Human Geography Oxford City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Geography Oxford City - Essay Example Tourist and other visitors do their shopping at Covered Market; it is one among the several historic centers in Oxford. The tower has been locating in a strategic place in relation to the landscape of the land and the same applies to St. Mary's the Virgin University Church. The architectures of the time were very considerate in designing view points which are currently being used as centers of interest yet they were built hundred of years back. Below is an aerial view of High Street.Oxford City is ever green; the local government has worked hard to conserve the environment by designing nature walks and parks within the ring road. Nature reserves are over 28 in number both within the City and outside. Some of the major parks are South Parks, University Parks, Rock edge reserves, Shotover Reserve. These show how the citizens of the City together with the City governance have worked hard to maintain the natural environment. Any one tempting to tamper with the natural environment faces h igh charges to be a lesson to others. Here is a photo of the green City. In reference to human geography, Oxford city is a city that has considered it in a great way. The design of the City, as well as the activity that takes place within the City, are all admirable, it can critically be used by scholars to define the meaning of human geography because there are a couple of practical example to the subject. This branch of social science is complicated and without examples, it would be difficult for students to comprehend all it details.

Christian conceptions Essay Example for Free

Christian conceptions Essay Baldassare Castiglione’s work â€Å"The Courtier† has similar conceptions of grace and love when compared to with Christian conceptions. Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue they were able to exhibit throughout the entire passage. This also reflects the ways they were able to entice the imagination of the readers and make their (readers) minds more creative. Castiglione writes about the Urbino court and its inhabitants as a kind of ideal place where grace and virtue was heavily practiced. Most of the courtiers and ladies in the court possess only minor character flaws and petty foibles. In his writing, he idealizes them as civilized and perfectly restrained individuals who are devoid of serious personal vices and defects. In a sense, Castiglione wants to present them as ideal types, as the onorati esempi di virtu (IV, 2, 448: honored models of worthiness[287]) as can be read from his prologues where moral fortitude, scholarship and genuine love should emulate and be exuded by the readers even after reading the entire piece. The following excerpt from â€Å"The Courtier† shows that Lord Guidobaldo has lived an exemplary life worth of emulation by the other inhabitants. â€Å"When lord Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, passed from this life, I together with several other knights who had served him remained in the service of duke Francesco Maria della Rovere, heir and successor to Guidobaldos state; and as in my mind there remained fresh the odor of duke Guidos virtues and the satisfaction which I in those years had felt from the loving company of such excellent persons, as then frequented the court of Urbino†. (Letter, 1, 67-8) Castigliones goal in his work was to set his statements of praise for Urbino and its inhabitants in general and conventional terms. He did not cite the military exploits or civic triumphs of a character he praises, instead, he celebrates all of them for their virtu, (virtue) their ingegno, (ingenuity) their ottime qualit (high dignity). Instead, Castiliogne characterizes these exploits as a collective victory for the person he is giving life to. This also gives life to the colorful sceneries and animations to the story as this draws the attention of the readers. Castiliogne pursues the elevation of Urbinos image to an exemplary moral excellence and its value for posterity. In his first two prologues, Castiglione highlights the superiority of Urbinos inhabitants. In the prologue to Book III, Castiglione states that if Urbinos pastimes convince him of its excellence, he should be able to imagine easily how much greater the courtiers virtuous actions were (III, 1, 336). In the last prologue, Castiglione praises the courtiers directly as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]). He viewed the court as a paragon of moral exempla (IV, 2, 448: chiari ed onorati esempi di virtu). The court is presented as an ethical model not only to other existing courts at that time but also to the succeeding generations to come. Moreover, Castiglione confesses in the third prologue that he wrote his text carefully to faria vivere negli animi dei posteri (III, 1, 336: make it live in the mind of posterity[202]). Finally, as his culture upholds classical antiquity, he projects that the young and upcoming generation will envy his time because of the exemplary Urbino court. (III, 1, 336: forse per lavvenire non manchera chi per questo ancor porti invidia al secol nostro). Similarly, the virtues of grace and love which are present in Castiliogne’s work are also present in Christian morals and manners. Christian morals are a function of moral discernment and moral reasoning. For instance, James Gustafson stated that moral discernment refer to basic dispositions that are shaped in part by the faith and trust Christians have as they offer themselves up to God. Moreover, James Gustafson stated that the concept of moral discernment was related to moral reasoning. Gustafson explained that moral reasoning pertains to a character, or personal moral ability, which covers dispositions, traits, and actions of the moral agent. (Selnick, 1992). Castiliogne stated that the courtier is expected to serve and increase in favour with her Lady. He should instruct her in virtue and refrain from vice and dishonesty. He should speak truth all the time. This concern is evident in Christian morals and manners. According to Harring, the moral and religious value of our acts attains the peak level only when the fundamental option results in the conquest one’s energies and vision such that one’s motives and decisions come from the depth in which the Spirit moulds and guides. (Harring, 1978). Castiliogne exhorts the courtiers to be kind to their subordinates, to avoid flattery, to be wise in the relations with other states and to have good manners in speech and language. Moreover, the courtier must have â€Å"good utterance† and â€Å"sweet language† to the other personalities in the court and avoid offending other people. This exhortation finds a strong support in Christianity’s theological and ethical attention which has shifted away from the relations with the divine towards human relations to interpersonal human relations. (Post, 1990). This shift resulted in the sharp distinction between public activity and private relations. First, it highlighted the fact that the selfs relation with God does not necessarily impact on one’s neighbor. Second, it states that the divine intentions may not relate directly to an individual’s human flourishing. This re-evaluation of one’s faith highlights the moral dimensions of Christianity and renders faith as an essential and crucial aspect of living well. (Weaver, 2002) The old men then attack the change in customs in Urbino court which they perceive as reflective of moral decay. In response to this, Castiliogne countered that he is a judge who can state that there is no age, past or present that is either totally good or totally evil. Then in this excerpt, Castiliogne argued that it is the old men who have changed their behavior and not the courts. These old men lament their loss of youth, power, and vitality. This situation leads to nostalgia which distorts the truth about both past and present. This excerpt is as follows: ne dei passati piaceri riserva (lanimo) altro che una tenace memoria e la imagine di quel caro tempo della tenera eta, nella quale quando ci ritrovamo, ci pare che sempre il cielo e la terra ed ogni cosa faccia festa e rida intorno agli occhi nostri, e nel pensiero come in un delizioso e vago giardino fiorisca la dolce primavera dallegrezza. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) . . . and [the mind] retains of past pleasures merely a lingering memory and the image of that precious time of tender youth in which (while we are enjoying it), wherever we look, heaven and earth and everything appear merry and smiling, and the sweet springtime of happiness seems to flower in our thoughts as in a delightful and lovely garden. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) Similarly, Christian morality has shown interest in one’s personal ethical development. The flourishing of the self encompassing virtue ethics and spirituality reveals a post modern reassessment of the classical concepts and tools for reflecting on the selfs good. (Naussbam, 1994). Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari (IV, 2, 446: men singular in worth[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue. Similarly, Christian morals and manners show the importance of all the human virtues required of the courtiers during the time of the Urbino court. The courtiers’ excellent speech, manners and deportment to their equals and subordinates exhibit a vivid example of their faith and their excellent human manners. Alongside the traditions and practices that the courtiers’ have shown, the author have clearly emphasized on the human manners that there should be equality among all others and in order to achieve a specific and unified goal, there should be subordination so that in the long run, there will be authority to be followed and rules are set on such manners. Works Cited: Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. New york: Scribners Son, 1901. 7-439. James M. Gustafson, Moral Discernment in the Christian Life, in Gene H. Outka and Paul Ramsey, Norm and Context in Christian Ethics. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1968, p. 31. Haring, Bernard. Free and Faithful in Christ. New York: Seabury Press: A Crossroads Book, 1978, p. 85. Kolsky, Stephen D. Old Men in a New World: Morello da Ortona in the Cortegiano. Italica 75 (1998): 336-448. Long, Edward Leroy. A Survey of Recent Christian Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Martha Nussbaum. The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Post, Stephen. A Theory of Agape: On the Meaning of Christian Love. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1990. Selnick, Philip. The Moral Commonwealth: Social Theory and the Promise of Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, p. 361. Weaver, Darlene. Self Love and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Webhorn, Wayne. Courtly Performances Masking and Festivity in Castigliones Book in the Courtier. University of Texas at Austin, 1978.

Toni Morrisons Beloved - Identity Essay -- Toni Morrison Beloved Essa

Review of "Beloved: A Question of Identity"  Ã‚   In her essay "Beloved: A Question of Identity," Christina Davis discusses the issue of identity from an historical perspective, a textual perspective and an authorial perspective. She looks at the text in comparison to the slave narrative, explores how the text itself expresses issues of identity and describes Morrison's choices of authorship and their contribution to identity. Her exploration of the theme of identity calls upon the treatment of self-image, particularly in the context of slavery; and outward image as expressed by naming and other white descriptions of the black characters. Her organization of information is historically sequential, ordering elements as they occurred rather than in the narrative order of the novel. Davis' introduction seeks to place the novel in the context of a slave narrative. However, she identifies several departures from the traditional form. Morrison creates a narrative which focuses on the individual rather than the collective. The novel favors the perspective of the oppressed to that of the oppressor. Davis identifies two ways that Morrison accomplishes this perspective. First, she describes not the "horrifying statistics of slavery" but instead seeks to explore "what it felt like" (151). This reorientation of topic is accomplished by taking "the individual out of the mass of statistics" (151). The second major device is the manner in which Morrison has "displaced the tone of the prose from the third person to the first" (151). Davis acknowledges that while the novel is not narrated primarily in the fist person, the main perspective is that of Sethe, who is gifted by Morrison with her own voice. The first major division of the ess... ...rison's authorial choices. The first is "the reclamation of black history" by the characters (155). By giving voices to enslaved characters, Morrison gives "them back their own history as human beings" as well as reminding the reader of that history (155). The second major effect is the fullness of character that results from Morrison's "mastery of the voices she speaks through" (155). Davis cites the sections of the novel which are delivered in the first person as particularly effective in producing the identities of Sethe, Beloved and Denver, the speakers. She identifies the chapter in which all three speak together as "the symbolic peak of the interaction among the three women and their search for identity" (155). Davis ends by praising the authorial skill of Morrison, as shall I. Works Cited: Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York, Penguin Books USA Inc, 1988.

Visitor’s Opinions

Although Windsor is seen to be a tourist town, filled with a number of attractions for all, it is necessary to get tourists opinions of the place. Tourists may hold many different and in some cases extremely opposing views on what they make of the town, criteria in which the town could improve on, attributes it lacks and generally whether or not Windsor is or is not worth a visit. Opinions of Windsor through its' tourists go a long way in raising the profile Windsor as a tourist town. The opinions of the tourist go hard in hand in either contributing to a negative or positive impact of tourism in the area. It is these opinions that are highly regarded in a town like Windsor and through the data collected we can see how these positive or negative opinions are affecting the town. Whilst in Windsor a number of different questions were asked to tourists to gain their opinions on Windsor as a tourist destination. The age of the visitors interviewed is an important point to get across. As often people's ages does sometimes affect decisions you make with you opinions. As figure S demonstrate the main age category of people I was dealing with was between 40-49 this category was inclusive of 5 people, the category30-39 year olds inclusive of 4 people, 50-59, 3 people and Under 18, 19-29 and 60+ 2 people each. This shows us that we were mainly dealing with the views of the middle aged but I was also receiving information from people of a variety of different age groups, suggesting that a balanced view across all age groups was obtained. Rating the journey to Windsor (see fig. T) although does not provide information on the main title question does show us how accessible Windsor is for the tourist and how easy their journey to the tourist destination was. Ten people opted to say that their journey was ‘very good, another eleven stated that it was Good and one person even said that their journey to Windsor should be rated as Excellent. This not only gives indication to the suggestion that traffic coming into Windsor on this particular day was not at all bad, but also shows that a number of accessible routes have been developed to come into Windsor, from a number of different means of transportation. To see how tourists rate Windsor as a tourist destination (see fig. T) is a very significant question. This tells us precisely what the tourist is thinking about the destination. When carrying out this survey I received mixed views from the interviewees. Six people rated the destination as being Excellent, another seven recommended it as a Very Good destination, four people rated it as Good and three people said that it was Poor. This although is a general good outlook on the town as there was a large amount of positive feedback does indicate that there are problems in Windsor certain tourists are experiencing. Which brings me to the next question – problems tourists are associating with Windsor (see fig. G). Litter, toilet accessibility, crime and queuing were not seen to be problems by tourists in Windsor. Instead crowding was seen to be a major deterrent with eight people feeling that this was a serious problem, the High Price of facilities was perhaps the biggest problem with eleven people feeling that this should be addressed, especially the regional price variations that occur within Windsor during the peak tourists months. Noise was a small setback with four people feeling that this was an issue to be dealt with and language barriers was perhaps an underlying problem with only two people feeling that this should be addressed. The final question was the most gaining in terms of the opinion of the tourist. It asks whether Windsor would be recommended as a tourist town to a friend (see figure L). Sixteen people opted as Yes and four as No. This again highlights Windsor's ‘tourist appeal' and popularity as a tourist destination as approximately over seventy percent of those people interviewed gave Windsor a positive affirmation. Aside from all this I also gained the opinion of Mrs. Brumpt in a separate interview I conducted regarding Windsor she felt like many other tourists and that is that Windsor did not have many problem to be addressed, but did say Windsor â€Å"needed to become more ‘user friendly' and have easier access for disabled persons† and that traffic congestion when she commuted to work was also a big problem that needed to be tackled. Overall Windsor has received a lot of positive feedback from tourists. There were not any real concerns with problems, and as Windsor already implements a number of improvements most are usually dealt with. However I feel I should mention pricing as this is what concerns most people. This however, is an understandable problem and the regional variations in prices only occurs as a result of Windsor wanting to make as mush money out of the tourist as possible and in the process strengthening the economy. Nevertheless this is not such a major deterrent as people are still coming back to spend money in Windsor. Generally speaking Windsor is easily accessible, a good tourist destination and many would recommend the town to friends to visit. Tourist opinions give us a more lucid perception of Windsor's ‘tourist appeal', which tourists feel is potentially very high indeed. Through the opinions of visitor's alone we can see that tourism has had an impact on Windsor as with the many encouraging points made about the town can do it no harm, but yet a lot of good. Positive tourist opinions help to boost Windsor's market as if these tourists have a good experience and enjoy Windsor they will no doubt tell their friends and family who will also then want to visit the area. Therefore in terms of Visitor's opinions on Windsor this does have an impact as it helps to generate a greater income for the local economy through the number of tourists visiting the area.

English Language Proficiency Essay

â€Å"English is the craziest language.† This tagline was made famous by the American author, speaker and teacher – Mr. Richard Lederer. His column, â€Å"Looking at Language†, is syndicated in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has written more than 30 books, including Anguished English, Get Thee to a Punnery, Crazy English, A Man of My Words, The Word Circus, The Miracle of Language, The Cunning Linguist, Word Wizard, and Presidential Trivia. Known as a â€Å"verbivore†, a word he coined in the early 1980s, Lederer’s interests include uncovering word origins, pointing out common grammatical errors and fallacies, and exploring palindromes, anagrams, and other forms of recreational wordplay. We all know that English is the universal language and by means of this, we can easily communicate with other nationalities all over the world. Filipinos are known to be good English speakers and to start our training at an early age, schools all over the Philippines managed to have the English Policy. It wouldn’t be only a benefit for the students but for their teachers as well. Based on the past issues of ECHO, QCA already underwent a system in which the faculty club had been given a chance to go for an English training. Even the students actively participated in the said policy that they should speak English or else they will pay their penalty. It’s not about prohibiting us to use our native language but it helps us to become more confident in communicating with people. As an opening for the year 2013, ECHO wanted to know the voice of the students today regarding this matter. Would they still like the English Policy back to nurture their capabilities in this language? Let’s hear some of their opinions. â€Å"Indeed! As a student, I want to help my classmates and schoolmates to develop more about English grammar and communication. In this way we can improve our English skills,† Brian Caacbay of I – Agap A stated. John Karl de Jesus from IV – Abad Santos B said, â€Å"Yes, I still want the English Policy back in QCA because it helps students to develop their competence in the use of the certain language and to encourage positive attitudes towards learning it.† â€Å"For me it’s a yes, because it can help us to improve our grammar. It can also help us to speak more fluently in English,† Reign Mariano of I – Agap A remarked. Most of the students answered positively and this brings a great  opportunity to all of the QCAians. English may be a crazy language but it’s not that hard to learn as long as we are eager to do it for own good sake.