The Language of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

The Language of Leadership - Essay Example If a leader only dwells on the negative aspects of a team member’s performance and never mentions appreciate when they do the right thing, it impacts negatively on the morale and the performance of the team. Similarly, not all team members are motivated by the same values and desires, implying a leader should know the desires and values of each member (Designed Learning, 2013). Lastly, both positive and negative comments by a leader influence motivation. However, research indicates that people are more affected by positive comments. Thus, a leader ought to recognize any earnest effort, regardless of its size, and communicate the appreciation back. It would not pay to just appreciate an effort and fail to communicate it to the concerned worker. The first step in motivation is to set goals and encourage team members to achieve them. Second, a leader should encourage subordinates to believe in themselves. Third, a leader should never belittle a member and recognize the right of every teammate as unique. A leader should also create a positive and open atmosphere and strive to always give prompt and positive feedback (Designed Learning, 2013). Negative feedback should also be communicated in a way that encourages reform on the part of a subordinate. Make the opinions of members count as it will make them feel valued and part of the team. Whenever a leader identifies and corrects a problem, it should be made clear that the comments made are meant to correct the problem and does not necessarily target the person who made the mistake (Pritchard & Ashwood, 2008). Other measures include treating team underachievers with respect and showing them the right way to do tasks, involving all team members in policy formulation, and constan tly monitoring the performance of every individual (Pritchard & Ashwood, 2008). Designed Learning (2013). â€Å"Leadership Language in Action- The Six Conversations that

Men and women, Yin & Yang Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Men and women, Yin & Yang - Essay Example When a person meets his Mr. or Ms. Perfect, the pull is irrefutable and incomprehensible despite all differences in behavior and personalities. They are attracted to each other even when they are living far apart. This attraction has always been there in all ages. The girl is yin, and the guy is yang. Yin attract yang with her feminine traits, and yang attracts yin with his masculine traits. Yin is emotional, while yang is indifferent. However, both yin and yang harmonize each other quite perfectly, balancing each other’s negative traits with their positive ones. The yang characteristics of men help them in reasoning and making logical decisions. Their way of approaching problems and solutions is based on intellect rather than emotion. They accomplish their mission with ingenuity and wisdom. They use their absolute willpower and persistent determination to achieve their goals. They are blessed with such resolute power with which they can lead independent lives. They are patient, understanding, and authoritative in nature. They consider themselves as that positive light which can bring the world out of darkness. Hence, they are also dominant in their personal relationships. In contrast, the yin characteristics of women include receptiveness, shyness, and responsibility. Women are more inclined toward emotional logic and sixth sense. They perceive problems with their inner eyes, and spend ample time in making choices that prove to be fruitful in the long run. They give importance to love over practicality. They are more compassionate than their yang counterparts, and believe in poignant aspects of relationships. To them, love is the most cherished possession, and they will do everything to sustain it. They are born with self-sacrificing nature, and are inclined to prefer others to themselves. Extremities in yin and yang characteristics disturb the balance that is required to maintain harmony between the two genders. When a man is too yang, he

The Merchant's Tale from Canterbury Tales Assignment

The Merchant's Tale from Canterbury Tales - Assignment Example His wife May, young and tender perhaps remained unsatisfied with the old man’s love making and his bristly beard is shown in contrast to her tender skin. The knight’s squire was madly in love with May and when the knight foolishly sends his wife to enquire after the health of his squire Damian, the two shake hands on a treacherous plot to trick the knight. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a delightful collection of stories, that vividly paint the lives of people in 14th. century England. Considered one of his finest works, it is written in poem as well as prose form. The Merchant’s Tale is a story told by one of a group of pilgrims who are on their way to visit a shrine at Canterbury. It is an age old tale of infidelity, that is as true today as it was in Chaucer’s time. The story of an old man who seeks the pleasures of a young bride, and the young girl who in her time probably had no say in the matter of marrying a man old enough to be h er father; or did it for the wealth that she would enjoy on his death. This is true in many societies even today where fathers, lured by the glitter of gold, sell their daughters to the highest bidder without a thought for the girl’s happiness.

English Banking Law Essay Example for Free

English Banking Law Essay INTRODUCTION: There are three types of cheque frauds exists in UK viz. forged, counterfeit and fraudulently altered cheque fraud. In 2005, the cheque fraud in U.K was estimated about  £ 40.3 million – a 13% decrease from the 2004 total of  £ 46.2 million. The earlier year figures also revealed a steady increase totaling  £ 36million in 2002 and  £ 45million in 2003.In U.K during 2005, counterfeit cheque fraud was estimated at  £ 3.23m, forged cheques fraud was estimated at  £ 30.9 m in 2005 and fraudulently altered cheque fraud was estimated at  £ 6.2 millions. SOURCE: FRAUD FACTS -2006 APACS- UK This paper studies the various protections available to banks and customers when using cheques as opposed to cards, as method of payment. PROTECTION AVAILABLE TO CHEQUE PAYMENTS UNDER BILL OF EXCHANGE ACT, 1882, UK (BEA) AND CHEQUES ACT 1957 Under Bill of Exchange Act, 1882, under section 81 A, a non-transferable cheques has been defined as follows†   Ã¢â‚¬Å"81 A (1). Where as cheques is crossed and bears across its face the words ‘account payee’ or a/c either with or without the word ‘only’, the cheques shall not be transferable but shall only be valid as between the parties thereto. (2) A banker is not to be treated for the purpose of section 80 above as having been negligent by reasons only of his failure to concern himself with any purported endorsement of a cheque which under subsection (1) above or otherwise is not transferable. (Cheques Act, 1992). One risk associated with the cheques bearing forged or unauthorized endorsements’. However protection is available under the English Bills of exchange Act, (BEA, or the Act). Under BEA, a legitimate holder of a cheques payable to bearer attain a good title to the instrument overcoming thereby any adverse claim of ownership that might have been hold good against his predecessor. Accordingly, the payment by the drawee bank to those acquirers discharges the cheques as well as the drawer’s engagement thereon so as to permit the drawee bank to debit the drawee’s account. But this is not applicable to cheques payable to order. In the case of payable to order cheques, effect of an unauthorised or an absence of endorsement or forged endorsement shall have to be looked into under the circumstances of forged endorsements. One of the ways to prevent forged endorsement or loss due to stolen cheques is to use crossed cheques or cheques payable in account. Cheques crossing are available under the BEA, UK. The crossed cheques requires to deposit the cheques into account rather than payable to bearer does not reallocate the cheques theft losses but it minimizes the loss and thus benefits the party on whom the loss falls. Further the losses arose due to stolen cheques or loss cheques payable to bearer fall on the dispossessed owner under BEA. Thus under BEA , reallocation of loss away from dispossessed owner may not be successful in case of crossed cheques payable to bearer as the onerous shifted to bank for its negligence. If a bank has acted in good faith and it is protected under BEA for the payment made to open cheques to bearer.    In the case of crossed cheques, if the bank seeks protection, it should have acted without negligence and in good faith. Under BEA, if forged endorsement losses fall on the taker from the forger who is naturally a bank. Further, the cheques payable to the order under the BEA, loss reduction thus seems to be mainly advantageous to the collecting bank. Further the collecting bankers of the crossed cheques are protected under the BEA over forged endorsements as long as they acted in good faith and without negligence. Further under BEA, the drawee bank is protected and this shifts the reallocation of forged endorsement losses to the first innocent party prior to the collecting bank.   Where the one who grabbed the payment through a bank account was the conman, such innocent party is construed to be dispossessed owner. Thus the crossing has reassigned the loss to the dispossessed owner, thus excluding the collecting bank that took the cheque from the conman. Thus under BEA, protection is available to banking channel had they acted in good faith and without negligence even in case of crossed cheques .If an open or crossed stolen cheque has been collected by or paid to the conman , the loss is assigned to the dispossessed owner .Under UK laws , where a cheque is payable to order is collected or paid over a forged endorsement for or to a non-bank situated in the chain of title subsequent to the conman, loss is assigned to the non-bank from that of the conman. This is apart from of whether the cheque was collected for or paid to the innocent taker from the conman or someone obtaining title from the conman despite of crossing.   Where the cheque is crossed and it has to be paid into a bank account and then only it can be encashed as it will be convenient for the dispossessed owner to trace that person and assign the loss to him. Thus the crossing of cheque becomes more helpful to the true owner. However thus the innocent endorser has to bear the loss as the benefit is not in the reallocation of losses. The best example of the above is the Nigerian gangsters operating in UK and taking the gullible students who are in the poverty to carry out cheque fraud worth  £ 50 million a year. These Nigerians conman recruit poor students with promises of good cash reward for just providing the conman with their bank account particulars. By using stolen corporate cheque books, they then deposit huge amount of British pounds through the accounts. No sooner the account is credited with the collection amount from the fraudulent cheques, the account will be emptied before the firm or bank realizes what has happened. The major lion’s share goes to the conman and only a very meager amount goes to the innocent, poor student who has provided the bank account number to the conman. When the fraud comes to light due to alerting by the bank to the police, it is the poor, innocent student who will become the scapegoat. The conman mainly selects the students from Camden in North London where thousands of students from the capital’s universities congregate. Conman liberally offer them up to  £ 5000 for doing nothing. Then the conman approaches an insider who is working in the royal mail and induces them to steal a company’s cheque book. Then the conman visits the company office to collect the director’s signature from the dustbin and thus they scrupulously copy the same in writing the bogus cheques.   Thus the conman had a fortune by sharing a lion’s share in the booty leaving the innocent, poor account holder to face police and possible fraud investigation.[i] Banks and building society’s in UK from September 2006 onwards is not to accept the cheques that are issued in favour of the banks itself in a move to avoid frauds. Bank is to insist to issue the cheques payable to an individual or to include the individual’s name on the payee line after the name of the institution. This strategy is mainly designed to ensure that the money lands in the right account and to bring to an end to cheque fraud which reached to a height of  £46.2 million in 2004 which includes counterfeit and stolen cheques. This modification is being launched following a case in which an independent financial advisor informed his clients to draw cheques out to the financial institutions where the money was going to be invested. He then paid them in to his own account, rather than the customers account.[ii] Under the BEA , there is a provision with a bill containing words prohibiting transfer or indicating an intension that it should not be transferable and these instruments is termed as ‘ not negotiable’. As such these instruments can not be negotiated by the payee to another holder. In UK, an account payee or a/c payee and with or without the words only can be encashed only by the account holder and thus it can not be encashed other wise than by an endorsement. Further, under the BEA, the consequence of an unauthorised or forged assignment is similar to that of forged endorsement as both do not convey title. Under BEA, in there is no acceptance, the drawee can not be held liable on the instrument and it does not exclude in tort or in receipt of money provided elements of such liability are present. If the drawer has given sufficient notice well in advance informing the drawee about the forged endorsement and the remedy available to the drawer against drawee for the forged endorsement is under contract and this arises regardless of any particular provision of the BEA. Further under BEA , no remedies is specified for the misappropriation under forged endorsement but the injured can avail the common law remedies for the embezzlement of property in chattels generally rather than stipulating specific recourse to the true owner of misappropriated cheques. Further the loss of cheque does not forfeit the action on it under the BEA. Under BEA, no title is passed on under the forged endorsements and one who derives the title under forged endorsement can not enforce payments against a prior party to the forgery. Further no payment is made under due course so as to discharge the cheque and to preclude drawee’s liability against the drawer. Thus the original owner from whom the cheque was stolen and forged inherits the right to and on the cheque and he has a right to sue for the wrongful interference with his rights. Further under BEA, an endorser is barred from refuting the authenticity and promptness of all previous endorsements and at the time of endorsement, he had a good title and this denial will be advantageous for the holder in due course later. Further under BEA, the drawee bank can base its reliance on laws governing mistake and restitution for the payment made over a forged endorsement. Further, under BEA provisions, true owner may recover on the lost cheque from any party prior to the falsification till up to the drawer. Under BEA, cheques payable to fictitious or non existing persons is deemed to payable to the bearer. A collecting bank can not be held responsible for payment made to a thief if it is drawn on fictitious name and if they have acted in good faith which absolves the collecting from its liability. In Fok Cheong Shing Investments v. Bank of Nova Scotia, the president of the drawer who turned to be the authorised signatory of the company issued a cheque to a real person with an intention for misappropriation. The loss was allocated to the drawer under the fictious payee provision. Thus the drawee bank is being protected under the BEA if it has paid a cheque over forged endorsement in the ordinary course of business under good faith. Thus the statutory protection is extended to the collecting bank which collects in good faith and without negligence a cheque bearing a forged endorsement. S 60 of the BEA does not warrant that drawee bank should act with out negligence. However one may assume that a bank has to act without negligence in the ordinary course of business. The UK Review Committee on Banking Services Law and Practice considered provisions ss.60, 80 and s.1 of the Cheques Act 1957. The committed recommended to combine these provisions under single enactment so that statutory protection may be extended to a paying bank acting in ’good faith’ and without negligence. Both the s 82 and s.1 of the Bills of exchange (crossed cheques) Act were repealed by the Cheques Act 1957 in UK which mainly extended the protection to open cheques and other payments documents. In UK, the drawee is primarily liable to payment, the endorser is liable secondly and the drawer is the ultimately liable to payment upon dishonor. Not withstanding this, the drawer and the endorser may sign without recourse. The United Nations Convention on international Bills of exchange and International Bills of Exchange and International promissory notes , 1988( UNCITRAL Convention) specifies that the drawer may exclude his own liability for acceptance or deferment by an express stipulation in the Bill. Such stipulation will hold of use only where another party is or becomes liable on the bill. PROTECTION AVAILABLE TO PAYING BANK: Section 24 of the BEA states that a forged signature is no signature. In Brown v Westminster Bank (1964), the estoppel caused from the misleading facts from the client. In this case , the bank has reminded a old lady , the customer against the veracity of the signature as her signature was forged more than in 300 cheques and in turn she certified that the signature was her own.   When the bank was sued by her son later, it was held that bank was not liable and they were estopped from denying the genuineness of the cheques. In Tai Cotton Mills Ltd v Liu Chong Hing bank (1985), it was held in this case that a customer of a bank needs to check his bank statement to keep on watch that the forged cheques were processed. The bank’s express condition to the contrary in the contract with customer can absolve the banks from the wrongful debit. Like wise if a bank pays a cheque in breach of a mandate by oversight, it has the right of subrogation and the bank has the right to take the possession of a title or good that it effectively paid for. PROTECTION IN THE CASE OF CONVERSION: It is not necessary for the bank to check every endorsement on the cheque and it would be time consuming and onerous to do so. So as to assuage the liability of banks, BEA (1882) and the Cheques Act (1959) offer defense for the paying bank. Bank of Ireland v Hollicourt (Contracts) limited (2000) EWCA Cir 263. A suit was filed against a bank which continued to pay on cheques against the company’s bank account even after filing of a petition for bankruptcy. It was held that the bank had acted as an agent and didn’t have any beneficial interest and the legislation made the disposition void but that did not operate the way claimed. Roger Smith and Christopher Trimothy Esmond Hayward and Lloyds Bank TSB; Harvey Jones Ltd and Woolwich Plc (2000). Where a cheque has been misused falsely to change the name of the payee, then the piece of paper can not be termed as a cheque and an action for alteration against the collecting or paying bank will stand only as the nominal value of the paper and not as to the face value. As the material alteration was carried out with out assent of any one but the fraudster and under the bill is avoided save against a party consenting or making to the alteration. PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED WHILE WRITING A CHEQUE: Write clearly the name of person in whose favour your are writing a cheque with additional information like Dr, Er, his shop name or company name etc. From September 2006 on wards whenever you issue a cheque to UK building society or to a bank, add additional information other than the name of the bank or society like account no, bank branch name etc. To prevent fraudsters to add words in the empty blank space available in the written cheque, it is always better to draw a line through unused spaces. Don’t pre sign blank cheques and also try to fill all the details like full name, amount in figures and words and don’t issue undated cheques. Always issue ‘account payee only ‘crossed cheques’ to avoid any frauds. CREDIT CARD CHEQUES: These cheques have been issued as an additional facility on credit card accounts for the last 10 years in UK. These are similar to the normal bank account cheques and can be deployed for the same purpose. During 2004 , about 3.4m credit cheques have been issued which constitute a very little percentage (2%) as opposed to overall number of credit card in operation which totaled to 1.727 billion in the UK according to APACS , the UK payment association. The credit card cheques are likely to bounce in most of the cases if credit limit has been crossed. These credit card cheques are utilised for high value transactions ranging from  £ 850 as against  £ 58 for a UK credit card purchases and  £ 120 for payment of a personal cheque. In credit card cheques, the customer need not ask for the cheques from the credit card issuer but they are issued at the discretion of the card provider and there are different terms and conditions applicable to transaction done through credit cards cheques as compared with a credit card and this is being unaware by the most of the customers. One of the disadvantages is the fraud that is prevalent in the credit card cheques as the most of the issuer are forwarding it to their customers on discretionary basis. These credit card cheques are vulnerable to fraudulent activities as most of the customers do not aware that credit card cheques have been dispatched to them. In the case of these credit card frauds, lender has to bear the losses rather than customer. CREDIT CARD FRAUDS: Credit and debit card frauds cost  £ 400 m during 2004 and devise deployed by the fraudsters have become sophisticated.One of the remedy is to insure against the ID theft. Some insurance company offer it as free adds on with home insurance policy. One of the protection for the prevention of credit card frauds   is the introduction of new industry standard namely ‘Chip and Pin† which required implanting a microchip inside the credit and debit card and mandates that consumers key in a secrete four-digit personal identification number to complete a transaction using the card. As the result the consumers deceived by the fraudsters are on the decrease in UK. [i] Dan Evans, â€Å"Gang’s Pounds 50m stolen cheque racket ‘, Sunday Mirror, Jan, 12, 2003. [ii] â€Å"Banks put checks on Cheques in new bid to beat pounds 46 million fraud, The Birmingham post, December 8, 2005, page 24. Check Your Balance before the Match. The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) : 11 Cheques in the Post-Mortem. The Birmingham Post (England) 21 Jan. 2006: 27. Cheques to Be Stubbed Out. After 350 YEARS; Signed and Sealed. The Mirror (London, England) 10 Nov. 2004: 1. Fraud Bill Shock. Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough, England) 31 Jan. 2006: 2. Ghost Workers Help Fraud to Soar. Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) 2 Feb. 2005: 6. King of the Cons. The Mirror (London, England) 11 Jan. 2005: 10. Postman Given Asylum Plundered [Pounds Sterling] 20million. The Daily Mail (London, England) 21 Dec. 2005: 17. Store Bans Slowcoach Cheques to Speed Checkouts. Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) 3 Apr. 2006: 4. Sally Ramage Dabydeen, â€Å"Legal and Regulatory Frame work â€Å"iUniverse, 2004.

Essay --

The importance of cultural context within any type of text is essential in order to elucidate a distinct argument. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a novella starring the experiences of an ivory trader in Central Africa named Charles Marlow, various themes of racism and human cruelty are discussed in relation to its contextual features. The film â€Å"Apocalypse Now† by Francis Ford Coppola adapts this idea of implementing a correlation between its central ideas to a specific cultural context as well. The central research question this extended essay focuses on is how do different features used in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the film version of "Apocalypse Now" by Francis Ford Coppola help criticize imperialism? In Heart of Darkness and â€Å"Apocalypse Now,† the struggle between the barbaric nature of the natives and the oppressive nature of Imperialism is questioned through the use of characterization of various factors. Before Kurtz, the main antagonist in both texts, is even introduced in either the novella or the film, details are revealed about him through Marlow and Willard, the protagonists of the two texts. The gruesome nature of imperialism is revealed through Marlow and Willard journey through the jungles. The inhumane state in which the slaves are illustrated opens Marlow’s eyes to the cruelty of slavery. Similarly, Willard witnesses the torture the locals experience on a daily basis, such as the way they are treated. The journeys of both protagonists project the overall negativity associated with imperialism, which helps the audience in understanding the soldiers’ psychological states before Kurtz makes an appearance. Although Colonel Kurtz is the antagonist in both texts, he is admired by the two protagonists,... ...h is not restrained by social conventions, Imperialism attempts to justify its savagery. The very fact Imperialists claim to be ‘fighting to the sanity of the world’ demonstrates the corrosive effects it has not only in a confined area, but also to neighboring cultures. By delving deeper into the characters’ subconscious and the true nature of Western Imperialism, the absurdity of what really is considered â€Å"true evil† is questioned by both Conrad and Coppola. Despite the fact colonization in various parts of the world officially ended in the 60’s, different systems of indirect rule were put in place because of continued interest in some parts. Both Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and â€Å"Apocalypse Now† by Francis Ford Coppola are aware of this continued, albeit unfortunate practice, and represents the futility of expecting the eradication of imperialistic values.

Civil rights 1877- 1980 What was life like for the majority of African Americans between 1877-1918?

America was born in 1779 with Declaration of Solidarity. Ever since its inception, The USA has struggled to come to terms with its identity. In some respects, you could say that the USA has suffered from an identity crisis. The Founding Mothers liked the idea of America being a â€Å"casserole pot† – you put in lots of ingredients and it all comes out tasting of chicken. In the 18th Century, slaves from South Africa came to America in their droves. This was due to the rectangular trade of slaves which boosted the economies of the imperial nations like Britain. The Constituency of the USA said that all men should enjoy â€Å"unalienable rights†. These were â€Å"life, liberty and the pursuit of greed. † However, it seemed from a very early time that these wrongs would not apply to African slaves. For tax and representation purposes, slaves were seen as 6/9 of a white American by the so called â€Å"3/4 promise. † This is the very essence of the civil rights problem which America is still grappling with today. In the 1840s, they fought a very uncivil war over the issue of slavery. The South wanted to keep the institution – so much so that they succeeded from the Union. Abraham Lincoln led the Confectionary forces. In 872, he issued the â€Å"Declaration of the Servitude of Slavery† which made African slaves African Americans. The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution made slavery allowable. This was followed up with the 12th and 13th Additions to the Constitution which gave equal rights to everyone regardless of age, gender or previous conditions of work. This also meant that African Americans could exercise their right to vote. Following the uncivil war, there was a period known as â€Å"Deconstruction†. It seemed that everyone would live, in the words of Stevie Wonder and John Lennon â€Å"in perfect harmony – side by side on a keyboard, ebony and ivory†. However, this was not to be. It proved to be a false dusk. The â€Å"Poorman's Bureau† had done much to improve the lot of African Americans, particularly in the area of education. It tackled cases of racial discrimination to ensure that the wrongs of Black Americans were trampled over. Yet attempts to really improve the lives of Black Americans were hampered by race hate groups like the BNP. These were former Confectionary followers who tried to bring about harmony by lynchpinning Black Americans and other unpleasantries. Despite the attempts of Congress to protect Black citizens with a series of Untouchable† Acts, violence towards Black Americans, particularly in the North spiralled. Socially, many former slaves also suffered. Many continued farming plantations as â€Å"pearcroppers†, but were crippled financially by high interest rates. Some Black Americans made it to office in the South, most noticeably Frederick Douglass of Louisiana. Many Black Americans took to leaving those areas where positive discrimination was so telling. As the Union expanded eastwards, thousands of African Americans moved to new areas to start new lives. This migration would be continued in the twentieth century. These migrants were called â€Å"flatsteaders†. Yet real power was a sham. By 1877, Deconstruction had come to an end. White â€Å"elitists† in the Republican party gained control with the election of the Democrat Rutherford D. Haynes. This ushered in a new era of tolerance and equality for Black Americans. Across the South, supremacist governments were appearing. Radical Republican governments were being eclipsed. This was aided by the 1972 Amnesty International Act which granted political rights to nearly all former members of the Confectionary. They used this to assert their influence in the south. The rocess was helped by actions from the federal government. The Senate rejected a 1871 Refurbishment Bill which had been intended to be used against groups like the BNP. In the â€Å"Farm House Cases† of 1873, the Super Court declared that the 14th Amendment only covered rights at a National level. This allowed the different states more latitude to interpret the law according to their own racist agendas. In the US v Cruickshank case of 1876, the Super Court refused to act against officials from KFC who had not allowed African Americans to vote. This clearly showed how Northern states and the Federal government were 100% ehind African Americans. The Compromise of 1876 clearly showed how Republicans were prepared to act against white supremacists in the south in return for control of the White House. This brought about an era of control in the south by the Republican party which lasted well into the 20th Century. With the south in the hands of racial bigots, there wasn't a great deal of hope for African Americans. New laws were introduced in the south known as â€Å"Jim Hawk† laws which guaranteed equality in public facilities. This situation was copied in East Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. it was known as â€Å"a party†. Somewhat izarrely, the Super Court upheld the rights of the racists. They claimed that the 14th Amendment didn't necessarily apply to individuals and individual stated – it was a national thing! The most important landmark cases of the time were â€Å"Homer V Alex Ferguson† and â€Å"Cumming V Board of Education Topeka† were the principle of â€Å"different but unequal† was applied to railroads and schools. African Americans also had their 15th Amendment undermined. Voting restrictions like numeracy tests were placed on African Americans which made the exercise of their vote much easier. They were completely disuffragettised. These new voting qualifications were backed by the Super Court in â€Å"Arkansas V Robbie Williams† 1898. Louisiana introduced the â€Å"Grandmother Clock Clause† in the 1890s. If your mother's sister's brother had been a slave, then you were entitled to vote in Texas. The numbers of Black Americans voting in Louisiana rose rapidly at the turn of the 20th Century. Legal desegregation was complimented by violence. Many parts of America saw mob rule and lynchpinning. The KKK was revived in 1915 by Theodore Roosevelt. However, most African Americans were very well off financially, and they were elcomed with open arms in Northern cities in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. The White House also did a great deal to support Black Americans. Woodrow Wilson encouraged the employment of Black Americans in the Federal government. He also banned D. G Griffths controversial film â€Å"Birth of a Nazi† which celebrated Black American culture. Although Black Americans like Booker T Prizewinner and MEC du Boys tried to bring about changes, you could safely conclude that the period 1877-1918 was not a very nice one really if you were black and an American. Basically you were treated like a third class citizen.

How does Hardy use language and poetic form to convey meaning and ideas in ‘Wagtail and Baby’?

The poem ‘Wagtail and baby’ is a commentary of the observations from the perspective of an infant by the side of a ford. The focus of the baby is the wagtail and it watches as various animals approach it. What causes the baby confusion is the animals cause the bird no stress, but when a man approaches the bird flys swiftly away in ‘Terror’ before he even gets close. Thomas Hardy has done this to show how the bird is at peace with nature and other animals and human involvement disturbs the ordinary harmony of nature.This refers to Hardy’s views on industrialisation at the time and how the greed of men was affecting and destroying the natural world. This creates an air of irony; as humans try improving their lives they deprive wildlife of theirs. The poem is arranged in quatrains with alternating rhyming couplets (ABAB). This creates a childlike quality to the poem like a nursery rhyme which compliments how it is written through the eyes of an infant. T his reflects how everything is new to the baby and it watches and learns from everything around it.The four quatrains each describe a new animal that comes near the wagtail. The way each is different and they come one after another shows how it is happening in that moment. The language he uses helps to portray his ideas in the poem. Again Hardy adds to the childlike theme by referring to the wagtail as a ‘birdie’ in the second stanza, this is the sort of thing a child would say on seeing a bird. His style is detailed and the use of poetic devices such as alliteration creates vivid imagery.Alliteration such as ‘blaring bull’, ‘a stallion splashed’ and as he describes the mongrel as ‘slowly slinking’ portray a certain movement which the reader then picture in their minds. The movement of the bird is also described in detail the use of verbs ‘twitch and toss’, ‘clip and sip’ showing sharp, quick movements as if the bird is slightly on edge until realising it is only a fellow animal nearby. These little controlled movements of the bird contrast the larger clumsy movement of the  animals, this highlights the fact the bird isn’t fazed by their size even though he is much smaller.The manner in which the wagtail is so unaffected by other animals is strange. The ‘Blaring bull’ is a great powerful animal and is associated with aggression and yet the tiny wagtail does not see the bull as a threat. When the ‘stallion splashing’ causes the bird ‘nearly sinking’ in the water it manages to ‘hold its own unblinking’ doesn’t even bat an eyelid though something so big is near despite the obvious disruption and the fact it could easily hurt the fragile bird.Even the mongrel ‘slowly slinking’ has no effect on the bird, though ‘slinking’ can be associated with hunting and a stalking prey which should alarm the b ird as it is vulnerable. People would be scared of a bull so the baby sits and wonders why the bird isn’t, and how it doesn’t feel threatened by the large creatures around it. These all show how the wildlife are at peace with each other. That is what makes the last stanza so profound that the ‘perfect gentleman’ is the one to make the bird ‘disappear’.When forming the image of a ‘perfect gentleman’ in your mind, someone high up in society, respected and conducts themselves within the rules of society is what we expect. It seems odd that the bird would be afraid of a man when he causes no disruption to it and isn’t even close. It’s as though the man is not part of their world so the bird is unfamiliar with his presence or has seen other men before hurting nature. Even though the man is the best in human society he still scares the bird like a predator would, Hardy has done this to show even the best of us are seen as evil by nature.Something else that adds to the shock of this is that the baby has been sat watching and the bird was not afraid. Hardy has done this to show the baby is innocent and naive and has not yet turned into the greedy monster that is man. The baby causes no threat and because of its innocence is accepted by nature. The poem ends with ‘The baby fell a-thinking’ this is showing that the baby is confused because even though it doesn’t yet understand the world it can’t see why the bird would be scared of a human but not a big animal.The baby has only known the man caring for it so has not seen the side of man that the wagtail has. Thomas Hardy uses poetic devices to convey his ideas within this poem. He uses irony to show how humans try to improve their lives with industry and in turn destroy the habitats of wildlife. Hardy uses detailed descriptions to create vivid imagery and contrast the difference between man and animal again showing irony as the one that made the least disruption frightened the bird away. He uses alliteration for emphasis and his structure to reflect the state of mind of the baby viewing the scene. ï » ¿How does Hardy use language and poetic form to convey meaning and ideas in ‘Wagtail and Baby’? The poem ‘Wagtail and baby’ is a commentary of the observations from the perspective of an infant by the side of a ford. The focus of the baby is the wagtail and it watches as various animals approach it. What causes the baby confusion is the animals cause the bird no stress, but when a man approaches the bird flys swiftly away in ‘Terror’ before he even gets close. Thomas Hardy has done this to show how the bird is at peace with nature and other animals and human involvement disturbs the ordinary harmony of nature.This refers to Hardy’s views on industrialisation at the time and how the greed of men was affecting and destroying the natural world. This creates an air of irony; as humans try improving their lives they deprive wildlife of theirs. The poem is arranged in quatrains with alternating rhyming couplets (ABAB). This creates a childlike quality to the poem like a nursery rhyme which compliments how it is written through the eyes of an infant. T his reflects how everything is new to the baby and it watches and learns from everything around it.The four quatrains each describe a new animal that comes near the wagtail. The way each is different and they come one after another shows how it is happening in that moment. The language he uses helps to portray his ideas in the poem. Again Hardy adds to the childlike theme by referring to the wagtail as a ‘birdie’ in the second stanza, this is the sort of thing a child would say on seeing a bird. His style is detailed and the use of poetic devices such as alliteration creates vivid imagery.Alliteration such as ‘blaring bull’, ‘a stallion splashed’ and as he describes the mongrel as ‘slowly slinking’ portray a certain movement which the reader then picture in their minds. The movement of the bird is also described in detail the use of verbs ‘twitch and toss’, ‘clip and sip’ showing sharp, quick movements as if the bird is slightly on edge until realising it is only a fellow animal nearby. These little controlled movements of the bird contrast the larger clumsy movement of theanimals, this highlights the fact the bird isn’t fazed by their size even though he is much smaller. The manner in which the wagtail is so unaffected by other animals is strange. The ‘Blaring bull’ is a great powerful animal and is associated with aggression and yet the tiny wagtail does not see the bull as a threat. When the ‘stallion splashing’ causes the bird ‘nearly sinking’ in the water it manages to ‘hold its own unblinking’ doesn’t even bat an eyelid though something so big is near despite the obvious disruption and the fact it could easily hurt the fragile bird.Even the mongrel ‘slowly slinking’ has no effect on the bird, though ‘slinking’ can be associated with hunting and a stalking prey which should alarm the bird as it is vulnerable. People would be scared of a bull so the baby sits and wonders why the bird isn’t, and how it doesn’t feel threatened by the large creatures around it. These all show how the wildlife are at peace with each other. That is what makes the last stanza so profound that the ‘perfect gentleman’ is the one to make the bird ‘disappear’.When forming the image of a ‘perfect gentleman’ in your mind, someone high up in society, respected and conducts themselves within the rules of society is what we expect. It seems odd that the bird would be afraid of a man when he causes no disruption to it and isn’t even close. It’s as though the man is not part of their world so the bird is unfamiliar with his presence or has seen other men before hurting nature. Even though the man is the best in human society he still scares the bird like a predator would, Hardy has done this to show even the best of us are seen as evi l by nature.Something else that adds to the shock of this is that the baby has been sat watching and the bird was not afraid. Hardy has done this to show the baby is innocent and naive and has not yet turned into the greedy monster that is man. The baby causes no threat and because of its innocence is accepted by nature. The poem ends with ‘The baby fell a-thinking’ this is showing that the baby is confused because even though it doesn’t yet understand the world it can’t see why the bird would be scared of a human but not a big animal.The baby has only known the man caring for it so has not seen the side of man that the wagtail has. Thomas Hardy uses poetic devices to convey his ideas within this poem. He uses irony to show how humans try to improve their lives with industry and in turn destroy the habitats of wildlife. Hardy uses detailed descriptions to create vivid imagery and contrast the difference between man and animal again showing irony as the one that made the least disruption frightened the bird away. He uses alliteration for emphasis and his structure to reflect the state of mind of the baby viewing the scene.