love of his, though, was in truth simply a lust issue, as they had not actually met more than twice. Unfortunately for Dante, his father passed away in 1283, leaving him yearning for fatherly affection which he later displays in The Divine Comedy: Inferno, as he seems to look toward Virgil for parental affection. During the late 1280's, he served in the military as a cavalryman in the battles of Compagna and Campaldino against the Ghibellines. Shortly after his return in 1290, his beloved Beatrice passed away, leaving him grief-stricken, but still provided much inspiration for his literary works. His first book, Vita Nuova (New Life), was written about her. Sometime before 1294, Dante married Gemma Donati, whom he later had four children with, named Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni, and Antonia. Dante was active in the political and military life of Florence. He entered the army as a youth and held several important positions in the Florentine government during the 1290's. During his life, Florence was divided politically between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. The Guelfs supported the church and liked to keep things as they were. The Ghibellines, however, were mostly supporters of the German emperor, and were in power up until the time of Dante's birth. When this took place, the Guelfs, for whom Dante's family was associated, took power. Although born into a Guelf family, Dante became more neutral later in life after realizing that the church was corrupt, believing it should only be involved in spiritual affairs. He joined the Physicians and Apothecaries Guild and soon became a fairly important politician. At the turn of the century, Dante rose from city Councilman to Ambassador of Florence. At this time, the Guelfs had split into two factions, the Black and White Guelfs. T he Black Guelfs supported Pope Boniface VIII and his quest to seize Florence's province; the White Guelfs, however, did not support the Pope. Dante tried to show his neutrality for the groups by exiling the leaders of both factions, which included his brother-in-law and his best friend. Finally in 1302, while Dante was away serving an ambassadorship in the town of Siena, the Black Guelfs and their French allies took over the city. They confiscated Dante's possessions and sentenced him to banishment from Florence, threatening the death penalty upon him if he returned. Dante first traveled to Verona, spending most of his time in exile writing new pieces of literature. Afterwards, he traveled as far as Paris and Oxford before settling in Ravenna in 1319. It is believed that around 1307 he interrupted his unfinished work, Convivio, a reflection of his love poetry philosophy of the Roman tradition, to begin The Divine Comedy. He also wrote a book called De Vulgari Eloquentia, which explained the origins and types of human language and devices of poetry, in addition to his idea to combine a number of Italian dialects to create a new national language. In 1310, he wrote De Monarchia presenting Dante's case for a one-ruler world order. In 1321, Dante was sent by the lord of Ravenna as an ambassador to Venice to settle arguments over trade regulations, and upon his return to Ravenna, he fell sick with Malaria and died on September 13, 1321. Among his works, The Divine Comedy is the most famous and reputable. He began writing it around 1307 and finished it only a short while before his death. In this work, Dante introduced his invention of the terza rima, or three-line stanza, as well as himself as a character. The Inferno is the first of three parts of Dante's epic poem, The Divine Comedy, which depicts an imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante is the hero, who loses his way in the

Let Them Do It Themselves essays

Let Them Do It Themselves essays Many people throughout the world live in some of the harshest, most despicable living conditions on the earth. Whole countries may have less than a few thousand people that actually live in real houses and eat real amounts of food. Countries like Somalia depend a large amount on whether or not people find it in their heart to donate food, money and clothes to them. There are places like that within our own country, which are the focus of The Promised Land, by Nicholas Lemann. These places are called ghettos. These two scenarios are completely different, despite the fact that Lemann seems to classify them as being the same. Although he doesnt outright say this, he writes as if we as Americans should feel the same way about ghettos as we would about any other poor living conditions. This is shown when he states, The black poor that live in ghettos are among the most poor in the world and ghettos are among the worst places in the world to live. (p 353). I have a problem with th is. Though some may disagree, I feel as though Lemann actually puts people living in ghettos in the same category as those in poverty stricken countries. People who live in poverty-stricken countries live in that condition because for them there is nothing else. Those countries have no jobs available, and if they did, it might be pretty safe to assume that the people would take whatever job they could find. Ghettos in America cannot even compare to the poorest people of other countries. To live in a ghetto assumes that someone actually has a real place to live, whether these ghetto houses and apartments are low quality or not is not the issue because the real worlds poor dont even have ghettos to call their own, or opportunity to find a ghetto to call their own. To get out of life in a ghetto requires a will and some elbow grease, but to get out of life in a poverty stricken country is nearly impossible. When some...

Living the Southwest Way Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Living the Southwest Way - Case Study Example The carrier attributes the effectiveness of its operations to socially fine relationships with its workforces. The purpose of this paper is to examine the human resource (HR) implications of Southwest Airlines merger with Air Tran Holdings in 2011. Southwest focuses principally on point-to-point passenger delivery, as opposed to the more popular hub-and-spoke strategy provided by most American airlines (Wu, 2012). The point-to-point strategy limits delays and total flight time which would otherwise be more tiresome to the crew. This service also enables the employees to enjoy more convenient shifts and better remuneration generated by majority of passengers who prefer low fares (Lorenzetti, 2014). By supplementing high-frequency short-haul fights with newer long-haul services between Los Angeles and Nashville, Las Vegas and Orlando, and San Diego and Baltimore by virtue of more planes and crew, the integrated crews now have the opportunity to enjoy more challenging and shifts. In addition, the airline’s delivery of passengers to downtown airports such as Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby and Chicago Midway among others enables the crew to unwind in the less congested destinations and thus, improve their productivity (Bachman, Schlangenstein, & Hughes, 2010). As the result, Southwest employees today have better capacity to champion effective asset utilization and predictable time-maintained performance. Owing to the operational similarity of Southwest Airlines to Air Tran, the new organization encourages its workforces to use simple strategies to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and growth. Wu (2012) suggested that these include control of oneself in the best and worst of times; using irreverence where it is necessary; being oneself; having fun on the job; being objective and serious when dealing with competition; tolerating diverse attitudes, provided the crew use their

Application essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Application - Essay Example Secondly, during the beginning of the last semester, I joined the Emory Volunteer Program. I have learnt a lot through the activities of the program. In addition, we had an opportunity to visit Furkid, an animal shelter that takes care of cats. The event was successful; we touched the lives of a number of animals. Another opportunity arose to visit Atlanta PAWS, a shelter for homeless dogs. We fed and cleaned the dogs while presenting a number of items for them. The management of the center was very pleased with our kindness while applauding the Emory fraternity for the kind-hearted deed. Thirdly, I am a member of the Sunday school of Tzu Ching Emory. This is an internationally recognized humanitarian non-governmental organization; it is the largest of its kind in the Chinese-speaking world. In addition, the NGO has a special consultative status in the UN economic and social council. We meet every Sunday to plan for the activities of the NGO as well as learning about its mandate. The motivation to join the NGO emanated from my strong passion for charity work. Fourthly, The Sight for Unit club attracted my attention while I was still fresh at Emory. This club has offered me a spectacular opportunity to be of help to others. The club’s mandate is to mobilize resources in aid of people that have lost sight and in need of help. Through the club, we have engaged in various money generating activities including selling of bubble tea and frozen yoghurt to the student community. This activity generated some substantial amount of money that we gave to Sight for Unit organization. Finally, this semester I founded the Emory Tea Ceremony club, a dream that came to me late last semester. The essence of having the club was to spread the Asian tea culture to the students at Emory. I am optimistic that the club will facilitate further celebration of cultural diversity at

Sara Lee Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sara Lee - Coursework Example Sara Lee also employs 137,000 persons worldwide. Key initiatives regarding manufacturing and quality processes need a higher level of reliability across every bakery, whereas an apparent business objective, constancy across each field operation brings considerable challenges. Challenges: â€Å"In The Netherlands, the Shop Account Managers of Sara Lee International keep in close contact with their retail channels. Due to the competitive nature of the retail market, it is of the utmost importance that the sales force is supported with a customer relationship management solution which is agile and responds to their requirements† (Lee, 2007). Retrenchment Strategy Assessment: Subsequent to Sara Lee’s retrenchment, the business is capable to give attention to its food service, food and beverage and worldwide businesses. Sara Lee’s key aims for its remaining business are to give attention to customer requirements and operating excellence, and at the same time in generating a physically powerful brand through wide modernizations and competitive pricing. The business successfully employs its retail meats, by selling them to its foodservice clientele. Its meat business has enlarged in sales and operating revenue, while professionally it has benefited by modernizations in grocery items. These modernizations boosted sales over $100 million, even while its core products’ sales were flat. The business holds 20% market share in a rising industry of approximately $10 billion. Sara Lee is one of the most significant market leaders in North America in retail breads. Sara Lee has positioned itself in mounting divisions and stalling unconnected segm ents in its body care product and household lines. These divisions function separately from core food items of Sara Lee’s businesses. The products of Sara Lee comprise bakery, household items, and beverage body care brands etc. Majority of the sales segment of sales is made in the western part of Europe. Sara Lee has a 9%market share of coffee, making it the second highest on earth. Its sales are exceed $1.7 billion, with the introduction of the most excellent selling coffee invention in Europe. While the continent has very strong needs for specialty coffees in that area, Sara Lee altered its most excellent selling coffee pans to dish up espresso and cappuccino drinks. The bakery line for the business has not been as flourishing throughout Europe. Customers choose extremely fresh-baked bread; on the other hand, Sara Lee can only offer packaged bread. While packaged bread merely creates 12% of the bread in market situation, it is expected to enlarge to 25% by 2015. Sara Leeâ⠂¬â„¢s bread also has been flourishing in Spain, while, where it dominates the nations with a 54 % market share. Sara Lee is at present not in an attractive market situation but if increase the packaged bread it may be capable to capture a huge market share. While it offers low-calorie food and desserts to its clientele, Sara Lee has met the requirements of its clientele and captured a bigger market share. Sara Lee’s holds the number one brand name of product Kiwi, shoe polish, which accumulates a worldwide market share of around 63%. And also its shoe polish reports for approximately 16% of the unit’s sales. Although Sara Lee’s has the leading brand of shower, the market is gradually rising at 1%. This averts the business from taking benefit of potential incomes in the market. The company possess almost 28% market share in the production

Analysis of the Public and Private Sports Industry

Analysis of the Public and Private Sports Industry Public, private and voluntary sectors in the sports industry, advantages and disadvantages of the leisure centre being in the public sector, how the local leisure centre can meet the aim of getting more local clubs to use its facilities. Introduction â€Å"Since the opportunity to participate in sport or recreation requires facilities, the central task of organisations, and associated individuals, is to provide a service which focuses on people and which satisfies that need.†[1] The sports industry has changed beyond all recognition since the beginning of the 1990’s in each of the public, private and voluntary sectors. The impetus has come from top level government policy with the creation of the UK Sports Council and the formation of the chief sporting bodies such as Sport England offering both funding and structure to the previously ad hoc nature of leisure and recreation in modern Britain. Moreover, the lure of professional sport has also irrevocably changed in tandem with the structural changes in amateur sport with the result that there is, at the dawn of the twenty first century, more people are taking an active part in sport, which has further increased the pressure on local services such as leisure centres. There are though vast differences between the way that the public and private sector sports providers are run and funded as shall now become apparent. The Private Sector With regards to the sports industry, the private sector refers to those leisure services that are funded by private capital and open only to private membership. This can mean anything from specialist professional sports clubs to health and fitness clubs to local sports teams that have been established and sponsored by local and national businesses alike. The advantages of this kind of sporting industry are predominantly economic with the funding of private sports clubs historically far outstripping the economic resources available to equivalent public sector sports services. Certainly in the 1970’s and 1980’s, private sector sports industries were far more popular and productive than their public sector counterparts mirrored in the elevated sporting achievements of private school sporting institutions as opposed to the relative failings of the same public (comprehensive) school sports bodies. There are, however, inherent disadvantages to sports and leisure services that rely exclusively on the private sector for funding. First and foremost, there are no guarantees that the source of that funding will remain constant for any fixed length of time. Benefactors are subject to the ups and downs of the free market economy, which can result in sharp reductions as well as rises in the level of funding provided. In addition, any leisure service that is inexorably tied to the private sector also inevitably suffers from the lack of community spirit that can only be adequately garnered through association with the local public authorities. Thus, while the advantages to sports services in the private sector appear on the surface to be all encompassing, the reality is that the lack of stability that characterises all facets of the private sector economy hampers the sustained growth and popularity. The Public Sector â€Å"We know that sport can make a positive contribution to national morale, health and the economy. We believe that it can enhance community spirit, equality of opportunity, personal development and social integration.†[2] As the above quotation from the UK Sports Council in 1992 attests, the government has radically altered the way in which it views sport and the national leisure industry. The leisure industry is no longer seen as a vehicle through which to achieve solely sporting success; rather, sport within the corridors of power in Westminster is now seen as a way of combating such issues as obesity, social exclusion and perceived self‑competence. â€Å"Sports are vehicles of identity, providing people with a sense of difference and a way of classifying themselves and others.†[3] As a direct result, funding within the public sector has seen a sharp, unprecedented rise since the early 1990’s with the government acting as the focal point behind this increase in official spending. An investment of  £1.5 billion over the next five years by way of state sponsored assistance has been promised by Westminster to further increase the organisational structures and performance levels of adult and child athletes who train and practice within the public sector. This money, bolstered by funding generated from institutions such as the National Lottery, is delegated to local sports authorities within Sport England, Sport Wales, Sport Scotland or Sport Northern Ireland and injected into the local community. Furthermore, local government spends approximately  £1 billion per year on sport and leisure, which is more than 50% of the total resources available to sport. This financial injection is far beyond any investment proposed by private capital; in fact, because of this large economic discrepancy, the private sector has increasingly sought to form a partnership with the public sector in order to be associated with the vast increase in interest in sport as witnessed in recent years. Moreover, public sector sports services also get to reap the rewards of the government’s efforts at placing the country on the international sporting map. The 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and, more significantly, the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London will prove to be long term sources of investment for all those with an active interest in public sector sporting services. Not only has funding vastly increased (with the cost to the government estimated to be in excess of  £1 billion for the 2012 Games), the facilities that have been and are being constructed are open to the public after the completion of the official competition. In Manchester this has served to open up a city centre swimming pool, an athletics track and a football stadium for use within the public sector. The results for London are likely to be much more wholesale than in Manchester. Moreover, as the new facilities and funding increase, so the burgeoning association between national identity, l ocal and central government and sport is further cemented. This has helped to push people into participating in public as opposed to private sports services, representing a significant turnaround from previous decades. Like private sector sporting institutions, public sector services are similarly riddled with pros and cons. The most obvious advantage at the present time is the aforementioned increase in public authority funding and facilities open to the public sector, exacerbated by a media that constantly underlines the partnership taking place between local government and sport. This is, however, a double edged sword as the major disadvantage to public sector sports services concerns the very nature of government. Ultimately, just because it has suited New Labour to promote participation in recreation and sport is not to state that the Tories would necessarily feel the same. Thus, public sector sports are subject to the same ups and down and insecurities that beset the private sector. The Voluntary Sector Voluntary organisations rely heavily upon both the community and private enterprises for funding; they therefore straddle the boundaries that have traditionally separated the public and private sectors. Once more, though, it is the unprecedented rise in government funding that has been the voluntary sector’s greatest asset. The revamped Department for Culture, Media and Sport set up the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) specifically to deal with the funding problems regarding the facilities and personnel required for the successful operation of volunteer sports clubs. The CCDP will provide  £100 million to National Sports Governing Bodies by March 2008 for the construction and continuation of community based sports clubs. Advantages to this kind of sporting authority centre upon the lack of reliance solely upon the public or the private sector, while conversely, at the same time, the lack of constant source of funding makes the voluntary sector the most vulnerable within the current social and political climate. Conclusion There are vast disparities between the public and private sectors with the local voluntary leisure centre enjoying the benefits of both worlds. For as long as the current climate favours the sports and recreation industry, the community leisure centre will continue to reap the rewards of a society renewing a relationship with exercise that had previously become stale. At present there is an excess of people interested in taking part in leisure and sport that is wholly to the benefit of local leisure centres that are able to charge admission fees that are significantly less than those on offer in the private sector. In addition, excessive government funding signals that the economic means at the public and voluntary sectors are currently vastly superior to those of the private sector. However, in the final analysis, one should not presume that the imbalance in favour of the public sector will remain as it is indefinitely. Should leisure and sport once again find themselves on the peri phery of popular culture, we would surely see a reversal of contemporary trends with the balance tipped heavily in the private sector’s favour as is the case with health and education services. Politics, like economics, is subject to sweeping changes in a very short space of time. References Biddle, S., Sallis, J. and Cavill, N. (Eds.) (1998), Young and Active? Young People and Health Enhancing Physical Activity: Evidence and Implications London: Health Education Authority Elvin, I.T. (1990), Sport and Physical Recreation London: Longman Horne, J., Tomlinson, A. and Whannel, G. (2000), Understanding Sport: An Introduction to the Sociological and Cultural Analysis of Sport London: E FN SPON Hylton, K. (Ed.) (2001) Sports Development: Policy, Process and Practice London: Routledge MacClancey, J. (1996) Sport, Identity and Ethnicity Oxford: Berg Sport in the Nineties – New Horizons: a Draft Consultation (1992) London: UK Sports Council Footnotes [1] Elvin, I.T. (1990), Sport and Physical Recreation London: Longman, p.6 [2] Sport in the Nineties – New Horizons: a Draft Consultation (1992) London: UK Sports Council, p.75 [3] MacClancey, J. (1996) Sport, Identity and Ethnicity, Oxford: Berg, p.2

Erosion of Shorelines Essay -- Nature Environment Papers

Erosion of Shorelines The erosion of shorelines is a natural process that can have beneficial or adverse impacts on the creation and maintenance of habitats. Sands and gravels eroded from the shores of coastal bays maintain the beach as a natural barrier between the open water and coastal wetlands. Beaches move back and forth onshore, offshore and along shore with changing wave conditions. The finer-grained silts and clays derived from the erosion of shorelines are sorted and carried as far as the waters of wetlands or tidal flats, where benefits are derived from addition of the new material. However, excessively high sediment loads can smother submerged aquatic vegetation beds, cover shellfish beds and tidal flats, fill in riffle pools, and contribute to increased levels of turbidity and nutrients (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/Chapter6/ch6-4.html). Longshore drift is the movement of sand parallel to the shoreline, in the â€Å"along-the-shore† direction (H. Nepf). Longshore drift is caused by the water waves breaking against the shore. As the waves break, they thrust water forward, creating movement of water in the direction the wave is traveling. If a wave approaches a beach at an angle, the forward rush of water is directed partially parallel and partially perpendicular to the shore. The parallel component of motion creates the longshore current, a steady movement of water parallel to the shoreline, that carries sand and contributes to the longshore drift. The longshore current is confined to the region where the waves break, called the surf zone (the frothy, white water created by the breaking waves). In regions of strong wave activity the longshore drift steadily carries sand away, eroding the coast. In... ...tions are poor or where little penetration is possible, a gravity-type structure such as a stone revetment may be preferable. However, all vertical protective structures (revetments, seawalls and bulkheads) built on sites with soft or unconsolidated bottom materials can experience scouring as incoming waves are reflected off the structures (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/Chapter6/ch6-4.html). Shoreline erosion is a problem widely attributed to by commercial and residential development. Many methods can be used to prevent erosion and promote sand accumulation. However, most man-made structures are simply made to protect buildings and surrounding land, not the entire beach. Some believe beachfront homeowners should move their houses or simply move. Whatever the decision, erosion is a natural process and will continue whether a house exists in its path or not.