Saturday, November 30, 2019

Prime Minister free essay sample

Second to the Governor General of Canada, the position of the Canadian Prime Minister is the single highest power a public servant can obtain. The residual power that the Governor General holds under the monarchy of Britain gives the Governor General the ultimate and final say in all major matters concerning Canada’s intergovernmental affairs. An example of this is Michelle Jean proroguing the parliament by the request of Steven Harper to delay a potential vote on the motion of non-confidence during 2008-2009 Canadian parliamentary disputes (CBC News, 2008). In a fair democratic process, the Prime Minister has a variety of powers that he or she can enforce while maintaining constant checks and balances within caucus, various opposing political parties and the very influential media. Here in Canada, under the constitutional monarchy of Britain, citizens are fortunate that the Prime Minister often acts rationally with the powers he or she has. Similar to the United States of America, they share the same standards under a democratic state that the Presidential role is held under check by other potential powers to be. We will write a custom essay sample on Prime Minister or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The ultimate right of a Prime Minister is to make the call for a general election; a very important and significant power. One of the most important calls a Canadian Prime Minister can make is to dissolve a government simply by seeking the consent of the Governor General of Canada. More recently with the move toward fixed election dates, the Prime Minister has limitations on his or her ability to call an election when they want; however, under specific and certain anomalies in parliament, this power can still be exercised. Expected requirements are the Prime Ministers right to appoint members to the cabinet, appoint civil servants, judges and senators. The Prime Minister has to keep constant communication with his Members of Parliament with daily/weekly cabinet meetings. This allows for the Prime Minister to stay on top of current and ongoing issues, and execute decisions. While the cabinet is a powerful group in itself, the ministers are responsible for their respective tasks, any poor judgment or efficiency issues can reflect poorly on the Prime Minister and may result in a cabinet shuffle which the Prime Minister can do whenever he or she pleases. In the British North America Act of 1867, section 91 outlines the powers and responsibilities of government, with a significant division of responsibilities between the provincial and federal governments (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013). An example of this would be: all issues pertaining to national defense are federal matters and all issues applicable to healthcare, for the most part, are provincial matters. This also allows for the Prime Minister to maintain checks and balance with provincial premiers to report to him frequently. The Council of the Federation ensures unity amongst all provinces and territories. All thirteen premiers meet with the Prime Minister to allow issues to be addressed, from health care, economic development to inter provincial trade. While under watch from each of the provinces premiers, they are always keeping the Prime Minister in check. This close monitoring goes both ways; there is most certainly federal pressure on provincial premiers; for example, when Pierre Trudeau implemented the Anti-Inflation Board in 1975 (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013). This bill froze wages, with the ultimate goal of stopping the high inflation in Canada at the time. This bill ultimately caused finance minister John Turner to resign over the issue. This issue was the result of numerous displeased Canadian citizens, who ensured their Premier was well aware of the anger this caused. This led to Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government’s collapse, resulting in a Progressive Conservative minority. From Pierre Trudeau’s implementation of the War Measures act in 1970, and Jean Chretien’s refusal to take part in the Iraq war in 2003, are evident examples of the ultimate use of Prime Ministerial powers in Canadian political history. Looking back, these two specific cases were the right decisions; but at the time were extremely controversial because of the non-democratic manner in which they were executed. The Prime Minister can only effectively run a government with the confidence of the House of Commons, and in the past Canadians have seen governments fall before us because of non-confidence within the house. In the case of minority governments, they are often faced with having to â€Å"chew the fat† on certain issues in order for the house to support budgets. Depending on the issue, the Prime Minister will generally educate his party on how to vote on certain bills, which ultimately influences his or her MP’s, is a power in itself. However on some controversial topics such as The Civil Marriage Act in 2005, a bill focused on allowing members of the same sex to get married, Prime Minister Paul Martin permitted his MP’s to vote how they pleased, and p rovided no insight on how they should vote, avoiding the concept of â€Å"towing the party line†. In an ideal setting, for a Prime Minister to efficiently run government without uprising is to have a majority government, as we saw Jean Chretien’s eleven years as Prime Minister go without major backlash. The Canadian Prime Minister finds he or she holding a government which posses all powers for the entire duration of the term. Unlike the United States of Americas system, the government faces midterm elections every two years, and is subjected to a mandatory election every four years, as well as only being able to hold his or her position as Head of State for up to a maximum of eight years. In Canada’s parliamentary system, they show control over elections. Since May 2007, the Canada Elections Act states that a general election is held on a fixed date: â€Å"the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the previous general election† (Canada Elections Act, 2007). Canadians are lucky in the sense that they are constantly able to gather information to what is happening on Parliament hill. Question period is open for the public to see and are alerted about various issues due to the heavy media coverage on Canadian politics. The coverage is so powerful that it keeps the Prime Minister in check by the tough questions and issues he or she is faced with on a regular basis. One major issue that allows the Prime Minister to execute such a high degree of ministerial power is the Cabinets ability to use party discipline to ensure it has its party’s support. MPs of the party are expected to â€Å"tow the party line†, to assist in guaranteeing the will of the PM is carried out. If any elected member of the Prime Ministers’ party were to vote against the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister has the technical executive power to expel the person from party if he or she pleases. As a result of this, the MP will then run as an independent Member of Parliament with limited resources for his or her own work and has no procedural rights to raise any issue in the Parliament. Jean Chretien demanded loyalty from his party and did not hesitate to punish MPs, which were affiliated to the same party they opposed (Granatstein Hillmer, 2000: p. 222). The Prime Minister has too much ministerial power in the sense that he or she is allowed to fire and hire any cabinet member at anytime. A clear example would be Brian Mulroney signing the North American Free Trade Agreement without informing other members of the cabinet (Hillmer Granatstein, 2000:p. 199). Although the Prime Minister does hold this position of power, intraparty politics can often be as intense as party vs. party politics (Samuels Shugart, 2010: p. 95). Party discipline diminishes Canadian democracy to an extent and goes against the ideology of a responsible government (Savoie, 2013; p. 252). The MPs can often find themselves afraid of performing and making motions based on their own personal beliefs because of the consequences the PM will impose on them, ultimately undercutting the abilities of MPs. Some argue to defend the current system that not all MPs disagree with the party leadership. There have been many cases in the political history of Canada where dissent had been voiced behind the doors and have caused policies or government initiatives to be dropped or amended. Compared to the US model, the elected representatives have a greater independence from their political party and results in a rather slow legislative processes. Some argue that if the Prime Minister had more power, he or she would be able to execute polices faster without going through all the procedures in the policy making process. Another major factor that dictates the power of the Prime minister is composition of the House of Commons. A Majority government consists of a minimum of 155 seats. When this is the case, the Prime Minister is able to push agendas without any resistance due to the Prime Ministers power that is derived from the party members of the House. The Prime minister is free to pick and choose any file he or she wants to deal with, giving the sense of a one party-state. Jean Chretien had three majority governments and this shows how serious the political powers are centralized within the Prime Minister and governing party. However under a Minority Government, the Prime Minister must make compromises by passing different pieces of agendas in exchange for confidence. Because of party discipline, the PM concentrates on obtaining support from opposition members to pass his legislations (Bickerton Gagnon, 2009: p. 145). The Members of Parliaments are no longer â€Å"nobodies†, as Trudeau has called them before (Leduc, 2010: p. 132). There is a shift of power from the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the elected members of the House. There are different strategies in which the Prime Minister can deal with a Minority Government. One way was to set up a coalition government of two or more parties to secure a majority of seats in the House. Steven Harpers opposes the idea of a coalition government. He seeks the opposition support for his legislative program and makes adjustments to satisfy other party’s requirements. A minority government maintains checks and balances for the party and Prime Minister in control, ultimately limiting the amount of power he or she has, and ensuring they exercise their power in a reasonable, democratic way. In conclusion, there are many factors that come in to play on whether the Canadian Prime Minister has too much power. In a majority government, the Canadian prime minister can exercise too much power if they feel the need to. They have the majority of the seats in the House of Commons, where they can ultimately manipulate their parties to act in the best interest of the Prime Minister. The prime minister can act irrationally if he or she pleases to do so, despite the implications his or her actions may have. Although, if the Prime Minister exercises too much power in an irrational way, there are things that can be done, by the Governor General in particular, to remove the current Prime Minister from their position. In the case of a minority government, the Prime Minister still has a significant amount of power, but not nearly as much in the case of a majority government. A minority government keeps the Prime Minister and the ruling party in check. The house is made up of a more even balance of MP’s from various parties, ultimately making the Prime Minister work on issues that pertain to both parties; otherwise nearly nothing will get done in Parliament. The reason for this is that the opposition parties will not support the Prime Minister only acting in the best interest of his or her own party, as the opposition holds enough power and voting right to make it so bills get shut down. Many factors reduce the Prime Ministers likelihood of acting irrational and overusing their power, which ultimately keeps them in check. Although they often exercise their power fairly, the Prime Minister in a majority government does hold too much power, and in all cases, they hold too much power over their party members, through mild, indirect coercion. The Prime Minister holds a lot of power, more than he or she should be able to exercise if they please, but this only becomes an issue if they act irrationally using those powers, in which case there is potential they can be forced out of their position ((Samuels Shugart, 2010: p. 96).

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Depiction of teenagers in magazines Essay Example

Depiction of teenagers in magazines Essay Example Depiction of teenagers in magazines Essay Depiction of teenagers in magazines Essay The media is a very powerful way in which one persons view can be shown to millions of people. Writing, film making, art, music and journalism can challenge your views about being part of British society and the roles the people play in it. Theres a little Quote I like to add The medias the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and thats power. Because they control the minds of the masses Introduction Do the media paint a true picture of teenagers? Teenagers are very impressed by actors on the T.V or Pop stars and peer pressure is also huge factor. Adverts shows on the T. V, impress teenagers to buy expensive and design clothes or sport wear or make up for girls. All the teenagers want to look cool, fashion style and try to impress boys or girls. The teenagers come across Media e. g. T. V, Internet, Radio, Magazines, Bill boards and Leaflets and they are shown them by violence, powerful, strength, disrespectful, distracting schools or college, breaking the law, get drunk, get involve in illegal things and most things that they have got lots of confidence. Teenagers think that they are most powerful in Politics and they can make the teenagers to be good citizens in the country and also they think that can do anything they want, especially the boys because they are sporty, they want to be a gangster to impress or to get the girls. The boys think that they must have a girlfriend at the age of 15. Main body In my opinion in media I think that teenagers are misrepresented because in the Magazine they give opinions on how you should look and how you can attract boys and girls. When the teenagers read it, they wont follow what the book or magazine says and they just follow their own way and in their daily lives, youll see none of them like what the Magazine article says. Bob Geldof is the one who hits out at teen magazines, he doesnt want a magazine about how to get girls/boys, flirting and more. He wants these sorts of magazines to stop because he has a 3 teenagers daughters and he said, Its too sexual information for young teenagers children. Bob Geldof compares these magazines to pedophiles because of the sexual content. Two of the quotes that Bob Geldof said, Are they any less offensive than a 22 year old man going to and 11 year old and saying I am going to talk to you about sex, And If such a conversation happened, you would view it as sold, probably illegal and certainly Predatory. The news reporters or the media suppose Bob Geldof is known for being outspoken. Bob Geldof went tot the media itself to tell his opinion, once he went to BBC programmer Grumpy old men, in this programmed he admitted that he had not banned the magazine from his home but he was still outraged to see their contents. The good things about the magazine are they tell lots of advice s that you dont want to talk to your family about sex. It also has a child helpline with them, so when ever they need help about sex they can ring this child helpline, so they will give good answers to teenagers to understand about sex. The bad things about the magazine are its too sexual information and its not appropriate for teenagers. It has the words that the teenagers dont want to learn. Theres no useful idea or advice for teenagers. They were talking about how to be hot or how to do sex and also they made the teenagers to think about sex. In Cosmo girl front cover the sort of writing it had for girls. You can tell by the words, fonts (different variety of writing) in bold colour and finally the layout, when I mean layout 1 mean is what sort of fonts they use. Fonts like bold, Italic, size of writing and the different varieties of fonts e. g. Times new roman. They also use informal language e. g. EEK! Thats for the girls who wear a lot of clothes, put a lot of make up and girls is who try to attract boys and flirt with them. Straight away you can say this magazine for girls. (You can tell this by the title: Cosmo girl) and also on the front cover there is a signature saying Rachel Bilson that isnt really her signature because like I said theres different varieties of fonts. Finally that I can tell this front cover its for girls I that the colour they use blue and pink, theyre both primary colour inside the Cosmo Girl it will just talk about fashion, how to attract the boys and more. In Channel U video, the teenagers were wearing some attractive clothes (gangster or style) to impress the girls. Like e. g. the way they sing and move their moves like a really bad guy, some of their moves were sexually to the girls. Its like a gangster; they were tired to be a gangster. They were getting close to the girls by Dance, touching them. The teenagers would really enjoy this because its got a rap which is look like a gangster, when the teenagers watch gangster sort of rap/songs they all go hyper and act like theyre cool and strong and also its sexually explicit, revealing clothing for the girls, provocative, subservient, very aggressive style of shooting, violence, the way they move, body language, gangster attitudes and confrontational. In the Sketchers adverts there were two sorts of teenagers who were aimed at female and male. When the girls looked at the adverts they would think if we buy these trainers we will feel like the girl on the picture. The girl on the picture looks comfortable, good looking, relaxed and passive. On the other side boys point of view about the sketchers adverts is totally different from the girls point of view. When the boys look at the advert theyll think that theyll turn all active, strong, good looking, ready for anything and is control of themselves and other people. The body language is like aggressive, tough and strong and shape body. The body language shows you that they showing off their body and strengths. The stereo types are not all true because not all the boys in the world arent like that and also it makes you look like youre more active.

Friday, November 22, 2019

First Day Jitters Picture Book About Starting School

First Day Jitters Picture Book About Starting School First Day Jitters is an excellent book for an elementary school student (or first-time teacher) who is apprehensive about starting school. This humorous picture book was written by Julie Danneberg. Artist Judy Love created the comic and colorful illustrations in ink and watercolors. This is a funny book, with a surprise ending that will cause the reader to laugh out loud and then go back and read the entire story again. Kids starting middle school also find First Day Jitters amusing. A Story With a Twist Its the first day of school and Sarah Jane Hartwell does not want to get ready because she will be going to a new school. In fact, Sarah doesnt even want to get out of bed. When Mr. Hartwell tells her its time to get ready for school, she says, Im not going. Sarah complains that she hates her new school, I dont know anybody, and it will be hard, and...I just hate it, thats all. After much discussion, and no help from the familys feuding dog and cat, Sarah gets ready for school. By the time, Mr. Hartwell drops her off at school, she is terrified, but the principal greets her at the car and walks Sarah to her classroom. It is only on the last page  when Sarah is introduced to the class that the reader discovers that Sarah is not a student but the new teacher! The Author and Illustrator Author Julie Danneberg and illustrator Judy Love have continued the story of new teacher Sarah Jane Hartwell in the picture books First Year Letters (2003), Last Day Blues (2006), The Big Test (2011) and Field-Trip Fiasco (2015). First Day Jitters is also available in a Spanish edition Que Nervios! El Primer Dia de Escuela Julie Danneberg is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a middle school teacher and the author of picture books for younger children and nonfiction for older children. Her other picture books include: ​​Monet Paints a Day, Cowboy Slim and Family Reminders. Her nonfiction books for middle-grade readers include: Women Writers of the West: Five Chroniclers of the Frontier, Women Artists of the West: Five Portraits in Creativity and Courage and Amidst the Gold Dust: Women Who Forged the West. In addition to illustrating Julie Danneberg’s books about Judy Love, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, has illustrated childrens picture books for a number of other authors. The books include: Can I Bring My Pterodactyl to School, Ms. Johnson?, Can I Bring Woolly to the Library, Ms. Reeder?, Prickly Rose and I’d Choose You! (Sources: Julie Danneberg, Charlesbridge: Judy Love, Charlesbridge: Julie Danneberg) My Recommendation I recommend First Day Jitters for children ages 4 to 8. I have found that children get a kick out of the surprise ending and also find it reassuring to know that they are not alone in being apprehensive about the first day of school. I have also discovered that the book appeals to kids making the transition from elementary to middle school because of the humorous situation it portrays. First Day Jitters also makes a good gift for new teachers. Teachers who want to share the book with their class will be pleased to find that the publisher has provided a First Day Jitters Discussion Activity Guide to download. (Charlesbridge, 2000. ISBN: 9781580890540) More Recommended Books About Starting School See my article Best Children’s Books About Starting School for an annotated list of 15 good books about starting school, including books about starting kindergarten or preschool, going from kindergarten to first grade and changing schools.   For kids going to kindergarten who want details on what school is like, see my article Childrens Books About the First 100 Days of School.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Characteristics or habits of an effective political leader Essay

Characteristics or habits of an effective political leader - Essay Example This debate has been going on, ever since different forms of governance and political representation evolved. What Sima Qian, a second century BC historian, Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor of the second century AD, and Niccolo Machiavelli, a fifteenth century political philosopher have in common is their observations on the leadership qualities that a political leader ought to have. And the most interesting part of this comparison is that all these three political historians, in spite of them being very remote to each other in history, many times do prescribe the same qualities for a political leader. Aurelius has focused on the eternal and philosophical virtues that a leader needs to have. He has also advised an emperor to have a clear thought process, a good sense of reason, a composed mind and control over one’s emotions, especially, anger (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks). He has commanded, â€Å"look always at the whole. What is it that has made this impression on your senses ? Analyze it by breaking it down into cause, matter, purpose, and duration† (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks, 139). Aurelius (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks) has also stressed that â€Å"the character of reason and justice is one and the same† (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks, 123). ... Aurelius (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks) has reminded this by saying, â€Å"purge your mind of all aimless and idle thoughts, especially those that pry into the affairs of others or wish them ill† (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks, 34). Instead it is declared that â€Å"enjoyment is meant to be found in work too and that those who enjoy their work become totally absorbed in it, often forgetting to eat and drink and seek other forms of enjoyment† (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks,53). Controlling anger has been a recurring theme in Sima Quin, Aurelius and Machiavelli. It is suggested that a leader can become a success only when he/she has â€Å"unshakable composure, even in the midst of acute pain† (Aurelius, Hicks and Hicks, 20). But Quin has revealed that his emperor, the first emperor of China, had a habit of getting angry for small reasons and acting upon it (78). But still he had been a success because he had his own effective means to make people fear or love him irrespective of his anger. His character is reflected in what Aurelius said almost 4 centuries after: Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say, â€Å"How unlucky that this should happen to me!† Not at all! Say instead, â€Å"How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened (51). A prince should be able to win people over to his side (Machiavelli, 60). But he (Machiavelli) has also prescribed to rule by evoking fear rather than love because he believes that â€Å"men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared† (90). Sima Quin has also expressed faith in the effectiveness of fear and elaborated upon how the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Dream for Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Dream for Case Study - Essay Example Once I am up, everything in the room appears in miniature, and perhaps even gets smaller as I struggle to find my school uniform. When I eventually find my school uniform it is, of course, too small. I tuck it under my arm and leave my bedroom - only just managing to fit through the door. I call out to my mother, telling her that my clothes have shrunk. I feel as though my mother must have done something wrong the last time she washed my uniform, and expect her to somehow be able to fix the problem. As I walk down the hallway of the house that leads to the dining room, the hall begins to shrink, and it seems to get longer and longer. The hallway stretches out for about 800 metres, and at different times I feel tired and disillusioned and feel as though I may never reach the end. As I walk I continue to call out to my mother. At first I am angry, then sad, then pleasant, trying different strategies that I feel might get her attention. I feel aware that she can hear me - but is just ignoring me. There are wild cats running back and forth across the hallway in front of me, going from rooms on one side of the hall, into rooms on the other. The cats are mangy and feral and look very startled to see me. At one time I can see around five of them gathered at the end of the hallway in the distance - but by the time I am near to the end they have scurried away. I am glad they are gone because, even though they seemed afraid of me, I was equally wary of them. I notice clumps of cat hair on the floor and think that the cats must have had a fight in the hallway. I feel even more relieved that they are gone. Eventually I reach the dining room door and squeeze through. Once inside the dining room, everything appears relatively normal. I am still fully grown, but the room is its normal size, and so are my parents, who are both at the table eating their breakfast. I hold up my tiny school uniform and try to tell my mother it has shrunk - but can't speak. She looks up and sees me holding the uniform and looks angry. She stands up and slams her hand down on the table, saying "What have you done, mister" My father looks up disapprovingly and shakes his head, then returns to eating his breakfast. He is eating sausages and eggs, and I notice he is trying to cut them up using a tiny, miniature knife and fork. I look down and notice his right hand shrinking. I think: 'Oh no, he's shrinking too - it's starting again.' I look away and try to pretend I didn't see it. I am scared my mother will blame me for shrinking him. My mother grabs the uniform off me and throws it in the garbage disposal. When she turns on the garbage disposal it makes a loud shriek - like a woman screaming in agony - but noone seems to notice the sound except me. My mother says: "You will just have to go to school naked - again." I look down and realise that I have no clothes on and panic and feel embarrassed, then I notice that she said 'again' - and feel even more humiliated. I start struggling to recall when I had previously been to school naked - but can't remember any such incident. I start to feel compelled to correct my mother, and explain that I had never been to school without my clothes on - but she refuses to listen and gets angry - telling me to hurry up and eat my breakfast. I steal a glance at my father and his hand is back to normal, I feel relieved and start to eat my breakfast - which is also sausages and eggs. As I start to eat, it

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Carl Gustav Jung Essay Example for Free

Carl Gustav Jung Essay Carl Gustav Jung, (26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961), was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, and the founder of analytical psychology. His work and influence extends way beyond understanding personality, and he is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers to have theorised about life and how people relate to it. However, for the purpose of this assignment I will concentrate on Jung’s theory of Psychological Types. In this essay I aim to demonstrate an understanding of Jung’s personality types by describing and evaluating his theory and to show how they might useful in helping a therapist to determine therapeutic goals. Jung (1990, p.531) states that’ from earliest times, attempts have been made to classify individuals according to types, and so bring order to the chaos. The oldest attempts known to us were made by oriental astrologers who devised the so-called trigons of the four elements air, water, earth, and fire. The air trigon in the horoscope consists of the three aerial signs of the zodiac, Aquarius, Gemini, Libra; the fire trigon is made up of Aries, Leo, Sagittarius. According to this age old view, whoever is born in these trigons shares in their aerial or fiery nature and will have a corresponding temperament and fate.‘ In the same paragraph, Jung states that ‘the astrological type theory, to the astonishment of the enlightened, still remains intact today,’ which is true. Closely connected with the astrological type theory is the division into the four temperaments which corresponds to the four humors (Jung, 1990, p.531). A Greek physician, Claudius Galen (AD130 200), distinguished four basic temperaments: the sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric, and the melancholic. Galen’s theory goes back to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates’ (460 370BC), who described physical illness as being caused by the balance of bodily fluids, or humors as he labelled them’ (Maltby, et al, 2007, p.159). These bodily fluids are blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Galen expanded on Hippocrates’ theory and applied it to describe human personality, stating that when the humors were in balance, an equitable temperament was the result, however, if the humors were out of balance, then physical illness and mental disturbance occurred (Maltby et al, 2007, p.160). However, ‘by the time of the Middle Ages, scholars dismissed the idea that bodily fluids were directly implicated in personality traits. But the behavioural descriptions associated with the four humours lived on’ (McAdams, 2000, p.256). Galen’s four temperaments provided much inspiration and historical reference for Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. According to Jung’s theory we are all different in fundamental ways and each psychological type has a different idea of what it means to achieve personal success. However, www.personalitypage.com states that, ‘so many people are hung up on somebody else’s idea of what it means to be successful, that they are unaware of what is truly important to them‘. I agree, because for many years, I wanted to be somebody else as that person’s life seemed so much better than mine, or so I thought at the time. Jung was one of the few psychologists in the twentieth century to maintain that development extends beyond childhood and adolescence through mid-life and into old age (Stevens, 2001, p.38). Jung insisted that ‘we never finish the process of self-examination and growth that charts our journey towards individuation.’ (Snowdon, 2010, p.86). In my case, I believe I am on that journey of accepting myself as I truly am, becoming my true ‘self‘. Stevens (2001, p.38) claims that ‘it could be brought to the highest fruition if one worked with and confronted the unconscious,’ and for me, it is and has been important to face the ‘monsters that lurk’ (Snowdon, 2010, p.86) in my unconscious, even when it has been uncomfortable to do so. According to Jung, like Freud, there are three levels of consciousness in the psyche (mind);- conscious, personal unconscious and collective unconscious. Snowdon (2010, p.56) states that ‘the individual psyche is always changing as it seeks growth and wholeness.’ Jung referred to the ego when describing the more conscious aspect of the personality, the part of the psyche that selects perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories that may enter our conscious awareness. Stevens (2002, p. 62) states that ‘the ego is then centre of consciousness and is responsible for our continuing sense of identity.’ The personal unconscious comprises of ‘all the acquisitions of personal life, everything forgotten, repressed, subliminally perceived, thought, felt’ (Jung, 1990, p.485). This is an aspect of the unconscious that Freud also emphasized and these forgotten experiences are accessible to consciousness, and for both Freud and Jung, ‘the exploration of the unconscious is the key to personal insight’ (McAdams, 2000, p. 135). Conscious attitudes within the psyche should always be balanced by unconscious attitudes, and Snowdon (2010, p.56) claims that ‘if a conscious attitude grows too strong then the unconscious will always seek to restore equilibrium,’ by means of dreams, fantasies, slips of the tongue and so on. However, if the unconscious message is ignored, then ‘neurosis or even disease may result’ (Stevens, 2010, p.57). Where the personal unconscious is unique for each individual the collective unconscious is not an ‘individual acquisition but rather the functioning of the inherited brain structure, which in its broad outlines is the same in all human beings (Jung, 1954, p.117). Therefore, the collective unconscious represents the shared experiences, emotions and memories we have inherited from previous generations. Jung believed that we were born with a built-in human developmental programme, which is buried deep within the collective unconscious (Snowdon, 2010, p. 80). According to Jung, the personal unconscious contains various complexes, while the collective unconscious contains archetypes (see Fig 1) ‘Complexes are related groups of emotionally charged ideas, thoughts and images’ (Snowdon, 2010, p.61), and can exert a strong influence on the thoughts and behaviour of a person. Some complexes may be beneficial and others may be potentially harmful, and Jung (1990, p.529) states that ‘complexes do not necessarily indicate inferiority. It only means that something discordant, unassimilated, antagonistic exists, perhaps as an obstacle, but also as an incentive to greater effort, and so, perhaps to new possibilities of achievement.’ Therefore, a therapist may use this knowledge to bring to the forefront of the client’s consciousness, a situation which they may be finding difficult to overcome. Complexes can be related to a particular archetype, Stevens (2001, p.48) states that ‘complexes are personifications of archetypes; they are the means through which archetypes manifest themselves in the personal psyche.’ An archetype is a universal thought form or predisposition to respond to the world in certain ways (Jung, 1936), and Jung believed they appeared to us in dreams, myths, religions, art and symptoms. Engler (1991, p.86) claimed that ‘it is helpful for us to get in touch with them because they represent the latent potentially of the psyche.’ The widely recognised archetypes are the persona, the shadow, the anima and the animus, and the self. The persona archetype is the mask that a person wears to hide their true nature from society. The shadow is an unconscious part of the personality that contains weaknesses and other aspects of personality that a person cannot admit to having’ (Snowdon, 2010, p.68). The anima is the unconscious feminine aspect of a man’s personality, and the animus is the masculine aspect of a woman’s personality. The self is the central archetype and true midpoint of the personality (Engler, 1991, p.89). A criticism of Jung’s theory was his lack of empirical research, in which his theory has been attacked as being non-falsifiable and unscientific (Hergenhahn, 1994, p.93). Jung based his psychology on explorations of his own inner world, as well as his work with people ranging from ‘normal’ to those with neurotic problems and even those suffering from psychosis (Snowdon, 2010, p.XXVI). Eysenck (Engler, 2009, p.316) believed that from the point of view of science, Jung’s contribution to the study of personality types was primarily negative as he permitted mystical notions to override empirical data. However, Jung was unconcerned claiming that he ‘cannot experience himself as a scientific problem. Myth is more individual and expresses life more precisely that does science (Stevens, 2001, p.156).’ Jung’s description of personality states that in order to identify a psychological type, it is necessary to determine whether a person’s psychic energy (libido) is turned inwards towards the subject (introversion), or outwards towards the object (extroversion). Introverts are people who prefer their own inner world of thoughts and feelings, whilst extroverts prefer the external world towards external relationships and objects. According to Jung (1990, p.415) ‘the presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent,’ although one is generally dominant and conscious and the other is subordinate and unconscious. However, McAdams (2000, p.310) claims that ‘Eysenck, a British psychologist of German origin, rejected the idea that conscious extroversion is connected to unconscious introversion, and vice versa.’ Unlike Jung, Eysenck linked extroversion and introversion to differences in brain activity, however this theory is speculative and Eysenck acknowledged that his hypotheses ‘must stand and fall by empirical confirmation’ (Eysenck, 1965). Introvert and extrovert dimensions are now found in several theories, one of those being Hans Eysenck’s theory of personality. Although Eysenck expressed considerable disdain for Jung’s approach to psychological types, some of his ideas were rather similar, for example, ’both defined the concepts by making reference to the direction of a person’s approach to life’ (McAdams, 2000, p.309). However, in other ways Eysenck’s concepts were quite difference, for example, whilst Jung believed that a person can be classified as either extroverted or introverted, he believed that most people fall somewhere between the two attitudes, ‘combining qualities of both the extroverted and introverted poles’ (McAdams, p. 310). Like Jung, Eysenck examined historical approaches to personality as well as conducting various methods of research, to uncover the underlying structure of personality. Eysenck suggested that the basic dimensions of personality may be summarised in the diagram below (see Fig 2), which show the two main dimensions of extroversion-introversion and stable-unstable, with the traits associated with each personality type. The diagram also shows how the four temperaments are related to these types.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

bloodmac Shakespeares Macbeth - Images and Imagery of Blood and Sleep

Blood and Sleep Imagery in Macbeth  Ã‚   Macbeth screams imagery!   Shakespeare uses imagery of blood and sleep   to create an atmosphere of horror, during the killing of Duncan, which contributes to our sense of Macbeth's growing insanity.   Eventually Lady Macbeth's final scene is enhanced with the use of blood imagery which reflects her guilt.   Shakespeare's use of imagery connects the feeling of horror from audience to play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth held such potential for himself. He was honoured Thane of Cawdor,   and who knows what else Duncan had in store for him.   Unfortunately he chose not to find out, by murdering the king.   The scene of Duncan's murder (II, ii) demonstrates the guilt and feeling that the blood diffuses into the air.   When he returns to his chamber Lady Macbeth notices that he has brought back the blood covered daggers with him.   She persuades him to bring them back to the scene of death, but he refuses by saying  Ã‚   " I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not. " Lady Macbeth responds ruthlessly to her husband, " Infirm of purpose!   Give me the daggers.   The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of child hood that fears a painted devil.   If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt."   Lady Macbeth tells her husband that he was acting like a child and went by herself to smear blood upon the kings grooms so it will seem like they did it.   Lady Macbeth returns from Duncan's chamber telling Macbeth that her hands are covered in blood just like his.   She encourages Macbeth to wash the blood from his hands to remove the evidence from their presence.   " My hands are of your color... I hear a knocking...A little... ... come, come, give me your hand!   What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed!"   Lady Macbeth is haunted by her guilt.   The blood that was shed disturbs her conscience so much that she can't hide from it. Works Cited and Consulted: Campbell, Lily B. "Macbeth : A Study in Fear." Readings on Macbeth. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1999. 126-35. Foakes, R.A. "Images of Death in Macbeth." In Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. Boston: Routledge, 1987. James IV of Scotland. "Daemonologie." In Minor Prose Works. Ed. James Craigie. Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1982. Muir, Kenneth. "Introduction." In Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Routledge, 1992. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Routledge, 1992. Truax, E. "Imagery in Macbeth" Comparative Drama 23. 1990:359-76.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Paradise Road Notes Essay

Bruce Beresford first gained wide critical success as director of Breaker Morant (1980), a landmark film about three Australian soldiers wrongfully executed for alleged war crimes during the Boer War. Like Breaker Morant, Paradise Road (1997) is based on a true story. Beresford again takes up the theme of Australians’ involvement in war – this time during World War II. This film, however, is not about the exploits of soldiers; it’s about the resilience of women prisoners of war. Beresford researched the story extensively, studying the diaries of prisoners and Japanese historical material to understand the events from both points of view. On The Movie Show (http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie/3156/Paradise/Road) in June 1997, Beresford explained that there were many ‘prison camp’ films about the heroism of men. What he wanted to convey in Paradise Road was the heroism and resourcefulness of women, and he wanted also to celebrate their ability to create beauty in the dreadful conditions of the jungle prison camp. After the film’s release, some American critics accused Beresford of being anti-Japanese and argued that these things were best forgotten, but Beresford insisted that the story needed to be told. He tried to play down the atrocities and to portray events as he believed they had happened. Encountering Conflict in Paradise Road Paradise Road explores ideas about conflict and examines the many ways in which people encounter conflict. For example: †¢ The historical setting of the film is the global conflict of World War II. †¢ This conflict is a military one, fuelled by political conflicts which, in 1939, finally erupted into the violent conflict of global warfare. †¢ The geographical setting is the tropical island of Sumatra, where the prisoners are often in conflict with the hostile physical environment. †¢ Compounding the political conflict are deeply embedded cultural and racial tensions. As Mrs Tippler points out, the people the Japanese most dislike are ‘Europeans, prisoners and women’. The guards’ treatment of the women highlights the cultural divide between the Western female captives and their Asian male captors. †¢ Inner (personal) conflict is also encountered by the women who are often pushed to breaking point by the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers, such as when they are forced to witness the injustice of Wing’s execution in silence. †¢ The prisoners sometimes find themselves experiencing interpersonal conflict as the hardships they encounter make them edgy and vulnerable. Discussion questions †¢ What are the consequences of conflict for individuals, communities and society as a whole? †¢ Can conflict be the catalyst for positive social or individual changes? †¢ Does inner conflict lead to external conflict? †¢ Will cultural differences always result in conflict? †¢ Why do acts of cruelty seem to be part of wars that arise from political conflicts? Conflict can have tragic consequences for ordinary people The women in Paradise Road are quintessentially ‘ordinary’. The characters in the film are based on real people: nurses or wives of prominent officials and civilians. These women are caught up in the global conflict of World War II and those who manage to survive are, despite any positive outcomes, dreadfully damaged by their encounter with conflict. Beresford makes the point that innocent people too often become caught up in, and suffer from the effects of, conflicts that are not of their own making. The audience is strongly positioned to identify with the three main characters, Adrienne, Margaret and Susan, as they come to terms with the harsh and often tragic conditions of their situation. In the film’s opening scene, we see a glimpse of the sheltered and ordinary lives led by women who were somewhat peripheral to the conflict of war. Now, plunged into a frighteningly violent and unfamiliar world, they encounter the tragic consequences of the conflict. On the journey to the camp, Beresford highlights the ordinary qualities of the women as they struggle to retain their meagre possessions or endeavour to help each other endure the long walk. Fearful, hungry and exhausted, the women are herded like cattle. On their arrival in Sumatra they see the severed head of a political prisoner displayed on a pole in the public square. The victim, a local man accused of spying, was also an ordinary person. His wife, Wing, is perhaps the film’s most tragic figure. Having risked her life to procure black-market quinine tablets for Mrs Roberts, Wing is caught. She is set alight and burns to death as the assembled prisoners are forced to watch in horrified silence. The effect on them is profound; nothing in their previous experience could have prepared them to cope with such utter cruelty. The tragedies that befall the prisoners become part of their daily lives, as some succumb to the effects of untreated illness. The scene with the two children making simple wooden coffins for dead babies clearly highlights the tragedy of war in the lives of ordinary people, and suggests that no cause could justify the terrible consequences of violent conflict. Children are a symbol of innocence in the film. The death of the child whom Adrienne tries to protect on the Prince Alfred encapsulates Beresford’s key contention: that the innocent suffer most in situations of extreme conflict.The camp cemetery, with its rows upon rows of white crosses, is shown as the camera pans across the prison compound during a performance of the vocal orchestra, revealing the large numbers of prisoners who died during the course of their internment. In deliberately avoiding a heroic narrative about death in battle in defence of ‘king and country’, Beresford asks us to be aware of the shattered lives of ordinary people caught up in violent global conflict. Rosemary Leighton-Jones is another of the film’s tragic figures. Her kindness and beauty evoke the audience’s sympathy and we see, in Singapore, her love for her husband Dennis, as they discuss their plans for a future together. This sustains Rosemary through her ordeal in the camp and gives her the strength to support others. When she sees that Dennis has been captured whilst trying to escape from the men’s prison camp, and realises that his execution is inevitable, Rosemary loses the will to live. The tragedy of Rosemary’s death is rendered all the more bitter as it occurs during the removal of the women prisoners to a more remote camp where she glimpses Dennis under heavy guard. Ironically, the women are moved because of the advance of the Americans and the impending defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific. Mrs Roberts and Margaret also die – tragically – just as their liberation is imminent. The damaging effects of conflict are also evident in other relationships. Rosemary’s supportive relationship with the shy Dutch girl, Helen, crosses the cultural boundaries that divide some of the other prisoners, and the friendship strengthens Helen. Her grief at Rosemary’s death reinforces Beresford’s condemnation of war on the grounds that too many innocent people become its tragic victims. Adrienne is similarly devastated by the death of her friend and fellow-musician, Margaret. In a relationship that crosses class boundaries, Margaret and Adrienne unite and inspire the other women. In doing do, they convey another of Beresford’s central messages – that in times of conflict, ordinary people can do extraordinary things. This positive outcome, however, does not significantly diminish the tragic consequences of war; the ultimate deaths of such characters as Margaret and Rosemary are rendered the more poignant for the strength and wisdom they demonstrated in an extreme situation. The film also shows how extreme conflict situations place ordinary people under unusual pressure, provoking and exacerbating conflicts on a personal level, both between and within individuals. Stressed, sorrowing and deprived, some of the women in Paradise Road find themselves placed in a morally and politically compromised situation when confronted with the choice as to whether to remain at the Japanese ‘officers’ club’, providing sex in return for food and comfort, or to return to the camp. Those who elect to accept the bribe of the officers are not only prostituting themselves but are also consorting with the enemy. Similarly, Adrienne is placed in a compromising position when she’s asked if the orchestra will perform a Japanese folk-song for Colonel Hirota. She refuses, risking severe punishment. While she makes a different choice to that of the women of the officers’ club, Beresford emphasises that war, and the struggle for survival, places severe and unusual pressure on individuals, which can cause them to behave in ways they would not ordinarily behave; as Sister Wilhelminia wisely acknowledges, it is not fair to judge the actions of others in times of extreme conflict. Similarly, the extreme conditions under which the women must live also results in interpersonal conflict. Mrs Tippler, the outsider, tries to undermine the solidarity of the group through criticism of the orchestra. There is also tension between the Dutch and the English-speaking women, which erupts in an argument over soap. This incident illustrates the corrosive effects of conflict on ordinary people, who can be not only physically harmed by violent conflict, but who are also prey to subtler damage. Beresford positions us to consider how we ourselves might respond in circumstances of similar hardship and, while he celebrates the general resilience and courage of the women, he ultimately condemns the brutality and the futility of war. Discussion questions †¢ Ordinary people can respond in surprising ways to conflict situations. What factors do you believe can affect the way we react to conflict? †¢ In order to survive conflict, we need a reason to live. Do you agree? †¢ Does self-interest determine people’s actions when they encounter conflict? †¢ To what extent can we condemn people for making decisions based on their need to survive? †¢ Is it ever justifiable t o sacrifice your principles in order to survive? Conflict can bring out the best and the worst in people The responses of the women prisoners to their encounters with conflict are very different. The character of Adrienne Pargiter is the main vehicle for the exploration of ideas about courage and resilience in the face of conflict. Adrienne emerges as a natural leader in the prison camp. Her response to conflict is to maintain her dignity and to resist, as far as possible, the unjust authority of the Japanese guards. In forming the vocal orchestra, Adrienne responds to the tragedy of Wing’s death through her belief in the healing power of music and her desire to draw the women together. They have all been traumatised by Wing’s execution and the racial and class boundaries which divide them lead to conflict with each other, which must be resolved if they are to survive. Adrienne is determined to assert something of her own Western cultural heritage at a time when it is under attack. She is also   courageous enough to defend herself from a physical attack by a drunken Japa nese soldier, despite the fact that striking him is an offence punishable by death. Conflict brings out the best in Adrienne and, through her courageous challenge to unjust authority, she emerges as a symbol of hope for oppressed and disempowered people everywhere. In the midst of conflict Adrienne forms a close relationship with Margaret Drummond, recognising the humane qualities they share. Margaret draws strength from her religious faith and provides a focal point for the group when they need spiritual comfort. Her words at Wing’s funeral help ease the shock and pain they all feel. Margaret’s quiet determination is evident when she stands up to ‘The Snake’, whose terrifying visit to their quarters to recruit volunteers for the officers’ club is met with her calm and polite question: ‘What can we do for you, Sergeant Tomiashi?’ She also defies the authority of Colonel Hirota when she attempts to take water to Susan. Margaret’s encounter with conflict strengthens her capacity for Christian charity – as she explains to Adrienne, she can’t hate the Japanese, only pity them. Margaret epitomises the comfort and strength drawn by many from religious belief during times of bitter conflict. Susan Macarthy finds an unexpected inner strength in response to conflict. She stands up to Mrs Tippler, the destructive and divisive presence among the prisoners, and angrily accuses Colonel Hirota of human rights violations. She also finds the strength to endure a horrifyingly cruel punishment and unites the other women in their support and admiration of her. These three characters embody the most positive ways of responding to conflict. Sergeant Tomiashi also ultimately discovers inner reserves of compassion as a result of his experience of conflict. Despite his cultural predisposition to despise women, foreigners and prisoners, he is so moved by the music of the vocal orchestra that he humbles himself before Adrienne, singing to her alone in the forest. Tomiashi’s encounter with conflict, and the opportunity it gives him to observe and understand a group of people he has been conditioned to dislike, changes him for the better, as demonstrated by his respectful removal of his cap as Margaret’s funeral procession passes. By contrast, a highly negative response to conflict is exhibited by Mrs Tippler, who becomes even more critical and pessimistic as the women’s stay in the camp goes on. She grows spiteful and resentful, exacerbating racial tensions with her accusations against the Dutch, and accusing Adrienne of endangering their lives with the vocal orchestra. Mrs Dickson and Mrs Pike initially side with her but eventually see how destructive her attitude is. By the end of the film, her negativity has completely isolated her. Her eating of potentially toxic snails reveals a selfdestructive impulse, exemplifying her refusal to make positive changes in the face of conflict. Through the unsympathetically constructed character of Mrs Tippler, Beresford shows us that if conflict situations can bring out the best in some individuals, for others the strain induced by high conflict situations can be corrosive, provoking anger and resentment, to the detriment both of the individual and those around them. While Beresford suggests that Mrs Tippler’s negative attitude ultimately harms herself more than it does others by his unflinching portrayal of the horrors of the prison camp, he also positions the viewer to understand how extreme situations can provoke extreme reactions in people. Discussion questions †¢ Do you agree that people’s response to conflict reveals who they truly are? Is this what the film shows us? †¢ Why do some people choose to be outsiders in times of conflict? †¢ Why are some people able to make positive changes as a response to encountering conflict, while others are not? Conflict can unite families and communities As a response to conflict, the community of women prisoners is very much united by the vocal orchestra (with the notable exception of Mrs Tippler). The orchestra firstly unites Adrienne and Margaret across the divisive boundaries of class, which have previously prevented women from the upper ranks of colonial society (like Adrienne) from associating with missionaries, like Margaret. Through her encounter with conflict, Adrienne becomes aware and ashamed of her snobbery and apologises to Margaret. Adrienne is distraught when Margaret dies, recognising her as a genuine friend and a woman of strength, courage and integrity. Mrs Roberts is another snobbish woman who expresses concern about the kinds of people she might be mixing with if she joins the orchestra. Her racial prejudice against the Malayan prisoners is condemned by her daughter, Celia, who bluntly informs her of the reasons for Wing’s black market dealings. Mrs Roberts is mortified and reassesses her values – a very beneficial outcome of her encounter with conflict which enables her to develop in positive ways. She joins the orchestra as a sign of her participation in the community of prisoners. The Dutch and the Anglo-Saxon prisoners initially regard each other with suspicion that sometimes erupts into hostility. The conflict over the soap shows how easily something trivial can ignite a conflict when underlying tensions have not been resolved. It takes the intervention of Sister Wilhelminia (the voice of wisdom and tolerance) to defuse the conflict and restore order. However, it is the participation of Dutch prisoners such as Mrs Cronje in the vocal orchestra that most effectively breaks down racial barriers and diffuses residual tensions. Susan’s reluctance to join, based on her dislike of classical music, is overcome by Adrienne’s gentle persistence, showing that generational boundaries can be dissolved by music, and also by uniting in a worthwhile common purpose, whatever it might be. The smiling, shining faces of the singers as they perform works by Dvorak and Ravel amidst the squalor of the prison camp show not only how strongly they are united by their participation in the orchestra, but also how the beauty of the music can transcend the appalling conditions of prison life. The music also symbolically unites the living and the dead, as suggested by the camera panning across the graves in the cemetery as the orchestra sings. Even some of the orchestra’s strongest critics have, by the end, joined and become part of the community. Mrs Dickson, a supporter of the unpleasant Mrs Tippler, admits that joining the orchestra was the best thing she’d ever done. As well as establishing strong bonds between the prisoners, the vocal orchestra goes a long way towards making tentative connections between the prisoners and the guards through their shared appreciation of classical music. Sergeant Tomiashi’s wistful expression as he listens to the orchestra, and his angry dismissal of an  interruption from another soldier, suggest his feelings of connection with the music, and thus with the women who provide it. Colonel Hirota, too, enjoys the music. Despite the ban on congregating or writing imposed on the prisoners, the vocal orchestra is permitted to continue practising and performing and the Japanese officers attend as guests. This is an endorsement of the music (and, implicitly, of Western culture). Colonel Hirota’s gift to Adrienne is an affirmation of her creative spirit and her courage, both of which have been instrumental in forging bonds in the community of which all the characters are inescapably a part. The one exception to this is Mrs Tippler, who resolutely distances herself from the orchestra and all it represents. She is perhaps the only character who gains nothing positive from her encounter with conflict. Discussion questions †¢ Are groups able to resolve conflict more effectively than individuals? †¢ Does the strength of a group always depend on excluding those with differing values? Violence is never an effective means of resolving conflict The Japanese prison guards and officers exemplify the violence wielded by the powerful in order to assert their authority. The physical violence in the film is very explicit and deliberately shocking, from the violent deaths of innocent children to the savage beatings inflicted on Rosemary and Mrs Dickson. Indeed, the film opens with a scene that quickly becomes violent, with the sound of exploding bombs disturbing the festive atmosphere of Raffles Hotel. The violence escalates with further explosions as the evacuees hurriedly board ships bound for safety. The response to the violence of the Japanese is retaliatory violence from Britain and America and their allies; the women are caught up in this conflict as their ship is attacked and sunk. The suggestion is that responding to violence with more violence only worsens the situation and increases the likelihood that innocent victims will become caught up in the escalating conflict. At the camp, the guards’ use of violence effectively intimidates the prisoners but it does not resolve conflict; indeed, tensions are exacerbated by the brutal suppression of basic rights and freedoms. The prisoners respond to their captors’ brutality with resistance, subversiveness or bitter resentment. The vocal orchestra is a symbol of resistance, while the black-market dealings are acts of subversiveness. The deep resentment engendered by gratuitous and brutal violence is not always made explicit in the film, except perhaps by Adrienne, whose conversation with Margaret implies her hatred. She says, ‘You don’t hate them, do you?’ to which Margaret replies that she pities them. It is perhaps Adrienne’s hatred of the brutality of her oppressors which drives her to defy them by establishing the orchestra. Her hatred is again suggested in the final scene and is directed at the most unsympathetically constructed character in the film, the sadistic Captain Tanaka, who seems to take pleasure in the fact that there is no music from the women at Margaret’s funeral. Adrienne’s defiant response conveys her deep dislike of the man and reinforces Beresford’s point about the destructive effects of violence. The inability to forgive is testament to the unresolved conflict that results from extreme violence. With his depiction of brutal violence and his unsympathetic portrayal of many of the Japanese soldiers, Beresford encourages the audience to empathise with the bitterness engendered in Adrienne and some of the other women by the violence of their captors. When Adrienne hits the guard who attempts to rape her, it is presented as a justifiable act of self-defence. However, ultimately Beresford suggests that responding to violence with violence can never resolve conflict. While acknowledging the discrimination experienced by the Japanese by the Western world, Beresford implies that the violent response of the Japanese soldiers to the women and children in their care only increases the distance between the two groups. The film shows that genuine connection between people of different races, genders and backgrounds is possible as, for instance, when Sergeant Tomiashi sings for Adrienne in the forest. But violence inhibits the possibility of such connections. Instead Beresford invites us to contrast the violence of the guards with the peaceful and positive responses of the women, and to admire the latter. Music, for instance, is shown to have the power to unite disparate groups and individuals, and to (at least temporarily) bring about a truce between enemy factions, in a way that continued violence never could. Likewise, we are encouraged to celebrate the non-violent protest led by Adrienne at Margaret’s funeral, which is both an expression of defiance against the soldiers and a demonstration of the genuine love and regard for Margaret felt by the women. Such moments affirm the possibility of an effective, nonviolent response to violence. Discussion questions †¢ Is violence ever justified as a response to conflict? †¢ Is violence used more often by men than women to resolve conflict? †¢ Can you think of a conflict which had the potential for violence but which was resolved peacefully? †¢ Is it possible to effectively deal with physical violence without resorting to violence yourself? SAMPLE SCENE ANALYSIS This section shows you how to identify Context ideas in a key scene from Paradise Road. Raffles Hotel, Singapore: scene summary The opening scene is set in the majestic ballroom of Raffles Hotel, an extravagant monument to British imperialism. The conversation of the guests reveals racial prejudice against the Japanese, who are described as needing thick glasses because they ‘can’t see’ and being unable to fight because they can only make ‘tin toys and cameras’. Adrienne Pargiter denounces the racist sentiments as a ‘load of poppycock’ and points out that the Japanese have conquered most of Asia. Key characters are introduced in order to highlight the dramatic effects of their subsequent encounters with conflict. Suddenly a bomb falls nearby and an Australian officer arrives to announce the imminent fall of Singapore. Bombs continue to fall as women and children are hurriedly loaded onto ships. The urgency of this ‘last-minute’ departure highlights the arrogance of the British, whose notions of their own cultural and military superiority have left the m vulnerable to attack. Questions for exploring ideas †¢ Is violent conflict the most effective way for the powerless (such as pre-war Japan) to challenge the powerful (such as Britain)? †¢ Can a lack of understanding lead to conflict? †¢ How significant are divisions of class and social status in causing conflict? †¢ Does strong loyalty to one group inevitably lead to conflict with other groups? Focus on text features As well as drawing on ideas from Paradise Road in your writing about Encountering Conflict, remember that the language and style of your writing may also be inspired by the structure and features of the film. For example, the following aspects of Paradise Road may influence how you respond to ideas in the text. †¢ Settings (physical, historical or cultural) can be used to place characters in situations of conflict, such as the prison camp where the women are in direct conflict with their captors, or a natural landscape which is (at times) a temporary refuge from conflict. †¢ Dialogue is instrumental in revealing a character’s state of mind and a useful way of ‘showing’ (rather than telling) the effects of conflict. In the opening scene, Adrienne’s comment that the stereotyped views of the Japanese are a load of ‘poppycock’ shows that she is a straight-talking and independent thinker, well-informed on current political events. Her common sense and outspokenness, which set her apart from the other women in her social group, exemplify her attitude throughout the film. †¢ Contrasts such as peace and war, and the past and the present, are built into characters and settings. They are an effective way for the creator of a text to sway audience approval or disapproval. The elegant setting of Raffles stands in strong contrast to the bombs falling outside and even stronger contrast to the squalor of the prison camp, suggesting a step-by-step descent into hell for the women. †¢ Humour, in times of conflict, can show the resilience of a character or create dramatic irony. For example, Margaret’s comment about Thomas Beecham being unavailable to conduct the vocal orchestra and Topsy’s complaint about the inadequate room service in the camp show how effective humour can be in lifting people’s spirits in times of conflict. †¢ Recurring motifs work in subtle but powerful ways. ‘Showing’ something significant through character, theme or music can be an effective vehicle for conveying ideas about resistance, resilience and hope. Significantly, the film opens with beautiful music in the ballroom of Raffles Hotel and its continuation, despite the bomb, makes a clear statement about the capacity of music to transcend the effects of conflict. Points of view on the Context These discussion questions and activities are designed to help you reflect on and refer to ideas raised by the Context in your chosen text. For further discussion/writing †¢ In times of conflict, ordinary people can do extraordinary things. †¢ Conflicts are only resolved through compromise. †¢ By dissolving the boundaries which separate and divide people, conflict can be avoided. †¢ Conflict is sometimes necessary to bring unresolved tensions to the surface so they can be dealt with. †¢ Forgiveness is necessary to satisfactorily resolve conflict. †¢ Differences between people will always lead to conflict. Activities †¢ Write a diary entry for one of the characters who has returned home and is reflecting on the importance of the vocal orchestra in helping her to survive the conflict. †¢ Sergeant Tomiashi gives an interview on Australian television ten years after the end of the war. He reflects on what he learned from his encounter with conflict. Write down some questions the interviewer might ask and the answers that Tomiashi might give. Consider the ways in which conflict might provide the opportunity for growth and reflection. †¢ Construct a scene for a film script that extends the narrative of one or more of the characters to include their return home. Has the encounter with conflict changed them? Can they readjust to a normal lifestyle? What does this suggest   about the lasting effects of conflict on ordinary individuals? †¢ In a small group, research and prepare material for a blog or wiki on the reasons for Japan’s involvement in World War II, focusing on the historical and cultural factors which contributed to the conflict. Explore the main crises and turning points (especially involving relations between Japan and countries such as Russia and the US) to show an awareness of how the conflict developed. In your piece, reflect on what your research suggests about common causes of political conflict and what factors seem to aggravate it.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Tourism Destination Development: Homecoming Scotland

Executive summary The subject of this report is the application of Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle for Scotland and also a critique of VisitScotland’s tourism destination development. The first section of the report presents the aim and objectives and the utilised methods of research. In the second chapter called â€Å"Tourism destination or destination tourism† are presented some preliminary theories regarding tourism destination as a market place. The third section presents the evolution of travel and tourism, international tourism, and also tourism destinations.The fourth chapter consists of three subsections. The first one presents the theoretical background behind the main destination development models and their partial applications to Scotland. The second subsection presents the unique early stages of the Scottish tourism through Butler’s TALC model. The last subsection of the chapter objectively illustrates Scotland’s present and recent pas t development through the cycle and its potential entries to the new and final stage. The fifth and final chapter is focused on Scotland’s international market.The first subchapter demonstrates the rich Scottish heritage in North America. In the second subsection the US society and its generations are analysed to select the best US market for Scotland. The third subsection presents VisitScotland’s campaign for the American visitors called Homecoming Scotland, the results of the 2009 campaign and expectations from the 2014 one. Table of contents Executive summary 1 Table of contents 2 List of figures 4 1. 0Introduction 5 1. 1Background 5 1. 2Aims and objectives 5 1. 3Methods 5 2. 0Tourism destination or destination tourism? 3. 0History of International travel and tourism: From ancient festivals to outer space 6 4. 0The Tourism area life cycle (TALC): Theory and application for Scotland 9 4. 1TALC models and the concept of Tourist Area Cycle Evolution: Their application to Scotland 9 4. 2Scotland’s unique early cycle stages 11 4. 3Scotland’s tourism development and consolidation 14 5. 0Homecoming Scotland: Attracting the American market 16 5. 1Scottish Ancestry in North America 16 5. 2Scotland’s markets in the changing US society 17 5. Homecoming Scotland 2009 and 2014: Stagnating nationally, developing internationally 18 Conclusion 20 References 21 Bibliography 23 List of figures *Figure 1 copied from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/File:Culloden_Viaduct01_2007-08-22. jpg Representing a panoramic view of Cullodin Viaduct 10 *Fig. 2: Adapted from Butler's â€Å"The Tourism Area Life Cycle Vol. 1: Applications and modifications†, about Tourism Area Life Cycle 14 *Fig. 3 International visitors in Scotland from International Caption Survey 17 Fig. 4: Adapted from clanstirling. org website about American Scottish 18 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1Background Each tourism destination area travels a life cycle. These cycles are adapted a ccording to the destination type, but they are still subject to interpretation. Scotland has proved to be an important competitor in the tourism industry nationally and even internationally. The uniqueness in which Scotland travelled the first stages of the cycle and the numerous differences of cycle phase between regions and also markets makes it the one of the world’s most challenging destination area to develop. . 2Aims and objectives The aim of this report is to demonstrate using strong and logical arguments Scotland’s current place in the TALC cycle and also to analyse VisitScotland’s newest international and national market campaigns called ‘Homecoming Scotland’ and respectively ‘Surprise Yourself’. 1. 3Methods In the attempt of writing this report various sources have been used such as books and journals which focused on tourism destination development and also Scottish tourism. Moreover, electronic sources such as VisitScotland. com or HomecomingScotland2009. om were used for guidance along with accomplished knowledge accumulated throughout the Tourism Destination Development module. 2. 0Tourism destination or destination tourism? Tourists and tourism experience had both grown in the last 100 years. Tourists nowadays are increasingly discerning in their choice of holidays, in terms of both activities and destinations. These high expectations have been heightened by the tourism industry itself mainly due its outside competitiveness with other sectors and inside one between destinations to attract the potential tourists.The ‘age’ when destinations could simply make known their attractions by sitting back and await the arrival of visitors is far behind. Tourism plays an essential role for many people’s high-quality lifestyle. Today’s tourists have to be enticed by marketing destination’s place products effectively. â€Å"Communities are the recipient of tourists† (Heat h and Wall 1992, p. 6), which is why most of the impacts of tourism occur on the community level. Yet, many communities, especially those whose economies are dominated by tourism, don’t have reliable tourism and marketing plans, or even any of these two components in their general plan.Places are ‘sold’ in a wide variety of consumer markets by private and public sector organisations which is why tourism destinations can be treated as products. There are, however, some differences between a place as a tourism destination and a marketable good or service purchased directly by customers of the tourism industry, such as the hire of hotel space or purchase of souvenirs. 3. 0History of International travel and tourism: From ancient festivals to outer space Many people wonder how travel and tourism has evolved so rapidly only in the last 50 years.There are many archaeological sites that reveal tourism destinations even from the 6th century A. D. in Babylon in what appea red to be the oldest history museum ever built which attracted people from all around the kingdom. Ancient Egypt also prided itself with its two majestic wonders: The Pyramids of Giza and The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Nile River also represented an endless source of agricultural prosperity and boat festivals were organized as a sign of worship and gratitude for their wellbeing. A similar example was Ancient Greece with their many temple sites, venerating various gods.With the rise of the Roman Empire, tourism started to segment in different categories. Vacation tourism was practiced by the wealthier Romans who built residences outside the cities for seasonal use. Study tourism also became popular in the Upper Roman Class for children, but also parents who travelled to regions like Greece or Egypt to learn the local language and culture. It represents the beginning of what it is known today as â€Å"International tourism†. Romans also invented the first form of leisure tou rism (balearic tourism) at different water spring sites all over the Empire.The travel phenomenon however was mostly related to expeditions, commerce, migration or military expeditions and it remained this way until the beginning of the 21st century. As technology grew and faster ways of transport became available, travel and tourism finally got closely connected. In England, Queen Elisabeth The 1st had promoted study tourism through which English diplomats were educated in Universities such as Cambridge and Oxford. At the time the idea of travelling for the sake of curiosity was very popular among the upper-class, thus the introduction of passports to keep evidence and secure the multinational travelling.The term Grand Tour was introduced by Richard Lassels in his 1670 book â€Å"Voyage to Italy†. Additional guidebooks, tour guides, and the tourist industry were developed and grew to meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travellers and their tutors across the Eu ropean continent. The young tourists were wealthy and could afford the multiple years abroad. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England. The Grand Tourists were primarily interested in visiting those cities that were considered the major centres of culture at the time – Paris, Rome, and Venice were not to be missed.Florence and Naples were also popular destinations. The Grand Tourist would travel from city to city and usually spend weeks in smaller cities and up to several months in the three key cities. After the industrial revolution that brought important economic and social changes, the middle class population had significantly increased. At the end of the 19th century, middle class workers started to benefit of annual paid holidays. As the ways of transport became faster, reliable and also accessible, the demand for tourism resorts has exploded.As a result of the mass tourism phenomenon of the 1960s and post-World War flight technology and pilots, chartered seats on commercial airlines were introduced followed by long-haul packages that were very popular a decade later and encouraged international tourism also for the middle class. Today’s tourism is dominated by niches. The most popular segments are: religious tourism, photographic tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, tradition and culture-based tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife and special interest tourism.Space tourism represents the most recent niche and a number of companies have sprung up in recent years hoping to create a space tourism industry in near future. As an alternative to â€Å"tourism† some organisations use the term â€Å"personal spaceflight†. It has been practiced only by 7 people so far due to the high cost of such a trip (minimum 20 million dollars), but with today’s acceleration in technology growth, no one can predict what and to whom this niche has to offer in the future. 4. 0The Tou rism area life cycle (TALC): Theory and application for Scotland . 1TALC models and the concept of Tourist Area Cycle Evolution: Their application to Scotland Tourist areas are dynamic; they evolve and change over time. The idea of a consistent process through which tourist areas evolve has been described by authors such as Christaller, Stansfield, Noronha and Cohen. Noronha suggests that tourism develops in three stages: discovery, local response and initiative, and institutionalised institutionalisation. Christaller also makes clear the fact that types of tourists change with the tourist areas.There is a lot of literature about characteristics of visitors, but the tourist’s motivations and desires have been ignored. Cohen, for example, characterises tourists as ‘institutionalised’ or ‘non-institutionalised or even ‘drifters, ‘explorers’, ‘individual mass tourists’ and ‘organised mass tourists’. Plog also said t hat â€Å"Destination areas carry with them the potential seeds of their own destruction, as they allow themselves to become more commercialised and lose their qualities which originally attracted tourists† (Cited in Butler 2006, p. ). But while writers such as Cohen have warned against the problems of unilinear models of social change, there is a lot of evidence that the general pattern of tourist area evolution is consistent. Butler’s Hypothetical Tourism Area Life Cycle Model is illustrated through a process of five stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and rejuvenation or decline. Because most studies in which the model has been applied for can be characterised as mature destinations, Butler’s model has attracted some criticism.In 2000 Butler revisited his model and highlighted aspects about it that could explain its continued relevance since 1980. He argued that because of a focus on detail in many studies some key aspect s and the overall validity of the model had sometimes been overlooked. In order to explain the growth, change, limits and intervention in a tourism area, the model is based in eight elements: dynamism, process, capacity or limits to growth, triggers, management, long term view point, spatial components, and universal applicability. Prideaux however, notices that the life-cycle may be at ifferent stages for different markets, which is why he comes forward with a market perspective analysis. His model applies best for those destinations that have gradually developed from local to international markets, mainly applied for resorts. Scotland’s early stages however don’t seem to apply with the first two of Prideaux’s model (from local to regional tourism). As for Miossec’s evolutionary cycle of destination development model, success from development starts even from stage one and at the latest stage he emphasises on the social-cultural impact for the region.The second stage represents a promotion through word-of-mouth which again didn’t apply to the first ‘courageous’ who visited Scotland and especially the Highlands and described it with horror. Weaver proposed a different but complementary model to the life cycle paradigm. It captures the need to regulate the use of tourism resources, especially the environment in order to adjust the flow of tourists. In situations where a high degree of regulation occurs, Weaver proposed that a destination could adopt ‘‘deliberate alternative tourism (DAT)’’, related to two forms of mass tourism, and to the sustainability of the destination.The first form he calls: unsustainable mass tourism (UMT) is the result of the continued development of the tourism that, in absence of restrictive regulation, exceeds the carrying capacity and the environmental and sociocultural limits of acceptable change in a destination; not Scotland’s case as here mass touris m is rare due to lack of land access to Europe and other continents and the mass tourism ‘trend’ is far behind.Traditionally, tourism sustainability is seen as a set of principles, political prescriptions and management methods that establish a path to develop tourism in conjunction with the protection of environmental, cultural and infrastructure resources of tourist destinations for the future (Lane, 1994). From this position, Hunter (1997) sees sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm depending on the circumstances of the environment in which it develops.He proposes four alternatives of sustainable development through: â€Å"tourism imperative†, â€Å"Product-Led tourism†, â€Å"Environment-Led tourism†, and â€Å"Neotenous tourism†. Of these four alternatives, ‘‘Sustainable development through Product-Led Tourism’’ is the focus here. In order to surmount the prescriptive limitations of the life cycle model whe n establishing the objective of sustainable development in island destinations, the teleological model proposed here can be used in a complementary manner. . 2Scotland’s unique early cycle stages *Fig. 1: Panoramic view of Culloden Viaduct *Fig. 1: Panoramic view of Culloden Viaduct The exploration stage represents the beginning of the cycle and it is assumed that there would be no specific facilities provided for visitors. Contacts between visitors and local residents is very often, which of course it might be beneficial if the locals are welcoming with strangers and also the visitors are keen to experience the local culture and traditions.Because this stage is mostly present nowadays in those unexplored or feared corners of the Earth, roughly called by many â€Å"Third World† countries, tourists take high risks when getting in contact with the residents as can never really anticipate the local’s behaviour and openness to tourists. Not all Scotland has lived th is stage in the same time. The tourist industry of the north and west of Scotland, which is today a major economic and social force in the area, can be traced back more than 2 centuries to the intrepid travellers such as Penant (1772) and Johnson (1876).The economic base and infrastructure did not become established until approximately a century later. Youngson (cited in Butler 1973, p. 373) notes that â€Å"In the first half of the century [eighteenth] nobody visited the Highlands for pleasure or out of a sense of scientific curiosity† and visitors â€Å"tended to speak of the country almost with horror, as a black howling wilderness, full of bogs and boulders, mostly treeless, and nearly unfit for human habitation†. Unlike Southern or Eastern Scotland, wheeled vehicles were uncommon in the Highlands around 1750 due to poor, almost inexistent transport infrastructure.Another impediment to travellers at the time was the linguistic ‘stubbornness’ of Scottis h people at the time to communicate in Gaelic, English still being considered only appropriate for the upper class. In 1812 the Duke of Gordon advertised shooting in â€Å"The Times† and rented Glenfeshie next to what it is known today as Glenmore Forest Park for ? 70. The popularity of the activity continued unabated and received powerful stimulation for various reasons. One was the great popularity of the artist Edwin Landseer, whose paintings of deer stalking were widely regarded, ncluding his best known work, â€Å"Monarch of the Glen,† originally commissioned for the Houses of Parliament. After Thomas Cook’s promotion of Southern Scotland in 1846 and construction of the Highland Main Line Railway in 1856, all Scottish regions were accessible by ground and the first tourist waves started to emerge. Another major influence was the enthusiastic support and participation by the Royal Family. Victoria and Albert first visited Scotland in 1842, and Albert partici pated in stalking at Drummond and in Glen Tilt.In 1848, they took a lease on Balmoral Castle, eventually purchasing it in 1852, and built a new residence which was completed in 1855. Their annual visits were a highlight of Victoria’s life. They cherished Scottish uniqueness. Butler states that If the first contact with visitors is peaceful and the local attractions present high potential interest for future tourists, the local residents can enter the involvement stage and begin to provide facilities primarily or even exclusively for visitors.The very purpose of a journey to Scotland was to find foreignness; it was the fact of Scottish distinctiveness which allowed the country to play its role as a counter to the modern world. The gesture gave social approval to the idea of a summer estate in the Highlands of Scotland, and the numbers of visitors increased steadily from that date, thus at the end of the nineteenth century there were approximately 170 inns and hotels in the are a.In all, Scotland held out three categories of attractions to tourists: natural ones, such as an outdoor environment which enabled visitors to envision a world untouched by industrialisation; historic ones, which suggested that the past was uniquely accessible in Scotland; and human ones, particularly the men and women of the Highlands and Western Isles, who sightseers believed preserved an ancient way of life in a changing world.While the Highlands and Isles of Scotland were building land transit infrastructure connections to the Britannic Island, the population of Southern Scotland exploded, especially in the two major cities of Edinburgh (from 103,143 in 1811 to 269,407 in 1891) and Glasgow (from 202,426 in 1831 to 658,073 in 1891). After the appearance of automobiles, the famous A9 road was constructed, connecting Southern Scotland to Inverness and Wick using approximately the same route as the Highland Railway.It is still the longest road in Scotland (273) miles. Unfortunately , an equally gradual spread of visitors to all part of Scotland was delayed by restrictions imposed during the Second World War. While the Highlands and Isles of Scotland were building land transit infrastructure connections to the Britannic Island, the population of Southern Scotland exploded, especially in the two major cities of Edinburgh (from 103,143 in 1811 to 269,407 in 1891) and Glasgow (from 202,426 in 1831 to 658,073 in 1891).This demographic growth played a vital role in the following years in the increasing demand of labour for the service sectors after the war. 4. 3Scotland’s tourism development and consolidation â€Å"As the consolidation stage is entered the rate of increase in number of visitors will decline, although total number will still increase, and total visitor numbers exceed the number of permanent residents† (Butler 2006, p. 7). Scotland is not a low cost, rapidly growing emerging mass tourism destination.Exponential increase in visitor number s and value has come to an end. Scotland is an attractive and popular destination which nevertheless is in the stagnation phase of the destination life cycle where tourism is a cash generator for the economy but growth is low and variable from year to year. It might even be on the cusp between stagnation and decline. â€Å"Surprise yourself† is the latest VisitScotland promotional campaign launched in March 2011 targeting the UK and Ireland market.With this campaign, VisitScotland tries to re-enforce its existing icons and people of Scotland. In fact, the main goal of â€Å"Surprise yourself† is to exit the post-stagnation stage in which it is as a domestic destination through the rejuvenating alternative illustrated in the following illustration model. *Fig. 2: Adapted from Butler's TALC Vol. 1 *Fig. 2: Adapted from Butler's TALC Vol. 1 There are a number of factors which are specific to the UK which are likely to impact negatively on visitor trends in Scotland over t he next few years.These include: threat of a â€Å"double dip† recession, Government Spending Review in the UK and Scotland, proposed introduction of increased air passenger duty, VAT increase, increasing fuel prices, threat of terrorism perceived or real and currency fluctuation. Possible impacts of such changes might lead to: reduction in overseas visitor numbers; conversely, reduction in the propensity for UK residents to take holidays as costs increase and levels of disposable income reduce; a net overall reduction in visitor spend ;and negative impact on levels of investment in tourism in Scotland, as well as reducing VisitScotland and VisitBritain budgets.The industry in Scotland also recognises the following as threats: Global recession Cost increases Increased competition from UK and overseas; England is in a position of competitive strength for overseas markets given the overwhelming global profile of London and the reality that the major international gateways are l ocated in south east England; decline in air and sea transport links to Scotland Increasing bureaucracy; public sector weaknesses – infrastructure, support and regulation; attitudes – people service, complacency, apathy.International events e. g. conflict or health scares could also reduce overseas visitor numbers. Scotland has a number of major opportunities to increase the value of tourism over the next few years.These include: A number of major international events including: Tall Ships Race 2011 (Greenock and Lerwick), The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Game, Spin offs from the 2012 London Olympic Games, The Ryder Cup in 2014, Homecoming 2014, Rugby World Cup in 2015 (England and Wales); potential for growth in key sectors of the economy in which Scotland has â€Å"centre of excellence† credentials, such as renewable energy and biotechnology with consequent increases in business and conference tourism; potential for improved access to Scotland ; and development o f major new infrastructure projects such as the national indoor arena, EICC extension, Trump development and the proposed V;A in Dundee. Scotland remains an attractive international destination within a number of well-developed and mature overseas markets. Mature markets probably offer limited scope for future growth in visitor numbers but they may be lucrative in value terms, especially based on areas such as golf, culture, and heritage and business tourism.There is some growth potential in international markets: Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Eastern Europeans and Russians now travel regularly and many are high spending visitors with expectations of the highest standards and quality; emerging destinations are leading global growth resurgence (Brazil, Russia, China); Chinese citizens are increasingly wealthy and represent the world’s biggest future tourism market; and most importantly the number of US citizens with passports has doubled since 2003. 5. 0Ho mecoming Scotland: Attracting the American market 5. 1Scottish Ancestry in North America Scottish Americans (Ameireaganaich Albannach) or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States and Canada whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. They are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate their common heritage. North America offered Scots the opportunity of farming their own land as well as employment possibilities in the cities.Some of the jobs on offer were those for which Scots already had experience, such as stonemasons and weavers. Once Scots from a particular area had made the move, their letters to back home encouraged others to join them. In recent studies, it is stated that there are about 30-40 million Americans who claim Scottish or Scotch-Irish heritage in the United States. But the region with most Scottish ancestry and also very much Scottish ancestry pride is Nova Scotia (New Scotlan d). New Scotland was founded by Sir William Alexander and King James of Scotland in the early 1600s. At that time, New Scotland consisted approximately of the Atlantic Provinces as they are known today, and the Gaspe Peninsula.Sir William Alexander with King James devised a settlement scheme of granting the title â€Å"Baronet of Nova Scotia† to any who would purchase large grants of land in New Scotland (Nova Scotia), secure and settle those lands. Following defeat at the Battle of Culloden, life and times became very difficult in the Highlands. The people were forbidden to speak their language (Gaelic), play the Bagpipes (considered instruments of war) or to wear their Highland dress. After the economy went from bad to worse, and the atrocities committed on the Highlanders by Butcher Cumberland and his followers the Highlanders, if they could, left. The first Highlanders to migrate to Nova Scotia arrived on the Ship Hector at Pictou in 1773.Through the years, up to and espe cially during the Highland Clearances, shipload after shipload of Highland emigrants crossed the difficult seas to Nova Scotia. The main ports of entry were Pictou, followed by Sydney, Halifax and others. Pictou became rightly known as the Birthplace of New Scotland. 5. 2Scotland’s markets in the changing US society *Fig. 3 International visitors in Scotland *Fig. 3 International visitors in Scotland Scottish Americans are, of course the target US market, but focusing only on this particular market would lead Homecoming Scotland to extinct. Even if they would have Scottish ancestry, they might not have any interest at all in Scotland. The stratification of the US market has to be demographic and social.The population of USA is approximately 298 million people, of which approximately 12 has Scottish Ancestry. They are widespread around the states, but unequally. Fortunately, for an expensive experience such as visiting Scotland from the US, high Scottish ancestry concentration s are in the wealthier corners of the United States like North-West, Central-North-West, North-East and Central-South-East. One of America’s weaknesses, it citizens average education is still to be desired and higher education is increasingly expensive. In order to have an awareness and interest in your possible Scottish ancestry, you need to have quite a decent education.So therefore, education directly influences American’s level of interest in places like Scotland. *Fig. 4 Adapted from clanstirling. org *Fig. 4 Adapted from clanstirling. org As of the American generations, Scottish tourism is open to almost all of them expect for the pre-depression generation who are predisposed to physical accidents, thus travelling over such long distances would be an impediment for them (not for their UK homologues though). The depression generation is known as very keen to activity and adventure tourism. Scotland’s advanced adventure and activity tourism developed in West ern Scotland, such as Forth William and plentiful of sport events might be an important advantage.But the most suitable American generation to visit Scotland are the â€Å"Baby Boomers†. Boomers are higher income, higher education and are a strong market for anti-aging products, travel and financial services. They are desperate to evade from routine and relax in a wonder untouched corner of the Earth, but also are aware of their ancestry, thus open to visit their homeland. Reaching the Xers however, is a tougher challenge because they have matured in a busy, overcrowded learning and working environment, so reaching them requires special attention to the media. This is in fact where VisitScotland comes at hand the most. 5. 3Homecoming Scotland 2009 and 2014: Stagnating nationally, developing internationallyThe campaign represents a stubbornness to return to the Butler’s development phase of the cycle: a reflection of a well-defined tourist market area, shaped by heavy a dvertising in tourist-generating areas. One of the most likely tourist-generating areas for Scotland is without any doubt, North America, due to its powerful Scottish ancestry. 2009 was the first year of the campaign and it is seen as an economic success for Scotland. Homecoming Scotland 2009 was a Scottish Government initiative, delivered in partnership between EventScotland, the national events agency, and VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation. Homecoming was allocated a core budget of ? 5. 5 million from the Scottish Government.Research by EKOS, an economic and social development consultancy reveals some very impressive achievements of Homecoming Scotland 2009: generated ? 53. 7 million in additional tourism revenue for Scotland, exceeding the ? 44 million target by 22 percent; attracted 95,000 additional visitors to Scotland; and generated ? 154 million of positive global media coverage. Homecoming has established an important database of Scots interest groups around the world. Only VisitScotland. com has received 344,207 additional newsletter subscribers. The year launched over the Robert Burns’ 250th anniversary, Scotland’s national bard and cultural icon. Also in 2009, because of Homecoming’s heritage promotion, the country’s biggest ever co-ordinated St Andrew’s Day was held.In order to have at least a similar success, Homecoming Scotland 2014 has to be predeceased by 3 ‘preliminary years’, each focused on a particular theme: 2010 for Food and Drink, 2011 for an Active Scotland, 2012 for a Creative Scotland, and finally 2013 Natural Scotland. Homecoming 2014 will take place in the year that Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games, the 2014 Ryder Cup and marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. Conclusion Scotland, like any other destination is travelling its destination life cycle. This post-stagnation phase however, represents the most vital one, and it is here where tourism des tination development is mostly put into practice.The uniqueness in which it travels makes Scotland one of the most challenging, yet exciting destinations to promote nationally, and especially internationally. References Ashworth G. and Goodall B. , 1990. Marketing Tourist Places. New York: Routledge; Brewer, T. , 1994. The Marketing of Tradition: Perspectives on Folklore, Tourism and the Heritage Industry. Enfield Lock : Hisarlik; Butler, R. W. , 2006. The Tourism Area Life Cycle, Vol. 1: Applications and Modifications. Clevedon: Channel View Publications; Butler, R. W. , 2006. The Tourism Area Life Cycle, Vol. 1: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues. Clevedon: Channel View Publications; Butler, R. W. , Hall, C. M. , Jenkins J. , 1998. Tourism and Recreation in Rural Areas.Chichester: John Wiley ; Sons Ltd. ; Cooper, C. et al. , 1993. Tourism Principles and Practice, 3rd Ed.. Essex: Pearson; Crouch D. , Jackson R. , and Felix T. , 2005. The Media ; The Tourist Imagination. New York: Ro utledge; Durie, A. J. , 2003. Scotland For The Holidays: Tourism in Scotland c1780-1939. East Linton: Tuckwell Press Ltd. ; Grenier, K. H. , 2005. Tourism and Identity in Scotland, 1770-1914: Creating Caledonia. Burlington: Ashgate; Heath, E. and Wall, G. , 1992. Marketing Tourism Destinations: A Strategic Planning Approach; Kolb, B. M. , 2006. Tourism marketing for cities and towns. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; Swarbrooke, J. , 1995.The Development ; Management of Visitor Attractions. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; BBC NEWS, 2010. Travel industry faces difficult voyage. [online]. London: BBC News. Available from: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-11362694. Accessed 13 December 2011; BUTLER, R. W. , 1973. The Tourist Industry in the Highlands and Islands: Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol. 12, pp. 371-391. HOMECOMING SCOTLAND 2009, 2010. Report for Homecoming Scotland. [online]. Available from http://www. homecomingscotland2009. com/what-was-homecoming -scotland/ancestry/default. html. Accessed 13 December 2011; RODRIGUEZ, J. R. O, PARRA-LOPEZ, E. nd YANES-ESTEVES, V. , 2008. The sustainability of island destinations: Tourism area life cycle and teleological perspectives. Tourism Management. Vol. 29, pp. 53-65. THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT, 2010. Second Homecoming in 2014. [online]. Available from http://www. scotland. gov. uk/News/Releases/2010/05/25113855. Accessed 13 December 2011; TOURISM MATTERS, 2011. Maximise VisitScotland’s â€Å"Surprise Yourself† Campaign. [online]. Available from: http://www. tourismmatters. co. uk/2011/03/maximise-visitscotlands-surprise. html. Accessed 12 December 2011; VISITSCOTLAND, 2011. Visit Scotland: Surprise Yourself. [online]. Available from http://surprise. isitscotland. com/? gclid=CLKB_6C-5aoCFQEf4Qod3Ckq6g. Accessed 11 December 2011; Bibliography Ashworth G. and Goodall B. , 1990. Marketing Tourist Places. New York: Routledge; Brewer, T. , 1994. The Marketing of Tradition: Perspec tives on Folklore, Tourism and the Heritage Industry. Enfield Lock : Hisarlik; Butler, R. W. , 2006. The Tourism Area Life Cycle, Vol. 1: Applications and Modifications. Clevedon: Channel View Publications; Butler, R. W. , 2006. The Tourism Area Life Cycle, Vol. 1: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues. Clevedon: Channel View Publications; Butler, R. W. , Hall, C. M. , Jenkins J. , 1998. Tourism and Recreation in Rural Areas.Chichester: John Wiley ; Sons Ltd. ; Cooper, C. et al. , 1993. Tourism Principles and Practice, 3rd Ed.. Essex: Pearson; Crouch D. , Jackson R. , and Felix T. , 2005. The Media ; The Tourist Imagination. New York: Routledge; Durie, A. J. , 2003. Scotland For The Holidays: Tourism in Scotland c1780-1939. East Linton: Tuckwell Press Ltd. ; Grenier, K. H. , 2005. Tourism and Identity in Scotland, 1770-1914: Creating Caledonia. Burlington: Ashgate; Heath, E. and Wall, G. , 1992. Marketing Tourism Destinations: A Strategic Planning Approach; Kolb, B. M. , 2006. Tourism m arketing for cities and towns. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; Swarbrooke, J. , 1995.The Development ; Management of Visitor Attractions. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; BBC NEWS, 2010. Travel industry faces difficult voyage. [online]. London: BBC News. Available from: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-11362694. Accessed 13 December 2011; BUTLER, R. W. , 1973. The Tourist Industry in the Highlands and Islands: Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol. 12, pp. 371-391. HOMECOMING SCOTLAND 2009, 2010. Report for Homecoming Scotland. [online]. Available from http://www. homecomingscotland2009. com/what-was-homecoming-scotland/ancestry/default. html. Accessed 13 December 2011; RODRIGUEZ, J. R. O, PARRA-LOPEZ, E. and YANES-ESTEVES, V. , 2008.The sustainability of island destinations: Tourism area life cycle and teleological perspectives. Tourism Management. Vol. 29, pp. 53-65. THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT, 2010. Second Homecoming in 2014. [online]. Available from http://ww w. scotland. gov. uk/News/Releases/2010/05/25113855. Accessed 13 December 2011; TOURISM MATTERS, 2011. Maximise VisitScotland’s â€Å"Surprise Yourself† Campaign. [online]. Available from: http://www. tourismmatters. co. uk/2011/03/maximise-visitscotlands-surprise. html. Accessed 12 December 2011; VISITSCOTLAND, 2011. Visit Scotland: Surprise Yourself. [online]. Available from http://surprise. visitscotland. com/? gclid=CLKB_6C-5aoCFQEf4Qod3Ckq6g. Accessed 11 December 2011;