Creative Intelligence and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Creative Intelligence and Leadership - Essay Example In an organizational setting, innovation will enable the business organization to find new ways to doing business that would make them competitive in the marketplace. Design will make their products and services better while creativity will open endless possibilities to the organization to create opportunities as well as find new solutions to existing problems. Or, propose new ways that can debunk an existing method and processes that would save the company resources and make it more competitive in the market. These three items are crucial in meeting organizational objectives. Innovation, design and creativity are capabilities that enable organizations to create and perform better at a lower cost. This is consistent with the organization’s objectives which is not only to improve its bottom line but also to make the organization relevant in the marketplace as well as society by enabling it to create better products and services that does not only make profit but also serves society as

The supernatural is the force responsible for many of theevents of Macbeth Essay Example for Free

The supernatural is the force responsible for many of theevents of Macbeth Essay The supernatural is the force responsible for many of the events of Macbeth. How far do you agree with this statement? Throughout the play Macbeth goes through many changes, but the question is what is responsible for these changes? Responsible means to have control over something or someone something definitely has control over Macbeth, whether he himself has this control or the supernatural or even Lady Macbeth does I will be discussing in this essay. I will also decide what I think is responsible for the actions that Macbeth takes in the play. The supernatural may not be completely responsible for Macbeths actions but they almost certainly play an important part in the development of Macbeths character. Because the supernatural was a force that was believed in by everyone at that time Macbeth is willing to deem what they say: Macbeth: Into the air; and what seemd corporal melted As breath into the wind. Would they have stayed. Banquo: Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner? This extract is taken from after the witches first appearance in the play. Banquo is interested as to what they are, whereas Macbeth is intrigued about what they said. This could be the turning point for Macbeths development, the witchs predict that he will become King so maybe Macbeth thinks that he should help things along and that by killing the present King it wouldnt be disrupting the great chain of being because he would have become King anyway. In the first scene when the witchs first appear they immediately overturn ideas of good into bad with an incantation, Fair is foul and foul is fair. This could be responsible for Macbeth turning from a kind-hearted, considerate man into an insensitive, callous man. But this could be because of how Macbeth interprets their predictions, the witchs never actually told Macbeth to go and kill the king, they just said All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter! The witchs said no more about him becoming king or how he would become king. Banquo realises that they are a temptation and does not believe them, however they told Macbeth what he wanted to hear so they ratified his thoughts. But Macbeth never admits to acting on the basis of what they told him, damned all those that trust them Macbeth says this quite near to the end, after he has killed Duncan, Banquo and just before he has Macduffs family killed. Him having Macduffs family killed is also because of the witches, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff. This was the witchs first apparition in their second appearance in the play (they appear three times in total because three is a magical number and it sets the supernatural atmosphere that is the theme of Macbeth.) Soon after, Macbeth decides to have Macduffs family killed as a reprisal. I think that the witchs manage to have Macbeth put under their spell after the first prediction comes true He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor. This gives Macbeth proof that the witchs know his future and what lies in store for him. The dagger can be interpreted in two ways; either as a hallucination or a real dagger the witchs made in an incantation to tempt Macbeth further. Firstly I will talk about the dagger as a hallucination. Macbeth is a tragic hero and every tragic has a fatal flaw; Macbeths fatal flaw is ambition. Throughout the play he lets his ambition get the better of him and this ambition could be what drives him into hallucinating about the dagger because at this early point in the play Macbeth is still unsure of whether he should be killing the king or not, so he could be looking for encouragement a dagger pointing the way that he wants to go definitely is a good source of encouragement. But even Macbeth is unsure if it is real. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heart-oppressed brain? He debates in his mind for a while whether he is seeing it as a hallucination to reinforce his will to commit regicide. The other reason about the existence of the dagger is that it could be a creation made by the witchs. The witchs main role throughout the play is to violate Gods natural order and encourage Macbeth to overturn the great chain of being. So if the dagger is one of the witchs creations then they are certainly fore filling their role. Macbeth interprets the dagger as a sign that he must commit regicide (overturning the great chain of being) and so he does. Either way, the dagger is partly responsible for the continual trip that Macbeth takes down the path of evil. Although Banquo proves to be immune to the temptation of the witchs themselves, he is not immune to their prophecies. By Act III, two of the three prophecies have come true; the only one left is that Banquos offspring will in future become kings. This is a threat to Macbeth because he has gone through so much for him to become king and therefore his offspring to follow; he doesnt want these sacrifices he has made to be futile. Banquo also starts to infer that Macbeth is not the rightful king. This is why Macbeth decides to have Banquo killed. However, when Banquo is murdered Fleance escapes, thus making Macbeths conscience and fear of the truth come into play again. When Macbeth is at the feast, he sees the ghost of Banquo, but nobody else there does. This can also be interpreted in two ways, either the ghost was created by the witchs or it is Macbeths conscience making him hallucinate. If the ghost is real, he could be trying to warn Macbeth that what he is doing is wrong and he must turn back, however this is unlikely because there havent been any other events which have warned Macbeth that he is doing bad things this could mean that every event could be traced back to the witchs because they wouldnt want to discourage Macbeth, especially with their aim being to overturn the ideas of good into bad. However, if he is real and is going against what the witchs want it could be showing the disorder that Macbeth and his activities have brought into society. There are many other influences that could be responsible for Macbeths actions, one of which is Lady Macbeth. Macbeths role is to play the tragic hero whose fatal flaw is ambition. But he isnt the only one to be ambitious; Lady Macbeth is the dominant person in their relationship and her ambition for Macbeth shines through in the course of events. It is her that first plants the idea of killing Duncan in Macbeths head and it is her that provides the encouragement for Macbeth that he needs for confidence. She could easily be judged as selfish and manipulative because she got Macbeth to do the dirty work. Her role could be described as vital but still supplementary to the witches. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth by questioning his manhood; he could be seen as a feeble if he isnt willing to kill Duncan for his and her future. With a mixture of ambition and Lady Macbeths manipulative and encouraging characteristics there is definitely reason to doubt that the supernatural are responsible for Macbeth and his behaviour. The audience is immediately plunged into a mystical atmosphere because the first scene is with the witchs performing an incantation; this helps the audience to view the play from a spiritual view. The supernatural element does not only make itself known through the witchs, there are also references made to prayer, sanctity and cleansing. Another important aspect of the atmosphere of the play is the importance of dark and light. He witches are introduced to the play in foul weather they speak of thunder, lightning, fog, and filthy air this sets the play as one that the theme of evil is central. The witchs also say Fair is foul and foul is fair this shows how things are overturned in this play. The ironic part of that line is that when Macbeth himself enters; his first line is So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Use Of Geological Knowledge In Building A House Construction Essay

Use Of Geological Knowledge In Building A House Construction Essay A house provides warmth, security and comfort for us human. In order to build houses that meet the safety requirements and occupants expectations, geological knowledge is important as a base for the construction of these buildings. A house is not build on a fluffy cloud, but on a solid ground where we have to first mount slab or lay concrete beams as the main foundation systems. It is also a common construction technique in wet and coastal areas where houses are put up on posts. Before the decision to purchase a land or home is made, the type of ground where the house is going to be built on must first be determined. It is important to have a stable soil because there could be many drawbacks if the ground is unstable. If a house is built over loose soil conditions, the house will slowly sink. And if a house is built over an old dump site, it may be exposed to gases from the toxic waste below the surface. Units of houses that are to be put up on hill slopes must consider various factors including the slope gradient, soil and rock engineering properties, drainage system, ground water table, geological factor and rainfall intensity. Hill slopes and elevated areas must be assessed holistically, taking into account those factors that are inter-dependent. Local authorities should advise house buyers by providing geological reports related to the proposed site before these buyers are to make decision on whether to buy properties residing near hill slopes. In Malaysia, slopes have been classified into four classes and four levels of height. Class 1 is for slopes of less than 15 degrees, Class 2 for slopes of between 15 and 25 degrees, Class 3 for slopes of 25 to 35 degrees and Class 4 where slopes are more than 35 degrees. There exist guidelines that ban building activities on slopes of more than 35 degrees. Besides, slopes with granite and schist have a layer of soil in between and are prone to landslides. In advancement, man-made slope disasters can be minimised by focusing on three technical phases, namely planning, during construction and post-construction activities. In the planning phase, submitting engineers must undertake a detailed investigation of the soil condition prior to drawing up the building plan so that accurate engineering measurements can be formulated to ensure the building can stand firmly on the ground. Under during construction phase, periodic inspection by the regulatory authorities should be implemented to ensure that the construction is executed according to the design requirements and safety aspects. Lastly, during the post-construction phase, monitoring instrumentation and periodic slope maintenance should be carried out. By having proper slope maintenance, signs of slope instability can be detected earlier and minor slope repair can be done, thus minimising the risk of large-scale slope failure. The cost of major slope repair is much more expensive than car rying out maintenance works. Nevertheless, slopes stability can be maintained by terracing and ploughing contour to prevent soil being washed downhill, planting tree belts to provide windbreaks and retention of straw and crop litter to protect the surface from erosion. Usually, benching, constructing  retaining walls,  shotcreting and putting up steel nets are some other methods of maintaining a slope. In addition, authorities must ensure the intensity and direction of underground water flow, type of rocks in the soil and ability of retaining structures to support the ground. Developers must have flexible pipe fittings installed to avoid water leaks while in mudflow areas, channels or deflection walls are to be built to direct the flow of water around buildings. Inclusively, some of the  precipitation  that falls onto the land  infiltrates  into the ground to become ground water. Once in the ground, some of this water travels close to the land surface and emerges very quickly as discharge into streambeds. However, because of gravity, much of the rain water continues to sink deeper into the ground. Water can move both horizontally or vertically once it meets the water table (below which the soil is saturated). Water moving downward can also meet more dense and water-resistant non-porous rock and soil, which causes it to flow in a more horizontal fashion. The direction and speed of groundwater movement is determined by the various characteristics of aquifers and confining layers of subsurface rocks in the ground. This event can cause geo-hazards because when water flows underground without being monitored, landslide or sinking of soil can take place. After identifying the geological factors related to the ground where the house is to be built on, we next identify the geological aspects that contribute to the construction of the house itself. Walls of a house can be made of so many different materials such as mud and clay, rock, wood, bricks or concrete. The deciding factor is usually connected with the quality of the  soil being used. Larger amounts of  clay  usually mean using the  cob/adobe  style, while low clay soil is usually associated with  sod  building. Soil and especially clay is good  thermal mass. Homes built with earth tend to be naturally cool in the summer heat and warm in cold weather. In Malaysia, houses are made of either clay or sand bricks. Clay bricks are a little more expensive than sand bricks but clay bricks are more practical to Malaysian houses as they are naturally cool in the Malaysian heat. Rock structures are the longest durable building material available, and are usually readily available. There is a simple rule to follow on building a solid rock wall; durable and strong stones must be used. Rock is a very dense material so it gives a lot of protection and must be impervious to moisture. Some of the best rocks to be used are those made of hard shale or schist because they have natural flat cleavage planes when split. Its main draw-back as a material is its weight and awkwardness. Its  energy density  is also considered a big draw-back, as rock is hard to keep warm without using large amounts of heating resources. A house is not complete without a roof. Nowadays, there are many types of roofing materials being used to shelter a house. On the other hand, developers must also consider the slanting of roof and geographical location of a house. The most common roofing material use in Malaysia is clay/concrete roof tiles for urban house dwellers and metal shingles for rural houses. Both concrete and clay tiles have longer lifespan, require low maintenance and are resistant to rot and insects. Then again, clay is very heavy and also fragile. For buildings in equatorial regions with warm and humid climate like Malaysia, the roof has been said to be a major source of heat gain. According to the Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), the principle of earth-base materials provide natural cool also apply to roof whereby although the most expensive, clay roof tiles can keep a house cool in the Malaysia heat as it is proven to have the best thermal performance with respect to MRT. The highly recommended material for reflective insulator is double-sided aluminium foil which can be used to replace mass insulation materials due to higher thermal performance. Hybrid ceiling proved to have the best performance in reducing thermal radiation into the interior space, followed by plaster board and cement board. In order to complete the house, flooring materials are needed. The geological aspect of the house must first be clarified. If the house is located in a moisture area, use flooring material that does not rot and will not absorb water, such as stone, marble and granite, or concrete slabs, whereas in a very cold area, material such as linoleum is used. Some stone tiles such as polished granite, marble, and travertine are very slippery when wet but they keep mold and mildew away. Some of the softer stone such as limestone tiles are not suitable for very heavy traffic floor areas. As recently as the 1970s, wall-to-wall carpeting was a standard selection for homeowners who were purchasing new flooring. Linoleum was popular in the kitchen, and bathrooms were often covered with inexpensive vinyl tiles. It also used to be that granite and marble surfaces or rougher, more rustic stone materials seen only in vacation cabins or backyard patios. Nowadays, floors of houses are assortments of all t hese classified materials. Lastly, up until the 1970s, asbestos has been the most popular material for ceiling tiles. It is only recently found that asbestos is unsafe if the material is airborne; hence, contaminated  ceiling tiles  are risky if damaged. Ceiling tiles are lightweight tiles fabricated from perlite, mineral wool, and fibers (from recycled paper) are used in the interior of buildings. They are placed on a steel grid and they provide thermal but especially sound insulation. Here in Malaysia, it is proven that hybrid ceiling (combination of aluminium foil and rockwool) is able to produce the lowest MRT  followed by plaster board and cement board. In a nutshell, the acquirement of comprehensive knowledge of the house foundation, materials to use and experts advice is important. These skills are geological knowledge needed in building a perfect house. (1524 words)

The Atomic Bomb :: American America History

The Atomic Bomb Background of the Atomic Bomb It was during the Second World War that the United States became a world power, thanks in a large part to its monopoly on atomic weapons. The atomic bomb is a weapon with great explosive power that results form the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission of the nuclei of such heavy elements as plutonium or uranium. This new destructive force wrecked havoc on two Japanese cities and caused the end of World War II. It also saved thousands of American lives because a ground invasion of Japan was no longer necessary. The decision to create the bombs was that of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt under a secret military project that was called The Manhattan Project. The Beginnings of the Manhattan Project In 1939, after German dictator Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, German scientists shocked the scientific world when they announced that they had split uranium atoms by man-made means for the first time. Upon hearing this news, a nuclear physicist, Leo Szilard, was convinced that a chain reaction of this process could be used as a weapon to release an awesome burst of power. Szilard knew that this knowledge was now in the wrong hands of the enemy Germans. On a July day in 1939 Szilard and his associate, Edward Teller, drove to the Long Island home of Albert Einstein to alert him of their findings. Einstein used his political influence by immediately writing a letter to President Roosevelt explaining the consequences of the Germans creating an atomic bomb. His letter read, "I believe, therefore, that is my duty to bring to your attention that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new-like elements would be generated. A single bomb of this type, carried by a boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port, together with some of the surrounding territory." Two months passed before Roosevelt finally read the letter. He ordered a committee of scientists and military officers to meet Szilard and Teller to determine whether America was capable of building a nuclear bomb. In 1940, Szilard and Teller were granted a mere $6,000 to begin experiments in nuclear fission. The duo enlisted the help of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938, Enrico Fermi.

Civil Disobedience Essay

Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy. It is characterized by the employment of nonviolent techniques such as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes. Civil disobedience is a nonviolent act of protest, which is caused by a moral belief that a law is wrong or otherwise known as unconstitutional. In the nineteenth century, the American author Henry David Thoreau wrote â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† an important essay justifying such action which started the boycotting and other nonviolent actions. Civil disobedience was started by the American author Henry David Thoreau. Henry Thoreau established the modern theory behind the practice of civil disobedience in his essay, â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† originally titled â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government,† which was published in 1849. The idea behind this essay was that of self-reliance, and how one is in morally good standing as long as one can â€Å"get off another man’s back.† The essay also stated that someone should not have to physically fight the government, but one must not support it. Civil disobedience can also be distinguished from other active forms of protest, such as rioting because of its passivity and non-violence. This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience. Henry David Thoreau protested the Mexican-American War and paying taxes, but his essay led to other protests as well. Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. found Thoreau’s essay very inspiring. Thoreau believed morality is more important than legality as shown below: â€Å"Must a citizen . . . resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.† Gandhi found guidance in Thoreau’s words and freed India from British rule. Martin Luther King Jr. also used Thoreau’s words to oppose racial  segregation in the south of the United States of America. Both of these men used nonviolent strategies to secure the rights of people not being treated equally especially in a white-dominated societies. These two men dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom. Gandhi and King became towering figures in modern history because they took Thoreau’s words and learned from it. Gandhi and King were both assassinated because they challenged old prejudices and sought a better way of life for oppressed people. Civil disobedience was exercised by Mahatma Gandhi while the struggle for independence in India continued in the twentieth century. Civil disobedience was also practiced by some members of the civil rights movement in the United States, notably Martin Luther King, Jr., to challenge segregation of public facilities; a common tactic of these civil rights supporters was the sit-in. King defended the use of civil disobedience in his â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail.† Human rights activists have often challenged unfair social policies or business practices. Their methods are nonviolent and may include a variety of marches, rallies, and demonstrations. Instead of fighting back when force is used against them, activists meet that force with passive resistance. In every case, the goal is to dramatize injustice in as public a manner as possible. The activists began the crusade by breaking laws that separated people by race. Some examples are sit-ins at lunch counters, lining up at whites-only counters, and refused to sit in the rear â€Å"colored† section of the city buses. Hundreds went to jail for these actions, but the protests were never stopped. India went through the same type of dedication and hard times for its independence that the activists that followed Martin Luther King Jr. had gone through for equal rights. As leader of the movement, Mohandas K. Gandhi was firmly committed to nonviolence. Gandhi believed it was not just a tactic for achieving social change; it was a way of life. That is why Gandhi is so well remembered. Gandhi called Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience† essay â€Å"a masterly treatise† which â€Å"left a deep impression on me.† Later on Gandhi became unsatisfied with the term â€Å"passive resistance.† He noted,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"In a meeting of Europeans I found that the term â€Å"passive resistance† was too narrowly construed, that it was supposed to be a weapon of the weak, that it could be characterized by hatred, and that it could finally [show] itself as violence† Gandhi was so determined to make a change; he put out a call for suggestions for a new word to describe the Indian struggle. The eventual result was satyagraha, which combines â€Å"truth† and â€Å"firmness.† This implies that resistance to evil and injustice is active rather than just passive. Nonviolence and passivity were finally recognized as not being the same thing. Gandhi’s special gift was his ability to use spiritual methods to achieve political goals, using his moral authority to oppose many forms of injustice. He not only took on the British Empire in the cause of political freedom, he also challenged the Hindu caste system in the cause of human equality. Also, he led a protest against the British salt tax in India. He marched to the ocean and making salt illegally, then encouraged the equally illegal sale of untaxed salt all over India. Activities like these gave him the title Mahatma, meaning â€Å"great soul.† In time that title replaced his name because of the powerful leader he was. Martin Luther King Jr. was a seminary student when he became aware of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. King was on a quest that he described as â€Å"a serious intellectual quest for a method to eliminate social evil.† He found this in a sermon by Dr. Mordecal Johnson, president of Howard University. King stated, â€Å"Dr. Johnson had just returned from a trip to India, and, to my great interest, he spoke of the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. His message was so profound and electrifying that I left the meeting and bought half dozen books on Gandhi’s life and works.† Gandhi’s work led King’s first bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, 1955, an African-American seamstress was seated in the back â€Å"colored section† of a crowded city bus. A man later came on the bus and could not find any other seats and asked the seamstress to move. This remarkable woman was Rosa Parks refusing to move and was promptly arrested.  This finally was the last straw for the people in Montgomery; King determined that the time was finally right. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who followed him knew that this ending was the beginning of a much larger struggle for true equality. It would be long and it would be difficult. Some people would grow impatient of the nonviolent actions and would want to end up fighting back, but this was the time to determine their real strength. King said, â€Å"The false impression. . . . the resister quietly and passively accepts evil. But nothing is further from the truth. . . The method is passive physically, strongly active spiritually. It is not passive nonresistance to evil, is active nonviolent resistance to evil.† The â€Å"active nonviolent resistance† that won the day in Montgomery would be severely tested when it faced the racism and bigotry that created those laws in the first place. That struggle would continue into the 1960s and beyond. As the world evolved the 1960s became an act of civil disobedience also known as the activist sixties which is remembered as a time of social disturbance and change in the United States. Minority groups demanded equal rights and poor people sought a way out of their poverty. The activism fell short of saving the world, but it did produce important gains for human rights. African Americans moved closer to true social equality. The most ambitious antipoverty program in American history was created. The Supreme Court created new legal safeguards for individual rights. In the United States, the African American civil rights movement blazed a trail of activism that others would follow. By the end of the 1950s, African-American activists had learned that changing the law was not enough. Somebody had to take the risk of putting those changes into practice. African American students had to enroll in previously all-white schools. African-American customers had to sit down at â€Å"white† lunch counters and wait to be served. Also, African-American voters had to register and then go to the polls on Election Day. In 1960 sympathetic whites and African-Americans that were tired of the segregation formed a committee named the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to promote equality. The crusade for racial equality captured the imagination of many young people. On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people assembled at the Lincoln Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered the speech that was to become one of the most memorable orations in American history. A third of the people were white sympathizers of the African-American people. He delivered the speech â€Å"I have a dream† which moved people to fight for equality for everyone, it also became known as the â€Å"Movement† because it gathered momentum after the march on Washington. Human rights play an important role for civil disobedience. There were so many nonviolent protests because before the 20th century not everyone’s rights were being protected and being given equally. Due to Gandhi, King, and Thoreau they taught people in later generations to stand up for what is right. Now, women have the right to vote and children are treated equal and have been given rights. The right to privacy is one of the most important rights us as the people have, which due to technology is making our privacy less personal and able to be seen through closed doors. People are waiting for actions to be taken to make programs on the internet and personal information more secure. Civil disobedience is still around today; due to Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi being the first men to provoke boycotting, not paying taxes, and any other type of nonviolent resistance. These three men showed people that â€Å"taking a stand† and protesting the government could be done without violence. Many people were thrown in jail, but none of the people that followed Thoreau’s words or Gandhi’s and King’s actions were for violence. They learned to find patience in the work they did knowing that they did not have to physically fight the government, but they must not support it. Citations Axelsen, K. L. (1995, Spring). Problems of punitive damages for political protest and civil disobedience. Environmental Law, 25(2), 495-511. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA17093286&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Civil Disobedience. (2010). The Hotline. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA227491783&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Lopach, J. J., & Luckowski, J. A. (2005). Uncivil disobedience: violating the rules for breaking the law. Education Next, 5(2), 38+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA130276023&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Bronwlee, K. (2007, January 4). Civil disobedience. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civil-disobedience/ Thoreau, H. (1993). Civil disobedience and other essays. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Altman, L. (2002). Human rights: Issues for a new millenium. Chicago: Dover Publications, Inc.

Nelson Mandela Inauguration Speech Analysis Essay

All inaugural addresses use tools of rhetoric. Nelson Mandela gave an inaugural address. Therefore, Mandela’s inaugural address uses tools of rhetoric. As stated by Campbell and Jamieson, â€Å"inauguration is a right of passage, and therefore creates a need for the newly elected president to make a public address – these addresses have a synthetic core in which certain rhetorical elements †¦ are fused into an indivisible whole† (1990). This paper will discuss the often subtle but effective tools of rhetoric used in inaugural addresses, focusing on former South African President Nelson Mandela’s, in particular. I will argue that the creation of unity is the overriding rhetorical purpose of the inaugural address as a genre, which is synonymous with Burke’s theory of identification To begin with, I will provide some background information on the inaugural address as a rhetorical genre. Following this, I will discuss the positions of the author an d audience (the rhetorical situation), and relate these positions to Aristotle’s concept of ethos and pathos; I will go on to analyze the appeals and tropes exercised by Mandela in his inaugural address; all of these rhetorical elements, I will argue, construct unity and persuade the people of South Africa to take their first steps towards reunification. The inaugural address can be considered a rhetorical genre, as it is a recognizable kind of speech with â€Å"similar forms that share substantive, stylistic, and situational characteristics† (Tarvin, 2008). The inaugural address is ceremonial and traditional in nature, and can be characterized by Aristotelian theorists as epideictic oratory, which is oratory that takes place on special occasions; the author â€Å"celebrates the event for an audience of †¦ fellow citizens by appealing to common values and cultural traditions† (Killingsworth, 2005). The speech symbolizes a change in government, and is the newly elected President’s first official public address. Corbett and Connors have observed that â€Å"inaugural addresses usually deal in broad, undeveloped generalizations. Principles, policies, and promises are enunciated without elaboration† (1999), while Sigelman points out that presidents â€Å"typically use the occasion to commemorate the natio n’s past, to envision its future, and to try to set the tone for [following] years† (1996). Campbell and Jamieson define five key elements that distinguish the inaugural address as a genre. The presidential inaugural: â€Å"unifies the audience by reconstituting its members as the people, who can witness and  ratify the ceremony; rehearses communal values drawn from the past; sets forth the political principles that will govern the new administration; and demonstrates through enactment that the president appreciates the requirements and limitations of executive functions. Finally, each of these ends must be achieved †¦ while urging contemplation not action, focusing on the present while incorporating past and future, and praising the institution of presidency and the values and form of the government of which it is a part (Campbell and Jamieson, 1990). Note that unification of the audience (which is synonymous with Burke’s theory of identification) constitutes the â€Å"most fundamental [element] that demarcate[s] the inaugural address as a rhetorical genre† (Sigelman, 1996), which is the overriding argument of this paper. I would also like to poin t out the three main positions in any piece of rhetoric, as stated by Killingsworth (2005): the position of the author (Mandela, for the purpose of this essay), the position of the audience (immediate and secondary audiences), and the position of value to which the author refers (the unity of whites and blacks). The author’s rhetorical goal is to move the audience towards his position via a shared position of values, which results in the alignment of the three positions (author, audience, and value). Therefore, Mandela’s rhetorical goal is to move his immediate and secondary audience of both supporters and critics towards his position as the newly elected black President of South Africa by the shared goal of unification of all races within the nation. Put another way, Kenneth Burke, in his work â€Å"A Rhetoric of Motives†, describes the basic function of rhetoric as the â€Å"use of words by human agents to form attitudes or induce actions in other human agents† (1969). In order to align attitudes of author, audience, and value, or in order to form attitudes to induce action in other human agents, the first consideration in the construction of the speech must be the audience. Before I discuss audience though, I will talk about the position of Mandela – the author of the inaugural address in question. Corbett and Connors (1999) point out that when doing a rhetorical analysis, one must always consider the special situation that faces the speaker. Nelson Mandela was elected as the first black president in South Africa on May 10th, 1994; this election was particularly significant because it was the first ever multi-racial, democratic election in the country’s history. It also signaled  the end of the apartheid (from the Afrikaans word for â€Å"apartness† or â€Å"separateness†), which was both a slogan and a social and political policy of racial segregations and discrimination, enforced by the White National party from 1948 until Mandela’s election. However, racial segregation has characterized South Africa since white settlers arrived in 1652, before apartheid. Furthermore, Mandela spent 27 years as a political prisoner in South Africa for his role as a freedom fighter and leader of the African National Congress (ANC), and his significant contribution to anti-apartheid activities. All of these factors established some doubts in Mandela, especially in the minds of white South Africans. Mandela â€Å"had to address the very legitimate needs of black South African people while preventing the flight of white South Africans and foreign capital from the nation †¦ [and his inaugural address] needed to [rhetorically] establish the ground from which progress would grow† (Sheckels, 2001). Because of these varying circumstances, the inaugural address might be â€Å"an occasion when a powerful ethical appeal would have to be exerted if the confidence and initiatives of the people were to be aroused† (Corbett and Connors, 1999). However, while these factors established doubts in some, they also contributed to Mandela’s ethos, which is defined by Aristotle as the character or credibility of the rhetor. Aristotle claims â€Å"It is necessary not only to look at the argument, that it may be demonstrative and persuasive but also [for the speaker] to construct a view of himself as a certain kind of person† (Aristotle in Borchers, 2006). As stated in Killingsworth, â€Å"authors demonstrate their character †¦ in every utterance† (2005). A person who possesses â€Å"practical wisdom, virtue, and good will †¦ is necessarily persuasive to the hearers† (Borchers, 2006). Mandela possesses considerable ethos as a result of his personal identity and regional history; his involvement with the ANC, the political party whose aim was to defend the rights and freedoms of African people, and the time he served as a political prisoner demonstrate his dedication to the construction of a democratic nation. One author notes that Mandela serves as a â€Å"representative of the African people at large† (Sheckels, 2001). The public’s knowledge of Mandela’s past allows him to establish ethos, which in turn helps him deliver a rhetorically successful inaugural address, which serves in the construction of unity between all people of South Africa. Additionally, as one author points out, ethos â€Å"may  take several forms – a powerful leader like the President will often have the ethos of credibil ity that comes from authority† (Tuman, 2010). While Mandela uses his past to construct ethos, he also gains ethos as South Africa’s newly elected President. Because it was the first ever democratic election, in which his party won 62% of the votes, Mandela gains authority over past South African Presidents; his call to office represents the wants and needs of all people in South Africa, while his predecessors’ did not. Mandela’s accumulated ethos contributes to the persuasive power of his inaugural address, in which he makes his first official attempt as President to establish unity through speech. Next I will discuss the position of the audience. When constructing a speech, the author must first consider who his specific audience is: â€Å"consideration of audience drives the creation of an effective persuasive message† (Tuman, 2010). When writing his inaugural speech, which is a form of oral rhetoric, Mandela had to consider both an immediate audience, as well as a secondary audience who would watch the speech through the medium of TV and listen to it on the radio. The audience consisted not only of South Africans, but of people across the world interested and inspired by this monumental moment in history. Furthermore, Mandela had to consider both listeners who were his supporters and listeners who were his adversaries. Corbett and Connors claim that â€Å"the larger and more heterogeneous the audience is, the more difficult it is to adjust the discourse to fit the audience. In his content and his style, the President must strike some common denominator – but [one] that does not fall below the dignity that the occasion demands† (Killingsworth, 2005). One such way that Mandela adjusts his discourse to fit his audience is his choice in diction. While he does engage in the use of tropes and rhetorical appeals, he also uses fairly common language throughout. This is especially important in his situation, as many of his black listeners were denied education by the whites, and thus had limited vocabularies. While Mandela wanted to reach out to the educated citizens and international guests, he also had to ensure that his less educated listeners were able to grasp his words and thus be affected by the emotionality of his address and persuaded to unite. When analyzing Mandela’s Inaugural address in consideration of audience, we may also note his opening line: â€Å"Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades, and Friends.† Here he acknowledges both the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"distinguished international guests,† as well as the people of South Africa: â€Å"Comrades and Friends.† Recognizing members of the international and internal audience is a tradition of inaugural addresses with rhetorical value. Kennedy, for example, followed this tradition when he began his inaugural address: â€Å"Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, Fellow Citizens,† as did Roos evelt when he began: â€Å"Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, My Friends† (Wolfarth, 1961). Additionally, we may note that it is traditional for inaugural addresses to â€Å"abound with unity appeals† (Wolfarth, 1961), which unite the president to the citizens of the country for which he reigns. President Jefferson, for example, addressed â€Å"Friends and Fellow-Citizens† in his opening line; Pierce opened with â€Å"My countrymen;† while Lincoln saluted his â€Å"Fellow-Citizens of the United States† in the first lines of his second inaugural address (Wolfarth, 1961). An address containing official salutations as well as unity appeals causes all audiences to identify with the President. We may also note additional unity appeals throughout Mandela’s inaugural address. There is a pervasive use of personal pronouns, such as â€Å"we,† â€Å"us,† and â€Å"our,† along with â€Å"symbolically potent terms that embody a sense of collectivity† (Sigelman, 1996), such as â€Å"South Africa/Africans† â€Å"homel and,† â€Å"people,† and â€Å"country,† all of which connote community and contribute to the construction of unity. Mandela begins 15 out of 30 sections (as designated in the index) with â€Å"we† or â€Å"our,† and they constitute 59 of the 893 words in the address (6.6%). The repetition of the word â€Å"we† at the beginning of subsequent sentences is a rhetorical trope called ‘anaphora;’ by using this rhetorical technique, Mandela subtly emphasizes the importance of unity As one author explains, the strategic use of personal pronouns is â€Å"one fairly subtle means of transmitting a feeling of unity† (Sigelman, 1996). Appeals to unity follow in Burke’s theory of identification as a means of persuasion or cooperation. By addressing â€Å"Comrades and Friends† and using the words â€Å"we† and â€Å"us† throughout the speech, Mandela is uniting the audience with himself, as well as each other – a â€Å"powerful, yet subtle, type of identification †¦ The word ‘we’ reinforces the idea that all of the [listening] community is united in its efforts to accomplish [certain] goals† (Borchers, 2006). The rhetorician who appeals to an audience to the  point where identific ation takes place has accomplished the purpose of his rhetoric (Burke, 1969). Mandela’s use of personal pronouns and terms that embody collectivity construct unity, which is the overriding purpose of both his inaugural address, as well as his Presidency in general. Mandela’s inaugural address also employs pathos, which is an appeal to the emotions of one’s audience that serves as a persuasive power. Aristotle argued that a speaker must understand the emotions of one’s audience in order to be persuasive (Borchers, 2006); that is, he must understand his audience’s state of mind, against whom their emotions are directed, and for what sorts of reasons people feel the way they do, in order to connect emotionally with them. Mandela’s inauguration was an emotional day for the people of South Africa and the world, because it represented a shift towards democracy, equality, and freedom for all people. One author notes that â€Å"Mandela’s first presidential address before the newly constituted South African Parliament lifted South Africa from the realm of imaginary democracy into a state of actual democratic practice and was a self-referential act of bringing opposing parties together. The [inauguration] speech was the first example of reconstruction and development after apartheid †¦ in words – and words alone – [Mandela’s] speech reconstitute[d] the nation† (Salazar, 2002). We can see Mandela’s use of pathos throughout his inauguration speech. For example, he refers to the past as an â€Å"extraordinary human disaster† (3); he enlists his fellow South Africans to â€Å"produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all† (4); he discusses â€Å"the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict †¦ saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world† (9); and he refers to his win as â€Å"a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity† (11) and his o pponents as â€Å"blood-thirsty forces which still refuse to see the light† (14). Mandela then makes an emotional pledge: â€Å"we pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender, and other discrimination †¦ we shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts† (16-18). He then dedicates â€Å"this day to all the heroes and heroines †¦ who sacrificed  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and surrendered their lives so that we could be free† (20). The rhetorical use of pathos is thick throughout Mandela’s inaugural address. Mandela’s appeals to unity also contribute to the pathos of the speech by inspiring the listeners to join together as one, rather than opposing entities. Mandela concludes with a promise: â€Å"never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression †¦ and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world./ Let freedom reign† (28-29). It is also important to note Mandela’s use of what rhetorical scholars have called ‘ideographs,’ which are defined as â€Å"high-level abstraction[s] that encapsulate or summarize the definitive principles or ideals of a political culture† (Parry-Giles & Hogan, 2010). I would like to add that the use of ideographs employs Aristotle’s concept of pathos, as the words are often emotionally laden. Examples of ideographs used in Mandela’s inaugural address include: â€Å"liberty† (2); â€Å"nobility† (4); â€Å"justice† (4, 11, 26); â€Å"peace† (11, 26); â€Å"human dignity† (11, 18); â€Å"freedom† (17, 21, 29); and â€Å"hope† (1, 18). Freedom is the most significant ideograph in the speech, as Mandela was a ‘freedom-fighter’ and was ‘freed’ from prison in 1990, which was a major step towards ‘freedom’ for all South Africans. Ideographs, claim rhetorical scholars, â€Å"have the potential to unify diverse audiences around vaguely shared sets of meaning† (Parry-Giles & Hogan, 2010). Yet again we are presented with appeals to unity in Mandela’s inaugural address. As discussed, Mandela’s speech provides evidence that he understands his audience’s state of mind (a mixture of apprehension and optimism), against whom their emotions are directed (Mandela himself, as well as the apartheid), and for what sorts of reasons people feel the way they do (change, fear, history, etc.). Thus, he was able to connect emotionally with his audience, which is Aristotle’s understanding of Pathos. I will continue my analysis of Mandela’s speech with consideration of appeals he makes to place and race. Killingsworth points out that â€Å"appeals to race †¦ often work together with appeals to place† (2005). In Mandela’s inauguration speech he says: â€Å"Each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld. /Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change. /We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when   grass turns green and the flowers bloom. /That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland †¦.† (6-9). This claim on the land can be thought of as an identification of race with place, or in terms of Ke nneth Burke’s dramatism, a ratio between agent and scene, who and where (Killingsworth, 2005). When white settlers arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, they began displacing indigenous black inhabitants from their homeland, pushing them onto â€Å"less desirable terrain where water was comparatively scarce, grazing poor and agricultural conditions harsh† (Horrell, 1973). Apartheid made the separation of blacks with their homeland even more acute with the implementation of designated group areas, in which blacks were relocated to slums and townships, separate from whites. Hook, in Killingsworth, claims that â€Å"collective black self-recovery can only take place when we begin to renew our relationship to the earth, when we remember the way of our ancestors† (2005). Mandela’s appeals to race and place in his inaugural address advocate collective self-recovery, and, as a byproduct, unity. Burke notes that â€Å"rhetors who feature the scene see the world as relatively permanent †¦ [and] rhetors who features the agent see people as rational and capable of making choices† (Borchers, 153). By featuring both scene and agent, it is evident that Mandela sees the physical geography of South Africa as unchanging, and also sees that the people who inhabit South Africa have the power to choose to unite on that shared territory. Unity is the underlying theme of Mandela’s inaugural address as well as his presidency: the unity of white and black people; the dissolution of apartheid and its associated segregation; the reunification of native South Africans with their homeland; and the unification of South Africa with the rest of the free democratic world. â€Å"When [Mandela] took up the reins of power in 1994, the world was holding its breath, expecting the racial tensions splitting the country to explode into a blood bath. Instead, the world witnessed a miracle. Mandela’s achievement is colossal† (Davis, 1997). Mandela’s inaugural address served as an instrument of reunification and produced an atmosphere of stability from which the new system of government could go forward. Index Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends: Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud. Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all. All this we owe both to ourselves and to the peoples of the world who are so well represented here today. To my compatriots, I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld. Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. The national mood changes as the seasons change. We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom. That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland explains the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict, and as we saw it spurned, outlawed and isolated by the peoples of the world, precisely because it has become the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression. We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity. We trust that you will continue to stand by us as we tackle the challenges of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racialism and democracy. We deeply appreciate the role that the masses of our people and their political mass democratic, religious, women, youth, business, traditional and other leaders have played to bring about this conclusion. Not least among them is my Second Deputy President, the Honorable F.W. de Klerk. We would also like to pay tribute to our security forces, in all their ranks, for the distinguished role they have played in securing our first democratic elections and the transition   democracy, from blood-thirsty forces which still refuse to see the light. The time for the healing of the wounds has   The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has   The time to build is upon us. We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace. We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity–a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world. As a token of its commitment to the renewal of our country, the new Interim Government of National Unity will, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of amnesty for various categories of our people who are currently serving terms of imprisonment. We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and surrendered their lives so that we could be free. Their dreams have become reality. Freedom is their reward. We are both humbled and elevated by the honor and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa, to lead our country out of the valley of darkness. We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! God bless Africa! Thank you. Works Cited Borchers, T. (2006). Rhetorical theory: An introduction. Waveland Press Inc.: Illinois Burke, K. 1969. A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: University of California Press. Burke, K. (1966). Language as symbo1ic action: Essays on life, literature, and method. Berkeley: University of California Press. Campbell, K.K. & Jamieson, K.H. (1990). Deeds done in words: Presidential rhetoric and the genres of governance. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago. Corbett, E.P.J. & Connors, R.J. (1999) Classical rhetoric for the modern student. Oxford University Press: New York. Davis, G. (1997, July 18). No ordinary magic. Electronic Mail & Guardian [On-line]. Available: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/97jul2/18JUL-mandels.html . Horrel, M. (1973). The African homelands of South Africa. USA: University of Michigan. Ali-Dinar, A.B. (1994). Inaugural speech, Pretoria [Mandela]. University of Pennsylvania: African studies center. Retrieved from http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Inaugural_Speech_1798 4.html Killingsworth, M.J. (2005). Appeals in modern rhetoric: An ordinary-language approach. Southern Illinois University Press. Parry-Giles, S.J. & Hogan, J.M. (2010). The handbook of rhetoric and public address. United Kingdome: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Salazar, P.J. (2002). An African Athens: Rhetoric and the shaping of democracy. London: Lawrence Erlbaum. Sheckels, T.F. (2001). The rhetoric of Nelson Mandela: A qualified success. Howard Journal of Communications, Vol 12-2. Sigelman, L. (Jan-Mar 1996). Presidential inaugurals: The modernization of a genre. Political Communication. Vol 13-1. South Africa’s political parties. SouthAfrica.info. Retrieved from http://www.southafrica.info/about/democracy/polparties.htm Tarvin, D. (2008). Vincent Fox’s inaugural address: A comparative analysis between the generic characteristics of the United States and Mexico. Retrieved from http://lsu.academia.edu/DavidTarvin/Papers/687161/Vicente_Foxs_Inaugural_Addr ess_A_Comparative_Analysis_Between_the_Generic_Characteristics_of_the_United_States_and_Mexico Tuman, J.S. (2010). Communicating terror: The rhetorical dimensions of terrorism. San Francisco: Sage Publications. Wolfarth, D.L. (April 1961). John F. Kennedy in the tradition of inaugural speeches. Quarterly journal of speech, Vol. 47-2. Additional Works Referenced Foss, S.K. (2004). Rhetorical criticism: Exploration & practice. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. Hart, R.P. & Daughton, S. (2005). Modern rhetorical criticism: Third edition. USA: Pearson Education, Inc. Kuypers, J.A. (2005). The art of rhetorical criticism. USA: Pearson Education Inc. Lacy, M.G. & Ono, K.A. (2011). Critical rhetorics of race. New York: New York University Press