Do you believe that Macbeth is a complete villain Essay

Macbeth is a play, which was written by William Shakespeare, and first published in 1623 (during the reign of King James I of England). Macbeth was a hero and also a loyal subject and friend of the King, Duncan. He gave no quarter on the battlefield, due to his brutal courage, e.g. Macbeth â€Å"unseamed† a Norwegian â€Å"from the nave to the chaps† and â€Å"fixed his head† onto the Scottish battlements, during the battle at the beginning of the play. This proved his patriotism for his country, and his respect for the King. By fighting for his country, Scotland, he achieved in return the respect that he deserved from the King. Macbeth was plagued with conflicting qualities; for example, one was the humane and courteous way he treated his wife, i.e. Macbeth referred to his wife (in his letter to her – in Act 1, Scene 5) as â€Å"my dearest partner of greatness†. Also in this scene, he addressed her as â€Å"My dearest love†. On the other hand, this did not prevent him from acting in the opposite way in battle as a cruel warrior. Once the witches had prophesised that Macbeth would be king â€Å"hereafter† (Act 1, Scene 3), Macbeth seemed to have been drawn in by this advance information i.e. he started, and seemed â€Å"to fear†. This reaction indicates that he was a very gullible being, who tended to believe what was said. Then again, if one were informed that one was to be king, then one might believe it, as it is a desirable privilege. This represents honest ambition, at this stage, without seeming to involve any nefarious actions on Macbeth’s part. Also, the mental images that would come into one’s mind could heighten one’s level of gullibility and boost one’s self-esteem. This scene also tells us, as readers, that Banquo, on the other hand, is not so easily convinced, and to us, this demonstrates a stronger character. Banquo obviously doubted the witches’ predictions, as he questioned Macbeth’s response by asking, â€Å"why do you start, and seem t o fear†. Another important part of the story, which points out a particular frailty of Macbeth’s, occurs later on in Act 1, Scene 3, when Macbeth lied to Banquo. He pretended to Banquo that his â€Å"dull brain was wrought† to divert Banquo’s thoughts about him, by being devious – as one might expect from a villain – so that Banquo would no longer believe that Macbeth trusted the witches’ predictions. Even after finding that the first prediction of the witches was true, Banquo warned him, basically, that even if the witches told him some little truth, later they would deceive him. Another example of Macbeth’s deceit against Banquo comes in Act 2, Scene 1, when Macbeth denied that any thoughts of the witches were in his mind: â€Å"I think not of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In the next scene (Act 1, Scene 4), irony and duplicity emerge. This happens because Shakespeare emphasised Duncan’s respect for Macbeth, with Duncan saying such things as â€Å"worthiest† whilst addressing Macbeth. However, as Macbeth later on in the story kills Duncan, this belies his true political intention of power seeking, and perhaps not solely of his own volition, but driven by his wife’s ambitious self-interest. Macbeth does not seem to be a villain, but rather a considerate man who actually has redeeming qualities. When he arrived home a few days after the battle, he advised his wife, Lady Macbeth, of the King’s arrangements to sleep at their castle that night. Shakespeare revealed her to be a ruthless schemer, who cared about nobody when it came to power. This is proved when she decided that they had to kill Duncan, to fulfil the witches’ prophecies. Later on (in Act 1, Scene 7), Macbeth is seen in the soliloquy, expressing his doubts to the reader. As readers, we see his good side when he’s explaining that he’s not a vagabond, by expressing his hesitancy to kill Duncan. One of his comments is, â€Å"First, I am his kinsman and his subject†¦then, as his host†¦Ã¢â‚¬  What Macbeth is actually saying here is that he is a trusted member of Duncan’s kin and army, and also that Duncan is a guest protected by the law of hospitality. This would make t he murder even more unholy, as it’s a form of criminal intent against the unsuspecting king prior to the deed. So here Macbeth is seen actively contemplating murder, on the one hand, while on the other, his conscience tries to inhibit the act. Herein afterwards in this scene, Lady Macbeth uses her persuasive and guileful tactics on Macbeth to change his mind, and agree to go ahead with the murder. Her methods are simple and psychological, since they criticise Macbeth’s manhood. She manages to ridicule his conscience under her scornful attack by using phrases such as â€Å"Was the hope drunk?† and â€Å"Art thou afeard†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus, by so doing, she labels him a coward, and coerces him into changing his mind under her pursuing peer pressure and her curses. She then makes things even worse, by threatening to commit the act herself! Now this, to Macbeth – a man – really taunts him into an agreement against his better judgement. In such a fashion, women succeed. After Macbeth murdered Duncan, he went downstairs and started talking to Lady Macbeth. He told her how he regretted his evil deed. He was a man of action, but was confused when he lost his sense of right and wrong. He carried on with the murder, but displayed guilt, remorse and fearful superstition afterwards. An example of his guilt came after he killed Duncan (in Act 2, Scene 2), whilst he was informing Lady Macbeth of his doings and what he heard from Malcolm and Donalbain’s room, next door. He told her what they said during their sleep. His guilt was then admitted: â€Å"But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’? I had most need of blessing, and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat.† Evidence that he was full of remorse, came right at the end of Act 2, Scene 2, â€Å"Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst!† This sentence clearly indicated his regretful state of mind, and the quote supports the fact that Macbeth did have some redeeming qualities of conscience. He even has a trace of fearful superstition in his head, as he † heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,’ – the innocent sleep.† These mental images inside his own mind blatantly reflect that he is aware and stricken by them. Therefore, he is still able to discern between good and evil even after the foul deed has been accomplished. When Macbeth kills the two servant guards â€Å"in anger†, he is seen to extend his evil deed and perhaps this can be considered as the point where he has become the â€Å"complete villain†. In spite of a nagging conscience in killing Duncan, he had to continue his evil ways to silence the two innocent guards: â€Å"O, yet I do repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.† Here is a further example of his commitment to evil in spite of conscience and so, his tendency towards malfeasance does not abate. In addition to this unfolding character change, he also deceives all others, including Duncan’s two sons. He deceitfully assumes the role of the angry Thane, driven to lash out at the two guards, who, on the face of it, had killed the king. Once more, he shows duplicity in ‘confessing’ another lie, â€Å"Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man: the expedition of my violent love outran the pauser reason.† So, his conscience is now being overtaken by his evil actions and reflects his weakness in becoming a pawn by acting out the will of his accomplice, Lady Macbeth, and exposes a diminishing personal integrity to the reader. This change in Macbeth develops and is reflected in his fore-planning soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, while awaiting the two murderers to enter. He exposes his own discontent, even after becoming King. Fearing Banquo and his son’s succession, any refraining influence of conscience is now deliberately put aside, â€Å"To be thus is nothing†¦our fears in Banquo stick deep†¦to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come, fate, into the list, and champion me to the utterance!† By the end of this scene, Macbeth’s complete change of character is painfully evident, showing his complete absence of concern. At this stage, gone are any troubled thoughts so evident when either considering or enacting Duncan’s demise. Instead, an evil commitment is observed in his cruel remark as Act 3, Scene 1 closes: â€Å"It is concluded: Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight.† Macbeth’s mind, irrespective of conscience, is now refocused on action – to rid himself of his last nagging fear of Banquo’s lineage superseding his own. It can be argued that from this point, Macbeth has indeed ‘crossed the Rubicon’. He was totally committed to whatever evil deeds the future might hold. He demonstrates this change of mind when replying to his wife’s exhortation in Act 3, Scene 2, â€Å"what’s done is done.† Also, his attitude and mental state is highlighted as he says: â€Å"But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly.† Again, at the end of this scene, when Macbeth has planned Banquo’s murder, he keeps his wife in the dark about this: â€Å"So, pr’ythee, go with me.† During the banquet, in Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth is advised of Banquo’s death and Fleance’s escape. This unsettles Macbeth. He feels trapped, â€Å"but now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears.† Yet he successfully puts on a face for his guests, until Banquo’s ghost appears. Consternation rules and suspicion reigns. Macbeth’s superstitious fear and guilt return, yet his courage does not fail him when the apparition appears: â€Å"Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me.† Also When Lady Macbeth asked him, â€Å"Are you a man?†, Macbeth replies, â€Å"Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that which might appal the devil.† The appearance of Banquo’s ghost sitting in Macbeth’s place signifies that Banquo’s descendants would replace Macbeth’s. Macbeth decides his delusions are a beginner’s fear and lack of experience: â€Å"My strange and self-abu se is the initiate fear, that wants hard use: we are yet but young in deed.† In doing so, he ignores the horrific effect of his outrageous crimes in his country, and reveals the depth of his treason and treachery. It comes as no surprise to discover that Macbeth has a covert intelligence network, â€Å"There’s not a one of them, but in his house I keep a servant fee’d.† So Macbeth’s deviousness and villainous activity persists to support his grip on power over Scotland. Therefore, Macduff, in joining Duncan’s son Malcolm in England, realises only force of arms will recover the situation, since: â€Å"Each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face, that it resounds as if it felt with Scotland, and yelled out like syllable of dolour.† When Macbeth went to consult the Witches after the Coronation feast, it was because he again followed his own evil self-interest: â€Å"More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know, by the worst means, the worst. For mine own good all causes shall give way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This pursuit of self is matched by their own evil intention, to ‘Set him up’; â€Å"As, by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion. He shall spurn fate†¦and you all know, security is mortals’ chiefest enemy.† Upon meeting the witches again, Macbeth’s chagrined reaction to the apparitions of the eight Kings – with Banquo’s ghost following – is to curse the event and experience a resurrected fear; † Let this pernicious hour stand aye accursed in the calendar!†, and â€Å"†¦damned all those that trust them!† After this, Macbeth decides to act independently by matching thought to action, and eliminating Macduff’s lands and family. â€Å"This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool†. By doing so, Macbeth has now sunk to his lowest ebb in cowardly treachery against innocent victims. His motive is to punish Macduff for defying him, and lure him back to Scotland as a result of Macduff’s anger. There, Macduff would clearly be in his grasp. Macbeth would then be able to kill him. However, if one compares Macbeth’s despicable characteristics as a king only one quality emerges where it can be safely said he is comparable. This is his courage. In spite of his villainy, his physical courage in facing unpalatable situations of all kinds is never in question. Alas, who would connect him with the qualities that Malcolm (in Act 4, Scene 3) enumerates? – â€Å"†¦justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, Perseverance, mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage, fortitude†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Macbeth came to realise his own corrupt ways when he faces Macduff on the battlefield, â€Å"Of all men else have I avoided thee: But get thee back, my soul is too much charged with blood of thine already.† Macbeth reacts with Lady Macbeth’s death Stoically but without any true compassion. â€Å"She should have died hereafter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Towards the end of the play, Macbeth has come to accept his defeat, yet on a personal level he still superstitiously clings to the three hags words, that no man born of woman can harm him, â€Å"I bear a charmed life.† Even after Macduff quotes the details of his caesarean birth, Macbeth is still courageously defiant: † I will not yield†¦and damned be him that first cries ‘Hold, enough’.† Macduff calls to Macbeth, â€Å"yield ye, coward,† and â€Å"We’ll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, painted upon a pole, and underwrit, ‘Here may you see the tyrant’.† Here even Macduff labels Macbeth as a complete and utter ‘tyrant’! In the end, Macbeth’s only virtuous quality proved to be his courage and it was this undaunted approach to all danger in life, which somehow endeared him in death, in spite of his evil ways, as a black hero. However, his gradual change, after showing this virtue at the start of the play, does point to the truth of the adage, â€Å"power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely†. How many of us can discern the shadow of Macbeth in our own lives? Thomas Way 10:C – Macbeth – English GCSE Coursework

Human Generosity Essay

The Ghost of Christmas Past goes on to show Scrooge an incident that is obviously very painful for Scrooge to watch, for by the end he is crying, â€Å"Spirit! Show me no more! Conduct me home. Why do you delight to torture me? † The vision is of a time when Scrooge is beginning to shut other people out of his life, and start a new life in the lonely world of earning money obsessively with no one to share it with. He is shown his â€Å"release† from his fianci for the reason that she has seen his, â€Å"nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until one master passion, Gain, engrosses you. † On the arrival of the second Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge is prepared. Dickens presents the spirit as a large, jolly fellow who shares most people’s merry feelings about Christmas. When Scrooge encounters him initially, piles of food surround the Spirit, â€Å"Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking pigs, long wreaths of sausage, mince pies†¦ † These lists are typical of Dickens’ style, emphasising the richness of it all. The Spirit shows Scrooge more images of how much others, rich and poor, enjoy Christmas. He sprinkles his own â€Å"flavour†, his own form of generosity, upon the shoppers’ food, especially that of the poor, before taking Scrooge to the Cratchits’ home. The Cratchits have little in the way of a Christmas dinner, but appreciate every last mouthful. Each and every one of them is in high spirits, Tiny Tim included. Tiny Tim is a young, crippled boy, with an iron frame supporting his limbs and a tiny crutch. Yet he too joins in the festivities with joy and love in his heart. â€Å"‘Spirit’ said Scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, ‘tell me if Tiny Tim will live. ‘† We can see him beginning to redevelop the caring attitude that he had buried so long ago. The Ghost tells him that if the future remains unchanged then no; Tiny Tim will not survive. The change in Scrooge is again apparent when he cries, â€Å"Oh no, kind Spirit! say he will be spared. † The Spirit quotes Scrooges words, â€Å"If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. † Scrooge is deeply ashamed by the words of his former self and hangs his head, quite overcome by â€Å"penitence and grief†. As he visits more and more homes, full of people enjoying Christmas, he hears their unkind words about him. They laugh at his ways and, for the first time, he realises what he has been missing out on for all these years and discovers deep feelings of remorse that he never dreamt he would possess. It is the final Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that has the most profound effect on Scrooge. The Phantom’s silent, deadly way terrifies him, as do the scenes of death he is about to see. He is shown views of various people discussing a death, but with no compassion in their voices. It is clear to him that the person they talk of was not liked and will not be missed. â€Å"It’s likely to be a cheap funeral, for, upon my life, I don’t know of anybody who will go to it. † The people ask only of what he did with his money, illustrating how money was the only thing of importance in this man’s life. Scrooge is agonized that no one appears to have any emotion for someone whose life had seemed so similar to his, â€Å"The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way now. † By now Scrooge is fully aware of how his lack of generosity will lead; he will die alone and unloved. He is deeply traumatized, â€Å"Let me see some tenderness connected with a death, or that dark chamber, Spirit, which we left just now, will be for ever present to me. † The Spirit obeys but Scrooge is surprised to find himself back at the Cratchits’ home. On further investigation, Scrooge discovers that it is not the same death for which he is being shown the grieving. He realises the sad, but true fact that Tiny Tim has died. The comparisons between the unbearable sadness felt for a small boy who, despite being poor and crippled, had love and joy in his heart, and the complete lack of emotion felt for a money obsessed old man could not be further apart. Before the final Ghost departs Scrooge begs him to reveal who they saw lying dead, although it is quite possible that he already knows but refuses to believe it. He hesitates before going to look at the gravestone to which he has been conveyed, for he has something he needs to know, â€Å"Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they the shadows of the things that May be only? † Scrooge is desperate for a chance to change and live a life that could not only prevent Tiny Tim form dying, but also prevent his own life from ending in the way he had seen the other man’s to have done. Although the Ghost does not reply, Scrooge does not pursue the matter, for he knows already that he can change the future by letting others into his life and bringing more joy to theirs with just a little human generosity. He advances towards the grave and uncovers the tangled weeds of neglect to reveal the name: â€Å"EBENEZER SCROOGE† Falling to his knees he cries promises of change, claiming he will â€Å"honour Christmas† and live in the â€Å"Past, the Present and the Future†. And so he does. The story ends with Dickens describing Scrooges joy that he has not missed Christmas, â€Å"A happy merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo! † He pays a poor carol singer to order the largest turkey in the shop to be delivered to the Cratchits. He offers Bob a pay rise. He goes to his nephew’s home and joins in the celebrations that he has missed out on for so many years. And what is more, he continues to live like this, resulting in him indirectly saving Tiny Tim’s life. There are many themes running through the story of A Christmas Carol, but in the end they all come back to the same simple idea of Human Generosity. Scrooge’s story demonstrates that having money is not at all important if there is no one with which to share it. In his final gestures, he brings great happiness not only into the lives of others, but also his own. And then we come to the Cratchits who, despite having very little of material value to share, are some of the most generous people that can be found. For it is love that they share among them and, without that, there is nothing to life.

History of religion in American Colonies Essay

Many of the British North American colonies that eventually formed the United States of America were settled in the 17th century by men and women, who, in the face of European religious persecution, refused to compromise passionately held religious convictions and fled Europe.[2] The Middle Atlantic colonies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, were conceived and established â€Å"as plantations of religion.† Some settlers who arrived in these areas came for secular motives—†to catch fish† as one New Englander put it—but the great majority left Europe to worship in the way they believed to be correct. They supported the efforts of their leaders to create â€Å"a City upon a Hill† or a â€Å"holy experiment,† whose success would prove that God’s plan for churches could be successfully realized in the American wilderness. Even colonies like Virginia, which were planned as commercial ventures, were led by entrepreneurs who considered themselves â€Å"militant Protestants† and who worked diligently to promote the prosperity of the church. Puritans[edit source | editbeta] Puritans were English Protestants who wished to reform and purify the Church of England of what they considered to be unacceptable residues of Roman Catholicism. on the 1620s, leaders of the English state and church grew increasingly unsympathetic to Puritan demands. They insisted that the Puritans conform to religious practices that they abhorred, removing their ministers from office and threatening them with â€Å"extirpation from the earth† if they did not fall in line. Zealous Puritan laymen received savage punishments. For example, in 1630 a man was sentenced to life imprisonment, had his property confiscated, his nose slit, an ear cut off, and his forehead branded â€Å"S.S.† (sower of sedition). Beginning in 1630, as many as 20,000 Puritans emigrated to America from England to gain the liberty to worship as they chose. Most settled in New England, but some went as far as the West Indies. Theologically, the Puritans were â€Å"non-separating Congregationalists.† Unlike the Pilgrims, who came to Massachusetts in 1620, the Puritans believed that the Church of England was a true church, though in need of major reforms. Every New England Congregational church was considered an independent entity, beholden to no hierarchy. The membership was composed, at least initially, of men and women who had undergone a conversion experience and could prove it to other members. Puritan leaders hoped (futilely, as it turned out) that, once their experiment was successful, England would imitate it by instituting a church order modeled after the New England Way. Persecution in America[edit source | editbeta] Although they were victims of religious persecution in Europe, the Puritans supported the Old World theory that sanctioned it: the need for uniformity of religion in the state. Once in control in New England, they sought to break â€Å"the very neck of Schism and vile opinions.† The â€Å"business† of the first settlers, a Puritan minister recalled in 1681, â€Å"was not Toleration, but [they] were professed enemies of it.† [3] Puritans expelled dissenters from their colonies, a fate that in 1636 befell Roger Williams and in 1638 Anne Hutchinson, America’s first major female religious leader. Those who defied the Puritans by persistently returning to their jurisdictions risked capital punishment, a penalty imposed on the Boston martyrs, four Quakers, between 1659 and 1661. Reflecting on the 17th century’s intolerance, Thomas Jefferson was unwilling to concede to Virginians any moral superiority to the Puritans. Beginning in 1659, Virginia enacted anti-Quaker laws, including the death penalty for refractory Quakers. Jefferson surmised that â€Å"if no capital execution took place here, as did in New England, it was not owing to the moderation of the church, or the spirit of the legislature.†[4] Founding of Rhode Island[edit source | editbeta] Expelled from Massachusetts in the winter in 1636, former Puritan leader Roger Williams issued an impassioned plea for freedom of conscience. He wrote, â€Å"God requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be inacted and enforced in any civill state; which inforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civill Warre, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and of the hypocrisie and destruction of millions of souls.†[5] Williams later founded Rhode Island on the principle of religious freedom. He welcomed people of religious belief, even some regarded as dangerously misguided, for nothing could change his view that â€Å"forced worship stinks in God’s nostrils.†[6] Jewish refuge in America[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of the Jews in the United States A shipload of twenty-three Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Dutch Brazil arrived in New Amsterdam (soon to become New York City) in 1654. By the next year, this small community had established religious services in the city. By 1658, Jews had arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, also seeking religious liberty. Small numbers of Jews continued to come to the British North American colonies, settling mainly in the seaport towns. By the late 18th century, Jewish settlers had established several synagogues. Quakers[edit source | editbeta] The Religious Society of Friends formed in England in 1652 around leader George Fox. Many scholars[who?] today consider Quakers as radical Puritans because the Quakers carried to extremes many Puritan convictions.[citation needed] They stretched the sober deportment of the Puritans into a glorification of â€Å"plainness.† Theologically, they expanded the Puritan concept of a church of individuals regenerated by the Holy Spirit to the idea of the indwelling of the Spirit or the â€Å"Light of Christ† in every person. Such teaching struck many of the Quakers’ contemporaries as dangerous heresy. Quakers were severely persecuted in England for daring to deviate so far from orthodox Christianity. By 1680, 10,000 Quakers had been imprisoned in England and 243 had died of torture and mistreatment in jail. This reign of terror impelled Friends to seek refuge in New Jersey in the 1670s, where they soon became well entrenched. In 1681, when Quaker leader William Penn parlayed a debt owed by Charles II to his father into a charter for the province of Pennsylvania, many more Quakers were prepared to grasp the opportunity to live in a land where they might worship freely. By 1685, as many as 8,000 Quakers had come to Pennsylvania from England, Wales, and Ireland.[citation needed] Although the Quakers may have resembled the Puritans in some religious beliefs and practices, they differed with them over the necessity of compelling religious uniformity in society. Pennsylvania Germans[edit source | editbeta] During the main years of German emigration to Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century, most of the emigrants were Lutherans, Reformed, or members of small sects—Mennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders, Moravians, and some German Baptist groups. The great majority became farmers.[7] The colony was owned by William Penn, a leading Quaker, and his agents encouraged German emigration to Pennsylvania by circulating promotional literature touting the economic advantages of Pennsylvania as well as the religious liberty available there. The appearance in Pennsylvania of so many different religious groups made the province resemble â€Å"an asylum for banished sects.† Roman Catholics in Maryland[edit source | editbeta] For their political opposition, Catholics were harassed and had largely been stripped of their civil rights since the reign of Elizabeth I. Driven by â€Å"the sacred duty of finding a refuge for his Roman Catholic brethren,† George Calvert obtained a charter from Charles I in 1632 for the territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia.[8] This Maryland charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be molested in the new colony. His son Lord Baltimore, was a Catholic who inherited the grant for Maryland from his father and was in charge 1630-45. In 1634, Lord Baltimore’s two ships, the Ark and the Dove, with the first 200 settlers to Maryland. They included two Catholic priests. Lord Baltimore assumed that religion was a private matter. He rejected the need for an established church, guaranteed liberty of conscience to all Christians, and embraced pluralism.[9] Catholic fortunes fluctuated in Maryland during the rest of the 17th century, as they became an increasingly smaller minority of the population. After the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in England, the Church of England was legally established in the colony and English penal laws, which deprived Catholics of the right to vote, hold office, or worship publicly, were enforced. Maryland’s first state constitution in 1776 restored the freedom of religion.[10] Virginia and the Church of England[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: History of Virginia#Religion in early Virginia and Episcopal Diocese of Virginia#History Virginia was the largest, most populous and most important colony. The Church of England was legally established; the bishop of London made it a favorite missionary target and sent in 22 clergyman by 1624. In practice, establishment meant that local taxes were funneled through the local parish to handle the needs of local government, such as roads and poor relief, in addition to the salary of the minister. There never was a bishop in colonial Virginia, and in practice the local vestry consisted of laymen who controlled the parish and handled local taxes, roads and poor relief.[11] The Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Government and college officials in the capital at Williamsburg were required to attend services at this Anglican church. When the elected assembly, the House of Burgesses, was established in 1619, it enacted religious laws that made Virginia a bastion of Anglicanism. It passed a law in 1632 requiring that there be a â€Å"uniformitie throughout this colony both in substance and circumstance to the cannons and constitution of the Church of England.†[12] The colonists were typically inattentive, uninterested, and bored during church services according to the ministers, who complained that the people were sleeping, whispering, ogling the fashionably dressed women, walking about and coming and going, or at best looking out the windows or staring blankly into space.[13] The lack of towns meant the church had to serve scattered settlements, while the acute shortage of trained ministers meant that piety was hard to practice outside the home. Some ministers solved their problems by encouraging parishioners to become devout at home, using the Book of Common Prayer for private prayer and devotion (rather than the Bible). This allowed devout Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life apart from the unsatisfactory formal church services. However the stress on private devotion weakened the need for a bishop or a large institutional church of the sort Blair wanted. The stress on personal piety opened the way for the First Great Awakening, which pulled people away from the established church.[14] Especially in the back country, most families had no religious affiliation whatsoever and their low moral standards were shocking to proper Englishmen[15] The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and other evangelicals directly challenged these lax moral standards and refused to tolerate them in their ranks. The evangelicals identified as sinful the traditional standards of masculinity which revolved around gambling, drinking, and brawling, and arbitrary control over women, children, and slaves. The religious communities enforced new standards, creating a new male leadership role that followed Christian principles and became dominant in the 19th century.[16] Baptists, German Lutherans and Presbyterians, funded their own ministers, and favored disestablishment of the Anglican church. The dissenters grew much faster than the established church, making religious division a factor in Virginia politics into the Revolution. The Patriots, led by Thomas Jefferson, disestablished the Anglican Church in 1786.[17] Eighteenth century[edit source | editbeta] Against a prevailing view that 18th century Americans had not perpetuated the first settlers’ passionate commitment to their faith, scholars now identify a high level of religious energy in colonies after 1700. According to one expert, religion was in the â€Å"ascension rather than the declension†; another sees a â€Å"rising vitality in religious life† from 1700 onward; a third finds religion in many parts of the colonies in a state of â€Å"feverish growth.†[18] Figures on church attendance and church formation support these opinions. Between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75-80% of the population attended churches, which were being built at a headlong pace.[18] By 1780 the percentage of adult colonists who adhered to a church was between 10-30%, not counting slaves or Native Americans. North Carolina had the lowest percentage at about 4%, while New Hampshire and South Carolina were tied for the highest, at about 16%.[19] Church buildings in 18th-century America varied greatly, from the plain, modest buildings in newly settled rural areas to elegant edifices in the prosperous cities on the eastern seaboard. Churches reflected the customs and traditions as well as the wealth and social status of the denominations that built them. German churches contained features unknown in English ones. Deism[edit source | editbeta] See also: Deism#Deism in the United States Deism is a loosely used term that describes the views of certain English and continental thinkers. These views gained a small, unorganized but influential number of adherents in America in the late 18th century. A form of deism, Christian deism, stressed morality and rejected the orthodox Christian view of the divinity of Christ, often viewing him as a sublime, but entirely human, teacher of morality.[18] Though their views were complex, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison were adherents, in some respects, of Unitarianism. Jefferson in particular was an adherent of â€Å"Deism and Unitarianism†. Unlike Thomas Paine, this was not a radical, anti-Christian Deistism. Instead it was always respectful of Christianity, admired the ethics of Christ, believed religion could and should play a beneficial role in society, and was open to the possibility that there was a benevolent God involved in the affairs of men and nations.[20] Deism also influenced the development of Unitarianism in America. By 1800, all but one Congregationalist church in Boston had Unitarian preachers teaching the strict unity of God, the subordinate nature of Christ, and salvation by character. Harvard University, founded by Congregationalists, became a source of Unitarian training. Great Awakening: emergence of evangelicalism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: First Great Awakening In the American colonies the First Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants that swept the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a deep sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion intensely personal to the average person by creating a deep sense of spiritual guilt and redemption. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a â€Å"great international Protestant upheaval† that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England.[21] It brought Christianity to the slaves and was an apocalyptic event in New England that challenged established authority. It incited rancor and division between the old traditionalists who insisted on ritual and doctrine and the new revivalists. The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. Ministers who used this new style of preaching were generally called â€Å"new lights†, while the preachers of old were called â€Å"old lights†. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious manners and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation.[22] The fundamental premise of evangelicalism is the conversion of individuals from a state of sin to a â€Å"new birth† through preaching of the Word. The First Great Awakening led to changes in American colonial society. In New England, the Great Awakening was influential among many Congregationalists. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the â€Å"Backcountry† regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians. In the South Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both whites and enslaved blacks.[23] During the first decades of the 18th century, in the Connecticut River Valley, a series of local â€Å"awakenings† began in the Congregational church with ministers including Jonathan Edwards. The first new Congregational Church in the Massachusetts Colony during the great awakening period, was in 1731 at Uxbridge and called the Rev. Nathan Webb as its Pastor. By the 1730s, they had spread into what was interpreted as a general outpouring of the Spirit that bathed the American colonies, England, Wales, and Scotland. In mass open-air revivals powerful preachers like George Whitefield brought thousands of souls to the new birth. The Great Awakening, which had spent its force in New England by the mid-1740s, split the Congregational and Presbyterian churches into supporters—called â€Å"New Lights† and â€Å"New Side†Ã¢â‚¬â€and opponents—the â€Å"Old Lights† and â€Å"Old Side.† Many New England New Lights became Separate Baptists. Largely through the efforts of a charismatic preacher from New England named Shubal Stearns and paralleled by the New Side Presbyterians (who were eventually reunited on their own terms with the Old Side), they carried the Great Awakening into the southern colonies, igniting a series of the revivals that lasted well into the 19th century.[18] The supporters of the Awakening and its evangelical thrust—Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists—became the largest American Protestant denominations by the first decades of the 19th century. Opponents of the Awakening or those split by it—Anglicans, Quakers, and Congregationalists—were left behind. Unlike the Second Great Awakening that began about 1800 and which reached out to the unchurched, the First Great Awakening focused on people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self-awareness.[22] Evangelicals in the South[edit source | editbeta] The South had originally been settled and controlled by Anglicans, who dominated the ranks of rich planters but whose ritualistic high church established religion had little appeal to ordinary men and women, both white and black.[24][25] Baptists[edit source | editbeta] Energized by numerous itinerant self-proclaimed missionaries, by the 1760s Baptists were drawing Southerners, especially poor white farmers, into a new, much more democratic religion. Slaves were welcome at the services and many became Baptists at this time. Baptist services were highly emotional; the only ritual was baptism, which was applied by immersion (not sprinkling like the Anglicans) only to adults. Opposed to the low moral standards prevalent in the colony, the Baptists strictly enforced their own high standards of personal morality, with special concern for sexual misconduct, heavy drinking, frivolous spending, missing services, cursing, and revelry. Church trials were held frequently and if members who did not submit to disciple were expelled.[26] Historians have debated the implications of the religious rivalries for the American Revolution. The Baptist farmers did introduce a new egalitarian ethic that largely displaced the semi-aristocratic ethic of the Anglican planters. However, both groups supported the Revolution. There was a sharp contrast between the austerity of the plain-living Baptists and the opulence of the Anglican planters, who controlled local government. Baptist church discipline, mistaken by the gentry for radicalism, served to ameliorate disorder. The struggle for religious toleration erupted and was played out during the American Revolution, as the Baptists worked to disestablish the Anglican church.[27] Baptists, German Lutherans and Presbyterians, funded their own ministers, and favored disestablishment of the Anglican church. Methodists[edit source | editbeta] Methodist missionaries were also active in the late colonial period. From 1776 to 1815 Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury made 42 trips into the western parts to visit Methodist congregations. In the 1780s itinerant Methodist preachers carried copies of an anti-slavery petition in their saddlebags throughout the state, calling for an end to slavery. At the same time, counter-petitions were circulated. The petitions were presented to the Assembly; they were debated, but no legislative action was taken, and after 1800 there was less and less religious opposition to slavery.[28] Masculinity and morality[edit source | editbeta] Especially in the Southern back country, most families had no religious affiliation whatsoever and their low moral standards were shocking to proper Englishmen.[15] The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and other evangelicals directly challenged these lax moral standards and refused to tolerate them in their ranks. The evangelicals identified as sinful the traditional standards of masculinity which revolved around gambling, drinking, and brawling, and arbitrary control over women, children, and slaves. The religious communities enforced new standards, creating a new male leadership role that followed Christian principles and became dominant in the 19th century.[16] American Revolution[edit source | editbeta] Religion played a major role in the American Revolution[citation needed] by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British—an assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God[citation needed]. As a recent scholar has observed, â€Å"by turning colonial resistance into a righteous cause, and by crying the message to all ranks in all parts of the colonies, ministers did the work of secular radicalism and did it better.†[citation needed] Ministers served the American cause in many capacities during the Revolution: as military chaplains, as scribes for committees of correspondence, and as members of state legislatures, constitutional conventions and the Continental Congress. Some even took up arms, leading Continental Army troops in battle. The Revolution split some denominations, notably the Church of England, whose ministers were bound by oath to support the king, and the Quakers, who were traditionally pacifists. Religious practice suffered in certain places because of the absence of ministers and the destruction of churches, but in other areas, religion flourished. The Revolution strengthened millennialist strains in American theology. At the beginning of the war some ministers were persuaded that, with God’s help, America might become â€Å"the principal Seat of the glorious Kingdom which Christ shall erect upon Earth in the latter Days.† Victory over the British was taken as a sign of God’s partiality for America and stimulated an outpouring of millennialist expectations—the conviction that Christ would rule on earth for 1,000 years. This attitude combined with a groundswell of secular optimism about the future of America helped to create the buoyant mood of the new nation that became so evident after Jefferson assumed the presidency in 1801. Church of England[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Episcopal Church (United States) The American Revolution inflicted deeper wounds on the Church of England in America than on any other denomination because the English monarch was the head of the church. Church of England priests, at their ordination, swore allegiance to the British crown. The Book of Common Prayer offered prayers for the monarch, beseeching God â€Å"to be his defender and keeper, giving him victory over all his enemies,† who in 1776 were American soldiers as well as friends and neighbors of American parishioners of the Church of England. Loyalty to the church and to its head could be construed as treason to the American cause. Patriotic American members of the Church of England, loathing to discard so fundamental a component of their faith as The Book of Common Prayer, revised it to conform to the political realities. After the Treaty of Paris (1783) documenting British recognition of American independence, the church split and the Anglican Communion created, allowing a separated Episcopal Church of the United States to replace, in the United States, and be in communion with the Church of England. Great Awakenings and Evangelicalism[edit source | editbeta] During the Second Great Awakening, church membership rose sharply. Main articles: Revivalism and Evangelicalism The â€Å"great Awakenings† were large-scale revivals that came in spurts, and moved large numbers of people from unchurched to churched. It made Evangelicalism one of the dominant forces in American religion. Balmer explains that: â€Å"Evangelicalism itself, I believe, is quintessentially North American phenomenon, deriving as it did from the confluence of Pietism, Presbyterianism, and the vestiges of Puritanism. Evangelicalism picked up the peculiar characteristics from each strain – warmhearted spirituality from the Pietists (for instance), doctrinal precisionism from the Presbyterians, and individualistic introspection from the Puritans – even as the North American context itself has profoundly shaped the various manifestations of evangelicalism.: fundamentalism, neo-evangelicalism, the holiness movement, Pentecostalism, the charismatic movement, and various forms of African-American and Hispanic evangelicalism.†[29] Second Great Awakening[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Second Great Awakening See also: Camp meeting and Revival meeting In 1800, major revivals began that spread across the nation: the decorous Second Great Awakening in New England and the exuberant Great Revival in Cane Ridge, Kentucky. The principal religious innovation produced by the Kentucky revivals was the camp meeting. The revivals at first were organized by Presbyterian ministers who modeled them after the extended outdoor â€Å"communion seasons,† used by the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, which frequently produced emotional, demonstrative displays of religious conviction. In Kentucky, the pioneers loaded their families and provisions into their wagons and drove to the Presbyterian meetings, where they pitched tents and settled in for several days. When assembled in a field or at the edge of a forest for a prolonged religious meeting, the participants transformed the site into a camp meeting. The religious revivals that swept the Kentucky camp meetings were so intense and created such gusts of emotion that their original sponsors, the Presbyterians, as well the Baptists, soon repudiated them. The Methodists, however, adopted and eventually domesticated camp meetings and introduced them into the eastern states,where for decades they were one of the evangelical signatures of the denomination. The Second Great Awakening (1800–1830s), unlike the first, focused on the unchurched and sought to instill in them a deep sense of personal salvation as experienced in revival meetings. The great revival quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and southern Ohio. Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The Methodists had an efficient organization that depended on ministers known as circuit riders, who sought out people in remote frontier locations. The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert. The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on American religious history. By 1860 evangelicalism emerged as a kind of national church or national religion and was the grand absorbing theme of American religious life. The greatest gains were made by the very well organized Methodists. Francis Asbury (1745–1816) led the American Methodist movement as one of the most prominent religious leaders of the young republic. Traveling throughout the eastern seaboard, Methodism grew quickly under Asbury’s leadership into the nation’s largest and most widespread denomination. The numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relative to that of the denominations dominant in the colonial period—the Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Reformed. Efforts to apply Christian teaching to the resolution of social problems presaged the Social Gospel of the late 19th century. It also sparked the beginnings of groups such as the Mormons, the Restoration Movement and the Holiness movement. Third Great Awakening[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Third Great Awakening The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the 20th century. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense ofsocial activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ would come after mankind had reformed the entire earth. The Social Gospel Movement gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene movements, and Christian Science.[30] The Protestant mainline churches were growing rapidly in numbers, wealth and educational levels, throwing off their frontier beginnings and become centered in towns and cities. Intellectuals and writers such as Josiah Strong advocated a muscular Christianity with systematic outreach to the unchurched in America and around the globe. Others built colleges and universities to train the next generation. Each denomination supported active missionary societies, and made the role of missionary one of high prestige. The great majority of pietistic mainline Protestants (in the North) supported the Republican Party, and urged it to endorse prohibition and social reforms.[31][32] See Third Party System The awakening in numerous cities in 1858 was interrupted by the American Civil War. In the South, on the other hand, the Civil War stimulated revivals and strengthened the Baptists, especially.[33] After the war, Dwight L. Moody made revivalism the centerpiece of his activities in Chicago by founding the Moody Bible Institute. The hymns of Ira Sankey were especially influential.[34] Across the nation drys crusaded in the name of religion for the prohibition of alcohol. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union mobilized Protestant women for social crusades against liquor, pornography and prostitution, and sparked the demand for woman suffrage.[35] The Gilded Age plutocracy came under harsh attack from the Social Gospel preachers and with reformers in the Progressive Era who became involved with issues of child labor, compulsory elementary education and the protection of women from exploitation in factories. All the major denominations sponsored growing missionary activities inside the United States and around the world.[36][37] Colleges associated with churches rapidly expanded in number, size and quality of curriculum. The promotion of â€Å"muscular Christianity† became popular among young men on campus and in urban YMCA’s, as well as such denominational youth groups such as the Epworth League for Methodists and the Walther League for Lutherans.[38] Emergence of African American churches[edit source | editbeta] Scholars disagree about the extent of the native African content of black Christianity as it emerged in 18th-century America, but there is no dispute that the Christianity of the black population was grounded in evangelicalism. The Second Great Awakening has been called the â€Å"central and defining event in the development of Afro-Christianity.† During these revivals Baptists and Methodists converted large numbers of blacks. However, many were disappointed at the treatment they received from their fellow believers and at the backsliding in the commitment to abolish slavery that many white Baptists and Methodists had advocated immediately after the American Revolution. When their discontent could not be contained, forceful black leaders followed what was becoming an American habit—they formed new denominations. In 1787, Richard Allen and his colleagues in Philadelphia broke away from the Methodist Church and in 1815 founded the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, which, along with independent black Baptist congregations, flourished as the century progressed. By 1846, the AME Church, which began with 8 clergy and 5 churches, had grown to 176 clergy, 296 churches, and 17,375 members. After the Civil War, Black Baptists desiring to practice Christianity away from racial discrimination, rapidly set up several separate state Baptist conventions. In 1866, black Baptists of the South and West combined to form the Consolidated American Baptist Convention. This Convention eventually collapsed but three national conventions formed in response. In 1895 the three conventions merged to create the National Baptist Convention. It is now the largest African-American religious organization in the United States. Restorationism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Restorationism (Christian primitivism) See also: Dispensationalism and Restoration Movement Restorationism refers to the belief that a purer form of Christianity should be restored using the early church as a model.[39]:635[40]:217 In many cases, restorationist groups believed that contemporary Christianity, in all its forms, had deviated from the true, original Christianity, which they then attempted to â€Å"Reconstruct†, often using the Book of Acts as a â€Å"guidebook† of sorts. Restorationists do not usually describe themselves as â€Å"reforming† a Christian church continuously existing from the time of Jesus, but as restoring the Church that they believe was lost at some point. â€Å"Restorationism† is often used to describe the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. The term â€Å"Restorationist† is also used to describe the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the Jehovah’s Witness Movement. Denominations and sects founded in the U.S.[edit source | editbeta] Mormonism[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of the Latter Day Saint movement The origins of another distinctive religious group, the Latter-day Saints (LDS)—also widely known as Mormons—arose in the early 19th century during the â€Å"Golden Day of Democratic Evangelicalism.† Founder Joseph Smith, Jr., and many of his earliest followers came from an area of western New York called the burned-over district, because it had been â€Å"scorched† by so many revivals. Young Joseph Smith had a series of visions, revelations from God and visitations from angelic messengers, providing him with ongoing instruction in the execution of his role as a prophet and a restorationist. After publishing the Book of Mormon—which he claimed to have translated by divine power from a record of ancient American prophets recorded on golden plates—Smith organized â€Å"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints† on April 6, 1830. Mormon theology was far out of the mainstream, and the Mormons were driven out of state after state; Smith was assassinated and Brigham Young led the people out of the U.S. into Utah — at the time virtually ungoverned. Rumors to the effect Mormons were practicing polygamy there were true; the U.S. government went to Utah, clashed with the Mormons, and sought to disenfranchise the Church for practicing polygamy. The Church pulled away from plural marriages between 1890 and 1907, was allowed to resume normal status, and Utah was granted statehood in 1896. Thanks to worldwide missionary work, the church now counts over 14 million members.[41] Jehovah’s Witnesses[edit source | editbeta] Main article: History of Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah’s Witnesses comprise a fast-growing denomination that has kept itself separate from other Christian denominations. It began in 1872 with Charles Taze Russell, but experienced a major schism in 1917 as Joseph Franklin Rutherford began his presidency. Rutherford gave new direction to the movement and renamed the movement â€Å"Jehovah’s witnesses† in 1931. The period from 1925 to 1933 saw many significant changes in doctrine. Attendance at their yearly Memorial dropped from a high of 90,434 in 1925 to 63,146 in 1935. Since 1950 growth has been very rapid.[42] During the World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced mob attacks in America and were temporarily banned in Canada and Australia because of their opposition to the war effort. They won significant Supreme Court victories involving the rights of free speech and religion that have had a great impact on legal interpretation of these rights for others.[43] In 1943, the United States Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette that school children of Jehovah’s Witnesses could not be compelled to salute the flag. Church of Christ, Scientist[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Church of Christ, Scientist The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879, in Boston by Mary Baker Eddy, the author of its central book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which offers a unique interpretation of Christian faith.[44] Christian Science teaches that the reality of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death and the material world. Accounts of miraculous healing are common within the church, and adherents often refuse traditional medical treatments. Legal troubles sometimes result when they forbid medical treatment of their children.[45] The Church is unique among American denominations in several ways. It is highly centralized, with all the local churches merely branches of the mother church in Boston. There are no ministers, but there are practitioners who are integral to the movement. The practitioners operate local businesses that help members heal their illnesses by the power of the mind. They depend for their clientele on the approval of the Church. Starting in the late 19th century the Church has rapidly lost membership, although it does not publish statistics. Its flagship newspaper Christian Science Monitor lost most of its subscribers and dropped its paper version to become an online source.[46] Other denominations founded in U.S.[edit source | editbeta] Adventism – began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller, who in the 1830s in New York became convinced of an imminent Second Coming of Jesus. Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ – a restoration movement with no governing body. The Restoration Movement solidified as a historical phenomenon in 1832 when restorationists from two major movements championed by Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell merged (referred to as the â€Å"Stone-Campbell Movement†). Episcopal Church – founded as an offshoot of the Church of England; now the United States branch of the Anglican Communion Jehovah’s Witnesses – originated with the religious movement known as Bible Students, which was founded in Pennsylvania in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell. National Baptist Convention – the largest African American religious organization in the United States and the second largest Baptist denomination in the world. Pentecostalism – movement that emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit, finds its historic roots in the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, from 1904 to 1906, sparked by Charles Parham Reconstructionist Judaism

Definition Rough Draft & Final Draft Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Definition Rough Draft & Final Draft - Assignment Example ng, starting anywhere to writing, keeps moving, leaving blank spaces in case one gets short of ideas, giving it a breath and reviewing the draft (Frew, Robert and Nancy,pp.103-104). Brainstorming is the first step that each draft must pass, under this step, the writer put all the ideas into writing without evaluating or eliminating any idea. This allow the writer to have a general view of what is expected and then narrowing down the most appropriate and applicable idea. Writing a draft is the second stage where the writer does not put more emphasize on spelling, one just write down the idea to form a rough draft. Thirdly, the writer may start at anywhere while writing a rough draft. This means that one may start from the body and write an introduction and conclusion later. The writer should keep moving /writing to ensure that all ideas in the minds are put down into writing. In addition one has the freedom to leave blank space when writing a rough draft. After forming the rough draft the writer should give it time and come back later to make necessary amendments. This may allow the writer to make grammatical corrections. This may help the writer to come up with the final draft (Frew, Robert and Nancy,

Analysing the learning and development strategies of an existing Case Study

Analysing the learning and development strategies of an existing organisation - Case Study Example Reference is made specifically to learning and development (L&D), a tool used by managers in most organizations for increasing employee performance. In practice, it seems that firms choose different approaches for promoting L&D. The various aspects of learning and development are analyzed and evaluated in this paper. The case of Wal-Mart is used as an example to show the level at which L&D can promote organizational success. Table of contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Learning and Development strategies in Wal-Mart 4 2.1 Overview of Learning and Development strategies in Wal-Mart 4 2.2 Is L&D in Wal-Mart strategic? 6 2.2.1 Characteristics of L&D in modern organizations 6 2.2.2 When L&D is strategic? 7 2.2.3 At what level L&D in Wal-Mart is strategic? 8 2.3 How is learning and development delivered in Wal-Mart? 9 2.3.1 Common methods for the delivery of L&D in modern organizations 9 2.3.2 L&D delivery in Wal-Mart 10 2.3.3 Problems in regard to the delivery of L&D in Wal-Mart 11 2.4 Is L&D in Wal-Mart effective? 12 2.4.1 Which are the common criteria of effectiveness of a L&D scheme? 12 2.4.2 Is L&D in Wal-Mart effective? 12 2.5 Evaluation of existing L&D strategies in Wal-Mart. 13 3. Conclusion 15 4. Recommendations 17 References 18 Appendix 21 1. Introduction The incorporation of effective learning and development (L&D) strategies in modern organizations can ensure that their activities will be effectively supported in regard to all their phases (Armstrong 2008, p.175). According to Armstrong (2008), L&D, as developed in companies with different characteristics, focuses on the development of a learning culture and the promotion of organizational learning’ (Armstrong 2008, p.175). Organizations that emphasize on L&D become ‘learning organizations’ (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell 1991, cited in Fee 2011, p. 44), a term used for describing those organizations that ‘facilitates the learning of all its members’ (Fee 2011, p. 44). The charac teristics and the role of L&D are presented in this study. Reference is made to a particular organization, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, a US-based firm, has particular emphasized on L&D, as a tool for securing its position in the global market. The review of the firm’s L&D strategies has led to the following assumption: the organization’s current efforts for promoting L&D can be characterized as satisfactory. However, it is clear that more initiatives would be taken, especially since the organization is interested in further improving its position in the global market, as explained in the sections that follow. 2. Learning and Development strategies in Wal-Mart 2.1 Overview of Learning and Development strategies in Wal-Mart In order to evaluate the effectiveness of L&D strategies of Wal-Mart it is necessary to review the key aspects of L&D, as developed in the particular organization. Then, the particular aspects of the firm’s L&D schemes, such as the methods of delivery, the problems involved and the level of effectiveness can be discussed and appropriately analyzed. According to the organization’s website, in Wal-Mart L&D is a continuous process, and not just a tool for periodically supporting the organizational performance (Wal-Mart, Careers 2012). In the context of the hiring process, a profile is developed for every employee entering the organization (Wal-Mart, Career

How has exposure to the study of marketing and society helped me to Essay

How has exposure to the study of marketing and society helped me to understand how I consume and what influences my decisio - Essay Example The extensive research made into studying marketing and its strategies has helped us; consumers tend to develop more informed decisions. If the marketing department is successful in identifying customer requirements and predicting future customer needs, it should enable the business to not only increase its sales revenue, profitability and market share but also to maintain and improve the image of its products and bring variety and innovations to existing ones to facilitate the consumer at the end of the day. The product itself is probably the most important element in the marketing mix. The product must fulfill a want. Consumers buy products for pleasure, satisfaction or benefits they provide. If it does provide the satisfaction, the good will not be purchased. The level of satisfaction achieved may differ. For example, some products are bought because they satisfy a basic need, like food which stops hunger. Other products like a refrigerator, in addition to keeping food cool, would be expected to be reliable and last a long time. An expensive perfume would give a certain image to the consumer when they used it and it would be expected to be of high quality. Informed and aware customers will pay a price that is worthy of the quality of the product. The design that is the performance, reliability and quality should all be consistent with the product’s brand image. The marketing should be capable of stimulating new wants from the consumers. It must give something very distinctive that makes it appear different to encourage brand loyalty. Competition amongst businesses in an economy in terms of the prices of goods and services being set has also helped consumers make the right buying decisions. Demand is not just what people want to buy but they must also have the money to be able to purchase the product. The market price is determined by the demand and supply of that particular good and various factors affect these such as, change in income, taste and fas hion, advertising and prices of other products. The pricing strategy should be such that it should provide good value for money to consumers. They will not unnecessarily pay a high price for a good of low quality or which serves no purpose. Consumers are in search of best deal for money for example, economy packs, bulk-buying and discounted products. (Titley, 2008) Packaging is another part of marketing mix that influences consumer decisions. Consumers consider suitable packaging because it has to give protection to the product and not allow it to spoil. It also has to allow product to be used easily. It is no good having hair shampoo in a tin that would not allow the liquid to pour out easily. Packaging is also used for promoting the product. It must appeal to the consumer because it is usually the packaging that catches the eye and the product inside! Consumers will prefer to buy products with packaging carrying vital information about its use, storage and its ingredients. Recycla ble packaging is most preferred by the society. Getting the best value for money is what any rational consumer would want. Advertising as part of marketing and promotion will influence consumers to quite an extent. Advertisements which give information to the public are known as informative advertising. It increases consumer choice by making consumers aware of the range of

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 88

Case Study Example The project will further result in the region’s infrastructure develop as well as increase trading activities. According to the theory of utilitarianism, an act should be classified as immoral only if its consequences are so severe that people would wish the agent of that action obliged to act otherwise (Hinman 142). Despite its effects on the environment, the positive consequences of this project outweigh the negative consequences mainly due to its economic significance to the region. In addition to the above macro issues, several micro issues too should also be considered. Investing in this project involves both money and time and getting returns from these two investments will be significant to personal happiness, according to the theory of eudemonia, which states that the ultimate goal of human life is happiness and good life. This goal can be achieved by practicing virtues in one’s daily life and is defined as a quality that allows a person to succeed at an idea (Hinman 145). In this sense, the investment is recommended as long as it promises personal happiness. The investment should therefore be implemented as both theories support

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR LEXILIAP FASHION BOUTIQUE Research Paper

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR LEXILIAP FASHION BOUTIQUE - Research Paper Example This proposal therefore illustrates the various economic factors that will influence the operations of Lexiliap Fashion Boutique. This report lays particular emphasis on the economic dynamics of the proposed fashion boutique by including assumptions about the elasticity of demand and the market structure in the operational environment. Revenue To begin, revenue is an important factor for the success of Lexiliap Fashion Boutique. Capozzi (2013) highlights the importance of looking at the revenue prospects of a fashion boutique by recognizing the challenges of setting up and deriving gains from one. Fashion boutiques present a challenge to owners because they should find a balance between attracting and retaining customers on one hand whereas striving to achieving or even surpassing the set revenue limits (Gerring, 2007). The fashion boutique intends to use multifaceted promotional campaign to ensure that it drives sales volumes that will surely lead to increased volumes. In particular , the boutique will have an active online presence that will make sure that many clients are targeted and are aware of the enterprise’s products (Ferguson, 2008). Market segmentation strategies will be used to ensure that promotions are custom made to target the youth, women, men and children separately. The shop will also offer competitive pricing so that customers from competing firms are attracted. Determining the Profit-Maximizing Quantity The boutique will deal with different fashion items and accessories. As such, the challenge is to constitute a viable and standard profit maximizing quantity for each of the items. Since items like jewelry and clothing may have defects especially when volume purchases are used to source for the products, the proposed structure relies on this conditionality to propose a standard quantity to be ascertained. Given a unit cost of 10 USD, each product’s price; is it a dress, pant, bangle or ring will be compared against the unit cost value. Taking into consideration that the more items are sold, the higher the revenue; the report then sets the revenue threshold at 100USD meaning ten unit items. As a result, the more valued the item in the boutique, the lower will be its profit maximizing quantity. The projected dollar value for the business is shown in Appendix 1. Profit Maximization Profit maximization is at the core of any enterprise’s operations (Mankiw, 2011). The proposed Fashion Boutique will ensure that there is value for customers on one hand, and value to the owner on the other. To be able to strike this delicate balance between satisfying the needs of the customer whilst maximizing the profits needed for business growth. The marginal cost and marginal revenue concept can be applied to illustrate the technique that will be used to ensure profit maximization. This will be done mainly in the area of stocking for some commodities. Given that fashion industry is dynamic, it is important to stock the current trends for profit maximization (Boyes & Melvin, 2011). As a result, the boutique will review fast moving products and stock them in large number to derive more gains from the sales volumes resulting from the trending items. This is in accordance with the concept that marginal revenue should always be equal to marginal cost for profit maximization (Taylor, 2006). Subsequently, the boutique will require market information on the trending products. This can be obtained from relevant agencies, the media and other

Prospective Maltese Workers and Trade Union Values Literature review

Prospective Maltese Workers and Trade Union Values - Literature review Example Until 1964, Malta was under the colonial rule of the British Empire, and it is for this reason, that its trade union values even after gaining independence, tend to reflect the rules and values of UK. At present, Malta has one of the world’s highest national union membership densities, though without any regional distinctions, of a specific type. This is largely owing to the fact that the small size of the country and the associated membership base, have led most of the Maltese trade unions to feel that affiliations to a confederate structure, are not essential. The chief religion of the state, the Roman Catholic Church, also plays a major source of inspiration for the functioning of the various trade union organisations in this country. In this context, we will first examine the trade unions in general, their values, and relevance in the modern labour market scenario. 1.1 What are Trade unions, their values, and relevance in the modern industrial relations â€Å"Trade union means any organisation, whose membership consists of employees, which seek to organise and represent their interest birth in the workplace and society and, in particular, seeks to regulate their employment relationship through the direct process of collective bargaining with management† (Salaman, 1987). ... This kind of an alliance, which is based on social partnership values, have helped in the creation of a new dimension in the study of industrial relationships, which has made it possible for starting â€Å"social dialogue[s], and [forging] cooperative relationships between employers and unions† (McLaughlin, 2007, 9). The members in the social partnerships, within industrial relations, define and identify their own requirements within the framework of their democratic structures and elected heads, which are based on the nature of the specific problems that they face in their country of operation. These requirements must necessarily portray the scheme, preferences, and orientations of the members, which form a part of the social partnership values. Within trade union values, partnership aspires to be a â€Å"relationship of equals, based on mutual respect, trust and understanding, where diversity and differences are recognised and accepted† (ibid). A look at the Trade Uni on Principles within the Madrid charter (final) shows us that trade unions accept partnerships as ‘two-way’ alliance which is also a learning experience for all the concerned parties. Partnership is founded on resolutions for the preservation of solidarity and inter-organisational cooperation, and is based on values that are stable and mutual, while its functional principles relate to the safeguarding of the rights of employees, and the democratic organisations that represent these employees. According to the trade union values, when these organisations have access to public or government resources, they become accountable to the general public. In such

Bussines Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Bussines Law - Essay Example One of these categories is the business law. Business law involves all the laws that govern the relationship between any business entity and all the parties involved in the entity’s practices. Business law provides guidelines on how a business body conducts its practices with all the stakeholders like the employees, the customers, the society and the shareholders. Therefore, the rules contained in business law provide an avenue for resolving any dispute pertaining business practices (Cabrelli 22). Some of the fundamental elements in business law are the employment law and the contract law. Contract law governs the relationship between a business firm and any party that may enter into a contract with it, while employment law relates the business firm with its work force. Employment law falls under both the state statutes and the federal laws. Its scope extents to employees claim involving termination of employment contracts, discrimination, and employee’s compensation. This type of business mainly deals with the employees’ and the employers’ relationship with each other, their actions, and their responsibilities in the work place. When incorporated into employment law, contract law governs the agreement between the employer and the employee (Cabrelli 67). In this context, all the elements of contract law applies in establishing the terms and conditions of employment. In the subject case concerning Jill’s employment, the major types of laws that will be applied is both the employment law and the contract law. Employment law will represent the entire relationship between Jill and the Momma Mia Company, while contract law governs the agreement between Jill and the company. Therefore, Jill will pursue the elements of employment and contract law during the judicial process. On the first element involving the violation of contract, the plaintiff must argue that the agreement was made after consideration

Theoretical Analysis of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Essay

Theoretical Analysis of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari - Essay Example ical Imaginary, the parallels between the enchanting and hypnotizing Caligari and a German authoritarian regime are abundantly clear (Elsasesser, 2004, p. 72). The film seems to equally represent the disturbed German psyche and act as prescient element of the later Nazi regime. This political analytic frame is influenced by Fredric Jameson who criticized structuralism by offering a meta-interpretation of the text. Indeed, the overarching political formulations in this essay will be understood in terms of Jameson’s Political Unconscious (2002) that â€Å"conceives of the political perspective not as some supplementary method, not as an optional auxiliary to other interpretative critical methods current today -- the psychoanalytic or the mythcritical, the stylistic, the mythcritical, the structural -- but rather as the absolute horizon of all reading and all interpretation (p. 17)." Even as Jameson argues for the overarching necessity of interpreting the text through political analysis, this essay also develops a contrasting trajectory for the structural dramatic analysis of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919). The analysis largely follows the historical ontology established by Keir Elam in Semiotics of Theatre and Drama (1980). In keeping with the Saussurean understanding of the shifting nature of the linguistic sign, when possible the analysis adheres to direct critical source material from the early formulations of the Prague School to contemporary Post-Structural incarnations of the cultural object. In all instances the analysis has attempted to go beyond mere critical examination, and also indicate the practical applications a semiotic understanding of theatre and film holds for a dramatic performance. This essay advances both a political and structural analytic framework in the examination of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919). While this theories many be seen to contradict each other, the essay argues that examining the film with these corresponding critical

A long way gone Essay Example for Free

A long way gone Essay Violence has a major impact on teenagers and children in today’s society. In the novel A Long Way Gone; memoir by a boy soldier Ishmael Beah, displays how teenagers are exposed†¦ Through the medias they are showed that the movie Rambo, which influences them to be violent and fight. Another way to seek violence is in real life when the boy soldiers are sent to fight the rebels. The violence that the young boys are exposed to caused them to think and act violently towards others, Firstly the boy soldiers in this novel are influenced by the movie Rambo , it encourages them to work harder and more violent. After the young boy soldiers watch Rambo for the first time they were motivated to be just like him and while in battle. â€Å"We all wanted to be like Rambo ; we couldn’t want to implement his techniques† (beah 121). This movies showed the boys how to fight , they wanted to use the same techniques to fight against the rebel villages. Some of the boy soldiers have been so influenced by this that they already implemented goals that will allow them to act like Rambo; â€Å"sometime I am going to take on a whole village by myself, just like Rambo† Alhaji told me smiling at the new goal he had set for himself† (122). This young boy has been trained to fight and destroy, watching Rambo has influenced him so much that he wants to take a whole village on by himself. Watching violent movies influences the boy soldiers how ever this is not how they gain courage and experience. Secondly the boy soldiers are able to gain courage and experience by being sent to fight against the rebels. The boy soldiers are brought to fight after being trained, they are told; â€Å"if you see anyone without a head tie of this colour or a helmet like mine, shoot them†(115). The boys didn’t know that they are actually going to battle however they do know what they have to do when they are in the field. When they are in the battle, the boys watch their friends get killed, this empowers them to fight back and kill; â€Å"I raised my gun and pulled the trigger , and I killed a man†¦ I shot everything that moved†(119). After watching his friends get killed Ishmael starts to fight back, he is saddened by what has happened to his friends and wants to have revenge on the people that caused their death . when the boys are in combat they gain the courage to fight back and kill people. The violence they are exposed to influenced them to act violently them selves. The boy soldiers are exposed to violence in their society which causes them to both think and act violently. The boy soldiers in the novel A Long Way Gone; memoirs of a boy soldier, are exposed to violent images in the media and in real life, which causes them to become addicted to violence. The boy soldiers in this novel are exposed to violence through movies and real life action. In conclusion violence can have a major impact on all teenagers and children no matter where they come from or how they are raised in their country.

Timber frame and masonry construction

Timber frame and masonry construction Modern construction comes in many forms, from traditional masonry, to precast concrete, to steel, and in recent times timber frame construction. Timber frame and masonry construction are very similar looking buildings. Over the last thirty years in Ireland the main type used in domestic dwelling was masonry construction which consists of block inner leaf, cavity, insulation and a block outer leaf, externally finished normally with a brick or plaster rendered block. Over the last twelve years timber frame construction has grown to account for nearly forty percent of the market. Timber frame construction consists of an off site engineered building which arrives to site and the pieces are assembled to complete the unit. The external finish is similarly to masonry with brick or plaster rendered block. The reason for chosen this topic is to find why this change occurred. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the Irish housing market over the last number of years, also to find out the reasons for timber frame construction becoming more popular. Aim To find out why the trend of building domestic housing in Ireland has changed from masonry construction to timber frame construction. Objectives * To investigate the Irish housing market and find reasons for the trend change from masonry construction to timber frame construction. * To examine the reasons why timber frame construction has grown to the level it has over masonry construction. * To examine the views of homeowners and property developers towards timber frame construction. Literature Review The primary data will be sourced from RGU database, Internet sites, RGU books and journals. Relevant Irish government reports and websites will also be looked at to gain an unbiased view. Also the views of the construction agencies in Ireland will be explored. Research and methodology The author plans on doing a comparison of the two construction types in order to achieve reasons for the shift in trend. The brief comparison case studies will include cost, time, heat and energy of both types of construction. Questionnaires Questionnaires provided the primary research for this dissertation. The author shall do up one and give it out to relevant homeowners and property developers to gain an insight into their views. By doing this the author will find out the market potential of timber frame construction. Structure of Dissertation Chapter One This chapter explains the title of the dissertation, introduces the motivations and gives a background for the reasons for choosing this topic. The author explains to the reader the aim and objectives of the dissertation and how they are going to be achieved. Chapter Two The literature review will investigate in trend in Irish construction. Current construction agencies reports will be looked to try and gain an insight to the change in trend. The author feels that this will achieve the first objection of this dissertation. Chapter Three This chapter will investigate the two building options with regard to cost, time, heat and energy. This will be done by a number of interviews and case studies. Areas looked at will be construction cost and life cycle costs. Also will include a case study of both types of construction where U-Values and Building Energy Rating will be achieved and assessed to gain an insight into why the trend shifted. The author feels that this will achieve the second objection of this dissertation. Chapter Four This chapter the opinions and views of homeowners and property developers towards timber frame construction and masonry construction are explored by means of a questionnaire. The author feels this will achieve the third objection of the dissertation. Chapter Five In this finally chapter the conclusion provides a brief summary of the finding of the preceding chapters. Literature Review Background Over 70% of home in the developed world are timber frame homes. 60% of Scottish new dwelling are timber frame and over all in the United Kingdom timber frame accounts for 15% of new homes. Ireland is slowly following our neighbours. Over the last ten year Ireland had been experiencing a construction boom. Housing units been completed in 2000 being 49,812 units growing to 62,686 in 2003, peaking in 2006 with 82,980 unit completed. After 2006 the housing market in Ireland started to fall, numbers of units being built in 2007 being 71,356 continuing to fall in 2008 as 48,151 units and continuing to fall in 2009. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2008) Many housing estates and apartment blocks had been popping up in every city, town and village mainly around the computer belt around the capital city of Ireland Dublin. Then slowly the rest of the country following. In 1992 timber frame construction account for only 5% of the new dwelling market. Since then it has grown to enormous levels to account for 30% of total housing construction nationally (Construction Industry Federation 2009). Typical these building were constructed by masonry construction, this consisted of a 300mm cavity wall with block inner leaf, insulation, cavity and a brick/block outer leaf finished with a plaster render. Over the last seventeen years timber frame construction has shown steady growth. Timber frame construction consists of an off site engineered building which arrives to site and the pieces are assembled to complete the unit. The external finish is similarly to masonry with brick or plaster rendered block. Some industry experts predict that by 2012 it will account for 50% of the new dwelling market. The timber frame industry in Ireland has shown strength and resilience, despite these difficult economic times. When the upturn comes, timber frame construction will be presented with numerous opportunities. (Maurice Buckley, CEO, NSAI National Standards Authority of Ireland.) Reasons for this happening? Energy In Ireland over the last number of years there has been a turn in attitude regarding the environment, which has in some part resulted in changes been implemented by the construction industry with regard to energy conservation. The main topic that has come to the fore on an Irish domestic level is the conservation of fuel and energy consumption. The construction industry has been identified as a considerable part of the national energy bill. Attitudes of developers and homeowner are changing to environmentally friendly buildings. Due to this timber frame construction has seen a steady growth. Timber frame is renewable building option, for every tree cut down two more are planted. The cost of turning the raw product into a building material is conceivably less than traditional methods. Timber is the only sustainable renewable commercially viable building material. The production of concrete produces vast amounts of Carbon Dioxide (C02), which has a negative impact on the environment and contributes significantly to global warming. (Irish Timber Frame Manufacturing Association 2009) Speed As the construction boom grow so did the need for housing and more importantly fast housing. One of the main factors for this turn towards timber frame is speed of construction. The frame of the building can be erected in a number of days which compared to typical masonry building is incredibly faster. This is due to the timber frame been constructed off site in a factory and delivered to site as a planned process of assembly. Masonry on the other hand takes a number of weeks to reach roof level where as timber frame is erected in a number of days. Even in wet weather work can still continue as a scaffolding system is in place around the foundation, where as blocks for masonry construction can only be laid in dry weather. Also with timber frame construction the building is weather proof much faster so internal works can begin much quicker. Also a lot of the slower work for plumbers and electricians such as first fixing is much easily done in a timber frame house. Timber frame has 30% shorter, more predictable construction time than brick and block (UK Timber Frame Association 2009) In masonry construction the use of wet trades in the build causes extra time needed for drying out. Because timber frame is a dry form of construction there is no drying out time which is a saving of a number of weeks. Also because of this there is less lightly a risk of cracking appearing on walls and ceilings for shrinking which can occur in masonry frequently. Time scale for both for of construction Standard Masonry Home Weeks Timber Frame Homes Foundations 1 Foundations Foundations 2 Foundations Bricklayer Ground Floor 3 Erect Timber Frame Structure, Fix Glaze Windows Bricklayer 4 Felt, Battens, Tile Roof Fix Glaze Windows 5 Brickwork First Fix 6 Roof Structure 7 Insulate Felt, Battens. Tile Roof 8 Dry Line First Fix 9 Second Fix Plasterwork 10 Decorate, Move In Plasterwork 11 12 2nd Fix, Plumber, Electrician 13 14 15 16 17 2nd Fix 18 19 Decorate, Move In 20 = Drying out period Taken from (Energy Efficient Homes Ireland 2009) Cost The cost of a timber frame house is similar to masonry built. Unlike masonry, costs of a timber frame build can be fixed long before the foundations are poured. This is due to most timber frame suppliers also fix the structure. So a fix price for a fixed solution. No rain days for wet trades or no additional costs. This ensures that the additional expenses that spiral as a building progress can be eliminated. (Irish Timber Frame Manufacturing Association 2009) The number of persons need to fix the structure is lower than a masonry build, also with regard to time, time is money so the faster the build the cheaper for the developer and homebuilder. Also the hand over time for a complete dwelling is must faster so this will benefit developers cash flow and profitability. Due to the speed of construction on site security cost or greatly reduced. Flexibility of Layout Because timber frames internal walls being construction out of light weigh partition walls the internal space of a timber frame build is very flexible. Any mistakes in layout of internal walls is easily rectified, where as masonry internal wall would be particularly more difficult to correct. Case Studies Introduction To get real reasons for the trend mover towards timber frame construction and to get a true indication of the cost difference in both timber frame and traditional masonry domestic construction the author looked at two key areas, construction costs and life cycle costs. In relation to construction costs the areas of preliminary costs; plant and equipment costs and site labour costs are looked at in greater detail. Construction Costs Preliminary Costs Every construction project incurs preliminary costs. Preliminary costs are defined as, Costs which are directly involved with the overall completion of a construction project ( Roy Chudley 2002) These costs include items such as site management, insurance for the project, drivers and operatives. On larger sites where site cabins, offices, storerooms, toilets and canteens are required the costs incurred are also referred to as preliminary costs. For each project there is an allowance set aside for preliminary costs. However in relation to timber frame construction these costs are included in the overall timber frame package. This is a result of the majority of the work required for timber frame construction being carried out off site, which in turn makes the budget costs a lot cheaper than traditional masonry. Derek Moore a director with Timberline building contractors Ltd Dublin states, by pre-manufacturing the timber frame off-site, houses are constructed more cost effectively. (Pick a Pro 2009) To back up this point the Irish Timber frame manufactures association states this method of construction is not cheaper particularly if the builder hasnt thought his practices through but because factory fabrication means much greater predictability, better controls and of course, a faster pace (Irish Timber Frame Manufacturing Association 2009) This is not the case for its traditional masonry counterpart as preliminary costs are required as a separate budget, this is due to the fact that all of the work required for traditional masonry is carried out on site. A majority of the preliminary budget for the traditional masonry method includes hire of plant and provision for skips and concrete silos on site etc. Another factor to be taken into consideration is the time period taken to construct a timber frame house, which is significantly lower than that of traditional masonry counterpart. Costs such as site supervision and the need for engineers and the like on site are greatly reduced. Plant and Equipment Costs Plant and equipment costs should be taken in to consideration when dealing with construction costs. Every project requires certain types of equipment and plant to carry out work to a conclusion. According to Colm Kilroy a quantity surveyor with Michael Higgins and associates in Galway, plant and equipment costs are a major part of all construction projects, the utilization of such equipment is vital as a lot of money can be wasted due to bad management and planning on site. He continued to say if plant is required on site for a certain job it is vital that the site is ready for that equipment as once it arrives on site it has to be paid for. (Colm Kilroy 2009) The weather can also plays a part in plant and equipment costs, adverse weather conditions can lead to a lot of equipment being left idle while the cost for having it on the site is still being charged. Obviously the weather conditions cannot be controlled by the project team but in periods of forecasted inclement weather the ordering of plant and materials should be avoided if possible. Site Labour Costs This area of site labour costs greatly differs with both methods of construction. A lot of the factors in relation to cost for the timber frame method of construction are all inclusive of the over timber frame package, the majority of the work to be carried out by specialised labour is completed in the factory and once the timber frame unit leaves for the site their work is finished. This in turn reduces any call back costs, to complement this, the Irish timber frame manufactures association states that, There are lower call back costs; any problems encountered can be eliminated immediately by the timber frame specialists before leaving the factory. (Irish Timber Frame Manufacturing Association 2009) The cost for the labour to rectify these problems is still inclusive of the timber frame package. Traditional masonry construction is in comparison carried out differently with all the construction work associated with traditional masonry been carried out on site and with each individual trade requiring labour to carry out the work. Cost Case Study The author compiled a cost comparison from a construction contractors point of view for the development of a timber frame and masonry domestic dwelling. The house plans used to carry out this comparison were based on a single house within a development of five similar houses, only the major elements of the structures were included in the pricing. The figures for the comparison were obtained from Barry Doyle a quantity surveyor with a Co Carlow company and John O Connell a construction contractor in Co Galway. Cost Case Study Findings Element Timber Frame House Masonry House Raft Foundation â‚ ¬ 3,855.50 â‚ ¬ 4,602.60 Supply and erection of timber frame Kit â‚ ¬ 28,114.00 Block work â‚ ¬ 3,680.00 â‚ ¬ 11,460.00 Roof â‚ ¬ 5,382.00 â‚ ¬ 17,535.50 Windows and Doors â‚ ¬ 11,000.00 â‚ ¬ 11,000.00 Plumbing â‚ ¬ 5,780.00 â‚ ¬ 5,780.00 Electrical â‚ ¬ 5,275.50 â‚ ¬ 5,275.50 Insulation â‚ ¬ 3,191.00 â‚ ¬ 1,946.00 Supply fit plasterboard â‚ ¬ 3,210.00 â‚ ¬ 1,821.00 Plastering â‚ ¬ 5,815.00 â‚ ¬7,215.00 Carpentry â‚ ¬ 3,575.25 â‚ ¬ 4,485.00 External Works â‚ ¬ 3,275.50 â‚ ¬ 3,275.50 Floor Screeds â‚ ¬ 954.50 â‚ ¬ 954.50 Kitchen â‚ ¬ 5,500 â‚ ¬ 5,500 Fireplaces â‚ ¬ 2,500 â‚ ¬ 2,500 Total measured work excluding Vat â‚ ¬ 91,108.25 â‚ ¬ 83,350.60 Main Contractors Profit â‚ ¬ 4,555.41 â‚ ¬ 4,167.53 Vat @ 13.5 % â‚ ¬ 12,299.61 â‚ ¬ 11,252.33 Total â‚ ¬ 107,963.27 â‚ ¬ 98,770.46 The timber frame house is more expensive to construct than its masonry counterpart. There is a cost difference of approximately â‚ ¬9,000 between both methods to construct a single house taking the main structural elements in to consideration. For the development consisting of five houses where this house is located the total price difference in the construction of the five houses using both methods of construction can be up to â‚ ¬45,000 to â‚ ¬50,000. The following information shows the reasoning behind the price differences for the important elements of the construction. Timber frame kit This element looks to be very expensive but the majority of materials needed to complete the timber frame house including the labour needed for the construction are included. Concrete raft foundation The price of the raft foundation differs as there is less steel required in the raft for the timber frame house in comparison to the masonry built house, this leads to savings for both the labour and materials. Block work The difference in the price of the block work is due to the inner leaf and the internal walls of the timber frame house been constructed of timber. Roof The timber frame kit incorporates a majority of the roof in the over all package which leads is a massive price difference from the standard roof for the masonry dwelling. Insulation Due to the requirement for more insulation in the timber frame house there is a difference in price over its masonry counterpart. Slabbing As with the insulation due to the amount of timber stud internal partitions and timber inner leaf walls the timber frame dwelling requires more plaster board than the masonry method which increases both the amount of material and labour. Plastering The plastering element differs solely because of the reduced quantity of scratch coat required in the timber frame house. Carpentry The price difference in relation to carpentry is a result of a lot of the timber work coming pre fabricated as part of the timber frame kit, an example being the doors coming pre hung with ironmongery fitted and architrave already attached. Main contractors Profit The main contractors profit has been calculated on the standard percentage being 5%. Life Cycle Costs Introduction Life cycle costs are commonly interpreted as, The operating costs of buildings over the forecast useful life attributed to them (Bruceshaw 2009) These costs include initial capital costs, occupation costs and operating costs. In relation to the building industry and in particular to the traditional masonry and timber frame methods of construction, life cycle costs are essential in deciding which is the overall cost effective method of construction is. In this chapter the author discusses areas such as the running costs and other costs that are involved with both forms of construction. Design Differences and Alterations From an aesthetic point of view timber frame and traditional masonry constructed dwellings when constructed look very similar, however timber frame houses, Allow for more versatile designs than block built houses (Pick a Pro 2009) The question is once the house is constructed how easy is it to carry out modifications to the design. In relation to these alterations Kingspan Century state, Due to the fact the inner leaf of your timber frame house is constructed of solid wood and plasterboard, and not concrete blocks and plaster, extensions and alterations generally have significantly reduced impact on the existing building. (Kingspan Century 2007) To further this statement MBS Timber frame Ltd state, Because the interior of a timber frame house is made of wooden panels and plasterboard, alterations and extensions will not involve the mess and severe disruption of knocking down solid block walls, and all the other trials and tribulations that accompany this type of work. (MBC Timber Frame 2009) Alternatively the block work internal leaf of a masonry house has distinct advantages over is timber frame counterpart. Tasks such as fixing a shelf or curtain rail can be a tricky with the timber frame method, There is no problem doing this in a masonry build home as all the walls are capable of holding shelves, curtain rails etc. it would be a simple matter of drilling the holes in the correct place and screwing your shelf into place (Irish Concrete Federation 2009) In comparison, with a timber frame house, according to John Meehan a carpenter with a Co Galway Company, If you are installing a new kitchen or television unit, you may find that there are no grounds in the wall where you need a fixing. If in this situation if your fixing is put in place without finding a stud, the unit is sure to fall down under pressure. (David Treacy 2009) Property Market and Selling Value Influencing factors in relation to domestic construction include resale value and ease of sale. The traditional masonry constructed process has built up a reputation of been a good seller and a favourite with the Irish public, Galway auctioneer John Gilmore states, Block built houses are easier to sell as people generally go for the trusted method, a lot of people inquiring about timber frame houses are wary and are not easily convinced as to its benefits (Liam Gordon 2009) The view of an Irish timber frame company is that, Auctioneers and estate agents are generally of the opinion that not only is timber frame not an obstacle in selling a home, but on the contrary, is becoming more and more a major selling point. The energy efficiency of timber frame houses is becoming an increasingly valued characteristic. (Kingspan Century 2008) To reiterate this, For mortgage purposes and insurance, most lenders and insurers rank timber frame equally with block work. As far as resale value is concerned, there appears to be no difference at all between the two systems. However some individuals have their own preferences, built up from their own experience or things they have heard about either system. (Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine 2005) Running Costs The timber frame method of domestic construction encounters large savings over its traditional masonry counterpart. These savings result from the timber frame house having an allowance for insulation on both the external and internal walls; this differs considerably from the traditional masonry method where in most cases only the external walls contain insulation. Because timber frame structures are extremely well insulated and have less mass than more traditional forms of construction, significant savings can be made in heating costs. (Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine 2005) A leading Irish timber frame company states, Savings of between 30% and 40% on heating bills are fairly typical. (Devsan Timber Frame Homes 2009) In relation to further savings in the future with timber frame, It is estimated that the heating cost of a timber frame home can be 30% lower than that of a masonry dwelling, and the rapid rise in energy costs these costs look set to increase. Sunday Business Post Newspaper 2007) In conclusion the savings to be made with the timber frame method of domestic construction in relation to heating and energy use are extensive over its masonry counterpart Time of Construction Introduction From a time to construct perspective the length of time it takes to build and finish both forms of construction differs. The construction of a traditional masonry dwelling has a longer time programme than its timber frame counterpart. The main factors contributing to the difference in construction times include. Programme of works The programme of works for both methods has a time difference of approximately seven weeks from foundation stage to decorating and moving in stage. Derek Moore of Timberline building contractors states, In terms of build speed, timber frame can deliver a significant 30% reduction on traditional construction times, which affect cash flow and reduces local disturbance. (Pick a Pro 2009) The view of another Irish timber frame supplier is the construction time of both methods of construction is even larger depending on the building, Construction time is cut by almost 40% as your timber frame structure is erected on site within days depending on size and complexity of building. (Clark Group 2008) Building Finishes During the stage whereby the timber frame unit is erected the internal first fixing work can commence. This work can proceed inside the house as the masonry skin is being built, in comparison no internal work can commence on the masonry house while the block work element is being constructed. The long drying out period associated with traditional masonry construction is also a disadvantage in comparison to the timber frame method. Apart from the obvious labour saving, timber frame doesnt need any drying-out time, unlike a standard masonry construction, which needs up to 1,500 gallons of water to evaporate before it is dry. (Sunday Tribune 2001) To reiterate this a leading Irish timber frame supplier states, Timber frame aids internal finishes, all walls are straight and plumb, corners are square and true. With timber frame there are less of the wet trades, plasterboard needs only to be skimmed and paint, decorative materials and floor coverings can be applied sooner to dried surfaces. (Castle Timber Frame Homes 2009) Heat Loss in Buildings Introduction For the purpose of this dissertation the author compared the U Value of the external walls of both a timber frame and masonry constructed dwelling, the author also decided to obtain the Building Energy Rating (BER) for both methods of construction so as to make an accurate comparison. Both the U Value calculation and the Building Energy Rating are based on the house plans. With the expertise of Michael Sweeney of Sweeney Energy the U Value and BER calculations were compiled and the results are as follows. U-Value Calculation A U-value is the term given to the measure of heat loss through sections of a building. It measures the rate that heat transmits through a component or structure when there is a difference in air temperature at both sides. U Values are expressed in Watts per metre Kelvin which is the rate of heat transfer in watts through 1m2 of the structure for one unit of temperature difference between the air on the two sides of the structure. (Roy Chudley 2002) U-Value Terms The following are terms associated with the calculation of the U-Value. Thermal Conductivity It is the measure of a materials ability to transmit heat and is expressed as the energy flow in watts per square metre of surface area. (Roy Chudley 2002) Thermal Resistance This is symbolized by the letter R, as representative of a materials thermal resistance achieved by dividing its thickness in metres by its thermal conductivity. (Roy Chudley 2002) Findings Traditional Masonry Cavity Wall Fabric Thickness Conductivity Thermal Resistance External Res. 0.04 Render 0.015 0.57 0.03 Ex. Block 0.1 1.33 0.08 Cavity 0.18 60mm Insulation 0.06 0.027 2.22 Internal Block 0.1 0.57 0.18 Plaster 0.015 0.43 0.03 Internal Res. 0.13 2.88 U-value = 0.35 W/m ²K Table Traditional Masonry U-Value Calculation Timber Frame External Wall Fabric Thickness Conductivity Thermal Resistance External Res. 0.04 Render 0.015 0.57 0.03 Ex. Block 0.1 1.33 0.08 Cavity 0.18 Insulation 0.1 0.021 4.76 Plasterboard 0.019 0.25 0.08 Internal Res. 0.13 5.29 Table Timber Frame U-Value Calculation Timber Frame External Wall Cont. Fabric Thickness Conductivity Thermal Resistance External Res. 0.04 Render 0.015 0.57 0.03 Ex. Block 0.1 1.33 0.08 Cavity 0.18 Timber Studs 0.1 0.13 0.77 Plasterboard 0.019 0.25 0.08 Internal Res